Vaccinations free for those over 50 in Singapore - and centres in the UK

 

Vaccination centre direction sign. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Look up your nearest vaccination centre online. There are fewer of them nowadays.

 If you are a Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident, which is an official status, aged over 50, no need to make an appointment, just walk in. 

REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR MASK.

You get a free bottle of water. The waiting time afterwards has been reduced.

Remember that you are not supposed to swim or do strenuous sports afterwards, also no drinking alcohol for a day. So plan your week accordingly.

They put a plaster on the prick site and gave me a leaflet.

I had no reaction except some soreness on my left arm. I woke once that night and wondered, why is my arm sore. Then I remembered and turned over.

I am just a sample of one, not statistically significant, although every statistic is needed to build the overall picture.

I yo-yo between the UK and Singapore. I started in Singapore so I did my top-ups in Singapore, so they are all on my phone on the same system.

Useful Websites

Singapore

 https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/vaccination/faqs-on-getting-vaccinated

UK

https://www.nwlondonics.nhs.uk/Winter

USA

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html

Hindu Temple in Singapore - a happy moment admiring it

 Temple in Singapore, by the Covid plus flu jab centre in Jurong East in the north west of Singapore.

It was not conveniently near an MRT railway station so we took a Grab cab.

We passed this lovely temple on the corner of the street by the traffic lights.

What did I like? The colours of the walls. The Singapore rain trees which lean and are curved with lacey leaves and show the buildings beyond. The white statues in groups of three, or more. The man on the bicycle silhouetted against the wall.I hope that eventually the repairs will be completed and I can see the building restored to its full glory to enhance the lives of the Hindus as well as the local architectural scene for the enjoyment or everybody.

I looked it up in Wikipedia and found a link to Murugan temples. The temple contains statues of Lord Murugan and other deities. I looked up Murugan. Murugu means beauty and murugan means beautiful one. Indeed, a beautiful temple with a statue of the beautiful one. The god has several other names. He is associated with Southern India.

Arulmigu Murugan Temple, 281 Jurong East Street 21, Singapore 609605.

Other temples to the same god are in Singapore, Malaysia (Batu caves), the UK, India, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and New Zealand.

An even better known and more centrally located temple is in Chinatown.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hindu_temples_in_Singapore

http://singaporehindutemples.com/lordshiva/lordmurugan.html#kartikeya7

http://singaporehindutemples.com/templelist/SriThendayuthapani(Chettiar)/SriThendayuthapani(Chettiar).html

How To Attend A Club Event - Paid For Or Free

The Christmas Tree in the Tavern Restaurant, Tanglin Club, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

How could you get to attend if you are not a member? You might be invited to an event because>

1 Guests - Family and Friends

The organizers are selling tickets guest and member tickets which are reduced price for members (who are already paying the organization and annual fee or a montly fee, as well as the joining fee) but often only slightly more for guests. If you have lots of friends through one club, they are likely to know members of another club or to be a member of two clubs. Some clubs allow members to take in friends or family as guests. 

2 Keep asking all your Singapore friends, are you a member of a club? In my early days as an ex-pat, I met lots of Americans through the American Women's Association. You could join this if you were waiting to be a member of the American Club, or in Singapore insufficient time to make it worthwhile paying the joining fee. Members of the association could meet at each other's homes for events such as bridge games and end of year parties, attend festive meals such as Thanksgiving, and attend moderately priced events in hired rooms such as the bridge game with sandwich lunch or tea. Full members had full use of the club including the swimming and could book tables in the restaurant. On a couple of occasions, one of the 'bossy' or busy or proactive ladies would suggest we all went for coffee or lunch in the restaurant. She had to book the table and the payment would be invoiced to her at the end of the month. We could either secretly slip her cash afterwards to compensate her, invite her back to our club or out to lunch if she was a friend. Or if only one person out of five was not a member, one of the other women who was a member might airily say, "don't worry, this is on me".

Free

Another system. When I first arrived, I knew nobody and was very lonely when my husband was away travelling. I would invite people to lunch at the club, but most of them were too busy with their own families and friends or work. I was desperately hoping somebody would accept and was happy to pay the cost of their lunch. My husband was having meals out with business associates all day every day. I was not even getting a Saturday evening meal out with him. He could hardly begrudge me one meal with a friend or acquaintance. 

On one occasion I invited a VIP lady organizer of a group, a bridge group, or a book group, or one of the national associations (American Club, Japanese Club, Australian club). She arrived with a gift for me, a silver picture frame. She explained, "I cannot reciprocate by inviting you back to my club because I am fully booked all week and we are going back to America." I then  realized that some people just accept that life is swings and roundabouts, sometimes you pay for a stranger, sometimes they pay for you. Other people like every transaction and relationship to balance, so if you invite them to a meal, whether at their home or a restaurant, you don't wait for an opportunity to reciprocate, because that might never come if one of you travels elsewhere or falls sick. You take a gift for the host. 

