Madeira's Marvellous Tunnels

Flag of Portugal. Madeira is Portuguese.

Problem
Madeira is a volcanic island with fingers of mountain crags and z shape roads winding up and down, not for the faint-hearted. (However, I soon got used to it.)

Answer
Enjoy the tunnels which save all that mountain climbing. Along the seafront from the airport to the capital, Funchal, depending on your route and hotel destination, you can pass through 12-20 tunnels. I kept counting them on my fingers.

Websites
visitmadeira.pt

Airlines
Skyscanner - comparison and booking website
skyscanner.net
Easyjet.com

Angela Lansbury

Strange things about Madeira, Volcanoes, Water, Waterfalls, the wet Westerlies, the world's islands and wet places

Problem
Where? Most people don't know of Madeira but don't where Madeira is. I had been there before but had forgotten the location. It's the fate of many islands, such as Singapore and Malta.

Black Volcanic Ash
The island is made of black volcanic ash. It was formed from a volcanic eruption. So were many islands. Think of: Hawaii.

Indonesia's Eruptions
Everybody has heard of Krakatowa. It was well documented by survivors.
Another of the Indonesians' islands was a greater disaster for local people and the whole world.  On Sumbawa an eruptions created the year of endless night, which reached as far as England and Europe in the early 1800s.

Red Earth
So the volanic eruptions leave black ash and black beaches. But Madeira also has red earth. Like Singapore and parts of Africa and Devon in England. I know. I spent a lot of time wiping Madeira's red dust from my shoes off the sills of the hire car. Then more time wiping the 'red' - or rather orange, stain off my white and turquoise trainers.

The World's Wet and Windy Places
Wet areas of Madeira and Singapore are on one side of the island. The winds blow one way because of the rotation of the earth. As the earth spins the air moves past. The air drops water vapour on the mountain tops so you get streams and waterfalls running down towards the sea at sea level.

The West and the West and the Westerlies
The west of Singapore, around places called Bukit, which is Malay for hill, gets more rainfall, more than the drier East near Changi airport.

Madeira Levadas - Water Channels
On Madeira the farmers built levadas or draining channels or waterways taking water to their land. The rainfall means green grass, bushes, trees.

Tropical Weather and Plants
Heat means tropical colourful flowers, and palm trees.

Madeira is south of England, hotter. Heat and wet means tropical plants, bananas, coconuts from coconut palms, cane for sugar and rum.


Useful Websites
lastminute.com
opodo.co.uk flight comparison website
tripadvisor.co.uk
tripadvisor.com
visitmadeira.com
Wikipedia.org Madeira
Wikitravel.org Madeira
Wikivoyage.org Madiera

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

Top Ten Typical Madeira Sites: Madeira wine, food, and thatched houses

Thatched triangular house at Santana mountainside village in Madeira. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
What to do in Madeira? Having been there recently, I shall make notes immediately on getting home as a reminder of what to see next time.

Answers
I assume you are staying in the capital, Funchal. A motorway takes you to hotels in Funchal, the capital, where about half the population lives. Book a car from the airport or online. Booking though hotel reception could be mush higher price.
See or eat in the restaurant of one of the top three hotels:

1 HOTELS with views
Reid Hotel - traditional and historic.
Winston Churchill stayed here. So did Roger Moore.
Pestana Casino Park - modern. Dining room with panoramic sea view.
Savoy - biggest hotel in Madeira; signs say it will open spring 2019.
(Budget altenative - many budget hotels and restaurants with sea views or panormaic views over the valleys.
Hotel with news:
CR7. Named after football hero Cristiano Ronaldo.

2 SWIM
in the outdoor seawater pools, at Porto Moniz, north west of the island.
Alternatively, staying at Pestana Casino Park hotel, try the Jacuzzi and the jets in the indoor swimming pool. You can sit in jets, lie in jets, stand in jets.

3 BUS TOUR - Funicular - Botanical Gardens
Take the red or yellow open top tour bus. Take the red bus to visit Monte, the funicular, and the wicker basket descent.
Budget alternative. Be photographed in the wicker toboggan on the top floor of La Vie shopping mall, a few steps away from the seafront.

4 GLASS BALCONY VIEW
Take the yellow bus tour (or drive or take a public bus) to the lookout point with the glass floor.

5 LEVADA WALK
Do a levada walk. Easy walk on a level - Ribero Frio.
Budget - take a public bus to Ribeiro Frio (meaning cold river). Take the walk above the road to the lookout balcony with birds.

6 LEVADA WALK DOWN TO WATERFALL Walk on the levada walk downhill to see the waterfall. Catch the bus back uphill. (It's an eight seater minibus like a big jeep, about three dollars.)
This killed my calf muscles. Leave it to the last day.

7 MADEIRA WINE
Try some Madeira wine, a fortified wine, and learn about it.
Visit in Funchal:
a) D'Olivera  Madeira Wines - sit at barrell tables and try the drinks. We had a pre-arranged group talk for about 15 people. We had a talk from Luís D'Olivera, a quietly spoken dear little man, sad about the death of his older brother, whose picture you can see at the entrance - such a shame - a lovely man, elegant, refined. I wish I had had the chance to meet him.
www.doliveiras.pt
b) Blandy's Madeira Wine Company  - around the corner from D'Olivera. These are the two big ones. Blandy's is bigger.

8 MADEIRA RUM IN SPECTACULAR SETTING BY CLIFFS
c) Drive to Porto da Cruz, to see the Distillery producing rum from sugar cane. Big old distillery. Just walk in and read the captions and leaflet.
Next door is the shop which has open bottles for free tastings but if we had not read the leaflet we'd never have known.

Toilets by the seafront restaurant, with views from tables on one side, but when we were there everybody sat the other side. Toilets with graffiti. Another visitor exclaimed in horror. (However, to me a toilet cubicle and water to wash hands was a luxury after visiting the peninsular walk at Ponta (viewpoint) São Lourenço - magnificent sea views but no toilets and no bushes either, toilet paper scattered along the verge by the parked cars.)
Porta Da Cruz has a tiny stony black vaolcanic ashe beach under a massive cliff with crashing waves and - impressive.
www.engenhosdonorte.com
Read up in The Wines of Madeira by Trevor Elliott.

