Wine Museums Worldwide - WOW - which ones to visit?

WoW stands for World of Wine, also the exlamation, wow! It is a huge wine complex in Portugal, on the hillside overlooking the river. The city is called Oporto, Oporto, on a hillside above the port in Portugal, easy to remember. But that's not the only place to find a wine museum.

After the London Wine Fair, where I saw the stand of Georgia, which claims to be the birthplace of wine, I started thinking about wine museums. Some have supermarket size shops and restaurants. Others have cellar doors offering tastings, sometimes free food, other times platters of food if you have a group and book and pay - and mini-shops, and vineyard visits, with self-guided or guided tours.

I have visited Vineyards all over the world, and I have been to the memorable wine museums in Cyprus and Italy. 

Italy

Italy has huge mosaic floors from Roman villas, showing the Gods of wine, and the Romans reclining and drinking.

The one in Torgiano, Italy is in Umbria, next door to and west of Tuscany, not far from Florence. 

France 

Paris has a wine museum. 

Beyond Paris is Rheims in the Champagne area. There numerous Champagne houses offer tours and tastings.

In France, the port of Marseilles was established for the ships carrying wine. 

Bordeaux has a huge modern museum of wine. The name Bordeaux means border or edge of the water, meaning waterway. Wine drinking and export dates back to the time before air travel and even proper passable roads. Then travel was mainly by boats down rivers and in ships across seas.

Portugal

In Europe the biggest range of museums and gifts such as wine stoppers and socks was in WOW in Portugal. A series of museums on a hillside, like Disney, kept us busy all day.Videos, tastings, and a plastic tumbler to take home included in the price.

The Douro museum, along the river Douro, included a sniff section. The large ground floor shop entertained me with wine soaps and novelties.

Museu do Douro, Portugal. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

USA

California has many wineries, vineyards and shops attached. We drove along, up north from San Francisco. As we got further from the big city, the price of a corkscrew got lower and lower. One of the vineyards had a train tour, but we arrived too late. 

I saw lots of great gifts. In addition to wines, corkscrews, wine racks, bottle covers. Books for keeping a record of wine you've tried and liked. Books for storing bottle labels. 

Websites of Wine Museums: 

• Vino Versum Poysdorf, Austria
• Wine Museum (Pleven), Bulgaria
• Wine Museum, Ehnen, Luxembourg
• Wine Museum and Enoteca, Brazil
• Cyprus Wine Museum, Limassol District, Cyprus
• Macau Wine Museum, Macau, SAR China
• Musée du Vin (Wine Museum of Paris), France
• https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/cultural-heritage/wine-trade-museum.html#:~:text=Discover%20the%20history%20of%20the,better%20understanding%20of%20Bordeaux%20wines. Bordeaux, France
• Museo del vino (Torgiano), Italy
• Douro Museum, Portugal
• WOW (World of Wine), Porto, Portugal
• Drăgășani Wine Museum, Romania
• Yilan Distillery Chia Chi Lan Wine Museum, Taiwan
• https://www.wineinvestment.com/learn/magazine/2021/05/seven-wine-museums-to-put-on-your-travel-bucket-list/
• Other wine museums are in Georgia, and South Africa.
• https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/travel/best-winemaking-history-musuems/?srsltid=AfmBOoqzqokP-8sps2EpFXIhSY0DOMgXWFRycZtFFHAO1WKp6bNWtsJy
• California Wine Museum Antique Shop, USA

Napa Valley wine train (lunches and day tours)

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Moving ad for Taiwan moved on from Singapore

Flat of Taiwan, also called The Republic of China.

 The moving advertisement for Taiwan was on the long corridor at an underground MRT railway station in Singapore. I took a video of it. I wrote posts on this blog earlier in 2023 in September on the 21st and 22nd A few weeks later I returned to the station and the advertisment had gone. 

Luckily I also had stills of the advertisments on both sides of the corridor.

Taiwan blue magpie.

Useful Websites

https://www.northguan-nsa.gov.tw/user/article.aspx?Lang=2&SNo=04007243

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/New_Taipei#:~:text=back%20in%20time.-,Understand,population%20limit%20for%20county%20status.

