london
New year's Eve is the only time when I notice that Time is passing and everyone is growing older. At this time of year, we get the orbituaries of all those who died in the past year and that reinforces the passing of Time and how life is so ephemereal. Those people have made a mark on the world, and have made a mark on History. and yet in the end, they are sad lines in an orbituary. Will they be remembered at all in future? It is a bit sad to hear the roll call of names, like Arthur C Clarke, Edmund Hillary, and Michael Crichton, who I have heard about, amongst others,who had died in 2008.
I have a friend who said that the whole point about Life is to put your mark on the world so u leave something to be remembered by. I don't agree with him but that is neither here nor there. One way of leaving your mark is the children you leave behind who will remember you. Is that why so many people want to have children? Apart from the hope that they will be looked after by their children if/when they grow old.
The dragging up of the past during the year makes for nostalgia and is quite a favourite indulgence most people like to do at year's end. Not for me even though the memories are happy ones. I just cannot be bothered to remember things that happen during the past year. I tend to look forward to the future. Whatever happens I am sure I will find something, and more likely than not, a lot of it, to enjoy.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
london temperature and bread revelation
london
I get the london temperature from a website, and it says now that london is having -1.8C.It is about 7.30am. Yet, I dont feel cold. My heating is not on. Yet, yesterday, when it says the temperature is 1.8C, it was quite chilly in the flat. the temperature does not seem to have any correlation with how cold I feel. Is it all in the mind? That was what i told David P when i was chatting with him on the phone yesterday. If we think it is cold, we will feel cold. To me,it is cold in my flat only if my breath comes out in visible vapor.So far that has not happened.He said it was definitely cold at his place near brighton last night.When i ask him if he can see his breath, he said no. I only had my heating on for an hour or so at about 5pm, because Simon is having a cold, or flu, and I thought he might like it warmer. For some reason, when the sun sets, it feels colder in the flat. And that brings up another theory, the relative temperature. A sudden drop is felt more keenly than if the temperature comes down gradually. the body seems to aclimatise itself to gradual change whilst it notices a sudden change.
Both times i was wearing my normal wear indoors. A t-shirt, tracksuit top and bottoms. I may be a nudist, but I am not a masochist!!! haha.
On another note, I have baked two bread loaves using half the amount of wheat flour than normally and it gives very good loaves. In fact, the bread is less dense, and so soft and fluffy. When I used the full amount of 750mg of wheat flour, it produces a very dense loaf. Using 450mg, seems to produce a less compact loaf. I used more water 300ml each, for these loaves rather than the 450ml for the 750mg loaves and it was easier to knead.I used half the amount of dried yeast. I also baked it at 180C, instead of 200C but for longer. Next time I shall bake it at 150C because i found the crust got baked hard when i use higher temperatures.
I never knew I could use less wheatflour to make a 800mg loaf. I had always thought an 800mg loaf means it has that amount of wheatflour. To find out that it is not so is a revelation to me. No cook in any of the bread recipes ever mentioned this. That means the baker selling bread makes even more profit as he can make 800mg loaves for less wheatflour. makes you think!!!
I dont use butter or fat in the bread, nor salt, nor suger and it turned out ok so why the recipes always include those things? I have no idea. I originally stopped putting butter in it because it is a lot of work crumbling the butter into the mix. I have never put salt or suger or preservatives, because those are the very things that I cannot avoid when i buy commercial breads.Making my own bread enables me to avoid them.
added 8.04am, how exciting, it has gone down to -2C in the short time i wrote this!
I get the london temperature from a website, and it says now that london is having -1.8C.It is about 7.30am. Yet, I dont feel cold. My heating is not on. Yet, yesterday, when it says the temperature is 1.8C, it was quite chilly in the flat. the temperature does not seem to have any correlation with how cold I feel. Is it all in the mind? That was what i told David P when i was chatting with him on the phone yesterday. If we think it is cold, we will feel cold. To me,it is cold in my flat only if my breath comes out in visible vapor.So far that has not happened.He said it was definitely cold at his place near brighton last night.When i ask him if he can see his breath, he said no. I only had my heating on for an hour or so at about 5pm, because Simon is having a cold, or flu, and I thought he might like it warmer. For some reason, when the sun sets, it feels colder in the flat. And that brings up another theory, the relative temperature. A sudden drop is felt more keenly than if the temperature comes down gradually. the body seems to aclimatise itself to gradual change whilst it notices a sudden change.
Both times i was wearing my normal wear indoors. A t-shirt, tracksuit top and bottoms. I may be a nudist, but I am not a masochist!!! haha.
On another note, I have baked two bread loaves using half the amount of wheat flour than normally and it gives very good loaves. In fact, the bread is less dense, and so soft and fluffy. When I used the full amount of 750mg of wheat flour, it produces a very dense loaf. Using 450mg, seems to produce a less compact loaf. I used more water 300ml each, for these loaves rather than the 450ml for the 750mg loaves and it was easier to knead.I used half the amount of dried yeast. I also baked it at 180C, instead of 200C but for longer. Next time I shall bake it at 150C because i found the crust got baked hard when i use higher temperatures.
I never knew I could use less wheatflour to make a 800mg loaf. I had always thought an 800mg loaf means it has that amount of wheatflour. To find out that it is not so is a revelation to me. No cook in any of the bread recipes ever mentioned this. That means the baker selling bread makes even more profit as he can make 800mg loaves for less wheatflour. makes you think!!!
I dont use butter or fat in the bread, nor salt, nor suger and it turned out ok so why the recipes always include those things? I have no idea. I originally stopped putting butter in it because it is a lot of work crumbling the butter into the mix. I have never put salt or suger or preservatives, because those are the very things that I cannot avoid when i buy commercial breads.Making my own bread enables me to avoid them.
added 8.04am, how exciting, it has gone down to -2C in the short time i wrote this!
Monday, 29 December 2008
is that so?
london
Whenever someone says something is good luck, or another thing is bad luck, I am reminded of that story where the man would reply, 'Is that so?' Later as the story goes on, it is seen that the so called good fortune turns out to be bad, and the so called bad luck turned out to have
good outcomes.
so now when i see the travails of the world, I say' is that so?'
Take the plunging £ and UK's economic recession. The foreigners are ecstatic, coming here to buy bargain designer goods. Have you noticed the faces in the crowds queueing outside the shops in oxford st during the boxing day sales? So many oriental faces! clutching their designer handbags and being delirously happy. That is good fortune for them and for the shops too. And it would not surprise me at all if the others are mainly visitors from overseas.
Times will be hard for us living here in uk. The plunging £ is making imports go up in prices. Just tonight, I bought a large sainsbury own brand strawberry jam. It was marked as 98p, which is good value. However when i passed it through the self serve machine, it marked it as £1.39. Such a large jump in price, 40%! I aborted the sale, and enquired at the cashiers. She asked one of the men to follow me and when he saw the marked price, he removed it and said I can have it at 98p. Smaller apricot jams, 454gm which I bought last time for 69p, now are 99p. I am not surprised when people come back over the new year will get a shock to find such huge jumps in price. I guess more will start shopping at lidl's , aldi, unless they too start upping their prices.
But will all this be bad? Who knows? Perhaps as in that story, where good luck can turn out bad, and bad luck can lead to good consequences, we can only say 'Is that so?' and reserve judgement. Perhaps the sharp drop in the £ will be a good thing for us in the long run.
Added 30.12.08
There was this footballer, Steven Gerrard liverpool fc captain,who scored 2 goals. People say what good fortune. Is that so?? then he went out to celebrate and is now charged with assault. People say what bad luck. Well, is that so??
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7804056.stm
Whenever someone says something is good luck, or another thing is bad luck, I am reminded of that story where the man would reply, 'Is that so?' Later as the story goes on, it is seen that the so called good fortune turns out to be bad, and the so called bad luck turned out to have
good outcomes.
so now when i see the travails of the world, I say' is that so?'
Take the plunging £ and UK's economic recession. The foreigners are ecstatic, coming here to buy bargain designer goods. Have you noticed the faces in the crowds queueing outside the shops in oxford st during the boxing day sales? So many oriental faces! clutching their designer handbags and being delirously happy. That is good fortune for them and for the shops too. And it would not surprise me at all if the others are mainly visitors from overseas.
Times will be hard for us living here in uk. The plunging £ is making imports go up in prices. Just tonight, I bought a large sainsbury own brand strawberry jam. It was marked as 98p, which is good value. However when i passed it through the self serve machine, it marked it as £1.39. Such a large jump in price, 40%! I aborted the sale, and enquired at the cashiers. She asked one of the men to follow me and when he saw the marked price, he removed it and said I can have it at 98p. Smaller apricot jams, 454gm which I bought last time for 69p, now are 99p. I am not surprised when people come back over the new year will get a shock to find such huge jumps in price. I guess more will start shopping at lidl's , aldi, unless they too start upping their prices.
But will all this be bad? Who knows? Perhaps as in that story, where good luck can turn out bad, and bad luck can lead to good consequences, we can only say 'Is that so?' and reserve judgement. Perhaps the sharp drop in the £ will be a good thing for us in the long run.
Added 30.12.08
There was this footballer, Steven Gerrard liverpool fc captain,who scored 2 goals. People say what good fortune. Is that so?? then he went out to celebrate and is now charged with assault. People say what bad luck. Well, is that so??
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7804056.stm
Sunday, 28 December 2008
food chain
london
i am glad there is this charity for me to do some active volunteering. It is not strenous and it takes me out and about. This sunday there were 3 families who were not in, so there was lots of food for us. Most times we volunteers have to make do with the leftovers. I figure a lot of those who were not home were with family or friends and did not tell the charity. Not that they need to do so, because the food is not wasted.
My driver knows the way so it makes my job very easy. She is still working,even though over the retirment age, as a driving instructor. At first, she says she have to work, but on further talking, she confessed she likes working. She said she would not know what to do with herself if she didnt work. Later she casually said a few weeks ago she noticed one of her eyes is getting bad eyesight and she suspects one of her two corneal transplants which she had a year ago, is being rejected. She said she had not seen the specialist about it yet as it was only noticed about 2wks ago. She did not seem worried. When I heard her talk about it, the thought did occur to me that she is driving a car, whilst confessing to me that she cannot see out of one eye. She was still able to drive, and avoid getting us into an accident...which seems to me the most extraordinary thing about it. haha.
We were passing an estate when she pointed and said that is where Menenzes used to live. Menenzes was killed in stockwell by police who thought he was a known terrorist living in the same block. I was not paying much attention to the route, so won't be able to tell you where it was. Not that it matters. My driver says someone should be made to take the blame. I said, it is life, there is no need to find anyone to blame for anything that happens. I said it is this culture of blame, that makes the people involved lie to protect themselves and so we will never find out exactly what happened and the real reason why it happened. I dont blame anyone for not tell the truth if it would incriminate themselves.
There was a very interestingly named dessert... winter eton mess. it is a mousse with nuts in it, over a meringue. this is the first time i heard of it.
rather nice name. My driver says there is a summer eton mess made of summer fruits.
Now that my video has kaput, I cannot tape films to watch later. I find I dont seem to miss it much. A lot of films are late night, and I find that generally I end up not watching them because they are so dated.
And even those films that clashes, because they are shown on different channels at the same time, which normally i would tape one and watch the other, I find i dont need to tape. I find that one of them is usually not very interesting, and so can switch over. I would normally tape it, if my video was working.It goes to show nothing is indispensable. One can live without a video recorder. That is why i m in no hurry to buy a tv recorder. It is time to get a digital one i think, if it is compatible with my analogue tv. I dont intend to upgrade to a digital tv just yet. Wait till 2012 when they changeover completely. Even then, maybe i can carry on using my old analogue tv with a free set-top box. I know enough about IT not to be the first to take up any new technology.
Added 6.21pm
What a strange thing. I thought my video recorder is kaput. but i thought of putting another video tape on and tape a currant program just to see if it works. I dont know why i decided to do it because it was so obviously not working before. But it worked fine, taping the program, and I find that i can see previous programs which i have taped in the past. So it looks like it was one specific tape which has gone bad, and not the video recorder at all. I find in my life now whenever anything goes wrong, i just have to leave it for a bit, and return to it again after a time, and it works itself out.
Well, I am glad that my video recorder is working. though i think i shall still keep a lookout for a cheap digital tv recorder to buy in the coming months. I can see a lot of advantage to having a hard drive recorder and do away with video tapes, which can get worn out.
i am glad there is this charity for me to do some active volunteering. It is not strenous and it takes me out and about. This sunday there were 3 families who were not in, so there was lots of food for us. Most times we volunteers have to make do with the leftovers. I figure a lot of those who were not home were with family or friends and did not tell the charity. Not that they need to do so, because the food is not wasted.
My driver knows the way so it makes my job very easy. She is still working,even though over the retirment age, as a driving instructor. At first, she says she have to work, but on further talking, she confessed she likes working. She said she would not know what to do with herself if she didnt work. Later she casually said a few weeks ago she noticed one of her eyes is getting bad eyesight and she suspects one of her two corneal transplants which she had a year ago, is being rejected. She said she had not seen the specialist about it yet as it was only noticed about 2wks ago. She did not seem worried. When I heard her talk about it, the thought did occur to me that she is driving a car, whilst confessing to me that she cannot see out of one eye. She was still able to drive, and avoid getting us into an accident...which seems to me the most extraordinary thing about it. haha.
We were passing an estate when she pointed and said that is where Menenzes used to live. Menenzes was killed in stockwell by police who thought he was a known terrorist living in the same block. I was not paying much attention to the route, so won't be able to tell you where it was. Not that it matters. My driver says someone should be made to take the blame. I said, it is life, there is no need to find anyone to blame for anything that happens. I said it is this culture of blame, that makes the people involved lie to protect themselves and so we will never find out exactly what happened and the real reason why it happened. I dont blame anyone for not tell the truth if it would incriminate themselves.
There was a very interestingly named dessert... winter eton mess. it is a mousse with nuts in it, over a meringue. this is the first time i heard of it.
rather nice name. My driver says there is a summer eton mess made of summer fruits.
Now that my video has kaput, I cannot tape films to watch later. I find I dont seem to miss it much. A lot of films are late night, and I find that generally I end up not watching them because they are so dated.
And even those films that clashes, because they are shown on different channels at the same time, which normally i would tape one and watch the other, I find i dont need to tape. I find that one of them is usually not very interesting, and so can switch over. I would normally tape it, if my video was working.It goes to show nothing is indispensable. One can live without a video recorder. That is why i m in no hurry to buy a tv recorder. It is time to get a digital one i think, if it is compatible with my analogue tv. I dont intend to upgrade to a digital tv just yet. Wait till 2012 when they changeover completely. Even then, maybe i can carry on using my old analogue tv with a free set-top box. I know enough about IT not to be the first to take up any new technology.
Added 6.21pm
What a strange thing. I thought my video recorder is kaput. but i thought of putting another video tape on and tape a currant program just to see if it works. I dont know why i decided to do it because it was so obviously not working before. But it worked fine, taping the program, and I find that i can see previous programs which i have taped in the past. So it looks like it was one specific tape which has gone bad, and not the video recorder at all. I find in my life now whenever anything goes wrong, i just have to leave it for a bit, and return to it again after a time, and it works itself out.