9 SKEWERS OF MEAT OR FISH
Try local food, such as tender moist fish or tender meat on skewers. I recommend two very different places:
1 Cosy rooftop terrace down a side street, no view. Coffee, Madeira wines, or a full meal with the meat on skewers.
Casal da Penha terrace bar
tel:291 227 674
2 Beer House, on a pier with a view over the boats and sea.  They make their own beer in a small distllery you can see. Toilets downstairs.
www.beerhouse.pt

10 SEE TRIANGULAR THATCHED HOUSES. (See my previous post.)
They are in Santana, a village named after the chapel for Saint Anna. Yes, you can visit them, photograph the outside and go inside. They are used as shops to display local crafts. I went into the flower shop.

Finally, shopping.
You can buy cork bags and hats, embroidery with the thatched houses,
 Madeira wine, honey rum, and bottled cocktails.

Useful Travel Information
Hotels
https://www.pestana.com/en/hotel/pestana-casino-park
https://www.pestanacr7.com/en/hotel/pestana-cr7-funchal (Named for Madeira's Critiano Ronaldo and his football tem number 7, next to the museum dedicated to him and football.)
www.pestana.com
https://www.belmond.com/hotels/europe/portugal/madeira/belmond-reids-palace/

Restaurants
www.casaldapenha.com

Wine tasting
www.doliveiras.pt

Sightseeing
Red bus
www.citysightseeing.pt

Travel Tips
Fly by (alphabetically)
Azores Airlines (A Portuguese airline)
https://www.azoresairlines.pt/en 

British Airways
britishairways.com

EasyJet
easyjet.com

TAP Portuguese airlines
flytap.com

Flight Comparison
expedia
expedia.com

tripadvisor
tripadvisor.com

Official website
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on Madeira and footballer Ronaldo and his museum

Thatched Triangular Houses In Madeira

Problem
Traditional triangular houses, like little pyramids, are a feature of Madeira. You see the images everywhere, on postcards and embroidered on tablecloths. But where are the houses?

I had given up hope of seeing them. Then I looked at a copy of walks in Madeira, the German version owned by the German driver of one of the cars hired by my hiking holiday group.

I noticed the name of the area where the houses were found. It was the same name I saw on the signpost ahead!

Two of our cars, travelling in convoy back from a hike to the highest peak in Madeira, were looking for a restaurant where we could have coffee, tea, beer, and/or something to eat.Another plus would be a toilet.

As we drove into a village I saw one of the pyramid shape houses. We all commented, 'It looks amusing. But how can you live in it? Can you stand up in it? Is there room for furniture? There are no flat walls.'

The car drivers stopped when they came into the village and saw a busy cafe with people sitting outside on the corner of the main intersection. On the way back from the parking area I walked past a hotel with a thatched traditional cottage on the forecourt. People were taking selfies of themselves and their families of children in front of the open doorway.

I peeked inside. It had beds and furniture. It looked very cosy. Plus of course, very original, character.
It was much larger inside than it apeared from outside.

Over the road from the cafe was another of the triangular houses. Leading to it were a rose garden and a geranium garden. The reason why became apparent when I looked inside. It was a flower shop. Shelves on all sides showed brightly coloured flowers and packets of fruit and flower seeds.

Thatched house in Madeira used as a flower shop. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

This one seemed smaller, one room at the front, a door leading to the back. The shelves on the sides created a vertical-sided space like a normal square room.

Flowers
I was tempted to buy a banana plant. However, I was not sure it would be legal or advisable to bring a plant with roots to another country. I remember how phyloxera destroyed vineyards all over the world in the 1860s onwards.

So I bought some seeds instead. I hope to have plants with fruit to remind me of my trip to Maderia and the tirnagular houses.

The houses have red roofs and doors which makes them especially attractive. The buildings were constructed by farmers in the early days of Madeira. Now they are maintained as tourist attractions.

Thatched house in Madeira. Photo by Markus Bernet in Wikipedia.

Travel Tips
Fly by (alphabetically)
Azores Airlines (A Portuguese airline)
https://www.azoresairlines.pt/en 

British Airways
britishairways.com

EasyJet
easyjet.com

TAP Portuguese airlines
flytap.com

Flight Comparison
expedia
expedia.com

tripadvisor
tripadvisor.com

Official website
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage

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

Another travel tale from Indonesia - the access road - can you believe it?

Problem
Another travel story teller claims he bought a mine in Indonesia.
The locals saw a foreigner had bought a business. They wanted a slice of the profits. So they set up a toll road. So every time he or his staff or his house visitors went to his place or away from it they paid a toll.
Did he find he was no longer making a profit, so he had to give up and go out of business? I thought he said he did. I must go back and find out.

Angela Lansbury

Travellers' Tales: Indonesian property seller died

Problem
You buy a home or business in Asia. What could go wrong?

Answers
A Brit claims he bought a part share in a business from an old man. At first all went well. He gradually built up the business until it was making a profit.

However, ten years on, the old man died. The old man's descendants came back and said, 'This land has been ours for generations. Get off our land.'

The Brit claims: 'I went to court. However, the police and solicitors were the brothers of my adversaries.'

I later questioned him again for an update. He replied:
'I got my money back.  But others lost everything.'

Angela Lansbury

Your Choice of Hotels And Bedrooms In Madeira

Flag of Madeira.

Problem
Where to stay? How to get the best deal?

Answers
We stayed at Pestana Casino Park hotel. The huge dining room has a magnificent panormic view of the sea and cliffs.
Rooms on the right look towards Reid Hotel whose name you can glimpse, and the Savoy hotel under construction with a crane on the right and another on the left.
At first I was upset by the two cranes. I wanted to swap bedrooms to the other side. I could see from the landing and balconies alongside the public area that rooms on the left overlooked the old port. You could watch boats sailing in and out.

However, no room were available the night I enquired. It was a hassle to re-pack if they had a room. I made do with the view by drawing the curtains across the far right and far left to hide the cranes.

The Savoy hotel will be the biggest hotel in Madeira when it is finished. Banners on the exterior say it is scheduled to open in spring 2019. Could be later, could be earlier, your guess is as good as mine.

