What is special about Singapore? Learn and Prepare For National Day August 9th

 

First the Singapore flag you will see everywhere in the days leading up to Singapore's national day, which is August 9th.

Red and white. You might think, that's confusing. It looks like the flags for Indonesia and Poland. On the other hand, you might think, that's great. I can remember three flags, and each one will remind me of the others. What is the difference? 

Red

First, in Singapore the red comes first. The red is above the white. 

White Moon

Second, you will notice that the Singapore flag has a white moon as well as five five pointed stars. The moon is featured, like many Moslem majority countries whose religions follows the lunar calendar. Singapore was originally part of Malaya, which became independent from Britain.

 The National Day which Singapore celebrates on August 9th commemorates does not recall that occasion. Nothing to do with Britain.

Freedom day (Merdeka, means freedom. Merdeka, in Bahasa Malay, language of Malay - the adjective coming second) features in street and square names in Malaysia and Indonesia. Those two countries, like the USA and UK, share a mostly same  or similar language. 

Singapore's celebration commemorates when Singapore split from Malaya. Malaya was then renamed Malaysia. Singapore was born, or reborn, using the old name Singapura.

Saving Flags

The Singapore flags are saved from year to year Each flag is carefully folded, and stored, following the official guidelines, to respect and protect the flag.

As a visitor, you are likely to fly into Changi airport. For many years it has been voted the world's best airport by various surveys. To  maintain or regain this status as other regional and rival airports are expended or redeveloped, Changi has had additions. Because of 

  Covid-19 the planned extra terminus building delayed, unusual for Singapore which normally fills building schedules ahead of the specified time.

 Useful Websites

Singapore flag with border from wikimedia

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a Singapore Resident.

Oscar Wilde's Sayings and statues

Reclining statue of  Oscar Wilde in London, England, by Trafalgar Square.

Oscar Wilde, Pere LaChaise Cemetery, Paris, France

Oscar Wilde, Merrion Square, Dublin, Ireland

 Oscar Wilde said, The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one. 

How relevant to today.

His other famous sayings include: 

A poet can forgive anything but a misprint.

I have nothing to declare but my genius.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars".^[22

You can see statues of Oscar Wilde in Ireland, in England, and his monument in Pere LaChaise cemetery in Paris, France. I came across the statue in London by chance. A great photo opportunity. It started raining. So the seat got wet. I had a photo under an umbrella. The photographer knelt down to get in both me and the head of the statue. He got wet.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde

About the Author

Angela Lansbury writes book of quotations and prepares quotations for table topics (subjects for impromptu speeches) for meetings of clubs which are part of Toastmasters International. 

Colours of the world, pink sands, black beaches, red seas - and pebbles? Where are they?

Visitor Centre, for Pink Sand Dunes, USA

Pink Sand Dunes, USA

See below

You can find black sand beaches in Iceland and Tenerife, and pink sands in Florida, USA, red sandstone sand dunes in Utah, more pink beaches on Italian islands. Then there are turquoise waters in Sardinia, blue holes in Malta and elsewhere, and worldwide blue seas and green palms. Match your swimsuit and sandals to the beach for a fabulous photo,  If sand is not your thing, or you've been there, done that, try gray pebbles or white cliffs as a wonderful contrasting backdrop. 

ICELAND

You might think of Iceland as being white as snow but it has black.

Black sand beach.  

INDONESIA

Black Sand Beach, Lovina, N Bali

Black sand from the foothills of the volcano.

 

ITALY

Pink Sands

Maddalena, island/peninsula, Italy Mediterranean

Speak or learn Italian

Sardinia

Speak or learn Italian

Costa Smeralda - smeralda is emerald (green) in Italian and Spanish.

turquoise seas.

I loved these cool but warm waters. So clear you could see right down to your feet.

MALTA

On mainland Malta we saw the smallest disappearing beach. In our hotel grounds. We picked a hotel which was advertised as having its own private beach. Unfortunately, it was tiny and when the tide was in winter the beach disappeared except for a tiny strip at the bottom of the steps (with a barrier to prevent entry at the top. I asked why. Dangerous rising water. You would not want to lie down and shut your eyes. 

