Travelog for: Betty Bear

Hi Mum,

Tonight I went with Anton Turtle and had dinner at a local pizza restaurant. The Mexican Pizza was really yummy!



xx Betty

Hi Mum!

Today we  baked muffins with ingredients that Host Sister had at home. First we found some frozen bananas in the freezer. Brrr, it's cold in here! We chose two nice big bananas for the muffins.



Oooh, what's in here? It's all white and crumbly. It's sugar!



We put the flour, sugar and cocoa powder in the bowl.



Next we put in the egg, melted butter and mashed up banana. Oooh, it's all gloopy! Anton and I helped to mix it all together.



We mixed it all together and then put the muffin mix in the tray. We spilled a little bit, oops!



Then  the muffins went in the oven for 25 minutes. When they came out, they had risen and they were all nice and brown. They smelled so good!



We tried one of the muffins with a cup of tea. Yummy!



Love,
Betty Bear.

Hi Mum!

Host Sister wanted to take me on a walk to the gardens today, but it was cold and raining all day. What a shame!



So instead we did some tidying around the house, and then we sat down with a nice pot of tea and some biscuits.



These are strange biscuits! They look like lace! They come from China and they are normally eaten at Chinese New Year, but they're too yummy to wait until then! They're very crunchy and taste like honey.

Hope you are well.
Love, Betty. xx

Hi Mum!

Today we went to Federation Square in the City. It's the largest and newest public space in the city of Melbourne, finished in 2002. When it first opened, a lot of people thought it was ugly, but there wasn't much new-style architecture in Melbourne then, so people weren't used to it. Most people seem to like it now. A few people still don't like it, but there's not much they can do now!



The main building is the National Gallery of Victoria's modern and Australian art collection. There is also the headquarters for SBS TV Station, and on the roof is an experimental beehive, the Rooftop Honey project. On the other side is the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. (It's a film museum and cinema.)




The main square has a huge TV screen which often shows big sporting matches, cultural events or short films from the film museum's collection. The paving on the ground is a huge artwork. The colours and curved surface look like the dunes in the desert.





The largest building is covered in sandstone. It's sandy colour also ties in to the desert theme. Every piece of sandstone and glass is a triangle shape, and they all fit in together in a crazy pattern. Host Sister says there's a story that not a single angle in the whole pattern is a square angle. But she's not sure if this is really true! The smaller building on the front corner is covered in zinc metal, which reflects the sky whatever the weather is.



At the back is the Atrium. This is the entrance to the Art Gallery. The glass roof is 5 storeys high! The glass wall has two layers, and sometimes there are art displays in the middle. Like an art sandwich!



The artwork on display at the moment is called '1000 Tears'. Members of the public emailed the artist to tell her their biggest regret, and she wrote them on tears made of paper.
And around the other side was a pretty garden bed full of daffodils.



Across the river is the concert hall, the classical art gallery and the botanical gardens. But we'll go there some other time! It's time to go now.



Bye for now!
Love, Betty Bear xx

Hi Mum!

Today we welcomed Huli Hutu. He comes from the U.S.A., but has travelled from Germany to visit us.









Huli Hutu fulfilled one of his life goals in visiting Australia! We had a cupcake to celebrate. It was so yummy! 



Bye for now!

Hi Mum!

How are you?
Today we did something a little bit different. We voted! Well, Host Sister and Host Brother did. There is an election soon. Time to choose a new Prime Minister, or perhaps keep the old one!
In Australia, voting at elections is compulsory. Everyone aged 18 years and over must vote on election day, or they have to pay a fine. It used to be that everyone had to show up on election day to a polling place to fill out their ballot. How annoying!



In the last few years it has been allowed to vote by postal vote. The voters go online to request a postal ballot paper, then the papers are sent out in the mail. They're filled out at home and sent back. As long as they're filled out before election day, everything is fine.

Host Sister says voting at home is more convenient, but not as fun! Normally the polling places are at a school. The people running them usually set up a barbeque to raise money for the school. After voting, you can buy a sausage in bread, and sometimes they have a cake stall as well. Host Sister and Host Brother didn't want to miss out on the fun of the barbeque! So we made sausages in bread and sweets at home. Here are the chocolate crackles and honey joys.



Who are we going to vote for??



Wow, this paper is so long! So many to choose from!



Phew! Now the papers are all filled in and put into the envelopes. We'll take them to the post box tomorrow morning.



Now it's time for another chocolate crackle!
xx

Hi Mum!

I want to say sorry for not updating in so long, but we have been very busy because Host Sister moved house.

