Perfect and Vital Photos of Holiday Resorts, Business, family, friends, clubs

A welcome sign can be used to open a slide show or blog.
 

You can take photos on travels, whether on business or holiday, either for a purpose or as a backup.

These are the photos I take

IN ADVANCE - TICKETS & LUGGAGE & PEOPLE

If you forget, take luggage in transit or as you check-in at an airport.

Suitcases showing colour, style (hard side), size and brand, for identification in case of loss. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

1 TICKETS

Tickets and reservations. They may be on the internet but the internet could go down. They may be on my phone but the phone might need charging or not get a connection to show them.

The hotel, plane, or tour or restaurant might not recognize you. Your reservation letter would reveal that you are at the wrong branch of a Holiday Inn. Of an Asian hotel has listed your first name as a family name. 

2 BAGS

Photos of luggage. In case I need to search, send others to search at baggage claim, or fill out a form. If you lose luggage they ask the colour and brand. If you have eight items it is hard to remember, and if there is a query, or language problem, you can show a picture.

3 PEOPLE

Photos of your companions are useful. Lose your husband at an airport or meeting. In a large shop? Lose a child? Show the photo to an official or bystander.

DESTINATION

4 Destination photos. PLACES. 

First I take my hotel. If I get lost, I can show the picture to a local person. Even if I can't speak the language, or the cannot understand my accent, they can lead me to the end of he road and point to my nearby, yet seemingly elusive hotel.

Hotel Imperial, Valladolid. Spain. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

5 PEOPLE

Photos of people on business, or friends. Take a photo to add to your contacts. If you have six people called Marie, or Patel, or Ali, you will be able to identify the person who you promised to send the photos of the three of you at an event.

6 FOOD & DRINK

Photos of wine bottles, labelled food at a buffet, so you can ask for it in a local supermarket to take home as a souvenir or gift.

7 Photos of yourself. For a passport photo or visa or ski lift pass. Or in action to show your credentials as an expert, as a chef, of speaker, on a TV show, with the book you are selling.

8 YOUR FAVOURITES AT HOME

Photos of books or goods or restaurants you want to sell of recommend.  If you live in a well known place such as New York or Rome, you might meet somebody who says they are going there, so can you recommend a restaurant or hotel. Take your favourite hotel or restaurant or museum photo just before you go, so you can show it, and WhatsApp it to the person who asks you.

9 LOCATION NAMES

A name, phone, signpost, welcome design of each city or hotel. This helps you to identify cities, landmarks, churches, temples, people, hotels, every picture taken on holiday. Date each picture in the caption, with the country. It's obvious at the time. Three years later, it won't be.

10 WEDDINGS

Weddings. Photograph the invitation showing the names of the bride and groom, and their parents. Then the main people at the top table. Add those at the table where you sat. Any person you spoke to. 

Record the name of the caterer or photographer, if you wish to do business with them later. The official photographer might take only those at the top table. Ignoring your family, your best friend, or Auntie Sally from overseas who dies so you have no happy photo of her for the obituary because nobody else took a photo of an old lady, only of the teenagers dancing.

11 VIP Conference Speakers

 At a conference, photograph the speakers, people you meet, those given awards. A video of a speech if its brief and not using up too much of your camera or phone memory. Sometimes people are very grateful to have a record.

Remember to get your own speech recorded. And a photo of yourself being presented with an award. This is handy in years to come, including an end of year party for a slide show of members, or a celebration of a hotel or restaurant or club at the end of the first year or after ten years or twenty.

Birthday picture of Angela. If a photo is blurred, it can later be edited. Some software programmes which you can buy or get free will do this. I was offered a sharpening of photo service on one of the websites like ancestry com and 23 and me. In Jul 2024 my Samsung Galaxy phone started offering to save photos in higher resolution, which would take up more space on the phone because of increasing pixels if you did it for lots of photos. An alternative is to save special photos in the cloud or on a remote disc, on another phone, on another family member's phone. Or take more photos, checking which are blurred and saving the better ones.

A birthday or anniversary picture can be used to send to family overseas, or a montage of pictures for an anniversary, a screen covered by photos, the birthday of an 80 year old or somebody reaching 100 years old. A happy picture can also lift your spirits at a funeral.

