Travelog for: Snuff

Hello everyone, my name is SNUFF, im Sniff's twin sister.
We wanted to join ToyVoyagers to see more of the world, and since we have been together all our lives, we wanted to do this on our own. Still keeping in touch ofcourse, but see new places, meet new people and just be US.


Just a picture of me...


Another one


Me and my brother together...

Today we were making food, something we really enjoy, that and eating it afterwards ofcourse :P haha


Sniff was making the meat ready, while I was heeating up the pan for it...
I might be a small toy, but im very capable of cooking, and knoiw what im doing


Then we put in some oliveoil for the meat, that just taste better than butter or ordinary oil, needs to be italian, all the way you know


As soon as Sniff was done with the spices, i could start baking the meat.


When it was golden brown and done, we put a jar of sause in, my favourite!


The macaroni was almost done...


Just stir a little bit, and boil a few more minutes, and its all ready!


And finaly, eat!


Yummeeeehhhh!


After the dinner, we watched a funny movie called "Yes man", it was really worth it, and it was a very nice evening at home

Untill next time...

*Paws up*

Snuff

Hi Mom, we have safely arrived in Florida!!!  I hope we will have some pics to send you in a few days.

Today we go with our host to a park.

Look at all the palm trees!  Even thoug the weather is still a bit chilly, the trees make me feel warm.



We see a lady feeding the ducks.



There are lots of seagulls here too.  We want to go chasing them.



We chase them away but there comes a bigger bird... it's an airplane!!  The airport is on the other side of this lagoon.



Our host is here to practise dragon boat.  Here the boats have arrived on a trailer.  It's a very long boat, and during races and festivals they put on a dragon head and tail, but today for practice they don't put the decoration on.



They unload the boats into the water.



The boat can seat 20 paddlers, though in the picture there are only two people on board.



There are some people jetskiing as well.



We also have fun in the playground.

Today we go with our host to a hotel.  It's called Foutainbleau and it's on Miami Beach!



She has some classes in the hotel.  It's wine tasting and olive oil tasting.  Here we are sitting in front of the olive oil samples.  We learn how to do a tasting.  You have to first warm the oil in the little cup in your hands first.  Then you sniff it and taste it.  You may taste fresh mowed grass, green tomato, artichoke, and other flavors.  Needless to say, I am very good with the sniffing part, though I don't care for drinking oil.



They talk about the different types of oil and what are the different tastes. 



Unfortunately, We cannot sit in the wine class because my host says we are too young.  We don't think so but we don't have ID to prove it.  Anyway, she promises she will take us to somewhere special.  So we stay quiet while she sniffs her wine. 

Okay so where is she taking us?



I see something blue!



Oh it's the Atlantic Ocean!  On the other side is Europe!!



It's quiet since the weather is a little cold.



Oh there is a seagull!  Should we chase it?



We decide to take a walk down the broadwalk.



Wow that's a lot of palm trees!



Now we are on Ocean Drive in South Beach.  It's a very well known tourist destination famous for the art deco style buildings, all painted in pastel colors.





And this was the house of a very famous person. 



This place belonged to Versace, the famous Italian designer.  He was murdered right on the doorsteps some years old.  I think I can still smell blood!

We see a cat so we chase it up the tree.  Birds and cats, what a fun day!

Today we help our host prepare some turnip pudding for the Chinese New Year Festival.  Our host knows that we are really good with cooking so she enlists her help.  And we are excited to learn some Chinese cooking too!  There are many types of cakes or puddings for the ew year, the sweet ones made with ingredients such as sugar, coconut, red beans, waterchestnuts and the savory ones with yam or turnip.  For our host, her favorite is the turnip pudding.

First we prepare the ingredients.  We have sausages, shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimps.



I dice the mushrooms after soaking them in water.



Then the shrimps.



And the sausages.  It's a lot of work!



Now we season them with some cooking wine, sugar and soy sauce.



Next come the main ingredient, the turnip.  We use 6 lbs of it!!



We peel and shred it.



Now we are ready to cook!  First we stir fried the diced ingredients.



Then the turnip.  I work together with my twin as the work is getting heavy!



Now, we mix everything together.



We prepare a paste of rice flour and corn starch with water, which we add to the mix.



Everything is poured into a pan.



We now steam the pudding for an hour.



When it's cooked through we add some sesame for garnishing.  Our host usually uses some cilantro too but she forgot to buy some.



Now it's ready!  The pudding is enjoyed with some soy sauce and hot sauce.  It's very delicious.

Today we visit a Buddhist Temple to celebrate Chinese New Year.

There is a beautiful little Zen garden.



There is a Buddha statue.



Outside the entrance there is an incense burner.



People come here to offer their first incense of the year.  A friend of my host came on midnight to offer the first incense!



We notice some children practising for something.  We wonder what it is?



And hmm, what is this monster head?  It's a bit scary looking.  We decide not to bark at it.



This is the hall where people pray.



