- https://www.flickr.com/photos/53812099@N04/14763863277/
The hand heart was made popular by Korean pop groups, and was a sign of friendship made when the north and south Korean leaders met and were photographed together on a mountaintop. It costs nothing, creates no litter, and is a good international sign because it is universal so you don't need to speak another language.
Singapore Valentines - Be Prepared
SPRINGTIME
Februa is Latin for to cleanse, or to clean. Spring cleaning.
In the old calendar mid February was when some birds started courting matching, nesting and mating and work started in the vineyards.
In ancient times in Israel girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyard where boys would be waiting to propose marriage.
ITALY
In Italy keys are given, representing the key to my heart, unlocking.
February is is named after the Roman God Februas and was the spring cleaning month.
ITALIAN FOOD
The Italian for biscuit is biscotti.
FRANCE
In France you might celebrate Valentine's Day with dinner, or a dinner on a boat on the Seine in Paris, or a helicopter ride. Your celebratory wine would be Champagne, from the Champagne region.
Macaroons.
Feliz San Valentín - Happy Valentine's Day. Feliz dia de San Valentin.
In Mexico they say, Happy Valentine's and friendship day.
Delicious Drink
The Spanish white wine equivalent of sparkling Champagne but cheaper is Cava, originally from cellars or stores in caves.
Favourite Food
Turron - Sweet
A Spanish gift might be turron, which is nougat, made from almonds, honey and egg white. A modern version is chocolate covered.
Tapas - Savoury
The Spanish food served in bars with wine is tapas. Originally supposedly tiny pieces of bread or sliced meat put on the top of glasses to keep off the flies. Or to keep off sand blown from the beach, says another story. The translation offered is lid or cover. To make an alliterative reminder, I think of the word top.
We ordered tapas in a bar in summer 2025 in Bilbao, the ferry port on the northern coast on the east (Santander is on the west). We thought it was expensive and would be the bite or two size of cocktail party canapes, but it was a large portion, as filling as a hamburger. Maybe pintchos (pintxos, which is plural, from pinchar to stab) not a pinch but sometimes skewered horizontally or toothpicked vertically to hold it all together.
You can also get dessert tapas.
|Valentine's Day is big business in the UK, the USA and Singapore which has four languages mainly English, also Chinese, meaning Mandarin.
AMERICA
American Valentines In Schools For SchoolchildrenASIA
Valentine's Day month. I recall being in Singapore for the month of February and visiting several Toastmasters International Speakers' clubs. At the first Valentines theme club meeting I attended, the table topics master asked, What would you do on Valentine's Day? What is the best restaurant for Valentine's Day? Where would you go, what was the best gift, and so on. She/he - I forget which - was looking for ideas.
Teddy bears, named after President Teddy Roosevelt, who, one version of the legendary story goes, was on a bear hunt in 1902 in Mississippi, when he saw a baby bear and declined to shoot. This story has been disputed, but, as the saying goes, why let the truth get in the way of a good story.
In the USA I stayed at the Hotel Colorado, Colardo Springs, in the US state of Colorado, which is Spanish for coloured, where Teddy stayed in 1905 during the incident where he was given a toy bear.
Paddington Bear in London
In London you can see a statue of Paddington Bear on Paddington station and be photographed alongside.
In England you can visit the World Of bears shops.
Teddy Bear Museums
Teddy Bear Museum, Dorchester, Dorset, England
Stratford upon Avon, England, UK - moved elsewhere.
https://www.worldofbears.com/product-category/last-chance/?meta[_price
wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_bear_museum
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=bear%20birthday
https://collectinsure.com/2024/05/30/guide-to-teddy-bear-museums-and-accessories-worldwide/
Teddy Bear, USA
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/encyclopedia/culture-and-society/teddy-bear/
Padding Bear, UK
https://paddington-experience.london-tickets.co.uk/
Pooh Bear, E Sussex, UK
https://www.emp.co.uk/fan-merch/winnie-pooh/
ebay - buy bears
Expect to see teddy bears in toy stores and museums of childhood.
For a bear theme birthday party, DIY, Amazon sells bear balloons, bear paper bags for going home goodies and presents, paper plates and banners with bear themes and cake toppers.
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Countries where Spanish is an official language. Map from Wikipedia.
