A Lifetime of Holidays, Heavenly & Hellish, Humour

Hellish Moments

Fire

We never had fire, although people my parents met on holiday, who lived in a grand Tudor wood mansion, which my parents hoped to visit, died in a fire which destroyed the house.

 I have experienced three fire alarms. The first was in mid breakfast in Scotland at the large Peebles Hydro hotel. For us guests, waiting for breakfast was a nuisance. For the hotel, even worse, a costly delay, and a logistic nightmare.  They had to clear all the old, cold, food, re-cook the buffet, take orders for everybody simultaneously, serve several hundred breakfasts. 

The next was mid lunch in the USA at a restaurant. 

The third was at bedtime on New Year's Eve in Florida. We thought it was a joking best man at the wedding in the garden below. It happened a second time. In retrospect, we realized it could have been our indoor fireworks (sparklers).

Flood

We had flooding in Hatch End, London, in the high street (Americans say main street).  My friend advised me, 'Take everything off the floor. Papers, shoes, small rugs. Then go upstairs.'

I replied, 'Ihank you. I'll clear the floor.' I reminded her, 'I can't go upstairs. I live in a bungalow.'

At Writers' Summer school in Derbyshire, we had flooding down the outside paths and frogs hopping about so you had to avoid tripping over them or stepping on them.

Snake in the Garden

In Stanmore, in my parents' bungalow back garden, we had a a fat snake. I called the Council. No help. So I called the zoo. The snake was a pregnant female adder. Expected to have about twenty more! 

The RSPCA collected it with a pitchfork and glass container.

Language - lost in translation

As a teenager in Paris,  France, I missed out on seeing a performance of the play which was part of my exam. I made a mistake with muddling up Wednesday and Friday. Mercredi and Vendredi. 

Funny Moments

Russian Comedy at Las Vegas

I met the two Russian and American clowns at Circus Circus. I asked one of them, 'Are you the Russian or the American?'

He replied, in a Russian accent, 'I am the Russ-ian. He is the Amer-i-can.'

I turned politely to the other clown. He repeated the same words in the same accent,  'I am the Russ-ian. He is the Amer-i-can.'

English Language and Singlish

In 2023 at the Singapore (District 80) annual convention in a workshop on marketing your brand we were asked to state our  unique selling point. I said that I was a native, British English speaker, and could teach spelling, pronunciation and grammar.

Another member of the audience said, 'I would like to challenge Angela. If she teaches me spelling, pronunciation and grammar, will I still be understand even if my thoughts are Rojak?'

I replied, 'No, because Rojak is a Singlish.h term and nobody in Britain would understand it.'

(Rojak means a jumble or medley of fruit.)

Happy Moments

I have more stories about  my Lost passport, the Mad Wee Road, Scotland, theft, and Playing Cards. They will be in a later post.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Hotel Discounts

At a hotel lobby in the USA, I was lingering, looking at postcards when I overheard a potential customer at reception trying to book a room at a discount.

He asked, 'Can I book a room at a discount.'

'Yes, sir. Are you a member of the American Automobile Association?'

'No.'

'Are you a member of the military?'

'No.'

'Are you a member of the emergency services?'

'No.'

Ever keen to be helpful and make a sale, she asks,

'What business are you in?'

'It's a secret business.'

'Then I shall give you the 'secret business' discount.'

Odd Moments

The Rothschild lunch

Build a Lego Room, Visit Legoland Or Move? Are you thinking of building a propery, taking up citizenship or renting or buying a condo? What apartment and condo really mean

 You could build your dream house from Lego or on a computer, or admire pictures on the internet. I have moved around the world, mostly renting, dreamng of buying and building, visiting friends who have done so and listening to their cautionary tales. 

Let us start with the simplest move, when you go to another country to look around, holiday, take a job overseas, and consider buying or building overseas or back home, using all your ideas. 

American homes are bigger. Huge rooms. Huge houses. Huge bedrooms. Often with a walk in clothes closet.