Taiwanese Food To Try

Chinese food is always full of surprises.  The Taiwanese  eggs look like the eggs I tried and tried to make in Singapore. You soak them in tea. Chinese style. But the ones in Taiwan are soaked in soy sauce.

The foods which I look forward to eating in Taiwan include

eggs stewed in soy sauce.

Coffin bread.

Hollow out the cooked bread, fill with cream of chicken or mushroom, add fried bread or toast lid.

To finish, pineapple tart.

And figs floating in ice.

And to finish, bubble tea, invented in Taiwan.

Bubble tea. It has balls of glutinous tapioca floating in it. This makes the tea last longer. Adds a touch sensation.

Useful Websites

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

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Chinese_cuisine#Etiquette

See my other post on the Taiwanese blue magpie.

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Taiwanese Sights Promoted In Singapore

 

I was photographed with this amazing large mural of the Zhilan Park Ocean Viewing Platform and other sights around Taiwan. the huge advertisement was in Bugis MRT underground railway station in Singapore.

Afterwards I looked up Zhilan Park. It is in the north of the lozenge shaped country. In Taipei, the capital.

Useful Websites

https://www.northguan-nsa.gov.tw/user/article.aspx?Lang=2&SNo=04007243

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/New_Taipei#:~:text=back%20in%20time.-,Understand,population%20limit%20for%20county%20status.

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Taiwan's national bird, the blue magpie

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I like the blue wings, the red beak, and the red feet. This charming picture appears in the huge advertisement for Taiwan along the walls of the Linkway in Bugis station, Singapore. The blue magpie is in the mural on both sides, so you see it on your outward journey and on the return. the blue magpie eats snakes. That meets with my approval.

Wiki says

The Taiwan blue magpie^[2] (Urocissa caerulea), also called the Taiwan magpie, Formosan blue magpie

 (Chinese: 臺灣藍鵲; pinyin: Táiwān lán què), or 

the "long-tailed mountain lady" (Chinese: 長尾山娘; pinyin: 

Chángwěi shānniáng; Taiwanese Hokkien: Tn̂g-boé soaⁿ-niû), is a bird species in the crow family. It is endemic to Taiwan.

I can recognize the Chinese symbol for mountain in the bird name, Shan, a pitchfork pointing up ith no handle, reperesenting a mountain peak in the middle.

I have always wanted to visit Taiwan and to see the gold treasures in their national musuem. Let's look at Taiwan, starting with the flag.

The flag of Taipei has the blue sky, white sun, and red earth.

 "Blue Sky with a White Sun flag" (青天白日旗; qīngtiān báirì qí)

qīng blue

tiān sky

bái white

rì Sun

qí)

The central characters, sky, white, and sun, are common, frequently used signs,  known as radicals.

If you are tempted to plan to visit Taiwan, the capital, Taipei, is in the north.

The foods which I look forward to eating in Taiwan include

eggs stewed in soy sauce.

Useful Websites

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

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Bubble tea - what is it? Good or bad? An experience - and a souvenir!

 I tried bubble tea for the first time. I'd heard of it, but never tried it. I don't drink tea I am a coffee drinker. But bubble tea is something else. Bubble tea is more like a cocktail, like a milkshake.

The tea itself is coloured and comes in a transparent container so you can see the colour. At the bottom are the bubbles, which are globules of tapioca. Chewy.

Angela holding the transparent cup with the globules in the base and the wide red straw. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

You drink it though a wide straw.

It would be easy to become hooked. If you have any sort of weight problem, don't start, don't continue.

Bubble tea is big in Taiwan, Singapore, all over Asia, but also increasingly in the UK and USA and worldwide. 

I had bubble tea for the first time in February 2023 at the Toastmasters International speech contest for Division S areas, at the interval. The tall transparent 'glasses' were different colours. However, the names of the contents were written in labels stuck on the sides. 

I chose something which seemed to have a fruity flavour. A faint fruity taste. Then something chewy, like gum, like jelly, like gelatine. I wasn't sure if I liked it. 

You cannot eat or drink on the Singapore MRT. So I hid it away in a secure padded bag. I always carry a padded bag for such an event where I might carry something such as a bottle of water or drink. I don't want to spill on my papers, nor my dress, nor the ground, nor somebody else's property. 

