Posted Jul 16, 2008, 9:38 am
I'm in London, England right now.
Today I did some shopping on Oxford Street and visited King's Cross Train Station.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 9:42 am
Rode on the Underground. Visited Trafalgar's Square.
Explored the Tate Modern art gallery.
Checked out Buckingham Palace.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 9:47 am
Saw the Roman Baths at Bath.
Went to Stonehenge.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 9:49 am
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 9:53 am
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 9:58 am
Everything in there only costs $2! In Japan everything in Daiso is 100 yen. They sell all sorts of fun things from kitchenware, household stuff to stationery and toys.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 8:01 pm
Naturally the first thing I did was ride It's a Small World.
I rode on lots of rides and at the end of the day watched the parade on Main Street.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 8:06 pm
Here I am in front of the famous Graumann's Chinese Theater.
And this is me in front of the Kodak Theater
I had a great time on my last day of this trip before heading back home. Here I am near the LAX airport.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 8:14 pm
Here's the view from my hotel room. It's right on the beach!
Being so close to the water, how could I not go down for a dip in the Mediterranean Sea? The water was so blue and beautiful.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 8:24 pm
Here I am outside of the Jerusalem Central Bus Station
Inside the walls of the Old City there are lots of vendors selling clothing, insence and souvenirs. It was a very colourful place!
Here I am overlooking the Dome of the Rock and also the Western Wall of the old Temple in Jerusalem. There was so much amazing history in this place.
I went up closer to the Western Wall. They keep the men and women separated in different sections of the wall. People were praying and slipping little bits of paper with their wishes written on them into cracks in the wall.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 8:31 pm
Here I am riding the MTR public transit system. Hong Kong has one of the best subway systems in the world.
One of the busiest places is Mong Kok (which translates literally to "busy corner"). It's close to the Ladies Market which is an open air market street where you can find all sorts of things. Here I am in Mong Kok on Sai Yeung Choi Street.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 8:35 pm
Here I am at the Toronto International Airport on my way to get on a flight to London, England.
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 8:38 pm
We went to Christian Louboutin.
I liked these ones in particular
Posted Jul 16, 2008, 9:00 pm
I met another traveling toy inside the castle! Does anyone know him?
Posted Jul 21, 2008, 7:17 pm
Posted Jul 21, 2008, 7:21 pm
After exploring the cathedral grounds, I had a bit of time to wander the old part of the town. Most of it is pedestrianized and it has a lovely charm.
Posted Jul 21, 2008, 7:31 pm
Here I am at King's Cross Train Station and aboard the train.
I was staying on campus at the University of York, but I had to visit the town! The weather was a bit grey and gloomy but that didn't stop me!
This is Clifford's Tower. It's what is left of an old castle fortification in York. The hill is very steep and those stairs were scary to climb.
It was a very windy day and walking around on the top of the tower was very precarious. But for the amazing view of York - it was worth it!
Here I am with my friend Claude Abroad inside the little sugar shop in the York Museum.
After lots of sightseeing I even stopped for traditional afternoon tea at a lovely tearoom called Betty's. Scones with clotted cream and preserves are delicious!
Posted Jul 21, 2008, 7:38 pm
Today we went up on the Yorkshire Wheel (a much smaller version of the London Eye).
And here I am inside one of the pods of the Wheel.
You have to walk through the National Railway museum to get to the ride. So since we were already there we looked around at the museum and all the trains. And then visited the gift shop.
A bit more exploring around York. Here I am crossing a bridge over the River Ouse.
And here I am inside the stunning York Minster Cathedral
It had been an action-packed visit so Claude and I wound down the day over a nice mug of Toffee Nut Hot Chocolate at Starbucks.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 9:36 pm
Thankfully I only have my little blue backpack
Here I am onboard one of Lufthansa's Boeing 737 airplanes.
After a short flight I was in Deutschland!
They misplaced Archangeli's suitcase so we had to do some emergency shopping for underwear, PJ's and socks. We took a ride on the DeutcheBahn train to get to the main station in Cologne.
