Hippos say "Oink"?

Half-Hippos do! I am always looking for hippos in shops and at markets. Sometimes it happens, I think I see a hippo, but after closer examination it turns out to be a cow, dragon or dog. And then you have those.... I can't be sure about. My rule is: if I am not sure, I do not buy it. Whatever it is, it must obviously be a hippo. But then there are those... let's just say, I gave the benefit of the doubt ;-). I saw this paperweight in a shop, close to our house, last year. I came to the conclusion that the artist probably never ever saw a hippo in his life, as it has the behind and tail of a pig, feet of a lion and stands like a barking dog. The head is the only part that is sort of OK. So, what to do? To buy or not to buy? I had to think about it for a while, as I walked around in the shop. Then I saw it "again" and had to laugh. And that is why I bought it, because it is such a comical looking Half-Hippo! It stands on our table at our balcony making sure our newspaper does not fly away.... while trying to say "Woof"... but after curling up his tail, sounding like "Oink"!

Hippo Behinds

As I already shared with you in the post: Happy (hippo) Feet, I must have a zillion pictures of every part of the hippo. During one of my visits to the Ragunan Zoo (Jakarta - Indonesia), the hippo mum Dania and the hippo dad Jacky were outside, eating some dried grass, but then went inside to have their fresh vegetables and fruits. When they walked away, I took a million shots of them.... it was such a lovely sight... the two of them "waggling" away together... I love this picture for several reasons. For the fact that you can see their tails very clearly. Some people asked me about how hippo tails look like. They have funny looking tails, but I find it a bit difficult to describe them properly. No better way than to show a picture! Another reason is the fact that you can see the sole of a hippo's foot. In this shot, Jacky is just lifting his leg.... letting me capture the underside of four cute looking toes. And last but not least.... not having one but TWO hippo behinds in one shot... is just hippo-terrific!

Ted and Nina

No... these are not MY hippos.... but my hippos-gifts for our dear friends Gerard and Meike (see also post: Smelly Harry... whose name turned out to be: Basil). If I remember correctly, Ted (brown one), was a birthday gift... on what occasion or how Nina (alias: The Swamp Hippo) ended up there, I can't remember. To be honest, I had forgotten all about them, as it had been such a long time since we visited these friends in their home. Now, Ted and Nina are being confiscated by their son Jiri... who can, by the way, imitate a hippo perfectly ("HAP")! I had been busy with a small serie of photos: "all good things, hang in trees"... in order not to upset Jiri... I waited till he had his afternoon nap, and took some shots. He did not like it very much, seeing aunty Lien play with HIS hippos, but to find them in a tree, I feared, would be way too much. As you can see, Ted and Nina had a great time up there!

Hippo Birthday Card

Over the years, I have received many cards with hippos from family and friends. I guess every hippo-collector has a small hippo-card-collection as well. It would be a bit too much to put all my cards on this blog, but I have an absolute favorite, so I decided to make an exception. The card is designed by Leendert Jan Vis. Best design ever, if you'd ask me ;-) (if you Google him, you will find out, he has made a million more designs, not so many with hippos though....).

When you open the card it says: it's YOUR birthday..... enjoy it!

I have this card for more than ten years already, but every time I see it, I still have to laugh (just imagining what they must be thinking...). The expression on the faces of those hippos, left with that tiny piece of cake.... is absolutely hilarious!

Fat bastard

No, it is not the description of a mean hippo, but of a (as the label states: "a remarkably full bodied") red wine. The name was NOT inspired by that very cute little hippo they put on the label.... On the back of the bottle it says: No-one remembers exactly where the hippo came from. Now how is that possible? I will ask them ;-)*.

"The Origin of the Fat bastard: Good friends Thierry (renowned French winemaker) and Guy (British wine industry rebel) created Fat bastard almost by accident. It started out as an experiment Thierry had been doing in the back of his cellar, leaving a barrel "on the lees" (yeast cells). He didn't know what to expect, but when the friends tried the wine Thierry exclaimed..... "Now zat iz what you call eh Phet bast-ard" (read with a strong French accent). This very British expression perfectly described the wine's wonderful color and round, rich palate so that's what they called it."

Unfortunately, I can't get this wine in Asia (yet!). This bottle is a gift from our friends Ton and Joke (see posts: ToJo Maputo and Hippo Cork). They brought it from The Netherlands. The most perfect gift for a hippo AND wine lover ;-). So if you see it, get yourself a "Fat bastard", even if you do not like to drink wine, or love hippos that much... just looking at the bottle will make your day!

*) I did ask them, see comment for their reply.

Fat Bastard