Today I feel rich - as I got my pockets full of...Trump gold - golden chocolate bars that is (courtesy of the fabulous Trump hotels in Toronto and Chicago, I should add...). They might not be rich in value, but certainly in the calorie count - and yes, this chocolate lover adds that they are also very tasty.

So chocolate-y dreams is what my merry Friday is made of - and why not of dreams of fab hotels too as I always dream of my next great travel destination. I just might have to book a room from them in my next trip so I can get some more of these golden treasures... Anyway, happy curious Friday everyone - may your mind also be filled with happy thoughts and dreams today!

Spotted in the countryside - an outdoor gym the Chinese way. Now I can see why these gym parks (yes, that blue equipment hidden in the hay) can be rather useful in big cities like Beijing, but in the countryside, surrounded by mountains, it seems that the people get their exercise the good old-fashioned way: doing outdoor work and walking/biking everywhere!

But one has to admit that the backdrop of the mountains is pretty impressive and certainly inspirational for a lil spin in the park and few crunches!

I seem to have missed the Friday again while celebrating the birthday of Miss A., so home comes the curious Friday +1 post. I just thought this was so impressive - so can you guess what the water buffalo and the guy are doing? 

I wouldn't have guessed if I hadn't seen it myself - but this person&water buffalo combo is providing the daily infrastructure service that in our countries now happens in some placed weekly, or every other week: he's the binman. A very ecological vehicle indeed - and I bet that nearly 100% of the waste will be recycled as that just seems to be the nature in less developed countries - they actually are way better with the waste recycling! 

Happy Curious Friday! Oh I know it's not really Friday but Wednesday today - but when one is on holiday, one sometimes loses track on what weekday it is. Anyway, getting a taxi can be pretty hard in Beijing, but clearly this is not the case in Hong Kong airport. We noted that taxis were somehow organised by their colour (red, green and blue) and got a bit curious...

And this is why you see this colour-coded taxi clusters: red ones cover most of the Hong Kong but Lantau Island and Tung Chung Road - I guess they can go there too but web sources stated it costs then more than a green or blue one...live and learn is what I say! They gave us lots of joy during our HK stopover - kids had fun guessing what colour taxi they would see next in front of our window (other than red for obvious reasons ...) 

One of those funny Chinglish days - where one letter makes a difference. Normally we are on a lookout for falling rocks, but this mountain had everywhere failing rocks. LOL for big time fails!

Spotted - poor little chicks in all shades of the rainbow. Certainly a weird attraction in a Balinese turtle sanctuary. If they were Easter decor and not real I'd say that they are way cool, but I do feel sorry for these poor little chicks. Luckily this appears to be water-based paint, so no long-term damage for the little chicks, I hope. Anyway, despite their odd colouring these little chicks seemed to be hopping around happily...

It might not be Friday yet, but this certainly is one curious Friday story. It start with a pretty little tube - containing the first ever school picture with all our children in it (alongside with some thousand other kids). So I started to open it, roll it open, and some more, and some more...

In the end I was thinking, yes it's cute but honey, we need a room for the photo! I am not sure if we have too many uninterrupted walls without windows or something else for a school photo sized at 3m (nearly 10ft) x 30cm (1ft). And don't even start talking about framing the photo! Here in China things certainly are done differently - sometimes on purpose, more often accidentally...wonder into which category this photo falls into? 

Happy Friday! Today I'm looking back at my old home city London and its' iconic underground signs - and that fabulous bunting that was put up last summer for the Jubilee. All so London and lovely!

I've been at it again - photographing the lovely Chinglish signs of course since it's time for the curious Friday finds. Maybe it's just me as, but I found these too pretty amusing when I spotted them - just remember not to span or let your caution slip and you'll be just fine. Happy Friday everyone!

Lately everyone seems to be creating their own customised lamps and other accessories, and here's one pretty eclectic one - and it seems to indicate also about the likes of the owner... perfect accessory for the man cave maybe - and a way to get males of the family to get excited about DIY accessories... 

{via}

I've been snapping pictures of signs again - just can't help it as they are often so funny. This one doesn't suffer form bad translations, but it is one of my favourites  anyway (along with the signs of giraffes and few other friends that I'll introduce later on). Now, if you've been driving on Chinese roads you can actually appreciate the sign, as the trucks often are packed twice their hight carrying irons scrap or other recyclable or supplies - are rarely and well fastened (then again they don't seem to care about these signs).

The other day we spotted a cement truck that had tipped on its side, and the reason probably is one the mentioned here. Anyway, happy (curious) Friday and please leave your Ellie at home while driving!

From this come back - oh, so true in life. We spotted this on a mountainside in a temple and kept guessing whether it was a dead end or a loop. It was a loop, but the end results is pretty much the same; you gotta go back to where you came from... 

This week I got another interpretation for this sign when in California: on my day two I had a lovely lunch with a friends - and few hours later I was so sick I passed out and my other friends had to call the ambulance for me. I had the most horrific food poisoning I have ever experienced (this wasn't the first one for me). 

