Friday February 14 16:00 – Saturday February 15 16:00 2020

20:00 We are not hungry tonight after our Valentine's Day lunch at Raymond Leblanc's refurbished Kings Arms pub bistro, so we settle for a couple of pieces of toast with either Marmite or home-grown home-made gooseberry jam - yum yum!

We settle down on the sofa and turn on the television, to follow Margaret Thatcher's former Minister Michael Portillo's train journeys in Southeast Asia. Yesterday he was in Indonesia, but tonight he is in Malaysia.

We have noticed when Michael is in former British colonies, such as Hong Kong or tonight in Malaysia, that the local people speak much better English – sometimes almost perfect - than in the former French or Dutch colonies, which I suspect is not too surprising.

Flashback to the 1980’s: Hong Kong in happier times with Maggie and Dennis

on one of the ex-colony's old British double-decker buses

Lois and I are both history enthusiasts and tradition enthusiasts, so it's nice, we think, that some regions of Malaysia have voted to keep all the old British place names where they exist, out of respect for the country's history, etc. Tonight we see another of the world’s "Georgetowns", for example, and this one is named after the British King, George III. And we also see a city called Butterworth, named after a former British governor (not after the Maggie Thatcher-impersonator’s husband, the comedian Peter Butterworth, needless to say).

William Butterworth, governor of the Straits Settlements

included for comparison purposes: Peter Butterworth, the comedian (left)

with his wife Janet Brown

Janet Brown, Peter’s wife and Margaret Thatcher-impersonator.

Janet played the then British prime minister,

Maggie Thatcher, in the ”For Your Eyes Only” James Bond film (1981)

(John Wells played Denis Thatcher)

Another surviving British place-name is the Cameron Highlands, evidently named by some Scotsman, which is nice.

In Taiping, where the British arrived in 1874, we see a beautiful park, gardens and lakes, designed by the Governor's wife, Mrs. Swettenham, to reflect some of the joys of England's Lake District.

We see the park's beautiful "rain trees", many of them over 100 years old. The trees collect rain and moisture in their leaves, and at 5 in the afternoon as regularly as clockwork, they close their leaves to keep the moisture intact until the following morning, when they open up and drop the old moisture and get ready for a new batch.

The miners who worked nearby in the old days always knew, when they saw the leaves closing, that it was 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and time to stop working and clear off home, which is nice. They had no need of a "factory whistle" or the like. Isn't nature wonderful?

And we get a rare opportunity to see Michael's "butterfly face" when he visits a butterfly farm and helps a new young butterfly to leave its "box" and fly off to live its life.

Michael’s  "butterfly face" is perhaps even more delightful than his "koala face", although that’s something Lois and I are not 100% sure about. The jury is still out on that one.

Two or three months ago, we saw Michael visiting a koala hospital in Australia.

Flashback to November 2019 and one of Michael's train journeys in Australia.

Michael's "koala face" is very much in evidence - and the koala

even seems to be winking at Michael, which is cute

Lois' "koala face" while watching the programme

included for comparison - Sheldon's version of the "koala face" in "Big Bang Theory"

and Lois' previous version from our visit to Victoria State in 2016

- still the best in my opinion

Happy times !!!!!!

20:30 I dig out my 1941 Gibbons Stamp Catalogue. I see that Britain first began issuing stamps for the Straits-Settlements colony in 1867, using Indian stamps overprinted with values in the local coinage system (100 cents = 1 Straits Settlements dollar). Later in the year, however, we see the first custom-made Straits Settlement stamps with values in cents and dollars turning up.

My 1941 Gibbons catalogue is one of my most beloved possessions and is a real museum piece: a valuable record of bygone times.

The catalogue was published in the darkest hours of World War II, when Russia was Hitler's ally and the US was not yet in the war. Back then, the British were forbidden to buy new German stamps or new stamps from occupied Europe because this was considered to "help the enemy" - yikes !!!

Dark days !!!!!

20:45 Lois has been browsing the gossip column in the latest issue of his "The Week" magazine, which is delivered by the postman every Friday.

According to the magazine’s gossip column, the late comedienne June Whitfield, who played Edina's crazy mother in the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, was delighted when some horticulturalist named a rose after her. But what gave her particular pleasure was to read a description in a flower catalogue: "June Whitfield is superb for bedding, but best up against a wall". My god, what madness – poor June!!!!

