Pinner's Coffin In The Sky inscriptions and Roman numerals

This inscription on the front of the coffin in the sky is hard to read.

You have to translate the date in Roman numerals. Here's a reminder
I 0ne
II Two
III Three
IV Four (five minus one - anything left of five is minus, whilst to the right of the symbol is plus)
V Five
VI Six
VII seven
VIII Eight
IX nine
X ten
XII eleven
L Fifty
C One hundred
D Five hundred
M One thousand
See Wiipedia roman_numerals

Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, and Natural History Museum, London

I just read an article on the Royal Albert Memorial Museum Exeter. I was astonished. The pictures of the outside and inside look identical to the Natural History Museum in London.

I have just discovered why I cannot correct the word royal to Royal. The list of labels seems to make a template the first time you use a spelling, right or wrong, and changes all subsequent similar words to match the first one which was added to the list.

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer, photographer and speaker.

Pinner War Memorial

At the top of Pinner High Street, just before you reach L'Orient restaurant and St John the Baptist church, you find the war memorial with a couple of benches where you can sit and look down the high street.

On the road side of the memorial is an inscription relating to the Great War.

Photos courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

On the opposite side of the memorial is an inscription relating to the Second World War. You probably recognize the words: For your tomorrows they gave their todays. The original was adapted from a classical Greek text, translated into English. It was devised for a memorial in Asia and has been copied many times all over the world, in various versions.

Angela Lansbury, author of Who Said What When. 

Pinner Cemetery and Coffin In The Sky

Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

Here's the coffin in the sky seen from the road in front of the church at the top of Pinner High Street.
You will find an engraved inscription on the front of the coffin which is above the arch. The coffin also projects at the back and another engraving is on the back of the coffin.

The triangular top of the obelisk mimics the gables on the church and the pitched roof of the Lych gate. Though the Lych gate you can see the entrance to the church.

The church is St John The Baptist church.

After you've seen this, you might want to stop for coffee in Pinner. You have several choices. Walk back down the High street. As you descend on your right is Pizza Express, then Starbucks, Carluccio, Café Rouge. Around the corner at the end of the road to the right you will find Caffè Nero, and Caffe Amici in Bridge Street.

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer and photographer, speaker.

Pinner Church At Sunset, Pinner Churches and Pinner History

Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

This is Pinner church behind L'Orient restaurant at the top of the High Street. The church cemetery has a strange feature, the coffin in the sky, which is to the right of the picture hidden by the restaurant.  The story goes that the Will stopped others receiving money so long as the will-maker was underground. The canny disinherited person(s) buried the deceased above ground in the middle of an obelisk and received their inheritance. You can see the obelisk and the projecting coffin from the pavement outside. The picture is in my next post.

For more information on Pinner's churches and Pinner history see:
pinnerchurches.org.uk
pinnerlhs.org.uk Pinner Local Historical Society
The church pictured has a large hall adjoining it which has been used for activities such as Zumba classes.

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer and photographer.

How To Write A More Effective Travel Blog

With advice from Anthony Sharot of Market Appeal, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) how to focus a travel blog. Yes, we are in business together. So I know he is giving me good advice. I am giving it to you for free.

1 Decide your blog's purpose:
a) Generate income for a business.
(Budget for SEO to use search engines to generate readers and adapt webpages to convert them into buyers.)
b) PR - improve company image. (Generate goodwill posts and attract readers.)
c) Family and friends/family history/keeping records only.
(Minimise spam and readers you don't want. Check on privacy.)

a) Go to experts such as Market Appeal. Budget for them in your business plan and remember that all your expenses are offset against tax. You want fast results. Pay for adwords.
b) DIY can take several months. Keep blog posts to 500 words average. They should be long enough but not too long.
Focus on readers and what they want. For example, luxury travel, cheap travel, adventure holidays, quirky travel, family holidays. Add links to other sites for mutual benefit.
c) Have a catchy title using the generic word which people will search for, plus one which makes your site unique and memorable and ideally visual. For example, using alliteration: Travel with Tommy the Tabby Cat; Travel In Time Through Texas; Holidays on a Harley; Group Travel for Grannies. Check which are already in use by others.
d) Offer something free.
For example: free maps to download. Free Museums, list updated daily. Free birthday offers. Free guide to ....
e) Check What's in it for me (the author) - make sure your company name or what you are selling is mentioned each time. For speed have a signature or logo you can copy or paste.
f) Check What's in it for me (the reader). See d) above or use the word 'you' rather than 'I'. (That's a tip I learned from my Toastmasters International courses.) For example, instead of how I did x, how you can do x.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.

Update

Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When

Pinner restaurant L'Orient changing to Shang Chuan Chinese restaurant and bar

Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

The sign says:
Shang Chuan
Chinese fine dining experience
Chinese Restaurant and Bar
Coming soon in June
Previous executive head chef of Hu Tong in the Shard.

What does Shang Chuan mean? According to Wikipedia, Shang Chuan island is a Chinese name derived from the Portuguese for St John.
What does Hu Tong mean? Wikipedia and the Hutong restaurant website agree Hutongs are historic alleys or narrow lanes between grand old houses in Beijing.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author, speaker.
L'Orient/Shang Chuan
58 High Street
Pinner
Middlesex
HA5 5PZ
UK
The Orient phone number is listed as 0208 429 8488.
That number has several 'lucky' eights, lucky in Chinese, so I wonder whether they will keep the phone number.

