Mind how you go!

Toilets and Bathrooms Then and Now or Ancient and Modern in United Kingdom
The "Netty" image comes from a Northumbrian poem you can read here.

(When you've got to go, you've got to go!)

"Wow!” For some strange reason "Wow" is the desired reaction you need to obtain if you're selling your house in the UK. At least that's what is said on one TV show in the UK.  The  Kate Bush-like gasp of amazement that matters most is for first sight of kitchens and bathrooms. Yes, if you get a Wow a deal will surely follow.

In Cambodia you don't see many bathrooms with the Wow-factor. “Errggh!” is more likely, even in salubrious establishments and residences. Cleanliness along with godliness haven't quite taken hold yet.

Doing exactly what it says on the tin: #Foreign Aid amid #Covid19

TV advertisements for charities UK most March 2020

“Doing exactly what it says on the tin."* 

Does Foreign Aid do exactly what is said or promised on TV advertisements?

Out-of-Town but not the Talk-of-the-Town

Takhmau lies just 11 kilometres to the South of Phnom Penh.  It is the provincial capital of Kandal and still has a provincial feel to it even though it is developing rapidly.  Takhmau has become a favourite play-ground, with a great variety of entertainments and eating/drinking venues. My earlier blog tells the history and ups-and-downs of many of them.

Last week I wrote about one of our newer restaurants. It still features below.

Today I am featuring our latest "Ice Box" restaurant bar, made from containers.

"Doing Good" not a God-given talent.

Leigh Matthews’ new podcast series on “Doing Good” gets off to a great start with Karen Flanagan, whose fascinating life-story is a worthwhile listen in its own right.

Something must be done about St Helena

In the ions of history, BREXIT is the mere bat of an eye-lid.   By contrast St Helena in UK politics is a chronic irritating case of myopia.  Originally I was just going to do a supplement to my most popular blog on St Helena, thanks to re-awakening by Mr Ken Westmoreland after we shared some insightful exchanges.  Instead I decided on a Sunday morning blog to help us recover from our UK-election hangover.  If BREXIT is almost done, "Let's now get St Helena done!"

United Kingdom First Impressions and No, Nos!

The following piece was written for Learning English Cambodia
"Why study in UK?

You’ve succeeded at last.  Your dream has come true and you’ve finally arrived to be a student in the United Kingdom. Well you will have had your first introduction to this quaint nation’s many peculiarities. You’ll face many more before you’re safely settled in to your new home for the next chapter in your life.

Yes that first introduction is to the queue, the orderly queue, that you went through at Border Control. Woe betide anyone who jumps the queue, any queue, in the UK. They are soon admonished.

Best years of my life 1969

Image of Kingston 1969.  The arcade is just like the one where Eric Clapton once strummed his guitar and where we bought our secondhand LP records. The guy passing by hiding his face has more than a passing resemblance to one who used to lurk for hours in the Kingston Penrhyn Road refectory. He hasn’t changed much since but these days Ashby de la Zouch pubs are more his haunts (and feline rather than female company!)

Almost without fail on a Saturday night in the Fleece Inn Alnwick, the very familiar tones of Bryan Adams and “Best Days of Your Life” – or “Summer of 69” will be performed and rapturously received, by what can only be described as a dwindling grey-haired audience.