More Portuguese Words For Supermarket Shopping - with my memory aids to help you

 

Flag of Portugal

Portuguese - English

batata - potato

especial - special

fresca - fresh

gelado - ice

leite - milk

marca - brand

maio - May (no need to capitalise the initials of months in Portuguese)

meses - months

o - the

ovos - eggs (like the English word ovary)

pastel - pastry

queijo - cheese

queijos - cheeses

rustico - country style (lik ethe English word rustic)

sal - salt

soja - soy

vinho - wine (like the English word vine)

UK flag

English - Portuguese

brand - marca

cheese - queijo

cheeses - queijos

Country style - rustico

eggs - ovos

fresh - fresca (the first four letters are the same)

ice (cream) - gelado (the Italians have gelato)

May (the month) - maio

milk - leite (like the French word lait)

months - meses

pastry - pastel

potato - batata (tat in the middle of both words)

salt - sal (the same word was English without the t)

soy - soja

special -  especial (add e before s like the Spanish name for their country Espana)

wine - vinho

Useful Websites

duolingo

Wikivoyage Portugal phrasebooks

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

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

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How to keep leftovers safe and fresh in a car when travelling and on a touring holiday

 On a fly-drive touring holiday we had to deal with lots of leftovers. To avoid over-eating, we often ordering one starter between two and one dessert between two. Portions in the USA and New Zealand are designed to satisfy the six footers and we are smaller.

What can be done to keep food fresh?

1 Carry an insulated fold up bag in your copious shoulder bag or rucksack.

2 Keep a large insulated styrofoam box in the boot of your car if you don't have to worry about airline weight. (Or travel with your rucksack inside the larger and solid box.)

3 Take a small freezer block which can be frozen before you leave home, later in your hotel bedroom fridge overnight. Make a reminder note in your Last Minute Actions to Get freezer block from fridge.

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

4 Ask the hotel or restaurant for a small bag of ice.

5 If you cannot buy ice, buy the cheapest frozen item from a supermarket, such as peas or vegetables, ideally something you can eat which won't go off, but will help keep other items cool.

6 Wet a paper tissue from your car tissue box, or a hand drier in a public toilet, or a face flannel. Place it over a sealed plastic box containing food inside a plastic bag. The evaporation of the water should help cool the food.

Useful Website

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freezer-Blocks-Cooler-Travel-Picnic/dp/B096W2C

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Malay Menu Words translated

 

Malay restaurant near Paddington Station London. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Malay words - English

air (proounced ay-er) - water

ais - ice

barli - barley

gula - sugar

laici - lychee

sagu - sago

sirap - syrup

sirap rose - rose syrup (note that the adjective comes after the noun in Malay)

teh - tea

English - Malay

barley - barli

ice - ais

lychee - laici

sago -sagu

sugar - gula

syrup - syrap

tea - teh

water - air (pronounced ayer)

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Ice On Station Platforms and in Driveways of Homes in England

 

Ice on the platform at West Harrow station, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury

Ice Carving And Harmony In Harbin, Northeastern China at Chinese New Year

Ice sculpture, Flute, by Dayou_X in Wikimedia Commons.

Harbin, nicknamed the ice city, in northeastern China is the place to be in the cold season of January to March especially at Chinese New Year. I was reminded of this by Chinese girl who I met in Singapore. She said, "Any travel agent in Singapore will be able to organize a trip for you, because Harbin's Ice Festival is very popular".

Ice And Snow World sculpture park, Harbin, China.
Photo by Lin Yang in Wikimedia.

The major attractions are the giant sculptures in the two parks, one on Sun Island, by the river where workers carve out the ice blocks. The ice sculptures are not those little table top ones you see at some upmarket winter weddings, but full size, like the ice hotels. You get ice bridges you can walk across. One of the venues has ice sculptures floodlit at night with glowing colours. These are paid for attractions in large fields. Hundreds of workers have toiled with heavy machinery, and great skill, for days, working days. 

Entrance. Photo by Dayou_X in Wikimedia.

On investigation, I realise that the temperature of minus thirty is not a place where I would like to spend January. Minus fifteen in a South Korean ski resort did not suit me. I spent the first day, Saturday, of my weekend away at Korea's nine dragons (nine mountains) ski resort, shopping for a warmer hat to insulate my neck and cover for my nose, as well as a second layer of gloves. My time and money was spent on shopping for clothes I might never need again.