The outdoor pool was also closed seasonally. Fortunately the indoor pool opened . However, there was so much to do around the island that we had almost no time for swimming. I loved the architecture and subterranean wine bars. I am intermittently claustrophobic but I love rustic, local and photo opportunity. We took a day trip over to the island of Gozo and saw the Blue Lagoon. 

Madeira (Portuguese speaking)

Black sand beaches. I must confess I was disappointed. We found one but it was more of a harbour than a beach. Black sand and black sea, boats and a crowd of people when I wanted to change into my swimsuit surreptitiously under a towel, which I think might have been forbidden by warning signs.  An adjacent swimming pool charged entry. Not worth it for a ten minute stop, said my husband. We were only there a short time, and my husband stayed in the car. He did not want pay for yet another parking fee on our around the island last day, last look, end of hiking trip. It was not the tropical, tree-lined glamour photo opportunity,  I was expecting and imagining. However I don't want you to think badly of Madeira. I loved it. A better photo opportunity was from the glass floor clifftop lookout point which showed blue sea - and green trees on the cliffside - if you angled your camera right. The glass floor underneath was a great unnerving novelty.

SPANISH

black sand

Tenerife

Speak or learn Spanish

One side of the island has rain and greenery. The other side is the black and white and gray side.

Do you hate sand? Prefer pebbles?

UK

Brighton beach, England. Shingle from flint.

White cliffs of Dover. Also on the south coast of England

As the popular WW2 song said, blue skies over the white cliffs of Dover.

Black and white houses,

Chester and Cheshier in England, UK

USA

Coral pink sand dunes

Under sandstone cliffs, Utah, USA. Visitor centre.

Brownstone buildings in New York.

To sum up, by COLOUR

BLACK/BLACK & WHITE

USA Black hills of Dakota. (Song.)

INDONESIA Bali, 

SPANISH Tenerife. 

If you are looking for black buildings, the Eiffel Tower is a popular photo opportunity, with a tourist pretending to lean against it holding it up. By the time you reach retirement age this is a cliche. But it is a delightful novelty to children and teenagers.

Art Deco, Miami, Florida

Art Deco, Napier, New Zealand

Art Deco, London, England

Art Deco, Chester, England

Tudor revival art deco in the main street (UK high street) of Chester, Cheshire, England. Many more similar in the UK, plus black and white semi-detached houses in London, England

Black art deco, London. Ideal House, Great Marlborough Street, London, England. 

The Ideal House is located on Great Marlborough Street/Argyll Street, London, W1F 7TA. It was constructed in 1928-1929 by the architects Raymond Hood and Gordon Jeeves in the art deco style as the London headquarters of the American National Radiator Company. Photo by Gryffindor in Wikipedia.

White art deco USA

BLUE

Malta Blue Hole.

USA blue hole waterfall.

BROWN

Brownstone buildings in New York.

GOLD

Golden city of Amritsar, India.

GRAY

Granite cities of Scotland.

GREEN

Green cliffs

Ireland - Emerald isle

Wales  Green fields and cliffs with white sheep in springtime (Novel - How Green was my Valley)

MULTICOLOR

One Season

SINGAPORE garden city

Garden city with green palm trees, rain trees. Magenta orchids, trees with orange and red flowers. Outside the city, motorways lined with green jungle, all year. 

/Seasonal Flowers & Trees

USA - trees in the Fall, drive north USA to Canada, and south. USA newspapers in the Fall season will give temperature and sightseeing guides showing when leaves are changing colour and falling in each state. We drove north from Washington DC to the cooler states where cold weather brought in the autumn earlier. Then, when we drove back, we found that on our return the colour change had caught up in our nearer areas.

PINK

AMERICAS Sands

Caribbean: Harbour Island, Bahamas, 

Harbour Island, Bahamas photo by Larry Deack

Bermuda; 

Hawaii.

