Shoe rack with seat, seen in Singapore

Shoe rack with seat in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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Did you put on weight on holiday, or the business trip? How to find out

Weighing machine. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

You can tell if your buttons are popping. Your clothes are tight.  

What about the fact that you weight yourself naked at home?

Simple. Weight yourself fully clothed in your commonly worn travlling outfit before leaving home. Do it the day you leave or the day before. That is your first day weight.

But dare you weigh yourself.?

1 Pharmacies. In italy and other countries there are weighing machines. You may have to pay. They could be free.

2 Any time you go to the doctor for anything the doctor's prmises or nurse's room probably has a weighing machine.

3 Many hotels and hostels have a large weighing machine for weighting large luggage. This is to help guests find out if their luggage is over weight before leaving for the airport.

4 Some countries in Asia have street vendors who sit with a wighing machine at their feet and make their lving by charging you a small fee, or accepting a donation, from passers-by who wish to weight themselves.

5 Some large deaprtment stores stock weighting machines. Some may be in packets and won't work until you remove the packaging or insert a battery or turn them on. However, look around, you might find one which works. If you smile and chat up a bored assistant, they might help you.  

6 Carry a tape measure. Measure your waist. 

Sometimes the scales tell you mystery numbers.

Just google it to find the conversion.

Useful Websites

https://coolconversion.com/weight/kg-to-stones-pounds/_56.4_kg_in_stones_and_pounds_

Where will you retire? When?

Retirement In The USA

I am from the UK and have lived in the USA. In the USA, Florida was, and still is, the major retirement area. What of Venezuela and other retreats? You need safety, and a friendship network. Some people advise you to move to your retirement area a decade before retirement, so that you have a network of friends, and speak the local language, and feel at ease. 

Retirement In Europe

After my father retired in the UK, my parents lived in Spain in the winter, which was cold in London, but light, bright, and warmer in Spain, in a one bedroom flat in a condo in Marbella. Spain was a place where your retirement income stretched further.

UK

In the UK an influence was in which countries your UK pension allowed your pension to be index linked.

Retirement In Asia

 I retired in the UK at the age of 60. My husband worked in Singapore for 20 years so we are semi-retired here, especially in the winter months. We now have to consider how long we can cope with 14 hour flights back to the UK to see our grand-daughter. Or will the family be prepared to travel once a year or regularly to meet us? What about travel insurance, and medical bills, and access to hospitals?

Cashew Heights condo in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

But the UK retiremnt age has changed. As the world population gets older because of better health, the same is happening in other parts of the world.

You can easily find out a summary of previous and current retirment ages all around the world. At SGI toastmasters meeting our theme was retirement.

What benefits do you gain in the UK on retirement? I get a state pension, a heating allowance in January, free travel in London (and my friends who are resident in Yorkshire get reduced travel there), free prescriptions for long term conditions, but not for one off illnesses. Free hearing tests. Free sight tests. Free hospital stays. Free hospital consultations if I can get a doctor's letter, but there is a long waiting list. Free library service, run by volunteers. Free ambulance service in an emergency. 

Languages

It helps to retire somewhere you can speak the language, or learn it quickly. If you speak English, countries which would be easiest would be the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand.

If you speak French, France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium.

Useful Websites

UK

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age

Singapore

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/05/908080/experts-hail-extension-retirement-age-65

Belize

https://www.socialsecurity.org.bz/long-term-retirement-benefit/

Worldwide

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

https://internationalliving.com/the-best-places-to-retire/

LANGUAGES IN THE USA

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12471713/map-common-lanuages-america.html

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Fabulous Food, Drink, Ice Cream, Pastry and Self-Cleaning Ovens at the FHA, HOREco Expo At Expo in Singapore

 If you are in the business, of restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, the show is on at the Food and Hotel Asia show at Singapore Expo 25 to 28 October 2022.  MRT Expo on the blue Downtown line. Time 10 to 6 pm, except the last day when it closes at 4 pm.

See equipment, try coffees and pastry and ice cream and cocktail and smoothie mixes, everything for the restaurant or hotel owner or chef.

