Bargain Shopping in New Zealand

 In London we look for 'charity shops' which are in almost every high street (Americans say main street). In North west London I have shopped in Barnado's, Cancer Research, Oxfam, and St Luke's Hospice shops.

Americans and New Zealanders have thrift shops.

Australians and New Zealanders use the terms op shop, re use re love, second hand, thrifters. Charity shop had slightly downmarket and negative connotation, so, I remember being told by a New Zealand friend, an Australian woman coined the term Op Shop, short for Opportunity Shop, which resulted in more sales and more status for buyers.

I had even more success in New Zealand's North Island, at Gisborne, which had a huge shop.  They opened on a Sunday and had suitcases, basic buttons, crockery, clothes on a bargain rail (hurray) and other clothes at higher prices.

Signs to look for in New Zealand

Cancer

Dove Hospice shop 

www.dovehospice.org.nz

SPCA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Salvation Army

St Luke's

Auckland also has lots of second hand boutiques.

If you are prepared to pay more for clothes on consignment (the term used in the USA and New Zealand usually meaning a shop stocking second hand goods - usually designer or upmarket and good condition - for sale or return to the owner, not for a charity, and more expensive) I found one on the corner at the top of the road slope, mountainside, in Waikeke.

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Prescription Sunglasses and Prescription Goggles - would you need them on holiday or at home?

In Hatch End there are two opticians offering eye tests and spectacle frames and lenses. Hatch End Eyecare, and The Eyecare Studio. If you go further afield around London, to Watford or Harrow, you can find Specsavers, Boots and others. 

I come back back to Hatch End because I know the people and they have a good range of elegant and interesting spectacle frames which I will be wearing every day, so it's important for me to look right.

In Hatch End Eyecare earlier this year I bought a reasonably priced spectacle string holder.

Angela Lansbury wearing prescription varifocals which darken in sunlight. Photo by Trevor Sharot Copyright.

Later I popped into the other opticians and I am grateful to them for introducing me to the idea of sighted goggles.

The Eyecare Studio in Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I wear varifocal glasses. Why? So that I don't need o carry and pay for or lose two pairs of glasses. So I can turn from reading something to looking at my screen in a Zoom meeting To read the bus timetable and then look up at the approaching bus for the bus number.

Why wear the glasses all the time? Because if I take them off, I then have to get my eyes adjusted to wearing them again. 

You can get variable sunglasses which darken in bright sunlight so you don't have to carry or buy a second pair of prescription glasses.

You can also get prescription goggles.

You can buy goggles with the standard off the shelf magnifications like off the shelf reading glasses.

Why would you need this? To look at creatures on the sea bed, underwater. To read signs. to recognize friendly fish and fish foes.

Ask your regular optician who will probably have a leaflet and displays and sample goggles and glasses. And/ or look online.

The idea of prescription goggles is an interesting one. I knew about prescription sunglasses, but until this year I did not know about prescription goggles.

I read the leaflet from Maui Jim.

Maui Jim

Maui is an island in Hawaii. The eight horizontal lines on the flag represent the eight islands.

They are promoted as having anti glare, anti cancer, gold plating and many other advantages, along with a choice of colours and styles.

I looked in Wikipedia and learned more. In fact I felt quite skeptical, verging on suspicious, when I read their brochure.

Brochure Small Print Size

Firstly, I did not find their brochure reader-friendly. I was annoyed that it was in small print, when selling to people who need glasses. Is that to make you think you need glasses! I think it's just the usual way of economizing on paper. Reading online, where you can blow the print up to your preferred size, is easier than reading a printed brochure.

The Company History Revealed

However, when I went onto Wikipedia I felt much more knowledgeable about the company. I became increasingly positive towards the company, and their products.

The company is American. It started in Hawaii, hence the name. According to Wikipedia, it stared with a man selling sunglasses on the beaches of Hawaii. However, it is now third largest company in the world for sunglasses manufacture. Impressive. Successful growth. Major importance. A brand leader.