How do you do this at short notice? It's like planning for Xmas. If you do it on a regular basis, you can plan in advance. You and buy in the sales. You have a box or basket labelled gifts. 

All ready wrapped with fancy paper and ribbons. (The Japanese always expect gifts to be fancily wrapped. In China and Singapore even money must be presented in a lucky red packet.)

Then, if you are on the phone and are invited out and have to leave now, no time for shopping, you simply grab a gift from the box. If you like you can add the name of the person on the gift tag, and a nice message such as to my new friend, to my good friend, or thank you for the lovely lunch.

Reciprocal Clubs

If you are a member of a club, or the company you belong to has membership for all staff, you can get reciprocal arrangements overseas. For example, members of the UK civil service can join the Civil Service Club. I met him through a local Writer's club in London. He introduced me to a Toastmasters International Club. He is a member of several clubs, including some connected with Indian language groups. He arranges a Christmas dinner at the Civil Service Club for his friends.

You can visit many clubs just to be shown around with a view to becoming a member. Whilst there, look at the lists of activities. Some will be cultural. Book clubs, film clubs, national clubs. If you are sporty, you are sure to see a group such as football, cricket, squash, and cabinets of trophies or lists of events. If you are not nearby, you can check them out online. Find our what arrangements they have with clubs in your country.

If you are into sales, you might hire a table at a Christmas fare, to sell wine, jewellery, clothes, candles, food, books. You might have a customer who is a member of the club.

The Tanglin Club's Reciprocal Clubs

In Australia alone there are many reciprocal clubs, for example, several branches of the RAC club in different cities. In India, the Cricket Club in Mumbai is one of several.

Guests can book rooms in the club. See the club website for details.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/reciprocal-clubs/reciprocal-clubs.html

Colourful Costumes of Entertainers And Fun Food At The Xmas Tree Lighting Event At The Tanglin Club, with Santa, choir, fancy dress, novelties

Tanglin Club, Singapore, fancy dress pair of entertainers. Photo by Angela Lansbury
 

Costumed character entertainer, left, with Angela Lansbury, right. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The Xmas fair novelties for sale included white candles in shapes such as houses, like Xmas cakes. Lickable lollies, each surrounded a stick with flashing lights.

The promised choir was assembled on the grand staircase. Strolling through the crowd and posing for photos were a a pair of red cheeked marionettes, a cuddly bear and a lady on stilts. The stilt walker had to bend low to accompany the other fancy dress characters into the lift.

Xmas Food

The mince pies were tasty. After the lighting the club members could eat the light refreshments from the buffet. Those eating in traditional order started with the savouries. Generously large chicken legs and wings, chips, rather dry and cooked to a crisp, vegetables in white bread sandwiches. Some fish sandwiches. 

Chocolate roll (Yule log). Photo by Angela

Mine pies with tiny plastic fir tree decoations.

Assorted seasonal biscuits. Photos by Angela Lansbury

For me the highlights were the chocolate roll cake and the biscuits including white six point stars - they were the best, and three other kings of biscuit. Fruit punch or water could be retrieved from a dispenser.

Children could line up for photos with Santa. And collect balloons twisted into animals and other shapes.

Free Photo Session

I lined up for a photo. I asked, "Is this for the club magazine or just for us?" 

"Just for you."

"Is it free or do we pay you?"

"It's free. The club has already paid us."

You received one or two printed colour postcards of yourself, your child, yourself and your child. Or your fancy dress group. 

Fancy Dress Hats

They had a table of hats and props. An orange wig. Headbands with antlers. At one point I saw a mock wooden champagne bottle. 

By the time I reached the table it had gone. Was it swiped by a child or guest? Or exchanged by the organizers to create variety in the props? 

Never mind. I was soon distracted by alternatives. Instead, I posed with the words Selfie, and I am a Star.

Alas it is over. Only the photos remain. Do you have to wait another year to visit the club or look at my photos of birthdays, anniversaries, and previous year's Santas and trees?

New Year's Eve

This event was free, included in the monthly membership that members pay. What else is there to look forward to? Other events at the club include Xmas Eve, which is a paid for event with a choice of early or late, the big champagne dinner, or the shorter drink and snacks. 

Past & Future Wine & Dine Dinners

Throughout the year there are wine dinners organized by a wine society which has a membership fee. In November I went to a dinner in the large, grand Churchill Room restaurant, with large round tables for ten, with white cloths, by the wine club. It ended with an auction of a couple of bottles of leftover wine. (In London leftover wine is drunk by those who stick around, continue to the bar, or take it home.)

I have also attended two wine dinners organized by a different group, The Affordable Wine dinner group in the smaller Terrace Bar which has cosy, wooden tables for six.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/events/calendar-of-events.html

See my previous post for the unobstructed view of the Xmas tree in the club lobby.

