Egg Holic Menu translations of Hindi words, and Swaminrayan diet

 

Egg Holic restaurant in Hatch End opened this year, the first British branch of a business which has several restaurants in the USA. It serves egg, chicken and Indian style dishes. The meat is halal.

Swaminarayan dishes are explained below.

You can see pictures of the dishes online. The restaurant has panels of the menu behind the serving counter. You collect a number when ordering and they bring the food to you. 

On the wall are sayings from popular films, written in Hindi, Gujurati, and Punjabi.

Egg Holic menu

Some words you might wish to translate

Amdavadi

Anda - egg

Bhaji

Bhature

Bhel

Bhurji

Chaas

Chaat

Chai

Chapati

Chatpata - piquant, not and sour

Chhole

Dabeli

Dahi-puri - lentils

Dal - lentils

Desi

Falooda

Gulub/ Gulab - rose

Gotala/Gotalo

Hum-Tum

Hyderabadi

Jeera - cumin

Kabob / kebab - pieces of meat or vegetable or both served on a skewer

Kadai

Katori

Kheemo

Lachko

Lapeti

Lassi - yogurt drink, often with added milk

Lava

Maggi

Makhani - with butter, creamy

Malai

Masala - spices

Mastani

Methi - fenugreek

Mogo

Mughlai

Mutter

Naan - flat bread cooked in a Tandoori oven

Pan

Paneer - Indian cheese

Pani-Puri

Papad

Paplet

Pav

Pulav/Pulau - rice dish

Rabadi

Raja Da

Rajwadi

Roti - flat bread, also called chapati

Samosa - pyramid shaped pocket, stuffed with potato or meat and deep fried, sometimes called a dumpling

Szhezwan - spicy

Surti

 Swaminarayan - following Lord Swaminarayan. Vegetarian, but also some followers are vegan, avoiding milk products. Also foods deemed over stimulating and spicy, including strong spices, onion and garlic. A further rule is to not damage plants by pulling them up by the roots, or destroying parts undergound (so no potatoes). Instead, restricting the diet to foods obtained by pruning, such as fruit.

Tikka - small cubes or pieces of meat, marinaded, cooked in a Tandoor oven and can be served ona skewer

Toofani

Vada-Pav

Useful Address and information 

Menu @EGGHOLIC.COM

381 Uxbridge Road, Pinner HA5 4JN, London UK

Tel +44 (0203) 793 0179

Useful websites

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2025/05/eggholic-egg-citing-and-eclectic-indian.html

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More Portuguese Words For Supermarket Shopping - with my memory aids to help you

 

Flag of Portugal

Portuguese - English

batata - potato

especial - special

fresca - fresh

gelado - ice

leite - milk

marca - brand

maio - May (no need to capitalise the initials of months in Portuguese)

meses - months

o - the

ovos - eggs (like the English word ovary)

pastel - pastry

queijo - cheese

queijos - cheeses

rustico - country style (lik ethe English word rustic)

sal - salt

soja - soy

vinho - wine (like the English word vine)

UK flag

English - Portuguese

brand - marca

cheese - queijo

cheeses - queijos

Country style - rustico

eggs - ovos

fresh - fresca (the first four letters are the same)

ice (cream) - gelado (the Italians have gelato)

May (the month) - maio

milk - leite (like the French word lait)

months - meses

pastry - pastel

potato - batata (tat in the middle of both words)

salt - sal (the same word was English without the t)

soy - soja

special -  especial (add e before s like the Spanish name for their country Espana)

wine - vinho

Useful Websites

duolingo

Wikivoyage Portugal phrasebooks

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

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

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Truffle cheese to buy and try from Lidl in London, Lidl Europe and the USA, and Marks & Spencer

 

Photo by Angela Lansbury. 

 I had this truffle cheese to finish a gourmet weekend pre-Christmas dinner in London. The host asked us to bring a wine costing twenty pounds and give five pounds towards the food. We were six, the two hosts, and two other couples, us, me and my husband, and another couple who we already knew.

For me one of the highlights of the meal, and the big surprise, was the cheese. Normally I don't care for cheese as dessert. But I love truffles. 

The Lidl cheese with truffles had real truffle flavour. You could see the black line of the truffle.

The cheese was served with large slices of dark (home made?) bread, savoury digestive biscuits, and crackers.

If you can find truffle cheese in a local Lidl or elsewhere, it would be good to provide as the host. Or to take as a guest.

Spain

The label says that it is Spanish. When I go there on holiday, I shall look out for it in supermarkets in Spain. 

UK and Worldwide

Also in cheese shops in London. For example, La Fromagerie, the cheese shop off Marylebone High Street, a short walk from Baker Street underground train station. If they don't already stock it, if enough people ask for it, the buyer will look for it. Another speciality cheese shop is near Oxford Circus, and another near Borough Market.

But I doubt whether the fancy cheese shops will beat or even compete on price with budget-friendly Lidl.

When I did a search on the internet, truffle cheese popped up from numerous well-known suppliers. Alphabetically, I made a mental note, Amazon, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose. 

