Challenge Accepted

Dear friends of ours recently moved to Myanmar. I claimed in my post: Masterpiece from Myanmar, to have the only hippo themed art piece of this country.  I immediately challenged them, to prove me wrong. And the challenge was excepted. I did not expect to receive a reaction within a day. A photograph of a hippo, to be seen on a card set for early childhood learning. My friend spotted it, while at a workshop, in an exhibition of learning materials used in the country. Of course, I told my friend he was cheating (not good at losing that quickly :-)), so the challenge was rephrased a bit... The first piece of hippo art, that he can hold and buy at a local shop or market. I don't know if that will cover it, but since I did not receive a message yet, I believe this to be the real challenge. Dear Paul, thank you so much for thinking about me. We did not have the chance to meet in Hippo Heaven (Tanzania), but we will meet someday, somewhere... I am sure! Missing you and Didi very much. HHHLL

Google Translate: English to Burmese (Mayanmar) 

Hippopotamus = ရေကြံ့ကောင် /  Ray Kyaan Kaung

Tutu Terry Two Hundred

A little celebration today, as this will be the 200th post published on this blog. I could not have imagined it still being here, after starting it in 2011 as a personal archive. Just to record the hippos already in my collection, and to keep track of new additions. A hippo sized thank you to all my loyal followers and a warm welcome to the bloat to those who just found Happy Hippo Lien!

I know there are some people who never leave their home without their hippo companion. I only bring one occasionally. But some days are just not complete without some hippo fun (meaning: not to miss the opportunity to freak out your teen and pre-teen kids). So on this sunny and breezy summer's day, Tutu Terry (see post: Terry) joined us. Having a picnic in Battery Park (New York - USA), strolling along the Hudson River and enjoying the views on Lady Liberty and the Freedom Tower. A Hippo-Terry-fic day indeed!

Lipper & Mann

When our family roams around at flea markets, we never stay close to each other for long. Not because we do not enjoy each other's company, but because we are all looking for different things. When it comes to hippos, they are spotted by every member of the family, no matter where we are. So when I told them (on our way back home) I bought this Lipper & Mann figurine, made in Japan, they told me they had seen it, but thought I would not like it, because it looked dirty and a bit scary. As every hippo lover knows, sometimes you need to look past the mud to see the beauty! So I decided to take it home and give it a gentle foam bath and the result: a sparkling clean and happy hippo. I am not sure if it stays in my collection, but I could not constrain myself. Such a huge amount of hippo happiness for only USD 1,- can't be beaten easily :-).

Scrapbook Hippos

A few days ago, an "Estate Sale" was announced on a local FB Moms page. As a flea market, thrift shop and Goodwill store enthusiast, it is needless to say I did not know how fast to get there... Often times the items are priced well above my price range, but to be able to enjoy a rare opportunity to see the inside of beautiful houses is always well worth the trip. And of course, once in a while, you bump into a beautiful item, you did not know you needed until then :-). Like this huge pile of scrapbook pictures, hidden in very old, ugly looking brown envelopes on a side table.

When I was young, it was a very popular hobby to collect scrapbook pictures and trade any "doubles". Seeing all those pictures made me a bit nostalgic, so just for the fun of it, I bought the whole lot. When I came home, I sorted them, and of course, took a closer look. I found many very old ones, from the 1930s and 1940s. Many of them in excellent condition. There were a lot of "series" of Disney characters, angels, father Christmas, flowers and yes... animals too. And to my surprise, I found 3 hippo ones. A little treasure in a treasure!


They are measured about 3 inches by 2 inches, which is 7,5 cm by 5 cm. On one is written: Flodhast, which means hippo in Swedish.