Well, I am glad that my video recorder is working. though i think i shall still keep a lookout for a cheap digital tv recorder to buy in the coming months. I can see a lot of advantage to having a hard drive recorder and do away with video tapes, which can get worn out.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
another new day dawns
london 0.9C
I look forward these days to a new day. It is not that i have anything planned, or expect anything wonderful to happen. I just like having a new day to live through again.
and today I look forward to reading the newspapers later at the library. The library has been closed these 2days and even though i have been looking at the news online, it is not the same as reading newspapers.
The following link to an online article rings a bell for me. It says that recipients of gifts dont value it as much as the giver. We have all known that, because we have felt it too. This is because we rarely get what we really want. But we also know that the giver feels good about choosing who and what to give. We would prefer money actually. And the chinese recognises that and gives money, wrapped in red and calls it 'angpow'. As usual, the chinese are pragmatic, even to calling the gift exactly what it is. 'Angpow' means 'red packet'.
But giving money does not have the same glow to the giver as giving a gift. The receiver of money gets a warm glow, though.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article5400662.ece
I look forward these days to a new day. It is not that i have anything planned, or expect anything wonderful to happen. I just like having a new day to live through again.
and today I look forward to reading the newspapers later at the library. The library has been closed these 2days and even though i have been looking at the news online, it is not the same as reading newspapers.
The following link to an online article rings a bell for me. It says that recipients of gifts dont value it as much as the giver. We have all known that, because we have felt it too. This is because we rarely get what we really want. But we also know that the giver feels good about choosing who and what to give. We would prefer money actually. And the chinese recognises that and gives money, wrapped in red and calls it 'angpow'. As usual, the chinese are pragmatic, even to calling the gift exactly what it is. 'Angpow' means 'red packet'.
But giving money does not have the same glow to the giver as giving a gift. The receiver of money gets a warm glow, though.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article5400662.ece
Friday, 26 December 2008
20biggest stars of 2008
london
Don't worry , I am not going to list them all out. It is just that I happen to be seeing 'Dave Berry's(who he?) 20biggest stars of 2008' on tv now. They mean the biggest singing stars. It is the good thing about the end of the year. You get roundups of who is what... it gives me a chance to see who has been making it big last year. I dont keep up with it, and wont know these singers from Adam, but these videos let me see them and hear their songs and their titles.
It is rather disappointing to see them, in a way, because the illusion is shattered. Such lovely singing voices and not matched with the person. Most of them are rather ugly. The men I mean. I have no views about the women, though they do make more of an effort than the men.
There was one at 18th(I think) entitled 'I kissed a girl' by a woman singer. It has a nice catchy tune, sung very effectively in a babyish voice like britney singing 'baby one more time'in that video where she dressed up as a school girl.
The numbers were forgettable till the top 10 with Take Thats' greatest day'. Quite a nice song. It must have been taken from their latest album, the circus, which i have heard of (but not listened to) because some blogger has raved about it. It must have sold a lot because it was only released in december this year and it is allready on number 10. the lyrics do not say why it is the greatest day of our life. But perhaps only part of the song was recorded and/or I missed it. It is often difficult to hear the words. That is why we have to google the lyrics.
The number one was some heavy metal band. Not very interesting to me. madonna got in at number 5 ,'4 minutes' doing an energetic video with lots of running and jumping around with justin timberlake and lots of flashing lights. Not a very catchy song. In the video, I thought madonna looked very much like Cher, with blonde hair.
Well, after listening to these songs I haven't missed much in not following them throughout the year.
I daresay they will be showing a 20 best movies of 2008. I dont think i will have missed much not following that either.
Added 27.12.08 No sooner said, then done. This morning I saw this. the 50 best movies of 2008.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3172078.ece
Don't worry , I am not going to list them all out. It is just that I happen to be seeing 'Dave Berry's(who he?) 20biggest stars of 2008' on tv now. They mean the biggest singing stars. It is the good thing about the end of the year. You get roundups of who is what... it gives me a chance to see who has been making it big last year. I dont keep up with it, and wont know these singers from Adam, but these videos let me see them and hear their songs and their titles.
It is rather disappointing to see them, in a way, because the illusion is shattered. Such lovely singing voices and not matched with the person. Most of them are rather ugly. The men I mean. I have no views about the women, though they do make more of an effort than the men.
There was one at 18th(I think) entitled 'I kissed a girl' by a woman singer. It has a nice catchy tune, sung very effectively in a babyish voice like britney singing 'baby one more time'in that video where she dressed up as a school girl.
The numbers were forgettable till the top 10 with Take Thats' greatest day'. Quite a nice song. It must have been taken from their latest album, the circus, which i have heard of (but not listened to) because some blogger has raved about it. It must have sold a lot because it was only released in december this year and it is allready on number 10. the lyrics do not say why it is the greatest day of our life. But perhaps only part of the song was recorded and/or I missed it. It is often difficult to hear the words. That is why we have to google the lyrics.
The number one was some heavy metal band. Not very interesting to me. madonna got in at number 5 ,'4 minutes' doing an energetic video with lots of running and jumping around with justin timberlake and lots of flashing lights. Not a very catchy song. In the video, I thought madonna looked very much like Cher, with blonde hair.
Well, after listening to these songs I haven't missed much in not following them throughout the year.
I daresay they will be showing a 20 best movies of 2008. I dont think i will have missed much not following that either.
Added 27.12.08 No sooner said, then done. This morning I saw this. the 50 best movies of 2008.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3172078.ece
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
purple cabbage
london
I saw this on sale in tesco, it was reduced along with ordinary cabbage. I wanted cabbage and would have bought the ordinary ones, but thought i shall try these. I had seen red cabbage being cooked as a side dish and it looked good. But this purple cabbage is not the same as red cabbage. 'For one thing, when cooked it is black. i dont like the look of it. There is good reason that we dont have black foods on our table. it looked horrid , and what is more, it stains everything else. Red cabbage is better as it stains things red, and that is pretty up to a point. the thing is what does red cabbage looks like when it is raw and sitting on a supermarket shelf? haha. I thought this purple cabbage was it but obviously now that i have cooked it , it is not.
This purple cabbage looks like it has been dyed. some of the water from it appears blue. What a strange mutant food. i shall not buy it again. I heard and seen on tv some people wanting to grow purple tomatoes. dont thing i fancy that at all. give me red tomatoes anytime, and white cabbage.
added 26.12.09
the purple cabbage do not stain when fried. before, when I steamed/boiled it, it stained the water blue.It put me right off. I am glad that it does not blacken everything when i fried it. I was very apprehensive when i fried it the first time, as i know that if it blackens the dish i shall not feel like eating it. At one stage, I even thought of throwing it away, but i am glad i did not, because i dont like to waste food.
I saw this on sale in tesco, it was reduced along with ordinary cabbage. I wanted cabbage and would have bought the ordinary ones, but thought i shall try these. I had seen red cabbage being cooked as a side dish and it looked good. But this purple cabbage is not the same as red cabbage. 'For one thing, when cooked it is black. i dont like the look of it. There is good reason that we dont have black foods on our table. it looked horrid , and what is more, it stains everything else. Red cabbage is better as it stains things red, and that is pretty up to a point. the thing is what does red cabbage looks like when it is raw and sitting on a supermarket shelf? haha. I thought this purple cabbage was it but obviously now that i have cooked it , it is not.
This purple cabbage looks like it has been dyed. some of the water from it appears blue. What a strange mutant food. i shall not buy it again. I heard and seen on tv some people wanting to grow purple tomatoes. dont thing i fancy that at all. give me red tomatoes anytime, and white cabbage.
added 26.12.09
the purple cabbage do not stain when fried. before, when I steamed/boiled it, it stained the water blue.It put me right off. I am glad that it does not blacken everything when i fried it. I was very apprehensive when i fried it the first time, as i know that if it blackens the dish i shall not feel like eating it. At one stage, I even thought of throwing it away, but i am glad i did not, because i dont like to waste food.
Monday, 22 December 2008
Simple maintainance
london
I have found out what is wrong with my washing machine. I found that the outlet pipe is blocked with washing powder. It must have been there for a long time, because it has been many years since we have stopped using powder and used liquid instead.
It only now affected the working of the washing machine because it is completely blocked. Recently i noticed the flow of water from the sink has also got blocked. so they may be related.
All I can say is that i am glad i still am able to know something about simple maintainance and trouble shooting. It may save me having to replace this machine with a new one. Even though washing machines are very cheap i still feel that it is too soon to buy another one. this one is only about 2yrs old. i would want at least 15yrs use before i change it.
I had a lot of fun figuring it all out using logic and observation. And it is very satisfying to get to the bottom of it.
I have found out what is wrong with my washing machine. I found that the outlet pipe is blocked with washing powder. It must have been there for a long time, because it has been many years since we have stopped using powder and used liquid instead.
It only now affected the working of the washing machine because it is completely blocked. Recently i noticed the flow of water from the sink has also got blocked. so they may be related.
All I can say is that i am glad i still am able to know something about simple maintainance and trouble shooting. It may save me having to replace this machine with a new one. Even though washing machines are very cheap i still feel that it is too soon to buy another one. this one is only about 2yrs old. i would want at least 15yrs use before i change it.
I had a lot of fun figuring it all out using logic and observation. And it is very satisfying to get to the bottom of it.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
shortest day today
london 11C
I thought it might be interesting to see how short it is in london.
Sunrise:
08:04
Sunset:
15:53
Well, that is short enough for me. I would hate to live in the far north, where there is no daylight at all.
I thought it might be interesting to see how short it is in london.
Sunrise:
08:04
Sunset:
15:53
Well, that is short enough for me. I would hate to live in the far north, where there is no daylight at all.
Saturday, 20 December 2008
It will be a quiet christmas and new year day for me.
london
My friends have asked me to spend christmas with them. It means travelling to poole, and staying with john. But I declined the invitation. I dont fancy going away for christmas. This is because the travelling is a lot of bother, with everyone else travelling home as well.
So this christmas and new year period i shall be at home spending it very quietly. It will be lovely. From the hype I think I am unusual to prefer spending these holidays alone. Practically everyone seem to be afraid of being on their own. Hmm, I wonder why. Maybe because if they are alone they feel they are failures with no friends or loved ones. yes, that seems to be the most likely feeling that would make anyone rather afraid to be on their own, or to let others know that they are on their own. People are funny that way, they care more about the impression they give to others than to please themselves. So they subject themselves to time-consuming and expensive journeys back to family and end up not enjoying themselves with the boredom and strife that results from it. After all there is a reason why they left home and come to live in london. They want a life of their own, away from family who might not condone their gay lifestyle nor their gay nature.
Life is full of paradoxes like this. People want to live their own lives, and yet they want to go back to family and expect to be accepted as if nothing has happened. It helps that my family is overseas, so it is not expected of me to travel back. But I know that for the british person the pressure to spend christmas with family is very strong. Simon gets round it by making the excuse that he is working. haha. And go back to visit his mum at boxing day, after the rest of the family has come and gone.
Long ago, in the late 90s, I would go to new York for 3wks and spend christmas and new year there. It was fun but now I have stopped going to america ever since the US govt made it so much more difficult to get into the country after the 9/11 world trade centre explosion.
Now I am happy to get away from all the christmas and new year hype by staying at home in my cosy flat.
My friends have asked me to spend christmas with them. It means travelling to poole, and staying with john. But I declined the invitation. I dont fancy going away for christmas. This is because the travelling is a lot of bother, with everyone else travelling home as well.
So this christmas and new year period i shall be at home spending it very quietly. It will be lovely. From the hype I think I am unusual to prefer spending these holidays alone. Practically everyone seem to be afraid of being on their own. Hmm, I wonder why. Maybe because if they are alone they feel they are failures with no friends or loved ones. yes, that seems to be the most likely feeling that would make anyone rather afraid to be on their own, or to let others know that they are on their own. People are funny that way, they care more about the impression they give to others than to please themselves. So they subject themselves to time-consuming and expensive journeys back to family and end up not enjoying themselves with the boredom and strife that results from it. After all there is a reason why they left home and come to live in london. They want a life of their own, away from family who might not condone their gay lifestyle nor their gay nature.
Life is full of paradoxes like this. People want to live their own lives, and yet they want to go back to family and expect to be accepted as if nothing has happened. It helps that my family is overseas, so it is not expected of me to travel back. But I know that for the british person the pressure to spend christmas with family is very strong. Simon gets round it by making the excuse that he is working. haha. And go back to visit his mum at boxing day, after the rest of the family has come and gone.
Long ago, in the late 90s, I would go to new York for 3wks and spend christmas and new year there. It was fun but now I have stopped going to america ever since the US govt made it so much more difficult to get into the country after the 9/11 world trade centre explosion.
Now I am happy to get away from all the christmas and new year hype by staying at home in my cosy flat.
Friday, 19 December 2008
older generation
london
My friend who is 60yrs old was telling me how he and all his neighbours who live in multi million £ houses were all getting free travel and energy allowances of £250 even though they dont need it. It is given to everyone over 60 irregardless of income. This uk govt is very generous to its old folks and I commented to him that his is a lucky generation because at the moment the work force can pay for their pensions and allowances. It wont last. The next generation wont be able to get such generous treatment as the working population wont be large enough to pay for it via their national insurance.
His generation also has benefited from increased house prices that wont come again. Jobs were plentiful too during their time, and things costs less as well. All in all they had a good time. Their generation had the best songs, and they lived through the 60's and 70's a time of idealism, free sex, cheap drugs, and no terrorism. They also lived through a time when the world was at peace. I said the only thing that is good about this generation is the internet. I happen to live between the cusp of that generation and this present one and so I did benefit from the best of both. Not too young to hear the good songs of old, and enjoy the job opportunities and not too old to enjoy the internet now. (though that is prone to disruption.
The digital blackout highlighted the vulnerability of global communications. Hundreds of millions of people access the web, but the vast majority of international traffic runs through a a small amount of cables submerged below the sea. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article5372294.ece
This present generation , by which i mean people who are in their teens now, dont have new things to look forward to. Even the number one hit this christmas is a rehash of an old song 'hallelujah'. The lyrics are very good, not surprising seeing it was written long ago when they really know how to write songs. Simon says he heard the nina simone version of the song and liked her version much more than the latest one recorded by the winner of the tv program. I am glad there is utube, because i was able to hear the song 'hallelujah' recorded by the various artistes though not the nina simone version. It is strange that she is not in the running for the most popular christmas recording. I cannot say i like the song. It is too gloomy and as the song writer said, it was popular because it had a good chorus. I think i like the traditional christmas songs, like white christmas.
Added. I have been browsing utube, and found elkie brooks cover version of lilac wine, and other songs. it brings back memories. see what i mean when i say the olden songs are so much better than now. hear the songs in this link and judge for urself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlyPtGCspSM&feature=related
Added 21.12.08
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7793455.stm
My friend who is 60yrs old was telling me how he and all his neighbours who live in multi million £ houses were all getting free travel and energy allowances of £250 even though they dont need it. It is given to everyone over 60 irregardless of income. This uk govt is very generous to its old folks and I commented to him that his is a lucky generation because at the moment the work force can pay for their pensions and allowances. It wont last. The next generation wont be able to get such generous treatment as the working population wont be large enough to pay for it via their national insurance.