On a levada hiking path I met a German lady who told me she had booked much cheaper accommodation, about 70 Euros for two bedrooms (for herself and a friend) through Webo, the internet booking service.

You can pick a British website, an international  website, an American website, an Australian website, a website in German (and translate into English.)

Hotel booking
airbandb
agoda.com
booking.com
expedia
hotwire
travelpony
tripadvisor.com
tripadvisor.co.uk
trs.com

https://lifehacker.com/booking-a-cheap-hotel-do-booking-sites-matter-1580194056

Angela Lansbury

Easy Walks and Viewpoints in Madeira, especially Cabo Girao, Camara De Lobos

Photo from author Dirk Klasseen in Wikipedia.

Problem
How to get around?

Answers
If you want to drive your own car, you can hire at the airport. Or go online, find a good deal and take a 5 euro taxi from a Funchal seafront hotel to the Europcar or other office in Funchal, the capital city. Booking through our hotel coast about 50 Euros a day, about what our friends paid for the whole week.

Your choices
Taxi tours. You have a choice of six different tours. The map of the tours was in the back seat pocket of the taxi we took from the airport to our hotel.

Open top  hop on hop off bus tours with recorded guide:
Red buses.
Yellow buses.
One person said the yellow bus was very good and dropped her and her husband at the famous Reid hotel.

Local buses.
Levada walking tours.
Contact a company which does guided walking tours along the lavadas. I heard several guides who spoke fluent English as well as German and other languages, dropping into English when I stopped them, then back into German or other languages.

The cost of a guided Levada tour is about 12 euros for 2 persons, according to the sign on the tourist office kiosk which I passed late at night when it was closed.

Top sights include:
Botanical Gardens.
Wicker seated toboggan descent from uphill Monte, which I presume translates as Mountain or Mountain peak, pushed by two energetic people running in white suits.

Overlook At Cabo Girao, Camara de Lobos
One of the yellow top bus circuits takes you uphill to the unnerving glass-bottom lookout point, or Skywalk, which is free, at Cabo Girao, Camaara de Lobos. The open top yellow bus stops here. The viewpoint is a semi-circular suspended glass platform jutting out from the top of the cliffs, said to be the highest cliff skywalk in Europe.

Behind are a couple of snacks bars and various gift shops.
(The toilet costs 50 cents.)

Translation
I thought cabo was cape but Google Translate offered me cable. Nothing for Girao. Camara is chamber, de is in or of, lobos is wolf. So this was once a wolf's lair.

Easiest levada walks:
From Ribero (meaning river) Frio (meaning cold). The bus stops there. You can also park for free. The toilets are free in the cafe on the upper slope. The lady at the bar doesn't bother to check what you are doing although you walk past her. By the time you have done a half hour walk or two hour walk you are probably ready for a coffee anyway. Gift shop next door.

The walk on the lower slope (below the road) is alongside a levada, a canal about a foot wide alonside a wide path. The path eventually narrows.

On the upper side is another path, much easier, flatter, wide. A small cafe, barely more than a kisk is half way. At the end is a viewing platform with birds hoping for food.

Information
From the circular information kiosk on the front lawn of the seafront Pestana Casino Hotel.

Useful Websites
visitmadeira.com
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g1190957-d1464866-r179794621-Cabo_Girao-Camara_De_Lobos_Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/explore/detalhe/cabo-girao-viewpoint

Favourite foods and wines from Madeira

Problem
What is it? Would I like it?

Answers
I love food from Madeira.
For breakfast our hotel buffet's choices included what we in England call French toast, toast with a thick eggy batter which sinks in. We were offered strawberry jam or chocolate sauce, like on waffles or pancakes. In addition the fruit bar included grapes and bananas. You see vineyards up and down the terraced hillsides. (Plus grapefruit, prunes, porridge, kiwi fruit, pineapples, melon and more.)

Plus the usual boiled eggs, scrambled egg, baked beans, bacon, small frankfurter type sausages. sliced cheese, cucumber and salads.

Madeira Style Steak
The dinner buffet included steaks which cooked on a huge skewer in an oven and on the place were high, like small oranges, with a hole in the middle. A local restaurant served the same at the table on the skewer. Like kebab but fist size pieces.

Madeira Cake
The desserts one evening included Madeira cake, a kind of dark honey cake.

Table Wine
We were offered glasses of sparkling wine, made in Portugal. Mateus Rose is still available, but now you can also get the equivalent of sparkling wine, like Prosecco.

Supermarkets have stocks of local Madeira wine, which is fortified wine - more alcohol than the usual wine, strong, like spirits.

Other souvenirs to take home to the family, see next post.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer.

What Does Portuguese Language in Madeira Sound Like?

Flag of Madeira.

Problem
I hear people speaking, what sounds like Russian or Polish. Sh sounds. What language is this?

Answer
It is Portuguese with the accent of Madeira. My friends who live in Lisbon find it hard to understand. I start to recognize the Sh and M word sounds.

However, it is very easy to read.

Signs everywhere are in English and Portuguese, on litter bins and signposts. That helps you to pick up the Portuguese. Sometimes signs show four languages, including German and French. The Portuguese are not so keen on Spanish. Spanish and Italian are similar to Portuguese, so that makes it easier to pick up Portuguese if you already know another European language.

A Portuguese lady happily tells me that Portuguese spoken in Madeira is distinctive, different. She grins as she tells me that Brazilian Portuguese is different again, and the most beautiful, very sing-song.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flashcard_software

duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, learner and teacher of English and other languages. Meet me on Toastmasters International. I am VP PR for BHA broadcasting from Singapore on Zoom. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Do you have a chauffeur - in Indonesia?

Problem
Life in Indonesia is different, is some ways easier. In Shanghai  my friend's husband had a chauffeur. We spent a wonderful day going from one tourist site to another. Our destinations were not on major tours, or would have needed several days. We included a carpet factory where I bought a small carpet.

My other friend is living in Indonesia. Wages are low, so it is cheap to have a chauffeur, and cheaper than taking taxis.)

