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Thursday, May 30, 2019

Video: Kid-friendly guide to Admiralty Park's playground | Young Parents


Singapore Flag

Admiralty Park's playground has 26 slides, the most number of slides in a public park in Singapore. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the energy of your offspring, here's a kid-friendly guide of the playground for you and your little ones.

Useful Websites
Video: Kid-friendly guide to Admiralty Park's playground | Young Parents:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parks_in_Singapore

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

The Red Box - what is it and where is it?









Singapore flag.


The Red Box
The Singapore flag, like the flag of China has red, and in the centre of Singapore, is a big box shaped building, painted red, easily seen from the grassy, green open area in front.

What is it? A youth centre. Youth includes the young helping the elderly. However, that doesn't mean you can't go there if you are not under a certain age limit, not in their target market of youth. I went there for a contest about polluton and preserving the environment with a group of all ages.

The welcome desk has some interesting free leaflets. The decor inside and out is funky, inviting and inspiring. Do take a look.

Inside, I liked the lift (elevator) with the door painted red and a motto about lifting people up. I suppose in the USA you would have to change the motto to elevating people.

Finding It
You can see it easily on street view. However, coming out of Somerset MRT station it wis hard for me to find. From exit A you turn right. It is hidden behind the big building on your right which has the green cafe in front. Go past the big building and there's the open space with the red bus which I showed in my previous post.


Photos shortly.

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

How to start a new chat group in what's ap for your travelling friends




In what's app you need to get into your menu which is accessed by the three dots on the top right of the screen. I tried that from where I was and the options were status and settings. That is because you have to be in the chats group.
Then the dots come up again.

This time the options are start a new chat group.

You can do this if you are planning a group trip, such as a group holiday for a club, any kind of club, a Toastmasters speakers club, a tennis club or gardening club.

Now just invite everybody.

Who Would Say No?
Not every contact wants to be on whats app. One of my associates told me that he works in high security buildings. If you work in the police, government or military you might be banned from the social media. that is strange since Trump and HM Queen Elizabeth seem to be on social media. But I am sure they have the funds to have people vetting every move.

You can move people off the list after they accept if they ask to be removed.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

The Red Bus And The Red Box In Singapore

The Red Bus was in the cetnre of Singapore near Somerset MRT train station.


Quite a humming spot. On a Sunday afternoon when everybody is off work, people were having picnics on the grass, using a low wall for table or seating. The red bus was a bright backdrop.

I saw the Red Bus on my way to The Red Box.
The red bus looks like a hop on hop off tour bus but according to their website they are a booking service for city to city and across country bus services. Currently (2019) offering a discount for Hari Raya for Ramadan, for aexample on tickets to take you from Singapore back to your home elsewhere such as a bus in Malaysia.

The Red Box, my destination that day, is a Youth Centre opposite the parked Red Bus.

More Red Bus photos and facts in the next post.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Chinese Language Learning Books And Videos

I just ordered two books on Chinese with pictures. I had hunted all over Singapore for this sort of thing but could not find it.

Usborne

Chineasy
Flag of Singapore

Flag of China





Chineasy

As an English speaker I find Chineasy the easiest, because it helps me see the pictures on which the original symbols were based.

For a while I was confused between king and mountain. King is three horizontal lines. Mountain is three vertical lines. The number three in Chinese is like the Roman three turned on its side, three horizontal lines. So I remember the Xmas hymn I hear at school in England as a child, 'We three kings of Orient are ..." Three lines for the king, number three in Chinese is horizontal. Think of the king's crown, which is horizontal.

The sign for mountain is more like a tree. A tree grows on a mountain.



It is my dream to start a polygot club, and invite different language speakers each time. I might just do that at my own club. Have a joing meeting with a Mandarin club. 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Monday, May 27, 2019

Learn another Chinese Sign, for East in Chinese - using the railway station map






















Singapore flag.

Singapore is a great place for learning Chinese (Mandarin). As I walked from the Yio Chu Kang bus station towards the Grassroots Community Club Building, I passed a sign which said in English, For Alighting Only. So you could get off the bus, but not onto it.



The last of the four signs looks like a letter 4 with other lines around it. It means car or carriage, in this context bus.

Afterwards I went back and checked another sign which looks like the number 4.

Check Your MRT Map
On the MRT map showing the railway lines you will see the English on the map.
Legend
East West Line (green)
North South Line  (red)
North East (purple)

Then look at the Chinese on the next concertina fold.
You can check the signs for East and West against some of the station names such as Jurong East - which is in the west! (Station 24 on the East West line, marked EW24, but also NS1, North South 1 or first station.)

