King Tut, somewhere, Hong Kong

AbbyB Posted Jun 22, 2009, 3:20 am	Hello subjects, I am your Pharoah, King Tutankhamun, but you may call me Tut. As you may know, I passed away at an early age and did not get to see much of the world while I was alive, so now that I have been discovered by Howard Carter, I would like to travel and see all sorts of exotic places.  I am particularly interested in meeting other royalty and visiting ancient monuments (well, ancient by today's standards).  One day I would also like to visit my native Egypt, to see what it is like today.  I used to love sports like chariot-racing, so I would like to see and experience modern sports.  Lastly, I recently heard about these new-fangled 'amusement parks' and want to experience at least one of those.  Please let Abby know if you would like to host me!
AbbyB Posted Jun 22, 2009, 8:54 pm	I was curious to know what has been discovered about my empire in recent years, so I asked Abby if she had any information.  She said Egyptology was not her focus, but she had a couple books for me to look at. This page is dedicated to me. This book had lots of terminology and backround information on different customs, gods and pharoahs.  I already knew most of this stuff, but it was a good read. There were also some articles in Abby's Archaeology Magazines. Abby said that if I wanted to learn about other cultures or anthropology in general, she had lots of books.
AbbyB Posted Jun 26, 2009, 9:38 pm	Today we are trying out a cake recipe that Olgamaus gave to Abby. First, we had to harvest some rubarb. Wow, that was hard work.  Those stalks are HUGE! Then, we chopped up the rhubarb. Next, we mixed together butter, sugar and vanilla.  Everybody took a turn. Then eggs were added. Then flour and baking powder. Now the cream There, that looks about finished. Into the pan Put the rhubarb on top And into the oven! While that was baking, we whipped up some meringue. Mmm, that's looking really good. Put the meringue on top, and then back into the oven. Oh wow, this looks delicious! Then, with the leftover egg yolks (the whites were used in the meringue), Abby made everyone a ToyVoyager-sized scrambled eggs! Unfortunately we can't try the cake until everybody gets home from work.  Stay tuned!
AbbyB Posted Jun 27, 2009, 6:09 am	An update on the cake: IT WAS DELICIOUS!  Thank you for the recipe, Olgamaus!
AbbyB Posted Jun 29, 2009, 6:42 am	Today Abby took me along to see a Shakespearean play at Bard on the Beach.  Apparently he wrote plays a couple thousand years after my time. We were here to see Othello. All of the actors Abby said she wanted me to meet someone very special.  It was QueenElizabethI, who was visiting home to watch some Shakespeare, her favourite entertainment.  My first taste of other royalty!
AbbyB Posted Jun 29, 2009, 8:45 pm	King Tut is on his way to his first host.  Good luck on your journey!
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 7, 2009, 8:41 am	Hello Abby, Today I arrived at Steph's home.  It's very nice.  She was surpised at my size as she thought I was slightly bigger by looking at my photos. I was greeted by Emil and became ecstatic to see a donkey.  When I reined, we used donkeys to carry loads, to plow seeds in fields, and to carry people.  They weren't TOO important though, hence why you do not see donkeys in our art.  I had to promise Emil that I would not use him for such things.  He did not seem to like the idea of being used for like that for some odd reason. We also posed with the wonderful postcard Abby sent along for Steph.  She liked it VERY much and wanted to put a "Thank you" in this blog. I hope to have many fun adventures here, and I am sure I will. King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 8, 2009, 7:29 am	Today, I explored Steph's house and came across four sacred and respected beasts (at least, they were in my time  ).  I am speaking about cats. The first feline I met was named Gracie, who was fast asleep at the time.  She was very beautiful. I also spoke with the very wise Opie.  We had many things to say to one another.  I asked him if he thought he may be a descendant from one of my felines, but he was not sure. Kobe was the next feline I came across.  He was extremely large and made an excellent pillow for a king. The final feline was named Patch.  I would have taken a photo next to her, but she tried to devour me.  Luckily, Steph stepped in and no damage was done to me.  I also met a canine, and a large one at that.  They call his breed a Great Dane and I was told that he weights around 190 pounds.  That is a lot more than I. I ventured outside and found these strange statues called 'gnomes' in Steph's yard.  I wonder if these are of important people.. Well, Abby, I need my sleep as all good rulers do.  I will be back with more soon.
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 13, 2009, 8:04 am	Today, I got to pop my very first bag of popcorn in the microwave.  I'm not very good with the technology of this century, meaning that Emil had to help me.  It was only a single serving bag, but it was surely enough for two tiny TVs to share.  Let me tell you, popcorn is delicious.  It was not around before I was placed in my tomb, but I am glad that it is now. Once we popped our bag, we sat ourselves down in front of the television (yet, another "new" technology) and watched a show called Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.  It tells five eerie stories in one show and allows you to decide if each one is real or completely made up by writers.  At the end of each show, it tells you which ones were true or false.  Emil and I were rather good at this show; we usually got three or more right. After watching one of the stories about a wrestler, I was fascinated about wrestling.  I was never allowed to engage in such an act before.  Emil agreed, and we began.  I managed to climb on to his back and though that I was going to win for sure. However, I did not expect Emil to buck me off.. He climbed up on top of me to claim the victory.  I was not hurt, Abby, so do not worry yourself.  I was also a good sport about losing.  It was all a game. Hope to see something incredible soon.  Steph is not sure when she will be able to go anywhere with us due to work, but she will try.
brilliantlyxx Posted Jul 14, 2009, 8:10 am	This morning, Emil and I decided we would relax around the house.  We heard a very peculiar noise outside the door and we knew we needed to see what it was.  We opened the door only to find Wieka.  He had flown in from Germany, a place I have yet to visit myself. Wieka wanted a group shot of us to show his mentor back at home.  I could not refuse and make someone else unhappy.
brilliantlyxx Posted Aug 6, 2009, 6:05 am	This morning,  we woke up quite early due to the carpet company.  They were coming over to lie down some brand new carpet.  We had decided we should assist. Many of these tools looked like tools that had been used back during my time in my home country of Egypt.  My, how things have changed. This is what the carpet looked like as the men placed it on the floor, but did not attach it. This is the hall way with only the padding on the floor.  They had yet to place the carpet on top of it yet.  Looks a bit odd, huh? Steph also recieved another surprise.  The pool company called to inform her that they would be able to put her pool liner in today.  We did not want to get in their way, so we took photos from inside the window. While the pool workers went to get another load of water, we thought it would make for an excellent opportunity to look at the pool.  This is what it looks like almost filled.  I have never seen a pool like this before. When we returned to the house, we found that the carpet men were finished with their job.  Once we assisted in moving the furniture back, this is how the living room looked. Looks very nice, does it not? Well, Abby, I should be going to bed.  It is quite late and I've had a busy day. King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Aug 6, 2009, 6:08 am	Today, we had to say goodbye to Emil.  It was quite hard to say goodbye, but it had to be done.  He is continuing his travels in Scotland, and I wish him well.  Hope he learns much about the rich history it has to offer. Good luck, Emil!
brilliantlyxx Posted Aug 17, 2009, 6:05 am	Hello Abby, It has been decently warm here in Missouri, all though everyone else tends to think that it is hot.  I guess having lived in a country where the average weather for the month of August is 112 °F, there really isn't anything too bad about 88 °F. It cooled down a lot in the evening. Wieka and I decided we could go on a walk tonight.  We found a nice little pond with a bunch of fish in it. As well as these lovely flowers. When we arrived back home, Steph told us that we needed to make a dessert for an upcoming BBQ her family was holding tomorrow.  We dug through her box of recipes and found one that looked very delicious.  Brownie Cheesecake.  I have baked once before with you, Abby, so I was very pleased to have the opportunity to do this again. First, we put the brownie mix into a bowl.  Due to not having time to make homemade brownies for this, we had to settle with a box kit. Then, we followed the directions on the box to make the brownies. We put in 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, a 1/4 cup of water, and cracked three eggs. We used the hand mixer to speed up the time on mixing, otherwise the two of us may have been here all night!  Because there are two whisks on the hand mixer, Wieka and I were allowed to lick them.  I have never had uncooked brownie, let alone a cooked one, and this was quite the treat! Wieka got a little messy with his, however, and managed to get some of the batter on his right wing. I tried to help him and clean up the best that I could, but it didn't come out very well. Once we finished trying to clean up, it was back to the brownie!  We poured it all into a 13x9 pan and spread it out to make sure it was even, then placed it into the oven to bake for 15 minutes on 350°F. While the brownie baked, it was time to prepare the cheesecake.  We put in four 8oz. packages of cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 3 eggs, and 1/2 cup of sour cream.  Here is a photo of us adding in the sour cream, since we almost forgot all about it.  We used the hand mixer again (after we cleaned it, of course) and mixed all the ingredients together. This was our cheesecake! Once the timer went off for the brownie, we poured the cheesecake mixture over it.  Now, it's ready to go in for 35 minutes. It was a long 35 minutes, but once it was done, it was really starting to look good.  The cheesecake has chocolate topping, but we cannot put that on until the whole thing cools down in the morning.  For now, we'll just put it in the refrigerator. Well, Abby, tomorrow will be a busy day for me.  I will write all about it, of course! King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Aug 17, 2009, 6:32 am	This morning, we got up early so we could prepare for this BBQ. We had to finish off our brownie cheesecake, so we did that first. We got out three pieces of Baker's chocolate and placed them into a bowl.  Then, we melted them using the microwave. Wieka and I then drizzled the melted chocolate all over the brownie cheesecake. It was then complete. We waited, and waited for guests to arrive.  One couple showed up a few hours early, due to their long drive.  They brought along a crock pot filled with Rotel Cheese Dip and a bag of tortilla chips to dip in it.  It was very delicious. There was also some of Steph's mother's taco salad.  She takes lettuce, shredded cheese, taco meat, Catalina salad dressing, and Frito's chips and mixes them all together.  This was also very good, too. Here is the entire feast spread out on the table.  It included pork steaks, hamburgers, bratwurst, scalloped potatoes, baked beans, taco salad, macaroni and cheese, and a taco dip that another woman brought as well. Well, Abby, I'm sorry this update is so short, but I am just very full and tired from all the festivities.  Steph said that we might get to go out soon and see some more places. I cannot contain my excitement. King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Aug 18, 2009, 7:16 pm	Tonight, Abby, I saw the most glorious thing. A rainbow.  It wasn't a very strong one, though.  It is supposed to continue to rain here the rest of the week, so I hope to see another one.
