Have your say on designs for the Dulwich Art Gallery Extension

Problem
The Dulwich Art Gallery has done what I think all new architecture plans should do. They have run a competition with half a dozen or more designs by various professional and amateur or student groups submitting 3D models and then let the public choose the best.

You can walk along a glass-sided gallery without going into the main exhibition, in the big old building, which was pricey, costing us the best part of £20 for two, even with concessions for age.

Most were decidedly modern. But some were unsettling.

I liked three of the designs which were colourful and curved.  They would all have been great as freestanding buildings.

However, two of them dwarfed and distracted from and hid the historic old art gallery building. So that eliminated them. I was left with one which would have got my vote.

None of them managed to echo the original building. The current modern building houssing the cafe looks decidedly odd. You sit in a a modern buidling, looking at an old building. I felt both of them detracted from the enjoyment of the other.

If you hate old buildigns, and would like a modern design to hide the historic buidling, you could choose one which does just that. You can go online and register your vote. Your chance to influence a London building of the future.

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

Competition in South Africa

Every year, twice a year, you can enter a competition to win a holiday. The competition is run on the side of a juice carton in South Africa. Since I like buying juice anyway, I thought it's a good idea to keep a lookout for this competition.

Edinburgh Science Festival first half of April - and a competition

Queensferry Crossing.

Problem
It's freezing now, and cold up north. But I hope by the end of March, a week away, the weather will start getting better.

The Edinburgh Science Festival 2018 starts 31 March and ends 15 April. I went to a Science Festival at a university city, and it was wonderful.

The Science Fair takes place in Summerhall.

Everybody loves Edinburgh.

If you can't wait until the Edinburgh Festival, in late summer, with its comedy sessions, go to the springtime Science Fair. Their website is running a competition.

You can go there by train or drive. I have done both. Driving from London we stopped overnight at York on the way back down south.

What must you see? Edinburgh Castle. You can't avoid it. It dominates the city. Scotsmen in kilts playing bagpipes.  Tartans. Scottish accents.

Useful Websites:
https://www.edinburghfestivalcity.com/competitions/edinburgh-international-science-festival-2018-competition
visitbritain.com
www.visitscotland.com
edinburgh.org

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on Edinburgh and Scotland. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Mother's Day March 10-11th; order cards or book meals and holidays

Mother's Day Squircle cake from Mrs Fields, photo in Flickr by Gareth Simpson from Wikipedia

Problem
What shall we do for mother's day? When is it?

Answer
In the UK, Mother's day this year, 2018 is the weekend of March 10th-11th.

However, Mothering Sunday in the USA is the second Sunday in May. By travelling to another country you can celebrate twice!

(Or anybody without a mother could avoid it altogether.)

If you forget mother's day in the UK, or you and mother are in different countries, you could take a trip to the USA and celebrate Mothering Sunday there in May.

If you wish to celebrate, consider:

Cards - from supermarkets or online incorporating your family photo
Flowers
A pot plant
A cake - for personalised cakes check how long in advance you must order
Breakfast
Lunch
Tea
Dinner
Day out - eg spa break
Weekend away

An email.

Look at your local restaurants to see their offers.

Useful Websites:
https://www.facebook.com/bonnemamanuk/ Competition (and breakfast idea)
https://www.facebook.com/vintageinns Mothers Day meals at venues
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/uk/mothering-sunday
https://www.cardfactory.co.uk/cards/mothers-day-cards
https://www.notonthehighstreet.com
https://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/mothers-day-gifts
https://www.mrsfields.com/gifts/Round-Personalized-Cookie-Cake
https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/shop/browse/entertaining/cakes_and_biscuits/personalised_cakes?
https://www.spabreaks.com/categories/mothers-day

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

DIAMOND COMPETITION For Top Flights And Food From A Blue Diamond Company and Singapore Bargains

Problem
I've never heard of the Blue Diamond but everyone has now. I thought - is it a scam?

The prize looks big - a flight on Singapore Airlines to Singapore, then a light in a luxury airlines with a great meal and using diamond studded chopsticks. Are they smooth to hold?

Gosh - it all sounds marvellous. And mo more than most people pay for a couple of tickets in the Singapore lottery.

They have cut a diamond into a teeny fragments, a million pieces how is that possible? Everybody gets one. For only two dollars? You must need a magnifying glass. But they say a traditional watch contains tiny diamond and a diamond with flaws can be used inside a watch where it is not seen. Most diamonds are used in industry, more than those used in jewellery.

I also learned, earlier that a mineral discovery will flood the world with a huge amount of (was it gold or diamonds?).

When I read about diamonds being cut into fragments, I felt, such a pity. On the other hand, I like the idea of sharing. I like to see the prize divided so that one person wins the flight, another the meal. But I suppose it's easier to administer one prizewinner than ten. You also only need one flight by Singapore Airlines to get you to the destination.

Regardless of whether you wanted to enter the competition, here are the details for you to read about. I don't, yet, know about blue diamonds, but I can recommend Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport. I use both every year. So how do you enjoy a luxury holiday in Singapore?