September Songwriting at Warwick Uni - National Association of Writers' Groups

I was looking for an affordable songwriting course in the UK. I found one in Warwick (near Birmingham).

I am busy working (on my songs). More details of the course later.


Book(s) on Songwriting

Internet Course on Songwriting
Coursera. Free. This is the one I signed up for. Excellent video.

Others which popped up on my Google search were:
taxi.com

Update 2022 - this popped up on my screen when I searched for songwriting

https://welcome.online.berklee.edu/general-download-berklee-online-songwriting-handbook.html?pid=6963&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=bol-gen-google-adwords-songwriting-handbook&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhqaVBhCxARIsAHK1tiPTBmhNnaEJdFndwXVaioDBd_MyyW3VowpMM4oiZM8rLtebBKDs0wwaAhgkEALw_wcB#?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=bol-gen-google-adwords-songwriting-handbook&utm_content=

Another Pinner Fair Picture - giant trampoline, and a roundabout

Pinner Fair. In the foreground is a giant trampoline. In the distance it looks like a roundabout, as we say in England. Americans would call it a carousel. The sign on the left says Crazy fun. 

Pinner Fair - on the right - a scary ride!

Copyright photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot. 

The fair has been going a long time, since permission was given by Edward III. The only break was in wartime. 

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker.

Simple Spanish for travellers

I remember coming down to breakfast in a spanish hotel and not knowing the word for breakfast. I had to go back to the bedroom and hunt for my Spanish-English, English-Spanish dictionary. Desayuno. (How to remember it - you wake up desperate, des, aye-yes, for one, uno, mouthful.)

Hello - hola
Goodbye - adios
Please - por favor
tomorrow - mañana
Do you have -
Thanks - gracias
Thank you very much/ thanks a lot - mutes gracias
Not at all / you're welcome/literally of/for nothing (response to thank you) - de nada
Where is
What time
Do you speak English -habla used Ingles?
I don't speak spanish - no halo epsilon
sorry lo siento
excuse me
breakfast - desayuno
lunch
bedroom
double bed
dictionary
I would like - quasar
I want to buy -
buy - comparer
what's this/that - que es so
this is - este es
May - mayo
Jun - junio
calor - hot
frio - cold
what time - que hora
july - Julio
lunch - la c o m i d a (la sounds like lunch, then notice the letters l and c in both lunch and la c o m i d a, and mid sounds like mid-day)
dinner - la vena
coffee - cafe
tea
 the pronounced tay
where is - donde esta
toilet - aseo (where you sit down and park your ass, to use an Americanism)

More resources:
1 G o o g le translate (the spellchecker wants to change this to goggle)

2 Spanish visual phrase book by DK
It cost £4.99 when I bought it.

3 Earworms Spanish
Disc and booklet from Berlitz. Listen to the repetition.


Useful resources:
google translate

Pinner Fair Pictures - More to Enjoy

Pinner Fair, on May Wednesday 27th May, 2015

This was a hall of mirrors, by the look of it from the outside.

Photo copyright, courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer, photographer, researcher, speaker.

French words of the day: entente cordiale - and some French and English grammar

Every day I note the French words which are used in English. Today's first phrase is entente cordiale. In English you might translate that as cordial understanding. Notice that the adjective comes before the noun in English but after the noun in French.

For the benefit of English language purists and those learning English as a foreign language, a reminder about English grammar (although I have a separate blog dealing with grammar to which I add posts sporadically).

Glossary (list of technical or foreign words used in a text or book with explanations of meanings, like a mini dictionary)

Noun - naming word, general term for objects, people, animals - for example table, chair, house, man, woman, dog, cat, boy, girl, town, city
Proper noun - individual name of things you can see and point to and visit such as John, Jean, Joan, Julius Caesar, Elizabeth, a real person such as John Smith, Angela Lansbury, London, New York
Adjective - additional word describing a noun such as small animal, tall man

If you find the terms adverb and adjective confusing, the easy way to remember which is which is to remember that an adverb is added to a verb and adjective is the other word, describing a noun
Verb - doing word such as to walk, walking, we walked
Adverb - addition to a verb describing it such as (walked) slowly, fast, quickly, rapidly - often ending in -ly

Angela Lansbury teaches English O level, A level, English as a second or foreign language and creative writing and conversation, and French conversation, O level and A level, website translation.

Pinner Fair Pictures

As promised, here are more pictures of Pinner Fair. I wasn't at the fair but I've been sent these pictures. I've blown up the photos and added my captions in case the photos are small on your screen.

I thought there was an attraction called hotel of horrors, which is alliterative, but looking at the picture it seems to be Hotel Terror.

Pinner Fair Chips photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot. 2015.

Pinner Fair Hotel Terror photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot. 2015.

Pinner Fair Taste (left) and Toys (right) photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot. 2015.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author, Speaker.

More about and by Angela Lansbury Author, on Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, Youtube.

Note: there are at least four people with the name Angela Lansbury on the web. To clear, or create confusion: The first Angela Lansbury to come up in your searches is the actress famous for appearing in the film Gypsy, the TV series Murder She Wrote, her famous father came from the East End of London; two more of us are writers - I am the author of practical books and comic poetry which teaches about animals and life - and like my namesake actress I also had a father from the East End of London and like her I have a son called Anthony; the other writer writes novels (five I believe) and I am writing my first, second and third novels (a trilogy); a fourth sharing our name is on Facebook. 

Victoria Station Toilets

The toilets on Victoria station cost 50p.

