The Tanglin Club's Terrace Restaurant Invaded by black pigeons: are pigeons problems or picturesque?

 

The Terrace restaurant, Tanglin Club, Singapore 

I have mixed feelings about birds in restaurants. Are they an annoyance?  They are a distraction from conversation.

A black pigeon was having a walkabout, looking for crumbs under tables. Does it have any advantages? You might argue that it saves effort sweeping up and keeps the place tidy and insect free.

Catch

Could you catch and despatch? A large creature like a monkey would be caught by specialists. Monkeys cause dreadful destruction in homes, to curtains and upholstered furniture. 

Do Not Feed

You are asked not to feed monkeys and pigeons because that attracts them.  

Human Woodland Burials

Some people prefer to harmonize with nature. They opt for woodland burials. 

Parsees' Towers Of Silence

The Indian Parsees (the word means from Persia) in Bombay hang their dead from trees to feed the birds. Guides take you to pass the gate at street level, then view the tree tops from afar. A skyscraper built in Bombay overlooked the Towers Of Silence.

Sun Dried

I always imagined that dead bodies would be just hung up, like ghosts. No. The dead bodies are first dried by the sun. So the birds are eating crisps, rather than most meat. If there is not enough sunshine, the bodies are dried mechanically.

Vultures Versus Crows

According to a newspaper report which I read, the vultures in Bombay vanished, killed off by eating carcases of cows which had died from drugs. Crows (and kites) are also carrion eaters, but what the vultures accomplished in days was taking weeks for the crows.

Pigeon Prevention

How about, better still, prevent pigeons from flying in?

Some Hindus opt to be vegetarian on feast days, in honour of particular Gods, sometimes as often as once a week, like Catholics used to abstain from meat on Fridays. I recall having fish or quiche (a savoury egg tart of flan made with eggs and milk but no bacon) for lunch at a Girl's Grammar school in London, on Fridays, in the early (Nineteen) Sixties, It was a council-run Church of England (C of E) state  school, but accommodated Catholic customs. 

Pigeon Pie

What about Pigeon Pie? It is the national dish of Morocco. I discovered that on honeymoon in Morocco. Pigeon mixed with scrambled egg in a flaky pastry pie. Delicious. 

Nowadays, we have an increasing number of vegans and vegetarians worldwide. What about pigeons? Should they be left alone, to thrive?

UK Pigeons

In the UK, especially London, there is a constant battle by the local authorities against pigeons. And again people attracting or defending them. Under bridges the ground is covered with unsightly and slippery gunge. buildings are festooned with horizontal draped netting and spikes.

 You could argue that the birds were here first. Does that apply to inside buildings?

I reckoned I was first in my new kitchen. Cockroaches from adjacent flats or pipework invaded later. I love to hear birds singing on the balcony. When they fly around the room, they are not so much fun. Droppings everywhere because you have scared them. Knocking over crockery and vases. Dirty little feet. Claws on curtains too high to reach, too expensive to keep cleaning.

Netting

In the Tanglin Club's Terrace restaurant, we discussed the possibility of vertical netting. But that would spoil the view. 

Glass?  If the glass was tinted, that would further obstruct the view. If untinted, the birds would fly into it and be injured or killed. Not fair on the birds or the cleaners. Net curtains? They are fashionable in the UK, but not in Asia. Net curtains would capture insects? Just a minute. I have a net curtain on a small window in Singapore. It does not capture anything except dust. So it needs washing.  What about metal lattice arches and drapes?

On balance, we decided that we liked the Terrace the way it was, open to view the scenery. A roof to protect against the sun, with electric fans providing some cooling.

Verdict - Against

On holiday I usually object to birds. Especially if they want to land on the table, walk around abandoned plates, threaten to peck your food, grab your cap, or leave unsightly pigeon droppings on the ground. I remember being annoyed by birds when I was on summer holiday in June 2022 at a coffee shop in Cyprus.

Verdict - For

However, apart from a few crumbs and birds, the Terrace was spotless. The black birds were an entertainment.

