Lovely, A weekend at home in Prague.
The more I travel, the more I value my time at home. So a whole weekend in Prague is bliss. OK, not quite an entire weekend because tomorrow evening I am returning to Indonesia. But I have had a chance to relax in my own surroundings. And the glorious, unseasonably warm weather has made the time all the more enjoyable.
I saw a butterly today, flying freely as though it was mid-summer. I'm sure that must be extremely unusual for the time of year. But it was beautiful to watch. It felt rather like the last gasp of summer. It won't be long before it turns cold, by which time that colourful butterly will be long gone.
It's been a lazy day, centred around a late lunch with my friend Alice, at our favourite Italian restaurant, where we were able to eat outside. I absolutely adore al fresco dining, almost as much as the wonderful bottle of Montepulciano.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
From Czechoslovakia to Norway
As a lover of food, I am member of the international gastronomic society, the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. This involves the arduous task of attending monthly dinners is lovely restaurants throughout Prague.
Tonight’s dinner was at an informal French restaurant called La Gare. As it turned out, neither the food nor the wine were particularly exceptional on this occasion, but there were some interesting people there, as usual.
Eva Wold is an impressive 62 year-old woman who was visiting Prague from Norway, together with her daughter and granddaughter, who all came to the dinner. Eva was born in Czechoslovakia and was brought up in Prague. She explained to me that she found it hard to accept the 1968 Soviet invasion and so decided at the age of 20 to escape to Norway as a refugee the following year, leaving her parents and sister behind.
Sadly, it was not until her mother, also called Eva -- a professor of German launguage -- was diagnosed with breast cancer that the communist authorities allowed her to leave Czechoslovakia and visit her daughter in Oslo. She returned home and died later that year at the age of 54.
In 1978, Eva made a visit to Czechoslovakia with her two-and-a-half year old daughter, Hedda, to visit her father, Zdeněk Spisar. Much to her surprise, in spite of her Norwegian citizenship, she had her passport confiscated and her daughter was taken away. The authorities told her that she would not be allowed to return to Norway and that her daughter would be sent back by the Red Cross.
Her father, a medical doctor who had always refused to join the communist party, didn’t have any influential contacts that could help. Thankfully, her uncle was able to persuade the authorities to allow both Eva and Hedda to fly back to Norway. Her father died in Czechoslovakia a year later.
Eva has since bought an apartment in Prague and makes regular visits here from Norway, where she describes her life as “wonderful”.
It occurred to me that I am just a year younger than her mother was when she visited her daughter in Norway. It is so hard for me to imagine what it would be like to be deprived of the opportunity of seeing my children.
I am happy to have met Eva and I am happy to be back in Prague, even if it only for three days.
Let me take the opportunity of letting you know that my first cousin, Michael Sandelson, lives in Stravanger, Norway, with his wife and two children. He is a pianist and composer. I remember going to their Norweigan wedding about 15 years ago, which was very enjoyable.
On a lighter note, when we left the restaurant, somber Scottish football fans were to be seen on Prague's streets. While we in the restaurant, the Czech Republic beat Scotland 1-0. Their dissapointment was evident.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
Tonight’s dinner was at an informal French restaurant called La Gare. As it turned out, neither the food nor the wine were particularly exceptional on this occasion, but there were some interesting people there, as usual.
Eva Wold is an impressive 62 year-old woman who was visiting Prague from Norway, together with her daughter and granddaughter, who all came to the dinner. Eva was born in Czechoslovakia and was brought up in Prague. She explained to me that she found it hard to accept the 1968 Soviet invasion and so decided at the age of 20 to escape to Norway as a refugee the following year, leaving her parents and sister behind.
Sadly, it was not until her mother, also called Eva -- a professor of German launguage -- was diagnosed with breast cancer that the communist authorities allowed her to leave Czechoslovakia and visit her daughter in Oslo. She returned home and died later that year at the age of 54.
In 1978, Eva made a visit to Czechoslovakia with her two-and-a-half year old daughter, Hedda, to visit her father, Zdeněk Spisar. Much to her surprise, in spite of her Norwegian citizenship, she had her passport confiscated and her daughter was taken away. The authorities told her that she would not be allowed to return to Norway and that her daughter would be sent back by the Red Cross.
Her father, a medical doctor who had always refused to join the communist party, didn’t have any influential contacts that could help. Thankfully, her uncle was able to persuade the authorities to allow both Eva and Hedda to fly back to Norway. Her father died in Czechoslovakia a year later.
Eva has since bought an apartment in Prague and makes regular visits here from Norway, where she describes her life as “wonderful”.
It occurred to me that I am just a year younger than her mother was when she visited her daughter in Norway. It is so hard for me to imagine what it would be like to be deprived of the opportunity of seeing my children.