If you are catching a train from Victoria, make sure you go before you leave home. If you are catching an intercity train, find out if there's a toilet on the train.

I would rather put 50p towards a coffee or cake or both in a caffe or hotel which has a free toilet. If you have just arrived at Victoria or are meeting somebody at Victoria, Here's my suggestion. Across the road from Platform 1 is the Double Tree Hilton. Look closely at the sign and you see a lollipop shape tree. But the trunk is either the silhouette of one tree trunk - but look closely, it's two tree trunks. Their coffee is on the right.

Here's the menu.

The menu says miniature desserts are £3.50 each or 2 for £6. The main course are quite pricey. But there's a coffee bar. 

If you have an appointment at the Passport office, they have water dispensers and toilets.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Chocolate Choices: Hotel Chocolat; Melt and more

Do you want to buy bargain chocolates, expensive chocolates, chocolates as a gift for your hosts at a lunch, dinner party, weekend away or staying with friends on holiday, a birthday, anniversary, Xmas gift, or a factory visit, or a shop where you can see it made?

Here are some opportunities:

Chocolate shops for luxury and unusual gifts: Hotel Chocolat; Melt.

Chocolate books:

Chocolate Brands: Herschey; Lindt.

Chocolate courses: chocolate courses for adults and children - including birthday parties see Melt website.

Chocolate exhibitions:

Chocolate making:

Chocolate recipes: see Hotel Chocolat website.

Clubs offering monthly deliveries: Hotel Chocolat; Melt.

Factory Tours: A l p r o s e (Switzerland). ( I inserted spaces because spellchecker on this site kept changing the name.)

Gifts Galore at Bargain Prices: Poundland in UK.

Shops with demo kitchens: Melt, Notting Hill.

Supermarkets with large selections: Marks and Spencer (UK in high streets, shopping malls and motorway service areas); Morrisons (UK); Tesco (UK).

hotelchocolat.com
meltchocolates.com
(Post being researched - come back for more later.)

Angela Lansbury: Author; article writer; Travel writer and photographer; researcher; English teacher and tutor; speaker. See more by and about Angela Lansbury Author on: Facebook; lulu.com; LinkedIn; Youtube.

Pinner Fair - Today Only May 27 2015

Only today, Pinner's annual fair.

What's there? Hot dogs and House of Horrors, big rides, small rides. An old British funfair.

Shops nearby such as the Hilton Butchers are closed. I suggest you phone any shop you plan to visit to be sure they are open.

If you were planning to drive through Pinner, be aware that you may be diverted by a road closure.



(I'll add more pictures later when a friend sends them to me.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer

Hotel Chocolat - more chocolate for lunch in London or honeymoon in St Lucia

Some ideas for Father's Day, 21st June 2015, in the shops and the catalogue.

More information from www.hotelchocolat.com

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

See more by or about Angela Lansbury, author, on Youtube, LinkedIn, Facebook.

I'll add more to this post tomorrow so please come back.

Chocolates for teachers, birthdays, anniversaries, everyone, from England's Hotel Chocolat

I was hurrying across Victoria station when the words Happy Birthday stopped me as I passed the Hotel Chocolat shop. The display also included another box labelled Anniversary. I was looking for the price, when the helpful manager stepped forward to answer my questions. The chocolate box was £7. Throughout the shop you can get deals of reduced prices if you buy three boxes.

The shop is an Aladdin's cave of colours and unusual designs and flavours. The so-called gin flavour chocolate is actually juniper, no alcohol in it, but so many customers didn't know juniper, the magic flavouring in gin, that the marketing magician decided gin would be a more familiar and meaningful name.

I spotted a tray of unwrapped little chocolates, realised they were samples, and asked to taste one. A most unusual flavour. It tastes like - well, juniper.

The manager of the tiny Victoria station branch is very helpful and knowledgeable.

As you see the shop also had smart gift bags.

I picked up their catalogue and read it on the train home. A real entertainment, full of ideas for gifts. He had told me the company started in about 2003 north of London. Now you can find branches all over London, and Britain, in shopping malls such as Watford's Intu, Lakeside, big stations such as Victoria, in Scotland and one has opened at the airport overseas.

If you are from overseas looking to bring home something distinctively British, here's a good gift. England is known for chocolate, Cadbury's, Rowntrees of York, Thornton's, and now add to your list Hotel Chocolat.

If you are British and travelling to visit friends overseas, another reason for picking a British box of chocolates as a gift. These chocolates are very different in shapes and colours from most boxes in the supermarkets.

The Teachers line is designed for giving to teachers at the end of school year.
More information from:
hotelchocolat.com

British English and Americanisms - hose, power outage, consignment store

In today's Daily Mail in the US section I read about a power outage. In the UK we would say power cut.

US-UK
a la mode-French for in fashion but in the USA a pie a la mode is a pie or dessert having additional cream, often whipped cream. (Check with the serving staff what they mean or look at the menu pictures.)
boardwalk-deck (or promenade, although a promenade is often concrete)

billfold - wallet
consignment store-sale or return shop for secondhand fashions
dime store-bargain basement/cheap shop
eraser-rubber
hood-bonnet (part of a car)
Hoover-vacuum cleaner
hose-stockings
Kleenex-paper tissues, paper hanky
make a right/left-turn right/left
over easy- (fried egg) cooked both sides, over meaning turned over, easy meaning whites are slightly runny
power outage-power cut
sidewalk-pavement
pacifier-dummy
purse-bag
pavement-tarmac/road
pleased to meet you-how do you do (formal)
rubber-Durex/condom
trunk-boot

UK - USA

bag - purse

deck - boardwalk

Durex - rubber

dummy - pacifier

bonnet (front of car) - hood

egg cooked both sides - over-easy

how do you do (formal) - pleased to meet you

paper hankie - Kleenex

pavement - sidewalk

power cut - power outage

purse - coin purse

rubber - eraser

stockings - hose

turn right - make a right

(dessert) with cream - a la mode

vacuum cleaner - Hoover

wallet - billfold

I compiled this list from what I found different living in Rockville Maryland and on visits to the USA from England and also on websites and in newspapers. Somewhere in storage I have at last two books of dictionary style translations. One is a small and inexpensive paperback.