EUROPE

Greece, Santorini. 

INDIA

Pink city of Jaipur.

RED

Australia

Ayers Rock, know to the Aborigines as Uluru, is sandstone. It appears red at sunrise and sunset.

UK

In the South of England universities outside the big three of London and Oxford and Cambridge are known as redbrick because they have red bricks. The red bricks come from London which has clay soil. In London you can see many houses built of red bricks.

Morocco

The Red City of Marrakesh, Morocco is where I spent my honeymoon. By day the city walls are pink, but they turn red at sunset.

If you like red earth, you will find it in Devon, England. Also in Singapore.

SILVER

Silver blob shape building at music school in Kawasaki, Japan.

WHITE

White cliffs of Dover, England, UK. Hawaii.

Photo from Wiki by Immanuel Geal.

Do you like clean, bright, white? Look for art deco houses, white with green rooftops.

Many Mediterranean cities have white buildings up the sides of harbour cliffs. 

Greece has many Greek ruins which are now white, such as the Acropolis in Athens.

Italy has many white buildings, such as the Colosseum in Rome.

The USA in Washington DC has The White House.

Snow-capped mountains such as Japan's Mount Fuji.

Snow scenes - ski resorts in Finland, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand.

YELLOW

UK Yellow daffodils featured by Wordsworth usually, who was in the Lake District, in Northern England. Daffodils usually arrive by March in London. 

Useful Websites

Worldwide Black Sand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_sand

Worldwide Pink Sand

12 Best Pink Sand Beaches in the World (vacationidea.com)

UK

Does Brighton in England have a Sandy Beach? – Jolly Explorer

USA

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park – Travel guide at Wikivoyage

About the Author

Angela Lansbury has lived in the UK, USA, Spain and Singapore.

Karl Marx - Man of Influence - see museums and murals and statues around the world

 

Whether you consider he was a force for good, or at least good intentions, or a force for bad, or at least bad results, you must admit he influenced a lot of people and countries. He was born Jewish, his father converted the family to Christianity when he was a child, and as an adult he advocated no teaching of religion. 

Where can you as a tourist, or a website tourist, go to find more about him?

When I was a student in London, England, I went to see Karl Marx's memorial in Highgate Cemetery, London.

It is huge. You might think you would easily spot it from afar. But it is not that easy to find if you don't know where it is. On my first visit I did not find it. I  later learned that the cemetery is in two halves. 

Marx was born in Trier, Germany, in a building which is now a museum. You can see statues of Marx in: Berlin, Germany, Shanghai, China. Murals in India.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx

About the Author

Angela Lansbury has lived in the UK, USA, Spain and Singapore.

Uruguay - Your South American Seaside

 LANDMARKS & TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Food[edit]

Uruguayan food culture comes mostly from the European cuisine culture. Most of the Uruguayan dishes are from Spain, France, Italy and Brazil, the result being immigration caused by past wars in Europe. Daily meals vary between meats, pasta of all types, rice, sweet desserts and other. Meat being the principal dish, due to Uruguay being one of the world's largest producers of quality meat.

Typical dishes include: "Asado uruguayo" (big grill or barbecue of all types of meat), roasted lamb, Chivito (sandwich containing thin grilled beef, lettuce, tomatoes, fried egg, ham, olives and others, and served with French fries), Milanesa (a kind of fried breaded beef), tortellini, spaghetti, gnocchi, ravioli, rice and vegetables.

One of the most consumed spreadables in Uruguay is Dulce de leche (a caramel confection from Latin America prepared by slowly heating sugar and milk). And the most typical sweet is Alfajor, which is a small cake, filled with Dulce de leche and covered with chocolate or meringue, it comes in various types, fillings, sizes and brands. Other typical desserts include the Pastafrola (a type of cake filled with quince jelly), Chajá (meringue, sponge cake, whipped cream and fruits, typically peaches and strawberries are added).

Mate (drink) is the most typical beverage in Uruguay, being a portable beverage that Uruguayans take to all manner of places.

