I just got back from Japan about a week ago. I brought some of his ash to Japan and left him there so he can be with his grandpa and grandma. (I have the majority in Hawaii)
I always wanted to take him to Japan but due to qurantine and everything he had to go through, I just couldn't put him through that risk. He had a heart condition back then and didn't know he would make a long flight. When I did a TV show about Japan, we used Pepe for one of JTB (Japan Travel Bureau) commercial as a mascot. I did a animated voice for him saying " Hi I am Pepe, I want to go to Japan and eat good food too!" I am not sure if he really wanted to go to Japan but I know he wanted to be with me all the time. As you can see in the picture, this is him hiding in the bag right before my trip to Japan in like 2008. I started taking a lot of trips to Japan around that time for shooting TV show. It broke my heart to leave him but just had to do what I had to do. He was always extremely sad when I was leaving and would hide in the suitcase or a bag like this.
He had a habit of getting sick before my trip as if he knew. I actually think he knew, because he was such a smart dog. Last few times I went back to Japan, he got sick right before and I felt horrible. His seperation anxiety was pretty extreme. It was to the point of I didn't want to go to work because of him. So, that's why I took him everywhere with me. He went to the studio with me when I had a radio show and remained very silent and socialized with all my listeners. He went to the restaurant and would hide in a bag and one time, I forgot to bring him home because he was so quiet!! Poor thing he was in his bag the whole time under the table. I even went to the movie theatre and he tagged along to watch Sex in the city movie with me and my girlfriends. Oh and he snored. Typical man.
He was happier to stay in the bag and go everywhere with me rather than being home all alone. Some people made comments to me like that I spoil him too much. It really wasn't that. He was really sad so I did what I had to do. and I didn't care. As long as Pepe was happy.
Pepe passed away on January 12 around 6:30am. I was going to cancel my trip to Japan and he decided to go to heaven right before I was gonna call travel agency. I took it as a sign that he wanted to go to Japan with me for the first time in his life. So I had to be excited for him. He was flying to Japan and my vet was ecstatic because she knew how much I wanted to bring him to Japan. She and I used to go back and forth trying to figure out what to do about bringing him to Japan after my divorce. I think if I was able to bring Pepe to Japan, I probably would have never stayed in Hawaii. But because of his heart condition, I decided to stay in Hawaii for Pepe. He was the reason I never went back to Japan. Being separated from him for 2 months was bad enough. I didn't want to be seperated from him any longer because I promised to him that I would take care of him until the day he dies. He helped me make the right decision about staying in Hawaii because everything went fell into place after.
Anyways, so my vet was crying and that she was so happy Pepe was traveling to Japan with his mama. My boyfriend made sure I had proper paperwork to go through TSA so I don't get caught or that they won't take his ashes away from me. I needed those certificate of death and cremation asap and my vet and crematory people went out of their way and worked so fast to do this for me and Pepe, which I am so thankful for. If it wasn't for my boyfriend, I could have been stuck being questioned what these powder was. He was so sweet that it was as if Pepe's spirit has gotten into my boyfriend. I have no idea how he must have felt when both of us were gone. He used to watch him for me while I was gone, and I know they had lots of fond memories together....
I am going to write about our first trip to Japan some other time, but I hope Pepe enjoyed his trip. He finally got to go, and ....at least stare at the good food! (sorry Pepe!)
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