23 September 2016
Sunny

Dear Birthday Fairy,

Oh woofy me!
Could it be?
Is it be?

The day of 'operation-secret-getaway', the day has finally arrived.  I could hear mummy tossing and turning in bed last night.  I pretended I could not hear her but I knew she had trouble falling asleep.

10:40 am

Mummy overslept and jumped out of bed in manic frenzy.

"Oh shit!  I have not packed!", mummy was cursing and swearing at herself.

See mum?  You should have packed last night.

I gave her THAT look.

Mummy quickly whisked Frodo and I out to do our morning business and started moving around the house like a mad woman trying to pack her things, our things... everything.  Dejavu birthday 2015.  It looked like we were packing to move house.

In the midst of mummy's packing frenzy, Frodo and I had no idea what was happening so we laid down quietly to watch her.  I saw her packing our food, food bowls and toys.  I knew it had something to do with us.

At this point, the only person who has actually viewed our secret getaway place was mummy.  She REFUSED to tell daddy nor Uncle Nic anything other than, "trust me, it's really gorgeous".


1:30 pm

Mummy had finished packing.  Uncle Nic was late in picking us up.  He had forgotten my oh-so-important external hard disk drive.  Uncle Nic had very kindly made a last minute trip to Sim Lim to help me get the HDD.

Action Cam campaign time = I need to wipe out my macbook clean to make space for the footages.

Mummy finally had some time to see the new Action Cam.  I knew she was panicking a little as she had not had the time to fiddle with the new camera.  The only thing she knew about the FDR-X3000R was that it has the Balance Optical SteadyShot™ (BOSS) which should technically take much more stable images including the dog's POV.   Thanks to running the FDR-X1000R campaign last year, mummy was familiar with the functions and usage of the Action Cam.

But still, knowing what a control freak Mummy is, she was still nervous about not testing the camera out first.

Come what may.

Have faith.


2 pm

Uncle Nic arrived and we were finally ready to go!  Having spent the morning watching mummy pack, I knew something big was coming my way and I followed her out excitedly with the dog harness strapped on me... together with Frodo and Pebbles.

Ohana.

Ohana means family.
Family means no one gets left behind.
- Lilo and Stitch

2:45 pm

Hoorah!

We have arrived.

I am not a fan of car rides so I could not be happier to get out.  BUT Uncle Nic and mummy needed to offload our house load of belongings before introducing us to our new home for the next 3 nights.

After all that moving, it was time for us - the dogs - to make our big entrance and sniff out our new 'home'.   Mummy quickly put the Action Cam on me and.... let's go!  FINALLY!

We are ready to sniff out our new 'home' for the next 3 nights!  But mummy is not ready.  She is still checking the view of my camera (strapped on my back) with the Live View Remote.

Mummy introduced us to our cozy bedroom and I sniffed something out.... A NEW BED.  FOR ME!  My good friend from Silversky had arranged a secret delivery to surprise me with my very own doggie bed for my staycation!  My very first surprise birthday present and it arrived even before I did!

Water-resistant bed with removable covers.
It's blue, thank goodness not pink.

Happy boy, I am!

Me chillin' out on my new bed before heading out for.....

4:45 pm

After an eternity of watching the humans busyness of unpacking, packing and changing while I lazed in my new bed, mummy asked, "are you boys ready?"

I jumped out of bed and reported promptly to her.

Whatever this 'ready' is, yes I am ready!

Show me what's next!

And mummy led the way to.....

HEEELLLLOOOOO swimming pool!  We finally meet!

Could this be?
Is it a dream?
We have ALL of this pool to ourselves?

DREAM COME TRUE.

After some eight years of dreaming of a staycation where I can swim my tails out, I have finally arrived.

This is paradise.

When mummy said my 10th birthday was going to be epic, I was not expecting this.

Mummy has a philosophy.
Celebrating a dog's birthday should be what matters most to the dog.

So mummy always knew.... the best birthday present she could ever was endless swimming.  Mummy said she created her own monsters.  Swimming monsters.  Frodo and me both.

All I want is to swim, swim, swim.
All Frodo wants is to swim, swim, swim.
All we both want is to swim, swim swim.

And I say again, DREAM COME TRUE.

I am in paradise.

I have no idea who is happier.... Frodo or me?

I have a dilemma.... which ball should I take?

Frodo: "Ball... you have to magically come to me...."

Frodo is always in a dilemma about the ball(s).... I wonder why.

Thank you mummy for making my dream come true!

Brothers who sleep together, play together.... swim together.

Because mummy said we need to experience sunset swimming.... and it was indeed a very pretty sight!

May I say again.... this is the best birthday ever?

Total swim time: 3 hours.... plus.

I was happy.
Frodo was happy.
Pebbles was not happy.
She hates swimming.
But she was somewhat happy suntanning and watching us swim.


After all that swim, we were starving.
Need to eat.
Have to eat.

Mummy preparing our food.  Quick quick!  We are starving!

Reflection at mealtime

FOOOODDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8-ish pm (in case you didn't notice, I had lost track of time by then)

Daddy arrived!
Yay!
Ohana was finally complete.

In true staycation fashion, daddy had order Mcdonalds for the humans.  Junk food serves its purpose for a getaway so remote, it was not easy to get food delivery.  Mummy decided we should take it easy for the first night and just enjoy the room.  She had more things planned up sleeves for day 2.

The humans were starving.
I pretended I was starving and have not eaten.

Hooomans.... can't you see I have not eaten????

Mummy downloaded the video footages and was excited to see what was captured.

Her eyes opened wide.

"I am in trouble.  The editing.... this round.... is going to be insane.", mummy whined.

The new Action Cam FDR-X3000R exceeded expectations.  Both my POV and handheld footages were stable, images were sharp and the colours were amazing.  Even the underwater footages turned out really good.  It was really THE dream POV camera and mummy was not sure if she should be happy or sad.  The thought of editing through all that fabulous moments captured.... became daunting.

And this was only day one.

"Ah well, never mind.  Enjoy now, die later.", so mummy concluded.

In the meantime, I shall enjoy my new bed, sleep like a baby.... and look forward to day two!  I still have no idea what mummy had planned for day 2 but I overheard something about 6:15 am and sunrise.

Bedtime.
Pronto!

My sleep buddy cum photographer cum mummy's #notalcoholic partner-in-crime - Uncle Nic - sneaking in a wefie with me.  Thank you Uncle Nic for always being here and sharing my special days with me!

Good night Birthday Fairy!

Need my beauty sleep to recharge for tomorrow... whatever mummy has in stored.

Going to dream of sunset.....

---

Photography by Uncle Nic of Furry Photos Pet Photography using Sony RX1004.





Video by Flapper & Flapper Mummy using Sony Action Cam FDR-X3000R