Then look back at the names for the lines.
The Chinese sign for the East-West line is in the same order as the English, East first on the left.

Nearby on the page on the left is the Tuas West Road MRT station, EW 32.

However, two other signs for the train lines are in a different order. East North. South North. Instead of the English which is North East and North South.

East Symbol in Mandarin
Let us go back to East West. The sign for East has only one horizontal line above the four. The downward line of the four curves like a J. Two samll lines diagonally and separate at lower sides of the J point in different directions like a boat rowing to the East thought the many islands of Indonesia and to the island of Singapore.

The one which looks like it incorporates the number 4 means East.
What's the difference between the two signs containing what looks like 4?.

The 4 above meaning car or carriage has two parallel lines the same as the bar on the four, one above and one below. Like the roof and floor of the railway carriage or car or bus.

The sign for East



Useful Websites

You can learn Chinese (Mandarin) on Duolingo.
Duolingo
duolingo.com

Travel
singaporeair.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts. The previous post tell you what the other three signs mean.

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Learn 4 Chinese Symbols At The Bus Station in Singapore






















Singapore flag.

Singapore is a great place for learning Chinese (Mandarin). As I walked from the Yio Chu Kang bus station towards the Grassroots Community Club Building, I passed a sign which said in English, For Alighting Only. So you could get off the bus, but not onto it.

I passed a second sign which said the same thing. This time I felt compelled to stop. Only four symbols in Chinese. One was a sign I often saw.  It looked like the number four. I had been recognizing the sign for weeks, wondering what it means.

I saw the four Chinese symbols underneath and wondered what they were. How did they tie in with the English words?

I stopped a passer-by, a young man, and asked him if he spoke Mandarin and understood the symbols.

"Which one is which?" I asked.



The last of the four signs looks like a letter 4 with other lines around it. It means car or carriage, in this context bus.

To the left was a sign like half a T with two tiny downstrokes like drops of rain dropping off an umbrella. That means down, descend, get off (a bus).

The other two words mean 'only' (first on the left) and second from the left is 'allowed' or 'permitted'.

I felt very satisfied. I was pleased with myself for translating four signs.

Afterwards I went back and checked another sign which looks like the number 4.

On the MRT map you will see
Legend
East West Line (green)
North South Line  (red)
North East (purple)

The Chinese sign East-West is in the same order.

However, two other signs are in a different order. East North. South North.

Let us go back to East West. The sign for East has only one horizontal line above the four. The downward line of the four curves like a J. Two samll lines diagonally and separate at lower sides of the J point in different directions like a boat rowing to the East thought the many islands of Indonesia and to the island of Singapore.

The one which looks like it incorporates the number 4 means East.
What's the difference between the two signs continaing what looks like 4?.

The 4 above meaning car or carriage has two parallel lines the same as the bar on the four, one above and one below. Like the roof and floor of the railway carriage or car or bus.

The sign for East



Useful Websites

You can learn Chinese (Mandarin) on Duolingo.
Duolingo
duolingo.com



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

More toilet cubicles wanted


I can't believe what happened at the 2019 annual conference for the Singapore branch of Toastmasters International, an all day affair with many guests in an auditorium.

At the morning breaktime, lunchtime and teatime everybody rushed to the toilets. One cubicle in the Ladies. Only one cubicle, a male friend confirmed, in the Gents.

This was in the Grassroots Community Club building beside the bus station beside the train station at Yio Chu Kang on the red line.

Station Toilets
Luckily I went to the public toilets between the train station and the bus station on my way.  They had three cubicles.

Upon taking possession of a cubicle, I discovered that the toilet paper was outside. (A big roll by the doorway.)

This was the area I had previously praised for the amusing cartoons of musicians on the tiles. Male musicians. I wonder whether the Gents also had male musicians, or female musicians.


Both the station toilet and the Grassroots club had the luxury of a shower head for washing your nether regions. But after you have washed down with water and feel clean it would be good to dry off again. Toilet paper please.

And more toilet cubicles.

One thing I am grateful for, that you find toilets outside very railway station in Singapore.

UK
In the UK the good news is that charges have been scrapped at toilets at stations in the UK.

