Doolchee is open in Hatch End

 

Ice cream corner at the front.

Amusing arch of paper cups.

The same owners as Amore in Pinner.

The Tanglin Club's Tea-time Cheesecake, Musical Chairs and Two Chefs

Chocolate Banana Cake and Black Forest cake at the Tnaglin Club. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I have had lunch twice in the last two months with my long-standing friend, close friend, Caroline. Both of us have relatives who are members. 

On the most recent occasion when we both visited the Tanglin, when The Tavern restaurant closed at the end of lunch time, we had to move. Where next?

It was tempting to go into the lounge for coffee. Dentists warn that you should not snack all day, but give your teeth a break from food so your saliva can clear up. If you can clean your teeth after a meal to prevent the build-up of plaque, so much the better. 

Caroline had a business meeting and had to disappear onto the outdoors front terrace because the use of mobile phones and laptops is forbidden in several areas of the club, including the lobby. 

Tanglin Club lobby. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Despite, my memory of the dentist's warning, I decided to go to the lounge. But the lounge tables were all full. 

The Rest Room Flowers

So I took fancy photo in the lovely Ladies toilet. Americans say restroom, and if you want to rest, it does have a chaise longue (French for long chair) in the mirror and power room area. The Ladies has flowers by the mirrors in the entry room.

Angela by flowers in the Tanglin Club Ladies toilets. Selfie. Copyright Angela Lansbury.

The Lobby Flowers

Then I took a photo of myself with the lobby flowers. I considered going to the library and sitting at the online screen. However, I decided to sit in the lobby where I could watch my friend to see when she finished her online meeting.

How quickly an hour can pass. From three o'clock to four o'clock.  Time for tea. Tea for two.

We returned to the tea lounge where we had a choice of vacant tables. The window area overlooking the pool has an away from the world table in corner. Another table, even more secluded, for private whispered conversations, or noisy laughter where you won't annoy others, is in an alcove, hidden behind a big barrier wall, beyond the attractive, glassed, walk-in wine bottle shop with bottle and barrels.

Air Con

We tried the seats at both window tables. Both suffered from the same problem. A howling gale from the air conditioning overhead. We were chilled in one minute. I had worn a scarf to protect myself in case anywhere in the club was chilly. But the combination of window and air con was too much for me. And for Caroline. 

Musical Chairs

So we went back to the public area, to a table in front of the deli area serving cake. The advantage is that you can hail the waiter or manager to give an order. Despite the walked through area the other side which can be distracting. However, having passers-by gives the faint possibility that somebody you know might pass.

Nobody we knew passed. The attention getting people who passed were two chefs with their grand and distinctive tall, pleated white hats. 

Chefs in the tea lounge at the Tanglin Club, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Two Chefs

What were the chefs delivering? I did not see. But later I learned that when we ordered a pint of pink watermelon juice, it was not made in the lounge but by the chefs in the Tavern kitchen.

We had had the same at lunch. I thought I would try starfruit for a change. But that was unavailable.  Back to watermelon juice.

What to eat - scones or cheesecake?

The scones are cheaper than the cakes. But no cream or strawberry jam. 

Takeaway Teatime Treats

On a previous occasion when my husband visited the club to take photos of historic presidents for his book on the history of Singapore's then Singapore-Malaya railway, I asked him to bring home a scone. We added our own whipped cream from a can and Bonne Maman jam from a jam jar.

You need to heat the scones and add butter so that the butter melts. Salted butter is best. But my husband buys all purpose unsalted butter so it can be used in both sweet and savoury recipes and so he knows how much salt to add since he has control over added salt.

We opted for American cheesecake.

That strawberry on top looks like a refreshing fruit. No. It's a cleverly disguised piece of praline, or something similar.

I had previously preferred the Starbucks crumbly New York Cheesecake. But Caroline loved the creamy cheesecake. And the crunchy biscuit base. Her enthusiasm was infectious. Yes, I agreed. I was pretty good.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/dining/terrace-bistro-bar.html

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, Food Shopping and Window-shopping

Problem
What to buy to take home from the Shangri-la hotel. I feel every major hotel should have at least one shop. Especially a hotel such as the Shangri-La which is not conveniently near a department store nor a corner shop. Why has the shop gone? I presume that the shop was rented out and either the rent charged went up or the shop owner was not making enough money.

Some hotel spas are run on a similar basis. But imagine if the hotel swimming pool was allowed to disappear because the manager could not make enough from the swimming pool bar, and sales of swimsuits. I've been to motels without the pool. Sometimes outdoor pools don't operate in winter, in
the cold or rainy season.