Single & Multiple Packs

Sometimes it appeared as an individual pack, around five or six pounds for a triangular chunk, . But more often a circle, like camembert.  

Some suppliers sold it as part as a set of three different party cheeses. If you are catering for a Christmas party for a family, club or business, for a party, or a gift to employees or customers, you might be interested in a multiple, minimum purchase of ten or twenty or more - which in the old days we would know as wholesale.

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I suspect it is a Christmas season speciality and will be less widely obtainable and more expensive later. So enjoy try it, enjoy it, or stock up now. 

Lidl and Aldi tend to change their stocks regularly so there is always something new and interesting and you have to grab it when you see it.

Europe and the USA

Aldi shops are all over Europe and in America. Their website says so.

My website search turned up a macaroni cheese with truffles in Virginia, USA.

I also found a writer who had compared the cheap supermarket truffle cheese with a speciality shop truffle cheese. The flavour was equally adequate in both. The two cheeses with different styles, one harder, the other softer. The writer said neither was better than the other. They were just different and you might prefer one to the other. 

On going to live in another country, with unfamiliar brands (such as milk in Singapore) we usually buy one of each to find out whether we are satisfied with the cheaper brand or want to pay more for the alternative.

However, for a one off purchase, I think you would be quite happy with the cheapest brand of truffle cheese, which is an entertaining novelty even for those who are not keen on truffles, such as my husband. For those who love truffles, me, what a delight! Delightful taste, and attractive price.

Useful Websites

USA macaroni cheese

https://www.lidl.com/products/1139174

Civil Service Club Restaurant - praise for proper, large size chips

 

Chips (short for potato chips) at the Civil Service Club, London. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Chips and Crisps

For the benefit of any Americans reading this, in the UK, the British word chips means what you see in the picture above. What the Americans call chips or potato chips are known in the UK as crisps. The thin (potato) chips with a square cross section, about half the width of the ones in the picture, or cut even finer, can also be called French fries. 

The club is conveniently between Charing Cross train station and Embankment station. You can visit it if you are a member of the Civil Service,  a former member, or a member of an overseas club which has reciprocal arrangements.

The restaurant sections and private rooms are rented out to other clubs, such as wine tasting clubs, holding wine and dine dinners, reunions and Christmas parties and other events. 

If you order fish and chips in the Civil Service Sclub restaurant, you are likely to get proper size proper British chips like this. If in doubt ask the person taking orders and serving. If you are still confused, show pictures.

Cheese Platters

The cheese plates we ordered were served on large platters, big enough for sharing. If you, or your guests, are concerned about Covid or general hygiene, ask for extra plates and for the food to be divided, and/or supplied with serving cutlery. Also ask the guests not to touch food in communal plates with hands, but to use cutlery.

Useful Websites

https://www.civilserviceclub.org.uk/

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Visiting Vegetarian Italians

 Vegans differ from vegetarians in that they don't merely avoid eating meat, and sometimes also fish, but might also exclude all animal products including, eggs, and/or cheese. However, we took cheese as a dinner gift and did not realise that one of the two vegetarians in the household normally avoids cheese made with animal rennet.

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

When buying for vegetarians, look for the large letter V on the packaging.

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Choose Cheese From Cheeseland or England

 Cheeseland is a Dutch company. You might expect Gouda.

Cheeseland stand at ProwWne in Singapore at Expo in April 2023. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

What did I like about this stand? The colourful cheeses. The clear identity of country of origin showing the girl with the windmill and clogs and the white hat. The backdrop on the wall behind. The free tastings of the cheese.

Useful Websites

https://www.cheeselandinc.com/

The Busy 'Stand With Ukraine' Stand Showing Ukrainians wines - then off for Cheese

Stand with Ukraine, stand at ProWine show at Expo in Singapore in 2023. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The Stand with Ukraine stand was busy all day. It wasn't just sympathy or curiosity. They had loads of wines to try. You want to try red, white, sweet, sparkling. You name it, they had it. And the owner was interesting and full of fun facts. He said he employs large numbers of women. His area is on the west, far away from the fighting. However, flying back was a problem. He had to take a long complicated journey. Flying to another country. Then a long road journey.

They say, buy on an apple, sell on a cheese. I went off to the Cheese area and found Cheese. See later post on cheese.

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Belated Birthday dinner at the Tanglin Club, Singapore

Covid-19 Restaurant Restrictions Eased

The Tanglin Club restaurants in Singapore were closed in early June 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions. When the restaurants reopened it was only for tables for two. As soon as the previous restrictions were lifted the available bookings were snapped up. We spent ages changing days and trying different times which we didn't want to be sure the restaurants really were fully booked at the popular times and not showing fully booked due to a glitch or the booking site not being updated. 

Time and Space

In the end, we booked for 6.30 although we wanted to eat at 7, reckoning that by the time we ordered drinks it would be getting on for seven. On the night in the large Churchill Room restaurant the tables were widely spaced out and all set for two, very different from the usual layout. The restaurant was never completely full. We guessed that the bookings were limited not because of too many diners, but because of too few staff.

 

Entry

Your taxi drops you outside the front entrance. Up a flight of red carpeted steps. Temperature control past an automatic machine. In the olden days doorman used to open the front door. Now your credentials are checked carefully.

The Churchill Room restaurant has a picture of Winston Churchill by the doorway.

Decor Of Orchids

The Tanglin has an orchid display outside in the hallway. The centre of the Churchill Room has another orchid display. A third orchid display was at the side.

Set Menu Choices

The menu online was not the same as offered in the restaurant, but gives you an idea.  

We started by ordering drinks. I had a glass of Prosecco. My husband ordered a reasonably priced Champagne.Then a glass of red wine.

Complimentary Bread

We were brought a little bowl of breads. The white bread roll with seeds was hot. Melted the butter. The black bread I saved for later. 

The crisp in a tall triangle contained blackened sesame seeds and was delicious, very more-ish. Crispy, salty, tasty.

Complimentary Amuse Guele

Dice size vegetarian mousse with contrasting green peas.

We chose two different starters and main courses and desserts. 

Choices included

Starter

Salmon mousse. Mushroom soup. Foie gras. 

I liked the salmon. That was my choice. 

I was disappointed in the foie gras. Just another smooth pate and less flavour than chicken liver pate. If I had to pay extra for it, I would not.

Main Course

Beef.

Barramundi Fish. 

Pork - excellent. 

Vegetarian option.

Main course - Served Under Domes

Served smartly under domes which are lifted simultaneously. No serving one person who has to wait feeling frustrated for the other person to be served. Nor one person starting and being told off for not waiting.

Dessert

I chose the mango mousse dessert, with ice cream. I thought the fruit was a healthier option.  Mango - excellent choice, looked great.

Why not the chocolate desserts? I admit I hesitated. Mango was a change from chocolate, which we eat a lot of at home and are offered at almost every restaurant and coffee shop location. Chocolate we could eat later at home. 

One of the options was salted chocolate. That must be very tasty, and salt is an ingredient of savoury chocolate dishes featured in a film about France. Sugar and salt does not sound healthy. 

Vanilla ice cream, often tastes of nothing. Or it is drowned by the chocolate flavour.

Nonetheless, I was hoping my husband would opt for one of the chocolate desserts. I told him so. 

He retorted, "It's my birthday dinner. I want to choose what I want to eat."

My husband chose the cheese board. It looked great. Wooden platter. Several cheeses, hard and soft, including a blue cheese. Circular crackers. Some grapes. 

He said the cheeses were a bit industrial. He is a connoisseur when it comes to cheeses.  He buys from speciality cheese shops such as the Cheese Arc. He looks online.

My dessert came up with the happy birthday words written in chocolate and a candle in a blue candle-holder.

More Photos will be added shortly.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/

http://www.thecheeseark.com/locate-us/

About the Author

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is Vice President Public Relations of Braddell Heights Advanced, and Tampines Changkat Advanced, speakers' training club which are part of Toastmasters International. The USA has several Spanish speaking as well as the English speaking clubs. You can pick up Spanish from buying or reading online their Spanish clubs welcome pages and manuals. 

In The USA, UK, Singapore and worldwide, there are many clubs which are English speaking, as well as Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Tamil, Malay.

The inauguration of Tampines Changkat Advanced was Tuesday 29th 2021, online on  zoom. Their meetings are on the fourth Tuesday evening of the month. They hope to hold meetings with a few people meeting physically, the others online, as soon as the Covid-19 conditions allow.

You can find the club through their Facebook page as well as through Toastmasters International find a club. 

https://www.facebook.com/tampineschangkatadvTMC

The meetings are free for visitors. Visitors can watch, and join in speaking by introducing themselves and volunteering to do a 2 minutes impromptu  speech in table topics.

If you wish to join for a year, it costs about 190 US dollars, to have monthly meetings online, a mentor, a magazine, and one of the 11  Pathways, consisting of 14 projects. Each project starts with 3 speeches of your choice of subject, lasting 4 to 6 minutes, then 5 to 7 minutes. The Pathways include the most popular Presentation Mastery. I chose  humorous speaking as my second Pathway, costing 20 dollars. Then my third was a leadership course. Come and see for free.

The club also has meetings in person in Singapore

You can also contact my other club, smaller Braddell Heights Advanced, which is a cosy little club with more chances to speak.

Login through bha.learncool.sg/meet/bha 

That will link you through to Zoom or googlemeet. 2 pm to 5 pm.

BHA meets the first Wednesday evening each month, starting at 7 pm Singapore time. 

Then an extra meeting on the 3rd Saturday afternoon, starting at 2 pm Singapore time.

To check your time zone,  

https://24timezones.com/difference/singapore/ 

Meetings will be on Wed July 7th and  Saturday July 17th.

Contact either of these or other clubs through Toastmasters International Find a Club.

Learn Local Foods, Such as French Comte Cheese

French Comte cheese from La Fromagerie in London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Learn local foods so in each country you visit you can ask for something you like when faced with a baffling menu and umpteen choices and you know little of the local language and cuisine.

From the cheese shop in London, La Fromagerie, near Madame Tussaud's by Baker Street, I have learned to like a French cheese called Comte. (There should be an acute or upwards accent on the e. To get the accent if you are typing and can't find an e with an accent,simply copy the word from elsewhere on the internet and if you can be bothered make the typeface or font fit the rest of your typing.)

Wiki reveals that the Comte cheese comes from the Comte region of France, to give it the full name -

Comté cheese - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Comté_cheese

Comté (or Gruyère de Comté) is a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté traditional province of eastern France.

Comté is a hard cheese. If you don't like soft cheese, or you want some of each, ask for Comte.

Comte is the premier or popular French hard cheese, like the English Cheddar cheese, you see it everywhere, can get it everywhere.

In London, England, you can go to one of several speciality cheese shops, Paxton and Whitfield in Mayfair behind Fortnum and Mason's, and Neal's Yard in Borough Market and one called Rippon near Victoria station, another in Fulham. We choose La Fromagerie because you can sit and have coffee or a meal afterwards, and it is near Baker Street station which suits our travels.

La Fromagerie has three branches in Highbury, Marylebone and Bloomsbury.See previous post on this place. Fromage is French for cheese and fromagerie is a cheese shop.

Useful Websites

https://www.lafromagerie.co.uk/

visitbritain.com
https://www.davidlebovitz.com/comte-cheese-making-french-fromage-jura/

http://ee.france.fr/

About the Author

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

Essential Luxuries For A Trekker

Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright.

Trevor Sharot, photographer, my next of kin, has written on Facebook about his luxury essentials for a trek. These include:

Travel List of Luxuries
1 Coffee Maker and pods
2 China cup and saucer
3 Folding seat
4 Cheddar cheese.
5 Duck down sleeping bag.

Mini Coffee Maker
I have benefitted from this in hotels.

The same combination could be useful, packed inside a rucksack on any holiday, budget or luxury, minus the sleeping bag.

Sleeping Bag Uses
1 Hotel
On the other hand, that sleeping bag might come in handy at a hostel or one star hotel if the bed sags and you prefer to sleep on the floor. You could also stay overnight with a friend who has no spare room. Just lay out your sleeping bag on their floor.

Home
Buy them breakfast nearby, or use the coffee maker to make them coffee.

Useful Websites
https://www.facebook.com/trevorsharot
grapedeal.com

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

Recommended Restaurant - Le Bistrot du Sommelier - for perfect potatoes, lovely lemon cake and Chadonnay Fruit Juice!

Problem
Where to go for a fine, bun farewell lunch or dinner in Singapore?

Answer
We opted for Bistrot du Sommelier on Armenian Street in the heart of the business and museum district in Singapore. A sommelier is a wine expert in a restaurant.

Restaurant Table Choices
This restaurant is in three parts, up a steep staircase to the bar with a view down over the streets. The cosy restaurant indoors. Or outside.

Other diners chose to move outside after dinner. We presumed because one or more wished to smoke. Or they wanted to stand up after a heavy meal (to reduce hours spent sitting - as sitting all day is supposed to be unhealthy).

 If a group has had a lot to drink and is talking loudly, it is a good idea to move away from cosy twosomes muttering sweet nothings or talking confidential business. If you are the ones not wanting to be overheard or disturbed, you might choose to be outside, because of despite of noise from traffic or construction works.

Delightful Decor On Wine Theme
We opted for inside. I was immediately impressed by the interesting decor. When they say sommelier they mean it. All the waiters are quietly confident and knowledgeable about wines.

Everything is wines.Two grand chandeliers are made of a stack of inverted wine glasses. On one side were tables for two. On the other side, banquettes, with wine cases used to make the banquettes backs and base facades.

Wooden Platters
The platters for the food were wooden pieces with wine names, too, not rough and mis-shapen with cracks like in many restaurants, but framed oblongs neatly-sealed and gleaming.

Chardonnay Juice
When it came to ordering food and drink, the first pleasant surprise was the alternative to wine for a non-drinker. I had a grape juice made from Chardonnay to accompany my fellow diner's chardonnay wine.
 I was surprised, a bit disappointed, that it came out of a bottle - made in France. I suppose I assumed it would be made from grapes thrown into a blender, like most juices in Singapore shopping malls.

But, a good idea. I shall try that next year with the tiny amount of Chardonnay grapes we grown from one vine in our garden in London, England. We had previously allocated them for wine-making, ore eating, but making grape juice is a third use for garden grapes.

We also have friends in Singapore who grow a vine on a balcony. We could ask for some grapes, and give them half the juice we make, at very least a glass or two to drink with us, as a thank you.

A visit to a restaurant serves two purposes, no, three, more. To enjoy food you don't buy or don't have time and expertise to make at home. To benefit from the knowledge of the waiter or chef or sommelier. To get out of home. To have time to talk, without worrying about buying groceries, cooking serving or washing up. To eat out when working or visiting museums and attractions away from home. To enjoy funky decor. To enjoy smart toilets with flowers and music.

 (In Bistrot de Sommelier wien theme and flowers. For music go to Sheraton Towers hotel in Singapore. Actuallly the downstairs toilet door needs attention, if a customer is fussy about such things. I am.)

To go home with ideas for your own cooking. To learn the ingredients of wines and dinner dishes so you are more enlightened next time you go to a restaurant or talk about food to family and friends.

The three-course set menu was good value.

Duck Terrine
The bread was good, with a crunchy outside. I wasn't enamoured with the duck terrine, and felt its flavour was eclipsed by the pickled cucumber.

Chicken In Garlic
However, things improved exponentially with the main course. I had poultry with cooked garlic cloves.

The pommes dauphinoise came up in a separate little round pot, with perfect cheese topping. How do they find such good potatoes!

Lovely Lemon Cake
Finally, the perfect lemon cake. Moist and very lemony. Like sucking a lemon. Strong flavour.

Christmas List
We left with their list of foods and wines you could buy from them for dinner at home. Looking at other customers at weekday lunchtime, (a small survey of only three tables midweek) I could see, that guess, hear from phrases echoing around he room as they raised their voices, that other customers were in finance or property or entrepreneurs so I imagine they are not short of money and are into working lunches. For them, entertaining whilst sealing a business deal, the Christmas prices would be good value, cheese with truffle at much more than it would cost from even a speciality cheese shop.
Not so tempting for us, but could be a good deal for you or somebody you know.

Thinking more about it, a restaurant can make more money by selling foods for Christmas at home, as well as satisfying customers who might have wanted to eat at the restaurant, if it closes (or charges high prices at Christmas) or is fully booked for the busy Christmas period, to keep the customers happy with an alternative option from their favourite reliable restaurant and stop them going out for dinner somewhere else.

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

Zufa Lebanese Restaurant, Northwood Hills - make it a date!

Picture of date drink from Wikipedia.

Problem
What does a Lebanese restaurant serve? I need time to learn my way around the menu.

Answer
Go on to Zufa's website and you can read all about it. If you are not nearby, or can't wait, you can download their app and order online.

Starters include
Hot and Cold mezze
(A huge choice; a mixture of dishes)
Soups

Main course
FISH
Sea bass
King Prawns

MEAT OR CHEESEInclude chicken, kebabs, lamb, salad, cheese, rice, wraps.

Drinks
Dates drink - Jallab
Yogurt Drink - Aryan
Juices
Colas

Desserts
We'll start with the familiar:
Baklava. It says nuts, without specifying which nuts. Before ordering, I shall ask.

Blinis
Well, I know these. Russian and East European restaurants from the Middle East and more.

Miracle Cake
Belgian chocolate cake.

Useful Websites
orderdirectly.biz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallab

Date drink
I already know what I want, the date drink. But I once went to a restaurant specially for a speciality and it was not in stock. So I shall check first and ask them to save one for me.
If they have a date drink, I'll definitely make it a date.

I think I'll make one at home first, then see how theirs compares, and what extra ingredients they have to enhance the flavour.

Zufa Lebanese Restaurant
1-3 Joel Street, Northwood Hills
HA6 INU
tel: 01923 840192
www.zufarestaurant.co.uk

Open Monday to Sunday from around noon until around 11 but check because I was confused between the restaurant opening times and the food ordering times and when I checked a second time they appear to have different opening times on different days of the week.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See previous post on Zufa restaurants in Northwood Hills and Hatch End. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Portuguese Daily Words to learn for trips to Portugal, Madeira and Brazil

Problem
How do I remember Portuguese words?

Answer
Look for links. Look for linking letters. Keep repeating them.

Portuguese - English
almoço - lunch (both words contain the letters l and c)
bolo - cake (made in a mixing bowl - oh! delicious)
cenoura - carrot (both words start with c and contain the letters a r and o)
cerveza - beer (both words contain letter e twice, letter r and b for beer is followed by c for cerveza)
garrafa - bottle - (like carafe)
lata - tin (both words contain the letter t)
manteiga - butter (both words contain the letters te)
pão - bread (turn the letter p upside down and you will see the letter b, then two vowels)
pimenta - pepper (both words start with p, include an e, and end with an er sound)
queijo - cheese (how do I remember if it's ei or ie in the middle. Think of que - ijo)

English - Portuguese
beer - cerveza
bottle - garrafa
bread - pão
butter - manteiga
cake - bolo
carrot - cenoura
cheese - queijo
lunch - almoço
pepper - pimenta
tin - lata

Where can I use my Portuguese? In Portugal, Madeira and Brazil

Handy Websites

visitportugal.com

visitbrasil.com

http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage

duolingo.com

earwormslearning.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and other languages.

Learn more Welsh words and revise:bread and water and please etc

Problem
How do you learn and remember Welsh words?

Answer
List them alphabetically Welsh-English and English-Welsh. Listen to words on Duolingo.  Add to your list own memory aids for what the words look like and sound like. Here are mine to help you.

What are the signs above letters called?

Circumflex - â hat above the a in French, often showing a missing letter s in another language such as in paste which becomes the French word Pâté

Welsh - English
(spaces inserted to thwart spell checker)
b w t a - to eat (my memory aid is to bite) pronounced boot - er
cig - meat
bara - bread
caws - cheese
diolch - thanks
llysiau - vegetables
menyn - butter
m e f u s - strawberries (pronounced me - v e s s as in vest) memory aid I confess I like me v e s s
te - tea
y f e d - drink

English - Welsh
bread - b a r a
butter - m e n y n
cheese - caws
drink - y f e d
meat - cig (My memory aid is don't smoke a cigarette when eating meat.)
strawberries - m e f u s
tea - the
thanks - diolch
vegetables - l l y s i a u (my memory aid is thinking of the double ll like two spring onions, then the s as in squash, i as in onion, a as in carrot, u as in turnip, put them all together and you have vegetables)

Typing Tips
http://welsh.typeit.org
http://www.200words-a-day.com/typing-welsh-characters.html

TOURISM AND TRAVEL
www.visitwales.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, author, writer, speaker, teacher of English and other languages. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Welsh Words: - how to work on learning them

Problem
I was not getting on with Welsh. I could cope with the sound and sight of German and Dutch, Italian and Spanish and Portuguese and Romanian which is like Italian. But Welsh. A foreign language.

Answer
I knew it was just a case of persisting. I wrote the words down in two columns, English first and then the Welsh.

I did the Duolingo test methodically using my notes as prompts. I did the review, using my notes as prompts. I complained to members of the family.

As I did so I started to see patterns. Here they are to help you as well as me to remember.

English - Welsh
beer - c w r w (pronounced like 'cor oo') look at it and you will see that both words start with adjacent letters b and c. Both have double letters, two times e e, two times w w which is pronounced like a vowel, so two double letters, two vowels. Last hint, both words, English and Welsh, contain the letter r.

beer - c w r w
beer - c w r w
beer - c w r w
c w r w - beer
c w r w = beer
c w r w = beer
If you see the sign in the window of a shop, cafe, supermarket, you will know the c w r w is beer.

Coffee is an easy word to learn.
Coffee - c o f f i.

The word bread in Welsh has the letters b r and a.
bread - b a r a

Cheese in Welsh contains the letters c and s.
cheese - caws

Tea is easy, Just drop the last letter, rather like the French. T e is Welsh.

I is dw (think of will you take this glass of water this woman to be your wife - I do
I is dw

Like is h o f f i
Do you like to drink coffee?
h o f f i  c o f f i (like coffee, happy to drink coffee)

y f e d is to drink (fed up with drinking what - now we are fed, let's drink
y f e d - (to) drink

water is d w r - containing the letter w followed by r. t and d are close sounds. Leave out the vowels a and e and you have
d w r - water
water - d w r

Now let's look at the lists and the words will start to seem familiar.

English - Welsh
also, as well, too - h e f y d (pronounced h e f f - id) (M memory aid is He Eats Four Young Ducks AS WELL
beer - c w r w
bread - b a r a
cheese - c a w s
coffee - c o f f i
(to) drink - y f e d
h o f f i - like to / happy to
I - d w
tea - t e
water - d w r

Welsh - English
b a r a - bread
c a w s - cheese
c o f f i - coffee
c w r w - beer
d w - I
d w r - water
h e f y d - also, as well, too
h o f f i - like to (or happy to)
t e - tea
y f e d - (to) drink

Tips
To practise your welsh go to Wales or look at a map of Wales. If you are going to Wales, learn a few words.

TOURISM & Holidays
Holidays
Upcoming holidays
Writers holiday in Fishguard, Wales (July and autumn in 2017, spring, summer and autumn in 2018)
www.writersholiday.net

Tourism
www.visitwales.com
Tickets by rail from Paddington in central London to Cardiff, the capital, just across the border in South East Wales, and if you change trains (routes depending on time of day, day of week and time of year and starting point, as far as as Fishguard in the far north west):

Travel
www.GWR.com  (Great Western railway)

Tips
Look for special deals such as a Senior Railcard

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker and teacher of English and other languages. See my other posts on learning Welsh, learning other languages, holidays in Wales, writers holidays and Fishguard. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How to understand a menu in Romania

Problem
What is the vocabulary? How do I ask for something? How do I understand the answer?

Answer
Vocabulary is easy. translate with google and find words on Duolingo.

English - Romanian
breakfast - mic d e j u n
butter - u n t (notice the u and t in both words)
cake - t o r t a
cakes - torturi
cheese - branza
chocolate - c i o c o l a t a
cocoa - c a c a o - notice in English .O.OA but in Romanian .A.AO
coffee - c a f e a
dessert - deserturi
eggs - oua (there should be an accent like a bowl on the a. Although I have added the Romanian alphabet or keyboard to my Macbook preferences, I don't have the letters.
fruit(s) - f r u c t, /f r u c t e
juices - s u c u r i
knives - c u t i t e
pie - p l a c i n t a
sandwiches - sandviciuri
sugar - z a h a r (bowl shape accept on second a)
teas - c e a i u r i
water - a p a
wines -vinuri
yogurts - iaurturi

Romanian - English
cu - with
c u t i t e - knives
d e s e r t - dessert
iaurturi - yogurts
m e n i u r i - menus
m i e r e - honey (like miel, French for honey)
pahare - glasses
p l a c i n t a - pie
r o s i e - red / tomatoes
s a n d v i c i u r i - sandwiches
torta - cake
torturi - cakes
usturoi - garlic
v i n u r i  - wines

Do you want a newspaper while you are waiting?
z i a r e - newspapers

If you learn in Duolingo it reminds shows you the accents and if you mis one out it reminds you. The letters with accents are supplied under the box in which you type.

noi - we

N o i  a v e m means we have. However, the Romanian negative, n u  a v e m we don't have, sounds similar.

Tips
http://romaniatourism.com
https://www.duolingo.com/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer,a author and speaker. See my other posts about
Romanian and other languages. Save useful posts and share links to your favourites.

Papu Miya Pizza Parlour - Popular Pizza in Pinner - For Feeding a group in the garden of flowers

Harrow on the Hill garden. Photograph by Angela Lansbury, copyright 2017.

Problem
How do you feed a group of ten to twenty people?

Answer
Vegetarian Pizza from Papu Miya, Hatch End, Pinner.

Story
Toastmasters International speakers' clubs and club contests all over Singapore rely on pizza for filling food for large groups of people. For a contest in Singapore they will have some vegetarian and some meat.

House in Harrow
In London, recently, we held a committee meeting in a house on Harrow on the Hill. Harrow on the Hill is the home of Harrow School - where Winston Churchill went to school.

The house backs onto the hill. Although the road outside is level, the garden is extremely steep.

An ex president of the club had brought along two large pizzas, costing ten pounds each, to feed about 15 people. (Admittedly the hostess cooked c h i l i can carne, minced meat with boiled rice, in two kinds, spicy and not spicy.)

We also had pot luck. Everybody brought something. That meant that however many we were, no chance of running short of food.

Potluck Extras
After we ate the instantly available pizza, followed by the doled out chill con carne, we continued on to the pot luck. Committee members brought along: red fruit juice, salads, tomatoes, grapes, profiteroles, carrot cake, chocolate filled doughnuts, a cheese board, and brown bread. We finished with alcohol filled chocolates and dates.

Planning So-called Potluck
It wasn't really pot luck in the sense of unplanned. The hostess had asked us to email in advance what we would be bringing so that she could ensure we had something of everything and no duplication.

The food extras were laid out on the kitchen table and the kitchen. However, we ate outside in the back garden on that dramatic slope of Harrow on the Hill.

We started with the pizza which arrived hot and ready, picked up on the way. (Maybe pre-ordered by phone?) The pizza was ample food. Thick, full of things to munch. Sweetcorn. Slices of large tomatoes.

One version had olives. The other was the same but without the olives.

It was filling. I felt like I had had a proper meal. Often pizza from other places seem to be just a slice of bread smeared with tomato puree and varnished with cheese.

At this point we ought to have stopped eating. If we had, we would not have felt hungry.

 Later the c h i l i con carne was heated and came out.

Surprisingly we did not suffer from any flies or midges.

We were entertained by a cat fight between two of the host family's cats. The hostess disconcertingly told us, "Don't worry. Both cats are ours. Lovers' tiff. They are brother and sister."

How to Remember the Pizza Parlour's Name
Long ago I read that the name of the Pizza parlour was named after family members. I always used to have trouble remembering it. But I think I've now got it. I think PAP as in papa, who I presume runs or started the place, U, because you enjoy the food, MI, like me, and YA, like yes. PAPU MIYA.  Papa, you, me - ah! PAPU MIYA.

Where is it? Next to the Tesco Express. If you are lucky, you can park outside in the slip road.

Anybody giving you driving directions will tell you that it's not in Pinner proper, but in Hatch End. The post office and the history books will tell you that Hatch End is part of Pinner. You will struggle to find Hatch End in TripAdvisor.

Hatch End is a suburb in NW London, within driving distance of Pinner and Harrow. Hatch End station is on the Euston to Watford line.

Papu Miya Pizza Parlour
371 Uxbridge Road
Hatch End
Dinner
Middlesex
HA5 4JN
Tel: 020 8421 2112
England
UK
Website: www.papumiya.com/Contactus
They are also on Facebook.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. The delicious dates we ate are in the next post.  Please share posts.

Learn Romanian Words For Foods

Map of Romania from Wikipedia.

Problem
How do I remember the written words? How do I remember which accents to add? How do I pronounce the words?

Answer
D e v i s e new memory aids or follow mine below in brackets after words in my mini dictionary. (Spaces inserted to defeat automatic spell checker inserting wrong words.)

English - Romanian
breakfast - mic d e j ù n  (short for Mick is having his petit d e j e u n e r - French for Breakfast)
butter - unt (bUTter - UnT)
cake - torta (cake OR TART, same word, as in French and Italian, not tart but t o r t a)
piper - pepper (PiPER - PePpER; remember the tongue twister Peter PIPER picked a peck of pickled PEPPER)
cheese - branza (think of B R i e ANd g o r g o n Z o l A )
child - copilul (ChILd and  p u P I L)
honey - miere (honEy BEE - miErE like the French word miel for Honey)
pie - plācintā (P I e - P l a c I n t a; or Pie P L A c e d IN oven or cooker - er sounds like a)
salt - sare (S A l t - S A r e)
soup - supa (soup is super)
sugar - zahar (change the s into z and the g into the following letter h)
table - masa (like the Spanish mesa; a massive table with a mess on it)
the - la

Romanian - English
b r a n z a - cheese
copilul - child
e, e s t e - is
la - the
mic d e j u n - breakfast
masa - table
m i e r e - honey
p l a c  i n t a - pie (spell checker prefers placenta)
sare - salt
supa - soup
torta - cake
unt - butter
zahar - sugar

I have had trouble with the accents on an Apple machine. I'll come back with notes on accents later.

