The Skywalk in Singapore - my favourite photo

Skywalk. Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot.
Look closely and you can see the people walking along the OCBC Skyway skywalk. It costs $8 (Singapore dollars) per person to take the walk. You can book online. Some websites offer a ticket combined with the other two main attractions, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest (waterfall walk).

USEFUL WEBSITES
gardensbythebay.com.sg (NB Our combined two-attraction ticket was only for the two conservatories, not the skywalk pictured here.)
singaporeair.com (Singapore Airlines)

For more photos by Trevor Sharot see
http://trevorsharotphotography.com

The Longest Day, and Latest Sunset affecting the English, Jews, Muslims

Problem
When do I get long days and late sunsets?

Answer
July 21st, today, Thursday in 2018, is the longest day. However, that does not necessarily mean the latest sunset.

Why does the sunset time matter?

1 VIEWS OF SCENERY VERSUS PEOPLE
If you want to eat outdoors at a restaurant you might want to book an outside or inside table. You might want more light, especially for photographing a view over London.

When dating you might want bright light to get a good look at your date. You might want less light if you have a fabulous voice but not much in facial department. You might want to hide your bald head or wrinkles in the more romantic candle-light indoors.

2 Jewish groups or couples might want to book a Friday or Saturday meal when kosher restaurants are open, which is different in summer and winter. In winter in the UK, in an area with kosher restaurants such as Golders Green, you will notice that the restaurants have closed earlier when it gets dark on Friday evening. But the restaurants are opening earlier on Saturday evening when it gets dark. By contrast, in summer the restaurants will close later on Friday, but won't open early on Saturday evening because it is still light and the Sabbath.

Opening and closing times are also going to be changing gradually throughout the seasons all year.  So check diaries or Jewish newspapers or signs on restaurant doors or websites.

If you are visiting a Jewish host who is observant, they may be using the traditional method of judging sunset by when you can see three stars. In a city where it is so cloudy and polluted that you cannot see any stars, you will have to go by the calendar. Ask your hosts what time you should arrive and what food or drink would be appropriate.

3 Moslem groups observing Ramadan, which last a month and has just ended, cannot eat or drink in the daytime all month. However, they can eat and drink after sunset. If you are providing food and drink for a group which has Muslim members of visitors, they have not eaten all day and will be very pleased if you have halal or vegetarian food they can eat.
The evenings and weekends at the end of Ramadan you will have big celebrations in the Muslim restaurants and areas eg in parts of Singapore and in Muslim countries with a Muslim majority or a large Muslim minority or restaurants and shops and residences area.

UK light nights
Travelling from Singapore to the UK, the long days are lovely.

Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
vistibritain.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset

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

Rain in Singapore - The Good and The Bad For Travellers and Photographers

Problem
Non-stop rain in Singapore on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The TV announcers were out in the streets under umbrellas, paid to smile enthusiastically.

Answers
What's good?
1 EXPENSIVE OUTINGS ARE AVOIDED
Stay home and save money (if you haven't already paid for a night out).
2 UMBRELLA SALES INCREASE
Shops get fewer shoppers in the rain. However, those which stay open can sell umbrellas.
3 INDOORS INCREASES BUSINESS
Indoor bars and other places attract passers-by. People already in the restaurant stay there and order more.
4 Outdoor bars and balconies with parasols attract a few hardy souls.
5 WASHING DISAPPEARS
People who draped their sheets and underwear over balconies to dry had to remove them and return skyscrapers to elegance instead of looking like slums.
6 PLANTS ARE WATERED - DROUGHT AVERTED
WateredPlants on blaconies and in gardens and in the wild are getting watered and the city and countrside stay green.
7 NO SWIMMING OUTDOORS
When it rains, especially if there is thunder and lightning, pool attendants will vanish, or prevent swimmers from entering the pool for safety reasons.
8 WATERFALLS ARE AT THEIR BEST
In long hot summers, some waterfalls disappear altogther. The rain means you can see waterfalls afterwards.
9 NO REFUNDS
Some events specify that they will not offer refunds if rain causes cancellation or part or all of the event. Why? Because the staff had to turn up to work and turn down alternative work for that date. Because rain is like 'act of God', not their fault. Because otherwise they would go out of business. Because they are in business to make money and they make the rules.
10 SONGS ABOUT RAIN ARE REVIVED
Songs about rain pop into my brain:
Singing in the rain