His generation also has benefited from increased house prices that wont come again. Jobs were plentiful too during their time, and things costs less as well. All in all they had a good time. Their generation had the best songs, and they lived through the 60's and 70's a time of idealism, free sex, cheap drugs, and no terrorism. They also lived through a time when the world was at peace. I said the only thing that is good about this generation is the internet. I happen to live between the cusp of that generation and this present one and so I did benefit from the best of both. Not too young to hear the good songs of old, and enjoy the job opportunities and not too old to enjoy the internet now. (though that is prone to disruption.
The digital blackout highlighted the vulnerability of global communications. Hundreds of millions of people access the web, but the vast majority of international traffic runs through a a small amount of cables submerged below the sea. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article5372294.ece
This present generation , by which i mean people who are in their teens now, dont have new things to look forward to. Even the number one hit this christmas is a rehash of an old song 'hallelujah'. The lyrics are very good, not surprising seeing it was written long ago when they really know how to write songs. Simon says he heard the nina simone version of the song and liked her version much more than the latest one recorded by the winner of the tv program. I am glad there is utube, because i was able to hear the song 'hallelujah' recorded by the various artistes though not the nina simone version. It is strange that she is not in the running for the most popular christmas recording. I cannot say i like the song. It is too gloomy and as the song writer said, it was popular because it had a good chorus. I think i like the traditional christmas songs, like white christmas.
Added. I have been browsing utube, and found elkie brooks cover version of lilac wine, and other songs. it brings back memories. see what i mean when i say the olden songs are so much better than now. hear the songs in this link and judge for urself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlyPtGCspSM&feature=related
Added 21.12.08
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7793455.stm
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
My washing machine giving lessons in life
london
Last night, simon started the washing machine. And it got stuck. There were two flashing warning lights on the 'stain removal' and 'extra rinse' buttons. I have never used those buttons,There were others that say 'delay timing' and 'easy iron'. Frankly I think they are a waste of time. Well, now i see these two lights flashing and pressing them did not correct the machine.
We left it on all night hoping it will do something. haha. But this morning, it still hasn't and the clothes were still in it with a load of soapy water.
Anyway, I decided to switch the whole thing off and start on a cycle 3 for coloured clothes. It is now churning away and i hope that will solve the problem. I suspect simon has thrown in the rest of the washing liquid in the bottle and oversoaped it. And the machine senses it and is telling us to wash it again, as the clothes are too soapy.
Simon must learn that just because a little is good, more does not mean better.
That machine used up about 3kwh of electricity going through the various cycles that we put it through and being left switched on all night. I tell you the day man invented all these so called labour saving electrical gadgets was the day we all increased our use of electricity tremendously. Is there a more energy efficient way of cleaning clothes? wouldn't it be wonderful if we can all go naked and dont have any clothes to wash anymore? If only someone would invent something to keep each person warm without clothes...that way we dont have to heat up a whole house just to keep one person in it warm.
Though it has to be admitted that the washing is all about washing simon's work clothes, especially simon's white shirts, and the grimy collars that take so much effort to wash. I think i will have to tell him to put the soap liquid directly on the neck line of the collar from now on, rather than chuck in so much liquid soap in the machine.
People dont realise that just working increase their costs, not only in their laundry and ironing bills, but in their transport costs. So maybe they should question how much they actually gain from working the hours that they do if the reason they work is to earn money and not for love of the job. After tax, and all the ancillary costs and the hours spent commuting, is it worth working if u dont enjoy it? I passed a recruitment agency, and saw in the window jobs advertised with £20,000 a year salary. After tax it will be about £17,000. about£1400 a month. Not a lot of money. This is my view, and i can see my view is a minority view of one. Who would agree with this... If you dont enjoy ur work, better to stop work and reduce the cost of your living, rather than work, hating it, and have the tax man benefit.
People of course will say it is not practical, but i have done it and I love my life now. I worked so long as i enjoyed it, and gave it up when i did not like it anymore.But then, I have always felt myself is unique, and so i dont expect me to start a trend anytime soon.haha.
Also, i know that if everyone have the same attitude to work as me, there will be no food in the shops, no barbers to cut my hair cheap, etc etc. So really, those of us who are clever will take advantage of all the others toiling away, and would not like everyone to follow us. It is those who cannot stop spending, and are in debt, so they are forced to continue working in lousy jobs, that keeps costs low for everyone else, and makes the economy run smoothly. We have to thank them.
added.
The washingmachine is still not working. it got stuck at the spinning cycle. Ah well, it looks like the only lesson this washing machine is showing me is that electrical goods go wrong and the lesson is nothing lasts forever, and things run down one day and that goes for our lives as well. It is not a lesson, more like a reminder because we all know everything dies in the end. haha.
added 3.07pm
I switched the whole machine off, andwent off to the library and read the newspapers and went to the supermarkets to buy coffee and biscuits and jam. On returning, I drained the water, there was a lot of it, and then set it to spin dry. it is now doing that and there is a good chance i can get it working again.
I shall have to ask simon when he gets back from work what he did so that we dont get a repeat.
Last night, simon started the washing machine. And it got stuck. There were two flashing warning lights on the 'stain removal' and 'extra rinse' buttons. I have never used those buttons,There were others that say 'delay timing' and 'easy iron'. Frankly I think they are a waste of time. Well, now i see these two lights flashing and pressing them did not correct the machine.
We left it on all night hoping it will do something. haha. But this morning, it still hasn't and the clothes were still in it with a load of soapy water.
Anyway, I decided to switch the whole thing off and start on a cycle 3 for coloured clothes. It is now churning away and i hope that will solve the problem. I suspect simon has thrown in the rest of the washing liquid in the bottle and oversoaped it. And the machine senses it and is telling us to wash it again, as the clothes are too soapy.
Simon must learn that just because a little is good, more does not mean better.
That machine used up about 3kwh of electricity going through the various cycles that we put it through and being left switched on all night. I tell you the day man invented all these so called labour saving electrical gadgets was the day we all increased our use of electricity tremendously. Is there a more energy efficient way of cleaning clothes? wouldn't it be wonderful if we can all go naked and dont have any clothes to wash anymore? If only someone would invent something to keep each person warm without clothes...that way we dont have to heat up a whole house just to keep one person in it warm.
Though it has to be admitted that the washing is all about washing simon's work clothes, especially simon's white shirts, and the grimy collars that take so much effort to wash. I think i will have to tell him to put the soap liquid directly on the neck line of the collar from now on, rather than chuck in so much liquid soap in the machine.
People dont realise that just working increase their costs, not only in their laundry and ironing bills, but in their transport costs. So maybe they should question how much they actually gain from working the hours that they do if the reason they work is to earn money and not for love of the job. After tax, and all the ancillary costs and the hours spent commuting, is it worth working if u dont enjoy it? I passed a recruitment agency, and saw in the window jobs advertised with £20,000 a year salary. After tax it will be about £17,000. about£1400 a month. Not a lot of money. This is my view, and i can see my view is a minority view of one. Who would agree with this... If you dont enjoy ur work, better to stop work and reduce the cost of your living, rather than work, hating it, and have the tax man benefit.
People of course will say it is not practical, but i have done it and I love my life now. I worked so long as i enjoyed it, and gave it up when i did not like it anymore.But then, I have always felt myself is unique, and so i dont expect me to start a trend anytime soon.haha.
Also, i know that if everyone have the same attitude to work as me, there will be no food in the shops, no barbers to cut my hair cheap, etc etc. So really, those of us who are clever will take advantage of all the others toiling away, and would not like everyone to follow us. It is those who cannot stop spending, and are in debt, so they are forced to continue working in lousy jobs, that keeps costs low for everyone else, and makes the economy run smoothly. We have to thank them.
added.
The washingmachine is still not working. it got stuck at the spinning cycle. Ah well, it looks like the only lesson this washing machine is showing me is that electrical goods go wrong and the lesson is nothing lasts forever, and things run down one day and that goes for our lives as well. It is not a lesson, more like a reminder because we all know everything dies in the end. haha.
added 3.07pm
I switched the whole machine off, andwent off to the library and read the newspapers and went to the supermarkets to buy coffee and biscuits and jam. On returning, I drained the water, there was a lot of it, and then set it to spin dry. it is now doing that and there is a good chance i can get it working again.
I shall have to ask simon when he gets back from work what he did so that we dont get a repeat.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
just another normal day
london 5.9C
I just thought i shall chitchat here again.
lovely cold weather we are having in london now. I was walking to the carol singing in st paul's church in covent gdn, and appreciating the lovely night. i remember being in New York around this time during those years when i would go there every christmas time and it would be very cold and snowing. It is beautiful to watch, the snow is fat and drifts down so slowly and gently just like the christmas scenes in christmas cards. But it was cold, and my ears ache. I much prefer this weather in london where it is quite mild compared to new york. It is cold enough to steam the breath,outside, (luckily not in my flat, even without the heating on. haha) but not so cold that it gives u a headache and chilbains in the feet and hands. Chilbains makes ur feet and hands itch, and go red, and swollen. The skin looks very smooth and shiny and when u thaw them out, it is very painful. Not a very nice thing to have. Thank goodness it never gets so cold in london for chilbains to be common.
I have been thinking about all those rich people who have lost money investing in this chap, Medoff's pyramid scam in America. Amazing how they never suspected it and some of them are banks, and investment managers who should have known better. After all what is the point of paying them to invest ur money if they never check and double check the legality of their recommended investments. i think there is a good case to sue these investment managers for bad advise. They are happy to charge you a lot of money to manage ur money, and so they should pay up if their advise turns out to make u lose money in a pyramid scheme.
It also makes me rather glad i dont have that much money to get caught in it. haha. it is a fact, that having some thing stolen from you is worst than not having it in the first place. What u dont have u dont miss but when u had something and then had it taken away from u,that hurts like hell.And it makes no difference if u can afford the loss. It still rankles like hell.
Well, isn't that one of the advantages of not having a lot of money? u never have to feel that hell ever. There are other advantages to not being so filthy rich. I wont go into it now as it would take too long. As long as u have good health and enough money for food and shelter, (and u don't really need a lot of money for that) life is good.
I just thought i shall chitchat here again.
lovely cold weather we are having in london now. I was walking to the carol singing in st paul's church in covent gdn, and appreciating the lovely night. i remember being in New York around this time during those years when i would go there every christmas time and it would be very cold and snowing. It is beautiful to watch, the snow is fat and drifts down so slowly and gently just like the christmas scenes in christmas cards. But it was cold, and my ears ache. I much prefer this weather in london where it is quite mild compared to new york. It is cold enough to steam the breath,outside, (luckily not in my flat, even without the heating on. haha) but not so cold that it gives u a headache and chilbains in the feet and hands. Chilbains makes ur feet and hands itch, and go red, and swollen. The skin looks very smooth and shiny and when u thaw them out, it is very painful. Not a very nice thing to have. Thank goodness it never gets so cold in london for chilbains to be common.
I have been thinking about all those rich people who have lost money investing in this chap, Medoff's pyramid scam in America. Amazing how they never suspected it and some of them are banks, and investment managers who should have known better. After all what is the point of paying them to invest ur money if they never check and double check the legality of their recommended investments. i think there is a good case to sue these investment managers for bad advise. They are happy to charge you a lot of money to manage ur money, and so they should pay up if their advise turns out to make u lose money in a pyramid scheme.
It also makes me rather glad i dont have that much money to get caught in it. haha. it is a fact, that having some thing stolen from you is worst than not having it in the first place. What u dont have u dont miss but when u had something and then had it taken away from u,that hurts like hell.And it makes no difference if u can afford the loss. It still rankles like hell.
Well, isn't that one of the advantages of not having a lot of money? u never have to feel that hell ever. There are other advantages to not being so filthy rich. I wont go into it now as it would take too long. As long as u have good health and enough money for food and shelter, (and u don't really need a lot of money for that) life is good.
Monday, 15 December 2008
free coffee fr AMTcoffee
london
I saw the voucher in the independent for this free offer. I have never heard of this company. (What does the initials AMT stand for? so many of these small booths selling coffee. Is it so profitable to sell coffee? It must be when there are so many of them.)The covent gdn branch was hidden away without any protruding sign to tell where it is, until u r right up to it. It was a small booth. I said, 'can i have coffee with this?' and showed them the voucher. i haven't filled it in yet. The woman server said she cannot accept it because there was no logo. i had cut out the voucher and not the whole advert. 'She called the manager, and he said the same thing and did not want to fill the order saying there was nothing to show it was AMT.
Well, I thought that was that then. anyway i left and wandered down to brewer st, to see if there was any vegetables to buy.There was not a lot. Somerfield was selling a 800mg loaf for 35p, so i bought that. And then i went to chinatown and bought pure sesame oil (made in singapore) £1.99 for 320ml, and maggi hot chili sauce 320g for 99p. I decided i shall buy anything but chinese made products as i m rather dubious about fake chinese goods now) and at another shop for its 49p bean sprouts.
I was at the library, logging online to the AMTcoffee.co.uk website intending to write in about the voucher, and i noticed there was a wording on the voucher which stated AMTcoffee. So i decided since i was near the shop anyway to go back and see if i can convince them.
This time there was a different woman behind the counter. This time i made a different approach. I walked right up, and put the voucher on the counter and said 'cafe maya please'. She said why didnt i cut out the whole advert, i said there was no mention that I should do that. Fortunately she agreed to fulfil the order. So there u have it. I did get the coffee in the end. Well, I have all the time in the world to go back. But to many people the first rebuff might be enough to embarrass them to give up. So to be sure of getting ur free coffee, cut out the whole advert.
I took the coffee and went to seven dials roundabout to drink it. I noticed the whole of london is very scarce in providing benches on the pavements. Seven dials is not a restful place to sit and drink coffee because there is constant traffic all round the central pillar. But as a place to watch cars and how they are able to always avoid hitting the pedestrians that cross the seven roads converging on it, it can be rather diverting.
I enjoyed the coffee and seeing how many gay guys i can spot. then on the way back I passed St martins church, (earlier i found out where st paul's church is in covent garden. It has a nice garden that is pleasant to sit and have lunch in good weather)
I saw the entrance to the crypt of St martins church. In the past , before the renovation, the crypt entrance was small and poky on the other side of the church below street level. Now there is a stonking big glass entrance in the middle of the courtyard where market stalls used to be, and the crypt restaurant opens out into the vast underground space that has been excavated. Quite a nice space really. It's the first time I have gone into the crypt. i have lived a long time in London, and i have often seen the sign saying this way to the restaurant in the crypt but never did want to go down, as the entrance looks so run down and grotty. Now they have immproved it a lot, so much so that I went down there to have a look.
added 17.12.08
I was enjoying the coffee i made and realise half the enjoyment is breathing in the coffee smell. I then recalled that the coffee i had from AMT was in a paper cup and capped, with a hole in it to drink from and I realised that i have been deprived of the smell of coffee. That cannot be right, surely, the whole thing about coffee is smelling it in an open cup and drinking it while savouring the full force of the aroma. By capping it, and putting it in a paper cup, someone has lost the plot. I wonder when the penny will drop and the public who have been drinking coffee in plastic cups and covered caps comes to their senses and demand open cups.
I saw the voucher in the independent for this free offer. I have never heard of this company. (What does the initials AMT stand for? so many of these small booths selling coffee. Is it so profitable to sell coffee? It must be when there are so many of them.)The covent gdn branch was hidden away without any protruding sign to tell where it is, until u r right up to it. It was a small booth. I said, 'can i have coffee with this?' and showed them the voucher. i haven't filled it in yet. The woman server said she cannot accept it because there was no logo. i had cut out the voucher and not the whole advert. 'She called the manager, and he said the same thing and did not want to fill the order saying there was nothing to show it was AMT.
