Unsung Indian heroes in India - road accident rescues and pothole filler

flag of Romania 

Problem
I was quite depressed yesterday. I researched Romania. Found Dracula. And discovered that the reality was worse than the fiction.

 Not just in Romania, but all over the world, throughout history. Crucifixion by the Romans just one example of the public torture was the norm worldwide as it still is in parts of the Middle East, until along came Queen Victoria and the police trying to clear traffic jams cause by crowds in the streets watching public executions, which did not deter anybody, because pickpockets had a great time stealing from people watching the executions of pickpockets. (The criminals and thieves just regarded it as a risk in a world where everybody was out to get you and everybody for himself and nobody would help you.)

Answer
So it was with great pleasure that I found the BBC running a series on Indians who were helping. I started reading about a man who helps road accident victims. Then I followed links to a story about the man filling in potholes.

They are both examples of people following Gandhi's principle: Be the change you wish to see.

Good old BBC, doing what we expected of the BBC in the old days. Well-researched articles, uplifting, answers to problems.

USA Fatality from pothole
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4459346/Child-killed-3-adults-injured-truck-hits-car-NYC.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-35966747 story about the man filling in potholes.

Follow links on the page to the man saving road accident victims.

It's reassuring to know that somebody is filling in dangerous potholes causing accidents, and somebody else is rescuing accident victims in the critical hour. Let's hope that, like a ripple, these good efforts, good idea, and good people, will spread around their country and eventually worldwide to benefit travellers everywhere.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Romanian Food and Drink

Problem
What do you eat in Romania?

Answers
Starters
Soup.


Main courses


Desserts
1 Kurtoskalacs, or chimney cake, is a cylinder the size of a rolling pin, created by spiralling dough, rolled in sugar.
A restaurant in New York has this chimney cake as one of their specialities.

2 Sweet pancakes with cream cheese filling.

Wine
Sweet white wines, as well as sparkling white wines and red wines.

Many wineries. Some offer tastings.

Notable memorable vineyard and label was the one founded the the ruler who came in by train. The wine is called Blue Train.

Websites to watch
chimneycakenyc.com
http://romaniatourism.com/romanian-food-wine.html
http://wikitravel.org/en/Romania

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share my posts.

Romania Research update

Problem
Where to go and what to see in Romania?

Answers

Fast Facts
Capital Bucharest.
Language Romanian. Learn on Duolingo.(See my previous posts.)

Romania Top Attractions

In Romania you can travel on the restored Royal train.
See Painted Monasteries

Fortified Castles
Castles are associated with Dracula, a name meaning son of the Dragon, although in modern Romanian it means the devil.

Alternatively, or in addition, follow Jewish heritage.

Jewish Heritage:
http://www.romantiatourism.com/
email romaniatravel@btconnect.com
or tel:0 207 935 6435.
A well-known Romanian-born Holocaust survivor who went to America was Elie Wiesel, author of Night.

Dr. Moses Rosen Museum of the History of the Jewish Community in Romania – Holocaust Museum
Address: Str. Mamulari 3
Tel: (21) 311.08.70
Web: www.romanianjewish.org/en/fedrom_08_01.html
Open: Mon. - Wed. & Fri. - Sun. 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.; Thu. 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Housed in the magnificently preserved Great Synagogue (1850) in the city's historically Jewish neighborhood, this museum traces the history of Romania's Jewish population.

100 synagogues (half still in use); 800 scattered cemeteries.
Jews in Little Romania in New York introduced goose p a s t r a m a, smoked, seasoned, salted, which evolved in New York into beef pastrami.

Bucharest
Two attractive and active synagogues and three Jewish cemeteries.

Tips
More information from:
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/pinkas_romania/rom1_00029.html

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have more posts on Romania. Please share links to posts.

Lawnmower Museum in Southport - Something Completely Different

Problem
Where to go which will surprise the family - not like anything they've seen before?

Answer
The British Lawnmower Museum, in the north of England. It was started by an ex racing car driver with an interest in a family firm which repaired and still repairs lawnmowers, the company dating back to 1945. You might wonder who would be interested in lawn-mowers. However, gardening is one of the top interests in the UK (along with cooking, clothes and fishing and cars).

The museum also features lawnmowers of the famous, including Prince Charles and Diana.

Four fast facts:
1 Lawnmowers were patented by the inventor in 1830.
2 You can get spare parts for vintage machines.
3 You can hire an old lawn mower for a film (movie).
4 The shop sells: t-shirts; mugs; key-rings (one with a garden fork, another with a mini chainsaw, about £4.16 plus VAT); birthday cards; lawnmower magnets 42p excluding VAT; and a pre-paid ticket to the museum £3.33 exc VAT.

VAT
(I always wondered why some shops don't include VAT. It's something to do with the VAT man requiring VAT to be listed separately for tax purposes when an item is sold business to business and the VAT man wants to see what he is getting and from whom.

Tips
1 Check out your own brand of lawnmower before visiting. That will give you more interest in similar and fore-runner machines or the brand.
2 Check if your lawn mower is working or needs any spare parts.

http://lawnmowerworld.co.uk
106-114 Shakespeare Street
Southport
Merseyside
PR8 5AJ
Great Britain

Tel: +44 (0)1704 501336
E-Mail: info@lawnmowerworld.com

Sister Sites
www.lockandkeyworld.co.uk
www.carkeyworld.co.uk

Museum Open Times
9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
(Monday - Saturday)

Southport
Southport is a popular seaside resort, at least to people in that area of England, with Pleasure land and a miniature railway and model village. If you are in or near Southport and not blessed with a sunny day suiting sunbathing and sea and sand and water spouts and water sports and outdoor funfairs, The Lawnmower Museum would be a good place to go.
https://www.visitsouthport.com/things-to-do

Southport is north of London, but going south there's Poseidon Lacey, a National Trust Property. You can see half a dozen lawnmowers from Poseidon Lacey and more at other National Trust locations by looking at their website of collections and typing in the word lawnmower.
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/results?SearchTerms=LAWNMOWER&Page=1

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share my posts.

Persian Polite Conversation, English Polite Conversation, Japanese Politeness, German Politeness, Chinese Politeness

Flag of Iran. From wikipedia.

Problem
How do you greet people politely, with respect? What is polite in other cultures? When do you address somebody by their surname?

Answers
It's always good to check formal greetings to letters.

England
Gone are the days of English letters ending: I remain your humble and obedient servant. 

Strangers are still addressed in letters as as Dear Sir or Madam. Letters still end formal, Your Faithfully. People whose names you know are addressed as Dear Mrs Brown, and end Your sincerely.

In spoken English, we are increasingly less formal. We are increasingly adopting Americanisms and first names.

When writing, we also use, Hi. This is especially so when texting, because it is faster.

Royalty
However, you would not say Hi, Your Majesty. It sounds absurd to mix the formal and informal.

God
When I think about it, I do not understand why God in hymns and prayers is addressed in the second person: "Nearer My God to Thee ..." "Thou art ..." 

As a child, I never questioned it. One just repeats old, traditional phrases by rote.

France
English text books at one time instructed English tourists to call the waiter, Garçon, meaning boy. Adult waiters in France would take exception to this.

In France you have to be careful about using Vous and Tu.

Story
At a Toastmasters International meeting in London, England, I was the table topics master and asked people to volunteer to speak for two minutes about what people should know when learning their mother tongue, or learning English.

Persian
A Persian speaker told us that when you greet somebody in Persia, you frequently speak as if you are their servant and respect them, even if you hate them. He placed his hand on his heart, which is a symbol of sincerity, a frequent formality, like bowing in Asia.

Persian Polite Greetings
Persian has many polite forms. One is 'nokaretam', meaning I am your servant.

Chinese and Asian bowing
The deeper you bow, the greater respect. When a customer enters or leaves a business establishment, as a customer you do not match the level of bowing, but expect the staff to bow slightly lower. Similarly the office boy would bow lower to the boss.

The Chinese language is more direct and simpler and easier. Less of the please and would you like. A standard question is, "Do you want to do (x) or not?" In English we would ask, Would you like to go to the cinema? Would you like some more chips? Would you like to dance?

If somebody could not make up their mind, and you were in a hurry, or you were annoyed, you might demand, "Make up your mind. Would you want to or not? Yes or no?" This sounds extremely rude.

Similarly a British shop assistant will ask, "May I help you?"

A Chinese or Asian shop assistant might walk up to you, so close that you think they are trying to pick your pocket, and ask, "Yes?"

The Chinese will address an older taxi driver as 'Uncle'. This is a sign of respect, if you don't know somebody's name, implying they are older and more senior.