brilliantlyxx Posted Sep 13, 2009, 5:21 am	Hello, Abby! Steph does apologize for the lack of updates. She had been very busy with her first year of college. However, we were FINALLY allowed out of her hometown and on a trip to the SEMO District Fair. SEMO is an acronym for South-East Missouri, by the way.  Here we are in front of the main entrance banner. Oh, and I must add another apology from Steph; some of the photographs did not turn out too great because she took her little ancient digital camera. We tend to be washed out in some photos. Here's the entrance of the rides and games. We didn't really go over there, though, as that is actually not the main event of the SEMO Fair. They did seem to have some nice rides, though.  The inventions since my days are quite incredible. We reached the main attraction, which was the animals.  There are many shows during the day time, however we did miss those.  We got to see a variety of animals the fair still had out, however.  I had never seen many of these, and neither had Steph. We came across a petting zoo-like area first.  At the very entrance was a section full of goats.  If we spent $1, we received a small cup of feed to give to each type of animal. Very nice. We had to read the sign on the goat pin and made very sure that we did not touch their horns.  In the next cage over, we found some very beautiful deer.  Steph has never been this close to deer before, as they are very skittish, she says. I thought they were very lazy. We also got to see a few animals that Steph said we would not get to see unless we went to a place called a 'zoo'. I would very much like to visit a zoo someday.  These animals included the Nilgai. We also got to meet a real Camel, too! There was also a Llama.... And an Alpaca! His hair looked VERY similar to the hair some of the boys at the fair had.  We also saw a few giant live turtles... And some sort of large Cavy (None of us could remember the first part of the name, though. Just the 'Cavy' at the end). Before we left the petting zoo like area, we also got to see a few more goats.  I think the people around here must be very fond of goats.  This goat seemed to like us a bit too much.  We found quite a few cows out for the show.  I started to realize that this fair is mainly about farm animals. We also got to see plenty of large horses.  These horses were far too big to ride, but were apparently bred to use in plowing. The final stop on our animal tour was the Birds and Rabbits section.  We saw quite the hen and rooster. And even a few turkeys as well! We also got to see a unique looking kind called a Polish.  They looked as though someone had glued a bunch of feathers on top their heads. We also got to see the first place winning Rabbit. How cool to meet one of the winners! As we were leaving, we had to go through food stand after food stand.  I could not believe some of the things people eat today! They eat these things called Deep-Fried Twinkies and Deep-Fried Snickers.  I'm not sure what either is, but Steph said the deep fried versions are usually only available at fairs, unless if you make them in your homes. They sounded very odd to me. We finished our night off at a little restaurant in Cape Girardeau called BG's Olde Tyme Deli. The food was rather delicious (we had to Chicken Club Platter) and the restaurant was decorated very nicely. On the menu, you can see a few old celebrities: Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, and Humphrey Bogart. Well, Abby, I must be going to bed now.  That dinner was rather filling for a king and I am very tired. King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Sep 15, 2009, 8:38 pm	Today, Wieka and I decided to check up on Steph's toy voyagers with her.  When we got on the site, we noticed that she had a new message. It was a message from Wieka's mentor that said Wieka must now be moving on to visit Czech Republic.  We decided to take one last photo together.  I will miss him and I wish him a successful travel.
brilliantlyxx Posted Sep 29, 2009, 7:13 am	This weekend Steph's parents were going on a trip to Memphis, Tennessee. It just so happened that they had room for just ONE extra person, and guess who got to attend? Yes, it was I.  I got my photo taken with three state signs along the way. One from Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. . We all needed a little bit of a break from all the driving, so we pulled into a rest stop in Memphis. We found this little structure, which I thought was nice and wanted my photo taken with it. Mainly because of the pyramid on top.  I also got to see the Mississippi River! The bridge connected Arkansas to Tennessee, if you were wondering. It was nice to have some time by the river. We were about to leave when I noticed a pyramid in the distance! I got a little bit too excited, I believe. It looke different than the pyramids I remember, but it was a pyramid, nonetheless. I asked Steph's dad what this pyramid was built for and he told me that the Memphis Grizzlies is the basketball team for Memphis and that they used to play here until 2004, when they moved to a different arena.  It is called the Pyramid Arena. I was a little bummed at first over this, but then I quite enjoyed this. The fact that they used a pyramid. Once we got to our hotel in Memphis and settled in, it was time to go back out into this city! One of the very first things I got to see was the Orpheum Theatre here in Tennessee! This theatre is said to be haunted by a little girl named "Mary", who died in an automobile crash near here.  They say they often find her sitting in C-5 and causing much mischief. They've even found blood in that seat. How eerie. In front of the Orpheum, there are many stars with celebrity names inside of them.  I took photos with a few names I thought you would recognize, all though they are unknown to me. Later on, we came across this big statue of Elvis playing! Naturally, I had to get my photo taken with a fellow "King".  As the night went on, we found ourselves on Beale Street, one of the best known streets in Memphis. It is mentioned in many blues songs, from my understanding. There were many things to do on this street and you could see people of all ages floating around here. They shut the street off from automobiles so that people can enjoy it all.  However, if you didn't feel like walking, you could take a carriage ride for a fee. When the night came and the lights lit up, it almost looked like something out of a fairy tale. Steph's mom said it looked much like the carriage from Cinderella. We also found a Hard Rock Cafe. Apparently, it's not a trip unless you go to a Hard Rock Cafe for some shopping. I've heard that there are many of these around the world. Here we are on Beale Street at night. The photograph really did not do it justice. It was all so 'alive'. I loved every moment of this environment...minus the drunks.  If you look in the middle of the photo, you can see a boy doing a flip. He, along with the other two standing near him, would do flips down the street for many feet in exchange for 'tips'. We ended our night with an Elvis Presley impersonator. He was pretty decent, but not as good as the real person. So, Abby, I hope you did enjoy all the things in this update. I know I had a lot of fun taking these photos and just being out in Memphis. We're headed back tomorrow and I may be attending my first concert soon! So very excited about this! King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Oct 15, 2009, 6:59 am	Today, I was supposed to be attending my first concert. However, Steph found out that the venue was not going to be allowing any photographing devices inside for this concert, so I was unable to attend. That was fine with me, however, because I decided to do a little bit of learning.  I found her Humanities book and began to look through it just to see if I could find anything interesting. And I found quite a few things out about the artwork and lives of Egyptians! You probably know a lot of these things, but I would still like to share with you. On this page, I learned that my funerary mask is from around 1380 B.C.E. It is gold inlaid with enamel and semiprecious stones and is around 21 inches (54 centimeters) tall. Our religious faith influenced much of our greatest artwork. We were polytheistic (meaning we believed in many gods). Some gods were often portrayed as animals and had local powers while some were involved in mythical stories that were significant to the entire nation. I got to reread the myth of Isis and Osiris in this book and I somewhat enjoyed this.  Here is the basic summery of the myth from the book: Quote: The myth of Isis and Osiris, for example, reenacts the political struggle between lower and upper Egypt. The god Seth (representing upper Egypt) murders and dismembers his brother Osiris. But Osiris's wife Isis gathers his scattered limbs and resurrects him in the underworld. Henceforth, Osiris rules the realm of life after death. Seth, meanwhile, is defeated by the falcon-god Horus, in whose name Egypt's pharaohs ruled the realm of living. I also learned about the Pyramids of Mycerinus, Chefren, and Cheops at Giza. They were built around 2525-2460 B.C.E. They were made of limestone blocks and the largest pyramid covered thirteen acres at its base and took more than two million stone blocks! There was also a photo of the statue Mycerinus (or Menkaure) and Queen Khamerernebty. This was created in Giza around 2515 B.C.E. This statue stood in the causeway of Mycerninus's pyramid. They are modelled similarly to the Greek statutes from the Greek classical era.  They are rigid, have no expression, and have one foot forward. This signified their importance. There wasn't very much on Egypt, which made me a little upset to be honest. I would have loved to have learned more about my past culture to freshen my memories a little bit. Well, Abby, all this learning can make a little king tired. I will update again very soon! King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Oct 15, 2009, 8:43 am	Hello Abby! This weekend, it was the birthday of Steph's friend so we all decided to take a trip for her birthday and we ended up in Chicago.  The trip had a very rocky start, however.  Due to another friend, we were not allowed to leave on time Friday evening and missed our train to Chicago by a mere two minutes. Everyone in the group finally agreed to drive, which would only be another four hours from where we had already come from.  We got into the city VERY early this morning after getting lost due to the one way streets. However, a bad beginning was not going to ruin my day. This morning, we got up early, ate a very filling breakfast, and started our day with a walk through the city.  Chicago is well known for the tall buildings that make up their skyline. One of the first buildings that we came across was the St. Peter's Church in the Loop located on 110 W. Madison St. The church was originally located on Clark St, but once it became too bad to repair, the brothers of Franciscan order bought the LaSalle Theatre and used the site to build this very church in 1953. The church was designed by Chicago Architects Vitzthum and Burns. The one thing that really caught our eye was the sculpture of the crucifixion called Christ of the Loop by Latvian sculptor Arvid Strauss in 1953. It is three-stories tall, weighs twenty-six tons, and is sculpted out of Georgia pink marble. It was very eye catching and looks amazing, no matter if someone is religious or not. Here is a view down the street of a few buildings.  