I always thought a flat was just a dwelling on one level. An apartment was grander, bigger. A condo was a big development, like a village of blocks of large size flats or flats of 2 to 5 bedrooms mixed in each block, with shared facilities. What kind of facilities? Most importantly for me, a swimming pool. For my husband, a gym. Extras are often a shop or two, even a nursery school, a hairdresser, and a meeting room for hire. 

England is too cold most of the year for swimming, although neighbours in London and friends have had pools where I have swum. For us Brits, the dream is a hotel or condo with a landscaped pool, in Florida, or Spain, or Singapore.

In the USA

In the USA we first lived in a shared town house owned by the company where my husband had a new job, transferred from London within the same company. Rooms on each of the three floors were rented out to incoming staff. These were permananent staff, staying for more than a week and up to a year before they found their own place to live. This was great for sharing meals, tips, cars, social life. We moved to live in a conso with a swimming pool.

The estate agents used to send a packet of offers of everything from bedding and curtains to food delivery, to every new guest, renter, or owner. 

Our apartment in Rockville Maryland had a swimming pool open in summer. It was closed in winter and nigh time and surrounded by tennis court style high netting. Two lifeguard seats were there and two of the resident's teenagers were empolyed as life guards. This was to do with local laws and insurance.

Pol fencing. Photo from Med55 in Wikipedia.

Australia has rules about surrounding home swimming pools with fences and lockable gates.

Other American ideas which I liked:

Old People's Home linked To Leisure Centre

The home for the elderly was at the end of a short covered walkway leading to a leisure centre with a library, swimming pool sna djacent cafe. Our neighbours took us there to visti their granny. They spent every Sunday lunch time there. The grandchildren used th pool. The parents read the free newspapers and watched. The granny had company from her family and other residents.

And a pool for exercise. A card room.Lots of visitors and people to see. The visitors were all relatives and were identity checked with membership cards on arrival.

The pool and gym provided exercise. 

Later we moved to Singapore.

I was sent a link in Singapore to a website which might be run by an estate agent or be a scam, so I am reluctant to pass on the link. However, I have observed these points for you to notice:

In Singapore there are three main kinds of property, Housing Development Board (HDB), several levels of estates built at different periods, some only rented but most available to buy. Sometimes in some places you have to be a resident in the property for five years before you can sell.

What to look for:

Status of Buyer

1 Is ownership of an HDB flat open only to Singapore citizens (passport holders) and Permanent Residents (those who won't take up Singapore passports because they are unwilling to give up their other passports, which is a requirment).

2 Is it a subsidized government development and only available to first time buyers who have no property overseas.

3 Is there a requirement that you have lived a certain number of years in the coutnry.

Status Of Buyer or proximity to Schools,/Miltary or Govenment property

4 Is there a restriction on the type of preprty or area where you can buy (due to local restrictions on foreigners or any member of your family having a criminal record, not near a military, base, not near a school, not on ground floor or the lower five floors of a builing (once introduced on foreign ubyers in Sinapore to prevent foreign owned buildings being used to orchestrate riots).. 

At one point you ould not have windows overlooking housing occupied by government ministers, so apartments in one block had narrow high windows on one side of the building and you could not alter the windows).

5 Are the buildings in a condo with high security. in Singapore most condos are gated and vehicles have to say who they are visiting and give their ID. So you cannot drive around a condo just to see the outside, except with an agent who gives his ID to the gatekeeper, and with an appintment to meet the unit owner or collect a key.

6 You can learn a lot from 360 degree views from apartments currently on sales. However, apartments can vary enormously. One looks out on a mountain, another on a car park another on a dustbin area, another on the swimming pool. 

Cashew Heights, condo, Singapore.

A video does not tell you about traffic noise. If the land next door is sold for another development, or knocked down for another, you could have a year of building works noise, dust from the buildings site, water cut off, electricity cut off (deliberately or accidentally), distubance of snakes and wildlife such as monkeys. 