Where did all the furniture go??
Bye bye old house!





Hello new house!



OK, we found some of the belongings. So many boxes to unpack, wow!



Host Sister says we will go for a walk around the new neighbourhood this weekend and see what's here.
Love you!
Betty Bear
xx

Hi Mum!

Yesterday a new friend arrived in Australia.



Who can it be?



It's a cute bear called Columbus! He's travelled a long way to be here.



Hello Columbus! You're a bear, just like me! I'm glad to meet you!



To celebrate the arrival of Columbus, we did some baking. We made the Babka from Host Sister's cooking magazine.



I think the Babka and things like it are found in many cultures. It is filled with dried fruit and a rum syrup is poured over the top. Here I am mixing the flour and sugar together.



Now the dough is all mixed together and kneaded. Next we need to wait a while so the dough can rise.



Next Host Sister rolled the dough out into a biiiig rectangle. It's so big, maybe we can play football on it!



Then we sprinkled the filling over the dough. There are dried apricots, which had been soaked in schnapps for a few hours to make them plump, and some chocolate. Unfortunately in this picture, to me it looks like tomatoes and bits of meat, perhaps chopped roast beef! Am I making a pizza??!



Host Sister then rolled the whole thing up into a big log. Smile, everyone!



We cut the log up into slices and arranged them in a greased baking tin.



After baking, it doesn't really look like the photo in the magazine, but I'm still going to taste it!



While the Babka was cooking, Host Sister made a syrup from cherry brandy and sugar. We poured it over the top of the babka buns.



It was delicious.
I'm excited because I will be travelling again soon!
Bye Mum!

Hi Mum!

Today I went to work with Host Sister. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very nice, but we went to see some sights in the City at lunch time anyway. We went to see the "Top End" of the city.



Right at the top end of Collins Street is the Old Treasury Building. It was built in 1862 during the Gold Rush times. Miners were digging up so much gold, and the Government earning so much tax from them, that they needed somewhere special to keep all the gold. Of course, they didn't call it the "Old Treasury" then, just the "Treasury"! After the treasury was moved to a new building, it became a museum. Part of it is also the Marriage Registry. Every day there are always lots of couples and family having their photos taken on the steps.

Host Sister says this is where she got married!





Here we're looking down Collins Street from the Top End. This is also called the "Paris End" of Collins Street, because of the leafy trees and all the international designer stores here (Armani, Gucci, etc.).



The centre of Melbourne was built on a grid one mile long and half a mile wide. It slopes from the Government buildings at the top of the hill down to Docklands on the bay. The top end of the city is considered to be the most beautiful. All the old buildings from Gold Rush times are here, most of the theatres and many parks.




Watch out for the trams!





Next door is the Treasury Gardens. It's a small park, but it's one of the most beautiful in Melbourne. Next to it there are more government buildings. The leader of Victoria (the Premier) has his offices in the closest one.



It's about to rain, time to go back to work!



Bye for now!
Love, Betty xx

Hello!

Today was the birthday of Columbus bear, so we had a party with cake and lollies!
We had a lovely time and the cupcake was really yummy.



Happy Birthday Columbus!
xx

Hi Mum!

Today I left Australia, now I'm travelling to Alaska in the U.S.A.! It's all the way across the other side of the world.
How exciting! I wonder if it will be cold there.
I said goodbye to the other toys and climbed into my travel bag.















Host Sister put in some chocolates so I have something to eat on the way.
See you in Alaska!
xx
Betty Bear

Sorry, I kept you waiting for first update.
Alaska? Germany? I arrived in Japan!!!
Everyone gave me warm welcome and big hugs. I am happy too!
Mum, my host Yoko said " Thank you so much for chocolate bars and wonderful postcard." She really loves Milka.
When I arrived in Japan, already the onset of cold weather brought heavy snow across a wide area of Japan.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the first heavy snowfall warning for central Tokyo in 13 years.
My host said " We don't have much snow here. "
So, It is cold, now...

Hi, mum.
We could not go out because we had a record snowfall at weekend.
And my host had a bad cold, few days stay in bed.
We gave her some good medicine for cold.
It is OK now. We will go out this week end.
I am looking forward to go out somewhere.

Hello mom !!!
It is sunny and cold(+5c).
I'm going to get on my favorite colour red train.
This train is called Keikyu main line, It is connecting Yokosuka and Tokyo.
This train running at maximum speed 120km/h.

We visited the Verny park.
The heavy snow has melted away.
I enjoyed a walk in the park, we found gate, it was builded 100 years ago.