Spanish is a useful language to learn. It is widely spoken as a first language in several South American countries. It is spoken as a second language in much of the USA. In Europe it is spoken in Spain and Spanish speaking islands. Portuguese and Italian are similar to Spanish.
I am brushing up - beginning again - my knowledge of Italian. I was learning Italian on Duolingo a year ago. This year I am learning Spanish. So I am doing Italian for Spanish speakers, which enables me to learn Spanish at the same time as learning Italian. The instructions are in Spanish, mostly only one to three words, often similar to English words. Because they are repeated even the unfamiliar words gradually get drilled into my mind. You could do the same with any two languages from the most common ones learned by speakers of your second language.
I note down new words in my A5 notebook (book size). I create columns quickly by folding each page in half vertically, making two sections, then again to make four creases. To write more neatly without overlapping columns to crush in long words and phrases, I draw a line vertically with a pen or pencil, using a ruler or anything else straight nearby on the desk.
I head the columns Spanish-English. An alternative would be to use the right hand half of the page for English-Spanish. Or to use the right hand page for English-Spanish.
buen - good (like French bon as in bon voyage, good journey)
buenos noches - good evening / good night
continuar - (to) continue
errores - errors
excepto - except
medala - medal
Perfecto/a (adjective matching masculine or feminine noun) - perfect
perfil - profile (both words have the letters p r f i l in that order. The e in the Spanish jumps to the end of the English word.
veloz -/velocity/speed/time
voz - voice
What is the difference between a medal and a medallion? The shorter word is for the smaller object. A medal is attached to a ribbon and worn as an award for an achievement in a military battle or a sports contest. A medallion is larger, a souvenir of an important occasion and displayed on a stand on a shelf, and given or kept in a box lined with colourful contrasting shiny satin, if made of silver or gold bought as an investment.
(to) continue - continuar
except - excepto
good - buen
profile - perfil
velocity/ speed / time taken - veloz (starts with the same four letters)
voice - voz (starts with the same two letters and ce and z sound similar)
Wikivoyage phrasebook explains pronunciation and origins of words, and similar sets if words
Accents show words which are pronounced the same but have different meanings: Eight words, sixteen meanings.
- él (he) el (the)
- té (tea) te (you [object])
- tú (you [subject]) tu (your)
- mí (me) mi (my)
- dé (give [present subjunctive]) de (of/from)
- sí (yes) si (if)
- sé (I know) se (one [pronoun])
- más (more/plus) mas (but)
Spanish Phrasebook in Wikivoyage and Wikitravel
Italian phrasebook in Wikivoyage and Wikitravel
translate google
https://translate.google.co.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Spanish_words_borrowed_from_Italian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Spanish_origin
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To prevent tragedies, you need prevention and cure. Major fires have happened in the USA, Ireland, Iraq, Brazil. What lessons can be learned?
Pyrotechnics at a wedding in Iraq in 2023 killed more than 100. The world should have learned from the videos of that.
Prevention and Cure
The first thing you need and easiest to fix is fire extinguishers.
They should not be locked away, which renders them useless. It should be a criminal offence to use them when there is not a fire.
Following the instructions, we fitted a smoke alarm in the corridor between the kitchen and the bedrooms.
The idea is to alert you to a fire at night. You should not be leaving food cooking unattended in a kitchen. You set an alarm to remind you to check on it and turn it off. You check all switches are off before leaving a room.
What is the ease of setting the alarm? Some alarms have a button you push. If the ceiling is low, you can reach up. You might think of standing on a safe stool, rather than on a chair, with somebody else to steady you, steady the chair, and check you don't fall, or catch you. Another way is to push up with a broom handle. This means keeping the broom nearby.
Some alarms have a cover which can be removed to check batteries, after the base is screwed to the ceiling.
An alarm which changes colour for carbon monoxide, and sticks on, can be taken with you and affixed in a rental property. Stick it on the flat surface of a cupboard. Write yourself a note or set an alarm to remind yourself to remove it after your last meal, before leaving the property if you are temporarily overseas.
Got a gap year? Want to increase your skills? Retired? Take a course in plumbing or electricity and qualify. This could be a source of employment and income. Save you time and money.
If you are not qualified to do the work, you can still save time and money by briefing the workers. Enable you to check that workers are doing the right thing. Help you to choose suitable equipment. Youtube has loads of videos on how to fix simple things like smoke alarms.