7 Redevelopment could be prevented by neighbours, objections from governemnt, builders going out of business. In Singapore sometimes you are protected by a law preventing building starting unless their are sufficient funds to finish the project. Sometimes in the past the first building in a complex is sold to get a bank loan to start the second building. If there is a recession and the first building does not sell, your deposit on the second buidling would be lost t the defunct company which could not finished the development. 

8 Don't accept verbal assurances. Check a legal document. Check the history of developers. Go to see thier previous developments to see if you like the finish.

9 What to lok for:

Is the parking covered or will you get leaves and bird droppings?

10 is the building on stilts to withstand flood water?

11 Will the building have fire alarms and a lightning conductor?

12 Are you dealing with the owner of the land or apartment. Have you checked their identity and have you met them?

13 Are tenants of your property allowed to have children and pets and to sub-let? Can you veto the tenants?

14 Do you need to let the place to pay off the mortgage? If so, can you have any guarantee the place will be let? Can you reserve one period a year, such as Xmas or Easter for your own family holiday?

15 What is the cost of a porter and mainteance/ Is there a contingency fund to deal with a 20 year old boiler, boiler switches for communal hote water, subsidence and tree roots under the ground floor, leaking through the flat roof (Singapore and UK I have been in buildings which had this) and leaking down the outside walls.

In Singapore A balcony can be turned into a fruit and vine growing area. I have seen vines growing on the balcony of a neighbour in Singapore. They also have allotments. You may need to get on the waiting list early for an allotment.

Angela Lansbury watering plants on a Singapore balcony. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

The tallest plant is a miniature lime tree. The small bitter oranges were used by us to make marmalade. 

Other plants which grow well are aloe vera. The aloe vera plants sporut babies. 

Anther success was  lemon grass, bought for food from the supermarket. One piece cut into four soon grew more.

In Singapore the plan is to tturn flat rooves of housing into gardens for fruit and vegetables. The plan is called 3030, meaning 30 percent of the coutnry's needs will be grown within the country by 2030. 

In Singapore many flats have a mmaid's room and toilet. One family has converted the mai's room area into a kitchen and made the kitchen itno a dining area off the lviing room.

16 Can you buy up an adjacent flat or nearby flat for your parents, children, grandchildren, cusins, future husband or wife, guests, or to let out and easily visit the proeprty even with travel restrictions.

Remember, when it is a bad time to sell it could be a good time to buy. And vice versa. 

What can go wrong? Worst case scenario, the developers disappear,, run over time, use substandard concrete, build onto foundations not strong ennough to support an extra storey, added without planning permission later. Worst case scenario, loss of life of builders or tenants or guests. 

In London I have seen the worst and the best.

Thinking of Grenfell Tower in London, a goverment building, Beiru explosion and firet, the tsunami in Asia, and the Versailles wedding disaster in Israel.)  For every one of these cases you can read comments on what could, or should have been done to prevent thse events, and what is being done now to protect people in future.

Some laws seen to be there just to make life difficult nm and cause paperwork delays. Other laws seem there so the governemtn can collect taxes for inspection and permits, or for intermediaries to collect bribes to speed things up. to look on the bright side, many of the laws are there to protect the builders, the owners, the buyers, the sllers, the inhabitants, and those renting.

The 'Finish'

What can go wrong? In Singapore, we had a batrhoom floor which sloped the wrong way, so the shower water did not run down the drain but collected in the opposite corner, creating mould. I have rented property which had basins cracked by the installers, light fittings broken by tenants.

In the UK, a neighbour's insecure low wooden side gates were opened by burglars. The remedy, required by the insurance company, was to install a metal gate with a high top.

Downstairs bedroom

I met a family who needed a ground floor bedroom for the huband in a wheelchair. they bought a house in a secluded cul de sace. The double garage of the house had been converted by the sellers into a a large ground floor bedroom, with parking for two cars in the open on the forecourt.

