Planning our Honeymoon

(Above) Beautiful View from Mt Hakodate, one of our destinations in Hakodate

Gayle and myself are looking forward to our planned honeymoon at the end of this year. We didn't have time to go for a honeymoon since we were preoccupied with our customary wedding dinner preparations and the renovation of our apartment last year in Nov - Dec 2007. It was also prudent since our savings had been depleted by expenses for our ROM reception, wedding dinner and apartment renovation. Thus, we decided to postpone our honeymoon till end this year in December so that we can really splurge on ourselves if we need to. As both of us are fans of Japanese stuff and gourmet, we were uanimous in choosing Japan as our honeymoon destination, in particular - Hokkaido for seafood and winter activities and Tokyo for shopping and more eating.

We went to Prime Travel located at Hong Leong Building, 16 Raffles Quay #B1-14D ( Tel 62214250). They are a travel agency specializing in Japan, with a wide range of contacts in Japan. Our experience with them was a very professional and helpful one. We were served by a senior sales rep by the name of Ms Elaine Tang who patiently sat down with us for over 2 hours to discuss and map out our planned itinerary. She was very helpful in suggesting activities, feasibility of planned routes and was never pushy about any packages. In fact, she actually enquired on our budget and helped us fit in accomodation and air travel ticketing within the allocated budget.

(Above) Shinjuku , Tokyo , the hip place to go !

We selected a free and easy package with accomodation and air ticketing booked through the agency so that we can focus more on the itinerary of the trip. In general, with respect to our itinerary within Hokkaido, we would take a JAL flight from Singapore to Osaka Kansai and then take a domestic JAL flight from Osaka Kansai to Hakodate, Southern Hokkaido.

Fresh Sashimi !

We are planning to start at Hakodate because it is the place for Japanese seafood, sashimi, sushi since it is a port city. We will spend 2 nights there before heading to Noboribetsu, which is the hot spring resort capital of Hokkaido for a night's stay. We booked a hot spring package which includes a stay at the hotel, a hot spring experience and a personal full course Japanese dinner set for two, just for the experience for SGD$450 a night.

We will then take a JR train to Sapporo where we will spend 3 nights there. on the 4th day morning, we will take a domestic JAL flight from Sapporo Chitose airport to Tokyo Haneda airport. We will then spend 4 nights in Tokyo before flying back to Singapore. We booked the evening flight so that it gives us at least an extra half day in Tokyo.

Our customised free and easy travel package covers accomodation for two for a total of 10 nights plus air tickets for two for a return flight via JAL from Singapore to Osaka and from Tokyo back to Singapore inclusive of a dosmestic JAL flight from Osaka to Hokkaido and from Hokkaido to Tokyo costs us SGD$5300.

We will be sharing more details on our planned itinerary in future posts.

Shayna - Week 6 - 7

JUNE 21

JULY 20 ( See how much she has grown in length )
JUNE 21 JULY 20

Shayna has grown very much within these past two weeks, her weight ballooning from 2kg two weeks ago to 2.7kg today when we brought her to the vet for her 3rd vaccination. She's a favourite at the vet where she garners much attention from passer-bys who make funny faces and wave at her. In the clinic, we get alot of questions asked about her and many people say that she has a look that is adorable and cute. Some people can't recognize her as a shih tzu and always ask us whether she is one. The vet says that Shayna's an obedient darling. She sits down and takes her shot with no struggle and licks up the medicine willingly. She's grown by a head size according to the vet. She's also recovered from her cornea infection.

She is growing up to be a rebellious teenager at times and can have her own mind as to what she wants to do. Of course, we are always there to come down on her so that she maintains some discipline. She's quite strong now, always standing on her hind legs, balancing herself with her front paws. She also was able to sprint and jump from the floor up onto our bed. She's getting even more manja, always taking the chance to cuddle into our lap whenever we sit down on the floor.

Oh yes , Shayna has a thing for the vacuum cleaner , mop and hairdryer. She gets all excited and worked up whenever she sees one of these. Just amazing that they really appreciate simple things in life! ; - ) See below, she's standing on her hind legs trying to reach for the hairdryer while Gayle is asking her to sit and stay down.

Week 5 - Shayna's makan

Nowadays, dogs really have a good life, judging from the range of accessories, toys, dress and food available for them. So of course, we also jump into the fray and bought a few types of makan for her. For her daily main meals, twice a day, we bought her Natural Balance - Chicken and Lamb combo, which is high in proteins, necessary for a young growing puppy like her. You can see a kibble displayed below.

For her snacks, we bought two types of treats - Natural Balance Sweet Potatoes and Fish (3rd from left below) and Nutro Puppy Biscuits(4th from left). The natural Balance treat provides additional proteins while the Nutro helps in tartar control and teeth strengthening. We also bought her a few variety of breath freshening treats that are good for her breath and teeth, especially so that no one will faint when she opens her mouth, especially when she is naughty and plays with her poo. We bought a combo package recommended by the pet shop (Macho Pawz)which provides us a variety of different treats and allows us to sample which treat she likes best. We are betting that she will like the Milky one best sicne she loves milk.

We bought another of the soft squeaky toy for her this week so that it can be inter-changed with the earlier sponge bob one we bought for her when it is being washed.