Where would you stay? Harbin has large international five-star hotels. Indoors you might warm up on winter food. What kind of food is unique to Harbin? A red sausage. Sweet and sour pork, deep fried.

Where to Go - After the ice?

South of an adjoining sister city is an ancient 11th century walled city. An excursion for those more into culture than sport.

Summer Celebrations In Sunny Weather

The good news is that Harbin has summer alternative cultural attractions. Reading about the previous years with the world record for the number of pianos playing - more than 600 simultaneously, I knew the festival would be fun. The music mentioned included the Radestsky March, one of my all-time favourites, jolly upbeat music, rather than dismal dirges, made my eyes open and my mouth widen in a smile.

The music festival is held in alternate years, the even years, 2, 4, 6. 8, 10, so the next one is 2020. That gives me and you  plenty of time to learn to write and read and speak Mandarin Chinese. Rather than relying on the tedious method of using Google translate with taxi drivers, I can practise my conversations using Earworms, and FutureLearn.

Two new underground railway lines will be finished, we hope, by 2012. The underground will have bilingual signs. Elsewhere, much is in Chinese. Now would be a good time to start cultivating some Chinese friends, penfriends and Facebook friends. They could be mentors in learning Chinese, translators, and enthusiastic travelling companions. Remember the winegrowers' saying, the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is now.

Harbin Railway station, photo by Prince Roy from Flickr used in Wikimedia. 

As you can see, major signs are in Chinese. If I had not been told this was a railway station, I would have thought it was a department store. Would the clock have been a hint that it was a railway station? Yes. But other buildings also have clocks.

Tasty Summertime Food

In Singapore my new Chinese friend's father grew up in Harbin and she has family there. In summer, she recalled, "In Harbin you eat watermelon, sweet melon, honeydew melon, corn, apricots, fresh peaches - much tastier than the ones we get in Singapore." Watermelon sounds refreshing for hot weather.

Harbin's summertime cultural attraction is the music festival held every two years in the 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years, so the next event is the year after next in 2020.

Worldwide - Ice Is Nice!

This place, Harbin, has been on my winter wish list for years, along with the ice hotels of the USA and Canada and Scandinavia.

If you don't have the time and money to travel to China this winter-spring and would like a winter ice resort nearer your base elsewhere, alternatives are winter celebrations in Quebec City, Canada. Alternatively, over in Europe, go north to Norway.

Meanwhile, back in Harbin:

Confucius Temple, Harbin, China. Photo from Wikimedia, article on Harbin.

See and Do Top Ten Checklist
1 Ice Festival - 2 locations
2 Chinese New Year
3 Summer Music Festival
4 Russian St Sophia Cathedral (and synagogue and Jewish area)
5 Confucian Chinese Temple
6 Siberian Tiger Park
7 Organic Winery
8 War Museum (Chinese victims of Japanese)
9 Harbin sausage
10 Side trip to 11th century walled city

Another excellent photo by Lin Yang. St Sophia Cathedral. From wikimedia. The picture of the Baroque Eastern cathedral with its green domes, gold spires, and ornate windows has been 

photobombed by the birds. I believe they are pigeons.

Siberian Tigers Watching and Waiting in the Siberian Tiger Park. Photo by Carla.Antonini in Wikimedia.

Accommodation
Major hotels such as Shangri La. Budget places include a hostel in a former synagogue. That's a novelty. See Tripadvisor for photos of the hostel and reviews.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Harbin

https://www.bh.org.il/jews-harbin/

Author

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

Learn a few words of Indonesian-Malay

Problem
How do I remember the Indonesian words?

Answer
No problem. Just look for the connections between the words in English and Indonesian-Malay.












