Easy Spanish words for travellers 20 words

 Spanish - English (memory aid)

carro - car (Double the r to remember to roll your r. Add an o because unlike ships traditionally she in English, cars are a man's or boy's toy.)

buena - good (una buena idea = a brilliant/beautiful idea)

buscando - (I am) looking for (busy scanning the surroundings or the horizon)

cielo - sky (like ceiling)

clase - class

costa - coast (as in Costa del Sol in southern Spain)

demasiado - too, too much (think of deluge)

ellas/ellos planean - they (each and every one, female or male, like los angeles meaning the angels is plural for the) plan 

equipage - luggage, (like equipment)

es - is (yes it is)

estatua - statue

gratis - free, no charge

idea - idea

isla - island just drop the last two letters, (it's a small island)

libre - free, unoccupied

los - the (plural, like Los angeles, city in the USA, meaning the angels)

sol - sun

solo - only/solo (both words have the letters o and l)

train - tren (you have to roll your r, or listen for the word said with a rolled r. To roll your r, pull the tip of your tongue backwards along the roof of your mouth whilst breathing out - say three whilst breathing out)

el turista - the tourist

If you know all these words you can now say, it is a car, it is luggage, it is an island, it is a tourist. Raise your voice and your eyebrows to turn a statement into a question in Spanish.

Useful Language Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Costa+del+Sol

See my other posts on Spanish.

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Planning A Trip To Singapore For Christmas and New Year? Some Tips From Residents

Going to Singapore? You are in for a treat. the airport wins many awards.


Changi airport. Trolleys and trees. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Booking Flight Dates And Prices

let us suppose you wish to arrive in Singapore around Christmas and leave after New Year. The air fare 9On Singapore Airlines) rapidly increases day by day for returning early January so it saves several hundred UK pounds to leave late on New Year's Day rather than the 2^nd or 3rd. You will still have eight days and nights here.

Kris Flyer Miles

If your relatives in Singapore book tickets for you and they are Krisflyer members, they cannot receive Krisflyer mileage credit as they are not a passenger (though they could receive some for using a Krisflyer Amex card). So if two of you are flying to Singapore you should both apply for a Krisflyer number – there is a link below. Mileage never expires (at least for me).

However, if you are a member of one of the Star Aliiance programme members, Such as Virgin, you may be able to claim points from them. Check conditions. 

Choosing Meals and Seats 

You should be able to log on to SIA at any time to choose a kosher/halal/vegetarian or other meal and/or select seats (Manage Booking link below). If it doesn’t work for you then your relative can do that.

You will receive a request to log in online exactly 48 hours before departure (both flights). I think doing so means you can bypass the auto kiosks (always a queue) and proceed straight to luggage drop. It’s also an opportunity to review your seating.

VISAS

If you are British you don’t need a visa for Singapore, just complete a landing form which you will receive either at luggage drop or shortly before touchdown. However, double check, just in case the rules change.

London, Heathrow

At LHR it’s terminal 3. When you enter T3 from the taxi drop, turn left and keep going to get to the correct inner entrance to the departure hall. Once inside, turn left again and the SIA kiosks and desks are at the end.

It’s a long walk to the SIA departure gates, under the apron and up the other side. Takes 15-20 minutes after security/duty-free.

Another member of my family says, "You don’t need to print anything, it’ll all be on their computer.' 

However, I like to have airline tickets and hotel reservations printed out. It reminds me of check in times. It works when your phone has no reception or no battery or you change phones in another country. It is a fall-back if the system does not recognize you because the airline or hotel has listed your surname first, Asian style, or the check-in staff are checking your first name as a surname.

When dropping bags, you may need to show your passport and booking reference number. If you can use a yellow highlighter you can find this instantly without holding up everybody in the line behind you.

Always keep your passport attached to your person or in front of you. Never put it down in a trolley behind you. My friends lost their passports in the line at Singapore's Changi, with a group of lads jostling behind them. They lost their holiday. 

Protexcting Passports
I had my passport stolen when my bag was taken from my shoulder, slashed outside a hwaker centre (food court) in Singapore. 

Replacing a passport costs a lot of money and time and you get a temporary passport which you pay for and then have to apply for a permanent passprot when you get back to London.

If you have a small bag, don't let your bag hang loose from your shoulder. Keep it under your arm and if possible keep a poncho or jacket over the bag. What happened tnse.o me was a classic. somebody bumped me from my right, but another pair took my bag from the left.

If your phone is stolen, it is also handy to have your ticket printed out and kept in another place. Make sue both of you have copies of both tickets, so that if one person has their property stolen or lost, the other person has the details.

Driving License And Identity Cards Keep copies of your driving license and international driving license whether or not you intend to drive. The driving license acts as a second form of identification if you need it, or want to leave your passport behind in a hotel, then need identiy to change money at a bank, or get into a public buidling such as an office.  For example, a colleague or new friend invites you to their Christmas party at IBM or Apple in Singapore. Their office is in the Central Business District. maybe their office is on the 18th floor. However, security in the building on the ground floor will not let you through the barrier into the lift area until you have shown evidence of your identity and they have noted your passport number. 

