The next morning we went down to breakfast soon after it opened at 6 am, and paid for a Full English Breakfast. JD had an omelette made; I had a fried egg with bacon and tomato. For the toast they had containers of butter and margarine, but not of jam! They had two waffle makers where you could make your own waffles with some pre-made mixture. You could have “proper” coffee there too.
After breakfast we went back to our room and re-packed and rested until Charlie was due to come and pick us up.
Charlie took us back to his house in Windmill Road, next to the park, as when we’d visited 8 years earlier. He introduced us to his mother in law. After having a cup of coffee, we walked to the local pub, the Plough, where we were to have lunch with Charlie’s two daughters and his mother Liz who lives in a nearby rest home. The pub was in a centre of small shops and was quite “rustic”. There was a Kiwi serving there – no surprise, really.
I drank sparkling water. The menu was quite comprehensive, but I just had a starter of smoked mackerel pate and toast. I was surprised to find some fish bones in the pậté! JD and Liz had fish (haddock) and chips, and the servings were huge. I was glad not to have eaten too much, because eventually we had pudding – a sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream for me. It was delicious.
Afterwards we went back to Charlie’s house where we had tea or coffee and scones with jam and cream made by Ella.
Eventually Charlie summoned an Uber to take us to our next hotel near Kings Cross station. He said the journey would take 1 1/4 hours, but there were road closures and the traffic was gridlocked for much of the time. It took closer to 2 1/2 hours, and I did not feel very well. I had remained animated and talkative but was now fading fast.
Our Travelodge Hotel did not have a luggage trolley, but we had the fastest and easiest check-in – no passports or signatures required. Three-star hotels I have known! I think that this hotel serves a different demographic.
It really is a very basic hotel, despite having “Royal Scot” (with one “t”) in its title. There is no housekeeping (clean towels and tea bags delivered daily on request, however), a bath, and breakfast is included. There is no fridge, and hopefully no bedbugs! It did seem very noisy, until JD closed the window. At least there is a window!
There is only free wi-fi for 10 minutes each day!
We went downstairs to the bar/restaurant where JD had a whisky and I more sparkling water to take back to our room.
Breakfast starts at 7 am on weekdays but not until 8 am on weekends, so we had a long night ahead.
There is an Italian restaurant nearby and a coffee bar with good reviews, although I think that doesn’t open until Monday morning. I have not been sleeping at all well. On the Friday night I got very little sleep.
But Saturday was a new day. I ran a bath, but had to ask JD to cool it down after I let it become far too hot. But actually it’s a very good bath, nice and long and I could get out of it by myself. I also made a cup of tea.
We went down to our already paid for breakfast soon after 8 , and it was already very busy, so perhaps it had started at 7 am.
There was a bar of cooked food, including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, tomato halves, mushrooms and hash browns. JD got me some cut fruit – melon, apple and grapes, but it had not been carefully prepared the way I’d do it. JD made toast and brought containers of jam and some kind of margarine, but everything had a strange aftertaste – perhaps it came from the margarine? The orange juice was strong and unpleasant, and the coffee not much better, although it was “proper” coffee.
Afterwards we went off to make our way to Kings Cross Station, a few minutes’ walk away. It’s next to the lovely brick St Pancras station where the Eurostar trains go from.
It’s all a huge and busy complex. We went into Kings Cross Railway station to try and figure out how things worked, and saw the huge overhead showing different national trains and their destinations and stopping points.
Then we went to the Underground, which is another huge complex. We worked out that we should catch the Piccadilly line train to Piccadilly circus to get to the National Gallery.
JD bought 2 return day trip tickets for us, and we headed off for the Piccadilly Line – dark blue, in between the light blue of the Victoria Line and the really dark blue of the by Northern Line. Everything was well sign posted, with some stairs but mainly escalators. I remember all this now.
The platforms are quite narrow, without the barriers to avoid someone being pushed or falling onto the tracks like they have in Taipei. The trains are very fast. It was very busy getting on the train; you have to push your way on, avoiding people getting off with the pushchairs or luggage. There seems to be no keeping to either right or left here, and precious few good manners. In NZ we wait until the bus or train has stopped before getting up to leave. And there was no central pole to hang onto while getting on and off!
We went several stops and eventually I was able to sit down. The train was very noisy, reminding me of Glasgow when we were there 8 years ago. There was no voiceover or signage to say which station was next, although later on, our return train had both of these.
We got off some distance from the National Gallery, but I thought we were in the right area. I saw a statue which I thought was Nelson’s Column, but it was not. Eventually I persuaded JD to use Google Maps with directions for walking, partly to show him how it was not that straightforward to use it, although he often asks me to do so!
Eventually we got near the National Gallery. Of course there was a queue to get in, but having got this close I wasn’t going to miss out. We could see part of Trafalgar Square, but it was blocked by several erections and did not look like the photographs.
Finally we got into the National Gallery where I had to open my handbag and my tote bag for examination – they had had trouble with Just Stop Oil protesters defacing the paintings. But that was all. You’d have far greater security at most American museums.
The paintings, of course, are just wonderful. And entry is free. We wanted to buy tickets for the van Gogh exhibition they’re holding, but they were already sold out, alas. There was an exhibition of works by Constable, including his famous Hay Wain, but to my astonishment there was no protection or barrier to stop you getting too close.
One thing I found incredibly frustrating was the notices beside each painting saying who was the artist, when it was painted, and a brief note on the subject matter, were incredibly hard to read. I had to get really close although you can’t really look at the paintings right up close to them. There were lots of people there, including children, and it was hard to photograph the pictures. One rarely heard English spoken!
When we got to the Turner paintings, one of my main objectives, there were lots of people including a group of children copying the paintings! I felt rude for stepping around them, but I’d come from NZ and one of my specific objectives was to see these paintings in particular.
The paintings of course are extraordinary. There was a lovely one of a train. They’re very impressionistic.
London seemed shabby and down at heel, and reminded us of when we first visited in the early 1970’s – the time of the first oil crisis, the three-day week, the IRA threats in England, and dreadful terrorism in Europe. It was doing better when we visited in 2010 and 2016, before the implications of Brexit were felt. It strikes me that if it weren’t for the immigrants, the Brits rather like it this way. “Mustn’t grumble!”
There are pictures of Madonna and child, and in one of them Mary looked very realistic, as did her son. But mostly the little boys had really chubby legs and tiny penises. One got the feeling the painters enjoyed painting them this way.
There’s a Caravaggio paying of the Supper at Emmaus, with a strangely young, innocent feminine Jesus; it also had what seemed to be a roast duckling, and a bowl of not great fruit that he would later use to great effect in a still life of a bowl of fruit with a worm having eaten through the apple. Australian writer Peter Robb used this to great effect on the cover of his Midnight in Sicily book, which centres around the trial of Andreotti, a former prime minister, on trial for his links to the Mafia. I have seen that painting.
The Supper at Emmaus painting was said to be a representation of The Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples, but this looked like a regular meal with the bread and wine not prominent. There was another Caravaggio painting of a child sting by a wasp, the child looking very like his famous painting of the Medusa. Shades of El Greco here.
This reminds me that there were paintings by Titian Veronese, Delacroix, Michelangelo and even one by Leonardo da Vinci.
We saw The Ambassadors, and of course I had to see the Arnolfini portrait again.
I was very tired, and we stopped to have lunch in one of the cafes. It was really busy. JD chose two cakes (not what I would have chosen!) and then I chose Quiche Lorraine with salad. This hot food was served by a woman attendant, who also piled salad on our plates and asked which of two dressings we would like. I went to get another tray, leaving JD to pay and order oat milk lattes if possible. The trays were clean but unpleasantly sticky! There were no tables free, but we sat at a longer table with stools which was really quite comfortable. The stools had backing, so it was like sitting on a chair. The coffees were simply delicious! The quiche was good, too, although made with a very sharp cheese.
We then tried to buy tickets for the Van Gogh exhibition the next day. They were releasing some at 4 pm, but we were very tired and could not wait around until then.
When we decided to go, I queued up to use the bathroom, realizing it might be a while before the opportunity arose again.
I almost gave up, but thankfully did not, since the queue was far longer when I came out! The toilets were new and quite clean, but pretty whiffy. There didn’t seem to be any deodorant. In Taiwan, both of our visits, I never used a smelly toilet.
When we came out, there were barricades up so we couldn’t see Trafalgar Square at all, but we could hear plenty of sirens and there was a helicopter overhead. Evidently there’d been a protest occasioned by Tommy Robinson (currently in prison) and for Palestine. I think it was Robinson’s supporters who were protesting. There were apparently several arrests.
We walked to the Leicester Square underground station, and caught a tube train back to Kings Cross. This time there was a voiceover and an electronic notice for each station, but again I found it hard to get on and off the train with no central pole to hold on to.
We made our way back to our hotel, where I had a sleep! Very rewarding, I felt much better after that. Then we went and had dinner at a local Italian restaurant – Mediterraneo. There were good reviews about this, except for one woman who complained that the Tesco’s tomato sauce that she cooked with was superior!
We ate very well there: JD had some kind of baked penne, and I had spaghetti con polpette. It was cooked “al dente”, as it should be, and was delicious. Thankfully the helpings were not too large. JD wanted to have dessert but I’d had an aperol spritz, and didn’t want to have any more to eat.
So we returned to our hotel. We went to bed, and again I went to sleep, not waking up till about 3 am.
I was convinced I was on a plane, flying to Rome, in business class. I figured, after a while, that I was not, I was in my hotel in London, after wondering just where I was to stay in Rome.
On Sunday morning I ran another bath. When I got in, I realized how the taps work: the left one gives you water; the one on the right hand side regulates the temperature. It’s easy when you know (or remember!) how it works!
The UK changed from Daylight savings time overnight, so my watch was wrong again and I had to put it back an hour.
Breakfast was better this morning, although extremely busy. We had the same table for two that we had yesterday. The fruit was much nicer, and I had apple juice to drink rather than orange juice. I used butter on my toast and it was much nicer than the weird margarine. This morning I stuck to fruit and toast rather than hot food.
Today is a beautiful fine day! The sun is shining, it’s not raining, and it’s quite warm and beautiful outside.
After breakfast we walked to the Old Church at St Pancras. This was about a 30 minute walk, behind St Pancras station in a park. It is Anglo-Catholic, and they were having a short mass this morning because there was to be a celebratory mass in the afternoon to welcome a new parish priest.
The church is a beautiful old stone building, which has somehow survived Oliver Cromwell and other strifes. The service was more catholic than other Roman Catholic services I’ve been to, with “smells and bells” and a great deal of ceremony. Because the service was shortened, we did not have the organ or any hymns, and only a short homily (but lovely though). There was an especially beautiful golden triptych altarpiece, which may have been buried at one time to protect it. The priest prayed for Pope Francis and the Royal Family. There were about 20 people there, including a couple with a very young baby. The space inside had a nice feeling of intimacy. I was so pleased that we went there.
Afterwards we walked back to Kings Cross station, to catch the Tube to the Victoria and Albert museum. It was hard to find a schematic of the Underground again, but we worked out that the best place to get off was the South Kensington station.
From there we found an underground tunnel that took us directly to the V& A Museum.
This was well worth a visit, although we avoided the Buddhist section. The first one we saw revolved around French and English design at the times of the French revolution and Napoleon’s rise to power – very intricate and beautiful, if slightly impractical!
This museum was busy but thankfully not nearly as busy as the National Gallery had been yesterday.
We decided to have some lunch, but that was quite a performance. There were queues at 3 counters: cooked food and salads, sandwiches and cakes, and drinks, with a separate counter for payment, where you collected cutlery and paper napkins. Once again JD was magnificent. We got a tray with fish pie (prawns, haddock and smoked sea trout, which looked like salmon), and a beetroot salad and “leaves” – it looked like lettuce to me! You added your own olive oil and vinegar rather than a prepared dressing.
So I took the fish pie and salads while JD went to get cake and drinks. The fish pie was delicious, and there were no fish bones. Having found a table, I ate half of it, while fighting off the midge-like creatures who would share. Eventually JD returned with a beautiful blueberry cake, an oat-milk latte for me in a cardboard container, and a glass of white wine for him. Perfect! What a good idea to share the fish pie and the cake.
Then we went in search of more treasures, including and especially some more paintings by JMW Turner, including one of Venice. There were more Constables too.
We made our way out, after an obligatory restroom stop (you need to queue here for anything worthwhile!), and back to South Kensington subway stop. It was incredibly busy – we had to push our way on to an already crowded train. When we were almost back we were both able to sit down, thankfully. In all the crush I did not see one person wearing a mask. It was very hot on the train. We were glad to get back. We dined at Mediterraneo again, and afterwards they gave us wee glasses of chilled limoncello.
We flew to Auckland without incident. After we arrived, we retrieved our luggage (wondering why we had brought so much), loaded it on a trolley and set out to walk to the international terminal and the Novotel hotel. Of course, everything has changed! The transport hub has moved, and access to the hotel is now better. We were able to check into our room, which is larger than our previous stays, and has a couch (and a view of a carpark).
The flight had left Wellington at 12:15 pm, so we were quite hungry, and had lunch at the Novotel’s restaurant. It took ages to get served, but we ordered wisely: two small plates (mine being smoked salmon, JD’s fried chicken), and a cheeseboard to share with brie and Gouda cheeses, along with crackers, fruit chutney, grapes and dried fruit. We followed that with long black coffees. JD had had a glass of Neudorf chardonnay; me, some mineral water.
It was too late to go to the Art gallery. We had a further snack at a cafe in the international terminal: we shared yoghurt with granola and fruit (very tart yoghurt), a pain au chocolat, and JD had a blueberry muffin. We used wooden cutlery, truly awful! JD wanted to buy NZ souvenirs to give people where we were to stay, but I managed to persuade him not to buy this tat. How mean of me! This is 2024; chances are we will be served by Kiwis! This is not the 1970’s.
The next morning we checked out at 9 am to roll across to the international terminal and get boarding passes printed and drop some bags for our flight to Singapore.
We made our way to Premium check in, where, to our surprise there is another line of kiosks, but there were several Air NZ staff members on hand to assist.
Then we made our way to the Air NZ lounge. It was pretty full, but JD got me some toast with butter, peanut butter and strawberry jam, and a black coffee, just what I needed. There was orange juice too.