Useful Websites

www.fhaHoReCa.com

A Quick Look At Landlocked Laos

 

Laos is in Asia. Laos is landlocked. The only landlocked country in Asia. So forget beach holidays by the sea.

Transport

Temple in Laos

Writing in Laos

Train in Laos

Bridge in Laos

Plain of Jars. Popular tourist attraction.

Wat means temple. See many statues of revered Buddha.

The capital and biggest city is Vientiane.

Laos

Flag of Laos

Laos is landlocked. Surrounding countries are Cambodia, China, Burma (now called Myanmar), Vietnam.

The capital of Laos is Vientiane, which, as you can see is on the border with Thailand.

A major site is the huge golden temple with many bulbous golden roof sections.

Vientiane is actually pronounced "Wieng Chan", and the letter x is always read as an "s".

The three main attractions are:

1 The gilded temple in the capital which is the national symbol, 

2 The plain of jars, and 

3 another temple.

Otherwise lots of outdoor activities, waterfalls and caves.

Like Cambodia, you will see tuk-tuks.

Wikivoyage says

Lao food is very similar to that eaten in the northeastern Isaan region of Thailand: very spicy, more often bitter than sweet, and using lots of fresh herbs and vegetables served raw. Some of the raw vegetables can be used to cool your mouth when the chilis are overwhelming.

Rice is the staple carbohydrate. The standard kind is sticky rice (ເຂົ້າໜຽວkhao niaow), eaten by hand from small baskets called tip khao. Using your right hand, never your left, pinch off a bit, roll into a ball, dip and munch away.

The national dish is laap (ລາບ, also larb), a "salad" of minced meat mixed with herbs, spices, lime juice and, more often than not, blistering amounts of chili. Unlike Thai larb, the Lao version can use raw meat (dip) instead of cooked meat (suk), and if prepared with seafood makes a tasty, if spicy, carpaccio.

Another Lao invention is tam maak hung (ຕໍາຫມາກຫຸ່ງ), the spicy green papaya salad known as som tam in Thailand, but which the Lao like to dress with fermented crab (ປູດອງ pudem) and a chunky, intense fish sauce called pa daek (ປາແດກ), resulting in a stronger flavour than the milder, sweeter Thai style. Other popular dishes include ping kai, spicy grilled chicken, and mok pa, fish steamed in a banana leaf.

Laos also boasts a range of local desserts. Kanom kok is a small, spherical pudding made from coconut milk, tapioca and ground rice. Sang kaya mayru is a pumpkin filled with a sweet custard and then steamed. The pumpkin itself is also sweet, and the resulting mixture can be quite delicious. Sticky rice with mango or durian is also a popular snack.

In addition to purely Lao food, culinary imports from other countries are common. Khao jii pat-te, French baguettes stuffed with pâté, and foe (pho) noodles from China are both ubiquitous snacks particularly popular at breakfast. Foe can refer to thin rice noodles (Vietnamese pho), and to the wide flat noodles that would be called guay tiow in Thailand.

Drink[edit]

Sunset and Beerlao by the Mekong, Vientiane

The national drink of Laos is the ubiquitous and tasty Beerlao, made with Laotian jasmine rice and one of the few Lao exports. It maintains an almost mythical status among travellers and beer aficionados. The yellow logo with its tiger-head silhouette can be seen everywhere, and a large 640 ml bottle shouldn't cost more than 10,000 to 15,000 kip in restaurants. It's available in three versions: original (5%), dark (6.5%) and light (2.9%). The brewery claims they have 99% market share.

Rice spirit, known as lao-lao, is everywhere,

Beerlau is rice beer. The Beerlau website's history page describes Laos as a luscious landlocked land, forgotten jewel of Far East Asia..

WARY WARNINGS - STAY SAFE

The warnings on Wikivoyage include dengue fever, drinking only bottled water, avoiding drugs - which can incur the death penalty as in other neighbouring countries including Malaysia and Singapore, and more.

Interestingly, women must not touch monks (and vice versa), some of them won't talk to others, although they speak the language, and they don't accept money, only food which women place on the ground in front of them, so monks demanding money are imposters. Enough to dent my desire to go there immediately and be happy that I am forced by Covid-19 to postpone my next trip indefinitely and stay safe at home and to simply enjoy the pleasure of reading all about the attraction and admiring the photos and dreaming of the food, which I shall hunt out online.

Sounds very similar to the temples of Cambodia, and the communism of Vietnam, and the cuisine of Thailand, not surprisingly when the history of the countries is intermingled.

Laos Dress

To end on a happy note, from a woman's point of view, in addition to the calm yet exhilarating colours of the gold temples and orange robed monks, the national dress for women of sarongs and conical hats is most appealing.

The shawl is called a sbai.

SINGAPORE

Singapore has several restaurants which serve Lao food or a mixed menu of food from Laos and another country. When the dining restrictions are lifted I shall eat at a Lao restaurant or get a member of my family to collect a take away to try it out.

LAOS

https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Laotian+Food&find_loc=Kampong+Bukit+Panjang+67%2C+Singapore

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Laos

Light and dark Beerlao

http://www.authentic-beerlao.co.uk/

Other beerlao websites for other countries.

Australia delivery

https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_ER_1000004677_BEERLAO/beerlao-lager-330ml

Other beers and beer places in Singapore.

https://www.ramblingfeet.net/singapore-craft-beer-bars-map-review/

Sinh clothes to buy

http://laoshouse.com/t/sinh-store

About the Author

Angela Lansbury, is a semi-retired travel writer still researching bucket list countries and seeking out the special, unusual, people, places,  landmarks, hotels, museums and trails, fabulous foods, recipes, clothes and online souvenir shopping.

Angela Lansbury is a member of Toastmasters International.

About the Author Angela Lansbury

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 Relations, Immediate Past President. VPPR

Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club.

Also Member of: TCA Toastmasters Club; Singapore Online Dynamic; Harrovians UK

Past meetings have included Garen Tee on using story telling in business, on 

bha.learncool.sg/meet/bha . 

Recent meetings of BHA included an educational session on using Powerpoint for posters.

Next BHA meetings, always first Wednesday evening, 7 pm Singapore time. Next meeting is  the third Saturday afternoon, June 19th 2pm Singapore time.  Inauguration of the new committee by the incoming Director of S, plus a lively speech on teamwork.

 

Angela The Blogger 

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

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

See many varied posts such as the post on sculptor Tom Harvey.

Please share links to your favourite posts. 

Useful Websites

Wikipedia

Wikitravel

Wikivoyage

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Laos

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Vientiane

Tripadvisor

https://ontheworldmap.com/asia/

The Maldives - an archipelago

The Maldives is an archipelago which means a group of islands. It is in Asia (south of Sri Lanka which is off the south of India.)  The capital is Mahe, on what is known as the king's island.

What to do

Submarine

Fishing

Island hopping

Museum

Friday mosque

Useful Websites

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

http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/10/lets-look-at-maldives.html

See Modern Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Inspired by James Elroy Flecker's Poem

James Elroy Flecker at Cambridge, England.

Samarkand - one of the dreams of children and student worldwide, evoked by James Elroy Flecker's poem:

Samarkand

• When the great markets by the sea shut fast
  All that calm Sunday that goes on and on:
  When even lovers find their peace at last,
  And Earth is but a star, that once had shone.
  • The Golden Journey to Samarkand (l. 7)

• And some to Meccah turn to pray, and I toward thy bed, Yasmin.
  • Hassan, in Hassan, act 1, sc. 2 (1922)

• I have seen old ships sail like swans asleep.
  • The Old Ships (l. 1)

• But have you wine and music still,
  And statues and a bright-eyed love,
  And foolish thoughts of good and ill,
  And prayers to them who sit above?
  • To a Poet a Thousand Years Hence (l. 9-12)

• The poet's business is not to save the soul of man but to make it worth saving.
• Quoted by Louis Untermeyer in Modern British Poetry (1920)

What is the city and the country which inspired these wonderful verses?

