Well, dear readers, after 3 years of being confined to barracks I am finally off. My long-time friend Ray commented that I have been off for longer than that.
The story so far
I thought I would take a few minutes to write what has been happening lately.
I managed to catch the dreaded Covid-19 on August 2nd and remained confined to our guest room for 17 days until all traces went away. Judy was great feeding me 3 meals a day. I walked every day of course, up and down the side of our house. It probably won’t surprise you to know that within an hour I had installed a TV and setup the laptop with Netflix, Stan and Foxtel all through the Laptop’s browser.
I am now waiting patiently (Friday) to fly to Singapore on the first leg of my 6-week holiday. After a couple of weeks in Singapore I go on to the UK and spend the rest of the time there. Jeremy Hopkins (my long-time friend) and I will go to Keswick in the Lake district for 10 days. First, I must relate my recent adventures. It makes sense to go back 5 and a half years when we bought an 65” LG TV. It was a new design called UHD (no not a type of milk) but Ultra High Definition or 4K. Basically a very good image. I was persuaded to take out an extended warranty which meant it was covered for 5 years. This was lucky as it broke after 4 and a half years. So last October we upgraded to the latest 65” Samsung TV, this time 8K technology, an even better picture.
> I decided that I would not buy another LG as I thought a Samsung TV would be more reliable. This “more reliable” TV lasted all of 10 and a half months or until last Wednesday. I called the Samsung service centre who promised that a technician would call to try and diagnose the issue. He waited until I left Coffs Harbour this morning before calling Judy. The remote diagnosis started badly as the technician inferred that the TV was not connected to the Internet. Judy ran some diagnostics with my help via WhatsApp to prove it was connected. So, watch this space. On second thoughts you can’t really as the TV is un-watch-able.
> My second adventure was Thursday when I decided to get a haircut and check my new Citibank debit card that I’ll be using on my trip. Citibank is owned by a bank called NAB and the ATMs of NAB, Westpac and St George banks accept Citibank cards. I tried checking the balance in a St George ATM but it swallowed my card whole. I had my very overdue haircut and luckily managed to stop a St George staff member as she was entering the bank before it opened. She promised to see the manager on my behalf after I explained my plight. I found out later that the normal practice was to cut up any cards swallowed by the ATM however she intervened successfully on my behalf. The manager believed that my card was on a fraud list! They would not give me back my card until I produced 2 forms of photo ID. After a trip home to get my 2 passports I eventually got my card back. After a call to the Citibank helpline I found out that the card was inactive. They activated it and all was well.
I was able to meet Matthew for Brunch at Sydney Domestic airport as he had a trip to Melbourne and stayed overnight to enable our meeting. It was good to catch up with him before I left. My flight QF1 left 4 mins late and arrived in Singapore 5 mins early. The flight was good and my diabetic meal was very tasty and this wine was tasty also.
After being up for 23 hours you would think I would sleep for longer than 4 and a half hours, sadly it was not to be.
Saturday was also a busy day, I tried to get a pre-paid Sim card but for that in Singapore you need a passport which I did not take. I also shopped in FairPrice Xtra at the NEX mall which must be the largest supermarket in Singapore. I found that shopping at 4pm on a Saturday is not the best time! I only managed to buy 3/4 of my shopping. I debated whether or not to suggest to the manager that he should layout his store like the Australian Woolworths to make shopping easier for everyone but I was too tired. One good thing about the supermarket is that it was back to the good old days. I came home with 7 bags for 12 items. Unlike in Australia where you forget your reusable shopping bags and have to buy more then when you load the shopping into the back of the car the empty bags take up more space than the shopping itself. I managed to walk for 15.87 kms that day too.
I generally pride myself on being fairly organised. For example I started packing 29 days before I left home. So on the day of departure only 3 things had to be put into my bag. This organisation did not prevail on Sunday. The weather of the day looked the same as Saturday when I left the apartment, overcast but dry. However just as I left the mall bit spots of rain littered my person. I had decided not to bring my umbrella with me on Sunday so I did a bit of loin girding and went back inside the mall to find an umbrella shop. The first shop was a small hardware cum electronics store. The owner said he was sorry but could not sell me an umbrella. He did, however, move a display stand and produced a sturdy “Carlsberg” branded one. He said it was free. The gods of shopping must have seen me buy 6 Carlsberg cans of light beer day before.
