Hi from Baxter

Before we went to The Forbidden City we visited The Chinese Army Museum. I had great time there . Look closely and see if you can see me in the pictures. I made some new friend there to.
Hi Gang today is the last day of the game for us here at Team Baxter/Swim, tomorrow i fly home with Ms B's husband. This bear is really looking forward to seeing you all again.
Today we went to visit The Temple of Heaven. It is fantastic, the gardens are great lots and lots trees.
Lots of people go there to play games,sing, dance and to relax.
I liked this place heaps.
Well that's about it for me.
See you all soon.
Bye for now.
Baxter Bear

Baxter at the Forbidden City

We went out to the Forbidden City yesterday. Its huge. It is 1000m long (1km) and 750m wide. It took us 3 hours to walk through it. We got a tour guide to tell us some information as we walked around. It was very interesting.



Here I am in the Outer Court.


I said hello to everyone yesterday. Here is a little girl who was practising her English with me. She said "Hello" and I said "Nie How" which is Chinese for hi!


Here is another friend I made with Dave. He loved my China flag!

Blogging - its really fun!

This blogging stuff is new to me. It was scary at first. I am now really enjoying it. It is fun to read about what all of you are asking me. Thanks for all the questions. I have a couple of blogging buddies here. I had Toby and Angus' dad take some pictures of me with them.



Merrin and I blog and help Dave put the pictures out there for all of you to see. She helps me answer the questions since I type really slow.



John is the one that came up with the idea about the blog. He blogs for his kids to see what is happening. John helps me by answering a lot of the comments as well.

Food in China

Look at this photo I took. What can you see? This dish was was chicken with ginger and green onions.

My friend John learning to use chopsticks.

Here you can see lotus root, a green salad and some cucumber. It was really yummy. Later we had Peking duck, beef with black bean sauce, and some mushrooms with bok choi.

Here is the chef carving up our duck

My new outfit

Hi everybody
The other day I went to the tailors with Ms B's husband go get some new clothes. It was really exciting. First I had to take of my old clothes so the ladies could measure me. Then we picked some material. Ms B there are so many lovely fabrics you would love it here! Ms B, I reminded Dave to get some fabrics for your sewing. I think he made some good choices but you know what a dingbat he can be at time. I caused quite a commotion in the shop nobody could believe that a bear was getting a Chinese coat. In fact a TV crew interviewed us about my new clothes. Can you believe that? Dave had to talk for me as I am a little shy a times.
What do you think of my new outfit??
I like it, the Gold Dragons used to be reserved for Royalty in olden times, (when Ms B was a little girl).
So does that make make me a Prince??
I have put in a picture of Merrin and me together. Merrin is the lovely lady who helped set up my Blog.
Bye for now.
Miss you all.
Baxter Bear XOXOXO.

Where I am living in Peking (Beijing)

I am a really lucky bear. I am living at the North Star Media Village. It is located right near the Olympic stadium. Its a really nice place with a great view. They have a lot of facilities at the village. There is a gym, several restaurants, a post office, a general store, a bank and a lovely outdoor eating area.
Here are all the people getting ready to take our luggage to our rooms. They were really helpful with our heavy bags.
I am living in this apartment block. I am staying on the 9th floor and have a great view from my bedroom.

Here is the view from my room room. On a clear day you can see the mountains. Today it was smoggy so you can't see that far.


Here is a very colourful night display. It is coloured tubes that change colour from purple, to blue to green and yellow. I really like it. I think its cool.

Baxter's day at work

Hi Ms B & 1B & Pt Cook. How do you like the blog site John made for me?? I think it is great. Well I have had a busy couple of days so far. Ms B's husband (David) took me to work with him. David is a cameraman on the swimming he operates the periscope camera in the pool. When Dave told me that I could have a go at his camera I got a little scared as I am not a good swimmer and didn't bring any bathers with me. However I didn't need to worry as you operate the camera from a nice dry room. Using the camera is a bit like playing a video game, you use a joystick to pan & tilt camera and wheel to raise and lower the camera into the water. It was great fun.

Toby and Angus I bet you are surprise that you Dad is doing a robotic camera, because when we saw him play the PS & Wii he wasn't very good at it.

Well I think it is time to see some pictures.

Here I am using the periscope camera contrrol. Grant and John are also working with me. John operates the U/W cameras that get the swimmers turning at either end.

This is the housing for the periscope cam. It is a large waterproof metal box with camera inside it. The periscope cam was designed and built in Australia by the guys at Seven who made the Racecams. They are very clever people. Here they are installing the periscope cam.

Here you can see the periscope cam in the pool.

Here is the pool where I have been working. I am very lucky to be here. Toby and Angus Dad and I spend our time working in a little hut just next to the pool.