Just park further

I've recently been quite wary of buffet style food offerings (it's about food again!). With the "eat only what you need" mantra in my mind, buffet style seems to go against the very grain of that mantra. It encourages eating a lot, and you don't care what you eat, just so you eat a lot, or try the lot. If you need further reasons not to go for buffet, it encourages waste because you're paying for excesses which most likely you don't need.

Not convinced? How much of the food does it come out the other end? Certainly not the same amount as that went in! much much less. Now.. the food don't just disappear, they appear elsewhere. My tale of indigestion in Bak Kut Teh has said enough about this.

If you need inspiration to start exercising, maybe this post might help you. Still too difficult? Take the public transport! It'll force you to walk a longer distance to get to where you want. Plus, you're helping the environment by having less cars on the road. You don't even have to contend with the traffic. No more cursing in the car.

If you really need to take your car, just park further. At a grocery store today (a place more affordable than Orchard Road in Singapore!), there were plenty of cars contending with the parking space nearest to the store! Those cars were causing a lot of fumes both inside the car and outside the car, not to mention the congested traffic. Just one row down, there are much more car parking spaces, less cars to contend with, no traffic jam. And it's only one row down! So please, just park further, it'll help walk off the extra food if you did go for a buffet lunch/dinner.

Categories:

• idea
• exercise
• food

A little indulgence

Nintendo revolution. The new Nintendo console. It's going to change the way games are played. Just as how Brain Age is getting popular because of its unique gaming experience, to test the age of your brain! The trick is to have games that everyone can play, not just the regular gamers, but your aunt, your uncle, your nanny, your grandpa, your grandson... And not just play, but play together.

Hopefully I'll have a job to afford one when it comes out. If only i am as "pretty" as xiaxue to merit an invite to a gadget launch and a free gadget!! (she got a free Creative Zen Vision M as a blogger! envious... )

The new console is going to be called Wii pronounced as We. Check out the website.

Categories:

• tech

Another food blog

Why the obsession over food these days? Choosing the "food" category from the drop down list at the right, i've got 3 food related articles in the past 10 days alone! Must be the sudden drop in food intake that's making me crave for more! Since I can't get enough of it through the mouth, I might as well let it out of the mouth, as words of course!

A very unlikely source of food related article came from a book i'm currently reading, Education and Peace by Maria Montessori. She drew an analogy using food with why we don't recognise peace as it is but need to refer peace as the victory after war. She started off saying it's surprising to see the science of war so advanced, and yet there's no such thing as the science of peace (i've read that sentence so many times, it strike me with such resonance...).

Without digressing too much into the war and peace argument (this is about food after all!) it took mankind a very high death toll to realise that the cause of epidemics is not another man (someone to blame, just like in a war), but a disease, caused by none other than mankind's greed - eating too much. That's why the focus has shifted from over indulgence to eating only what's necessary. From eating anything under the sun, to eating hygenically. From racing to the death to racing for life!

So in a way, I carry with me mankind's greed from ancient times. I find myself very grateful to have also carried along the lessons learnt from ancient times, that eating too much will kill you! Please eat sensibly, and remember to exercise.

Categories:

• food
• society

The good food guide

After writing how to find good teachers in my Tai Ji blog, I thought i can extend the same logic in looking for good food. So here goes... signs of good food:

A. lots of people eating it
Power of numbers. Lots of people eating it must be good right? Or the chef's marketing technique must be superb!

B. lots of regulars eating it
If people come back for more, it must say something about the food!

C. a diverse lot of people eating them
Different people has different taste. If one particular food can cater to all the different palette out there, it must be really good!

D. it tastes good to you regardless of what others say
The ultimate test, you must like the food. If you don't, what others say don't matter!

E. it sits well with your tummy
This goes without saying...

Categories:

• food
• guide

Everyone is a changemaker

I heard a story yesterday which I would like to share with you. I met a principal of a school and chatted with him for a while. I asked him what made him choose to start his school when his first choice was becoming a priest!. His story went like this...

"I was crossing the road at the traffic lights and saw a blind man. I thought of leading the blind man across the road but I said to myself, maybe someone else will do it. The next day, I met the same man wanting to cross the road. So I said to myself, maybe he will feel insulted if I help him. And the same blind man appeared again the next day. Right, (I said to myself), if you're going to help him, help him now. Just because you're there. You don't need to come up with any more excuses.

So he helped him cross the road, and founded a school for the disabled. It was not done immediately, but over the past 5 years, his school has been growing. His school now is training teachers to help and identify students with special needs. Go on to say that everyone of us has a choice to change the society for the better. Inspired by an article in Innovations, I've adapted a title from an article in there... Everyone is a Changemaker.

