Back in England ...

Well after what seems like a lot of planes we have arrived in England, but the men who move the bags seem to have forgotten to put one of ours on the plane from Doha to London (I'm not sure how they missed it as it is massive and BRIGHT pink), so daddy has no clothes. When we got out of the airport Friday granddad was there to take us to 'my Friday's' house where we are staying for a few days, it was good to see them, and I've been giving them lots of cuddles and kisses. Mummy and daddy left me there and went off to get daddy some clothes, and mummy a haircut, and while they were out me and nanny got Freya from her playgroup, it was really good to see her. Mummy and daddy went back out, this time they went to see one of mummies old work mates at her school so mummy could look at so more artwork. Once me, nanny and Freya, we got back to the house we spent the rest of day running around the garden, playing and catching up.

When we landed in England

Neo - "Are we in England?"
Mummy - "Yes"
Neo - "But its not raining"
Mummy - "We've bought the sunshine with us"
Neo - "Its too big, even for our big case"

Boring Day

Well Today has not been very exciting, washing clothes, shopping and getting ready for our trip to England.

Neo - "I want to be in England now, with my old friends"

Sad

Today we went to Abdullah's nannies house to catch up and say goodbye as he won't be in Abu Dhabi when we get back - for those of you who don't know he is moving to Africa :(, I'll miss him as he is one of my best friends, mummy says she is going to miss his mummy too. Well I've got more adventures coming up as we are going to get a plane to England  in the next couple of HOURS, we are currently sat in the departures lounge in Abu Dhabi airport, WOO HOO I can't wait to see all my old friends and family, so if you are about in England watch out I am coming your way - which means you too could be on here soon. XXX

Bubbles

After breakfast we packed up and got ready for a day at the beach, which was just a quick walk away, but we had to cross a train track which reminded me of England as when we went in to town from our house we had to cross one, and Abu Dhabi doesn't have any, I've missed trains. We walked all along the beach until we climbed up onto the tracks, which we walked along as we were trying to get to a big hotel that had its own rock pool, but the security man wouldn't let us in - we ended chatting to a nice Sri lankan man (all people are nice here) who recommended his friends bar so we went back along the beach to the 'Shelton Seafood bar', daddy chilled in the sun with a beer (or 2), mummy relaxed as normal, and I made new friends with all the men working there. Me and daddy went to play in the sea, but the current was too strong, so daddy said I couldn't stay there. So I just played on the beach, I did try to put my head through the fence to pull faces at mummy, but I broke a piece of the fence off, so I went to my new friends and got a hammer so me and daddy could fix it, I thought this would be good practice for daddy, as he needs to get a job. After a while it was time to go back, I think mummy was bored (with sitting in the sun), so we went for another walk around the town, but I just slept, mummy and daddy went back to the cafe for lunch and I think they had most of the menu (even the chef Limal, said they had tried most of the food on the menu plus some extras), they woke me up as they said they couldn't carry me and all the food they just ate, we spent the rest of the day chilling at the hotel, I fed the fish and we waited for Chaminda to take us to the airport to go home.

At the bar drinking my sprite

Neo - "Do you know what the bubbles are?"

Daddy - "Carbon dioxide"

Neo - "NO, they are drinking bubbles"