Over dinner in a hotel I asked him, "Do you have a chauffeur in Indonesia?"
He replied, "No, we sit on the floor."
I thought it was a witty pun. But he had misheard me.
When we sorted that out, he replied,
"Chauffeur. I thought you said sofa. No, I don't have a chauffeur. I did at the beginning. But I found it a nuisance."
"Why?"
"Drivers go off and park. Then you have to phone them and wait for them to turn up. They sometimes fall asleep and turn their phone off. Now I find it liberating to be able to drive myself and just go off instantly."

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

Chatty Cafés Spread in The UK - if you are looking for a chat

Problem
You are travelling alone, or widowed or divorced, your spouse is off on a shopping or sports event. You just feel like a chat. You don't want to sit alone in a cafe or restaurant watching couples and families while you look unwanted.

They have tried singles tables before, but time to try it again, not necessarily for singles. You could be a couple visiting a city, keen to talk to local people or other visitors.

The scheme has been featured on TV. A local councillor, Norman Stevenson, a regular customer at Carpentier & Co, asked the owner, Harriet Carpentier to join the scheme. A notice about the Chatter Natter table can be put on a table at quiet times. The sign is big has a blue background with the words in white THIS IS A CHATTER & NATTER TABLE.

Great idea. I frequently chat to people at the next table but I am unusual in that respect. Normally, you don't like to interrupt others. They sit reading the menu, trying to look busy and occupied.

It also helps community spirit. A chance for the councillor to meet others and discuss their concerns without pushing himself on them. A chance for the members of the public to talk to the councillor without worrying that he was trying to take a quiet break from his work.

Now there's a solution to satisfy all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons.

I can see why the idea was to display it at non busy times. People might linger over a drink, extend sitting time while chatting, and only order drinks.

On the other hand, often singles occupy tables for two. and couples and threesomes occupy tables for four. Stick a chat sign on the table and people might be more willing to share.

Carpentier & Co
26 High Street
Pinner
Middlesex
England.

Useful websites
visitbritain.com
visitwales.com
visitscotland.com
https://www.thechattycafescheme.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Chattycafe/reviews/

Summer Strawberries and Foods In Season In London - mouli vegetables and fruit

VEGETABLES
I look for the new and surprising. In Tesco supermarket's reduced price area after 6 pm I saw a large long white vegetable, called mouli.

I asked an assistant, "What do I do with this?"
He replied, I thought unhelpfully, "You cook it."
Yes, I guessed that, but how do you cook it?

I got home and looked it up on the internet. First I kept finding a brand of kitchen machinery for chopping called a Mooli.   Then I found recipes. Wikipedia lists it under Daikon radish.

Mooli is a kind of horseradish. You could use it to spice up a soup such as a potato soup. But you can also eat it chopped into discs in salad. Pleasantly crunchy.

I didn't find it spicy at all.

Tesco also had a yogurt drink. (You could make your own lassi from a mixture or yogurt and milk, with added mango, or salt, or sugar.)

Then onto dessert.

FRUIT
Strawberries And Cream
Strawberries are in season in the supermarkets, small red strawberries with real summer strawberry flavour. Strawberries are traditionally eaten with pouring cream. Sometimes you get an offer to buy both together.

Perfect Pineapple
Summer fruits are superb value. In Tesco I saw pineapple for 80p, down from £1 and £1.10 earlier this year.

Summer Pudding
Our next trip to the supermarket will be searching for summer pudding.

Useful Websites
visitbritain.com

https://www.tesco.com/direct/moulinex-manual-grater/191-1850.prd?source=others
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikon

Author

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

Ascot in Berkshire - the fashion fun, and covering in the sun

Ascot Stand. Photo from Wikipedia.

Problem
When to go and what to wear?

Answers
The event is on for a week, until Saturday 23rd 2018. A member of my family went on Ladies Day, yesterday, Thursday.

Dress Code
Ladies
Hats for ladies are compulsory. Dresses must have straps.

The late Mrs Shilling, never forgotten, was famous for her hats. And the Shilling hat shop. Hats cost more than a shilling.

Gentlemen
Men must wear collared shirts and ties, not bow ties, and suits, matching jackets and trousers (which Americans call pants).

In the Royal Enclosure men wore morning suit (tail coat) and top hats. That is the most expensive area and probably invitation only.

The Ascot website tells you what you ought to wear. I always take an extra wrap in case I have to be more covered up or end up in an air-conditioned car or building or it gets chilly in the evening or overcast. Take a wrap and/or some sunblock if you are going to be uncovered in the sun for several hours.

Food
You can take a picnic, but must eat it in the car park. Once inside, you can buy fish and chips and ice cream and Pimms to drink, which is not overly alcoholic, just as well in the sunshine with ladies tottering around in high heels.

Morrisons own brand spray is £3. Ambre Solaire used to be the sunblock everybody relied upon in France.

Speaking of sun protection, you can buy sun protection clothes if you are more of a sports participant, hiker, and traveller rather a fashionably dressed watcher.

Timing
Like many big events, you need to consider that there could be long queues (lines) to drive in and out of the area.

You are allocated a colour-coded car park. My family member followed the blue square signs all the way from Hayes to Ascot.

The royal procession is at 2 pm and the first race is at 2.30. The end race is at 5.30. Afterwards, there is singing for an hour.

Horse Race and Betting
Acot is a horse race and you can bet on which horse will win. You might have one person betting on the favourite, another on an outside horse, to double the excitement and your chances of winning. A bet can be as low as £10. You could study the form of the horse or just pick a name you fancy.

Useful websites
Stradivarius wins gold cup and picture of H M The Queen pretty in pink.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/44535705

https://www.ascot.co.uk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascot_Racecourse

https://www.craghoppers.com/sale/ Sunny weather clothing
visitbritain.com
visitengland.com

Author
Angela Lansbury

The Longest Day, and Latest Sunset affecting the English, Jews, Muslims

Problem
When do I get long days and late sunsets?

Answer
July 21st, today, Thursday in 2018, is the longest day. However, that does not necessarily mean the latest sunset.

Why does the sunset time matter?

1 VIEWS OF SCENERY VERSUS PEOPLE
If you want to eat outdoors at a restaurant you might want to book an outside or inside table. You might want more light, especially for photographing a view over London.

