Packing for cold and hot weather

Two colour, red and black, lightweight, wheel on suitcase. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

.I start packing for a trip two months in advance, usually in the wrong season. It used to be simple. 

Winter Clothes Packing

You pack your winter clothes in a suitcase, or two, or three, and put it in the attic. When winter comes, all your thin and sleeveless tops go into the suitcases. Out comes the thermal underwear and heavy jumpers and warm winter scarves.

Now I keep all my clothes around me. 

Packing For Hot & Cold Weather

But I also buy in the wrong season. I need some warm and some light clothing whatever the apparent weather at my destination. I know that I can find cold weather in summer, on top of a mountain, out at se, late at night, or indoors in air conditioning. 

I can also find warm places in winter, rooms with lots of people, a house where the thermostat has gone wrong and we are permanently overheated.

Charity shops and second hand stores are good places to look for out of season clothes. People give away items no longer needed. Next season they will buy new, or bury for their new size, having put on weight or, sometimes, lost weight.

Here is the story of an attempt to deal with some of these problems. Thrift Plus.

 Useful Websites

https://thrift.plus/our-story

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Why buy or pack a Sarong - shawl or beach wrap - a handy travel item

 

Angela Lansbury wearing a tube sarong from Indonesia. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

The sarong above is a tube sarong, tied on my right at waist level.

I find a large lightweight shawl is handy to stuff in a tote bag when travelling. You can wear it as a shawl in cold, air conditioning in a restaurant in the evening. Use it to cover up shorts. Cover cleavage. Weare in a temple. Fold into a pillow. Keep off insects. Cover against too much sun.

What is the difference between a sarong and a kebaya? A sarong sounds simpler, like a large sash, or something loose you wind around yourself, like a shorter version of a saree. A large beach scarf? Close in meaning. 

Singaporean Kabayas 

In Singapore you can see and buy fitted dresses or matching bodices and skirts called kebayas. Sometimes also called sarong kebayas. The Singapore Airlines air hostesses wear kebayas.

Indonesian Sarongs

In Indonesia the temples ask men and women who arrive in shorts to cover their legs. At the outside entrance to the temples and sellers of sarongs. A sarong is seamed up vertically, called a tube sarong, so it cannot come apart revealing your legs. Unlike a wrap skirt.

The cost is quite modest. 

My husband brought his home for me and gave it to me later as a birthday present.

My first thought was to use the cloth as a tablecloth. That would involve undoing the seam. You could make a long oblong tablecloth. Or a square tablecloth with matching napkins. Or a tablecloth with a spare runner to use midweek with table mats to add a bit of glamour or elegance without having to keep washing and risking staining the full size tablecloth. Or a cloth with a matching cover for a side table next to a nearby sofa.

My husband said, "No. It's a present for you. Make a dress out of it."

Fabric Patterns

The pattern might be repeated. 

My husband bought one in brown effect. I prefer lively red colour clothing to boring brown. 

I prefer curves to geometrics. Less rigid. No sharp points. More restful. 

Curves are more practical. Curbes and waves are less likely to show that your bust or shoulders are not horizontal. No need to keep pulling the verticals and horizontals straight for photos.

 I asked, "What was the choice of patterns? I suppose you would not have wanted to wear pink? Did you choose this one because the brown looked more masculine?" 

He answered, 'It was the best option of the patterns available. The others were worse." 

Shortly after his return home, he gave it to me as a birthday present. It was the best present ever - at least for a long time. 

Why? Because I like something to wear. Also, it taught me about sarongs.

How Indonesian Men Wear Sarongs

The Indonesian men wear sarongs, not by tying them, but by overlapping them. How? 

My husband said, "I have to tie a knot. Otherwise, after a few paces it comes undone. They are better at it. Let me show you what they do.

"Start by lifting it over your head and wearing it with the top at waist level and the hem at ankle level. Holding.it out with your right hand, fold it across your front with one vertical crease or fold on your right side. Fold the top at your waist down over the outside several times into a roll and tuck it in, with the hem at a suitable level, long enough to cover your legs and ankles, not so long that you trip over it when walking.

Simple Halter Neck Dress

For the beach you can make a skirt or a halter neck dress. I prefer something which covers me up.

Create A Quick Caftan

My first thought was a quick same day fix. I could simply cut a slit for the neck to make a quick caftan. Oversew the neck slit edge, and seam it, or edge with a thin ribbon or bias binding. 

Add Tabard Ties

Tie the sides with ribbon, like a tabard. Wear it over a white long white tee-shirt which covers the hips to avoid the nuisance of having to seam up the tabard sides.

Make A Long One Piece Dress

My second thoughts were to make a dress. 

My husband said, "You can pull it up over the bust." 

Yes. 

Make A Long Two Piece Dress

I replied, "I can cut the overhand off the right. You can use that piece for a matching top.

"Or just a matching scarf . I can wear the scarf over a white tee-shirt to match the long skirt.

