Pet Asia and Aquarama 2015

This year, the 14th edition of the ornamental aquatic industry premier biennial event, Aquarama 2015 opens to trade visitors on 28th May and then to public on 30th May at Suntec City Convention Centre. This is then followed by the 5th edition of Pet Asia 2015, which is opened to both trade visitors and public from 29th May. 

And I'm really glad I managed to drop by on their last day! I missed the dogs (obedience competition) on 30th, but still managed to get wowed by all the pretty looking fishes and cute bunnies!

And yes, bunnies!

This 6 months old French Lop is one of the most popular bunnies exhibited, alongside a Flemish Giant and a Dwarf Hotot. 

And apparently, the overwhelming popularity has gotten to it. I was told that throughout the past few days, almost everyone wanted to carry it. It was dead asleep throughout the 3 hours I was there, and even when someone pet it, it remained sound asleep.

And so I decided to cuddle up with the pretty and adorable Dwarf Hotot, the famous eyeliner bunny! 

It was so tamed and well behaved in my arms, not like Jelly at all. =.="

Just look at them! Totally melt your heart, didn't they? 

This chinchilla totally grabbed my attention by eating hay in its dreams! Its cute eyes were totally closed while munching at the hay ball. 

Cavy, also commonly known as Guinea Pigs, are also pretty popular at the exhibition zone and it's not hard to see why. Not sure if it's because they're still young babies, but if they can remain as adorable as that (short fur, and palm-sized) forever, I'll love to get one as a companion for Jelly too! 

And of course, the highlight at Pet Asia 2015 on the 31st May is the National Rabbit & Cavy Show!

Look at the line up of contestants for the Fancy Rabbit Show!

And I couldn't resist but took a shot of this cutie kept in the cage right in front of me. She looks like a mini version of Jelly with red eyes! Hahaha!

All the contestants are judged by bunny expert for their demeanour, health and overall conditions and she eventually crowned 4 winning bunnies: Best Temperament, Best Fur, Best Condition and Best Overall.

And over at Aquarama, their ever-popular and widely respected competitions welcome a colourful newcomer: The Crystal Bee Shrimp Competition!

Was told that one of these 1.5cm long shrimp can fetch up to a whopping SGD $2000 and they have an average lifespan of only 2 years!

And of course, other than the newcomer, the other categories such as Betta, Goldfish, and Discus also have some amazingly beautiful contestants!

We were walking through the Discus aisle when I randomly said, "They look like...."

And T finished it for me: Pomfret.

 A goldish with chubby cheeks! How cute is that!

One of the prize winner for the Betta category. T was explaining to me why this Betta won instead of its neighbour (shape of the tail etc) but I really can't tell much difference. 

The only Lohan fish we saw, and it also left a deep impression with its monstrous sized head lump. 

For an animal lover like myself, this biennial event is a definitely must go! For those who have missed out on this year, see you during the next one in 2017! 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Jelly's Update: Jelly's Grooming Day!

Finally, a long awaited update for Jelly! 

Yup, and that's Jelly watching Running Man along with me every Saturday night. She either watches the TV or she watches me watching the TV. And that's Jelly's pre-groomed bunny butt over there. Yup, unruly (matted) fur in her overgrown tail and full of yellowish pee stains. Tried multiple times to wipe her down with a baby wipe but it really doesn't help at all. 

And so I decided to bring her for grooming! 

And there's Jelly, sulking in the new carrier I bought for her. Dresden's kitty carrier can't work because it's too dark and she gets terrified and starts to gnaw-pull at the opening. She's more calm and stable in this picnic-basket style carrier, just that because it's too big for her (twice her size) she keeps fidgeting, sliding and hopping around in the carrier. 

I made an appointment with Pets Republic (Telok Kurau branch) at 1230pm and when I was there at about 1220pm, I realised they were still closed and another girl with her pet bunny was sitting outside at the shop, waiting since 12pm. It wasn't until 1245pm that the lady boss rushed over in a cab, claiming that her girl is supposed to be around to open the shop at 12pm. She thought that the girl probably left for her 1 hr lunch, but we both didn't tell her that nobody came around at 12pm.
And then the biggest shock of the day happened. She pushed her keys into the lock, and pushed the insides of the lock system right out of the frame.

