Monday, September 27, 2010

Sugar sugar

I was wondering today. Well I have been wondering for most of my life - if I could ever be swimsuit model-fit.

It seems so hard yet the fundamentals are so simple:

Avoid sugar and anything sweet.


Eat only when hunger strikes.

Fill up on fresh vegetables and fruits.


Avoid processed food especially those deep fried. Drink more water and less sweet drinks.

And of course, exercise regularly.

See, the basics are all here in my mind and the goal has been set in my heart forever.
But what is making all this so hard?
My wandering gourmet eye, fluttering foodie heart, adventurous taste buds and tireless sugar rush - these are the problems.
So hereinafter, I am gonna try to remodel my diet.
I love sugar but we can go on a long distance relationship :
And to up my exercise regime . . . what, the gym? Nah, just more shopping :)

Such life is hard.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Power Lo is back

I managed to keep it quite discreet but I have been quite under the weather for the past week (haha).

So to prove that I am back to my former indestructible self, let me remind myself just how indestructible I am.

By showing you the buffet-competition Ray and I had the other week. And we are planning to make this a monthly affair. Ahem.

Contestant #1 - Cheesy Tan


Contestant #2 - Power Lo

Okay, wait, that wasn't exactly the picture to exemplify my power or aura. . . .

Take two:

Contestant #2 - POWER LO (Caps somemore see)


We went to the buffet at Melba Restaurant, Langham Hotel following rave reviews from friends. I starved myself the whole of Friday . . . .but in the end we failed to book on that night. We actually went on Saturday night when I did not starve myself during the day for.

Armed with the love of food and our beloved Entertainment Card, off we strutted to the glam Langham Hotel is loose clothes.

Below are the food we gobbled up between the hours of 7-9.30 pm :)

All sorts of appetizers from wakame to salami to pickles to salad to smoked salmon to weird unidentified rice-things.

Sashimi platter which made Cheesy Tan's kiasu-ness light up.


Selection of warm food ranging from roast pumpkin to fish to Indian dishes.

Peking duck and little dim sums.

Cauliflower cream soup with breadsticks, croutons and rye bread. Oh and fruits as deco.


Selection of fresh seafood -yabbies, prawns, oysters, crabs!

Dessert time: Ice-cream with amateur decorations :P

Pear and butter pudding, chocolate fondue with hundreds and thousands and fruits

HEAVEN.

Rice pudding :)

Was I defeated in the end? Nah. I could still go for a round of McD McFlurry's but Cheesy Tan was outta shape so. . . . we called it a night. I was. . . alright although only my feet remained the same size when stepping outta Melba :P

Monday, September 20, 2010

Decluttering

Tis the time for decluttering - throwing out the redundant, unnecessary and plain useless such as negativity, doubts, insecurities and regret.

Tis the time for replenishing - culturing the jolly, positive energy and smile-worthies such as faith, laughs, thankfulness and happiness.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Supposed to be vs. Wanting to be

I hope to be stronger than this.

As I lament about my world becoming grey and the ground beneath me crumbling, I can't help but think that I should be stronger than this.

After all, there is nothing that cannot be solved in this world, right? Or at the very least, there should be nothing that cannot be solved in this world, right?

After all, isn't it a bit cruel to us mere humans if despite the effort, determination, persistence and faith from little beings like us, we are still destined to failing at what we set out to achieve?

Past incidences or experience might have proved me wrong, but I choose to believe in working hard, holding on, believing strongly and persisting incessantly till I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I truly believe so and I work very hard to remind myself so every day.

So, the mere thought that I should be stronger than this somehow reminds me of the positive self I once was not too long ago.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Becoming speechless but mindful

Lately I have been feeling:-

down
in a slump
hopeless
demotivated
lost
out of energy
negative

For some reasons it feels so much harder to bounce back this time.

I searched high and low for that

spunk
confidence
positivity
glimmer of hope
joy
feeling alive

Even as I write this I feel no sense of direction. And without realising it I felt the need or want to make words float around this post.

No formatting.
No coherence.
No story.

Just
like
my
life
and
my
state
of
mind.