The city is very clean and you do not see much graffiti in the downtown.  We all felt completely safe while here. We next came across the Chicago Temple Building, which is home to the First United Methodist Church of Chicago.  The building is a combination of a church and of offices and has twenty-nine floors. Floors five through twenty-one are completely offices.  It was designed by Holabird and Roche and constructed in 1922-1923.  At the time it was completed, it was the tallest building in Chicago and the second tallest in the world. Here is the James R. Thompson Center, which is located at 100 W. Randolph Street.  It was designed by Murphy & Jahn and constructed in 1979 - 1985.  It has many restaurants, shops, and houses many of the state government agencies.  We were going to go inside, but it is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.  We visited the Chicago Architecture Foundation building and as we wandered into the atrium in the Santa Fe Building, we found this model city of Chicago. I found this VERY impressive and enjoyable. With a city this size, I could definitely rule it! I climbed on top of the Lake Point Tower as King Kong does in those old movies.  I was now the ruler of Chicago! But, I had to get down so we could continue our journey. And I heard a rumor that Oprah lives in this building. Oh, I do hope that I did not squish the poor lady.  Our next stop was Millennium Park. There is so much to do and see in this park.  It was truly incredible! The first thing we got to see was The Crown Fountain. It has two 50-foot glass block towers that stand on each end of a reflective pool. Faces appear on the glass towers and apparently they are supposed to represent the citizens of Chicago. They also shoot appear to shoot water out of their mouths, but I missed it. The next stop at Millennium Park was "Cloud Gate". It is sometimes referred to "The Bean" by tourists because of it's shape. It was inspired by liquid mercury and created by Anish Kapoor. It is twelve feet tall and weighs around 110-tons. That's a LOT bigger than me! Jay Pritzker Pavilion is also located here. It is a VERY unique building and would be a great place to attend a concert. After checking out the Pavilion, we continued on our walk and ended up in Grant Park, which is home to the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain. This fountain represents Lake Michigan, which can be seen from the fountain, and the seahorses presents the four states that border the lake. Steph told me that this fountain was also in the title sequence of the old 90's sitcom Married... With Children. We continued our walk and found a wonderful surprise: the finish line to the Chicago Marathon! Apparently is it happening tomorrow! I hope we get to see some it! Another surprise came to us when we visited the Magnificent Mile on our way to the John Hancock Observatory.We found a sculpture entitled "God Bless America", which is based off the VERY famous painting "American Gothic". The sculptor did an excellent job with this one! They looked as if they had just popped out of the painting! Yes, we did get to go into the John Hancock Observatory. Steph accidently deleted the photo of me outside the building so I do not have any shots of myself outside the building, but I have plenty of myself from the inside looking out.  We were all the way up on the 94th floor, so we could see VERY far! We went up just as the sun was setting, so it was a very pretty time. Here I am looking out at Lake Michigan. This is a view of the skyline. The big black building is the Willis Tower (Steph said it was once called The Sears Tower). You can go up to the 103rd floor in that building! That is definitely a VERY long way down! Here's a few more city shots for you to enjoy! Well, Abby, we left the Observatory once the sun had finally set.  We were all so tired that we all just went back to the hotel and lounged around.  I'm sorry that this update is so long, but I wanted to fit it all in. We have a few more things planned for tomorrow that I am EXTREMELY excited about. I cannot WAIT! King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Oct 15, 2009, 9:39 am	Today, we were all woken up by noises outside of our seventh floor hotel room.  We were very curious to see what was going on and we couldn't believe our eyes! Part of the marathon was being ran RIGHT in front of our hotel. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain a shot for you that included me, Abby, because Steph's battery in her camera was being charged for the events coming up today. We had to use Steph's ancient digital camera, which really did nothing but make blurry figures on the street.  Sorry about that. After we ate our meal while watching the marathon, we headed down to the River Walk to catch our Architectural boat ride at 11:30 AM. It was VERY cold today and was only in the 30's-40's the entire day.  I came prepared and bundled myself up for the day. Here is the captain speaking to all of us before the boat ride began.  He seemed like a very nice gentleman. The building in the center of this photo is 35 East Wacker (many buildings here do not have names and just go by the address) and it was once the tallest building in the US outside of New York. It was also featured in a few scenes of Batman Begins. This was just a very old apartment building that I thought looked kind of interesting. I was too cold that I could not remember the name of the building and neither could Steph. This is just a view down the river. You see the building with the two tall white antennas? That is the John Hancock Observatory that we went into last night! I also got to see the backside of the Civic Opera House! It is the second largest opera auditorium in the United States. Too bad I wasn't able to see the front; I hear it is very beautiful. Towering high above us was the Willis Tower (Steph said it used to be called the Sears Tower for ages). We are thinking about going up there tonight. It takes you all the way up to the 103rd floor! There's Lake Shore Tower! That is the tower I climbed up on in the model! Man, it is a LOT bigger than what it was there! The boat tour ended with a beautiful skyline! I was so glad the sun came out for a little while, even if it was still VERY cold! Once the boat ride was over, we went down to Navy Pier. It is a pier on Lake Michigan that has shopping, rides, and entertainment. It is definitely a place you should stop at if you ever visit here, Abby! Here I am with the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier. It is one of the highlights of the whole pier! We didn't get a chance to ride it, but it was still nice to see. At Navy Pier, the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows is also a must see. It is, apparently, the first museum dedicated to the windows. There were quite a few stained glass windows inside and I was so excited to see them all! As we left the pier to catch a cab, we noticed this hot air balloon that appears to be used to promote Navy Pier. After we took an AMAZING cab ride (the cab driver told us all about Chicago and pointed out things that we had yet to see), we arrived at our final destination: The Willis Tower. The wait to go up into the tower was incredibly long. We had to wait around forty minutes to get to the elevators! As we waited, there were MANY diagrams on the walls showing up many interesting facts about the floor we were going to be looking out of.  In this photo, the circle shows just how far you can see on a clear day from the 103rd floor. The elevator was VERY fast and only took us 60 seconds to reach the 103rd floor.  The view was very much the same as it was in the John Hancock, only a few floors higher. The tall black building in the distance is the Hancock Observatory. One of the newest and main attractions in the Willis Tower is "The Ledge". There are four glass boxes that you can stand out on and look down at the city. It is entirely made of glass and is very safe, but very scary. Steph was going to set me on the bottom glass and take my photo, but with all the people coming onto the box, she did not see it as a good idea. I did get a picture, though.  This was an even LONGER way down than yesterday. Well, Abby, we have just left The Willis Tower and are heading back to Missouri! I hope you enjoyed this trip as much as I did! King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Oct 15, 2009, 9:45 am	Hello Abby, We arrived back at Steph's home around 2 A.M. and were terribly exhausted from the trip.  We were so tired that we failed to notice Cutie waiting for us.  He understood this and in the morning, he surprised me with some sweets he had brought over from Germany! I will not be able to spend much time with Cutie, though. I am leaving for Germany and I am very excited to see what that country has to offer me! Well, I must prepare for my journey East! King Tut
brilliantlyxx Posted Oct 15, 2009, 9:47 am	Hello Abby, I am now with the United States Postal Service. They are being very helpful with my journey to Germany, but I do hope they hurry.  I am not very comfortable when I do not have a lot of space to move, as I'm sure you know. I will let you know how I am the moment I get to Germany. Until then, King Tut
RikeH Posted Oct 28, 2009, 8:23 pm	Hello Mum! Today I arrived in Germany. We didn't have many time to say hello, because the others planned a trip to Bad Oldesloe – a small town near to Sülfeld. RikeH went to school there – many years ago... I will get my nice welcome, when Dicker Kumpel is back - he was away for the week-end and is the host here - next to RikeH. But now the most important sentence : !!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MUM !!!  Now I will tell you from our trip. There was a nice island.. ...and a beautiful river. I made some horseback-riding. Here is another part of the river – with troubled water. We had to wait for a receipt at the doctor’s. But it was not boring – you know, Toyvoyagers can talk and talk and talk.... The last think we saw, before we drove home was the town hall. Greetings King Tut
RikeH Posted Nov 2, 2009, 11:20 am	Hi Mum! The weather was awful this week-end, so we decided to play billiards. First Dicker Kumpel and the billiards-hippo showed us, how to play. It looks easy, but it is very difficult. So we asked a lot of questions. Dicker Kumpel began. Then it was my turn. First I watched, where the balls were. I tried it out – it was fun! After playing for a while we explored the room. It seems, that a horse lived and worked here years ago. At the end I tried to call you – but we didn’t know your number. Love King Tut
RikeH Posted Nov 7, 2009, 2:59 pm	Hi Mum! Today we will have a party – it is RikeH’s birthday. First we looked at her gifts. Then we sang a wonderful song for her. These flowers are so beautiful! When we helped RikeH to prepare everything for the evening we heard the bell. Who can this be? Dicker Kumpel opened the door. Another Bunny!!! He was so happy and gave her a warm welcome. She is called Co Co Rabbit and is from the UK. He introduced her to us – and we talked a lot. Then we decorated the table – this is the way TVs would eat… And this is the way, humans like to do it. They don’t sit on the table – this is strange. We had fun behind the happy birthday sign. The last thing this morning was to prepare the dessert. It looks yummy, doesn’t it? But it was very cold in this place. In the afternoon RikeHs Mum Hummel invited all of us to have a delicious cake. It looks great – and tasted great! In the evening we had a great party and ate a lot. But first we had some Champagne. We went to the table and ate so much. I didn’t know, what to eat first. Here are the desserts – now we were allowed to eat it. Some more snacks... First we looked into the camera for the photo.... ...but after it – we ate everything!!! Well Mum, it was funny – I hope to be on a birthday party soon. Yours King Tut