Indonesian / Malay - English
goreng - fried (I think of the g in greasy and that reminds me of fried in oil or butter.)
kereta api - train (Malay)
maaf! - sorry! (My awful toe AAH! What the f. happened? It got trodden on but because I'm British I'll say sorry MAAF.)
silakan - please / please come in (letters 's l a' in silakan and 'l a s' in please. Silakan ends kan - sounds like can I come in - yes you can.
tidak - no (Concentrate on the d in the centre of the word as a reminder: you don't say, no - don't even think it)

English - Indonesian / Malay
fried - goreng
no - tidak
please (come in) - silakan
train - kereta api

REVISION
Words from pervious posts and earlier lessons in Duolingo:
Malay / Indonesian - English
apel - apple
ayam - chicken
bukit - hill
dia - he/she
dua - two (as in dual)
es - ice
foto - photo
merah - red (As in the place name in Singapore, Bukit Merah, meaning red hill, literally hill red.)
pintu - door
saya - I myself (s and y in both words)
selamat pagi - good morning (start a new page)
wanita - woman (Both words have the letter w, a n. Yes, it is a woman. Wan-it-a.)
Ya - Yes

English - Malay
apple - apple
chicken - ayam
door - pintu
good morning - selamat pagi
he/she - dia
hill - bukit
I - saya
ice - es
photo - foto
two - dua
woman - wanita
Yes! - Ya!

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Standard_Malay_and_Indonesian
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages. 

How To Keep People Safe When Driving, Hiking, Skiing - and at home!

Photo of Vlad The Impaler, Shown in a restaurant in Romania. Reminder to watch out for unfriendly locals and do not antagonize the government of the country you are visiting. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

Problems
Areas notorious for accidents:
People in icy conditions
People in steep conditions
People in hot conditions
People get lost
People get injured
Attacks by animals
Phone lost
Attack by humans
Vehicle goes off-road and can't be seen nor found

Answers
These ideas are not necessarily sufficient. They are a starting point for your own checklist. Even if this is all obvious to you, you might want to remind a group of children you are escorting.

PLANNING
Do a health and safety assessment before any journey. If you are driving on holiday and are likely to get out of the car when you see a trail or viewpoint, plan ahead.

Practice. Indoor ski slope. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Find out how long it takes to get to the end of a trail. For example, in Australia, three of us saw a sign  to a waterfall.
Two of us said, "Come on, only half an hour away!"
 However, our driver said, "A waterfall which is half an hour away is a one-hour return journey - plus stops to rest, eat, take photos. Then we will have to drive in the dark to reach our hotel in the next city by nightfall."

Also, if you have water for a hike. - remember you are going both ways. Wear proper shoes and clothes.

SUPPLIES
Keep warming blankets in the car for overnight in case the vehicle breaks down.

Wear waterproof boots in rainy areas. You may come to puddles blocking paths, teaming with wildlife. (I encountered yellow-bellied toads in a pond formed in a path in Romania.)

COMMUNICATION
Notify where you are going and when you will be back. Tell them your route.
Take a map, plot the route, and note where you might take a wrong right or left turn.
Take enough food and water.

SURVIVAL
Learn what you can eat in that area (survival guides)
Consult local people.
Have sealed food and drink. (In some area such as Canada, Romania, Bulgaria, sandwiches can attract wildlife such as bears).

PHONE FOR HELP
Learn the local emergency phone numbers. Record them on your phone.
When your phone is locked you may still make emergency calls.

I took this photo of an ambulance in Romania to learn the word for ambulance. The ambulance cleverly has the phone number you dial for ambulances on the back. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

WHAT TO BUY
SPOT gps satellite emergency Transmitter tells people where you are.
Paper for a paper trail.

Lay a paper trail, like a paperchase, so you can find your way back and rescuers can follow you.
Have a phone attached to your body, so if you jump out of a burning car in an accident you can call for help. (Otherwise, you jump out and your phone is left behind so you can't call for help.)

Or tie ribbons which you retrieve on your return.
Carry a phone charger and a second phone - one on the car windscreen, another in your pocket in case you have to jump out of a vehicle. Keep a device for cutting a seatbelt in case you are trapped. (Inexpensive. Available by mail order.)

ESCAPE
Plan escape route in any vehicle such as a plane or train. 
If you are trapped in the front of the car by the damaged door, climb out of passenger side or out of the back. If all four doors are jammed, you could or even lower seats and get out of the car boot. (Americans call it the trunk. Find out if you can open the boot from the inside. Some modern cars are designed to let a person escape from being deliberately or accidentally trapped in a car boot.)
Plan escape from your hotel bedroom.
Check you have the back door key and it is kept handy where you can feel for it in the dark.
Do a regular fire drill with the family so adults and children and visitors know how to escape with you or when you are absent.