What's bad?
1 PHOTOGRAPHY - POOR VISION
The camera you hired for four days for New Year photography will not get the best shots. If you were a wedding photographer you would have to deal with it. You could take indoor shots. Or make a feature of rainy shots, or contrast before and after or same scene in sun and rain.
2 CAR CLEANING STILL NEEDED
You may be tempted to give up cleaning your car in the hope that the rain is doing the job for you. Rain is not necessarily cleaning your car. It may be depositing acid which eats into chrome. You need to wash off the dirt, salt, bird droppings and remove damp leaves from crevices, dry off smears.
3 SLIPPERY ROADS
You also need to check your car tyres have good tread to deal with gripping wet roads.
4 SHOPS & RESTAURANTS WITH OUTDOOR TABLES LOSE OUT
An Indian restaurant owner complained that since he has half his business from his outdoor tables, in rainy times he loses business.

WHAT'S GOOD?
In my lists, the good features of rainy days outweigh the bad. Is that because I am a psoitive person?

When the sun comes out you don't complain the weather is too hot. You are grateful for the sunlight and appreciate its advantages. You rush out with your camera.

CHEAP UMBRELLAS
Cheap umbrellas are sold in Seven-Eleven. Only four dollars for a small fold up umbrella which you can afterwards put in your bag. You can buy similar for only four dollars, different patterns, in the drug stores such as Guardian and Watson and some supermarkets. One member of my family who lives in Singapore says:
"You get what you pay for. Cheap umbrellas won't last long. But even if they only helped you out ofr one trip or one day, they are only the price of a cup of coffee."

Useful websites
http://brandinsider.straitstimes.com/audi/essential-car-tips-rainy-season/

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

Why and how to label your photos

Problem
How do you keep track of your photos?


Aps for phones and storage systems are getting more canny. (I tried to type cannier, or cannyer, which is what I would say if I spoke to you, but neither word looked right.)

In emails, I save photos in three places. First, by who sent me the photo. Second a copy in a file called photos. Then onto my laptop in iphoto or a storage system.

In many phones you cannot label photos with names or places or subject matter. On a laptop or big screen it is easier.

However, the first essential is to label photos the day you take them. Use your holiday brochures to check places and correct spellings. At a conference or club use the agenda before you file it or bin it to note names.

That's really handy if somebody you hardly know asks you for a photo you took of them. Saves hours of searching.

Remember to label yourself and family with at least your first name and any clothes or hats or uniforms, city and country. For example, Anne in wedding dress; Anne by Tower Bridge in London, England; Anne in London, Canada; Jane by taxi in Paris, France; Susan by horse in Paris, Texas;  Anne in suit for cv; Peter with golf clubs; John on elephant; Simon speaking on stage at conference in South Africa.

This will save hours of time when somebody asks for a photo.

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

Activities Worldwide: wine dinners, photography, running speaking

Posted overseas, a spare spouse or friend at a conference, or just visiting a country for a week or two and want to make friends? Several national and international organisations are looking for new members.

Your options are:

Find an organisations and join it in the country you are visiting.

Find an organisation and join it in your home country and go as a guest to branches in a foreign country.

Befriend an organiser and go to a meeting as a guest to try it out.

Go to a professional group such as a conference and find social groups which members belong to. They could be members of tennis clubs, bridge clubs, U3A (retirees). Toastmasters (public speaking with speech competitions twice a year and clubs in the USA, Europe, Asia, most countries). Hash House Harriers (UK, Singapore and worldwide) for runnings in cities and the outdoors.

For example, Saturday night in North London, I went as a guest to an Inter-Varsity Wine and cheese party in somebody's house. My family met the host whose house it was being held at during a wine tasting at a public place the previous week. Two people cancelled and 24 hours before the event we were told we could join.

I was astonished at what we got for our outlay. £20 for a curry, smoked salmon starter, cheese for dessert, and tastings of Prosecco and Champagne and more.

At many Tastings you get less than a third of a glass - because you will be offered up to ten wines during the evening), a bottle shared between 10-12 people, then another bottle opened.

Starter
We started our food with smoked salmon and something on crackers - I think it was egg or cream cheese or mayonnaise. Another choice was a pate on a cracker.

Sparkling Wines
Then our host opened the first of three sparkling wines. We compared A Prosecco and a moderately priced Champagne. We discussed the difference between a Prosecco, a Cava and a Champagne (all cheap ones from Tesco). Champagne must come from the Champagne area of France. Prosecco is from Italy, originally from the area of that name, but now a grape shares the name.

