The world of security has gone absolutely mad (read absolutely stupid)

January 5th
Back home on the 30th after a harrowing trip back to the US and had to allow sufficient time to chill. We came through Montreal, Canada, and so were subjected to British security in London, Canadian security in Montreal and US security in Montreal. I wish I could say something kind about any of them, but they all adopted equally stupid processes, with the English and Canadians blaming the USA for confusing, conflicting and ever changing directives. If you travel internationally, be prepared for long delays and the huge frustration in being checked and rechecked, questioned and re questioned. We must have been checked three or four times by each country's security agency. One of the definitions of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result! Well that describes the present state of our airport security. As I mentioned in my last blog the solution is to pre-screen every traveler, have a straightforward process for the majority of us who have a long record of normality and a stringent process for anyone with a dubious record or no record. But such an approach may be too simple (or politically incorrect) and I suspect the millions of us ordinary people will continue to be subjected to the 'intelligence' of 'airport security'. Nuff said
It is nice to be back in the US of A. - we take for granted our comfortable and convenient lifestyle, until we go elsewhere. We are back and settling down after a wonderful holiday. Lots to do. Year end taxes and financial updates. Must look through all the rubbish collected over the last year and try and get rid of some of it. Have started strength building resistance training (must get that additional 20 yards!). Got to get Ellen a good cognitive therapist. And this year we plan to go to Australia for the International AI reunion (and CTR reviews), so much preparation there. Life is too interesting and fulfilling to be lived anything but to the hilt.
Carpe diem

So this is Christmas

Dec 25th. We attended mass at the local church from 10.00 to 11.30, where some lovely corals were sung and a nice homily was delivered by the pastor, who reminded us that 'a bad day was a good day in disguise' (Christopher Reeve). On we went to the Halfacres (our nephew and niece) for distribution of gifts and dinner. There were so many gifts, that it took us over an hour to distribute and appreciate them - both the recipient and the giver enjoyed this activity. Remember we have one grandniece (Olivia Rose 12) and three grandnephews (Harvey, Oscar and Joseph - triplets 10, so there was much excitement- the essence of Christmas is children and from them, an experience of pure love and pristine happiness. Then children grow up and become teenagers and adults and their sense of wonderment and joy is replaced with judgment and cynicism. Too bad, but that seems to be the way of life.
We also had our son Julian and his girlfriend Julie which made the party complete. After many a wee dram and many a tot, we had lunch, prepared by Julie Halfacre, our niece. Here we are at Chez Halfacre's where we had a traditional English Christmas dinner. After dinner we had a quiz on soccer, Coronation street (a British soap) and English politics - my contribution was nil ! Finally around 7.00pm we wound our way back to Squirrel's Nook after a wonderful Christmas. I write this sipping mulled wine and feeling that 'all's right with the world'
Dec 27th. Today we attended the famous 'after Christmas sales'. One has to be strong and fit to participate, let alone benefit from these sales, as there are hundreds of persons, all very seriously trying to find a bargain. The stereotype of a very polite Britisher was exploded; although to be fair, there were as many east Europeans, Indians, Arabs and islanders as there were British. Really not much to buy - London and Europe are very expensive as compared to the US and the variety is limited. We end up buying a few odds and ends and quite a lot of interesting combinations of biscuits (cookies) and chocolates (candy) - condiments are probably the best buy in the UK (excluding the beer and single malt, of course)
We travel home day after tomorrow and just yesterday some Nigerian tried to blow himself up in a plane bound for the US, so the airlines and national security have already stipulated more detailed checks of international passengers. More suffering with questionable results. In the hysteria over providing more security, we are failing to improve security and are just spending a lot of time and money on sophisticated devices. We must adopt an ABC approach and identify a small number of 'A' terrorists and would be terrorists, track them relentlessly and only do random checks on everyone else. Obviously I am hallucinating in thinking anything like this can be observed. Enough - next blog in the US of A

More snow and gridlock

Tuesday 22nd
Yesterday 21st we went out with friends to a local pub for food and a few beers. While there, it began to snow and over the next hour we had a couple of inches. This was enough to bring the entire road, rail and air systems to almost complete stop. It took us over an hour to travel a couple of miles - with gridlock at every roundabout. Then after meeting other friends at the local mall, we tried to take a bus back home to Purley at 7.00pm, and waited for over half an hour in vain, only to be rescued by my bro-in-law who drove down to pick us up (either the buses were stopped or they were all stuck somewhere). This morning's Daily Mail (for one) had 3 inch headlines, "WHY CAN'T WE LEARN TO COPE IN SNOW?" Ah well!
We are out again this evening (you think we would have learned our lesson by now) this time for Vietnamese food in Clapham Jn with Paul and Etsuko Mongomery
Today 23rd we went to a pub in Epson Downs and celebrated my sis-in-law's birthday - see what a big gang we were