Paraguay and Uruguay - which is which? Start with Inland Paraguay and Iguazu Falls (Brazilian side)(UNESCO site)

The Brazilian side of the Falls, across the bridge from Paraguay.

Access to the Falls is usually done through one of the three cities in the so-called tri-border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

The city on the Brazilian side is Foz do Iguaçu - big and reasonably safe by Brazilian standards. The town on the Argentine side is called Puerto Iguazu and is small and pretty. Although the falls are between Brazil and Argentina only, Ciudad del Este, the city on the Paraguayan side, is just across the bridge from Brazil. It's a hectic (but exciting) centre for contraband and cheap electronic goods, and some say it's not safe there.

Immigration control at the border crossings between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay are open 24 hours and 7 days a week.

Paraguay

Uruguay

Where are they? South America. Both adjacent . 

Paraguay is bigger, but landlocked. 

Uruguay is on the Ocean.

Paraguay is about 2.3 times bigger than Uruguay.

Uruguay is approximately 176,215 sq km, while Paraguay is approximately 406,752 sq km, making Paraguay 131% larger than Uruguay.

Let's start alphabetically with bigger, inland Paraguay.

Paraguay in South America.

Paraguay

Culture[edit]

Main article: Culture of Paraguay

See also: Music of Paraguay and Cinema of Paraguay

Paraguay's cultural heritage can be traced to the extensive intermarriage between the original male Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaraní women. Their culture is highly influenced by various European countries, including Spain. Therefore, Paraguayan culture is a fusion of two cultures and traditions; one European, the other, Southern Guaraní. More than 93% of Paraguayans are mestizos, making Paraguay one of the most homogeneous countries in Latin America. 

LANGUAGE - SPANISH

A characteristic of this cultural fusion is the extensive bilingualism present to this day: more than 80% of Paraguayans speak both Spanish and the indigenous language, Guaraní. Jopara, a mixture of Guaraní and Spanish, is also widely spoken.^{[citation needed]}

Ovecha Ragué Festival

Both Spanish and Guaraní are official. Most people in Paraguay speak Spanish and use of English is very limited. Outside of Asuncion and big cities Guarani is all you will hear. Due to the extensive use of Guarani, even those who have managed to learn Spanish do not always speak it very well.

In Paraguay, Guarani is almost always spoken as a mix of Guarani and Spanish, known as Jopara, meaning "mixed" in Guarani. The number system in Guarani is rarely used, and is almost always replaced with the Spanish number system.

Some basic greetings in Guarani include:

Mba'eichapa? = How are you?

Iporã = Good

ha nde? = and you?

iporã avei = good as well

In Paraguay Vos is used instead of Tu. There is a slight change in conjugation but not big enough that you won't be understood using Tu. This Vos is NOT the same as Vosotros. Stems do not change in verbs when using "vos", and the ending is always stressed. For example "tienes" changes to "tenés", "puedes" changes to "podés", "vienes" changes to "venís" etc.

In the northern, and eastern parts of Paraguay, Portuguese is spoken widely. In some places, Nueva Esperanza (80% Portuguese speaking), Katuetè (60%) the majority speak Portuguese, almost always the result of Paraguayan born, or first generation Brazilian immigrants. There are many cases of Paraguayans, who were born during the era of Brazilian immigration who speak only Portuguese at home, although also fluent Guarani, but very little or no Spanish.

There are also a number of Mennonite communities throughout Paraguay which speak Low German and regular High German.

SOUVENIR SHOPPING

This cultural fusion is expressed in arts such as embroidery (ao po'í) and lace making (ñandutí).

MUSIC

 The music of Paraguay, which consists of lilting polkas, bouncy galopas, and languid guaranias is played on the native harp. 

FOOD

Paraguay's culinary heritage is also deeply influenced by this cultural fusion. Several popular dishes contain manioc, a local staple crop similar to the yuca also known as Cassava root found in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, as well as other indigenous ingredients. 

A popular dish is sopa paraguaya, similar to a thick corn bread. 