Boat trip

I had a lay in today, daddy was already up, but mummy was still sleeping so I decided to wake her by pretending to be a crocodile, don't think she appreciated it thou. We packed while the man made breakfast for us, which we had outside our room on a small terrace. After that it was another drive, this tine we stopped after about an hour and went to see a moonstone mine, which was really small but they seemed to get loads of moonstones which mummy liked especially the blue ones, next to the mine was a small cinnamon plantation and processing place where they made sticks and oil from the plants, it smelled really nice. The man then showed us how they make the stones shiny, on the way we saw a big lizard, daddy said it was a baby water monitor, the man then showed mummy some jewellery but she said that the man was too pushy and she didn't like that, so she didn't buy anything. We then had another drive and we stopped  at a big river, where we went on a boat to do a river safari, where we saw some full sized water monitor's, some sea eagles, lots of big birds, and men fishing, but we didn't see any crocodiles this made me sad as that's what I really wanted to see, mummy said that they were all having day sleeps, I'm not sure I believe that. But I did get to hold a baby monkey which cheered me up. We stopped off on a couple of the islands one had a man who live there alone and made all the cinnamon stuff like at the plantation, we also stopped at the temple island and looked around that, mummy and daddy walked around and chatted with a monk, while I played with the cats, then I got to have a go driving the boat which was fun, and I didn't crash, we then had to go back to Chaminda to drive to the next place. The next place turned out to be one of my favorite places in Sri Lanka, it was a turtle hatching place, where all the eggs are taken to protect them (until they hatch into turtles) they are let out into the sea when they are 3 days old, I loved all the little ones they must have been 100's, and they were all been released the following night. They also had some rescued big turtles, but I didn't like them so much, I even wanted to take a little one home but mummy and daddy said no. We then went to a lovely restaurant 'Aida' at Benota for lunch, it was on the banks of the big river and there was a man fishing and I went to watch him, he got a few and showed me but didn't listen when I said he should move near the boats as I saw loads of fish there. After lunch we went for another drive, I slept the whole way, when I woke we were at the last hotel of our holiday the 'Ivory Inn' at Mount Lavina, after settling in we went for a walk and explored the little town and had some dinner in a little cafe, I don't think they normally get non Sri Lankans in there it was full of local workers (which daddy says is a sign of a good cafe), but the boss loved us and we had a great meal and then it was time to go back to bed.

 

At the hotel

Neo - "I want to come back to Sri Lanka to see the turtles again"

Mummy - "What about the elephants?"

Neo - "They're OK, but I'm not fussed to see them again"

Beach

I got up early after another bad nights sleep, I'm not sure all these different beds is good for me. We had breakfast and a quick pack up ready for the next long drive, as I didn't sleep in the night I thought it only right that I spent the whole journey annoying daddy the scenery changed again, every day it is almost like being in a new country as every part of Sri Lanka is so different, unlike Abu Dhabi - where it is desert with sand or city with sand. Today we got near the sea daddy said it looked good, and I'd liked it too but as we didn't stop I just carried on getting more annoying, so much so, mummy and daddy had to swap places, as soon as I had mummy I went to sleep as I didn't want to annoy her (just daddy). When I woke up we were at the next hotel 'Sea View' at Unawatuna, which was on the beach YEAH YEAH YEAH! After dropping the bags in our room we went for a walk on the beach where me and mummy got soaked as the waves were huge we were meant to stay dryish but it was to much fun, it was also raining and we looked silly on the beach with raincoats on, we might as well been back in England - apart from the temperature was low 30's. Me and mummy kept playing in the waves so much that I was wet up to my waist, but my rain coat went to my knees - so we had to go and get changed so we could get some lunch, we walked through the little village and found a little cafe with a man called 'the Roti man' who made lovely roti's for us, he even showed me how you make them. We then continued walking through the village and found a little art shop with some cool paintings (mummy bought one) all the paintings were by the son of the shop owner. Next we went in a tuc-tuc, back to the hotel, tuc-tuc's are funny little taxi's that are everywhere in Sri Lanka, and they sound like the hedge cutter daddy used at work in England. We changed again and then went to the beach where we had great fun playing in the waves and even body surfing, me and daddy made a sand turtle, and as the sun went down we had drinks at one of the little bars, soon it was to dark to swim so we went back to change again so we could get  some dinner, we ended up in a tiny restaurant with only 3 tables but the food was fantastic again, I think Sri Lanka should send people around the world and teach everyone how to cook as we've not had a single bad meal out here.

On way back from the beach

Neo - "I like Sri Lanka's sea, it’s not as salty as Abu Dhabi's"

Busy Hotel

I had a good nights sleep, mummy didn't she was complaining about her feet been bitten, so when I got up daddy got up and put the TV on so I could watch it whilst daddy packed and mummy had a lay in, after she woke up we had breakfast with the chipmunks again, but no wedding today instead there was a school reunion the "Class of 81" (whatever that is). Then we loaded up for another drive which was very long and we went up, up and up until we ended up in the clouds mummy says we were at 1900 meters above sea level , we stopped at a tea factory where they turn plant leaves in to mummy's morning drink (so now mummy is looking at leaves, again if I picked them she wouldn't be interested), they use loads of big machines to do this. After all the machines the tea is nice, we tried some with a bit of chocolate cake. we then had to do more driving and saw lots of waterfalls, mummy said she wanted to climb them, I did too, I think Chaminda thinks mummy is nut's, but me and daddy already know that she is, we carried on driving up and up, but I was getting bored so we stopped at a big lake with a park and went for a walk and played for about an hour before we got back in the car for the rest of the drive to next hotel "Panorama" at Ella Gap, it was great with an amazing view and a mountain garden which daddy liked, we just enjoyed been outside and walking around, then we had dinner which was sooo yummy, daddy got some recipes from the owner, this place has the best food ever!