I think I will stop my ramblings at this point. Next time I will relate to you the story of the Singapore Chill Crab and Zhuang Yuan Mi Xian which I am sure most of you will know translates as Zhuangyuan Rice Noodles.
Food Glorious Food
I promised to relate the story of the Singapore Chill Crab and Zhuang Yuan Mi Xian which I am sure most of you will know translates as Zhuangyuan Rice Noodles.
Sunday was Father’s Day in Australia. All of my children wished my well via a WhatsApp video which was very good of them. All my gifts were food related, Cheesecake and Singapore Chill Crab. The Cheesecake will be collected at home when I return. The crab is a Singaporean speciality at Jumbo’s restaurant. It was delicious and a total luxury. This is what it looked like, all 800 gms of it. I managed about 500gms at the table, it is a meal that requires infinate patience breaking each of the claws and extracting the crab meat. I brought home the remaining 300 for tea tonight (Monday). The other dish was Noodles, as I mentioned. It was really tasty also. Lastly is today’s lunch of Seafood Crispy Noodles. You may notice the dish of Chillis on the side. They were very tasty and not too hot. Great!
A seasoned traveler?
Perhaps, buses are really easy to negotiate here as there are many routes with frequent services. It is made really easy with phone apps that find you the bus to get you to your destination. The apps use Google maps to display where exactly you are and show the names the locations of each bus stop. Armed with all this information I ventured on to the top deck of the bus that took me to the Asian Civilisation Museum. I had a flash back to my school days and my primary teacher, Miss House. She sometimes used to take the same bus as me home. She always liked to sit in the first row of the top deck. One particular day I was sat in the first row on top of a fairly crowded bus. She spotted me and came to the front and said I should sit on her knee. After a couple of stops a seat farther back was vacant and she told me to go back to it. She had her front row seat. I was maybe 6 or so but I knew I had been conned.On this first upstairs trip I had to sit in the second row from the front as the first row was occupied. I am seriously considering suggesting a rule to the bus company.People who sit in the first should not be allowed to stare at their phones for their whole trip. They must look out of the window and not waste the seat. I’ll let you know how I progress.
I had a very interesting morning at the Indian Heritage centre in Little India. The guide was the daughter of a prominent Indian family here in Singapore. Sadly I did not get her family name, her grandfather, father, sister and herself are in a mural on the wall of the heritage centre. This lady in the top right of the picture.
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles is best known mainly for his founding of modern Singapore and the Straits Settlements. Raffles was heavily involved in the capture of the Indonesian island of Java from the Dutch in the Napoleonic Wars. The running of day-to-day operations on Singapore was mostly done by William Farquhar but Raffles was the one who got all the credit. Raffles was employed by the East India Company who established Singapore by treaty in 1819 and Singapore was ruled from India. 
On Wednesday I had a tour of the local Wet market and attended a cooking school where I cooked 3 dishes. It was a very enjoyable experience. The chef, Denise (no relation to DeNephew) was a good teacher and a full of interesting knowledge. For example, over 90% of the housing in Singapore is government owned but people can buy it outright. There are strict rules about who can own a home, i.e. must be married with children or a single lady over 35!. If you wish to buy a car you apply to the government and get a ticket that goes into a monthly ballot. If your ticket is drawn then you pay $100,000 for the right to buy a car. The purchase price is on top of the $100,000! You can only own the car for 10 years and then you surrender the car and start over in the ballot.
Today, Thursday I had planned to go to the National Gallery and the National Museum until I checked the weather forecast. Rain for the next 4 day at least and the longer range forecast was much the same. I decided that the zoo today was preferable as no rain was forecast. It was an hour and a half each way needing 2 metros and a bus. I appreciated the big animals leopards and giraffe etc. although the zoo is aimed at children with non animal entertainments and a lot of construction happening. I do recommend that you take a look at the photos on the photo page.