Another notable food is chipa, a bagel-like bread made from cornmeal, manioc, and cheese. Many other dishes consist of different kinds of cheeses, onions, bell peppers, cottage cheese, cornmeal, milk, seasonings, butter, eggs and fresh corn kernels.

AUTHORS

The 1950s and 1960s were the time of the birth of a new generation of Paraguayan novelists and poets such as José Ricardo Mazó, Roque Vallejos, and Nobel Prize nominee Augusto Roa Bastos. Several Paraguayan films have been made.

Inside the family, conservative values predominate. In lower classes, godparents have a special relationship to the family, since usually, they are chosen because of their favorable social position, in order to provide extra security for the children. Particular respect is owed them, in return for which the family can expect protection and patronage.^[111]

Things to do

Museum tour covers 7 museums, including art, independence and defence.

Museums, malls, a mini zoo, a riverside sandy beach, snow attraction, cathedral, ruins, hall of heroes (Panteon Nacional de los Heroes).

A church featuring wood covered in gold. The Jesuit circuit. Musical instruments museum. Tour of the captal, Asuncian, seeing large municipal buildings.

Waterfalls Crystal Waterfall and Iguazu Waterfall side trip.

Useful Websites

https://py.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-2/

Eco Tour Agency

https://www.facebook.com/Paraguay-Tourism-Authority-220322248056987/

https://wikitravel.org/en/Paraguay

https://www.visitparaguay.travel/v1/circuito/3-gold-circuit

https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g298438-d2536342-Reviews-San_Jose_Beach-Encarnacion_Itapua_Department.html

https://wikitravel.org/en/Igua%C3%A7u_Falls

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is British, has lived in the USA and Singapore. Is a travel writer currently confined to Singapore and the UK and catching up on the world oline and sharing her investigations with you.

Sorting Out The Caribbean, from the Bahamas, Belize and Bermuda to the US Virgin Island

 13 countries

We went on holiday from the USA to St Maarten/St Martin, the island which is half French and half Dutch. Double the experience of languages, food and culture. A chance to keep up my French. But learn another language.

I shall look at languages, food, and landmarks and religion.

LEARN LANGUAGES

Language[edit]

Main article: Languages of the Caribbean

Spanish (64%), French (25%), English (14%), Dutch, Haitian Creole, and Papiamento are the predominant official languages of various countries in the region.

( Although a handful of unique creole languages or dialects can also be found in virtually every Caribbean country. Other languages such as Caribbean Hindustani, Chinese, Javanese, Arabic, Hmong, Amerindian languages, other African languages, other European languages, and other Indian languages can also be found.)

FAVOURITE FOOD

Favourite or national dishes[edit]

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Doubles, one of the national dishes of Trinidad and Tobago

Arroz con gandules, one of the national dishes of Puerto Rico

• Anguilla – rice, peas and fish
• Antigua and Barbuda – fungee and pepperpot
• Bahamas – Guava duff, Conch Salad, Peas n' Rice, and Conch Fritters
• Barbados – cou-cou and flying fish
• Belize – rice and beans, stew chicken with potato salad ; white rice, stew beans and fry fish with cole slaw
• British Virgin Islands – fish and fungee
• Cayman Islands – turtle stew, turtle steak, grouper
• Colombian Caribbean – rice with coconut milk, arroz con pollo, sancocho, Arab cuisine (due to the large Arab population)
• Cuba – platillo Moros y Cristianos, ropa vieja, lechon, maduros, ajiaco
• Dominica – mountain chicken, rice and peas, dumplings, saltfish, dashin, bakes (fried dumplings), coconut confiture, curry goat, cassava farine, oxtail
• Dominican Republic – arroz con pollo with stewed red kidney beans, pan fried or braised beef, salad/ ensalada de coditos, pastelitos, mangú, sancocho, locrio
• Grenada – oil down, Roti and rice & chicken
• Guyana – roti and curry, pepperpot, cookup rice, methem, pholourie
• Haiti – griot (fried pork) served with du riz a pois or diri ak pwa (rice and beans)
• Jamaica – ackee and saltfish, callaloo, jerk chicken, curry chicken
• Montserrat – Goat water
• Puerto Rico – yellow rice with green pigeon peas, saltfish stew, roasted pork shoulder, chicken fricassée, mofongo, tripe soup, alcapurria, coconut custard, rice pudding, guava turnovers, Mallorca bread
• Saint Kitts and Nevis – goat water, coconut dumplings, spicy plantain, saltfish, breadfruit
• Saint Lucia – callaloo, dal roti, dried and salted cod, green bananas, rice and beans
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish
• Suriname – brown beans and rice, roti and curry, peanut soup, battered fried plantain with peanut sauce, nasi goreng, moksie alesi, bara, pom
• Trinidad and Tobago – doubles, curry with roti or dal bhat, aloo pie, phulourie, callaloo, bake and shark, curry crab and dumpling
• United States Virgin Islands – stewed goat, oxtail or beef, seafood, callaloo, fungee