Well, I thought that was that then. anyway i left and wandered down to brewer st, to see if there was any vegetables to buy.There was not a lot. Somerfield was selling a 800mg loaf for 35p, so i bought that. And then i went to chinatown and bought pure sesame oil (made in singapore) £1.99 for 320ml, and maggi hot chili sauce 320g for 99p. I decided i shall buy anything but chinese made products as i m rather dubious about fake chinese goods now) and at another shop for its 49p bean sprouts.
I was at the library, logging online to the AMTcoffee.co.uk website intending to write in about the voucher, and i noticed there was a wording on the voucher which stated AMTcoffee. So i decided since i was near the shop anyway to go back and see if i can convince them.
This time there was a different woman behind the counter. This time i made a different approach. I walked right up, and put the voucher on the counter and said 'cafe maya please'. She said why didnt i cut out the whole advert, i said there was no mention that I should do that. Fortunately she agreed to fulfil the order. So there u have it. I did get the coffee in the end. Well, I have all the time in the world to go back. But to many people the first rebuff might be enough to embarrass them to give up. So to be sure of getting ur free coffee, cut out the whole advert.
I took the coffee and went to seven dials roundabout to drink it. I noticed the whole of london is very scarce in providing benches on the pavements. Seven dials is not a restful place to sit and drink coffee because there is constant traffic all round the central pillar. But as a place to watch cars and how they are able to always avoid hitting the pedestrians that cross the seven roads converging on it, it can be rather diverting.
I enjoyed the coffee and seeing how many gay guys i can spot. then on the way back I passed St martins church, (earlier i found out where st paul's church is in covent garden. It has a nice garden that is pleasant to sit and have lunch in good weather)
I saw the entrance to the crypt of St martins church. In the past , before the renovation, the crypt entrance was small and poky on the other side of the church below street level. Now there is a stonking big glass entrance in the middle of the courtyard where market stalls used to be, and the crypt restaurant opens out into the vast underground space that has been excavated. Quite a nice space really. It's the first time I have gone into the crypt. i have lived a long time in London, and i have often seen the sign saying this way to the restaurant in the crypt but never did want to go down, as the entrance looks so run down and grotty. Now they have immproved it a lot, so much so that I went down there to have a look.
added 17.12.08
I was enjoying the coffee i made and realise half the enjoyment is breathing in the coffee smell. I then recalled that the coffee i had from AMT was in a paper cup and capped, with a hole in it to drink from and I realised that i have been deprived of the smell of coffee. That cannot be right, surely, the whole thing about coffee is smelling it in an open cup and drinking it while savouring the full force of the aroma. By capping it, and putting it in a paper cup, someone has lost the plot. I wonder when the penny will drop and the public who have been drinking coffee in plastic cups and covered caps comes to their senses and demand open cups.
free wifi in some shops
london
I read this in today's Times, that pret a manger is providing free wifi, and u dont even need to buy anything from the shop. They want to encourage off peak users. Macdonalds and coffee republic also do the same thing. First time i heard of this, about macdonalds and coffee republic. It is good to know because before , other shops wants u to pay as much as £5 an hour to get their wifi.
Will it make me stop my broadband at home? I can save £6.49 a month, but even though i like a bargain, i dont think i shall stop my home broadband. it is too convenient at home rather than having to cart a heavy laptop to a coffee shop.
There is an offer of free coffee at AMTcoffee.co.uk with a voucher from the independent newspaper all this week. There are not many outlets in london. The nearest to me is covent gdn. I shall take this excuse to go walking to covent gdn, and see what is there. Also to find out where St Paul's church is located. I am going tomorrow at 7pm to join in the carol singing with Foodchain with a friend. Though, if u know me, I am more attracted to offer of mince pies and mulled wine afterwards. (hope there is coffee as well!!)
I read this in today's Times, that pret a manger is providing free wifi, and u dont even need to buy anything from the shop. They want to encourage off peak users. Macdonalds and coffee republic also do the same thing. First time i heard of this, about macdonalds and coffee republic. It is good to know because before , other shops wants u to pay as much as £5 an hour to get their wifi.
Will it make me stop my broadband at home? I can save £6.49 a month, but even though i like a bargain, i dont think i shall stop my home broadband. it is too convenient at home rather than having to cart a heavy laptop to a coffee shop.
There is an offer of free coffee at AMTcoffee.co.uk with a voucher from the independent newspaper all this week. There are not many outlets in london. The nearest to me is covent gdn. I shall take this excuse to go walking to covent gdn, and see what is there. Also to find out where St Paul's church is located. I am going tomorrow at 7pm to join in the carol singing with Foodchain with a friend. Though, if u know me, I am more attracted to offer of mince pies and mulled wine afterwards. (hope there is coffee as well!!)
Sunday, 14 December 2008
another sunday
london
Saturday was ordinary too.
This sunday was unusual only in one aspect. I woke today and as is my custom, i picked up the phone to hear the dial tone, to see if i have any messages. This phone does not inform me if i have any messages, the only way i can find out is to lift it up , and hear the dial tone. The dial tone is a continous tone, so if it blips I would know I have a message and so i dial 1571. Usually i dont have any messages.I dont mind not having any messages because that means there is nothing that needs my attention. Today, there was no dial tone at all. It has never happened before.Or rather, it may have happened before but this is the first time i noticed it. My immediate thought was that the old fashioned phone that i bought from a charity shop may have stopped working. I have always thought these phones never go wrong,but maybe i am wrong about that. Anyway, there is nothing i can do about it for now. I switched on my broadband, and found it did not work either. That is more encouraging, because it might mean the whole system is down rather than anything to do with my phone.
Anyway, i decided I shall follow my usual sunday routine and go to the tate britain nearby to read the sunday paper. Whilst there I also had a look at their christmas tree which they put up every year. This year i read in the papers that its lights were powered by bicycles arranged in a circle at the base. Only two kids were cycling on it, and they did not generate much power.Only one light on. The tree is very makeshift and seem to be made cheaply from recycled paper. A sign of the coming recessionary times. I like the concept of using bicycle power to light it.
The Tate provides the Guardian, and Observer on sunday,free in the cafe. I saw headline news that the £ is worth less than the euro now. Ah well, it just means fewer britons will be travelling abroad. haha and we shall expect more foreigners to come to briton to holiday and to shop.
When i got back to the flat, i listened to the phone again and was glad that the dial tone and broadband is working again.
It seems that the way to deal with things that go wrong, is just wait and do nothing, and let it get sorted out by itself.
Maybe the prime minister should have done the same when dealing with the present economic crisis. Just let the market sort itself out and only provide a safety net for those who are affected by it rather than pump so much public money to prop up banks. Added it looks like as far as the £ is concerned the govt is letting it find its own level, which seems to be the best thing to do. Afterall, a low £ is good for british exporters and britains tourist industry. And with these recessionary times, there is no danger of higher inflation, which is what normally happens when the £ drops because of the increased costs of imported goods. This time, all it means is that less people will buy those expensive imports and buy local instead which is exactly what the economy needs.
But then politicians just have to do something, or seen to be doing something, or people might well ask what is the point of paying their salaries. That is why politicians pass so many laws. They have to be seen to be doing things.
Then i realise all those politicians...their souls wants it. So I shall leave them to it.
Saturday was ordinary too.
This sunday was unusual only in one aspect. I woke today and as is my custom, i picked up the phone to hear the dial tone, to see if i have any messages. This phone does not inform me if i have any messages, the only way i can find out is to lift it up , and hear the dial tone. The dial tone is a continous tone, so if it blips I would know I have a message and so i dial 1571. Usually i dont have any messages.I dont mind not having any messages because that means there is nothing that needs my attention. Today, there was no dial tone at all. It has never happened before.Or rather, it may have happened before but this is the first time i noticed it. My immediate thought was that the old fashioned phone that i bought from a charity shop may have stopped working. I have always thought these phones never go wrong,but maybe i am wrong about that. Anyway, there is nothing i can do about it for now. I switched on my broadband, and found it did not work either. That is more encouraging, because it might mean the whole system is down rather than anything to do with my phone.
Anyway, i decided I shall follow my usual sunday routine and go to the tate britain nearby to read the sunday paper. Whilst there I also had a look at their christmas tree which they put up every year. This year i read in the papers that its lights were powered by bicycles arranged in a circle at the base. Only two kids were cycling on it, and they did not generate much power.Only one light on. The tree is very makeshift and seem to be made cheaply from recycled paper. A sign of the coming recessionary times. I like the concept of using bicycle power to light it.
The Tate provides the Guardian, and Observer on sunday,free in the cafe. I saw headline news that the £ is worth less than the euro now. Ah well, it just means fewer britons will be travelling abroad. haha and we shall expect more foreigners to come to briton to holiday and to shop.
When i got back to the flat, i listened to the phone again and was glad that the dial tone and broadband is working again.
It seems that the way to deal with things that go wrong, is just wait and do nothing, and let it get sorted out by itself.
Maybe the prime minister should have done the same when dealing with the present economic crisis. Just let the market sort itself out and only provide a safety net for those who are affected by it rather than pump so much public money to prop up banks. Added it looks like as far as the £ is concerned the govt is letting it find its own level, which seems to be the best thing to do. Afterall, a low £ is good for british exporters and britains tourist industry. And with these recessionary times, there is no danger of higher inflation, which is what normally happens when the £ drops because of the increased costs of imported goods. This time, all it means is that less people will buy those expensive imports and buy local instead which is exactly what the economy needs.
But then politicians just have to do something, or seen to be doing something, or people might well ask what is the point of paying their salaries. That is why politicians pass so many laws. They have to be seen to be doing things.
Then i realise all those politicians...their souls wants it. So I shall leave them to it.
Friday, 12 December 2008
A new shag
london 7.7C
I get contacted by people and that is how i meet new people. I am rather glad that they take the trouble to contact me. I myself am too lazy to contact them. So I was pleased when this chappie sent me a message from the massage group that i belong to. That was a few days ago, and after he had given me a photo of himself,showing his face, which was not really necessary, because i dont really mind what he looks like. I saw a photo of his body on the massage group website and that was quite a nice body enough to make me realise i dont mind meeting him. I am a body man rather than a face man.
Anyway he sent me his address and it was on the south bank of the river Thames from hammersmith across hammersmith bridge. I know i can get a single bus 211 from my place to hammersmith and i asked him whether i could get to his place via the river walk. He said i can.
So today i went there. the bus journey was a long one. I had forgotten how tedious it was. I used to take this bus when i go to the foodchain kitchen in hammersmith a long time ago, and stopped. Now i know why i stopped going there. hhaha.
Anyway, this time it is for a massage(read a shag) so that is alright.Once i get on the bus, it is rather restful to just let it take me there. The bus route goes along the Kings Road in Chelsea. I saw there are many pedestrian crossings in the Kings road, and am glad i m not a driver, because i would get very cross at having to stop for every one who decides to cross whenever they like. I am all for pedestrians right of way, but even i think so many pedestrian crossings so close to each other is excessive. You may well ask why this street has so many pedestrian crossings. it is because the shop keepers on either side want customers to be able to cross the street to their shops easily. The Kings Road in Chelsea is not as busy nor as trendy as it used to be as a shopping street.
The south bank of the Thames River when i walked across the hammersmith bridge was very different from the usual concrete wall that i usually see confining the Thames river. This one was just mud and trees and it was high tide and the river lapped right up to almost the pathway. The houses were just separated from the river by a high earth bank on the other side of the path. Later when he walked me back, my friend said 'at some high tides the path gets flooded' and in fact 'his estate is below the level of the river. So far the river have never gone over the bank, but he said if it ever did the whole estate will be flooded.
He lives on the top floor, and he being a builder has converted two flats, into one and built a loft extension, so it was a very spacious flat.
later after our massage, which he did very sensously on me, after i tried rather unsuccessfully to perform my amateurish thai massage on him, he showed me his bedroom. I commented that it was very camp and indeed it was with a canopied bed and chandeliers on the wall, and bedside lamps held up by black boys. We had a joke about it.
he had been learning sensual massages with this naked massage group that we both belong to. I think it is very good, and so shall learn from him next time we meet again.
He is about 60 yrs old and is in very good shape, his photo was a good likeness of his body shape and i was not wrong to guess he has a good body. I never bother about a person's age, rather preferring to judge a person from his photo and his real person.
He seems to like what he sees of me, so it is mutual admiration society. haha.
Well both of us are rather easy going about sex, and have no drama queen attitudes. So we readily agreed to have more such meetups.
Afterwards we shared a hot power shower, and he made tea for me in his mother's 50year old tea pot and we had it with the teacups. he said it has not been used for a year and since i asked for tea in a pot, it shall be as i command, or words to that effect. haha. Well, i like tea in a pot. he put in 3tea bags, and so there was plenty of tea to refill. And it was very nice to pour tea out of, the tea did not dribble which is the mark of a good tea pot.
He cut up a christmas cake he bought from marks and spencers, and it was very nice. It was very fruity and have a hard icing on top. Its been sometime since i had christmas cake and the combination of icing and rich fruit goes very well with tea.
Well, it is nice to meet someone like him, who has a nice flat and we can get massaged and have some sexual fun.
A nice change I think from the usual routine of life.
Funny weather we are having. the lowest temp was -0.8C at 5am this morning.I was awake then, and did not feel cold in the flat. It is now the highest at 8.1C at 8.43pm.
I get contacted by people and that is how i meet new people. I am rather glad that they take the trouble to contact me. I myself am too lazy to contact them. So I was pleased when this chappie sent me a message from the massage group that i belong to. That was a few days ago, and after he had given me a photo of himself,showing his face, which was not really necessary, because i dont really mind what he looks like. I saw a photo of his body on the massage group website and that was quite a nice body enough to make me realise i dont mind meeting him. I am a body man rather than a face man.
Anyway he sent me his address and it was on the south bank of the river Thames from hammersmith across hammersmith bridge. I know i can get a single bus 211 from my place to hammersmith and i asked him whether i could get to his place via the river walk. He said i can.
So today i went there. the bus journey was a long one. I had forgotten how tedious it was. I used to take this bus when i go to the foodchain kitchen in hammersmith a long time ago, and stopped. Now i know why i stopped going there. hhaha.
Anyway, this time it is for a massage(read a shag) so that is alright.Once i get on the bus, it is rather restful to just let it take me there. The bus route goes along the Kings Road in Chelsea. I saw there are many pedestrian crossings in the Kings road, and am glad i m not a driver, because i would get very cross at having to stop for every one who decides to cross whenever they like. I am all for pedestrians right of way, but even i think so many pedestrian crossings so close to each other is excessive. You may well ask why this street has so many pedestrian crossings. it is because the shop keepers on either side want customers to be able to cross the street to their shops easily. The Kings Road in Chelsea is not as busy nor as trendy as it used to be as a shopping street.
The south bank of the Thames River when i walked across the hammersmith bridge was very different from the usual concrete wall that i usually see confining the Thames river. This one was just mud and trees and it was high tide and the river lapped right up to almost the pathway. The houses were just separated from the river by a high earth bank on the other side of the path. Later when he walked me back, my friend said 'at some high tides the path gets flooded' and in fact 'his estate is below the level of the river. So far the river have never gone over the bank, but he said if it ever did the whole estate will be flooded.