12 DRAMAS

Accidents and dramas. Your photo could help with an insurance claim.

13 LANGUAGE

Learning languages is aided by photos of signs, menus, even laundry lists.

VIDEOS

You can also take a video of your walk from a hotel to a nearby shop or railway station. Then reverse it to find your way back, or to tell another family member or business associate or club member where to find you and the venue

PHOTO TIPS

Photograph food from displays, but not through glass.

Photograph yourself smiling. Unsmiling for passport photos. 

Without glasses and hats which obscure eyes. 

Cut or pin back fringes covering eyes for passport photos.

Unfold arms to look more welcoming for PR for yourself or a company. People think folded arms look more important. No. It just looks like you don't want to get involved with others. Or you have something to hide. Norwegians are serious people. The USA, UK and Europe go for the friendly smile.

Please save and share links to your favourite posts.

SMART Tunnel Toaster - ordering items from overseas to cook in quarantine, a hotel suite or a second home

What if you want a toaster for your home overseas, your second home, or for a long-stay overseas, or for two weeks in quarantine? We were quarantined in Singapore after returning to Singapore from London, UK. We had left a small size coffee capsule machine in a suitcase with a friend in Singapore who used a forwarding company to send out suitcase from his home to our hotel. If we had had a toaster, we could have made ourselves toast for breakfast and or toasted sandwiches. Instead of a breakfast of rice, lunch featuring rice, and dinner of, guess what, rice. 

Now we are looking online for a replacement toaster. We loved our old toaster with a rack on top for items which are too large even for the thick slice toaster. Our UK based family love their electric sandwich maker. 

I saw the Smart (brand) Toast and Slide (item) tunnel toaster (description). The you tube video by review.com shows a user baking bread, bagels, croissants, pitta, and sweet potatoes. Admittedly, one item looked burned across the middle. 

The toaster cost about fifty pounds sterling in the UK from Amazon.UK . What if you are not in the UK? You could ask a relative who lives there to forward it to you. But buying, packing and posting is a hassle for them, and you have no recourse if the item arrives damaged.

Shipping Companies

You could have a toaster or any other item shipped overseas using a shipping company. They will combine orders for you from different companies into one package and re-pack to save space and weight.

I suggested this to my husband, but he declined, saying, "A toaster is too delicate. What if it arrives broken and I have to pay to ship it back?

You might be more optimistic. Or ordering a must-have item. Or something less fragile.

Useful websites

Smart Toast and Slide toaster

reviewer.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQb61m3xbEo

https://www.forward2me.com/pricing/

https://www.forward2me.com/pricing/?country=SG

Princess Tunnel Toaster

in German, man speaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7CS4emG7BQ

Lady speaking Dutch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFLuNYGUyv8

Dash clear view window toaster I saw on a Youtube America's test kitchen About 40 dollars

I also liked the 'Breville bit more', cost 80 US dollars.

America's Test Kitchen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jveit7UKBy4

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

Zoom, co-host and how to record, why record, or why not record?

We think only the host can record, not the co-host. This is something two of you can practise.

I am using both zoom and learncool. It's good to know more than one system. You can explain more easily to others.

Why Record?
If you have speeches and workshops you might record them so others who missed the meeting can catch up. the recording could be publicty, PR, for your group andornizers. Status for the performers. Everyone from Mum to future employers can see you.

A chance to review your performance and improve.
Value for those who paid your year's membership or the event fee but could not attend - or gorgot.

A chance to capture still photos from the video.

Keep up with the Joneses - the internet is flooded  with videos from your rivals and friends. If you are not recording you are left behind, too modest, not proactive, not visible.

A video can be used to sell your next event.

What about people who don't want to be recorded. Why not?

It could be privacy concerns. They don't want to reveal where they are or where they are not.

Performance concerns. They were tired sick, having a bad hair day, not at their best.

If you have a group of 50, 100 or 300 people you cannot afford to have your promotional video sabotaged by one person who makes a fuss about being photographed because they wore the bue jacket instead of the black one.

