Sunday, April 25, 2010

Tales of Shining Lights and Vegemites

Lately, Barry's been venturing out of the house on his own, and trying to make his own fun. This is because I'm have trouble leaving the new massage chair:From said chair to you, here are the pictures of the week. This one, of a wall on a bridge, defies categorization.The formerly alive creature of the week is the re-grown tailed gecko, below, who could have used some health care:The shocking news of the week is that, after Barry's questionable Australian adventures, I've been surprised to learn that vegemite and marmite are both actually delicious. Seriously, as long as you don't expect them to taste like nutella.
Another creature of the week is the rarely seen Baking Barry, who is oven tending.
Finally, hidden at the bottom is the monster spider of the week, from Singapore's Sungei Buloh Wetlands park.


Sunday, April 18, 2010

Ticos of the Week

The Ticos (Costa Ricans) of the week are the scary river crocodile above and the picnic peacock, below. Runner up is the Roseate spoonbill, though I think it could have been more roseate, don't you?The fruit of the week is what I call sour Tico strawberry apple. Called "Cas band" on the package, yet not on google.
The inefficient nut of the week is the cashew, which grows like this (green part is the nut). You didn't know? This blog can be educational.


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Volcanoes far and wide

After tunnelling through the earth to Costa Rica, we visited Rincón de la Vieja Volcano. My Spanish confirms that this means "Corner of the old Lady", which I think means she's an angry old wench! Above, her bubbling slime. Below, my mother seemingly unaware of potential doom:The nearby white-faced capuchins also seemed cool with it all, if a little curious.As did the agouti, a pear-shaped auburn rat.Barry's favourite volcano animal is the coati, because it reminds him of tanuki.These animals must have figured ways to avoid falling into of crevasses of bubbling bile.I, however, was more alarmed, as shown here in the valley of death.


Friday, March 26, 2010

Fear Factor Food

Our friends Mike and Jen came to visit recently. Seeing as they biked here from Kazakhstan (that's right, across Asia, use your mental globe), we knew they were hardcore. So we took them eat freaky food:Frog porridge can be sticky, Mike liked it more than me. He was also a mild fan of turtle soup, supposed to help you swim better.
In a final show of hardcore, here's Mike eating Durian Jam (Jen's dislike not shown).
Everyone was a fan of Tulang, bone marrow curry, (birthday version shown) but who isn't?Mike & Jen thought we were being nice, so they cooked us a delicious dinner! Thanks guys!


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Tokyo Speaks to Us

Japan is a fabulous travel destination: safe, clean, friendly, very easy to manoeuvre and yet culturally and linguistically exotic. The joy is in trying to figure out what it all means. Here are some examples for you to try:

My guesses, and more examples.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Where Fish Comes From

I was told that more than 3 fish market pictures was boring. So if this applies to you, you're done now. For bigger fish fans, the Tsukiji fish market, the biggest in the world, is my favourite Tokyo attraction. Between 5 and 6:15am (yes, we made it), you can witness the tuna auction:Once auctioned, the tunas get cut with huge knives.We'll skip some steps, but here is what's offered for breakfast. If your attention span can handle more, it's here.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tokyo Fashion and Barry

When it comes to fashion in Tokyo, there's a lot going on. Below is picture of me pondering it all (I'm on the right).
For Barry, however, there is no need to ponder. He's all over it. You say animal ears are in?
Barry's immediately got himself a tiger hat.
Special socks?
Barry got himself panda socks because, he says, "socks with ears are cool".In fact, Barry's so stylish that the Japanese have started copying Canadian fashion! More.


Saturday, March 6, 2010

Laura in Tokyo

Tokyo provides photogenic nights, above, and days with big-eyed green freakdolls. Upon arriving in Tokyo we immediately went to the Tanuki & Plastic Food Store neighbourhood, wouldn't you? I just couldn't get these darn raccoon dogs to look for the picture.The restaurant district also sells the biggest and most expensive knives I've ever seen (Look at Barry's reflection in the glass for perspective).How do you like your squid? Perhaps white, dried and on the street?Tokyo, one of the world's biggest cities. 4-digit license plates.
More of Tokyo's oddities are here.