He lives on the top floor, and he being a builder has converted two flats, into one and built a loft extension, so it was a very spacious flat.
later after our massage, which he did very sensously on me, after i tried rather unsuccessfully to perform my amateurish thai massage on him, he showed me his bedroom. I commented that it was very camp and indeed it was with a canopied bed and chandeliers on the wall, and bedside lamps held up by black boys. We had a joke about it.
he had been learning sensual massages with this naked massage group that we both belong to. I think it is very good, and so shall learn from him next time we meet again.
He is about 60 yrs old and is in very good shape, his photo was a good likeness of his body shape and i was not wrong to guess he has a good body. I never bother about a person's age, rather preferring to judge a person from his photo and his real person.
He seems to like what he sees of me, so it is mutual admiration society. haha.
Well both of us are rather easy going about sex, and have no drama queen attitudes. So we readily agreed to have more such meetups.
Afterwards we shared a hot power shower, and he made tea for me in his mother's 50year old tea pot and we had it with the teacups. he said it has not been used for a year and since i asked for tea in a pot, it shall be as i command, or words to that effect. haha. Well, i like tea in a pot. he put in 3tea bags, and so there was plenty of tea to refill. And it was very nice to pour tea out of, the tea did not dribble which is the mark of a good tea pot.
He cut up a christmas cake he bought from marks and spencers, and it was very nice. It was very fruity and have a hard icing on top. Its been sometime since i had christmas cake and the combination of icing and rich fruit goes very well with tea.
Well, it is nice to meet someone like him, who has a nice flat and we can get massaged and have some sexual fun.
A nice change I think from the usual routine of life.
Funny weather we are having. the lowest temp was -0.8C at 5am this morning.I was awake then, and did not feel cold in the flat. It is now the highest at 8.1C at 8.43pm.
Thursday, 11 December 2008
renewing malaysian passport in london
london
update 5.11.13
I had a really pleasant experience renewing my passport at the malaysian office in belgravia this morning. i went there at about 9am, and was finished and back to my flat by 10am. and waiting to collect it at 12pm on same day instead of 3pm like last time. (though there is a note saying if another day it is 3pm.)
what a great efficient service. no forms to fill in now. just a slip of paper to fill in your name and address in uk, and uk phone number.
luckily i took everything there. all my passports, because one of them have my permanent leave to remain, and my identity card, which needs to be photostat, front and back without the plastic cover, (they have a machine there and it takes 20p coins) so i took 2copies.
I did not have 20p change, and was told to go to the nasi lemak people to get change. luckily there was a fellow malaysian in the nasi lemak place who was buying food and i ask him and he has change. so i did not ask the nasi lemak person, i suppose the nasi lemak people can change it but dont bet on it or they might want u to buy something. it is £3 each for the food, which has gone down in price from £3.50 last time.
I was in and out of the place, being seen and dealt with so quick, that i did not need to buy anything to eat.
and there is a resident photographer, a chinese guy,who took my photo for £5, which is the same cost as last time. and i noticed my photo is not with a blue background, and was so surprised that i mentioned it. he said they changed the rules about the blue background a month ago.
now the cost of getting a new passport is £61 , but luckily she noticed I was over 60yrs old and told me it is £31. that is rather a good thing she noticed my age as i dont look old; i did not know it is half priced for over 60s. (I gave her a £50 note and £1, she gave me £30, £10 more in change, which i returned to her as I did not want her to get into trouble when they check the balance at the end of the day.)
added.6.12.13 when i returned for my new passport, i was given a receipt for the £31 and realise it is converted from the Rm150. so the rise in sterling cost from £50 to £61 is due to the drop in the exchange rate of £ to Rm.
she checked my right and left thumb print on a laser machine, and then she asked me to print my right thumb print on a paper and sign it. i think that signature will appear in the passport, so make sure u sign your usual signature and not just scribble. haha.
all in all, a very good experience. i dont think it is a bio passport. i shall let u know if i am wrong about that when i get my new passport.
Added. 12.30pm
I arrived at 12pm, and it took so quick, i am back at my flat allready 30mins later.
luckily i checked the passport, and found they did not stamp that i am known by another name, so i pointed it out and she went behind the partition and i got that stamped in. and they asked me to sign my passport, so that is the signature that is the official one.then i checked and found no section about israel... i asked a lady sitting next to me, and she said they took that off , earlier this year.
so it looks like we can go to israel now.
there is a small note right in the front which says this passport is valid for all countries except israel. so israel is still off limits .
On the last page it says it contains a sensitive electronic device, do not bend, etc , so it might be a bio passport... and at least this time, the date of expiry is not 5yrs from the date of issue. it is 5yrs from the date of expiration from the previous passport.
2008
My experience might be useful for those malaysians in uk with renewal passport.
The office is at 45 belgrave square SW1X 8QT, separate entrance down the stairs to the basement. It is open for renewal of passport between 9am-12noon. and to collect the new passport between 3pm-4pm on the same day. You will be given the time to collect ur new passport though it was not accurate. better to just go there at 3pm and wait for ur name to be called out.
I wonder how malaysians who live outside london cope with having to come to london in person.
Anyway, i found that it is much easier now to fill in the forms. There is an english version. and the lady at the desk was very much more helpful, reminding me to take the plastic cover from my id card before photostating it.
And also explaining the forms.
I found when it was my turn, my photos which i paid £4 at the victoria photo booth, was not really wanted. One photo was taken of the 4 I gave to him, but i had to go to the resident photographer to get my photo taken against a blue background. It costs £5. If i had known i would not have bothered getting one beforehand. Also, there was no mirror or anything so for those who are concerned about their appearances, be warned.
I could not care less how i looked, and only wished the embassy had told people that they can have their passport photo taken at the embassy. I joked to the woman who took my photo, saying I allready have photos taken, but nevermind, if it is helping the country make some money by paying £5 for these photos. The cost of application for a 34page passport is £50, which is quite reasonable, and dont seem to have increased much from 5yrs ago.
(Added. 13.19.11 Found out by a comment here that it is now £61. not sure if it is for a electronic passport or not.)
Judgeing from the scaffolding outside, the embassy will need money to pay for the facade maintainance in future. We are lucky to have bought the building. i hope we did buy the freehold rather than on a leasehold. The location in belgrave square is rather a nice one.
I dont know what the other malaysians who come from outside london do in the meantime while waiting for their collection time. Does it mean they have to spend practically a whole day in london to get their passport renewed? Just as well it is only every 5yrs. There is a cafe at the embassy, but it has run out of malaysian coffee, which is the only reason to patronise it. They have teh tarik, but it does not appeal, because to me teh tarik is authentic only if prepared by a mamak stall. haha. They put in herbs and stuff which makes it special. Here in uk, if the malaysian hall canteen's teh tarik is any guide, they just make it out of Boh tea,(or ordinary tea) and froth it up. There were not many people doing their passport. I arrived at 10am and was number 14.There was a caucasian woman there, i assume she must be applying for a visa. It must be for a long stay one or work visa because all british tourist visitors to malaysia gets 3month visitors visa at the immigration checkin at the airport or border towns. Of course she might not be british.
The cafe was selling malaysian noodles and nasi lemak for £3.50. They were in plastic containers so i cannot vouch for how good they are.
It might be useful for those who have not have lunch.
The offices were in the basement and there was scaffolding work being done on the facade, and so the whole basement area was covered by the scaffolding.
I met a fellow applicant who was a chartered accountant, living in essex. He is chinese, and must be retired because from his passport he was about 68yrs old. But he still gave his profession as his occupation in the form. I too gave my profession as my occupation, even though i have not practise it for years. And i cannot put retired, as i m not yet reached that age of retirement. We parted outside the embassy, he had to be at Bank tube station. I walked back.
Its funny that 5yrs ago, i went there by bus, yet the embassy is within walking distance of my flat. This morning, i was about to take the bus, but just missed it, and decided to walk. It turned out to be a good decision, because no bus that i could have taken passed me until i was almost there. That saved me a bus fare.
I had thought of cycling there, but am glad i did not do so. it was really more convenient and more pleasant to walk there.
I am now at home, waiting for the time to collect the new passport at 3.15pm. Not for the first time i am rather glad to be living in central london. I can come back for lunch and have a restful time, before going back to collect the passport.
added 4.47pm
I got my new passport, and valid for 2013. so thank goodness for that. It was quite painless, and fortunately they used thumb identification. I thought they will ask me for my id card to prove my identity. Lucky they did not because i forgot to put it in my bag, even though i could have sworn i did. The mind can play strange tricks.
Anyway, my new found friend, the chartered accountant wanted to treat me to coffee so we walked to the Hyde park corner tube station looking for a starbucks. But as is the case , when u want one it cannot be found, so we have to settle for the hotel. I forgot the name of this hotel, it used to be the St Georges' hospital. I warn people not to go there for coffee. haha. it was overpriced at £4.50, and was luke warm . We asked for cafe latte, and got cafe con leche. All in all it was a dismal experience but he was paying so I dont mind. haha. I would never have chosen to take coffee at a hotel cafe. Waste of money.
My chartered accountant friend says he still do his work parttime, working from home. And asked me whether i know of a malaysian expatriate club. I asked him what is the point of it. he said they come together for meetings at the embassy. I asked him did u get an invitation for the hari raya haji celebrations? I was thinking if being a member means we can get invitations to attend these celebrations, we can usually get a good meal out of it, haha. But he did not even know of it. So no point really in being members of that club. It costs £30 a year. He said he will invite me to a function as his guest. I hope it does not mean I have to pay. haha. I dont think much of that kind of invitation. hehe.
We malaysian Chinese in uk dont really get invitations to any of the hari raya celebrations. He told me there was one end- of -year party held at the malaysian hall, on 29november, but I never knew about it. It seems there was food. Then again, I am not sure I would go, even the thought of a free meal is not enough to entice me to attend. So maybe just as well they dont invite me. I dont have anything in common with them apart from being a malaysian expatriate. Added 6.32pm. simon just called to say he is leaving work now and asks me if i fancy fish and chips as he is about to buy some. OK i said. so i shall be having fish and chips tonight. haha.
Added 9.47pm It was delicious, and quite big cod each(I gave half of mine to him as it was too big for me as earlier i had a fruit pie so was not that hungry), we shared a large chip portion, very filling for £11. quite good value. simon said there was a long queue for the fish and he liked that because it means the fish are not left hanging about for long. The cod is thick which is rather good as so many fillets are so thin that they bulk it up with batter so that u end up eating batter instead of fish. this shop is in strutton ground off victoria street sw1, a cobbled street full of streetstalls during the day time.
Added 2.5.2010
its almost 2yrs since i wrote this post. just want to add that i found another fish and chips shop , in lupus st,pimlico which is even better value. £5.50 for cod, chips £2. considering it is two years later, the price is even better value.
Added. 6.5.2010
It seems frm 24 april 2010 the manchester branch is open only on saturday bet 8am-2pm to process things.
and fr 2 May 2010 also at Aberdeen.
click on link to get further details.
for those renewing passport, it is important that u bring the old passport that contain the 'indefinite leave to remain' stamp. Home office does not automatically stamp it on the new passport when u come into the country, so if u are renewing 5yrs frm now, u will need to bring ur old passport with the stamp.
update 5.11.13
I had a really pleasant experience renewing my passport at the malaysian office in belgravia this morning. i went there at about 9am, and was finished and back to my flat by 10am. and waiting to collect it at 12pm on same day instead of 3pm like last time. (though there is a note saying if another day it is 3pm.)
what a great efficient service. no forms to fill in now. just a slip of paper to fill in your name and address in uk, and uk phone number.
luckily i took everything there. all my passports, because one of them have my permanent leave to remain, and my identity card, which needs to be photostat, front and back without the plastic cover, (they have a machine there and it takes 20p coins) so i took 2copies.
I did not have 20p change, and was told to go to the nasi lemak people to get change. luckily there was a fellow malaysian in the nasi lemak place who was buying food and i ask him and he has change. so i did not ask the nasi lemak person, i suppose the nasi lemak people can change it but dont bet on it or they might want u to buy something. it is £3 each for the food, which has gone down in price from £3.50 last time.
I was in and out of the place, being seen and dealt with so quick, that i did not need to buy anything to eat.
and there is a resident photographer, a chinese guy,who took my photo for £5, which is the same cost as last time. and i noticed my photo is not with a blue background, and was so surprised that i mentioned it. he said they changed the rules about the blue background a month ago.
now the cost of getting a new passport is £61 , but luckily she noticed I was over 60yrs old and told me it is £31. that is rather a good thing she noticed my age as i dont look old; i did not know it is half priced for over 60s. (I gave her a £50 note and £1, she gave me £30, £10 more in change, which i returned to her as I did not want her to get into trouble when they check the balance at the end of the day.)
added.6.12.13 when i returned for my new passport, i was given a receipt for the £31 and realise it is converted from the Rm150. so the rise in sterling cost from £50 to £61 is due to the drop in the exchange rate of £ to Rm.
she checked my right and left thumb print on a laser machine, and then she asked me to print my right thumb print on a paper and sign it. i think that signature will appear in the passport, so make sure u sign your usual signature and not just scribble. haha.
all in all, a very good experience. i dont think it is a bio passport. i shall let u know if i am wrong about that when i get my new passport.
Added. 12.30pm
I arrived at 12pm, and it took so quick, i am back at my flat allready 30mins later.
luckily i checked the passport, and found they did not stamp that i am known by another name, so i pointed it out and she went behind the partition and i got that stamped in. and they asked me to sign my passport, so that is the signature that is the official one.
there is a small note right in the front which says this passport is valid for all countries except israel. so israel is still off limits .
On the last page it says it contains a sensitive electronic device, do not bend, etc , so it might be a bio passport... and at least this time, the date of expiry is not 5yrs from the date of issue. it is 5yrs from the date of expiration from the previous passport.
2008
My experience might be useful for those malaysians in uk with renewal passport.
The office is at 45 belgrave square SW1X 8QT, separate entrance down the stairs to the basement. It is open for renewal of passport between 9am-12noon. and to collect the new passport between 3pm-4pm on the same day. You will be given the time to collect ur new passport though it was not accurate. better to just go there at 3pm and wait for ur name to be called out.
I wonder how malaysians who live outside london cope with having to come to london in person.
Anyway, i found that it is much easier now to fill in the forms. There is an english version. and the lady at the desk was very much more helpful, reminding me to take the plastic cover from my id card before photostating it.
And also explaining the forms.
I found when it was my turn, my photos which i paid £4 at the victoria photo booth, was not really wanted. One photo was taken of the 4 I gave to him, but i had to go to the resident photographer to get my photo taken against a blue background. It costs £5. If i had known i would not have bothered getting one beforehand. Also, there was no mirror or anything so for those who are concerned about their appearances, be warned.
I could not care less how i looked, and only wished the embassy had told people that they can have their passport photo taken at the embassy. I joked to the woman who took my photo, saying I allready have photos taken, but nevermind, if it is helping the country make some money by paying £5 for these photos. The cost of application for a 34page passport is £50, which is quite reasonable, and dont seem to have increased much from 5yrs ago.
(Added. 13.19.11 Found out by a comment here that it is now £61. not sure if it is for a electronic passport or not.)