If money is not object, or health or comfort are your prime concern, these are a must.

Useful Websites

hatchendeyecare.com

www.mauijim.com

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

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Conversations about Cancer and Covid-19 and Techniques of Persuasion

Over lunch we discussed why some countries had lower death rates and had more people obeying advice to get vaccinated. What were the essentials of the conversation? Cautionary tales about cancer and Covid-19. One relative who died from cancer was a heavy smoker. No surprise nor new lesson there.

Another couple, I heard about, the wife was religious and an anti-vaxxer and refused to take the vaccine.  Her husband who was very active in the community had cautiously taken the first dose of the vaccine - without telling her. 

Why did he not try to persuade her?

Some people cannot be persuaded.

Persuasion Technique

How can you convince somebody to take the vaccine, without alienating them from the concept and from you as the advocate? Following the Toastmasters- taught system, used in sales, and persuasion, you find two things they would agree with and get them to verbally agree. Then you relate your proposal to one or both of the concepts which they agree with. 

The Word Of God and Sacrifice

For example, they agree that you follow the rules set down by God. You remember how Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to obey God, but God told him not to sacrifice his son. You agree to follow any revelation from God to his VIP followers such as forefathers, priests or rabbis. If God told your priest or rabbi or spouse not to sacrifice your child to Covid-19, you would do so, wouldn't you?

Homeopathy

Another example, a man or woman agrees with homeopathy, and plant-based food and cures, but won't take the vaccine, nor cancer treatment. Let us take the case of cancer.But some cancer treatments such as the one my husband took and cured lymphoma (in remission over 5 years)  are gathered from Madagascar, a plant called vincristine. 'Vincristine (oncovin) – derived from the Madagascar periwinkle Catharanthus roseus.' 

Now let's try to use the same method with homeopathy. Vaccines operate like homeopathic medicines; vaccines take a small amount of what makes people ill and doctors give it to you so that you develop antibodies.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:COVID-19_pandemic_data

Plants you can grow at home and take as gifts

Aloe vera, a prolific plant.  You can see three big ones and a tiny one sprouting at the front. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I shall tell you more about aloe vera later.

Lemon grass. Bought from a supermarket. Looked yellow and dead. But cut up into pieces stuck in water, the pieces start to grow. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Why should you grow food? You can get everything in the supermarket. Let me take you through a bit of history.
ADAM'S APPLE
Let's start with Adam and Eve, who supposedly ate an apple. The word is fruit, according to the Book of Genesis, written in Hebrew or Aramaic, translated into Greek, Latin, and then into English. European artists panted the local apples or apple trees. However, if our couple were in the Middle East, they would not be eating apples, which grow in cold climates.  More likely our forefathers in the Middle East harvested grapes, which are climbers and grow rife over trees, reaching up to sunlight.

ADAM & EVE'S FIG LEAVES
 Since Adam and Eve used fig leaves as primitive clothing, in the next verse in Genesis, some observant commentators have pointed out that Adam and Eve must have had access to figs.
Our ancestors probably started as nomads before they became large scale farmers and small scale gardeners. Humans moved onto farming, dairy farming ('land of milk and honey') and cultivating, growing grain, crops, fruit and vegetables.
My view is simple. Adam and Eve did not plant the fruit trees. If somebody took fruit from a tree in your garden, when you had asked them not to touch that crop, you would throw out the visitors who stole your fruit.

GROWING & SHARING FRUIT
In London, England, I planted fruit bushes.
A friend came for lunch and saw my crop of blueberries.
She asked, "May I pick some?"
I agreed.
She picked every one. She said, "That's lovely. Just enough to make a pie."
Thinking she was going to cook it for us for lunch, or tea, I asked, "Are you going to cook it here?"
"Oh, no," she said. "I shall take them home."
It never occurred to her that I had planted the fruit in the hope of eating it, or that I might have wanted to eat my own fruit.