Useful Websites

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/nparksbuzz/issue-45-vol-2-2020/lifestyle/recreation-and-activities/what's-that-black-bird

https://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/160401322/vanishing-vultures-a-grave-matter-for-indias-parsis

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/dining/terrace-bistro-bar.html

See my other posts on the Tanglin Club tea lounge.

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Ukrainian Perogi (like ravioli) to eat during Purim, the Feast of Esther, Wednesday 16th March 2022

 Flag of Ukraine

I was just reading about Ukraine, where my paternal ancestors came from. Their national dish, perogi,  is what the Italians call ravioli. 

DIY perogi/ravioli

 You make the pasta envelope with a knife cutting squares which are folded into triangles. Or use a glass to cut circles. Fold them in half over the filling to make triangles. Press the edges together to prevent the filling falling out into the liquid when cooking. You can boil up your dumplings and then fry them.

The dish is popular all over Europe, including Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, as well as among Ashkenazi (Hebrew for German) Jews. Jews in London opened restaurants where you could eat chicken soup containing dumplings. You were offered the choice of kreplach (pasta pockets filled with minced meat) or kneidlach (solid dumplings or balls) - or both. I could not remember which dumplings were solid and which ones were filled, so I ordered both!

Kreplach

Both words, confusingly, start with the letter K. Both end with lach. How can I remember? I have just devised a memory aid. P for pocket. Pasta pocket. D for dumpling. Kneaded dumpling. So, kreplach are pockets, perogi. P.P.P. (Kneidlach are solid, kneaded dumplings. D. D. D.) 

Why Were Jews In the UK?

A wave of Jews came over to the UK from Germany just before WW2. Many of them went into publishing. 

A previous wave came over from Poland. The Russians had pushed out the Jews who went west. Some of them reached the USA. Others got the England's East coast ports of London and Hull. Or they had bought tickets to the USA but were cheated by the ticket sellers and ended up in England. I learned this from a local guide when I visited Hull when I was an active travel writer based in London, England.

The refugees were too tired or poor to travel further. They were welcomed by their compatriots and settled in the UK. Some moved on to the USA and South Africa. Others stayed and made the best of it. When they made money or went into trade and travelled, they moved from the poor East End of London near the port to the fresh air and green parks and big stores of the more expensive West End.

In WW2 the vast losses of Jews were in the concentration camps of Poland. The train lines took them from all over Europe to Poland. But, in any case, Poland is a large country and had pockets of Jews all over. 

When I visited Australia I discovered that borsht, purple beetroot soup, which I associated with Jewish restaurants and delis in London, came from Russia as well as Poland. The Polish version is thick and creamy, with maybe potatoes and cream. The Russian version is a clear soup. I like the Polish version which is familiar to me from the UK.

Dumplings - Perogi

Back to the filled 'dumplings'. To me, the word dumplings implies solid balls. (In the delicatessen-restaurants, such as B & K in Edgware and Hatch End, chicken soup, the solid balls, often made of matzah meal of unleavened bread crackers) are called kneidlach.)  By contrast, the perogi are pockets, are filled balls. Which in B & K would be called kreplach.

Now we come to the Purim connection. At the end of the Wikipedia article on the Ukrainian perogi, I discovered that for Purim, a favoured food is kreplach because of the symbolism of the hidden filling.

Well, now you and I know all about Ukrainian perogi, Purim, and food in the delicatessens and restaurants in London.

DIY Perogi/dumplings/ravioli/kreplach

The semi-circular crimped edges on the larger perogi can be made by pressing with a fingertip. On the tinier ones you can use the ends of a fork (the spokes are called tines). 

Puirim Dates

In 2022, the feast or Purim starts the evening of Wednesday March 16 and continues through the day of Thursday March 17th.  The dates vary each year. The Jewish calendar, like the Moslem and Chinese calendars, is used to calculate the festival dates according to lunar months.

Visit Kiev and Perogi and Kreplach In London, England

Meanwhile you can look at Ukraine and Kiev online. I hope that you and I can one day visit Kiev (the Ukrainians want us to spell it their way, Kyiv). 