Its snow in London

We arrived here on Tuesday 15th night and on Wednesday morning it began to flurry and everything came to a sort of halt. Of course by midday it had cleared. We went into London on Thursday, and, after lunch at M&S with Hazel and Helen, walked down Oxford Street and Regent Street looking at the window decor and the street decorations. Quite festive. We ended up at Trafalgar Square where we heard carols in freezing temperatures. After an hour, we quit and came back to Croydon where we had dinner with Nigella and Brian Kennedy at 'Tiger Tiger' a pub with very, loud music and a curry special - a curry and a drink for £4.99. I had a Madras curry and several lagers - Kronenberg followed by Stella's - beer in the UK is robust, unlike our watery US beers. Then on Friday it really snowed -two to three inches - and everything really came to a halt. Here is what 'Squirrels Nook', the quaint cottage where my in laws live, looks like. We cancelled our program to go into town and hung out at home the whole day, so I got caught up with this blog. Our niece and godchildren came over and hung out for a while and enjoyed them. Tomorrow its carols at St Paul's cathedral and I am looking forward to that.
Sunday 23rd. Attending the family service carols service at St Paul's cathedral was a wonderful experience. St Pauls holds over 2000 persons, we went early and were among the first in, so we had a place very close to the choir, under the dome's massive cupola. I was in awe of the grandeur of the size, the stonework and the painted ceiling. St Pauls was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the mid 1800's, but service at the site has been going on since AD 604 (per the cathedral's brochure). The choir was Cantate - young men and women - the only choir to win a gold medal at the World Choir games in 2008. The conductor was Michael Kibblewhite, one of the UK's best known choral directors. With this ensemble the singing was exquisite. But enthralled as I was with the music, I was even more impressed with the service, where the dean asked the audience not to quieten their children, because God was a little child and he proceeded to hold a little child above his head and asked all parents who had little children to do the same. He then asked the audience to observe a few moments of silence and listen to the 'sounds of the children'. It was magical; silence punctuated only by children's cries, and calls and murmurs.
Today we went to a local church for a children's Christmas celebration - another wonderful fulfilling experience. Over 50 children, including our grandniece and three grandnephews, participated in singing Christmas carols, reading appropriate passages from the bible and enacting the Christmas story. Another exquisite, soul uplifting experience. Christmas seems to be quintessentially English, and they seem to celebrate it so uniquely, with such a pronounced focus on children

Christmas in the UK

We have been to the UK at least 2o times in the last 30 years, and yet, we have never spent Christmas in there. So this year we decided to be with family and friends in England and are quite excited to be doing so. We want to spend a typical English Christmas and we perceive this to mean English church services and carols at St Pauls and Trafalgar square. We also want to see the lights at Oxford and Regent streets. I read somewhere that the theme this year is Dickens so I want to see where that leads us

Back Home

March 8th
Ellen has not been to well and after a setback in Kolkata has struggled through our trip. Maybe the tour has been too long. In Singapore she shows signs of more fatigue and I decide to cancel the rest of our tour (Cambodia, China and Hongkong) and return to the US
We fly back via Hongkong - 14 hours with a 13 hour time difference, in our favor! We come back to have our clocks put forward, so we loose an hour of the 13 gained!. Ellen is more comfortable at home, but we will check her out thoroughly. Health is an all consuming priority

Thanks for following us and your many comments. The most memorable events of our trip are all associated with the affection and kindness we received throughout our tour. We are truly blessed to have the quality of friends that we do. We are still in one piece and inshah allah hope stay that way for a while

Singapore and the Far East

February 28th Singapore
The first thing that you notice in Singapore is the cleanliness and seeming absence of pollution - noise, dust and auto fumes. The trees and grass are green (not brown with dust). We travel 18 Kms to the house of our friends (Anil and Ritu Mehrotra) without a single traffic jam (an incredible experience after traffic jams on every journey in India)
March 6th.
I continue to be amazed at the efficiency, orderliness and discipline of the Singaporeans. And they appear to be very honest and civic minded. My friend tells me they are conditioned by rigid rule enforcement - Singapore is a 'fine' city and one is fined for every infraction, even petty ones like crossing the road at a non crossing spot. I sat in a bus tour and observed about 100 persons pay their fare using an electronic card - so easy to cheat - but did not see a single defaulter. I think Singapore must rank as the most efficient, the cleanest and the most orderly city in the world. I go around trying to find defects in their system and cannot!
Finally I discover that they do not have any provision for seniors; seniors have to live with their children or have to be financially capable of looking after themselves. Discussions with several persons confirmed their thinking that an individual must prepare for his senior years and those that do not have to pay a penalty!
We attend a night safari and a laser show. I to on two city tours. Really the first touristy things we have done on this trip. I eat an incredible variety of food including Katong Laksar - a spicy, seafood soup; Fish head curry - a spicy, south Indian style curry; Carrot cake - neither carrot nor cake, but a radish and egg concoction; Black pepper crab; Fish ball noodles; and many other delightful dishes. Eating food is a Singapore occupation and I fit right in!
The name Singapore comes from Singa - lion and pura or city. The symbol of the city is the Merlion - a mythica,l hybrid lion and sea monster - and here is one of the best versions of this icon