The Shed Restaurant in Notting Hill zgate

 

Humorous Speech Contest, and Celebration with Cake, at HOD Speakers' Club in Harrow. All welcome.

 HOD Toastmasters International Speakers' Group members are having a contest including humorous speeches and table topics (impromptu speeches) on Thursday October 1st, meeting starting promptly at 7.30. 

Later that busy month we are celebrating the club's 25th anniversary on Tuesday October 27th in the evening. Expect to hear from past presidents about our past successes, present opportunities and plans for the future. Of course there will be cake! 

Our usual meeting date is a Thursday evening twice a month, but the celebration will include past and future members, lots of guests, so we have a bigger room. Please contact the club if you want to come to one of these events or both 🍰 so we have enough food and chairs, and maybe a speaking slot for you.

Useful Links

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/hod-speakers-club-107921320861

toastmasters.org/find-a-club

HOD on the Toastmasters International website

https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/00002326-00002326

Souvenirs of London

 Suitcase with underground railway stations, tee-shirt, and many more items. Royal family.

From a large shop beside Embankment station.

Gift Box Britain. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Memory Aids for German Words

 English - German memory aids

Duck - Ente (the duck enters the water)

kite - Drachen  (which you drag along)

German - English memory aids

Drachen - kite

Ente (plural Enten) - duck (ducks)

Words which are the same in German and English

German - English

Disco - disco

Hunger - hunger

Park - park

so - so

wow - wow

Words which are the same English and German

disco - Disco

hunger - Hunger

park - Park (remember capital initial letter for nouns in German)

so - so 

wow - wow

German And English Words Which Look Similar

German - English

Haare - hair

Karten - cards

Musik - music

Selten - rarely (seldom)

English - German Words Which Look Similar

hair - Haare (ha ha, what a lot of hair, remember double a)

(to) help - helfen (help me by putting an f in helfen, en for infinitives, oh f... I need help, from anyone)

cards - Karten (I cart my cards about it the carton Karten, en for plurals)

Matching Word Endings German-English

Der Drucker - the printer

eine Pause - a break (a pause)

English - German Document Ending

document - Dokument

the end - Das Ende

end - Ende (written alone at the end of a document)

-ends-

Please follow my blogs on travel, dress, and comical poetry, and bookmark and share links to your favourite, useful posts.

Highlights Of Canary Islands

 If you are considering spending a holiday, the winter, or all year in one of the Spanish speaking Canary Islands. What do the islands offer?

We visited Little La Palma and larger Tenerife this year. I have written about them in other blog posts. Now I am researching other islands for my next trip. What am I looking for:

1 Food and wine attractions - Wineries or wine museums to visit. Food museums. (Tenerife had a wine museum with a section on honey.)

2 Distinctive but affordable hotels. 

We stayed in the Parador by Mount Teide in the middle of Tenerife for two nights, and the Parador hotel on La Palma for about a week. The timings were constrained by the days and times of the Fred Olsen ferries from Tenerife to La Palma and back,Ryanair and international flights from Stansted in the UK to Tenerife's South Airport. Both Paradors were remote, isolated, but we had hired a car to tour the islands. 

3 A hotel with a swimming pool which is heated, and open in winter.

4 Natural attractions.

5 Shopping, factory visits, shops in hotels or nearby, shopping centres nearby.

6 Museums and attractions, especially writers or artists. 

Tenerife had the Agatha Christie city hillside steps with the names of her books one on the front of each step and a statue or bust at the top. 

La Palma had a museum about volcanoes. Whilst my husband was climbing the side of an now dormant volcano, I spent the day watching videos of the most recent volcano which when active destroyed many homes and part of the island but added land down by the sea on the side where the lava flowed.)

My research has added these items to my wishlist.

LANZAROTE

This post is being researched. Come back later today, and look for occasional updates.

People Named After Biblical Places and Modern Israel and Jordan

 My first thoughts were of the author Israel Zangwill. Then of many American stars called Jordan. I did a little research with the help of Ask Gemini and came up with the first list below:

I then wondered, what about the city of Jericho? I asked Gemini and it used the Wikipedia entry on Jericho (given name) to produce the list below. That reminded me to look in Wikipedia to find people from a city or named after it. My search gave me the second list below.

Historical & Biblical Places Used as Names

• Shiloh (Named after the ancient biblical city of Shiloh in the West Bank/Samaria)

  • Shiloh Jolie-Pitt: Daughter of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

  • Shiloh Fernandez: American actor (Evil Dead, Red Riding Hood).

  • Shiloh Keo: Former NFL safety and Super Bowl champion.

• Ariel (Poetic name for Jerusalem in biblical texts)

  • Ariel Winter: American actress, known for her role in Modern Family.  

  • Ariel Sharon: Former Prime Minister of Israel.

  • Ariel Pink: American indie rock singer and songwriter.

  • Ariel Helwani: Canadian sports journalist and MMA broadcaster.  

---

Geographic & Natural Landmarks

• Jordan / Yarden (Named after the Jordan River forming the eastern border)

  • Jordan Peele: Oscar-winning American filmmaker and comedian.

  • Michael B. Jordan: American actor (Creed, Black Panther).  

  • Jordan Fisher: American actor, singer, and Broadway performer.  

  • Jordan Pickford: English national team football goalkeeper.

• Eden (Referencing the biblical Garden of Eden/region)

  • Eden Hazard: Belgian former professional football star (Chelsea, Real Madrid).

  • Eden Sher: American actress best known for The Middle.

  • Eden Golan: Israeli singer who represented Israel at Eurovision 2024.

• Carmel (Named after Mount Carmel in Haifa)

  • Carmel Myers: Prominent early American silent film actress.

