This time it's personal...

For those following British news, you will be aware that yesterday saw council elections and voting for the new (or old!) London Mayor.

I am now so out of touch with British politics I just get the general jist of things from reading the papers, the Daily Mail is one paper that allows and receives comments.

Judging by the comments left on the Daily Mail's article about Labour's defeat at the polls; the only reason why the Tories have been so successful is because Labour seem to have really screwed things up of late and not because the Tories are so much better and offer that much better an alternative.

The elections for Mayor of London are a slightly different ball game. Here, I would beg to differ with Jakartass and my vote (if I had one) would be for Boris Johnson aka the man who pissed off Liverpool; the reason being...I really can't stand Ken Livingstone he sets my teeth on edge everytime I hear or see him...as I said...it's personal!

I wonder if Boris has cat?

Turn again, Whittington,
Once Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Twice Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Thrice Mayor of London!

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Isn't it wonderful to be British.....

Whilst my parents don't particularly like the fact that I don't live about 5 miles away from their country seat, return home for Sunday lunch every weekend, have my very own perfect nuclear family and am generally perceived as being a tad 'kooky', they don't complain too much... the one thing my mother does stipulate however, is that I must register with the British embassy where ever I am...probably because I am very bad at passing on addresses, phone numbers etc!

In Hong Kong I never registered - pre-1997 - it was British, after...I just never thought it necessary.

In Jordan, registration was simple (and very effective), you went to the embassy, filled in a form, drew maps of your workplace, home etc gave all contact details necessary and that was it...from then on, you were on their mailing list for invitations and events and in case of emergency you were contactable (and findable!). There were constant security and contact updates emailed to you and you had the direct number of your "go to" person in your area. This worked very well when they were closing the borders in Jordan (and the embassy) at the beginning of the Iraq war. Lots of phone calls in advance - "are you leaving or not?" and then finally - "the embassy closes at 4pm today, the airport tonight after that you're on your own". The system worked a treat, you know where you stood.

In Manila, you were encouraged to register online, which I did. I never heard a squeak out of them...nothing..not a security warning, not an invitation to the Queen's Birthday party...nothing.

In Bangkok....I forgot, until today....so I went to the British Embassy website, they have now set up a new system called "Locate". Apparently this system means that you only need to register once...and then update your profile every time you move on. All sounds great, until you try to register....

Really - just a small gripe....but, you need to give two personal questions with an answer, the first one is easy - your mother's maiden name, the other two choices - a) your favourite band or singer ; b) the name of your street you lived on whilst growing up..... a) my favourite band changes quite frequently, and one one year to the next I would never remember that b) upto the age of 10 I had about 15 to 20 different street addresses - sure I could pick one now...and then next year when I have to update the profile, would I remember which one...

Then it gets a little more challenging. You are then sent to one of these long online forms to fill in...

1) you can only register your location for under 366 days...I have a two year contract in Thailand...its another irritant

2) and this really pissed me off...I filled in all the details...all the street address, postal address issues etc then submitted the form, and, apparently the system doesn't like hyphens or colons in the address section, so it clears the form completely and you have to start all over again.

Suffice to say....I'll try and register again tomorrow...all far too stressful for me! Pen and paper please......!

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Why?

Confusing art.. English style

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Away from the Big Smoke

Other than my two days in London, the rest of the time was spent pottering around the family seat in deepest darkest Sussex…venturing out only to visit such exciting places as....

Batemans, home of Rudyard Kipling




And The House at Pooh Corner – surely that needs no explanation


And playing Pooh Sticks at Pooh Bridge...





Some friends of mine came to visit on my last weekend in England so I showed them around the village (actually more of a hamlet)...

The local church




The Local Pub (most important!)


The War Memorial


Sporting pursuits in the back garden! 9 holes of Pitch and Putt golf... and a spot of archery



After purchasing golf balls here!!!!!

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Complete fluke of nature....allegedly.....

In response to E@L's claim that I 'got the annual sunny day'...I would like to say in England's defence (and mine, in case anyone thought I was greedy!) that I actually had a whole week of glorious weather...which the BBC will back me up on...and just to prove it to you...I shall try to run through a set of photos of my week in England...it seems that there were (surprisingly enough!) days when I didn't take any photos, so Tuesday and Thursday's weather...you'll have to take my word for it!