When dating you might want bright light to get a good look at your date. You might want less light if you have a fabulous voice but not much in facial department. You might want to hide your bald head or wrinkles in the more romantic candle-light indoors.

2 Jewish groups or couples might want to book a Friday or Saturday meal when kosher restaurants are open, which is different in summer and winter. In winter in the UK, in an area with kosher restaurants such as Golders Green, you will notice that the restaurants have closed earlier when it gets dark on Friday evening. But the restaurants are opening earlier on Saturday evening when it gets dark. By contrast, in summer the restaurants will close later on Friday, but won't open early on Saturday evening because it is still light and the Sabbath.

Opening and closing times are also going to be changing gradually throughout the seasons all year.  So check diaries or Jewish newspapers or signs on restaurant doors or websites.

If you are visiting a Jewish host who is observant, they may be using the traditional method of judging sunset by when you can see three stars. In a city where it is so cloudy and polluted that you cannot see any stars, you will have to go by the calendar. Ask your hosts what time you should arrive and what food or drink would be appropriate.

3 Moslem groups observing Ramadan, which last a month and has just ended, cannot eat or drink in the daytime all month. However, they can eat and drink after sunset. If you are providing food and drink for a group which has Muslim members of visitors, they have not eaten all day and will be very pleased if you have halal or vegetarian food they can eat.
The evenings and weekends at the end of Ramadan you will have big celebrations in the Muslim restaurants and areas eg in parts of Singapore and in Muslim countries with a Muslim majority or a large Muslim minority or restaurants and shops and residences area.

UK light nights
Travelling from Singapore to the UK, the long days are lovely.

Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
vistibritain.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset

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

How To Type And Pronounce Accents in French and other languages?

Problem
1 I can't type accents.
2 When I do, I still don't know what they mean. How do I look them up?
3 What are their names? In English French Spanish German, Russian, Czech, Norwegian Greek, Swedish

Answers
1 Typing
Hold down the vowel key on your laptop when you type and the letters with the accents appear. Sometimes you are offered a number and you press the number key at the top of your keyboard at the same time to select the correct vowel.
On a smart mobile phone without a keyboard, you slide your fingertip across to the vowel with your chosen accent in the pop-up box.

2 Diacritics
Check Wikipedia under diacritics.
Check Wikipedia under alphabet and the language you want.

3 Accents in general
Accents have two purposes. They tell you which syllable in the one you emphasize or accent. They change the pronunciation of a consonant or vowel.

alphabetically by name
acute - see French
cedilla - used in French and Romanian
circle - see Swedish
circumflex - see French
grave - see French
tilda - see Spanish
umlaut - see German

Alphabetically by language

Czech
The wedge or downward point over the letter c changes the pronunciation to ch as in the English words Chili and church. (Note that the word Czechoslovakian uses cz for the ch sound.)

English Accents
The double dot called an umlaut in German, also known as dieresis, is rarely used except in dictionaries and tells you to pronounce both letters as in coöperative. Pronounced co - op not coop. (Another English word with a double vowel sound is a vacuum cleaner, pronounced vac-you-um, although many people rush the word so it sounds like vac-ume. When giving a scientific paper at a conference you would be sure to pronounce the word vacuum.)

French Accents
Acute  - Goes upwards from left to right
Grave - Goes downwards from left to right
Circumflex (From the Latin meaning bent around, circum is around like circle, flexible bends. The symbol looks like a pointed Chinese coolie hat or a roof on a house.

When I was taught French at Grammar school by a native French speaker I was told the hat accent often indicates a missing s, as in the French word hôpital - so an English speaking person reading the French, like me and you, can guess the translation.

Table d'hôte is the table of the host, so often the dish of the day in a restaurant, with no choice. Therefore, you can also recognize île de France as the island of France.

German
unlaut - double dot

Hungarian

The sz looks confusing, but it's simply as, with a slight z sound as on bus stops with the sign BUSZ and more clearly in the girl's name Suszanna. 

Romanian

Spanish
Tilda - wave line turns n into a n+y sound as in canyon (in English) and piña colada prounced pinya colada in Spanish.

Swedish and Norse
Circle

Useful Websites
https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Diacritical.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-185751,00.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_accent

I'm taking a tea break. I'll add more details shortly. Come back later.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, former school teacher and home tutor, polyglot learner of languages, and teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters International English and advanced and bilingual speaking groups and university and poly students and businesses.

Louis Vuitton's Moving Bird and Fish Display at Changi Airport, Singapore

Luis Vuitton display at Changi Aiport, Singapore.

This stunning display greets you as you on the ground floor (level one they say in Singapore) of Changi airport after you have successfully shown your passport's face photo to a machine and had your thumb print recognised as you enter the airport departures. 

Beyond the white lights is the huge arch of Luis Vuitton. 

The wall around the door has a 3D effect and changes colour A flock of birds and fish swim past the sky, the sea.

The other shop

s, dozens of them, on more than one level, are 2D, conventional. This one stands out, catches your attention.

Actually, there are 400 shops and services. I didn't pass 400. Like most people, I passed this one because of its prime position. 

How do I know there are 400 shops and services at Changi airport? Because I had passed a sign telling me so, outside in the entrance hall.

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

Useful websites

visitsingapore.com

singaporeair.com

changiairport.com

Which Toastmasters' Speakers Training Club Should I visit or join in Singapore or the world?

Problem
In Singapore I have so many to choose from, and trains running every 3-5 minutes. I have visited more than fifty clubs, about sixty something clubs. My friend Marshall has been to 100. I am an addict. When I am in Singapore I go to a Toastmasters club once a day, six days a week, and sometimes two a day.

If you have a job which involves travel, or accompanying a spouse who travels, you need never spend an evening or weekend alone with your partner, or alone in a hotel or restaurant.  I have been to clubs in: London, England; Prague, Czech Republic: Bangkok Thailand; Shanghai China - plus of course Singapore.

In the USA, where Toastmasters started, and the UK, most people belong to the club nearest their home or workplace. That applies to many people in Singapore.  If you change jobs or move house, you might consider switching to a new club in the new venue.

Finding A Club
I just go onto Toastmasters International Find a Club.