More Cupboards

Another person I met had converted open shelving in the kitchen into high cupboards to create extra storage space. 

Space under stairs can be cnverted to a libary, with a desk, clothes closet, shoe cupboard, downstairs toilet. 

Space under stairs can store boks or horizontal wines.

The attic can be made into storage, a guest bedroom, or a bedroom and bathroom, or an art room with a skylight for the painter, or writer and illustrator.

A conservatory can be a playrom or an artist's room or for watching bird and animal life.

Too Many Roms?

In London the UK I met a widow who had her old-fashioned house knocked down and built herself a double size basement flat, plus three floors of two flats above to provide income. She went to visit the developers' other proerties he had built to see if the finish was god enough.

UK Lego Room

Another young London couple converted one bedrom into a children's play room. Every birthday and Christmas they asked every family member of guest for Lego. By the time the children reached the age of five, they had an entire room filled with Lego. They had more Lego than their local toy shop.No problem keepign children busy and ut f your way, or off the computer. Easy to entertian visitng children and guests. 

What can you build? Everything from buildings to rockets.

USA Scene

Lego. Houston.USA
NASA's image of the day.

UK Lego Scene

Trafalgar Square, London, England, built in Lego, shown at Legoland,  which you can visit in Windsor, England.

Useful websites

https://www.legoland.co.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/singapore/safety-and-security

About the Author

Angela Lansbury and her family have lived in the UK, USA, Spain and Singapore.

Books On Surviving A Dangerous Event Such As A Terrorist Attack; A Suicidal Attacker, Knife, Kidnap, Poison

Rescue dogs. FEMA. (Fire Emergency rescue service.) Photo from Wikipedis 

The American acronym FEMA is not Fire and Emergency Association, as I imagined, but Federal_Emergency_Management_Agency

.

But, whilst waiting for them to arrive, first things first.

Problem
What do you do in an emergency situation?

In Singapore you see instructions on posters and videos at stations:
Run
Hide
Tell

Advice on action includes preventing others from running into danger.

In Singapore classes are given in First Aid and administering CPR (resuscitation).

Natural disasters and accidents include:
earthquakes:
fires:
floods:
snowed in: (in many countries snow chains and snow tyres are available or obligatory)
tsunamis - generally read the signs, register for alerts and know your way to high ground.
Install lightning conductors and ensure you know the way to the exit in a hotel or other buildings.

At Toastmasters International, the convenor of every meeting is expected to start by pointing out the exits, like the staff on an airplane.

In the UK in March 2018 advice is being given about how to reduce the risk of contamination.

To prevent an attack starting or escalating, suggestions include:
Persuading the attacker to sit down and explain his or her grievances.

Call the attacker's parent or close relative.

Offer / negotiate a reward for a truce or delay - a cigarette, a drink, an order of pizza, a getaway car, money, a chance to speak on TV, a chance to speak to a mother or close relative, a house, a job, an exchange of prisoners, a plea bargain. Ask what the assailant wants. Ask if there's something small you can easily provide (such as the pizza).

In a school send another child (near the door) or another adult for help (to a next door class to warn a teacher - not to race around the school looking for the head teacher).

In a group:
Barricade the door.
Form a team to attack:
Your defence could be:
A pub stool,
A chair - to block or throw
A table - thrown by a pair or group
Knives and forks
A bottle
A pint pot
Cold or hot drinks thrown in somebody's face

You can download apps which connect you with security services and pinpoint your position without your having to speak so that potential attackers do not hear you.
Assaults and Terrorist Attacks

Poisons
Regarding snakes, note the difference between poison and venom. A snake spits a venom. A poison is a harmful substance which causes damage if swallowed.

Advice given out recently was to wash potentially contaminated clothes, wipe other items with baby wipes, and for items needing dry cleaning, to double wrap them in plastic securely tied before disposal.

After a member of my family receiving cancer treatment, we were given advice on using separate towels and so on to avoid contamination and long term effects even after a passage of time.