Here is a wishing tree.  And we wish you all a "Kung Hei Fat Choi", A Happy and Prosperous New Year!!



People write their wishes and tie it to te stems.  There are wishes like: "Ace the exam", "World Peace", "Health for the Family".  My wish is to travel a lot.



On the walls there is exhibition of paintings done by a monk.



We say a prayer and knock on the bell.



There are some beautiful good luck charms for sale.



As well as books, CDs, tea, incenses and other things.



After lunch we watch the performance in the hall.  Ah, this is what the kids are practising!  Our host tells us that this is called a lion dance.



The lions are very pretty, colorful and energetic!



Next is a lady in traditional Taiwanese costume playing an instrument called zither/koto.  The music is very sweet and tender.



Then we watch some children play the Chinese yo-yo.  It is quite interesting.

Today we are going to the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival.

First we go to take the train.



Here is the train!  A lot of people are getting off.







We sit on the second level so we can see the scenery.



After about an hour, we arrived in Lake Worth.



Next we take the trolley to go to the festival.





We are finally in Lake Worth!



There is a children alley where the kids can enjoy painting on the street.



We watch as the artists paint on the street.  The paintings are very beautiful!!





It must be very hard sitting on the street, bending over to paint with little chalks.  t's very hot too.  A lot of the paintings are copies of famous classics.











This one is very, very beautiful and we think it's the best one.



Some of the artists have serious tools.  This one has a nice set of pastels.



Some are more contemporary.



This is copied from a newspaper photo about Haiti earthquake.



There are some cartoon characters.





Our host is excited about this one from her favorite manga Death Note:





There are also food vendors.





We continue down the street to admire the paintings.















Hmm, this one is really nice too.



Look they paint on the wall too!



And even the children! 



A lot of people come out to this festival.  THe artists are mostly local, though some are from other cities.  Some are art students. 







We see this "living statue". 

These few days our host has been very busy packing her lugguage.  She tells us that we will be travelling somewhere far, out of America, and we are coming along too.  We are very excited.  She won't tell us where it will be, just that it's somewhere we haven't been to.  She is not sure if she can upload pictures while travelling, so mommy, don't worry if you don't hear from us.  We are probably having too good a time! 

Wow we are at the airport!! 



We have to buckle up.  The airplane is about to take off!  I wonder where we are going? 



Our host tells us it will be a long flight.  Happily there is a TV at each seat so we can watch movies.  This one is about a piglet called McDull.



After several movies and some sleep, we are finally here!!  We are in HONG KONG!! Isn't that amazing??  Let's pick up some brochure!!



And of course, we have to collect our lugguage first.

We are staying at the house of our host's parents.  Today we say hi to the residential dogs.



This is Gigi, the pomeranian.



This is Bobo, a white poodle.



We take the dogs out for a walk.  I mean, we two dogs are walking a dog on leash!  Have you ever seen anything like that before?



We see a lot of people waving around their swords!  We wonder if they are having a fight, but turns out they are just doing kung fu exerciise.

Today we visit an outdoor market calls The Woman's Street.  It's located in Mong Kok, a place which, according to Guinness World Records, has the highest population density in the world.

Here is the Woman's Street, so named because there are a lot of outdoor stalls selling clothes, handbags and accessories.  Now that it's popular with tourists, there are stalls for souvenirs, imitation name brand handbags and watches, and other things too.  You have to bargain the prices here.  Notice that the building on the left is under renovation, and the scaffolding is built with bamboos.



These sell handbags and fans.





This one has T shirts.



This one has towels.



And look, lots of stuffed toys!



There are also a lot of food shops here. 

This window display is not real, but made with plastic to show you what they have.



This tea shop boasts that the president of Taiwan is a regular customer.



This booth sells a lot of snacks.  Sausages, meatballs, and eve beef tripe.



We head on to another market nearby.  It's the type of market where people buy their cooking ingredients.  While there are supermarkets many people still prefer to get their meat and produce at the street markets, where the price is better, the food fresher and the service friendlier.



This is a soy bean stall.  It sells bean sprouts, tofu, bean curds and other things make from tofu.  When a customer wants to buy tofu, the owner cuts from the big block on the wooden board.



This one has dried fishes hanging, and bags of dried shrimp and other stuff.



Ah, something we recognize!!  I spot some broccoli and zucchini!



The fruit stall has longan, starfruit, dragon fruit (the big red ones) among the bananas, papayas, guavas, mangoes and pears.

Today we visit Tsim Sha Tsui, which is at the southern tip of the Kowloon Penisula which extend from mainland China.

We take a double decker bus to get there.  We are travelling along Nathan Road, a very busy main sreet in Kowloon.  It's a bit scary to be sitting so tall.



The bus has a TV, but a lot of the broadcast is advertising.



We are having dim sum for lunch today!  Mmm all the dishes look delicious.



