thermos cookware

A few of my friends who have already resided in their own residence (mine is still NOT ready). Have advised me to purchase house essentials slowly as we wait not-so patiently for the arrival of the house keys. This is because there will be so much things that needs to be purchased when we finally do get our long awaited flat.

I purchased a Thermos 7 pcs 8/18 stainless steel cookware set for.. get this, SGD50. This baby actually costs more than SGD300.

A lady sold it off to clear her stock. I purchased this ages ago.

Recently I went to Pastamnia for a field trip with my students. The chef showed us how to prepare a pizza. He started off by introducing us to different types of pans and cookwares. And explained how different cookwares aren't suitable for induction cooktops. That was when it struck me.

"What if the cookware that I bought isn't induction cooker friendly?"

I have been dying to own a kitchen with an induction cooktop/hob. And it comes with a weird reason.

I like to see everything even. Like the kitchen top especially, I like everything to be of even height. The normal gas hob potrudes out. And I do not like that.

Like I said, it IS a weird reason.

It is like looking from the side-view at rows of books neatly pressed against a bookshelf and one book potrudes out. I don't like it.

Call it obsessive compulsive disorder or just plain weird but that is just what I would particularly like to have. Neatly arranged interior.

I do not even like the sight of rice cookers, air pots or any appliances situated on the kitchen top. I am particular about it. My motto- use it and keep it.

I am drawn to the bosch induction cooktop :

It is a sight for sore eyes. My goodness.

Back to my Thermos cookware. It states that it is a 18/8 stainless steel. Further googling if the respected cookware is compatible with an induction cooktop showed depressing results.

Until I read further :


(Regrettably, there is no simple way to know if this or that line, or particular piece, of cookware is really induction-ready, unless you have the opportunity to actually handle it. In that case, all you need is a simple magnet of any kind--say one of those decorative toys meant to be stuck onto refrigerator doors. If such a magnet readily clings to the base of the cookware piece, that piece is induction-ready; if the magnet does not cling, or clings only very weakly, the piece is not.)


I removed the cookwares from its box and placed the magnets (2 out of kiasuism) to my pleasant surprise, it stuck on!


The side of the box was all written in Spanish so I did not undertand what were the features of the respected cookwares.

Then I flipped the box to the other side and what do you know-English! Perfect English!

And it states clearly that it is induction friendly.

I felt stupid.  And cheated.. by a box. Oh well. We all have had those days don't we?

So.. yes! I can still get the induction hob/cooktop for my new house!

Essential Oils

Irman has been having fever for 5 straight days. On top of that, he has been coughing with add-ons of runny nose and slight conjunctivitis. A combo. 

We visited the doctor and he was prescribed with medicines but honestly, there wasn't much recuperating going on.

I was scrolling down facebook news feeds and stumbled upon a lady who posted that her son has been unwell too, she applied essential oils via the diffuser and all over her son. She wrote down and I quote "after applying essential oils a couple of times, yesterday night after 1am, my helper and me was able to sleep peacefully."

I decided to try it out. Reena was also infected with the germs. She was feeling feverish at the point of time.

I read up on essential oils and its benefits in a facebook page :

https://m.facebook.com/younglivingwithlittle2belles?_rdr

It says to apply lavender essential oil to our fingers and massage the bony part of the eye to reduce conjunctivitis. I did not do this as I was afraid it might irritate Irman's eyes instead. But it also states that I can massage the essential oils onto the pressure point of his toes.

I googled further on pressure point on babies feet and found this.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what I did next. I integrated both methods into one. I applied the lavender essential oil onto my fingertips and massaged Irman and Reena's toes. Followed by their Badger Chest Rub before putting on their socks. I personally like to read out duas or prayers as I massaged any part of my children's body while they're unwell :

Du’a (Prayer) for Healing

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

اَللَّهُمَّ اَنْتَ شَافِى

Allahumma Anta Shafi

O Allah thou art the Source of all Healing

لاَ شِفَاءَ إِلا شِفَاءُكَ

La Shifa a illa Shifa uka

There is no Healing except that which comes from Thee

شِفَاءً لا يُغَا دِرُ سَقَمًا

Shifa an La Yughadiru Saqaman

Grant us Healing that does not exclude any Ailment

On top of that, I used the air revitaliser in my room.

My mother has a collection of the Bio Sense air revitaliser concentrate. I took a liking of the "Eucalyptus and Peppermint" air revitaliser concentrate. I read that it eases breathing. I inserted that into the air revitaliser machine. My room is air conditioned so it assists in circulating the scent swiftly. And it smells amazing.

