Useful Spanish for shopping

 I want to buy - Quiero comprar

a gift - un regalo

a souvenir - un recuerdo

I need - Necesito (like the English word necessary)

I want to find - Quiero encontrar (like the English word encounter)

a souvenir shop - una tienda de recuerdos (like the English word records, literally a shop of souvenirs, in the plural)

The o ending for verbs in the first person, I, is like amo. I remember learning amo, amas, amat in Latin at school,, for I love, you love, he, she or it loves.

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Learn A Few Words Of Malay Easily During Malay Language Month In Singapore

Singapore flag.

Why bother learning the Malay language? It is spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia, is easy to learn, is all around in Malay restaurants and food kiosks and even Singapore airport signs and train station announcments. Why not? A new skill for free.

Signs You See At Singapore Airport:
(You will also see similar bilingual signs in Malaysia and Indonesia.)

English - Malay
bus - bas
taxi - taksi

Just say the words aloud and you will find the language is phonetic and you can often recgnie at least one word in every sign and sentence.

Pick up a Singapore map or travel guide and compare it with the version in Malay.

English - Malay
action - aksi
admission/ticket - tiket
app - aplikasi (like application)
category - kategori
customer - konsumen
Chinese - Cina
connectivity - konektivas
electric - elektrik
fares - tarif
festival - festival
focus - fokus
free - gratis
local - lokal
optical illusion - ilusi optik
recipes - resep
Singapore - Singapura
souvenir - suvenir
tour - tur
traditional - tradisional/tradisi
trail - rute
transport - transportasi
unique - unik

That's twenty-one words you can instantly recognize.

A couple more handy words:
and - dan (the same letters but the letter d is at the start instead of the end)
you - anda (I think of  'and you')

Restaurant Menus
Looking at Restaurants and food kiosks and the food in supermarkets at Singapore airport, you will soon learn that Makan / makanan means food, meal, or eat and Minuman means drink or drinks.

Some items you might spot on menus:
English - Malay
icon - ikon
chocolate - coklat
satay - sate

Also look for t-shirts with the flag.

And baseball hats. I bought mine for 5 dollars on the YWCA shop.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is an author, travel writer and photogrpaher and teaches English and other languages.

Almond Confection From Spain - Try It And Buy It

Almendro packet. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Almonds

'What is this sugary stuff? It must be almonds.Too much sugar and not enough almonds,' I muttered to myself. I ate some more. Yes, I was right. Almonds. Too much sugar and not enough almond. I ate some more.

I checked the back of the packet. Yes, it contains almonds. Not enough. I ate some more.

Souvenir From Spain 

If you ever go to Spain, look for this speciality. Bring some back for your friends and neighbours. We loved it and used to buy it in Spain.

Gift
You might not want to part with the one you have bought for your neighbours. Either invite them over for tea and share it. Better still, buy one for them and another for yourself.

How To Choose A Cut Out Card in Vietnam And Elsewhere

Flag of Vietnam.

I loved the Vietnamese cut out cards. They are everywhere in Hanoi, north Vietnam. Street hawkers display them on trays. Shops in museums have them. 

Xmas and holiday souvenirs

Creative types and collectors would like to buy and give one showing Vietnam scenes, or receive it or keep it as a souvenir. The green trees and parcels designs would be good to keep in your box of leftover Xmas cards for next year.

Birthdays and Weddings

You can find cards for birthdays showing a cake; or weddings with a couple embracing. If you don't see what you want, just ask. 

Ask

I did that out of desperation at Hanoi's airport. It was my last opportunity. What do you know - the seller had a stack of them under the counter and hunted through until he found what I had requested.

Transporting Cards When Travelling

The cards are small and fold flat, easy to pack. 

How can you protect it from getting dirty and creased? Cards are usually sold in a protective transparent envelope which keeps the card clean. You can keep one safely flat between the pages of your holiday reading, a folding map or guidebook in your bag.

Size?

I once took a small but exquisite card to a friend's birthday lunch. My card looked a bit small next to the other large cards standing in a row on display.

My family consoled me: 'The other cards are big and bold and plain. Yours is different, like you, small and cute.'

For posting, small is sometimes better and cheaper.

However, if you want a card to compete with other cards, it may be worthwhile paying extra for a larger card. If they are all the same price, pick a bigger or taller card which, in a crowd of cards, looks impressive.

For hotels
booking.com
Comparison site:
https://www.clicktripz.com/rates/search/index
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com (Comprehensive list of budget airlines in Wikivoyage.)
For transport
https://www.grab.com/vn/en/

Language
Duolingo.com 
(Remember to click on the sound symbol to hear how words are pronounced.) 

Author

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

Modern Souvenirs To Wear From Russia

Problem
What are Free Sights Selling?
Language lessons on the internet are often free, but surely they will try to sell something sometime. You can't begrudge them that. They have to make a living. Eventually, they hope to sell you an advanced course, or run advertising, or capture the data.