June Whitfield (centre) – “best up against a wall” apparently

21:00 We turn off the television and listen to the radio for a bit, an entertaining tribute to Jake Thackray, the mysterious Yorkshire-born singer / songwriter and his darkly amusing songs.

Lois bought all of Jake's albums when she was younger, and it's nice to go to bed on our favourite song, "On Again, On Again", with its slightly wandering but impressive two opening  lines: "I love a good bum on a woman, it makes my day / To me it is palpable proof of God's existence, a posteriori. "

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzz !!!!!

09:00 We get ready for Storm Dennis, by putting a lot of heavy bowls filled with water on all our patio furniture - am I the only one who has noticed that these storms have gotten much worse since they started giving them names? What madness !!!

Storm Dennis

14:00 This afternoon Alison, our daughter in Haslemere, Surry sends us a text message - she and Ed and their 3 children have planned to spend a week's skiing holiday in Norway, starting from tomorrow (Sunday), but many flights are being cancelled due to Storm Dennis. They will not know until tomorrow whether they can fly or not. Poor them !!!

15:00 I get up after my usual gigantic afternoon nap, and jump up on my exercise bike. I cycle 4.5 miles - I am trying to gradually cover more and more miles each time until I can do my normal 6 miles.

Frances, our neighbour two doors down, calls us. She has met the woman, Nicki, who intends to move into the empty house between our two houses next weekend. Nicki was recently divorced and has 2 young daughters and a young son. It will be nice to have a neighbour who is not an old crow, I have to say!

Danish translation:  fredag 14. februar 16:00 - lørdag 15. februar 16:00 2020

20:00 Vi er ikke sulten i aften efter vores Valentinsdag frokost på Raymond Leblancs istandsatte Kings Arms pub-bistro, så vi nøjes med et par stykke toast med enten Marmite eller –hjemmedyrket-hjemmelavet stikkelsbærmarmelade – yum yum!

Vi sætter os til rette i sofaen og tænder fjernsynet. Vi følger med Margaret Thatchers tidligere minister Michael Portillos togrejser i Sydostasien. I går var han i Indonesien, men i aften er han i Malaysia.

Vi har bemærket, når Michael er i tidligere britiske kolonier, såsom Hong Kong eller i aften i Malaysia,  at de lokale indbyggere taler meget bedre engelsk – næsten perfekte – end i de tidligere franske eller hollandske kolonier, hvilket jeg mistænker ikke er ret overraskende.

Tilbageblik til 1980’erne: Hong Kong i lykkeligere tider

med Maggie og Dennis i en af eks-koloniens gamle britiske dobbeltdækkerbusser

Lois og jeg er begge to historie-entusiaster og tradition-entusiaster, så er det rart, synes vi, at mange regioner af Malaysia har stemt for at beholde alle de gamle  britiske stednavne, hvor disse findes, ud af respekt for landets historie osv. I aften ser vi endnu en af verdens ”Georgetowns” for eksempel, og denne er opkaldet efter den britiske konge, Georg 3. Og vi ser også en by ved navn Butterworth, opkaldet efter en tidligere britisk guvernør (ikke efter den Maggie Thatcher-karikaturists mand, komikeren Peter Butterworth, unødvendigt at sige).

guvernøren William Butterworth

medtaget til sammenligning: komikeren Peter Butterworth (til venstre)

og hans kone, Janet Brown.

Janet Brown, Margaret Thatcher-karikaturisten, spillede

den daværende britiske premierminister, i ”Strengt fortroligt”- Bond-filmen (1981)

(John Wells spillede Denis Thatcher)

Også findes der Cameron Highlands-bakkerne, åbenbart navnet af en eller anden skotte, hvilket er rart.

I Taiping, hvor briterne ankom i 1874, ser vi  en smuk park, haver og søer, designet af guvernørs kone, fru Swettenham, for at afspejle nogle af glæderne af Englands Lake District.

Vi ser parkens smukke ”regntræer”, mange af dem over 100 år gamle. Træerne samler regn og fugtighed i deres blade, og kl 5 om eftermiddagen så regelmæssigt som urværk lukker de sine bladene for at holde fugtigheden intakt indtil den følgende dag.

Minarbejderne, der i de gamle dage arbejdede i nærheden, vidste altid, når de så bladene lukke sig, at den var kl 5 om eftermiddagen, og tid til at stoppe med at arbejde og stikke af hjem, hvilket er rart. De havde ikke brug for en ”fabriksfløjte” eller lignende. Er naturen ikke vidunderlig haha!