When I got home, I finished it. By now I was used to it. I quite liked it. I could easily get to really like it.

I saved the straw. Use it again. To save filling up landfill. To bypass your white teeth with staining liquids. To reach the bottom of a long glass without tipping the drink down your front and wetting or staining your clothes, or getting your nose in the drink nor o the container which spreads germs. To add fun. To add colour.

Useful Websites

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

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Winter Solstice in Asia

 Asia

I was surprised to receive in WhatsApp greetings for the winter solstice from a Toastmasters International club., in Singapore.

Red is the lucky or auspicious colour in China.

I looked it up in Wikipedia. It is not the mooncake festival. Wikipedia says>

The Dongzhi Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; pinyin: Dōngzhì; lit. 'winter's extreme') is one of the most important Chinese festivals celebrated by the Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Taiwan, Japanese, Vietnamese, Koreans and other East Asian-related people during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice), some day between December 21 to December 23.

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, it is believed that days will have longer daylight hours and therefore create an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fu (Chinese: 复, "Returning").

Contents

• 1Traditional activities
  • 1.1In Taiwan
• 2See also
• 3References
• 4External links

Traditional activities

Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is a time for families to get together. One activity that occurs during these get-togethers (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of tangyuan (汤圆) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion. Tangyuan are made of glutinous rice flour and are sometimes coloured pink or green. Each family member receives at least one large tangyuan in addition to several small ones. The flour balls are cooked in a sweet soup or savory broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl. It is also often served with jiuniang, a mildly alcoholic, unfiltered rice wine containing whole grains of glutinous rice (and often also sweet osmanthus flowers).

The Osmanthus flower is a tiny white flower also known as tea olive or sweet olive. It can be used in rice cakes as well as the drink. It looks like privet and has a fragrant perfume.

In northern China, people typically eat dumplings on Dongzhi. This custom is said to have been started by Zhang Zhongjing in the Han Dynasty. One cold winter day, he saw the poor suffering from chilblains on their ears. Feeling sympathetic, he ordered his apprentices to make dumplings with lamb and other ingredients, and distribute them among the poor to keep them warm and prevent their ears from getting chilblains. Since the dumplings were shaped like ears, Zhang named the dish "qùhán jiāoěr tāng" (祛寒娇耳汤) or dumpling soup that expels the cold. From that time on, it has been a tradition to eat dumplings on the day of Dongzhi.

In southern China, people eat rice cake (Chinese: 冬至团; pinyin: dōngzhìtuán), which means reunion. It is not only eaten by the family, but also shared with friends and relatives as a blessing. Mutton soup, rice cake and red bean sticky rice are also popular in southern China.

Old traditions also require people with the same surname or from the same clan to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. There is always a grand reunion dinner following the sacrificial ceremony.

Another tradition is eating hot pot.

The festive food is also a reminder that celebrators are now a year older and should behave better in the coming year. Even today, many Chinese around the world, especially the elderly, still insist that one is "a year older" right after the Dongzhi celebration instead of waiting for the lunar new year.

In Taiwan

The Dongzhi Festival is also very important to Taiwanese people. It is also a tradition for Taiwanese to eat tangyuan on this day. They also use the festive food as an offering dish to worship the ancestors.

In accordance with Taiwanese history, many people take some of the tangyuan that have been used as offerings and stick them on the back of the door or on windows and tables and chairs. These "empowered" tangyuan supposedly serve as protective talismans to keep evil spirits away from children.

As well as following some of the customs practiced on mainland China, the people of Taiwan have a unique custom of offering nine-layer cakes as a ceremonial sacrifice to worship their ancestors. These cakes are made using glutinous rice flour in the shape of a chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow, or sheep, and then steamed in different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition.

Many people take invigorating tonic foods during this particular winter festival. To the Taiwanese, winter is a time when most physical activities should be limited and you should eat well to nourish your body. This practice follows the habits shown by many animals which follow the law of nature and hibernate throughout winter months to rejuvenate and to preserve life. In order to fight cold temperatures, it is necessary to eat more fatty and meaty foods during winter when your body can better absorb the rich and nutritional foods at this time due to a slower metabolic rate.