RikeH Posted Nov 15, 2009, 9:04 pm	Hello Mum, it was really early today, when RikeH came and invited us to come with her. We get up and took a train. It was very dark outside. So I decided to take another nap. RikeH worked a lot – then we had the lunch break and walked around the Alster -a nice lake in the centre of Hamburg. There are small boats on it, they are beautiful. There were some geese. Two photos with all of us. We found a funny monument with angels. Another boat on the Alster. Here I am on the other side of the lake. This is the townhall – it is beautiful. RikeH had to work in the afternoon – after the work we drove back to Sülfeld and had a stop in the train station. Look – it is decorated for Christmas – Christmas seems to be wonderful. Back in the train I looked out of the window – it is dark again. Working seems to be hard. I prefer to be a ToyVoyager. Love King Tut
RikeH Posted Nov 18, 2009, 9:25 pm	Hello Mum, today Lucan arrived in Germany. We gave him a warm welcome. Because the weather was nice – no rain today – we made a walk around Sülfeld. First we stopped at a big tractor. Look, there is a beautiful big tree. We went over a bridge and had nice views to both sides of it. We found the last summer-flowers! Later we wanted to do some sports. We saw a soccer field and played it. I was the goalkeeper. Can you see me? At the end we all played in the goal. On our way home we saw another interesting building with a beautiful sign on it. It was a very nice walk! Greetings King Tut
RikeH Posted Nov 21, 2009, 8:17 pm	Hello Mum, we will explore something new today. It is called WORK – it must be fun, because RikeH went to this place very often. We started to Hamburg early in the morning. Then RikeH showed us the place, where she works. There were some friendly toys. I think the one with the red hairs looked really funny. Look I worked a lot and was a big help ! We had delicious lunch... and then something nice to drink.  I loved the flowers on the table. In the evening we went home – using the Tube. We had a last stop at the fuel station and discussed to buy a new car for us. I want to have a Ferrari, Mum.  And Christmas is coming... Working seems to be not so much fun, I don't understand, why people are doing it. Love King Tut
RikeH Posted Dec 1, 2009, 9:31 pm	Hello Mum, we will make a nice trip this week-end. RikeH told us, that we will go to a sporting event, but we don't know which one. We drove to a nice place called Bad Laer – and this is the hotel, where we stayed in. This is the church next to it. In the evening we drank a delicious cocktail. I am so curious where we will go to tomorrow. Yours King Tut
RikeH Posted Dec 3, 2009, 9:01 pm	Hello Mum, Look, where we were. Do you see the sign – 180. Yes, we went to see Darts – the German Darts Championship. There were many people and it was fun. First you can see us on the 180-sign. You have to put it in the air, if the player scores 3 times the triple 20 – worth 180. We had a great place and were able to see the players on the stage. In the break we went around and ate delicious things.  You can see another view of the place. In the end Phil Taylor won – he is the best player in the world and my new hero! Greetings King Tut
RikeH Posted Dec 3, 2009, 9:05 pm	Hi Mum, On our way back we made a stop in Porta Westfalica and visited the the monument of Kaiser Wilhelm. We were not sure, if it is an ancient monument - but it is older than 100 years! Here we had a closer look. He – and we – had a great view over the River Weser – it was a wonderful place. It was a great week-end. I will become a Darts-Player soon. Love King Tut
RikeH Posted Dec 6, 2009, 8:23 pm	Hello Mum, Today is St, Nicholas Day in Germany – maybe all over the world. We don't know that. It means that you have to clean your boots – and put them next to the door. Then they will be filled with delicious sweets. We all wanted to do it, but we found out that we don't have boots and were very sad. But then we found out that RikeH's Mum helped us – and bought this beautiful boot for us. And we loved the sweets inside. In the afternoon – after eating a lot of sweets, we visited RikeH's mum – Hummel. She had a lot of Christmas things – so we could make a lot of photos. First with the Advent wreath. A friendly nutcracker. Beautiful things out of wood. Here you can see all of us with a very famous person – Rudolf the red-nose reindeer. He is living here – it is so exciting! Bye King Tut
RikeH Posted Dec 21, 2009, 11:52 am	Hi Mum! We had snow!!! I was so excited!!! Look, how beautiful it is outside. We went into the centre of Sülfeld to see the church and the rest in white. Back home we had some delicious cakes. What a nice week-end. Yours King Tut
RikeH Posted Dec 26, 2009, 10:29 am	Hi Mum, The winter is in Germany now. We helped RikeH with the snow shovel. Then we made a nice walk through the snow. Here you see me on a big snowhill. Later we had a great view. Back home we played in the garden. Here is a quiz. Can you see, where I sat???? Here is the solution: There are beautiful trees with the snow on it. These two friendly guys were in front of our house. In the house we first sat on the radiator to get dry. Then I had a hot tea and some delicious cookies. Now I am waiting for Christmas. Love King Tut
RikeH Posted Dec 26, 2009, 6:52 pm	Merry Christmas Mum, On the 24th of December the people celebrate Christmas in Germany. In the North it is Santa Claus, who brings the gifts, in the south it is the Christ Child. Because we are in the North, normally we have Santa Claus – but this year it was different – just have a look. This is the Christmas Tree – I really love it! Under the Christmas Tree there were many Christmas Cards from all over the world. Another nice Christmas decoration! We all sat together and RikeH read the Nativity story for us. It is about Maria, Josef and their child Jesus. What a surprise – I were able to visit them – in a stable... Then the important time of the evening came. The gifts!!! Four Christmas people came – a Christmas Bear, Rudolph, the famous Rendeer, a big Snowman – and Santa Claus. Hm – Santa Claus??? It was a Santa Bunny. Maybe because Dicker Kumpel is living here? Well, I told a Christmas-poem and Santa Bunny gave me a present. I opened it – some sweets. I love Christmas. When we all got our gifts, we sat together and sang the wonderful German Christmas Songs. I especially loved ‘Alle Jahre wieder.’ I hope that you had a nice Christmas time, although I didn’t celebrated it with you? Love King Tut
RikeH Posted Jan 1, 2010, 10:13 pm	Hi Mum, It is New Year's Eve – and we will celebrate it. The clothes for the bottle were so funny – I tried it out, We found a nice bottle of egg liqueur. We danced together – it was great! Do you remember the egg liqueur.? Mum, I wish you a Happy Year 2010. yours King Tut
RikeH Posted Jan 14, 2010, 6:32 pm	Hi Mum, We have winter here in Germany now. I looked out of the window and saw the snow. I had a great idea – I should build a snowman. It was hard work for a little ToyVoyager like me. But look, he is great, isn’t he? Snowy greetings King Tut
RikeH Posted Jan 31, 2010, 5:51 pm	Hi Mum, because it was so cold outside, we decided to play darts. RikeH helped me to throw the darts. Wow – I was great. And I had fun playing in the dartboard. Mum, you can be proud – I won.  And look, my price was a very big bar of chocolate. Greetings King Tut
RikeH Posted Feb 2, 2010, 12:03 pm	Hi Mum, Today I will leave Sülfeld. I had a great time here – and Dicker Kumpel is a good friend of me now. I say good-bye to him – and he wished me a good trip to my next host. Then all the others gave me a big hug. I will update again, when I arrived at my next host’s home. Greetings King Tut
iloveletters Posted Feb 3, 2010, 2:02 pm	Hello Mommy! Today I arrived in Mechterstädt, Germany. The journey was not very long, it only took one day. Still, nice to see daylight again: RikeH also sent a nice postcard. Here is a view of the village I will stay during the next weeks. Very small and quiet. But we sure will also go on some trips elsewhere. At the moment everything is white here with zero degrees. Oh, how much I miss the warm sun of Egypt.... This afternoon I will enjoy with writing cards as my host is a postcrosser too and we'll work on the holiday photo album. See you soon!
iloveletters Posted Feb 4, 2010, 6:04 pm	Today we went to the nearby town of Waltershausen. It  is small with only about 10000 inhabitants. There is a nice church and town hall. We also went to the library. A very nice place. Mh, let's see: Where shall I travel next? We then decided on this thriller to read next - a detective story playing on Iceland. And we had to go to the post office to send off the cards we wrote for postcrossing yesterday. At the moment you can buy funny stamps. If you rub them they smell like the fruits that they show - mmmmmmh! See you!
iloveletters Posted Feb 10, 2010, 5:41 pm	This weekend my host and me went to Sondershausen, a town in north Thuringia. A one hour drive, so not that far away. My host took part in a choir workshop that was hosted at the music academy in Sondershausen. The venue is an old castle up on a hill. Here is me in front of it: This building is called octagon house - as it has eight corners. Unusual architecture. That is where the concerts take place.
iloveletters Posted Feb 12, 2010, 12:09 pm	It has been snowing heavily for the last hours and so we started the day with shoveling snow. Before and after: I have to admit that I prefer sunny Egypt for the weather!
iloveletters Posted Feb 13, 2010, 1:10 pm	Hello mommy! These girls are crazy! They took me along to a beauty evening where they tested different cosmetics by JUST. Unbelievable what you can use for beauty or against illnesses. Still it was lots of fun! Most of the time I spent eating crisps and other sweets.
iloveletters Posted Feb 14, 2010, 4:40 pm	For Valentine's day we went to castle Friedenstein in Gotha today to join a guided tour about love couples in history on paintings, sculptures... that can be seen at the castle museum. The castle itself dates back to 1643 when it was built for the duke of Saxony-Coburg. Inside the museum we were not allowed to take pictures of the paintings etc. But before entering we had to get into these shoes to conserve the floor from our dirty and wet shoes.
iloveletters Posted Feb 14, 2010, 4:48 pm	At the moment it is also carnival season in Germany. My host is not that fond of dressing up but we went to the carnival parade in the town nearby today. It was freezing cold while we had to wait for an hour until the first groups and cars arrived. But finally we had lots of fun and sweets. The carnival prince and princess of the local carnival club:
iloveletters Posted Feb 25, 2010, 3:00 pm	Last Friday we went to a friend for dinner. She prepared a three course meal with delicious food. I especially enjoyed the desert - yummy. After dinner I played with this cute little bunny which also lives at the place. I loved the soft fur.
