Travelog for: Pingu

Hello everybody, I'm Pingu - a cuddly penguin.

I've just been activated.  I'm at home with 8 other ToyVoyagers waiting for my adventures to begin. 

There are 4 other "new" Voyagers, I am the second to be activated. We are all excited, ready for whatever adventures may come our way.  I think my guardian is still trying to think of names for the other 3 !!!!!!!

There are also 4 "seasoned" Voyagers who seem to have been on loads of adventures between them  - us new ones are listening to their stories with great interest.

Here is a photo of me with my 4 new ToyVoyager friends.

I'm on the far left.  The yellow bear and fluffy dog are still unnamed and waiting to be registered.  The pink bear is Fiona and the brown dog is Kenneth.

Today is the start of my adventures.

I am going to The Netherlands, where a nice lady called Marjolein is going to look after me and show me the sights.

One of my life missions is to go on a plane - I wonder if that's how I will travel? 

What a glamourous place to start my travels - the main post office in Bradford.

But we've all got to start somewhere.  So I've been stuffed in a jiffy bag and sent via airmail to Holland - not the way I would have liked to have travelled on a plane but I suppose it will fullfill my life misson.

I'm looking forward to seeing Holland (and maybe the surrounding countries) and reading all about my adventures on here.

I presume I am somewhere over the English channel on my way from England to Holland (I hope I'm not lost).  Hopefully I will arrive at my new home in Holland very soon.

Dear mum,

I arrived in the Netherlands! Atfortunalety Marjolein was in Bruges this weekend so she just found me today. I was very happy to be out of the envelop! Nick and LiLA Bear welcomed me in 's-Hertogenbosch. They had very much to tell me. I'm sure my stay in the Netherlands is going to be really great!

A tv arrived today! It was Roots Bear! He has already had a long yourney, because he was lost on his way to the Ukraine and ended up in Saudi Arabia! But now he is here and we will show him a good time

And another tv arrived today! Another? Yes another! It's getting very cosy here! It was Chompers!!





He came from Remscheid, Germany and he brought a nice card!

Dear mum,

I went to see the Dutch national footballteam today!! In the footballstadium of PSV Eindhoven in Eindhoven. The match was between Holland and Denmark.





Before the match, there was a giant toy on the field! He had a drum with 'Dutchy' on it. Marjolein told me this is the mascotte of the Dutch team. I said he should also travel but Marjolein doubts he will fit into an envelop. She told me a little secret: there is actually in man inside that lionssuit!



But then the match began. First it was time for the national anthems. The Dutch anthem is called the 'Wilhelmus' named after Willem I, king of the Netherlands in the 16th century. The song has 15 verses but they only sing one at the footballmatches. Most of the Dutch only know this verse.



That's the goalkeeper of the Netherlands, Edwin van der Sar, on the big screen.



And they're off!





Do you see all the people nicely dressed in orange? Orange is the Dutch national colour. This is because their royalty's (queen Beatrix and family) are called Oranje (orange in Dutch).



Rafael van der Vaart (number 23, footballer of HSV, in Germany) took a cornerkick for Holland.



And Holland scored!!



Chompers was so excited! We couldn't see anything!



But I was also partying!



So when the second half of the match began, it was 1-0 for Holland.



But then Denmark got dangerous!



O no! Denmark scored!!



And that was the end of the match. The first half was very good, but the second half the Dutch team played sloppy and they let Denmark make a goal. I hope they will do better at the European Championship next month! This game was just for practice.



The stadion of PSV Eindhoven is a very beautiful stadium, also on the outside. It's called 'Philips Stadion' because Philips is their sponsor. Philips is a factory that makes lamps and other electric stuff. Eindhoven is therefore also called the 'Lichtstad' translated something like The city of Light. That sounds beautiful doesn't it?



Love Pingu

Hi mummy!!

We went to the biggest Bingo of Holland today! There where lots of Dutch singers and Marjolein and Kasper also won something! They both won a replica of the t-shirt the Dutch national team whore during the World Championship of 1974! It was so cool!

This all happened in the footballstadium of the club Vitesse, the Gelredome, in Arnhem (or Arnheim in German). It didn't really look like a stadium, like the Philips Stadion. But that's because the Gelredome was also built for things like performances of big artists and of course superbingo's hihi.





It was really big and there where about 36000 people inside!





Gerard Joling, who is a famous Dutch singer, presented it. He looks a bit weird in is golden suit but Marjolein said that's because he is gay.





Jan Smit also performed. He is from Volendam and he has is own real life soap. He has been a famous singer since he was very small and he sang a song for his grandmother. Marjolein has got one cd of him and she thinks he's cute. O and she has some underpants that say: Mrs Smit, as if she is Jan's wife haha. Marjolein got them from Kasper, he is a bit weird too.



Politicus Agnes Kant was also on the party. That is because the goal of the Bingo was to raise money for playgrounds for Dutch children. Agnes Kant also wants more playgrounds.



And of course was Rene Froger singing on stage! He also sings in English so I could finally understand some of the songs!



This is Edsilia Rombley. She went to the Eurovision Songcontest for the Netherlands twice. She never won.





I helped fill in the Bingocards for Marjolein.



The biggest act was Frans Bauer! All Dutch people love him because they think he is so normal. The Dutch don't really like it when people are to drama. Frans did kidnap this child on stage but she seems to enjoy herself.







The Bingo was also the final for a program called 'Kinderen zingen met Sterren', which means Children sing with Stars. There where 4 teams on stage. The team that sang with the duo Nick and Simon from Volendam won.





We had a great time!

Love Pingu

When we got back a new tv had arrived! It was Davy!

Dear mum,

I helped Marjolein make dinner today! We made Russian Stroganoff with cucumbersalad! It was very nice!

Hugs Pingu

Hi mum,

I am so happy you are thinking of me! I am also thinking of you! I miss you but I am also having a really good time in the Netherlands! LiLA Bear went on with her journey today. Marjolein brought her to the postoffice and send her off to England (where I come from!). I am going to miss her! I hugged her goodbye and wished her good luck!

Dear Pingu,

I'm so glad you're having a good time.  You certainly look to be eating well - that Russian Stroganoff looked really yummy -much better than the food you're used to at home. 

And you are making lots of new ToyVoyager friends which is also good.

I hope the weather in Holland is better than here - it's raining at the moment.

Carry on enjoying yourself.

Mum.

Hi mum,

I met some penguinfriends today! The big one and the small one on the right are from New York! The lived at the zoo from the movie Madagascar and Marjolein took the small one home. A year later her boyfriend Kasper also went to New York and he brought the big penguin from the same zoo! The littlest is not a toy but he was very hard and he didn't say much. Kasper's mother saved him for Marjolein from a second hand store. The one with the surfboard is from MacDonalds! Marjolein found her in a Happy Meal
We did some talking about where we all come from. We had all never been to the South Pole, where penguins really live! Maybe someday I can visit my family there!
When we where finished talking we found a cool Dutch book with poetry in it from children. It's from a festival called 'Doe Maar Dicht Maar'. This book is from 2007. Marjolein went to that festival. We read two beautiful poems. One called 'Onbewogen' which means something like still.  It's really sad, about a young girl in a burned house. The other poem was way more cheerful and called 'Een mooie regenboog' which means a beautiful rainbow. Maybe I can ask Marjolein to translate the poems for you sometime.

Hugs Pingu