After months wanting rain 10 minutes in the car with rain

Neo - "I want to go back to Abu Dhabi, I don't like the rain"

Mummy - "The whole time in Abu Dhabi you said you want to go to England to see rain, now we have proper rain in Sri Lanka and you want to go to Abu Dhabi?"

Neo - "Yeah, it's warm there and it doesn't rain"

Meeting Friends

Got up, daddy was already up, apparently he watched the sun rise over the mountains, he said it was amazing and peaceful, mummy was still in bed thou, you can always rely on her to be in bed sleeping. We had breakfast and this morning the man made up another Sri Lankan dish for daddy to try as he loved dinner so much, its hard to describe it was like cooked rice and coconut mixed up and you then pour warm coconut milk and honey over it, I hated it, mummy and daddy liked it. Whilst mummy packed up, me and daddy went out and explored the mountain garden, which I loved they had banana and coconut trees and loads of lovely flowers. We then got in the car for a short drive to Ella fall, a lovely waterfall Chaminda said there wasn't much water as it hasn't rained very much for two months, not sure what he means we've seen more rain in Sri Lanka than the whole year in Abu Dhabi. Me, mummy and daddy decided to climb the waterfall and found a small pool half way up, me and mummy climbed up further and that was fun its a bit like the wall at mummy's old school but much bigger, plus we didn't get told off (for not using any ropes), then it was back to the car for another long drive to Yala (not to be confused with yella which is the word for faster in Arabic). I slept for most of the drive, mummy and daddy said it was gorgeous. I woke up at our new hotel 'Lakeside' at Yala which is exactly that, lots of people were swimming in the lake and river, they were also washing their clothes, which is a bit odd, I had a right paddy as mummy and daddy wouldn't let me go swimming. They did let me have a paddle, but because I didn't have the right shorts on I wasn't aloud to swim - some of the people swimming didn't have the right clothes on either but their parents let them. So we went back to the hotel and got changed then went swimming in the pool which was great, after about an hour we got out and went for lunch which was good, then went to the garden and daddy caught a lizard which was very fast and ran off before I got to hold him. Mummy decided we should go for another walk, this time we went towards the small town/village, or should that be buildings - although it was really just a few huts along a road. We crossed the road and looked in the lake and there were loads of fish, mummy had some bread and there was a step in the lake so I stood in the water then dropped  the bread all around me and all the fish swam around my legs, there were so many some were also jumping out of the water to get the bread. We then continued walking down the road and came across one of the many fruit stalls at this stall there were two girls one aged 4 and one 6, mummy and daddy chatted to their uncle, mummy and daddy. The uncle gave us a banana each. Me and the girls played together I had loads of fun. Mummy was asking the man about his shop, and the saw some funny leaf things so asked the man about them, he said they are the local chewing gum, mummy then had her puzzled look on her face so the man unrolled the banana leaf to reveal four pieces of what looked like hard orange segments, something looking like hard toothpaste wrapped in newspaper, to eat it you rip off a bit of the leaf, rub on some of the paste, and get a piece of the orange thing, put it all in your mouth and chew, daddy said it tasted weird and made his mouth numb, after chewing it you have to spit it out. Daddy always tells me to try and swallow lots of new things - even if I don't like it, I'm not allowed to spit it out, then he goes and does it. Then we went and looked at the girls school, which is very small (looks more like a horse stable) not like mummy's school. We then walked back to see my friends (the girls) and I even went on a bike ride with them and their mummy, before returning to the hotel for the night.