Shortly afterwards we made our way to Gate 5, a five minute walk, feeling sorry for those flying to Narita airport in Japan, who had a sixteen minute walk to their departure gate! I pick they use faraway gates for the Boeing 797’s, because when we flew to Taipei we had to walk a long way. I was later to discover that this is nothing: in Singapore it was almost a half-hour walk to our departure gate, and then you had to go through security.
And then we were boarding our Boeing 777 to Singapore. How come there are so many Business Premier customers?
It’s nice when the staff know your name. The configuration is like the Boeing 797, and there is a welcome humpty to put your feet on, although there weren’t the lovely scuffs.
The woman next to me was flying to Amsterdam via Singapore, but I picked she hadn’t flown business class with Air NZ before. Having done this previously myself, I knew the drill, getting my Kindle and magazines out of my red bag before JD loaded it in the locker, and stowing my bag under the humpty.
Soon someone came to take my lunch order, before I’d barely had time to read the menu. I ordered crayfish bisque for a starter, followed by spicy pork belly with rice, and a delicious salad. There was a small dish of salted nuts to start, and I had a bread roll with the soup. It’s amazing how you’re almost always hungry when travelling, and you work up an appetite no matter what. There was delicious ice cream for dessert too.
Then almost everyone slept or rested. The staff turned our seats into beds, complete with mattress, blanket and two pillows! I’m reminded again that lying flat is one of the privileges that one has paid richly for.
At first I enjoy lying flat, playing hymns and classical music in my head, and then I find my Kindle in the bottom of the seat pocket, and I reread the first 100 pages of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. I also listen to some Schubert piano music, but the headphones are rather uncomfortable.
Eventually dinner was served, although the Air NZ staff seemed a trifle disorganized. My order was taken for a kahawai rillette starter, followed by salmon and a salad, but in the event I was given the salmon with beans, and no starter and no salad. The salmon was delicious and came with noodles which proved rather hard to eat. No matter, I was very well fed anyway, having had some garlic bread first. There was an amuse-bouche in a dainty wee dish with a small fork, but this proved impossible to cut with the fork, and I popped it whole into my mouth hoping that no one saw me. I had a rhubarb and frangipane tart for dessert, which was probably the most disappointing thing I ate all day.
The woman next to me complimented the staff effusively; I didn’t think they were that wonderful!
I often looked at the flight map during our flight. I found that if I expanded it, I could see Taiwan and even the lovely Da’an district where we had stayed twice while in Taipei. One of the hostesses had stayed there too!
Landing at Changi airport in Singapore had its own challenges too. I didn’t feel very well, but there was no wheelchair. We went through to a raft of electronic entry machines, but the staff were very helpful. You scanned your passport, and then your photo was taken and the right thumb print. The gate did not open for me, but a guard opened it. But for JD the system would not take his photo, and it had to be taken manually. So he went off back the way we’d come, and I was not allowed to join him. There was nowhere to sit down, either. Several minutes later he appeared, and we walked a long way to the luggage carousel, where I tried to grab a suitcase, with difficulty, off the fast-moving carousel. Fortunately it was the first, and the other suitcases followed soon after.
Then we tried to find our way to where the free shuttle for our hotel would pick us up. It was quite a long way away, and we had to wait about half an hour. It didn’t look right, and it was very hot outside; I found a place to sit down but was joined by a coughing, hoicking Singaporean, so I kept my mask on and kept my distance.
Eventually the shuttle arrived, marked “Village”, and we clambered on board, with our luggage. The hotel was actually about 25-30 minutes’ drive away.
When we got there, the check-in took rather a while, but Aladdin was friendly and helpful. He too us to a room on the seventh floor, which actually smelt of cigarette smoke, although there was no smoking allowed.
The room was fine, although there was no mini-bar, but there was a tooth brush kit with toothbrush and a wee tube of toothpaste, and a notice saying the tap water was safe to drink. The air conditioning fan was very noisy, but it didn’t come off and on, so that was something to be thankful for. The room looked on to a courtyard which was unattractive and featured some mould and greenery.
I logged into the hotel wifi, and logged in my Kindle so I could buy another book to read on our next flight. But JD wanted to celebrate our arrival by having a drink.
It was only about 7 pm Singapore time! We went to the Tiffin Bar downstairs, which was quite empty; however someone on reception took us up to the Atelier on level 8, which had a sea view. It reminded me of Taiwan, with the atmosphere not being clear, but rather hazy, and very hot.
We retreated inside to the rather fierce air-conditioning, and ordered drinks and a dessert to share. JD had whisky and I had a peach fizz, both delicious and served in beautiful crystal glasses. We shared a delicious cheesecake.
We woke up very early indeed. I had a bath, which was lovely, and long, but very hard to get out of, despite the helpful hand holds and non-slip mat. We decided to get the 8 am shuttle back to the airport, since the next one was at 9:15 am, and cutting things a bit fine for our check in. I could not check in online this time, since our flight is operated by Singapore Airlines.
We had breakfast at the hotel before we left, mainly because I was really hungry and already nervous about how long it might be before we got to the lounge at Changi airport. So we had a delicious breakfast, with toast and jam and peanut butter and scrambled eggs, and coffee and juice. This was rather rushed, since you don’t do anything quickly here! Anyway, I was relieved to have something to eat.
There were lots of us waiting for the shuttle, and it was a bit like a Japanese train: you had to force your way on! I was more forceful than JD, but I did save him a seat. Our bags were loaded on, and we drove to the airport.
When we got to the airport (Terminal 3, not 2), we checked in with Singapore Airlines right away and then tried to find the correct lounge. There was little signage, and we hadn’t been given a gate number; eventually we asked for help, and finally got to the right place. There were two lounges, one for first class and another, further away, for business class. It was three hours until we were to board our flight!
Meanwhile we got comfortable, I had more coffee, and then I explored the roomy, busy lounge. There were all kinds of food on offer there. We found that we could charge our phones, and log into the internet there, so we were very comfortable.
I was worried that we hadn’t been through airline security before entering the lounge. I was assured by a staff member that security would be at the boarding gate, and it would be quick.
And that proved to be the case. Again, I got through security with no problems, JD had some delay. There were heaps of staff there.
We boarded our flight: this Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 is configured very differently from the Air NZ one, with different sections for First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy. Our Business Class here is very similar to the Emirates one, and feels more like what Premium Economy used to be like.
Still, it’s wonderful to be able to lie flat; there are no babies or infants, and the toilets are clean.
The food sounds good, but doesn’t taste so great. It’s quite adventurous, with seared tuna, a quail’s egg, spicy chicken with noodles, a prawn salad, and braised veal. It all sounds great but is very chilled and doesn’t quite work. Never mind, the desserts are delicious – creme brulee, and a yummy fruit and nut cake. Still, it’s a very long flight: 13 hours and 45 minutes our pilot Abdul informs us: 1345. I am so glad I got another Ann Cleeves novel on my Kindle to read. I also get down to the instructions I’ve printed for getting to our hotel at Heathrow when we get there; it sounds to be within walking distance. I hope that’s not too much of a challenge!
So we eventually arrived at Heathrow airport. It was early evening, and was quite dark. I was very grateful to use a wheelchair, having requested this earlier. I was not feeling very well for the last few hours of the trip. They served dinner on the plane, but there were still at least 3 hours of the journey to go.
We went partway in the wheel chair, and then switched to a buggy. There was a delay while the “driver” picked up other passengers. Someone who hadn’t booked tried to take JD’s seat. Then he gathered all our passports to go through Border Control. Eventually we retrieved our checked luggage, and then we were on our own.
Nevermind, there were easy followed directions to our Hilton Garden Inn Hotel through the carpark. I had got out a printed copy of our booking, and the hotel had even sent a message on my phone.
So we made our way, with luggage, to our hotel and turned up in the hotel lobby, eager to settle down for the night. But they did not have a registration for me. It turns out there are two Hilton Garden Inn hotels: this one, HGI T2 and T3, and HGI Heathrow airport. It turned out that I had booked at the latter. It was about 7 minutes away by taxi; we could not walk there. The kind lady on the desk called a cab for us, but it seemed to take ages to arrive. When it did come, the driver came to meet us, but it was a complicated journey to his car. Once there, it seemed to take well over 7 minutes to get to the right Hilton Garden Inn hotel.
Then it took ages to get checked in. But eventually we did, to a room on the first floor with a wet shower and an armchair with footrest. We went down to the bar where JD had a whisky and I had a mocktail. The next morning I confirmed that we were booked into the other Hilton Garden Inn for our last night in the United Kingdom!
We slept fitfully, but the internet connection was good and the room was very quiet and comfortable, despite planes flying overhead. London was grey, as expected. Already this is our third night away, and we are looking forward to being more settled for a few days.
Canterbury Cathedral: “Than longen folk to go on Pilgrimage...”
Today is Tuesday 6 August, 2024. Kia ora!
We have a new granddaughter, in England, and after much discussion we have paid to take a trip to the UK later this year. There’s been much discussion over this; now I need to plan the rest of the trip, i.e. what happens between landing at Heathrow Airport and leaving (the dreaded) Heathrow to return to New Zealand.. Sadly, I doubt that we’ll be able to go to Scotland this time, but perhaps in future? During the Covid years, when the NZ borders were closed, it was very frustrating not to be able to leave the country, beautiful as it is. Last year we went to Australia and to Taiwan; this year we went to beautiful Taiwan again, and I always hoped that we would go to England and Europe too. At least we are going to England. So that is very exciting, as is having a new granddaughter.
Meanwhile, back here I’ve been gradually getting back into the rhythm of things. The weather’s been weird: it was warmer for a while, and wet, but the last few days have been fine with very cold mornings and evenings.
The weekend before last we were invited to an exhibition opening at the Artspace Gallery on the Petone Foreshore. There were lots of people there, and we bought a painting, not an exhibition painting but a lovely painting that was in stock. It’s another painting of roses: we can’t get enough of them! It’s quite beautiful, and in theory it celebrates a wedding anniversary coming up shortly. We had the delicious puzzle of wondering where to hang it. Having hung it, it looks just right, and as though it’s always been just right for that spot. No buyer’s remorse here!
The next Saturday we went to a concert celebrating Brahms’s German Requiem, held in St Mary’s Cathedral in Boulcott Street. We went early and found a carpark some way away; fortunately we’d worn warm clothes although it was a fine day. We carefully stepped over a major leak in Boulcott St, before heading into the church. There wasn’t allocated seating; it was a tad cold and uncomfortable there, and the church seemed not nearly as large as we’d remembered it. The Bach choir was conducted by Dr Peter Walls, who had been at St Patrick’s College in Silverstream while JD was there. The choir sang in the upstairs gallery, and they sang in German. There were very good programmes with English and German.
The singing was beautiful, of a beautiful work: Brahms was Lutheran, and Brahms’s requiem is a happier work than the Mozart Requiem, for example, which is a very serious work. I think it is the most beautiful music that Brahms wrote. I think the choir could have been slightly more disciplined, but I realise I shouldn’t let that mar my enjoyment of the work.
Afterwards we didn’t want to go straight home, but it was too early for dinner, so we had coffee and cake at Kaffee Eis. We had walked past Ziggurat and admired an emerald green velvet top, but alas it sported a very expensive designer price tag. Afterwards we went shopping at New World in Thorndon.
Since then I have been to Tai Chi on Mondays; I do find it a bit annoying that some are so focused on “getting it right”, whereas there’s no rush; somedays are better that others; and one “practices” Tai chi, as one does yoga.
There’s a dearth of movies at present. The French Film Festival movies are trickling back, slowly; meanwhile there’ve been an annual checkup at the dentist and a hair treatment. Both cost far more than they did previously.
It’s now Sunday 11 August.
I have been trying to plan our upcoming trip, and to work out what to wear and what to pack. It’s all becoming clearer now, although googling to get times and prices is very frustrating, especially for British places and timetables! Still, I’m getting very excited. We spoke to our son in the UK last night and I realise it makes sense to stay at airport hotels near Heathrow, for the nights before our departure and on our arrival: they’re much cheaper than Auckland’s Novotel or Pullman hotels.
It’s now Sunday 25 August.
It’s been an exciting time. Last week the Democratic National Convention The DNC) was held in Chicago (again! After the tumultuous convention of 1968). This time it was exciting, if a little too maudlin and sentimental for me. There were wonderful speeches, and the highlights for me were Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, Tim Walz, and Kamala Harris. Republicans Geoff Duncan and Adam Kinzinger spoke very well, too, and were well received. Those at The Bulwark (former Republicans) were amazed that the Dems could organize their convention so well. So that was eventful and exciting. The Post reported that former Prime Minister Ardern was going to speak, but sadly we haven’t been able to find a recording of her speech. That is a real honour, though.
Before that, Trump held a presser to outline his economic policy, I think! This was to be an intellectual presentation, he claimed to his faithful followers. He had one or two grocery items, including a pack of Tic Tacs, which I doubt that anyone would regard as an essential grocery item. No one besides me has made the connection with his Access Hollywood tape, where he sucked on the lollies before kissing beautiful women. “And if you’re a star, they let you do it”, he claimed. He also managed to denigrate war veterans, again, which shocked many. The comedians continue to have fun with this gift that keeps on giving: Stephen Colbert interviewed a pretend Melania Trump, where she asked about the “girth certificate”. Tim Walz, football coach, spoke about “locker room talk”. And another comedian said how to address Trump – as a Mafia “Don”, followed by Old. Bill Clinton, frail as he is, spoke at the DNC convention, but he is younger than Donald Trump, having just turned 78 himself.
Last week one of our sons turned 40. He had a lovely party on Saturday afternoon, and then another party in the evening, at his house. We were to take a bowl of fruit salad: we ended up shopping on Saturday morning, and the supermarket was very busy. But we got what we needed, and it all worked out well. Yesterday was our eldest grandson’s 12th birthday, and we enjoyed seeing the local families again for that, and having a meal with them too. On our anniversary JD and I had lunch at Olive in Cuba Street. It was a bit more rustic than I remembered, but the food was good. We did not go out to Day’s Bay or Eastbourne since a water pipe had burst out that way.
There were several events at my church in Khandallah yesterday, including a quiz night, but I did not go to any of them, since it was our grandson’s birthday. They were well attended, however.