Code for text for Romanian letters.

To get the sounds, use Google translate or Duolingo.com Romanian.

In an emergency

The government website advises:If you need emergency medical assistance during your trip, dial 112 and ask for an ambulance.

If you’re visiting Romania you should get a free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) before leaving the UK.  If you don’t have your EHIC with you or you’ve lost it, you can call the Department of Health Overseas Healthcare Team (+44 191 218 1999) to get a Provisional Replacement Certificate. 

More From
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/romania
www.romaniatourism.com
http://wikitravel.org/en/Romania
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g294457-Activities-Romania.html

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.

Fab food at Fulham Wine Rooms

Problem
What to eat at Fulham Wine Rooms?

We started in a back room with a Rioja tasting organised for a private group by Trevor of Grape Deal. We had more people than expected, about 19, so we had enough money in the kitty to order plates of cold meats and cheese from the restaurant.

The food was presented with brown bread, and bowls of oil with crackers. The brown bread was absolutely wonderful, full of crunchy grains.

Super Service
We had flagons of still and sparkling water. When I went to ask for more water and more side plates, they arrived quickly.

Selecting Starters
Afterwards we ordered dinner in the restaurant, a large table for about ten of us. We had already had the cheese plate and the cold meal plates.

I was allergic to shellfish.

We chose to share a plate of asparagus and egg. Another couple also ordered a starter plate to share, so we did not feel we were the odd one out in doing so.

The photos above show: chicken; salmon; chips ; steak.
Chicken or Chips?
My main course was chicken, which came up with one vegetable. Very filling - but I would have liked potato and or a second vegetable. At over £10 I thought two vegetables and potato would have been provided at my local restaurants in Hatch End. Fortunately I was able to share potatoes, a generous portion, on somebody else's plate of pork.

I asked what the pork eater thought of their portion. They said, "Beautifully cooked with crispy outside".

Another dish came up with chips. So, chicken, or chips?

You could order a side plate of mashed potato, but I felt that should not be necessary with main dishes costing more than £15.

Nearly all of my fellow guests were happy. One person who had to catch a train home asked for the dishes to be served up when each one was ready instead of all at once, but all the dishes appeared moments later.

Nineteen of us, all very happy.

Wines By The Glass
We had plenty of food. We could have ordered wines by the glass from the E n o m a t i c machines. All in all, a great evening out for a group.

Fulham Wine Rooms
871-873 Fulham Rd, Fulham, London SW6 5HP
England
UK

Hours: Open 12pm–12am
Phone: (+44) (0)20 7042 9440.
Nearest railway station: Parsons Green.
http://winerooms.london/fulham/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.

What do You Eat, Walking and Trekking?

Problem
What do you eat, on a walking and trekking holiday?

Answer
If you are just out for the day, with a group breakfast at a hotel or hostel, a group lunch picnic or meal arranged, and supper back at the hotel in the evening, you might take the standby of Kendal mint cake, solid white sugar, with a dark chocolate coating. Plus of course water. And something spare, such as a sandwich, in case you get stuck.

Tea House or Tent?
Some treks stop for food at tea houses. Others are based in tented camps. Find out which, and decide which you prefer, before you choose and commit to a trekking holiday company.

Porters
On a longer trek, over several days and nights, you are likely to have local porters. They carry your food. For the large communal meals. (You still want something in your pocket or rucksack or day pack in case you get separated or stuck.

Meat and vegetables
An experienced trekker tells me: "What you need in Pakistan when taking a long trek or climbing up and down hill is protein. No problem with halal or kosher food. You don't take meat on a trek. It won't keep. It goes off too quickly.

"However, we did buy a sheep from a hill farmer half way through a trek. We were a group of 60 people, trekkers and crew.

"Usually your diet is vegetarian. You get your protein from beans and pulses.

"The diet is not dull. The porters take spices and garlic and onions. You can't taste so well at high altitude, so garlic is good. They cook up casseroles and curries, stews and soups."

Protein
How do you get protein?

"We got protein from cheese and eggs. We had yak cheese. Delicious."

Eggs
If you went up for a day or two, for the weekend, you could take cooked eggs. But on a longer trek the porters took eggs.

"On one trek we had a porter whose sole job was to carry the eggs. He had a wire cage, a cage with compartments and an egg in each cell for thirty people.

"That lasted until half way through the trek. Then he went home, back downhill again, because he was no longer needed.

"In Nepal and Tibet we had porters. In Tibet they weren't Tibetan porters but Nepalese."

One way to lose weight.

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