Am I really THAT old?
Well, perhaps I am. I got on a bus, today Sunday, a 196 to go to Chinatown. There are 4 seats designated for the elderly and others that might need a seat. I was standing in the crowded bus when a young Muslin lady immediately offered her seat to me, she was in an old codgers seat. I was surprised and instantly said thank you but no. I debated whether or not I should tell her about my 16+ years of walking everyday but in the end I did not. It made me think though.
I have always used Windows PCs and Laptops as well as Android phones. Actually, I realised that I have just told a lie. My first PC was an Apple Mackintosh with 128k of memory. That will astound a few of you (I hope). I should have kept mine as it would be a museum piece now. The original designers had their signatures etched into the inside of the case. This is an Apple Mackintosh, just not mine,
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My accountant at the time, Janice Melville used PCs so I had to undergo a conversion. Well, I digress, today the last sight I planned to see was the Red Dot design museum. My Android and Maps.me teamed up to guide me. I spent about 20 minutes going this way and that getting nearer and then father away from it. All the time I was within 100m, so the map told me. I dispared and asked a chap with an Apple IPhone who looked it up and it was 2.8km away on his phone. I WILL give Android a second chance but it is on notice. All the heart went out of me and I decided to catch the 196 home. I always track my walking distance and this was a whopper today at 16.63 kms. Naturally I looked for the young Muslim lady on the bus home as I wanted to tell her how much I have walked and that I am not done yet. Secretly I was very pleased that one of the 4 old men’s seats was vacant however. Well, I am 75 you know! |
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What Joy this picture brings
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This part of my story started a couple of years ago when I needed to start moisturising my skin. I think that our climate had taken its toll. When I arrived in Singapore I bought a couple of small plastic bottles of moisturiser. The cream contents were OK but I was shaking the bottles excessively to get any out on my skin. I decided to buy an empty pump action plastic container. I tried numerous shops and supermarkets without success. Imagine my delight when I happened upon this shop at Fernvale after visiting the Tiger brewery. |  |
I owe you an explanation
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This photo of me appears in the photo web page. I thought I should explain it here. After my tour of the Tiger brewery I was invited into their pub to sample the beer. I was given 6 sample tickets. The large glass in my hand is Tiger beer, the original product. One is given a large glass of original anyway. You are then invited to “spend” the tickets on small sample size beers. The sample glass furthest from the camera is Tiger Crystal and the sample nearest the camera is Erdinger Weissbrau. Those of you that know me well will realise that this is more beer than I drink in a month. I decided it would be churlish to refuse their hospitality. I liked the Tiger original beer the best, the other two lacked umph. (I thought it behoved me to run a check on behalf of you all) |
OK, I succumbed
I have just spent a great day (Thursday) at the Botanical Gardens. By comparison with the Zoo , it was a far better experience. The Gardens are the first and only tropical botanical garden on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. They are totally stunning, the gardens are well kept and sizeable at 82 hectares. The standout for me was the Orchid garden with so many beautiful examples.
I decided I would have lunch back at the apartment today (Thursday) and would just buy some rice to have with my eggs, ham and mushroom. Well, I changed from the MRT to the bus at the Bugis Interchange and thought I would get the rice at the mall. I could not see any plain rice in any of the cafes and the fish curry and rice looked at little to tempting for me to resist. I had a take-away and it was rather good.
The perils of sending emails
A year ago we had a pest inspection at home in Coffs. I think the pests we wanted inspecting and ultimately dealing with were funnel webs. We engaged a firm called “Complete Pest Control”. A couple of days ago they sent an email suggesting that it was time for another check. I sent an email to Judy saying I thought it could wait until I returned and, as I usually do, I signed it with “Love from Barry”. I find this quite reasonable as I do love Judy and I like to tell her so.
Imagine my surprise when I received an email from Renee at Complete Pest Control saying that I should let her know when I am back in Coffs. It would appear I replied to Renee instead of readdressing the email to Judy.
