two years has gone by ......

above: Janine took this image of Oscar on 7th Oct 2006

memories of Oscar

our very special little boy

28 March 1998 - 23 May 2012


We lost a special friend today
the kind you can't replace,
and looking at his empty bed
We still can see his smiling face.

  We see the endless energy
the sparkling puppy eyes,
Not the tired, fragile friend
we had to bid goodbye.

  We know he's in a special place
our Lord has for such friends,
Where meadows, fields & flowers
help make them strong and whole again.

We will remember how he'd run to us
to play his favorite puppy game,
And how his ears would perk right up
When he heard us call his name.

But as those precious years went by
And we all aged and grew,
  we found him often slowing down
But we had still so much to do.

We have noticed in the recent times
His ears were not as sharp,
Where is that running ball of fur
The years have shown their mark.

He started sleeping next to us
Was this his special clue,
Because he felt the end was near
We certainly feel that it was very true

  Our Oscar was a special boy
  We know he gave his best,
But as we looked deep into his eyes
  we knew it was the time for him to rest.

It will truly be a struggle
  we don't know how we will face each day,
  we have to let him go - we know
But in our hearts he'll always stay.

This special place our Lord has made
Health and strength, wait for him there,
So with our very special friend
  we are sending all our prayers.

For we  know he's watching over us
and he'll be with us when we cry,
So with one more kiss on his beloved head
  we told our darling boy 

goodbye.

the above is very much the same I wrote out for Zac and also for Pokey.

above: when Oscar was just a tiny little puppy

 

Oscars brother – Pokey - was born in January 1997. 

Then in March 1998, along came Oscar. But sadly 5 days after he and his 3 siblings were born, their mother – Sugar - passed away.

Oscar was 55 grams in weight ....that is the weight of one medium sized egg!
 

These four little five day old puppies ......  what to do? Even the Vet said they would not survive.  

But with the love and care devoted upon them, they survived ... each and everyone of them.

Yes, Oscar is a fighter, his true name is Sugar Ray Robinson (one of the great boxers of all time [1921-1989]) and as with all four puppies, they were named after a famous 'fighter'.

In 2002 we took Oscar and Pokey on a 12 mths holiday traveling all over Australia.

above: in 2002, he used Pokey when he needed some extra height  to see outside the motorhome!

  

In 2005 he had an eye infection and had to have major surgery to have the lens replaced in his eye.

In 2007 both Pokey and Oscar flew to Singapore.

In 2009 he pulled one of his nails out when it caught in his collar, more surgery!

In 2011 Oscar lost his brother Pokey (7th July) and he grieved more than we thought was possible.

Two weeks later we took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with Pituitary Dependent Hyperadrenocorticism. (Cushings Disease) and a month later they found he also had Congestive Heart Failure.

He started off on his medication twice a day, but over the past month it was increased to three times a day. 

In December 2011 we applied for a permit for his re entry into Australia and this was declined due to his health and age.

We wrote a long letter to AQIS (Australian Quarantine) explaining a bit more about Oscar and that he was a fighter and that he would survive the flight, but could possibly struggle with the 30 days of Quarantine. But we were willing to take the risk as we felt he would be OK.

30 minutes later, we rec'd the permit and he was allowed to return to Australia!

He left Singapore on 21st February 2012 and arrived the following morning at the AQIS station in Spotswood where he stayed for the full 30 days.

above: running around while in Quarantine at Spotswood.

 

above: with John when he was in Quarantine

He was very happy to be back with us and settled in very well. We knew we wouldn't have him forever and the vet thought he might survive till mid April .... but we managed to have him for a full two months at home.

We brought him home to Ballan on 23 March 2012.

above: in April 2012 he got to go to Blackwood again where he used to chase lizards 

with his brother Pokey.

One of his favourite things to do was "get in the car". It was such a novelty for him to be able to travel around and he loved it. The minute we picked up the keys, he was waiting at the front door!