Goat water is a goat stew.

LANDMARKS & ACTIVITIES

one.

Countries and territories[edit]

Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Puerto Rico, often grouped as the Greater Antilles, are by far the largest islands in the area and the most visited by travellers. The Caribbean also includes the Lucayan Archipelago to the north, which is comprised of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Lesser Antilles, a group of much smaller islands to the east.

Countries of the Caribbean

Bahamas Archipelago of islands and cays surrounded by coral reefs off the coasts of Florida. One of them was the first piece of American soil Columbus put his foot on.

Bermuda (Outside of image map, see dynamic map) Small and wealthy British overseas territory in the Atlantic, known for a type of shorts and the supposedly mysterious triangle.

Cayman Islands Known for offshore banking, and a great diving destination.

Cuba The largest Caribbean island-nation, marked by decades of socialist government.

Jamaica An island of tall mountains, birthplace of reggae and a Commonwealth Realm.

Haiti Founded by former slaves who won their freedom and then independence against the might of revolutionary and Napoleonic France. Today, having struggled against conflicts and natural disasters, Haiti has relative political stability and security, and is again becoming attractive for those seeking a road less traveled.

Dominican Republic A fast-growing economy with some of the oldest colonial cities in the hemisphere.

Puerto Rico A United States territory with bustling nightlife, as well as great inland sceneries.

Lesser Antilles (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Saba, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sint Eustatius, U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago) Small islands facing the open Atlantic. Many of them are dependencies of other countries.

Leeward Antilles (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire) Also known as the ABC islands, these islands off the coast of Venezuela are associated with the Netherlands.

Turks and Caicos Islands Fabulous beaches and offshore banking.

Other areas include:

• Belize, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname are often considered part of the Caribbean as they share a common cultural heritage.

Mountains of St Lucia.

MUSIC

Religion[edit]

See also: Religion in the Caribbean

Havana Cathedral (Catholic) in Cuba completed in 1777

Holy Trinity Cathedral, an Anglican Christian cathedral in Trinidad and Tobago

Temple in the Sea, a Hindu mandir in Trinidad and Tobago

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Memorial Masjid, a Muslim masjid in Trinidad and Tobago

A Jewish synagogue in Suriname

A Haitian Vodou altar

Christianity is the predominant religion in the Caribbean (84.7%).^[76] Other religions in the region are Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Rastafari, Buddhism, Chinese folk religion (incl. Taoism and Confucianism), Baháʼí, Jainism, Sikhism, Kebatinan, Traditional African religions, Yoruba (incl. Trinidad Orisha), Afro-American religions, (incl. Santería, Palo, Umbanda, Brujería, Hoodoo, Candomblé, Quimbanda, Orisha, Xangô de Recife, Xangô do Nordeste, Comfa, Espiritismo, Santo Daime, Obeah, Candomblé, Abakuá, Kumina, Winti, Sanse, Cuban Vodú, Dominican Vudú, Louisiana Voodoo, Haitian Vodou, and Vodun).

Useful Websites

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/caribbean-countries.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean