As mentioned, my first outdoor photoshoot was not a big success due to the hot weather and the inconvenient venue. Did not buy the photos in the end, because Mummy’s eyes were all closed in the pictures. We decided to go out for photo-taking on our own! In this way, we can choose our own venue, take as many pictures as we like and have unlimited poses.

The above picture was taken in a creative mode. Ah Bee (me) almost has a dream-like feel. Machiam like Prince Charming riding in the woods. Keke.

This was my Big Head Shot. My muzzle was slightly ballooned in Photoshop.

Me and my prized trophy from Happy Paws Fashion Contest @ 313. Look at my fire-red wig!

And mummy and me! Looking up at Papa’s lenses.

And us celebrating our victory! Keke.

Yo! It’s me again. The Bee Boy! My last glamour shots must have left many of my fans clamouring for more of me! Recently I went for an outdoor photoshoot for a magazine cover contest. The weather was hot and I was sweating buckets under the sun. Had not been too positive an experience for me and my dear Mummy. So we shall stick to studio shoots (with aircon!).

Me with my mummy. In our cowboy ensemble. See both of us in matching cowboy hats?

That’s me! Carrying a lot of stuff on my back. Ready for my cowboy hunting!

They say I have that mean look on my face in this picture. I am a MEANIE.

And us in our winning costume for the Fancy Dress Contest. We are supposed to be dancing in our victory. Keke.

Oh. Don’t I look cool cool in this Elvis pose? One foot on the heart and one foot on the ground. 100% Prince Charming.

I am surely the epitome of style. See me glancing back, showing off the details of my Elvis dress? All hand-made by my dearest Mummy.

And our family picture in the Lunar New Year theme. Papa’s knuckles look stiff. Keke.

Here’s mummy and me with the mandarin oranges. Ang Pow please!

Me and Papa in our matching Emperor hats. See the Bee motifs on our hats? Who would have thought of such a cool design?

And me! Solo under the umbrella, showing off the details of my emperor clothes. Such splendour!

Many folks who have seen my studio shots commented I look cool. I have an expansive wardrobe tailored made for me. And more interesting costumes will be coming my way – because my Mummy has recently acquired two more sewing machines (one of which is under the kind sponsorship of my dear Daddy who has visions of me wearing better and more elaborate clothes). I might go for more studio shoots when I have accumulated more outfits! And who knows, Mummy might be sewing me a new tux for me and a wedding dress for my future wife very soon. Happy!

The Blogging Dog strikes his pose in front of the camera again! Little would I know that there would be a sequel to my earlier studio shoot – See Part 1 and Part 2 here. My dear mummy said she would bring me for the second photo shoot to celebrate my win at the Fancy Dress Contest earlier part of this year.

In case you are bedazzled by my immense charm, I have carefully selected a few of my pictures (Army and Soccer themes) for this Part 3. The rest of my photoshoot in various enchanting themes (Cowboy, Elvis and Emperor themes) shall appear in my Part 4. Yes! Me in Emperor costume. Keke.

This is me in my army uniform and shades. Mummy wants to shoot me with her water gun! See my open mouth?

Ahhh… the cool soldier look in me.

Me amongst the soccer balls bought for me from Ikea. I have 3 of them. In different colours.

Papa and myself in matching Brasil soccer jerseys. See my sparkling bright eyes? Enough to melt the hearts of many!

And Oouuuiii… catch my ball and toss it into the goal post! GOOOOAAAALLLLL!

A bright kid like myself will be a soccer star in no time! Keke. Ronaldo Bee in the making!

Stay tune for my Part 4…

Croaky wanted to complete his Australia tour by going to Melbourne (the only destination which he has not been to before). To be honest, I am not that keen on the trip, save for the fact that I know that I would be happy sitting in a car throughout the whole trip and not having to lug heavy luggages around. It’s good to go on a tour to rest & relax once in a while, and not have to keep to a tight schedule of visiting monuments, churches and shopping malls. Afterall, the shops in Australia pull their shutters early… I reckon I would be not be missing much shopping.

We rented a very small car from Budget Car Rental. Hyundai Getz. Croaky wanted a convertible. We missed our Mustang at Hawaii. But no convertibles for rental. Strange.