The next day, the children woke up with minimal runny nose, no fever and no conjunctivitis. Alhamdulillah.

Massaging children on their toes with the essential oils is also calming for them, Reena requests that I do it with her every night before she goes to bed eversince.

No harm trying with your little bub if they aren't feeling well.

Stinky Feet

Reena has a very bad case of stinky feet.

It got to the point where we had to dessert her stinky shoes at the Villa suites hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Reena was playing in my brother's hotel room. That was when he acknowledged the fact that it was crazy stinky when Reena removed her shoes, the entire room stank.

We bought her sandals to air her stinky feet which didn't really help.

According to howstuffworks website, "Foot odor is different from other types of body odor. Most body odor emanates from the genitals and armpits, which contain apocrine sweat glands. The rest of the body, including the feet, is covered with eccrine sweat glands. What's the difference? All sweat is basically odorless, but the sweat from apocrine glands contains protein and amino acids that feed bacteria living on the skin. The bacteria generate body odor."

When we got back to Singapore, I googled on simple home remedies to eliminate the pungent smell present in Reena's feet.


I found an interesting remedy. Two remedies in fact, and decided to try both out.


1. Baking Soda

Sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda, is an effective remedy to eliminate foot odor. It neutralizes the pH of sweat and reduces bacteria.

• Add baking soda in warm water (one tablespoon for every quart of water) and soak your feet in it for 15 to 20 minutes every night for about one week.
• You can also sprinkle baking soda in both your shoes and socks before wearing them.

2. Lavender Oil

Lavender oil not only smells good but also helps kill bacteria. Plus, it has antifungal properties that are effective in treating foot odor.

1. Put a few drops of lavender essential oil in warm water.
2. Soak your feet in it for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Repeat twice daily for a few days.

I googled on essential oils and found out that lemongrass house was having a sale.

I purchased the pure lavender oil there for about $21.

I inserted about 4-5 drops of that into a tub of water, which was just nice to soak Reena's feet in.

I used my mother's step stool to act as a chair for Reena to sit on as she soaks her feet in for 15-20 minutes. (No small chairs in this house due to space constraints, our BTO Punggol Topaz is darn slow).

This was practiced continuously for a week. On top of that, we sprinkled baking soda into Reena's shoes before she wears them to school.

Alhamdulillah. It was a huge success! Her feet doesn't stink anymore after a week!

Try it out. It's definitely safe for young children.

sensational

Irman has just turned 1 on 8th June 2014.

We had a big celebration for Reena's 1st birthday, but we realised she didn't really get to enjoy her birthday that much. She was grumpy, sweaty and tired.

We thought this year, we will give him (and myself) a treat to Kuala Lumpur since coincidentally, we have a wedding reception to attend to as well.

So our journey started from thursday night. We flew to Kuala Lumpur to the huge KLIA2 it was enprmous that it took us more than 1/2 an hour to get to the arrival hall. The travellator was limited. So we walked with a carrier and a 9kg baby in it.

We had dinner and took a bus to KL Sentral. Followed by a taxi to Quality Hotel. (No vacancy at the Maison Hotel) :'(

Children being children, they were overly excited in the hotel rooms. There was not a single space of that hotel room did Irman not crawl on.

Reena kept screaming in excitement. "Look mommy! Wow! Yeay! I like!"

After Quality Hotel we stayed in 1915 Hotel. It was a beautiful (althougha bit small), colonial style boutique hotel. Located near Masjid Jamek, it was very accessible to travel to masjid india and so forth. What's better was the price SGD37 per night.

If you're not fussy, this place is great. There's restaurants everywhere around it.

The day after, we spent two nights at D'Villa Residential Hotel. Located at Ampang. Location wise it is crazy far from everything.  However, the apartment suite room is good. It's huge enough to house my family of 4, my parents and two of my siblings.

There were 2 bedrooms, one living room, a kitchen and 1 huge toilet.

Fancy as it sounds, but it didn't cost much. About SGD $200+ per night.

We came here with a mission. My husband is a walking calculator. He calculates everything. Before we decided to have this holiday as a treat for Irman and my brithday, Idros told me to look out for our Eidul Fitri clothes which is much cheaper than Singapore.

That's our mission and that's what we got. Even Reena and Irman has bought theirs at an affordable price. We have yet again saved extra cash in purchasing the Eidul Fitri essentials.

We had a nice vacation again Alhamdulillah. Tiring as it is travelling with two little children. But rewarding as we get the chance to spend more time with botb of them.