This morning I read the gospel text from John chapter 6, verses 56 to 69, the last verses of the chapter.
It’s now Monday 9 September.
I’ve been wrestling with various websites in the UK and Europe, and I think I am almost finished with booking arrangements for our upcoming trip. It’s very exciting to be going away again, and very daunting. In Taiwan there’s no petty crime; sadly, that’s not the case where we’re going. I’ve not been sleeping much at night: I hope I can relax soon and read about Ravenna and look forward to seeing our new granddaughter and other sites I have in mind to see.
Meanwhile, things have been boxing along. I go to Tai Chi on Mondays – I’m beginning to enjoy that (ha!) I’ve been going to singing on Thursday mornings, but our leader now has shingles, so I expect she’ll be off for a while. I’ve been to hymn singing, Te Reo classes, and to church. I’d love to go to town, but so many shops have closed that it’s a rather sad place, and I really don’t need to buy anything.
Our tiles at the front door have finally been laid! The ones we’d picked out were still available, and now they’re laid. Of course, they’re not the same as the old ones were, which I rather liked; there’s a new drain now, do the tiles are now actually level with the driveway, rather than being raised.. Still, it’s good to get this job done.
I recently met an old school friend, who had photos of us at Wadestown Primary School, and at Wellington Girls’ College! A trip down memory lane from what is now the “olden days”, although it seemed very real at the time. The primary school children all look well clothed and well nourished, although I do remember the school teacher rapping me over the knuckles with a ruler!
There haven’t been good movies on lately, or if I have, I’ve missed them. But the days are much longer now, and it is warmer – quite warm when it’s fine and sunny, although it’s cold in the mornings and nights, and at bus stops, of course. One still needs a jacket, and probably a cardigan too.
In the Wellington CBD, there are many closed shops, Three Pandoro cafés closed recently! I had been to all of them; the one on the corner of Wakefield Street was my favourite, although a Pandoro café would have been my second choice of café. But we were at North City Shopping Centre recently, and those places are truly ghastly, I think.
In the Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have taken Kursk and invaded parts of Russia; meanwhile Russian forces are pursuing parts of Eastern Ukraine. So the seeming stalemate continues. In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu seems determined not to have a ceasefire with Hamas. Brutality continues.
In the US, the presidential election is either on a knife-edge, or the Democrats are sure to win, depending on which voices you listen to. It’s a joy to hear Vice President Kamal Harris and Governor Tim Walz speak; meanwhile Trump is lazy and incoherent, and one wonders how he has any support at all. Even Dick Cheney (also a threat to democracy!) has indicated via his daughter Liz Cheney, that he will vote for Harris!
I have not been writing regularly like I used to. It’s now school holidays, and some of my usual activities are taking a break.
But Tai Chi is not, so I’ve been to Tai Chi for Beginners (ha!) in Khandallah each Monday. Afterwards we have coffee together at Parsons’ Café, which is usually crowded since it’s the only café open in Khandallah on a Monday (duh?)
I tried to organize appointments to go to the dentist and get my hair cut, but of course the people doing this are having a few days off as well, so I have to wait until the first week of term 3. Last Tuesday I met a dear friend for morning tea – what a treat. She happens to be a Tai Chi tutor, whom I got to know at my former Tai Chi class.
On Wednesday mornings we’ve had hymn singing, always a treat. We sang “Glorious things of thee are spoken…” to the beautiful tune Austria, by Haydn. I rescued the Prie Dieu that resided in the master bedroom with the old television set on it (which I never watch, by the way), and asked my friend who are in a craft group if she knows anyone who may be able to fix it. It is really rather beautiful, and the woodwork seems fine, but it’s a bit “rickety”, and the tapestry seat is sadly in need of repair. I would love to have it repaired; in the meantime, it has been moved to our mezzanine are and the seat covered with a rug and a cushion.
Last Thursday I met a cousin for lunch at Legato Café; I had a Greek salad with lamb and tzatziki, but I had forgotten that it can be quite hard to eat salad! Getting to the rest room was challenging too! But it was lovely to see her.
The next day was really cold, but another cousin of mine visited whom I haven’t seen for ages, so it was lovely to see her again and catch up on our families.
On Saturday we went shopping. Even though there are few “treats”, it seems to cost more than I expect, although we bought light bulbs which are really expensive.
The weather in Wellington has changed: it’s not as cold as it was, but is mostly overcast and raining – off and on. On Tuesday we had nothing on so we went to Day’s Bay for lunch at Sea Salt Café. It was lovely, as always, and although it was raining in Wellington, it was not quite raining at Day’s Bay. It’s a treat to watch the water, and the changing patterns of the clouds.
On Wednesday I visited another dear friend, whom I had not seen for several weeks; today we took a couple out to visit Hohepa Otaihanga. I had not been there for some time, so it was good to see the progress they’ve made. After our visit we found our way to Harrison’s garden world just north of Waikanae, where we had lunch before returning to Wellington. It was quite a bit warmer north of Wellington, and it had stopped raining.
It’s now Monday 22 July.
This morning I expect to go to Tai Chi, and then the dentist this afternoon, hopefully just for a check up.
Well, lots of things have been happening. In the UK, the Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer has won the General Election with resounding success. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss even lost her seat (and was not gracious about it), Jacob Rees-Mogg also lost his seat; and Nigel Farage was elected to a seat in Clacton. So that is quite refreshing.
Last week the RNC held its convention in Milwaukee, just days after an assassination attempt on Trump (which grazed his ear). He was taken off a stage in Pennsylvania, but not before raising a clenched fist and shouting “Fight fight fight!” Fight against whom, I wonder? There are all kinds of questions about how the 20 year old shooter was able to climb on a roof and shoot some people (one dead, and two critically injured), but no Republicans are calling for more gun control. The weapon of choice was an AR15, of course. It belonged to the shooter’s father, but he was able to buy ammunition. Trump claimed subsequently that God was on his side – not giving thanks to God for sparing his life, or saying that God had saved him. And what about the firefighter who did die in the shooting, while sheltering his wife and daughters?
The RNC Convention was seriously weird. J.D. Vance was chosen as Trump’s Vice President pick, apparently in a nod to Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump junior. J.D. has been senator for Ohio for a few months, and that is the only experience he’s had in government. So that’s a very odd pick indeed, and critics are quick to remember that he was against Trump some time back, and even called him America’s Hitler. Even Vance’s highly credited memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, is now being criticized. Apparently after his grandmother died, nineteen loaded handguns were found at her property, so J.D. concluded that she was taking good care to protect herself. Against whom, one wonders? And what about the commandment that “Thou shalt not kill”. As Sarah Longwell of The Bulwark noted, Americans are into Self Harm. I don’t always agree with Sarah, but I do on this point.
And then there is the really scary thought that if anything happens to Trump (after all, he is 78 years old), Vance will be president, if Trump were to be elected. I doubt if many people can stomach that outcome.
Then there was the Crowdstrike outage (providing security software for Microsoft, and causing many computer systems to fail, in airports, banks, supermarkets and other organisations. Thankfully we weren’t affected personally, or not obviously, anyway; we went to see the French film Divertimento on Saturday and the computer systems at the Lighthouse cinema were fine; I logged into my online banking and it seemed unaffected too. Yesterday was a beautiful fine day after a frosty misty start, and we had lunch at Floriditas: I had a fish pie, with salad, which was delicious, and a Bellini; JD had Brioche French Toast and a glass of chardonnay. Afterwards we went grocery shopping, and thankfully spent much less than last week. The Brits joked that Liz Truss’s first week at Microsoft wasn’t going well! Oh, the dry British sense of humour!
This morning I woke to the news that President Biden is no longer standing for President; he has endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for President; Jim Clyburn has also endorsed her. So there is great hope, now: for weeks I have listened to competing views on whether Biden should stand down; I have great respect for him, but it has been increasingly painful to listen to him fumble and mix up names. So now the announcement has been made, and it’s hoped that the Democratic Party can get its act together and win the coming election. What a choice! That the world has come to this.
In Russia, a nuclear power plant has had a reactor shut down, A nearby city has been evacuated, So that too is very scary news, given what we know about it, which is very little.
It’s now Friday 26 July.
Well, what a lot has happened in the last week. Last Sunday (in the US, Monday here) I was informed that President Biden had decided to step down from the race to the Presidential Election to be held in November. I heard this news from the New York Times and the Washington Post, so it must be correct. He then endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to be the Democratic nominee instead of him. Yesterday he made a very gracious speech confirming this fact. Well, what a spring this has put in every Never-Trump voter and commentator and political pundit! Some think he didn’t step down soon enough, but to me the timing was superb, coming after the very scary RNC convention and Trump’s nomination of J.D. Vance as his running mate. What a turn around! Last week most of the pundits were saying that this election was “in the bag” for the Republicans, especially after Trump’s supposed assassination attempt (I say supposed because Chris Wray, FBI director, has said he may have been hit by shrapnel rather than by a bullet directly).
And the Americans, and most of the world, were really fortunate to have Joe Biden as President for the last few years. He has been quite wonderful, and its sad to see his obvious decline. It was an act of supreme unselfishness to step down from the Presidential race. Ove certainly can’t imagine Trump doing this, or any members of the Republican party encouraging him to do so. It seems we owe a lot to Nancy Pelosi in this regard.
VP Harris is doing really well. She’s speaking well, and has certainly raised enthusiasm, amongst younger and all voters, and raised a heap of money. The headlines write themselves: prosecutor vs. felon; she’s young and energetic and not unpleasant to look at; he’s turned 78 and is overweight and lazy, as well as being totally obnoxious to many of us. The vitriol from the Right is coming, of course! it is what would you expect, but Harris has real, momentum behind her. It seems that Trump is quite disconcerted at this young, energetic opponent, rather than the elderly Biden, and now regrets appointing the very extreme and non-charismatic J.D. Vance as his running mate.
Vance made an unfortunate remark about the Democratic Party being run by child-less cat women; but apart from this being such an odious phrase, surely someone like Kimberley Guilfoyle is also childless, and she is really scary and very loud – she reminded me of Cruella de Vil when she appeared at the RNC convention. There are hazards ahead for Harris, to be sure, but she appears to have a much better chance of beating Trump in the coming election.
I have to say that I wavered over Joe Biden’s decision whether he should stay in the race; he’s been such an amazing president, that I don’t think Americans appreciate quite how wonderful he’s been, and how he’s finessed so many “deals” that he’s made. I don’t think the age matters, but sadly Biden has gone downhill in recent months, and his deterioration has become evident. Of course, there have been very few comments about Trump’s apparent deterioration, which was obvious at the end of his presidency, and is staringly obvious now: his obsession with looking back, with the “late, great Hannibal Lecter” (Sir Anthony Hopkins can only wonder in frustration), and with electricity and sharks, to mention a few.
It’s been a while since I wrote. Things have been pretty topsy-turvy since we got back from Taiwan, with trips to Hawkes Bay and to Nelson and trying not to get Covid 19 again. There’ve been three deaths – of people that I knew, although distantly.
I have managed to see several French Film Festival movies – always a treat, although I have enjoyed some far more than others. So far highlights for me have been Divertimento, The Taste of Things starring the wonderful Juliette Binoche, and Abbé Pierre. Most of the films are about women endeavouring to be taken seriously. Most films are screened at the Penthouse or one of the Lighthouse Cinemas, which are convenient to get to. However most of the afternoon ones start around 1 pm of 3 pm: so I have to use my snapper card to get home, since it’s after 3 pm; but the 3 pm or later ones finish after 5 pm, by which time it’s dark. Also, although JD drops me off while it is fine and not-so-cold, it tends to be very cold and sometimes wet when the movie is finished!
Although I’ve been trying to avoid catching covid, I feel it’s safer to be in a sometimes almost empty theatre than meeting in small rooms with my older friends.
It’s been wonderful to have the French Film Festival booklet, advertising times and places for the different screenings. I can also see which ones have been booked out. I hope that the better films will be screened on general release now that the Festival is finished.
So far I’ve seen The President’s Wife, Abbé Pierre, Bonnard Pierre et Marthe, The Sitting Duck (uncomfortable!), Divertimento (wonderful, I’d love to see it again), Sidonie in Japan, Marguerite’s Theorem, and The Taste of Things. Of these, Divertimento was wonderful, featuring Ravel’s Bolero and Dvorak’s New World Symphony and the great Celibidache. We had watched a recording of this symphony with our eldest son in Taipei, and had also watched it back here at home. I did not manage to see two films in any one day.
I have been to some activities: Tai Chi, hymn singing, other singing, but I have not been to church. I’ve tried zooming in to the Sunday services, but sometimes there’s no sound.
Wellington CBD is a pretty sad place at present. Many shops are closed; I went to one of my favourite cafés at 1:30 pm the other day, and the kitchen was closed! A lot of public servants have lost their jobs, and the CBD reflects this, with closures and some despair. There seem to be few shops worth visiting nowadays, and it really frustrates me that some have quite intense heating (I’m talking about you, Farmers!) One gets togged up with a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves, only to enter a shop where one wants to remove these layers, even one’s cardigan. But it’s really cold outside, and especially at bus stops. This does not make sense. It’s good to have some heating, but not too much!
Last Wednesday morning our Te Reo group had a beautiful morning tea at the Khandallah Town Hall. What a treat it was! We also went over the meaning of Matariki, and reinforced our learning from last year. We sang, too! Most felt that this celebration of the Māori New Year is a really special feature of what it means to be a New Zealander.
It’s now Saturday, July 6.
What a maelstrom it has been. The Biden-Trump so-called debate took place, where President Biden performed poorly, contrary to expectations, causing extensive further panic amongst Democrats, anchors, and those who pontificate. Everywhere one goes (or went) there were emergency podcasts about “that debate”, and even British commentators are joining in condemning Joe Biden. But although many of them noticed Trump’s lies, few if any have observed that he failed to answer the questions put to him! He couldn’t look forwards, only backwards, in his grievance-laden replies. For some reason the two CNN anchors, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, were unable or unwilling to challenge Trump on any of this. Some are pro-Biden – I am divided, I must admit: surely he’s been a great president, but can he beat Donald Trump in the election? And, if he were to stand down, who would replace him? Vice President Kamala Harris has certainly stepped up her game, but is she presidential material?