I once got my money back from a hotel which advertised itself as having a pool when none was available. We checked out for the next two nights and complained. (The place was also being removed with missing ceiling tiles and daubs on walls.)

I feel the same about a five-star hotel with no shop. Shopping and eating are considered the two major activities for Singaporeans. (Swimming pools comes a close first, second or third for most holidaymakers. One of my friends booked a day at the Marina Bay Sands hotel so his children could enjoy the rooftop infinity pool.)

I feel that hotels are missing out by not having a second pool only for users of the restaurants who are not residents.

However, the Shangri-La compensates with a pleasant walk. And a food shop next to the lobby door.

From a distance, my first thought was, that's a cake like Rodin's The Thinker. Then I thought Batman, a more likely subject for a cake. Then spider man. You can all argue with each other. He is sitting on a skyscraper. They could probably make any subject, if you had a photo.  He is a cake, yes a cake. You can see the words Custom Made Cakes on the top of the glass.

A cake with a little bear on top.

 Fancy cakes in fancy shapes with vivid colours.

Wow. A carousel cake. Plus little cakes for little guests.

So clever. So intricate. Hours of work. And practise.

The window display of cakes is a delightful stop for Mums towing children past. We admired the car, the Lego brick cake.

At the back of the shop we checked the wine prices. One wine was cheaper in London.

We bought two of the jams. I fancied mango and durian. The other one we chose was calamansi brandy. Unusual.

Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
http://www.shangri-la.com/singapore/shangrila/dining/restaurants/the-line/
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Hotel_Review-g294265-d302109-Reviews-Shangri_La_Hotel_Singapore-Singapore.html

Author
Angela Lansbury

Secret Sweets and Sweet Treats - map and recipes of what you'll enjoy on holiday in Europe

Salzburger Nockerln from the Goldener Hirsch Restaurant, In Salzburg, Austria. 

Photo courtesy of the Salzburg tourist board.

Problem
What shall I eat next? What's for tea? The British are famous for having a sweet tooth. We consume more sugar per capita than any other country. (We also have notoriously bad teeth, say the Americans.) We have imported cakes, biscuits, desserts and ingredients from all over the world.

In England you can eat: Banoffee Pie. Danish pastries. Rice pudding. Spotted Dick. Sticky toffee pudding. Treacle Tart. Christmas Pudding (which the Americans eat all year as plum pudding). At Christmas time we import seasonal specialities such as Stollen from Germany.

But why not enjoy local desserts on holiday to add to your memories and kitchen repertoire all year. And we keep inventing new things. Christmas pudding with hidden fruit in the middle at Waitrose supermarket. What if you are going away for Christmas, New Year or next year, what can you try?

Which sweets (desserts) can you enjoy in Europe? A wonderful interactive map has been designed. Click on it and you'll see the top three favourite desserts in each country and find recipes.

The movers behind this idea are Thomson Lakes and Mountains. They are part of the TUI group, an umbrella organization which includes lots of famous travel companies who you have probably travelled with or passed in the High Street:

Anyway, back to the sweet treats.

Jessica Fairfax of Kaizen Search marketing has sent me a neat summary of what you will find in 9 hotspots of Europe. These include (I've re-ordered her list of countries alphabetically.)

Austria – 

If you’re in Salzburg, be sure to sample the Nockerl, a "dumpling-style dessert" iconic to Austrian cuisine. The powdered sugar dusting is meant to signify the snow-covered mountain peaks.

Belgium

Waffles. Made in a waffle iron. The American version of waffles is different.

France – 

The Clafoutis is the baked fruit dessert from Limousin packed with black cherries, supposedly derived from the Occitan word ‘fill’. Fill up, indeed!

Germany  - 

The Berliner Pfannkuchen is the dessert responsible for JFK calling himself a doughnut, which, while not strictly true, adds some humorous history to a tasty treat.

Italy - 

The nougat-like treat Mandorlato Torrone is local to a small commune named Cologna Veneta. The region in the Province of Verona even has its own annual nougat festival!

Portugal - 

Lisbon’s Bolo Rei is a traditional cake covered with candied fruit often eaten around Christmas time.

Slovenia

Spain – 

The Torrija serves up what is essentially a variation of French toast, originating over 500 years ago and often made with alcohol.

Switzerland.

Fondue. Not just cheese. Also strawberries dipped in hot chocolate.

Fascinating. I thought the JFK story was about a sausage. Oh, well. As the popular saying goes: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Salzburger Nockerln
I can vouch for the splendour of a Salzburger Nockerln.

We hesitated to order it because it was expensive. But we had to try the local dish.

