News Flash!

yellow duck update,

the giant yellow rubber duck floating on Nanming River in China's south-west Guizhou Province has reportedly been swept away by flood waters, the 18m (59ft) sculpture by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman disappeared around 19:00 local time on Wednesday, after the city saw days of heavy rainfall, even though the duck weighs 1 ton, and was sitting on a 10 ton metal platform lashed to the riverbed with steel wires, it was easily dislodged by the storm, yet another catastrophe has befallen the yellow duck as it burst in unexplained circumstances in Taiwan, will this be the end of the travelling duck?

Yellow Ducks,

are in the news again,

we mentioned them first going down the River Thames,

then again as it made it's way around the world appearing in Hong Kong harbour, it seems that the duck has more than a little appeal as according to this article you can now buy your very own yellow duck! the duck in question is an art work by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman which is 16.5m (54ft) tall and currently afloat in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour,


but if you to buy your own duck this is the place to go, a duck inflatable web site, if you want a relatively small 2m (6.5ft) tall duck it cost a mere 2,800 yuan ($455) but if your duckie-dreams are as large as Florentijn Hofman's, prepare to fork over 118,000 yuan ($19,245), the sites ultimate duck – the 20m (66ft) tall emperor of the duck dynasty, as it were – goes for a whopping 149,800 yuan or $24,435 & change, just remember buyer beware, if you order the wrong sized one it could drive you quakers!

The Yellow Duck Goes Down Under,

after it's trip down the River Thames,

the yellow duck floated into Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia, half a world away from it's last appearance in the UK in the second week of December 2012, it is the the brainchild of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, the 35-year-old was commissioned to create the 50ft duck for this year’s Sydney Festival, the duck will remain on display until January 23, I wonder where it will go next?

You May Remember,

that some time ago we featured a huge yellow rubber duck,

 in our first post it was floating down the Thames, in the second it had made it to Hong Kong,

but there it now appears to have taken a rest, it's ego and body deflated as it sits now forlornly in Hong Kong harbour, since 2007 the duck has travelled to 13 different cities in nine countries ranging from Brazil to Australia in its journey around the world, but all is not lost it appears that this is maintenance work,


organisers said that the duck had been deflated on Tuesday evening as part of scheduled maintenance work and that it would be towed to a shipyard on Wednesday for thorough checking, 'We scheduled a body check for these two days, if everything is fine we can inflate it as soon as possible and the public can appreciate it again,' said Andrew Yeung, advertising and promotions manager for waterfront shopping mall Harbour City, which is organising the duck exhibit, I will refrain from any Peking duck and where are all the pancakes, plum sauce, cucumber and sliced onion jokes!

We Had Lost Sight,

of the rubber duck,

for some time, but here he is again, the giant yellow rubber duck created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman at the Forest Botanic Park in Changsha, 

which is the capital of central China's Hunan Province, the 18-meter-high rubber duck will be exhibited here from Sept. 26 to Nov. 22, the festival will hold large chrysanthemum shows with creative designs and rubber duck-featured holiday celebrations, it will enable citizens to have a close contact with 30,000 rubber ducks of various sizes exhibited in the botanical garden, now where will it show up next?

This Could Drive You Quackers,

a date to remember if you like racing ducks,

 (and not eating them as we did in the last post) is the 6th of October 2012, it is time for the 14th Tübingen Duck Race, all for charity,

fed up with bathtub confinement, around 6000 bright yellow ducks will bob along the tree-lined River Neckar during the Tübingen Duck Race, the ducks race from Alleenbrücke to Neckarbrücke in front of cheering crowds who take the event very seriously, those who fancy their chances can rent a duck or ducks can be purchased in the weeks before the race as a lot, be sure to get there by 1pm, or your duck might not make it to the race on time, whilst there you can have a look around the city, the "old town", dates back to 1078 A.D. which lies along the Neckar river, it looks much as it would have, although much of the new town is taken up with university's and its network of hospitals, it sounds like a fun day out, now where did I put our tickets to Tübingen?

Our Kittens Enjoy Playing With The Yellow Rubber Ducks,

in the little pool we made for them,

but I have just found out that there are blue rubber ducks, in a hide managed by the Scottish Ornithological Society at the Loch of Mey, near John O'Groats in Caithness, a new identification guide appeared, the card's information details include rubber duck behaviour - "some dabble, some dive" - and plumage, which is described as "uniformly of any single colour, yellow, blue and red being the commonest", it also says "silly facial expressions are a key identification feature", the loch is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and also one of a group of lochs that form part of the Caithness Lochs Ramsar site, wintering flocks of whooper swans and geese are drawn to Loch of Mey, and the other lochs, because of diverse aquatic vegetation, Mary Legg, a former countryside ranger who has a close involvement with the bird hide, said: "I've seen no rubber ducks on the loch, I probably need to get down there at bath-time." so I now not only have to find a blue rubber duck for the kittens but if the guide is correct there are red ones as well!