We stopped by the GOR for a picture. Notice Croaky always have a strange expression when he is holding the camera. He looked surprised!

A road sign with the map of GOR.

The famous Light House in Melbourne. Since this was a rest & relax tour. I had a lot of time to fiddle around with my camera. So this was shot in the grainy mode.

And him at the Light House.

I like how the colours turn out in the PopArt mode. The greens look greener and the yellows look yellower.

This was the signboard to show us the way of the 12 Apostles.

The rock formations behind us. We didn’t count. Supposed there should be 12 of them?

Quite bemused by the above signboard. You may fall and DIE. Hmmm…

Beautiful scenery of the rocks. With the waves slowly hitting against the shore. Would have appreciated more if I have gone there during my Geography days…

Then of course, we have to do what the other tourists are doing. Visit the Gold mine at Ballarat. And buy GOLD!

We are glad that the supermarkets open late into the night. This kept us happy, especially Croaky.

Graffiti on the frosted car window.

Having lunch at Warook Cattle Farm.

The Koala Sanctuary. I have waited patiently for the Koala to move its body into position. Adjusted the exposure, changed my lenses and took multiple shots. Most happy with the above one. There is a bit of nice bokeh behind the branches.

And a candid shot of Mr Croaky. With bokeh in the background as well. What is he looking at? Bird-excrete?

The Penguin Parade is another popular tourist destination. But no picture taking of the penguins.

We saw this baby penguin flapping its wings at the other end of the island. Truth be told, I stood there for 15 mins waiting for it to flap its wings. And Croaky was telling me not to waste my time. This amphibian has no patience at all.

Our little motor lodge at Philip Island. One of the best. With a car porch in front. Spacious room and a well-equipped kitchenette. Jacuzzi bath and 4 beds! Can fit in the whole kampong. The only problem is there are 2 bees buzzing in the room the whole night, and one of them was found dead in my bed the next morning!

Beautiful shot of a pair of ducks nesting in the grass.

And Shaun the Sheep!

And this one was the sad face of a cow/bull. Using the pin-hole mode.

This horse sure knows how to pose nicely in front of the camera. But after this shot, he refused to do it again for me. Naughty!

I thought the flowers resembled cherry blossoms. Gave the picture a very misty and Japanese look.

The enchanted maze. The entrance fee was expensive. And Croaky said it would only amuse children. We didn’t go into the maze in the end.

Fresh produce in the supermarket. Much fresher than those you can find in Cold Storage. And the funny thing is their chicken comes in sizes, and they have a whole rack of different species of potatos. I don’t think you can find similar food stuff here in Singapore. It would be really a dream to be a housewife in Australia. Imagine the freshest ingredients!

Us on the famous train – Puffing Billy. We didn’t pre-booked, so couldn’t get the meal-cum-train-ride.

The three birds resting on the lamp post. I had to dig out my zoom lens.

And every crafter’s dream to visit SpotLight in its mother land. The store is huge! I bought a nice piece of cloth to make a shirt for Ah Bee, and some cute buttons. The cashier was kind enough to give me member’s discount even though I didn’t bring my card.

Enjoying a buffet dinner at Crown hotel. Where there are gamblers, there are good and cheap food. Just like in Vegas!

The Queen Victoria Market is our destination for last minute shopping. The stuff being sold is not exactly cheap. Have to bargain for quite a while for a piece of tile. And in the end, I couldn’t get the discount.

Filling up gas before we return the car to Budget.

Heading towards Melbourne Airport.

It had been a nice rest and relax trip. Our next destination would be a self-drive getaway too. It’s an excuse to bring a larger luggage trolley. Hehe.

Finally its a couple! I made the female version of this Teddy in Oct 2008. After a span of nearly 2.5 years, I have decided to make the male version of the Teddy.
The two craft kits were bought at the same time, but I had the second one resting in my storeroom because I didn’t feel like making it. It had been a terrible ordeal making one Teddy – mistakes, dismantle, redo etc. Now armed with experience, I thought it would be easier to make the second.

I started out making the head of the Teddy. It’s rather straight forward.

The completed head of the male Teddy. No mistake this time.

And then the body was completed in a jiffy too. No mistake either.