Meanwhile, you can enjoy ravioli and think of perogi, and eat kreplach in B & K in Edgware and Stanmore in England and from supermarkets. Whilst Jews and their friends and neighbours in London are enjoying festive foods, such as the kreplach, and triangular pastries with poppy seeds, called Haman's ears, over in the Netherlands you can see a painting of Mordecai.

See The Painting of Mordecai In Amsterdam

If you are in the Netherlands at the Rembrandt museum you can see Rembrandt's painting, of the triumph of Mordecai on horseback. Mordecai was the uncle of Esther, I remembered, but Wiki says her cousin. She was the favourite (secretly Jewish) concubine of the king. (Which king? Ahasueros. When? Five hundred years BC. Where? In Persia, now Iran. So, which king? Maybe Xerxes.)

Mordecai's and Esther's (Purim) Story

Mordecai had warned her that Haman, the king's main adviser, had planned to kill all the Jews in the country, because Mordecai had refused to bow down to Haman as a King. (Frankly, a bad move on the part of Mordecai.) Mordecai, apparently, only bowed down to God, not to a man who was declaring he was God. 

Don't worry about it. The story might simply be a legend. It is in the Apocrypha, the semi-holy books which are not part of the main bible, or to Christians the Old Testament. But the legend, or historical story, is so popular that various groups print it as an extra to the old books of the bible, printed in English nowadays, originally approved by the Council of Trent in about the year 300 after Jesus. 

Back to the story. The heroine, tearful Esther, after starving herself for three days, went unbidden to the king. A dangerous thing to do. Wives had to wait to be called. But the king, sitting chatting to his minister Haman, was pleased by the diversion. Instead of killing her for her effrontery, he beckoned her to sit beside him.  

Haman was sent away, out of the room, or, at least out of earshot. Esther's chance to speak! Esther whispered to the king, that somebody was planning to kill her beloved people!

The king, who wisely, or unwisely, consulted advisers before making a decision. On matters of life and death. He called Haman and asked, 'What should be done with a wicked man?' And, 'What should be done with a man to be honoured!' 

Haman, thinking that he would be the honoured man, said that the wicked man should be killed. But the honoured man should be paraded through the streets on horseback. 

It was done. (Karma.)

So Esther, risking her own life, had saved her people. And her uncle, Mordecai, was honoured. 

Purim

Enjoy the telling of the story, the symbolic food. The classic painting of Rembrandt depicting the Triumph of Mordecai.

Useful Websites

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

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

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/welsh-cakes-recipe

The Author - Angela Lansbury

How do I remember names of capitals of Iran and Iraq?

Problem
How do I remember the countries and capitals of places I have not yet visited?

Answer
For many countries and capitals in all parts of the world you can make up sayings. For example:

IRAN - TEHRAN is the capital
 such as I ran to Tehran in Iran.

IRAQ - BAGHDAD is the capital
My Dad's in Baghad; he is irate in Baghdad in Iraq. Using the letters IR.

Depending on whether you say ark or ack, you could make up a sentence rhyming with park or dark. I shall to a park in Iraq.  Or my Dad's in a park in Iraq.
Or I shall pack for Iraq; my Dad's going to pack for Iraq.
For books on remembering, go to

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Remember-Almost-Everything-Ever/dp/1910232246

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

Delicious Dates, for New Year's Eve and everyday, in the UK, Iran and Israel

Iranian dates, brand name Sofra. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
What's sweet to finish a meal but also healthy?

Answer
Dates.

Story
At Christmas time in England we always used to buy the elongated oval straight sided trays of dates with a date picking fork-ended pole in the middle. I think they came from Morocco.  They were tight as sardines and dried out.

We didn't mind that they were dried. That meant they stuck to your teeth less. They were just right for filling with an almond and rolling in coconut for a special treat on a special occasion such as a party. I  remember preparing for a New Year's Eve party, checking that each day was empty of its stone and filling it with an almond, rolling it, placing it on a fancy white or silver lacey doily to make the plate look festive.

Later, as a student, I took a clockwise trip around the Eastern end of the Mediterranean, to visit thee countries, Greece, Turkey and Israel.

