Flipping a Hippo?

Not very easy, but you could flip this hippo if you wanted to! This is a very special (only 500 are made) silver hippo-coin, made in the Republic of Niger in 2012. As the box and coin rightly state: Magnifique Animaux Africains, which means: Magnificent African Animals. On the coin they put a real citrine. Citrine is a quartz crystal whose color ranges from pale yellow to brown (interesting fact: the name is derived from Latin citrina which means "yellow"). 

The coin was a gift from a fellow hippopotamus - collector to many fellow-hippo-lovers. I felt a bit overwhelmed receiving such a generous gift, because I did not have the pleasure of knowing him at all at that time. Dear Richard, thank you very much again for this special gift, the beautiful hippo (the colors and details still amaze me, every time I see it) and fond memories. And of course... when it is going to be flipped one day, I will call "Heads" or in this case "Hippo" for sure!

Hippo-Ring

SugarHead BKK is the company that designed this hippo-ring. They design brass, gold plated and enamel (and according to them the coolest) jewelry. The ring is huge and rather heavy. Not very surprising... we are talking about a hippo-head, mind you :-). The hairband with pink flowers makes her look very cute. When I saw it, I thought about the fact that it is not very practical to wear such a ring, but I could not resist. One has to have some fun sometimes. Also, it is not very often that you find cool hippo-jewelry. So "Bye Bye!" to practicality.... and "Hello!" to unpractical, beautiful and funny hippo-accessories!

Hippo "Moo"

There are many places here in Bangkok, where you can find animal figurines carved out of buffalo horn. Sometimes on sidewalks, sometimes in shops. Of course, I always had to check whether they have a hippo, but never had any luck. It so happens that there is such a shop in the Art-Section, at the Chatuchak (JJ) Weekend Market, not far from where my friends sell their paintings. The owner of the shop said that he never made a hippo in his life but if I had an example, he could copy it. The result is this black beauty! I love it very much. I think also due to the fact that I know, there are no other buffalo-horn-hippos around. It looks heavy, but because of the material it is very light weighted. I just decided that "Moo" would be a suitable name for this newest addition to the bloat!

Dress code: Hippo Tie

When I was photographing these ties, I had to think of an incident that happened a long time ago (pr-Google and pr-Wikipedia era). I received an invitation (by old fashioned mail, of course). Date, time and  place all clear.... but then I read: Dress code: Tenue de Ville. At that time I had no idea what that was. My friends did not know, or gave different answers. Then I called my aunt, and she saved me! Now all the information about dress codes are a few clicks away. Black tie, white tie, morning dress, smart casual...it's all there. If there ever will be a dress code: Hippo Tie, my husband will be OK, as he has two silk hippo ties, both Christmas presents. Two years ago, I gave the one with the blue hippos (William) from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gift Shop (Bangkok - Thailand). Last year's Christmas present was a black tie with comical hippos, hand made by Dino Romaro, from our dear friends Sheila and John (see post: Thank you note). The only thing left is finding a matching hippo-dress for me!