When I was a child you could spend a penny to use a toilet cubicle. Of the six or twelve cubicles, one would be free. Usually not as clean as the other toilets. And if occupied, you had to wait. But at least everybody could use a toilet whether or not they had the right change.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com
dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

One of the world's most beautiful beaches

Beautiful beaches? This one is in the Philippines. I found it when searching for causeways, ways through the sea to islands. I also have something on it on my Facebook page.
More tomorrow.

PHILIPPINES
Kalanggaman, Philippines.
Video of causeway and turquoise sea
https://www.facebook.com/alwaystraveltogether/videos/878896079116645/UzpfSTY5ODQ2MDU5NjoxMDE2MTgyMDgxNjA3NTU5Nw/?t
Air Asia
Philippine Airlines

Angela
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Friday, May 24, 2019

How To Protect Yourself Against Mosquitos



Mosquito. Photo from Wikipedia article on dengue fever.

Mosquitos bite and spread malaria and dengue.

Where?




In Singapore, Indonesia, and now even threatening cold UK.
Signs show you outbreaks.

Whether its the weather, global warming, it's a problem and there are several solutions.

Prevention is better than cure.

Mosquito Nets
Provided at some hotels in Bali. Make sure you close the bedroom door and windows. Pull the mosquito nets aroound your four-poster bed so the nets overlap, no gaps. Nets are not there to add romance but to protect you from bites.

You can also buy your own mosquito net to take with you. Invest in mosquito proof clothing with long sleeves and long legs.

Clothes
Wear long  sleeve and long leg clothes, or carry wraps to cover yourself at dusk or when you hear an ominous sound.

Note which of your clothes are knitted and which are woven. Carry a large wrap. Certain plants are known to repel mosquitos and can be bought for your balcony or garden.

Shut windows before you turn on the lights.

Camping shops sell suitable clothing. You can also buy sleeping bags which zip up and have drawstrings or velcro to cover you.

Aussie hats with corks attached to brims were designed to keep off mosquitos. You can also buy baseball style hats with added neck protection at the back or all around. If you need to improvise, add a scarf over the hat or under it.

Mosquito Areas
Keep away from water and long grass. Don't sit outside at the restaurant but enjoy the virew from a window seat behind glass. go inside at dusk. The dengue mosquitos are daytime. The malaria mosquitos are night time, dusk and dawn. Avoid grassy open areas around car parks and motorbke parking.

Perfumes
Pefumes designed to attract humans also attract insects.

Repellents
Instead opt for lavender or lemon.

You can buy anti-mosquito creams and sprays. Carry them with you on walks so you can apply them to yourself and the family. Some wear off after a few hours so you may need to apply them later in the day. You might also need to re-appy after swimming.

Fogging
Fogging (spraying), take place in Singapore around the vegetation at the base of skyscraper residentital blocks, hotels and so on. You should see the announcements about fogging on notice boards. Shut doors and windows as the white mist makes you cough.

Mosquito coils. If the coil is under the desk in your bedroom in Thailand or Indonesia but nobody has bothered to light it, at dusk or when you arrive, ring rception and ask them to light it.

Insect repellent. Carry with you or buy insect repellent. Also sting relief.

Nets
If you are the nervous type or moving into a news home, buy your own nosquito net and a hook to attach it to the ceiling above your bed. Also ask the landlord or landlady if you can have crened windows and patio doors. Unlike the USA, in Asia not all home and buildings have them.

Mesh
A hire car may be provided with mesh over the side windows. If not, consider whether to install it in your new or hired car. Mesh does get in the way of taking photos.

To Stop Insects Breeding
1 Empty or upturn vases, and pot underplates daily or regularly or bring them indoors.
2 Gutters should be cleared and insert anti-mosquito products.
3 Consider calling rentokit to fumigate the place. This is done a couple of times, an inital visit and follow up visit. Can be costly. Might be done by landlord rather than tenant if there is a demonstrable problem.

Useful Websites
https://www.nea.gov.sg/dengue-zika/dengue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever

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

How Can You Prevent Children Running In The Road? Travel with reins or a safety lead

Yet another fatal accident. And no end of near misses.
UK flag

Near Miss
For example, in the UK, in Harrow, London, England, I was passenger in a car which tried to overtake another, not realising the car had stopped to let a pedestrian cross. This happens frequently.
Singapore Flag

Singapore Fatality
A mother cross the road with three children, one on either hand and the third one runs ahead. (Fatal accident in Singapore. If I remember rightly, the accident killed the Korean mother and the three children. The British car driver was in prison awaiting trial for about a year before being released.)