In English to call somebody unrelated to you as 'Grandad' is slightly insulting. It is often used in the context of, as if to say, "Hey you old bumbling idiot with the stick, get out of my way!"

SOV Sentence construction
English sentences start with the Subject, followed by the Verb, ending with the Object. This is known in short as SVO sentence construction. Other languages such as German, Japanese and Korean will be constructed SOV, with the verb at the end.

You have to wait until the end of the sentence to find out what is happening. So the Japanese, out of habit, wait politely for you to finish your sensing.

The English are more inclined to interrupt you mid-sentence. This is rude, but it is done. The person being interrupted may protest, "May I finish!"

Tips
http://www.mypersiancorner.com/2014/04/the-humble-iranian-or-art-of-taarof.html

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer,

Writers' Holiday Photos From Previous Years

Problem
Where are my photos?

Answer
Type in the tag lines. At the time when you return you know the place the year and the people. When doing a search for a photo in a year's time you will need to use those details in a search.

The tag lines will also help you to caption pictures.

It is a week's holiday in summer. (If you haven't the time, they offer spring and autumn weekends.)

The Hobbs family, Gerry Hobbs and others, run this holiday. One of the family will collect you from the station which is at the bottom of the hill. Lots of people walk up and down every day during the holiday for exercise and to see the shops and museums below on the waterside. However, when you arrive on the first day or evening from London or a mid-point in Wales with your suitcase of clothes - and books to sell, if you are an author, you will be glad to be met by a person with a friendly face who will take you to the door of your destination.

The hotel is perched on the hillside with a view of the bay below from the front terrace. The bar has newspaper cuttings and typed texts about films (movies as the Americans say).

The writers are mostly from all over England, Scotland and Wales, but a few from Europe, America, Australasia or Asia.

Choice of Courses For First Half Of Week:


I have been going almost every year for a decade or more. Mention my name, Angela Lansbury, and I get a small discount on my course so you will be a friend for life of me as well as the family who run the course.

If you extend your holiday before or after you will be able to visit some of the museums which are open during the week, and not necessarily at the weekend, without eating into the time when you could be on your writing course.

Not In The Mood To Write
Most of the courses you will be listening or discussing and working in groups, with writing you have done previously or in the evening homework to discuss.

Tips
If you have poetry or stories already written at home, bring them along. You may be able to swap with another writer. Most teachers and readers don't have time to read your work in between the courses they are teaching and they are inundated with requests. So you are more likely to be able to get your work read and critiqued by another delegate, especially if you offer to read their work in return.

Often on the last session you have a chance to read out what you have written during the holiday. That depends on the site of the group. In a group of only half a dozen, there is probably time to read two or three in the first morning session, with comments by the 'teacher' or course leader. As a courtesy to others, you might want to divide your work into shorter chunks, and shorten your life story introduction for the first day.

Practise your own introduction. Look up the teachers and try to read something they have written. If you can mention that, say that you are on the course because you have read their work, that will endear you to the writer and impress other would-be-writers and be a conversation opener.

Be prepared with specific questions about what you want to write. For example:
"I'd like to learn how to write a sonnet."

You might find your teacher or another poet can direct you to a website. One year the teacher, Alison Chisholm, altered one of her sessions to include the type of pem I wished to learn. We then had the chance to look at and discuss the two or three types of sonnet.

I went back to a local writing group, Watford Writers, and gave a session on sonnets and other poems. In order to prepare for questions, I had to print off a reminder to myself of all the other kinds of poems, in case I was asked, How many syllables in a haiku? Is it five then seven? I can never remember. I ended up printing a book for my own use, and selling it to others at my writing holidays.

Here's another question I asked at a writing holiday"

"My young couple get married in the first chapter. How do I make the plot more exciting?"

Jane Pollard who was running a novel writing workshop had an instant answer. "You introduce a love rival!"

You have a rehearsed reading of poetry written during the course one evening, so if you've forgotten your work, never mind. But it's a good idea to load up any of your old stories onto your computer and email them to yourself.

Warning. The internet connection is intermittent and is in parts of the hotel, not others. You might find it more fun to work on the landing, in an area by the hall or an outside wall where there's a a better connection, to plan phone calls home in the intervals, to print off your work at home in advance.

If you or a partner don't want to write, you can do a painting course, sit in your room, socialise, snooze, and just turn up to any of the afternoon tea and evening talks and activities.

The cost is only £499 for the accommodation, food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee and a biscuit mid morning and mid-afternoon). Drinks are extra, apart from a drink the first night at the evening welcome reception and introduction to the course leaders before the convivial first evening dinner.

Tables are for two, four or six.

www.writersholiday.net
Tel: 01633 489438.
email:gerry@writersholiday.net
New day delegate all-inclusive rate only £299 (if you are staying nearby at another smaller hotel in Fishguard or pupping in whilst on a tour of Wales).

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

Writers' Holiday 2017 Mon 24th - Sat 29th July at Fishguard Wales

Problem
Where can I learn about writing and meet other writers?

Answer
Writers' Holiday.Fishguard. Wales.
Cost £499 full inclusive of accommodation and meals. (Not including travel.

Tips
Book now for your advanced reduced train fares.
Mention my name Angela Lansbury and they will give me something and you will be my eternal friend.

Make cheques payable to Gerry Hobbs.
website: writersholiday.net


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

Vegetarian Indian Restaurant Planned For Hatch End - S a k o n i s

Problem
Where to eat in Hatch End? Usually about 16 places to eat in the short main street. What's new?

Answer
You already have a choice of two Indian restaurants in Hatch End, Coriander and Delicious Khana. Now a third is planned. A sign on the old Santander site promises another restaurant. The name of the restaurant is S a k o n i s. (I have inserted spaces inserted to thwart the spell checker.)

According to the sign they are recruiting. My eyes open and I smile because the word recruiting makes one think they might be opening shortly. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

If you can't wait, they already have two other branches in Harrow and Wembley. Looking at their website, my favourite items are the masala dosai (savoury rolled pancake with coconut chutney) and the sweets which I should not be eating.

They say they serve north and south Indian and Chinese cuisine.

Tips
http://www.sakonis.co.uk
http://www.sakonis.co.uk/menu/restaurant-menu/

S a k o n i s in Wembley:
127-9 Ealing Road
Wembley
Middlesex
HA0 8BP
To book a table, Tel:+44 (0)208 903 9601.
Opening times: Monday to Friday 12 noon to 9.30 pm.
Weekends 9 am to 10 pm.

S a k o n i s in Harrow:
5-8 Dominion Parade
Station Road
Harrow HA1 2TR
Middlesex

For directions from Harrow station:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Harrow-on-the-Hill,+Station+Approach,+Harrow+HA1+1BB/Dominion+Parade,+Harrow+HA1+2TR/

Getting To Hatch End
Hatch End station is on the line from Euston to Watford.
Buses are the H12 and H14.
https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/arrivals/490001142A/hatch-end-station/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. More posts on restaurants in London on this blog. Please share your favourite posts.

Ice Cream Interactive Exhibit In Los Angeles

Problem
An ice cream exhibit? What is it and where can I see it? If I miss it, what else can I do?

Answer
I saw a video of the exhibit on an internet site. Visitors can jump in a bath-like play area of chocolate sprinkles. Visitors get ice cream, limited to two portions per visitor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyWaiEHlaCQ
If you miss it, watch it on the internet; visit the Nestle Museum in Switzerland; take the family to a chocolate museum or a chocolate shop for a chocolate workshop or children's birthday party. Some restaurants have chocolate fountains which enable you to watch the chocolate fountain and put either ice cream or chop pastry buns in the chocolate for dessert.

(The UK, USA, Switzerland, Belgium and other countries have chocolate museums and workshops. In the UK look for Cadbury's; other shops with tours in London and York.)

See my previous posts on chocolate shops, workshops and annual exhibitions.

Museum of Ice Cream, 2018 E 7th Place, Los Angeles, California 90021, USA.
Admission price for adults (age 13-60) is US $29. For seniors over 60, and children 3-12, the cost is US $18. You have to buy your tickets online as they cannot be bought at the door.
Open 11 am to 10 pm. Closed Tuesday.
It's a late morning, lunch time, tea time, supper time or early evening activity. The museum website suggests other places to eat nearby in Los Angeles. The shops sells ice cream pins for US $10; patches; ice cream playing cards $12; ear- rings, bracelets, key ring, phone covers or an ice cream tasting book.
https://www.museumoficecream.com/los-angeles/
https://www.facebook.com/museumoficecream/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-39740991/ice-cream-museum-opens-in-los-angeles

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

Learning Persian For Fun

Problem
How do you learn Persian? Why bother, especially if you have no immediate plans to go there?