Useful Websites
SINGAPORE
https://www.police.gov.sg/content/contact-us
UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-health-advice-following-salisbury-nerve-agent-incident
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/poisoning/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5487305/Health-bosses-tell-500-people-wash-possessions.html
Be A Hero: The Essential Guide to Active Shooter Incidents, co-written by John Geddes and Alun Rees.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Be-Hero-Essential-Survival-Active-Shooter/dp/
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/how-would-you-survive-kidnap.html

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

Hurricanes, Help, Disasters, Evacuation, Preparation

Problems To Solve
1 How do you get help in?
2 How do you get people out?
3 How will tourists and tourism be affected?
4-9 How soon should you start preparing?

Answers
1a) A government or charity or UN relief can fly your helpers to the affected area in advance.
b) Take supplies to high ground. Or bury them where the water will not flood. Or fly them nearby.

2 Get everybody out in advance.
Otherwise:
Your airport is closed.
The boats in harbour are thrown into each other and damaged.
The airlines have no seats; or they raise the seat prices.

3 Secure windows from looters and flying glass. Duct tape is not enough. You need corrugated metal sheeting and/ or wooden fence panelling or x shape wood reinforcements to support glass.  A DIY store will advise and sell supplies.

4 Yesterday.

5 Group Action
a) Power lines and phone lines underground may be safer from winds and weather than above ground.

b) Campaign to stop homes and schools and public buildings being built on flood plains. In America I visited a ski resort where I was told that local people campaigned and stopped a school being built on the main road around the mountains underneath a steep incline known to be an avalanche risk.  (I presume from the type of terrain and previous lesser incidents.)

6 Campaign for schools to teach children to swim.

7 Adults who can swim should learn life saving. You can't drag somebody else along underwater. Their head needs to be held out of the water. They will instinctively put their arms around your neck to hang on and pull you under. You must learn the latest method. (Last time I looked it was swimming on your back pulling the person being rescued horizontally with their face up. You would have to be able to swim on your back and manoeuvre the person into position. This takes practice. There must be an easier way and quicker to learn.)

6 Personal Action
Learn to swim.

7 Make sure your spouse and children can swim. When I knew I was pregnant I insisted that my husband who could not swim should take swimming lessons. You can even teach toddlers to swim. I've watched the videos.

8  Always keep your phone charged and your car full of petrol. Saves a last minute panic when the electricity is off and the garage is closed. (A garage is UK. In the USA and other parts of the world  it is also called a petrol station or a gas station.)

9 LEARN
Finally, learn how to light a fire, boy scout style, to provide a camp fire to keep away animals, provide heat, light and cooking.

Learn how to operate the built in flashlight in your mobile phone and teach everybody you know and meet.

Have a phone charger and power storage device kept with your phone.

Learn CPR.

In emergencies, whether on a plane, out walking or at home in a severe storm, have vital items such as a cereal bar and credit card and ID attached to your body, eg in a zipped pocket or waistband.

Consider investing in:
Travel outfits such as a ski jacket with a wearer location device which signals.
Pickpocket proof clothing with double fastening, an inner zip, which also stops items falling out of pockets.
Insulated water bottles.
Insulated lunch box in rucksack or rucksack with built in insulated food compartment.
Swimmer's waterproof pouch.
Waterproof or underwater camera.
Snorkel.
Check which useful camping gear you already have in your house, attic, shed and store buildings.
Plan to improvise. For example, a yogurt carton with handle for carrying food, or to use as an emergency children's potty.

ORGANISE
Teach everybody how to get out of a submerged car.
Know your emergency shelter. If none, plan one: a church (religious buildings are often on hilltops); school; hotel; conference centre; gym; large house, empty building (if safe), supermarket.
Have a rescue and rebuilding team ready, with a motivation leader and an action organiser. Who to ask?
Who to learn from? Online. See how the Amish instead of having insurance gather together to rebuild or build a house.
Check on tents, prefabs, Oriental homes built with no nails - can be taken apart and carried off and reassembled; also igloos and yurts, and tiny houses.
Check out the methods used by the family who built a protective water filled wall around their home so they were the only people whose home was not flooded.