James Elroy Flecker, born in Britain, wrote about the Golden Journey to Samarkand, a city on the famed Silk Road. The Silk Road ran East-West for miles across Europe and Asia to and from China in the Far East. Samarkand is in Uzbekistan, a country of mosques and mausoleums. Romantically, first in my mind, although alphabetically it is last on my list. Afghanistan and Pakistan I know a bit about, What of Samarkand today and Uzbekistan?

Samarkand
Samarkand has a large number of impressively large and elaborately ornate mosques and mausoleums.

Also assorted Christian places of worship.
Orthodox Church of St George Victorious.

The city of Samarkand has trams and yellow taxis.

How do you get there and get around?
Train Station
The train station and high speed train and very modern, with a distinctive, luxurious and local design.

Useful Websites
Wiki Uzbekistan
Wiki Samarkand
Wikivoyage
Wikitravel
Tripadvisor
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Elroy_Flecker

• About the Author
  Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
  I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a trave writer and phtographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.
  
  Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a langauge evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.
  
  I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other Wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
  Or quicker to type and easier to remember:  tinyurl.com/BHACOOL
  
  Useful Websites
• https://www.facebook.com/angela.lansbury.121
• https://photoscissors.com/
  https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs
  https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
  https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
  https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
  https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
  translate.google.com
  duolingo.com

In Asia, with coronavirus, you are expected to wear a mask if you cough to prevent your coughs and sneezes infecting others.


In Singapore every household has been given four masks by the government.



Singapore flag.


The army was deployed to pack and deliver masks to Community Clubs.

The government advice is, wear the mask only if you are unwell. Save it for when you need it.

If you have a cough or sneezing illness, stay home. Some businesses are eligible for the government compensation scheme if they lose money by letting staff work from home.

If you have a fever and other symptoms, call your doctor who will send you to a hospital with an isolation department. This means you don't infect the rest of your family, who might be wage earners or elderly and sick and therefore vulnerable.

In hospital you might have nursing staff to given you food and drink. At home you could be too sick to feed yourself, have no visitors, or not want to infect others, or they could also be sick.

A hospital cannot cure the cause, but can alleviate symptoms such as difficulty in breathing if you need oxygen.

Useful Websites
singaporeair.com

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Author of
Quick Quotations.
How To Get Out of the mess you're in.

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New Speechcraft Course - Crash Course in Public Speaking

Hello. I am Angela, President of the club, in the red, waving at you. In the foreground is Faith, pretty in pink. The two others are members of the club. More about them later. Fist let's look at Toastmasters Worldwide.

Singapore - clubs now

USA - clubs now

UK - clubs now
What and Where is Toastmasters International?
You can go to Toastmasters International clubs all over the world or join an online club but if you are in Singapore you can join my club - more about this in a moment.

What is it? The History of Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International started in the USA to help people learn public speaking and gain confidence. The not for profit organization spread to the English speaking UK and then Europe - and finally travelled to Asia, like me. You can find clubs worldwide and once you are a member of one club and have a little experience you are welcome at other clubs worldwide.

Angela Lansbury's Expertise
I know a lot about Toastmasters and giving speeches because I lived in the USA and attended the world championship finals in the USA. Singaporean Darren Tay was the worldwide winner in a previous year.

I am still a member of Harrovians in London; and I am a member of three clubs in Singapore. My Singapore clubs are two advanced clubs and one weekly online club which has members and guest speakers from the USA, UK, Europe, and Asia, notably Hong Kong and Singapore.

If you are interested in public speaking for work or confidence, come and join my club. I am President of Braddell Heights Toastmasters in Singapore and we are running an enlightening and entertaining Speechcraft programme starting December 4th 2019. That's a Wednesday evening, at Braddell Heights Community Club, right near the Serangoon MRT underground railway station, exit F, just a few steps to your right and you are in the right place.