Categories:

• inspire

Search, don't learn

You may have noticed that my blog page has changed a little bit. I've added another column to show off some of the books I read and also an advertisement column to see if there's actually money to be made here!

I found out that it was quite difficult to do a 3 column page, without learning the programming language required. And guess how I eventually did it? Relentless search!! It's not so much what you know these days, it's whether you know how to look for your answer. I've managed to find a site with the code readily available, just copy and paste. Then there was some bug which I can't quite seem to get rid off. I was scrolling through the code to find the bug, and guess where the solution came from? Searching for it! I wished I would have searched for it earlier, as others already knew about the bug and a solution was already in place.

I've blogged about not requiring the dictionary anymore (see The A to Z song). We don't even need to know the phonetics in the dictionary to find out how to pronounce that particular word. Just search the word and an audio clip will let you know how to pronounce it!

I've known an IT friend who's first call when faced with a PC problem, is to Google it. And an IT specialist might do the same and charge you for it! So the next time you have a problem with your PC, google it first before you call the engineer. You might find the solution quicker than going through the merry-go-round that is the call centre... "Please press 1 if the answer is not here, press 2 if you're not paying for your answer, press 3 to speak to another answering machine..."

Categories:

• learn
• tech

Money money money

Reason for me wanting money: to tell me that I can make it. Reason for most people wanting money: to tell others that they can make it. Which camp are you in?

Categories:

• money
• think

Being idle

So you want to be idle? To escape from doing the daily grind of what is more commonly known as "work"? Work takes up half of our lives (if not more) and yet it has such negative subtone to it. I normally hear "Oh.. i've got to go to work" and very seldom hear an upbeat version of "Yay! I'm working on Monday!". If work carries such disgust with it, why are we still doing it? Why are we dedicating the best part of our lives to it when we could be doing something else more meaningful?... (think of your answer before you click here for more)

Is money your main reason for working?

I've not been at work for 4 weeks now, and the temptation to look for any job is very big. It's getting bigger everyday because when you're not working, you're spending! I could stay at home all day but staying at home everyday will just drive me nuts. The telly can only keep me occupied for so long before I feel dumber and dumber everyday. Same goes for the internet, you can only surf for so long...

So, all the technology cannot keep me indoors. What about outdoors? Ignoring food, you need money to book courts, to meet people at cafes, to get from A to B, to go to the cinemas. Of course, I can start jogging, which gets me from A to B and I do not need to book a jogging track, but that's besides the point (can you jog all day?!!).

With all these activities, and the bills that's going to come, work is a very serious contender for my time because with work, i'll be able to buy the things I want and pay for the bills. That'll leave me with less time with the indoor and outdoor activities that I really like. Is there really no compromise to this?

The reason I'm resisting temptation to get a job, any job, is that I feel this might be the only time in my life I can get to reassess my work life. In that sense, I consider myself very lucky to have this opportunity to look for something I really want to do, to be able to say "Yay! I'm working now!".

Back to the question of why we're doing work.. is it really for the money? During these weeks when I'm not working, I feel it's actually more of the security of the money that's coming in rather than for the money itself. I feel sad and disappointed to use money as my driver for work, yet money problems are very real. You need work to actually tell you that your life is sorted. Does this feel wrong to you? Work so that you can live?

I want to live and make work work for me, let work be part of my life and not that which drives my life. I'm still on the path of discovery. I hope you'll get your chance to discover your own path as well, the true path. Sometimes, it's just a case of creating your own chances... ;) Good luck to both of us!

Categories:

• life
• work
• think

Eat slowly!

I've been in Malaysia/Singapore almost 3 weeks having moved from Scotland. Spent most of the first 2 weeks recovering from fever and indigestion. It's like the climate here is rejecting me! Trying to flush me out of the system... Of course, I fought back, using a method inspired by Mahatma Ghandi - abstaining from food. Ok, not that extreme, but I did cut down on my diet.

There were plenty of times that I wanted to eat more than what I've been eating. And to eat the things I want to eat. Doctor said I should stay away from dairy products, spicy food and sour food - which just about remove all the most "interesting" food! It does make me wonder how much do we actually need to eat?...(click here to read more)

I'm lucky that I'm not struggling to get my 3 meals a day. In fact, I can afford to eat more than 3 meals a day, and plenty of sides with them! Being forced to maintain a simpler diet does make me question how much do I actually need to eat everyday?