 

On the way back to the hotel

Neo - "Can I go back and see my new friends? I like my new friends"

Daddy - "Not now"

Neo - "That's not fair, but I have her address. so I can write to them"     

Elephants

I didn't sleep very well and we all got woken up by the wildlife alarm (all the wild animals outside), which were really loud. We had breakfast outside with the chipmunk's that ran around everywhere. Then some people started to arrive for another wedding this time it was a Sri Lankan navy officer, they looked good in their uniforms but the outfit the man wore the day before was better. We then went for a long winding drive that went up and down loads, but when we stopped I saw a elephant crossing the road, and as we walked past there was lots of elephant bums going down the road, we went and got some tickets then walked past some shops, then Chaminda whizzed us into a secret entrance and we ended up being at a cafe just overlooking a big river but more importantly loads of elephants (splashing in the river). We got some drinks and then daddy took me down to the river and in it with the elephants I helped wash them and the man showed me how to scrub and wash them, then when the man was trying to take photos of us the elephant kept grabbing my hair with his trunk. After that we went back to mummy, then me and her went to see all the other elephants until it started to rain so we watched them all from back in the cafe, there were a couple of cheeky ones fighting and one kept reaching up to grab my foot. After a while we went back to the shops and mummy bought some elephant poo - she says its special paper, I hope so as there was loads of poo on the road for free. Then we watched all the elephants walk up the road and one of them tried to steal a handbag from one of the shops, the shop man told him off and told us that sometimes they are very naughty and wreck the front of his shop. We followed them back to their house and watched them have their dinner. Next we went for another drive and Chaminda stopped by a little stall selling fresh fruit, and we had some fresh coconut juice from a yellow coconut, I preferred the red banana, the juice was OK, but I like coconut milk more. We then drove into Kandy - I had a sleep and when I woke up we were in a cafe called 'The Honey Pot' which overlooked a big river, we then went to a gems and jewellery factory, where mummy spent ages looking at stones, eventually she decided she wanted one, and gave a man some money. Then we went to another wood place, but this time me and daddy stayed in the car, after about 5 min she came back all happy as she had a bit of wood. I don't understand her - she gave the men money for a bit of wood and a stone, but whenever I get them FOR FREE I'm not even aloud to bring them into the house. Chaminda then took us up above the town to a viewing point, I was bored and naughty, I wanted a plastic recorder but mummy said 'no', so I made sure everyone knew how unhappy I was, but had forgotten about it 2 minutes later when I was eating a cookie, I know mummy's trick now and will not do that again. We then went to an arts center, where a man made me a little elephant with my name on it, next was a boring dance show - their dancing was weird, but then a man started playing with fire, which was good, but he should go to the fire station with Miss Jo and learn that you shouldn't play with fire. When they had finished we walked to the 'Temple of the Tooth', there were loads of people there with flowers and no shoes, we even had to take our shoes off, it was nice but the 'Cave Temple' was better as they had monkeys, then it was back to the hotel ('The Mansion') for bed.

 

During the fire man show

Neo (shouting really loud) - "Doesn't that man know your not meant to play with fire, tell him to stop playing with fire"

Cave Temple

Got up and had breakfast, feed the dog and said goodbye to my friend. Then we loaded up the car ready for our next drive, which wasn't very long and we stopped, we then go out and had to climb up loads of steps, there were loads of monkeys (all over the walls and stairs), by the time we got to the top it felt like we had climbed to the top of the world we could see for miles, there was the Cave Temple (at Dambulla) at the top which was cut into little caves they were all filled with statues and paintings on the wall and ceilings (if get paint on the walls I get told off, I wonder if anyone told them off for painting on the walls?), I just liked all the monkeys, when mummy and daddy finished looking around we went back down the mountain (of stairs) and had a look at the really big gold statue. Then went on another long drive and I had another sleep, but when I woke up I caused chaos in the car until we got to the next hotel 'The Mansion' at Kandy (which was really nice), when we arrived there was a wedding going on, but it was the brother of the man who owns the hotel, all the people loved me with my blonde hair, we all ended up in their photos, and all the men dragged daddy to dance with them, but I didn't want to. Whilst the party continued we went and explored the hotel and garden (there was a swimming pool), we ended up back with the wedding party, and I played with the other children until they all had to go as the wedding finished. We decided to explore the building some more and found a little courtyard and hidden room up a round staircase. We then ordered dinner and while we waited, we all played on the roof terrace, dinner was lovely - but what was better was afterwards we went out to the garden because daddy said there were fire flies, I didn't believe there was such a thing but daddy caught one and showed me and then we started to see loads of them. Then it was time for bed but I didn't want to go so made a real fuss about it.