I used to be emailed by a survivalist newsletter which tried to sell all sort of items from guns to chemical toilets to army rations for when you are trekking or on the move. I thought they were far-fetched. However, when you know you are in a zone likely to experience an earthquake or flood a little preparation for emergencies could be reassuring and handy.

EXITS
Plan escape from vehicles, homes, cities, coutnries.
Give family a meeting place or contact person, such as a relative in the next city or overseas.

More Information From Websites
Hurricane and Flood Troubles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irma
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4858858/Princess-Juliana-Airport-destroyed-Hurricane-Irma.html

Flood Solutions
Prevention
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4855706/Houston-family-s-home-saved-flooding-thanks-dam.html
Floodproof air brick (commercial site)
http://www.flood-products.co.uk/smart-air-bricks

Clearing Up
http://time.com/4919355/can-flood-water-make-you-sick/
UK National Health Service Government Health Advice
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/How-do-I-get-rid-of-damp-and-mould.

UK Commercial Solution
https://www.idealresponse.co.uk/water-flood-damage-cleanup/?campaign

Teaching babies to swim:
FYI. Please check if this is safe and what it will cost you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOLTCiEHfdw

Tiny homes for homeless:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/charity-creates-tiny-houses-homeless-6967389

I'll be adding more websites later. You may wish to print this list of tips and website or photocopy it on your mobile and add your own. You will find several more websites on the above subjects which are specific to your country or appropriate worldwide. If you have any useful tips or links, please contact me.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my previous post on hurricanes. Please share links to your favourite posts.

What the news teachers travellers, builders and planners

Even on a sunny day, hiking in Romania, after a day of rain, an 'easy' level path had a pond.
Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problems
What can the news teach us about safety, before and after major events?

Answers
Do you work or deal with people who work in hotels, restaurants, construction or insurance? Most of us do every year, every month, every week, every day.

This year I have read news items about the fire in the Grenfell skyscraper in London, terrorist attacks worldwide, crocodile, lion, dog and animal attacks, earthquakes in Turkey and Greece and floods and Tsunamis. Today I looked at photos and videos of people hiding under desks to avoid flying objects in an earthquake in Turkey, and Kos island in Greece, and a toppled minaret, and a chair and pushchair delaying people rushing out of a restaurant.

My first thought on seeing the toppled minaret was, haven't we learned anything from the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Towers are an example of seeking attention, rather than thinking of health and safety.

Why do we need towers? Church towers with bells and minarets can be used to summon people to prayers. Clock towers can be used to signal time to all. Flag masts atop towers can be used to signal welcome, royals in residence, danger, or at half mast to signal mourning. High towers in Italy were used by rich, rival families to advertise their importance. The highest tower in the world nowadays gets into the Guinness book of records. Tallest, like biggest, is a sales attraction for tourists, status seekers, investors.

But just as cars are nowadays required by law to fit seat belts, and other safety devices, which began as novelties and rarities, in some new models, in all new models, in older ones adapted at great cost, prices come down, in all or most, in some or all countries, so with building regulations.

What can the tourist do?

DOCUMENTS / INFO /FINANCE IN POCKETS
What should you do? If you are ultra cautious, in an ideal world you have copies of all vital documents including credit card, phone and phone numbers in pockets so you don't delay yourself and others taking luggage.

Luggage Delays
Imagine the plane is filling with smoke, like it did in a plane this month (July 2017). You don't want delay getting luggage out from overhead. Nor do you want people obstructing the aisle with wheelie bags. Sometimes your luggage is at the other end of the place because the locker was full.