iloveletters Posted Feb 25, 2010, 3:12 pm	Helly mommy! For the weekend we went to Lübeck, a city in north Germany. Puh, the journey was very long with 5 hours travel time. Well, I was in this region before, right,  as my last host RikeH lives near here. We went to Lübeck to help a friend move house, so the mini bus was fully loaded and not very fast. After unloading we went to the town centre and visited some interesting places. As it was already dark at 7pm the pictures are not too good. Anyway, here is me in front of the theatre: An old building of the fishermen guilde: Here I am in front of the Holsten Gate - THE landmark of Lübeck. It was built in the 13th century and was part of the town wall back then. We then found a nice jazz bar and enjoyed some cocktails and ordered a delicious cheese plate. The next day we slept late before the long journey back home and I spent some time with my new friend Jack.
iloveletters Posted Feb 27, 2010, 11:59 am	Last night we met some of my host's friends to chat and have some fun. And guess what: There also was an Egyptian guy who now lives in Germany. So I took the chance to talk to him about our experiences in Germany. It was great to speak Arabics again! And we wrote some names in Arabics. Let's see.... Soon it is Easter so my host's friend already decorated her house with bunnies. I said 'Hello' to this one.
iloveletters Posted Mar 6, 2010, 2:39 pm	Hello Mommy, Today I got some company. A new TV arrived at our place: Mira. She is from Australia and was in Canada last. I gave her a warm welcome! Feels like spring here.
iloveletters Posted Mar 6, 2010, 2:47 pm	We stayed overnight in Jena, probably the biggest town in Thuringia. It is about 80 kilometres away, an one hour drive. My host went to see some comedians and this morning we took  a stroll through the city centre and did a bit of shopping. But first of all we had to strengthen ourselves and went for breakfast at the restaurant STILBRUCH. We found a nice place at this old table. Gorgeous! Breakfast was delicious! In the city we saw the old town wall and tower: And this is the INTERSHOP tower which marks the modern middle (new centre)  of the city: I guess these are two famous citizens of the Jena:
iloveletters Posted Mar 12, 2010, 7:52 am	We took a day off today to renovate the house. That was lots of fun!
iloveletters Posted Mar 12, 2010, 8:21 am	Look at that! A whole magazin just abot me! I took it from the library and read it yesterday. Mh, very interesting! Let's open the door to my tomb! This is about my family.
iloveletters Posted Mar 14, 2010, 4:10 pm	Yesterday was a grant day out with a visit to Germany's biggest spring festival, the 'Sommergewinn' in Eisenach. We watched the parade with all the cars decorated with paper flowers, the marching bands and and and.... There is a 'fight' between Winter and Summer and luckily the Summer wins in the end, that's why the festival is called 'Sommergewinn' - summer winning. And here you can see the three symbols of the festival: The cock, the egg and the pretzel. The Motto all the  people call is:  'Gut Ei, Gut Ei und Kickeriki' - good egg and cock-a-doodle-poo! I went together with Mira, so if you visit her log you'll get some more impressions! See you!
Irish Wanderer Posted Mar 21, 2010, 9:24 pm	Hi Mum! I've finally arrived in Dublin  I've met loads of new folks. I think most of them are Toy Voyager "wannabees"  One of them "Rory" told me he's heading off to Moscow on Monday. They threw a party for my arrival and the leprechaun drank  Guinness, whilst we all had Coca Cola and cake!
Irish Wanderer Posted Mar 21, 2010, 10:21 pm	Today we took a short trip to Howth. It's a pretty fishing village near Dublin City. Here's me beside a map of Howth, before  exploring the village. I climbed the hill behind the village where I stumbled across an old churchyard. It's called St.Mary's Abbey and was founded in the 1200's. I liked hanging out in this old place  Here's me taken in front of the old abbey. I like this picture! Hey Mum! I thought they said it rained in Ireland??? The sun shone all day, and further up the hill of Howth, there was great views of the harbour and it's boats.  We found  this great museum called"the Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio". Sadly it was closed but I got  my picture taken in front of the Martello Tower, which it's housed in. I was very excited about seeing this pretty lighthouse and just managed to see it before the sun set!
Irish Wanderer Posted Mar 25, 2010, 12:41 am	Hi Mum. Sorry for not updating my blog sooner. My host has had to go into hospital for  a small operation, so she has not had  any time to get out since Sunday She has promised that she will bring me into see Dublin City Centre over the next few days, as she now has some time off work    I'm really looking forward to that. I am keeping myself busy reading up on "The celts" and also some material on Dublin City. My host has a wonderful library off books! I have also been introduced to yet another feline! This one is a breed called "Maine Coon" and the story goes that it originated from Queen Marie Antoinette who managed to have her cats  put on a ship to the USA. Sadly she didn't get on the ship herself and had her head cut off  Me Reading up about "the Celts" and "Dublin"! I hope to have some interesting stuff to tell you about over the coming days. Anyhow off to me bed to get some "King Tut Sleep".
Irish Wanderer Posted Mar 27, 2010, 7:10 pm	Today I got to take a trip  into Dublin City as my host had business to do there. We took  a walk down around Grand Canal Dock which has seen a lot of developement in recent years. I got to see this amazing new building called the  Grand Canal Theatre which was designed by the well known architect Daniel Libeskind . It just opened it's doors to the public this week!!!  Here's me with the Grand Canal Theatre in the background! I would love to see "Aida" there! After leaving Grand Canal Dock I spotted this  really cute VW campervan and got my picture taken with it. I'd love to tour Ireland in it
Irish Wanderer Posted Mar 27, 2010, 8:11 pm	We stopped off in this  pretty  Georgian square. Dublin has many of these Georgian squares around the city. Good job I didn't bring my football with me! Look at this pretty bicycle I saw!
Irish Wanderer Posted Mar 28, 2010, 9:23 am	Today I visited a very old quarter of Dublin called Temple Bar. There were many tiny cobbled streets and lots of drinking dens called "pubs". Here I am outside "The Auld Dubliner"  We stopped off in another pub for some fish chowder. It was yummy! There was lots of great old advertisments with that ancient drink "Guinness" featured on them. I enjoyed my walk around Temple Bar and I hope to be back.
Irish Wanderer Posted Apr 6, 2010, 2:24 pm	Hi Mum. Today was so wet and cold in Ireland that I long to feel some sunshine on my face. This morning it got so cold it actually started to snow. Well it was really sleety rain  Here is me taken on my hosts balcony with the sleety rain falling. BBRRRR!!!!!! My host decided to bring me into town. We got on a doubledecker bus. They are really great especially for small T.V's like me. I could see the whole of Dublin City from the top of the bus. It was too bad to take pictures through the window but here is me on the top of the bus  We were walking down a  well know street when we saw a fire brigade and firemen dampening down a building. My host told me it was a well known dry cleaners that had gone on fire the night before. It was called "New York" and looked like it had been a very pretty building! There were lots of people hanging around and taking pictures. I got in on the act too  We then went for a look around Tower Records and had some tea and cake in a nice cafe nearby before going home.
Irish Wanderer Posted Apr 7, 2010, 10:13 am	Today we had to do some grocery shoppng and buy some Easter eggs so it  was back into town. I'm really starting to find my feet in Dublin now and know the difference between "The Northside" and "The Soutside". Dubliners are very particular about what part of the city they come from  I hung out on the "Liffey Boardwalk" and relaxed in the sun  Dublin is built on the River Liffey and it looks really well when the sun sets and the lights in the city come on. The tall building in the background is Liberty Hall and is the tallest building in Dublin, not quite the monument I was looking to find, but hopefully I'll find some soon  This place is  a very popular drinking den in Temple Bar. I loved the bright colours of the pub and people seemed to be having a fun time inside.
Irish Wanderer Posted Apr 15, 2010, 7:17 am	Hi Mum. This morning I woke to the most beautiful sunrise over Dublin City! I watched it from the patio doors and it was just a beautiful sight  Just look at that golden light!!! Later in the day we travelled to The Phoenix Park which is the largest enclosed city park in the world. Here's me with one of the green city tour buses behind  It was Hanami Day in Dublin where many people were out taking photographs of the spring flowers in the park. I saw lots of pretty flowers including these!  Here I am in the back garden of Farmleigh House. This is where visitor's to the Irish State are put up by the Irish Goverment. I didn't see any Royals or visiting heads of State though  We found a nice spot to sit down and have a picnic and have a read of "The Irish Times". Seamus the Leprechaun was hanging out in a woodland glade somewhere and joined us for a share of the food! Me & Seamus! Enjoying some food & drink
Irish Wanderer Posted Apr 17, 2010, 9:50 pm	Today I managed to get to a free  outdoor performance of "Handel's Messiah in Temple Bar,Dublin. Mum did you know that Mr. Handel performed  his "Messiah" for the first time on Fishamble St, Dublin on  April 13th, 1742  I'm really surprised to learn that! Here are some pictures of the concert! Mum I've written a postcard for you, and my host is going to send it next week.Tomorrow is my hosts birthday and we are going off to visit a port town near Dublin City. I'm getting really excited because she told me that the famous writer james Joyce lived nearby, and we are going to walk to his house
Irish Wanderer Posted Apr 20, 2010, 10:25 am	Today was my hosts birthday, so she didn't have to go to work  We drove  a few miles along the coast from Dublin City until we arrived  at Dún Laoghaire pronounced (Done Leery). I was very excited as the day was sunny and the sea looked so blue! Here's me on the Main street in Dún Laoghaire. We took  a  walk down to the seafront  and I spotted this great  old piece of Victoran Architecture! Dún Laoghaire is  a very busy working port and many car ferries cross The Irish Sea from Wales to Ireland. Here is a map of the port and harbour of Dún Laoghaire. Here is a photo of me with the Pier in the packground. I walked all the way out to the lighthouse at the end. The brickwork on the pier is very interesting. It reminds me of the bricks we use in Egypt. Nice Boats behind me  My Host pointed out this  plaque in the wall which commerates a famous Irish writer called Samuel Beckett. He won the Nobel Prize for  Literature in 1969.He was born on April 13 the day before my hosts birthday!!! Apparently some of his walks on this pier inspired his writing! “...great granite rocks the foam flying up in the light of the lighthouse and the wind gauge spinning like a propeller, clear to me at last...." WE found this interesting sundial which has  a map of all the things you can see from the pier at a 360 degree view. Here is the town crest! ....and here is the James Joyce Tower which you can see in Sandycove a 20 minute walk along the seafront. Here's me with the real James Joyce Tower in the background: The nice view of Sandycove which you can see from Dún Laoghaire. Look at this amazing old cannon which I stumbled across! Before we continued on our walk to SandyCove we stopped off at this famous old shop called "Teddy's". It's very popular with locals who like to buy icecream and candy floss. Look Mum! I've found my dream home  And this is the view! Soon I spotted a sign for Sandycove. Sandycove's most famous resident was the Irish writer James Joyce. I passed this small park where a tree and plaque were put in his honour. I wonder did James Joyce swim here? Getting closer to the James Joyce Tower! Finally we made it to the tower but sadly it was closed. I was so looking forward to seeing some of Joyce's old stuff  look at this funny sign, I spotted!  It's to warn people about the dangerous rocks at this  very famous old bathing spot for Dubliners, called "The Forty Foot!" Here's some pictures of the Forty Foot. Apparently some steely old Dubliners  swim here every morning, hail,rain or snow! No thanks!