What does it cost?
Let's look at your choices. Braddell Heights is a bargain. You could join the biggest public club in Singapore, at the Sheraton Hotel, the first three Mondays in the month, which normally costs about 500 Singapore dollars for the year, plus small extra sums like another $10 for their Christmas party with turkey. One of the universities has a larger club for students of their college only, at a lower price. At the biggest clubs you might have to wait a month or two before you get to give a speech, and you might not have a chance to introduce yourself for half to one minute nor give a two minute speech on table topics. A smaller club such as Braddell Heights gives you more opportunities to practise speeches.

If money is not object, join the big club as well as mine. Other clubs meet only once a month, so if you miss one month because of work or holidays that's two months without any learning or networking or socialising.

I am a member of two advanced clubs. The first club I joined was Braddell Heights Advanced. I joined for three reasons.

1 I lived centrally, then near Little India, and Braddell Heights was central and next to an MRT station and easy to find. Secondly it was a bargain.

Bargain For You
2 All Toastmasters clubs are a bargain, compared with many weekend courses which give you six hours of teaching and no follow-up.
But Braddell Heights is one of the lowest prices.

The price was lower than the biggest club, only $180 dollars. (Singapore dollars.) I had already paid the additional first year joining fee of $40 dollars which gets you registered onto the Toastmasters International website and gives you the monthly magazine.

3 Braddell Heights met twice a month, unlike the other Advanced clubs which met once a month.

4 I had a warm welcome from veteran Kan Kin Fung, who mentors everybody in the club and happily sits with you at break time or after meetings telling you how to enroll, give a speech or do any other role.

As President of Braddell Heights Advanced I am in charge of organizing the programmes, helped by our VPE, Vice President of Education. She is a lively lady. You must see her. She won first place in all four of our recent club contests. The other speakers were also excellent.

Angela Lansbury, President, in the red Toastmasters tee-shirt, back right. Faith, winner of two contests is front right in pink. Behind Faith, standing, in black, is Arinjay who was first runner up in the contest.  Front left is Sylvia Ang wearing blue. She was the second runner-up in both contests.

What Will Speechcraft Teach You?
Speechcraft at Braddell Heights Advanced is a crash course aimed to ensure newcomers have all the basics and acts as a quick revision for those who joined later in the year and want to keep practising their skills. It covers these:

Dec 4
1 Prepare to speak professionally. Introduce Yourself - The Icebreaker Speech - by Angela Lansbury. Angela - that's me, a bouncy, blonde with a British accent. My Toastmasters titles are:

I go to about six or seven speakers' meetings a week, sometimes two a day, an in-house Toastmasters' group at lunch time and an evening group at a Community Club. I have judged at many speaking contests and have several trophies and dozens of ribbons for best prepared speech, best table topics (impromptu speeches) and best evaluator. I also do language evaluations.

2 Impromptu Speaking - by Lim Tong Lee, DTM, which means Distinguished Toastmaster. He has been the Chief Judge at contests.

He is tall dark and handsome. Warm and welcoming. Toastmasters of the evening (Master of Ceremonies) as well as leader of one of the speech training sessions.

3 Pathways - by Kan Kin Fung, another Distinguished Toastmasters, handsome, smiling broadly like a Cheshire cat, a bald Cheshire cat, as he is fond of remarking.

Guess who this is.

Choose your path in Toastmasters International Pathways - and your path for the next year and in life.

Potluck Fun Food
The club provides a small amount of savoury food. We rely on food contributions to augment this with fruit or cakes or seasonal goodies.

Dec 21 Same venue, Braddell Heights Community Club but Saturday afternoon, 1.45-5 pm.
Storytelling and Xmas party.
Storytelling - by Thomas Chen CC and CL. He is President of Kampong Kembangan club and a member of NTU and Pasirisians clubs. He frequently wins ribbons for Best Evaluator of speeches.
Facts tell, stories sell.
Thomas Chen will entertain you with his anecdotes, alliteration and acronyms.

Potluck food. The club provides a small amount of savoury food. We rely on contributions to augment this with fun foods, fruit or cakes, shop bought or home made or seasonal goodies.

Make sure you get on our WhatsApp group because our January 1st 2020 meeting is on a different date at a place.

Our January meetings are held jointly with two other clubs, Cheng San and Tiarel.