The moral is clear to me. Whether your name is Adam or Eve, or anything else, if you want to eat fruit, you find somebody who had fruit to spare, you buy it, or get permission - and owe them something to return the favour - or save time, and trouble, grow your own!  If you take somebody else's crop, you should offer tho share half, to bring back the apple pie or fruit pie, at very least check that they don't want any of it.

SHARING APPLES
The same thing happened to me again. This time with apples. I had a big crop of apples. A friend came for lunch. He asked me, "May I have some apples?"
I said, "I'll pick you some."
"Don't trouble yourself. I'll do it."
I thought he would take a bag of apples for himself. He packed up all my apples, about twenty bags, far more than he needed.
He said, "I'll give them to my friends and neighbours."
I thought. so I am not one of his friends. He did not offer to leave a bag for me or for my neighbours. I think I managed to take one of the bags of apples.
He asked to come again the following year. I was unable to accommodate his request. I told him, "Sorry. I am too busy."

GARDENERS
I also had a gardener who was paid to do a whole day's work to mow the lawn and cut back some trees.
I saw him picking my apples. I thought, that's good of him.
I went out to bring them in. His wife and child were with him, eating apples, and taking bags of my fruit home. Not one apple or bag for me.

Huge apples, imported, are now available from supermarkets in Singapore.

However, I look forward to the autumn harvest of garden grown apples in the UK.

JOSEPH STORING GRAIN
Moving on, reading on, through the book of Genesis, we come to the story of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers and taken as a slave to Egypt. There he is asked to interpret pharaoh's dream, which Joseph interprets as a warming that years of glut will be followed by years of famine. Be prepared.
As a wise organizer, he becomes the man in charge of the country, and he is responsible for storing grain for the entire country. In the good years he saves up for bad years.
Of course, you have to be careful your stored foods stay safe. Otherwise mould can grow in wet and humid conditions. You can also get contamination by insects.

PRESERVATION NEEDED
Moving on to modern centuries, we have crops needing storage. Large scale storage by governments and industrial enterprises, large scale farms.  Small scale storage is needed by households.

SMOKING FISH TO PRESERVE IT
Individuals all over the world have saved and preserved foods in summer to last through winter. Fish was smoked to make smoked salmon.
Vinegar from the grapes was used to pickle cucumbers and vegetables. In glass jars.

SALT AND SUGAR TO PRESERVE FOOD
Salt and sugar are preservatives. Salt makes salt beef.
Sugar turns sweet fruit into jam.
We have grown a small orange tree in a pot on a balcony in Singapore.
Bitter oranges can be turned into marmalade.

For large houses, ice houses were built in the grounds. Cool cellars under houses were used to store wine. Larders were built on the cool side of the house.

CANCER
According to the World Health Organization (WHO for short) and cancer information and prevention websites, preservatives are not good for health, in fact may actually cause cancer.
When a member of my family developed cancer (lymphoma) we switched our diet to eliminate many preserved foods and increased our consumption of fruit and vegetables and nuts.

APPLES
Where I lived and live in London, England, gardens before WWII were planted with rows of apple trees. Apples picked in the autumn lasted until spring. However, without the help of the government in lean times when the farmers cannot get enough money for crops, they give up farming.

GLUT & GOVERNMENT
France and Farmers
In France the government often helps out the farmers.

UK
We had a glut of milk. So marketing brings the slogan drinka pinta milk a day.
In the UK orchards were ripped up. Such a pity. The government thought we could import food cheaply from all over the world.
We had canned or tinned food.
Frozen food.

WW2 BROUGHT FOOD SHORTAGES
Then along came WW2. In the UK ships could not bring in the goods. Men who had worked on the land were away fighting. So women started doing the land work. The new slogan was Dig for victory.
Not enough food to go around unless it was portioned out. Britain had rationing of food and materials for clothing. The war ended in Europe in 1945 but rationing went on until 1952, seven years later.

