cougie uk
Guru
My dad would always bump into pals on holiday. He just knew everyone.
Coincidences.....what are your strangest?
- Thread starter Dave7
- Start date
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KnittyNorah
Über Member
- Location
- The Frozen North (of England)
Coincidence #1
In 2008 I spent 3 mo in SE Asia. I went to the tourist office in Malacca, southern Malaysia, to find somewhere nice to stay for a few days. They suggested a b&b in the historic area where 'fluent English is spoken'. They booked for me and I got a taxi to it.
Very pleasant bloke opens the door, introduces himself. He's Pete, Chinese Malaysian and speaks perfect English with a slight northern accent. He shows me to my room, asks me where I'm from. 'Well I was born and brought up in the NW of England but I've lived all over the world.'
him 'Oh, where in the north west?'
me 'near such and such a town'
him 'really? where did you go to school? My wife's from that area.'
me 'XYZ Grammar School'
him (going to the bottom of the stairs) 'Jan! Jan! Come down! You and this lady might know each other ...!
We did! Not well - we were in different 'streams' but still ...!
Small world.
Coincidence #2
On leaving school, Jan'd gone into tourism/hotel management. Pete, had won a scholarship to a Swiss patisserie school from his catering college in Malaysia, then got a job in London at one of the big hotels where Jan was doing some sort of hotel management 'internship' - probably an apprenticeship 'back in the day'; that's where they'd first met but it was literally just a meeting of all the new employees/apprentices. Nothing other than a bit of friendly chatter that was exchanged between all the 'lowly' staff in their breaks and so on.
About 10 years later Jan had gone out to manage a luxury beach resort at Langkawi and found Pete there as head of Patisserie; the 'rest is history' as they say and they'd got married in England at the end of the holiday season. After a few years they came back to England and ran a couple of upmarket pub/restaurants in Cheshire before deciding to semi-retire back in Malaysia.
Coincidence # 3
One evening over coffee, talking about school, Jan said to me, do you remember Beth Jones who wanted to be a nanny but went to be a nurse? I often wondered what happened to her ...
So I told her that (by another odd coincidence, which is a long story) I'd met Beth in the early 1970s when I was working in Austria; she'd done her RSCN at Great Ormond Street and was employed by an extremely wealthy family, one of whose children was very unwell with some chronic disease; she had met a Scotsman called Dave Unusual-Surname and was engaged, so I assumed she'd be long since married and maybe divorced a few times by now ...
'Dave Unusual-Surname?' interrupted Pete.
'Yes ... why?'
'Was he a bit older than her and us?' asked Pete
'Yeah, I did get the impression he was. Maybe about 10 years which seemed like a lot back then. Why?'
'Did she say what he did for a living? I think I might know him.'
So I told him what she'd told me how they'd met and where ...
Yes, Pete had known him - he'd met him when he'd been sent to an exclusive hotel in Zermatt to do some of his work experience during his Patisserie scholarship; he said he'd been very kind to him, a stranger in a very strange land, very early in a very intensive course, when so many hotel managers could be really very heartless to the junior kitchen staff.
In 2008 I spent 3 mo in SE Asia. I went to the tourist office in Malacca, southern Malaysia, to find somewhere nice to stay for a few days. They suggested a b&b in the historic area where 'fluent English is spoken'. They booked for me and I got a taxi to it.
Very pleasant bloke opens the door, introduces himself. He's Pete, Chinese Malaysian and speaks perfect English with a slight northern accent. He shows me to my room, asks me where I'm from. 'Well I was born and brought up in the NW of England but I've lived all over the world.'
him 'Oh, where in the north west?'
me 'near such and such a town'
him 'really? where did you go to school? My wife's from that area.'
me 'XYZ Grammar School'
him (going to the bottom of the stairs) 'Jan! Jan! Come down! You and this lady might know each other ...!
We did! Not well - we were in different 'streams' but still ...!
Small world.
Coincidence #2
On leaving school, Jan'd gone into tourism/hotel management. Pete, had won a scholarship to a Swiss patisserie school from his catering college in Malaysia, then got a job in London at one of the big hotels where Jan was doing some sort of hotel management 'internship' - probably an apprenticeship 'back in the day'; that's where they'd first met but it was literally just a meeting of all the new employees/apprentices. Nothing other than a bit of friendly chatter that was exchanged between all the 'lowly' staff in their breaks and so on.
About 10 years later Jan had gone out to manage a luxury beach resort at Langkawi and found Pete there as head of Patisserie; the 'rest is history' as they say and they'd got married in England at the end of the holiday season. After a few years they came back to England and ran a couple of upmarket pub/restaurants in Cheshire before deciding to semi-retire back in Malaysia.
Coincidence # 3
One evening over coffee, talking about school, Jan said to me, do you remember Beth Jones who wanted to be a nanny but went to be a nurse? I often wondered what happened to her ...
