Look for bargains worldwide, especially on Singapore trains and buses

Bargain advertisements are all around. When you go to a foreign city, at the airport, hotel, restaurant or bus, as soon as I see a free newspaper or magazine I pick it up. When I first started doing this I would lighten my load of paper by tearing out and throwing out the advertisements.

I saved the article to hear about local sights I should see, the history of historic buildings I should see, grisly murders in dangerous areas I should avoid .- and if I had to wait at a station I had reading matter and information to share.

Save Or Throw Away?
Later, it was often the other way round. I would jettison the articles about luxury shops I could not afford to visit, local minor celebrities I would never meet. I kept the advertisements for two for one offers on entry to public buildings, transport passes, one off exhibitions and nearby restaurants offering a free glass of wine.

This is what I do nowadays, even when coming into my home cities (London and Singapore). I keep up to date with new attractions and offers for my overseas family and friends and to tell tourists on the train into town.

Magazines
Airports are not the only places with offers. In the UK in London and in many cities you will find local language magazines. Often a restaurant takes a magazine which features that restaurant and others nearby.

Postcard Ads
On one occasion in Asia, in Vietnam, in Siem Reap, on the way out of a restaurant, I picked up advertising postcards which offered a free drink. We had already paid our bill, and ordered a different cocktail to the one offered. However, we had booked again for the following week, and were able to use the offer. I kep it in my handbag all week, so that I did not delay lookinfg for it, nor forget it on the next occasion.

I picked it up from a huge pile of identical postcards. My family said, "No need to take it. They will still be there when we come back."

When we returned the postcards were all gone. I didn't know whether they had been grabbed up by visitors in the busy Christmas and New Year week, or whether the management decided they no longer needed to lure in customers because they were now, briefly, full.

Negotiating
It didn't matter. The important thing was that I had the offer. Would they honour it? The waiter hesitated. My husband pointed out that we were now regulars, and the free drink offer had brought us back. Yes, they gave us the free cocktail. The important thing is to mention the offer when booking and when asking for a table. The restaurant does not want to think they have made a certain amount of money and get a nasty surprise at the end. You don't want to sit worrying whether they will honour your offer, nor to have to hunt for it when your taxi has arrived to take you home.

Much better to be sure at the start. The waiter can bring your free drink, present it saying your free drink. You smile at him. He smiles back confident that you will like him or her and the service and probably leave a tip.



Singapore Flag

In Singapore sometimes the trains and buses have ads hanging from the overhead rail which supports the straps you hold when standing.

On my last journey, I didn't see any ads hanging. Often I am too busy looking at my map or phone and counting bus stops and looking at landmarks to check when I will reach my destination.

If I am with a friend, or talking to a new acquaintance, I am too busy to look around and grab materials which i fear makes me look like an impecunious freeloader or hoarder. However, on this occasion, I saw an ad which had fallen to the floor and I picked it up.

Cleanliness and Washing
Regarding picking things up off the floor or the ground, I am in two minds about this. I want the item. But I don't want to get my hands dirty, nor carry dirty items in my bag nor in my pocket.

If I pick up something which is washable, at the next train station or bus interchange (almost always beside a train station) I find a toilet and wash both my hands and the item I have picked up.

Singapore train stations always have toilets near the entrance.

Some laminated items can be wiped or washed. If not, I can take a photo with my phone, then throw the paper in a bin and wash my hands.

Some of the items are time sensitive. They may even already be out of date. Sometimes the offer has expired but the information is useful because it alerts you to a nearby location of an interesting restaurant or handy fast food place.

My latest find is from McDonalds.

About The Author
Angela Lansbury

Easy Walks and Viewpoints in Madeira, especially Cabo Girao, Camara De Lobos

Photo from author Dirk Klasseen in Wikipedia.

Problem
How to get around?