On Sunday (20 May 2012) he was chasing the Magpies outside, on Monday (21 May) he traveled with us in the car to Bendigo for the day. On Monday evening his breathing became erratic and through the course of the night we realised his time was coming to an end.

above: photo taken at 12 noon on 22 May 2012 (18 hours before he passed away) as he lay in the 

lounge room in the sunshine

On the Tuesday (22 May 2012)  he really struggled with his breathing, one minute hyperventilating and the next 'shallow breathing'. I was too selfish to take him to the vet after what we went though with Pokey, but at 3.15am the following morning while I was nursing him in the lounge ..... I knew we had no choice but to call the vet as soon as we got up.

We took him back to bed with us and we held him till he closed his eyes at 6:10am on 23rd May 2013.

Letting him go was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, unbearably difficult.

He was a special friend I will never forget. 

I know we were blessed to have had him for so long, possibly more than his fair share of life expectancy.

above: John took this photo - Tuesday 22 May 2012

Rest in Peace Oscar 

(Sugar Ray Robinson), 

you fought the good fight right till the end.

we all loved you so much

you were one very special little dog

there will never be another like you.


its now been two years since our little man left us 

and we can honestly say, we miss him every single day.
 

He did leave a huge hole in our hearts 

and life will never be the same again.
23 May 2014

.

.

 

Oscar's visit to Blackwood.

It's been a busy week, but on Wednesday we took some time out to go up to Blackwood, an old historical village on the Lerderderg River.  Blackwood is 89 klms from Melbourne in Victoria, Australia and where we have a small holiday place. It is also where gold was discovered on Jan 4 1855

Blackwood is only 20 minutes from Ballan, so it was a quick trip there to pick up a few things. It was very cold and wet, but we still had to go.

On our arrival we let Oscar out of the car to 'explore'.... this is where he and Pokey chased lizards nearly every weekend and after doing that all day long they were exhausted, so they lazed in front of the fire with Zac (Janines dog).

above: Zac, Oscar and Pokey at Blackwood on March 13 2005.

But we watched Oscar running around, sniffing here and there and we wondered how much he remembered of previous visits so many years ago?

above: Pokey and Oscar looking for lizards in January 2007 at Blackwood.

below: Oscar running around the front area of Blackwood in May 2012

His nose was "working overtime" while there, did he know where he was?  Can he remember Pokey or Zac at all?

We are happy we got to take him to Blackwood again.

He has settled in at Ballan very well, he is still on medication three times a day and sometimes has difficulty breathing, but overall he seems to be happy. The vet says he is in no pain, but to just watch him closely.

We had a 'doggie door' installed into the laundry door on Thursday and already he uses it. We thought it might take a week or two for him to get used to something so 'new'. But with a little encouragement he was in and out of it within the first hour and now takes himself outside when ever he needs to.

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

We are happy that he got to "come home" and also that he has now been to Blackwood as well.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but with loads of love and care, we hope he is with us for sometime yet!


postnote: Oscar passed away in John's arms at 6:10am on 23 May 2012


.

OSCAR = March 13 2012

YouTube clip of Oscar - our Tenterfield Terrier - at the Quarantine Station today:


OSCAR - March 13 2012

Just to see him running around is a joy!!

Better still, its nice to know he has only 10 more days there. Due for release on March 23 2012, just one day before he turns 14.

plan ahead, plan well ahead!

No one really needs to be told to 'plan ahead' when packing or moving, just maybe one or two reminders?

*this blog post is off my other blog, not all of whats here will be relevant for those departing Australia, but am reposting it in case it may be of help to others that are packing to move overseas anyway*

We started our planning and sorting last November so that we did not have a "last minute panic". So far this has worked fairly well.  Yes, we have had many obstacles and brick walls to climb over, by by planning ahead we seemed to have been getting over them a little easier.

When repatriating home, you will find there are many things to think of and it will be a lot more difficult than when you first arrived into Singapore. Or anywhere else for that matter.

Plan ahead by looking up the customs and immigration site of where you are moving to. For us this was the Australian Customs and Immigration site. So much to read, so much to learn and so much to absorb!

