Buying Unconventional Souvenirs

When you think about souvenirs, you think about magnets, pins or postcards.  While there is nothing wrong with these items, they just sit around.  Sure, a magnet is practical in that it can hold stuff on your fridge or other magnetic surface but how often do you look at them Even the pictures you take, how often do you look at them unless you end up framing them and putting them on the wall or some other place that you see often.

A "Souvenir" store in London, England Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may wonder what I am referring to but here are some examples that I have bought:

Gloves - When I was in New Zealand, the weather was cool.  While I had a hoodie, my hands were still a bit chilled.  I found a shop that was selling gloves and I bought a pair.  I still use them to this day, almost 10 years later.  And when I put them on, I think of New Zealand.

Clothing - Just like gloves, clothing is something practical that can remind you of your holiday.  When I was in Australia, due to all the cookies and other goodies I was eating, it was necessary to buy some new clothing.  I still have some of those clothes hanging in my closet; one pair of pants hit the bin as I wore them out.  You may also need to buy clothing because those items that you packed are not weather appropriate for where you are travelling.

Umbrella - I don't tend to bring an umbrella when I travel but I will take rain clothing.  But when I was in Australia, it seemed to rain constantly and I wanted an umbrella.  I still use it to this day as I like the way it folds down and gets very compact.  It stays in my work bag for that reason.

Toilet Plunger - This one is a little odd, I will admit that.  I recently went to Ohio to visit my friend and we were in Target.  I saw a colourful plunger that was on sale for $5 and I needed a plunger.  While its an odd souvenir, and not one I really want to use, I do see it when I go into the washroom and it makes me think of Ohio.

Luggage - I don't know about you, but I tend to shop a little bit more than I should while on holidays.  This was definitely true of my trip to New Zealand/Australia as well as my trip to Southern Ontario in 2010.  I ended up having to purchase an extra suitcase to bring everything home.  While I do not use these bags often, when I do see them or use them, I think of those trips.

I challenge you to purchase unconventional but practical souvenirs.  Share what you have bought in the past in the comments.

South Island Continues - Last Post 3

Roadside fruit stands.  These are all over the place!   Look at those bags of apples, you sure don't get those here.

Fox Glacier.  A glacier beside a rainforest.  First you hike into the rainforest and work up a sweat, then you walk the glacier and cool down.

Taking the train from Greymouth to Christchurch.  Had a quick stop here to stretch our legs.

Spent one of my last days in New Zealand at Hammer Springs.

More of the South Island - Post 2

I wish I could tell you where this picture was.  All I know is that it was somewhere on the south island.  I think the bus likely stopped or I got an awesome picture through the window.

These guys swam with us for a bit while we toured Milford Sound.

Another shot from Milford Sound.  I will have to tell about us being snowed in later on  :)

Queenstown, Adventure Capital of the South Island

South Island, New Zealand - Part 1

There was so much going on on the South Island.  This will be post one of two for the highlights

The ferry going from Wellington to the South Island.

Grapes growing for wine

Seal colony as we approach Kaikoura

Swimming with Dolphins in Kaikoura.  I will be putting up a separate post on this at some point.

Yellow eyed penguin, they are not friendly to each other.

North Island, New Zealand

There are some of the highlights from my journey in the North Island in New Zealand.

This was a tree I found when wandering around in Auckland.

Took a boat trip out to the Hole in the Rock, it was based out of Paihai.  The boat trip itself was about 3 hours.

The beach at Paihai.  The sand flies were bad though.

The Luge track in Rotorua.  It was great fun!

Geysers in an area called "Craters of the Moon" in Taupo

Wellington.  The round building is called the Beehive

Pictures are Coming!

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

I know when it comes to traveling, pictures are the best.  Everyone wants to see them.   But I haven’t gotten any ready quite yet but my next post should have a few.  But keep in mind I have a lot of photos and to sort them and find some to post is a bit time consuming.

• New Zealand/Australia/Fiji –  1250 pictures


• Thailand/Malaysia – 1900 pictures


• Mayan Riveria – 400 pictures


• Dominican Republic – 250 pictures


• Southern Ontario - 550 pictures

I will be sharing pictures from New Zealand/Australia and Fiji first.  Mainly because I am able to find the blog I had back then and with a few modifications, I can post those to start.   Be prepared for some heavy picture posts although I may limit myself to a dozen or so per post.

I plan to write some explanations and stories which I think are really important.  I know many times when I am looking at someone’s pictures I wonder why they took that picture or at least what it is of.  So that is what I want to share with this blog.  I know I have some great pictures that I love to show off – a koala with baby in its pouch, a waterfall and more.  And there are many I have to figure out where they were and what they were.

Remember that some people will be fuzzy/blacked out due to not having their permission to post their pictures.  I figure this is the easiest method for me, now to figure out how to do that in a program as I am not very good with those types of things.

Toilets from Around the World

One thing we can all agree on, at some point, we need to find a toilet/washroom/bathroom/water cooler/whatever you call it.  But toilets definitely vary depending on where you are in the world.  So I thought it would be fun to create a post that shows the various toilets that I have encountered.

Western Toilet

If you live in North America, or in a big tourist area, you are familiar with these toilets; pretty basic design, a lever or a button to flush.    In Australia and New Zealand, I encountered toilets that allowed you to use less or more water depending on what you were flushing, which I thought was great and they are now making their way into North America.

Toilet with flush water tank (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]


Thailand Toilet

I encountered this particular toilet in Thailand but I know that you can find them all over Asia.   This one is one of the nicer ones I saw which is why I took its picture.   To flush, there is a pail with a dipper and you fill the toilet with water until it is flushed.   In the more touristy areas, we found these types of toilets along with Western toilets.

Train Toilets in Thailand

I’m not sure if this is true of all toilets on trains in Thailand or just the ones that I ended up on.  But essentially, the rule was to only use the washroom when the train was stopped.   The reason was not obvious at night time but during the day, you quickly realized that the train did not have a holding tank, all material went outside.  I would not want to be a person who had to work underneath the train.  I sure hope they were washed down first!

Narita Toilet

I’m only naming the toilet that as that is the only place I encountered them; at the Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan.  I thought this toilet was rather neat as the arm on the toilets side has a variety of buttons for different functions.  I did not examine it in depth though as others were waiting but I know that at least one button plays music for the person with the shy bladder.  (In looking for a picture I discovered that one button is for washing and one is for deodorizing)

Chicago Toilet

Again, this toilet has gotten its name due to its location, nothing else.   When I first walked into the stall, I wondered what the heck, why would you use a toilet with plastic wrap, how sanitary was that?  But then I realized how it worked.  You waved your hand over the blue light (you can see it in the back of the picture) and fresh plastic wrap comes out.  Voila!   Still not too sure on the sanitary aspect but it was neat.