Then, the US Supreme Court gave its verdict, that the US President has immunity for all so-called official acts; that definition was conveniently passed down to a lower court. So all the pundits are saying that Trump is now King, and after all they left England so as not to have the king of England rule over them. But the king of England, who is probably the best known king who “reigns” over the most people, really has very little power, and is subject to the British Parliament, even having to read sometimes dreadful speeches from the current Prime Minister, with whom he may not agree. So this comparison seems irrelevant. Honestly, the Americans are just so annoying sometimes!
Anyway, however you discuss it, the President has just about complete immunity, and it will be extremely difficult, expensive and time-consuming to hold him legally accountable – for anything! We are in a New World where if you thought things couldn’t get worse, they just did.
On the brighter side, in the UK election the Labour Party has just won a definitive victory, and full credit to Sir Keir Starmer for turning the Labour Party around and leading it to victory after some stunning defeats. A number of well-known conservatives lost their seats, including the odious and entitled Jacob Rees-Mogg, and former Prime Minister Liz Truss! Woo-hoo! An election that it was actually fun to watch. Starmer, on his way to Buckingham Palace, quipped that he has a plan (when asked what his first priority would be), and an umbrella!
Rishi Sunak, I have to say, was gracious in defeat, and spoke rather well after the Tory loss. He’ll be more effective in opposition, perhaps. He did retain his seat, as did Jeremy Corbyn, and the odious Nigel Farage won the seat he stood for. One commentator quipped that his electorate “surgeries” in future could be interesting.
It is rather cold and miserable in Wellington at present. Even 7-8 C feels really cold! There are occasional fine days, but of course the hours of sunshine are really limited and the days are short and the mornings and evenings very cold.
On Monday I went to a funeral at Old Saint Paul’s Cathedral, a beautiful old wooden building, although I had forgotten how uncomfortable the seats are and how cold it can be there. I didn’t know the elderly gentleman well, and he’d just turned 88, and hadn’t been frail, so it wasn’t a tragic death. One of the groups that I sing with was supposed to sing at the function afterwards, but there had been no notice about that, since our choir leader had covid.
There was a big turnout at the funeral; the gentleman had been involved in many things, including many charities; but we only sang one hymn (“Be still my soul”), and there were no readings: the “service” was mostly tributes with a couple of musical offerings. A tribute from his brother was read out (said brother was stranded at Nelson Airport, since the weather was so awful), and this mentioned the Lord Jesus and the person’s Christian upbringing. There were many church connections – he’d met his wife at a church event, but there was no mention of Heaven, that Death is not the end, or of the Creator who’d given life and a giving and generous heart. So I found that quite sad.
Afterwards, the weather was even worse, with rain, sever wind and cold. I remembered the day of the Wahine disaster in 1968, and my time at Wellington Girls’ College, and what a cold, windy suburb Thorndon can be.
There were to be refreshments at the Loaves and Fishes Hall next to St Paul’s Cathedral after the funeral, but I wondered how many made that 10 minute walk, negotiating busy road crossings along the way. I found a café nearby that was open, and had coffee with two of my singing friends. One of them brought me home afterwards. It wasn’t a very nice café, but it had spare seating, and it was good to catch up.
On Wednesday I went to my Te Reo class, and afterwards I went to see a film, The Road to Patagonia. This documentary-tyle film had been well reviewed, and I really wanted to see it, but I found it rather frustrating, especially the naivety of the leading male character. Although it was mainly about surfing, and a desire to “get back to nature”, I remained thankful for medical interventions that had kept me alive (when I had my eldest son and when I had my SAH), and for modern plumbing! Our hero did not stop in Oregon – which I had fond memories of; although not of great surf beaches; and I reminded myself that a film crew was filming all this, camping, the heat, the cold, and so on. Our hero and his girlfriend did not get sick. Towards the end I am sure I saw them eating hamburgers (twice), although the wrappers were kept out of sight.
On Thursday I went to my last singing session for the term, and on Friday we had some friends to visit, and the lady from Access.
That’s it for now. Sometime, the fighting in Ukraine, and the fighting in Gaza, will cease. Remember the wars in the Balkan countries in the 1980’s, which seemed never-ending? One hopes and prays for an honourable peace, in both cases. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
It’s now Monday June 3, 2024. King’s Birthday! Kia ora!
Ww have been back from Taiwan for a few days now, and it has been very hard to adjust – to the cold, the different air, and the Chinese threats to Taiwan which have intensified lately. There have been a number of other adjustments too – another wave of covid, both in Wellington and in Hawkes Bay.
It’s now Monday June 10.
Last week I went to the movie The Way, My Way, about an older Australian man who walks the Camino in Spain. Although I have some issues with the documentary, it is glorious to see the Spanish countryside, and it’s well worth a look, if a tad soppy at the end.
The next day I saw Freud’s Last Session, a film about an encounter between Freud in London and an Oxford don, presumed to be C. S. Lewis, presumed to be based on a “true” encounter between the two at the very beginning of World War II. I think it was based on a play, and Antony Hopkins is (almost) always worth watching, however it was like Hollywood in the UK, and I found it pretty frustrating, especially as Hopkins was in great discomfort. It had dramatic and scary displays of trench warfare in the First World War, but Lewis did not fight in that war.
On Wednesday we drove to Hawkes Bay, having lunch at Woodville. I had looked up Waka Kotahi, the NZTA site, but there were several delays on SH2 between Dannevirke and Waipukerau, which had not been notified!
Although we knew that our daughter had been diagnosed with covid, she was displaying no symptoms, and we visited her new house twice on the Thursday, sitting outside and wearing masks, of course. We also gave her gifts we’d brought from Taiwan. We met her new House Manager and two other staff members. So, touch wood, we don’t get covid! It’s a relief that she has no symptoms; it’s the fourth time she’s been diagnosed with covid! JD has had a cold, but thought he was better for this trip, which we really wanted to make, seeing we hadn’t seen our daughter since the end of February and hadn’t met her new house manager.
The weather in Hawkes Bay was glorious – cold in the mornings, but with fine, warm and sunny days. On our last night we found Alessandro’s in Havelock North – a little hard to find, as so many places are, and it was off one of the main roads. I had thought from the website it was a rather casual place, but it was quite upmarket, and very busy. We had to sit at the bar at first – there was a 30 minute delay on being served. So we settled in to enjoy our drinks – prosecco for him, and a beautiful peach flavoured mocktail for me. In many places here drinks are served in crystal glasses.
After a few minutes we were shown to a small table, and then we were served pizza to share. It was so nice that we had affogato to finish – with Kahlua. There was chocolate sauce on the ice cream. People on either side of us were served pasta meals, and they looked large and delicious, too.
The previous night we had dined at an old faithful – the Thirsty Whale, where we had whitebait fritters as an entrée, and finished with affogato – which they do beautifully. It’s different everywhere!
During our stay we had coffee at the Albion: “hokey pokey lattés”. We had these with oat milk, and they were topped with hokey pokey. This was to remind us of Taiwan, but they were really sweet, although quite nice.
Home again to Wellington, and it is much colder, and rainy. I turned on the heat pump before we got to Shannon, but again, alas, it was not early enough.
Today I went to see my first French Film Festival film, The President’s Wife, starring Catherine Deneuve. She is wonderful, of course, but she really just has to be herself.
On a completely different note, I mourn the loss of the adverb. We are exhorted to “Run safe”, “Drive safe”, and so on. While I acknowledge that apostrophes can be tricky – surely an “-ly” on the end of a word isn’t difficult?
It’s now Sunday 16 June.
I have had some adventures: we flew to Nelson for a couple of days for my brother in law’s 70th birthday. It was a strange time, let me tell you.
We flew there at midday on Thursday, and had a smooth flight although it was quite cold there. JD’s brother met us at Nelson Airport, and we checked in at our motel before going up to his house in Orakei Street. His house has a beautiful view, but access is challenging, to say the least! There’s a steep drive, and steps, which he hadn’t quite finished, on account of his being unwell. There’s no handrail. When you get up the outside steps, then there’s a staircase inside the house, with a had rail partway up.
So I got up and we stayed there for the next few hours, as others of his children and their families arrived. We had ham sandwiches for lunch, and fish and chips for tea. Then we went back to the motel.
Oh dear; I was very frustrated that we had not spent more money for a roomier motel with a quiet heat pump and a restaurant! This unit had a Skope wall heater, which turned itself off and on and was so noisy that I turned it off after a while. This was an “accessible unit”, with a wet shower, but absolutely nowhere to put anything! There was a clothes hanging unit with four hangers, and a low shelf to put one’s suitcase, with no luggage rack: if one needs an accessible shower, how can one bend down to reach into the suitcase?
In the bathroom there were no tissues, no hooks, and literally no space for anything: there was a basin, with minimal space around it. Where to put one’s sponge bag, then? Obviously I couldn’t leave it in the bathroom. I didn’t dare to put things on the bed since it was covered with a spotless white duvet cover (as is the style these days).
On the Friday it rained steadily, and I got up, showered, and walked about 10 minutes to a café where I had scrambled eggs and an oat latté (this time in a glass, not a really thick cup). I could only get a newspaper at the petrol station across the road from the motel – and this was a copy of the Press.
Then JD and I got a taxi to the Suter Gallery (always a treat), and walked to Trafalgar Street. We had lunch at a restaurant near the cathedral (salmon paté and spiced celery and a rather strange brioche) followed by a long black coffee. Then we went to the Provincial Museum. There was no exhibition upstairs, but the one downstairs was interesting, as always.
Then we got a taxi back to the motel where I had a rest before the birthday party which was due to start at 5 pm.
It actually became much warmer throughout the day, and I wore my red pleated Annah Stretton dress and a black lacy cardigan over it. It looked much better with the cardigan. As it was raining more heavily, we got a taxi to the Styx, the party venue. But it was quite warm there, and I got very tired, so much so that we left quite early, after all that effort to get there. There was grazing platters, but when I checked there wasn’t much food, although when we left there seemed to be lots. JD managed to spill his glass of prosecco over me and my handbag. There was no birthday cake, and apart from the birthday boy, so speeches. But he did have all of his five children there, including his eldest son and his two daughters from Australia, and his second son and his wife and three lovely children from Auckland. His eldest daughter and her son came from Paekākāriki, and his youngest daughter and son were there too. Nobody was dressed up much – I felt overdressed, whereas whenever I go to Australia to one of his sisters’ parties, I tend to feel underdressed. Anyway, it was very hot there, although we talked to one of our nephews about his grandfather’s part in the Second World War, and which beach he might have landed at on D-Day. We picked Sword, although we don’t really know. Anyway, to my surprise and pleasure my nephew and I had listened to the same podcast about D-Day!
It seemed a shame to leave early, but we did. The taxi managed to go the wrong way – what is it with these taxis? I had given the address. As it was so much warmer, we did not leave the heater on, and I slept more that night. JD’s brother was to pick us up the next morning, and take us to the famous Nelson Market with his youngest daughter – JD had promised to buy her something. Actually he had wanted to buy her something from the Suter Gallery gift shop, but it was very expensive, and I picked he could get something much cheaper from the market. As I had quite a large outstanding credit card bill, I wanted him to be careful about his spending. I don’t wish to be mean!
The market was interesting. We met our nephew and his wife and two sons there. The sun strike made it really difficult to see – by the way, it was a gorgeous sunny day in Nelson, although still wet underfoot. We had stopped in Trafalgar Street, where there were long queues outside the ATMs, although most stalls had Eftpos terminals. There were two protests in Trafalgar Street – an Anti-Vax protest, and a Palestinian protest.
The market was not as good as I had remembered. There were vegetable stalls (small avocadoes at $2.50), herbals, French bakery stalls, lovely tote bags, a nice one selling beautiful felt bunny rabbits – I nearly bought one for my granddaughter to be but, although quite beautiful, they had whiskers! Quite inappropriate. I did get a nice glass hanging ornament; JD, of course, wanted to get another one for a granddaughter. There were earrings, but there seemed to be no paua jewellery as there had the last time we had been here. There were lots of herbals; honey; cheeses; and a jewellery stall where JD bought our niece a locket (not a Paua one, but she did get to choose it).
After that effort, which included finding JD, I suggested we three have morning tea. Rather than sitting in the sitting area in the market, and buying a nice Danish pastry, JD wanted to go to one of the dingy cafés around the market. I compromised by stating that at least we would sit outside. We had oat milk lattes in large thick cups (ugh!) and large cheese scones. This was probably just as well, since we were not to get lunch.
After wandering through the market some more, we walked to Trafalgar Street to the Paper Plus store, where I was able to buy a copy of The (formerly Dominion) Post. Then we went to the taxi stand in Hardy Street, where there were no taxis. After a while, I rang the taxi company, again wrestling with the (now dreaded) Automated Booking System. So what part of Taxi Stand, Hardy St, near the cathedral, don’t you understand? It was a battle, as always, but I discovered they do honour the Green (Mobility) Card in Nelson. I wished I had known earlier, as JD had left me to pay for each taxi from my carefully hoarded cash real money – needed for some of my cash-only activities.
We went back up to JD’s brother’s house, where we sat in the sun and admired his fiancé’s new granddaughter and waited till it was time to go to the Airport at about 3:45 pm. This seemed to be a general drop-in time with various people coming and going during the day. I spoke to the fiancé’s daughter about the classics – we both shared a love of the Classics, so that was nice. We even shared the moving scene in Homer’s Iliad where Achilles is mourning the death of Patroclus, and he joins in grief with Priam mourning the death of his son Hector.
We had a short but rather bumpy flight back to Wellington, with a particularly bumpy landing. I hoped and prayed that the pilot would be able to land, and would not have to pull out and land somewhere else. The taxi driver that had brought us to the airport was there to meet us, and so we came home. Unfortunately I had forgotten to turn on the heat pump, which I did in the taxi.