So I told her that (by another odd coincidence, which is a long story) I'd met Beth in the early 1970s when I was working in Austria; she'd done her RSCN at Great Ormond Street and was employed by an extremely wealthy family, one of whose children was very unwell with some chronic disease; she had met a Scotsman called Dave Unusual-Surname and was engaged, so I assumed she'd be long since married and maybe divorced a few times by now ...
'Dave Unusual-Surname?' interrupted Pete.
'Yes ... why?'
'Was he a bit older than her and us?' asked Pete
'Yeah, I did get the impression he was. Maybe about 10 years which seemed like a lot back then. Why?'
'Did she say what he did for a living? I think I might know him.'
So I told him what she'd told me how they'd met and where ...
Yes, Pete had known him - he'd met him when he'd been sent to an exclusive hotel in Zermatt to do some of his work experience during his Patisserie scholarship; he said he'd been very kind to him, a stranger in a very strange land, very early in a very intensive course, when so many hotel managers could be really very heartless to the junior kitchen staff.
Was that a deliberate cultural reference or a coincidence of phrasing:
"Well, I'll go the foot of our stairs!" is a northern idiom expressing surprise or amazement.
KnittyNorah
Über Member
- Location
- The Frozen North (of England)
LOL! I'm a northerner and have never known that as a northern idiom ... so yet another coincidence!
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
Last week I bought a couple of tickets for a local gig.
Last night one of my friends invited me to the same gig!
I'll be back soon with some more crap coincidences
Last night one of my friends invited me to the same gig!
I'll be back soon with some more crap coincidences
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
Many many years ago I was about 17
I was invited to go to Canada with my friend and his family and work on my friend's sister's husband's farm
It was near London, Ontario
but not THAT near
the nearest 'town' was called Ilderton
Ilderton was basically 3 farms house around a main road where the main railroad crossed it
Anyway - as I was off on holiday for 3 week my parents decided to go on a tour of Scotland on their own
Now - they had a dog - which needed walking. However my Dad was injured during the war so couldn;t walk far
so - dog walking was done by my Mum - while my Dad syatyed in the car or near it
ANyway - to the point - finally
One day my Mum was off walking the dog - which normally took 45-60 minutes and my Dad was leaning against the car looking at the view
and a car puller in nearby - the same make and model as his car
so the 2 blokes got talking
turns out they were one of the families from one of the 3 farmhouse in Ilderton - and new the place I was working in very well
I was invited to go to Canada with my friend and his family and work on my friend's sister's husband's farm
It was near London, Ontario
but not THAT near
the nearest 'town' was called Ilderton
Ilderton was basically 3 farms house around a main road where the main railroad crossed it
Anyway - as I was off on holiday for 3 week my parents decided to go on a tour of Scotland on their own
Now - they had a dog - which needed walking. However my Dad was injured during the war so couldn;t walk far
so - dog walking was done by my Mum - while my Dad syatyed in the car or near it
ANyway - to the point - finally
One day my Mum was off walking the dog - which normally took 45-60 minutes and my Dad was leaning against the car looking at the view
and a car puller in nearby - the same make and model as his car
so the 2 blokes got talking
turns out they were one of the families from one of the 3 farmhouse in Ilderton - and new the place I was working in very well
Adam4868
Legendary Member
Ive maybe told this before but it still freaks me out when I think of it....
I spent a lot of time travelling from the age of 18/19 until my mid 30s,like you do 😁
Anyway went to Thailand with a friend for a few months in my 20s,spent a couple of months together and went our own ways.Never really saw much of him after that as I wasn't back home much.
Fast forward 10/12 years and I'd spent a year travelling through China.I was heading to the Burmese border to cross and then down to Thailand to return home for a while...get some more money from that dreaded thing called work !
Anyways met a Italian lad on the overnight bus to said town.Found a room/fleapit and I said to Paolo "let me sleep for two days and don't disturb me".China takes it toll on you that way.
In no time at all he's waking me up with I've met someome from England that knows you ! Bearing in mind that I'd usually say I was from Manchester as more people in China knew that compared to Blackpool.He was insistant I came and met him and lo and behold you guessed it my mate from Blackpool.
Spent a week together drinking and remeniscing....
I've bumped into people from around Asia and Oz over the years as most went to the usual haunts on their travels.
But this one still freaks me out a little 😁
I spent a lot of time travelling from the age of 18/19 until my mid 30s,like you do 😁
Anyway went to Thailand with a friend for a few months in my 20s,spent a couple of months together and went our own ways.Never really saw much of him after that as I wasn't back home much.
Fast forward 10/12 years and I'd spent a year travelling through China.I was heading to the Burmese border to cross and then down to Thailand to return home for a while...get some more money from that dreaded thing called work !
Anyways met a Italian lad on the overnight bus to said town.Found a room/fleapit and I said to Paolo "let me sleep for two days and don't disturb me".China takes it toll on you that way.
In no time at all he's waking me up with I've met someome from England that knows you ! Bearing in mind that I'd usually say I was from Manchester as more people in China knew that compared to Blackpool.He was insistant I came and met him and lo and behold you guessed it my mate from Blackpool.