It was in Israel that I discovered fresh dates. We took a hike to Ein Gedi. E i n (pronounced ay in, and also written on maps of Israel and other countries in the area as Ayin, in Hebrew and other related languages.  Hebrew and Arabic are related to Aramaic.

Our tourist group got out of our single-decker tourist coach. (For my American readers, in the UK we speak of long-distance coaches. A double decker bus in the town or the city does a short circuit or yo yo route between bus stops.

We trotted off along an unpaved path through the date palms following the increasingly distant guide.  It was hot and tiring and I was hungry and thirsty. I looked down and dates were scattered along the path.

I ignored them. I wanted to keep up with the group. They were not mine but belonged to the owner of the trees. They were dirty. I could not eat one until I washed it. The dirty date from the ground would also make my hands dirty. I would need to wash my hands before and after eating. I had no water. They were probably crawling with insects.

Eventually the idea of eating a date, the curiosity to check if one really was an edible date, the push of curiosity, overtook any other idea which was a brake on action. I took a tissue out of my pocket, bent down and wrapped up a discarded date, a misshapen windfall, which I was sure would not be good enough for salvaging by the tree's owner.

When we reached the warm yet cooling water we were able to put out hands, and some people feet, into the refreshing water. I washed off the date, removed the stone, and cautiously ate it.

The sun had warmed it. It was soft. It was sweet. It was as different from a dried Xmas box date as the number ten is different from the number one. It was huge, soft, suckable. It settled into your teeth so you could continue sucking it off and smacking your lips long after the last morsel had been swallowed.

I can't say that any commercially packed date has ever reached the nirvana of that date I ate and still remember from years ago. But I do look at larger, softer dates and lick my lips.

These dates were brought several weeks running to the Toastmasters International Speakers' club meeting in Harrow. They were supplied by our Sealant at Arms, who sets up the room, also responsible for securing food and drink for the interval in the middle of the speech rehearsal evening. They cost about £1.99. He bought them from a Turkish shop near Debenhams department store in station road, in Harrow. I looked on Google and could not find the shop. I shall have to ask him for the name and address.

I found that keeping dates in the fridge made them dry and hard. Leaving them out makes them softer and sweeter.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on food and what to see and buy in Harrow, plus trips worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Learning Persian For Fun

Problem
How do you learn Persian? Why bother, especially if you have no immediate plans to go there?

Answer
Why not? It provides a topic of conversation with anybody who speaks another language or who is learning English. And once you start learning another language, you notice people from a country which speaks that language. You might even recognize the words of greeting when standing on a bus or train or boarding a plane, or checking in. That will awaken your interest and keep it fresh in your memory.

Story
I was at a Toastmasters International meeting in London. In London both the clubs to which I belong (HOD and Harrovians) have at least one Spanish speaking member who often mentions Spain and Spanish language and learning English in their talks.

Over in Singapore I often meet people with names ending with ez, which means their family was of Portuguese origin. On paper, Portuguese looks similar to Spanish. Many of them have ancestors or relatives from mach or Goa.

I was evaluating a talk on language by the Spanish speaking girl. I was also asked to do the table topics (questions for impromptu two minute replies by guests and members of the audience who have not had the chance to stand up and give a prepared speech). When I heard that her speech was on learning the English language, I was delighted. An opportunity for me to give topics on learning English, and learning or speaking other languages.

Spain was under Moorish rule for a while. The Moors came from across the sea to the south from Morocco (hence the name Moors). Their language was close to Arabic spoken all around North Africa at that time.

In the audience was somebody from Iran. During the interval he explained to me that when he said he was Persian, English people often replied, "Oh - you mean Iranian?"

His answer is: "Iranian and Persian are different. Iran is the current name of a country. Persians are a race and a language. You can speak Persian, or be of Persian race, even if you live in a country bordering Iran, or the other side of the world in Europe, England or America. You can be both Persian and Iranian. You could be one but not the other."

(I have to attend a meeting. More shortly.)

Tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyWaiEHlaCQ (Tells you greetings. Free three minute course.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, public speaker, workshop leader, author and language teacher (English and other languages).