But my immersing yourself in this knowledge then (hopefully) there will not be too many surprises once you start the packing or unpacking process.  We certainly did learn what we could take back and what we couldn't. We also know that anything purchased within the past 12 mths will be taxed at the other end. We strongly disagree with this, but "thems the rules".  Our disagreement is because we have purchased items here in Singapore for our personal use and paid tax, GST etc here, so why the need to pay extra tax at the other end when it is still for personal use?

So yes, keep those receipts!

Scan and copy all your receipts if you have to...... the originals can be shipped, but do keep a copy of anything purchased within the past 12 mths to show the removalist company. This certainly applies for Australia, not sure of elsewhere and this is why its a good idea to read the website of the country you are moving to. Be well prepared. We have actually kept aside anything that we need to declare and the boxes are marked as "to be declared". The removalist or packer will need to repack these boxes, but we have put aside the items, not actually 'packed' them.

If you can, scan all your documents. Believe me, there will always be that one piece of paper that you have packed and sealed, then suddenly find its needed.  For us it was one of Oscars bits of paperwork ....  the Kennel Company phoned yesterday asking if we had the letter for "XYZ".

Most of our paperwork has been scanned and we have copies on our HD, on the portable HD and on the IPad. We always have hardcopies of our passports in our suitcase and in our carry on luggage, then the removalists phoned to make sure we have a copy for them on the day of packing. Just as well we had a couple of spare copies on hand.

We keep copies of documents on our IPads that we may also need in transit. As we carry the IPad with us constantly, this comes in handy.

As usual, all our important documents are on the HD, but as we will not have access to our computers till at least mid April, John has done a complete back up - as he does every few days anyway - and he will have the portable HD with him. This allows us access to our full computer system on the MacBook while in transit.

All items that we need to 'declare' for customs has been set aside for the removalists when they arrive on Wednesday. There is a chance - or so we are told - that if there is a hold up with the shipment at the other end, they can clear the rest of the items for shipping to the final address and just hold back the items that are being declared for checking and processing.

There is a high chance of most of it needing to be fumigated as well. So all timber furniture is also being set aside so it can go in the container together.

If you are unsure if an item is to be declared or not, declare it. Be safe.

I have copied the pages from the website and highlited the items of concern. In particular, the part that says for Musical Instruments, I have a Djembe with goat skin. I know that it should clear customs OK as there is no hair attached or on the drum itself. But quarantine will still need to check it. I have copied the appropriate page, highlited the part about the musical instruments and added my own note to say it was originally purchased in Australia, came to Singapore in 2007 and has not been to any other country. Hopefully they will allow it through!

Another 'item' to allow time for is the viewings ... yes, viewings of your apartment. That is if it is leased. The agent is likely to contact you at least 4 times a week for viewings, you can say no, but its better to compromise with time. If its not convenient for 12 noon, then ask if they can come at 11.00am. Be flexible if you can. But do allow for these times .... especially if you are in a 'packing mess' and need to hide some items and do a quick clean up!

Plan ahead for bathroom items ..... by about the final 4 - 6 weeks, no longer should you be purchasing the larger bottles of body wash, shampoo, conditioner or Listerine!  Try to ease down to just a small amount by the final week, otherwise you will be throwing out too much. This also applies to the kitchen. Do not even think of buying the 25kg bag of rice in that last month .... unless you have a huge family that is!

Organise the phone. internet, TV disconnection. The change of address's all those things that need to be done even if you are moving just 5 klms away.

For anyone moving OS, then start to organise the phones, internet etc for connection to be made on arrival, find out about the 'phone plans' that are available. Start to think of what your needs maybe. For us, this phone call to the Telco in Australia took one hour and 45 minutes.

Consider your "checked in" luggage a couple of weeks before departure. What will the weather be when you arrive at your destination? Consider cooler weather means jackets etc!  Then make sure that jacket is not going to be shipped. Keep aside the items you need for your flight and what needs to be in your 'checked in' luggage. If you are constantly changing the items around, then weigh it every few days, keep track of that weight! If flying Qantas, check their new baggage allowances.