Answers
If you want to drive your own car, you can hire at the airport. Or go online, find a good deal and take a 5 euro taxi from a Funchal seafront hotel to the Europcar or other office in Funchal, the capital city. Booking through our hotel coast about 50 Euros a day, about what our friends paid for the whole week.

Your choices
Taxi tours. You have a choice of six different tours. The map of the tours was in the back seat pocket of the taxi we took from the airport to our hotel.

Open top  hop on hop off bus tours with recorded guide:
Red buses.
Yellow buses.
One person said the yellow bus was very good and dropped her and her husband at the famous Reid hotel.

Local buses.
Levada walking tours.
Contact a company which does guided walking tours along the lavadas. I heard several guides who spoke fluent English as well as German and other languages, dropping into English when I stopped them, then back into German or other languages.

The cost of a guided Levada tour is about 12 euros for 2 persons, according to the sign on the tourist office kiosk which I passed late at night when it was closed.

Top sights include:
Botanical Gardens.
Wicker seated toboggan descent from uphill Monte, which I presume translates as Mountain or Mountain peak, pushed by two energetic people running in white suits.

Overlook At Cabo Girao, Camara de Lobos
One of the yellow top bus circuits takes you uphill to the unnerving glass-bottom lookout point, or Skywalk, which is free, at Cabo Girao, Camaara de Lobos. The open top yellow bus stops here. The viewpoint is a semi-circular suspended glass platform jutting out from the top of the cliffs, said to be the highest cliff skywalk in Europe.

Behind are a couple of snacks bars and various gift shops.
(The toilet costs 50 cents.)

Translation
I thought cabo was cape but Google Translate offered me cable. Nothing for Girao. Camara is chamber, de is in or of, lobos is wolf. So this was once a wolf's lair.

Easiest levada walks:
From Ribero (meaning river) Frio (meaning cold). The bus stops there. You can also park for free. The toilets are free in the cafe on the upper slope. The lady at the bar doesn't bother to check what you are doing although you walk past her. By the time you have done a half hour walk or two hour walk you are probably ready for a coffee anyway. Gift shop next door.

The walk on the lower slope (below the road) is alongside a levada, a canal about a foot wide alonside a wide path. The path eventually narrows.

On the upper side is another path, much easier, flatter, wide. A small cafe, barely more than a kisk is half way. At the end is a viewing platform with birds hoping for food.

Information
From the circular information kiosk on the front lawn of the seafront Pestana Casino Hotel.

Useful Websites
visitmadeira.com
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g1190957-d1464866-r179794621-Cabo_Girao-Camara_De_Lobos_Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/explore/detalhe/cabo-girao-viewpoint

Finding your way around a city

Finding a way around a city should be easy. You just need to travel light, wear walking shoes, carry a map or satnav and plan your route. It is useful to know an alternative route in case you miss your last bus home, your taxi or car driver takes a diversion, or the trains stop running because of an unanticipated emergency.

In Singapore the stations have signs saying what to do in an emergency. The sign suggests alternative routes bus routes. Some maps put show how near it is to walk between city centre stations on different lines, or even the same line.

Today I was at a station and all trains were stopped because of a signal failure.

I see a bus stop the other side of the road. But where is the bus going?

After a breakdown at Watford, we stranded passengers were told to walk from Watford to Bushey, only a ten minute walk. That would have been good if I had not just bought a lot of heavy shopping.







































The Arriva bus is travelling fromWatford to Brent Cross. Bus 142.

If you are organising an event it helps to place signs at the exit showing walking routes to the nearest bus or station. When checking into a new hotel, you can ask the reception tor parroter's desk enrolees to mark a map with the location of your hotel and a route to a museum. I once did that in London. I had popped int to find out the price of coffee, saw a map and a magazine with maps of central London, and asked the concierge desk for directions to the British Museum.

This week I took a train to north west London and all trains on one of the lines were stopped because of a signal failure on the line. When I came out of the station, I had to phone a friend or family members and give them notice of the buildings where I was standing near to where they could stop their car.