Sunday


Monday


Wednesday


Friday


The weekend...in Sussex...yes, the family home is a little like an outdoor sports facility, and these boys had lost their balls!

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Rather odd really....

Whilst wandering around Fortnum and Mason and looking at their partially renovated food hall I happened to see a mouse scampering around on the floor between the shoppers. Because I wasn’t 100% sure what I had seen I stopped and watched it for a minute or so...another shopper said to me "Did you see what I saw?", so I replied "If you’ve seen it as well...then it definitely exists".

The other shopper (a rather elderly gentlemen) called over a security guard to point out the little rodent...the conversation went like this..

Elderly Gentleman: I saw a mouse
Security Guard: Where?
Elderly Gentleman (singing): There on the stair...
Madame Chiang (also singing): A little mouse with clogs on – well, I declare
Going clip-clippety-clop on the stair - oh yeah

Only in England could two complete strangers start singing something as bizarre as ‘Windmill in Old Amsterdam’

And then it started to get all serious...and they started to hunt the little mouse! So I left!

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Samuel Johnson was on to something….

‘...when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life;’

A full day and night in London is just not enough…it really is the most amazing city in the world.

It helps having a friend who works in a rather nice hotel who can put me up in rather nice accommodation, leaving the cash to be spent on the likes of dinner at Maze, shopping and just generally skulking around the city.

Dinner at Maze…what can I say...it was fantastic.

I had the BLT and the Foie Gras to start followed by the veal and the lamb...dessert was a peanut butter and cherry sandwich. Wines...a wine flight taking in a Michel Wust Gewurtztraminer (cannot recommend it highly enough - if you can find a bottle - buy it!!!)and a Spanish Red - Realte...which was fantastic

Added to the copious glasses of wine consumed at the hotel bar before and after dinner, I was quite merry and unfortunately could not make best use of the bottle of Champagne put in my room for me to enjoy!!

I was incredibly lucky with the weather in England for the week I was there…it was glorious...I even came back with a hint of tan! So a little walk around London was definitely something to be enjoyed...

I started off in Oxford Street...just next to Selfridges


Then wandered down to Piccadilly Circus,




Down the Haymarket to Trafalgar Square...




A quick visit to my painting in the National Gallery..



Then down to Westminster Abbey


And the Houses of Parliament….and of course, Big Ben…



Downing Street



Horse Guards Parade



St. James’ Park





And down The Mall to Buckingham Palace


Buck House





And finally..Green Park and then home!


A good four or five hours walking with a few well chosen stops...for tea normally.... Fortnum and Mason, The Chocolate Society in Shepherd Market...

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News bites....

The definition of a true slapper!!!!

One line from this article about England's sporting hero does bother me...isn't that a line from a song

Graduate Miss Jenkins, meanwhile, had been working as a waitress in a cocktail bar in Majorca before meeting the player.

Somebody needs to explain to me how 2,600 of your turkeys suddenly dying is not something you would immediately raise the alarm about....

It's always reassuring to know that there are 47 criminals roaming around in Mindanao...even more reassuring is the sombre tone of voice the governor of Mindanao used when discussing the issue...."We were caught with our pants down," Emmanuel Pinot, governor of the Mindanao region, told Reuters news agency....only in the Philippines!!

I am sure that this place houses a rather nice selection of wines....none of that naff Jacob's Creek Chardonnay for 3.99 a bottle!

Virgin Medical Services anyone...?

And a picture from my mother...after the recent storms in the UK...this was her view driving home....I'd drive pretty slowly faced with a garden shed in the middle of the road!!!


The bad press of the ASEAN summit is still lurking, it ain't over until the little ladypays!

Hong Kong's special brand of democracy...is....under way

Best title for an article...A quick push, a scream and splat, no guesses who that's about...!!!!

Given that I carry either no handbag or a teensy weensy one...this article makes me feel good!! And the only reason I really carry a bag is to put in the car keys of a certain gentleman who feels it unsightly to put his car keys in his trouser pocket!!!!

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