Dear Santa: All 8-year-old Dora from Croatia wants for Christmas is “love and peace in the world.” Is that too much to ask? Just ahead of Saint Nick’s anxiously awaited sleigh ride around the world later this month, Reuters photographers made a trip of their own to ask children what gifts they hope to receive. Their responses were nothing short of adorable. Zofia, 8, from Warsaw, Poland: Lynn Habbouche, a 6-year-old leukaemia patient from Beirut, Lebanon: Natsuki Ariga, 9, from Tokyo, Japan: Dana Augustane, 10, from Riga, Latvia: Morena Fay, 9, from Buenos Aires, Argentina: Emma Stanisic, 9, from Zenica, Bosnia: Dmitriy Kuchur, 5, from Minsk, Belarus: David Arias, 5, from Santa Monica, United States: Zofie Cizkova, 8, from Prague, Czech Republic: Sandro, 6, from Tbilisi, Georgia: Onari Abigail, 8, from Managua, Nicaragua: Benjamin Valeriani, 7, from Montevideo, Uruguay: Zeynep Akgul, 8, from Ankara, Turkey:
Georgie Kidd, 10, from Tenby, Wales: Maxim, 4, from Belgrade, Serbia: Pika Feliciana Kranjec, 4, from Kranj, Slovenia: Yoselin Ortuno, 5, from Caracas, Venezuela: Sebastian Contreras, 8, from Santa Tecla, El Salvador: Matias Ugarte, 6, from Mexico City, Mexico: Adina Serikbayeva, 7, from Almaty, Kazakhstan: Taj, 10, from Encinitas, United States: Olivier Bommeli, 8, from Bern, Switzerland: Jaedene Alyzxandra Medina, 5, from Las Pinas, Philippines: Alicia, 4, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: Isabel Lawson, 12, from Measham, Britain: Palesa Vinger, 12, from Johannesburg, South Africa: Jasmine Maria, 6, from Balham, Britain: William Lawson, 11, from Oadby, Britain: Diana Zhaldak, 4, from Kiev, Ukraine: Khanyo Mchunu, 13, from Embo, South Africa:If you don’t have children, it’s really difficult to know what to get your nieces and nephews. As an uncle or aunt, you need to step up to the plate to be crowned the best one out there, so getting the right gift is tres important.
But guess what, guys, the trendiest gifts you can get for children this year are, in fact, nothing new – just think dolls, building blocks, and skateboards. However, just as fashion, music, and lifestyle choices ride the rollercoaster of trends, so do children’s toys, so they are very different to what you might have had when you were younger. Luckily this year Claire Cobbledick, Marketing Head for Gumtree SA, analysed the trendiest gifts available online and gave us a breakdown. These dolls have an incredibly realistic appearance and there are only 20 000 of them available worldwide. While they are not yet as big in South Africa as they are in some other countries, the trend is still catching on, explains Cobbledick. Joelle is the name of the most expensive Reborn doll so far, selling for over R310 000 via eBay – but the ones available in South Africa don’t go for that much. Although there are only thirty Reborn dolls showcased locally on Gumtree, prices range from R2 000 to R4 000.
The self-balancing two-wheeled boards reach speeds of up to 10km/h and, surprise, they remain all the rage, with the rider controlling the board through their feet on a gyroscopic sensor pad. First introduced in China in 2014, they haven’t been around long enough to go out of fashion just yet, says Cobbledick, and you can definitely find some good ones for only R4 500 on Gumtree. Lego was created in Denmark in 1932 and the name comes from the Danish words “leg godt” which means “play well”. And prepare to play well indeed. A timeless classic, LEGO is more popular than ever especially as it keeps kids busy and creative for hours on end – and even adults can join in on the fun. Cobbledick says Gumtree has plenty of Lego sets on offer from complete and complex ones for R1 000, to basic kits for younger children as cheap as R75. Just don’t stand on a piece while they’re lying around – you will howl in pain. You don’t always have to fork out massive sums of money to keep the laaities happy – just pop on Gumtree and have a snoop around, you might even find a little something to buy for yourself.
I saw an advert for a local insurance company the other day (it was iWYZE), and I was left... Sure, there is much frustration with taxi drivers in South Africa - but one thing is clear... In every major city in the world, you will be able to conveniently locate a Sunglass Hut ... British TV host John Oliver cut his teeth on The Daily Show under Jon Stewart, and has now... Dirty talk can be fun, especially after a few drinks when the tongue gets a little loose, ... Titanic II set to sail in 2016 without TV or Internet access 02.27.2013 :: 11:32AM EST @mthwgeek Clive Palmer, and Australian billionaire who made his money mainly through mining operations, has announced he intends to enjoy the money he has earned over his life by spending it before he dies. His first big investment? Building a new cruise ship that will be a replica of the Titanic. The announcement was made and a blueprint of the ship released on board the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.
It’s called the Titanic II and is set to be constructed in China at the CSC Jinling Shipyard over the next 3 years. Passengers are expected to be using it to cross the Atlantic beginning June 2016. The ship is a replica of the original, but the design actually makes it 3-inches longer than the 1912 version at 883 feet. Anyone enjoying the luxuries of modern cruise ships will be disappointed, though. To keep things “real,” the Titanic II won’t be outfitted with access to the Internet or even a TV. Your entertainment looks likely to be whatever was on offer in the early 1900s. Who knows, they might even ask for your gadgets to be handed in before you are allowed to board. Despite that, Palmer says he’s already had a lot of interest and over 40,000 people sign up for tickets. That’s good news as he needs 2,435 passengers to fill it and 900 crew members to keep the ship running during its 5 day trip across the Atlantic. The worry is that after the excitement has died down there won’t be much interest on using the ship to travel.