Enamelware

Enamel is widely used throughout the world without us realising it.

We may only be privy to the cookware or cutlery that we use or are accustomed to on a daily basis but enamelware has been used since 1870's in the US.

In fact enamel came around existence in 1230 BC in Cyprus. 

Being in Malaysia and seeing them being used when I was a kid patronise Chinese coffee shops, I was always of the view that it originated from China.  

Enamel which was once loosing its popularity is now back in demand due to nostalgia and the internet. It is now more easier than ever to access or obtain enamelware online.

It is not only durable, retains heat well but if it is properly looked after, it turns into a heirloom to be handed down to the next generation.  

Heat retention is most important when you are camping or having outdoor activities. You want your coffee piping hot and to remain hot for longer periods. Which is why you see lots of cowboy adds using enamel cups sipping piping, smoking hot coffee.

Enamel cups or mugs are basically cast iron or steel, coated in liquid enamel glaze. They are not only durable but the coating prevents the iron from rusting. Available in an assortment of beautiful colours.

This I purchased when we had our dinner at Bungkus Kaw Kaw @ Pavilion Bukit Jalil on 26 August 2024. RM39.90 promotion subject to purchase of meal. They had a beautiful pink version that my daughter wanted but it was sold out. So I got the traditional colour. 

The inside is well coated 

I noticed that the joints need better welding process

Picture from the internet (Malaysian Chinese Kitchen). This is how I remember eggs were being served back in the old days in the authentic Chinese Kopitiam.

Do not confuse enamel ware with Porcelain products. Porcelain products command a premium and it is formed out of ceramic material out of clay.     

I will share in future post on some other enamel cups that we are using. 

M & W Grooming Products

26 August 2024 my daughter has a 1 day school holiday and wanted to explore Pavilion Bukit Jalil. 

I came across this grooming outlet on the 4th floor, lot P2.24, Pink Zone.

The sales personnel Ah Keong was very professional, patient and not only explained but demonstrated the products diligently. A mere intention to make a short stop to enquire about personal grooming products, turned up to becoming a half hour stop and spending more than RM1.5K sales for him.

These are the items I purchased.

The products were excellent and great. Compared to Zwilling, Victorinox and some other brands out there that I had personally tried, in my personal opinion, this is the best by far.

Price wise they are on the higher side but considering the quality and most important, I saw the results for myself, it was indeed a calculated purchase.

So what did I get?

Let's start with the Nano Crystal Hair Removal Device. This product with over 10,000 micro abrasive grains scrapes against your skin removing not only dead cells but more important it removes your body hair. I will upload a video on YouTube for readers to see the results for themselves. A word of caution, rub it on your skin gently and not roughly or vagariously. I ended up brushing one side of my arm due to this. But other than that incident due to my negligence, overall, the product did its job well. The hair was removed after a few gentle rubs. The skin was smooth after the hair removal and unlike using a razor, it did not leave behind micro stubs that made the skin rough to the touch. 

The business end of the product

Unscrewed the cap to see how the product was assembled 

Nano Crystal File. Same material as hair removal product above but the business end here is a darker shade of grey and not white. This file is not so much for dulling the edges of your freshly cut nails but more for bringing shine and buffing your nails. So instead of having various products to buff and shine your nails, you only have 1.

Nose hair trimer. Wonderful and smooth. Did not cut the inside of my nostrils even once.

Heel File. Also made of the same material as the hair remover and file. The business end is also the same colour as the file. Works great. Very gently on the sole of the foot to remove harden skin. This product was so much more gentle that the hair remover and no matter how hard and how much I scrubbed it on the sole of my feet, there was no bruises or cuts. Only smooth feet surface. Nice. Caution ya. This alone cost RM499. 

Closer look of the grains for the Nano Crystal 

After the vagarious scrubbing with the above product, use the Ceramide Foot cream with 40% glycerine. Per tube at RM88. I got 2 as it really soothes and moisturisers the skin.

The Claw Clipper and nail clippers worked brilliantly. The file that came with the clippers (covered in blue) worked flawlessly. As depicted in the final picture. Like I said above. So far the best clippers I had tried.

Other products I did not provide close up pictures are the Dead Skin Fork and 360° ear pick. The pictures are located in the first picture with all the other products in the pouch. The worked as intended and I did not face any issues with it.

Overall, all products worked well. M & W is a Sarawak based company selling their products that are designed and made in Korea.

Pelikan M600 Art Collection Special Edition Glauco Cambon Fountain Pen

It has been months since I had updated anything even my other social media platforms. 

Why? Busy, well yes. Business has its ups and downs. Busy with family too. 

