NEW Year - Jewish, explained and illustrated

 We just had the two days of The Jewish New Year. The story is in Leviticus 23.24. The Feast of Trumpets. The ram's horn is blown in the synagogue on New Year;s Day. (This takes a lot of puff.) 

In my greetings card box I found old greeting cards for Jewish festivities. Nowadays people send greetings through animated cards and whatsapp but the old printed cards reminded me from the pictures that features of the festival include eating honey and apples.

Looking out of my window in London I see apples on trees in back gardens. The Jewish new year is a lunar new year like the Asian, Chinese,  and Muslim new years. So is Sukkot, the upcoming harvest festival celebrated in Christian churches in England as well as the assembly of Christian Cof E (Church of England) state school, which Americans call public schools. 

School Year

Jewish New Year starting in autumn may seem odd, until you reflect that school and universities follow the same traditional timing.

I remember from living in the USA that in the UK public schools are what Americans call private schools.  What the Americans call public schools, are what we in the UK used to call Council schools because the County council funds them from council tax. 

Jewish New Year's Eve Dinner

The evening before in Hebrew is called Erev. Easy to remember. Eve for evening like New Year's Eve on Dec 31st, and Erev.

I was invited to a Jewish New Year evening dinner on the evening before the second day of Rosh Hashana. Like Christmas eve, Jewish holidays start the night before. (Friday night is the start of the sabbath, varying in time according to the time of darkness when you can see three stars. No need to squint at the sky. A Jewish diary or calendar or newspaper tells you what time the sabbath or festival starts.

Two Night and Two Day Festivals in the Diaspora

The diaspora is the dispersal. (The Irish and others also use the word diaspora, and living beyond the pale, meaning boundary.)

In the UK two nights are celebrated. That is because of the time difference. The UK is not the same time as Jerusalem and Israel, so to be sure to cover every hour of the holiday, two days are celebrated. In Israel, they only celebrate for one day. Often the mother or grandmother or oldest sister cooks and invites the family for the first day. Sometimes a sister or daughter will hold the festive meal at her home on the second day, often using leftover food, and table decorations, candle sticks, flowers, table naplins, plates, borrowing whatever is needed, or pretty, or appropriate. Most religious people celebrate on two days. Non religious people, friends, distant relatives might be invited on the second day. I was invited on the secnd day (night before the second day which this week, this year, was Tuesday night.

Here are some pretty pictures for your entertainment. 

Flower display. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

 Apple and head covering for a man. Paper napkin showing in gold foil the ram's horn. A plastic dipper for honey symbolising sweetness to spread on the apple. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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Chollah bread. Honey in bowl. With one large wooden honey dipper. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Honey in bowl. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Chocolate wrapped in foil. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Kosher chocolate

It doesn't have to be kosher chocolate. Ideally parve, chocolate designated as vegan, which contains neither milk nor meat, and can be served with either kind of meal.

A milk chocolate could be served with a milk meal containing no meat or meat products, not chicken, only fish. 

The real harvest festival is coming up soon, Sukkot, when households and synagogues build a sukkah, tempeorary hut with a view of the sky, (resembling the booths for guardians of the harvest, built out in Indian fields), decorated with hanging fruit 

Useful Dates

Yom Kippur 2025 Evening of October 1st to sundown on October 2nd.

Sukkot

Evening of Monday 6th October to 1th October in 2025.

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Americanism and British English - still surprised xxx xoxo?

American English and British English are only slightly different, but I learn new things constantly.


An English author was asked by the copy editor to leave out xxx on the end of letters (mail and email) because Americans would not understand this mean kiss, kiss, kiss.


Americans and some Europeans think it means x rated. Readers are puzzled.

I have noticed but never understood xoxo. Apparently Americans use this to mean kiss hug, hiss hug.

What about Canadians?


Canadians follow British language habits more closely than the Americans.

I already knew what I thought were most of the Americanisms from living in the USA as well as the UK.

British English - American English
bargain basement/bargain shop - thrift store
condom/Durex - rubber
kindergarden - preschool
lorry - truck
Mum - Mom
nappy - diaper
primary school - elementary school
public school - private school
rubber - eraser
secondary school - high school
tip - hack
turn right - make a right

American English - British English
elementary school - primary school
eraser - rubber
hack - tip
high school - secondary school
make a right - turn right
Mom - Mum
on consignment - sale or return
preschool - kindergarden
private school - public school/fee-paying school
public school - state school/council school
truck - lorry
thrift store - bargain shop

Well, love to all of you.
xxx
xoxo

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

Looking for a Michelin starred chicken rice in Singapore - or any chicken rice, or the same style in Melbourne, Australia

Problem
Where is it? Who runs it?

Answers
The chicken rice vendor was awarded a Michelin star in 2016 and since then he has expanded his business in Asia and had a successful pop-up in London which had huge queues and sold out of food.