Kindergarden Crocodile
When I was in kindergarten, we children had to walk in a crocodile, in pairs, hand in hand. Sometimes children have to march hand in hand in silence.

Lollipop Ladies
At a road, we all waited until the traffic stopped. A 'lollipop lady' with a lollipop shape, banner visible to cars, held up the traffic. (Alas now aended.)

Reins For Control
My mother kept me on a simple lead, called reins. Now you can get dog leads which can be adjusted to allow a dog or child or even an adult to stretch the lead and go no further than a distance you set.

Running In Public Places
I see children and even teenagers running around and shouting, making sudden movements, walking backwards or sideways, watching their friends, oblivious of their aurroundings.
I was prompted to write on Facebook:

Reins
This type of accident hapens again and again. Children under five, like dogs, should be kept on a lead and taught to walk about calmly and quietly.

They should not run around in public places but walk next to mother, father, parent or teacher. You see toddlers and children careering arond everywhere, racing along the street and out into the road, rushing around supermarkets and knocking over displays, bumping into adults including the elderly and hanicapped, piercing the air with their excited screams so that people zone out and cannot tell horseplay from an emergency.

Children should hold mother's or father's hand, or be attached by a lead. these deaths are preventable. What do you think the answer is?

Stations And Safety
Earlier this week in Singapore at a city centre railway station I heard a child shrieking for its mother. The child was racing in circles around the station platform. The mother was ignoring it, reading her mobile phone. I was two floors above. Everybody on the station could hear the child, except the mother. On a UK platform without barriers the child could have run over the edge onto the tracks.

Courtesy Campaign Improving Behaviour
What is the answer? Legislation?

Maybe a campaign worldwide like the ones in Singapore which encourage you to stand up and offer a seat to the elderly, turn down loud music, put your bag on the floor to make space for more.

Illustration from Wikipedia article on Signapore's courtesy campagn

Visiting Singapore
Singapore is an interesting country to visit. Most station platforms have barriers which makes them safer and fewer delays.

Useful Websites
NEWS OF ACCIDENTS
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7061405/Boy-three-dies-hit-car-residential-street-north-London.html?fbclid=IwAR22emkaE8-AgwK5CWkcU9Uf6klFYSMSqysVrdjI6-mfMHt0bRO7-cvqJYk
SAFETY & COURTESY
https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/publications/guide-on-reducing-road-fatalities.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Courtesy_Campaign_(Singapore)
TRAVEL
singaporeair.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Instant Laughter From Grimm In England



I was flipping though my emails trying to avoid the urgent and eliminate the unneccesary, when I came across a PR piece about place in England, Rotherham, which does not usualy get noted for things which are cheerful. However ...


I read on, at first slightly puzzled. I was soon in hysterics. The funniest thing I have seen in years. You can buy spiders leg soap. The luck of the Irish.

See it for yourself.

They are a charity promoting literacy and running writing events for children and schools.I found it quite hard to get past all the fantasy and nonsense to find out what they were, who they were, and what they were doing and for whom. It appears that they originally did research into improving literacy and had a huge grant, but now rely on sales and donations.

My favourite picture is of the staircase with the steps transformed into book titles like books laying on their sides in a stack. Brilliant.

You can visit their shop, buy goods and sign up for courses.

Shop
You can buy:
  • Children's tee-shirt (called Elf Size) in black with the words in white, about fourteen pounds sterling and adult size (called Wizard size):
  •  IT'S GRIMM UP NORTH 
  • ONCE UPON A TIME
  • I BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS
  • FEE FI FO FUM
  • Black tote bags with the same messages as the tee-shirts.
  • Badges with the words Once upon a time cost one pound each; a set of five, all the word badges and one with a pattern, cost four pounds.
They also sell a tea hamper including the Philip Pullman version of Grimm's Fairy Tales. I read one of the versions of Grimm's Fairy Tales (long ago out of copyright) as well as the GoodReads reviews. Some reviewers liked Pullman's commentary after each story. Others commented on the fact or regretted that the stories were not illustrated.

2 Doncaster Gate, Rotherham, S65 1DJ.
It is closed on Sunday and Monday, open 9-1 on Thursday, 9-4 Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Websites

https://shop.grimmandco.co.uk/collections/curses

https://www.facebook.com/GrimmAndCo/


See also tripadvisor which has glowing revues.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Can you recognize English and other accents?

