For next year's St Patrick's Day - erfect party hats and accessories

 

I like green. I ike four leaf clovers. Ad three leaf clovers. And leprechauns.

Hats from VGOODALL on Amazon or their own website.

I found these on Amazon. The trick is to order them far enough in advance to receive them in time. 

You can visit the church with a stained glass window showing St Patrick in Ireland. Expect a grand parade in Dublin. . St Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland. Others parades are held worldwide, especially in Australia.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day

Please share links to your favurite posts.

How The Helicopters Flew The Flags

Helicopters and Singapore flag on National Day, August 9th, 2020, Singapore. Photo taken and edited by Trevor Sharot.

When I tried to copy the photo from Facebook this is the blurred result. So I asked Trevor to email me the original.

On the evening of Singapore\s National Day, August 9th, helicopters carried the Singapore flag. My husband Trevor Sharot took a photo from a distance. The original photo showed skyscrapers and the helicopters far away. He edited it by extracting and blowing up just the section showing the helicopters and the flag.

Helicopter Designs
When the picture was blown up, you could see that the helicopter carrying the flag was a different design to the two escorts. All the helicopters had two blades rotating.  You need two blades going in different directions. The one on the tail of the plane may be smaller, simply to counteract the spinning, which would otherwise send the helicopter round and round.

Flying Flags Through The Air
The flag has discs along the lower edge, like the weights hidden in the hems of heavy drape curtains, and up the side. I presume this is to support the flag

If you have ever tried to photograph a flag attached to a flag pole, blowing in the wind, you will know that currents of air drive the flag this way and that. The flag folds into creases, and obscures any distinctive corner design. The movement makes it hard to photograph.

A lot of preparation and planning has to go into flying anything attached to a plane or helicopter. You can't have cords and fabric flying around and getting caught in the helicopter doors or the blades.

I remember hearing that in World War II, for every pilot flying a plane, you needed 9 more people on the ground at the base. For the pilot, plane, and journey, you need somebody providing food, servicing the plane, planning the flying route, and more.

Useful websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Singapore
Fly past and flag towed by helicopters in previous year 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U_0HVj12a8

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, British, with Singapore Resident status. Angela is a member of five Toastmasters clubs.
Toastmasters International has several speakers clubs.

Singapore National Day Celebrations To See: Oct 6, 9, 10

Flag of Singapore

Singapore National Day is August 9th, and it celebrates independence in 1965 from Malaysia, now the neighbour with whom Singapore makes constant efforts to stay on good terms.

The national languages of Singapore are English, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay and Tamil.

Events to watch in person or on TV:

1 The parade.

2 The speech.

3 The fireworks.

Things to do:
Volunteer to help.
Attend events at your Community Club.
Watch TV.
See the parade.


Birthday Banner at Community Club in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Photograph flags in streets and banners adorning Community Clubs.
Select red and white outfits to wear, such as white shirts and blouses, red ties and jackets, red shoes, red brooches..
Find red and white food or drink such as:
White bread and tomatoesL yogurt and strawberries, milk, white lassi, red and white plates.

Writing from Singapore in the week of Friday 28 July 2019 I can tell you that the Singapore flag has been displayed along the streets and on the buildings for days.

Singapore flags reflected in the pool. Cashew Heights. Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.




Flags on a balcony at Cashew Heights condo complex.

Happy Birthday Singapore vertical banner. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Features on the vertical banner to notice and point out to tourists: red and white of the flag with a crescent and stars, the Merlion symbol, the fireworks

I am president of Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Club and we will be wearing red and white, the colours of the national flag, at our meeting held two days earlier, July 7 2019. Other Toastmasters Clubs will do the same.

You can buy Singapore flags to drape over the back of the car's exterior wing mirror. Novelty, souvenir and stationery shops also sell attractive round badges with the flag symbol.

A preview of the fireworks takes place on August 6th. You can see a video preview online. At the weekend, on Saturday 10th of August, 2019, another five fireworks displays will be in the heartlands, the suburbs.

Good vantage points are high residences or offices or rooftop bars (which might sell tickets or increase prices like on New Year's Eve). If you can hear te fireworks but not see them at a buidling such as a hotel, try walking around to a public area such as a stairwell or lift lobby on the other side of the building.

Check last train times. Wear read and white and keep your camera charged and with you ready to capture the magic moments.

Make A Cake
American
Earlier in July I wondered how to make a cake for July 4th and the whole month at my Toastmasters Club meetings showing the American flag. I now know you can use raspberries or strawberries and white icing, and red food colouring. (For an American or UK flag for the blue add blueberries.)

Singapore
Cheapest, smallest, simplest. Buy a cupcake. Cover half with white frosting. Put red jam or dyed red over the other half. (Or red foil taken off a wrapped chocolate.) Cut white frosting into a crescent and five small five point stars. And / or add the letters Sg. And place the cake on a large plate on a print out of the singapore flag.

Red Food Colouring
When I looked at rainbow cakes most cooks said that natural dyes such as beetroot and strawberry gave very pale colours and you would get better results from food colouring.

Flags and badges
Flags and pages are sold at novelty stores, cheap Singapore dollar or two dollar stores, stationery stores.

You can buy a hat with the letters SG for 5 Singapore dollare from the shop in the YWCA.

Useful Websites
FIREWORKS
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ndp-2019-fireworks-to-be-set-off-from-singapore-river-for-the-first-time

DIY & BOUGHT FLAG CAKES
Simple flag cakes in red and white
https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/a-slice-of-patriotism
https://bakeavenue.com/products/singapore-flag-cake
Elaborate cakes showing flags, personalities, landmarks, Merlions and more
https://mothership.sg/2015/08/this-is-the-amazeball-result-when-19-super-creative-patissiers-bake-birthday-cakes-for-singapore/

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages.

The Lord Mayor's Show 2017

I made thumbnails of what I saw on TV to remind myself. That's especially helpful if subtitles tell you the names of people and you miss them.

One man has been in charge of the parade for years, as was his father previously. You can't have everybody racing to be first. An order of precedence is established. Nobody says where the toilets are but there must be some. The commentary told us he organizes lunch boxes for everybody participating. 

Somebody has to see the barriers are in place and removed. You need to keep track of the number of the people in the parade, anticipated number of spectators. From that you can estimate the numbers of police or marshalls. Set up the stand for the Lord Mayor. 

They didn't say so, but on a previous occasion, I heard the organizer of a parade say that you can't have two or more marching bands behind each other, with no gap, all playing different music.

Problem
What if I missed it? Where can I watch it?

Answers
If you have paid the BBC you are entitled to watch on your laptop, as a warning before the programme starts tell you.

First some statistics:
It's a three-mile parade with 20 marching bands, 140 floats and 6,500 participants including 1800 members of the military and 200 animals including horses, donkeys, and camels.

Beehives and bunches of flowers, given out to the crowd, were brought on a float

The PDSA (People's Dispensary For Sick Animals), brought magnificent horses with riders

The BBC version is on the iplayer later Sunday Nov 11 2017 for another 28 days.

Why only 28 days? It's a question of cost.

If you are not entitled to watch the BBC or are reading this after the programme has disappeared.
You can see the 2017 Lord Mayor's show as well as excerpts from the 2016 and 2015 shows on YouTube.

I particularly liked this version which showed lots of dancing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-gNvZLXB_M

So when's the next one? Same time next year.

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