We had a couple of hours before the shops closed so after a quick blitz through H&M and a couple other shops we were set. Here I am shopping in Cologne.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 9:46 pm
Of course I had to visit the amazing cathedral. I haven't felt so tiny in a long time. It's located right next to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) so you can't really miss it. As soon I walked out of the train station I was in awe of it's size and splendor.
Inside the cathedral is a beautiful golden reliquary that holds the remains of the Three Kings (the "Three Wise Men" that visited the infant Jesus in Bethlehem). I'm not in this picture, but this is such a beautiful spot.
Then more shopping in the evening! Here I am outside the LEGO store. Yes - there is a LEGO store in Cologne!!
I had to just dive in here -
And since I was in Germany, I decided to shop for a pair of Birkenstocks. Hmm... I don't think these are quite my size
(This wasn't a display piece - it was an actual shoe for sale
)
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 9:55 pm
This is the residence complex that my friend Jean-Pierre lives in. Doesn't it look like a funny summer camp?
I went for a walk along the river today to take in more of the city. This time JP was with me to tell me a bit about the city.
I went to the Lindt chocolate museum! Mmmm... so many yummy things there! There's a nice café where they have the most beautiful chocolate cakes inside the museum.
When JP had to leave to go to work, I went to check out the Roman-Germanic museum. It's located right next to the cathedral and houses artifacts from the time the ancient Romans occupied Germany.
Tomorrow I fly back to London for a couple of days before heading home again.
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 10:11 pm
It was rainy so I spent most of my visit in the Westfield Center doing some shopping. Here I am in the Sanrio store
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 10:28 pm
Here I am in front of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Isn't a cool looking building?
I went out drinking with some buddies and they insisted that I try Brazil's "national drink" - the Caipirinha. It was strong stuff, which is probably why I'm a little tipsy in this shot -
Posted Jul 26, 2008, 11:46 pm
I'm in Vegas for a couple of days tagging along for a trade show. But a trip to Vegas isn't complete without visiting the casinos. Here I am at the Hilton hotel.
I must confess that I went to the Hilton to check out the Star Trek experience there. I met some Spock bears and had a bit of Romulan Ale.
Here I am at the beautiful Venetian Hotel
Inside the Venetian they have recreated St. Mark's Square. It's not as beautiful as the real thing - and I do miss the gorgeous St. Mark's Basilca, but at least there are no pigeons!
Here I am inside Caesar's Palace.
Inside the main lobby of the Bellagio there is a lovely botanical garden. It smells so pretty in there, and there are lots of beautiful topiaries. Here's one of a ladybug made of flowers.
And here are a couple of shots of the Eifel Tower at the Paris Hotel.
It doesn't take the place of the real thing, so I haven't completed that Life Mission yet!
Posted Jul 27, 2008, 12:02 am
Here we are just as we were about to land, and a shot of the little airport.
Here I am just outside of the Airbus airplane I rode on.
And this was the First Officer. His name was Steve.
Posted Jul 27, 2008, 12:29 am
Here I am at Times Square on Hong Kong Island.
And I met Charlie Brown and Lucy at this shop in the Miramar Centre.
My next update will be from one of the coolest places - but for now, here's a picture of me in Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport enroute to my next destination
Posted Aug 12, 2008, 12:03 am
Before long I was in the Tokyo-Narita airport!
From the airport it was a long bus ride to get to our hotel in Ikebukuro. It was late, and time to sleep and get some rest for some serious sightseeing tomorrow!
Posted Aug 12, 2008, 12:20 am
Here I am in front of Q-Front, one of the busiest intersections in the world!
Crossing the huge scramble intersection was a bit scary - there are so many people!
There are many famous department stores and shops in Shibuya. Here I am near the OIOIO building, and the famous Tower Records flagship store.
Here I am at the NHK broadcasting studio. There were lots of special events going on today because it was a holiday. There were so many children out with their parents! They even set up a rock-climbing wall.