If by chance you know you are repatriating 'next year' and are going home for a visit before then, take extra your clothes to leave behind at the next visit. That way on final departure you will not need to carry so many things with you ... or at least it will allow you to carry more souvenirs perhaps!  We did this over Christmas, we went home for a few days and took shoes and clothing we could leave behind. Now we don't have to wait till mid April when the shipment arrives for most of our clothing!

Plan ahead for the 'handover' too ... like curtains will need to be dry cleaned, walls may need painting etc. I should do a new blog post for 'handover' time with regards the apartment. This is perhaps the most stressful part of moving out of any apartment in Singapore as we - and many others - very well know. My blog post on our handover from The Jade is HERE.

As our handover is on Friday and we depart Friday afternoon, I think I will leave that blog post for another time. Suffice to say, be prepared for anything!

When its time to organise a removalist / packer, start getting quotes at least three months ahead of the time needed. Think about your needs and what you want, get to know the company and if you feel comfortable with them, with their staff and what they are offering. I had four companies come out and chose one that I was very happy with. The staff are excellent and they don't even mind coming out again if you have any questions. But do plan ahead so you feel comfortable with the choice you make too.

PS: do not always go with the 'cheapest' either .... make sure you have everything in writing. Our move ended up being a disaster and we removed the blog posts (with their name) until it was settled ..... but nothing was. They told us we lied when I showed them the images of broken and damaged items. It really ended up being far too stressful all because we chose the 'cheapest' and yet as we all know, you get what you pay for .... and we did!

Plan head for any eventuality and even allow extra days for the 'unknown'. 

.... as an example, Oscar was to fly out today (Feb 20) and his final medical check was booked for last Friday. Then we were informed that they had to delay the flight by 24 hours. Which  meant we had to rearrange the final vet check for today (instead of last week) the flight is now tomorrow (21st) and the removalists that were due here on the 21st now had to be rescheduled for the Wednesday 22nd as we will still have Oscar here at the time they were originally to be here. Everything we had planned for this final week now had to be delayed by 24 hours. 

With hindsight, I think I should have blocked off two days each week 'just in case'!!

Often people will say "there are not enough hours in the day" and this will apply to repatriating too, but by planning ahead, hopefully there will be enough hours in the day for everything you need to do.

We set aside the final two weeks as a 'wind down' time. Still with things to do of course, but we have tried not to full every minute of every day.  People will be wanting to meet with you, have lunch, catch up with you and you will be wanting to set aside time to be with them too. Have some times available that is flexible for you to spend time with your friends.

But just as important, if not more so - take some time out to spend with your partner.  With all the things that need doing, you do need time to be together. Cross off a day in the diary, this 'date' is not flexible. Spend it going for a walk, having dinner, lazing by the pool, beach or wherever. No cell phone, nothing ... just yourselves.

Our day was last Thursday when we spent three hours at the Buddhist Temple in Chinatown and the afternoon at Spa Botanica on Sentosa.  The blog post is HERE on where we went.

main thing to remember is to plan ahead and relax!!

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10 sleeps ......

still in Singapore and its now Tuesday Feb 14th.....

So not long before we depart, in fact just 10 sleeps.  Oscar flys out next Tuesday evening and arrives in Melbourne at 6.00am on Wednesday Feb 22 when - hopefully - the Australian Quarantine people will be there to pick him up and take him to Spotswood Center.

He will be there for one month, not sure how we are going to cope with that, let alone Oscar!!

 

 Oscar in the crate in the lounge here in Singapore!

We have the crate here in the lounge so he gets used to it being around and by the time he needs to spend at least 10 hours in it, he will be used to it and it won't be too stressful for him. Though we know he will fret as he will not be around us and he needs his people, be it John, myself or Yvonne.... he has always been around people and after losing his brother in July last year he is even more dependent.

But we are doing our best, so fingers crossed he will be well enough to travel and strong enough to take the flight and the 30 days of quarantine.

