Happy Memories Of New Year's Eve At The Tanglin Club

New Year's Eve headwear. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

 One of the questions in the impromptu speaking session at a Toastmasters club in London was, if you could spend New Year's Eve anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I started thinking about past New Year's Eve celebrations I had attended. What were my favourites 

I have fond memories of New Year's Eve at The Tanglin Club in Singapore. In the hallway was a giant green Christmas adorned with red and gold baubles. The base of the tree had mock parcels tied with bows. The tree was surrounded bytransparent reindeer,

On one side of the tree was a large carved wooden armchair for Father Christmas who would arrive later to sit and stand alongside excited children and their parents for photographs. Wandering entertainers included a stilt man.

Every child received a tote bag, toddler size or adult size, containing two or three goodies. A red Santa Claus hat. Something to decorate. a puzzle or drawing book.

A free photo booth had a table of hats, masks and funny spectacles to wear for a photo against a choice of three backdrops, and three sides of an indoor awning, it's back wall, right wall, or left. 

You could pay for a seated dinner. The first sitting was 7 pm to 9 pm. The second sitting was 10 pm to midnight. One year the midnight dinner was booked so we settled for the ealier one. The one ending with Champagne at midnight was dearer. One year both sittings were booked. 

But those not booked on seated dinners could enjoy the buffet next door. Free. Or rather, included in the price you paid every month for your membership of the club in addition to a few thousand pounds for joining.

The club did fantastic buffets. Rice, and chicken. Potatoes. 

Chocolate cake. Assorted shaped chocolate or gingerbread biscuits. Six point stars, and bells, triangular trees, diamonds and other shapes. 

Small dice shaped pieces of Christmas pudding. Long triangles or cubes of bread and butter pudding, so delicious.

Afterwards, if you were lucky, a porter would light the flashing signal to tell passing taxis that a customers was waiting. If you had no luck in five minutes, they would phone for a taxi. You could stand outside the front doors in the clammy heat of tropical Singaapore. When your taxi arrived at the bottom of the flight of red carpeted stairs, the porter would wave to you. Down to the taxi. Tell hi your destination. Your name and address and credit card would be registered with one or more or all of the txi companies, and an uber. The taxi took you to your condo door. 

Now the Tanglin club is taking bookings for Chinese New Year. starting January 19th 2025.

If you keep a stock of items such as table decorations and hats and headgeat to wear for Christmas and New Year's Eve, now is the time to pick up bargains from supermarkets and corner shops and online clothing and party shops. Headbands with the date help you date photos of the participants. However, ones that simply say Happy New Year can be saved for the next year. 

Useful Websites

Private Clubs - eg The Tanglin Club

https://www.tanglinclub.org/events/calendar-of-events.

New Year Headbands eg Partyrama

https://www.partyrama.co.uk/happy-new-year-assorted-headbands-pack-of-4/

London's New Year's Day Parade with Americans Marching and Watching

Marching band from a previous year.(Wiki)

This year the rain blurred photographs.

Never mind if you missed it. You forgot. Or didn't want to brave the rain. Or want to see it again.

It's on You tube. The 2025 parade.

Not just Londoners. American marching bands. English and American accents from the commentators, "The World Comes To London".. 

Showing Traflagar Square and Piccadilly. 

The 2025 parade started with old England, the Lord mayors, past and present in historic carriages. London doesn't just have a mayor of London. It also has mayor's of bits of London, such as my area of Harrow. I loved the white carriage with white horse, and the black carriage with black horses. 

London's red double decker buses were bedecked in unusual ways. Harrow Urban Farming group had greenery on an open top bus. Down on the ground marchers were carrying giant inflable fruit such as a pineapple and a banana. 

Marching bands galore impressed with their playing whilst marching. Scottish pipers were replendent in tartans with their distinctive shrill bagpipes.

American marching bands were a spectacle of co-ordination, arms waving, girls in frou frou and pom poms.

High schools from the USA. Drummers. New Orleans. Mississippi.

People from all over the world were represented. Those who live in London. Others had come to visit to partake in the parade. Croatia. The Phillipines. Mexican violins. Dancing, singing, gymnastics, and motorbikes and quad vehicles friving forwards, backwards, or forwards on the back wheels, doing wheelies.

Despite the rain, lots of fun for everyone there, and you can watch it again and again, from the comfort of your chair in the warmth, back in your home, any time, day or night, any day.

You can buy items with the event initials, LNYDP, and their five point star in red or multi colours. a tee shirt, cap, beenie hat,  mostly with a blue background colour, tote bag, cuff links or a fluffy toy puppy.

Event tee-shirt.

Useful Websites

https://lnydp.com/

https://shop.destinationevents.com/collections/lnydp-clothing-memorabilia/products/copy-of-lnydp-t-shirt-blue

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New Year's Day 2025 Fireworks & Concert Online

 I saw fireworks after midnight.

A chance to see last night's London fireworks on the BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c205y3zwl27o

Sunburst patterns on the big wheel - once called The London Eye. Huge white fan shapes of vertical rockets from the embankment to left and right. of the London Eye.

The London Eye, an observation wheel, is known to Americans as a Ferris Wheel. 

I am all in favour of AI which handily tells me more than I thought of asking.