I sent a polite email back to Renee saying that I am sure that she is a very nice person but “Love Barry” was a mistake. Both the ladies involved seemed to be quite alright about the whole incident. I am reminded of the old Chinese proverb “Loving too many women at once can be bad for your health”
The pitfalls inherent in high finance
I know that I promised not to mutter any more from Singapore but I simply have to tell you this. I will not release it for publication until I arrive in England. Today (Saturday 17th) I went to find a Satay for lunch at Lau Pa Sat but it was not to be. The Satay stalls do not open until the evening so I had to be satisfied with Noodles and other soup like things. (I, sadly, cannot remember the name of the dish) It was No.3 though.
Before I left to come to Singapore, I changed an amount of money back in Coffs and now this was running low. I decided to find a Citibank ATM and draw a small amount of Singapore dollars out just in case. I was in a mall near City Hall, it did not pall no not at all. Sorry about that.
I found 3 ATMs but none were Citibank. I asked a young lady in a jeans shop if she knew a Citibank ATM. She kindly looked it up and said there was one in One Raffles Place, a mall nearby. I was quite proud to understand her and follow her directions and I found the mall. Once inside I asked a security guard if she knew which floor the ATM was on. She did not but again happily looked it up and escorted me to the correct floor, B1 and we found it along with 3 other banks ATMs.
This tale will now resembles bears and bowls of porridge.
1. Citibank would dispense nothing less than $100!
2. DBS wanted $5 for giving me $30 of my money.
3. ODBC wanted $8 for giving me $30 of my money.
4. HSBC, what a lovely bank, wanted absolutely nothing at all for giving me $30. I think that they just wanted to see me happily united again with some of my money.
Sunday 18th Sept 8PM
I am in Singapore Changi airport waiting fairly patiently for my flight to London to leave at 11:45.
I think that it is fair to say that today was a good day. It was the first day of serious rain. I did not let the rain change my plans. Today was Satay day. I found a satay stall open in Chinatown. It was called Shi Xiang Satay. I arrived at 1pm and the chicken arrived at 2pm so pork was the Satay of the day for me. The sauce was crunchy (peanuts) and they add some pineapple into the sauce, great. It won’t surprise you to know that I woke at 4am and got to work completing my packing. I just managed to finish by 11:55am with 5 minutes to spare. Result happiness.
The ride share organisation in Singapore is called Grab. (Uber in other places). It is a fast, efficient with a well-priced fare scale. I got to the airport with a bit over 8 hours to spare. I like to be first in the queue. When I found the Qantas check in area much to my surprise I was invited to check in straight away. They were checking in all classes of travel. I waited for a few minutes and was invited to check in (ahead of the passengers already in line behind me). There has to be some benefit to getting a second mortgage to travel Premium Economy. I was a little surprised at checking in so early and as a result I was not organised. I had managed to pack my passports at the bottom of my rucksack. I offered to leave the line to find my passport but the check in agent was happy for me to hold up the economy line while, in her words, “Take your time and find your passport”. My suitcases’ weight was a mere 36kg so less than the limit of 40 kg was good. I mentioned that my tablet was in the suitcase and I assumed that this as OK. It was, of course, not OK. I quickly found it and added it to my already over-weight rucksack.
Next, I asked if my suitcases would get priority treatment at Heathrow and come out ahead of the economy suitcases. (All the ones that I was holding up in the queue behind me). She misunderstood what I said and offered me special assistance tags doubtless due to their combined weight. When I explained again she understood and said priority tags were only available to business class passengers. I smiled, she smiled, then she reversed the belt to bring the cases back and promptly stuck a business class sticker on both suitcases. As you see a good day so far. As we had finished I thanked her for her kindness and patience, I went to move the baggage cart out the way and she said “No, I can do that for you”. She was an Indian young lady that did an excellent job and as I told her as much and she had made my check in process totally stress free and a pleasure. She suggested that, as I had plenty of time, I might like to visit the Jewel which is a shopping centre across the road from the terminal.
