Schlumbergera and Haworthia

The Schlumbergera and Haworthia have taken a place of honour of sorts in our living room.  I'm delighted that these two are growing quite nicely, and the Schlumbergera has even decided to show off and put on a delicate pink display in the middle of our cold winter season!



This is my Haworthia.  I was attracted to this species due to the veined pattern on its leaves.  I thought this was going to require more attention than my normal cacti but, as you can see above, it's thriving very well! I started out with just one rosette, and look how much it has grown!

LEGO WALL-E meets Junior WALL-E

For me, WALL-E is not just another movie. This actually has a sentimental value to me.  it was a highly anticipated film back in 2008.  Personally, I was excited for it also because it featured robots, and the lead character looked like Johnny 5!  I was equally looking forward to the merchandise as well.  Which makes me wonder why I only bought 1 action figure from the wide array of choices!

That's Junior WALL-E getting acquainted with other action figures.

Wanaka National Transport and Toy Museum

One of our more surprising stops during our South Island road trip was the Wanaka National Transport and Toy Museum. We did not research beforehand our destinations and left the itinerary in the capable hands of our friends who have been in the South Island before. The name of the place is as obvious and as unassuming as it can get - it's a place with toys and cars.  What an odd combination, I first thought to myself.  And I wondered what sort of toys would be on display.  Surely not the anime-related stuff that I've been so enamoured with in the not so distant past... those are not so popular here in New Zealand.

Well, it wasn't.  But what I saw with my kids was something way beyond ordinary.  The collection was colossal, to say the least!  And I was very, very impressed. If I could spend an entire day checking out each and every nook and cranny and every single item in that place, I would!

Check out some of the photos (and video) we took from the Museum.

This is the front desk.  It doesn't look much, but boy were we in for a surprise!


LEGO! A toy museum would not be complete without LEGO.


Nintendo Game and Watches -I haven't seen these in a long time. Very popular in the late 70s to 80s in the Philippines. In the mid-2000s a colleague and I searched and high and low for these portable games but never found any. Seeing these again brought back happy memories.