MUSTAFA PEG !!

We were in Singapore for a short stopover when DB found a small advertisement in a tourist brochure and suggested it might have a peg department ..... enough said!

There was no stopping me ... I was off like a shot ....



We had a map but we must have looked a bit confused when emerging from the metro station in Little India. A lady, with her small son, offered to help us.


Even though she was originally heading in the opposite direction, they walked with us to show us the way.



Here I found a wonderful display of pegs and DB was lost for hours in the fabric department!



There are treasures beyond measure in this wonderful emporium so if you ever find yourself in Singapore, put Mustafa on your Must Do list .... and we'll send you the map.

Thank you Mustafa, you made me a happy man.



p.s. There is a fantastic Vegetarian Restaurant nearby.
I am a dedicated carnivore, but I would still thoroughly recommend it. Not only was I impressed with the food, but also by the incredibly efficient way it was run. No slackers here - and if you click on the image it will come up big enough to read the wise words.

Just one day .....

What would you do if you had just one day to spend in Sydney?
Go to Susannah Place of course!

Why ?

Well, it is a fascinating place.

For one thing, there is a pub there which, apart from serving great beer and amazing pizzas, has the longest table that DB has ever seen in her entire life.... plus a glorious log fire which warmed the cockles of our hearts on a really cold day..


Across the road from the pub is what we came to see ....

The original terrace of cottages in Susannah Place are being preserved and displayed in all their glory for everyone to see how things used to be. There was even the chocco vine (or whatever it is called), laden with fruit, rambling and scrambling over the yard wall; the old copper wash tub in the wash-house outside the back door; a treadle sewing machine with authentic fifties dress being made up; a coin in the slot gas meter ... lathe and plaster ceilings ...



toys, tea towels and washing lines .... and ....I could go on for ever, but . yes, you've guessed it ..... pegs.

Actually, the best thing about this museum is its dedicated curator, Anna Cossu. In spite of the museum being officially closed on the day we went, Anna kindly opened up the rickety front door and showed us around. Up the narrow winding staircase (mind you don't bang your head) and into a small bedroom dedicated to the art, or drudgery, of laundry as it used to be done when women were judged by the state of their whites.

Overlooking the staircase was what I had come to see. An illuminated showcase containing a wonderful variety of artistically displayed clothes pegs.
Lots of these pegs I had never seen before and I was truly staggered. Anna, with the help of a colleague has done a wonderful job with the construction and arrangement of these pegs in all their glory.... it is something that everyone should see.

We exchanged peg stories and I left Anna with the gift of a motley collection of pegs that she hadn't seen before. We, on the other hand, came away with a wealth of information from this hugely enthusiastic person.

Thank you Anna, for your dedication and enthusiasm. You deserve a real halo. The place is an absolute credit to you and we certainly won't forget our visit.

SUSANNAH PLACE MUSEUM:
..... a 19th century terrace of four houses giving an insight into domestic working class life from 1844 to 1990. There is also a circa 1915 corner shop where you are able to buy gifts and the friendly and knowledgeable staff give guided tours. It is at 58-64 Gloucester Street, The Rocks, Sydney.
Open 10 am - 5 pm on weekends and daily during January and NSW school holidays.
Last Tour of the day at 4 p.m.
Contact Telephone number: 9241 1893

Pardon my French ....

On a recent trip to New Zealand, something made me look on Ebay France for pegs. In France they are called "pince a linge".

There was an old (ancienne) wooden peg with a price of 5 Euros. I do not speak French and as I could not understand where the seller was prepared to ship to, I took a gamble and entered my bid.

I was then nervous that the seller wouldn't post it to Australia so I typed out a question and asked good old Google to translate it.

I therefore sent the question in French and sure enough, back came the answer "2.5 Euros".

I am now the proud owner of the Ancienne Pince a Linge shown above.

This success gave me the confidence to bid on "12 tres vieilles pinces a linge zinc BSGDG a voir".



These very unusual steel pegs were 12 Euros plus 8 Euros postage with a few days to go before the auction finished. Someone overbid me and so I put in my maximum bid as 21 Euros and sat back for the final minutes of the auction. With 3 (yes THREE) seconds to go, I was outbid and lost these great pegs. Who in the world was prepared to put in a huge maximum bid for this lot?

Could it be a French museum I wonder?

If you know ..... do tell, s'il vous plait!!!

Hello Kitty, well Hello Kitty, its so nice to see you back where you belong .....

On a recent foray into Ebay Singapore (pardon me for advertising) I made a bid on a "Hello Kitty" peg. I had bid $4.00 and a few days later found that I was the successful bidder.

I wrote to the seller and asked whether she was prepared to post the peg to Australia and asked what the cost would be.

She replied that if I lived in Melbourne, she would deliver it to me as she was flying in for one night in a week's time.

Now DB and I are avid fans of a TV program about border security which highlights the problems the department of Customs and Immigration has with visitors arriving in Australia.

If a person is only staying one day after a long haul flight, their reason for visiting is called into question in case they are simply acting as drug couriers.

Well, this young lady rang me to say she was staying in a hotel near the casino and so(having added money laundering to our list of suspicions) with some trepidation, DB and I drove in to see her.

She handed me the package that I had purchased and I could not contain myself, I had to ask her why she was only staying the one night.

She was an air hostess.

How many people have had $4 purchases hand delivered from a place that is an 8 hour flight away? At least we didn't have to pay carriage!!

Oh Calcutta !!

I have a best friend in England who has connections in India .... more precisely, in Calcutta. Well, actually it is now known as KOLKATA, but sounds the same.

Knowing we were about to visit this city, my friend very kindly arranged for us to stay in the company flat which came with a driver as well as our own houseboy.

We arrived after a long flight. We had been required to change planes in Dubai after a late arrival which meant that.. not only did we have to run through the airport to get the second flight, but also that our luggage got left behind.

On arrival in Kolkata we had to complete a staggering amount of paperwork to report our missing bags, but we were welcomed by the driver who had patiently waited for us.

He drove us quickly to the flat trying to avoid the large potholes in the road on the way. We were on the 6th floor of a large building and our houseboy, Rajat, who spoke a little English directed us to a local shop. The shop was the size of a cupboard and packed to the rafters with boxes and packets covered in dust. Here we were able to buy toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and a safety razor.

Then we slept .....

DB was still quite ill and so after breakfast Rajat and I left her behind whilst we went to a local market to look for pegs. It took Rajat quite a while to understand just how determined I was to obtain as many different pegs as I could, but that morning we managed to buy 60 different packets. (I think we pegged out Kolkata).

After two days my luggage arrived from Dubai but there was still no sign of DB's suitcase, but that is another story.

Oh Calcutta - 66 new packets, what joy!!