The skyline of Taipei, with the tower Taipei 101 prominent
Last days in Taipei
It remained very hot. On our return from the tour to Yilan there was a peaceful protest in Taipei, and several streets were blocked off. Our guide should have known about this; it was frustrating to be stuck in traffic, knowing that we would have to catch a taxi back to our hotel afterwards. At one point I googled our current situation, and we were still 9 minutes away from the Taipei Main Station! Eventually we were dropped off, but not at the main station. There were few taxis there, but after a few minutes we got one. The driver spoke English, too! I didn’t see any banners, but JD saw some. There were a lot of people around, especially near to our hotel, but they were very peaceful. I tried to find out why they were protesting, and it seemed they were protesting “reforms” that would give another branch of government more power, that were proposed by the right-wing executive branch of the government. This week the new leader had taken over from the woman president who had served two terms. People kept saying to me that the world is a dangerous place, and they weren’t talking about Ukraine or Israel.
That evening back at the hotel we ate the beautiful things we’d bought from the bread shop – a long roll with blueberry jam, and a chocolate covered croissant. The blueberry one had some kind of custard filling. I was very relieved to get back and wash my hands properly! JD went out to get some fruit and came back with pineapple.
The next day was Wednesday, the eve of our departure. That day my granddaughter had a half-day off from school, so she had lunch with us too. We went to a vegan restaurant that we had been to with her last year. I had Korean spicy chicken, except it wasn’t real chicken! It came with a mixture of rice, sprouted beans, salad, and other things. It was pretty nice! I had a sparking vinegar drink. We shared vegan cheesecake afterwards – matcha flavoured, and chocolate. There’s a lot of matcha-flavour, presumably what we would know as matcha tea.
Afterwards we went to watch our grandchildren doing Taekwondo. They are quite advanced from last year. Then we went back to their apartment. We had some of the whisky we had bought from the Kavalan distillery for our son – it’s 50% alcohol, and JD and I found it very strong. Some friends of theirs had again given us beautiful cakes. We walked back to our hotel and had some of the cakes for our tea.
That was our last night at the hotel. We were to check out by 11 am the next day. I had left packing until now – I could not find a dark green cardigan that I had brought with me. No matter; I’ve worn it lots, and although I’m disappointed, I’ll buy another, because it was very useful.
We were due to meet our son at 11 am, but we had finished packing soon after 9 am, so we went walking. We had coffee at The Dancing Goat café (brown sugar lattés, one hot one cold). My one had caramelised brown sugar on top – that is next level, and really something! There were two delicious wee biscuits served with them.
Then we walked back to the Grand Courtyard. This was now open, but you had to pay to see the exhibition, so we did not go in. Then we met our son (we were able to leave our bags at the hotel), and went to another exhibition, and a series of pop-up arty shops. That was great fun!
Then we had lunch at another vegan restaurant quite near our hotel – we should go there if we visit Taipei again. I had a sparkling drink of peach-flavoured tea, and a salad with beetroot, prunes, nuts and quinoa, on lettuce and tomato. JD had some amazing pumpkin soup and quiche and salad.
Then we walked back to our hotel, collected our baggage, and got a taxi to the airport.
Unlike last year, it was very busy at the airport. It took us some time to find the Air NZ counter. You realise, again, that NZ is a very tiny country in the scheme of things. Eventually we were checked in, and went through security. Then we found our way to the EVA Lounge. It was very busy everywhere.
I had more coffee, and a carton of apple juice, and I was able to charge my phone. I only had my phone and my kindle for reading matter, and I almost wished I had brought a physical book to read. We both put on our pressure socks – with some difficulty, as far as I was concerned.
In the EVA Lounge there are no boarding announcements, so we duly went to the restrooms and made our way to our gate. The lounge looked empty, but someone checked our passports and boarding passes, and we went downstairs – to another lounge where there were lots of people. There was nowhere much to sit, but then we were invited to board our plane. How nice to be priority customers!
We boarded the business class cabin, and found our seats. Knowing better what to expect than previously, I put on the scuffs Air NZ had thoughtfully provided, and stowed my trainers in the overhead locker. I stowed my handbag under the humpty. Someone brought me a glass of orange juice; then a hot flannel. There were many empty seats in business class. Then we took off, and eventually were served dinner. For some reason, this seemed to take ages, even though there were many empty seats. Still, it was quite good: an amuse bouche with duck, and some lovely nuts; then an entrée with smoked salmon and salad; then the bakery, with the lovely garlic bread and olive oil; and then my spicy pork with rice and greens. Dessert was a chocolate lava cake with dried raspberry garnish. This was delicious: the other choice was caramel ice cream. I ate this with some mineral water. It was so nice to have one’s own little table surface, with table cloth, large linen napkin with buttonhole, and proper cutlery. It was worth waiting for.
Then I went to the tiny toilet while someone made up my bed. This is a disadvantage of business class: you’re either sitting up, or lying flat, with different seat belt arrangements! It’s lovely to lie flat, although it’s a little tricky to manage the rug, the seat belt (which must be kept visible), and the two pillows. Actually it’s much more comfortable with one pillow!
I lay down, thinking this is rather wonderful, and then I got cramp. I retrieved my magnesium cream from my carry-bag in the overhead locker, and applied it to my leg, although it is quite odorous. Sadly, the cramp continued. I took off my pressure socks with difficulty – they were really uncomfortable. The cramp continued, off and on, and although it was nice to lie flay, I did not really sleep, I think. Still, it was better to be lying flat and more comfortable.
At some incredibly early hour (3:15 am Taiwan time) they started serving breakfast! Someone brought me some orange juice; then there was a fruit bowl (melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, custard apple and watermelon), and then hot bakery items. I asked for a croissant and strawberry jam. Unfortunately I spilled the jam while opening the sachet, and it was quite liquid and went everywhere, making a real mess of my serviette and table cloth. The croissant was quite small, and very crumbly, which added to the mess! Then I chose the spinach and cheddar cheese omelette, which came with hollandaise sauce, streaky bacon, tomato and hash browns. The omelette sounded good, but tasted a bit strange; it’s odd to have this sauce with an omelette. The hash browns were quite nice, but the potato in them was a little undercooked.
After that, I watched part of a movie, Alleluya. The entertainment system had far more options than in Premium Economy, and was far more accessible. I had seen the trailer of this movie. But I hadn’t actually seen it. It starred Jennifer Saunders, Derek Jacobi. Judi Dench, Russell Tovey and other luminaries, and had a rather good script. It’s about very elderly people in care, with their varying degrees of dementia and other ailments, but somehow it was not depressing.
Then we landed very smoothly at Auckland Airport, and it was time to retrieve my trainers and put them on. We alighted to a very different atmosphere – much cooler, and the air is so different. It was a fine day in Auckland, and not too cold, so we walked to the domestic terminal. We had been invited to leave our luggage in International, I think, but I did not trust Air NZ to get it to Wellington! We checked in at the Premium counter, and handed over our luggage. The boarding passes that had been printed in Taipei were not reprinted, although we found later that the specified gate had been changed.
We made our way through security, and to the Air NZ Lounge. This was pretty full, but not as full as last year. We made our way to the coffee counter, sat down, and JD ordered coffee – a long black and a latté. He got some cakes and a tiramisu to eat – not savoury stuff, which I would have preferred. Then he disappeared for quite a while, leaving me with his heavy backpack. A large couple sat very close to me, and she used foul language! There was someone on my other side, and after the graciousness of Taiwan I found it all too much and I was really uncomfortable. Also I couldn’t charge my phone.
Eventually JD turned up, and we went to shower. Showers were available, but towels were again in short supply. There seemed to be no one to ask for a clean towel. I got a towel which seemed clean but slightly damp, then went to have a shower. This worked pretty well, although the water kept ranging between hot and cold. This time I had taken clean clothes to put on in my carry-bag, dispensing with my usual paraphernalia. I found deodorant, and a disposable toothbrush and small tooth paste tube to use, and reappeared feeling refreshed. No JD, but I got a comfortable seat and an electric point to recharge my phone. I messaged JD, and then he eventually turned up. I got some tuna sandwiches from the buffet, since it was now lunch time.
Then we went to our gate, but it had changed to the next one. There were lots of people, and boarding was later than advised. Eventually we boarded our full flight, and made our way to Wellington. We retrieved our luggage, and caught a taxi home – where it was very cold! I had turned on our heat pump while still in Auckland, but that wasn’t soon enough, and we were both really cold. I didn’t really “thaw out” till during Friday night. Up to then, no amount of heating from the heater and the electric blanket or extra warm clothes or extra cup of coffee really warmed me up.
And the rest is: unpacking; washing; shopping; and adjusting to a very different environment. And finding baby photos of Number Four son to send to England for his and his wife’s baby shower.
Impressions of Taiwan:
Saturday was the second day of Chinese military surrounding the island of Taiwan to teach the new leader a lesson. “Independence and peace are like fire and water”, or some such, said President Xi of China. While we were in Taiwan, several people said “the world is a dangerous place”, and they weren’t talking about Ukraine or Israel.
I noticed a new edginess, that wasn’t there last year; more overweight people, and more English; more American-isms; everyone was still nicely dressed and well-covered, although I saw two women in our hotel wearing short shorts, as New Zealand women do. I saw no tattoos, or beards, although there was some (a little) tagging! There was a nod to the West in a number of cafés offering waffles, scrambled eggs, and quiche, instead of expected Taiwanese food. But almost everyone is gracious and kind, bowing or acknowledging when you say hello. There’s a lot of “bye bye”. Everyone is kind and respectful.
In other news, the Trump “hush money” trial, which has been quite absorbing, is almost over; in the UK, Sunak has called an election for 4 July, to everyone’s surprise: he is displaying “don’t succeed” behaviour, right from his announcement outside D(r)owning St in the pouring rain; In Ukraine and Israel dreadful warlike things continue to happen.
The British media are having a “Brexit” moment – how on earth did this just happen?
And back in New Zealand, the Coalition government continues to do ghastly things, like scrapping first home grants and funding more charter schools, and cutting more government jobs: the “poor” rich must have their promised tax cuts. Luxon also made a speech calling Labour “arsonists” or some such. Really and truly!
We are in Taipei again. We flew from Wellington to Auckland in the morning; one of our sons drove us to the airport. The flight was very smooth, and for once we were sitting at the front of the plane, so I had a marvelous view too. At Auckland, we walked to the Novotel Hotel – it does take about 10 minutes, but it was fine there too and not too cold. Thankfully, this time the Novotel had a booking for us, and we could go to our room, although there was some drama over access cards.
Then we walked around the hotel to the transport centre to catch the Sky Bus into the city. This was only $12.50 each for us, although the bus was very full and we had to sit upstairs. The bus went to the Sky City hotel, and from there we walked to the Auckland Art Gallery. We had met a lovely American woman from Chicago, who talked to us while we waited for the bus.
At the Art Gallery we had lunch – I had a salmon bagel while JD had a hamburger and chips, most of which he did not eat. Then we went to see the Robertson Gift, a wonderful collection of paintings which had been gifted to the Art Gallery by a wealthy New York donor and his wife. The paintings were his “children”. They were mostly modern-ish paintings, with a wonderful one by Monet, a Salvador Dali, some by Picasso and Braque, and several sculptures. There was even a painting by New Zealand’s Frances Hodgkins, although I did not think it was one of her best.
After this we got a taxi back to our hotel, where we ate dinner (fish and pasta), and went to bed. I was afraid we would not wake early enough for our 7:40 am check in, but JD woke at 5 am, although he did not have his shower until 7:30 am. I wished I had had breakfast at the hotel!
We rolled across to the International Airport, as you do, where we had to wait at a counter to get boarding passes printed. We got severely reprimanded for not queueing, although there was no queue when we started.
Eventually we got through security to have something to eat at Aroha Café. Sadly, this was not the adequate experience we had remembered from January 2023, when we had used it on our way to Adelaide. The toast was tough, the coffee only just drinkable. There wasn’t much time left, so we made our way to Gate 18 – the furthest one! Thankfully there were several restrooms along the way, and several “walk-alators”.
We flew Premium Economy to Taipei. We were seated at the front of the cabin, but although it was nice to have plenty of room, I could not quite reach the screen without undoing my seat belt, and when it was on, I couldn’t quite read what it said. Also, the foot rest didn’t work quite right for me, in that it wasn’t quite comfortable. Still, one shouldn’t complain. The service was very good.
Lunch was quite nice – a spicy pork dish with rice and vegetables, and an entrée with whipped ricotta (?), manuka-smoked olives, and some vegetable shavings that looked like onion but did not taste like onion. The hot bread was delicious. Dessert was chocolate miso ice cream in a little cardboard tub; that, too was delicious but we were both too full to eat more than a few mouthfuls. Every menu item both on board here and at the Novotel had something smoked and something whipped, all carefully translated into Māori, although this was by no means traditional Māori food.
It seemed a very long flight. I read my guide book about Taiwan – but found it disappointing, compared to the books I had borrowed from the library last year, being unable to find any in the shops to buy. I also watched the movie “Napoleon”, and although I thought it was quite good (spoiler alert: very gory beginning), I could see why the critics panned it. But Joaquin Pheonix was surprisingly good as Napolean, and Vanessa Kirby was amazing as his wife Josephine. But a historical biopic it was not. The clothes they wore were amazing, though! There were some battle scenes, particularly the battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon was defeated. Dinner was a kahawai “rillette” with mandarin segments, and a chicken dish with potatoes and vegetables. Dessert was a delicious pear and ginger cheesecake.
Eventually the plane began its descent, and I couldn’t see any land for ages, and then I could. When we came last year, we did not have window seats in business class, and it was two hours later (the plane was late taking off), but this time we landed in daylight. We flew over flat land with lots of ponds, lots of green grass, and rather unattractive beaches.
We got through immigration, and then got our checked baggage surprisingly quickly. Then we went through to the Main Hall, and there was our eldest son! We took a taxi into the city to our hotel, and everything looked surprisingly familiar. Then we checked in at our hotel. We are on the 10th floor again, this time in room 1001. It is very similar to last time, although they don’t give out the bottled water each day or fresh fruit each week any more. My mobile phone picked up the new network right away. There is a fan in the bathroom, which comes on when you turn on the light. The toilet was more modern and less precarious!
JD went with our son to his nearby apartment to see our grandchildren; I would love to have gone too, but I was really very tired by this time. Thankfully JD bought some fruit and drinks, as it felt rather strange not to have anything to eat or drink. Actually there is a water dispenser on our floor, but no complimentary fruit as there was last time we were here.