I am happy to have met Eva and I am happy to be back in Prague, even if it only for three days.
Let me take the opportunity of letting you know that my first cousin, Michael Sandelson, lives in Stravanger, Norway, with his wife and two children. He is a pianist and composer. I remember going to their Norweigan wedding about 15 years ago, which was very enjoyable.
On a lighter note, when we left the restaurant, somber Scottish football fans were to be seen on Prague's streets. While we in the restaurant, the Czech Republic beat Scotland 1-0. Their dissapointment was evident.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
Thursday, 7 October 2010
A flight full of men in skirts
Having landed in London after my 11 flight from Hong Kong, I took a much-needed shower in the arrivals lounge before crossing from Heathrow Terminal 3 to 5, where I found the place buzzing with men donned in traditional Scottish regalia. I soon found out that they were all bound for Prague.
At the gate, where we waited to board the flight, I asked a group of these tartan clad chaps why they were travelling on this flight. I felt rather foolish, when they told me that Scotland was playing the Czech Republic in a Euro 2012 qualification match. They were hoping that their national side could reverse their disappointing form.
Funnily enough, after boarding the flight, the Cabin Service Director announced on the public address system that someone had left their single malt whisky at the door of the aircraft. Even I raised my hand to claim the bottle, amid roars of laughter. Goodness know how, but the booze make it back to its rightful owner.
It was a lively and happy flight. I honestly say that I have never been on board a plane with so many men in kilts. But I am delighted to report that I didn’t get any visual confirmation that they don’t wear underwear under their tartan skirts.
In the midst of this tartan army, I spotted a young couple with what looked like a very newborn baby. Needless to say, your father enquired as to the age of this little thing. He was just six weeks old, a little younger than you, my darling Yael. And I am happy to report that this baby, who had travelled all the ways from Toronto in Canada, was quite content throughout the flight, including during the ascent and descent. Let's hope that you are as nonchalent about flying, when you travel to London with your mother and father next week. Your first time on a plane.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
At the gate, where we waited to board the flight, I asked a group of these tartan clad chaps why they were travelling on this flight. I felt rather foolish, when they told me that Scotland was playing the Czech Republic in a Euro 2012 qualification match. They were hoping that their national side could reverse their disappointing form.
Funnily enough, after boarding the flight, the Cabin Service Director announced on the public address system that someone had left their single malt whisky at the door of the aircraft. Even I raised my hand to claim the bottle, amid roars of laughter. Goodness know how, but the booze make it back to its rightful owner.
It was a lively and happy flight. I honestly say that I have never been on board a plane with so many men in kilts. But I am delighted to report that I didn’t get any visual confirmation that they don’t wear underwear under their tartan skirts.
In the midst of this tartan army, I spotted a young couple with what looked like a very newborn baby. Needless to say, your father enquired as to the age of this little thing. He was just six weeks old, a little younger than you, my darling Yael. And I am happy to report that this baby, who had travelled all the ways from Toronto in Canada, was quite content throughout the flight, including during the ascent and descent. Let's hope that you are as nonchalent about flying, when you travel to London with your mother and father next week. Your first time on a plane.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
A day in Hong Kong
Another early wake-up call was required this morning at 5am to give me plenty of time to get from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in central Jakarta to the airport for my flight to Hong Kong where I have spent most of the day. The city of Jakarta is alive all of the time, and sunrise is no exception. I do like early mornings.
While in Hong Kong I met with Russell Julius, the soon to be ex-husband of your aunt Beverley. I knew Russell before Beverley and introduced them to each other 22 years ago. Unfortunately, Russell left Beverley over a year ago now for another woman. He has since moved to Hong Kong where he has a big job with the banking giant HSBC.
I remember their wedding in Jerusalem and the birth of their four children. It is sad how many marriages seem to hit the rocks. Alas, the marriage of your grandfather Jonathan and grandmother Veronica went that way. We have been divorced for well over ten years now. I must confess that the demise of my marriage was the biggest dissapointment of my life.
Well, I'm now sitting in the airport lounge waiting for my flight to London Heathrow where I will connect with a flight back home to Prague. It's delayed by an hour for technical reasons. But that's OK because I have plenty of time for the connection. However, I am feeling very tired now, and would dearly like to curl up in my comfortable seat in the first class cabin and go to sleep. It's been a long day.
Grandpa Jonathan
Hong Kong, China
While in Hong Kong I met with Russell Julius, the soon to be ex-husband of your aunt Beverley. I knew Russell before Beverley and introduced them to each other 22 years ago. Unfortunately, Russell left Beverley over a year ago now for another woman. He has since moved to Hong Kong where he has a big job with the banking giant HSBC.
I remember their wedding in Jerusalem and the birth of their four children. It is sad how many marriages seem to hit the rocks. Alas, the marriage of your grandfather Jonathan and grandmother Veronica went that way. We have been divorced for well over ten years now. I must confess that the demise of my marriage was the biggest dissapointment of my life.