Inside the NHK studios there was a set-up of Domo-kun's house. I stopped in to visit. It's not really my style
In the gift shop there were lots of Domokun goodies.
Nom nom nom....
After the NHK studios we walked around Shibuya-ku some more. Here I am in front of the famous statue of Hachiko the dog.
And I decided to walk a bit to Daikanyama. I got a bit lost so it took a while to get there, but there were lots of cute little shops there. Here I am in the center of Daikanyama.
After some shopping, I walked back towards Shibuya and was very tired, so it was time to take a short break. I stopped into the Starbucks inside Q-Front (one of the busiest Starbuck's locations in the world!) and ordered myself a Coffee-Jelly Frappucino. It was delicious!
After a quick rest and watching people cross the scramble, I decided the day was still young so why not check out Harajuku!
After a couple more hours of wandering and shopping I was exhausted, so it was time to go to sleep....
Posted Aug 12, 2008, 12:37 am
Today we took the subway to Ueno to visit some temples. Here I am waiting for the JR train on the Yamanote line.
At the train station in Ueno there's a Hard Rock café.
The outside of the station has a series of overpasses to get pedestrians over the busy streets below.
On my way I passed the small, but lovely Shintaya Shrine.
In Ueno there are lots of shops the sell family shrines and religious items, so I was surprised to see a little grocery market with these huge daikon radishes outside! The grocer was inside laughing at me for taking this picture
The Niimi café had teacups up the side of the building. No guesswork what they serve there
And the we were in Asakusa! This covered shopping area has lots of beautiful traditional wares. There were shops selling kimono, geta, fans and other beautiful items.
The main attraction for tourists is Senso-ji Temple, in the heart of Asakusa. Along the main pathway to the temple are little stalls selling all sorts of souvenirs.
The temple itself is huge, and breathtaking! There was a festival going on and they were selling fun traditional things like shaved ice, takoyaki, yakisoba and there were water balloon games. The whole atmosphere was very summery and fun.
The day was only half through, so I went into downtown Tokyo. Here I am at the Imperial Palace.
And here I am at the Tokyo Tower! The view from the observation deck was fantastic. You could even see Mount Fuji - it was a bit foggy but you could definitely see it!
Afterwards, I made a stop in Shibuya again to see the Scramble at night. It was still as busy as ever - look at all the people!
Posted Sep 17, 2008, 12:07 am
How wonderful it was to be greeted by Totoro at the museum!
Here I am on the roof of the museum with the robot from Laputa.
Tiff bought a new friend at the museum - one of the dust bunnies from My Neighbour Totoro. She named him Kuro-tan. Here I am with Kuro-tan in the Straw Hat Café inside the museum, having a beautiful capuccino.
Posted Sep 17, 2008, 12:12 am
This was so overwhelming. There were so many buildings with manga, figures and plushies!
Our absolute downfall was finding the VOLK's showroom. Tiff bought the most beautiful Dollfie doll - and it cost us tens of thousands of yen!!
Posted Sep 17, 2008, 12:16 am
I spent some time in Ikebukuro, which is where my hotel was. There was a store called Animate that had lots of manga, figures and fun things. I bought a few things that I didn't buy in Akiba.
I forgot to mention that I was eating a lot of McDonald's in Japan. It is so inexpensive - and it means more money to shop!
And finally, back to Tokyo-Narita airport to head back to Hong Kong.
Posted Sep 17, 2008, 12:22 am
I went out to the main island and had lunch at the American Club. The view was amazing - it's located on the 48th floor of the Exchange Square II.
There are some very expensive shops in The Landmark
It's time to head home. Until my next adventure!
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 6:59 am
On this lovely summer day I'm going to visit some of the private gardens in Notting Hill. They are usually closed to resident's only but on a few days a year they are opened to the public for a small admission fee.
Here I am in Notting Hill - isn't it pretty?
This garden is in Ladbroke Square. It's so green and beautiful! Some scenes from the film "Notting Hill" were filmed here.