So instead of girls night out with drinks, some shopping and hiking I got to spend a lot of time in ER (but it;s worth mentioning that Standford is worth is reputation and I was well taken care of). And it took me couple of days to recover, but certainly from this I come back to being normal - with the bonus of few pounds lost on the way. I am trying to think positively about the whole episode, and here is my list of top good things that came out of it:

1. I found out how amazing friend I have as she chose miss an important even and sat all night long by my bed at the hospital without pretty much any food and drink for herself 

2. I got to know my friend really well as we kept talking for hours while waiting for my test results and the IV drips to finish - the kind of good "girl talk" 

3. We've done some great recovery pampering with a pedicure and manicure, massage and even a Chinese foot massage combined with a trip to fab new restaurant (they had sucha great salad and soup bar plus a devilishly good chocolate cake)

4. I got to slow down and rest - and rest certainly is often underrated. I don't get to "holiday" often without my kids, and it feels nice not to preparing this and that all the time...

So, from this (incident) I have come back for sure! 

Happy Friday - it's time for a something curious - like this fun translation on a mountain side. If ever going up this mountain in China be assured that the snow and rain and sliding down carefully, so you don't need to be worried about it...

I never thought of Holiday Inns as very exciting places to stay, but I might have to change my mind - at least with this new hotel they have in Shanghai, China. It has a very interesting (and scary I say) cantilevered swimming pool on the 24th floor.

Combine the pool with a glass bottom and you are basically swimming high above the street with great views both up and down. I certainly hope that the engineers did their structural calculations well - this just might give me some extra heart palpitations if I was to try to swim in it. That said, this is going on my hotel shortlist for our upcoming visit to Shanghai - something new and certainly exciting to try... 

Angry Birds are everywhere - drinks, candy, toys, clothes - and now there is the Angry Birds land too. Oh, how many times we had to fly with the big birds to the classic tune of the Angry Birds - that certainly was a curious Friday!

Mommy - why does one of the scarecrows not have a blue face? - Hm, I don't know, maybe the others are cold but that one is not? Anyway, I thought this was the perfect curious Friday piece as these are the funkiest scare crows I have ever seen.

We spotted them in the Tallinn Botanical Garden in Estonia, and there was actually a whole field full of these funny ones...

Oh, I just couldn't resist this one - a cafe where the decor consists of old red Vespas and funky country furniture, which is rather "in" at the moment. And they have amazing home-made pastries called munkki (monk is the direct translation)... a unique experience for sure!

Rainbows, flowers, animals...oh the world of crafting pretty snacks for the kids. I wonder if mine have been deprived as they normally get bowls of things to choose from rather than this kind of artful creations?

Nevertheless, they look fantastic, and maybe one day I have time (and desire to try this - or even better, show this picture to the kids and let them loose in a "tasty art lesson"). TGIF!

{via}

 Now this is fantastic curious Friday item - a sportscar made for girls, at least when it comes to colour! Getting in and out of a ride like this might be a challenge depending on the dress and shoes, but oh, the tone is just so hot...Happy Friday everyone!

{via}

This cryptic "A door this is not" is pretty funny and belongs to a rather unusual house in California. The owner clearly is a fan of elks, Dr. Who, bright colours - and humor.

A definite piece of art this door is for sure...

I have always wanted to have a bubblegum machine although I am not really a huge fun of the bubblegum. ...But one can always fill the machine with some other delicatessen.

So I am very excited for this purple beauty to have entered our household, and it is guaranteed to get a special place in our new house in China...

This certainly is an interesting piece - a sort of an all-in-one student center with a hi-tech design of a sofa (or ergometric bed??), book shelving with lights and a desk. Fun and cute piece that would certainly brighten up normally a bit more low-key student room...

{via}

Happy Friday everyone. This week I didn't spot anything that curious myself, but I love this rather curious idea of giant Faberge Easter egg hunt and auctions for charities in London. Just imagine getting to discover all London while hunting for these cute things!

You can also check out the site as there are auctions for eggs by celebrities such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Candy & Candy ( the ultra-luxury real estate developer brothers) and Mulberry. So let the Big Egg Hunt begin.

What happened to the old boring stamps? These new stamps are so cute and adorable, that I feel bad using them just to send out checks for utilities and such. The cartoon ones are fun, but it is these "Go Green" ones that have stolen my heart. They would make a lovely poster in larger size!

Yesterday I also spotted some cute Valentine's stamps, but was too busy to snap a pic, so have to leave it for another day as Fridays just tend to be so busy. I just want to wish everyone happy weekend and curious Friday!

We've just visited the local consignment store and were looking for new treasures for the home (sadly found none on this trip). This cute sign greeted us at the entrance, and did miss A. got really excited: Mom, what is espresso? What kind of puppy do I get? Do we get three puppies to take home?

... and was she disappointed that there were no puppies in the end. I must admit that I just might have taken a cute little puppy on the spot if one had been on offer!