Answer
Why not? It provides a topic of conversation with anybody who speaks another language or who is learning English. And once you start learning another language, you notice people from a country which speaks that language. You might even recognize the words of greeting when standing on a bus or train or boarding a plane, or checking in. That will awaken your interest and keep it fresh in your memory.

Story
I was at a Toastmasters International meeting in London. In London both the clubs to which I belong (HOD and Harrovians) have at least one Spanish speaking member who often mentions Spain and Spanish language and learning English in their talks.

Over in Singapore I often meet people with names ending with ez, which means their family was of Portuguese origin. On paper, Portuguese looks similar to Spanish. Many of them have ancestors or relatives from mach or Goa.

I was evaluating a talk on language by the Spanish speaking girl. I was also asked to do the table topics (questions for impromptu two minute replies by guests and members of the audience who have not had the chance to stand up and give a prepared speech). When I heard that her speech was on learning the English language, I was delighted. An opportunity for me to give topics on learning English, and learning or speaking other languages.

Spain was under Moorish rule for a while. The Moors came from across the sea to the south from Morocco (hence the name Moors). Their language was close to Arabic spoken all around North Africa at that time.

In the audience was somebody from Iran. During the interval he explained to me that when he said he was Persian, English people often replied, "Oh - you mean Iranian?"

His answer is: "Iranian and Persian are different. Iran is the current name of a country. Persians are a race and a language. You can speak Persian, or be of Persian race, even if you live in a country bordering Iran, or the other side of the world in Europe, England or America. You can be both Persian and Iranian. You could be one but not the other."

(I have to attend a meeting. More shortly.)

Tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyWaiEHlaCQ (Tells you greetings. Free three minute course.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, public speaker, workshop leader, author and language teacher (English and other languages).

What Travelling Teaches Us About Language And Time

Problem
Different countries view time in different ways. In New York and when checking in at the gate to catch a plane, you must arrive ten minutes in advance, ideally half an hour in advance. No matter what your excuse, the plane will go without you.

Answers
You have to be aware of local culture. The Spanish 'mañana' attitude applies in Spain and other hot countries. Malaysia and many Mediterranean, Arabic or tropical countries, a relaxed view of time is the norm.

In Singapore I try to arrive half an hour to an hour before the open doors time, when networking starts, before what should be the not time start to the welcome speech to the meeting.

However, often I am amounts the first three to arrive, the first not counting those who open the door. Although I am late I am the first visitor to arrive.

What do different cultures think and say about time and language?

SAYINGS ABOUT LANGUAGE
It is said that
1 The English speak two languages, English and louder English.
2 A picture is worth a thousand words.
3 Actions speak louder than words.
England and America are two countries separated by a common language.
(George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, wrote Pygmalion in 1913, awarded the Nobel prize 1925.)

SAYINGS ABOUT TIME
USA
New Yorkers are punctual.
1 Time and tide wait for no man.
2 Time is money.
(Benjamin Franklin.)
3 Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. You may delay, but time will not. Lost time is never found again. (Benjamin Franklin.)

AFRICA
The clock did not invent man.
So little time, so much to do.
(Cecil Rhodes.)

CHINESE SAYING
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today.

LATIN AND THE ROMANS
The Romans used to say:
3 Carpe Diem. (Seize the day.)
Tempus Fugit. (Time flies. Full version is: Tempus fugue - Time flies and never returns)

GERMAN
Eternity was made to give some of us a chance to learn German.
Mark Twain

What problems have you had learning German?

INDIA
Time is free.

ITALY
He who goes slowly goes safely and goes far.

SPAIN
The 'mañana culture. Spaniards say:
Those who rush arrive first at the grave.
4 Tomorrow is the busiest day of the week.


UK
5 Better late than never but better never late.

More haste, less speed.

Measure twice; cut once. (Saying used by tailors, cobblers and carpenters.)

Time heals all wounds.

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Brutus in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

Time and tide wait for no man.
Geoffrey Chaucer.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

6 If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of run
Why then the whole wide world is yours
And what is more, you'll be a man, my son.
Rudyard Kipling


Tips
More amusing foreign phrases from:
http://www.fluentu.com/french/blog/french-proverbs/?lang=en


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share my posts.

Spiders - what to do?

Flag of Australia.

I thought of using a picture of a spider but yuk, some people might not like that. So, instead, I used a photo of Australia where my travels took me to a hotel with a huge Huntsman spider.

Problem
I was in a brand new hotel in Australia. Opened that week. What could go wrong? A huge black tulip was on the wash basin. How nice of them. Australia has things we don't have in the UK and Europe and the USA. Black swans. As I walked into the bathroom I realised the black tulip head had no stalk. It was not a tulip head. It moved. It was a spider! A huge spider. Ten times the size of the most menacing British spider. The size of a baby's fist. I screamed!

My husband came running - to tell me off for making such a noise late at night. Then he saw it. He ran back into the bedroom. I followed.

"What are you going to do?" I demanded.

Answer
"Phone reception," he replied.

Story
I was puzzled. "You mean they are less scared than you are, than we are? Because they are local and used to spiders that big? What can they do?"

"Bring a fly spray."

"It's not a fly. It's a spider."

He spoke on the phone. I cowered in the corner, wrapped in a towel, more worried about the spider than my dress, or rather lack of it.

He put down the phone and told me, "They are coming up to look at it."

"I hope they do more than look at it. It may be a photo opportunity, but I'd rather they removed it. And put down some repellent to stop it coming back. I hope it doesn't have friends and family."

We waited a long time. Presumably they were gathering a team, an army. Plus an army's worth of equipment and weapons, fires extinguishers, buckets, spades, rifles.

I was cold and wanted to shower and dress and go out for dinner. "Where are they. Call them and tell them to hurry."

He rang back. "She's on her way. She was dealing with a customer and forgot."

"Lovely. We could have sat here petrified all night, missing dinner. I expect she thinks it's unimportant. She'll just shrug. Aussies, sought people, outback types. She'll just shrug. It may be nothing to them, but it's terrifying to us." I felt much better, knowing some six foot Australian with nerves of steel was going to deal with the situation.

The receptionist was unflappable. Until she saw it. She screamed! She backed out of the shower room.

That's really reassuring. The receptionist at the hotel is more scared of the resident spider than we are.

I retreated further, as far as the window. I looked out. Too far up to jump. If I opened the window, they could throw it out.

If we threw it out, alive, it would probably try to get back to its home, in our shower room. It would either climb up the drainpipe, or be civilised, and scurry past reception and up the stairs.

I heard general gasping and discussion going on it the shower room. Sheltering behind two people, I asked, "What are you doing."

Safety in numbers. Two heads are better than one. Two of them, with two heads, four arms and four legs, against a much smaller spider.

They had chased it into the white bath. Tried to wash it down the plug hole. It has curled into a ball and played dead. They showered hot water onto it. They drew back to discus how to pick up the dead spider. But it started moving and running about trying to escape.

Eventually the receptionist went off for weapons and reinforcements. She came back with two tall male Australians and assorted buckets and brooms. Plus the news that it was a Huntsman spider.

What's that? What does it hunt? Apart from tourists visiting the area!

It's just a type of big spider, native to the area. That didn't help much. Enables us to talk about it. We could see it was a big spider. Considerably bigger than a British money spider, supposed to be lucky and bring you money. A money spider is very small. Maybe that's why the value of the pound has declined.

Eventually the three men, watched by two women, managed to remove the spider. I don't know where it went.

But I did a very thorough check of the shower room before entering the shower-bath. I had the quickest shower in Western Australia. The reason for the speed of the shower was that we wanted to have dinner.

I wanted to go out to dinner. We checked on the hotel restaurant first. Fortunately, they were not serving dinner, at that time, or at all. New hotel.

I was pleased to leave the premises. We had considered staying another night, brand new hotel. However, the experience had unnerved us. Not only were we afraid what other insect life or unexpected surprised might appear. We no longer felt warmly towards the bedroom's bathroom. The staff were now avoiding us. We were trouble makers. If they spoke there was a risk that we might make trouble, or reveal to other guests that we had had a spider.

We did not see any more spiders. Maybe the God of tourism shared our view. Once was enough.

Tip
In Australia, keep your bath robe on at all times, in case you are forced to make a hasty retreat.

According to Wikipedia, you get Huntsman spiders in the USA in Texas and Florida and Hawaii plus many other parts of the world including China, Japan, India and the Philippines. If you feel like it's watching you, that might be because it has eight eyes.

The bad news is that Huntsman spiders cling on to you and bite. The good news is they don't make webs and they eat cockroaches.

Given that they bite, I'll dispense with the cardboard under the glass method of catching them. I think something bigger is needed, and more distant, like an industrial size vacuum cleaner. No wonder big hotel have big vacuum cleaners.