Spent a week together drinking and remeniscing....
I've bumped into people from around Asia and Oz over the years as most went to the usual haunts on their travels.
But this one still freaks me out a little 😁
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presta
Guru
In 2005 I was at Woody's Top hostel. It was full of cyclists, among them a Geordie from Newcastle on a recumbent trike, and a guy from Derbyshire cycling the coast of Britain on a champagne coloured Mercian. I saw the Mercian guy again the following night at Beverley, along with a few of the others.
When I was in Cornwall in 2006 I met another cyclist, also on a champagne coloured Mercian at Golant, and then bumped into him again at Coverack, and Lands End. When I got to Newquay I was sat by the harbour and there was a cheery 'hello there', and when I turned around there was the guy with the champagne Mercian: the one from Woody's Top in 2005. I then bumped into him again at Tintagel, Elmscott and Lynton.
In 2011 I saw the Geordie with the recumbent at Earby hostel, I didn't recognise him until he mentioned his garage full of recumbents.
When I was in Cornwall in 2006 I met another cyclist, also on a champagne coloured Mercian at Golant, and then bumped into him again at Coverack, and Lands End. When I got to Newquay I was sat by the harbour and there was a cheery 'hello there', and when I turned around there was the guy with the champagne Mercian: the one from Woody's Top in 2005. I then bumped into him again at Tintagel, Elmscott and Lynton.
In 2011 I saw the Geordie with the recumbent at Earby hostel, I didn't recognise him until he mentioned his garage full of recumbents.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Resurrecting the thread to announce my latest coincidence...
I just got an email from Samsung offering me a special discount on their products. I thought to myself that I would quite like a new Android tablet since my current Samsung tablet runs at only about 1/4 the speed of my phone. It is okay generally but can be tardy. For instance... There is a significant delay opening big sites such as Amazon. But still, I don't really need a replacement.
5 seconds later I accidentally kicked the tablet off a coffee table and across the floor!
I thought that the tablet had survived unscathed, but tilting the screen to catch the sunlight shows that the edge of the screen is cracked! Fortunately, the screen still works OK and the crack is only on the side bezel. I don't think that the crack will spread. If it does at some point then that tablet upgrade might be needed after all...
I just got an email from Samsung offering me a special discount on their products. I thought to myself that I would quite like a new Android tablet since my current Samsung tablet runs at only about 1/4 the speed of my phone. It is okay generally but can be tardy. For instance... There is a significant delay opening big sites such as Amazon. But still, I don't really need a replacement.
5 seconds later I accidentally kicked the tablet off a coffee table and across the floor!
I thought that the tablet had survived unscathed, but tilting the screen to catch the sunlight shows that the edge of the screen is cracked! Fortunately, the screen still works OK and the crack is only on the side bezel. I don't think that the crack will spread. If it does at some point then that tablet upgrade might be needed after all...
captain nemo1701
Space cadet. Deck 42 Main Engineering.
- Location
- Bristol
As a paid up Trekkie, I see 1701 popping up, the registry number of the Enterprise.
Last year in a Whitby car park, I paid for 6 hours....ticket ran out at 17:01.
Transferring images from my phone to PC the other day.....1701 of them
Last year in a Whitby car park, I paid for 6 hours....ticket ran out at 17:01.
Transferring images from my phone to PC the other day.....1701 of them
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
Just last week:
Was doing some Accredited Marshaling for British Cycling near Telford on a Thursday after work. Due to the traffic out of Birmingham in the evening, and my car being in for repairs, I decided that the better option was to take the train to the nearby station, and then cycle to HQ. Was hoping that there was someone localish who could give me a lift back (with the traffic being much lighter), but always had the train as a fall-back option.
One of the other accredited marshals lived in Hall Green, and so offered me a lift back. Turns out she knows my neck of Birmingham pretty well too.
Chatting on the way back, and she noted that her son now lives less than a mile from my house, which is why she knew my area so well. And then discovered that her grandson is not only going to the same school as my son next year, but will be in the same class. This was just the day after "transition day" when children right across education get to visit their next teacher, and so the two had met just the day before, without realising that their Dad and Nanna were going to meet up the following day.
Was doing some Accredited Marshaling for British Cycling near Telford on a Thursday after work. Due to the traffic out of Birmingham in the evening, and my car being in for repairs, I decided that the better option was to take the train to the nearby station, and then cycle to HQ. Was hoping that there was someone localish who could give me a lift back (with the traffic being much lighter), but always had the train as a fall-back option.
One of the other accredited marshals lived in Hall Green, and so offered me a lift back. Turns out she knows my neck of Birmingham pretty well too.
Chatting on the way back, and she noted that her son now lives less than a mile from my house, which is why she knew my area so well. And then discovered that her grandson is not only going to the same school as my son next year, but will be in the same class. This was just the day after "transition day" when children right across education get to visit their next teacher, and so the two had met just the day before, without realising that their Dad and Nanna were going to meet up the following day.
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