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Christmas Tree & Tree Decorations in the Lobby of the Tanglin Club, Singapore

 

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The tree is the centrepiece of the lobby. The tree is even better close up. You can admire the individual decorations. I liked the snow-capped roof and the arched windows on the model building.

Xmas tree decoration. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I wonder how many people spent how many hours decorating the tree.

The official Xmas tree light up is on Sunday, November 27th, the last weekend in November.

Legend says that Xmas trees were originally brought into homes in Germany and northern Europe in the darkest months and used as supports for candles. (A bit of a fire risk. Nowadays, for convenience and safety, we have artificial trees and electric lights with circuit breakers.)

The event will include Santa Claus posing for photos with children and families. (Judging by last year, you may have to queue - Americans say line up.) Members can also expect light refreshments and entertainment from a choir and stilt walkers. 

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Biscuit Sales kiosk like a giant gingerbread house. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/

https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltagov/en/getting_around/public_transport/rail_network.html

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/events/social-events/events-promotions/1583-christmas-tree-lighting.html

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Xmas Lights in Central Singapore, Decorate Scotts Road Trees

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
 

See previous post for pillars covered in fairy lights for the Xmas shopping season. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Winter white, light and bright.

Singapore is a fairyland of decorations in the centre. 

Useful Websites

https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltagov/en/getting_around/public_transport/rail_network.html

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Singapore Xmas decorations in Orchard Road, and Tang's Department Store's Red Pillars

Pillars covered in fairy lights at Tang's landmark department store for the Xmas shopping season. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Singapore is a fairyland of decorations in the centre. On the corner of Orchard Road is the landmark Tang's department store. The pillars are decorated red and white, light and bright.

The pillars themselves are painted red. That itself is an innovation. Most pillars worldwide are white. Red is the auspicious, boding well, lucky colour, in Singapore, China, and Asian countries. 

For the winter shopping season the streets are decorated and Tang's has made even more of the red and white theme familiar from the costume of Santa Claus. The white fairy lights go upwards, emphasizing the height of the vertical pillars. The ring of green holly leaves at the top echoes the dark ring around the base of the pillars.

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Useful Websites

https://www.facebook.com/TANGS.SG/

https://tangs.com/

https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltagov/en/getting_around/public_transport/rail_network.html

Be Prepared, Hiking or Biking: Hikers' Hazards, Safety Supplies & Precautions

As the scouts say, be prepared. Save worry for yourself, your family, and potential rescuers. In some areas, hiking trails are marked as easy or difficult.

 Things to do

1 Find a friend. Do not travel in the outback or forest alone.

To join groups starting from cities, contact Hash house harriers with the name of the city. They often meet once a week or once a month, and may have groups for men, women, or families, or families with pets, or different language groups, and may make a charge to visitors, especially if they provide a meal at the end of the run. 

2 Check weather reports and suggested supplies for the route.

3 Pack your car with a sleeping bag and first aid kit.

4 Route References Registered

Inform in the USA a ranger of your route.

Leave a map of your route and estimated time of return for your family.

5 Pack food and drink. 

Enough for a week in case you get stranded. In containers which stop predatory animals attacking you for food. 

Black bears unable to reach backpacks. Photo from Wiki.

6 Print a map and have GPS finder.

7 Select Suitable Clothes For all weathers. Wear a ski jacket which enables you to be found in snow with a bleeping device. A helmet for cycling or motorbikes. Insurance. Anti-tick socks. Goggles for swimming and sun in the snow. Hats and caps which tie on so they don't blow off or get lost. I have a swimsuit with a hood so I don't need a swimming cap.

8 Have a suitable jacket.

9 Wear insect repellent and carry bite soother.

10 In snake-infested areas, sing and throw stones ahead to make snakes move away.

11 Carry a mini tent like an umbrella for shelter in winter or bad weather.

12 Carry hand warmers. (Sold in ski and hiking areas.)

13 Have spare clothing.

14 Have an empty water bottle and wet wipes in case you need a toilet and or can't move because you have hurt your ankle.

15 Do not hike when menstruating because blood attracts dogs and bears and other animals to attack you just as they would attack a bleeding animal for food.

16 Carry a sewing kit. 

17 Put a survival guide on your phone.

18 If lost without paths, go downhill to the river in a valley to get drinking water, find a road, or hail passing boats.

19 If stuck in one place, such as a beach or a clearing, or even a road, use clothes or branches to make a large sign to attract searching aircraft. 

20 Check on local safety sites.

Online you can buy whistles, torches and knives as well as waterproof clothes and pickpocket proof clothes.

Wiki has advice on what to do when lost.

You can also buy survival guides. In France you can get guides to edible mushrooms.

