July 16th, 2011 Akaroa, Blue Pearl, and Cute (but possibly vicious) Pets

Today, my family and I went to the city of Akaroa. Now, you must be wondering how we got there when we don't have a car (or not but thats fine) and the answer is...........we went on a "tour" which was held by an elderly man who's name I don't know. I don't really know if he even mentioned his name so..... Okay, I have to admit, this wasn't exactly a tour, it's more like a car ride with a chaffer who gives sporadic information. Well, the car is bigger, too.
Anyways, after 1 1/2 hours and two stops, we finally arrived at the beautiful Akaroa. The first store we wandered into was an awesome jewelry shop where all/most of the jewelry is made of real blue pearls. All of the things they sold was very stylish but relatively pricey. Then again, price didn't really seem to matter since you know that it's worth it. Here, the owners actually explain the process of extracting the pearl and told you how to tell the difference from the good and the best pearls. After browsing through other gift shops and jewelry stores, we came back to this shop and bought a ring, a pair of earrings, and two Abalone shells (abalones are where the amazing pearls come from). The website and email:
www.nzbluepearl.co.nz
pearls@nzbluepearls.co.nz

Once we exited the store, we began scanning the menus of local restaurants. Eventually, we ended up in a great (and kind of outdoor) Akaroa Fish and Chips place. Here, we had some delicious fish (and chips), a hotdog, some oysters, a cheeseburger, and clam chowder (and no, not like one of each. It's what everyone had put together).
So, since there were so many cute pets on this trip, I decided to donate a piece of a post for these little guys. Okay, the first animal was in the Blue Pearl shop and it was a super cute.

Wait a minute! Before you fall victim to it's awesomeness, be aware that you cannot/should not touch it. When I touched its nose, it growled at me and when my brother attempted to pet it, it barked at him!! That lowers its score on the cuteness scale but it's still amazingly cute no matter what!
Next up, we have this hyperactive bird that took forever to take a picture of it.

Sorry about the blurriness. It's like the bird just drank some coffee!! The third one we have here are the four cats at the fish and chips place.

Actually there was five cats in all but the last cat wasn't used to being around people. The other three cats were colored black and two of those cats were a mixed color of brown and black. I was allowed to feed these cats some leftovers which made my day. The last of the pets/animals are these attacking seagulls. They may not be very cute but they are amusing. One time, when my brother was about to throw a fry to the birds, a courageous gull snatched it out of his hands. We caught this on video but I don't exactly know how to upload videos. Only pictures. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Bye-bye!

July 5th, 2011 Car Shows, Cupcakes, etc.

For today, my family and I went to this cupcake bakery about an hour ago and I loved it. (Then again, I love any store that sells sweets.) Oh yeah, the name is, wait for it, The Cupcake Bakery. The name is that simple. Anyway, I bought this one cupcake called 'Hummingbird' which looks and hopefully taste nothing like a hummingbird.

I actually tasted some of the icing and I would kill for this cupcake. (Not literally. Well, maybe...) I still can't wait to try this!
For dinner, we ate at this horrible restaurant called Old Town Kopitiam which is this Malaysian cuisine place. This "restaurant" had horrible customer service and their food is overpriced and disappointing. For example, they give you four pieces of meat an inch tall even though the picture shows A LOT more meat than that. So, if you want to eat at a place where the employee's ignore your needs and where the food portions are for two year olds AND too expensive, eat here.

Lately, I've been watching this strange show called Small Potatoes (Don't ask why. There's nothing good on the TV here!) which is kid show about talking potatoes singing. This show is really lame but it passes time and I absolutely love the accents of the potatoes. If you want to watch it, here: http://www.abc.net.au/iview/?series=3163572#/series/3163572
Enjoy!

Okay, for the main event of today, we went to this car show where I met the cars of my dreams (so far). The car show was pretty kid friendly, considering they let you sit in the front seat of the cars and pretend to drive. One of my favorite ones was this BMW concept car. This car looked like it came straight from the future, complete with those neon lights running down the sides. Sure they didn't let anyone touch it, it was really nice to look at. Well, that's enough for today. Enjoy the next few pictures.