Whilst waiting I photographed the buses going in all directions.

A friend of mine uses City Mapper to find her way home if she misses the last train. She can then direct a taxi, or watch that she is not being taken on a route which is indirect or likely to have traffic holdups.

Some restaurants and museums and attractions and community centres and hotels have signs up showing the way to the nearest railway station or bus stop.

Even if somebody is collecting you, if you are able to walk, it may be easier to meet them at an intermediate point.

The 306 bus goes to Watford Town Centre via Elstree and Little Bushey.

www.sullivanbuses.com 

You might see the bus company on the front of back of the bus.
On most stations you can pick up a map, often giving routes, times of last and first transport, stops along the line, and nearby places of interest, plus street names if you want to tell somebody whom you are meeting where you will be standing.

Transport for London
City mapper
street view
google maps


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

Zoos, Parks, Bamboo and Botanical Gardens - Singapore's is easy to reach

Every city has its must see parks.

London, England
London has several. It's free to walk in Regents Park, Hyde Park and Green Park and visit the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. Most areas have a free park or two. Just check on maps.

London also has London Zoo, a paid for attraction. Smaller zoos are scattered around the capital.
You can also drive out to farms and zoos in other cities.

Singapore
Singapore's favourite paid for attractions include the Night Safari and the Singapore Zoo alongside. Look for reduced price tickets for the two. You can also visit crocodile farms selling crocodile skin souvenirs, or walk along piers to glimpse crocodiles.

If you want an easy to reach attraction, try the Botanical Gardens. The MRT (underground station) is helpful named Botanical Gardens and is right next to the Botanical Gardens entrance on the Bukit Timah road. Even if you don't have time for a long visit, you should stop at the MRT and pop up to the entrance to the Botanical Gardens for a photo stop and to read some of the captions at the entrance.

Bamboo
Standing by the bus stop recently, waiting for a friend arriving by car, I stood admiring the bamboo, famous for being fast-growing. The bamboo main stalk or trunk, was green, brown, or black.

Photos of Trees

Currently you can see an exhibition of photos about trees in Singapore by a photographer called Benny Loh. Another panel is about the photographer.

This entrance is also served by numerous buses.

Inside the Botanical Gardens is a historical bandstand where brides like to be photographed.

In addition to the Bukit Timah gate, two other major gates are the Nassim Gate and the Tanglin Gate.


More information from:
sbg.org.sg
foodandshelter.co
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Malta Things To Do For Families, With or Without Children: Attractions and Bargains

TRANSPORT
LAND
The hop on hop off bus has a top deck for good views. In Spring take an umbrella.
Alternatively, there's a horse drawn carriage to take you around the city of Valletta.
Vintage bus tour.
Gozo Segway tours.
Malta Classic Car Museum, Tourists Street, Qawra SPB 1020. www.classiccarsmalta.com
Cars, motorbikes, model cars, life-size figures and gift shops.
Rolling Geeks, electric powered cars with GPS and commentary. www.rolling-geeks.com
SEA
Take the ferry to Gozo. See Azure.
Side trip to Sicily.
Captain Morgan boat trips.
Blue Grotto Boat Service, 20-25 minute trip passing several caves, 9.30 winter and 9-5.30 summer, weather permitting. www.bluegrottomalta.com.mt Passengers must wear life jacket. Tickets 8 euros.
Malta Maritime Museum.
AIR
On the former site of the RAF station, includes aircraft which played on important part in WWII 1940-43, including Spitfire, de Havilland Tiger Moth, Douglas DC3 and more. Cafeteria and garden, near picnic park and Crafts Village. Last entry 4 pm.
Malta Aviation Museum
www.maltaaviationmuseum.com

ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH
Land, sea and sky provide constant interest.
Bird Park Malta.
Malta Falconry Centre.
National Museum of Natural History.