Years ago I had a BBC record of accents. Actors used to play these over and over to learn accents. I thought it was very difficult and wondered how you could ever learn them.

However, now I find accents easy, so long as you stick to no more than a sentence or two.

Flag of UK

London
Let's start with London. I am a Londoner. I speak with received pronounciation. My voice sounds like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.

The Queen's English
I speak the Queen's English. If the queen were to abdicate or die tomorrow or next year or later, and a king came on the throne, I would be talking the King's English. The Queen's English and the King's English are the same thing. It just depends who is on the throne. (See the film / movie The King's English.)


The flag of England.

If you want to learn to speak English clearly, listen to the BBC news readers. Or listen to Her Majesty the Queen delivering the Christmas Message. Listen to Prince Charles, William, and Kate.

English Accent
English is mostly accented on the first syllable. Good MORning. HAPpy BIRTHday. By contrast, Chinese and Japanese are staccato, to the English they sound like machine guns.

Shakespeare
In Shakespearean plays the kings and queens and heroies and heroines, the important characters, speak with a pronounced rhythm.  This makes them sound grand. The sentences are like waves of even length, so you expect them to last a certain time and to finish at a certain point. By contrast, the servants and commoners have short seetnences and exclamations with no particular rhythm.
ast word, the toastmaster rushes forward with his hand out to say thankt you, but no , the speaker is off again.

So remember to tell the listener, the audience, the toastmaster of the evening, the interviewer on radio or TV, whether you have finished.

Statements end with a lowering of the voice at the end. When poeple ask questions, their voice goes up at the end. The last word of a speech should be an important word,, one you can say loudly and emphatically.

Foreigners who end a sentence with a voice up at the end leave you expecting they will continue. maybe it's a rhetorical question, one which they answer themselves. If a speaker ends on a high note, the Toastmaster of the evening is confused. He doesn't know whether the speaker will continue. Should he stand up and shake hands? On the other hand, if the speaker ends with a definite and emphatic word, that's the end.

Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister.

Listen to speeches by Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. When Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister, she was sent to speech lessons and  taught to speak with a lower voice to sound more msculine and more authoritative.

Winston Churchill, who gave speeches on the radio during WWII.


The United Kingdom includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. if you drive or take the train west you reach Wales. Where is it, W for west, w for Wales.

The flag of Wales showing the Welsh droagon.

Welsh Accent
The Welsh accent is very singing, singsong. I go there every year, so I just imagine I am lsitening to the people welcoming me. Boy-o. Welcome to way-ills. Your voice goes down on well and up on come, down on way and up on ills. The intonation is down up, down up, down up.

The Edinburgh accent is refined, fainter than the Glasgow accent. To remind myself of the accent, I say refained, and Edinbrrrrr. I think of a head mistress, or teacher, in the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, or my friend Fiona.m, I recommend


The flag of Scotland

Scottish Words Wee and Bonnie
Add the word wee for small. A wee lad, or a wee lassie (girl). The voice tends to go up slightly at the end of a phrase or sentence. If you are not sure of the intonation, to remind yourself, just try a sentence with the words Edinburgh and wee and make it a question. is the wee lad from Edinbrraaaa?

Of course, you know the word of Auld Lang Syne, old long time, translated as old time's sake. You can practice or listen to a reading of a Scottish poem for Burns Night, or practise Auld Lang Syne.
As a child I learned the songs, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, and the plaintive song, you take the high road and I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland before ye .. on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Loch is lake.

Glasgow accent
The Glasgow accent is stronger. I say Glasgee, to remind myself.

For the Northern Ireland accent, listen to Ian Paisley. I think of the Oirish, to be sure. Some opeole say the Irish never say to be sure. But it's a handy reminder to get you in the mood or to help you to recognize the accent. There are plenty of Irish songs.

Whether or not you can speak in the accent, play a few songs and you will soon learn to recognize them.

If you want to watch a film, I recommend a film with Alec Guinness such as The Ladykillers. I have suggested this to Japanese friends and pupils and they loved it.

But the best way to learn an accent is to visit the country.

Useful websites
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, author of Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and speaker, speech tutor, teacher of English and other languages


1989 Classic from Swee Heng - Singapore's best pastry and buns?



I went to Frontier Toastmasters in Frontier Community Club, which contains the public library opposite the Boon Lay Bus Exchange, by the MRT station.

At the meeting break time I looked at the buns and thought, what's this, all pastry, refined flour and sugar and no protein? I selected what looked like a bun with some kind of filling on top.