Useful Websites

California Hiking Safety tips - and tips for bikers and others

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30043

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11464643/Body-teenage-hiker-disappeared-popular-New-Hampshire-trail-four-day-search.html#reader-comments

https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Safety/s?k=Hiking+Safety

http://www.wiki-safety.com/postdtl/en/-C2079/2165/

http://www.romehash.com/ 

amazon.co.uk/s?k=anti-tick+socks

Temporary dental repair kit

https://dentemp.com/dentemp.html

A travel diary - for my 15 Swedish Words Which Sound Similar To English Or Have Relatable Spelling

I now have a new way of recording languages. A list of new words in a travel diary. I can look back and recall early words.

On the train yesterday I completed another Swedish lesson whilst travelling.  The time on the boring journey flew by.

Swedish - English

Adverbs And Vocabulary

1 äntligen - at last/finally

2 hela - whole

3 helt - completely (like up to the hilt)

4 kort - short

5 langa - long or tall

6 nära - near - notice the a and the a with two dots pronounced like e

7 ny - new

8 ofta - often

9 personalen - personnel/staff

10 röd (with two dots over the o) - red

11 salt - salt

12 studerar - studies 

13 senare - later (like seniors, in their later years, arrive later) 

14 snart - soon, (it starts soon, it starts with s. be quick about it, he snarled. s -rt)

15 vegetarianer - vegetarian

English - Swedish

1 at last/finally -  äntligen

2 completely - helt

3 later - senare

4 long/tall - langa

5 near - nära 

6 new - ny

7 often - ofta

8 personnel/staff - personalen

9 red - röd

10 salt - salt

11 short - kort

12 soon - snart

13 studies - studerar

14 vegetarian - vegetarianer

15 whole - hela

Useful Websites

An overview of grammar and spelling and a few foreign words adopted from French and German

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_language

A free course of 51 sections, each of 6-9 short multiple choice questions with some pronunciation tests where you speak what you hear. 

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Language Teachers & Learners - Interlingua Exhibition in Germany is Online

I was emailed about the Interlingua exhibition in Germany. 23-26 November 2022. They have stands from language schools, Esperanto, all sorts of people. Linking up with them led me to other places, such as Interlinguo on Facebook and Esperanto on Facebook.

Esperanto or Interlingua

I found Esperanto first. The idea is that it follows rules.

Interlingua 

The idea is that it takes words which are already common in many languages so it is immediately understood if you know a romance language. No diacritics (those little tags and hats and dots on letters).

In theory diacritics like punctuation are designed to help you, with pronunciation. I find them easy in French, but scary and confusing in Swedish and Chinese (Mandarin). They should help speed you up in reading and saying a work. However, I find that they slow me down.

Useful Websites

Wikipedia (in Esperanto and several languages)

duolingo.com

translate google

https://www.transparent.com/language-resources/

https://www.facebook.com/polyglotclub.world/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/polyglot.group/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Constructed_languages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_between_Esperanto_and_Interlingua

Why Learn Another Language? (Plus 7 easy Swedish words)

Flag of Esperanto. From Wikipedia.

1 Be Bilingual

 Being bilingual could stave off Alzheimers for five years. Giving you quality of life. Saving you from sad visits to grannies. Saving the government money.

2 Why Start Language Learning With Esperanto?

If you only speak one language, (English and louder English) and are scared of languages, the easiest is to learn Esperanto. It is a made up language designed as an intermediary language for Europeans. 

What use is it?

a) People who learn it go on to learn another language and pick it up faster. 

3 Where can I speak Esperanto?

b) You can find or start Esperanto clubs on Meetup. In the UK there is one in Reading. 

c) Although no country speaks it, you can join the homestay system and stay with another Esperanto speaker for free for three days to practise the language. 

d) Countries like Hungary, whose language has little in common with neighbouring languages, favour Esperanto. Hungary has had Esperanto as an A level.) I bought the Esperato-English dictionary and did a correspondence course in Esperanto. You can see a map of where to find Esperanto speakers.

e) Esperanto speakers hold an annual conference.

3 A sense of achievement

Which languages are easiest? First Esperanto if you are European or speak English. Then Spanish, from that Portuguese or Italian. If you are learning Chinese or Japanese, they are a pair. The written language uses the same symbols, like the no smoking sign and washing symbols, the signs are the same, although the spoken words are different. Bulgarian uses Cyrillic like Russian. Cyrillic combines Greek and Hebrew with new letters. Spoken Arabic and Hebrew are similar. Salaam and Shalom mean peace or hello.  

German and Dutch and the Scandinavian languages are a group. Finland has Swedish as one of two official languages. Chinese (Mandarin) is also used in Taiwan, and Singapore. (Hong Kong uses Cantonese.)

Humour In Language

Lots of mistakes in language are funny in retrospect. I wanted trousers in a US department store. They say pants for trousers and underpants for pants.