You have probably heard sayings about business, and marketing, and everything: if you are not with us you are against us; if you are not moving forwards you are moving backwards. If you are not making money, you are losing money.

This language learning website is no longer selling just language items, but now items from the country or about it, for enthusiasts.

My free Russian course just sent me a link to their Russian souvenirs page. Of course, I was curious to take a look. Why not!

In general, I like to buy traditional items, not kitchen tee-shirts and mugs with puns. However, I just loved their website. I don't know why it's so funny to see keep calm and learn Russian written in Russian. It's a double joke.

First, it was originally a WWII government slogan.

Secondly, the Russian language is a challenge, but if you can read the tee-shirt, at least you are making some progress, and seeing the Russian on the tee-shirt is a remember of the alphabet. I thought their souvenirs were great fun.

And the mug which says in Russian, I am a Russian spy - why is that funny? Again it makes me laugh on so many levels. He is using Russian as a code. Only people who bother to learn Russian or are born in Russia and are Russian speaking are likely to be spies. But if you can read the words on the mug - maybe you are also a spy, at very least pro-Russian.

Years ago a spy stayed a spy, hidden.  Only after he or she died did the rumours start. Now we have spies all over the newspapers. This ex-spy accuses that ex-spy. You wonder whether spying is one of the courses offered at uni, perhaps in the careers advice leaflets.

Finally, would you drink coffee prepared by somebody who claims to be a Russian spy, admittedly as a joke.

I love it, love it, love it.

I also liked the Moscow skyline pillow and the balalaika mug.

Useful Websites
https://funrussianstore.com/?utm_campaign=Conversational+Russian+Video+Course&utm_content=Announcement%3A+It%27s+finally+here%21&utm_medium=Announcement%3A+It%27s+finally+here%21&utm_source=getresponse
https://funrussianstore.com/collections/pillows

Royal Wedding Chocolate bar on Singapore Airlines

Problem
Missing the royal wedding, Meghan and Harry in Windsor? Travellers on a Singapore Airlines flight from Heathrow in London to Changi in Singapore were given a bar of chocolate with a souvenir wrapper. I don't yet know which class or whether all classes got the same.

Harry is a diminutive of Henry. Salcombe Dairy - they make the ice creams for Singapore Airlines. See my other posts on Singapore Airlines, Windsor, The Royal Wedding. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Useful Websites
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/05/16/heathrow-airport-throwing-royal-wedding-celebration-with-free-cake-royal-trumpeter.html

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Ten Commandments For Travellers To Avoid Trouble

Vlad the Impaler. Romania. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Ten Commandments To Avoid Trouble

1 Don't steal. 
(Don't take anything without asking. Always ask first if toiletries, pens, posters, menus, anything which looks cheap or a fun souvenir can be taken for free.)

2 Check you are driving the correct side of the road.

3 Don't drive when drunk. 
Plan a passenger who can drive if you are drinking and ensure they will stay with you.
Watch out for drunks, especially New Year's Eve. 
Also countries with drunks, areas around pubs.
Built up areas with houses and shops are where you get speed cameras and 30 mph limits because children and animals and the elderly and drunks and pedestrians looking at phones are likely to cross your way.

Romanian road sign. Beware of drunks. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

4 PLAN 
Remember the saying: You don't plan to fail. You fail to plan.) Check routes and hazards.

5 KNOW EMERGENCY NUMBERS
Know the local emergency phone numbers. 
Where are the nearest police stations, hospitals? Where is your insurance document. In some countries you cannot enter a private hospital until you have shown your insurance document which assures them that they will be paid. You don't want to lose time diverting to a state or free hospital.

6 LEARN LOCAL LANGUAGES
Learn the language of a country you are visiting a year in advance.
 (If you can't, be aware of translation devices an print out emergency appeals, as well as warning to heed from police and passers-by.)

7 BE POSITIVE
Keep commands positive. 
Climbers are taught on seeing rockfalls, don't say, "Don't look up!"  Firstly, somebody will look up. Secondly they might miss the negative word. Thirdly you waste an extra second saying don't.
Keep up morale.

8 LOG TRAVELS & INFORM Family
Tell people where you are going and when you will be back.

9 COMMUNICATION & RELIABILITY
Don't keep running away and disappearing or nobody will know you are in trouble. 
Do daily checks on the elderly, sick and family.

10 EMERGENCY SUPPLIES
Carry food and drink, maps, phones, first aid, something for all weathers.

Finally, no pranks. Don't pretend to jump off a cliff or hang yourself. Don't steal somebody else's food or drink for a joke. Don't wave a fake gun at somebody else, because they don't know you are joking and might fire back with a real gun. 

No pranks. Firstly, you could endanger them. Secondly, the stress might make them angry. Remember the road safety rule: The life you save may be your own.

Photo of Ambulance in Romania. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

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