Off To The Fishing Tackle Shop.

to buy some bait for later in the week,

 the shop packed with all manner of fishing items,

 as is the builders supply shop next door, almost everything you need in there to build a house except the bricks and mortar,

 next stop Tesco Lotus,

a friend of ours is having a birthday party at the MK Restaurant,

 in the centre of each table there is a hot water boiler that you can add ingredients to and make your own soup,

 Brian and Nicky were also here,

 along with Sa,

 there was another birthday party in full swing at a another table,

 the restaurant itself was pretty crowded,

 the food arrived, a selection of custom made soups prepared in the boiler, plus dishes of red roast and crispy pork served with sliced duck, followed by dim sum and sesame seed covered prawns on toast,

then the pièce de résistance, if it is your birthday celebration in the MK Restaurant on proof of your birthday you will receive a banana split and are given a photograph of the party as a keepsake,

 we were all full to bursting,

 and for some of us a after dinner snooze,

 after saying our goodbyes we made our way into the Tesco Lotus car park, where a tented sale area had been placed,

 so we had a look around at some of the stalls,

 there were lots of items to chose from,

 and as it was just after lunch in the heat of the day,

 not many customers,

 you can never have enough pairs of sunglasses,

 well not at 50 baht a pair,

 'I can see you!',

 and then there they were, yellow rubber duck crocs,

 yellow ducks seem to be everywhere,

 we then walked past this colourful keyring stand,

 before making our way to the 10 baht stall,

I have never been a fan of crocs, but there is certainly no lack of choice as far as colour combinations to chose from, we then went shopping in Tesco to buy some pillows for Diana's family when they arrive next month,

arriving home we watched some television on TMN, then after a small snack in the evening, we were still so full from lunch, it was feet up to watch a few episodes of Edward and Mrs. Simpson, the 1978 television mini series, we actually watched the first 4 episodes of the 7 that were in the set, each episode 50 minutes long, but the time just flew past, beautifully set both of the main stars could have been the people they played, the likeness and ones perceived mannerisms spot on, with that we were off to bed.

We Started,

at McDonald's,

 again!

 I am guessing KFC tomorrow!

 when we returned home, 

 we were welcomed with 2 Amaryllis in flower, almost looking like starburst fireworks,

 next stop TukCom, the wash spray head in the bathroom had started to leak, 

 so we parked opposite The Grand Day/Night Hotel and walked down, 

 taking a few pictures of some of the stalls on the way,

 if you are hungry,

 there are so many to chose from,

 I keep saying I will try some,

 but never seem to get round to trying the sweetcorn that is multi coloured,

 and this is where I was headed, on the third or fourth floor of TukCom, 

 it is a huge DIY store, and when I say huge I have never been in anything like it in my life, we also wanted a length of outdoor hose and a spray head to water the cactus on the other side of the building,

returning home and here was our problem for the past few weeks, the house water pump, 

 which was becoming more and more unreliable, so we ordered a new one to be fitted tomorrow morning from a local builders store, 

 if you are ever in Thailand and see one of these, the chances are that there is a fair nearby, 

 and that was the case as in the school playground opposite the Wat Chai temple on Pattaya Tai,

 there was indeed a fair, 

 with lots of shops,

 with clothes for sale, 

 as well as many food,

 and drinks stalls,

 I am not sure what this is, perhaps some type of tea? 

 blue is the colour,

 we made our way along a few more shoe and clothes stalls,

 this one selling different coloured neck rests for bus and aircraft travel,

 and a cute line in yellow duck slippers,

 handbags galore,

 next we entered another food section,

 the choice was almost endless,

 as well as all of these stalls,

 there was a large undercover eating area,

 you just chose your selection than made your way to the tables,

 the open ground had all of the sports and rides on it, this one a shooting gallery where you could win small toys, 

 or here,

 catch a few fish,

 to take home,

 one of the rides, this one featuring elephants,

 the Ferris wheel,

 a choo-choo train,

 and of course a merry-go-round,

 looking back to the food stalls, 

 we made our way back into the food section, now that is a big frying pan!

 crabs,

 and mantis shrimps,

 food on a stick,

 this interested me, 

 grape seaweed, (Caulerpa lentillifera), although technically is is an algae, back in the UK we sell this to marine aquarists to grow in their marine aquariums,

 but here it is sold as food, I have to say I tried some many years ago in the Philippines, I did not like it at all, but it appears the seaweed is remarkably good for you, 

 a last look at the shoes, 

 and we were on our way to another food market, 

 this one on the corner of Third Road and Soi 17,

 where again,

 there are lots of food stall, like this one,

 the sign above it,

 but this was the stall we wanted,

 where soup is the dish the stall holder sells, 

but not just any soup, this is the chicken feet soup stall, delicious!

and this is the front of it if you want to try this delicacy, 

after our evening meal it was feet up for a few quiz shows then the start of The Frankenstein Chronicles, we had watched the first episode some time before, but we watched it again, and continued watching the first 4 episodes, it was so good! by now it was really late, so for us we were off to bed.