I asked for rubbers.  

'Not stocked here. Try a drug store.' 

I found them. I confronted the assistant. 'What's this!'

An eraser.

The American for rubbers is erasers. Rubbers are contraceptives.

Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are a group.

Some simple Swedish words

Swedish - English

1 arkitekt - architect

2 modell  - model

3 polis - police

4 pappa - papa/Dad (notice the a, unlike American Pop)

5 professionell - professional

6 syster - sister

7 tomat - tomato

English - Swedish

1 architect - arkitekt

2 Dad/pop/papa - pappa

3 model - modell

4 police - polis

5 professional - professionell

6 Sister - syster

7 tomato - tomat

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

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Watch your background on Zoom! Unintentional Humour. Intentional Humor.

On Zoom you can create virtual backgrounds showing yourself in front of famous landmarks, or on the beach with the waves rolling in behind you. A moving background can be distracting.

Even worse is a real life moving background. It is not new for passers-by to accidentally walking across behind a live reporter, or to stand behind making silly faces. The technical term is photobombing. Wikipedia found me these.

 Many people turn off their cameras at home for good reason. They are eating. They are half naked.

Others do not check their backgrounds. You can see all sort of personal stuff. 

 What is on the wall behind, you, on the desk, or cabinet. An interview candidate for a job had to quickly remove empty bottles of alcohol, kept as souvenirs and decoration. He was applying for a job in Pakistan.

Children and Pets

Hilarious moments from the early days of working from home and meetings on zoom included backgrounds of dogs or cats which wanted to read the news or express their reaction. Others included children bursting into the room, dragged out by a crawling mother.

Bedrooms

At my Toastmasters meetings, I was once mesmerized by the speaker's girlfriend, lying in the bed behind him, every now and then turning over. My mind was inventing what she could do, alone, or if he would later join her, unaware that the back of the room was on camera.

Toilet, Bathroom and Shower

One Toastmasters International member frequently tells the story of how she went to the toilet wearing a pin-on microphone.

Recently I watched a visitor yawn, move the camera, get up and disappear into the shower at the back of the bedroom. The shower water started to run down the glass.

I was waiting to see a silhouette. It reminded me of Psycho. Would an evil stranger creep in? If so, we could not contact him.

I was unable to concentrate on my speeches and roles. Why? Because I was watching to see whether he would emerge wearing pyjama bottoms, a towel, or neither.

Some of the professional Zoom applications allow you to set up your group shots of audience faces in settings such as a classroom of tiered seating, or even mirror photos with frames. For single individuals, yourself, add humorous hats, moustaches and glasses. Key words to search for are: facial effects, studio effects, and make up filters.

Useful Websites

Zoom on facial effects to enhance

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002595343-Enhancing-your-video-in-Zoom

https://shotkit.com/funny-zoom-backgrounds/

https://www.ricotta.team/blog/zoom-memes

Humorous zoom effect tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v0Y9b--zBM

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An easy language for travellers - ten words which are almost the same

 

Swedish - I wish I had started it earlier. It is like a cross between English and German. 

Look at these words

Swedish - English

är - are

bruna - brown

cat - katt

dotter - daughter

kaffe - coffee

katt - cat

sommar - summer

son - son

syster - sister

tomat - tomato

vinter - winter

English - Swedish

are - är

brown - bruna

daughter - dotter

coffee - kaffe

sister - syster

son - son

summer - sommar

tomato - tomat

winter - vinter

I could not find how to change to Swedish in blogger so I copied the letter a with the two dots above it from translategoogle.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://translate.google.com/

Handy tips which make travelling easy and fun from Angela.

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Why is North in the north on maps? Who decided? Is it always that way?

 

I researched left, right and centre, as the saying goes for the answer. North, South, East and West. I thought I read on Wikipedia or somewhere else about the man I had never heard of who established north on maps in Europe. My second search showed that Ptolemy has north on maps in ancient times, and European maps put north in all sorts of places until am copied the older system from elsewhere and much later his version was copied onto printed maps in Europe. 

Then I discovered something fascinating. Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer living in Egypt, put north at the top because he started writing at the top. But also from the top left. 

But why north? Because of the north star - but that was done by people living in the south, down under.  Maps were printed with the west at the top by another culture which made their city the most important place in the universe - but why put north at the top and not in the centre. 

China

The Chinese call their country centre, a square with a line through it. I learned that from looking at signposts in Hong Kong.

Sailors, North and South

Another theory goes that sailors were following the stars. 

Or South was at the top of the page, because in Egypt the Nile flows north to the Mediterranean sea.

Mecca and Jerusalem

Then the Arabs lived north of Mecca which was in the south. (But graves of Muslims and Jews in Europe face East towards the holy lands and places, Jerusalem and Mecca.)