One way around this problem is to ask everyone to switc off their pictrue so that only their name appears on a black screen. This enables them to hug their children, stroke the cat, take a phone call, apply their lipstick and comb heir hair, eat their lunch, frown, cough, whatever, all though the meeting without having to worry about naked spouses and kids running out of the bathroom behind them, nor to sit bolt upright with a faint smile for three hours.

Author
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

Online Toastmasters International Meetings
If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=braddell%20heights%20advanced%20toastmasters
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
Tiarel.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product

How to Choose Backgrounds for your videos

Back in the good old days before COVID-19 I was out every night at Toastmasters meetings.

Now I am online several times a week, sometimes at two overlapping meetings, talking to people all around the world.


Singapore Online club. you can see that plain backgrounds are effective. 

Were you thinking of creating a video indoors - or outdoors? both have their advantages. Let's start with indoors - including a backdrop creating the illusion of outdoors.

I have watched several videos of people giving speeches in club and area contests with distracting backgrounds. First, a background of a bed topped by clothes. , a distracting clock in another time zone from mine, a whirring ceiling fan in the centre giving the impression that the speaker is Harry The Helicopter.

Not to mention the mother or husband bringing in a hot drink of plate of food, the granny or maid limping up the corridor behind and then disappearing into room two, reappearing in the corridor with a bag of washing, going off to room three.

Others have had toddlers demanding cuddles or climbing onto their lap, grinning or even singing. One contest convener specified that the person manning the cameras must be single with no family nor pets in the same room or dwelling causing distractions.

To create the illusion that you are in San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge, or on an exotic beach, you simply pick one of the four optional backgrounds provided in Zoom and ManyCam. 

(What's this? Think of it as many cameras. The illusions of extra backgrounds projected from another camera.) 

This works best if you have a screen. You can buy green screens in various sizes. 

Wall backgrounds

You could alternatively sit with your back to a big blank white wall, a white screen in an office or school. 

If your study has a filing cabinet or pictures on the walls, this ruins the effect. Consider having a picture to match the subject of your video, or a series of posters. You can print them from your computer, including your own holiday or trip photos.

If your printer only takes A4 size paper, you can still make a larger print to look bigger or more impressive or be seen or to cover what is behind.

You need to divide the photo you are using into two or four or eight, or even more. Stick them very neatly together with no mis-alignments nor black edges nor undulating edges nor projections where corers match at the edge.

You need to find somewhere to suspend a sheet

I needed a green screen for my Braddell Heights Advanced online meeting (Wed evening 7 pm join us on Learncool.sg) so I went through all my sheets until I found a plain green colour. 

That was a long job because, having taken out all tangled sheets, I folded it all neatly, moved the pillowcases into drawers to reduce the pile, and moved a white board over the right hand drawers in the wardrobe to overhand and create two tiers in what was previously a full length hanging space.

1

• 

  David  Angela, nicely done! And how is the green screen working for you?

  • 
    
  •  · Reply
  •  
• 

  Angela Lansbury I shall tell you after tonight's meeting. Thanks for the reminder. I'll try it out. 
• Joke: Just getting out of this green dress. 
• One way to be a ghost, wear the same colour as the background. Some of the old magic tricks involved wearing black clothes and using a black curtain. If you turn your back, or cover your face with a black cloth, you disappear.
• The same applies to any other colour. Make sure you are not wearing the same colour as your background.
• Finally OUTDOORS

PARK

• If you have no suitable background at home, your home is untidy and you wish to give advice on tidying, or don't want to reveal your collection of gold bars and antiques to the tax office, the burglars and the person you are divorcing, go out into the nearest park or garden. (COVID-19 in your country or state or area permitting.) 
• Plants such as palm trees look exotic if you are in Florida, or Singapore, or even gardens in London have palm trees. Walk up and down your nearest street or search on google earth.

On the other hand, you might wish to do the reverse, conceal your local palm trees and pretend you are in London, or on a ski slope in the snow. 