Useful Websites

Videos of tying sarongs

https://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Sarong

General Info

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarong

Sarongs to buy

https://www.carousell.sg/p/kain-batik-halus-tiga-setangkai-sarong-1111219512/?t-id=eAVctBDsKG_1678948409752&t-referrer_browse_type=search_results&t-referrer_context=category_slp&t-referrer_request_id=YAGFnPjBT-VOxP1k&t-referrer_search_query=sarong&t-referrer_source=search_landing&t-tap_index=17

Hot pink and other colors with tassel edge - picture on their website and my Pinterest  page Angela Lansbury Dress Of The Day

https://sg.shein.com/Tassel-Knot-Side-Cover-Up-Skirt-p-10603728-cat-2174

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How The Heating Works - in your hotel or holiday home or home - how to turn it off in summer

Temperature controller for radiators. Centigrade. Five to twenty five. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

Problem
The temperature rose. I could not turn off the heating.

Heating has always been a mystery to me. Whether I am at home, in a hotel, a place I've rented, or in somebody else's flat when they are asking me, and everybody else, what to do.

How do you know what is affecting the boiler and what is turning the radiators? Where is the controller? What do the mystery numbers mean? What temperature do you set?

Answer
Now I know. My son who had a degree in engineering explained. I can't believe how simple and obvious it is, once you know.

Finding The Controller
I remember watching an electrician looking for a flat's heating controller and finding it on the lounge wall. I always wondered how he knew which sets of dials operated what.

What Is It Operating?
You can tell by both the location and the temperature setting.

You might have a dial or two in the kitchen in the boiler cupboard or timers next to it. They set start and stop times.

Is It Working?
You go into a new flat and nothing seems to happen when you fiddle the dials or set the times. Is it a 24 hour clock or a 12 hour clock. Aha!

So before you call out somebody to check, you can do your own check.

If you can't see which is which, you should be able to tell within ten minutes whether the water has got hotter, by turning on the hot tap, and within an hour whether the radiator is working, by feeling it. (Make sure it is turned on, as well. Look at the radiator. Does it have a dial?)

Story
I turned off the switch in the hot cupboard but the kitchen and house were still stifling hot. I called my son to come and help.

Finding The Controller
He asked, "Where is the temperature controller?"

What controller?

He walks into the hall and looks. "Look! There's a dial on the wall."

"Oh, yes. Outside the water boiler cupboard. I thought it operated the water boiler. How do I know it regulates the radiators and temperature of the rooms?"

Checking Temperature Range
"Look at the temperature. What does it say?"

"Er? Five to twenty five. It is centigrade. I grew up with fahrenheit."

"This is centigrade. What is boiling point?"

"A hundred?"

"Yes. In theory a boiler goes up to a hundred. But this only goes up to 25. That would be pretty cool for water. So it isn't boiling water; it's warming the air.

"In centigrade body temperature is much lower than boiling point, about 28ish. You swim in water that's about 30.  A hot tub would be much hotter. Let's say 40 maximum - you can look it up and check.

"The control setting in an airing cupboard is controlling the boiler. The cupboard gets hot and can stay hot for hours, when the room temperature has gone down, so a controller measuring the heat in the air would not tell you the right thing if it measured the temperature in your cupboard. The boiler might be set to run at 50-60 degrees centigrade. Not a hundred, because people would keep scalding themselves.

Boilers temperature controls start at 50 degrees. Not five. So your dial going from 5 degrees to 25 is not heating water but the air, so it is not for the boiler but the radiators.

How The Dial Works
"To pick up the temperature of the house, the dial is in the living room, sometimes the corridor. If you've just moved in, look around at eye level in the living room and corridor. The electrician just walks into the living room or corridor, then scans the walls, turning his head, until he spots a little box on the wall. He might ask you where it is first. If you don't know, he finds it."

Air Conditioning
"In Singapore in a community centre, the box controlling the air conditioning is usually by the door. The leader of the club often knows what to do without calling the management."

"That's air con, in a public building or hotel in a hot country.

Controller Position
Let's continue looking at the heating. To pick up the temperature of the entire flat, rather than the kitchen cupboard, the controller will be in the living room or corridor.

Setting Temperature
"You set it to a temperature like 20 degrees. You'll find advice all over the internet and sometimes in a leaflet with your electricity bill. If your bills are too high in winter, you may want to turn down the temperature.

How Room Temperature Controller Works
"When the corridor gets lower the controller turns on. It's a heat sensitive dial. It aims at the target temperature, and turns on until you reach the target temperature. Then it turns off. When the temperature goes down again, it turns back on."

The Moral Of The Story
I have lived in the UK, USA, Spain and Singapore and stayed in numerous buildings and been to conferences and clubs. Now I shall look at every controller, for lights, air con, or heating, and learn what to do.

Next time it won't be somebody else explaining to me. It will be me explaining to somebody else. I dare say the same applies to you.

Tips
http://www.thehottubandswimspacompany.com/about-us/blog/item/576-what-is-the-best-temperature-for-your-hot-tub

Hot Tub Temperature
PS The hot tub temperature, according to the industry, should not be above 40 for health reasons. 38-9 max would be about right.

The lowest temperature is about 7, even when nobody is using it, not zero, to be sure it doesn't freeze and cause damage.

http://www.ragsdaleair.com/blog/why-wont-my-central-air-conditioning-unit-turn-on-4/
Best tip - make sure it is not set to heat. Set it to cool. Just think about it. You told the poor controller to heat and then you told it to cool.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.  Please share links to your favourite posts.