But I fumbled 3x while making the arm of the Teddy. It looked simple. But to interpret a 3D design from a 2D drawing isn’t as straight forward. Luckily I was successful on the third attempt. The second arm posed no problem after that.

Teddy Girl finally has a Teddy Boy now. Hehe.

My first experiment with tart making this year. Decided to make my own tarts after seeing an online website selling a tin of 50 tarts for $40. Such a lucrative business right? But nothing beats made-at-home, especially when you don’t really know what these folks have put into the tarts to make them extra tasty. Besides, when you make your own tarts, you can be assured that you can buy the best butter around. Not unhealthy palm oil or shortening or preservatives.

My recipe is a very simple one (with special credits to a friend Noobcook. She has such a great enthusiasm for cooking!

Ingredients (Makes approx 20 tarts):
180 g plain flour
2 tbsp corn flour
3 tbsp icing sugar
125 g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
Ready made pineapple paste
1 egg for glazing

The ingredients did not cost much. A packet of flour costs $1.50 – $2. Butter costs $3-4 depending on the brand. Even if you add cheese to the dough, it is only going to cost you a few dollars more.

First, sieve the flour, cornstarch and icing sugar. I bought this round sieve from Mustafa. My second-most favourite haunt. Hehe.

Then add in the cubed butter to the flour mixture.

Use your fingers to knead the flour-butter mixture until it forms crumbs.

And within 5-10 minutes, it becomes a dough. Make it into a ball. Leave it to stand in the fridge for half to one hour

Now you are ready for the most fun part – roll out the dough using a rolling pin (I bought this from Daiso – my topmost favourite haunt). Remember to add a bit to flour to your work surface and the rolling pin to prevent the dough from sticking on to them.

Use a special tart cutter (available from Phoon Huat) to cut out the shapes from your dough.

Add in the ready made pineapple filling, glaze the tarts with your beaten egg, and bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.

Here’s the finished tarts!

On my second attempt, I was tired of making the flower tarts. So I decided to make the “closed up” version – which has more flour and less pineapple filling.

The filling in the center.

Same egg glazing on top of the tarts before they are baked. The glazing gave the tarts a warm yellow colour. When baking the “closed version”, extend your baking time to 20 or 25 minutes.

Tarts straight out from the oven.

And pack them in tupperware to store in the fridge.

Unlike other pastries or cakes, it’s quite easy to make these tarts. It would be great if we can improvise this recipe to make some dog-friendly pineapple tarts for Ah Bee.

Hi there, it’s Ah Bee (me), the blogging dog again. I have been tasked to write a short story of how we won the Fancy Dress Contest organized by Pet Lover’s Centre at Parkway Parade Shopping Centre on 16 Jan. My perspective of the competition? It was awesome…

As you can see here – Mummy clutching me next to Uncle Lau’s poster. My costume is head-turning!

My mummy putting on her shades to match mine. Daddy says it looks “cartoon”. Heh, he doesn’t even dare to go up stage with me.

We had to parade twice on stage and “catwalk” to show off our costumes. There were a total of 12 contestants for the event… See my boring face on stage? Dunno what the emcee is talking about. I heard he was asking me where I got my hair done. Mummy told him it was a wig. Hehe.

My mummy hugging me at the backstage. I was quite relieved to be out of the limelight for a while until they called us up the stage for round number two – to perform tricks! *faints*

This was the close-up shot of my glammy costume – hand made by my mummy. It reads “Elvis Beesley”. Did you see the dog and the bone? That’s my favourite!

Finally, Daddy appearing to shoot photo with me. He had been holding the videocam throughout the event, and my god mummy Hua was the one taking the photos.

Oh… I look so cool in the above pic. Just that my hair a bit messy. Must be due to the constant pawing from the fellow lady dogs. They just can’t keep their paws off me. And many children kept touching me as I was doing the catwalk. Yeeks!

I did a few tricks for round two. Simple ones like sit, stand and paw paw. Mummy gave me a crash course on these few actions for the past 3 days!

Here’s everyone waiting for the results on stage.

I was a full of nerves as I awaited the announcement…

Finally down to two contestants! And the lady dog next to me got the second prize! She did a lot of tricks – roll over, play dead etc. Her mummy taught her well. Keke.