• BALCONY
• You could also stand on a balcony. Even in a bathroom or toilet against the door or wall (American with all the fittings such as door handles and taps hidden by potted plants or hanging plants or the portable green screen.
• No green screen? 
  1
  • I have used a golfing umbrella. If you are holding it in one hand you have only one hand to touch your screen and record or stop recording.
• Golfing umbrella. - indoors or out
• You could also try a golfing umbrella. It tends to fall sideways.
• SHEET
•  I needed a green screen for my Braddell Heights Advanced online meeting (Wed evening 7 pm join us on Learncool.sg) so I went through all my sheets until I found a plain green colour. Having taken out all tangled sheets, I folded it all neatly, moved the pillowcases into drawers to reduce the pile, and moved a white board over the right hand drawers in the wardrobe to overhand and create two tiers in what was previously a full length hanging space.
• I reported this in the media

• 

  David Levy Angela, nicely done! And how is the green screen working for you?

  • Like
  •  · Reply
  •  · 13h
• 

  Angela Lansbury I shall tell you after tonight's meeting. Thanks for the reminder. I'll try it out. Just getting out of this green dress. One way to be a ghost, wear the same colour as the background propped up.

• 
  
• Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.) See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts, Quick Quotations, Who Said What When. Also watch videos on YouTube.

  See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

  
  

  Please share links to your favourite posts.

  If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club, Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England. I am also a member of Singapore Online. 

Video conferencing enhanced by travel photos

When you are video conferencing you can show your background or create an imaginary one. One woman on a toastmasters contest said she had two computer backgrounds, one for work, another in a different room for social events.

Even if you are stuck on one place, you have a choice. I have watched several contests where the speakers spoke from their own homes. It  can be very distracting to have a row of books behind you. Whilst I was interested to see that a good friend is an avid reader, I lost track of what she was saying whilst looking at her books.

Another speaker had a clock on the wall. Another had a light on the ceiling behind her. As she swayed back and forwards, the white light appeared and disappeared. Another woman had her bed and soft toys in view.

Others had children running around, up and down corridors, opening and shutting the door. Or the speaker themselves got up and walked around the room. Distracting when you are waiting for them to speak, or watching another speaker, before switching from audience view to speaker view.

The simplest and most effective is a white background.

You can buy a green screen on which to project pictures. Zoom offers fewer than half a dozen pictures. I am hoping they will add more.

However, you can upload your own background.

My favourites are those depicting the country where you live. However, it looks off for me to show a picture of America's golden gate bridge when I am in London or Singapore. At best confusing. At worst downright misleading. On the other hand, it could be protective, in security terms, to not reveal where you are but always show another country or something not specific to a particular place.

One of my favourite views was a video which showed the sea coming in and out on a beach through windows behind the speaker. I was impressed. It was beautiful.

I admit it was distracting. Later she disappeared and the rolling waves stayed, whilst another person was speaking in another oblong audience window.

You can set up a zoom connection between yourself and another member of your family or a colleague in another room to check your background.

More to enjoy.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Five Ways To VideoCall Family on a Mobile Phone

Did you miss a get together on a birthday or mother's day?

Here's what you can do to catch up. The most efficient way is to call the same time each week, or the same time each day, so you don't play yo-yo with missed calls. When we shared a flat with my husband's ex-colleague, he used to phone from Singapore to Australia or New Zealand to speak to his children every week on Sunday.

When I lived in the USA we phoned my parents in the UK from Washington DC in the evening. We only had one hour when it was convenient in both countries.

Five Video Conferencing Systems
(Alphabetically)

Facebook Messenger
Google Duo
Skype
WhatsApp
Zoom

Useful Websites
BBC guide to video calling family
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51968122

How to create and run an online meeting

Decide to hold meetings online. If possible find a few others who agree and will help you. If not, just set it up, so you are ready to answer questions, fend off objections, and then ask for help.

Decide which system you want to use, zoom or another. This may depend on the length of the meeting, whether you are willing to pay, how long you want the meeting to be.

Set up your meeting account. Make yourself and possibly somebody else an admin.

Send the attendees their link.
Tell them that they need to sign in.

On zoom, show them the buttons to click on for:
 mute and unmute
chat - to everyone or message one person such as yourself the admin or another
How to leave the meeting
How to be recorded
To record sound only
To record video

Zoom
If you use zoom, you fill in the link.
Sign up with your name.
https://zoom.us/postattendee?id=7

Free Conference Call
https://www.freeconferencecall.com/wall/

Your name or reference number is added on the end of the above link.
You can also use Whatsapp and Google.