Videos on YouTube show real people catching real spiders (in their homes).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3f99HhlpTo

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share my posts.

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What You Learn From Visiting Volcanoes

Problem
Is it safe to climb a volcano? What's it like climbing a volcano?

Answers
As a child, when I read about volcanoes, I wondered why anybody would take the risk of doing so. What sane person would go up to the rim of a volcano? A member of my family.

Oddly enough, I was really keen to visit volcanoes in Hawaii, USA. I suppose it was the novelty. Like looking over the edge of a cliff, another dangerous activity, which most people like to do, going as near the edge as they dare. Initially, from a distance, you want to go as close as you can, out of curiosity.

Logically, my desire to see volcanoes in Hawaii, was no different to another member of my family wanting to trek up tp the edge of a volcano in Indonesia.

Trekking up in a business and a pleasure. Children, adults, locals, foreigners, all want to climb up. Local guides carry rucksack slung from a long pole carried over the porter's shoulder.

My family's photos show the path starts at base level us dry brown, mud-coloured, sandy earth, with tree roots, so you have to step carefully.

Higher up you reach scree, thick black cold cinders, piece rock thrown up by the volcano, material which is the size of table tennis balls, with pieces the irregular size and shape of a fist, but loose as gravel, so on the way down you slide about.

From the top of one volcano in Indonesia you can see the lake in the middle of the volcano. The volcano is like a bowl. The raised edge was thrown up. the baby volcano to one side was thrown up later.

Is it safe? You may be told it is a 'dormant' volcano. Yet the baby volcano is constantly growing.You might be able to come back later in your lifetime, years later, and see a new higher size and different shape of the baby volcano on your later photo.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share my posts.

Check your money and spend or exchange pound notes soon to go out of date notes

Problem
Every time a bank reprints money you are at risk of losing out. But if you change all your money at the airport you will lose on their commission each time you change, so it's tempting to keep your leftover notes for your next trip. Then you can't find it!

Answers
Keep all foreign money in one (hidden!) place.
Check money reprints and spend of exchange money in the country of origin.
Leftover notes? Not going back?
Donate to friends, family or colleagues who are taking a holiday or going on business to a country which is planning to reprint money.

Story
I used to have a regular thing changing money with a friend who flew frequently from Hong Kong to Singapore. I often met friends, family and acquaintances at parties, natives who flew from the UK to the USA.

Whenever they were travelling in they were happy to exchange money from their home into local money. When they were flying out they were happy to exchange money the other way. If you are flying off tomorrow and having a dinner or farewell party with a group of friends, if you mention that you need money of the destination, chances are that they will have money they are only too glad to exchange.

You'd be surprised how often a foreign banknote is needed. For example, In Cambodia the shopkeepers and sellers are glad to have US dollars. (Even airport shops.) But they give small change of less than a dollar in local money.

So it's handy to change back your oddments of local Cambodian money or give it to a friend going in that direction. It can be used to by coffee or water or left as a tip.

To increase your chances of changing money with friends at your leaving party, email them in advance to look for money they want to change. Print out the day's exchange rate.

Tips
If you happen to be in the city, London, England, you can change your old money there. If you've got time to spare. An experience.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-4445174/Just-nine-days-left-spend-old-paper-5-notes.html

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, English tutor and public speaker.
Please share my posts.

Potholes Filled With Pictures Made of Mosaics In Chicago, Painting, Pranks, Penises in UK

Problem
Potholes - everywhere - and one right outside your door. How can you fill it?

Answer
Pothole fillers who got tired of waiting have been working on potholes in the USA and UK. How to find them? There's an online map for the Chicago pothole art. Here's where to see them:

USA
Chicago - mosaics in potholes - made by Jim Bachor, mosaic artist. Every year he has a new theme, such as ice cream of flowers, something attractive. He encourages publicity by leaving a goody bag for/from the Best Neighbour with instructions on how to post links to his artwork.

What to see in Chicago:
The C l o u d Gate in Millennium Park. (Spaces inserted in text to defeat what I shall call the automatic "spell spoiler".)
Pothole Art by Jim Bachor 'The Pothole Guy': approx 45 sculptures, since 2013
Artwork by Jim Bachor at Chicago city's Thorndale Red Line "L" station.

USA Tips
Update - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4459346/Child-killed-3-adults-injured-truck-hits-car-NYC.html
More information from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/0366e18c-09e6-4847-8afe-1e3977a9a81a?intc_type=singletheme&intc_location=bbcthree&intc_campaign=bbcthree&intc_linkname=article_mosaics_contentcard33
http://www.bachor.com/4600-north-kenton---map (where to see potholes he filled in Chicago)
http://www.bachor.com/pothole-installations-c1g1y (shows his mosaics in potholes)
http://www.bachor.com (shows his mosaics which are not in potholes)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bachor (History including his commission 'Chicago Transit Authority that was installed in the city's Thorndale Red Line "L" station.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2656250/Talk-street-art-Chicago-artist-fills-citys-potholes-marks-one-beautiful-mosaic.html
http://chicagoist.com/2017/04/05/jim_bachor_pothole_art.php#photo-1
Jim Bachor is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

UK Pothole
In the UK, in the city of Manchester in the north of England, potholes have been outlined by prankster nicknamed Wanksy (for any foreign language readers, this is a pun on the name of graffiti artist Banksy, combined with an insulting rude word). W a n k s y (spaces inserted in text to defeat 'spell spoiler' (Angela Lansbury's term, coined today, 26 April 2017) which prefers winks) has used graffiti to draw penises around potholes to draw attention to them. I'm a fairly prudish person in some ways, when it comes to what is said, done, and painted in public places, but I think, for once, this is 'hilarious' (as the Daily Mail likes to say).

UK Tips
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11570595/Meet-the-man-using-penises-to-fill-potholes.html

Artistic or obscene? Amusing and practical? Both have their places in filling potholes.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

How to copy, measure and sew a caftan

Problems
When i first arrived in Singapore I could not find clothes to fit. My low neck 'holiday' tops were unsuitable for teahing mixed sex Englisl language pupils. I swelled up in the heat so nothing fitted. Tight clothes were constricting My shspe changed as i went from the hot street inddooors into air conditioning and out again. I ubderstood why Indian eomen wear sarees and others wear caftans and sarongs.

I soon bought some caftans and bought
lots of fabric in Spotlight store.

I had several too long caftans from India. When i wore them i was in danger of tripping over and had to walk clutching the m and hoisting them up when climing steps and getting on and off buses.

I cut the lowest edge off, the height of a hand width. I wanted to keep the hem a safe height.

I used pinking shears to stop the hem fraying. A hem can easily be sewn by hand. It just takes time. I matched the colour of the fabric but i doubt whether anubody would notice an inexact match .

The leftover fabric I hemmed and made a matching scarf. If you need a belt you could use the spare material for a belt. You could wear the belt loose. Alternatively make two loops at waist level from a cut off pieve of fabric from the scarf o use two pieces of ribbon.

Do you need ribbons urgently? You probably have a dress or skirt with hanging ribbons inside the shoulers or waist of an old outfit. These ribbons are sometimes too long just what yiu need. Cut off a tiny piece for the belt on your new garment and sew back the end of the shortened hanging loop.

I have several styles of caftan. One has a low neck which requires cutting a large v shae fron the centre front and edging it with matching fabric Cut oof the hem or from extra material.

However my more elegant evening caftan has a high neck. Imagine using the lower third of a saucer and then cutting a vertical line to help get the garment over your head.

I wrote my measurements in my diary.

Width of fabric 114 cms.
Length 113 cms.

Mid point to neck approx 56 cms.
But 2 x 56 = 112. Be careful if you copy an existing garment. The two sides might not be the same.

Neck width at top - cut shallow semi cicle for high fastening.

The raised semi circle reinforces the neck at theback. When looking at shop bought garments I always wondered why they did that.

To fasten the neck elegantly at the top use small raised domed button like a small pearl on a shank. On the other side, sew aloop of ribbon. It's a bit fiddly to get the ribbon the right length for the button.  If it is too big a loop just sew the two inside edges of the loop to make it slightly smaller.

My neck se.mi circle is 16cms wide with a neck depth of 9 cms.
As they say in tailoring as wee as boot making and carpentry : measure twice, cut once!

Finally, the two long vertical seams:

Sew 20 or 22 cma in from the edge. Mark with safety pins and/ or tailor's chalk.

Failing all else mark with soap - which washes out!

I sew up to 20 or 22 cms below shoulders to alloe me to put my arms in.

In theory you could sew a horizontal line or sloping line above the waist to create a tighter sleeve or kimono sleeve effect.