• Name history: The London Eye has had several official names, including the British Airways London Eye, the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, and the EDF Energy London Eye. It was most recently the Coca-Cola London Eye, but is now sponsored by lastminute.com. 
• Origin: The London Eye was originally submitted as an entry to a competition to design a new landmark for London's millennium. 
• Design: The London Eye was designed by architects David Marks and Julia Barfield of Marks Barfield Architects. Their design was inspired by the idea of a "flight" and was intended to provide a unique perspective of the city. 
• Height: The London Eye is 443 feet (135 meters) tall. 
• Location: The London Eye is located on the South Bank of the River Thames. 
Popularity: The London Eye is one of London's most popular tourist attractions, with over three million visitors annually. 


AI also tells me what time and which channel will broadcast the New Year's Day Concert from Vienna, Austria. Unfortunately when I copy it here I get the text in a column. If I try to delete a single space, the whole piece disappears.  I am happily listening to Johann Strauss Junior's lilting waltz music. If you miss it, or want to hear it again, or to play it to somebody else, you can get it later on the iplayer. For me the highlights are the dancers in the second half and the jolly song chosen for the encore.
AI Overview


The Vienna New Year's Concert was broadcast in the UK on New Year's Day at 10:15 AM GMT on BBC Two. It was also available on Radio 3 from 9:30 AM. 
The Vienna New Year's Concert is an annual performance of classical music by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna, Austria. The concert takes place in the Musikverein's Golden Hall at 11:15 AM. The orchestra performs the same program on December 30 and 31, but only the January 1 concert is broadcast on radio and television.











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New Year's eve 2025 - what I've seen live in London, and online from Australia and what I'd like to see worldwide

UK

Local fireworks in London. Vide by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Live in London. Photo/video by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

In London we heard fireworks from about 7 pm which was already midnight in other parts of the world. Then at midnight loud eruptions of waves of noise. I ran out and saw huge bursts of red and green and white lights, one after another. Must have cost a fortune. Amazing. 

I ran back for some warm clothes and went out to the high street. 

A man from Social Dhaba Indian restaurant was crossing the street back to the restaurant. 

He waished me, 'Happy New Year!'

So I reciprocated, 'And happy New Year to you!'

I huge gust of wind carried me a couple of feet. Then the wind died away.

I hurried home, jubilantly.

Australia

Earlier I had been watching online. The first fireworks had appeared from Sydney Harbout bridge in Australia.  Bursts of circular spectacles, plus rows of lights shotting upwards vertically and forwards horizontally. 

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the lights projected from the top of a tower.

Time Clocks Needed

What we need across the top of our screens is a series of clocks, like those in the receptions of hotels, showing where the displays are already online and those starting now.

Dubai

Dubai had varied music, from pop to classical marching songs. The tower was lit by ascending spark, spirals, a diving giant bird, blocks of solid colour, red and other colours. Plus jumping fountains in rows or white, jumping and swaying in formation like trees.

America's celebrations come next, way beyond our bedtime. We will see them tomorrow, January 1st. After 9 am UK time we shall be hoping to watch the UK New Year's Day Parade, later in the Day the American parads. If possible, the New Year's Day concert from Vienna, Austria. It is usually on the radio. But we would like to watch it, pershaps a bit later on the BBC iplayer, so we can see the ballet dancers, the decorated hall and the conductor, and some amusement created between the concutor and orchestra for the last piece or encore. Failing all else, we shall look at some snippets from previous years, such as the dancers in the costumes designed by Vivien Westwood.

Yes, New Year's Day is an artificial creation. I have been reading up about the claendars created by Julian, roman Julian, updated and improved by Gregory (the one we use) and the Jewish and Moslem calendars. The Chinese are preparing for their New Year always in January or February, featuring offering a pair of oranges to family and friends and customers, and reciprocating. 

So much jollity, to overcome the bad things remembered from the year.

Labelling Photos

I have spent the day labelling photos with the birth dates, marriage dates, birthdays, and death dates, of my family.

Diary Records

A friend of mine has all her diaries in order in shoe boxes. Ask her on what date we went on holiday together fifty years ago when we first met, and she went to a box and pulled out a record of places visited and things we said. 

It is good to record and remember the good times, and hope for more good times to come. 

I wish you a safe and succcessful, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

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Little girl singing top 3 Japanese nursery rhymes #JAPANEWS - and reflections on English Songs

Japanese Songs

These Japanese songs are so cute. The English translations have good rhymes Know and crow and sparrow. 

Plus everyday creatures which small children know, the kitten and the dog. Everyday problems. Getting lost. 

Concepts which children have mastered. Knowing your name. Making them superior to animals. 

Feeling kindly and helpful to stray animals. 

I've been looking for nursery rhymes in other languages to make it easy to learn. 

English Songs

In English we teach from these classic rhymes in nursery rhymes and folk songs.

Numbers

Ten green bottles. Teaches numbers one to ten.

Also teaches plurals. One green bottle, but two up to ten bottles, adding the letter S.

Modern English Songs and Rhymes.

The Wheels on the bus go round and round. This is the favourite of my grand-daughter, aged three.

There is hardly any rhyming. Just repetition.

I am learning Italian on Duolingo. It includes short humrorus stories with twist endings. But no songs.

Twice a month on Sundays most months when not travelling or entertaining, I run a language workshop online as subsidiary meeting of a Singapore Toastmasters International club which meets in person in Singapore. My online club includes greetings in all the participants languages. We went through and A to Z of languages. Japanese popped up in the speeches about Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese because Chinese uses pictures, like our European no smoking sign of a cigarette with a cross through it to mean no smoking. 

If you can read the word exit in Chinese you can read it in Japanese, and if you can read it in Japanese you can read it in Chinese. Learn to read two languages for the price of one. But to speak it, videos such as the one above, with subtitles in English, are amusing and helpful.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

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