Since Dongzhi is the "extreme of winter", Taiwanese regard it as the best time of the year to take tonic foods. Some of the most widely popular winter tonic foods enjoyed by Taiwanese to fight cold and strengthen the body's resistance are mutton hot pot and ginger duck hot pot. Other foods like chicken, pork, and abalone are also common ingredients used in making tonic foods with nurturing herbs such as ginseng, deer horn, and the fungus cordyceps.

Useful Websites

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hanukkah-and-the-winter-solstice/

https://mitzvahday.org.uk/hanukkah-winter-solstice-festivals-of-light/

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

Osmanthus flower to flavour food and drinks

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Osmanthus_fragrans

Spot the Blue and Boats and Ships On the Bayfront MRT Mural - and more in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

As you rush into or out of the station you might be tempted to hurry past the long blue mural of boats and ships. I was in a hurry and took a photo of the mural and author's description to read later.

On my mobile phone I could hardly make out that the little blobs were boats. However, the next weekend I showed it to my husband and he blew up my picture on a big desktop screen. He was impressed by the variety of boats shown.

First, he noticed a boat with ice creams. Then a boat with fruit.

Then, different styles of boat, shown by their sails or curved bows. He guessed at or identified several. Can you see them?:

A clipper - with clipped sails, triangular

A schooner - with full sails

The curved up front of an Asian boat

Bay front MRT is underneath the distinctive Marina Bay Sands complex, with its triple towers, connected by a hotel, with an infinity swimming pool. You can buy a ticket for the observation deck, or book a table for a meal at the luxury restaurant with a view for a special occasion.

The Boats on the Mural

Our initial impression was that one artist must have spent hours painting all those little boats. No. Hours organizing the project. That boats were all drawn by children aged 7 to 12. So many families have their own connection to the mural.

Teco Enamel construction

I found a detailed description of the construction of the mural on the website of the company which provided the raw material for the construction. The product they supplied had to be able to deal with graffiti, not have colours which faded. The company is Taiwan Enamel Company Limited, for short their name is condensed to the word Teco.

Interestingly, the Teco company also makes enamel baths and bath accessories such as taps.

More Murals To See

They were also responsible for other murals you can see on the Downtown line (and on websites, and in my blog posts) such as a nearby station, Promenade, and up north in Woodlands South. Also other murals or signs in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Abu Dhabi, UAE which you can see on their websites

Useful Websites

Bayfront station

Mural Construction

https://taiwanenamel.com/projects/graphic/bayfront-mrt-station-singapore/

Singapore International Water Week

https://www.siww.com.sg/

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

Youtube  video of Singapore stations' murals

What is the Difference Between Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year?

 

"Chinese New Year" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese	春節
Simplified Chinese	春节
Literal meaning	"Spring Festival"
showTranscriptions
"Agricultural Calendar New Year"
Traditional Chinese	農曆新年
Simplified Chinese	农历新年
showTranscriptions
"Chinese New Year"
Traditional Chinese	中國新年
Simplified Chinese	中国新年
hideTranscriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó xīn nián

CNY stands for Chinese New Year. it is celebrated in Taiwan and Singapore. In mainland china it is called Spring Festival.

LNY is used in Korea. The initials stand for Lunar New Year. Also used by the Vietnamese.

Korea

The Koreans also give gifts of money. 

They wear traditional costume called hanbok.

You might want to check out lunar new year and lunisolar New Year. Lunisolar follows both the sun (solar) and moon (luni) so it stays in the same season.

The Indians also follow New Year.

Other New Year Festivals

Jewish New year falls in the autumn.

Muslim New Year is purely solar and  gradually changes season.

Useful Websites

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

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

About the Author

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

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Who Is On Your Time Zones And Can Join Your Online Meeting in the USA, UK, China, Singapore, Italy, Russia or Australia?

Braddell Heights Advanced on learncool.sg

China and Singapore
The whole of China is on one time zone, like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

What about the rest of Asia?

Indonesia
Jakarta is one hour behind Singapore. (The sun sets earlier there.)

This suits Asia because they like their early morning markets, and climbing volcanoes, starting at dawn, to be at the top for the view or sunrise you have to be up there by 5.