Chutes
You can't or shouldn't take your carry on luggage when exiting from an aeroplane via a chute. The luggage falls to the bottom. You hurl into it, fall over it, obstruct your quick exit. Don't delay yourself and everybody. Duty free drinks bottles break and cut your feet which are without shoes if you were on the plane without shoes or had to removed high heeled shoes.,

This is the path on day one, the easiest day, on a hiking holiday in Romania. Two toads are clearly seen in the middle. Several more camouflaged until they move and swim. The mud on the side is slippery. I fell once and covered my clothes in mud. The mud sucks your shoes. Better to wade through the water. Try not to wet your shoes, slip in the mud, kill the toads. This is good weather on a good day. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Waterproof Boots
I looked at people in a tsunami flood in Greece and Turkey. Only the emergency services and park rangers and nearby residents had access to their waterproof above the ankle boots. When going by car, I am thinking about packing waterproof boots or Wellingtons in the car boot (called car trunk in America).

Even in a minor flood and puddles boots mean your feet stay dry. In deeper water, they can protect your lower legs from wet, and dirty, flood water, as well as surface and hidden underfoot debris.  Plus wildlife. Toads in shallow puddles.

Waterproof kniee-length boots, used for gardening, wet and snowy weather, known as Wellingtons, or the style of Wellington boots. Bought by mail order from shop advertising on Ebay. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Tips
News updates from news sources found on Google and from travel agents who have their own bulletins
https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/news/tourists-killed-as-aegean-sea-earthquake-strikes-greece-and-turkey-10979?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Midday%20Bulletin

The UK Foreign office has guides for travellers from Britain on British passports but the safety advice may be applicable to others going to specific countries. Here's just one example of the safety and security webpage for Japan.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/japan/safety-and-security
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Holidays From Hell - Stories For You To Tell in Traffic Jams

Problem
What do you do when you are stuck in a traffic jam or stranded on a plane runway for hours?

Answer
Tell stories of other holidays from hell.

Stories
My Travel Disaster Stories
Fire Alarms
In Scotland at the Achiltibuie hotel, a fire alarm went off in the middle of breakfast. We all had to abandon our buffet breakfast and go down the steps onto a terrace lawn. We could hear the fire engine blaring up the steep hill to the top of the hill where our huge hotel commanded a great view. The chefs were also evacuated, standing on the terrace in a group with their white hats. Also evacuated, a bride and groom - the bride in a long while - night-dress.

Flood
At Swanwick Writer's Holiday in Derbyshire, one year the site was flooded after heavy rain. The accommodation blocks were separate from the main blocks with classes and evening entertainment and the lounge and bar. Going back your feet were up to their ankles in muddy water and frogs were jumping about.

In Germany our car was broken into in Koln (Cologne).

Another car was broken into in Prague.

A third in the zoo car park in Madrid - after a group had mugged us in Marbella stealing my leather handbag and contents.

I was stuck in mid-air on a three person chairlift in a ski resort in the USA.

Worst of all, in Corsica I was on a bus which broke down on the way to the airport to go home. We were all closing the road from the broken down bus when a car came over the brow of the hill and knocked me down. 1984. I had multiple injuries including ribs broken in two places, a broken collar bone, a cracked shoulder blade, a head injury which left me bleeding from my ear, with everything spinning around more than 100 times when I tired to sit up. I ended up in a hospital in Corsica where they did not even speak French, my only other language, but Italian dialect. I tried talking to the woman in the next bed fro a day. She said nothing. Eventually I asked somebody to translate. He explained that she could not talk because she had had an operation on her jaw.

Theft
Singapore - my shoulder bag was stolen, containing a British passport, a Singapore citizens card, money, my new UK iPhone and my Singapore handphone.

Here are some fearsome photos from the internet in the Daily Mail online newspaper. My favourite is the frogs in the toilet. But that was after a flood.

Tips
If you like to convince the family or friends that your problems are not as bad as you thought, print out a copy of one of these photos, keep it concealed, then bring it out as a distraction. When your car breaks down, you can look at the picture of the elephant straddled across a mini car.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4283256/Hair-raising-capture-travel-scenarios-gone-wrong.html

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