In the garden

Neo - "Daddy be careful the fire on his bum might burn you"

Holiday to Sri Lanka

Today started with a crazy drive to Dubai, with mummy's taxi man, when we got to the airport we gave someone our bags, then went and waited for our plane, all was good and on time when we got on. But then some silly man got all funny with the people who work on the plane, so they ended up getting the police man to tell him off, eventually he calmed down and got back in his seat, but no one was very happy with him as the plane had now missed our slot whatever that means, so we ended up sitting in the plane going nowhere for 2 hours, during which time I went to sleep so missed the take off again, when I woke we were in Sri Lanka airport. At the airport we had to go and see a man who didn't want to let us in, something about our visa not been on there system, but after ages of waiting daddy played with his little computer and found something called wifi and found an email, so the man let us in. Next we had to get our bags from the belt thing but they weren't there (because we had been SOOO long), so mummy and daddy had to find another man to see where they were, and at last we found them, next we had to find our driver Chaminda, which was easy as he had a sign with mummy's name on it, he was very nice and became one of my best friends over the next few days.

After getting in his car we went for a long drive and ended up in a little place where we had breakfast of toast and omelette, mummy and daddy sat down and chatted but I was bored as I'd not had any chance to run around since we got on the plane in Dubai, so I went off and made friends with all the staff there and left mummy and daddy to do the talking, Eventually they came to find me and I was hiding in the managers office, they drag me off to get back into Chaminda's car and go on a long drive, I fell asleep and I think mummy and daddy did too for some of the drive, eventually we arrived at the first hotel 'The Grand Guest House' in Sigiriya and mummy went off to sleep (as she wasn't feeling or looking very well - something to do with traveling for 53 hours from Belgium to Abu Dhabi, to Dubai, then to Sri Lanka and finally to Sigiriya), so me and daddy went off to explore, I make a new friends with one of the men who works there, I also made friends with one of the dogs who live there, he wanted to come on a walk with me and daddy, but I didn't want him to get lost so we didn't go, instead I fed the fish as the man gave me so special food for them, we decided mummy had had enough sleep so went to wake her up so we could get some lunch/dinner. After dinner we all went for a walk which was great we found some funny plant pod things that had loads of Cotton/fluff stuff in them, next we found half an elephant, It wasn't a real one but I liked it, we carried on walking and found some rocks which we climbed and I found some real elephant poo, but no elephants. After our walk we got back in Chaminda's car and went for a little drive to some massive rock thing which I thought was silly, but there were loads of cheeky monkeys so that cheered me up and on the way back we stopped at some wood shop where a man talked about stuff but I got bored and went to play cards with Chaminda and some other men - while mummy and daddy looked around the shop. When we got back to the hotel it was off to bed, it was the normal book and bed, but I had to climb into a special tent which mummy had bought for me (it was very strange as it was made out of net) mummy said it was to keep some fly's out, so off I went to sleep so I was ready for our next day of traveling.

 

At the wood shop the man mixes some colours, he mixed sawdust and PLAIN water to make red dye and then added lime juice to make yellow and then added chalk to it to make purple.

Mummy - "That is amazing"

Neo - "Mummy I have all those coloured  paints at home"

Happy Birthday Friday Grandad

Films with funny glasses and MUMMY is home

Today daddy woke me up and told me to get dressed then before I knew it we were in the car, by the time time I realised where we were going we had already arrived at the airport, we went through to the arrivals area and waited for a bit and then I spotted mummy and Matt walking through the door - I jumped out of daddy's arms and ran to her and gave mummy a MASSIVE squeezey cuddle. When we got home mummy gave me and daddy presents, I got a new part of BIRO train track (a harbor bridge). We have spent the rest of today sorting out stuff for our holiday.

Neo - "Mummy, I love you...."

Neo - "BUT now that you are home does that mean we are going on holiday today?"

Neo - "Will we see elephants today?"