Since September the rules have changed. Security staff are now no longer allowed to take your passport in exchange for the pass into the building.  

Restaurants will be doubling prices at Christmas. You might fare better in Muslim Malaysia. Or try Hawker centres (food courts) at off-peak hours.


Emergency
Incidentally, 999 is the emergency number for police. For ambulance you call 995.

If you want to learn a little Chinese, use Duolingo or Chineasy. See my previous posts on the Chinese symbols.

Chineasy.

Useful Websites
wiki Chineasy
chineasy.com
singaporeair.com
duolingo.com

Author

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

See Ten Strange Seat Sculptures In Singapore - but can you sit on them?

Problem
Ah - there's a seat. Er - no. We would have to sit separately.

Seat sculpture in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Arch Seat Sculpture in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

This one is more of a challenge. Sit astride the top? Sit back to back.

Answer
It's a sculpture. Ten of them are created and installed in Singapore by Danish artist Jeppe Hein. How you manage to sit is up to you. A great photo opportunity and challenge.

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

Colourful seating. Contrasting colors

I saw these lovely seat colours in an office which I visited in Singapore to give an English language evaluation for speeches. What delightful uplifting colors.

The colours are purple, yellow and royal blue. Not a colour combination I would have thought of. 

The colours divide up the seating so you can select a space and not overlap into anybody else's space.  

Could that yellow, pale colour, ever get stained or dirty or faded? I bet it's treated with stain repellent. 

If anything goes wrong, maybe the cushions are reversible. Maybe you can order spares, just of the odd cushions, not the entire sequence of seats. Alternatively, keep spare cushions in their wrapper in case the company changes the colours or lines or goes out of business. 

However, fashions change. A new decorating department may wish to make improvements. The office will probably change the seating style and redecorate before the suppliers go out of business. For now, it looks lovely. 

The backs give support, but are low enough to allow a picture window view.

The port, I was told, will eventually be moved. Then what? Maybe a marina or something pretty. Singapore does not allow derelict sites spoiling the garden city.

Even on business, without visiting a single tourist site, you get an impression of the landscape and modern development and the philosophy of the country of Singapore.

Useful Websites

singaporeair.com

visitsingapore.com

Author

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

Translating German From An Email Address

Problem
I see a lot of German words on an email. What do they mean? What can I learn easily?

Answer
I run the words through a translation service and get this:

German - English
Deutschland - Germany
dorf - valley
strasse - street
sitz - seat or base
Registergericht - register court
persoenlich - personally
Gesellschafter - shareholders
eingetragen - registered (like the words in - scribed)
ihre - its
im - in
umsatzsteuer - VAT
identifikationsnummer - identification number

English - German
Germany - Deutschland
identification number - identifikationsnummer
in - im
its - ihre
personally - persoenlick
river - floss
stream - strom
street - strasse
valley - dorf

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

Conversations On London Buses: Fighting For Space

Problem
How do you get to talk to people in London?

Answer
People don't talk much to strangers on underground trains. You stand more chance on an intercity trains, where you can choose to sit at a table for four. (Some trains haver reserved seating.)

However, if you are chatty, like me, you stand a fair chance of talking to somebody on a bus, if it's a long journey, so you have several different people, and you smile.

The seating is designed on the 142 bus route along the Edgware Road and other buses so that the front four seats are allocated with priority seating for those with greater needs. In the day time you get a high proportion of people who are elderly or schoolchildren or students. So there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, and ''have a seat," and 'Thank you".

I got on the bus and saw a seat with a woman who turned sideways so I could squeeze past to the window seat. However, after hesitating, I decided to take the empty aisle seat next to another woman who was by the window.

She immediately got into a muttered conspiratorial conversation with me, starting with her view of the woman in front. "I'm surprised she even moved aside for you. People are so unhelpful."

I nodded. it turned out the speaker was already aggrieved about other passengers. She said, "Earlier I tried to sit down and a woman had a cake on the seat. I said, very politely, "
'Excuse me, would you mind moving your cake.' She replied, indignantly, 'Where am I supposed to put it!' I said, 'On your lap. You haven't paid for two seats!' "

The front of the bus has a high level area where people place their shopping out of the way.

The conversation certainly livened my journey. A short-lived friendship, but a friendship.

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

Find me this Airbnb in Paris, France, with the frame around the seat in the hall

Problems
How do you take a memorable picture for a special occasion such as a birthday, wedding or anniversary?

Answers
Wedding pictures can be taken by waterfalls, in front of cathedrals and churches, on bridges over water.
My longstanding friend was taken on a surprise trip to Paris for her birthday last year. The family took a picture of her at the Airbnb which was unique. In the hallway was the perfect seat for a memorable photo, a seat in a giant imitation picture frame. Here's a picture of it. My friend's family made her a souvenir photo book. Unfortunately my friend didn't write down the name of the hotel. But where is it?

Station Decoration in Singapore

This seat looks like a four leaf clover with a green spike in the middle.

This attractive mural shows a tree and leaves.

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