When we tried it, we were so delighted by it that we tried to track down the recipe. We could not find Salzburger Nockerln anywhere. Then we realised - that you simply look for Nockerln. When in Salzburg, call it Salzburger Nockerl.

I think the difference is that they serve it as one huge platter. It was a bit like a 'snow' with peaks of whipped white. When we ordered it, we were expecting to get a small plate each. The giant oval dish was enough to feed several.  After eating about a third, we were forced to give up.

We then had an awful thought. Maybe it was a platter for the whole restaurant!

Maybe we were supposed to have taken a small slice each. At the price we were charged per person, it would be a fortune if we were charged for three pieces each. Alternatively, if they were simply nice, they might be shocked by our ignorance and effrontery.

We called the waitress over. She told us that, no, the entire plate was for us. That explained the price.

The magic website:
www.secretsweets.com
http://www.secretsweets.co.uk/sweets/tarta-de-santiago

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

How To Organise a Halloween Celebration And Cut A Pumpkin

 Last Year's Halloween - Pumpkins for the house of garden, in the home or garden section of a supermarket such as Waitrose.

Clothes and accessories under £2.

Biscuits and cakes under £2.

This year's Halloween
My Tesco Trident, £2 or less.

Plastic trident from Tesco Express

Problem
How do I buy and cut a pumpkin to make a display? What do I need?

Answer
You have a choice. Buy a fresh pumpkin and enjoy eating it as well as having a display. Or buy a plastic pumpkin, ready-made, and store it for next year.

Where to buy? In the UK I saw fresh pumpkins in Waitrose, synthetic 'toy' pumpkins in Tesco Express.

You can buy a pumpkin cutting kit with instructions.

Cutting A Pumpkin
My friend says:
Slice the top off the pumpkin horizontally.

Scoop out the inside.

Draw the face on a sheet of paper. Either draw it yourself or copy from a picture on the internet or from the packaging with your pumpkin. Decide whether to use circles or triangles, small or large, what distance apart. Trace or copy onto the outside of the pumpkin with pencil, so you can work out the spacing and decide what looks best.
Cut three triangles, two for the eyes

Use it to eat fresh, make a pumpkin drink or heat it up as a soup. Recipes all over the internet. You can also make a pumpkin tart.

Set up outdoors by the gate or doorway, on the ground or perhaps on a small table to welcome guests.  This can be done at a home or public meeting. (We did it at a Toastmasters International Speakers' Club in London, at a church hall beside a cemetery!

Place a tea light inside. After everybody has arrived and the meeting is about to start, extinguish the light for safety when moving. Carry the pumpkin indoors. Set it up and re-light the candle.

If you are really crafty in the kitchen, bake a Halloween cake. Orange icing. A black witches' hat on top.  If not, go to an organized event.

Bake a cake. Instructions on craft site.

Story - Memories of Pumpkin Dinner
I had a delicious pumpkin meal at the American Club in Singapore. I was a member of the American Women's Association. We had pumpkin soup as a starter, a main course with pumpkin mixed in with the salad, and a choice of a pumpkin 'pudding', meaning a kind of mousse, or pumpkin tart.

To complete the look: orange paper napkins and an orange centrepiece.

Offer leftover fresh pumpkin display to somebody who has children. Save a plastic pumpkin for next year in your basement or attic. Note where it is stored by sending yourself a picture in an email in the storage place in your laptop or phone or computer. Copy details of where to find it into your online diary for a week before next year's Halloween. Send duplicate to spouse or other family member, or to shared calendar, so they don't waste money by duplicating purchases. You are also set for your next event.

If you missed having a Halloween party this year, prices come down in supermarkets the day or week afterwards. You can stock up with paperwear for next year.

What can you buy?
Paper cups.
A plastic tablecloth.
Plastic pumpkins.
Orange decorations and clothes.
Face paints. Masks. Fingernails.
Note any Halloween stories to tell.

Halloween Tablecloth

Lessons Learned
The organizers of our party were brilliant. The Toastmaster of the evening wore an outfit. One person brought cakes. Another brought decorations. What else could we have done? Phoned each member personally the weekend before and on the day and asked them to wear either fancy dress or black and white and orange.

Food and Fruit
The halloween cakes looked great.

Our cakes and biscuits were an overdose of sugar. We could have brought orange fruit as an alternative for those on health food diets. That's easy. Oranges, ideally slices or in segments. Oranges. Satsumas. Mandarins. Apricots.

White hard boiled eggs on orange plates, or white plates with orange napkins alongside or under the plates.

Peanuts or black fruits such as black grapes or raisins in white bowls on orange paper napkins.

Invitations
Halloween invitations asking guests to wear outfits or white tee-shirts or orange ties and jewellery.