Below are what I have found. Not items I have tried and recommended. But useful links so you can start your investigation quickly.
PS
Rather than only being alerted to a fire after the event, consider fire prevention.
What to avoid? As we have learned from the tragic fire in Switzerland at New Year 2026, keep flames away from anything flammable and if possible, avoid using candles, incense, indoor and outdoor fireworks, pyrotechnics, furniture without a fire label (and don't remove the labels).
The oven should be cleaned regularly. When my son was a student, a group of boys share a flat. None of them cleaned the oven. Eventually the grease built up and the oven caught fire.
If you have a dishwasher, some of the removable fittings can be washed in the dishwasher. If it does nto clean them completely, after one or two long wash cycles, you may find that the warmth of the dishwasher has loosened the grease well enough to make it faster and easier to clean by hand afterwards.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Monoxide-Detector-Rechargeble-Working/dp/B0DP2DDTPK/ref=s
'Which' UK consumer guides
Wikipedia
Wikihow
Youtube
https://www.britishfireworksassociation.co.uk/
https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/fireworks/
Update
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Paddington station passenger - this passenger waiting for a train is a statue of engineer Brunel who built the railway, bridges and even the ship to take passengers on from the end of the line to the USA and back. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
On another platform is a cute little statue of Paddington Bear.
Upstairs is the statue of the lovers saying goodbye. Or is it hello?
Baker Street's Sherlock Holmes theme
The statue of Sherlock Holmes is outside the Euston Road entrance. On the platforms are murals of tales from the short stories.
1 Charing Cross Station has several murals. You can see the portrait of Shakespeare. And several more historical characters.
2 Baker Street - for Sherlock Holmes in murals on the platforms. Also see his huge statue outside on the pavement. (Americans say sidewalk.)
Sherlock Holmes statue. Red London bus in the distance. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Euston Station
London, England
London is famous for art on the underground.
The Elizabeth line is most modern.
Charing Cross Station By Trafalgar Square
Historical murals
Bank Station
Hyde Park Corner has sloping walk-in and walk out entrances which are lined with many the historic panels along the walkways.
Hyde Park Corner underground railway station, descending approach walkway. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Once inside, you meet another internal corridor, going left and right, with more murals. The story of the battle of Trafalgar, and Waterloo. Learn about, and the queen who established the park. Queen C.
Above Hyde Park Corner station is Number one, London, Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington, who won the battle of Waterloo. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Other stations which have won praise from passengers include Battersea, Canary Wharf, London Bridge, and Nine Elms.
On one of the panels you read reveals that Wellington admitted that Waterloo was a close-run victory.
4 Leytonstone Station - Alfred Hitchcock memorials
A depiction of an Alfred Hitchcock film, in the station. The site of the place where he was born also has a mural.
Out in the suburbs:
5 Northwick Park - for the artwork on both sides of the stairs. As the trains enter and leave towards the centre of London, you see the floodlit Arch of Wembley stadium. Wembley Stadium, where the band Queen performed, as you can see on the biopic.
6 Rayners Lane, art deco exterior to admire as you walk or drive past. Opposite is another fine art deco building which has changed hands several times, becoming a religious centre, then a gym.
Finland
Helsinki station. Art Nouveau. See the picture in Wikipedia.
France
The latest controversial station is the ultra modern one in a paris suburb, the Villejuif-Gustave Roussy. It descends from ground level down nine stories. The see through roof sheds light on the escalators and a Sundial below.
TGV station at Lyon, named after author and hero Antoine de St Exupery
Singapore
Most of Singapore's stations are wonderfully modern. Glass walls encase the platforms. The trains pull alongside the doors which open after the train stops. Nobody can delay the train by dropping anything or anybody on the line.
Regarding timing: Trains on most lines run every five minutes or less. A notable exception, oddly, is the diversion the the airport which delays for about ten minutes between trains those who are rushing to catch planes and standing around dragging luggage.
Singapore's Statues
Botero's horse.
Spain
Madrid
Bilbao city railway station mural
https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/worlds-most-beautiful-metro-station-paris-bhmwwm332
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Denis%E2%80%93Pleyel_station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villejuif%E2%80%93Gustave_Roussy_station
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