OBSERVE RULES Cliffs: Don't take selfies sitting on the edge of a cliff.
Don't jump up and down on the edge of a cliff (danger of falling over or starting a landslide).
Don't climb over barriers. (A boy in Singapore wanted a selfie on what he thought was a marble ledge below the barrier. It was a tromple l'oeuil and he fell through.)
Don't drive around barriers in the road. (We took a shortcut along an unmade road past a barrier in the mountains in the USA. Halfway along was a rock fall. We had to either back or do a three-point turn. If the sign had said rock fall instead of road closed the driver would have heeded it.)
Be smart and stay safe.
Know the locations of shelters.

Ambulance. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

What Authorities Can Do
Multilingual Warning signs
Barriers
Shelters
Colour code paths, easy and difficult. This enables you to choose level of difficulty. Also helps you check which path you are on. (This was done on some trails with alternative routes.)
Signpost: length of route; and time taken; and emergency phone numbers.
Signboards showing poisonous plants and edible plants.

First aid kits in vehicles.
Train vehicle guides or drivers in health and safety and CPR (revival).
Don't just say Keep Out. Say why.
Give emergency numbers at all points.
Provide shelters.
 and signs to next turning point.
Give directions signs, times and distances on all trail Y junctions.

Driving Accidents
Keep animals behind barriers, not on your lap nor passenger seat.
Passengers should not lean arms or head out of cars, buses or trains (might hit objects or attract lions in safari parks).

HOUSE FIRES in Homes, Holiday Homes, Guest Houses and All-Suite Hotels With Kitchens and Gardens
Install smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms and fire extinguishers. Check batteries and update equipment yearly. Watch out for common causes of fires:
1 Candles.
2 Chip pans.
3 Ovens used to store flammable items.
4 Irons or ovens left on by forgetting or turning the wrong switch. (One of my neighbours.)
5 Grease in ovens never cleaned eventually catching fire. (Another student when my son was a student.)
6 Electric blankets. Ours caught fire. Don't just beat down flames. They re-start. 
TURN OFF SWITCH AT WALL!
7 The fire below was caused by a weed killer.
8 Don't answer the phone and leaving items unattended.

Garden Fire. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Balconies

Don't climb up to balconies or down from balconies. Don't lean over. Don't overload with too many people. Don't allow drunks to lark about on balconies.

Groups and Escorts
In the UK schools and scouting groups are required to have one adult for every ten children. If one child decides their brother or sister wants to come along, you need another adult.
You would need a minimum of two adults to leave one person with somebody who is injured and a second person to escort the others safely back to base.
You would also need two adults or escorts if your group consists of one group of fast walkers and one group of slow walkers.

Grading Groups
On a trek through Romania, our group of thirty was divided into three sections. One was the slow group including novices, the elderly, those without special shoes. A second group was the seasoned hikers doing a normal trail. A third group was the toughies who would climb ladders up vertical walls, do steep ascents and back before nightfall.

We were divided rather like skiers on ski slopes, into bunny slopes, intermediate slopes, and advanced or black runs. (Off-piste would another story, requiring jackets with finding devices in case you were buried in an avalanche and rescuers needed to find you quickly. You can buy a jacket with a built-in device, or buy one separately.)

I find it useful to look at stories and videos of survival or rescue teams. I am an avid researcher. Find out what those people who survived or rescued others were carrying with them.

Local Louts And Human Dangers

Here he is again. He is watching you. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Health & Safety Advice
Your government will issue advice on visiting other countries. You need to know about visas and safety. The USA and the UK have government sites giving information on visas and safety in other countries. A third source of information on safety is Wikitravel. 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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Tea, from India, China, Singapore, Japan, with hot or cold water

Problem
Which tea - so many! (So many, la! That's what the locals say in Singapore.)

Answer
A little of what you fancy does you good.

Stories of Hot and Cold Tea
Tea warms you on a cold day in England. Water to hydrate you. Warmth to warm you. Volume to fill your stomach. Caffeine to give you energy. Gratitude to their server. Rest by sitting on a chair. Time out from troubles. Distraction from problems.