I went off to sleep, but woke feeling greatly refreshed, to find it was just sometime after midnight! I did go back to sleep for a few hours, but we were both ready for breakfast when it opened at 7 am.
Breakfast was fine; we knew the drill, and I stuck to fruit (watermelon, orange segments and apple segments), fruit drink, coffee, and toast (white bread). JD has corn flakes: in a nod to Western civilization, there are containers of what I suppose are fruit loops, chocolate rice bubbles, and corn flakes. For spreads, there is butter, a red jelly-like jam, and sweetened smooth sweetened peanut butter. I rather like it now! Other than that there is the usual array of things we would tend to eat for lunch or dinner: salads, noodles, rice and vegetable dishes. The next day there was something called “steamed egg”, which looked like a cross between baked egg custard and scrambled eggs, but it was very pale. It feels as though we are “home” again, although it’s so very different here.
On Friday morning I went for a walk in Da’an Park. There were many people there, some of them wearing sunhats. There were two untethered dogs, which amazed me. They weren’t aggressive. I passed two groups doing Tai chi – they’re so graceful. I walked a long way, but somehow did not encounter the lily pond. There are several entrances: there was a large sculpture at the one I had entered, so I knew I needed to find that again. But I did walk rather a long way! It was very hot – meanwhile in New Zealand it has been very cold, especially in the mornings.
Later in the morning we met our son and his wife, and went to “Amore Vegan” for lunch. This lovely restaurant took some finding: we were in the main railway station, but this seemed to be located in a department store.
What a lovely place to eat! I had spicy noodles with chilli, but it was delicious and not too spicy. To drink I had a drink that tasted of apple with oolong tea – not too sweet, and very refreshing. Most restaurants offer forks and spoons as well as chopsticks, which is most welcome. I endeavour to use chopsticks, but get very clumsy when I’m tired.
After this we went to a coffee bar, where they did not have oat milk lattes, but JD and I each had affogato.
Back at the hotel our son brought our grandchildren to visit, and we gave them their presents. These seemed to be well received!
JD and I had dinner at the hotel that evening – a combination meal, as we had had last year, although this time there was less food, thankfully. There was an entrée of very thinly sliced meat; a soup which tasted chicken-based but had lumps of tofu; and our favourite pork meatballs and delicious fried chicken with mushrooms, apple and peppers. There was rice, of course, and some delicious fruit to finish. Mastering the chopsticks was challenging, but there were wee china ladles which helped.
The next day was Saturday. Again I went for a walk in the morning, up Heping St this time, and found the designer clothing shop (closed), Mollies’ Used book store, and what I think was the entrance to the Tae Kwondo studio. Then I walked back to Da’an Park, and then to the hotel.
We met our son and his family for lunch. We went to one of the children’s favourite restaurants, which also had a bakery next door. This was quite an experience. We were served Bali tea, rather than water, on arrival. On advice, JD and I shared an order of soba (buckwheat) noodles, with side dishes of soup, a dipping sauce with horseradish, some edamame beans, some sweet potato, and a salad of a green vegetable that I had not seen before. There were also vegetables in tempura batter, mock-chicken pieces with a dipping sauce (all delicious); and two bowls of ice cream for dessert. Oh, and I had a delicious drink of tea flavoured with orange. Here there were chopsticks (no spoons!); I did find it hard to navigate the noodles and the dipping sauce!
Afterwards we went to the bakery next door and bought some croissants for our evening meal, and the others had an ice cream – served in half a croissant! No cones or waffle cones here, and although the place was vegan, there was a delicious ginger flavoured wee biscuit in the shape of a bear.
Then JD and our son and grandson went in search of coffee, after JD laboriously bought some headphones for his mobile phone. We found a café beside a children’s playground, so JD was deputed to play with his grandson while my eldest and I retreated into the air-con café to enjoy delicious coffee. I had a latté with oat milk and caramelized brown sugar on top – delicious! Since we were seated at the bar, we could watch the baristas at their very fine work of brewing great coffee. It reminded me of our tea tour last year. This café actually had containers to store one’s bags – very welcome.
We rescued JD and the little boy, and caught a taxi home to the hotel. There was a visitation later that evening, where we were given some wonderful paintings. That evening JD and I did not go out for dinner. Instead we enjoyed our croissants, bananas, and chopped apple he had bought. So far, there is no pineapple available in the shops.
We are due to meet the family for lunch today, at another Herbivore restaurant that we went to last year.
So what are my impressions so far? I saw three beggars on Friday. As mentioned, I saw two untethered dogs at the park, which was strange. I’ve seen more overweight people already this trip. And people perhaps seem a little more edgy? Still gracious and friendly, though.
It’s now Monday 13 May.
Yesterday we went to an Art Studio where our grandchildren are taking private art lessons. Their artwork is very impressive!
Then we went to the lovely Herbivore in a high end department store, where we had been last year with our two sons from New Zealand and the UK. It was lovely again: we ordered brussels sprouts again; I ordered a salad with pecans, roasted beetroot, quinoa and vegan ricotta cheese. JD ordered a mushroom and truffle risotto, which, thankfully, was much less “soupy” than New Zealand offerings. There was a vegan duck platter, where you took a taco and wrapped it around the duck with seasonings and sides like grated carrot, lettuce and onion. Everything was delicious. I’m starting to believe that the “fake” meats (whatever they’re made of), are more delicious than their real counterparts! Here you could serve yourself, with spoons and forks provided and large paper napkins. There was a lovely container to place bags and belongings. The children had pancakes – which looked very filling. I had been tempted to order them, but wisely thought better of it. To drink I had lemonade with red grapefruit juice; my son ordered it without sugar, but when requested sweetening they brought a tiny jug with sweet syrup, which I added to the drink. To be honest, it tasted much better with a little sweetening. JD also ordered a half bottle of a Côtes de Rhone white wine, which was poured into four large wine glasses. To our surprise, there was plenty.
Afterwards we shared a delicious cake my eldest son had brought. We were celebrating my eldest granddaughter’s 12th birthday, and there were three candles: 5, 6 and 1! We were also celebrating Mother’s Day and my granddaughter had had her birthday a few days earlier. The cake was three layers, with a posy on top and a large maraschino cherry, a pineapple ring, and a piece of apricot. The cake, covered with some white creamy icing, had pieces of apricot throughout it, and an oolong tea-flavoured layer. My son cut it into 6 portions – they were quite large!
Afterwards we went to a store where JD bought our granddaughter’s birthday present: a bag and a t-shirt. We were in a large shopping complex that I remembered from last year.
After this we took a taxi home; later on JD and I went to the Carrefour supermarket just up the road and bought more fruit, plain crackers and cheese slices as we had last year. We also delivered a birthday card to the birthday girl – it’s her birthday today – and a little present I had brought from New Zealand at the last minute.
Later that evening JD went shopping again with his son and grandson, but it rained and he came back quite wet. Today it is much cooler – a mere 23C, which, of course, would be a hot day in Wellington. I went for a walk after breakfast to Da’an Park, but there were far fewer people there, and the seats were wet. It’s just drizzling now, but much cooler outside, and there is a breeze.
It’s now Tuesday 14 May.
Yesterday (Monday) I went for a walk in Da’an Park in the morning, but every seat was wet, and there weren’t many people there. It was much cooler – at least 5C cooler than the 31-32 C of the weekend. It also drizzled off and on.
We went to an older area of Taipei that had been settled by the Japanese; there were brick porticoes; it was quite charming, although it was cold and wet. Eventually we went into the restaurant where we were to have lunch.
This was different again. We had omelet on rice – all vegan, but the rice was tasty and delicious; and two noodle dishes, one looking as though it had egg yolk on top. We also had meat-like entrées. I had a pineapple drink. For dessert we had what looked like a cross between panna cotta and crème caramel, although of course it was vegan. Afterwards we walked through past many stores, selling varieties of dried goods, many of them in sacks.
We had coffee in a coffee bar which was up a steep staircase, but very nice when we got there. JD and I had oat milk lattés with brown sugar, but it wasn’t caramelized like the day before. JF had coffee made from Peruvian beans in a fine china teacup with saucer.
Afterwards I used the restroom: it was quite different! There was a notice asking for toilet paper to be put in the toilet; but the handwashing equipment was quite basic, with nothing to dry one’s hands on. The bathtub, filled with pot plants, was lined with mosaic tiles! Then we caught a taxi home to our hotel. That night we feasted on crackers and cheese, bananas, and pineapple.
When I got back to the hotel there was news from New Zealand, specifically relating to our daughter and her proposed surgery which was to take place on Monday 20 May! I had given formal consent for this sixteen months ago – the dental surgeon had rung me when I was in Australia! So it’s going to happen now? Her house manager had taken her to Hastings Hospital to the anaesthetists’s appointment that morning, but she would be unavailable on the following Monday, and the anaesthetist needed my consent.
Today (Tuesday) we were to accompany our grandson on a school trip – to a farm. Quite a number of parents were going, so there wasn’t enough room for us on the bus that was taking the children, and another parent who spoke English was driving us in his car. We were to meet in the hotel lobby at 8 am. I had set the alarm on my mobile phone for 6:30 am, intending to have a shower before breakfast at 7 am. I duly did this, but there was a missed call from Hastings Hospital. Knowing that we didn’t have much time, we went down to breakfast, but alas many others had had the same idea, and there was a long queue! Then the dining room opened, and we were easily able to find a table.
After breakfast we went back up to our room where I again tried to ring Hastings Hospital to give consent for our daughter’s General Anesthetic. I got through to reception, and then to anesthesiology, but my phone ran out of credit and my call was cut off. I had to fire up my computer to add more $$$ to my much diminished balance, and then I rang again. Unfortunately I got put on hold, and had to abandon the call again. Then someone called me back, but I got put on hold again, and again had to abandon the call. By now we were late meeting our son and our driver in the hotel lobby. Consequently I had a rush to put on socks and trainers; JD forgot to bring a water bottle! Fortunately I brought my raincoat and a cardigan, as this day only was unusually cold. I was reminded of the situation when my five children were small, and I used to wonder which one needed me the most, when there were multiple needs. It wasn’t always the youngest! But I did feel really inadequate. Thankfully there were a few days to elapse before the scheduled surgery.
We drove to the farm where the school visit was to occur. It took about an hour; we drove through a hot springs area, and then up into the hillside round some very winding roads. Eventually we reached the spot, but the children took quite a long time to arrive after we were there. It was quite cold, and there was nowhere to sit!
Eventually the children came, and we trudged through to the open classroom that would be our base. There were several long narrow tables with bench seats; there was a water container (thankfully JD had brought the wee bowls we had bought to use as drinking vessels); there were tubs for washing. There was also a ledge where everyone put their backpacks and bags.
On the way the growth was very lush: it was quite unlike a New Zealand farm. There were some beautiful flowers, and some geese, and some kind of bird sound.
There were other school classes at this farm, although we were separate from them. An instructor showed us how to decorate plain tote bags by making stencils of different leaves. Parents all joined in this activity, as did JD and I. We went outside to collect leaves; it was all amazingly well organized, with blank canvas tote bags, palettes of paint, brushes, and squares of paper to be used for pressing. It was quite good fun. Afterwards we hung the bags to dry (there were pegs provided), and we all cleaned up.
We also saw some chooks on our way to collect the leaves.
I did use the rest room, which was probably the most basic I have encountered in Taiwan: most of the lavatories were squat type, but there was one western-style lavatory which flushed, although it was a very tiny space. Afterwards there was nowhere obvious to wash one’s hands, but there were large sinks with soap some way away.
Then we had lunch: our son had supplied bowls and cutlery; the farm supplied lunch. It was delicious: rice, ginger flavoured chicken, an egg mixture, and stir-fried cabbage, which the children had helped make. It tasted delicious. After lunch the children went off and played; I stayed in the room with the tables and benches. The paths had stones placed for walking on a rather muddy base; the stones were rather uneven so one had to watch where one walked.
Eventually it was time to pack up and return. I was very tired by this time, and really looking forward to having a cup of coffee somewhere local.
JD and I went to the Dancing Goat Café, but although the man in charge recognized JD, and welcomed him, he did not understand when I asked for “drip” (siphon) coffee, which I had so enjoyed last year with one of my sons when we were here. So I had a latté, but alas he didn’t have oat milk! Still, JD and I shared a waffle with maple syrup in a tiny jug, fruit, and ice cream. It was pretty good.
Then we went to the Carrefour supermarket and bought some more crackers and some more fruit and some teabags. For some reason the two teabags that were in our hotel room have not been replaced. We couldn’t seem to buy a small packet!
It’s now Wednesday 15 May.
Last night we slept well. We went down to breakfast some time after 7:30 am; afterwards I tried again to ring Hastings Hospital. I got put through to anesthesiology, but their recorded phone message had four possible replies. Sadly none of them worked – it seemed to be on some kind of loop. I sent our daughter’s house manager a text advising her that I was unable to access the hospital, and suggesting she communicate with me using JD’s mobile phone, which was on a different plan. My phone was very costly for overseas calls, although I had paid lots for overseas roaming. Then I was advised that Taiwan was withdrawing support for the 3G network, which I was apparently on.
We went for a long walk in Da’an Park. It was 29C today, but there was a nice breeze. We found the pond, and there were several school groups there, All the children (as yesterday) seemed incredibly well behaved and well cared for. We spent some time at the park, and then walked up Heping St as far as the designer shop. This had just opened. JD liked a blouse there (not a garment I would normally have chosen), but I suggested we come back later as we were to meet our son in a few minutes. This was probably a fatal mistake, as we did not go back there!
Today we went to another restaurant for lunch, which was mostly vegan. This was a nice place to be, but I did not enjoy the food as much. We ordered lots of appetisers; I ordered a fruit juice drink, and we shared two desserts which looked like mille feuille.
Afterwards we headed back to our hotel. JD wanted to have coffee at the Dancing Goat again. I had found my photo of the lovely drip coffee I had had a year ago. So my eldest son ordered this, and it was complicated and took a long time. There were two lots of coffee grounds that we sniffed; then eventually the coffee came, on a tray each: a cup of coffee; a glass of water; and a small tube-shaped container of coffee in a glass of iced water. We were also served some delicious small biscuits: two were like Anzac biscuits, and the other two like shortbread with fruit inside it.