Irish Wanderer Posted May 4, 2010, 5:42 am	I ended  up travelling to the West of Ireland this weekend. Sadly it rained for the whole time, so photo opportunites were few as I had to dodge those drops of rain......and boy was it cold too!  Here's some of the pretty scenery I could see from the car,pity about the weather! The rain got heavier as we arrived into this little seaside town called "Kinvara" From the window you can see a hotel which has the largest thatched roof in Ireland! I do hope this rain clears off  We stopped of at the pretty harbour in the town.....and guess what!!! The rain stopped!  Here's the pretty harbour. Behind me you can see an old grain store which has recently been restored and is now a craft store and coffee shop. We had a peep inside  Another funny Irish sign! If you look closely in the background across the water you will see a castle. It's a fantastic castle called DunGuaire. It belonged to King Guaire. Sadly he is not around anymore so another missed royalty moment  We drove a bit closer to the castle. I like this view with all the pretty Spring flowers behind me! My host brought me up to the front gate but it was closed and nobody was home. What a great place for a King to live! I'd like to live here....during the Summer months that is. I think Wintertime would be just too cold  The view from the castle across to the town. Somemore nice castle photos. I went and explored this old ruined stone cottage in a  nearby field. View from the cottage towards the castle. Great stonework! Look at this stone wall! Wow all that rain has turned this field rather green  They like their bicycles around here. I love these pretty coloured shops! more to follow........
Irish Wanderer Posted May 7, 2010, 12:32 am	Hi Mum. Today I went to have a look at  the national Museum at Collin's Barrack's. Before it became a museum it was a big army barracks and the building is very impressive. Sadly it was closed so I just had a look around and took some photos! This is me at the entrance to the Museum. I was looking forward to seeing the Asian art Exhibition but as it was closed I had my photo taken beside this giant banner instead. This is the main courtyard where many soldiers would have been put through their paces  This is a plaque that was erected the year the barracks were founded in 1752. I really liked these arches  Finally we discovered that even though the museum was closed, the cafe was open  Hurray we  went in for tea and cakes. Yummy! The Black forest Gateaux was just divine!!!
Irish Wanderer Posted May 13, 2010, 4:53 am	Today we took a daytrip to the town of Trim in County Meath. Meath is known as the "Royal County" as the high Kings of Ancient Ireland had their seats at Tara in the county. Trim is famous for it's castle, one of the finest in Ireland. This castle was used in the filming of the movie "Braveheart" in which Mel Gibson starred. Look at this great  canon! Braveheart could have done with one of these  My host bought a ticket to go and see the inside of the castle. Although it's very old it was rather impressive. This is me taken on the bottom floor. I was drawn to this ancient hieroglyphics. "A room fit for  a King" ....not sure about that one! I climbed to the top of the castle and this is the view from the top. It was really pretty! After my visit to the interior of the castle i got to walk around the grounds. there were some great drawings of what the castle looked like many years ago. This is a drawing of one of the many gates into the castle. This is the what the gate looks like now! I think this is where the Kings stored all their wine  Here's another old part of the castle grounds. Not quite sure what this was supposd to be! After the visit to the castle I went for  a wak along the River Boyne. It's famous in Irish folklore and thats where the salmon of knowledge was found. As it was a sunny day there were many people out walking to the old church you can see in the background. Here's me in the old cathedral ruins A nice High Cross that I spotted outside! Look at this pretty gateway! At the end of my walk I came across this nice country pub. I loved this pretty stone bridge near the pub. Then we walked back to the town to get some eats before driving back to Dublin. It was a very interesting day
Irish Wanderer Posted May 15, 2010, 5:41 am	I was very excited today as my hosts drove to Glendalough in Co Wicklow for a long weekend! It is one of Ireland's most important Ancient Monastic sites. We boked into a really pretty little cottage which overlooked a cute little river. This is the view of the valley from outside the cottage. The little river in front of the cottage looked very pretty in the beautiful sunshine  The first thing we decided to do was walk to the Monastic City from the cottage. I was very excited to see this beautiful round tower. I just loved this church which is known as St. Kevin's Church It's all made of stone! We decided to take a walk to the village through the forest. It was  a very pretty walk with lots of nice trees. Near the village I saw this really old stone bridge  from 1700 so I had my photo taken beside it  I like this old house taken which you can see behind me! We soon reached the village and stoped for tea and scones in the village green. Yummy! We then walked home and stopped off to see St Saviour's Church. there was some really nice  carvings inside.
Irish Wanderer Posted May 18, 2010, 5:38 am	Day 2 in Glendalough Another beautiful day in Glendalough. I found this book on the history of Glenddalough to be  very useful! Today we walked and explored around the  the two lakes. the secenery was very pretty! Looking back to the Monastic city I could see the round tower through the trees and it looked really great in the Summer sunshine. We walked into this hidden valley where we saw the remains of an old mining village. My hosts asked me if I wanted to climb the mountain behind the village and i said "Sure thing". So we climbed.....and climbed......and climbed for over an hour to get to the top but the view was worth it. I saw lots of  wild goats and deer on the mountainside. Reaching The Top!!!!! Nice views!!!!!
Irish Wanderer Posted May 19, 2010, 6:00 am	My last day in glendalough! What a  beautiful sunny day it was. I hated leaving. I went for another walk along the "Glendassan River". The birds were singing and the gorse was in bloom. A liitle slice of heaven  I came across this waterfall but it's hard to see in the pictures. My host held on to me here ............just in case I fell  I discovered yet another ruined church in the monastic city. this is called St Mary's and there was lots of pretty bluebells growing nearby. I had to cross some fields to get to it which was pretty good fun! I like this nice view of The Round Tower  This was my last official photo taken in Glendalough though I have also included some more pics taken there the night before. This is what the Round Tower looks like when you are close up. Nice stonework. I guess I have now completed one of my missions and that is to see some ancient monuments although I am sure there are some more wonderful monuments to see on my travels
Irish Wanderer Posted May 19, 2010, 6:23 am	We left Glendalough to travel back to dublin. We stopped off at a pretty little town called Rathdrum. Rathdrum is famous for being the birthplace of George Stewart Parnell. He is was one of Ireland's most famous Political leaders and  a love affair ruined his career  He is known as "The Uncrowned King of Ireland". Ah shooks he ain't  a real king though! County Wicklow is famous for it's herds of wild deer and I stumbled across this one in the park. He didn't seem to be that wild to me  There are lots of old-fashioned stores in the town. I just had to have my picture taken in front of this one! My host brought me into see this famous pub called "The Cartoon Inn". All the walls are decorated in cartoons by  a famous cartoon artist. If you look closely at this photo you will see the cartoons on the wall. Well the last photo of this great short trip to County Wicklow and it's of some traditional town houses in Rathdrum. I had to take my picture quickly as a thundery rain shower was heading my way. Just look at that sky!!!!
Irish Wanderer Posted May 25, 2010, 10:57 am	Hi Mum As this was my last weekend in Ireland and the weather was so good. My host took me on  a drive to a town in north County Dublin called Skerries. It has a great beach and is famous for it's windmills. WE took  a tour of the windmills. Unfortunatly my host left her camera in the car so we didn't get any pics of me inside  Here's me with an old car and a windmill behind me! We then went for a walk along the beach. There are great views of the islands and a lighthouse . I did a spot of sunbathing in the hot sunshine. You can see a great martello Tower behind me in this picture  The sand seems to go on for miles!!!! This is the nice little harbour of Skerries. I spotted this nice seabird. He wouldn't move  ROCKPOOLS!!!!!!!!!  Found these peri-winkles and gathered a few. I decided to do some relaxing on the water. How lovely  Apparently you can see "the Mountains of Mourne" from this spot. It inspired the writer Percy French to write the words of the famous Irish song "the Mountains of Mourne". I couldn't see any mountains! What  a nice daytrip to end my visit to Ireland. My host has just told me that I will be travelling on to Italy this week. I am so excited and I've been busy looking through some books that belong to my host. She has visited Sicily but not mainland Italy.
