Chinese Gardens you see from the train in Singapore

Trump, president of the USA is holding a historic meeting in Singapore. I bet they will be travelling in air-conditioned card and not on the public trains. However, The MRT has many delights which tourists of all budgets can enjoy.

Most of Singapore's train line is underground. When it comes out in the open you can enjoy the ever changing colors and shapes of Singapore's delightful modern architecture.

Singapore has Chinatown and Little India featuring the temples of the Chinese majority and Indian minority. Occasionally you see a tiny glimpse of old China from the train or bus or taxi. For example, As you approach Chinese Garden look out of the window for the Chinese temple through the trees by the lake. The next station is Lakeside.

As the train bowled along, I stood up from my seat and leaned sideways to take this picure of the pagoda. The pagoda is quite small and distant. However, when the picture is cropped you can see the elusive image. Right below the train track is another Chinese curved roof which you can see on the right of the picture. I have lived in Sinapore on and off since the late 1990s, yet I still get excited by the scenery.

Chinese Gardens Pagoda. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Author, Angela Lansbury, Permanent Resident of Singapore. (Permanent Resident sounds like a snobbish self-flattering description, but it is actually a legal status.)

Free wine tasting at Majestic

On the corner of the road leading to the wonderfully art deco Ruislip Lido lakeside restaurant selling cheap meals and drinks is a branch of Majestic where you can try tasting some new wines and spirits for free.

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

Chocolates for teachers, birthdays, anniversaries, everyone, from England's Hotel Chocolat

I was hurrying across Victoria station when the words Happy Birthday stopped me as I passed the Hotel Chocolat shop. The display also included another box labelled Anniversary. I was looking for the price, when the helpful manager stepped forward to answer my questions. The chocolate box was £7. Throughout the shop you can get deals of reduced prices if you buy three boxes.

The shop is an Aladdin's cave of colours and unusual designs and flavours. The so-called gin flavour chocolate is actually juniper, no alcohol in it, but so many customers didn't know juniper, the magic flavouring in gin, that the marketing magician decided gin would be a more familiar and meaningful name.

I spotted a tray of unwrapped little chocolates, realised they were samples, and asked to taste one. A most unusual flavour. It tastes like - well, juniper.

The manager of the tiny Victoria station branch is very helpful and knowledgeable.

As you see the shop also had smart gift bags.

I picked up their catalogue and read it on the train home. A real entertainment, full of ideas for gifts. He had told me the company started in about 2003 north of London. Now you can find branches all over London, and Britain, in shopping malls such as Watford's Intu, Lakeside, big stations such as Victoria, in Scotland and one has opened at the airport overseas.

If you are from overseas looking to bring home something distinctively British, here's a good gift. England is known for chocolate, Cadbury's, Rowntrees of York, Thornton's, and now add to your list Hotel Chocolat.

If you are British and travelling to visit friends overseas, another reason for picking a British box of chocolates as a gift. These chocolates are very different in shapes and colours from most boxes in the supermarkets.

The Teachers line is designed for giving to teachers at the end of school year.
More information from:
hotelchocolat.com