And I found a lost traveller! I didn't bring him home with me, just in case his owner came back looking for him.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 7:07 am
This is the front gate of the palace.
And this is part of the well-manicured gardens.
After exploring the palace and the gardens my tummy was rumbling, so I stopped into the Orangery for a bit to eat.
Mmm! Apricot tart with clotted cream, and a pot of tea!
After leaving the gardens I took the bus up towards High Street Kensington to explore the shops.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 7:16 am
Here I am in the Egyptian Hall with my good friend Tofu -
These are some sculptures in the Parthenon Gallery -
Later in the afternoon I found my way up to Regent Street to do some window shopping.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 7:25 am
Afterwards it was back onto the bus and through the English countryside! Here I am at Stonehenge. It is very windy here so I had to hold onto my backpack very tightly!
This is The Heel Stone. The sun rises up from behind this stone on the summer solstice.
Afterwards I got back onto the bus and we went to the town of Salisbury. It's so old and beautiful there.
One of the most famous buildings in Salisbury is the incredible cathedral.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 7:45 am
Afterwards Mr. Scholl did a CD signing and allowed photos to be taken. He was so nice! Here he is with Tiffany -
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 7:57 am
Then in the afternoon it was off to Trafalgar Square and Parliament!
I wanted to make use of my day pass for the tube so I just decided to hop on and off and visit everywhere! Here I am at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.
Across the street from the Tower is a large sundial, and also remains of the old Roman wall of London.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 7:59 am
Afterwards I made my way up to Soho to do some shopping on Carnaby Street.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 8:19 am
This is the Supreme Court of Newfoundland & Labrador.
Here I am on George Street. I think this street is in the Guiness Book of World Records for the greatest number of bars on one street - or something like that. There are a lot of bars!
"Screeching" is a little ceremony whereby tourists are declared honorary Newfoundlanders. It involves taking a shot of Newfoundland Screech Rum and repeating something and and then kissing a pufferfish. Since pufferfish are a bit rare they made people kiss a wooden puffin (a local bird) on the arse ^__~"
I had to wake up REALLY early the next morning... the moon was still up!
I was super hungry so I ordered room service before heading out for the day!
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 8:37 am
Here I am with my new friend Laura at the Sephora store on Fifth Avenue!
And here's the NBC Studios -
I found my way to Rockefeller Center.
Here I am in front of Trump Tower. And see that crazy line outside the Apple Store? There was a 3 hr wait to get inside! I gave up on that and went to FAO Schwartz instead!
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 8:47 am
Thank you!
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 8:58 am
And here I am finally on the Deutche Bahn ICE train.
When I get into the city of Cologne I spotted Space Invaders!
Mmmm Red Tea - this is my favourite drink! It's a rooibos and hibiscus tea and I love it!
This is part of the old Roman Wall in Cologne.
This building is the home of Cologne's "Eau de Cologne." There's a fountain of the stuff inside and you can smell it from a block away!
Here I am on the banks of the Rhine River, with the stunning Cologne Cathedral behind me.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 9:21 am
JP worked up quite an appetite so we went out for a very German dinner of Schnitzel, Spätzle and beer!
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 9:31 am
I decided to try out some Eau du Cologne ^__~"
There's nothing like an evening stroll by the river.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 9:41 am
I turned a little bit and you can see the Stuttgart Rathaus (Town Hall).
I used to come to this Chinese place with my friends and we would stuff ourselves with cheap food!
The Weindorf was happening in Marksplatz so I went to check it out.
The Schlossplatz in the heart of Stuttgart is one of the most beautiful places I've been to. I went for a stroll along the Königstraße on this lovely summer evening.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 9:53 am
In the evening I attended a concert of the Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart with the Stuttgart Philharmoniker.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 9:59 am
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 10:08 am
Not too far from the Parliament buildings is the famous Château Laurier hotel.
Ottawa is a very pretty city because there is a lot of green space and many waterways. The Rideau Canal is famous because it freezes over in the winter and people skate on it. Here are the Ottawa Locks.