And yes me! I won the first prize!

Mummy holding me and the prize. I looked a bit distracted at the crowd.

And here – my first time in a shopping mall. I don’t think many dogs got many chances to step into a shopping area! I am the lucky chap! Dogs don’t get much luxury in Singapore. I often had to ask Mummy to get my prada ties for me on my behalf. No trying.

And my first time on an escalator! Ohhh!

These are my prizes. One basic grooming package, some shopping vouchers and PLC vouchers! I am earning my own food, for once!

And here’s our outfits for the contest. Mummy spent the last 3 weeks working hard at her sewing machine. Well, it’s worth it. I finally had my moment of fame. Keke.

Woof! It’s me again – the blogging dog “Ah Bee”. I am parading in my new funfit above.
My mummy loves making clothes for me… I wonder when she will ever stop. My Ikea cupboard is already filled to the brim – I have enough clothes to last me a long long time…

According to my mama, the inspiration of my green felt vest came from this handicraft book she bought recently. It was a teddy bear wearing a green outfit and a cap. She thinks it will look pretty good on me – and she assumes it is very easy to make. Oh well, she must be mistaken – because I am a 100 times bigger than this teddy bear featured in this book. And the vest he is wearing does not have any special embellishment except the two round buttons.

There, she has been sewing this green vest for ages, in front of the TV. She took measurements for me, cut down the pattern from mahjong paper and chased me all over the living room to “fit” the patterns on me. Tiring…

Then she cut out the Bee design from the coloured felt she got from Daiso. I like the cut-out Bee! Keke.

This bottle of wash-and-wear glue was used to fix the felt patterns onto my vest. A handy item from Spotlight!

Glue on my Bee!

The front view of my vest

And the back view of my vest

The green vest on the model – Me!

Me wearing the complete funfit – with my matching hat.
Keke. I look like a cow boy – where is my cow?!?
I am going to wear this special funfit to view the Xmas lights this year!

Recently, we found nice frozen oysters from NTUC and I decided to try my hand at making oyster omelet. The oysters taste juicy and fresh and doesn’t have a fishy smell to it.

Here’s how I did my omelet:

Ingredients

Half a packet of Bayfisher Frozen Oysters

2 tablespoon of plain flour

1 tablespoon of corn flour

1 cup of water or chicken stock

2 medium sized eggs

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Beat the eggs until light and fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Mix the plain flour and corn starch in water to form a batter.
3. Heat up oil. Pour in half of the batter and cook until it solidifies.
4. Add in the egg mixture; at the same time use your frying ladle to cut the cooked batter. Pan fry until golden and crispy.
5. Add in the oysters and spoon in the remainder of the batter.
6. Serve with coriander leaves and chilli.

Nice and hot!

Woof woof! It’s the long awaited sequel of my studio shoot.
Although there are plenty more pictures of my handsome face, I have decided to put up a few of my favourite – with human subjects! Oops. Do I sound a bit pompous? I sound as though I am a royal highness with “subjects”.

This one was Papa’s fave. I have one paw resting on his shoulder. And we are both suave suave in tuxedos! Keke.

This one was Papa staring at me – a frightened look on his face. Papa – have no fear! Ah Bee is near! Wow. It rhymes… Woofie me is a learned doggie.

Our Christmas photo – with me and mummy in Santa’s hats and all of us in red T shirts. So happy! I look a bit serious in this photo? Hmm… I am probably wondering what is in my Christmas sockie – that’s why!

Did you see my Bee T shirt? It was from my mummy’s earlier T shirt project. I love it. Makes me part of the family! Doggie me is such a lucky Bee.

Recently I heard a story about a family “donating” their JRT to a dog shelter. The parents brought their 11 year old girl to surrender the dog, and if the dog is not being accepted into the shelter, they threatened to leave him in the wilderness. It makes me feel so sad that while I am so loved and treasured, there are other poor little doggies out there left to fend for themselves while their owners pushed them away. Doggies should not be treated as pressies to small children, you know? We are living beings with heart and soul. And we will too be depressed if we are being thrown away! I hope the dear JRT finds a rightful place where it belongs. Like me!