What's the cost?
Here are some examples in Singapore:

For visitors at clubs which charge:
About $20 at the Sheraton Towers Hotel - includes snack buffet
About $20 at the YMCA - includes snack buffet
University Alumni club 410 - includes snack buffet

More at events and Christmas parties in restaurants.

Free Meetings?
You can go to two or three meetings as a visitor at many of the clubs. Meetings are usually free to guests when clubs are held in a local Community Centre (most centres now being called Community Clubs). If the cost is an issue, or you are vegetarian or have a special diet, enquire what food they are likely t have.

Big club centres
Cairnhill CC near Newton MRT station: clubs include
Francophone (all in French, at Cairnhill CC near Newton MRT train station)
Jauhari bilingual Malay (Cairnhill)
Mandarin
Vietnam (Saturday mornings - check which Saturdays) - in English
Several more.

Braddell Heights CC near Serangoon CC
Braddell Heights Advanced
Braddell Heights 1
Braddell Heights 2
Braddell Heights Mandarin

Clubs Near Stations
Newton:
Toastmasters Club of Singapore (near Newton, exit A near Downtown blue line escalator)
Vietnam, Filipine, Francophone, Star Millenium, bilingual Malay, in the CC from the other exit B/C which brings you out the other side of the road by the red line exit)
Serangoon
Braddell:
Braddell Heights Advanced, 1, 2 and Mandarin, exit F from Serangoon MRT. See the big builing to the right beyond the grass on the corner. Back of the building entrance by car park exit is near the lift.

Clubs With A Stage
Some advanced and professional speakers want to practise at a club which has a larger venue and a stage.
Toastmasters Club of Singapore at Sheraton Towers Hotel.
Thomson club near Marymount station on the circle yellow line.
Some of the university clubs when they meet in theatres rather than four classrooms.
SIM (Singapore Institute of Management, used for contests, I forget which of their venues.)

Cosy Classrooms - small, friendly clubs
Braddell Heights Advanced and 1 and 2 at CC near Serangoon. I must plug my club and one of the reasons why I joined it. Smaller clubs often have spaces for speakers. They usually give priority to their own members. Check if you need a slot by emailing the club. They might allow you to be waitlisted as a backup speaker as a last minute replacement for somebody who has to work late or gets sent overseas on a trip by their employer.

Find the club on Toastmasters International Find A Club to check when they are meeting.

I'll add more details later in another post.

Useful Websites
Toastmasters International clubs:
www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Club
Facebook.com/bhatmsg

Author
Angela Lansbury B A Hons ALB ACG
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Sheraton Towers Hotel - one of my favourite hotels

Problem
How to enjoy an evening at a five star hotel in Singapore for 20 dollars including coffee, iced water a savoury snack and some fruit?

Answer
Go to a Toastmasters meeting at the Sheraton Towers Hotel, the first three Mondays of the month. I just love the view over the waterfalls.

Everything is just right. The man on the door with his white hat and long white shorts. The orchid displays by the elevators.

The Toastmasters Club of Singapore meets there the first three Mondays of every month and sometimes more often.

Here I am on stage.

Before I leave I like to look at their cake displays downstairs which are delicious.

This week they had a durian cake.

You won't see that often in London.

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on the Sheraton and other hotels in Singapore.

Learning and Recognising Numbers And Placenames From Mandarin Chinese Signs On Singapore's MRT

Problem
I was learning the Chinese (Mandarin) symbols for numbers, with only the number one to three and ten fixed in my mind. How can I learn more words easily, with repetition?

Answer
Then I spotted Sixth Avenue in English on the MRT Downtown line and recognized the number six in Chinese!

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Japanese
The symbols are the same in Japanese. Like non-smoking symbols, the words are different in each language but the signs are the same.)

Useful Websites
amazon
ebay

Mutafa Centre, Singapore
They have several pages which come up. I looked for and clicked on the floor plan.
I got a blank screen, but after a minute the floor plan map loaded up
http://www.mustafa.com.sg/mustafalocationmap/
Nearest MRT stations are Farrer Park and Little India.

How To Remember Zero To Ten In Chinese With Jenny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ow3SXtz5i4 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, learner and teacher of English and other languages.

Learn Chinese, and communicate in Bahasa Indonesia, Tamil, Bengali or the language of Myanmar

Problem
How can I learn Chinese?

The best and simplest grouping by subject which I have found is the plain lsiting of several languages for domestic workers.

It costs unser ten dollars and is sold in Mustaphas's department store. Good for finding all the words for numbers of clothes grouped together in a list on one page, with the English, the symbols, and the sounds, so you can say it or point to it.

What about a video introduction if you are tired late at night and want to listen to a teacher, not scre  your eyes up looking at small print?

Learn Chinese with Chineasy.
You can buy (from Amazon or Ebay in the UK):
1 A book
2 Flashcards
3 An empty notebook or diary with a Chinese symbol on the cover so you can find which of your thousand notebooks is the one with Chinese.

Watch her video.

Count to ten in Chinese YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ow3SXtz5i4

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker.

How To Remember Portuguese Colours Easily

Problem
How do I remember the colours? Rosa is pink, not red. Preto is black, no relation to any other word.

Answers
Portuguese - English
amarelo - yellow - both end with the sound 'ello'; both have e and letter l and o in the spelling but not that the Portuguese has only one l
descolore - (she) bleaches (discolours, de-colours)
col - colour (like an abbreviation of colour, just the first three letters)
colorido - colourful (coloured)
cores - colours
morena - brunette (a for the female gender)
moreno - dark hair (on a man o for the male gender)
preto - black (pull the p upright, day to night, p to B, t is an upright letter like t, last letter o as in negro - tinto negro, the red grape of Madeira, name of grape, black or red grape for red wine)
rosa - pink (think of rosy cheeks)
roxa - purple (red and extra blue makes purple)

English - Portuguese
bleaches - descolore
brunette - morena
colour - col
colourful - colorido (coloured)
pink - rosa
purple - roxa (red and extra blue makes purple)
yellow - amarelo
white - branco (like white branches, blanc)

Portuguese - English nouns
relogio - watch or clock (think of a Rolex)
roupas - clothes (robes, what you keep in wardrobes)
sandálias - sandals (accent going up and forward on the second a in Portuguese; add an i to sandals in Portuguese - the Portuguese are eyeing your sandals)
vestido - dress (not just a vest but a complete outfit, like a priest's vestments); vest like vest but more than a vest, d as in dress

English - Portuguese nouns
clothes - roupas
dress - vestido
sandals - sandálias
watch - relogio

Fisk fish restaurant and fun deli shop

The decor of this shop is a novelty. Look at those curved cliffs of shelving. The moment I stepped through the door the manager's friendly voice greeted me. I admired the giant fish, some with heads
and some without.

