Baby Died In Hot Car - I forget my shopping - what can you do to remember?

We all forget things. I have left an umbrella behind in the car of a friend or a taxi to the airport. I once drove off leaving my teenager behind at school when he was loading up the car. I heard him slam the car door and thought he was in the car. But he had gone back to slam the car boot. Fortunately, I got no reply to my questions, stopped the car, looked back and saw him running after me frantically waving. No harm done.

But other people are not so lucky. I open the news and learn abut a death in a hot car.

An average of nearly forty children a year die inside cars. What can de done to prevent this?

Time to make it an offence to leave a child or pet in a locked car in hte USA. Put up a sign at supermarket entrance.

Suggestions to how to remember to take your child.

1 Warning reminders in car parks.

2 Warning reminders in cars.

3 Put your phone in your bag by the baby. If you think you might need your phone to hand in an emergency, alternatives could include leaving your shoe next to your baby, making your own handwritten or typed note, baby in car. Time for Mothercasre in the UK, to issue signs for the car.

End the news with reminders in hot weather. The temperature is ... do not leave chocolate on the back window, do not leave a baby or pet in the car.

People forget essential things all the time. They lose car keys. You don't want to lose your car keys with the baby inside.

Cars get stolen frequently. You don't want your car to be stolen with the baby inside.

But if you take the sleeping baby into the house in the car seat, that could also be a hazard.

Confession time
I left a bar of chocolate in a car. It melted. I had underestimated the heat and forgotten the chocolate. I don't do that again. With a child or pet you don't get a second chance.

How To Remember
The best and most unusal advice I saw:
1 leave a toy on the front seat to remind you that the baby is in the back.
2 Move the baby seat to the middle, not hidden behind the driver.
3 Buy a car seat alarm.

But you don't have children. How does this affect you?

The technology for alerts already exists. If you get into a car and don't do up your seatbelt, the car alerts you.

Set Alerts
The simplest alart is to set an alarm. If you know your journey taken ten minutes, set an alarm for nine or 15 to remind you to check on your child, or shopping.

Buy Alerts
Some alerts tell you that you have a passenger in the back when you open the driver's door. Others send a warning to your phone when you walk more than a certain number of feet.

One woman sais she bought car seat alarms or seats with alarms for her friends at a baby shower or a gift delivered when visitng a new mother or better still the mother to be. Garndaprents could also be given this gift, or give it to their children or children in law who are expecting a baby.

Some hire car companies supply car seats. Enquire about the seat's safety features and whether you need to buy an alarm.

An attempt was made to pass legislation but the law was not passed. Meanwhile there are sseveral items you can buy.

Some of the alarms have other functions, such as reminding you to remove your shopping or frozen food from the car.

An added incentive to buy one for yourself or others, or simply mention them to friends.

A simple solution is to set an alarm on your phone. Or to send a photo of the child dropped off to a whatsapp group of parents and granny

As they say, prevention is better than cure; forwarned is forearmed. Travel safely.

Useful websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7047435/Police-interview-mother-determine-left-baby-die-SUV-parked-AutoZone.html
https://myfox8.com/2019/05/18/baby-dies-after-being-left-inside-hot-car-while-parents-went-inside-store/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/mom-shares-warning-about-car-seat-danger-after-her-toddlers-death/ar-BBPmE98
https://www.ohmyparenting.com/9-safety-warning-signs-and-labels-every-parent-should-not-ignore/2/
https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/advice/7-ways-to-not-forget-your-child-in-the-car/
https://www.fatherly.com/gear/best-car-seat-alarms/

Baby And Car Seat Alarms
https://www.kars4kids.org/safety-app/
http://ridenremind.com/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Ex-pat Fair At Novotel on Stevens June 16 2018 10-5

Singapore flag with border.

Problem
Where can I get to taste local specialities and unusual products? Without wandering around a market in the heat in June, the hottest month in Singapore.

Stay Cool In June Shopping In Singapore
Yes, it's supposed to be the same temperature all year, which is what some people tell you. About 28 f or 82 C, in the eighties, rising to the ninetie, most of the year. Then they say that June is the hottest month.

In the city, when it's not raining or breezy or cloudy the temperature can go up. The secret to staying cool physically and mentally is to stay indoors. The locals drink lukewarm water and iced coffee or tea. We Westerners, expats and Permanent Residents drink iced water and drink hot coffee or tea.)

So the solution to shopping out of the sun is to stay indoors in a swanky hotel. Such as the Novotel. What do you get at the Ex-pat Fair. I've been to several.

Last time, entry was free but you might like to buy a raffle ticket. This could be one of several attractive prizes, or money off an item of jewellery from one of the stalls. That item which seemed expensive is now within reach.