Useful Websites
Morrisons www.morrisons.co.uk
Tesco www.tesco.com
Waitrose www.waitrose.com

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

Cycling in Wales, Welsh signs, Welsh trains, cycling and fly-biking worldwide

Great Western, First Class carriage

Welsh cakes on train. £1.50 for two cakes in packet. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
I had never thought of cycling in Wales. It looks too hilly.

Answers
On the other hand, you get:
lots of exercise
great views from the top,
recover on the easy way down.

Bikes on Trains
Can you take bikes on trains? Yes and no. Arriva trains' website says they can take only two bikes on every train (not much good for a family of four, or group of four friends, fine for a twosome - providing somebody else hasn't booked their bike in first. You must make a booking to be sure of getting a space.

They suggest you make a booking for your bike, which is free. Do that at least 24 hours in advance.

Some days there are only one or two trains a day on some routes if you are making a connection using two trains on a long journey.  Even on a summer Sunday on the Great Western line from Paddington in London to Cardiff, Newport and Swansea in Wales in July 2017, I had only one train after 9 a.m. You also cannot take your bicycle on an Arriva train in peak hours.

Train Tickets
You may hear the announcements that you can upgrade your seat to first class on Great Western. One lady I know chose to do this. She said that the First Class ticket upgrade on one section cost less than £5 and included a voucher for tea or coffee and biscuits from the counter between the first class and the next carriage. You have to allow time to run all the way along the platform to first when boarding. Alternatively, have a backpack or small luggage to walk all the way along the train through the narrow aisle from the other end of the train.

Cycling Worldwide
You can hire cycles in cities in other countries, too. For example: London, England; Bucharest, capital of Romania. You might want to fly-bike, rather than fly-drive.

Luggage / baggage
On a long trip, or going to a special occasion such as a wedding, you might want more luggage at a destination. You can go on a group holiday which has a van to take everybody's luggage to the overnight stop.

For transporting luggage when you are travelling independently, see next post.

Tips
Cycling
http://www.cyclingwales.co.uk/welsh.html
https://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/Bicycles/

Luggage
This company's website says that sending luggage can be cheaper than paying airline excess baggage charges.
https://luggagemule.co.uk/
Here are some more websites:
https://www.sendmybag.com/
If you prefer a company whose name you recognize:
https://www.pickfords.co.uk/baggage-ppc/luggage-shipping-service

Story
I've been so long on Welsh websites and writing Welsh words that the automatic spell check suggests that my name should start LLAN!

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages.

Burnt Oak, Colindale, Seeing Little Bucharest in London

ROMANIA

Problem
Where do you find Romanian food and language in London?

Answer
Go to Little Bucharest, the Burnt Oak and Colindale area. Where is Bucharest? It's the capital of Romania, in the south east, as you can see on the map below. You could go there for a short tip on Ryanair.

If you have already been and feel nostalgic, or have a trip planned, or considered, you might take a look at a Romanian restaurant or cafe or in London, England, at convenience store (often called a corner shop in London). I meet Romanians all over north west and central London, serving in restaurants and shops, in service industries such as building, plumbing, property maintenance, and at English language Toastmasters clubs which many foreigners in London attend to improve their English.

Harrow, on the way to Heathrow, attracts large numbers of foreigners and has the shops to cater to their needs. Only as recently as this week I discovered that the Burnt Oak and Colindale area of the Edgware Road is known as Little Bucharest.

Having been to Romania, discovered that the language is similar to Italian, but easier, more like Italian with phonetic simplified spelling, I was keen to peep into a Romanian cake shop.

Although the name of the business was Harrow Cakes, the words 

c o f e t a r i e  p a t i s e r i e  told me it was Romanian. I recognised the little boat shape sign above the a.

On the table was a Romanian language newspaper for people living in the UK. I could read most of it, certainly the advertisements and headlines straight away. 

The date was 15 J u l i e - July 15

24  p a g i n i - 24 pages

Before taking it I was able to see that it was

g r a t u i t - free 

In a nearby estate agent's business, (property agent) I was making conversation and mentioned the Romanian shops. The estate agent told me that in addition to Romanian cafes, Costa (which is Italian) does very well with the Romanians.  "They like to start their day with espresso."

I saw two Romanian businesses in the Colindale area, two more from the bus in Burnt Oak.

ROMANIAN WORDS

I looked at the pictures and the words underneath were obvious.