In the meantime, we are doing last minute purchases of items we cannot get in Australia and if we can, it would be too expensive!  The removalists arrive on Wednesday morning of next week and apparently will take about 5 hours to pack. We have a 20' container and will probably take up about 17 cbm ....  can't afford to buy anything else anyway, so thats it!

The shipment is packed on the 22nd, then it goes back to the removalists warehouse to add our shipment from Batam - furniture from our villa there - then the container will 'probably' depart Singapore by about Feb 28th. We have been told it will take just on 3 weeks for it to arrive in Melbourne but it will sit on the docks till the Australian customs can get around to checking everything. Which apparently is about 2 weeks. If there is nothing needing to be done like fumigation etc then we should be expecting the shipment at our home in Ballan by the first week of April.

This will be the exciting part, the removalists will be unpacking of course so all we need to do is 'supervise' where everything is to be placed. At this stage we really don't have much of an idea as to where everything will go as we have only seen the house once and that was last December when we spent an hour or so just going through everything and measuring rooms.

Its hard saying goodbye to all our friends here, but we know we will see most of them again at some stage ...... but we need to look to our future too and start to think of new friendships and settling in to our new home.

Will keep you posted on events as they happen......

map of where Ballan is located ... Melbourne is to the right off the map. That's for all my friends here in Singapore!!

one door closes another will open!

we are still here in Singapore sorting, packing and generally getting ready to repatriate to Australia .... and then on to Ballan.

We were very apprehensive about moving to a small town after the vibrancy of Singapore, but starting to come to terms with the move and just today we talked about the new adventures that await us ....

its a bit like as one door closes another will open!

There has been a lot involved in the move back to Australia, there is the sorting through all our belongings and arranging for a removalist to get everything shipped back.


We have a villa in Indonesia and there are quite a few things (including furniture) we need from there that has to be shipped to Singapore in time to be shipped to Melbourne with the rest of our things on February 21. But the hold up is on the Indonesian end .... so we wait and wait .... and wait some more, for they need to decide when this is going to happen. In the meantime we are getting a little stressed as each day goes by and the time is getting closer. We want some definite dates!

I have recently uploaded a blog post on packing - or more to the point - what not to pack on my other blog. You may care to read that posting here: Living in Singapore.

John has been extra busy getting his business up and running. With his deep appreciation of cultural diversity in Asia and Australia's changing role in the region, I can see his  business leaping ahead!

John Fabre and Associates is a boutique agency focused on how consumers and businesses can genuinely benefit from our changing world. I choose to work with associates in applying creative, communication and business management skills to align brand aspirations and consumer needs in an experience consumption driven world. We all bring different skill sets.
 

 

                                 Oscar

Oscar (our Tenterfield Terrier) now has his flight booked for February 20 and will be in Quarantine at the Spotswood Quarantine Station for one month.  This particular part of the move has been incredibly stressful for us both .... Oscar will be 14 years old in March and has a few health issues. The Australian Quarantine were not happy to allow his entry into Australia, citing his health issues on such a long flight. We have written to them explaining in great detail that even though he is old and has health problems, he is quite 'the fighter' and will survive the flight. We have agreed to a private vet assess him on arrival and accept all conditions they have placed on the permit that we now have.

We came to Singapore with two Tenterfield Terriers - our boys were brothers, they had the same parents - but Pokey died last July  we know that Oscar really has to go HOME and if we don't try, we will never know. We feel it is worth the risk, so long as he is not in any pain.


If you could see him running up and down the stairs here, there is no way he looks 'old'. The carer (from K9 Kennels) came today to bring the crate for Oscar to get used to. Even he was saying how healthy he looked and was playing with him. We are praying all will be well for him to travel home on February 20 and that he survives the following month in quarantine. We are allowed to visit him twice a week ... that is going to be hard on the three of us ... but lets hope that time goes by very quickly!!

Once he is out of there it will be party time ...... for it will be his 14th birthday!!

So yes .... we are packing and sorting getting ready for our move back to Australia and eventually to Ballan.  There is a lot of planning still to be done, but as one door closes another will open!  We have no idea what that open door will show us......

but we are ready for that next adventure!