Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Pau and Enzo

Getting ready for Christmas.

Autumn at the Park

Autumn came late this year, it's November already and most of the trees haven't shed their leaves yet.

Autumn leaves

Enzo talking to the birds.

Baby Queen

Here's to all you pampered fans of Queen out there. Click on the image or here.

Magpie

Taken at the backgarden.

Bird watching at Carshalton Pond

Pau, Enzo and I went to Carshalton Pond yesterday and was able to take a snap at some of the migrating birds. Here are some:

Female Mallard

Male Mallard

Eurasian Coot

Wildgoose

enzo at allhollows 1

dancing on stage

Leeds Castle, Allhollows, Chatham and Canterbury, Kent

It's the last week before school starts, just enough time to make a fun time with the family. Same as last year, we rented a caravan for 4 days at Allhollows, Kent. The caravan wasn't in the best condition because we book late. The location was very good as we are facing the mouth of Thames River as it flows out to the English Channel.

On our way to Allhollows we made a shopping stop at Bluewater, "the most innovative and exciting shopping and leisure destination in Europe today", as they say in their website. It was grand and beautifully designed. This is the biggest mall we have been to here in UK yet. After wandering around for about two hours we went on our way to our destination.

We arrived at around 5 o'clock in the afternoon. There was a small presentation for the kids that evening and Enzo won in the dancing and got a certificate. After dinner it's bedtime for the boys so we can leave early for Leeds Castle. The castle was small compared to other castles but it has a vast ground. The castle was surrounded by moat but the drawbridge has been removed since and replace with permanent one.

There was supposed to be a Hot Air Balloon show but strong winds prevents them from flying. A stunt pilot instead had a flying show instead and there was also a classic cars display. We got a bit lucky as an actor dressed as Henry the VIII was there for some photo op.

The following morning Enzo and Pau took a dip at the pool. That afternoon we went to Chatham. We visited the Historic Dockyard and boarded three historic warships; Second World War Destroyer HMS Cavalier, HM Submarine Ocelot and HMS Gannet.

Our next destination is Canterbury. The Canterbury Cathedral beautiful. Old buildings were kept well as well as the walkways around the cathedral. Inside, it's very solemn and the crypt was a bi creepy. After lunch we went on to Ashford for another shopping. The Ashford Designer Outlet was bigger than the outlets at Portsmouth. The prices are not really that low but other shops really have sale prices.

Finally, it's time to go home as tomorrow will be the first day of school for this term. Here are some pictures and the rest are in the fotopic section.

Enzo at Bluewater

at Allhollows with Henry the VIII at Leeds Castle at Chatham Historic Dockyard at Canterbury Cathedral

OpenOffice.org™

Here's a solution if you can't afford the expensive office suite. Check out their site here:

free office suite
OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute. To help build the community, join us..

Bank Holiday Weekend

It's bank holiday weekend and time for a driving trip to Isle of Wight.
7:00 am
We started our trip to Portsmouth. This will be our first time to visit the island. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10:30 am and check-in is half an hour before sailing. It was also our first time to sail on a Ro-ro (roll-in, roll-off).
9:30 am
Checked-in and queued at the dock and awaiting for boarding. It was very busy at the dock, people are travelling to the isle for their long weekend.
10:00 am
We're on our way ahead of schedule as the ferry was fully loaded and there are still lots of vehicle left in the queue. The trip was about 30 minutes.

On board the Wightlink ferry.

10:30 am
Fishbourne Port, Ilse of Wight at last. Our final destination was Needles Park in Alum Bay. There are some attractions that Pau and Enzo enjoyed. Enzo got a junior driving license.

Enzo driving his mitsubishi

The chairlift is the quickest way to the beach. Pau didn't like it. On the beach you would be able to see the different coloured sand of the bay. Nothing much to do but sit around.

the chairlift

coloured cliffs and sand

Back up the cliff we played Mini Golf. Pau was not keen on playing again but he did try.

Pau and Enzo putting for a parr.

Alum Bay Glass. Here youl be able to watch as the glassmakers show how to create a glass vase from scratch. The process took about 10 minutes from silica to a beautiful vase.

glass blowing demonstration

4:45 pm
Almost time to go home. On the way to Fishbourne we stopped at Yarmouth. Sat around at the bay for awhile then we are on ou way again. There was a bit of traffic and we're running late for the check in. Fortunately, there was a 30 minutes delay as a merchant ship was stuck at Portsmouth.
6:30 pm
We are on our way home. It has been a wonderful day trip for the family. Next stop, Kent. That would be another entry in this blog. See you soon.

Pau and Enzo's Sports Day

Last month before the school ends, Pau and Enzo had their Sports Day at their respective schools. Pau's sports day was a bit frantic as everyone have their own agenda. But they still have lots of fun. Pau was able to score a goal in football but doesn't want to accept his medal. The award was given by Fulham FC.

Pau going for a penalty kick.

Enzo's sports day was more placid. They were again divided into 4 groups. This year Enzo was in Nelson Mandela's House. Fortunately they are second place overall this year. He won his 50 meter dash race this time. Enzo enjoyed this year's sports day a lot.

Enzo at the starting line of the 50 meter dash.