In New York, the Trump case continues. It is absorbing viewing! As Benjamin Wittes says, it’s the trial America deserves, and probably the only one they’re going to get before the presidential election in November. It is salacious and has had some shocking details; seeing American’s reactions to the sleaze has been interesting. Some of them are quite prudish.
Today Michael Cohen has been under cross examination, after testifying, unemotionally, yesterday, A number of senior republicans, including the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, turned up in New York to support Trump, all wearing suits and long red ties, like Trump does. On MSNBC this lineup was being compared to Trump’s close interest in beauty pageants and swimsuits.
They are all supporting Trump, of course: they are in effect saying that morals don’t matter, and the justice system doesn’t matter; Stormy Daniels testified that Trump did not use a condom when he had sex with her. So what if she had become pregnant? What’s more ironical is that Cohen is testifying that he lied for Trump; the trial is largely about Cohen’s misplaced loyalty to Trump; yet Trump’s supporters continue to support him, not seeing the Shakespearian/Greek Tragedy aspect of their support. Wittes even called Stormy Daniels his favourite person in the trial, comparing her to the fool in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of King Lear.
It’s now Friday morning here 17 May.
On Wednesday evening we went to a nearby café, Editors and Books Café I think it was called. It was like a bookshop with tables. The maître d’ spoke English. We each ordered a stewed beef dish with rice rather than bread, and Chinese plum juice to drink (cold, with ice). It did have a strange sharp taste – a bit more vinegary than I would have preferred. JD’s meal was delivered on a tray several minutes before mine. Eventually mine was delivered – a container of the stewed beef (with vegetables), a container of rice, a small container of fruit – apple and pineapple, and a small lidded jar with delicious lettuce salad with dressing, that JD said reminded him of prawn cocktail sauce! We were given spoons and forks to eat with. The meat was rather gristly, but we expect that here. The meal was quite nice, but we both felt rather strange afterwards, as if it hadn’t quite worked.
On Thursday morning I went for a walk in the park again, where a retired Taiwanese professor of mathematics engaged me in conversation. I was happy to brag that my son and daughter-in-law are both academics too, and JD (jnr)’s field is mathematics. This nice gentleman had taught in Brisbane for 3 years, but not been to New Zealand.
We met our eldest son and his wife for lunch: this time we went to a vegetarian restaurant, on the first floor, above a bakery. It was modern and very busy. So again we had a range of delights to eat – appetizers, which we shared. There included so-called “stinky” tofu (I tried it but I’m not a fan!); there was a vegetables dish with greens and mushrooms; but a really delicious dish was deep-fried pineapple on a salad with cashew nuts, sultanas, craisins and suchlike – JD really enjoyed this, as did I. Then there was a dish like we’d had at Herbivore with heated tacos in a basket, a sauce to spread on them, and what looked like duck and some sliced cucumber. There were only chopsticks here, so it was a bit of a challenge to eat with them! There were some sweet little biscuits covered with sesame seed at the end. I had a delicious drink – I think it was grapefruit and cherry.
Outside there were people begging – two women sitting on the pavement, and an older man with a begging bowl, who would chant and wait until you gave him some coins. So that was strange. Things seem a little more edgy this year.
There was a subway entrance nearby, so we caught trains – two stops then one stop, to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial. The trains are fast and very efficient. At the memorial it’s all very traditional Chinese-looking: there’s a great concert hall, a big plaza, a Freedom gate, and another gate. We went into the concert hall, where there were two cafes, lots of books, and nice restrooms. This was another restroom where you were required to put the toilet paper in the toilet! JD and I had oat milk lattes; our son had coffee which came in a fine china cup with saucer. I looked at some of the books, which had English titles as well as Chinese.
Afterwards we caught a taxi back to our hotel. That evening we had dinner at the hotel. There are restaurants around, but the menus are in Chinese, with no English, so it’s very tricky to order. We ordered beer for JD, a fruit juice drink for me, fried chicken with apple and bell peppers, and JD ordered a pork dish, with came with bao buns. There was no rice, but we didn’t really need it, there was plenty to eat.
This morning we are to meet our son at 11 am. It is lovely to be here, but I wish that I weren’t so tired! Tomorrow there is a concert again, with our granddaughter singing in it.
I decided I would no longer try to ring Hastings Hospital; if the surgery were to be postponed, that would be fine with me. Although it should not have been, it was difficult to get in touch.
It’s now Sunday 19 May 2024
Yesterday was my granddaughter’s concert.
Beforehand I went for a walk in Da’an Park, and walked back along a side street that I hadn’t covered before. Then JD and I went to Café Galette. We had brown sugar lattés, and shared a delicious cheesecake with blueberry topping. We bought a jigsaw puzzle for a grandson in Wellington; I would have loved to buy more, but we did not – the puzzles were quite expensive! And perhaps not so easy to transport back to New Zealand.
Before the concert we had lunch at a Stir Fry vegetarian restaurant. It was very busy, and very hot, however we had some nice food – fried rice, stir fried green vegetables, deep fried shrimp and pineapple (delicious!) and others. I had a bottled Kai Kombucha with passion fruit and mango flavour which was quite strong – I needed to water it down.
Then we walked to listen to the concert, which was in the same auditorium as last year. The seats were very comfortable! Different bands played mostly well-known music, like Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and the theme from the television series Mission Impossible. Eventually the choir came on, and they sang nicely but the altos were rather loud.
Eventually the orchestra played, and the Maestro had some fun with them Their Phantom of the Opera was a huge hit. The choir sang some items with the orchestra, and now they made a beautiful sound. The concert was about two hours long. Afterwards we went back to the hotel.
After a rest we went down to one of the hotel restaurants for dinner. JD managed to order one order of pork meat balls, and two orders of rice. The pork meatballs were again delicious, and came with cabbage and very thin rice noodles. We each had a fruit drink. Afterwards we bought two desserts – lemon tart and tiramisu from the cabinet – the hotel packed them beautifully in a plastic container with forks and napkins, in one of their beautiful paper bags.
Last night (Saturday) there was some noise in our level of the hotel, but it stopped around midnight. Again I did not sleep very well – it seemed very hot. The air conditioner is set to 26C, and you can’t change it.
This morning we went to the local Presbyterian church. It was lovely, although of course we couldn’t understand the Taiwanese bits. But the singing was amazing – there was a choir, but we sang 4 hymns as well.
Afterwards we went to Herbivore again – this time to celebrate our grandson’s 7th birthday. His birthday is actually in July, but we’ll be gone by then (and it is likely to be even hotter). Herbivore was lovely, of course: I ordered felafel with hummus and Tzatziki and spiced turnip, sliced cucumber and pita bread. It was delicious! I ended up eating too much, again. There was some beautiful designer clothing in stores nearby – very expensive!
Monday 20 May
On Monday morning I was awakened at 4 am by a call from New Zealand. It was my daughter’s House Manager. I called her back on JD’s phone, and then the hospital called me on his phone – the dental surgeon, and the anaesthetist. So we had a nice chat and I gave consent and talked about previous surgeries. It was 8 am New Zealand time. It appeared that my daughter’s House Manager was actually with her for this. So I felt greatly relieved, that these competent caring specialists had actually spoken to me.
I couldn’t get back to sleep afterwards: but no matter; when we were at breakfast, the dental surgeon called again to say that things had gone well, and to say what he had done. So that was good to know. I went for another walk afterwards, and another lady rang me from Allan House, but I told her that the surgeon had called me already to update me.
Then we met our son and his wife and went to another restaurant for lunch, again where I’d been before! This one had bears on the walls; actually koala bears are very popular here. I can’t remember what I had to eat!
The next day was our tour to Yilan, with an early (for us) start.
Tuesday 21 May
Tuesday was a big day – we were booked on a tour to Yilan, which looked quite intense. We had to be at the Taipei Main Station at 8 am (actually 15 minutes early for 8 am start), and we were to be delivered back there by 5 pm.
In between was a museum visit, a Heritage Site visit, a visit to the Kavalan distillery, and a Hot Springs visit, and, presumably, lunch.
JD wanted the alarm on my phone set for 6:15 am, although we couldn’t have breakfast until 7 am. I did not sleep well, but I got up and showered. There was a severe rain warning for Yilan, so JD took his backpack containing my raincoat and his umbrella. It was going to be hot, however. I wore trainers and took sandals, just in case I should need them.
It was really frustrating getting away. I went into breakfast and got some fruit and orange drink, but JD said we didn’t have time for toast and coffee! Admittedly, there was a queue – for both – but I really wanted them! So we went out and asked hotel reception to order a taxi; they gave us a slip of paper with the taxi number; JD went off to use the bathroom, of course, but hotel reception ordered a different taxi – the first one was going the wrong way. So we got to the station: then to find the right gate! Actually it was easy to find, and we found our guide, in his yellow vest. I could have bought something to eat but it’s tricky with not knowing what things are. JD assured the guide that we’d had breakfast!
Our travelling companions, two guys from Singapore, both called Sean, arrived, They both spoke English, one better than the other. Our guide had limited English, but JD was able to use Google Translate to figure out what was being said.
We climbed into the tour van, which had room for 4 passengers, and headed off. Once across the river and then out of Taipei there were the familiar steep hills and several tunnels, with a few settlements dotted here and there. It was not raining, although the sky was overcast.
After about an hour we arrived at the famous Lanyang Museum, built to a strange architectural design. This was very interesting. There were many photo stops, where the guide took photos of the four of us, and sometimes of JD and myself. He said he’d been doing these tours for 15 years, which I rather doubted! He was Hakka Taiwanese, and looked a bit like New Zealand Māori.
The museum was extremely interesting. It was a natural history museum, with exhibitions of flora and fauna, and details of logging and local settlements in Yilan county. There were also exhibitions of dragon boats, which are sacred here, and water (sea) rites. There were natural lakes, ponds and canals.
After this it was still before 12 noon, but we agreed to have lunch (thank goodness!) We drove for some time, and eventually stopped at a noodle restaurant. The land here is flat, and there are few skyscrapers, and more individual houses or smaller housing blocks. The ground is very lush and green.
Ordering lunch was complicated! I had a bowl of noodles with what looked like pork mince and half a hard-boiled egg, with some green vegetable. JD had noodles with beef, which was quite tender. We bought a bottle of apple soda, which was nice to drink. JD ordered some dumplings as well, but again I was reminded that I don’t really like dumplings.
Afterwards we drove to the Taipei Heritage Site – a lovely venue, which had shops, a food court, a concert hall, and of course rest rooms. We spent some time here. First we had coffee – at Home Essence, which had been recommended by our son. We had lattes, of course. It was good to have coffee at last. Then I browsed the shops, and we bought a gift for another friend at a beautiful tea shop. Again, it was beautifully wrapped and packaged up.
More to come – next instalment! Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
It’s been a few days since I wrote, but several interesting things have been happening.
Last Friday JD and I went to our Art Group. The weather was truly awful: not cold, but raining consistently, with huge puddles everywhere. It was difficult to find somewhere to park, which rather interfered with my plan to get away in time for the cleaning lady from Access to come. In the event, there was a good turnout, and a lovely demonstration. JD and I did a joint effort! We didn’t stay for coffee afterwards, but we did get home in time for our visitor.
On Saturday there was an appointment, and then we had lunch at Peppermill Café – Eggs Benedict and oat milk lattés. I always find the food there delicious.
On Sunday morning I went to church, and afterwards I bought a beautiful bunch of flowers. I have bought one of these before, and they last for about two weeks! They are just so beautiful. A bunch of roses costs less, but they don’t last so long.
On Monday I went to Tai Chi again – it’s advertised as “Tai chi for beginners”, but it’s not like the Tai chi for beginners I used to do! Still, it was my second time there, and I did enjoy it more. It’s good to do some exercise! And I do try to remember to keep my knees “off lock”.
This morning I went to Bible Study – I John 3: 16-24. I enjoyed the discussion. Afterwards I caught buses home.
Locally, more crazy stuff is happening. Hundreds of staff are being let go from the public service. And yesterday the newspaper said that the government is considering a tunnel under Wellington. Huh? Who wants this? And there are many earthquake fault lines in the area. In this morning’s paper, there is a photo of Elon Musk, saying this is feasible if you spend enough money. Well, I’ve been criticizing many American voters as being crazy, but this too seems a crazy idea to me. Does no one ask what you want, any more? I suppose some consultants will write a feasibility study for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Over the weekend, there was a big drone strike from Iran against Israel. The US helped to shoot the drones down. One could watch this “strike”. The drones must have had to travel a long way! President Biden is advising Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to “take the win” (as in there’s limited damage and most of the drones were shot down). Meanwhile, Israel, as usual, claims the right to defend itself, and will do so at a time and manner of their choosing. The rest of the world holds its breath. And, by the way, if Israel has an Iron Dome, and these drones can be shot down, why is this not so in the larger cities of Ukraine? Bill Kristol wondered this in the Bulwark podcast this morning. Putin must be pleased, that despite difficulties, things are going his way, as he’s doing better in Ukraine, and tensions are high between Israel and Russian ally Iran.
Also, Donald Trump appeared in a New York court today on what is being called his “hush money” trial, where he repaid his then attorney, Michael Cohen, for paying off “Stormy Daniels” so she wouldn’t spill the beans on one of his extra-marital affairs right before the 2016 presidential election and just after the Access Hollywood tape emerged. News about this trial is emerging, but it seems that Sleepy Don fell asleep in court!
It’s now Sunday April 21st.
What’s been happening? In Trump’s New York so-called “hush money” case (after the E. Jean Carroll defamation case and the business fraud case), a jury and alternates have been selected, and we’re all agog – to see Trump finally in court (again!), and I think evidence will start to be presented. So that’s exciting. In other US news, the House of Representatives has passed a bill to fund Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan assistance. Although Mike Johnson’s role as Speaker is at stake, nonetheless he has put this bill forward, and I think there is a collective sigh of relief.