Well, I'm now sitting in the airport lounge waiting for my flight to London Heathrow where I will connect with a flight back home to Prague. It's delayed by an hour for technical reasons. But that's OK because I have plenty of time for the connection. However, I am feeling very tired now, and would dearly like to curl up in my comfortable seat in the first class cabin and go to sleep. It's been a long day.
Grandpa Jonathan
Hong Kong, China
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
The Jakarta Post
It's always exciting to awake and find The Jakarta Post hanging outside my hotel room with my article duly published. I've been writing my Green-Watch column since 2007 and have notched up nearly 100 articles. There is something magical to see one's work in print. Today's is about my visit to the mangrove forests on the East Coast of Java.
I know that your father can relate to this, having had a by-lined article published in the Wall Street Journal when he was interning for the Brussels bureau of the Dow Jones Newswire in 2006. I was very proud to see him in print at that time. Who knows. By the time you read this, your father may be an accomplished journalist.
Today I continued my series of meetings with environmental non-governmental organisations here with my client who is a major plantation company based in Sumatra. It's most interesting but very demanding work, because there are significant tensions between the two sides. But my job is to try and help the parties find common ground. I must confess to have done quite well today, which ended with a very pleasant meal in the delightful French restaurant at the Mandrain Oriental hotel with the president of my client's comapany.
Grandpa Jonathan
Jakarta, Indonesia
I know that your father can relate to this, having had a by-lined article published in the Wall Street Journal when he was interning for the Brussels bureau of the Dow Jones Newswire in 2006. I was very proud to see him in print at that time. Who knows. By the time you read this, your father may be an accomplished journalist.
Today I continued my series of meetings with environmental non-governmental organisations here with my client who is a major plantation company based in Sumatra. It's most interesting but very demanding work, because there are significant tensions between the two sides. But my job is to try and help the parties find common ground. I must confess to have done quite well today, which ended with a very pleasant meal in the delightful French restaurant at the Mandrain Oriental hotel with the president of my client's comapany.
Grandpa Jonathan
Jakarta, Indonesia
Monday, 4 October 2010
3-D TV, without glasses
Reading in the paper this morning that Toshiba, the Japanese electronics company, will introduce the first three dimensional television that can be watched without special glasses, struck me as particular interest. Because, by the time you read this, I have no doubt that 3-D will be quite standard, and probably old technology by then.
Some people question whether there is any need for 3-D TV, which is currently very rare and can only be seen with cumbersome spectacles. But I remember when colour television was first introduced in Britain, when I was a child. My parents, along with many other people, just couldn't see the point and thought that black and white television was more than adequate. I was very upset that they wouldn't buy a colour set.
It was in 1969, for the investiture of Charles, the Prince of Wales, when he was 20 years old, that the British Broadcasting Corporation first transmitted colour TV. I remember first seeing it in a shop window and being absolutely mesmorised. There was limited content in the early days, which probalby accounted for why some questioned its value.
Of course, now, almost everyone had colour television, and I am in no doubt that it will be the same for 3-D. I love new technology. It excites me. Wouldn't the world be a dull place if everything stood still?
I read the paper on my early flight from Singapore to Jakarta, just as I was crossing the equator for the second time in three days. Actually, I had to get up at 5pm and had gone to bed rather late last night. But when I am working hard, I really can survive on little sleep. So I am feeling quite energised because I have a busy schedule of meetings with many interesting people, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature in Indonesia. I visit Jakarta very regularly, so feel quite at home here.
Grandpa Jonathan
Jakarta, Indonesia
Some people question whether there is any need for 3-D TV, which is currently very rare and can only be seen with cumbersome spectacles. But I remember when colour television was first introduced in Britain, when I was a child. My parents, along with many other people, just couldn't see the point and thought that black and white television was more than adequate. I was very upset that they wouldn't buy a colour set.
It was in 1969, for the investiture of Charles, the Prince of Wales, when he was 20 years old, that the British Broadcasting Corporation first transmitted colour TV. I remember first seeing it in a shop window and being absolutely mesmorised. There was limited content in the early days, which probalby accounted for why some questioned its value.
Of course, now, almost everyone had colour television, and I am in no doubt that it will be the same for 3-D. I love new technology. It excites me. Wouldn't the world be a dull place if everything stood still?
I read the paper on my early flight from Singapore to Jakarta, just as I was crossing the equator for the second time in three days. Actually, I had to get up at 5pm and had gone to bed rather late last night. But when I am working hard, I really can survive on little sleep. So I am feeling quite energised because I have a busy schedule of meetings with many interesting people, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature in Indonesia. I visit Jakarta very regularly, so feel quite at home here.