More later. See next post.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury. Please save links to your favourite posts.

Yul Brynner's Statue, Grave & Anti-Smoking Video - Russia, France, the USA and Thailand

Yul Brynner as King Ramsses in The Ten Commandments.

Yul Brynner starred in The Ten Commandments, The King and I, and a remake version of the Seven Samurai called The Magnificent Seven.
.
I found Yul Brynner's gravestone by accident when I was reading his life story on Wikipedia. He has long been one of my favourite actors.


French flag.

His grave is in France. You can see a picture of it on Find A Grave.


Yul Brynner's memorial carved on the gravestone with the name of his wife Juliet.

The grave is not particularly exciting, disappointingly plain, a little cross and weatherbeaten lettering. And there's no body to talk to. His cremated remains are in the Abby pasture. turned to ash, like the cigarettes which killed him.

However, you might notice something about the cross. The protestants, the majority in the UK, have plain crosses. The Roman Catholics, the majority in France, have more elaborate churches and have a figure crucified on the cross. The Greek and Russian Orthodox have a more elaborate cross.Yul Brynner came from Russia, hence the different cross.

I am more interested in the statue set up in Brynner's Russian birthplace.

RUSSIA
The statue is Vladivostok. Where is the city? It's on the East coast. That's what the name  In fact the name means East.


Yul Brynner statue. Yul Brynner park. Vladivostok. Russia. Photo in Wikipedia.

(Vladivostok, not to be confused with Moscow, St Petersburg, Leningrad, Volgograd (was Stalingrad), Stalingrad, Ekaterinaburg, Odessa on the Black sea and Ukraine).

Tripadvisor reviews alerted me to the facts that the statue has bare feet, it stands in front of the house where he was born which is not open to the public, but the city's main museum has pictures of Yul Brynner's films.

USA
A third place to pay homage to Yul Brynner is in the USA in the walk of fame. His star is 6162 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA.


Flag of the USA.



Hollywood Walk of Fame showing the brass five-pointed stars.

Meanwhile, before taking your next trip, you might like to check out his films on YouTube.

Thailand
Incidentally, his famous film, The King and I, which put Thailand on the map and promoted the Thai silk industry, is more than unpopular in Thailand, the film and book are banned, or they were when I visited the country and I was warned not to talk about it or mention it.

The Thai royal family were apparently outraged by the implication and demonstration in the film of their revered king dancing with a mere commoner,

So, if you plan on reading the book before your next trip to Thailand, read it first back home and leave it at home. Yul Brynner's film is not revered in Thailand.

RUSSIA
No problems if you visit his statue in Russia. His birthplace. He is a hero, a tourist draw.

Anti-smoking Video
On you tube you can see the video he left to be shown after his death, of himself saying that cigarettes killed him and telling the viewer to give up smoking. Both spooky and worthy. Some might consider that this is his most memorable and admirable performance.

Useful Websites
France

ee.france.fr

Thailand
https://www.tourismthailand.org/home

RUSSIA
https://www.visitrussia.org.uk/
https://wikitravel.org/en/Vladivostok
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowUserReviews-g298496-d6429337-r400214069-Yul_Brynner_Monument-Vladivostok_Primorsky_Krai_Far_Eastern_District.html

Yul Brynner
Brief anti smoking video made by Yul Brynner in association with the American Cancer Society
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNjunlWUJJI

USA
vistitheusa.co.uk

Yul Brynner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yul_Brynner
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yul-Brynner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_on_the_Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_and_I_(1956_film)
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2015/05/19/thailands-banned-king-and-i/

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

Good Manners And Social Etiquette With Angela Lansbury

Do you know what to do when somebody won't shake hands, or you don't want to shake hands?
Answers above.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury
Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

How To Prepare For Weddings and Jewish Weddings

A few more thoughts on weddings, and Jewish weddings.
Apart from the usual drsses of the bride and mother of the bride and groom, and the flowers at the venue, and the wedding canopy, one item to admire is the bride's ketubah or marriage document.