(The saga of the priority luggage is not finished yet)
The passport checking process on exit is fully automated in Singapore unless it is me going through it. My passport was scanned and rejected. I had to see a real person. I have dual nationality, Australian and British. I got certified 3 years after I arrived in Australia. I had offered my UK passport but came into Singapore using my Australian one. I had to stand and stare at a camera which appeared, at first, not to want to recognise me. I realised the problem when I looked at my reflection and saw my chin. I guessed immediately that the machine only did eyes and not chins. All was well when I crouched down and stared the machine in the eye (or where I thought its eye would be) At last we saw eye to eye and I was let out of Singapore into no man’s land.
I am a little confused at present, who said “Nothing new here then!” Earlier, I looked at the Changi app on my phone and it told me that the incoming flight from Sydney is arriving 45 minutes late. The Qantas app on my phone indicates that my flight will leave on time (not late) . I will be guided by the departure board here in the airport when the flight goes up.
Well, dear readers, I will pause for a while and go in search of a security man to look through me and my belongings.
Now, I am currently about halfway between Singapore and London, we have just flown over Abu Dhabi. We are currently scheduled to arrive 15 minutes late. I am happy with that. One of the flight attendants is English and was interested in my hearing aid system that I use on the plane. A friends Mum suffers from hearing loss and so I wrote a couple of pages detailing my experience and the gear that I use. I keep on nodding off, my excuse is that I have been awake for 28 hours. I think I will attempt to get some proper sleep.
Heathrow Baggage Claim Carousel #3
It won’t surprise you to know that I waited for 40 minutes for my two cases to emerge. I had quite resigned myself to filing a claim for lost luggage. The cases did eventually emerge with their Business priority stickers in tack.
And so home
But before that you may remember that Sunday 2nd October aged 76 and 1 day I walked staggered up to the top of Helvellyn. The 3rd highest mountain in England at 3,118 feet.
You might wonder why there are not more photos taken on the way up Helvellyn. The main reason was that I needed all my energy and wits to make it to the top. I see from my sports watch that my heart rate was above 130 bpm for an hour and 10 minutes. It peaked at 161 bpm. The round trip took 6hrs 20min and I walked 12km. It would have been a little bit faster had there not been so many blackberries to pick and eat on the way!
Before I returned home I spent a long weekend in London looking at museums, art galleries and a Walking tour of Jack the Ripper’s haunts. It was very interesting and informative. I also climbed up to the top of the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. (On the inside, naturally)
I started the trip home from Wokingham in Berkshire with a train to Feltham, I was then to catch the Bus #285 to Heathrow Terminal 3. Just before the train pulled into Wokingham station I checked the station display and Feltham was not listed. The train (or the driver) did not want to go to Feltham, there were a few other stations that had got the cold shoulder also. The station assistant at Wokingham said that there were problems on the line.
I did board the train either:
a) Hoping to convince the driver to stop anyway or,
b) Find a train from one of the stations it called at to take me to Feltham.
The prospect was really exciting considering I had two heavy suitcases and a back-pack. The guard on the train said my best bet was to go to Clapham junction and come back to Feltham. The reason for the disruption was signalling. The guard announced just before (Virginia Water?) that there was a train on Platform 3 that might be going to, among other places, Feltham. He was going to hop out, check and report back. He was as good as his word and the Platform 3 train was going to stop at Feltham and about 20 other stations before Waterloo. So I arrived in tact at Feltham and after a few of us persuaded the controller to open the gate, (the bar code ticket readers don’t work on British rail). I was in the fresh air at the No 285 bus stop to Heathrow T3. The best part is that due my allowing enough time to get to the bus I did actually catch the bus before the one planned and arrived earlier than expected. Although my luggage had crept up to 43.4kg, the kind lady only tutted a bit and gave me seats to Singapore, Sydney and Coffs Harbour.
I can judge the holiday a great success. Singapore was warm and interesting; the Orchids in the Botanical Garden were spectacular. The Lake District was mildish, mainly dry and the scenery was beautiful. I was glad to have climbed Helvellyn. It was good to catch up with Jeremy and Shirley Hopkins, who put up with me put me up, also their extended family plus an old school friend Michael Bowyer.
Well as they say in the movies, “That’s all folks!”.
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