Sorry the food is so tasty we all dive in, and then remember that we forget to take pictures first.  So some of the plates are empty already.  Except for that chicken feet which Blinchick is scared to try.  I am brave so I eat a small piece and it's actually not bad.



In Hong Kong, many of the restaurants who provide seafood keep their stock alive in aquariums.  When a customer places an order, they will take the fish, shrimp, or whatever it is out of the tank and cook it in the kitchen, so the food is as fresh as can be. 



Here are some scary looking lobsters.



These are some mighty prawns!



These funny looking stuff are called abalones.



After lunch we walk towards the harbor.  We pass by an exhibit that shows the costumes for Cantonese opera.  Very eleborate looking!



We walk along the Avenue of Stars.



This is a broadwalk by the Victoria Harbor to honor the movie industry of Hong Kong.







This is the Victoria Harbor, separating Kowloon Penisula with the Hong Kong Island.  Across the harbor is the Hong Kong Island.



This is Bruce Lee, an iconic figure of Hong Kong origin. 



Look, we find the hand prints of Jackie Chan, a famous kung fu actor from Hong Kong!



And this one is John Woo, a famous director also from Hong Kong.



Night has fallen and now we can see how beautiful the world famous night scenery of Hong Kong is. 



This is the clock tower of the original Kowloon railway station.  The station is no longer here but this relic remains.



Nearby is some decorations.  These are made in the style of traditional paper laterns, and depicts a scene of children playing.

Today we go with our host to attend the BookCrossing meeting.  BookCrossing is a worldwide group of readers who love to share their books with the world.  Sometimes the members will get together so they can exchange their books.

We are taking the subway.  First this is where you can get a ticket, if you don't have a pass already.



Now we pass through the gate.



We wait for the train to arrive. 



Ah, here it is.  There is usually a train arriving every few minutes.



Here we are, riding in the train!



We reach our station, now we have to figure out which exit is closest to where we want to go!



we take the escalator to go up to the street.



We have a great time at the meeting.  Everybody brings lots of books so we have plenty to choose from.



This coffee shop is also an Official BookCrossing Zone, so here's a bookshelf full of free books that people can take.



Afterwards, our host stops by one of her favorite shops.



This is a dessert shop famous for its fruit drinks and fruit salad desserts, especially ones with mangoes.  I have to say everything on the menu looks delicious.



We wish we could taste them all, but our host says no, so after some debate we decide to get the mango coconut aloe vera drink.  It's very tasty!!

Today we are going to try some Shanghainese food.  The restaurant is in Tsim Sha Tsui, not far from the Avenue of Stars we visited a few days ago.  Here is another view of the Harbor, where the cruise terminal is.  On the left the very top building is International Finance Center, the tallest building in Hong Kong. 



One of the most famous food from Shanghai is the Xiao Long Bao.  We are reading the restaurant's placemat, which has a story about this dumpling.



The dumpling (bao) comes in small bamboo steam basket (xiao long).  Traditionally, pork is used as filling.  Chilled meat gelatin is wrapped inside, so once it heats up, the dumpling is filled with hot, juicy soup.



We also order some ramen noodles.  Ramen literally means "pulled noodle" and the noodle is made by stretching a round of dough, folding it and pulling again, repeating until you get many strands of noodles.  Sounds easy in theory but takes lots of practice to get noodles that are thin, uniform in width and not broken apart. We can kind of see the chef at work pulling the noodles, but he is working too fast for us to take good pictures.





We first enjoy the Za Jiang Mein. (Jajangmyeon in Korean)  It is a popular Northern China dish with minced meat and bean paste on top of noodle.  You can call it a Chinese style spaghetti bolognese.



Next is the hot & sour noodle, which is noodle in hot and sour soup.



This is a dish of fried eel, a little crunchy and sweet.



Turnip pancake.



And last, something sweet to end the meal.  Steamed buns with a sweet paste.  Usually the paste is made with azuki beans or lotus seed or egg custard.

Today we are taking the double decker bus again.  To cross the harbor, we go through the tunnel under the water!



This is the Wan Chai district on the Hong Kong island side.



Wan Chai used to be the red light district for American sailors when they stopped by Hong Kong.  Today, while many bars and nightclubs remains, Wan Chai is among the most affluent district in Hong Kong, boosting lots of five star hotels, a government office complex, art center, exhibition hall and restaurants.



Let's take a group picture by this interesting statue.



Behind us is the financial district of Hong Kong, the Central.  You can see the tallest building, IFC, to the right, and th Bank of China building (like a cutting blade) on the left, amidst the many highrisers.



This is a monument commemorating Hong Kong's return to China (after a 99-year lease to England) in 1997. 



The Convention and Exhibition Centre is built on reclaimed land from the harbour.  It hosts some of the largest trade exhibitions in Asia, and its name is written down in history as the location where the handover ceremony was performed.



The bauhinia is the city flower of Hong Kong.  At this Golden Bauhinia Square, you can see the flags of China and Hong Kong in the background.