I am sure you will find it as easy as I do to understand:

casa in UK - home / house in UK  

r a p i d a t e - rapid / fast

C o n s u l t a n t a  a b s o l u t  g r a t u i t a - co n s u l t a t i o n completely free

i n s c r i e r e  l a  u n i v e r s i t a t e - inscribe in the university   

L o n d r a (Stonebridge Park) Manchester - London  Manchester 

I had to insert spaces because the automatic spell correction turned c o n s u l t a t i o n into 

c o n s o l a t i o n .

I could tell from the pictures combined with the caption

t o r t u r i  p e r s o n a l i z a t e  - personalised cakes (to order from the advertiser)

I was tempted to get out translate for the recipes:

b i s u i t i - biscuits

i n g r e d i e n t e   n e c e s a r e - necessary ingredients

m o d  de  p r e p a r e - method of preparation

I read the full page ad for a business offering Romanian food in Colindale or Kingsbury. 

I have not inserted the accents which you would need to say the words. 

Another business offered P a r c a r e  l i b e r a.

That sounds like free parking. But I had better check with google translate. 

To learn Romanian:

www.duolingo.com (Free lessons on the internet. Very easy. Pictures and multiple choice questions on which you click and click again to see if your answer is correct. (Also several other languages.)

I hope you have enjoyed this little look at Little Bucharest in London.

Harrow Cakes

7 Varley Parade, The Hyde, London NW9 6RR

Tel 02036 389 647

email Harowcakes@yahoo.co.uk

Harrow Cakes

276 Kingsbury Road, London NW9 OBY

Tel 02089 050 888

They offer free delivery 3 miles order min. £30.

An English person said to me, "We are sending a lot of money to Eastern European countries like Romania in the EU to help them rebuild. But we have no money left for ourselves to repair London and England. That's why we voted to get out of the EU - nothing to do with immigration." That's just one person's view. 

For more conversations, on this bus, read my later post.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on Bucharest and Brasov in Romania. Please follow, bookmark or share links to your favourite posts. 

Learning Italian for cakes and snakes, plus English in Scotland

French, and Spanish Sentences Russian
I am learning Italian on Duolingo. I had already heard some strange sentence in other languages. When I was a child we used to make jokes about absurd sentences such as 'la plume de ma tante' (the pen of my aunt).

A famous sentence about Spain is for for those learning Spanish, but English. When teaching English, one heard 'the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain'. (This came up in the Hollywood version of My Fair Lady, teaching English.)

The Elephant Out of The Room
At least both those sentences deal with everyday objects. But today I had to translate 'the elephant walks on the strawberries' in Russian.

Italian Cakes - and Snakes
Later the Italian possessives sentences had me in hysterics. I had to translate: 'My snake eats your cakes'.

How often would you need that? Well, I hear you asking. How do you say it?

Il mio serpente mangia la sua torte. No I haven't. It should be le tue torte. Or le vostre torte.

There, you see I have learned it. Perhaps that is the purpose of it. One kind of memory system is to remember totally absurd images.

Singaporean Sentences about Scotland
I can remember the absurdity of the answers I was given when I was teaching English as a second language in Singapore. In one class, I was teaching a lesson about what countries and people from those countries were called. One example was Chinese people live in China and grow rice. Another example was Scotland and Scottish people. The sentence I was given in class by a pupil was, "Scottish people live in Scotland where they grow rice."

Living in London, England, it was obvious to me that the people in Scotland eat porridge and some of them drink whisky. For the benefit of any readers who live in Asia. Scotland has mountains, cold mountains. In Scotland they they have pine forests and sheep. Sheep? Yes. Remember, The Edinburgh mill sells wooden clothes made from sheep.

The people in Scotland eat shortbread and potatoes. They do not grow rice.

Never let the truth get in the way of grammar.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Language teacher. Author and speaker.

TG Gateau: cakes for the health conscious and amusing packaging

 At the FHA2016 (foodnhotelasia.com) at Expo in Singapore I was attracted by the sight of these amusing little characters on the packaging. I got talking to the lovely lady you see below who is the pastry chef. These delightful little characters will be launched later this month and I will come back with more news of them.

The company's business card proudly proclaims:

TG cakes are specially created for the health conscious. They can make cakes and buffets to order for private parties or corporate events, including halal and diabetic and vegan. 

Sabrina Yeow

Executive Pastry Chef

Main office tel (+65) 6747 1008

www.tggateau.com

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

Valentine's Day Suggestions From Hatch End

Bella's Blooms.

Flowers and red heart shape balloons.

O r a m a Greek restaurant. 

3 courses and prosecco £24.95 with live music.

Pizza Express.

Love at first bite. 2 courses and a glass of Prosecco for £17.95.

The Moon and Sixpence pub.

2 steaks and a bottle of wine for £20.

Krosbie and co.

Cakes from Genuine Cakes.

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