Vienna, Austria

We drove around Vienna in Austria arguing about whether to go left or right because my husband was driving, watching the signposts, but I was reading the nap which had south at the bottom of the page following ...

The north pole is at the north. But ...

"You could turn the piece of paper round," my husband suggested. 

 I retorted, "But then the writing is upside down. I could stand on my hands and read it that way. Or place a book on a lazy Susan." 

It is a convention. Sometimes. But not always.

The English write North, South, East and West starting with capital letters. 

Swedish North is north

The Swedish language does not use capital letters. You just have to go with the flow.

Australia

And don't get me started on the way the water runs down the plughole in the bath in Australia. 

Or Christmas in June.

Useful Websites

https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/why-maps-point-north-on-top/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/07/travel-myths-backwards-water/

MISSING INFORMATION ON MRT MAPS - NORTH AND YOU ARE HERE - FOUND!

Flag of Singapore

North

The missing north has always puzzled us. Because the MRT maps don't always show North at the top. (Years ago a wonderful forgotten man came up with the idea of putting north at the tops of maps. This makes life so much simpler.)  This has always puzzled us.

A station staff member on the opening day of the pre-run introduction day, November 11th, showed us the sign for North was outside the map, top right of the panel. The arrow was twisted like the hour pointer on a clock to indicate north. That has a certain logic. Not convention. But logic.

London UK underground's West on Circle Lines

(Another puzzle is the underground Central line maps in London, England. Most maps show west on the left and east on the right. But the central line has maps showing ... well, differently, depending which side of the carriage you are sitting.) 

You are Here

Look at the bottom left corner of the map under Legend and you will see the symbol. It looks like a red teardrop with a white circle. it represents an eye.

Marketing Singlish in Singapore

 

The flag of Singapore, bordered, to show the white of the flag against the white of a computer's or mobile's screen.

Angela Lansbury by the pool in a Singapore condo, November 2022. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Today a Singaporean friend told me, "I won't be swimming at the weekend, when the pool is crowded. Instead I shall be marketing."

I replied, "You are working? At the weekend? Marketing what?" 

She replied, "Not working. Shopping. At the market."

I relayed this story to my husband. I said, "Singaporeans have shortened the sentence, and changed the meaning of the English."

"No," replied my husband. "Marketing originally meant buying in the market. We in Britain have changed the English word to mean selling."

Angela Lansbury in cap in the colours of the Union Jack flag of UK.

If you want to swim in Singapore, many hotels have pools. When my son and daughter-in-law came to Singapore, they spent a night at the Marina Bay Sands hotel which has an infinity pool on top of Singapore's landmark triple towers. 

Singapore has new underground railway stations which I have written about in my other posts. You hear English and Chinese (Mandarin) as well as Malay and Tamil recorded announcements, in the four official languages of Singapore, on the stations and trains.

I have several posts on Singlish and American English and British English. Please share links to your favourite posts.

This post is

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2022/11/marketing-singlish.html

Useful Websites

SINGLISH

https://thehoneycombers.com/singapore/singlish-101/

https://expatliving.sg/you-ang-moh-how-to-speak-singlish/

http://www.mysmu.edu/faculty/jacklee/singlish_K.htm

http://www.mysmu.edu/faculty/jacklee/singlish_T.htm

Travel to Singapore

Singapore Tourism Board

https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK

https://www.stb.gov.sg/content/stb/en.html

What is the time in other countries?

Clock with Marilyn Monroe. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Some hotels have clocks in reception showing the times around the world. In London we have a radio controlled clock which updates itself, and we use this to correct all the others. We need to change the cooker clock, the battery operated wall clocks, our watches, and the car clock. 

When you are attending events online in another country you often need to know the time in your country on the day of the event. 

In the UK we have the saying, spring forward and fall back.

Tip

I keep a chart in the front of my diary. I have it both ways. UK Singapore in one column, Singapore UK in another. Then when the clocks change, I need another colour pen to write the new times.

Note that different countries have different dates for the clock changes. Daylight saving times are on different dates. Australia has the opposite seasons, and different dates.

Useful Websites

https://24timezones.com/difference/london/singapore 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_by_country

The easiest language to learn - over is over!

 Swedish is the easiest language to learn if you speak English. Even easier than Spanish and the made up totally regular language Esperanto.

Look at these words. The initials are often the same. Everything is so similar.

Writing down the words I have just learned in alphabetical order will help me to remember them.

Swedish - English

at (with a circle over the a) - at (pronounced ought - that is what the circle is for)

bakom - behind (like at the back of) (pronounced bokom

bredvid - beside or next to, (vid sounds like see in video)

(the) dog - hunden (the hound)

du - you

flyger - flying

framat (with a circle over the a) - forward

Hasten (with two dots over the a) - the horse (the horse hastens, or hastens you, that's horse power) 

over (with two dots over the o) - over

renarna - reindeer / renen - the reindeer

sitter -  sitting

star (with a circle over the a) - standing

This lesson is over. The Swedish for over is over.

