Peranakan Print

I love scouring for vintage items in Malacca. Even with the Singaporeans buying up everything, once in a while, some gems turn up. I found this old print from a café. According to Peranakan researcher Khoo Joo Ee, this picture of a Chinese bride dates back to the turn of the 20th century.

Steaming Disaster

Ran into a small problem with the table: DON'T USE A STEAM IRON ON TOP OF A WOODEN TABLE! I did this on my teak coffee table and ended up with awful white patches all over the surface. Something about the steam reacting with the varnish. But if you made this stupid mistake as I did, there is a pretty effective low-cost solution. Don't bother asking the shops - they will tell you to get the varnish stripped and repainted again.

This is the internet solution: Put a dry cotton cloth over the table and heat with a dry iron. Keep the iron moving and not stationary at any patch for too long so that you don't melt the varnish and cause other problems. Slowly the white patches will disappear like MAGIC! Swear it works.