Judgeing from the scaffolding outside, the embassy will need money to pay for the facade maintainance in future. We are lucky to have bought the building. i hope we did buy the freehold rather than on a leasehold. The location in belgrave square is rather a nice one.
I dont know what the other malaysians who come from outside london do in the meantime while waiting for their collection time. Does it mean they have to spend practically a whole day in london to get their passport renewed? Just as well it is only every 5yrs. There is a cafe at the embassy, but it has run out of malaysian coffee, which is the only reason to patronise it. They have teh tarik, but it does not appeal, because to me teh tarik is authentic only if prepared by a mamak stall. haha. They put in herbs and stuff which makes it special. Here in uk, if the malaysian hall canteen's teh tarik is any guide, they just make it out of Boh tea,(or ordinary tea) and froth it up. There were not many people doing their passport. I arrived at 10am and was number 14.There was a caucasian woman there, i assume she must be applying for a visa. It must be for a long stay one or work visa because all british tourist visitors to malaysia gets 3month visitors visa at the immigration checkin at the airport or border towns. Of course she might not be british.
The cafe was selling malaysian noodles and nasi lemak for £3.50. They were in plastic containers so i cannot vouch for how good they are.
It might be useful for those who have not have lunch.
The offices were in the basement and there was scaffolding work being done on the facade, and so the whole basement area was covered by the scaffolding.
I met a fellow applicant who was a chartered accountant, living in essex. He is chinese, and must be retired because from his passport he was about 68yrs old. But he still gave his profession as his occupation in the form. I too gave my profession as my occupation, even though i have not practise it for years. And i cannot put retired, as i m not yet reached that age of retirement. We parted outside the embassy, he had to be at Bank tube station. I walked back.
Its funny that 5yrs ago, i went there by bus, yet the embassy is within walking distance of my flat. This morning, i was about to take the bus, but just missed it, and decided to walk. It turned out to be a good decision, because no bus that i could have taken passed me until i was almost there. That saved me a bus fare.
I had thought of cycling there, but am glad i did not do so. it was really more convenient and more pleasant to walk there.
I am now at home, waiting for the time to collect the new passport at 3.15pm. Not for the first time i am rather glad to be living in central london. I can come back for lunch and have a restful time, before going back to collect the passport.
added 4.47pm
I got my new passport, and valid for 2013. so thank goodness for that. It was quite painless, and fortunately they used thumb identification. I thought they will ask me for my id card to prove my identity. Lucky they did not because i forgot to put it in my bag, even though i could have sworn i did. The mind can play strange tricks.
Anyway, my new found friend, the chartered accountant wanted to treat me to coffee so we walked to the Hyde park corner tube station looking for a starbucks. But as is the case , when u want one it cannot be found, so we have to settle for the hotel. I forgot the name of this hotel, it used to be the St Georges' hospital. I warn people not to go there for coffee. haha. it was overpriced at £4.50, and was luke warm . We asked for cafe latte, and got cafe con leche. All in all it was a dismal experience but he was paying so I dont mind. haha. I would never have chosen to take coffee at a hotel cafe. Waste of money.
My chartered accountant friend says he still do his work parttime, working from home. And asked me whether i know of a malaysian expatriate club. I asked him what is the point of it. he said they come together for meetings at the embassy. I asked him did u get an invitation for the hari raya haji celebrations? I was thinking if being a member means we can get invitations to attend these celebrations, we can usually get a good meal out of it, haha. But he did not even know of it. So no point really in being members of that club. It costs £30 a year. He said he will invite me to a function as his guest. I hope it does not mean I have to pay. haha. I dont think much of that kind of invitation. hehe.
We malaysian Chinese in uk dont really get invitations to any of the hari raya celebrations. He told me there was one end- of -year party held at the malaysian hall, on 29november, but I never knew about it. It seems there was food. Then again, I am not sure I would go, even the thought of a free meal is not enough to entice me to attend. So maybe just as well they dont invite me. I dont have anything in common with them apart from being a malaysian expatriate. Added 6.32pm. simon just called to say he is leaving work now and asks me if i fancy fish and chips as he is about to buy some. OK i said. so i shall be having fish and chips tonight. haha.
Added 9.47pm It was delicious, and quite big cod each(I gave half of mine to him as it was too big for me as earlier i had a fruit pie so was not that hungry), we shared a large chip portion, very filling for £11. quite good value. simon said there was a long queue for the fish and he liked that because it means the fish are not left hanging about for long. The cod is thick which is rather good as so many fillets are so thin that they bulk it up with batter so that u end up eating batter instead of fish. this shop is in strutton ground off victoria street sw1, a cobbled street full of streetstalls during the day time.
Added 2.5.2010
its almost 2yrs since i wrote this post. just want to add that i found another fish and chips shop , in lupus st,pimlico which is even better value. £5.50 for cod, chips £2. considering it is two years later, the price is even better value.
Added. 6.5.2010
It seems frm 24 april 2010 the manchester branch is open only on saturday bet 8am-2pm to process things.
and fr 2 May 2010 also at Aberdeen.
click on link to get further details.
for those renewing passport, it is important that u bring the old passport that contain the 'indefinite leave to remain' stamp. Home office does not automatically stamp it on the new passport when u come into the country, so if u are renewing 5yrs frm now, u will need to bring ur old passport with the stamp.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
very goodarticles about thailands monarchy in the Economist magazine
london
This edition of the Economist magazine is not distributed in thailand, to safeguard the local distributor from being convicted under thailand's draconian law against criticism of the monarchy.
the articles give a very good oversight of what is happening now in thailand.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12724832&source=most_commented
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12724800
read it quick or save it on file, because the economist may not keep it free to read online for long. so far the thai govt has not blocked the economist website but maybe it can only block thai's from accessing it, but not from other parts of the world.
I travel on holiday to thailand and wish it well, and I too have wondered about the role of the monarchy now. No one dares to talk about its role because they can be jailed for 15 yrs just to mention the king; so the economist is very brave to do so.
It offers no solutions, maybe because there are none. There will be bloodshed and i think the army will take over and democracy will be dead in thailand and thailand becomes another militarist regime paying lipservice to the monarchy as long as the present king lives. After him, who knows.Maybe the Thais wants this, after all I have a feeling that most thais are not really too bothered about democracy as long as the country is peaceful and there is law and order, and business and the tourist industry is not disrupted. I cannot blame them if that is the solution that is finally arrived at.
added 12.12.08
A good analysis in this article. The govt has reverted to old style provincial strongmen who support Local MPs and sell them to the highest bidder in a coalition govt. Ah well, perhaps that is what thais deserve. It seems to confirm that the Thai way of life only works from bribery and behind the scenes dealings and influences. The alternative is a military takeover and maybe to the thais that is worst than the corruption by MPs.
I think it is very sad, but maybe one must be pragmatic and this way is the best solution. I hope the world will not think that the asian way is the one of corruption and vote selling by provincial strongmen, though i would not blame the world for coming to that conclusion.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7775749.stm
This edition of the Economist magazine is not distributed in thailand, to safeguard the local distributor from being convicted under thailand's draconian law against criticism of the monarchy.
the articles give a very good oversight of what is happening now in thailand.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12724832&source=most_commented
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12724800
read it quick or save it on file, because the economist may not keep it free to read online for long. so far the thai govt has not blocked the economist website but maybe it can only block thai's from accessing it, but not from other parts of the world.
I travel on holiday to thailand and wish it well, and I too have wondered about the role of the monarchy now. No one dares to talk about its role because they can be jailed for 15 yrs just to mention the king; so the economist is very brave to do so.
It offers no solutions, maybe because there are none. There will be bloodshed and i think the army will take over and democracy will be dead in thailand and thailand becomes another militarist regime paying lipservice to the monarchy as long as the present king lives. After him, who knows.Maybe the Thais wants this, after all I have a feeling that most thais are not really too bothered about democracy as long as the country is peaceful and there is law and order, and business and the tourist industry is not disrupted. I cannot blame them if that is the solution that is finally arrived at.
added 12.12.08
A good analysis in this article. The govt has reverted to old style provincial strongmen who support Local MPs and sell them to the highest bidder in a coalition govt. Ah well, perhaps that is what thais deserve. It seems to confirm that the Thai way of life only works from bribery and behind the scenes dealings and influences. The alternative is a military takeover and maybe to the thais that is worst than the corruption by MPs.
I think it is very sad, but maybe one must be pragmatic and this way is the best solution. I hope the world will not think that the asian way is the one of corruption and vote selling by provincial strongmen, though i would not blame the world for coming to that conclusion.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7775749.stm
alzheimers disease.
london
There has been some talk of an expensive drug which the NHS cannot afford. Some patients have bought it privately, and found that the NHS wont let them have free NHS care because the NHS wont allow patients to mix it with private treatment. Originally, this ruling is to avoid a two speed NHS, with rich patients being able to jump the queue or get better treatment, and to avoid doctors being tempted to recommend private treatment and increase their income.
I received an email from the orthomolecular medicine news service, (I subscribe to it) and found that high doses of vit B3 has been found to be effective against the effects of alzheimers in rats.
Vit B3 is a natural vitamin. vitamin B3 is widely found in foods such as meat, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds.It seem like there is nothing to lose and all to gain by advocating people just up their intake of it. Even if u dont want to take vit B3 supplements, just eat more of those foods that contains it. Simple isn't it?
Well, read the article and make up your own mind.(I cannot reproduce the article because of copyright reasons, and there is no direct link to it. i got it via email from the society newsletter. so here is the link to the society where u can subscribe to the newsletter if u want.
http://www.orthomolecular.org/
There has been some talk of an expensive drug which the NHS cannot afford. Some patients have bought it privately, and found that the NHS wont let them have free NHS care because the NHS wont allow patients to mix it with private treatment. Originally, this ruling is to avoid a two speed NHS, with rich patients being able to jump the queue or get better treatment, and to avoid doctors being tempted to recommend private treatment and increase their income.
I received an email from the orthomolecular medicine news service, (I subscribe to it) and found that high doses of vit B3 has been found to be effective against the effects of alzheimers in rats.
Vit B3 is a natural vitamin. vitamin B3 is widely found in foods such as meat, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds.It seem like there is nothing to lose and all to gain by advocating people just up their intake of it. Even if u dont want to take vit B3 supplements, just eat more of those foods that contains it. Simple isn't it?
Well, read the article and make up your own mind.(I cannot reproduce the article because of copyright reasons, and there is no direct link to it. i got it via email from the society newsletter. so here is the link to the society where u can subscribe to the newsletter if u want.
http://www.orthomolecular.org/
Monday, 8 December 2008
just chitchatting
london
I just thought i shall write. I feel like chitchatting about nothing much in importance but just to while the time. I have been wandering around victoria station, hoping to find a passport booth. I need to get my passport photo when i apply for my passport renewal, and the booth in pimlico station has been removed. I know i shall be able to find one in victoria railway station. That is the good thing about living within walking distance of a railway station, u get all these facillities for travellers. So sure enough i found one and it only costs £4 to get 4 passport photos. You need exact change however, so I was not able to get my photos done today. Considering the last time i had to do passport photos was 5yrs ago, and it costs £3.00, the cost has not gone up much. I remember last time I had my passport photo taken with these booths and it was not acceptable by the passport office. I have to go to a chemist shop nearby and had my photo taken by a photograpgher. Even then the photo was not very good, but the passport office had to accept it because they recommended the chemist shop. It was £5. I hope i shall be able to do better this time. There was a little leaflet printed on the booth telling what the passport photo requirements are, one of the instructions was to remove your spectacles. I have noticed the light reflecting off the glasses spoils the picture, so now the authorities must have realised that the spectacles can hide features and ask people to take photos without their glasses on. Maybe now immigration officers will have to ask people to remove their glasses at the airport immigration desk.
Today is supposed to be a big day for online shopping. There were examples given of the type of reduction. But i dont know why they say it is cheap.I think even after reduction it still costs a lot. Still, I know I can not use myself as a guide to what shoppers buy, because if everyone follows me there will be no one buying anything.
What bliss not to celebrate christmas!! So no need to buy presents or even throw a party or make special meals. All the stress of the holiday season passes my by. That is why I like Christmas, it is so restful and peaceful for me.
I dont know why others dont do the same as me, but maybe their souls want to be bothered and stressed. haha. Maybe to them, it is a sign of how much they love their loved ones. The amount of trouble they go to is a sign to them and to their loved ones that they love them very much. haha. Well, if that is what they believe then the more stress they get the better because then it will show how much trouble they will go to show their love and show how big is their love. As for me, they can keep that kind of love. I dont want it, I can do without it. haha. That kind of love is toxic.
Today is eid, because i passed a restaurant outside of which were two fair foreign(meaning not westerners nor dark indian) looking guys, and there was a notice in the door, saying we are closed because of Eid. According to google it marks the end of ramadan. But when i looked up hari raya haji, I found today is hari raya Haji in malaysia.And marks the end of the pilgrimage to mecca.
There is another festival , called hari raya puasa in Malaysia, which celebrates end of ramadan. Both are called eid. It can be very confusing to everyone. thank goodness for google for clarifying. haha.
As you can imagine, this Eid is hardly noticed in UK and I would not have noticed if not for this restaurant sign. It is a small Indian restaurant but obviously run by indian muslims. Correction, bangladeshis. An indian from india will recognise a pakistani or bangladeshi, but i bet we cannot tell the difference. Like a foreigner who is unable to tell a korean from a japanese , or malaysian from a singaporean. so please dont get offended when i cannot tell who is who.
I just thought i shall write. I feel like chitchatting about nothing much in importance but just to while the time. I have been wandering around victoria station, hoping to find a passport booth. I need to get my passport photo when i apply for my passport renewal, and the booth in pimlico station has been removed. I know i shall be able to find one in victoria railway station. That is the good thing about living within walking distance of a railway station, u get all these facillities for travellers. So sure enough i found one and it only costs £4 to get 4 passport photos. You need exact change however, so I was not able to get my photos done today. Considering the last time i had to do passport photos was 5yrs ago, and it costs £3.00, the cost has not gone up much. I remember last time I had my passport photo taken with these booths and it was not acceptable by the passport office. I have to go to a chemist shop nearby and had my photo taken by a photograpgher. Even then the photo was not very good, but the passport office had to accept it because they recommended the chemist shop. It was £5. I hope i shall be able to do better this time. There was a little leaflet printed on the booth telling what the passport photo requirements are, one of the instructions was to remove your spectacles. I have noticed the light reflecting off the glasses spoils the picture, so now the authorities must have realised that the spectacles can hide features and ask people to take photos without their glasses on. Maybe now immigration officers will have to ask people to remove their glasses at the airport immigration desk.
Today is supposed to be a big day for online shopping. There were examples given of the type of reduction. But i dont know why they say it is cheap.I think even after reduction it still costs a lot. Still, I know I can not use myself as a guide to what shoppers buy, because if everyone follows me there will be no one buying anything.
What bliss not to celebrate christmas!! So no need to buy presents or even throw a party or make special meals. All the stress of the holiday season passes my by. That is why I like Christmas, it is so restful and peaceful for me.