Recommended - excellent
I can only describe it as a breakfast bun. It seemed to have a mixture of a slice or two of boiled egg hidden inside cream or mayonnaise with folded bits of ham, but so no salty I was not sure if it was vegetarian with the look of ham. I took another bite and another.

Choc - ok
I went back for a second, but they were all gone. I had probably had my share anyway. I tried a sponge cake with tiny spots of chocolate. Acceptable. What was left? Some green sponge cake, I presumed pandan.
Green pandan cake. Wiki.


I needed instant energy, sugar. I was about to give a ten minute presentation on vocal variety and English language. Everybody had finished. I felt I could take another piece from the leftovers. I settled for a piece of yellow dough.

Dough - oh yes!
Oh - it was delicious! More-ish. Wonderful. Who was the supplier? The see-through plastic bag had the words Swee Heng 1989 Classic.

Where? Everywhere!
I looked at the website and found they are all over Singapore including Bukit Panjang and other big shopping hubs next to the MRT stations and bus exchanges.

You are not allowed to eat nor drink on the MRT (mass rapid transit train service), but the food is great to eat before travelling or when you get off or as I did at a meeting break.

On their website I saw similar products. But they also sell seasonal foods.

Elsewhere I spotted the word halal and if you see halal it confirms what I suspected, that what looked like ham was not ham, but 'chicken ham'.

In case you were wondering, halal and kosher food ban pork or pork products such a park fat (lard). Kosher follows even more of the rules in the Bible (Levicitcus being the word for laws) and also do not have milk and meat in the same food or meal and also ban shellfish.

Fish Spice
As I am allergic to crustaceans, mollusks, although I am OK with normal fish which swim with fins such as salmon and trout. I am wary of fish paste. I have to watch out for shellfish. One of the buns I tried that evening was a very spicy shellfish.

Fortunately, I had pulled a tiny piece off each bun using my fingertips to pinch a corner though the bag, before I tried to eat the whole of it. So I was able to leave the fish bun for somebody else, without having touched it with either my teeth or fingertips.

If you are buying or eating and have an allergy to shellfish or spicy food, enquire when buying or before eating.


Yes, I approve of Swee Heng. First choice, the plain sweet bun, second choice the bun with cheese.

Would you believe, I get cream cheese out of the fridge and find the lid had an offer of a free bun from Bee Heng, a garlic bun.

Useful Websites
https://www.sweeheng.com.sg/

Travel
For deals flying into or out of Singapore
singaporeair.com
https://holidays.singaporeair.com/en-uk/

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

Plastics - what we could and should do

I used to imagine that pollution was a problem of modern cities. When I travelled to third world developing countries I was shocked to see the litter in their villages and urban streets and in dumps on the edge of the cities. The developing countries were developing litter and pollution.

What can you do?
1 Reveal the problem. Spread the bad news
2 Prevention. Do your bit to not buy plastic.
3 Do your bit to recycle plastic.
4 Spread good news about recycling initiatives.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
When I tried to photo individuals, my own families, or locals, I would rush to remove bits of litter spoiling the picture.

Should You Photograph Litter - yes or no?
When I tried to photograph graffitit and litter and dumps, my family objected. You would think they were employed by the local tourist board. They did nto want me to show litter. They thought it was unkind and disrespectful and ungrateful to both the family who had contributed to the cost of my family to show me good things in other countries as well as unfair to local people and might repel other potential tourists.

My view: Hiding the proble.. Not facing the problem. Not dealing with the problem.

Litter After Events
We have all seen photos of the litter left behind and the clear up needed after a major concert or event, whether in a farmer's field or a city centre. Sometimes the clean-up is represented as a story of horror. Sometimes as a forgotten team, the hard-working and saintly clear-up team.

Litter Picking
As soon as you think about it, your realise that a clean up can be done if somebody is willing to pay the cost.

DISNEY
Disneyland has huge numbers of people. They don't have litter during the day nor the morning after. Disney doesn't have signs threatning to fine you like Singapore. Disney has teams of people picking up litter at the time and after closing hours. (I can imagine somebody saying, yes, so that's why the prices are so high.)

SINGAPORE
I have read compaisons between Hong Kong and Singapore. Generally they show that Singapore does not just have people who are more litter conscious or more afraid of being fined. Singapore spends more on people picking up litter. You can employ low-paid foreign workers, conscript your army or gap year students, pay students pocket money, employ the handicapped with an easy job, have volunteer days.