I don't expend plenty of energy during the day. Now that I'm not working, my brain activity has reduced (which I was told is a significant energy drainer!). As for physical activities, apart from my daily Tai Ji in the morning, I've got the occasional badminton and table tennis in the evenings. Nothing back breaking. So, how much do I really need to eat?

I've been experimenting with less food everyday, just to see how long I can last before hunger hits. I'm actually surprised that I can do with much much less than I used to eat! Almost half as much. Maybe it's the change in climate where a warmer climate does not need that much food to keep the core temperature up.

However, I have to say that most of the reason I eat more than I need is psychological! I don't need the chocolate fudge cake at the end of the meal, that's just too much. I don't need to eat at 11 o'clock at night, just go to bed! And sometimes when I do eat, I choose to eat more than what I intended because of all the temptations placed on the table!

So, I guess I can actually choose to eat less, but my toungue tells me otherwise. I can remove all the temptations on the table, but that'll be just rude to the others around the table. So, torn between heart and logic, is there no solution to this?

Inspired by a book i've read called "Slow", maybe we can slow down our food intake. This will let the tongue savour the taste longer and will also allow the food taken to be fully digested before more is taken in. We are actually allowing the stomach a chance to put up the sign saying "FULL" when it's full, not when it's almost full but a lot more is coming down the throat but got stuck in the digestive traffic.

If you do try this, let me know if it does work. Just don't eat when you're really hungry. Eat at the same time you ate yesterday, the same time as everyday.

Categories:

• think
• food
• health

Starting something new

Starting something new has its own challenges. My post on Starting to learn Tai Ji might give you some idea on how to go about it. Although it stemmed from my tai ji practice, I think it's probably helpful in anything you're thinking of starting. Do check it out and let me know. :)

Categories:

• learn
• inspire

Bak kut teh

Food is a BIG thing in Malaysia. Ask anyone about a particular food say "bak kut teh" or "roti canai", and they'll be able to tell you where's the best place for it. Lost for an inspiration? They'll recommend something they like best, or a new place, or food they haven't had for a long time so that they can go join you as well!...(click here for more)

Coming back to food heaven, you just can't resist stuffing yourself. The temptation is everywhere, the taste palette is being expanded, so is the waist line. The exercise I'm trying to do is just insufficient to keep up with the calories intake. No wonder obesity is a problem.

Ok, obesity is not the problem, I am the problem. Obesity is just the side effect. Stage 1 - acceptance of problem. I give in to the temptations of food. But my mum always say, don't waste food. Of course, I selectively not waste specific food over others, like chocolate over bitter melon.

Ok, mum's words of wisdom is not wise when applied selectively. Back to Stage 1, acceptance of problem. I can't seem to escape Stage 1, how shall I proceed on to Stage 2 - solving the problem? Incidentally, with one stroke of luck/curse, a solution presented itself which bypassed both Stage 1 and Stage 2 - i'm having food indigestion. Great, just what I need to resist temptations.

Sometimes, we just need something to kick start breaking a particular habit, like eating too much, or exercising too little. We know the signs - expanding waist line, trouble walking up the stairs, trousers not fitting, bragging about how active I once was etc... We see these signs coming as well, yet we choose to ignore them, or procastinate as long as we can, hoping the problem will just go away.

I guess the problems will not go away as what's referred to as problems are actually side effects of the main problem - me. I need to change first before tackling the "problems". The "lucky" ones, like me, will have indigestion, something mild that can't kill you, yet. The unlucky ones will have something they couldn't recover from, e.g. lung cancer from smoking, a stroke, or a fatal heart attack.

So, choose life, and make your own kick-start before something else make it for you!

Categories:

• food
• society
• health
• inspire

Plugging in

Things I've taken for granted...

• having an internet connection
• having a bank account
• having a mobile phone
• knowing how to get from point A to point B
• able to borrow a book from the local library

As I plug into the system one by one, it's only then I realise how important these things are. No internet connection - no email, no blog, no checking how much i've strained the credit card (!). No bank account - might be a good thing. No mobile phone - maybe not that essential (although i've got plenty of people telling me otherwise!). Not knowing how to get from point A to point B... i guess i'll just stay at home then, which is easy on the bank account and the credit card, but no help if i'm just a bummer at home, a bummer with no internet connection! Not able to borrow a book from the local library - BAD!

At least i'm plugging in to an existing household system. Some existing essentials are already plugged in for me, like electricity, gas, water, fridge, pots and pans etc. But i had a hard time finding that Panadol in the middle of the night when you really need it! (still getting use to the weather here...)

Categories:

• rant
• change
• life