Sheraton Towers Hotel
The Sheraton Towers Hotel is beside Newton MRT underground railway station. From the top of the staircase in the hotel hall you can see the great fountain in the lower lounge.

Inexpensive Hotel Mini-buffet
 For only about $20 for visitors you can get a mini-buffet and coffee and evening entertainment with Toastmasters International club which meets there most first, second and third Monday evenings except national holidays.

Arrive promptly, to get the pre-meeting food, and network before the meeting with Singaporeans and visitors. Phone to check the event is on and so they know numbers for catering. Lovely small shop with great jewellery closes at six p.m. Hotel residents might get a discount on jewellery and dry cleaning.

Free Tours From Airport
Finally if you've only got a long day time stopover in Singapore, especially if you have four to six hours to spare, look for the butterfly park in the airport, and the free daytime bus tour around Singapore and back, offered from the airport.

Buying Jewellery
You will find numerous shops selling gold in Little India and also Mohammed Mustafa's department store in little India has two or three parts, general and jewellery, and one part is open 24 hours.

Check it out for yourself. Details here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4993248/Win-world-s-ultimate-dinner-just-TWO-DOLLARS.html
https://www.thejaneseymour.com (Diamonds.)
www.singaporeairlines (A lovely airline and great airport lounges. If you are a member of Star Alliance group airline loyalty scheme, try to use Singapore Airlines. Good airline magazine.)
http://singaporehotels.parkroyalhotels.com (Covered in greenery. Pass it on your taxi trip. Or get out at the nearby MRT station. See my previous post about green hotels.)
https://uk.hotels.com/ho105478/shangri-la-hotel-singapore  (Great fountains.)
http://www.sheratonsingapore.com/
http://www.changiairport.com/en/airport-experience/attractions-and-services/free-singapore-tour.html
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

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

Drawing Caricatures using an iPad - why do it?

Why draw a caricature? Why not just take a photo?

1Because you can draw on an iPad and your subject might think you are writing a text message, whilst they would either get annoyed or pose un-naturally if they thought you were taking a photo.
2 Because your subject is photo shy.
3 Because they would be flattered and intrigued to have a caricature. They may have had lots of photos but never have had a caricature.
4 Because it is more creative.
5 Because you can sell it. People can take their now photos as selfies but they mostly cannot draw a caricature.
6 You edit out the unnecessary and capture the essence of the person.
7 Because you are proud of your artistic skills. It's fun, creative.
8 Because the sitter has to keep still and talk to you whilst you are drawing, creating rapport and a friendship more than spending two seconds taking photos.
9 Because you have no chance of winning a photography competition but think your original drawings might win a drawing competition.
10 Because somebody asked you to do it. To raise money for charity at an event.

Angela Lansbury

Successful Writing Courses - Plan Next Year's Trips To The UK

We had two Americans and one person flew all the way from Australia and made her entire holiday allowance into a trip to the UK for Writers Summer School at Swanwick in England.

If you can't afford the course, you have two or three ways of getting a free or reduced place.
1 Enter an online competition on the Swanwick website for writers of short stories and poetry and hope to win the first prize of a free holiday.

2 A runner up prize or at least a certificate which might encourage you to save; a member of your family to loan or give you the money.

3 A raffle ticket bought at one Swanwick conference might win you a place at the next.

(more shortly. See previous posts on Swanwick.)

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker

National Stationery Week: April-May 2016. Competitions. Xmas gifts.

National Stationery Week is back again next year; proving that picking up a pen is important and that writing matters!

When I first read it I thought it was this week. On re-reading I found it's next year.

The event will runs from 25^th April – 1^st May 2016 and has announced the 2016 theme of ‘Why Writing Matters.’ 

I thought I would share with you the highlights of the email I received from the amusingly named 

'Captain

"We at National Stationery Week, and especially myself who had to earn his handwriting licence at the age of 7, believe that the pen and paper are brilliant and can be close friends with the stylus and screen. We champion the written word and were disappointed to see that Iceland and parts of the United States are phasing out handwriting all together!

"On our website, nationalstationeryweek.com, we have a huge array of resources including lesson plans, ideas and competitions that can be interwoven with any subject for primary and secondary school children. It’ll get them exciting in writing and teach them the importance of the pen! Maybe some will be inspired to be the next Lennon and McCartney, J.K. Rowling or John Cooper Clarke. 

"Alongside this, the Cambridge University Press have launched their 2016 handwriting competition to find the neatest and fanciest handwriting in the United Kingdom.

"If you’d like to get involved with the campaign; please let me know, it’d be superb for fantastic professionals like yourselves to be involved in this brilliant national campaign triumphing stationery and championing the pen!

"Please find below a fantastic opportunity for the education sector, in conjunction with National Stationery Week and Cambridge University Press. 

"By the way, Did you know that 97% of people write their own name when they test out a new pen? Or that U.S. President James Garfield could write Greek and Latin simultaneously?"

***

An Italic pen and calligraphy set? If you already have a calligraphy set, time to use it to make a DIY Xmas card or New Year card including photos of the year and your hand-written message.See my next post on Xmas gifts.

PS Stationery with an e, letters. Stationary with an a is cars. (I have another blog on spelling.)

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