I dont know why others dont do the same as me, but maybe their souls want to be bothered and stressed. haha. Maybe to them, it is a sign of how much they love their loved ones. The amount of trouble they go to is a sign to them and to their loved ones that they love them very much. haha. Well, if that is what they believe then the more stress they get the better because then it will show how much trouble they will go to show their love and show how big is their love. As for me, they can keep that kind of love. I dont want it, I can do without it. haha. That kind of love is toxic.
Today is eid, because i passed a restaurant outside of which were two fair foreign(meaning not westerners nor dark indian) looking guys, and there was a notice in the door, saying we are closed because of Eid. According to google it marks the end of ramadan. But when i looked up hari raya haji, I found today is hari raya Haji in malaysia.And marks the end of the pilgrimage to mecca.
There is another festival , called hari raya puasa in Malaysia, which celebrates end of ramadan. Both are called eid. It can be very confusing to everyone. thank goodness for google for clarifying. haha.
As you can imagine, this Eid is hardly noticed in UK and I would not have noticed if not for this restaurant sign. It is a small Indian restaurant but obviously run by indian muslims. Correction, bangladeshis. An indian from india will recognise a pakistani or bangladeshi, but i bet we cannot tell the difference. Like a foreigner who is unable to tell a korean from a japanese , or malaysian from a singaporean. so please dont get offended when i cannot tell who is who.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
An old man fell down the stairs in the double decker bus
london
So many things happen to other people. I see it happening to them all over the world, in the news and on TV, and also whenever i go out. Take today for eg, I was coming back from a shag with my friend, and I was taking the bus home. I was upstairs and heard a loud noise, and turned around just in time to see an old man with white hair falling backwards down the stairs after the bus lurched and he missed the handrails. I saw his fall, and it was spectacular. He went head over heels. The people downstairs helped him and he seems ok, because he was able to get up. I thought he was very lucky that he did not break his skull. Well that is something happening to make life interesting for him, but as you can well imagine, it is not anything we want to happen to us no matter how dull our lives are now. haha.
Of course old people forget that their bodies are not so strong as it was, and so try to do things that are beyond them. The upstairs of double decker buses are not for old people, that is why the lower deck has seats that are specially reserved for old people. That old man forgot he is not young anymore. Actually, those stairs are dangerous even for younger people. My friend once fell down the stairs as he was coming down and missed his footing when the bus made a big lurch and pitched him forward down the stairs.
That is why i like the bendy buses because they are easy to get on and off and are all on one level. I mentioned this to two women sitting across from me. One of them said she rides a bicycle and she dont like bendy buses because she nearly got hit by these buses when she overtakes them. They are so long that it takes some time to overtake them, by which time the bus is ready to start its journey from the bus stop and the bus driver cannot see her on her bicycle. So maybe she has a point there. As usual, some people gains others lose out whatever bus is used. It is the common factor in life.
So many things happen to other people. I see it happening to them all over the world, in the news and on TV, and also whenever i go out. Take today for eg, I was coming back from a shag with my friend, and I was taking the bus home. I was upstairs and heard a loud noise, and turned around just in time to see an old man with white hair falling backwards down the stairs after the bus lurched and he missed the handrails. I saw his fall, and it was spectacular. He went head over heels. The people downstairs helped him and he seems ok, because he was able to get up. I thought he was very lucky that he did not break his skull. Well that is something happening to make life interesting for him, but as you can well imagine, it is not anything we want to happen to us no matter how dull our lives are now. haha.
Of course old people forget that their bodies are not so strong as it was, and so try to do things that are beyond them. The upstairs of double decker buses are not for old people, that is why the lower deck has seats that are specially reserved for old people. That old man forgot he is not young anymore. Actually, those stairs are dangerous even for younger people. My friend once fell down the stairs as he was coming down and missed his footing when the bus made a big lurch and pitched him forward down the stairs.
That is why i like the bendy buses because they are easy to get on and off and are all on one level. I mentioned this to two women sitting across from me. One of them said she rides a bicycle and she dont like bendy buses because she nearly got hit by these buses when she overtakes them. They are so long that it takes some time to overtake them, by which time the bus is ready to start its journey from the bus stop and the bus driver cannot see her on her bicycle. So maybe she has a point there. As usual, some people gains others lose out whatever bus is used. It is the common factor in life.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
nothing happening but feeling very peaceful
london 3.4C
I know that it would be nice to have lots of things happening to write about, but there isn't, which is something that makes for long intervals between my posts like now, but I feel very good about it.I would rather nothing happening and having nothing to write about and me just feeling very calm and peaceful enjoying these days of cold snaps and sunny and cloudy days, and the even tempo of my life rather than have lots of difficult and highly emotional things happening like debts, or illness, or bad relationships and suffer the tension-filled days dealing with them. Nowadays when I see letters on the floor at the door, delivered by the postman,I am very happy to receive nothing but advertisements. People get angry when they receive spam letters, but I dont, because it means I have no bills nor letters from debt collectors threatening me with county court judgements. What a lovely feeling it is not to be hounded by debt collectors or dreading bills coming in through the post. many people dont realise what a joy it is. many people think they will be happy having things,or busy doing things, but there is a greater joy in having nothing to do, and not having these irritating letters with bills, and letters demanding payments. I received a christmas card a few days ago from my brother and family in Canada. Though I dont send any cards, I was rather happy to receive his.
Recently, I have a bit of back pain, and pain in the finger joints of my left hand. But i found a way to get rid of them. With the fingers, i found that if i clench them tight and release them and wriggle them like i am playing the piano and do it a number of times, the pain in the finger joints goes away. As for the back pain, since i found out from my friend Paul L that they are muscle spasms, i now know how to treat them. I lie on my back, and bring my legs up to my head and clasp them with my arms, and gently stretch the back muscles and hold it in that position, and that gets rid of the pain. I would recommend these exercises to anyone who have these symptoms.
I have long ago stopped feeling restless if my life is not busy.I enjoy just 'wasting' my time when there is nothing going on in my life.I have learnt that the so called 'interesting' life is the difficult one. The calm and peaceful life is one when there is nothing going on, leaving me free to just savour the day as it unfolds without a care in the world.
I have thought of commenting on the news and things happening all around the world and in the uk, but thank goodness that urge goes away and I don't bother. there is nothing that is happening in the world that affects me. thank goodness for that. haha.
If i want any wild emotions I see films, and when that is over, the emotions are over too, and right glad I am that they are fleeting. I would hate to live that life where those emotions are always there. it must be very tiring to live a life like that.
It is very pleasant to listen to music on the radio,and now there are more christmassy songs being featured it makes for a jolly seasonal atmosphere; to read,to laugh at comedy on the tv,to surf the internet or just potter around in my flat or in the surrounding area. That is how I fill the days of my life nowadays.
I know that it would be nice to have lots of things happening to write about, but there isn't, which is something that makes for long intervals between my posts like now, but I feel very good about it.I would rather nothing happening and having nothing to write about and me just feeling very calm and peaceful enjoying these days of cold snaps and sunny and cloudy days, and the even tempo of my life rather than have lots of difficult and highly emotional things happening like debts, or illness, or bad relationships and suffer the tension-filled days dealing with them. Nowadays when I see letters on the floor at the door, delivered by the postman,I am very happy to receive nothing but advertisements. People get angry when they receive spam letters, but I dont, because it means I have no bills nor letters from debt collectors threatening me with county court judgements. What a lovely feeling it is not to be hounded by debt collectors or dreading bills coming in through the post. many people dont realise what a joy it is. many people think they will be happy having things,or busy doing things, but there is a greater joy in having nothing to do, and not having these irritating letters with bills, and letters demanding payments. I received a christmas card a few days ago from my brother and family in Canada. Though I dont send any cards, I was rather happy to receive his.
Recently, I have a bit of back pain, and pain in the finger joints of my left hand. But i found a way to get rid of them. With the fingers, i found that if i clench them tight and release them and wriggle them like i am playing the piano and do it a number of times, the pain in the finger joints goes away. As for the back pain, since i found out from my friend Paul L that they are muscle spasms, i now know how to treat them. I lie on my back, and bring my legs up to my head and clasp them with my arms, and gently stretch the back muscles and hold it in that position, and that gets rid of the pain. I would recommend these exercises to anyone who have these symptoms.
I have long ago stopped feeling restless if my life is not busy.I enjoy just 'wasting' my time when there is nothing going on in my life.I have learnt that the so called 'interesting' life is the difficult one. The calm and peaceful life is one when there is nothing going on, leaving me free to just savour the day as it unfolds without a care in the world.
I have thought of commenting on the news and things happening all around the world and in the uk, but thank goodness that urge goes away and I don't bother. there is nothing that is happening in the world that affects me. thank goodness for that. haha.
If i want any wild emotions I see films, and when that is over, the emotions are over too, and right glad I am that they are fleeting. I would hate to live that life where those emotions are always there. it must be very tiring to live a life like that.
It is very pleasant to listen to music on the radio,and now there are more christmassy songs being featured it makes for a jolly seasonal atmosphere; to read,to laugh at comedy on the tv,to surf the internet or just potter around in my flat or in the surrounding area. That is how I fill the days of my life nowadays.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
charity work
A cute cover for the mobile phone which one of the charities was giving away free. it is to protect the mobile phone from being scratched. it is covered with stuck on coloured sequins.london
I have just been doing a volunteer fair in pimlico, helping out in the desk for foodchain.org
I just kept chris company. He is the chap in charge of publicity and recruitment in foodchain and works full time for them. I found out he was the one who strengthened the keeping in touch with old volunteers who have dropped out for one reason or another. I myself dropped out for about 2yrs, and when i wanted to return I did not get round to it till i got an email from him, just asking how i was and wondering if i would like to resume. And that email got me going for i replied about changing over to a different kitchen and that got me to start volunteering again.
all the charities i know of wants their volunteers to commit regularly, whilst the good thing i like about foodchain is that you dont have to make ur commitment regular. u can do it whenever u feel like it, or even drop off for years and resume and not feel guilty about it. haha.
This volunteer fair is done twice yearly, and is for volunteers who are allready with a charity to find out about others, as well as for new volunteers. Food was provided which is rather nice of the organisers, who are from westminster.
chris did all the talking, thank goodness .haha.
he tells me most of the foodchain volunteers are from word of mouth.
some of the people there work full time and are paid for it. So it is a job for them.
But the majority of the charities are kept going from the many volunteers who give their time freely. It is one of the many things I like about us human beings that is not emphasised on is that so many people volunteer to do charity work without pay or monetary reward.
I have just been doing a volunteer fair in pimlico, helping out in the desk for foodchain.org
I just kept chris company. He is the chap in charge of publicity and recruitment in foodchain and works full time for them. I found out he was the one who strengthened the keeping in touch with old volunteers who have dropped out for one reason or another. I myself dropped out for about 2yrs, and when i wanted to return I did not get round to it till i got an email from him, just asking how i was and wondering if i would like to resume. And that email got me going for i replied about changing over to a different kitchen and that got me to start volunteering again.
all the charities i know of wants their volunteers to commit regularly, whilst the good thing i like about foodchain is that you dont have to make ur commitment regular. u can do it whenever u feel like it, or even drop off for years and resume and not feel guilty about it. haha.
This volunteer fair is done twice yearly, and is for volunteers who are allready with a charity to find out about others, as well as for new volunteers. Food was provided which is rather nice of the organisers, who are from westminster.
chris did all the talking, thank goodness .haha.
he tells me most of the foodchain volunteers are from word of mouth.
some of the people there work full time and are paid for it. So it is a job for them.
But the majority of the charities are kept going from the many volunteers who give their time freely. It is one of the many things I like about us human beings that is not emphasised on is that so many people volunteer to do charity work without pay or monetary reward.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
MPs hoisted with their own petard
london 0.2C
Police arrested an MP in their investigation of leaks from the home office. The police were called in by the home office so when they discovered the civil servant who leaked the information and traced his link back to the MP naturally they arrested the MP and raided his offices in the house of parliament as well as his home. You can say that the police are doing their duty treating any suspect evenly, whether he is an MP or not. After all they did the same for a journalist and they treated someone close to tony blair just as brutally.
This hoo haa is because the MPs have passed a law that allows such actions by the police and dont like it when it is applied to them. Instead of getting angry with the police who are only doing what they have been asked to do by the home office to investigate the leak, the MP's should question whether they were right to pass that law and whether they should be exempted from it.
the MPs did not make such a howl when there was that investigation involving contributors to the labour party being paid back with peerages and honours.The opposition MPs were delighted.
No wonder there are such divided opinions amongst the MPs themselves. They are afraid of their parliamentary priviledges being breached, but MPs should not be above the law where fraud is concerned. And as long as there is a law against disclosing govt secrets this will continue. Who is to decide if it is in the public good or not? The court of course, and for that u need the police to get evidence, and the only way is to do it without warning the suspects, and that means raids at short notice on offices and homes. The Home Office should be more careful about when to ask police to investigate in future.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7762005.stm
Here is another view though he is argueing that strict procedures laid down to make sure the investigations are conducted properly are not solving the problem and making it worse.
That may be why police prosecuted so vigorously the journalist Sally Murrer. She was pursuing a story leaked to her by a police officer, and although her activities were clearly sanctioned under the European Convention on Human Rights, that did not prevent her being arrested, strip-searched and held in a cell.
Police also thought it right to arrest the Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green on suspicion of conspiring “to commit misconduct in public office”, an offence which, as Geoffrey Robertson, QC, points out, lacks clarity and has never been used against an MP before. Any sensible officer, thinking for a minute, would have understood the conflict with the constitutional rights of an MP. But that sensible objectivity seems to have been sacrificed to the need to pursue due process - that deadly and deadening phrase.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/magnus_linklater/article5275753.ece
Lots of different views, so I guess it does not matter. Ah well, we humans do love to speculate and give our opinions, and we sometimes see that regulations just create more problems and that leads to more regulations to deal with them. I propose a solution. Quite a harsh one. I think we should get rid of all laws and regulations,at a stroke we get down to making people realise that sometimes life bites u in the arse and bad things happen and no one is to blame. Just move on, and forget about bringing people to justice. Not easy for people to accept. Everyone seem to want to punish the wrong doer. It might be better to see if that person keeps doing something that is disruptive of society (for eg a serial killer) and kill him if he does it once too often. haha. Society decides how much is too much. I think it is kinder to execute someone than to keep them in prison for life. This is because i believe in reincarnation, so killing someone is nothing more than hastening him or her to her next reincarnation. and that is not a bad thing. What if we kill an innocent person? it does not matter really, they just get reincarnated again. So what is the problem in that? It is our belief that we only have one life that makes it so precious. if there are plenty more lives to come, we wont feel so attached to this one. At a stroke u solve a lot of problems. No more prison population which costs money to feed and shelter and provide guards for. And everyone knows what to expect if they overstep the line and threatens other people in that society. In thepast , a person was banished from that society and can go somewhere else and adopt a different disguise and start life anew. But today, it cannot be done.
Police arrested an MP in their investigation of leaks from the home office. The police were called in by the home office so when they discovered the civil servant who leaked the information and traced his link back to the MP naturally they arrested the MP and raided his offices in the house of parliament as well as his home. You can say that the police are doing their duty treating any suspect evenly, whether he is an MP or not. After all they did the same for a journalist and they treated someone close to tony blair just as brutally.
