Bialashu the Panda

Ashley loves pandas, so it comes as no surprise that her favorite stuffed critter is a panda. She named her "Bialashu," which means Ash Tree in Chinese (Ashley means Ash Tree in English).

We brought Bialashu with us to Japan where she had her own set of adventures, fortunately most of them were with us.

Her first adventures were at Tokyo DisneySea. Duffy is huge at Tokyo Disney. Duffy is Mickey Mouse's stuffed bear, which was lovingly made by Minnie Mouse. Americans just don't share the Duffy love. 

All over Tokyo DisneySea are little benches for Duffy to sit on to have his picture taken in postcard-like settings. I put Bialashu in these seats. People got the joke. As Ashley and Don were riding Toy Story, I told people it was "for my daughter." 

I had to use the ladies' room, so she kept me company in the baby seat. Most Japanese bathrooms seemed to have a spot just like this for babies between 5 months and 2 1/2 years old. As a mom I thought this was genius! 

One time we left her in the hotel and came home to find the hotel maid made sure she could see out the window while waiting for us.

I suspect her favorite adventure, though, was visiting the bamboo forest in Kyoto. The bamboo must have been 100 feet tall. It would be like leaving me in a Godiva factory. 

He also comforted Ashley during the flights and in the various hotels. He is a good traveling companion.

More panda pictures