And no day in Ottawa is complete without a little walk along Sparks Street.
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 10:14 am
Posted Oct 17, 2010, 10:37 am
We went into the Old City of Shanghai where there are lots of tea vendors and also some modern additions (like McDonalds, Haagen Dazs and The Coffee Bean)
I followed some ladies into the Pearl Market in the Yu Garden district and was overwhelmed by all the different shapes, sizes and colours of pearls!
If only this shirt came in my size!
This is just one of hundreds of vendors in the garment district where you can find tailors, fabric, buttons, tassels and everything related to clothing! The sheer amount of fabric, buttons, tassels and notions was overwhelming!
I did a little bit of grocery shopping - mostly because it amuses me to see American brands with Chinese on them!
This is the iconic Pearl Tower of Shanghai.
Posted Oct 18, 2010, 8:11 am
I loved all the grafitti on the walls outside the studios from fans all over the world that have come to visit.
Since I was up near Baker Street station I decided to pay homage to one of the greatest detectives ever - Sherlock Holmes. I went to go visit him a 221b Baker Street, but unfortunately he was out on a consultation.
I sat in his parlour for a while hoping he would come home, but eventually I had to be on my way.
I spent the evening near Covent Garden and saw this lovely little tea shop on Neal Street.
Posted Oct 18, 2010, 8:37 am
Here I am at the Birmingham War Memorial.
Here's a pretty shot of the downtown area of Birmingham, and you can see the NIA in the background.
I did manage a little bit of shopping in and was very happy to discover that there's a Primark in the main shopping area!
Posted Oct 18, 2010, 8:44 am
Behind us is the huge Lufthansa Airbus 340-600 airplane that will be flying us to Frankfurt.
Posted Oct 18, 2010, 9:22 pm
Can you guess where we are going?
Posted Oct 21, 2010, 8:59 am
Here we are at the København Rädhus, the Copenhagen town hall in the main square. Just off of this square is the Strøget, the pedestrianized main shopping area. There are lots of international brands, local shops and many restaurants.
Here we are outside the main entrance of the famous Tivoli Gardens.
We did a lot of travelling and walking today so we're going to get some rest, and get ready for more exploring tomorrow!
Posted Oct 27, 2010, 6:54 am
Here I am with Mukmuk at the Amalienborg Palace.
Across from the palace is a lovely fountain and a great view of the Opera House.
Here we are at the famous statue of The Little Mermaid. She sits on a rock in the harbour and is based on the fairy tale by famous Danish author Hans Christian Anderson. It's a good thing we saw her because will be moved to the Danish pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010!
No visit to Copenhagen is complete without a cruise on the city's beautiful canals and waterways. The houses are so colourful and people's houseboats and yachts are parked along the sides.
Here I am in front of the Opera House.
Here is the Royal Yacht parked in the harbour, and the pavilions on the shore are where the royal family rest and enjoy some refreshments before boarding their yacht.
This scuplture museum that used to be a brewery. You can see a replica of Michelangelo's David statue outside. The other building is another old brewery.
The canal cruise was such a great way to see many parts of the city.
Finally, here I am at the Emerald Princess ship - my home for the next 10 days!
Posted Oct 29, 2010, 5:54 am
There are lots of waterways in Stockholm, which makes for great skating in the winter!
Posted Nov 5, 2010, 1:14 pm
The first place we visited was the Sibelius Monument, created to honour the composer Jean Sibelius. I think it looks like a metal forest o_0"
Next we drove about the city on a scenic bus tour and stopped at the Rock Church, which is a church that is completely carved out of a large rock and the only outside indication is the copper dome and the discreet cross outside.
Can you see the copper cross? And the top of the copper dome?
Afterwards we had a bit of free time to explore the downtown area so we walked around a market and took in a few sights.
In this large square there is a large Lutheran church and also a monument to Czar Nicolas of Russia.
And here we are back on board the Emerald Princess ship