These days, I stare into the sky - mind wandering -

where am i heading to?
what am i working towards?
am i getting there?
when will i achieve what i set out to?
will i even get there?

And it doesnt help that the skies have been grey.

I look at others with eyes of:
admiration and a hint of envy.

I hear the stories of others with:
fascination and a hint of envy.

I am envious of so much in so many and guilty of feeling so.

I am tired of:

Persisting - Chasing - Reassuring myself - Motivating myself - Being hopeful - Being positive
Forcing a smile - Faking a smile - Holding my tears - Holding my fears

But what if I succumb to my frustration and this physical and mental exhaustion?

Will I feel better?
Will anything change at all?
Will I feel happier?

Maybe you will see me as someone who is not thankful for all that I have now, someone who thinks too highly of herself, someone who bites off more than she can chew, someone who is dramafy-ing her life.

And you know what, I might very well agree with you.

For I have high hopes for myself, achievements I want to attain, limits I want to push.

I believe you do too.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Why not?

"But why would you do that?"

Have you ever had this thrown at you before?

I get this all the time. All because I am born a bit impractical, a little of a loose cannon and with very much faith in my intuition/feelings.

There is so much in this world to experience, but why would I do all the things I had done - be it a waste of time, effort, intellect or money?

"Why not?"

I know Pepsi Blue is equivalent to a dose of colouring chemical in addition to sugar and caffeine, oh and the calories. I know it looks like diluted washing detergent with suspicious gas.

But damn does it look cool and limited edition? Damn it sounds cool too. Yes, my health screams no but my palate and cool radar (I do have one) beg to differ. So balancing both out, my body in its entirety is at peace. Imagine if Pepsi decided to not produce Pepsi Blue again, in your lifetime, you would have not ever tasted Pepsi Blue just because you chose to give up that chance. It was right in front of you and it was $2.

The same goes for branded bags. You know, the huge price tags and luxurious shops. Makes you wanna scoff at this materialistic culture and ask why would anyone pay thousands of dollars for a bag when the money could be put to better use.

True - to a certain extent. How do you define "better use"? And would my perception of "better use" be the same as yours?

Honestly, if you could afford it, would you not buy a branded bag? Everyone has different priorities. Say, for me - at this point of time, my priorities are: 1) Family; 2) Savings; 3) Travel; 4) House; 5) Handbags (taking 4 elements as examples). So obviously, I would rather save up my money just in case my family needs help or for cheap airfares to wherever I have never been to and think about handbags last. All because, seeing the number in my bank account grow healthily makes me happy.

So for someone whose priorities are: 1) Fashion; 2) Savings; 3) House, how would having tons of savings but a wardrobe of KMart sales items make him/her happy?

Speaking about traveling - I see people foregoing their travel plans year after year because: 1) they wanna save up; 2) they can't leave their house for too long; 3) they are too busy working; 4) they have no time; and the list goes on.

Before they notice, 10 years would have passed and they would say, "Yeah, we really wanted to travel but we just never had the chance to."

Maybe, that is the truth to them.
But not to me - every single reasons up there - are mere excuses to me.

Expensive? Budget it and save towards it.
Cannot leave the house? A house is a commitment, but hello?
Busy working? Annual leave, Christmas break, Easter break, the many VIP birthdays' holidays in Malaysia.
No time? The sleeping in weekends, the many hours spent fighting with gf/bf, the yumcha-gossip sessions.

What I think is, if you really want to go travel and are willing to devote more time and effort in planning - you will go.

The world out there is so huge with so many countries, cultures, history, architecture, food, languages, oceans and experience to explore. Just being here at this very moment, don't you wanna go out and see the rest of the world?

There is so much you can give up on by thinking, "Why would I . . . ?"

As we age, we let rationale, logic, sensibility and responsibility bury the passionate, curious and spontaneous side of us. Even the desire of trying that $2.80 macaroon from the apperantly best macaroon store in Melbourne make you think, "Awww, but macaroons are usually just $2 and it really just is another kind of biscuit." Then you give up trying the macaroon just because of $ 0.80.

At the end of the day, not only do we forget about being adventurous or excited or passionate - ultimately we forget about how to make ourselves happy.