I needed the two vertical sewing lines wide enough to allow for my hips and sitting down on a chair  easily.

But the two caftans which I copied had very different widths. The narrower centre for the body with wider flapping panels at the two sides with more material to hang over the arms looked more tailored and elegant.

Tips
If you can find a printed line of part of a repeating pattern, you can use that as a guidelines for a hem or vertical line.

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Please share my posts.

How to make an emergency swimming hat?

Problems
You arrive at a hotel or holiday home and need a swimming hat. You have forgotten yours, or it has split. Eventually in a hot country the plastery ones go sticky and stick together. The elastic edged ones go loose.

Your hair is long. It's dangerous to have loose long hair in a Jacuzzi (spa bath) because the underwater suction holes could reverse in the interval and drag your hair underwater.

A girl in the UK nearly drowned and was only saved because a handy life guard was able to give her under water berths until somebody came to the rescue with a knife or scissor.

For safety, and health many swimming pools require hats. Sometimes they say for everybody (females mostly). Sometimes they specify if your hair is longer than ear length. It's obviously easier for them to check everybody has a hat which you can see from a distance on a monitor. They don't have time and energy to get out a tape measure, measuring everybody's hair. Nor would they want to get into an argument about whose hair is longer, shorter, too long. Easier for them to see if somebody is wearing a swimming hat.

Why else are hats needed? To stop you losing your hair grips. To keep in your set.

To stop hair spray making grease on the water. To keep out nits (head lice) of schoolchildren and others.

To stop the chlorine or other substances cleansing the water from damaging your hair.

To keep hair dry so it looks better and does not wet your clothes. So you don't have to spend hours drying your hair keeping others waiting.

Sometimes in a big swimming pool there's a shop selling swimming hats. They might be the wrong size, feel plastic and uncomfortable.

Answers
Your options:
1 Buy Spares / Bulk
Stock up with two or three spare black hats which go with all costumes for all members of the family. (Stock up for a group of friends or school outing or club. Buy in bulk and get a discount.) Stock up with assorted colours so you have one to match every costume.

2 Take a hotel shower cap. Use it as a base. Cover it with spare material from:
An old swimming costume (one you never wear because it is las year's fashion or too small).
A cheap any size swimsuit sold off cheaply out of season in a charity shop.
Material bought from the fabric department of a major department store or craft store such as Spotlight in Singapore and Australasia.
Ideally you want waterproof material. But if you just want to fulfil requirements and not look like you are wearing a shower cap, any fabric covering will do if you are keeping your head out of the water.

3 Use the hotel shower cap as a template.

Repairing Swimhats
If your swim hat is the shower cap shape with elastic around the edge, when it goes loose, tighten it by folding it over into a small pleat at the back and sew with a few inconspicuous cotton stitches.

How To Find Sewing Implements
Use your hotel sewing kit. If they don't have one, ask the receptionist if you can borrow a needle and white cotton. In a five star hotel the staff can call housekeeping or valet service to sew on a button or do a small repair. They might make a charge or you might leave a tip, or even just a thank you and a good review on TripAdvisor which managements seem to value more.

In a large group, probably another member has a sewing kit. They might not want to part with a sewing kit. But they might wait while you sew, to reclaim their needle, even do the sewing for you.

Short of cotton? Pull a thread from another garment. Use your hair if you have long hair. Use a piece of dental floss. Ask hotel reception for a piece of cotton.

On one occasion when I needed cotton I had the chutzpah to ask a hotel reception for a sewing kit and I wasn't staying at that hotel, just visiting for lunch with a friend. If you have a friend staying at a hotel, they might have a sewing kit they don't need. It might be sitting undiscovered in the drawer.

At one hotel I went without sewing for several days and was considering complaint on the hotel feedback form and on TripAdvisor. I wondered whether people in the grander suites had sewing kits. (Sometimes you can see from the trolley of the people who make up the room which items are given to the expansive suites.)

When I went down to the reception desk, they told me that the room had a sewing kit. It was in the plastic box in the wardrobe (Americans call that a closet).

Bye, bye. I'm off to sew a swimming hat.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Author of How to get out of the mess you're in. Please share my posts.

Hand To God puppet play in Singapore (was in USA)

I was in the office of the Singapore American Association, which I walked into by accident when I visit the American club looking for the American Women's Association. The editor gave me a copy of their newspaper and inside was a leaflet for a play Hand To God.

A few days later I hesitated about throwing away the leaflet. I thought, first I must read about the play.

Problem
Do I want to see this play? What if I'm busy or out of the country, in another country, when it's being performed? How can I find out about the plot?

Answer
The leaflet warned 'rude and noisy' performances, and I'm not keen on noise nor bad language. But I wanted to know the plot. So I typed 'Hand To God' and the name of the playwright, Robert Askins, into Google. Up popped a link to a complete synopsis of the play in Wikipedia.

I read the plot. At first it was hard to follow. The playwright has committed one of the errors we are often warned about as would be aspiring novelists at Writers Holiday in Wales and Writers Summer School. (Both writing week long events are held every summer, plus some weekend spring and autumn courses) in the UK. The regular advice to writers is, don't name your characters with names which start with the same letter because it confuses the reader.

This play has two characters with names starting with J and two with names starting with T. If you were watching the play, it would be obvious that Jessica is a girl and Jason is a boy. It would be obvious that Timothy is a boy and Tyrone is a puppet. (Unless the other characters are talking about them and both are off stage.) But when I was reading the plot I got lost half way and had to go back to the beginning to work out who was who.

America, Religion and Puppets
The play is an amusing idea. Apparently in the south of the USA, the Bible Belt, highly religious, churches use puppets to teach children bible stories.

The Plot
The plot is about a widow who is asked by her pastor to perform a puppet show, with puppets. Other characters are her son, and three other teenagers.

Key elements of the plot: rivalry of two people for both the women, mother Margery, and the teenage Jessica. Throw in Margery and Jason both blaming the other for Margery's husband death.

Puppet Characters
Allow the puppet to reveal love, reveal who had slept with whom, who blames whom.

Have the puppets becoming characters criticising the person operating the puppet, the other characters.

Have the puppet as commentator to the audience, making opening and closing remarks about how society is organised through history and good and evil. Very effective.

Performance Facts
Having got interested, my next bit of sleuthing was to hunt down the ticket prices and discounts and dates.

Dates
The show is on in Singapore 19 April to May according to the website.

Place
Singapore Repertory Theatre at K C Art Centre. 20 Merbau Road, Singapore 239035. Nearest MRT Clarke Quay. Exit G. Nine minutes walk.
http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_8227/travel_site_23055/get_here/

Dates, Times and Prices
Phone SISTIC 6348 or www.sistic.com.sg
Monday to thursday performances are at 8 pm and cost $45 for Cat1 and $35 for Cat 2. Friday and Saturday prices are $60 for cat 1 and $50 for cat2.

Discounts
Discounts include a free ticket if you book for five people, and discounts for bookings of 20 people.

Ages and Suitability
"Parental Advisory. R18 (Strong coarse language and religious references) Rude and noisy puppets on stage."

Ages and Special Offers
Those aged 18-25 can get front row seats, reduced prices - only $15, and free workshops and backstage tours. You need to be able to show a Singaporean NRIC (national identity card) at a SISTIC outlet.

The leaflet quotes good reviews from the The New York Times and UK's Daily Telegraph, The Times, Official London Theatre.

Performance History
The first performance was in New York in 2011. The play performed in London in 2016. Now in 2017 it reached Singapore. (Oddly enough, films (movies) often are shown in Singapore before they reach the UK and USA.) Where next?

More information from:
www.srt.com.sg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_to_God_(play)
http://handtogod.co.uk

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share my posts.

South Korea Going 'Coin less' not Chinless - I typed c o i n l e s s

Problem
South Korea is trying out a no coin system. This will make your wallet and pocket lighter. Fewer coins to have to recognise. Less embarrassment

On the other hand all those coins you find in pockets and bags and down the back of the sofa will be worthless.

Even if they refund the money at a central bank, the cost of going there will outweigh the fare money.

As for those jars of coins with the word for tips, or the charity boxes in which you can slip the odd coin, the collect of the pennies at charity shops were everything is priced at something and 99p as a marketing ploy to make it sound cheaper, and the customer says, Keep the Change.

All the items with prices pre-printed will need new packaging.

I used to wonder why some book printing systems would not allow you to print the price on the cover. I thought, 'but the customer wants to know the price and doesn't like to ask. The customer is more likely to buy if the price is marked and sounds cheap.'

Beggars will now be asking for a dollar.

You will no longer have coins for your coin collection.

Will they still issue high value commemorative coins? We will be watching the results of the experiment in Korea with interest.