I got up nice and early yesterday, not that daddy was to impressed, but I said I'd sleep in his bed with him but really I had no intention of doing that I just thought that if I bugged him enough he'd just get up, and guess what it worked after not very long I had him up watching cartoons with me, although he did get his own back by not letting me have a day sleep later on. We had a chilled day, we didn't do much daddy cleaned the flat and after lunch we went to the cinema again as I wanted to see the new Ice Age film, so daddy took me and when we got there they gave us funny glasses to watch it with, they were good as they made all the pictures come out of the screen, I liked this and kept trying to grab all the characters - but couldn't. I liked the film and think mummy should come next time we go to the cinema. After the film we went to the play area - me and daddy went on a few games, before we had to go home, the rest of the day was all chilled, and just getting ready for our holidays, hopefully mummy will be home before I get up tomorrow and then I can give her a HUGE cuddle and let her know how much I've missed her. Then we can go on holiday.

In the cinema

Neo - "Why can't I stroke the mammoth, he's right in front of me?"

Still no mummy ...

Mummy's still away, but she did phone this morning - I got to speak to her which made me happy, as I miss her when she has to go away. Today was quite good, after speaking to mummy me and daddy had to do a bit of boring shopping, daddy said if I was good in the shop he'd let me go to the play area, so I was the best I've ever been in the shops I even helped daddy and did everything he asked, so when we were done daddy took me to the play area where - we played on lots of games and we even won the motorbike game, I think that was mostly down to daddy even though he said it was all me, but when I did it on my own I kept crashing. After we finished there, we went down to another shop where we had a big cake and I had sprite while daddy had a coffee, the cake was really yummy. We went home after that and I went to the girls flat for a bit then daddy dragged me back up for some lunch. After lunch we got changed and went down to the beach, where we spent the rest of the day, we even had dinner there as daddy had made and packed some of my favorite sausage pasta, for a picnic.

On the way to the shops.

Neo - "Why do we have to go shopping, I just want to go on holiday" 

I want ....

I had a really bad nights sleep last night, it was really strange I was staying over at Abdullah's house, I had a sore throat and I dreamed some weird stuff so I kept waking up. Abdullah's mummy was really good thou she even ended up sharing my bed so that I would go to sleep, she's better than my mummy and daddy as they always moan at me because I move A LOT when I sleep. When I got up, me and Abdullah played for hours together but I was missing my daddy, I asked Abdullah mummy to phone him to come and get me, I think she must have arrange this I fell asleep in Abdullah's car and when I woke up, mummy and daddy were there. I was very happy to see them I gave them both massive cuddles and fell asleep in mummy arms, but when I woke up I was in my car with mummy and daddy, I asked them where was Abdullah and his mummy as I wanted to go to the mosque but mummy said that because I had been cry for them they had collected me, but that's not what I wanted - so I sulked for the rest of the day, wanting my own way for everything, mummy has some silly saying 'those who want, don't get!' how silly is that - anyway I spent the rest of the day doing boring shopping for our holidays.

Neo - "What shop are we going into next .... lets not be in there long .... lets just get a drink and get out"

A day of cleaning and swimming

Today has been another good one. Me and daddy didn't do to much this morning, apart from hovering the flat and generally tidying everything up, It was a nice but unexciting morning. For the afternoon things got a lot more exciting we went to the hotel on Yas Island - where I could do loads of swimming, and mucking about with daddy. When we got there Grace, Amelia, and their mummy was there too, so I had loads of fun, and did loads of swimming, I even saw the little girl who was there last time (when we went to the hotel with Abdullah, and she let me go on her pink whale again). Every time daddy and Nicky sat down, me and the girls ran off to play in one of the other pools so they couldn't see us - this was really funny to us, as they kept having to move to keep an eye on us. Later on the girls went home, me and daddy stayed so I could do more proper swimming. While I was doing this swimming I made friends with two children who have just moved to Abu Dhabi, we had good fun and daddy spent ages talking to their daddy about all the things there is to do in Abu Dhabi and how much we like living here, but after a while it was time to go home for alt he usual T3Bs, so we said goodbye and got changed then went home.

While we were getting changed after swimming

Neo - "Daddy did you know my new friends have just moved to Abu Dhabi?"
Daddy - "Yes they arrived on Monday"
Neo - "I hope they have as much fun as we do"