If I could have a huge saltwater tank, I’d want a pet ray. Remove the stinger and these guys are amazing – so soft, so graceful, and quite friendly too!

This guy was so eager to be petted he was coming out of the water!

They’re not just soft, they kind of feel… fluffy.

I quite like the cownose ones, probably because this one was super friendly.

Their little mouths are so cute! They look like a face themselves, but the eyes of course are actually on top. I believe those are the nostrils?

Ngong Ping is a nice little (fake) village up in the mountains of Hong Kong. The town center is a tourist’s dream, with shops, food, and even a tea house. As far as I can see it’s kind of like Disneyland though – completely constructed for tourists and not actually lived in. However, if you go outside this main area, you’ll find some real people along the way to the temple and the Buddha way up high.

In D.C. on Sunday, Panda and I came across this adorable squirrel! She was hardly scared of people and after feeding her I decided to name her Sasha.

We spotted her so close to the sidewalk, munching away at something yummy.

She ignored us for a long time as she scavenged, but then the crinkling of the bag caught her attention.

She stared right at us when we pulled out a gummy bear from the bag.

She hopped up on the ledge and began to sneak over.

She came right up to the edge to see this wonderful piece of food.

She took the gummy bear straight from my fingers and began nibbling at it furiously.

I offered her some more tempting candy as she finished gobbling up the first.

She was really eager for these! What a hungry squirrel.

She put her paws on me to grab the red one, which fell. When she didn't notice where it landed, she went for the yellow one instead.

Her paws were so soft and slightly scratchy where the nails were. I want a pet squirrel!

They’ve got skill and personality!  Check out some more videos here and here.

Our second day in the Bahamas was supposed to be on those islands you can see way in the distance, but with weather like this, we couldn’t dock and spent the day at sea instead.

Taking a cable car up to Ngong Ping village, with others whizzing by, the air flowing through, planes taking off in the distance, and finally, a view of the Buddha. Check out other videos from my Ngong Ping visit.

At Sentosa Island, you can go to the Underwater World and find this touching pool, which is super fun. Hold your hand still and the fish will come up to you with a quick swipe against your skin. The guy narrating thought there was a close call, but that’s what it looks like when they swipe you. So fast it doesn’t look like it happened!

December 29th, 10 PM. My dad and have been waiting at JFK for two hours, wondering if we can get on the last flight to LA that night. The recent blizzard that swept through the area left many passengers stuck in the airport for days. Thankfully, we were lucky enough to get seats so I wouldn’t have to spend my birthday in the airport!

JFK has a lounge sort of area with lots of iPads for people to play games on. Pretty nifty.

With tons of people stranded in the airport, there were some cots laid out for people to use.

The snow was piling a good 10 feet high as they cleared the runways!

It snowed at least two feet right there. I sort of miss this weather.

Woo, I’m back from my cruise and here are some pics of when we first got on 4 days ago.

Coming down from a visit to Ngong Ping Village, I wasn’t sure the bus would make it at times.