Irish Wanderer Posted May 27, 2010, 11:23 pm	Today was my last day in Ireland and was also the day a new TV arrived. Her name is  Éireannach [Air- ah- knock] It means Irish person in Irish! She's not Irish though . She is from Russia but loves Ireland. She has waited a long time to fufill her dream of getting to Ireland. She is traveling to Mallorca with my host on Saturday. Mallorca is  a beautiful Spanish Island. We all posed for photos and toasted her arrival and my departure with some Guinness. I'm going to miss this black stuff. Hopefully I will get to revisit someday as I so wanted to visit the Guinness Brewery! Me and Éireannach  Soon it was time for me to  get in my specially prepared travelling bag. I'm so excited.............I'm off to Italia!!!!!!!!!  CIAO!
annix Posted Jun 11, 2010, 11:27 am	Hi mom, I'm arrived in Italy! The journey was a bit too long and tiring for a king like me but now I hope to have time to relax. As soon as I arrived I met other toy voyagers: Rendolph, Frankie_Blue, Bluto, Barnardo and Baabaa. Then I had a big surprise: some relatives came to welcome me! Don't you think that they've been very kind? And this is not all: also King Luois XVI and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, arrived to receive me! My host met them in Versailles some time ago and they're now living here. Well, I have to go, other royalty is waiting for me! Bye
annix Posted Jun 25, 2010, 8:13 am	Hi mum, here it seems to be in Egypt, my host loves my country and, of course, she loves pharaohes! I've found sculptures of my fathers, a sarcophagus, papyrus and a very interesting book with the history of Egypt. Maybe I'll also find a pyramid in Milan! Bye
annix Posted Jun 28, 2010, 2:13 pm	Hi mom, I'm in Switzerland, close to St. Moritz for a short holiday. There are wonderful landscapes here, it's a nice place to relax and going for long walks. Bye
annix Posted Jul 13, 2010, 3:40 pm	Hi mum, it's so hot here! I'm spending the day on my host's terrace, the temperature is a little better among flowers and plants. My friend Blinchick and I also enjoy playing to the pool! Bye for now
annix Posted Jul 26, 2010, 11:54 am	Hi mom, I've had a relaxing morning sitting in a bar drinking a "marocchino" (it's a kind of strong cappuccino, made with less milk). Then it's time for lunch: after some pistachios a good smoked salmon with green pepper. By the way... I'm looking at the beautiful picture you sent me and, together with my host, we have decidet to go to the seaside for a holiday. She promised me that we're going to leave in a few weeks! I just can't wait! Bye
annix Posted Aug 5, 2010, 3:48 pm	Hi mum, I'm trying to refresh close to the fountain, then I'm ready to go for a walk to the park. My host says we're leaving for a holiday to the seaside soon... it's a good idea! Bye
annix Posted Aug 10, 2010, 10:14 am	Hi mum, I'm to the Lake of Como and I'm visiting a strange place: it's a gorge among the rocks with waterfalls! Have a look!
annix Posted Aug 10, 2010, 10:15 am	Hi mum, I'm to the Lake of Como and I'm visiting a strange place: it's a gorge among the rocks with waterfalls! Have a look!
annix Posted Aug 11, 2010, 5:37 pm	Hi mum, this is the Lake of Como, I'm still in Bellano which is a small town in front of the lake. I'm having a look around... Bye
annix Posted Aug 12, 2010, 1:30 pm	Hi mum, I'm drinking an aperitif in Varenna, another small town on the Lake of Como. Jurt a short rest before pdparing my luggage...I'm going on holiday to the seaside! Bye
annix Posted Aug 13, 2010, 4:45 pm	Hi mum, I have my sun cream and I'm going to leave with all my TV friends. I'll write you from the seaside! Bye
annix Posted Aug 18, 2010, 1:38 pm	Hi  mum, I'm on holiday at the seaside. I am on the Ligurian Sea in a town called Loano. The beach is quite crowded in August and sometimes I like to relax in the swimming pool of the hotel. Bye
annix Posted Aug 18, 2010, 1:38 pm	Hi  mum, I'm on holiday at the seaside. I am on the Ligurian Sea in a town called Loano. The beach is quite crowded in August and sometimes I like to relax in the swimming pool of the hotel. Bye
annix Posted Aug 19, 2010, 1:30 pm	Hi mum, I'm spending the day on the beach...bye bye
annix Posted Aug 24, 2010, 8:38 pm	Hi mum, I went to eat a "seafood pizza" with somd TV friend. Of course you have to eat pizza while you are in Italy! Then we walked in the main street of Loano, in front of the sea, and when the moon was high in the sky my hort said it was time to go to sleep. Bye
annix Posted Aug 27, 2010, 1:09 pm	Hi mum, just one more time to the beach and then I'm relaxing to the pool before leaving for Milan. Bye
annix Posted Aug 30, 2010, 9:15 am	Hi mum, before leaving Italy I wanted to visit the most famous buildings in Milan. First of all the Cathedral, called Duomo, then I crossed Gallery Vittorio Emanuele II and I arrived in Piazza della Scala where I could finally see the famous Theatre. In the last picture, behind me, you can see the Sforzesco Castle which I visited some time ago. Bye
annix Posted Aug 30, 2010, 9:16 am	Hi mum, before leaving Italy I wanted to visit the most famous buildings in Milan. First of all the Cathedral, called Duomo, then I crossed Gallery Vittorio Emanuele II and I arrived in Piazza della Scala where I could finally see the famous Theatre. In the last picture, behind me, you can see the Sforzesco Castle which I visited some time ago. Bye
annix Posted Sep 1, 2010, 9:54 am	Hi mum, I'm leaving for a new adventure, I have to say hello to all my TV friends: Blinchick, Barnardo, Nathalie and Baabaa. Bye
vivyanhui Posted Sep 19, 2010, 9:48 am	I arrived Hong Kong and then head straight to an exhibition. It is the "Legendary Mongolia" at Cultural Centre. There's a big yurt, the home of Mongolian, as they are nomads, they used this kind of portable house, which is felt-covered, with wood lattice-framed dwelling structure. There's also a mongolian sheep!  Kirin and I hurried on to it to have a ride!  See how big it is, I wanna pet one~ Wish that I can bring one back to Egypt!  And I will mark it as royal animal, just like those cats~ Inside the yurt, some mongolian clothes were displayed, the brown one is a water bottle~ The carpet down there is a nice craft too.  On the other side, I saw the most important musical instruments of the Mongolian people. The Morin Khuur, a string instrutment fiddles with a horse's head. There are some legends of the origin of the Morin Khuur, you can take a look and hear its sound here.
vivyanhui Posted Sep 26, 2010, 6:54 pm	Here I am on a double deck bus, and front row! Well, I am not afraid of the height, pyramids are much much taller!  The bus passes through the first road of Kowloon, Nathan Road, it's the first, and so as the longest straight road in Hong Kong. Here in Hong Kong, hills are more than flat land, so it's not easy to have such a long straight road~  Another funny things is, you can see many neon shop signs along the road. They are huge too.
vivyanhui Posted Oct 17, 2010, 1:25 pm	Today we found a nice box in the kitchen. All of us have no idea of what it is, so we opened it to see what's inside. And we found, mooncakes~ It's Mid-Autumn Festival today, a festival for enjoying the moon together.  There are lanterns decorations everywhere too~
vivyanhui Posted Oct 31, 2010, 3:24 pm	As it's the time of Mid-Autumn Festival, there are Lanterns Fair everywhere. I attended one of them and found the lanterns are amazing~ They have all kinds of styles and themes. It's beautiful and joyful~
vivyanhui Posted Oct 31, 2010, 3:37 pm	Can you imagine how nice it is to be on the Star Ferry? And the best thing is having buddies to share the happy things on the journey~  I wandered around to take a look of the ferry, the view is great! Each ferry has their own name, for example, "Day Star", "Golden Star", "Celestial Star", "Median Star" and so on. If I have the chance to name one of it, I think I will name it "Tut Star"~
vivyanhui Posted Oct 31, 2010, 3:48 pm	Tsim Sha Tsui is a place right next to the Victoria Harbour, and also where the Clock Tower locates. It was part of the Train Terminal in the past, but it remains here when the terminal moved to other place. Next to it is the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, a place where dramas and exhibitions are hold.
vivyanhui Posted Oct 31, 2010, 3:53 pm	I have to write this down! I tried something new for my tea! You know, enjoying tea time is one of the ways how royalty spend their time. This is the egg tart, a very local snack, in order to thanks my buddies I meet here, I share the tart with them~
vivyanhui Posted Oct 31, 2010, 3:53 pm	I have to write this down! I tried something new for my tea! You know, enjoying tea time is one of the ways how royalty spend their time. This is the egg tart, a very local snack, in order to thanks my buddies I meet here, I share the tart with them~
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 10:04 am	Here near the Clock Tower, a lot of large scale decorative lanterns were set to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 10:16 am	These are what I ate today: breakfast: congee with sesame, vegetables and the fried flour, which is crispy, a good choice to eat with congee.  lunch: mixed sashimi (salmon, tuna and other fish) with rice, with cucumber dinner: rice with carrot and mushroom, fishball with mushroom, and the highlight of the night, a hot tofu soup!  Yummy~ The best thing is that, all these food are not for royalty only, they are for public!
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 10:25 am	I went to Mongkok with my friends, we had a great time, and we tried some tasty snacks  too.
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 10:32 am	Yeah! I am in the Ocean Park now! This amusement park is so big and with roller coaster, G-force, cable cars, underground trains, and lot of game kiosks. There are also many animals like pandas, birds, sea lion, seal, dolphins, sharks and so on. However the games are so excited that I am a bit afraid to try, maybe next time!
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 10:55 am	Street snacks time! Though I am a royalty, I think I should not miss any chance to try something new!  First, I tried the offal of the ox, I thought it will be very bad, but surprisingly, it's very chewy and delicious, a good try in winter! Then comes the sausage with bacon, umum, I like the offal more!