Useful websites

duolingo.com

Help with from Facebook on learning Swedish on Duolingo

 I reached a certain level of my Duolingo Swedish course and the system asked me if I wanted to share an announcement on Facebook about my achievement. I did.

The Duloingo system put up a picture not saying the language but listing words I had learned.

This forced me to check whether I could still remember them. I could, six out of eight, and in context I can turn them into English. But the word endings were a puzzle. Was it book or books? To laugh, I laugh? I went into translate Google to check the Swedish English and turn the results back English to Swedish and again reversing. Here are the results.

Swedish - English

1 flicka - girl

2 morgon = morning, like the German, morgen

3 bocker looks like bok which is book - is bocker books?

Yes. Add two dots over the o and add two letters of the alphabet and you have the plural, books.

4 Kommer looks like come and sounds like come. It translates as comes. 

5 fragar with a circle above the first a, ask?

fraga is ask. fragar (with a circle above the first a) is questions

6 skrattar - laughing

7 hastar with two dots over the first a is horses

Simple Wiki explains the pronunciation

There are three characters in the Swedish language that are not used in English. These are å, ä and ö. The letter å is a vowel sound between [a] and [o], similar to the English word awe. The letter ä is a vowel sound similar to [ɛ], like in the English word bed. The letter ö is a vowel sound between [o] and [ɛ], pronounced [øː] like the u in the English word burn. These characters are also used in the Finnish language, while Norwegian and Danish languages replace ä and ö with similar characters æ and ø.

Swedish also has some important differences in grammar. Definite articles are suffixed onto the end of their nouns, so ett hus (a house) becomes huset (the house). Also unlike English, Swedish uses two grammatical genders called Common and Neuter. Nouns of the Common gender are sometimes called "en words", and many words for living (or once-living) things are "en words". Nouns of the Neuter gender are sometimes called "ett words".

Swedish	English
Ett/En	One
Två	Two
Tre	Three
Fyra	Four
Fem	Five
Sex	Six
Sju	Seven
Åtta	Eight
Nio	Nine
Tio	Ten
Ja	Yes
Nej	No
Jag	I
Du	You
Mig	Me
Han	He
Hon	She
Vi	We
De/dem	They/them
Jag är	I am
Sverige	Sweden
Hus	House
Hem	Home
Väg	Way
Björnar	Bears
Hjälp	Help

Basic Swedish Expressions

God dag/Hej	Good day/Hello
Hur mår du?	How are you?
Jag mår bra, tack	Very good, thank you
Tack	Thank you
Tack så mycket	Thank you very much
God morgon	Good morning
God eftermiddag	Good evening
Hej då	Goodbye

Useful websites

Swedish and other languages to learn

duolingo.com

Swedish language in Wikipedia

Please share links to this post and your favourite posts.

El Alamein museum and cemetery - more to this story - Churchill's quotation

 

El Alamein in Egypt

Curiosity Satisfied

El Alamein like so many battlefields is a mixture of facts, sadness and happiness. The facts are how the place operated before during and after battles. Facts - The big things such as the tanks. The small things such as the badges.  

Emotional Experience

Sadness - people who died. Especially in tragic circumstances. Or if they were your family members. 

Happiness, satisfaction, the safety precautions, the ingenuity, that a victory brought an end to the conflict, in that place, for the living, and the dead, on both sides. 

Sometimes, reconciliation,  between descendants on both sides, or veterans - especially between those who really did not want to be there! Some did not want to kill, some did not want to be killed, some did not understand what they were fighting for, some were homesick.

Sources Of Stories And Quotations

Wikipedia is a wonderful source, a wonderful resource. It started out using and combining the out of date Encyclopedias such as Brittanica, and the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Jewish Encyclopaedia, for all the historical stuff, and early science and culture, gradually adding updates from experts and individuals.

 Photo sources

Plus the photos. Now Flickr is just one source of photos. More photos are added directly to Wikipedia by authorities and by members of the public. 

El Alamein's Pivotal Part in WW2

My Interest

 

Wikipedia gave me a succinct guide to El Alamein, updated from when I last looked, with links to all sorts of outside sources. My late mother's first husband was killed at El Alamein which is what sparked my interest in a place I have not yet visited. However, I have visited many WWI and WW2 sites in Europe and the USA's civil war sites. Stalin said, one death is a tragedy, many is a statistic. Often one family member's involvement can inspire a lifelong fascination with everything to do with the whole of WWI, WW2 and wars any time and everywhere. As if somehow, some clue as to how those involved lived and died, how others traced ancestors, it all adds up. We cannot turn back the clock. But we can turn on the clock and create memorials and solve puzzles and mysteries. The past is a jigsaw. Sometimes one piece in the jigsaw is a date, death certificate, or photo, which sends you on a quest to find more pieces to create the full picture. 