You also get a free cup of gourmet coffee. What else is free? Tiny nibbles of this and that so you can make an informed choice which of six jams or pickles or chutneys or biscuits to buy.

Novelties? Artworks. Bags, Necklaces, which can be made to order. Items from other Asian coutnries around the region.

The Fair ends at five, early enough for you to meet up with anybody else, colleagues or family who are in business meetings. What next?

Exploring The Novotel On Stevens Area
I am interested in seeing the 'new' Novotel built on the site of the Pines which I used to visit regularly when my family had membership.  I would invite American and Japanese ex-pat friends to lunch after a swim or sunbathing beside the pool.

The Ghost Of The Pines
For me the lost Pines Club, previously called the Pinetree Club hangs like a ghost over the area. The loss of our money haunts my happy memories.

 The Novotel on Stevens was built on the site of the Pines Club which went out of business. The banks took action reclaiming their loan, a kind of mortgage of the club for money apparently invested by the club owner in projects in China which were not successful.

My family's membership money went. We were not happy. The so-called guarantee of getting your money back if you ever wanted to leave the club was worthless when the club went out of business. We now belong to a club which is a collective (The Tanglin). A mortgage could not, or should not, be taken out without the knowledge and approval of the members.

Let's look on the bright side. In its heyday, the Pines had a wonderful Chinese restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, a Western Restaurant, a poolside bar elegant enought to entertain friends, and a delightful waterfall feature.

Looking Around The Hotel
So how does the development compare? The 'new' Novotel on Stevens has a swimming pool. Their website says rooms have waterfall showers.

Novotel is part of the Accor group of hotels. If you go to their website they ask you to sign up to the Accor group to get news and offers of hotels are various prices around the world.

Why the cumbersome title, Novotel On Stevens? What is special about Stevens? It's handy to know the exact location. More important, the name distinguishes this Novotel from the other one on Clarke Quay, so a taxi takes you to the right place.

Taxi, Bus Or shuttle?
Do you need a taxi? Leaving laden with your shopping? You can order a taxi or a Grab, which combines taxis and private vehicles under one umbrella organization.

The website says they have a bus stop outside the hotel entrance. For hotel residents there's a shuttle bus to nearby Orchard Road, the shopping hub,.

(I noticed the shuttle bus from the Sheraton Towers, near Newton station, goes first thing in the morning, for those business people and tourists who want to get going early in the day, not for languid, late rising shoppers.)

Train and walk
From Stevens MRT on the Downtown blue railway line, it's an estimated 17 minute walk, 1.3 km. That's okay if you are the sort who jogs in the heat, carrying a water bottle, and you don't mind arriving sweaty and sticky.

Before catching your bus or taxi away from the area, in the same complex, take a look at the menu and decor of the upmarket Fisk fish restaurant, where a member of my family had lunch and recommended the food and wine.

Useful websites
theexpatfairs.com
https://www.novotel-singapore-stevens.com
https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-9543-novotel-singapore-on-stevens/index.shtml

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pines-members-fume-over-clubs-likely-relocation

Author Angela Lansbury
Later post on Stevens and Scotts roads and Bukit Timah and Dunearn Roads.

Where To Find Italian Chianti And What To Notice

Problem
Where does Chianti come from and how will I find one I like?

Answer

Chinati has been called, "The unmistakable Taste of Tuscany". Tuscany is the area on the West coast of Italy.

I went to a guided tasting at Prowine Singapore in 2018 when we tasted six different wines, with information from speaker Edwin Soon. He told us that the Chianti region has hills to catch the sun, and terraces to stop erosion. A river keeps the temperature even, not too cold in winter, but cools the vineyards in summer. Too much water leads to watered down wine.

Where Is It From

Chianti comes from a region stretching between Rome and Pisa and Florence. A prime attraction in Tuscany is the leaning tower of Pisa, leaning like a tipsy bottle of wine. Since these are some of the most popular tourist destinations, if you've been to Italy the chances are you have drunk wine from the local Chianti region, whether or not you knew it, chose it and liked it.

In the old days there was plenty of cheap Chianti, drunk young and not necessarily good, in a bulb-shape bottle, so it had not established a great reputation. However, local producers got together to enforce standards and classify the wines so buyers knew which was which.

The locals wanted to protect their regional name and identity.  Now you will see D.O.C . , quality wine from a specified region the Italian equivalent of the French AOC, Appelation or name, of Origin Controlled, in Italian D.O.C. Denomination of Origin Controlled.