Og vi få en sjælden lejlighed til at se Michaels ”sommerfugl-fjæs”, da han besøger en sommerfuglgård, og hjælpe en ny ung sommerfugl til at forlade sit ”boks” og flyve af sted for at leve sit liv.

Hans ”sommefugl-fjæs” er måske endnu mere magisk, end hans ”koala-fjæs”, selvom det er Lois og jeg ikke er 100% sikre på. Juryen er stadig ude om det.

Tilbageblik til november 2019 og en af Michaels togrejser i Australien.

Michaels ”koala-fjæs” er meget iøjnefaldende – og koalaen synes at blinke til Michael,

hvilket er sødt

Lois’ ”koala-fjæs”, mens hun kigger på programmet

medtaget til sammenligning - Sheldons version af ”koala-fjæset” i ”Big Bang Theory”

og Lois’ tidligere version fra vores besøg til Victoria-delstaten i 2016

– helt sikkert stadig det bedste efter min mening

Lykkelige tider !!!!!!

20:30 Jeg graver mit 1941 Gibbons Stamp Catalogue frem. Jeg ser, at Storbritannien først begyndte at udstede frimærker til Straits-Settlements-colonien i 1867, ved at bruge indiske frimærker overprintede med værdier i det lokale møntesystem (100 cents = 1 Straits Settlements dollar). Senere på året imidlertid, ser vi de første specialsfremstillede Straits Settlement frimærker med værdier i cents og dollars dukke op.

Mit 1941 Gibbons-katalog er ét af mine mest elskede ejendele, og er et reelts museumstykke: en værdiful rekord af svundne tider.

Kataloget blev udgivet i den 2. verdenskrigs mørkeste timer, da Rusland var Hitlers allierede, og USA ikke endnu var i krigen. Dengang var briterne forbudt at købe nye tyske frimærker eller nye frimærker fra det besatte Europa, fordi dette blev betragtet at ”hjælpe fjenden” – yikes!!!

Mørke dage !!!!!

20:45 Lois har været i gang med at blade igennem sladdersøjlen i det seneste udgave af sit ”The Week”-tidsskrift, der bliver leveret af postbudet hver fredag.

Den afdøde komiker June Whitfield, der spillede Edinas vanvittige mor i sitcommen Absolutely Fabulous, var meget glad for, at en eller anden havekunstner opkaldte en rose efter hende. Men dét, der gav hende særlig nydelse var at læse en beskrivelse i et blomsterkatalog:  ”June Whitfield is superb for bedding, but best up against a wall”. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

June Whitfield (i midten) – “best up against a wall”, lader det til

21:00 Vi slukker for fjernsynet og lytter lidt til radio, en underholdende hyldeste til Jake Thackray, den mystiske Yorkshire-fødte sanger/sangskriver og hans mørkt morsomme sange.

Lois købte alle Jakes albummer, da hun var yngre, og det er rart at gå i seng på vores yndlingssang, ”On Again, On Again”, med dens flotte åbnende linjer:  ”I love a good bum on a woman, it makes my day / To me it is palpable proof of God's existence, a posteriori.”

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!

09:00 Vi forbereder os på Storm Dennis, ved at sætte en masse tunge skåle fyldt med vand på alle vores terrassemøbler – er jeg den eneste, der har bemærket at disse stormer er blevet meget værre, siden de begyndte at give dem navne? Sikke et vanvid!!!

Storm Dennis

14:00 I eftermiddag sender Alison, vores datter i Haslemere, Surry os en sms – hun og Ed og deres 3 børn har planlagt at holde en uges skiferie i Norge, startende fra i morgen (søndag), men mange flyture bliver aflyst på grund at Storm Dennis. De vil ikke vide før i morgen, om de kan flyve eller ej. Stakkels dem!!!

15:00 Jeg står op efter min sædvanlige gigantiske eftermiddagslur, og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 4,5 miles – jeg er i gang med at prøve gradvist at tilbagelægge flere og flere miles hver gang, indtil jeg kan gøre mine normale 6 miles.

Frances, vores nabo to døre ned, ringer til os. Hun har mødt den kvinde, Nicki, der har til hensigt at flytte næste weekend ind i det tomme hus mellem vores to huse. Nicki var for nylig skilt og har 2 unge døtre og en ung søn. Det vil være rart til at have en nabo, der ikke er en gammel krage, det må jeg nok sige!