So, if Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters club is holding online meetings from 7 pm to 9.30 pm that is 6 pm to 8.30 pm in Jakarta.

The USA and UK
I remember when I was a school children in the UK and Kennedy was killed in the afternoon, we watched the announcement with blank screen and mournful music in the UK in the evening.

USA
New York is in the Eastern time zone, five hours behind London, England.
New York is in the same time zone as Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Washington DC.
Also Montreal and Ottawa and Quebec in Canada. Also Caracus.

Singapore
Looking at this chart I can see that my Singapore club meetings are on the same time zone as Perth in Australia, Shanghai in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philppines and Taiwan.

I can also work out that a blog written before midnight in Singapore in English is likely to be read by English speaking people in Perth and Shanghai, Malaysia and so on.

Author
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
learncool.sg
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Australia (Perth), Singapore

Country	Region	Timezone
Australia	Perth	Australian Western Standard Time (AWST)
Brunei	countrywide	Brunei Darussalam Time (BNT)
China	Shanghai	China Standard Time (CST)
Hong Kong	countrywide	Hong Kong Time (HKT)
Indonesia	Makassar	Central Indonesia Time (CIT)
Macao	countrywide	China Standard Time (CST)
Malaysia	countrywide	Malaysia Time (MYT)
Philippines	countrywide	Philippine Time (PHT)
Russia	Irkutsk	Irkutsk Time (IRKT)
Taiwan	countrywide	China Standard Time (CST)

Amazing Churches, Chapels, Cathedrals & Monasteries, In Caves & More Worldwide

Wacky Wedding Venue
Whether you want a wonderful wedding venue, a funny photo or just a moment of quiet contemplation, you have plenty to amaze and uplift you worldwide. Which is the most amazing and memorable church? The most bizarre church is the Wedding Church in Taiwan shaped like a lady's high heeled shoe.

Description	English: Glass High Heel Church in Budai Township, Chiayi County
Date	8 February 2017, 15:31:49
Source	Own work
Author	Accord14

The most atmospheric is one in the cave in Cairo, Egypt. Others are in Italy

Wikipedia has a long list of monasteries in caves.
For example, Vardzia, Georgia, from the bell tower.



Cave Monastery in Vardzia, South Georgia (country of Georgia, not the US State).

Over in the USA, not Georgia but Arizona, is a chapel built into a rock face, Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Out to sea, in Hawaii, is St Benedicts in Honavnau.

The most stunning church interior on mainland USA, in my view, is the tall one with the light coming through - it is The Cathedral of Christ the Light, in Oakland, California, USA.

Interior of Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA
Date	11/05/2008
Source	Own work
Author	Skier Dude

Evening photo by Cam Vilay.

Another practical use of surroundings is the floating Catholic church in Tonle, Sap Lake, Cambodia. Maybe other countries could pick up tips from this, notably Holland in the Netherlands, Venice in Italy and Jakarta in Indonesia.

The trompe l'oeuil frescoes reate an air of grandeur and are impressively skilful at St Benedicts in Honaunau in Hawaii.



This church's painter inspired others, such as the Star of the Sea.

In the UK we have many magnificent buildings. One of the oddest is the twisted spire of the Anglican church of St Marys and All Saints in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

I cannot travel right now because of Covid19. So I can console myself by recalling that many buildings are not the photographer's delight you might imagine. I have arrived at cathedrals to find them covered in scaffolding, closed for renovation. Or impossible to photograph from the front gate underneath.

Yet in books and online you can enjoy the buildings immortalised at their best moments of lights and glory.

Book:
Amazing Churches of the World by Michael Kerrigan, Amber Books, 19.99 pounds sterling.

Unusual Religious Buildings by Country
Cambodia - Floating Catholic church and other floating buildings, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia
Egypt - Virgin Mary and St Simon Cathedral, Cairo, Egypt
Georgia - cave monastery in Vardzia, S Georgia
Italy - cave
Taiwan -
UK - Church of St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield, England, UK
USA - Chapel of the Holy Cross, Arizona, USA
Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, California, USA

Useful websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-8196877/Incredible-images-worlds-jaw-dropping-churches.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

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

Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.) See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts, Quick Quotations, Who Said What When. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.
Please share links to your favourite posts.