DISASTERS
What kinds of disasters can strike?
1 War destroying crops, manpower, money to buy food..
2 Terrorism.

3 Penniless unemployed refugees needing food.
4 Natural disaster destroying crops.
5 Plague and pandemic destroying travel and income so ships and planes do not transport food and people have no money to buy.
6 Accidents destroying crops or cities.

2020 BEIRUT

I watched with horror the tragic explosion at the port of Beirut. The explosion killed many. It also damaged the nearby hospital which was needed for the wounded.
The grain in the nearby silo was contaminated. A nearby ship containing edible oil was lost.The port used to import food was lost.
What went wrong?
Dangerous explosives were stored in the port near the city centre.
Fireworks were stored near the explosives.
Grain produces dust which is a fire risk. Combustible grain, a fire risk, was near the explosives.
Grain was vulnerable to explosion and contamination.
Several warnings stood out.
1 Store explosives away from your food supplies.
2 If your port is damaged, by nature, an accident, or an enemy, you cannot import food.
3 If your storage containers are gone you cannot store food.
4 If food is contaminated, you cannot eat it.
5 If you cannot import food, you need to be able to grow it.
6 People need to know how to gather safe to eat food and more importantly grow more, and have food already growing.

SHARE SWAP & PAY
If you have a glut, you should share it. to encourage more diversity, and encourage people to grow and share food, people should be encouraged to swap, or pay for the food.
gardening and tending pots teaches you that some plants grow prolifically in the dark (potatoes), and other prolifically given light and water. Others need constant care, or don't produce fruit for two to five years.
What grows in the dark?
Roots. Potatoes. Mushrooms.
What grows prolifically in Singapore? Aloe Vera?

ALOE VERA
Yes. I told my Toastmasters club about this in a speech on growing your own food.  The speech won the vote for Best Speech.
The purpose of the speech was to learn to deal with difficult audiences. One of the planted objectors said, "Plants with thorns and spokes are bad Fung Shui. It's bad feng shui to have thorns and spikes in your house. I don't want plants with spikes. Doesn't aloe vera have spikes?"
"Yes, I replied. "Aloe Vera has spikes at the end - and all the way along. What can you do? I'll tell you what I do."
1 I always wear gloves when working nearby.
2 I water with a can which has a long thin spout.
3 I cut off the spiky tips.
A Chinese Singaporean objected,
"What if you can't have a balcony?"

WHERE TO GROW PLANTS
1 try to live in a place, a flat or condo, with a balcony. Then in a Covid-19 situation you can get out in the sunshine and obtain your vital vitamin D which is necessary for strong bones.
Ask your block to provide allotments.
Or ask the local government to free up some unused land.
Plan more buildings with plants, and make many of them fruit trees.
What can you make from tough figs in the UK? Figs preserved in syrup.
What about sour oranges or little limes or calamansi in Singapore? Marmalade.

WATERING PLANTS FOR TRAVELLERS
When we first came to Singapore, we did not grow plants on our balcony because we travelled so much we thought the plants would die.
You can give the plants away or give to your neighbours to water.

COVID-19
Covid-19 has given us several reasons to want to grow out own food. Restaurants are going out of business. We are confined to home for Home Stay. People who have lost their jobs want to save money on food.

The Singapore government has changed the rules. Previously it was forbidden to grow plants on rooftops of private dwellings. Now it is being encouraged.

How can you water plants around the insides and outsides of buildings? Several systems exist.
1 A series of hoses with holes. Turn on the water at the end of the pipe and the water reaches all the plants.
2 How do you stop the plants damaging the outside walls and allow repairs and repainting? The plants which appear to be clinging to and covering the outside walls are actually a foot or two away, supported by what looks like chain link tennis netting.
Now the government of Singapore is planning to make Singapore more self sustaining.