We also tried Chilean wines from the Wine Society. One wine was named after a bird, another after a tendril.

I took a photo of each of the bottles of wine which I liked. My favourite label showed a bird. Later I looked up the name on the label. Salvador is Spanish for a bird called a whistler in English. The bird eats insects and is found in the vineyards.

We belong to other wine societies (for which there is sometimes no charge if it's all done by email, or just a small charge to cover the cost of the list of events posted to you. Sometimes you just pay £15-85 for events in public buildings or somebody's house.

At our Inter-Varsity meeting one of the joint hosts had cooked rice and three curries, one of which was vegetarian and mild. We finished with at least four different cheeses, one stilton, one stilton with fruit.

You could get as little as 25 mil for 20 people sharing a bottle, but more like 50 mil for 15 people sharing each bottle. At a tutored tasting, you might have a host serving everybody and using a measuring cup.

At a less formal group, such as our Inter-Varsity dinner, half the people were drinking whisky only, the others drinking wine only, so the bottles went clockwise in the first half of the evening, anti-clockwise later on, and people just helped themselves. Spouses who sipped something and didn't like it passed their portion over to their spouse. Everybody had quite enough.

Inter-Varsity
Inter-Varsity is nationwide in the UK, originally for ex-university students, attracting mainly intellectuals and professionals, but from all classes and ages, can be left wing, down market, elderly and retired, often a complete mixture, sometimes living in one area, but others travelling by bus, train, car, or walking up to half an hour. You can join and suggest and organised and hold your own events. One group was holding open mic (microphone) singing and playing guitar and performance events at a professional club, but the price just quadrupled and they are looking into a new venue.

Inter-Varnsity website will tell you lots more. Most of their groups have multi activities, according to what people organise. But two in the UK are for photography and outdoors, not just walking, skiing and other activities.

USA
Toastmasters International find a club website

UK
Toastmasters International find a club website (all over UK, Eire, Wales etc)
Inter-Varsity
U3A
Old Codgers (You can go as a guest. If you join, after a couple of years you become eligible for benefits such as using their convalescent home)

Singapore
Hash House Harriers - different running clubs each day of the week, men only Mondays, other days: women (slower); mixed; families with children doing slower runs, people running with dogs, a charge for guests and an annual fee.

A group I have not joined is InterNations but you might like them.

Toastmasters
Meets in hotels, YMCA, YWCA, Community Centres (on every public housing estate).

Business Clubs
If you are on business ask if there is also an in house clubs run by many big businesses such as accountants, banks, IBM, insurance companies, hospitals for their staff. Many large companies whose staff need to speak or present in English are likely to have a Toastmasters. Although you can only join if you are a member of their company, if you are visiting the company on business, or a member of Toastmasters International and can evaluate a speech they would probably be delighted to have a visitor.

Phone and explain who you are, your business and why you wish to attend. High security applies in many office buildings. You won't get into the building past reception to the right turnstile or even go up in the lift unless you know somebody who can escort you and are on the security list. Arrive early. You must show your passport or ID)

YMCA and YWCA
YMCA has events posted on the noticeboard, ask at reception, or look on their website.

Community Clubs
Also in Singapore look at Community clubs in the Community Centre (for short CC).
Often a branch of Toastmasters in English (one club every Monday three times a month at a hotel about twenty Singaporean dollars including a light buffet - arrive early to get a share!, Mandarin only or bilingual, Malay, Tamil (some Tamil only clubs, others bilingual), French (only once a month) somewhere in the city each week or month.

A large branch of a community centre such as Cairnhill or Braddell Heights might have several toastmasters meetings in a week or month. I have attended fifty different clubs, including English, French, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, clubs in English for Vietnamese, for Filipinos and so on.

Travel Tip
Get at least two phone numbers of people in the organisation you are visiting. If visiting a street, check the postcode. (We once followed our satnav to the east end of London to somebody's house, then found the meeting was in another street of the same name in north west London. Their phones were off and we arrived an hour and a half late. The organiser might have their phone on silent. The President might not be attending the meeting or could be on business in another country.

If you want to tell me about any other useful organisations in the USA or any other country, please let me know by emailing me or messaging me on Facebook or in a comment on this blog. Happy travelling!

http://www.ivc.org.uk (Inter-Varsity Club of UK)
http://www.thewinesociety.com

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