But there was another reason. Not being grateful.

Everyone has their own issues in this life. Some may walk through life with a gold spoon in their mouth without a care in the world. Whilst, at the exact moment a small kid may be in a war torn country. Their life lies at the very end of a barrel. 

Even today, 21 August 2024, 8.30am, as I was attempting to buy nasi lemak from a road side stall, I saw a guy just about to climb onto his motorcycle accidentally dropped his plastic containing the breakfast he just bought. it fell on the dirty, sandy, muddy and pebbly road side and his curry puff popped out hitting the ground. I'm sure he felt devastated, maybe even defeated. Life is not fair and maybe even unjust, he might had felt. But, he brushed off the dirt and popped it back into the plastic, back on his way to the office. 

As for me, I could not purchase the nasi lemak as the supplier had not brought it there. 

That is life as we know it. But whatever it is, never loose faith. God answers all prayers.

Although I am always wanting for more, my life generally has been paved and taken care by god. I can get some of the things I want but not all, without much ado. Hence, I should be utterly grateful. But was I? No, I was not.

Let me explain. 

Sometime towards the end of January 2024, I purchased a Pelikan M600 Art Collection Glaucoma Cambon. I have been ogling and drooling over this pen since it was shared over the internet a few months back. Hence, when Mr. Lai from PenGallery managed to obtain 1 piece for me, I was somewhere over the rainbow. Filled with joy and felt blessed. I ignored the steep price as for that price I could have got a Pelikan M1000. Bigger barrel and much, much larger nib size.

Anyhow this was my first Pelikan. So it was even more that GREAT!

When I received it, my heart was pounding with excitement to see how it actually looked like, in the flesh. From the pictures I had previously seen on the internet it was stunning. The design and colours of the pen barrel just sparkled and popped. It was breathtaking. The only thing in my opinion that top its beauty was an Arco Celluloid.

So did my excitement last? Did the pen live up to the hype?

No. I was rather disappointed. I felt although the quality and craftsmanship was there but my particular pen barrel did not have enough red and blue and thus, in my opinion lacked the glitter and sparkle. So I question my purchase but I rubbed it off as the piece was hard to get and it was my first Pelikan.

The box, poster insert and pamphlet on the other hand were spectacular.

Writing wise it did not disappoint. It wrote flawlessly. 

But I just could not get over the fact of its lack lustre barrel. Hence, I did not use it as much.

Every time I looked at it, I thought Ahhhhh! Crap! Not joking at all. That was what I thought.

This is what I was talking about being ungrateful.

So as life would have it. It went missing sometime in March 2024. I searched everywhere. All over the place, like a headless chicken. But to no avail. 

Things pretty much was the same. Search and search but nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zip. Whatever soothes your fancy. It was no where to be seen. 

I asked my wife and kids, just in case you find it let me know. I will reward. But as one could expect, nothing turned up. 

To preserve my life only my kids knew the cost of the pen. Not my wife.

Heartbroken to say the least. It was akin to throwing money into the rubbish bin. Money just gone like that.

It affected me in more ways that I would like to admit. But the gist was, I felt wow! All at once! Why?! I know I'm not the most humblest, honest, thoughtful and holiest person but I am relatively good, sincere and honest. So this had to happen to me? We had already previously lost a Porsche 944 to fire, W202 Mercedes in the flood, Zippo Def Leppard lighter, Pilot mechanical pencil, gold locket with pink gem stone and gold pendant, damaged an M1 iPad Pro 2021 (ongoing repairs now - the replacement screen alone is RM2K) and etc. 

I think you get what I mean. 

Felt pissed and lost a little. Even stopped looking at pens, knives, antiques and even one of my favourite YouTube channel Figbooth on pens. I just didn't have the heart. Heck, I even forgo my intentions of getting a turntable to play LP's. By the way, I only have 1 LP. The soundtrack for Miami Vice. 

To say the least, things were not looking good of me.  

Anyhow, fast forward to today at roughly, 6.30am, my kids had left to school by bus and I was busy looking for my daughter's school locker key. She said she misplaced it and I offered to look for it. I saw her brown fluffy pencil box underneath her study desk and looked inside to see if her key is there. 

The key was not there but what did I find? The said missing Pelikan.

A sudden relief came over me and first thing I did was thank God. God is great. Thank You God.

Now that the mystery had been solved. I had a word with her when she got back from school. Her answer was I want to take to school then I forgot it was in my pencil box. Mind you she is only in standard 6, making her 12 years old.   

The moral of the story although the pen may not be my cup of tea but be grateful of what you have. Everything is a blessing. You will miss it once it is gone.