Post-Festive Pot Pourri (8)

Chinese currency is (usually) the Yuan, but can be spoken of in terms of the Remnimbi. fbb will be happy for his readers to research the complex topic. For simplicity fbb will think of things in terms of the Yuan which is about 11p in good old Blighty dough.

But if you cross the border from Chinese China into Chinese Macau you currency will, in theory, have to change. Macai uses the Pataca …

… worth a little less than 10p. So it may well be fun at the border.

Unusually in today’s public transport climate, the Macau LRT has graded fares according to distance. You must pay in Patacas! But you do not pay in specie. You nuy a token …

… which operates the gates. Here are the fares for token holders – the equivalent of cash.

Or you can pay with a smart card …

… in which case the fares are reduced.

.. to half!

So the full length of the green line (currently the only line) will cost £1.20 with token or 60p with card.

Much, much cheaper than chips.

Forget the heap of brightly wrapped mysterious parcels. After some years of trying to buy each other something meaningful, fbb and his lovely wife gave each other a goat – that’s two goats.

(click on the panel above to enlarge – their text is not text and thus won’t download as such.)

But No 3 son gave this to his aged papa.

Yes, that’s the fellah, at the left hand end!

But 1 son managed a packey of the Australian equivalent of Bombay Mix (Brizzy Mix?) …

But the highlight of No 1 son’s gift was a hedge.

Book Review

There are plenty of tram and bus related snaps including this one of the very first Pond Street bus station, later Central Bus Station and even later Sheffield Interchange.

Tomorrow’s blog will include a selection of then and now pictures and ask a challenging question about pedestrianisation.

Coaches Crisis in the Cotswolds?

The owner of Station Road Car Park said he would have to stop coaches parking there following complaints

Coaches can carry on parking in the “Venice of the Cotswolds” after an agreement was reached about soundproofing.

The owner of the only coach car park in Bourton-on-the-Water had threatened to ban the vehicles, following complaints about noise and air pollution.

However, business owners said trade in the village would be “killed” if coaches could not drop-off tourists.

A soundproof wall will now be erected between the car park and houses.

… the crisis rumbles on.

Surely getting rid of coaches will bring even more cars, even more traffic chaos and even more noise and exhaust pollution?

And An Embarrassing “Whoops”