Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween to all our friends. Jazz and Dixie were their usual cooperative selves when I tried to dress them up. Jazz can tolerate it for a few moments while I bribe her with snacks but Dixie really can not! So this year Jazz is Count Jazzula and Dixie well maybe she could pass as Rupunzel?? I bought Jazz and Dixie some Halloween ccokies from Three Dogs Bakery and some new toys. Jazz carried her stuffie all the way home from the pet shop!

Last weekend Shin went to Okayama with work to entertain clients at the World Touring Car Championships. He had bought a new lens for our good camera and took many great colourfufl photos. We are taking J&D out on Sunday so we will try the new lens out on them!

Its been a while......

Its been almost two weeks since I blogged or visited our friends :( Work has been taking up a lot of my time. Anyway this weekend Shin was away in Okyama on business so I took the girls out for afternoon tea yesterday and breakfast this morning. Yesterday we went on a big walk and walked past a cafe with a little outside terrace that we have walked past many times before. There are no 'Dog OK' signs up but today I stuck my head in the door and asked if it would be ok to sit on the terrace with Jazz and Dixie and they said sure. They didn't have a dog menu or water bowls but the lady bought out some water in a small salad bowl. Their dessert menu was extensive and specialised in dessert pizzas so I chose a Mont Blanc Pizza which was quite good. It came with ice cream with made Jazz and Dixie very happy! Sorry about the mobile pics!

Yokohama

Shin came back from Paris on Saturday evening so he hired a car to drive home and to use on Sunday. On Sunday we set out for Dog Field but once we got on the motorway we realised it was a mistake because being a long weekend there was a traffic jam kilometers long! Our usual one hour trip would end up being over two hours so we decided to get off at the next exit and headed down to Yokohama instead. We parked the car and all headed down to Yamashita Koen which just happened to be hosting an international food fair. Well Jazz and Dixie were in there element with all those delicious food smells not to mention the tasty morsles they managed to score before I could get them away. Anyway Shin bought us some kebabs which we sat in the park to eat. A guy next to us put down his curry and nan to photograph it and was quite shocked when Jazz lunged for it. Obviously he doesn't know beagles! Luckily for him she didn't manage to get any. After that we took a walk down the boardwalk and on the way met a man walking a very large cat on a leash. Jazz and Dixie were very interested but not as interested as the three Sibes at the table next to the one that the cat and his owner sat down at. I was immediately reminded of our great friends at AO4, Only one red head sibe was missing! We walked along the board walk taking in the views of the marina and ending up at an October fest event which we decided to stay away from with Jazz and Dixie! All in all the weather was great and we had a nice morning in Yokohama before heading back home.

East Meets West Wedding

On the weekend we left Jazz and Dixie at Dog Inc Pet Hotel so we could fly to Shikoku and attend one of Shin's childhood friend's wedding. This is about the 5th wedding Ive attended here. Japanese weddings are generally a blend of traditional Japanese and western customs. This wedding had a traditional wedding ceremony that only the family attended where as all the others i attended had a chapel service where friends were also invited. Unfortunately it was raining on Sunday so the ceremony had to be done indoors instead of at the shrine. After that ceremony there is a reception for all guests in a big banquet hall in a hotel or wedding hall with many courses. On Sunday we made our way through 11 courses! The bride and groom don't actually eat that food or drink much of the beer or wine that is being poured for them by the guests. They spend a lot of the ceremony getting changed into different clothes and having their hair done in different styles. The more times you change the more money you have. I was so pleased to see the bride and groom in traditional kimono as most people just opt for the western wedding dress. This was the first time for me to see the wedding kimono. The cake is cut at the very beginning of the ceremony and sometimes you don't even get to eat it but at this wedding it was our dessert. Each guest also gives an envelope with money that is usually not an even number that can be divided into an equal number of notes. This money usually pays for the food and the goody bag that each guest gets. There are many things in a Japanese wedding that I am yet to understand but with time and experience I may. Anyway while we were away Jazz and Dixie were having a great time at Dog Inc and that makes me very happy to know that they are being well looked after.

A Fun Day Out

Time got away from me again as I meant to post this on Saturday when we got back from a day out with Jazz and Dixie. We hired a car and took them to Dog Field, a dog run that they have grown to love. There was a Italian Greyhound/Mini Pincher met going on when we arrived but J&D were not really interested in playing with them as a few were quite agressive and quite noisy. J&D were content to play with each other and with dad with the ball. One the way home we did something we have never done, we stopped in a huge outlet mall complex. At first we thought we'd be an hour and leave J&D in their crates to rest in the car but Dixie was whining that she wanted to get out so we took them with. We sat in the outdoor eating area to have a quick bite before having a look at some of the shops. If I wanted to look in a shop Shin held the dogs outside and vice versa. They were of course allowed to go into the pet shop! Everyone thought J&D were so cute and they got many pats and heaps of attention plus a few stray fries! They were so excited and seemed to be in their element. We spent some time chatting with other dog owners too.