Grandpa Jonathan
Jakarta, Indonesia
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Farewell to Mrs Lee and Ms Tan
I awoke this morning to news in Singapore's Straits Times of the death of Kwa Geok Choo, the 89 year old wife of Lee Kuan Yew, the founder and first prime minister of Singapore. Her husband of 63 years survives her, and her son is the current prime minister of this tiny island state.
It was so moving to read the life story of this lady in today's newspaper. She gained a double first in law at Cambridge University where she studied with her husband-to-be during the period when Singapore was still a part of the British Empire. It was in 1950 that she returned to Singapore with Lee Kuan Yew, who she had secretly married in London, after after becoming a barister.
In 1965 Lee Kuan Yew succeeded in negotiating a separation from Malaysia and then indpendence from Britain. At that time, this infant nation was a poor backwater in South East Asia. Thanks to his leadership, it became one of the most prosperous countries in the world.
In effect, has been a benign dictatorship since its birth. While we beleive that democracy is best, it is really hard to crticise Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore is surrounded by democracies which have suffered signficant political instabilities and economic problems in contrast to this extraordinary place.
Mrs Lee's death has prompted a torrent of news coverage about the history of modern Singpaore and the acheivements of the nation's first family. Her long marriage to Lee Kuan Yew was a true love story, and the newspapers are adorned with wonderful black and white photographs of a young romantic couple enjoying their student days together in Cambridge.
Only six weeks shy of being 90, this elegant lady's passing, while sad, was not a tragedy. This contrasts hugely with news from London of the hit and run death of death of a 20 year-old Singaporean Cambridge medical student whose body was found on Haverstock Hill on Thursday night. She had been hit by a vehicle that had driven off without stopping.
Tragically, Mingwei Tan was killed on her 20th birthday. She had been knocked down near Hampstead's Royal Free Hospital - where her shoes were found - and dragged 1.6km. Her body was found near Belsize Park Tube station in North London.
I know this area so well, and actually went to school when I was twelve just around the corner from where the accident took place. So this news has particular resonance with me.
This beautiful girl was cut down in the prime of her life, apparently by a bus. Police are unsure whether the driver was even aware that he hit her. Nevertheless, she has gone.
While the Singaporean nation morn the death of Mrs Lee, the parents, family and friends of Mingwei must be devastated by the loss of this young woman.
"We will miss you. Your lovely sweet smile and your ever-passionate attitude towards things in life will always remain in our hearts. May God bless and watch over your family as they go through this period," said one message from one of her former teachers.
I hope to report happier news tomorrow.
Grandpa Jonathan
Singapore
It was so moving to read the life story of this lady in today's newspaper. She gained a double first in law at Cambridge University where she studied with her husband-to-be during the period when Singapore was still a part of the British Empire. It was in 1950 that she returned to Singapore with Lee Kuan Yew, who she had secretly married in London, after after becoming a barister.
In 1965 Lee Kuan Yew succeeded in negotiating a separation from Malaysia and then indpendence from Britain. At that time, this infant nation was a poor backwater in South East Asia. Thanks to his leadership, it became one of the most prosperous countries in the world.
In effect, has been a benign dictatorship since its birth. While we beleive that democracy is best, it is really hard to crticise Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore is surrounded by democracies which have suffered signficant political instabilities and economic problems in contrast to this extraordinary place.
Mrs Lee's death has prompted a torrent of news coverage about the history of modern Singpaore and the acheivements of the nation's first family. Her long marriage to Lee Kuan Yew was a true love story, and the newspapers are adorned with wonderful black and white photographs of a young romantic couple enjoying their student days together in Cambridge.
Only six weeks shy of being 90, this elegant lady's passing, while sad, was not a tragedy. This contrasts hugely with news from London of the hit and run death of death of a 20 year-old Singaporean Cambridge medical student whose body was found on Haverstock Hill on Thursday night. She had been hit by a vehicle that had driven off without stopping.
Tragically, Mingwei Tan was killed on her 20th birthday. She had been knocked down near Hampstead's Royal Free Hospital - where her shoes were found - and dragged 1.6km. Her body was found near Belsize Park Tube station in North London.
I know this area so well, and actually went to school when I was twelve just around the corner from where the accident took place. So this news has particular resonance with me.
This beautiful girl was cut down in the prime of her life, apparently by a bus. Police are unsure whether the driver was even aware that he hit her. Nevertheless, she has gone.
While the Singaporean nation morn the death of Mrs Lee, the parents, family and friends of Mingwei must be devastated by the loss of this young woman.
"We will miss you. Your lovely sweet smile and your ever-passionate attitude towards things in life will always remain in our hearts. May God bless and watch over your family as they go through this period," said one message from one of her former teachers.
I hope to report happier news tomorrow.
Grandpa Jonathan
Singapore
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