Litter Disposal
But, after you have picked up the litter, where does it go? The official litter pickers and volunteers may be more keen or more skilled at separating litter into different types.

But we still have the question of where to put the piles of litter, neatly sorted, but what next?

The Disposal Problems
1 Plastics in the ocean are damaging wildlife, fish and birds.
2 It is aesthetically displeasing to see litter on the previously pristine ocan floor
3 Discarded litter causes fires in forests
4 Discarded litter causes fire in cities (The UK's fatal King's Cross station Fire was attributed to litter possibly catching fire due to a spark or cigarette end

Solutions Aggravating The Problem
China has stopped importing waste to put into landfill - which helps them but puts the problem back on others.

Local councils in the UK used to dump both sewage and unfiltered waste from sewage pipes into the ocean.
Burning waste makes pollution.
Shredding plastic makes smaller particles which get trapped in balleen whales. The balleen is a kind of comb instead of teech which filters their food so tiny creatures go through to the whale's stomach.


The balleen in a balleen whale which gets clogged with microplastic. Photo of ballen from Wikipedia article on balleen whales.

GOOD NEWS Current Solutions - Recycling


UK
UK COUNCILS
1 Harrow - compost machines
2 Hillingdon - biodegradable bags for kitchen waste

UK SUPERMARKETS


3 Waitrose is replacing plastic trays for ready meals with material which will compost at home



4 Morrisons is introducing plastic free fruit and veg - sold loose.


USA -
1 DIY shredding and reforming thin plastic (bags) into multi-colour sheets
2 Loopstore is collecting, washing and reusing packaging. They are linked with brands such as Body Shop, Colgate, Crest, Dove, Febreze, Haagen Dazs, Tide and many more.

AFRICA
1 Africa - turning plastic mixed with sands into durable protective roof tiles to build new homes and replace or improve shanty housing

Future Solutions
Small scale recycling businesses employing the handicapped in the UK. No need to worry about creating huge profits for shareholders if they are not for profit recycing organizations whose part purpose is to provide employment, teach skills and give satisfaction to employees.

Some Sensible Slogans
A journey starts with a single step (Chinese, attributed to Confucius)
Be the change you wish to see (Mahatma Gandhi)

Useful Websites
Problems
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7054471/Plastic-debris-bigger-risk-filter-feeding-whales-OIL.html

Solutions
SINGAPORE

UK
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7056017/Waitrose-unveils-worlds-compostable-ready-meal-trays.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed
USA
https://loopstore.com/
https://loopstore.com/brand-partners

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Please share links to your favourite pages.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Plastics and the Environment

Today on line has a video about an artist in Singapore who has created an 18 seater table resembling a beach, in order to focus people's eyes and minds on the fact the plastics are polluting the water and the seafood we eat, as well as the beaches.

On the table surrounding the plates are microplastics he found on the beach.

Microplastics are particles of plastic, after the plastic items have been tossed about in the sea, presumably for eeveral months.

What you can do:

Shoppers
1 Buy re-usable water bottles.
2 Buy metal straws.

Crafts and DIY enthusiasts
Shred thin plastic, heat it in a sandwich maker and turn it into thick multicolour plastic.

What the country's local council can do about recycling.
Invest in more recycling instead of burning plsatic which we have washed and sorted.
Local disintegrating bags for kitchen waste
Compost bins.
Use up leftover food.
Give away or sell off leftover food.
Recycling shops.
Recycling goods: eg plastic bottle tops made into murals.
Milk bottles made into watering cans or jugs.
Plastic bottles made into pencil boxes.

How Manufacturing can use receycling

Useful Websites

Angela Lansbury
Travel Writer.

Nalan Vegetarian Restaurant - for Masala Dosai, and Biriani and Mango Lassi

I had asked my Indian friend for a restaurant which served Masala Dosai. the restaurant chosen was vegetarian. I had not realised that masala disai is a south Indian specility and usually to be found in vegetarian restaurants. Ok, fine by me, but not by my spouse notr the spouse of the orgnaizing host.

Nalan, hower is a find. It feels spacious, not so crowded as all those restaurants in Little India, some of which feel like an Indian reailway station, cramped, crowded and rushed.  Sometimes they overwhelm you with turbans and sarees so you feel like an outsider if you are Asian Chinese or European or mixed race expat and not in your most ethnic clothes.

The atmosphere of Nalan is relaxed and just right.