Oh well, more waiting required. This time, for the locksmith. It's really just not any of our days. So we left our bunnies with her and I dropped by Penny University for a cuppa coffee (their Muddy Expresso with Cold Milk rocks!) before returning to The Garden Slug, which was located right opposite Pets Republic, for my lunch. Speaking of this, I've yet to blog about my dinner here with OYHZ and Finaldust almost 2 months ago. *yikes*

Finally, the locksmith came at at 1 plus and I finally got Jelly in for grooming at about 2pm. Yes, my initial appointment time was 1230pm. 

There should be two cats to greet you at the door as you enter (if not 1, because Einstein might not be always so at-the-door), Munchkin, the Munchkin, and Einstein, (I'm guessing) the Persian. Look at Munchkin! Such cute short legs! But both cats are actually pretty camera shy, especially Munchkin. I took like 10 shots to capture one of her looking near the camera. Most of the time when she noticed the camera, she will quickly turn the other way. 

Now, back to Jelly's grooming....

First up she had her nails trimmed. I'm kind of scared of trimming her front paws because they're so tiny! I once ended up flipping her paws inside out as I snip on her nails at a wrong angle and she refused to let me touch her paws for a few days after. 

 Then, due to her bad pee stains at her butt, I decided to give her a wash down. She did kick a bit as she's really nervous with her first time grooming, but the groomer managed to handle her well. 

 Then on to the blow-drying, the part I was most worried about. Jelly is really kind of timid and she get startled even by our loud sneezings or sudden loud noises from the TV. Yes, she got that "Oh my gawd, save me!" look on her during the blow-drying but thankfully she still took it in her strides. 

Well done, Jelly! :)

 Then it's on to brushing out the matts in her tail....

And finally the groomer decided to trim off the excessively matted/stained/overgrown fur at her butt. 

Look at her trance state there, so comical!

And there's Jelly upon reaching home after grooming. She smelled so good from her spa soak bath and her fur noticeably softer (and shorter at the butt). 

 Here's some before pictures...

And the after! See, cute small tail with furry white bunny butt! :)

And now to spam more cute animal pictures...

The forever grumpy Einstein. She kept coming to me that day and meowed at me. 

And that's the camera shy Munchkin. She look so grouchy in the last picture because I was bent on taking a picture of her face. She kept turning her head away from the camera until she gave up. *rofl*

One of the cats boarding at Pets Republic. When I went near her and look at her, she meowed at me! And then we started meow-versationing. The lady boss was pretty amused and told me this cat usually doesn't give a hoot about others who go near her cage. 

 The cat-boarder in the next cage. Initially I thought he's a young Maine Coon (he looks so much like Shadow, a friend's Maine Coon) but it turns out he's not. He's an Australian Forest.... something. Ahaha, but very pretty indeed! 

There's actually another Maine Coon, kept in another large cage at a dark corner of the shop, who has his fur shaved off except for the face. Omg, that was such a pitiful yet comical sight but I didn't take any pictures because... I don't know, felt disrespectful? 

And moving on to the bunnies...

 

 Meet Cotton, another bunny in queue behind Jelly for grooming. So round and fluffy, a true cotton ball indeed!

 Some lops chillaxing at one corner....

 Here's another cotton ball! It's so fluffy I'm gonna dieeeee!

 Ahaha, the bunny here has got some lop-butt fetish, I guess?

 I just ROFL-ed when I saw this. Funny beyond words.

 A very pretty, white bunny with blue eyes. 

 These dwarfs are just a few weeks old. And they're really tiny! Just palm sized!

And look what we've got here! A half-lop! Ahahahaha! I guess its still pretty young that's why the uneven lop-ness.

And then to the dogs....

Here's another dog that came in for boarding. Looks really cute and pitiful as it whined at me and did a cute head tilt when I looked at it. Apparently, it's a frequent boarder and turns into a monster when it sees food. 

A cute, old Golden Retriever, who has some skin problems at her snout because of a habit of always nudging things with her nose....

And finally, the Chinchillas!

 

Can you spot the chinchilla here? *rofl*

Pets Republic is located at 

No. 224 Telok Kurau Rd Lorong L, #01-06 Uni Building Singapore 423836

Tel: 6345 9132

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