Can tea cool you on a hot day? The Indians drink hot drinks. Hot drinks, like hot foods in hot countries, such as curry, cause you to perspire. The theory is that the perspiration helps you to cool.

(I carry a paper fan or create one by creasing a piece of white paper into a concertina.)

In England we drink tea hot. But in Singapore tea is cold or more often luke warm.

Chinese Tea
The Chinese Singaporeans think cold drinks are bad for you.

If you ask a waiter for a glass of water, the server in a restaurant will ask you, "Do you want your water warm or cold?" Expect that. Then if you hear them mutter, 'Warmorcoal?", or "hottacoal?", you will know what you are being asked.

Japanese Tea
Green tea seems to be the health fanatics favourite for this year. But so many fruit flavours are avoidable. (See my previous posts.)

Ice
I think ice is potentially bad for you, not worth the risk. Why?
1 Firstly, you are warned to avoid ice being added to bottled drinks in countries where it is unsafe to drink the water. Bottled water has been purified, but ice could be from a tap.
2 Ice dilutes drinks.
3 Ice is occasionally the source of poisoning. I have read of at least two cases of mass poisoning at weddings. Ice was previously used to cool raw fish! New regulations require ice to be transported covered and contained, not loose where it can pick up contamination.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer

Mummy Preserved In Alp Ice Makes Italy's Bolzano A New Tourist Hotspot

The mummy was found more than two decades ago but new scientific discoveries are making it more interesting. The mummy, named Otzi after the Alpine area, the Oztal Alps, where he was found, can tell us:

1 He was killed by an arrow in his shoulder. A bit gruesome, but everybody in history died of something.
2 The pollen in his stomach tells us where he lived
3 His hardened arteries show this health issue was not only one from our modern times
4 Egyptian mummies had blood and stomach and brain removed so a natural mummy can tell us more
5 How do you preserve him now that he has been dug up and moved to a museum? With air con.

I never used to be keen on skulls and skeletons, although more realistic preserved bodies seemed less uncomfortable, without the ghoulish grin of the tooth revealing skull with its missing eyes and nose. However, in addition to the horrified fascination, one has the feeling that the man has achieved immortality.

Plus, above all, the history solving the mystery, and the wonders and scrupulous care of careful science painting a picture of life long ago. Offset against the inevitable revelation of the cause of death, are the revelations of the daily life. His last supper as ibex.

We know as well the comforts or clothes:
Leggings.
Goatskin.
Bear fur hat.

So often you have the joyful discovery of what would have been the wearer's pleasure and pride, their ornaments and possessions. I love the way the copper tools are described, with the axe compared to the iPhone of the day. Other people enjoy the peep into the past, almost like time travel.

Finally, the joy of the local tourist board, in Northern Italy, put on the map by the latest revelations.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3795815/25-years-Europe-s-oldest-human-mummy-Alps-scientists-say-amazed-learning-5-300-year-old-corpse.html

Adult fee 9 euros. Various discounts including fee reduced to 7 euros for seniors. Also: family tickets, tickets using local tourist cards.

South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
Bolzano / Bozen
Italy

Nearest airports are Verona and Innsbruck. The town is on a train line, then you catch a bus from the station. If you drive, park in the town centre car parks for which there is a fee.
I am surprised they are not more tourist friendly with a shuttle bus, or a car park fee reduction for people visiting the museum or vice versa. But the website helpfully gives you full directions.

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

Medical Care Overseas: hospitals and ICE

If you travel a lot it is handy to have worldwide travel insurance cover which saves you having to stop to buy cover every trip, you can remember your insurance company more easily and it saves the risk of leaving in a hurry and forgetting to insure.

If you are taking a business trip, or hiring a freelance, it's a good idea to be sure the company covers everybody in the group. Then the group leader can phone back to the office for all the details and the full time all day office workers and HR department can deal with paperwork, leaving the families free to do hospital visits and get on with their own lives and work.

When I was sent to Corsica on a travel press trip for Brides magazine, the editor told me that the company was providing insurance. I replied, "No need. I have annual insurance." She told me that her company insisted everybody was covered by their insurance.

In the event, I was knocked down by a car, as a large number of us crossed the road after our coach broke down on the way back to the airport. It was a classic pedestrian accident.