The writing looks like Hebrew. It is written not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, which was the language of the poeple at the time of Jesus, pre-dating modern Hebrew and modern Arabic.

Ketubah from Yale University, USA. I found this picture in Wikipedia under Jewish weddings. The photo is in the public domain.

WEDDING LIST?

Will you have a wedding list or provide your joint bank account details?

VIDEO

Will you have a video and record the speeches and a few words from both sets of parents? 

MUSICAL RECORD

Will you video a moment or two of singing or music playing by any talented family members? (Years later it might be your only video of them playing.)

GRACE

Do we need to know how to sing grace before and after meals with the rabbi. Which tune?

TABOOS AND OBLIGATIONS?

Any Orthodox or other rules we should know about? Groom's family sit on left? Women sit separately, upstairs, behind barrier? Such as not shaking hands with the rabbi? Not eating before grace said by rabbi. Nor interrupting the bride reading her prayers before the ceremony?

Signing by a rabbi.
Photo by Meshulam in Wikipedia under Jewish Weddings.

Signing
Signing as witness with our Hebrew names? Not signing as witness because we are closely related?

Women and Dancing
Not dancing before the couple start the dance? Women not entering area reserved for men?

Timing
Give all guests directions from the wedding ceremony to the reception. You might find that a car leaves and a person gets left behind because they went to the toilet or could not find the designated car in the car park or could not find the person with the directions or did not hear the announcement of the venue.

If you have the reception at the same venue, five minutes is not enough time to allow people to proceed from the wedding ceremony to dinner.

Firstly, the ceremony could run late. Secondly people disappear to the toilet or stop to chat, stop to read noticeboards, make phone calls - even go out to the street to smoke a cigarette, get lost, one hundered people wait in line to read the seating plan and cross the room looking for their table, stopping to chat on the way.

Thirdly, a queue (Americans say line-up) to allow the Toastmasters to get announcement of each guest enterting the room and/or shaking hands with the bride and groom. Some will only stop half a minute to whispering congratulations. But a few will hand over envelopes or ask where to leave a gift, explain how they are related, add other queries, say why their spouse cannot atend or will be late, and tell their life story.

STANDING AND SEATING

Where do I stand or sit in the ceremony? Do the mothers of the couple escort the bride in? Is there a ceremony rehearsal or floor plan?  Do I have to say or read anything in Hebrew at any time? If so bring it to me so I can practise it.

Tips
Location and parking
We looked up the synagogue on google to see if we could work out the route and whether parking was available. That reminded us to ask about parking. On the internet I've seen wedding cars as well as funeral cars getting parking tickets, so it's as well to know the situation in advance and plan getting permission to park.

For security reasons access to the website is restricted and you have to log in with an email and password.

Angela Lansbury
Author and travel writer.

Jewish Travel Tales

One of the world's most beautiful beaches

Beautiful beaches? This one is in the Philippines. I found it when searching for causeways, ways through the sea to islands. I also have something on it on my Facebook page.

More tomorrow.

PHILIPPINES
Kalanggaman, Philippines.
Video of causeway and turquoise sea
https://www.facebook.com/alwaystraveltogether/videos/878896079116645/UzpfSTY5ODQ2MDU5NjoxMDE2MTgyMDgxNjA3NTU5Nw/?t
Air Asia
Philippine Airlines

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

Chinese wolf berries

At the Vitafoods exhibition in Marina Bay Sands in Singapore in September 2018. The event recurs.

The red wolf berries were available for sampling. 

A giant video showed the woolf berries being harvested. In one shot the ladies were wearing face masks, I presumed to protect the fruit. 

I wasn't mad about the berries. But they were a new thing for me, maybe an acquired taste.

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

How To Buy And Use A Mini-Tripod With Your Mobile Phone

I just took a photo with my mobile phone on a tripod, for the first time. Success? What took me so long?

Problem
For years I had seen people setting up their mobile phones on desks to record themselves giving a speech. I had also seen people set up a mobile phone on a tripod to take a wide-angle photo of a group, set the timer and run to join the group.

I had suggested that a group I belong to should invest in a tripod so that members and visitors could record themselves speaking.

I recall the format: attention, interest, desire, action.

Why record yourself?