For a more comprehensive list go to Wiki comparison of American and English.

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer, translator and tutor of French and English, A level, conversation, packaging, written work, websites.

Fifty Plus Show July 14-15 in London and Silver Surfers

You can register in advance online for a free ticket. They just emailed me because I registered last year.
You can register at the door and get a ticket for £5. If you don't register (so they don't get your name and address and details) entry costs £10.

What does the show cover? Judging by the questionnaire they ask you about your interests:

Travel
Insurance
Food
Property
 and more.

Exhibitors will include: RNIB, who show nifty gadgets; and the RAF museum.
Health will include: stands on arthritis, diabetes, and fitness sessions which you can join in at intervals through the day.
Hobbies include: cake decorating, gardening, sewing, sketching, photography.

The Silver Surfers are also represented. If you go to their website you will find lists of songs from the Sixties and you can sign up. www.silversurfers.com

The venue is London Olympia. Station Kensington Olympia is right next door.
Date 14 and 15 July, 2015, a Tuesday and a Wednesday.
Open 9.30 to 4.30. They recommend you wear flat shoes and plan to stay all day. If you miss the show or live too far away, it's also in Birmingham and Manchester in 2016; and in Glasgow in November 2015.

www.50plusShow.com

Angela Lansbury B A Hons: author, travel writer and photographer, speaker.

Pinner Fair, Wed May 2015

Pinner Fair is a tradition which has been going on for centuries, since the 1300s. I had to look that up in Wikipedia which has a handy entry on Pinner. Historic Pinner enjoys entertainment and extra opportunities for food and drink. In the past sometimes a few shopkeepers have felt that the fair stopped traffic and was bad for business. However, it's only one day a year and an opportunity. 

Where is Pinner? On London's Metropolitan line. A fine historic high street. Associations with world-famous historic characters. Nelson's daughter lived in Pinner and is buried in the cemetery within walking distance.

The church at the top of the main historic street has the coffin in the sky projecting - see it from the road outside.

If you have time or tire of the crowds, take a break in Pinner Park at the lower end of the High street. It has a lake with aquatic life and an aviary and a cafe. Also the Heath Robinson museum where you can see cartoons and buy them as well as books and postcards and souvenirs.

In previous years stalls have sold English food and French food.

The High street has several eating places, coffee bars, fast food, pizza, pubs and restaurants. You may wish to note the names and numbers and book to come back on another occasion. Those in historic buildings include: Friends, Zizi in the Old Victory pub. See TripAdvisor for reviews of restaurants.

Crying children on transport? Suggested solutions.

Should you shout at children, 'Shut up!' Or whisper? What do you think works best?

Sound In Public Places
Thank you to a lady on Facebook for teaching me the word hyperacusis. It means sensitivity to sound.

Strangely, I am less affected than others by squeaking chalk on a board. But a child screaming at the other end of a supermarket makes me highly stressed, when others don't even notice.

I have to cover my ears when people applaud in concerts or after speeches at Toastmasters. We used to meet at a pub (now being demolished) which had a noise meter on the wall. I used to watch it reach red.

Noise on Planes
I sit at the back on planes, away from babies which are placed on bassinets at the front. I once watched an airline stewardess kneel down beside a fractious toddler to talk to it. She distracted it, after parents had failed.

Coffee Bar Cacophony
I often sit in a coffee bar such as Costa, or even stand washing my hands whilst a mother is nearby washing her hands whilst a child wails ever more loudly from a stroller nearby.

Children Want Attention, Conversation
Children want attention. If they are ignored or alone, they think they've been abandoned and grow anxious. 
You can offer different sorts of attention: talk and listen: conversation, talking to them, listening to them. Eye contact, making funny faces. More musical sounds: singing lullabies, whispering, humming, whistling, shaking rattles. Touch: hugging, stroking, shaking hands, waving, thumbs up, clapping. If you give up, you could give them a dummy to suck. 

Parents and Grandparents Ignored
The same symptom of querulousness at being abandoned is shown by parents and grandparents and friends and spouses who demand, 'Why didn't you phone me!' Two different anxieties could affect them.  Sometimes they feel anxious and unloved. Sometimes, they are afraid that some mishap has taken away their friend and protector.

Suggested Solutions
What are the solutions? I've heard it suggested that parents should have children facing the parent in a pram to allow the baby to see mother at all times. But at some point the child should learn to be interested in and aware of surroundings (as well as friends and dangers nearby). 

Interaction
Parents should allow interaction and encourage it. For example, tell the toddler to ask Mummy if it's OK to touch something - not grasp fruit with dirty little fingers, nor swipe tins off the supermarket shelf.

Distraction
You can carry rattles to distract crying babies.  Finger puppets can be used to entertain and distract whining toddlers. 