FISH
Malta National Aquarium
Triq It-Trunciera, Qawr, San Pawl Il-Bahar, SPB 1500
www.aquarium.com.mt

HISTORY & MUSEUMS
Lascaris War rooms, Valletta, where Eisenhower and Montgomery planned operations, underground Med HQ, code room and more.www.lascariswarrooms.com
National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta.
Museum of Archaeology, Victoria, Gozo.
Valletta Living History, Malta.
The Malta Experience.
The Mdina Experience.

LANDMARKS and LANDSCAPE
MALTA
Limestone Heritage Park and Gardens
Multi-lingual film, walk through dioramas and Punic tomb, stone carving, farm animals, 30 foot waterfall garden, coffee and souvenirs shop.
www.limestoneheritage.com
GOZO
Azure Window (arch over sea). Windmill. Calypso Cave. Prehistoric temples.
COMINO
Blue lagoon.

ACTIVITIES
Paintball.
Waterpark.

ATTRACTIONS and Museums
Malta 5D.
Malta experience. 45 minute show. www.themaltaexperience.com
Valletta Living History.

TOYS AND FILMS
Popeye Village
www.popeyemalta.com
Manoel theatre has lots of adults and children's events, some in the local language.

LANGUAGE
Rainy day, stuck on the ferry, or in a queue? If they are interested in language, or map-reading, point out that Triq is track or street, San is Saint and Pawl is Paul. Mt in the internet address is Malta. You could devise a quiz, or ask them to devise a quiz for the family.

HISTORIC
Lascaris War Rooms.

FAMILY DEALS, DISCOUNTS, BARGAINS FOR THE BUDGET CONSCIOUS
Malta Public Transport
www.publictransport.com.mt
Malta Discount Card
www.maltadiscountcard.com
Tel: (+365) 7921 1329
@info@maltadiscountcard.com
Up to 50% off. In Feb 2015 the deal was a 10 day card for only 20 euros, valid for holder and one guest and up to three children under 12 years.
See their website for where to buy and where it is valid.

ADULTS EVENING ENTERTAINMENT
Trabuxu The Wine Bar, Strait Street, Valletta. Tues until Sat. 7.30 until late. www.trabuxu.com.net
Twenty Two. Night club on floor 22 of Malta's highest building the Portomaso Business Tower, St Julian's, Malta.
www.22.com.mt
Open Wed-Sun 9.30 until late.

New Destinations For Spring breaks: Malta and Iceland

I have two friends on spring breaks in Iceland and another asked me to research somewhere new, but warmer, so I have selected Malta.

Malta has three islands. Gozo is the second largest. Teeny Comino is between them.

You can get a glimpse of the major sights on the internationally known hop on hop off buses but the reviews I read on Tripadvisor were very mixed. This often happens, but it's useful to see whether the issues will affect you. I read reports of problems with timing, waiting for buses which run half hourly whilst the local buses are every fifteen minutes. If you still prefer a bus with a commentary, which I do, it might still be worthwhile for me and others like me to take the tour buses. Some complained they missed a bus or two because buses were cancelled or stopped. Worthwhile having a phone which operates in Malta (check roaming costs) to call back to base.

Others said commentary could be out of sync with buses taking off before you hear the commentary, so you don't get off at a place which sounds interesting. That's when you are relying on the bus tour commentary to tell you what to see. You need to know in advance when to get off.

Another reported a bus stopping at attractions which turn out to be closed in the afternoon. That can happen when you drive your own car. Check opening times of attractions. Another said buses stopped at shops/sales outlets where the tourist thought the 'franchise operator' or driver had commissions.

If you are a keen shopper, like window shopper, and enjoy factory tours, then I think you might be quite happy, providing you get to stop at the main attractions.

Back to research. Yes, it's worthwhile listing what you want to see and checking opening hours.

I shall continue researching over the next 48 hours and continue in another post. Researching a new destination, people, places, food, history, restaurants, hotels, language, is part of the joy of travel.

Angela Lansbury
Travel Writer and photographer