Nalan restaurant in Singapore is easy to reach, at central City Hall MRT station. However, it is hard to find. Cross the road to the large semicircular theatre complex with the empy plaza in front.  Take the right hand entrance and go downstairs. You find jumping small foundtains illuminated in green lights. At the back of the Nalan restaurant is a request to go to the front. They don't explain that you go clockwise, past another restaurant alongside, to get to their front entrance.

Menu
Dosais are hug pancakes. Freshly cooked, they are often too crispy. Add the condiments and they turn into a thin pancake. Confusingly, local Singaoreans describe this difference as we, whilst I from the UK would call it moist.

The menu choices include thalis and a biriani thali if you can't make up your mind. The biriani thali which I had includes rice, potato and a puffed up hollow semi-crispy bread, a bit like a squashed balloon. It included one tiny portion of gulub jaman, my favourite dessert.

Avoid The Ginger Tea
It is just what I did not want, tea with added ginger, tasting of tea, no ginger. I though it would be lemon tea.

I complained, not once, but about five times. The manager conceded to add some ginger. I went to see them make it. The maker was adding something thugh a sieve. It made no difference to the taste.

I wanted tea made with water and ginger, not tea with added ginder. If I ordered lemon I would not want tea with the addiiton of grains of lemon flavour. I would want a piece of fresh lemon floating in tea.

The manager would not replace it or take off the price from the bill.

So, in my opinion, go for the food, and have drinks somewhere else.

Author
Angela Lansbury

Where to See Art on the Underground railway stations

One of my favourite stations in Singapore is Newton. Scattered around the walls are tiny spaceship like vehicles carrying serious, stoical, lugubrious characters.

A magnificent mural by the escalators flashes pas almost too fast for you to appreciate it. I took a photo so I could look at it at leisure later.

If the small drawings around the corridors are like proverbs or poems, this mural is like a novel or a saga or a trilogy.

I see something new every trip.



Author
Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Where to discuss and learn languages



DUOLINGO
Try the forums in Duolingo for the languages you like. When you see discussion on a word, have a look. The discussion often moves away from the translation of the word or phrase to other language issues and where to learn or watch videos or join classes.

FACEBOOK POLYGLOTS You can also pose questions and join discussion about laguage on the facebook Polyglots page.

The polyglot page on Facebook has onging questions on phrases. Ask your own question. You can also apir up with qpeakers.



BUSUU Busuu pairs you with native speaker or other learners.

FACEBOOK POLYGLOTS
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/

MEETUP Meetup has groups of language speakers which you can join. You can start your own if you are prepared to find the meetup fee for the organizers.

ESPERANTO
Esperanto speakers meet in Reading, England.

Toastmasters groups have language groups, eg a French group in London has half the meeting in French and the other half in English. Singapore has an all French speaking speaker's club and you can read the programme of the meeting and find out words, such as invitee for guest.

; several more for speakers of Mandarin I learned only ni how is you good or hello, and how is good, or fine thanks. Other groups are Malay and Tamil. toastmasters also publishes manuals in several languages including Japnese and Arabic, so you can red pick up the vocabuly which you keep hearing repeated.

Other groups are in Canada (French or French and English); Switzerland (trilingual, French, Italian and German). In the USA you will find Spanish seaking groups and their websites are bilingual.

I am hoping to start a polyglot Toastmasters group. Poly means many. This could attract:
People planning to organize a wedding or reception involving two languages.
Translators.
Speakers at conferences and all meetings.

Useful Websites (Alphbetically)
BABBEL

BUSUU

DUOLINGO

FACEBOOK POLY

iTALKI

MEETUP
Find a group.
Or start one in your area, advrtising on a Meetup webpate for a 6 month or longer fee.

MEMRISE
Record your own memory aids.

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL

VERBLING
tutors

Author
Angela Lansbury

About the Author
About Angela The Author
The Author - Quick Quotations

Angela Lansbury B A Hons  is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books. 

About Angela The Speaker & Trainer

Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Vice President  Public Rrelations, Immediate Past President.
Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club.
Also Member of: TCA Toastmasters Club; Singapore Online Dynamic; Harrovians UK
Garen Tee on using story telling in business, on bha.learncool.sg . Also educational on using Powerpoint for posters.
Next BHA meeting, Wednesday evening, May 5th, 7 pm Singapore 
Angela The Blogger 

Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing itermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:

Please share links to your favourite posts. 

(Last updated April 29 2021.)