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

Noises in the city, and the sky: what's outside my window, knocking at my door?

Noises overhead - again. What woke me? What disturbed me?

Problems
You move to a new location for work or for the winter, to retire or as a tax exile. You book a hotel. You hear noises disturbing your sleep, or your reading. What was that?

Answers
Animals
Cat entering through cat flap. Climbing curtain. Opening door.Scratching on furniture or cat scratch post.

Crash, Bang, Broken!
Open window and flapping curtains knocked item off the windowsill.

Thunder
Thunder overhead. Does it matter? Firstly, you need to shut the windows in Singapore. We spent a week drying out the carpet after drenching rain blew through the window over the desk and down onto the floor, soaking all the papers which were on the desk and floor.

Yes, if I want to go swimming in a swimming pool in Singapore. The security guard will rush over to instruct you to get out of the water. Thunder means lighting and you could be struck.

Our complex was struck by lightning and the lift were out for several hours or days. The power tripped. All the food went off in the freezer - including the smoked salmon.

Office Alarm
Upright magazine holder fell over.
Laptop or mobile phone slid off pile of papers.
Fax machine spewing paper.
You accidentally hit print and what you are reading is printing.
You are working late and cleaners have arrived.
Security staff are doing their rounds.
Window cleaners outside window on platform.
Painters outside on platform.
Coffee machine signalling water has boiled.

Bedroom Buzzing
Mobile phone is getting messages on what's ap.

Fly trapped behind window pane trying to get out.

Moths in light fitting set to timer.

Toddler wakes and shakes cot which moves across floor.

Partners snoring.
Guys in next room snoring.
Pet snoring.

Daytime raucous clashing
Chinese New Year in China, Asia, Singapore, London, US cities - lion dance. - Noise of groups banging cymbals in passing vehicles and at building entrances, club lobbies, and restaurants.
Late Night disco on ground floor or top floor of hotel, especially at weekends.
Restaurant on ground floor preparing for breakfast, and shifting bins in alley on ground floor when you are on third floor (woke us in Cambodia).

Tooting
Bicycles, motorcycles, Italian scooters, Cambodian and Asian cycle taxis, and cars, hooting each other as they cross lanes and overtake other vehicles and pedestrians.

Bleeping
Traffic light signals under your hotel bedroom window telling pedestrians it is safe to cross but you are likely to be hit by vehicles turning left from your right, or vice versa. (All day long when I was working at a desk by the window in an all suite hotel in Shanghai.)

Knocking
I am in a hotel, want to bath or shower. Take off my clothes and grab a towel. Noises in the corridor.
They won't be coming here, but going to another room. Just in case, I'll lock the door and fix the chain. I could put out do not disturb but that involves opening the door and there could be CCTV in the corridor.

I hear knocking. I ask Who is it? The reply is in a foreign language. I look through the spy hole. What could it be? Just ignore it.

A key rattles in the lock and the door opens slightly caught by the chain.

This happens to me many times. What is it? Loads of reasons.

Hotel staff want to check your mini bar, change the towels, make up the room, turn down the bed in the evening. Let them in. They might be delivering a chocolate!

What else could it be? Fellow guests. Family in the next room have forgotten their key and are looking for their room.
Kids knocking on every door for a laugh.

Naughty kids have reversed all the Do Not Disturb signs to Make Up My Room.
Reception staff have brought up your final bill on last day to bandit to you or slip it under the door to speed your getaway and ensure you pay.

Once I checked into a hotel in New Orleans, checked in at the desk, got my key, and despite my protests the porter insisted on carrying some of our luggage, we presumed for a tip. We arrived outside a bedroom door in New Orleans with the porter and my luggage but the door key would not work.

I tried again.

The porter tried. "He said, Either it's wrongly programmed or the door is locked from the inside." He tried again.

Eventually the door opened, of it's own accord, from inside. For a second I thought, "There's a ghost in the room!"

A man inside peered out. I could see he was wearing a white bathrobe. He asked, "What do you want?"

I said, "This is my room". He replied, "No it isn't. It's my room."

The porter checked the key card. He tutted. He admitted, "They've issued two cards to different guests for the same room." He shook his head, "Not again! That's the third time today. Happens all the time."

Hotel TV
TV has not been turned off and the day's new programmes have started.
TV is remotely operated to play a welcome message and guide to the hotel's restaurants in local language. Turn it to English and you will be able to understand what they are saying and that the sauna being shown is not some random advertisements but in your own hotel with a discount, free offer, and opening hours - plus sauna and swimming time. They are also telling you to go to the bar for a free welcome cocktail or juice or coffee Aren't you glad you watched! (Happened to me in Hawaii and some US hotels.)

Waves Crashing
In a Florida hotel I could hear the waves outside crashing on the beach. The first night I dreamed about tsunamis and kept waking throughout the night. I had asked for a sea view. I thought, 'I should have asked for a bedroom at the back.' But the second night I was so tired I sleep through. By the third night I had got used to it. New people at the hotel were complaint that the sea sound kept them awake. I just looked condescending. Some people complain about anything and everything. (British irony.)

Country music is playing
In Opryland Hotel in Tennessee, USA, the lady who made up the room must have been instructed to turn on the radio to play country music which came on when I put my key fob in the door which activated the lights and all electrical equipment.

Today, just birdsong. It's awfully quite around here. Just the sound of me typing - and the occasional chair scraping the floor overhead. Distant churning. Must be a cement mixer on a building site two blocks away. Other people are working. And washing. I hear noise in pipes. I am not alone.

Angela Lansbury, travel write and photographer.

A Singapore Story About Noise At Night, Emergencies, Gas

Problem
We went to dinner with friends who told us that when they first moved in they were disturbed at night by the sound of drilling in the road outside.

Answer
My friend's husband was a pilot and needed his sleep. Many women in Singapore, both the Chinese and the American ex-pats, are quite feisty. They are used to dealing with problems whilst husbands are away, and coping with other cultures. She put on her dressing gown and went outside to see what was the problem.

She demanded to speak to the foreman of the group and told him he had to stop drilling because her husband was a pilot and needed his sleep.

The foreman said, "Sorry, ma-am, but we can't stop. It's an emergency. We have a gas leak."

She retorted, "There's no gas leak. This street has no gas. We buy bottled gas. My husband has called the police and they will be here any minute."

The workmen jumped into their van and drove off.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker, raconteur. I have more posts on noise.
Please share my posts.

More Nasty Noises At Night - What's The Cause? What's The Cure?

Problems
Noises wake you at night. Noises disturb you by day. What's causing that noise?

Answers
Car alarms - your car on your driveway. Nobody there.
Car alarms outside the hotel or motel window. You go to investigate - nobody there.
It's a cat, or a dog.
In London it's a fox.

Clonking
What's that?
It's the radiators.

Fire Alarms
Fire Alarms, without fire, in restaurants and hotels and blocks of flats.
New system is malfunctioning, too sensitive.
People falling asleep while smoking cigarettes.
Indoor fireworks setting off alarms.
Smoking on balconies or in bathrooms by people who think the smoke won't drift or run to answer the hotel phone forgetting their cigarette.

Drunks and wedding party best man having a laugh.
Indians lighting incense.
Hindus haven a naming ceremony which involves walking around the baby seven times with fire. Happened in my block of flats - in my flat.
Elderly people burning the toast in the toaster or under the grill.

Loud sex
Loud sex in hotels - from a room with single occupant.
The person who is alone has ordered a blue movie.

Loud Parties In Hotel Bedrooms
What to do if there is a late night party and loud laughter?
Do not knock on the door and complain. Mostly people would not realise sound carries and disturbs other and will apologise. However, once in a while they could be rude or worse. Call the management.

New Year
Worst times for noise? New Year's Eve in city centres.
New Year's Eve fireworks.
Cars revving up as people drive home.

Fortunately, after New Year's Eve, you have a chance to sleep in tomorrow morning.

See my previous posts on noise. Please share my posts.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

German words you'll find easy, and German words you'll find confusing

Problem
How do you learn German?

Answer
I am using D u o l i n g o free online course. Today I was learning animals, birds and insects. Some of them were easy, almost the same in both languages.

German - English
Eine Biene - a bee
die Fliege - the fly (looks like an English command, "Die, fly!" but it's pronounced dee
Ein Insekt - an insect
Die Spinner - (a spider is a spinner of a spider's web)
Haustier - pet (Haus is German for house - it sounds the same, tier is german for animal, so a house animal is a pet)

English - German
a bee - eine Biene (remember that nouns start with capital letters in German)
the fly - die Fliege
an insect - ein Insekt
a spider - die Spinner

Angela Lansbury, learner and teacher of languages.