This hoo haa is because the MPs have passed a law that allows such actions by the police and dont like it when it is applied to them. Instead of getting angry with the police who are only doing what they have been asked to do by the home office to investigate the leak, the MP's should question whether they were right to pass that law and whether they should be exempted from it.
the MPs did not make such a howl when there was that investigation involving contributors to the labour party being paid back with peerages and honours.The opposition MPs were delighted.
No wonder there are such divided opinions amongst the MPs themselves. They are afraid of their parliamentary priviledges being breached, but MPs should not be above the law where fraud is concerned. And as long as there is a law against disclosing govt secrets this will continue. Who is to decide if it is in the public good or not? The court of course, and for that u need the police to get evidence, and the only way is to do it without warning the suspects, and that means raids at short notice on offices and homes. The Home Office should be more careful about when to ask police to investigate in future.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7762005.stm
Here is another view though he is argueing that strict procedures laid down to make sure the investigations are conducted properly are not solving the problem and making it worse.
That may be why police prosecuted so vigorously the journalist Sally Murrer. She was pursuing a story leaked to her by a police officer, and although her activities were clearly sanctioned under the European Convention on Human Rights, that did not prevent her being arrested, strip-searched and held in a cell.
Police also thought it right to arrest the Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green on suspicion of conspiring “to commit misconduct in public office”, an offence which, as Geoffrey Robertson, QC, points out, lacks clarity and has never been used against an MP before. Any sensible officer, thinking for a minute, would have understood the conflict with the constitutional rights of an MP. But that sensible objectivity seems to have been sacrificed to the need to pursue due process - that deadly and deadening phrase.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/magnus_linklater/article5275753.ece
Lots of different views, so I guess it does not matter. Ah well, we humans do love to speculate and give our opinions, and we sometimes see that regulations just create more problems and that leads to more regulations to deal with them. I propose a solution. Quite a harsh one. I think we should get rid of all laws and regulations,at a stroke we get down to making people realise that sometimes life bites u in the arse and bad things happen and no one is to blame. Just move on, and forget about bringing people to justice. Not easy for people to accept. Everyone seem to want to punish the wrong doer. It might be better to see if that person keeps doing something that is disruptive of society (for eg a serial killer) and kill him if he does it once too often. haha. Society decides how much is too much. I think it is kinder to execute someone than to keep them in prison for life. This is because i believe in reincarnation, so killing someone is nothing more than hastening him or her to her next reincarnation. and that is not a bad thing. What if we kill an innocent person? it does not matter really, they just get reincarnated again. So what is the problem in that? It is our belief that we only have one life that makes it so precious. if there are plenty more lives to come, we wont feel so attached to this one. At a stroke u solve a lot of problems. No more prison population which costs money to feed and shelter and provide guards for. And everyone knows what to expect if they overstep the line and threatens other people in that society. In thepast , a person was banished from that society and can go somewhere else and adopt a different disguise and start life anew. But today, it cannot be done.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
I wonder where garlic comes from?
london
Went to the brewer st market and bought 8garlic bulbs for £1. I am glad there are still garlic for sale at the hawker stalls there. I think last time i went and did not find any on sale was because i was too late. The stall had sold off his quota that day. When i went this time, there were still 2 bowls of it left, but this was because i went a bit earlier than last time. Also i think it was raining and so there might have been less customers. Or maybe the last time i went there was on a monday and mondays are a busy time for them, because they dont open during sunday and so monday will be the first trading day after their weekend break.
It was all the veg i wanted to buy which was just as well, because chinese cabbage was one for £1 compared to 2 for £1 in summer.
I went to the men's toilet nearby, and saw a queue. It is unheard of for a queue to form, and so i barge straight to the front, and sure enough the urinals were available. These men, and their cruisy ways. All of them were pretending to be waiting for the cubicles, ha!!! There is no need to wait, anyone waiting is just hoping for sex. I might seem rather harsh and judgeing any innocent guy there who might actually be waiting for a shit but I bet there was no one there waiting for a shit. For one thing, anyone who is really going for a shit would have left to go to another toilet where there wont be so many cruising men hanging around.I can well sympathise with a straight guy who just want to do his business and may well be annoyed at these guys hogging the cubicles. There was no shenanigans going on,how can there be with it being so busy? So why are these guys just hanging around for? god knows! Even though i m a gay man, I dont hang around toilets waiting for a pick up haha so i dont know what ritual is being enacted in the cruising game that goes on there. It is not because i disapprove of cruising in the toilets, I just dont have the patience to hang around there for hours waiting for something to come up.
Added I just have a thought, all those men waiting for the cubicles could all be pee shy. A condition which makes them unable to pee in public. But i doubt it haha.It's a good excuse though to say u r , if a policeman asks u what are u doing loitering in the toilet. hehe.
Went to the brewer st market and bought 8garlic bulbs for £1. I am glad there are still garlic for sale at the hawker stalls there. I think last time i went and did not find any on sale was because i was too late. The stall had sold off his quota that day. When i went this time, there were still 2 bowls of it left, but this was because i went a bit earlier than last time. Also i think it was raining and so there might have been less customers. Or maybe the last time i went there was on a monday and mondays are a busy time for them, because they dont open during sunday and so monday will be the first trading day after their weekend break.
It was all the veg i wanted to buy which was just as well, because chinese cabbage was one for £1 compared to 2 for £1 in summer.
I went to the men's toilet nearby, and saw a queue. It is unheard of for a queue to form, and so i barge straight to the front, and sure enough the urinals were available. These men, and their cruisy ways. All of them were pretending to be waiting for the cubicles, ha!!! There is no need to wait, anyone waiting is just hoping for sex. I might seem rather harsh and judgeing any innocent guy there who might actually be waiting for a shit but I bet there was no one there waiting for a shit. For one thing, anyone who is really going for a shit would have left to go to another toilet where there wont be so many cruising men hanging around.I can well sympathise with a straight guy who just want to do his business and may well be annoyed at these guys hogging the cubicles. There was no shenanigans going on,how can there be with it being so busy? So why are these guys just hanging around for? god knows! Even though i m a gay man, I dont hang around toilets waiting for a pick up haha so i dont know what ritual is being enacted in the cruising game that goes on there. It is not because i disapprove of cruising in the toilets, I just dont have the patience to hang around there for hours waiting for something to come up.
Added I just have a thought, all those men waiting for the cubicles could all be pee shy. A condition which makes them unable to pee in public. But i doubt it haha.It's a good excuse though to say u r , if a policeman asks u what are u doing loitering in the toilet. hehe.
subjective feelings about air temperature
london
Last night, it was chilly enough for me to have the heating on, fortunately only for about 1or 2hrs, and yet, the temperature reading on the website which gives the temp of the air in Kensington is 4C. This morning, it is not cold in my flat,(the heating was not on) and yet when i see the outside temperature in the website it is 0.8C. It has been about 3C throughout the night, only dropping to 1C at about 6am.
I said to Simon funny about that, perhaps being cold or feeling cold is subjective. When the sun is shining outside even if it is 0.8C we dont feel cold. It could also be due to a lag of time for the flat to warm up or cool down. So in the evening, when the sun sets, it takes time for the outside air temperature to cool down, but in the flat we would feel the chill quite quickly, whilst as the night wears on, the warming effect of the heat reflected off buildings wears off, and the air temperature goes down, but in our flat, the heat from last night's heater lingers.
That is why I dont bother to keep a inside thermometer and stopped having my heater on a timer. I just follow my own perception. Ian, my ex bf told me he sets the timer to come on to heat his flat for an hour or so in the early evening and i thought that is a good idea. At first i thought i shall set the timer on my heating, but on second thoughts I dont think i shall do that and just switch on when or if i feel chilly. This is because the weather has been rather up and down in london. Some days and nights it up in the 8C ,and then a cold spell comes by. A lot of people now with the high price of gas may decide like me too and not automatically leave it to their timer. This year i dont seem to feel the chill very much unlike past years, or even when i first came to live in uk from malaysia. Then I was always cold. haha. and used to wear a stonking big coat, now I just go out in layers with a fleece hoodie over it. The hoodie may have a hooligan image, but it is a very useful item of clothing as you can warm the head without having to wear a hat, which can get lost or have to be stored somewhere else. It's no wonder no one wears a big coat nowadays. Long coats dont keep u warm at all. I was about to say only fools wear long coats but i was walking in the westend this afternoon and saw a guy wearing one. He was an old guy and he looked quite smart, so maybe it is ok for it to be worn by business men in suits.
Added 7.25pm 3.2C
seems it is snowing in the north of england.
Last night, it was chilly enough for me to have the heating on, fortunately only for about 1or 2hrs, and yet, the temperature reading on the website which gives the temp of the air in Kensington is 4C. This morning, it is not cold in my flat,(the heating was not on) and yet when i see the outside temperature in the website it is 0.8C. It has been about 3C throughout the night, only dropping to 1C at about 6am.
I said to Simon funny about that, perhaps being cold or feeling cold is subjective. When the sun is shining outside even if it is 0.8C we dont feel cold. It could also be due to a lag of time for the flat to warm up or cool down. So in the evening, when the sun sets, it takes time for the outside air temperature to cool down, but in the flat we would feel the chill quite quickly, whilst as the night wears on, the warming effect of the heat reflected off buildings wears off, and the air temperature goes down, but in our flat, the heat from last night's heater lingers.
That is why I dont bother to keep a inside thermometer and stopped having my heater on a timer. I just follow my own perception. Ian, my ex bf told me he sets the timer to come on to heat his flat for an hour or so in the early evening and i thought that is a good idea. At first i thought i shall set the timer on my heating, but on second thoughts I dont think i shall do that and just switch on when or if i feel chilly. This is because the weather has been rather up and down in london. Some days and nights it up in the 8C ,and then a cold spell comes by. A lot of people now with the high price of gas may decide like me too and not automatically leave it to their timer. This year i dont seem to feel the chill very much unlike past years, or even when i first came to live in uk from malaysia. Then I was always cold. haha. and used to wear a stonking big coat, now I just go out in layers with a fleece hoodie over it. The hoodie may have a hooligan image, but it is a very useful item of clothing as you can warm the head without having to wear a hat, which can get lost or have to be stored somewhere else. It's no wonder no one wears a big coat nowadays. Long coats dont keep u warm at all. I was about to say only fools wear long coats but i was walking in the westend this afternoon and saw a guy wearing one. He was an old guy and he looked quite smart, so maybe it is ok for it to be worn by business men in suits.
Added 7.25pm 3.2C
seems it is snowing in the north of england.
Monday, 1 December 2008
some thoughts
london
6.44pm trafalgar square taken via webcam from
http://www.camvista.com/england/london/trafsq.php3
i wanted to go to soho and thought of cycling there. However, it was too much trouble trying to get my bike out of the shed and it was a cold day and i suspect i shall freeze if i cycle because of the breeze generated. so i decided to walk to soho instead and it was very nice because i could take my time and look at things and even on the way back watch the setting sun blazing away at the clouds over trafalgar square and silhouetting the fir tree donated by norway. The work men were just setting it up and testing the lights.
I wanted to buy garlic from the brewer st stalls, but there were none of the usual pack for £1. There were not a lot of vegetables on sale. I decided to go to chinatown and buy bean sprouts for 49p. it is very good value. you get quite a large pack. then i walked to the charing cross library and saw Alexandria quartet by lawrence durrell. I borrowed it. It is 4books in one, and in the past i have found it difficult to read them but thought i shall attempt them again reading them from book 1 to 4 in sequence. maybe it would make more sense than before when i would read the books in no order.
i walked through st james park and noticed the grey squirrels searching and sniffing the ground. They ignored people, which is quite unlike them, for normally they hang around people hoping to get handouts of nuts. They even ignored this old man going round throwing pieces of bread to the rooks, and ducks and geese. One geese was waddling along after him. It is a sign of how expensive bread has become because he was carrying a lidl shopping bag. Usually we see them with either a tesco or sainsbury bag. But grey squirrel ignored all that and carried on sniffing the ground taking their characteristic short hops, then spreading flat on the ground constantly sniffing and scrabbling at the earth. Occasionally they would pat the earth and spread brown leaves over it as if to hide something. They are very cute, very active and i find them endearing. Its their attitude. They convey an impression that they have a great purpose in life and they go about it assidously. haha. but my friend david P loathes them and wants them all dead because he says they are the enemies of the red squirrel. I think he is mistaken in that he has been reading too much propaganda against grey squirrels. Animal lovers tend to be like bad mothers who have their favourite children; animal lovers thus also do the same, favouring some animals over others because they look cuter. All animals are all perfectly entitled to have their place in the world and animal lovers should simply accept them and not try to influence one at the expense of another species.
I also saw birds sitting in the water and wondered why they dont feel cold. But of course they dont because they have wonderful oils that insulate their feathers and trap a layer of air and so water never touches the skin. But just looking at them sitting there, or dipping into the water is enough to make me feel cold. haha. In spiteof what i know about them I still could not help thinking they must have awfully cold feet.
Of course, little did we know that as far as some birds are concerned, eg geese, they find this weather mild, compared to where they migrate from up north.
i wanted to go to soho and thought of cycling there. However, it was too much trouble trying to get my bike out of the shed and it was a cold day and i suspect i shall freeze if i cycle because of the breeze generated. so i decided to walk to soho instead and it was very nice because i could take my time and look at things and even on the way back watch the setting sun blazing away at the clouds over trafalgar square and silhouetting the fir tree donated by norway. The work men were just setting it up and testing the lights.
I wanted to buy garlic from the brewer st stalls, but there were none of the usual pack for £1. There were not a lot of vegetables on sale. I decided to go to chinatown and buy bean sprouts for 49p. it is very good value. you get quite a large pack. then i walked to the charing cross library and saw Alexandria quartet by lawrence durrell. I borrowed it. It is 4books in one, and in the past i have found it difficult to read them but thought i shall attempt them again reading them from book 1 to 4 in sequence. maybe it would make more sense than before when i would read the books in no order.
i walked through st james park and noticed the grey squirrels searching and sniffing the ground. They ignored people, which is quite unlike them, for normally they hang around people hoping to get handouts of nuts. They even ignored this old man going round throwing pieces of bread to the rooks, and ducks and geese. One geese was waddling along after him. It is a sign of how expensive bread has become because he was carrying a lidl shopping bag. Usually we see them with either a tesco or sainsbury bag. But grey squirrel ignored all that and carried on sniffing the ground taking their characteristic short hops, then spreading flat on the ground constantly sniffing and scrabbling at the earth. Occasionally they would pat the earth and spread brown leaves over it as if to hide something. They are very cute, very active and i find them endearing. Its their attitude. They convey an impression that they have a great purpose in life and they go about it assidously. haha. but my friend david P loathes them and wants them all dead because he says they are the enemies of the red squirrel. I think he is mistaken in that he has been reading too much propaganda against grey squirrels. Animal lovers tend to be like bad mothers who have their favourite children; animal lovers thus also do the same, favouring some animals over others because they look cuter. All animals are all perfectly entitled to have their place in the world and animal lovers should simply accept them and not try to influence one at the expense of another species.
I also saw birds sitting in the water and wondered why they dont feel cold. But of course they dont because they have wonderful oils that insulate their feathers and trap a layer of air and so water never touches the skin. But just looking at them sitting there, or dipping into the water is enough to make me feel cold. haha. In spiteof what i know about them I still could not help thinking they must have awfully cold feet.
Of course, little did we know that as far as some birds are concerned, eg geese, they find this weather mild, compared to where they migrate from up north.
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