Lots of parents ignore toddlers in prams who scream at increasing levels to get attention. I've watched mothers talking to other mothers across a coffee table in Costa, while ignored babies grew increasingly fractious.

Dinner Dates and Waiters
The same rules apply to children and adults. If my partner or date in a restaurant talks for too long to the waiter without any eye contact with me, I feel ignored. It is easy to talk to one person, whilst giving the occasional glance at a third party so they feel included.

I once sat patiently several hours in a restaurant with somebody who conducted an afternoon's business on the phone. He asked me, 'May I take this call?' He was paying for my lunch. I wanted company. I agreed. He would make constant contact with me, his face showing boredom, looking at his watch, holding up his finger, in the air, or to his lips, to show he needed to listen, tapping his watch and shaking his head before telling the person on the phone, 'I'm with somebody so I have to go'.

Talking To Toddlers In Restaurants
In a restaurant  when sitting near a child you can make faces at the child even though you are talking to another adult. Talk to toddlers or even sing quietly and they will listen.

Angela Lansbury B A Hons, travel writer, author.

Reminder - St Luke's Charity shop opens Tues 26 2015 in Hatch End

See pictures in my previous post of the St Luke's hospice charity shop opening where Oxfam shop used to be in Hatch End.

The shop opens at 10 am and you can already window shop through the picture windows.

French terms from menus and recipes:

At cookery classes I learned there were two classic sauces, white and brown. White was made with flour and water or milk, maybe adding butter, cream, egg yolk or cheese, and went with fish or white meats such as chicken and veal or vegetables. The brown sauce was made with stock or meat juices thickened, sometimes with tomato, and went with duck and dark meats. White wine could be added to white sauce and red wine to brown sauce.

However, the French make cookery more complicated.
The five classic sauces defined by chef Escoffier:
béchamel, espagnole, hollandaise, tomate, veloute.

(More in Wikipedia and dozens of cookery websites such as www.culinaryartsabout.com)

Add cream and call it supreme. (Add a hat on the first e in French and pronounce it to rhyme with em, 'sue-prem'.)

Add flavourings such as onion, cloves, nutmeg.

bechamel - standard white sauce made with flour, milk, butter, one of the five basic sauces
chasseur - the chase or hunt on horseback
consomme - clear soup
coulis - thick sauce of vegetables or fruit
demi glace - demi means partly, glace - glazed
fricasse
jus - juice (often of meat)
Lyonnaise - from Lyon or in the style of Lyon
mayonnaise - egg and olive oil mixed as a dressing, thick cream colour
puree - turned into a near liquid, think of the word purified
vinaigrette

(Post being written and researched - come back later for more.)

French words of the day: apres, coterie, liaison, vignette

agent provocateur - agent who provokes or entices somebody, for example into committing a crime
apres - after
bonhomie - cheerfulness
coterie - group, coven
liaison - affair, connection, link, relationship
menagerie - collection of mixed animals
vignette - sketch

Protecting mobile phones with smart cases when travelling

I like my mobile phones well protected when travelling. It's so easy to bang a phone. It may be safe in your pocket, but your jacket swings as you bend down to pick something up, or knocks against a wall or the grab rail of a bus or train.

In Poundland I found this nifty phone cover. It is very well padded on the back and sides. (Not the front.)

With many phone covers sold in blister packs you have to check carefully that what the cover you are considering buying will fit. I like to have the phone with me and hold it against the cover, checking all the holes are in the right place, as well as checking what is written on the packaging.

If you have phones of various sizes in your big extended family or are considering upgrading, but keep old phones in other sizes, the covers are only £1 each, so it may be worthwhile buying two or three to fit your family's phones.

This is brown and cream. It looks purple because I lightened it to show the hole at the top.

I like a distinctive cover. It's easy to look back at a table and think that a black phone belongs to somebody else, then realise that you have left yours behind. If your phone cover is so identifiable that people comment on it, or just look at it, then if you leave your phone behind, a friend or acquaintance is likely to dash after you saying, "Hey - you left your phone. This is yours, isn't it!"

Here's one with a playing card theme. Less protective, but memorable.

I love red. It makes me happy. Here's a red cover.

You might keep a spare phone with the Sim card for another country, or keep one phone for phone calls, another just for photos.

To guard against a forgotten phone being hidden inside a bag, you may wish to keep a note of which old phone is in which case in which room.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.

Photos of Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, palm trees and waterfall

The impressive palm trees are in the Flower Dome.

Yes, there are palm trees visible on most major shopping roads and residential suburban streets in Singapore. But here in Gardens by the bay you can see all the different types of palm tree close up, from ground level, with explanatory captions, also from overhead walkways.

And you can pose for photos, without stopping traffic.

The waterfall is in the other building, separate entry price. I visited both in one day. (See previous post.)

Photos courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

More information from:

www.gardensbythebay.com.sg

French words of the day: chic, crèche

To understand foreign words look at the context. To get accustomed to using them, keep making up sentences using the words.

For example: The French are so chic. Their clothes are so chic. I suppose they have time to dress well because they leave their small children in a creche.

bourgoisie - middle classes. According to context, the word can apply to people or their style of furnishing, clothes, and culture, also imply other social conditions and value judgements such as city-dwellers, conventional, hard-working, ordinary, majority, rich, self-made, shop-keepers, small-minded, snobbish, uncultured. A film uses the word: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
chic - smartly dressed, stylish
crèche - place where babies are supervised

How chic of the bourgeoisie to have a creche.

Sorry, folks. I keep putting the accent on the first e in c r è c h e but the spellchecker on the site removes them.