Attention
You can share your photos and make friends and win kudos. Keep in touch with guests.

Equally important, look at the photo. The camera makes you pay attention to yourself and your surroundings. The camera does not lie. Friends will be polite. You look in the mirror and from the front you look okay. But from the back, the mobile phone photo or video reveals, your hair is uncombed.

Hair - Bald Patches and Roots
Your camera says that when you walk onto the stage everybody can see your bald spot. Back view shows the roots of your hair are a different colour. Nobody will tell you that. The camera will tell you.

Interest - Your Outfit Analysed
The camera shows if your shoes are down at heel, or your shirt is hanging untidily below your jacket. If you got your appearance, your look, just right, the camera tells you that you looked wonderful, even if everybody else was too busy to take time to congratulate you.

The Room Revealed
The camera will tell you that the room looks a mess and a fire hazard with bags in the aisles. The Sargeant-at-arms responsible for the room set up and health and safety should be like the air hostess before take-off. He or she should walk up and down the aisles to check the route to the exit is clear and ask for obstructions to be removed, before they trip up somebody running up the aisle to speak on stage.

Desire
Yes, I had wanted to record for years. The camera can be set up on the front table. No need to have yourself on recorded telling somebody else, 'Press here'. If other people are too busy with their own speeches, never mind, you can record youself.

In Focus
The other great thing about the tripod is that you can take photos indoors, at night, in poor light and artificial light, with less risk of camera shake.

Action
How did I do it? The first surprise was that the tripod was so cheap. I already had a tripod. I must have bought it from the Poundland Shop in Harrow, London, England. The tripod was still attached to its backing, which said that it came from Birmingham, which is on many items supplied to the Poundland Shop.

So it had cost me only £1!

First step was to cut the plastic ties, relasing the tripod from the instructions and backing and pop the tripod into my bag. The tripod folds up small.

At the venue, second step was to attach the camera. I struggled with this. I was trying to pull the supports sideways and they clearly would not go. I asked my friend Anand for help and the problem was isntantly solved. You really have to be logical. It's like those taps in toilets. Process of elinination. If the door won't push, try pulling. If it won't go up sideways, try up and down. The camera was fixed by pulling the grip upwards, inserting the camera into the space, and letting the grip back down.

USING THE TIMER
At the end of the evening, we took a group photo. Another expert came to my aid. He set the camera up at the back of the room, checked everybody could be seen (small epople at the back come forward into the front row). He set the timer and ran to join us.

Afterwards, I went to take a photo but nothing happened. The camera was still set to timer so there was a delay.

REMOVING THE TIMER!
I ran after the photographer and asked him: 'How do I turn off the timer, and set the timer?'

He showed me that on an LG phone, the timer is in settings. You can move the timer through three settings, three seconds, ten seconds, and off.

Practising Using A Tripod
Before setting off to a meeting, try out your new tripod. Go onto the internet and type in the brand of your phone and the question, how do I set the timer.

Practice doing it at home. No tripod? Ask to see somebody else's and ask how the delay device works. Now that you know how to use it, you will be more inclined to buy one for yourself.

Buying a Tripod
If you don't have a tripod, look for one next time you are in a camera shop. You don't see one displayed?  Ask if they have one? Too expensive? Ask if they have a cheaper model. They might have a different one. Or they might mutter, "You can get one down the road in ... shop.'

Alternatively, look in a budget shop. You might also get one cheaply on the internet.

Happy snapping!

If you are running a speaking club or a photography training session, look for a cheap tripod to record your training, or to demonstrate the tripod to your pupils.

Harrow, London, England has both a Poundland and a One Pound Shop. Keep checking because their  stocks change all the time.

A miniature tripod from a budget store is also an inexpensive gift which is small enough to go in a Christmas stocking for children or adults. You'll be surte to get good use from it, taking pictures of the family's Christmas dinner.

Useful Websites
Lazada
A sturdy tripod at S$16.99
https://www.lazada.sg/products/heavy-duty-tripod-ubeesize-phone-and-camera-tabletop-mini-tripod-with-cell-phone-clip-holder-for-iphone-smartphoneswebcams-compact-camera

You Tube Demo of Poundland tripod


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