A vehicle breaks down. The people trying to fix the problem or gather their possessions have their mind on the major problem, the broken down vehicle, rather than on the everyday problem or crossing a road safety. Large numbers of people are in the road where one would not moral cross the road, on a busy motorway or the brow of a hill or just over a hilltop.

The company's insurance proved very comprehensive. I was given private hospital treatment. I had a TV in my room.  The curtains were so pretty (Sanderson's) that I contacted their housekeeping department and asked to buy the curtains when they were sold off. Many months later I was phoned and bought the crutains and they are still in my home today as a reminder of that time.

Travel Trips
If a group of you are taking a tour of Europe or Malaysia in a car convoy or  on motorbikes or any kinds of journey its prudent to know everybody's cover in case of an accident. If you are the organiser or leader of a group, you should know the local hospitals and the medical insurance of everybody and the home phone numbers in case you need to inform families at home of any delay.

Even a simple thing such as a cancelled ferry crossing can cause anxiety. I was on a conference in Indonesia one weekend and a group of about four of the men went off across an island expecting to be back by nightfall. They weren't. I remember one of the other wives phoning my hotel room at about midnight and saying that if I was worried and couldn't sleep she would come to my room or I could come to hers.

Next day the men phoned to say that they had had a series of adventures, ending with driving across the island with a local driver.

Only days later did they reveal assorted en route stresses. The car broke down. It ran out of petrol.

Their driver diverted to his so-called relative's house for a snack and the group were offered food and drink. One of the group cautiously refused the food and drink, just in case it was drugged and they were being set up for a robbery. The rest of the group followed his example.

Meanwhile, back in the safety of a civilised city, what about minor mishaps?

CPF
In Singapore the Permanent Residents are in the national CPF system. They are likely to go to a government hospital such as the Singapore General Hospital. The majority of the cost will come out of the savings scheme they have paid into out of their salary, but they may need to pay for a top-up.

NRIC

To fill in the paperwork they or staff or you need to produce the credit card size NRIC, national card with photo ID. In theory everybody should carry their identity card at all times to produce it when challenged, gain admission to many office blocks, and use it for claiming everything from medical care to lottery prizes and even store card redemptions. 

If you are looking for a private hospital your choices include Mount Elizabeth in the centre of the city which is easy to reach for quick admission and follow-ups and visits. from family and friends. Out of town, and perhaps more peaceful, is Gleneagles. 

When I go to a new city or new country I like to check out the doctors and dentists and public and private hospitals and keep a note in my diary, well before I need them. 

ICE number

You could also add a sticker on the back of your mobile phone the ICE number. If your phone is locked nobody can get into it to phone your family, so you need it written on the outside. ICE is in case of emergency, so your family and colleagues waiting for you to arrive at home or work can be informed of the reason for the delay and come to visit you with clothes and money and messages of goodwill and anything else you might need. ICE was devised by an emergency services worker frustrated by not being able to call relatives to let them know when he had transported somebody to hospital.

The old cliches come to mind. Fore warned is fore armed. Better safe than sorry.

UK Hospitals
If you phone a UK hospital for information, it will only be given out if you are listed as next of kin. You will be asked to provide the name and details of the person you are enquiring about. You end up in a chicken and egg situation. You phone the hospital to ask to speak to somebody. The switchboard ask which ward they are in. Until you speak to them you don't know.

I have had four different relatives in UK hospitals in three or four hospitals over the years. As soon as you get to speak to your relative, or somebody who phones to tell you that your relative is going in for surgery and won't be able to speak to you for so many hours or days, ask which ward they will be in.

I had an uncle in Barnet hospital and he was in three or more different wards. For observation he was in a geriatric ward. After surgery he was moved to intensive care. Then to another ward. He got an infection and was moved to another room for isolation.

The first time he moved I got a shock and thought he had died. You arrive and find an empty bed, or somebody else in the bed. It's surreal.

Serious cases may be sent to a specialist hospital.  Infectious cases may be sent to an isolation hospital. Within large hospitals, whether public or private hospitals, other wings or buildings may house private bedrooms, physio departments, outpatients, doctors, dentists, consultants in consulting rooms.

In the UK, Mount Vernon has a separate private hospital in the grounds. By Northwick Park hospital there's another specialist block, St Marks, plus diagnostic centres in what looks like prefabs in car parks.