What to see and do in Croydon

1 From London by train via Clapham Junction you first reach East Croydon. In the Clocktower complex by the library is the free Croydon Museum. (See reviews on TripAdvisor.)

2 You can take the train or tram to South Croydon. At some points on the tram you pass only feet away from shops, houses and a cemetery.

3 In South Croydon you could have lunch at the Boulevard Restaurant. See my previous post, or TripAdvisor.

3 Visit the Croydon Airport Museum.

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer and photographer, researcher, teacher, speaker.

Benjamin Franklin House in London

In Philadelphia, USA, I visited an exhibition on Benjamin Franklin who invented the lighting conductor and bifocals. He is the man I quote continually.

His face is familiar. Why? probably because you see him on American dollar notes. He was the founding father of the United States of America and lived in London from 1757 to 1775.

In London you can visit the Benjamin Franklin House. If you are planning a visit, or if you are not planning a visit anywhere except the internet, look at the website and watch a brief video about Benjamin's scientific studies on subjects such as The Gulf Stream.

I was reminded about the Benjamin Franklin House by a leaflet Around London, a little map of Inspiration, a free map from the National Trust, which lists 29 attractions in London.
ww.nationaltrust.org.uk
National Trust membership call 0344 800 1895

Benjamin Franklin House
Tel 020 7925 1405
Nearest station Charing Cross and Embankment
www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org

The Boulevard restaurant, South Croydon, serves lovely lunches

A few steps downhill from South Croydon station is The Boulevard. it sounds French and the menu is somewhat French but staff are an eclectic mix. The owner, a chef, is Serbian and his name is Mr Ljubinko. The friendly staff include a bearded waiter who served me who told me he was Romanian and his name Ion is the Romanian equivalent of Ian (or Jan or Sean) or John.

I loved the atmosphere, the decor of tiles and arches. The restaurant is a sort of L shape with two front areas and another part leading to a space behind the bar.

From the wide choice on the menu and the blackboard I chose smoked salmon with polenta. So hard to find polenta, and it was cooked solid, just the way I like it.

I thought I ordered duck but it could have been chicken because it was hidden in an envelope of something resembling chou or filo pastry, very tasty. Actually, when you are in a group, enjoying a conversation, it's good to have food you can fork or spoon into your mouth and shovel away, with your eyes on your companion, and not needing to watch your plate as you carve meat off the bone.

I was on a table of ten and managed to try five desserts. (We shared five plates of cheese, one in the middle between each couple facing each other, and five different desserts which we passed around. I was quite full and could have done without four of the desserts, but I loved the crumble and custard which was just right, sticky and filling and sweet but with plenty of bland custard to offset sweetness.

If I lived nearer I'd make it my regular eating place. Great for groups. If you have a birthday you can write your name on the chalk board on the wall to the left of the menu board.

Look out for the A board on the pavement outside offering bargain lunches.

The Boulevard
7/8 Ruskin Parade,
South Croydon
CR2 6PW
Tel: 0208 649 9990.

Cheap Mobile Calls and Changing To Other Countries

On the plane on a recent trip I sat next to somebody who straightened out a paper clip and used it to open his mobile phone.

I said, 'That's a handy trick. What are you doing?'

He told me, 'The shop where I bought the mobile and card told me how to do it. I change the card to a UK card when we are about to land to make calls on a local card on a local tariff. No roaming charges.'

Gardens By The Bay, Singapore - a great day out

Gardens By the Bay in Singapore is a great day out for all ages and all personality types, whether you are young or old, sporty or cultured, like walking outdoors and running up and down, or cool air conditioned comfort with a lift.

Planning Your Visit
The visit consists of three areas, the flower dome, the waterfall, and the outdoor and riverside walk.
We ordered our tickets on line thinking there was a saving and had to go to and fro printing our tickets at customer service and upgrading our tickets on finding we had booked only one of the two paid for indoor areas. So the price was twice what we were expecting to pay.

You may also want to spend time in the three different gift shops. You can buy souvenirs, plants as gifts for hosts if you are visiting Singapore, hats with large brims. If you live in Singapore, potted plants of all sizes and prices, from a cactus smaller than your hand to a plant in a planter as tall as yourself for an entrance hall or business foyer.

Timing
If you are short of time, you can see one indoor area or walk around the outside. Just walking around the flower dome on all levels takes at least an hour. We then spent another hour on a lunch break walking down to the relatively cheap hawker centre, which was still twice the price of hawker centres in the city. Then we spent a second hour on the waterfall which has three levels.

Finally and fourthly we spent another hour walking around the outside and taking riverside photos. Lastly, fifthly, we walked back to the MRT through the riverside walk, getting last sun of the day photos, instead of taking a taxi. Best part of a day gone, but very happily, highlight of our visit to Singapore. If you read or photograph every caption and plant you could spend twice as long.

The Flower Dome
Immediately on entering the flower dome we were overwhelmed with delight. The landscaping is amazing, full size trees, sculptures, views from ground level and treetop. It looks magnificent from a distance, intriguing close up.

The layout has world-wide appeal. You can see the plants of areas you have never visited. Or often visited. Australia. South America.

Teachers, researchers and writers will love the information. Every tree and plant seems to have a dozen uses, medicinal or practical.