The two exciting revelations on El Alamein - it was a turning point in the tide of WW2.

Churchill said, 'Before El Alamein, we never had a victory. After El Alamein, we never had a loss.'

Listen to the language. What makes it so memorable. Firstly the positive message. Secondly the actual language. Contrast, 'before, after'. Contrast, 'victory, loss'. Repetition, 'El Alamein, we never had'. 

For lovers of quotations, another famous quotation which I have often heard at meetings of Toastmasters International speakers' training clubs, and seen on the web is.

This is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning.

We use this quotation to inspire ourselves and others to continue on with any venture. But churchill was referring to one particular incident. The battle of El Alamein.

After  the allied  

Mystery of the MRT map's missing information solved

Woodlands MRT station

I have out of date MRT paper maps in a desk drawer. I have an up to date one in my jacket pocket. it is quicker to look online. Triumph. I quickly find a map. Annoyance, just a map, none of the myriad of handy pieces of information on the paper map, everything from the Chinese version so I can translate station names and learn Chinese, to Apps for directions. Tut!

First Problem Solved

I looked at a map of the Thomson line on the web. It asked for feedback. I wrote; 

You can't see the whole MRT map nor a link to it. It needs some signs about finding information from apps. Arrows to a few pictures of places to visit at each station. Foreigners won't know whether Orchard or Orchard Boulevard is the stop for shopping malls.

Where do you change to get to Changi airport? Which stop for the zoo/Safari park?

 I tried the line on open day Friday and went to Gardens By the Bay, no sign to any nearby eating place, Satay probably miles way and possibly full, so went home to Bukit Panjang more than half an hour away for lunch. The station should be ringed by a hawker centres, toilets, souvenir shops, hats, wrap dresses or caftans, edible plants in pots. How about viewpoints with chairs, picnic spots, free maps of the area carrying sponsors advertisements with discount offers, a little train for children, a children's play area. Add a water fountain, with lights at night. Hotels and conference centres have international flags, and a coffee shop. Since it is Gardens, they should be serving fresh juices and healthy food, salads or sandwiches and main courses or soups with 2 vegetables. And fruit. Parks have signboards on animals, plants, insects. Give the history of the area WITH DATES. 

The maps panels at the new MRT corridor to the up escalators inside downstairs Gardens By the Bay have no dates. 

Provide an interactive map showing your regular journeys. Add click here for directions. 

Also give the Chinese. I have learned Chinese symbols from the MRT map. (King, garden, four beauties, queen.) Link to the history of the MRT station meanings, often names linked to nearby place names or family names of pioneer and engineer or overseer names.

Ah - it's there - more information and links, but at the bottom of the screen - out of view. Therefore, have an arrow at the top saying links below at end, scroll down for links. 

I had gone over the word limit and could not send it so I am writing it here.

I felt foolish that I had not realized that so much information was there, if only I had scrolled down. Then I felt annoyed. I am not the only person in the world to have a problem. If one person in ten makes the same mistake, many more customs are suffereing from the same loss of information.

I felt pleased. I had given them feedback - which they asked for. Saving them the cost of setting up feedback panels in person.

For the second problem, see next post.

Useful Websites

Train lines MRT

Thomson-East Coast Line - brown

East-West line green

North-South line red

North-East line - purple

Circle line - yellow

Downtown line - blue

LRT

BP Bukit Panjang (North-West)

SK Senkang (North-East)

PG Punggol (North-East)

Alternative or connecting transport

Bus companies

Airport - Changi Airport MRT

Bicycle Hire S G bike

https://www.sgbike.com.sg/

Bus - SBS

Cab / Shared Cab - Grab (Previously Grab Taxi and Uber, then combined)

Cable Car - Harbourfront MRT

Cruise Centre - Marina South Pier MRT and Harbourfront MRT

Ferry

Sentosa Express (bus) Harbourfront MRT

Taxi - Comfort-Delgro (companies merged)

https://apps.apple.com/SG/app/

Useful Websites

https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltagov/en/upcoming_projects/rail_expansion/thomson_east_coast_line.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson%E2%80%93East_Coast_MRT_line

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevens_MRT_station

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mass_Rapid_Transit_(Singapore)_stations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay_MRT_station

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchard_MRT_station

https://www.mynetbizz.com/MRT/To-Orchard-MRT-Station/Changi-Airport-to-Orchard-MRT-Station.cfm

https://www.google.com/maps

TransitLink Hotline

www.transitlink.com.sg

SBS Transit Hotline (Singapore bus service)

www.sbstransit.com.sg

SMRT Hotline (Combined bus and train operator)

www.smrt.com.sg

Please share links to your favourite posts.