Vladivostok, Russia – More Tigers, Warships, and Love..

Was not joking when I said people here in Vladivostok love their tigers!  This man at the motorcycle club said he paid $2000 to have this one permanently printed on his skin!  Awesome work I must say.. I might consider that one for myself..  what do ya think.. ?  😉

So it’s another day in the life of Sherri Jo in Russia.. it’s a tough life too.. ha!  I am loving Russia so much..  After several weeks on Asian food, one thing I love the most here is the food.. But also the culture in general.. So many old buildings and history here..  Walter and I make our way around town organizing bits and pieces.

I didn’t notice this, but Walter did..  a sign for Australian food!

I know the word on top (Cafe) – that’s easy enough.. Under that is “Australian”.. which i would have worked out if I had stopped walking and stared at the sign, and sounded it out slowly..

And interesting they print “Country Fried Chicken” in English, and I quite honestly don’t associate such a meal with Australia.  Granted Australia has a big KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN culture (God knows why..?), which is technically American culture.

I am so happy with Russian food, that I will stick with that for now.. (Granted I did have a couple glasses of South Australian wine at dinner a couple nights ago…well you gotta do what you gotta do.. support SA!!)

Actually Walter has got me onto a Russian beer that I quite like.. I am not much of a beer drinker at all… the odd Coopers Sparkling Ale when in the mood.

But it’s been so hot and humid here, this one goes down really well.. it’s light with a bit of lime flavor, which I don’t think I would have ordered on my own..

That’s another good thing about having Walter around.. He’s been to Russia many times, and besides being able to organize things speaking their language (this is a massive plus!!), he knows the food and drink, and gets me to try things that I would have never known what they are..

One of my goals today was to try to organize a way to experience the tiger conservation efforts in this country (being one of the tiny few places on this planet that tigers still live in the wild..)

We head over to an office based here called THE PHEONIX FUND.  They agreed to meet with us, and I came along armed with some newsletters and photos from my favorite rescue center in Indiana, the EXOTIC FELINE RESCUE CENTER.  If you haven’t seen from my website, the address is www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org

The directors at Pheonix didn’t speak English, however the girls do.. they showed us what they do and the challenges they have ahead.  Have a look at their site, they have done a lot for the tigers and include some amazing video..  http://www.phoenix.vl.ru/

They are connected with WWF, WCS, even Dreamworld in Queensland!  There really seems to be hope for the wild tigers after seeing what I did today… not like problem solved, but an amazing team who have already made progress.  If you have a love of wildlife and tigers like I do,  both websites mentioned above take donations and could really use your help!  I see these things online as well, but it was great to see conservation in action today..

So!  I have a plan, kids love to see themselves in a photo, so I decide to show him the photos I have taken of him and around the club.