Palm Trees Galore
The week before visiting, on arrival in Singapore, I had been researching palm trees and had learned about five I and you and everybody could easily recognise (coconut, date, the fan-shaped traveller's palm, the red or lipstick palm with a red stalk and the cement palm suited to lining city avenues with its straight, grey upright trunk like a lamp-post. See my previous post for pictures. But now in the Gardens By The Bay I discovered many more palms and many more uses.

I took several pictures of the giant circular wheel of the Singapore Flyer through the windows, as well as the T shape Marina Towers complex with its amazing rooftop infinity swimming pool and sky-high bars and special occasion expensive rooftop restaurants.

Indoors, using yourself, or your family, or any other group, creates a sense of scale.

The Waterfall
On entering you see the waterfall several stories above. Lovely and cooling on a hot day in tropical Singapore.

Food and Drink

Travel Tips
1 If you are on a budget, look for concessions or consider just walking around the outdoors.
2 If you are into photography, choose a day when there is good visibility.
3 Food and drink is expensive, so consider taking a picnic or water which you might want to eat outdoors.
4 If you are likely to take out children, an extended family, or a succession of foreign visitors, buy an annual pass.
5 Dress for indoors and out.
6  Wear your best clothes as you will want to take lots of selfies and photos of family or friends because the backgrounds are beautiful, the arches make perfect frames.
7 A few colourful pictures of close-ups of flowers are colourful, and plaques are informative, especially if you are keen on gardening, but they could be taken anywhere. The larger vistas are the best record of the locale.
8 Take a camera.
9 Budget for food and drink, money for gifts, hiring the audio device, a taxi or shuttle but for those who find walking tiring.

Lost Phone - Physical and Mental Remedies

If your phone is lost or stolen, you may be able to go back to your previous phone if you still have it. You can keep the old phone number and still use your old phone as a camera. You can even receive emails through wifi.

To use your old phone for phone calls and texts you will need to contact your service provider. They then send you a new SIM card. What if you can't remember the model of your old phone? (Eg you are phoning from your office or overseas, or won't get home until their lines close or past your bedtime?) They can send you a Sim card to fit more than one model.

When you receive the card it has two sets of guidelines and 'perforations'. You just have to be careful to click out the correct place to get right size of Sim card. Then insert it.

Meanwhile, if you have your old phone, carry on emailing from wifi hotspots and using your handphone camera.

Mental Effects of Loss
Immediately after losing my phone, I didn't even want to take photos using somebody else's camera. I felt that somehow I was incompetent, out of luck, being told by fate or the universe not to make phone calls nor take photos.

A phone on a contract may be replaced by the company which wants you to continue with your monthly contract. If you have bought your own phone, it may be covered by household insurance.

What about trying to counter the psychological effects? It's quite depressing losing your phone. On the other hand, you are simply back where you were about two years ago on your old phone.

Think of it as a learning experience. It's only a phone, I tell myself. It's only money.

I try to remember the sign I saw outside a church when I was at primary school. The sign said: I used to complain because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.

In the street I passed a blind person with a white cane being helped by two friends. I have lost a phone. But I have an old phone with a camera. I can see.

Have a lovely day. I hope my hints about dealing with loss have helped you.

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer

Fun Food and High Standards at Fratini Restaurant, Singapore

A friend treated us to a meal at Fratini restaurant. The chef's wife greeted us at the door, a tall, extravert, welcoming lady of character.

The decor is unpretentious, with a warehouse feel, slightly cluttered with lots to look at yet well organised. The chef was busy behind the counter on our left, working his magic, hidden behind a barrier of boxes which once or still contained wine, displaying intriguing names.

The lunch menu is a set menu of about four small courses. We had an appetiser, fish, meat, dessert.

Just say if there's anything you can't or won't eat. I vetoed raw fish and shellfish (I'm allergic and/or got food poisoning from shellfish twice. (The popular proverb says once bitten twice shy. I say twice caught out, always cautious.)

Fratini Restaurant
10 Greenwood Avenue
Singapore 289201
www.fratinilatrattoria.com
Tel: +65 6468 2868

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer, photographer, speaker, speech trainer.

Here's a picture of the tiramisu desserts for three people, served on a wooden platter.

Father's Day UK - 21st June 2015

What do Dad's like to eat on Father's Day? Steaks? This year, 2015, Father's Day in the UK is 21st June, according to the email I just received from Miller and Carter. With one of the fathers in my extended family having a birthday in June, I'm hoping for some special offers.

The Ruislip branch has sent me the offer of a complimentary drink. They also have a great pun, the Daddy of all steaks.

Father's Day is Sunday 21st of June. But the offer is also valid on Saturday 20th. Why would anybody celebrate Father's Day on Saturday instead? Because you might be busy working on Sunday. Or in church. Or playing a sporting event, or judging it as a referee. Or the restaurant might be fully booked on Sunday. Or two different people, such as children living in different parts of the country, might wish to invite their father, or both father and step-father or fathers-in-law in different areas to lunch or dinner.

Angela Lansbury - travel writer, author and speaker. Also see Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn.
If you like my posts, please read them regularly and like my pages or follow me or forward links to my posts to your friends.

New Charity Shop In Hatch End

My family asked the people renovating the charity shop in Hatch End when it would open. We were told Tuesday of next week. Really looking forward to it.

Why?

Hatch End has lots of restaurants, which is good, but not enough shops selling goods.

No other charity shop. So if you like to give your unwanted items to a good cause, here's a recipient. And if you like money you spend to go to a good cause, another reason.

If you like a bargain, charity shops offer bargains. If you like recycling, they offer an opportunity to prevent waste.

Even if you are simply window-shopping, the windows have an every changing display.

