Travel Shows With News For You - World Travel Market 5-7 November

 

The World Travel Market is in Excel in East London. You will read about it everywhere, in the travel trade press, the free newspapers on the London underground and here in my blog. It is a preview of all the attractions at destinations, and transport and tours, food, drink, events, buildings, animals, famous people, toys and symbols, souvenirs, clothes, jewellery, and practicalities such as booking systems.

The bigger countries have huge stands divided into smaller sections. There are also launches, lunches, and music and dance displays, films and animations. 

On London's trains you will see people in colourful costumes.

If you are overseas, read all about it and plan your next trips. 

TRAIN STRIKES

Tube strikes were forecast for Thursday Nov 7th 2024, the last day, so make sure to go on the early days. DLR, London Overground and Elizabeth line will still run, apparently, but you might get overflow from cancelled trains causing you delays, so allow good time.

Middle East Travel

Who is in and who is out?  Remember, we are in 2024, but thinking of the public taking holidays throughout 2025 when seasons and political events could be different.  Last year, 2023, Israel pulled out but they are back again at World Travel Market 2024. Palestine is not in but Jordan is. So are Qatar and various other destinations. In some cases where a tourist board is not represented, you can find a hotel at the destination which interests you.

Travel In Spain

Andalucia in Spain, hit by flooding around Valencia, has pulled out this year, 2024.

NEWS WHICH ENDS WELL

I always look for a happy story to end my blogs. What's new? I following one link after another until I find something new. New for me, the idea of promoting Garden weddings in Rajastan, India a country where more than a million weddings take place every year, many of them with up to 1000 guests or more, needing bigger venues than can be provided by the 10% of hotels which have venues for huge weddings or up to 1000 guests. big money, big time, big fun, big opportunity.

More details from

https://www.wtm.com/london/en

https://www.wtm.com/london/en-gb/exhibitor-directory.html#/

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Bags Which Sit On Wheelie Trolley Cases

 I went onto Temu and all over the internet looking for bags which slotted on, various prices and colours.

I ended up buying three.

Pink Slotted Bag

The pink one was the largest and most solid.

It had a handy zipped compartment at the back. It wasn't the right pink to go with my jacket, more lavender. but at least it was pink. Not black.

The Black bag

The black one went best, colourwise, very smart, with a black suitcase. No long handle. The two arched handles just about fitted over my shoulder if I had not too much in it. At first I thought the handles were rough to hold, and the bag fabric rough. But if you wear gloves, or a coat, or add a padded shoulder protector over the handles, you have a padded strap. I liked it enough not to send it back.

I had wanted to see how the various bags worked.  So that I could add straps or slots to my existing bags to take on holiday. 

My favourite black leather bucket bag is always slipping off my wheel on bag sideways suddenly. The toppled bag and fallen suitcase, it makes the suitcase trip over, delay me. They strain my back. They block the people behind me on an escalator or Travelator. I look inelegant and feel silly.

These three bags should solve that problem.

But what can I do for other bags? Two vertical slots would destroy a big bag and risk tearing more, and letting items fall in or out. You could cut slits in your bag and line the inside with stiff fabric. 

The black bag has a wide horizontal band all the way from one vertical side seam to the other. It is not so high.

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Vegetarian Restaurants in Singapore

Singapore flag with border.
 

A vegetarian friend from the UK is visiting Singapore and asks my advice on vegetarian restaurants.

In Alphabetical Order

K

Komala Vilas

76 Serangoon Road

Singapore 217981

tel: +65 62936 980

We walked there from Little India MRT.

Sweets and savouries at 4 Upper Dickson Road.

Afterwards I walked to Mustafa Centre 24 hour department store. They stock lots of Indian ready made dishes and ingredients.  Including breads and gulab jamun.

O

Original Sin

Why the name?

Named after a painting in the Sistine chapel.

Expensive but memorable food. We went there for the first tie just after in opened way back in the 1990s. My husband can still remember drinking Frascati.

Location

Holland Village. MRT station nearby.

On the website you get a discount code for ordering one of their premium wines.

S

Shahi Maharani

Swaadisht

Kerala food with lots of rice and coconut. Menu offers meat and vegetarian dishes.

W

Woodlands

Has more than one branch. Not unusual but handy and acceptable.

Useful Websites

https://komalavilas.com.sg

https://www.mustafa.com.sg/

www.Balajibbhawan.com

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheer_(Bengali_sweets)

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Kheer

Ballaji Bhaawan

103 Syed Alwi Road

(opposite Mustafa Gate No. 2)

Singapore 207679

Tel:+65 6341 7797

Manish hp 9126 7797

Email Maanish200@gmail.com

Mail boxes in London dressed for WW2 on Armistice Day

 

The red poppies are evident on the post boxes. (Americans call them mail boxes.) The boxes are mostly round so they are also called pillar boxes. English post boxes are red. (The same as the old phone boxes and buses in London.)

This one is just off the tree lined road called The Avenue in Hatch End.

On the corner.

Streets in Hatch End, Watford and nearby have large red poppy symbols on the lamp posts.

 

Poppy symbols on lamp posts in Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Postbox toppers of crochet and knitting have appeared all over the UK, England and Scotland, especially for national, seasonal and sporting events.

Useful Websites

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Post_box_toppers_in_Scotland

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