What To See In Vietnam - planning far in advance

I saw a stunning waterfall on Facebook.
I translated this through Google translate and got: ban - you; g i o c - descent; c a o - high bang - state. I must put this place on my list. But where is it? Can I travel there easily, quickly, affordably. Would I only get that view from a helicopter, not from the ground in rainy season?

Story
Friends of mine recently told me that they went on their honeymoon a couple of years ago to Cambodia where I recently had a wonderful trip. I was delighted to learn from them that the sunrise trip to see Ankor Wat, which I had missed, not wanting to ruin my holiday my making myself tired, was,in their opinion, not necessary, in fact a waste of time and effort. They said too many people got in the way of photographs. It was bad weather and the sunrise was not good.

Problems
How do you decide what to see in Vietnam? What is the layout of the land? How do you remember which place is where?

Answer
It's a long thin country, the reverse of Chile (which is a long coast down the west of South America). Vietnam is long north to south down the ease coast, so lots of beaches. Historically, Americans and British movie goers will be familiar with the Vietnam war, the names Hanoi and Saigon, and the Vietcong tunnels.

You have to choose whether to take a trip to one area or all three, south, middle and north, and if so, which season.

Simple way to remember what's where:
In the South is Saigon - now known as Ho Chi Minh city.
Up north is Hanoi.

Answers
1 Read the tourist board sites and pick your favourite places.
2 Check cheap last minute deals to the capital or another city. Check out the hop on hop of buses or cheapest guided tours and list your top ten attractions, or three per day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, one in the evening.
3 See TripAdvisor for their top ten attractions.
4 Compromise with your fellow travellers, both pick one attraction per day, and one nearby which both of you would like to visit.
5 Whoever is paying and booking the trip decides after buying a guide book such as Lonely Planet.
6 Pick the cheapest hotel within your budget and ask the concierge to book a tour.
7 Ask your friends.
8 Ask people who live in the country. (But their trips home might only involve seeing granny and relatives.)
9 Travel with a local who speaks the language who can bargain for better prices and spot scams and dangers.
10 Pick up maps and leaflets at the airport on entering, local leaflets at hotels and nearby shops, look for and select coupons and discounts.
11 Make one sight your reason for going and treat everything else as a bonus.
12 Pick beauty spots featured on the internet.

Warnings
The featured beauty spot may depend on weather and your tolerance of isolation or crowds. I don't like big crowds but nor do I like to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a driver who is a complete stranger.

My lists:

Vietnam Sightseeing
North: Capital Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, world Heritage Site. Ha Long bay has those dramatic isolated rocks which look like double height sugar cubes.
Take two buses and a motorbike taxi to
Ban Gioc Waterfall, Cao Bang, Vietnam. See the nearby cave.
Hanoi Museums: Vietnam Women's Museum (first in TripAdvisor); Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology (second); Vietnam Military History Museum; Ho Chi Minh Museum; Hanoi Police Museum.

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), biggest city.
Cu Chi guerillas' tunnels. French Notre Dame cathedral. Museums include: Southern Women's Museum; Ho Chi Minh Museum, Ho Chi Minh City Museum, 3D art museum.

Activities and Workshops
Kite-making or
Pottery.

Shopping
From Wikipedia:
'The áo dài is a Vietnamese national costume, now most commonly worn by women but can also be worn by men. In its current form, it is a tight-fitting silk tunic worn over pants. The word is pronounced [ʔǎːw zâːj] in the North and [ʔǎːw jâːj] in the South. Áo classifies as shirt.[1] Dài means "long".'

Also look at the simplified Wikipedia. Elsewhere I read that Ao means clothing. The man's version is called Ao gam. You can also buy these from websites.

Tips and Trips on Websites
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attractions-g293924-Activities-c49-Hanoi.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hạ_Long_Bay
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Tourism-g293921-Vietnam-Vacations.html
https://www.viator.com/tours/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/Cu-Chi-Tunnels-and-Countryside-Tour-by-Luxury-Speedboat/d352-6765SGNCCCSSPEED (Trip promising speeding down the Saigon river to the war memorial park and see the entrance to the labyrinth of tunnels; riverside lunch and stop at cricket farm to try eating a cricket, and on to see rice paper being made.

Reading and re-reading and film/movie list:
Good Morning Vietnam.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker.

A Little Known 'Museum /Attraction' in Singapore's Wallace Trail and Wildlife

Problem
What to do which is different, without the huge queues and crowded and high prices and time needed for major attractions?

Old Ford Factory
In the north west outskirts of Singapore I have enjoyed visiting the Old Ford Factory Museum with its exhibits on WWII when Singapore was under Japanese occupation. (Small fee, reduced for schoolchildren and Singapore Residents.) See my previous post.

You might be able to combine a trip to the Old Ford Factory with the Wallace Trail at Dairy Farm Nature Park and exhibition.

The Wallace Trail At Dairy Farm Nature Park
The website tells you lots of useful information about fruit trees such as identifying a durian tree.

The under cover exhibition is in a converted cowshed - from the Dairy Farm. If you've driven along Diary Farm Road and wondered what happened to the dairy and thought it was vanished without trace, like the Orchard on Orchard Road, and the beach on beach road, it's good to be able to learn about the old Dairy Farm.

I like the pithily expressed admonition on the Wallace website:

Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.

Wallace was an English naturalist.

Driving through the area, my friends told me about their visit to the Wallace exhibition, about Wallace and wildlife. London, England has a Wallace Collection, a lesser known art gallery. So make sure you specify the country when searching the internet for information on either of these two places.

Your internet search might also turn up the National Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland.

You could also combine a visit to the The Wallace Trail with a climb up Bukit Timah. (Bukit is Malay for Hill.)

Here are the links to these attractions:
Singapore
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/~/media/nparks-real-content/gardens-parks-and-nature/diy-walk/diy-walk-pdf-files/wallace-trail-at-dairy-farm-nature-park.pdf?la=en (Singapore)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Ford_Motor_Factory
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/parks-and-nature-reserves/bukit-timah-nature-reserve

It's worthwhile reading abound the internet. Although the official website reminds you to spray yourself with insect cream on the trail, a local blogger gives close up (copyright so I cant reproduce them) pictures, and the warming that mosses are out 'in droves'.
http://thesmartlocal.com/read/wallace-trail-at-dairy-farm-nature-reserve

England
http://www.wallacecollection.org (Art in London)
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g186338-d187558-Reviews-Wallace_Collection-London_England.html

Scotland
https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g191266-d190216-i233555535-National_Wallace_Monument-Stirling_Scotland.html

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

A Little Museum Which You Might Not Have Noticed - National Design Centre in Singapore

The National Design Centre in Singapore is near the National Library. I photographed the Design Centre on my way to a meeting in The Bras Basah complex which is a run down dimly lit building full of nooky shops, bookshops and art supply shops.

A friend of mine in Singapore recommended the Design Centre on Facebook. I see that it has a cafe which seems to sell Japanese food, and a shop.

I read an article about a man who decided he was not sassed with souvenirs of key rings showing the mystical merlon (represented by a large statue and fountain spouting into the river). He started a company which makes plates showing landmarks and Singapore features, later helped by a government grant.

MRT
Bugis or Bras Basah.

https://www.designsingapore.org

Angela Lansbury

Mystery Noises Night and Day In Hotels, Homes, Buildings At Home, On Holiday, On Business

Problem
What's that noise?
Should I check or stay safe in bed or my chair?
Does it need attention?

Answers
Mobile Phones
Incoming calls on what's up or mails can trigger sounds or even vibrations which wake you. Solutions: Turn off sound to vibrate, leave mobile phone on the breakfast table. Leave phone on the laptop. Keep in room for emergency but on the other side of the room.
Fax machines can print out long messages, orders from China sent to wrong numbers, during their working day which could be at night where you are.
Wear ear plugs.
Set clock alarm and leave phone in another room.
Set clock alarm and have bedside landline for emergencies.
Ask family and fiends not to send texts or messages to landlines - especially when travelling to foreign time zones.


Animals and birds, domestic or wildlife:
Cats, dogs, squirrels running along a fence, birds, pigeons, foxes mating at night (screaching in your garden or the road outside), spiders cockroaches, insects in a plastic bag left on the floor, insects in a chocolate wrapper. Monkeys on the loose can climb up to higher floors of apartment blocks, onto balconies, into flats if windows and doors are left open.
Bears foraging fro food in bins or smelling sandwiches and food wrappers left in cars outside house or in the garage.