Oxfam closed down. I hate to see empty shops. They make the neighbourhood, the whole country, look run down. A new shop is a sign of success, novelty. Something to look forward to.

See my previous post on St Luke's Hospice Charity Shop.

Angela Lansbury, Travel Writer, Photographer, Author, Speaker.

Don't take my lost passport to the passport office!

Now I've reported my passport as stolen and applied for a new one, the passport office will destroy my old passport. Nobody can use it anyway, because the number has been reported as a lost or stolen passport. My new (British) passport will have a new passport number.

The passport offices will not even bother to tell me that my passport has been found, so I'll have no reassurance that a kind person tried to return it, nor the reassurance that nobody attempted to sell it or use it. I'll have no way of contacting whoever handed it in to thank them. No way of finding out if they have other items of my property.

The UK application office assured me they had no need to tell me if my passport was found, because I had no need to worry, nobody else could use it. So what would be the point of returning it to them?

So if you find my passport, please try to find me on the internet. I'd love to have my passport back, with my photo, and the records of all my journeys.

What if I were to mislay my passport at home, and find it later, after reporting it missing? That happened to me once, when I thought leaving it in my suitcase would guarantee that I would not travel without it. Unfortunately, I had more than one suitcase, and unable to find my missing passport, did not even start to pack.

On a second occasion, I bought a fancy silver cover, which hid the passport so that it looked like a notebook. Eventually I found the missing passport.

In such a case when you have found your own passport at home, or when you apply for a new one, they can cut of the corner.

Why can't they simply cut the serial number off a passport which was found by somebody else?

My advice to you - photocopy every page of your passport in colour before every trip (even to the bank asking for it as proof of identity. When I get my new passport I am thinking of placing inside my passport the address of a friend or relative to contact, warning a finder not to return the passport to any official body but to me direct, and notice that I will pay a reward.

What do you think?

Bag lost or stolen - advice from Hong Kong

Hunting For Missing Bags
I was telling a friend about how I lost (presumed stolen) a bag in Singapore. She told me that in Hong Kong the police advise: if you have lost a bag, go back to the place where you last had it and hunt in all the nearby bins. The thief or finder may have taken out the cash and tossed the incriminating bag into the nearest bin.

Emptying Bins
In some countries such as Singapore the bins are emptied daily, at least the bins for perishables are emptied daily to prevent plagues of rats.  In the UK summer we are worried about flies and maggots too. In many places, mosquitos, cockroaches, insects. In the USA bears and raccoons are a major concern in some States.

Dry Goods Bins
If the bag has been tossed into the paper and dry goods recycling bin you have a better chance that somebody will find the bag.

Travelling and Renting A Home Abroad

What can you negotiate on? You might ask for furniture to be moved in or out. Or for the installation of new white goods such as a dishwasher or washing machine or dryer. properties are listed as furnished, partial furnished and unfurnished.

If the air con unit is noisy or not functioning you might ask for one.

In Singapore you have two agents. When you are renting the buyer's agent drives you around from place to place. The seller's agent often meets you with the keys.

propertyguru.com.sg

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, photographer, author and teacher.

House hunting in Singapore for Expats - top tips

What is the difference between an apartment and a condo?
In Singapore flat, apartment and condo are used as technical terms. A flat is basic and small. An apartment is larger.

A condo, usually occupied by more affluent ex-pats has facilities socialising and sports facilities such as a swimming pool, sauna, spa bath, squash courts, tennis courts, a gym, an outdoor children's playground, a waterfall and landscaping in modern blocks. Indoors are meeting rooms or function rooms for parties and entertaining.

An HDB is near an MRT because the residents are less likely to have cars. Also a hawker centre is likely to be nearby to provide cheap eating. A hawker centre has stall around communal tables and mostly stools rather than chairs, often outdoors or in an open-sided area in clusters on the ground floor of the housing blocks.

What affects price, facilities and size?

Price
High floors with better views and less traffic noise are likely to be more expensive. Completely redecorated will be more expensive. Swimming pool is likely to mean more expensive.

Size
Older buildings are likely to have bigger rooms and a maid's room (a box room off the kitchen or scullery, with an adjacent toilet, small basin and shower.

A 'walk-up' flat has an outside staircase and no lift. This will be less expensive. So if you are young and fit and like exercise, that is a good option for saving money. However, a fit, young friend of mine warns, what seems an easy climb on a sunny day carrying nothing, is less fun on a regular basis during rain with two bag of shopping or a big box of equipment.

Also harder to bring in a pram, bicycle, toddler, or elderly relative. Another hazard if somebody likes a drink. Or might develop an injury such as twisting on ankle, pulling a hamstring, getting a hernia.

Pool pleasures and problems
My list n/f plus points inc dudes swimming pool. The perfect pool for me has waterfalls and trees. Steps you can walk down, instead of metal ladders, are convenient as well as attractive to look at. Some shade is good.

Negative Windows
Obscured view from windows - too narrow, darkened by an overlay designed to cut heat and stop light fading furnishings. Light obscured by nearby buildings feed away, or large block which blocks your view.

I like balconies to be protected. Other members of my family don't mind railings so long as the metal is painted white.

The other great problem is noise. Traffic from roads can be noisy on floors lower than 6 or 7. Up on floor 8 you might get a better view across the treetops and city.

The biggest problem is buildings sites which spoil the view and create dust and noise. Pile drivers are worst. A nearly finished building could mean shops and restaurants nearby. But check the dat when building works are likely to end.