We have also lined up an English teacher, Celine Goh, President of another club, to give us a workshop on the English Language.

Later meetings include combined meetings with Cheng San toastmasters and Tiarel.
https://www.meetup.com/Braddell-Heights-Advanced-Singapore-Public-Speaking-Meetup/events/

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, not related to any other people of the same name (13 on LinkedIn!) is the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches and Toasts by Ward Lock/Cassell and is currently writing a book on Improve Your English.

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Buying Gifts For Hosts: Flowers, Drinks & Etiquette of Bouquets British, European And Asian Style

European Bouquets
Bouquets in Europe, especially Romania, are carried home upside down with the heads pointing towards the ground.

I find that very unnerving. The first time I saw a man carrying an upside down bouquet, I thought he was a nutter. Then I saw another. I wondered if it was some Dracula festival where you kill flowers. We were near a florist's shop in Bucharest.

We were waiting for a bus. I asked a local couple and a couple of Americans about the flowers. Apparently it is common in several countries.I heard two theories about this. One was that cut flowers have sap which drips out of the stalks.

Asian Flower Sellers
In Vietnam you also see flower sellers with huge bunches of flowers on bicycles.

Singapore Flower Display. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Asian Flower Displays
In Asia flowers are presented to the owners of new shops and restaurants and businesses and displayed on columns outside the front door.

I had a bouquet delivered to Singapore. My family in London, who wanted me to lend them money, had decided to send me a bunch of flowers. First I received a virtual flower. I had no idea this was the herald of a real flower delivery.

The bunch of flowers was very odd.
My bunch of flowers in Singapore came wrapped in a piece of brown sacking with a brown rope string. The flowers looked like teeny heathers, entwined with groups of coloured cotton wool balls in magenta and white.

Beware Of Standing Water
I had no vase, so I cut horizontally in half a plastic drinks bottle. you have to change the water every day without fail. First, water can breed mosquitos. You see signs everywhere. Vases of flowers are banned in cemeteries in Singapore. Saucers under pots also have to be emptied. If you leave a vase for a few days in the UK the water goes green. In Singapore it soon went black and foul-smelling.

I would suggest a potted plant for the balcony. Or a potted orchid which will last.

Buying On A Budget
If you are budget conscious, do not buy from big tourist places such as the Botanic Gardens or Gardens Bu The Bay until you have checked out the local shops. You may prefer the tourist places.  Their flowers are lovely. If price is not object, they have everything you could want, including grow your own herbs, at vast expense. You will pay four times the price you would pay in the local supermarket or market.

I would have preferred a pot of orchids. But shop around. I once bought in Singapore for friends in the UK a tiny orchid in a pipette. It never grew. For half the price I could have bought a full size orchid.














UK Flag.

In the UK you get a set of cut flowers on stalks. Roses.  Daffodils in season. Always even numbers, usually a dozen or half a dozen.

Wrapped in coloured tissue paper in pastel or vivid colours and green plastic twine and/or transparent plastic printed with a pattern of flowers and/or the planting instructions and a coloured plastic imitation ribbon bow.

I later found out I could buy orchids in Tesco supermarket in London for half the price of Orchids in Singapore. The prices in the UK came down still further in the August summer sales and the post Xmas sales.

I thought I had the most unusual bouquet. Then I saw that brides had vegetable bouquets at weddings. If you are vegan, or don't like the idea of cut flowers.

Vegetable bouquet. Photo from Timofey Shalpegin - photo in Wikipedia.

Within the UK you can send flowers from the major supermarkets. You can also pay extra for adding a glass vase, a teddy bear, chocolates, and for free next day delivery for a year.

Useful Websites
https://www.jollyflorist.com/en/send-flowers
https://theflowerfactoryusa.com/
https://www.prestigeflowers.co.uk/
https://www.interflora.co.uk
https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/flowers-and-plants/all-flowers-and-plants
For succulents in pots:
https://www.noahgardencentre.com.sg
https://www.fareastflora.com/
Phone line and leave your message at:
https://www.tohgarden.com/others/mid-autumn-2019-tropical-orchids-and-plants-promotion/

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