Last week was interesting. Hymn singing on Wednesday morning was very enjoyable. We sang, amongst other hymns, Psalm 23 to the tune Crimond. There were several of us who sang the descant to this! Afterwards I had coffee and a cheese scone with a friend, and then her husband gave me a lift home. I was determined to “do something” on Thursday, but it was not a good day. On Friday my cleaning lady was supposed to come, but I got a call from Access to say she’d called in sick. I appreciated their letting me know. JD decided to do his online entry application for our coming trip to Taiwan. This, of course, necessitated my finding several documents: our eldest son’s current employment, address and telephone number, the name and address of our hotel, and our flight details. I also noticed a record of our hotel booking in Auckland for the night before we fly to Taipei – it’s an early morning flight. We are flying on a Boeing 787: a whistleblower has issued serious warnings, but we flew on this plane last year, and although they’ve had some faults, they haven’t crashed and they’ve been able to fly to the nearest airport if needed. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter!
As our trip is getting closer, there are things one should do in preparation. It will be hot there, but cold here, so one has to pack both for hot and cold climates; furthermore, we’ll be spending a few days in Hawkes Bay (Hohepa Family Weekend), with a party too. Alas, I can’t find an “o” with a macron on this computer. This morning JD suggested that we courier a bag to Hawkes Bay to be left at the motel for our return. This may be a great idea.
On Friday I found our folder from last year, and combined all the printouts I’d like to take in a new folder. Come to think of it, I didn’t find the card with our hotel’s address on it. Must look again. Or harder.
Yesterday (Saturday) we went shopping. Although there were many things I didn’t buy, the bill still required me to enter my PIN when I presented my pay-wave card. However as JD reminded me, he’d bought two bottles of wine and some ice-creams.
We’ve been watching the television series “The Cazalets” on YouTube on television. It’s based on the series of novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which I tried to read at one time. It’s about an upper-middle-class family (not the nobility, as in Brideshead Revisited or Downton Abbey, but they do have an army of servants who seem to prepare meals, care for young children and the extensive garden. The series is about the effect of World War II on the family, and I would have to say that I am finding the television series is far more absorbing than the books. Why are war stories so absorbing? I guess they provide lots of drama, and they’re not quite as unpleasant as detective stories. I find most of the new series on Netflix impossibly annoying.
Following this we watched The Camomile Lawn on television, which was televised in 1992. I found this more watchable, as the characters’ behaviour was mostly more outlandish, but the series was quite believable. I even found a copy of the book it’s based on at home here,
This morning I went to church. It was cold and quite wet, although light rain had not been forecast, and I did not take a raincoat. The minister preached about loving God and loving one another, and giving one’s life up for another, as Jesus did for us, as opposed to people fighting in wars in the Ukraine and Israel. In these cases people may be persuaded into fighting for their country, which may or may not be a wonderful sacrifice, but it’s quite different from Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Furthermore, the war dead are not going to rise again on the third day.
It’s now Monday April 29.
This morning I went to Tai Chi again. I think I’m feeling slightly more familiar with it, although I do find it hard to follow at times, getting right and left mixed up. Last Wednesday there was another Te Reo class, and we studied Anzac Day again; we were all a bit lackluster, perhaps: I had already been to hymn singing, where we sang Anzac Day hymns, including the National Anthem – with the first verse sung in Māori. Afterwards I missed my bus home, so I had another cup of coffee and a Danish pastry with apricots and custard while I waited for the next bus.
Thursday April 25 was Anzac Day, but it was really windy here in Wellington, and the commemoration which was to be televised was cancelled. But there were photos and a video of our daughter at a commemoration at Clive Square in Napier, where it was fine and sunny and someone had thoughtfully laid out some chairs. It was not a nice day here.
On Friday someone came from Access to do some housework; on Saturday we went out and went shopping in the afternoon. The weekly tab was under $200, so I didn’t have to enter a PIN for my pay-wave card.
On Sunday morning I went to church, at Johnsonville Uniting Church this time; it was really an Anzac Day service.
Much of last week I was absorbed, like much of the US, with Trump’s trial in New York. The then CEO of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, gave a lot of evidence, which was extremely interesting. I think we’ve all learnt things we did not know previously, about the extent of the “catch and kill” operation, and, of course, some of the skirmishes between the perpetrators. There is no honour amongst thieves, the saying goes. And to think that Putin helped this guy too! This may be the only trial of Trump to be held before the Presidential election in November this year.
In juxtaposition, the US Supreme Court considered Trump’s lawyer’s arguments that his role as president rendered him immune from prosecution after his term. This has been kicked up to the Supreme Court, in another ridiculous feature of the American legal system. Other countries, such as France (Sarkozy) and Italy (Andreotti) have prosecuted their former leaders, and even imprisoned Sarkozy, and the sky hasn’t fallen in. Something prevents the US from prosecuting this guy, this “self-admitted sex pest”, as Colin Jost noted in his address to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Anyway, whatever happens, this trial and its evidence are extremely interesting and amusing at times. Former RNC Chair, Michael Steele, cracks up laughing at times.
British politics podcast, The Rest is Politics, have started another podcast called The Rest is Politics US, hosted by the UK’s Katty Kay (who also features on MSNBC’s Morning Joe), and Anthony Scaramucci. Well, guys, I used to have some respect for you, but Scaramucci? Really? I cannot listen to him, and he has no credibility for me. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other news sources. I have to keep listening to the promo – about “parlitics”. How very annoying.
The US Congress has finally passed a bill granting funding to Ukraine. It seems that the Russians have been doing rather well, although according to JD they’re losing many young men – up to 1,000 a day. In the US, there are protests on many university campuses (campi?) about the situation with the war in Gaza in Israel. These are pro-Gaza for the most part, and there is a degree of anti-Semitism. Many students have been arrested – there’s a sense that the authorities don’t know what to do. What is to be done? It’s a dreadful situation. As Bernie Sanders says, it’s not antisemitic to question Prime Minister Netanyahu. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
Perugino’s image of Handing over the Keys in the Sistine Chapel
It’s now Easter Monday, April 1, 2024, a public holiday. Kia ora!
What an interesting few days it has been. I used to find the long Easter weekend boring and rather frustrating. Most shops are closed; the roads are dangerous; prices are higher than usual, and many places are either closed or impose a surcharge. But last week I had a busy and enjoyable week. In my upbringing, Easter and Christmas were not celebrated; it’s rather wonderful to me to celebrate the Christian aspects of these festivals. This morning I finished listening to Bach’s St Matthew Passion, after unsuccessfully starting several times. One year there will be a wonderful performance of it in Wellington. In the meantime, I listen to German or King’s College recordings.
Furthermore, JD and I watched the play Becket on television. This is a rather wonderful 1964 film of one of Jean Anouilh’s plays. I was familiar with his Antigone, from the Sophocles play. Oddly, I was just talking with someone about Anouilh’s Antigone. And I’m familiar with T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, and Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
The film stars “smoldering eyes” Richard Burton as Thomas Becket, who becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Peter O’Toole (who starred in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia), as King Henry II. The costumes are amazingly lavish and beautiful. John Gielgud (later Sir John) does a wonderful turn as King Louis of France. The Pope makes a rather wise decision. So it all fitted in rather well with Holy Week. This morning I listened to an old Rest of History podcast where half the podcast was about Thomas Becket, who was murdered, in Canterbury Cathedral, on December 29. He later became a saint and it is said that he performed miracles of healing. He had been a great favourite of King Henry II, but it all went wrong when Becket found he had a greater loyalty to God than to the King, after the King made him archbishop.
Afterwards, late last night, we watched Mr Bates vs the Post Office, the mini series starring Toby Jones recently shown in England. We watched two episodes, I think and hope that another episode is shown tonight.
In this morning’s paper, I was surprised to read about Anzac Day remembrances – already, since it is only April 1 today. We didn’t get nearly as much about Easter. While remembrance of personal sacrifices should be done with dignity and respect, a greater sacrifice took place over the Easter weekend.
It’s now Tuesday April 2.
This morning on Morning Joe Mika spoke about a service she and Joe had attended on Easter Sunday, and about renewing one’s faith at this special time, whatever kind of Christian you are. I think Chris Matthews spoke about Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd. Yet Donald Trump, if elected, seeks to ban this channel! I also noted on the Bulwark podcast Tim Miller speaking about Easter. What a lovely Easter message President Biden and his wife Jill gave! As opposed to the Former Guy sending many messages on Truth Social that were not in any way Christian, despite his hawking of Trump-branded Bibles. It’s so interesting that America claims to be a Christian nation, despite – well, everything.
we watched the remaining episodes of Mr Bates vs the Post Office on television. What a wonderful series it is – Toby Jones is a magnificent actor, in my view. It’s shocking to think that this happened recently, and those affected are still trying to get proper compensation.
It’s now Thursday April 4.
It’s been a busy time. Yesterday morning I got up early and went to hymn singing; afterwards I had a cup of coffee with a friend. After I got home JD and I went up to Simmer Café for lunch. While there, I saw the woman who used to be one of our neighbours. She left when we were in Taiwan last year, and I hadn’t said goodbye to her. It was good to catch up. She’s moved to Tawa, so she’s not far away.
Meantime, the world’s horror at the war in Gaza Israel has been reinforced by the fact that 7 aid workers were killed by the IDF. The situation there goes from bad to worse.
But when we got home, I heard about the big earthquake (7.2-7.4) in Taiwan! It must have just happened a few minutes earlier. Actually the epicentre was off shore to the east of Taiwan, near a city called Hualien. Thankfully we heard from our son who lives there: messenger was still working. His family and his wife’s relations are all safe, thankfully. It’s hard to assess the damage in Taipei: the file pictures are shown over and over again, but the damage was far worse in the Hualien area, which had alarming photos of rescues and buildings toppled. At my son’s apartment, there was a mess in the kitchen, and the shaking and aftershocks were fierce and scary. Today I heard that there is a long weekend holiday, so the authorities will be relieved that far fewer people will be travelling, especially on the underground public transport system. Some tourists are trapped at the Taroko Gorge national park, where I would have liked to go. There’ve been many queries about his safety. In Japan there were tsunami warnings for the islands near Taiwan, but these were later toned down. It has been difficult to get useful information about the situation in Taipei, but where my son lives (not in a high-rise building, thankfully), the power was still on. So scary times, but good to be able to communicate. It seems that 12 people died.
This morning I had the final session of my Thursday morning singing for term one. We celebrated by sharing a beautiful catered lunch after our singing. After that JD came and picked me up: it was quite cold and wet and unpleasant outside. When we got home, we found one of our sons was doing some tree-trimming and section clearing around the house. How quickly the trees grow! It’s lovely to have the trees, but they can become a little oppressive!
It’s now Tuesday April 9.
It’s been a rather busy time. On Saturday evening we had dinner at my son’s house; on Sunday I went to church for Low Sunday. Saturday night was an extra hour long as we put our watches back one hour for the end of Daylight Saving. Thankfully the phone knows what time it is! The days are suddenly much shorter, with it getting dark earlier, and being dark in the morning, too. It’s been very cold in the mornings, although we’ve had fine days on the whole. The other night I had the heater on in the master bedroom – that means it’s really cold! It’s still a puzzle as to what to wear – I remember that the temperature drops by several degrees once the sun goes down and it ceases to be a warm sunny day.
Yesterday I went to a new Tai Chi class – for beginners – at the Khandallah Town Hall. I would love to practice Tai Chi again, but, of course, everything is slightly different. Fern teaches a different style of Tai Chi from what I’ve been used to, although, of course, it’s similarly graceful and elegant. There were several of us there; one woman was determined to “get it right”! It takes ages, one is always learning, and one certainly doesn’t master it overnight, or in a single lesson. But I’ll persist, at least until we go away next month. Afterwards I didn’t have to wait long for a bus to Johnsonville, where I had a few errands to do. I was going to have my flu vaccine, but there were lots of people at the chemist in the shopping centre, so I decided to give it a miss, After I got home, we went to Simmer Café for lunch, where we (again) shared a pizza. I can’t eat Dominos pizzas anymore!
This morning we got up early (!) to go to a 10 am viewing of the Perugino movie at the Lighthouse Theatre in Petone. JD doesn’t like this cinema, but this viewing was in a large theatre, and we were the only customers, so we could talk to each other throughout the film. I am ashamed to acknowledge that I had not heard of Perugino, but he preceded Raphael (and you can see his influence), and was a rather wonderful painter. He only painted religious scenes, not mythological ones, as most of his contemporaries did. But in the rather crowded world of beautiful Renaissance painting, he was rather wonderful. The faces in his paintings are extraordinary (his patrons, perhaps?), and he inserts himself into one of his paintings. The faces are not quite symmetrical, and the hair is wavy. His subjects, especially the Baby Jesus, are well nourished, as a pathologist would say. What a treat.
Afterwards we went to Sea Salt Café in Days Bay for lunch – another treat, where the lovely lady in charge remembered us. Several patrons came in after us. We had entree-sized whitebait omelets with salad and fries, oat milk lattés, and shared a beautiful chocolate mousse for dessert. When we got home, I got out my renaissance art books to look up Perugino, but sadly there isn’t much about him, apart from a fresco in the Sistine Chapel of St Peter being given the Keys (of the Christian church).
I missed a Bible Study this morning. The text was 1 John 3:1-7, a rather wonderful text about our being children of God. There are other references to our being children of God: John 1: 12 talks about people who received Jesus being children of God, and in the Beatitudes is says Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. I think that is quite a wonderful thought, that we can be children of God, along with his Son who became a human being – “the Word became flesh”. In fact we’re also heirs: Romans 8:17 “if we are children of God, then we are also co-heirs with Christ”. That is an amazing thought, that those who love God are not only redeemed by the risen Saviour, but we are also co-heirs with him.
It’s now Wednesday April 10.
This morning I got up early to go to hymn singing; this was followed by another Te Reo Māori class. Afterwards I caught two buses home, but I am very tired, for some reason. Today it was supposed to be much warmer than the last few days, but it is cloudy and quite windy, so not so warm.
Tomorrow I am meeting some of my usual Thursday singing colleagues for coffee.
Back here, Prime Minister Luxon keeps cutting jobs, at every government department. So we’re in recession, surely? That’s what CEOs do, of course; they cut jobs.
In Ukraine and in Israel brutal wars continue. In Ukraine, the Russians reportedly fired drones into the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is controlled by the Russians, and is already considered to be at risk. In Israel, there are continuing calls for a ceasefire, and continued protests in the west, calling for a ceasefire. It’s said there are calls for new elections. They are both desperately sad occasions and needless wars. They did not need to happen.
Classic Barbarian 