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 10:58 am	Dessert~ Being a royalty, how can I live without dessert?  Tonight, it's the chocolate cake with ice cream! See how lovely the chocolate is~~~  Can't wait, the chocolate is calling me~~~
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 11:06 am	Eating out again! (I think it's time for me to have an appointment with my fitness master...) We went to Pokka Cafe, lots of food to choose from the menu~ Finally we chose the rice dumpling, salmon and octopus sashimi, roast lamb, and a green apple soba. Grouchy dislike green apple, so me and KalliHH planned to share it, however, Grouchy kept on drinking and drinking, so we guess that he must be finding it tasty!
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 11:09 am	We found a giant apple today! It's so huge that we took a photo with it!
vivyanhui Posted Dec 28, 2010, 11:13 am	Merry Christmas! There are many festive decorations here and we took a lot of photos. I met Mr Snowman, Totoro and Ponyo!  We even took photos with Santa~
vivyanhui Posted Feb 6, 2011, 12:22 pm	This is a ceramic (eastern) exhibition in the Hong Kong Art Museum, let's take a look of those nice cups behind me, they are all for tea drinking! There also some antique vase and excellant ceramic artworks too.
vivyanhui Posted Feb 6, 2011, 12:25 pm	It's almost time for Lunar New Year, I helped my host to choose some New Year greeting cards to write to friends and relatives. I think they are beautiful! With lucky symbols and animals, also nice blossom flowers~  To thank for my help, I am rewarded with a pea-shaped snacks!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 6, 2011, 12:29 pm	It's been a long time that I haven't been dining out! I just love asian food and can't wait! Tonight I went to a Taiwan style restaurant, it's nice to have hot noodles in winter~ The bowl is so big and filled with fishballs and different kinds of dumplings! There's also cold tofu as side dish too~
vivyanhui Posted Feb 6, 2011, 12:33 pm	Since The Year of Rabbit is coming, this year's New Year decorations are mainly focus on Rabbit, see how giant is the lovely rabbit! They are so cute that I want to bring them home as pet~~~  I especially like the fortune box which is full of festive food and candies!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 3:51 pm	The greatest festival of the year is coming, it will be Chinese New Year next week, there's decorations everywhere, and all families are happy and busy about the festive.  There are also lantern decorations next to the Cultural Centre, the theme of this year is about the celebrations of Asian countries. I took a photo with the festive decorations on buildings too.
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 4:13 pm	I am just so exciting to know that I am going to Ocean Park!! It's one of my life missions~  There are colourful sea creatures artpieces at the entrance, the blue egg-shaped architecture is the brand new aquarium, in front of it there's a musical fountain, there will be lighting show at night! There's balloon trip too. The Park is built along the hill and the seaside, so it's divided into two areas, the areas are connected by cable cars and train, both of them are great, cable car is slower but you can enjoy the wonderful sea view, while train is underground but faster, you can enjoy the animation and video on your way.
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 4:30 pm	We went to visit some lovely animals first -- Pandas!  The outlook of the Habitat is so cute! Pandas are seems to climb out from the house, they have smiles on their face, soooo kawaii~~  Some of them are still sleepiing, some are having breakfast, they are really big (fat!!), and lying there lazily! Ha!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 4:47 pm	Then comes the Asian animals, there are red pandas,  Chinese giant salamander, the salamander made me scared...  Their sound is just like a crying baby, so we call it as "wa wa yu" in Chinese, "wa wa" means the sound, and "yu" is fish.
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 4:53 pm	There's a Chinese alligator pool, with some big fish too! To me, they are GIANT!  The sculpture is lively and they look very nice.
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 4:58 pm	Lots of jellyfish here! They just like dancing in the water, their dance look even better with the colourful lighting~
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 5:05 pm	The Summit is another part of the Park, there are many rides and exciting games here!  For example, ferris wheel, "The Dragon" roller coaster" and mine train, I heard many horrible screams from the mine train! Seems that the train is going to fall down to the sea!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 11, 2011, 5:27 pm	Here I see another rare sea creature - Sturgeon Fish. Their face look like that they are very angry, and their mouth is a bit like those stingray... one thing very funny is that their stomach is not round, but flat! The patterns on their body is a bit like skeleton!  When they first moved into the Park, one of them were hurt by other fish, as to keep them safe and happy, they have their own aquarium now~
vivyanhui Posted Feb 27, 2011, 7:51 am	It's time to visit the seals~ They live in the Pacific Pier in the area of "Waterfront", with the light house and great sea view!  They are lying there, enjoying the sun, cool~ It's lunch time and some of them comeout from the water to ask for some fish. And I am surprise that the biggest one, is actually "standing"!! not floating!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 27, 2011, 7:55 am	The coral are so beautiful~ I wish I can get some and have my own coral pool in Egypt!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 27, 2011, 7:59 am	This is the highest structure in the park, we all get in and have a bid eye view of the surroundings. I can see the lighthouse, the crazy mine train, other rides and games, and I found that a new roller coaster is under construction!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 27, 2011, 8:08 am	Time to get on the cable car! It's slow but the scenery is great, there's some festive decorations with God of Wealth too. Remember the roller coaster that is under construction? It locates right beside the hillside! I just feel like falling!
vivyanhui Posted Feb 27, 2011, 8:11 am	Aqua City is the newly launched aquarium, it's much bigger than the old one, and with more kinds of fish~ Those lights are imitating the sunlight.
vivyanhui Posted Feb 27, 2011, 8:17 am	It's the starfish pool, you can find different kinds of starfish here. I even have chance to touch them!! The texture is funny, the "dots" on their hands are hard, but the hands/ body is soft~
vivyanhui Posted Apr 16, 2011, 9:53 am	Living fossils! These Nautilus really look alike parrot.
vivyanhui Posted Apr 16, 2011, 9:57 am	Here comes Vi's favourite - the octopus!  They are so big and... white, I thought all octopus are in red! They like to hide between rocks, swimming back and forth between the two tanks. (tubes were built between the two)
vivyanhui Posted Apr 16, 2011, 10:04 am	Lots of "flying" stingray~~  Don't you think they really look like the birds in the sky? They are two kinds of them, one kind is with a birds' beak like mouth, and the other is with a piggy like one. Different from the old aquarium, a big round window was built on the ceiling, we can look at the fish from the bottom (just like looking at the sky)
vivyanhui Posted Apr 16, 2011, 10:08 am	Such a wonderful big fish tank~ Many kinds of lovely and colourful fish, or maybe birds?  Fish everywhere~ even up on your head or under your feet!
vivyanhui Posted Apr 16, 2011, 10:15 am	Aliens! Run! I saw aliens... and they wanna attack me!!! Help!!!! Then someone pulled me, it's Grouchy, he said,"Not aliens, huh!" I calm myself and look carefully, oh! they are giant spider crabs! How come they can grow into such huge size!!
vivyanhui Posted Apr 16, 2011, 10:21 am	We wandered around the park and found some funny decos, many llovely dolls selling in the souvenir shops.
vivyanhui Posted Apr 16, 2011, 10:32 am	We stayed till night for the highlight of today - Symbio Show, It's the new lighting show that held at the lake in front of the aquarium. Musical fountain with colourful lighting effects and projections, the story is about the fire dragon and the water dragon, they are enemies, God is angry of their endless fightings, and gladly they become friends finally. Everytime when water dragon appears, water was spilled; and of course, fire comes with fire dragon. I got a bit wet and feeling very hot on my face!  Good to end the day with this nice show!
vivyanhui Posted Apr 29, 2011, 5:11 pm	Today is the Wedding Day of Kate and Prince William.  We are all so excited for the live broadcast, since we are in Hong Kong, it's 7 hours faster than United Kingdom, we spend our time on guessing the wedding dress and the crown, can't wait for that! Finally it's 6pm (11am in UK), the guests are all ready for that! So do we!  Wish them happily ever after!
vivyanhui Posted Jun 25, 2011, 10:37 am	I am at Tai O, a small village by the sea, people say it's "Venice at the East", all the houses are built above the sea, boat is a common transportation here.
vivyanhui Posted Jun 25, 2011, 10:38 am	This is tofu pudding, taste so good! My favourite dessert ever~
vivyanhui Posted Jun 25, 2011, 10:39 am	Do you know who is he? Hope he will be free soon.
vivyanhui Posted Nov 3, 2011, 6:53 am	I start to like chinese ink painting, they are actually some brush strokes, but when you look it in a whole picture, you will find that the strokes looks really like a scenic painting~ I feel like in the forest...
vivyanhui Posted Nov 3, 2011, 6:55 am	Behind me is the Western Market, it sed to be a wet market in the past, but now preserved and became restaurant and popular cloth selling place, where many people will come here to choose nice fabric to make clothes.
vivyanhui Posted Nov 3, 2011, 7:08 am	In Sheung Wan, there are many old buildings, I find it funny to see modern style buildings next to them. This is the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, a giant statue of Mr Sun was set in the middle of the park. There is a chinese style plate at the entrance of the park, and a remarkable chime tower too. A few artistic sculptures are placed in the park, the one behind us is the chinese words of "equal", which is in written in an abstract and artistic way.
vivyanhui Posted Nov 3, 2011, 7:22 am	T R I C K    O R    T R E A T !!! We are having a costume party and excited to see so many candies we have! Can you guess what kind of ghost I am tonight?  I am a Japan ghost with long hair, I even have two ghost fire with me! Flossie is a witch with green face, and Frankie_Blue is a vampire, the pair of big red bat wings really suits him~ I like his sharp tooth! Happy Halloween!
vivyanhui Posted Dec 5, 2011, 5:35 am	We were a bit hungry and wanted to find something for afternoon tea in the kitchen. We found a big tin box, with some chinese flower patterns on it. When we opened the cap, it smells so good! These are egg rolls, crispy and tastes good! I just couldn't stop myself~ haha~

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