I knew of the restaurant because a member of my family had eaten lunch there and recommended it. The restaurant had been chosen by a group of Scandinavians, one from Denmark.

I noticed organic mulberries at under 10 Singapore dollars, my sort of price. After seeing that small samples of the mulberries and other items were available to try, I did some sampling. However, I was not tempted to change my choice but stuck to the organic mulberries as being most original purchase.

Fisk shop by the Mercure and Novotel hotels on Stevens Road, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Aloe vera drink

I was very interested in trying this aloe vera drink because aloe vera had been growing, thriving, on a balcony in the tropical heat. We didn't find the gooey texture nor the bland taste appealing but we had read that you can liquidise it and use it in drinks. The liquidiser solves the texture problem. What about the flavour?

The commercially produced drink was very pleasant, sweet yet refreshing. Reading the list of ingredients, on a second tasting 24 hours after i had first opened the carton,i wondered whether the major flavour and appeal came from the cane juice. Or was it the barely perceptible coconut? Whatever.
I found it even better the second time around. That often applies to food, too. I suspect the reason is connected to the drying out of the food intensifying the flavour.
I am sure aloe vera drink will become one of my favourites.

Language Meetups In Singapore

Problem
I joined a language meetup group in Singapore after meeting one of their members at a Toastmasters club. I am an amateur polyglot. I am learning the Greek and Russian and Hebrew alphabets, and keep looking at Chinese.

I also had a go at Korean, but I found Korean hardest of all, although it is supposed to be the quickest language to learn, with fewest letters. It's all circles and squares and bears no relationship to anything I know. I don't speak a single word of Korean. Yet, if I look at a page of Malay, or Spanish, or Italian, or German, I can usually pick out a few words which I can identify or remember.

Looking at the Singapore meetups, some of them are for fluent speakers who want to keep up their languages. Frankly, I have spent several evenings with the French-speaking Toastmasters club, Francophone, and find that a challenge, even though I can speak and read French fluently.

Once they used the French slang word for tipsy. An entire five-minute speech made to sense because I was missing one vital word. My friend was equally lost. She was teaching multiple languages at a Singapore polytechnic.

The group's site is full of warnings. You should turn up so as not to disappoint the organisers, nor take up a place which could be used by somebody else. You are not to use the group to sell anything. It is not a dating organisation.

What is stopping me attending? I suspect it's a bit like Toastmasters. You get interested and there are so many meetings, so many opportunities, but it can take a while for the right group and the right date to materialise along with your enthusiasm to get up and go out to meet new people at a place you do not know.

Learn English
The learn English group, with a free demo lesson sounds interesting. The Russian group with a reading of a short story would be good, but I don't know sufficient Russian and will have to wait for a lesson where they are learning the alphabet - or put more effort into learning the Cyrillic alphabet.

I am corresponding with an American woman I met at a hotel in Singapore. I was thinking of sending her to a meet-up group. If she goes as a native English speaker, with no intention of having to learn another language, she would get to meet people from all over Asia.

You can start your own group, anywhere in the world.

The cost of some of the Meetup language groups is five Singapore dollars for a drink for ladies.

How does that compare with Toastmasters? Toastmasters meets the first three Mondays of the month at the Sheraton Towers near Newton MRT and charges about $20 which includes a snack buffet. The meeting is large, with an evening of speeches, with socialising before and at the interval.

Other Toastmasters groups cater to speakers of Mandarin, Tamil, French, Malay, and a bilingual English and Mandarin club is starting shortly.

A bilingual Chinese - Italian group is being started by a couple from Braddell Heights Advanced. The wife, Jade, speaks Chinese. The husband is Italian.

Useful Websites
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://www.meetup.com/TheLanguageLovers/

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

Learn Chinese Months and numbers one to twelve

Chinese months
The second symbol is the symbol for month. The first symbol is the sign of the number. The easiest ones to recognize are January, month one, single line. February, month two is a double line. Four is like the four sides of a window with curtains. April, curtains. June is the sixth month.

July is the seventh month, and the Chinese seven looks like an upside down English seven. August is the eighth month and instead of two circles making the eight you simply have two curved lines. September looks like the ltter r in Italic script. October is the tenth month, like a Roman number ten turning anticlockwise. November, is ten plus one, the eleventh month.
一月 one month (January)
二月two month (February)
游行
四月 four month (April - four sides of a square, like a window, with curtains)
可能
六月six month (June)
七月seven month (July - looks like an upside down European seven and a backwards J)
八月eight month (August like two circles written in a hurry)
九月
十月 ten month (October - looks like Roman ten turned sideways)
十一月 eleven month (November looks like Roman ten turned sideways plus one line = 11)
十二月 twelve month (December - looks like Roman ten turned sideways plus two lines = 12)

Chinese Pronunciation

One, two - yi, èr.

1 Yī yuè
2 èr yuè
3 yóuxíng
4 sì yuè
5 kěnéng
6 liù yuè
7 qī yuè
8 bā yuè
9 jiǔ yuè
10 shí yuè
11 shíyī yuè
12 shí'èr yuè

After looking at the simplified Chinese, I decided to try traditional Chinese to find out if it was more complicated and if I could recognize it.

1 一月
2 二月
3 遊行
4 四月
5 可能
6 六月
7 七月
8 八月
9 九月
10 十月
11 十一月
12 十二月

1 Yī yuè
2 èr yuè
3 yóuxíng
4 sì yuè
5 kěnéng
6 liù yuè
7 qī yuè
8 bā yuè
9 jiǔ yuè
10 shí yuè
11 shíyī yuè
12 shí'èr yuè

It comes out the same. So, no trouble reading the signs, including today's date displayed on the hotel TV or above Reception in the hotel or in a bank.