In the USA I had a problem with a tooth and went to a dentist. I was scared that I would get a huge bill. In the UK a dentist usually insists on checking your whole mouth and identifying which teeth have problems.

In the USA if the dentist I visited had checked my whole mouth I would have had a huge bill, they said. But the billing was for the number of teeth checked. So one tooth checked and sorted was quite a reasonable price. Best to check prices before going for a checkup or filling or cracked tooth. the bill could be a shock or a pleasant surprise.

Glossary
CPF Central Provident Fund (Singapore)
HR Human resources (USA and worldwide; in the UK often called Personnel department)
ICE In case of emergency
NRIC (National Registration Identity Card, Singapore)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Identity_Card

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Action For Summer: Packing; Pills; Preventing Heatstroke; Underground Malls

Top tips I picked up.

1 Wear light colour clothing.
That sends me re-packing my summer holiday suitcase. Do I need to remove all the black clothes and change them to white? The white clothes don't just look more summery. They keep you cool.

Did I wast my money buying black clothes? The black clothes such as tee-shirts with metallic palm trees are fine for indoors in icy air conditioning, in the cooler evening. But not if you are likely to be asked to go out for an afternoon walk and don't want to waste time changing clothes.

Those robes men wear in the middle east are right for outdoors in the sun. The black clothes women, and widows, often wear, are only suitable for indoors in air conditioning.

2 Drink water.
Not just for comfort. So you can perspire and cool off.

3 Recognise heatstroke.
If anybody is getting confused, cool them quickly with ice under the armpits.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/medications-cool-summer-heat/story?id=16724277

Where is it hot? In the South of North America but also in summer you can be sweltering in New York and Washington DC. I remember when I lived in Washington DC zig-zagging down the city streets in and out of shop doorways and diverting through department stores to cool myself.

In Singapore visitors from overseas go shopping in Orchard Road and complain the country is too hot. But running from the central crossroads along Orchard Road you can descend to Basement one or Basement two and walk about half a mile along the underground shops, full of cafes and shops and even an aquarium and market stalls and food courts. If you start at Tang's, or Orchard Station, you can walk from there underground across the road to other malls and hotels.

Pills
1 Keep them in your bag (US Purse) or pocket, not in luggage which might be stored in a hold or left out on the tarmac beside the plane.
2 Carry an insulated sandwich bag.
 (Americans when they say purse mean what the Brits call a handbag. What the Brits call a purse, the Americans would call a change purse or wallet.)

Water
USA
The USA is very good at providing drinking water in hotel on every other floor and in the lobby of many buildings and and hotels and waiting areas.

UK
In London there's now a water dispenser in the Passport office at Victoria.

In a hotel, you will often find water dispensers in the gym.

Worldwide
Remember to drink water provided free at many coffee shops, before or after you drink your coffee. Collect the water when you collect your coffee and make sure you and the family all drink a glass of water each before you all leave.

Angela Lansbury B A Honours, travel writer, photographer, author, speaker.

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Lost & Found People In The City

In an experiment a child is 'abandoned' in a shopping mall to see who stops to help. Hundreds pass before one stops.
1 Where is the mall security guard? In a USA shopping mall if you leave a child a guard rushes up to you and tells you to keep hold of your child.
2 Where is the Help Point?
3 Where is the Meeting Point for lost and found adults and children?

   We recently went on a surprise birthday outing in London. I did not know either the first or second destination. Our two mobile phones were not connecting.
  I suggest that in the even of any 'surprise' the destination should be written inside a sealed envelope in case anybody gets lost en route. Children should carry the parent's contact number.
  In phones you can program in ICE, in case of emergency. But most phones are locked by a password so that only works if somebody in authority finds the phone and can unlock it (e.g. after you are dead!) Your ICE contact number should be on the outside of the phone. Ideally somebody in the same country to save on bills and not wake somebody in the middle of the night.
   Some places have designated meeting points. The easiest one is near a seat. So at Heathrow airport, look at the seats. Pick the end of row seat (to allow room for luggage).
   Other meeting points are under the station clock. (Waterloo.)
   Watch out for 'meeting by the exit barrier'. Some stations have two exits.
Others have dozens. (Waterloo.)