I don't buy tableware every now and then. The plates I have were bought when I started working way back in 1975.They were Pyrex,came from England and you could buy them through dealers. It was such a hit then ,every household must have at least one set to be displayed. For everyday use they will settle for plates imported from China ie pinggan kaca putih berbunga-bunga. There were more stylish plates imported from England with trade mark Made in England , that belonged to the older generation at that time.
I was quite lucky I didn't have to spend so much money buying Pyrex ,for my next door neighbour was a Pyrex dealer.She was a house wife who took the opportunity to make money by selling Pyrex. The deal was if I sell ten dinner sets I could get one free.
Since the sets were sought after, people came to me to buy them ( all my friends were young ,just started working and eager to have things of their own ---me too! ). Years later all kinds of tableware were sold in the market but I am faithful to my Pyrex until today ( they are heavy ,but oven proof and later microwave proof ).
As I grow wiser I realised that the Pyrex sold in Malaysia ( through dealers )were seconds / factory reject. Back then I didn't know about quality control,nor did I was expose to factory reject goods. Same goes to food items ,I did not really care or noticed if they were expired. Only years later I learned from friends or knowing them from reading articles by Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang. I also started using vegetable oil since then , when one of my colleage told me she used vege oil because her husband had high cholesterol ( at that time I vaguely knew about the danger of high cholesterol ).
When you are young, who your friends are and who you mix with can make or break you. Some friends still eat chicken with the skin. Some of them drink coffee with 5 teaspoons sugar per mug! Some live very healthy live and eat moderately--- I wish I was one too!
I realised that my pots and pans need to be changed. The ones that I have are so old. Some of them were already about 30 years old. Some looked so comot so I decided to replace them with new ones. This time my pots will be smaller in size since my two children already married and left home and the other two who are still single hardly eat at home! Gone were the days of big pots I used to cook chicken curry or chicken soup for the four growing children.
