Sunday, May 24, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Portable Gas Stove Explodes!
Worth checking your next steamboat meal, and the safety of your gas stove..
After cooking for a while the house started to get a little smokey so we opened the windows. The cool breeze felt great and the smoke quickly cleared. We were just about to wrap things up. The kids had already eaten and they were playing with their Transformers on the other side of the room. The adults were grilling the last of the meat, drinking a couple beers and chit chatting… and that’s when it happened. A flash of orange followed by a deafening bang! The butane canister inside to the portable gas stove had exploded. One side of the table… the side where Kaori, her mom and sister were sitting, was engulfed in flames. Before they could react a monstrous fireball of burning gas wrapped around them and tumbled towards the ceiling and out the window. After the initial explosion, the gas from the canister which covered the girls was still burning. They were on fire.
We were all in shock… then came the panic and screaming…then crying. The smell of burnt skin and hair was overwhelming. Kaori’s father Sako made sure the kids were OK… then we got wet towels to cool the burns. We called 911 and, after what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance and fire trucks arrived. The three girls were rushed to the hospital and treated for severe burns. Below are photographs taken of Kaori shortly after the incident.
As you can see her entire body was charred. I can’t even imagine how much pain she went through both physically and emotionally.
Here’s a picture of the actual portable gas stove that exploded. The insurance company determined that the stove was faulty - the gas canister was too close to the flame causing it to become hot and explode. Both the manufacturer of the stove and the Canadian distributor, which were both based in Korea , are nowhere to be found. Needless to say we will not go to a restaurant that uses any type of portable gas stove. Our family and all of our friends have thrown away their butane stoves and we now use a safe electric grill instead.
Danger of Portable Gas Stoves
Now that I’ve warned you about the pictures I’m going to warn you about something else that will hopefully help you, or someone you know, avoid going through the same trauma that my wife, Kaori, and her family went through. It was Kaori’s last day with her family in Vancouver , Canada before going back to Japan . And like many Japanese celebrations this one involved food… lots of food.
Yakiniku it was - so out came the meat and veggies and we fired up the portable gas stove that we see used in many restaurants and households in Korean and Japanese influenced parts of the world. Just as we had done hundreds of times before for yakiniku, sukiyaki, shyabu shyabu or nabe parties - we all gathered around and cooked our food on the gas stove which was placed in the center of the table. The marinated meat and tons of little side dishes, Kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), Chapchae (stir fried noodles) and Namul (seasoned spinach), that we bought from the local Korean market were delicious.
Now that I’ve warned you about the pictures I’m going to warn you about something else that will hopefully help you, or someone you know, avoid going through the same trauma that my wife, Kaori, and her family went through. It was Kaori’s last day with her family in Vancouver , Canada before going back to Japan . And like many Japanese celebrations this one involved food… lots of food.
Yakiniku it was - so out came the meat and veggies and we fired up the portable gas stove that we see used in many restaurants and households in Korean and Japanese influenced parts of the world. Just as we had done hundreds of times before for yakiniku, sukiyaki, shyabu shyabu or nabe parties - we all gathered around and cooked our food on the gas stove which was placed in the center of the table. The marinated meat and tons of little side dishes, Kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), Chapchae (stir fried noodles) and Namul (seasoned spinach), that we bought from the local Korean market were delicious.
After cooking for a while the house started to get a little smokey so we opened the windows. The cool breeze felt great and the smoke quickly cleared. We were just about to wrap things up. The kids had already eaten and they were playing with their Transformers on the other side of the room. The adults were grilling the last of the meat, drinking a couple beers and chit chatting… and that’s when it happened. A flash of orange followed by a deafening bang! The butane canister inside to the portable gas stove had exploded. One side of the table… the side where Kaori, her mom and sister were sitting, was engulfed in flames. Before they could react a monstrous fireball of burning gas wrapped around them and tumbled towards the ceiling and out the window. After the initial explosion, the gas from the canister which covered the girls was still burning. They were on fire. We were all in shock… then came the panic and screaming…then crying. The smell of burnt skin and hair was overwhelming. Kaori’s father Sako made sure the kids were OK… then we got wet towels to cool the burns. We called 911 and, after what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance and fire trucks arrived. The three girls were rushed to the hospital and treated for severe burns. Below are photographs taken of Kaori shortly after the incident.
As you can see her entire body was charred. I can’t even imagine how much pain she went through both physically and emotionally.One side of her face was burned but her eyes weren’t - luckily she still has full vision.
This pictures was taken before the skin peeled. She has severe scars on both of her hands and back. Going to the beach and sunbathing is no longer an option. If she goes in the sun for even a short period of time she must wear the strongest protection, SPF-85 sunblock . Her skin is scarred badly and any sunlight will just make the scarring worse.
The flames wrapped around her body and burned her back and shoulders. She was wearing a tank top at the time of the accident so that didn’t help. Can you imagine what it was like to take a shower after being burned like this? Looking at these pictures brings back horrible memories. 
Here’s a picture of the actual portable gas stove that exploded. The insurance company determined that the stove was faulty - the gas canister was too close to the flame causing it to become hot and explode. Both the manufacturer of the stove and the Canadian distributor, which were both based in Korea , are nowhere to be found. Needless to say we will not go to a restaurant that uses any type of portable gas stove. Our family and all of our friends have thrown away their butane stoves and we now use a safe electric grill instead.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Finding Ah Mah and Ah Kong's tomb for our Qing Ming..
Auntie Nellie and I managed to find the tomb of Ah Kong and Ah Mah last Friday morning, using our own 'GPS' system in our memory from last year..so our mini-Amazing Race was successful.
We decided to take a photo of the area to help us get to it with ease the next time around. Our guidepost now is the tomb-area with pink-coloured tiles by the top of the road (2nd photo), before walking down towards Ah Mah and Ah Kong's tomb.
We also stopped by to snap 1 additional photo..guess where this one was taken?
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
JK Rowling's Commencement Speech in Harvard
A truly inspiring commencement speech by the Queen of Fantasy, JK Rowlings at the Harvard University last year that we should all listen to (or read, not just once but whenever) to rebuild the strengths in ourselves.
With daily news pointing to more and more people around us facing tough times, her words bring us a lot of poignant messages but the most important, in my view, was .. hope.
So, sit down and relax with a cuppa..
With daily news pointing to more and more people around us facing tough times, her words bring us a lot of poignant messages but the most important, in my view, was .. hope.
So, sit down and relax with a cuppa..
Part #1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pucdJHjZaqs
Part #2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIbTqNrxSV0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pucdJHjZaqs
Part #2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIbTqNrxSV0&feature=related
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Good News..Tung to Marry in May!
Good News from Melbourne (and Brisbane)..
"Anyway we would like both of you to know that Tung will be getting marry on 3.5.09 in Brisbane. Have told all the Klang folks but there will be no invites. We prefer a low key celebration and me,Kok Soo and Ching will go to Brisbane to join the bride's family for the wedding. Hope all of you understand." ..Dorreen Lee
Congratulations, Tung!
What's needed now is for all your lovely photos to be uploaded here..after your honeymoon, of course..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)