  • Carmel Snow: Longtime editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar.

  • Carmel Budiardjo: Renowned British human rights activist.

---

Cities, Regions & Surnames-as-First Names

• Zion / Tzion (A biblical name for Jerusalem/Eretz Yisrael)

  • Zion Williamson: NBA star forward for the New Orleans Pelicans.

  • Zion David Marley: Son of Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley (and subject of the song "To Zion").

• Sharon (Named after the Sharon Plain region along the coast)

  • Sharon Stone: Academy Award-nominated American actress.

  • Sharon Osbourne: British television personality, music manager, and author.

  • Sharon Tate: Iconic American actress and 1960s cultural figure.

• Galilee / Galilea (Named after the Galilee region in northern Israel)

• Galilea Montijo: Famous Mexican actress and television host.

• JERICHO

• several notable figures in entertainment, sports, and literature carry the name Jericho:

  Famous Real People

  • Chris Jericho (born Christopher Irvine): One of the most famous figures associated with the name. He is a world-renowned Canadian-American professional wrestler (a multi-time champion in WWE and AEW), lead singer of the rock band Fozzy, and host of the Talk Is Jericho podcast.  

  • Jericho Rosales: A superstar actor, singer, and film producer in the Philippines. Dubbed the "Asian Drama King," he has starred in major television dramas and films that have aired globally across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.  

  • Jericho Brown: An acclaimed American poet and professor. He won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection The Tradition.  

  • Jericho Sims: An American professional basketball player who plays in the NBA (notably for the New York Knicks).  

  • Jerricho Cotchery: A former American NFL wide receiver (who played for the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers) and current football coach.  

  • Jericho Cruz: A professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

  ---

  Famous Fictional Characters

  • Jericho (DC Comics): A superhero in DC Comics (Joseph Wilson), best known as a member of the Teen Titans.

  • Jericho Drumm (Marvel Comics): A superhero who assumes the identity of Brother Voodoo (and later Doctor Voodoo).   How many more do you know? Please contact me through comments. 

    -ends-

    This post will be updated later today and in the future.

    Please share links to your favourite posts.

Placenames in Asia named after famous people

Singapore Placenames

 I lived in Singapore for many years and in Singapore many landmarks, streets and squares and hotels are named after Raffles. Raffles Hotel. Also several areas and railway stations and streets are named after British people from earlier eras. 

You can buy a book on the origin of Singapore street names.

When Visiting Malaysia, from adjoining Singapore, I was told about the origins of names.

In the Philippines I was told that the country was named after Philip.

Indian Placenames

In India I noticed the Sassoon Docks in Bombay, which was renamed Mumbai. The docks were named after Sassoon who funded them. The Docks were his idea. The Sassoons were a famous family, who founded the Hong Kong an Shanghai Bank, HSBC. I remember reading Sassoon's poems about WWI and visiting the house and zoo associated with Sassoon in southern England.

That was just a tiny corner of India. Associated with the UK and worldwide through the Sassoon name.

Today, September 8th 2026, I used Ask Gemini for some more memorable place names in Asia. I find it is easier to remember names of cities or train stations if you associate them with the people they are named after. 

Many major cities, regions, and geographic landmarks across Asia are named after historical figures, monarchs, military leaders, explorers, and national heroes:

Up popped useful results from the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and UAE.

Major Cities & Capitals

• Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam): Formerly named Saigon, the country's largest city was renamed in 1976 in honor of Hồ Chí Minh, the revolutionary leader and prime minister/president of North Vietnam.

• Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia): Renamed in 1924, the name translates to "Red Hero," chosen in honor of Damdin Sükhbaatar, the founding leader of the Mongolian Revolution and national hero.

• Faisalabad (Pakistan): Formerly Lyallpur (named after Sir James Lyall), the city was renamed in 1979 in honor of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who had close ties to Pakistan.

• Islamabad (Pakistan): While meaning "City of Islam," several districts within the capital are named after famous historical leaders, such as the Faisal Mosque.

• Davao City (Philippines) / General Santos City (Philippines): General Santos City was named after General Paulino Santos, a former Commanding General of the Philippine Army who spearheaded settlement in the region.

• George Town (Penang, Malaysia): Capital of the state of Penang, named after King George III of Great Britain.

• Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India): Named in honor of Captain Archibald Blair of the British East India Company, who established a colony there in 1789.

---

Provinces, States & Regions

• Rizal Province (Philippines): Named directly after José Rizal, the national hero, writer, and polymath of the Philippines.

• Quezon / Quezon City (Philippines): Named after Manuel L. Quezon, the second President of the Philippines, who established the city to replace Manila as the capital.

• Jharkand / Telangana (India): While many Indian states take indigenous or linguistic names, Victoria Terminus / Victoria in Mumbai and various historic districts honor historic figures like Chhatrapati Shivaji (e.g., Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, formerly Aurangabad, named after Aurangzeb and later Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj).

• Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh): A famous coastal town and long beach named after Captain Hiram Cox, an officer of the British East India Company who served as a diplomatic superintendent.

---

Geographic Features & Islands

• Mount Everest (Nepal/China border): Named after Sir George Everest, a Welsh surveyor and Surveyor General of India who oversaw the initial mapping of the Indian subcontinent.

• K2 / Mount Godwin-Austen (Pakistan/China border): Also known historically as Mount Godwin-Austen, named in honor of Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen, an early surveyor and explorer of the region.

• Sir Bani Yas (United Arab Emirates): An island named after Sheikh Yas, the founder and progenitor of the Bani Yas tribal confederation.

• Barents Sea / Bering Strait (North Asia/Russia): Sea and strait bordering northern and eastern Asia, named after explorers Willem Barentsz and Vitus Bering.