Birds such as kids in New Zealand jump all over cars in car parks by and eat the windscreen wipers.
Crickets.
Bird calls.
Birds hopping along balconies, perched on railings, perched on a plant singing or calling to other birds, sitting on a fridge on the balcony. (Singapore.)
Dawn chorus of birds.
Pigeon or sea gull perching on windowsill of hotel. (Fishguard, Wales.)
Dogs barking in distance.
Cows outside window in rural areas.
Cocks crowing.

Weather
Rain on windows and rooftops.
Thunder - you were woken by the lightning despite curtains being closed.
Dustbin lids and loose items being blown about.
Hailstones on roof.

Electrical and Mechanical
Door opens and shuts in the wind caused by draughts from open windows in bathroom.
Fridge door left ajar makes a beep.
Oven timer accidentally set beeps when the hour or 24 hours is up.
Timer on phone not cancelled.
Watch in bedside drawer bleeps every hour, not normally heard, but heard if drawer is open or contents are moved.
Air conditioning turns on and off with temperature changes at intervals throughout the night.
Lights in hall activated by late night or early morning neighbours or cleaners.

Cars, Vehicles, Accidents
Cars starting up nearby.
Car doors slamming as diners from restaurants go home at midnight or 1 am after you've gone to bed; then half an hour later, staff having locked up the restaurant will pick up their cars from side streets where they can park all day for free.
Electrical whine from milk floats doing dawn deliveries before rush hour.
Grinding noise from trucks / lorries collecting wheelie bins, lifting bins, shouts from the man at the back to the driver.
Bang of cards colliding at traffic lights.
Bang of moving car hitting stationery car.
Repeated bangs of aggrieved spouse damaging car of spouse or rival.

Story
Bumps In The Night
Floor shaking from earthquake - over my bed int he UK. I woke thinking it was a burglar. Nobody there. Decided it must be underground or overground trains. Read in the newspaper next day that there had been a minor earthquake tremor felt in London, England.

Plumbing
Noise when somebody else in building uses shower, toilet, or even washes hands during the night. Caused by air lock?
Nose from people throwing rubbish down internal chutes on back balconies. (Singapore condo.)

Tapping, Banging and Booms
Tapping - could be dripping tap.
Dripping from blocked gutter during or after rain. (Check gutter in daylight with ladder and torch and get it fixed.)
Window open causes curtain to blow about so that the curtain puller, a metal or wood or porcelain pull cord handle strikes wall or glass.

Thunder.
Overhead passenger planes.
Military planes on an air force or army exercise. (Singapore.)
Helicopters seeking criminals.
Planes spraying crops, detecting haze, routine patrols.

Sirens
Fire alarm.
Emergency.
Exercise for emergency.

Voices on Loudspeakers
Emergency.
Call to prayer during the night and at dawn in Muslim areas and Arabic countries (woke us during our honeymoon in Morocco.)

Reflected Noise
Sounds of people in gardens or garages next door or street outside sound as if they are in your home.
Noise on staircase outside your bedroom in hotel, or alongside your flat.
Noise of lift on your floor in hotel.
Clattering of staff serving early morning breakfasts in hotel.
Slamming of nearby hotel bedroom doors of guests leaving early for work to beat rush hour or for early flights.
Doors linking bedrooms in hotels although locked shut can give the impression that people talking next door or playing TVs are in the same room or your sitting room area.

Tips - Phone A Friend
When I was living alone, before going to investigate a noise I would alert somebody else. In the daytime I would call a neighbour or family member, or carry my mobile speaking to them as I walked.

At night I would leave a message on their answering machine asking them to call me back next day to check I was OK. I had one friend who also lived alone and told me: "If ever you are in trouble, call me any time, day or night."

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

Noises Overhead in Singapore - Why?

Problem
What's that noise overhead?

Answers
I've learned to identify a lot of noises.

America
Noisy footsteps overhead. Sounds like elephants stomping up and down. The block where I lived in Rockville Maryland in the nineteen eighties was a three storey wooden construction. Every time anybody walked overhead, you heard every step. The people who lived in the middle of the architectural sandwich, on floor two (the English would say around and then first) was at loggerheads with both the people below and the people above.

Sinapore
In Singapore we hear:
the traffic,
the children shouting in the swimming pool
and the children's playground,
people shouting in the corridor,
the noise of
machines blowing the anti mosquito fogging.
During the evening we hear the ball going backing wards and forwards in tennis matches.

At bedtime we hear the crickets. The noise rises to a crescendo, stops, then starts again.

We get noise at bedtime. The building gradually goes silent. Often we are woken at night by thunderstorms. Sometimes we are woken by noise overhead. More usually we are woken by a storm, get up early, then hear the people overhead also up early.

In Singapore the second apartment we rented, in a block called The Beaumont, we rented the top floor so that there would be no overhead noise.

Now we are in a very solid block, yet we hear noise overhead. The noise starts at 5 am.

Why so early? Are they on shift work?

I came up in the lift with a couple who lived on the floor below mine. I told them, "I'd like to meet the people above me. I want to ask why they get up at five am?"

The woman replied, "It is often because they want to get children ready for school. It takes time to wash them and dress them and give them breakfast. Then you want to drive them to school before the rush hour starts."

Now I know. Now you know.

Please share my posts.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Banana grabbing monkeys in Cambodia

Problem
Monkeys on the loose. In the Zenghua area of North Singapore a monkey has been on the loose. A few people have been feeding the monkey. Up to ten people have reported being bitten.

At a Toastmasters Club meeting at Zenghua Community Centre, the Sergeant At Arms, who opens the meeting, went around the table asking each person in term to give their name, club and view os what to do about monkeys. This produced varied views.


A day later I was talking to a friend about my recent trip to Cambodia where we tok a ride in a tuk-tuk and saw monkeys near monuments under nearby trees being fed by visitors.

My friend recalled her trip to Cambodia, with a monkey encounter. She had visited a temple and the tuk-tuk was parked outside. A small girl was selling bananas, cheaply.

My friend bought a bunch of small bananas. She placed the bunch on the lid of the backrest to the back seat. Suddenly a monkey jumped down from a nearby tree. It grabbed hold of the bananas and started eating them.

Along came some more monkeys. It was monkey's World War Three.

the first monkey had shot up a tree with its banana. I had been expected my fired to say, "I shot up the tree and grabbed back my banana."

Not so fast. Not so easy.

I was expecting my friend to say, "As we turned the corner I looked back and saw the key returning the bananas to the little girl so she could re-sell them to somebody else."

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share my posts.

Kallang stadium seen from train

Here's my photo of K a l l a n g Wave stadium. The Calling Wave mall is alongside.

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

St George's Day Celebrations With Traditional Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

Celebrate with r o a s t beef ( I had to insert spaces because the site's spell checker keeps changing r o a s t to road.
Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is a traditional lunch all year Expect to see bunting and flags at a pub or carvery or other restaurant.
In Yorkshire the batter is often local style, plate size like a bowl to contain the beef. But in London more often you get a smaller piece of bowl shaped batter not he side which you can fill with gravy, sometimes served in a jug. It is filling food.

The Mayor of London is supporting and promoting celebrations in Trafalgar Square. So, if you'd rather look at the Trafalgar square stone lions than think of beef, that's the place.

http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/8726328-feast-of-st-george-in-trafalgar-square

St George's Day is also the start of British Beef week with reductions at butcher's if you want to cook your own beef.
http://www.cobbsfarmshop.co.uk/news.asp?contentID=622

See previous post on flags. Please share my posts.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author and speaker.

St George's Day Sunday 23rd April 2017

Problem
How do you spell George and how do I remember. What to do? Where to go?

Answers
Spelling George
I keep mis-typing George and the word is highlighted by typo checkers. Easy to remember, the e is attached to the g to make a soft sound like a J.

Flying Flags
St George's Day is the day to find and dust off a St George's Day or England flag, which is a red cross on a white background, beloved by football team supporters. The flag forms part of the Union Jack. If you've spent money on a flag previously, now is the time to get more value for your money by using it again.

Where to get one? Kiosks all over London will be selling flags.

Buying Flags and Bargains
Supermarkets also stock flags, small ones for your hand, larger flags to attach to cars, big banners, and face paints. A day or two later the leftover flags will be sold off by supermarkets, at first a ten per cent reduction, then maybe more.

You can also buy flags and face make up from party shops. Party shops online have a huge selection.

How to fly flags
Most hand held flags are fixed correctly. If you are flying flags you have to fly them correctly. Make sure you hoist it all the way up. A flag at half mast is a sign of mourning, generally for the death of royalty or national tragedy. At sea an upside down (Union Jack) flag is a signal requesting help, indicating a disaster.

How do you know which was is up for a Union Jack? Ask a boy scout.

Beef Lunches
I am being emailed by restaurants offering beef lunches. Cobb Farm has sent me information.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share my posts.