Speech Contest About the Environment

QUICK FACTS
Where? School of the Arts Singapore, for short, SOTA.
SOTA, 1 Zubir Said Drive,
 Singapore 227968.
Nearest MRT station ............ line ..........

When? All day.
Saturday June 23

Cost?
What is SOTA? A school of the arts, pre-tertiary, for ages 13-18.

If you miss this, many more opportunities to support the environment, hear speeches or learn to make speeches.

Useful Websites
https://www.sota.edu.sg/
https://www.facebook.com/sotavenues

Toastmasters International find a club
https://www.transitlink.com.sg/images/eguide/mrt_sys_map.htm
Toastmasters Club of Singapore, big and buzzy, currently (June 2019) meets the first three Mondays of the month at the Sheraton Towers Hotel by Newton MRT station. Cost $20. A

https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
(More pictures and text later)

Environment
https://www.nea.gov.sg/media/news/news/index/more-than-1-600-premises-team-up-with-nea-to-say-yes-to-waste-less

Training for marketing and performing and selling your service
Harry and Lily
Book
by Lily Patrascu
Peak Performance Sales
ISBN 9781095059531
www.SpeakersAreLeaders.com
www.BrandForSpeakers.com
www.lily.global/writeabook

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, atuhor and speaker. If you would like a speech on the environment, please contact me.

DIAMOND COMPETITION For Top Flights And Food From A Blue Diamond Company and Singapore Bargains

Problem
I've never heard of the Blue Diamond but everyone has now. I thought - is it a scam?

The prize looks big - a flight on Singapore Airlines to Singapore, then a light in a luxury airlines with a great meal and using diamond studded chopsticks. Are they smooth to hold?

Gosh - it all sounds marvellous. And mo more than most people pay for a couple of tickets in the Singapore lottery.

They have cut a diamond into a teeny fragments, a million pieces how is that possible? Everybody gets one. For only two dollars? You must need a magnifying glass. But they say a traditional watch contains tiny diamond and a diamond with flaws can be used inside a watch where it is not seen. Most diamonds are used in industry, more than those used in jewellery.

I also learned, earlier that a mineral discovery will flood the world with a huge amount of (was it gold or diamonds?).

When I read about diamonds being cut into fragments, I felt, such a pity. On the other hand, I like the idea of sharing. I like to see the prize divided so that one person wins the flight, another the meal. But I suppose it's easier to administer one prizewinner than ten. You also only need one flight by Singapore Airlines to get you to the destination.

Regardless of whether you wanted to enter the competition, here are the details for you to read about. I don't, yet, know about blue diamonds, but I can recommend Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport. I use both every year. So how do you enjoy a luxury holiday in Singapore?

Sheraton Towers Hotel
The Sheraton Towers Hotel is beside Newton MRT underground railway station. From the top of the staircase in the hotel hall you can see the great fountain in the lower lounge.

Inexpensive Hotel Mini-buffet
 For only about $20 for visitors you can get a mini-buffet and coffee and evening entertainment with Toastmasters International club which meets there most first, second and third Monday evenings except national holidays.

Arrive promptly, to get the pre-meeting food, and network before the meeting with Singaporeans and visitors. Phone to check the event is on and so they know numbers for catering. Lovely small shop with great jewellery closes at six p.m. Hotel residents might get a discount on jewellery and dry cleaning.

Free Tours From Airport
Finally if you've only got a long day time stopover in Singapore, especially if you have four to six hours to spare, look for the butterfly park in the airport, and the free daytime bus tour around Singapore and back, offered from the airport.

Buying Jewellery
You will find numerous shops selling gold in Little India and also Mohammed Mustafa's department store in little India has two or three parts, general and jewellery, and one part is open 24 hours.

Check it out for yourself. Details here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4993248/Win-world-s-ultimate-dinner-just-TWO-DOLLARS.html
https://www.thejaneseymour.com (Diamonds.)
www.singaporeairlines (A lovely airline and great airport lounges. If you are a member of Star Alliance group airline loyalty scheme, try to use Singapore Airlines. Good airline magazine.)
http://singaporehotels.parkroyalhotels.com (Covered in greenery. Pass it on your taxi trip. Or get out at the nearby MRT station. See my previous post about green hotels.)
https://uk.hotels.com/ho105478/shangri-la-hotel-singapore  (Great fountains.)
http://www.sheratonsingapore.com/
http://www.changiairport.com/en/airport-experience/attractions-and-services/free-singapore-tour.html
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

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

KEEPING COOL: FAVOURITE FOUNTAINS AND WATERSIDE WALKS WORLDWIDE

Giant Fountain Depicting a Boat in Hays Galleria, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

Hays Galleria, London, England

 One side of the open sided but roofed Galleria opens onto a busy road and nearby railway station, whilst the other side open onto the riverside. These buildings were once the dockside warehouses, now redeveloped.

Problem
I love water. Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces. Most people like watching fountains, or taking waterside walks. If you don't like nature (I have one friend who told me she doesn't) you can watch fountains in a shopping mall by day, or lit up changing colour at night. Where can you to go to see fountains? Or walk beside the water? Or take a houseboat.

Answer
London, England; Italy in Europe; Las Vegas in the USA; Singapore; or Russia. These are the places where I have seen the best fountains. But for waterside walks, Cambodia.

My favourites are:

UK
Everybody's favourites are the fountains in London. Trafalgar Square is the best known. In many fountains it is forbidden to jump into the water.

ITALY
The famous Trevi fountain in Rome.

Fountain at Bugis shopping area in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.Copyright.

SINGAPORE
The famous and largest fountain is the fountain of wealth in the business district of the city state.

OUTDOOR FOUNTAINS WHICH WILL COOL YOU
But I enjoy the jumping fountains which children can run between for a laugh. Such fun. I love the ones that are lots of small knee high pencils of water you can get up close and run between. You find them in busy, popular places.

WATERSIDE WALKS
My favourite - Cambodia.

INDOOR FOUNTAINS IN HOTELS
Singapore has several hotels with dramatic waterfalls or stepped and floodlit fountains.

Floodlit fountains in Sheraton Towers Hotel, Singapore, near Newton MRT underground railway station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

LAKESIDE HOLIDAYS
America - just look at the map and pick your favourites. Canada. America. River rafting. Kayaking.
New Zealand. I went on rafting

THEME PARKS
A recent accident caused a ride and later the whole park to close for several days in the UK. One accident was when a girl stood up to change seats. Another was when a group of lads did not stay sitting but stood up for excitement and when the raft hit an obstacle and jolted he was thrown out. Stay seated and stay safe.

HOUSEBOATS
My favourites were in the USA. The scariest boat trips? In the deep south, such as the Everglades, with warning to to throw food which attracts crocodiles. Great for photos but not for safety. So many films evoke the joys and dangers of the waters in America.

If you can't get out and travel, travel with your walking fingers on your computer keyboard. Stay home and watch a romantic film or a horror movie.

WATCHING YACHTS
Colourful yacht races and regattas. Thames river in England. Southern England. New Zealand. California beaches and boardwalk: LA beaches and ship tour; Big Sur; Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. Marinas.

TOURING SHIPS
For historians and tourists:

• Pearl Harbour.
• Ship tour of Queen Mary, Los Angeles, California, USA. 

If you haven't the time or opportunity to go inside the great cruise liner, see the impressive outside for a selfie. Good to end on a jollier note. It's very cool, in the metaphorical sense of the word.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have several posts about the bridges and boats in Singapore and the water walk through a lake in Cambodia near Ankor Wat which was voted the top site int he world. Please share links to my posts.