Chianti Classico
I assumed that Chianti Classico was old style, like Classic Coc Cola. I was wrong. Chinati Classico is a region.

What about D. O. C. G?  The extra G for some wines shown on the labels? G stands for guarantia, guaranteed, the upper stratum, or very best of the DOCs.

What is the difference between a co-operative and a consortium? A co-operative is a group which co-operates, operates together, to make wine. A consortium is a group, a trade body, people who have already made wine who come together to market and sell it.

If you get a chance, on holiday or business, go to a place which offers tastings so that you can compare wines, or order two different wines or glasses of wine with a meal and make a note of which you prefer and why?

Red and White
For years I did not drink red wine. It tasted sour and gave me headaches. Later I larned this was due to tannins. Is it an allergic reaction, or just an intolerance? An allergic reaction would make my eyelids and mouth swell up. Panic-stricken. An intolerance just makes me feel headachey and nauseous. Unhappy.

Dry or Sweet?
Do you prefer a dryer or sweeter wine? Can you tell the difference when drinking a wine of a specific good year? I discovered that I like sweet wine and if it's dry the year doesn't matter to me because I don't like it anyway so no point in paying more for myself.

I tried five dry wines, and the Chianti Rùfina D O C G Riserva 2011 had a distinctive aroma. If I had to choose a dry wine to please others or to go with savoury food or because I had no chance to choose a sweet wine, this is the one I would go for.

Colours of red wine.

Compare the colours of two wines of different ages. The one on the right is browner and older. Wines deepen in colour as they age, like apples going brown. Like ripening fruit, the wines from late-picked grapes are sweeter.

Many people would choose a sweet wine only to go with sweet food, with dessert. My firm favourite was the sweet Chianti - I had not even known anybody made sweet Chianti. The one I sampled was Vin Santo del Chianti Monespertoli D O C Riserva 2007.

How can we remember the name? Vin Santo means holy wine. Del Chianti means of the Chianti region. Monte - mountain. Spertoli - that's the only hard part to remember. I'll just think of myself and the wine maker as experts. Montespertoli. It is a riserva, reserved from 2007, not just bottled early and sold off cheaply when it was plentiful, but has already spent more than ten years maturing.

Italian - English
colli - hill
del - of (the)
consorzio - consortium
Fiorentini - from Florence
Superiore - superior or better
Riserva - reserved or saved - extra special, worth your time and money reserving it and storing it to sell later
santo - saint
vin - wine
vin santo - holy wine
vino - wine (noun)

Useful websites
WINES FROM CHIANTI IN ITALY
General Information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chianti
Information from the Chianti suppliers
www.consorziovinochinati.it
READING WINE LABELS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_wine_terms
TRAVEL TO ITALY
http://www.italia.it/en/home.html
WIKIVOYAGE
Information in the free encyclopaedia without the advertisements.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Chianti
WIKITRAVEL
The free travel website which also carries advertising which could be handy if you are ready to book and need companies and prices.
https://wikitravel.org/en/Chianti
TRIPADVISOR
Reviews from members of the public plus travel ads and price comparisons.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187895-c3060/Florence:Italy:Tuscany.Chianti.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts. See later post on tannins and quality.

How To Cook Frozen Croissants At Home And At A Holiday Home

Uncooked croissants. Cobbs Farm Shop. England. UK. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Travel writer and photographer.

Problem
How do you get a delicious crroissant, crispy and flaky outside, buttery inside? Cheap!

Answer
We can buy fresh crosissants from supermarkets all over the world. In London Tesco, even many of the small branches, cook fresh croissants (we presume using the prepared uncooked croissant delivered in those huge container lorries  (Americans say trucks) which visit twice a day. So they don't need mixing, just heating up in the morning).

Buying Uncooked Croissants
We bought croissants, uncooked, from Cobbs Farm. This is a  place I described in a previous post. We had no instructions, so we looked up instructions on the internet. If I were to buy again, I would ask the shop for instructions.

Once you have got the idea of buying frozen croissants, you can look around your nearest supermarket's frozen department to see what is available. Check which brands, and check the ingredients and cooking advice, if any. I shall check out other brands, to see how their cooking advice compares with what we have been doing.

Ovens and microwaves can vary.

What can go right or wrong?

You want the crossants cooked through. Same as a steak on a grill or any food on a BBQ, you want to avoid too high a heat, charring the outside whilst leaving the middle uncooked.

Home cooked croissant. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

Our first attempt, the crossants did not rise. They were dry on the outside but uncooked and chewy in the middle.

Defrost Or Not?
You might find it better to defrost them for an hour, rather than trying to cook from frozen or a too quick zap in the microwave. This means the first person out of bed must take the croissants out of the fridge.