Japanese uses the same symbols.

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

What do the Chinese signs on Sixth Avenue station mean?

I was sitting on a train in Singapore learning the numbers one to ten in Chinese which were easy. One is a horizontal line Like Hyphen. Two is two horizontals like an equal sign. Three is three horizontals like a Roman number three on its side. Ten is a cross like an X spun clockwise or a gravestone cross. Six looks like a stick man with a head, two arms two legs and imagine the body.

The train drew into sixth avenue station. I looked up and saw the middle symbol of the Chinese writing was the number Six.

If you look at the paper underground map you will see all the station names in Chinese. At one point I stuck the map into the front of my diary and tore off the Chinese part to make it less bulky.

Later I looked at the Chinese signs to try to find which word symbols were repeated. I was looking for names which were the same in English, such as park. However, I discovered that on my train stations map all the station names ended with an extra symbol. So the station name here has three symbols. On the paper map Sixth Avenue has four Chinese symbols, the fourth being either station or line.

Now, every time I go through Sixth Avenue station on the train, I am reminded of the sign for six.

Words for station

I typed in the words for sixth avenue station into Google Translate, then took each symbol and reversed the translation from Chinese to English

第

六

大

道

站

线

I got

The first

six

big

road

station

line

So the symbol for station has the right hand symbol like a little stick man, a station master behind an information desk, pointing to the right, to the station.

Numbers and Months

The numbers are also used for months. So if you look at a leaflet or poster which tells you the date in English, you can recognize the Chinese. January is two symbols, month and one. February is month two. Again, this is a handy reminder of the symbols for the numbers one to twelve.

January - month 1

February - month 2

March - month 3

april - month 4

may - month 5

june - month 6

july - month 7

august - month 8

september - month 9

october - month 10

november - month 11

december  - month 12

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker, teacher of English and other languages.

Sixth Avenue station architecture - two-tone brown and blue

I like the wave pattern created by the brown bocks. However, I think they missed out on providing an instant memory aid for local travellers as well as tourists. The design should incorporate an obvious and identifiable repeated pattern of the number six, as well as six in the Chinese script.

Mural on Sixth Avenue Station

I love this mural on Sixth Avenue station concourse on the Downtown line in Singapore. The mural is very Chinese with its green dancing dragon and pleasing pyramid roof pagoda.

The station is strangely named. Above is Fourth Avenue. It is not the sixth station on the downtown line but DT7 (down town 7). Nonetheless, useful station, and jolly mural.

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

One of my books - Etiquette For Every Occasion by Angela Lansbury

Statue romanticising the good old days of farming in Chong Pang, Singapore

I visited Chong Pang Toastmasters club in the Chong Pang Community Centre. When I got off the bus my attentionwas immediately drawn to this dramatic statue and I ran back to phtograph it. The statue depicts a farmer, I presume carrying water in two buckets suspended from a pole across his shoulders.

Chong Pang is the name of a prominent local person, Lim Chong Pang. The family or clan name is Lim. The two names Chong and Pang are his person names, like a first name and middle name. 

His father was Lim Nee Soon. I had previously visited Nee Soon East Community Club but had never known why the area was called Nee Soon. 

Chong Pang, according to the Wikipedia article and other sources, was a man who rented out small parcels of land at affordable prices to the local Indian workers who were employed by the British. After the British left, the Indians lost their jobs, and largely went back to India. So this changeover, the end to British rule, seen as a joy by the local Chinese population, was not necessarily a blessing to the Indians. 

Now the area is mainly Chinese. It is well known for its food.

Useful Websites

http://www.bothsidesnow.sg/locations-chong-pang.html

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

Why Change Lines At Botanical Gardens Railway station, or McPherson, Singapore

Singapore flag.

New mural
A colourful new mural enhances the walk or faster walk along the travellator in the linkway connecting the blue Downtown and yellow Circle lines. I don't know why the mural includes the words New York. 

Check Wikipedia and the railway's own website and you can find out.

If you are going to Expo near Changi airport and wish to shorten your travel time the mural seems to psychologically shorten the changeover time.

The change at McPherson is even quicker. Down the escalator and you are already on the other line platform.

Characters to notice on the Mural of cartoon characters at Bishan MRT Singapure

This mural is such fun. I love the lively colours. Busy is happy. People are a source of endless fascination, their faces and expressions, their bodies and gestures. Most of the characters are smiling. That's what I like. Smiling faces.

Lots to look at. A cat. A bridge. An umbrella.

Mural on the MRT. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I love travelling on the MRT trains. So fast.

Travel Tips

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

australia.com

visitbritain.com

visitbritain.shop.com

visitbritain.org

visittheusa.co.uk

visitsingapore.com

Singapore Airlines: 

singaporeair.com

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on the Sheraton Hotel, the Botanical Gardens and more. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Pull push doors - please copy

I love these pull push doors. First, I like the fact that they tell you whether to pull or push. 

I once stood outside an air-conditioned room in the tropical heat for ten minutes waiting for somebody to arrive with the key. I pushed both doors which resisted. So I thought the doors were locked.

Imagine my surprise when somebody else arrived and simply pulled the door open.

These glass doors open in different directions. If your hands are full or you are carrying something heavy, you can lean against the door which opens away from you.

These doors were at Chong Pang Community Club in Singapore.

Longan red date drink

I love red dates and red bean pastries. I just discovered this logan and and red date drink. I am tired of green tea which appears so often at the break time at events in Singapore. I am delighted when two or three different flavours are provided. A chance to find what you prefer - or try something new. This is my latest favourite. The brand is Yeo's. The white fruit is the longan and the red is the dates.

The Australian flag - how to remember the star design

My Japanese friend bought this beach towel in Australia. Very handy for remembering the Australian flag.

Notice the Union Jack. It combines three flags, of England, Scotland and Wales.

Altogether six stars. One separate big star, a seven-point star. 

Four more, smaller, seven-point stars. 

One smaller five-point star.

Beautiful blue, red and white on this vibrant towel.