Chicken rice is one of the signature dishes of Singapore.  You'll find it in every hawker centre. Cheap and filling, usually sold with soup, yes a bowl of soup. Chicken soup?

Check how much chicken you are getting. You might be disappointed. You might want to order another different dish, or two portions, or share with somebody else who is less keen on chicken than you are.

Consider the price you are paying. Tell the vendor you are hungry. You may find that by the time you have eaten the rice and soup and ordered a large juice from another stall, you are quite full.

What does the Michelin star chicken rice have which is different? The price in London was £6. The secret is not just the soy sauce, which other places offer, but apparently using smaller chickens so that the juice penetrates through and steeping them in juice all morning so that by lunchtime they are succulent.

Now flights from London to Singapore take about 12 hours. So you cannot expect Mr Chan to be in London for one meal and in Asia overseeing the cooking the next moment. (His name can be spelled Chan Hong Men, surnames first in Asia, like in British public schools. (Aside - for the benefit of my American readers, public schools in England are what Americans call private schools, what Americans can public schools we call council schools of state schools.)

If Mr Chan expands to more than one restaurant in Singapore, or across Asia, what guarantee is there that you will get the same quality? I am not bothered. I reckon it's like the McDonalds or KFC. The person who starts the business has a system which all the restaurants follow.

In most hawker centres when you order chicken rice, check the pictures. You can see that you don't get a solid piece of chicken, but strips or semi-circles arranged in a fan.

The cucumber is just two circles. Not a lot of vegetable. If you are a meat and two veg person, and want your 7 (yes seven) portions of veg a day, you might be better off ordering a second vegetarian dish. That way you can be sure of getting vegetables.

You might see a higher priced meal, usually another 'set' short for set meal, with more ingredients or larger portions.

Mr Chan is Malaysian, but Malaysian Chinese. You can tell he is Chinese by the name, consisting of three short syllables, surname first. Remember the late, great Lee Kuan Yew.

Malaysia has its own cuisine of halal meat, sometimes potato, and often shellfish in the rice. Often more spicy. The Malays are more happy-go-lucky. The Chinese in Malaysia are busy business people.

So, you can get chicken rice anywhere. But if you are happy to pay a bit more, try the Michelin rated chicken rice.

Several other places in Singapore received Michelin stars in 2017.

SINGAPORE
Hawker Chan, 8 Smith Street, Singapore 058972
tel +65 6272 2000

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Hawker Chan
157 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000
Australia
tel: +61 3 9650 8808
hawkerchan.com.au

How do you know he is Chinese? All the lucky eights in the phone number.

It's amazing what detailed and relevant information you can get from the web nowadays. Google will tell you if the place is open now, so without knowing the time zone you can phone and make an enquiry or booking from another country.

I even got the waiting times. Plus, of course, a complete range of customers opinions from the delighted to the disgruntled.

Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/michelin-starred-hawker-chan-draws-long-queues-with-new-outlet-in-melbourne
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294265-d
https://guide.michelin.sg/en/2017-MICHELIN-guide-Singapore-full-results-restaurants

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have many more posts on food in Singapore, Changi aiport and destinations worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts

Today's Americanism: the candy and cookie in the trash can

I find lots of Americanisms when Americans comment on forums.

American English - British English

baggage - luggage
hood (of car) - bonnet
trunk - car boot
candy - sweet / dessert
cookie - biscuit
convenience store - corner shop
cop - police / bobby / Mr Plod
correction officer - prison officer / prison guard
drug store - chemist / pharmacy
elementary school - junior school
eraser - rubber
first floor - ground floor
second floor - first floor (and so on)
garbage - rubbish
IRA - tax office / inland revenue/ income tax office
Kleenex - paper hankie(s) / tissues
Mom - Mum /mother
on consignment - second hand shop / sale or return shop
pavement - tarmac / road / roadway / motorway
sidewalk - pavement
Pop - Dad/father
private school - public school (one of the grander and more expensive private schools, originally
rubber - Durex, condom
sticking plaster - Elastoplast (brand name)
sticky tape - Sellotape (brand name)
church schools which were later opened to the fee paying public)
public school - state school, council school
rookie - fresher (college/uni) / novice
senator - member of Parliament / MP
store - shop
take out - take away
thrift store - charity shop
trash can - dustbin / litter bin / rubbish bin / waste paper basket / wheelie bin
truck - lorry
I guess - I suppose / I think
I figure - I guess / I presume
go figure - how absurd / whatever / who'd have known/ who'd have guessed/ who knows why / well I never / well, what do you know / live and learn
vacation - holiday
WTF - what the hell

So an American might say:
There's candy and cookies in the trash can.
A British person would say:
There's sweets and biscuits in the litter bin.

Please send me more suggestions. Polite ones!
Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer and photographer, language teacher, speaker