Filling Waiting Time
You have to hang around for half an hour! The time soons goes. After removing the croissants, then shower and dress, take your pills, lay the table, eat your cereal, muesli, banana, whatever, drink water and prepare your coffee whilst waiting.

You forgot? Croissants still frozen? (While waiting, read the day's news. Will that stress you out? Instead see social media.) Check your emails. Look at Facebook. Send birthday wishes. Set a buzzer or you'll be eating breakfast at lunch time.

Preparation, Heating and Cooking Variables
Cooking is just heating. There are four variables. The ingredients. Mixing. The temperature. The time.

A frozen croissant has done two of the steps for you. Hurray!

Remedy
Add butter and jam or marmalade. We added home made marmalade. We made home made marmalade after I bought Seville oranges 'by mistake' and we found they were too bitter to eat so to save wasting them by throwing them away my husband made home made marmalade.

We lifted our spirits by congratulating each other on our past success with marmalade.

The dress rehearsal lets you try out cooking a croissant. So long as it's edible, it is fresh, good, and your own work. If it's not perfect, next time it will be even better!

How are you doing? Ready for tomorrow? Stocked up? Croissants are ready to cook!

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer. See my other posts on Cobbs Farm Shop. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

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.

Packing for the temperature at your destination, sun, ski and cancer

I just checked the temperature in Singapore. The site I tried allows you to toggle between agrees c and f and gives the humidity, which might not matter much in London but matters a lot in Singapore. In April 2016 the temperature in Singapore varies through this week from  29 on Monday to 33 C on Thursday, which is only 86 on Monday but in the nineties by Thursday. Humidity is 75%.

In the USA I used to look at the back page of USA today which gave the temperatures in every state. UK papers are the same.

We would also look at snowfall when planning a ski trip in Europe or the USA.

If going to the tropics, remember to take a large brimmed sunhat or hat with a visor. You can use this for swimming, over your swim cap, just adjust the clip at the back of most baseball hats.

A hat with a neck protector can be bought in outdoor shops, eg a trekking shop in Kathmandu, Nepal, but probably the same in most countries.

To protect your feet agains melanoma, especially if you have white skin which is more susceptible, you can buy swim socks. Most flip flops, apart from being slippery, expose both your toes and the top of your feet.

More Information on Temperature
https://www.google.com.sg/?client=safari#q=singapore+temperature&gfe_rd=cr
More on Melanoma
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/79115.php
Sunscreen Clothes and Swim Socks
http://www.coolibar.com/home.jsp?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=sunscreen%20clothes%20b&utm_campaign=Clothing&gclid=CIe7h-iTqswCFU4faAodYMkPsg
Sunscreen Swim Socks
http://sunprotectivedesignerclothing.com/-p-187.html

Angela Lansbury, B A Hons, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author.

Three aromas to savour when 'tasting' wine

The Sniff Test

by Angela Lansbury

More wine is sold before Christmas in the UK than at any other time of year. Whether you are tasting wine at a huge multi-national such as Majestic, or at a vineyard cellar shop, or at a Christmas dinner, in a restaurant or at home, you should first swirl the wine around in the glass to release the aroma.

How do you do it without spilling it? Depends whether you have the right amount of wine in the right shaped glass selected by somebody who knows. If your wine has been filled beyond half or to the brim, and you are already feeling decidedly merry after finishing off a couple of pre-dinner drinks, it is not a good idea to wave your glass in the air and send the wine spiralling upwards.

You hold the glass securely, and start slowly watching it as you increase speed. If it is warm red wine, you may be holding it by the bowl. Yes, in snowy weather it's good to warm your hands on a glass of mulled wine. But usually what you are trying to go is warm the wine which has not reached the correct temperature, or keep it at the correct temperature.

Conversely, if the wine, usually still white wine, has been chilled, you will not want to warm it by clutching the bowl, but will hold it securely by the stem. 

To be sure of no accidents, keep the base of the glass on the tablecloth and swill it gently. 

The Sniff Test

First you need to sniff a wine to be sure that it hasn't gone off.

Next, good wine has an aroma as well as a taste. You may be able to detect three kinds of aroma.

1 The grape juice variety providing the fruity perfume.
2 The secondary fermentation, adding more of the skin for flavour and aroma.

3 The aromas added, for example: a) the smokiness of the oak barrel, the mixing with another grape to counteract over dry or over sweet wine and add variety - like sweet and sour Chinese food, so the flavour is not to sharp and acid, nor too sweet and sickly or flaccid, needing more bite.

Savour that moment of sniffing before dining the wine. That enhances your enjoyment.