LEMON GRASS

Cut your shop-bought lemon grass horizontally into three or more sections and leave it upright in a container. change the water every two or three days. When you see some firm little roots growing, you can bury the root in soil in a flower pot.
Label edible plants so you know which of your plants is edible. Alternative, if you have two balconies, keep one or fruit and one for flowers, or one for vegetables and one for fruit. O two big pots or window troughs.

SINGAPORE ACTION
Singapore took action to deal with the need for housing. Whilst a committee was taking several months to plan how many houses were needed, the minister of housing had built more than the committee report said could be built. (See the history of Housing Development Board. HDB for short.)
Singapore used to provide food. The major shopping street, now deserted, is Orchard Road, once an Orchard. Dairy Farm Road was once a Dairy Farm.
In the early years housing and employment worked well. But it was forbidden to grow food on the rooftops of private housing. That rule has been changed.

GIFTS
FREE SEEDS IN SINGAPORE
The Singapore government has given every household two packs of seeds of edible plants. July 2020 for delivery in August 2020.
Every country should do this.

ALOE VERA

In Singapore I was given a small aloe vera by a friend. It grew enormously and sprouted others.
I said to my husband, "If you are given something, you must give something back."
He replied, "Don't worry. I gave them a very nice wine."
Now my friends are asking for baby aloe vera. If you grow prolific plants you will have enough to give away.

USEFUL WEBSITES
BIBLE
Apple, fig and grape discussion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_fruit
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2682/was-the-forbidden-fruit-in-the-garden-of-eden-an-apple/
PRESERVATION
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_preservation
SINGAPORE INITIATIVES
https://www.citizenfarm.com.sg/
https://www.ediblegardencity.com/education-enquiry
https://sg.asiatatler.com/dining/local-farms-continue-to-grow-their-impact-on-fine-dining
https://sg.asiatatler.com/dining/singapore-urban-rooftop-farming-trend
https://sg.asiatatler.com/society/singapore-plants-urban-gardens-but-is-it-all-that-sustainable?

FREE SEEDS & INFORMATION
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardening/gardening-with-edibles/seed-packets
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardening/gardening-with-edibles

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Cover your skin or uncover in the sun outdoors, when travelling, in airports: practical points

Problems
Should I uncover or cover up when out and about? in snow, sun, public places?

Answers
When travelling through an airport I have these considerations:
My answers are that you might learn from my experience.

Airport Clothes
When packing I often have too much luggage and try to wear layered outfits, two thin jackets instead of one heavy coat, so I can remove one layer going from a cold country to a hot one.

Outer Layers?
I also like to wear a jacket to conceal pockets in another sleeveless jacket. the solution, if you can afford it, is to by pickpocket proof clothing.

Wearing double layers means you run the risk, of leaving something behind. Any time you take off your outer jacket in a cafe at an airport or anywhere else, you might leave it behind on the chair. A passerby might take something from a pocket. (That happened to us in Prague.)

Removing multiple layers of clothing delays yourself and everybody else. Only do this if you plan to get to the airport in good time, not when running late.

At security checks you need to be able to remove shoes and coats, then going through metal detectors, you have to remove accessories, especially metal belts and pendants which set off alarms.

Why Cover Up?
Covering up protects you from over-exposure to sun (and skin cancer). You keep off insects. I have bad bites or nettle rash from going out in the garden for only a few minutes to cut fruit and flowers.

Exposure To Sun
I covered up too much. The doctor did tests which showed I was short of vitamin D. The remedy? Could be get out for a walk every day.

So, balance up your needs according to your circumstances and experience and learn from mine.

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

Travelling To the Tropics? What To Look For In A Protective Swimsuit - and swim shoes

Problem
I want a swimsuit for the tropics with long arms and boy legs. I want my forearms which are out of the water protected from the sun. But not to pay a fortune. My Waveline zip-up swimsuit (bought from Mustafa's in Singapore) was admired in the indoor pool in London.  Several ladies asked where I bought it. I told them to look online. I looked down at my arms and thought, I'm developing freckles or age spots. I need to cover up more.