Wimbledon 2006

It has been a while since I last updated this blog. We went to watch tennis at Wimbledon last July. I never knew that we have to queue for about half a kilometer to buy a ticket for the day, but it was worth the time. The first match that we saw was Nieminen against Kohlschreiber and then it was Baghdatis against Grosjean.

Enzo in front of the Centre Court Baghdatis v Grosjean

Up at Henman hill the match between Murray and Roddick was being shown. A lot were happy that time as Murray defeated Roddick but most people were sad as England lost to Portugal in the World Cup. Girlie has to go home earlier than me and Enzo as she had to work late that night. Paulo wasn't with us that day as he was at Cedar Close that day. Here are some of the pictures i have taken that day.

Girlie and Enzo at Court No. 3

For the rest of the photos go to fotopic.

Enzo's 7th Birthday

Enzo celebrates his 7th birthday in Minnesota. We just had barbecue and spaghetti for his handa. The guests:

• Lola Ipoy and Lola Dolly
• Lola Neris and Lolo Jim
• Tito Toti, Tito Tony and Auntie Yasmin
• Tito Edmund, Auntie Sharon and Ruby
• Papa, Mama and Kuya Pau

Blowing the candles on his cake.

Of course he got lots of gift and really loved the hotwheels he got from his Titos' and Lolas'.

Wow! Another hotwheels

Thank you for coming to my party......Enzo.

Mall Of America

What a mall! Unfortunately we only stayed there for an hour. We planned to go back there just before we fly back. The only place in the mall that we're able to visit was the theme park area and the lego play area. here ae some of the few pictures we have taken.

Minnesota and South Dakota Trips

It has been a great holiday for our family in Minnesota. We’ve been very busy I haven’t got time to jot down anything in this blog. After the wedding of my cousin we have been travelling a lot, staying home for only a couple of days in our two weeks vacation. Here’s what we have done while in the USA:

First we went to the headwater of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, it’s were the river starts from it’s thousand of miles to the Gulf of Mexico. You would not believe that the mighty river starts with such a small stream from the lake. We’ll now be able to say that we crossed the Mississippi river and we have photos to show it. It took us more than four hour drive to get there from my Aunt’s house in Brooklyn Centre.

On our way home we took another route via Garrison, Minnesota to see Mille Lacs. We would have stayed long except there are just too many giant insects by the shore.

Dinner time and Grand Casino Mille Lacs is just around the corner. My Aunt says that during winter the whole lake would freeze and people drove over it. We have our dinner at the casino buffet restaurant for free thanks to my Aunt’s coupon from going to the casino to have some fun and relax. Before going home we have just enough time to play in the slot machines in the casino floor.

The following day our itinerary was Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth was absolutely beautiful. It’s a harbour town thanks to Lake Superior. The lake was so big it almost looked like a sea. Before we toured the town we stopped in the tourist information centre. It has a great view of the city and the lake. On the other side of the lake just crossing the bridge is already Wisconsin.

Sixteen miles to the north of Duluth is the City of Two Harbour. The road was by the coast of Lake Superior and the scenery was fantastic. Enzo even have a picture taken beside what looked like Foghorn Leghorn.

Come dinner time again and Grand Casino Hinckley is on our way. Taking advantage of our free dinner coupon, we dined in the grill restaurant this time as the buffet restaurant was already closed.

We tucked in early as our next trip would be a lot longer than our previous ones. Kuya Mun, back from their honeymoon, called and said they’ll be coming with us to South Dakota. We left around 11 in the morning and by the time we reached Rapid City it’s already dark. Driving along the highway was boring especially on the side of South Dakota. It’s a straight up and down highway with nothing to see but farmland on your left and right. Resting every couple of hours is advised while driving and the rest areas in S.D. are beautiful. They all have this structure that looked like a teepee. I was driving Yasmin’s car and wanted to change with her driving as I’m getting sleepy but we missed the stop so we continue driving up to the next rest stop.

Fortunately the next stop was in Chamberlain, S.D.. It was very windy but has a great view of the Missouri River.

Our next stop was in Wall to have our dinner. After dining we went on our way again. We didn’t stay for long as we’ll be passing by here again to go to Badlands. Reaching Rapid City we all went to bed early for the following days driving.

The first place we visit was Mount Rushmore Memorial. Roads going to the site were very scenic. They really preserve the area well. A footpath was constructed on the side of the mountain so you can have a glimpse of the heads up close. Enzo was thinking how to put something under the nose of the presidents.

Next stop Crazy Horse Memorial. This was going to be a huge carving off the mountain. From Kuya Tony’s visit in 1999 the head of Crazy Horse was finish now they are working on the arms. It would probably take more than a century to finish this memorial as it’s not funded by the federal government.

Going up north we arrive at Deadwood City. This place was made famous by Wild Bill Hickok. The main road of was full of casinos. Saloon No.10’s original location was preserved, the place where Wild Bill was shot.

After Deadwood it’s back to the hotel for the rest of the day. The following morning will be our trip back. On our way home we visited Wall, S.D. again and then to Badlands and Mitchell where the Corn Palace is. The drive home was so long that we decided to stay for the night in Luverne, Minnesota. Having the whole day left we set off to Austin, Minnesota but Kuya Mun and Sharon went ahead as they have to wait home for someone to fix their television. Our only itinerary in Austin was the Spam Museum.

I’m not writing anymore as I’m running out of words. Just click on the highlighted words for the photos or just go to fotopic page.