Answers
Which size? I know that Chinese sizes are designed for slim Asian girls. I always need 3X in Singapore and Asian countries and sometimes 4X in jackets. When buying jackets to go on top of other sleeved garments I find it safer to wear batwing styles.

I went online at Amazon and selected several outfits. You have a lot of choice. You can have full suits down to the ankle for diving. Full cover against mosquitos.

Tankini
I looked at several tankini style outfits. They offer the advantage that if one half doesn't fit, too tight, too loose, wrong colour, wet, you can swap with half of another set.

However, the disadvantage of the tankini style, like a tee-shirt with short or long-legged pants, is that it rides up when swimming. This is inelegant, and hampers movement.

Boy leg
Why boy leg? Modesty. No need to shave legs and bikini line. Less likely to ride up and cut you like a string or thong. Less risk of them being skimpy at the back and showing buttocks or feeling uncomfortable.

Boy legs slim down the appearance of heavy thighs. Make your body look longer and taller. covers more against mosquitos and sun. Hide stretch marks, appendix scars, Caesarians and other scars.

Why short sleeves?
Short sleeves mean no need to worry about shaving under arms. No risk of revealing bustline.

Some people might want to cover up acne, scratches, scabs under Elastoplast (sticking plaster), love bites, broken collar bones, broken ribs, mastectomy, other scars, all sort of things.

But watch out for tops with scoop backs. These reveal backs to mosquitos and sun. You run the risk of sunstroke or burning if you do a lot of swimming on your front, for example, breaststroke. If you have moles or acne on your back you might wish to cover up.

Beach Shoes
I would also want beach shoes or swim shoes to cover my feet against insect bites and sun to guard against melanoma (skin cancer). Flip flops are a disaster.

They don't support your feet. You could get hammer toes. I have had plantar fasciitis. More about that in the next post.

Mosquitos, snakes, stubbing your toe against splayed legs of chairs, tables and loungers, even umbrella stands.

Useful brands and links to websites
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hungo-Womens-Swimsuit-Protection-Swimwear/dp/B071DHYFSW


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

Special Meals on airlines - should you order them? What you get - or don't get!

Problem
I often forget to order a special meal.

Solution
On my most recent flight I ordered a special meal. That was a mistake.

Special Meals
I had ordered a special meal, no fish. I won't do that again. I don't eat crustaceans nor molluscs. But I love smoked salmon. Once I ordered the no fish meal and was denied a meal with a smoked salmon starter!

Another year went past. I didn't order a special meal again. However, every now and then I'm on a flight where everybody gets prawns in the starter, and sometimes shellfish in the main course too. So I think, I must remember to book a special meal.

What's the advantage? You can be sure of getting what you need if you have an allergy.

Your meal should come up slightly quicker!

On the other hand, you have only one set meal. If you stick with the regular menus you have a choice of two or three main courses, and two types of breakfasts.

What was wrong this time (November 2017)? I had chicken plus a spicy sauce or puree vegetable. Hey, man, woman, chef, those of us who are allergic to shellfish are sensitive types. We are likely to be sensitive to spicy food as well.

The rest of the passengers, the uncomplaining, easygoing no-fuss passengers, who accepted regular meals, were offered the opportunity of Chicken Kiev - my favourite!

Luckily I was travelling as one of a couple, so I did a bit of nifty shifting, food swapping. I said, "I'll give you half my food, which is early, if I can have half of yours later?"

What was good? My special meal ended with a fruit salad. I have become a fruitarian. Fresh fruit. When I was a child I considered that dull. Now, I'm careful, after two members of my family have been on special diets. One late relative was on a diet to combat late-onset diabetes, no sugar in desserts. Another relative is in remission from cancer, no processed foods.

Speaking of which, as a mid-flight snack, I was offered crisps, pastrami - which is a processed meat. No chocolate or cereal bar. No piece of fresh fruit.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.