WHAT CAN YOU GIVE UP FOR 30 DAYS? (DAY 4)

No Fast Food life-lane.

Day 4
23 October 2009
2.15 am


Just got back after a night out with my friends, going for karaoke and sitting at the beach.

The day's going without Fast Food and Carbonated drinks have been going on quite okay for me. For breakfast today I had traditional Malaysian kueh such as Cucur Bawang ( a type of delicacy made using flour and onions, frying it till golden and eating it by dipping it in chilli sauce), a piece of sugared doughnut and Kueh Seri Muka ( bottom layer is made using boiled rice which is kind of sticky and top layer made with oh I don't know, something sugary I guess).

Once again I skipped lunch due to unforeseen circumstances.

For dinner, my initial plan was to go over to a Pasar Malam (night market), somewhere further from my house, but in the end my friend and I decided just to have dinner at a nearby Mamak shop, dragging my sister along.

There I had Thosai ( a dish made using rice flour mixed into a batter and toaster over a flat pan into a thin layer of round something, which you eat by dipping into spicy curry and/or Chutney [which is made from coconut, chilly and spices] ) and a glass of chocolate milkshake.

After having that, another bunch of our friends showed up, and my friend decided to buy a can of Coke for herself. It was so tempting to see her drink off from the chilled can, as I couldn't do.

Well, I'm still sticking to this challenge. The odds are against me, but I'm going to pull through.

WHAT CAN YOU GIVE UP FOR 30 DAYS? (DAY 3)

Life without Fast Food and Carbonated Drinks

Day 3
23 October 2009
11.04 pm

Man, choices seem to be less now that I decided to take Fast Food out of my menu.

Breakfast:-

Again I had a traditional Malaysian breakfast consisting of Nasi Lemak and Kopi Ais.

As for lunch, I didnt have anything to eat. But by the time it was my dinner time, I was almost beyond starvation. Given any other day, I would have drove over to the nearest KFC drive-through and get my usual meal. But since I don't want Fast Food, i had to find other alternatives.
Finally after cruising around town, I decided to have Fried Rice and Lychee Juice.

Keeping away from fast food made me realized that I depended on it almost everyday of my life. That is because, I come home from work late everyday, and the easiest place to get dinner is at KFC's or McD's drive-through, which I have been doing for sometime now. And then when I decided to give up on Fast Food, I became stumped on what to eat for dinner. Mind you, I'm no longer living with my parents and I can't cook, so home cooking is out of the question.

This month is going to be a long month.

drivers with attitude

I was just driving back from my hometown after the festive season, and I can’t help to observe my fellow drivers as I cruise along the highway. Well, for one thing, they seem to have the need for speed. What’s the rush? It’s not like their destination is going to disappear if they didn’t reach it within the stipulated time. Or that if they didn’t hurry along at that accelerated pace, then it would be too dark and their car can’t find their way back home. Enlightened me please, what is the signboard of speed limits for? Just to beautify our landscape, or to serve as a reminder?

And another thing that bothers me (I’d bring it up here than later below, because it is the biggest pet peeve for me concerning drivers) is, does all drivers think that their windows can’t be seen through by others?

I’ve drove by drivers busy picking their noses ( Yeah, you read right, picking their noses ) as if the world was going to end. Believe me, worlds could end when you see ‘em doing that. Why do they even do that, when they don’t do it in public. Isn’t being in your car also somewhat public. Yeah, no ones in the car with you, but, Hello!, what about those driving beside you. Don’t we have eyes? Don’t our eyes need something better to look at? Imagine stuck in a traffic that’s only moving a nanometer one second, and all you see around you are bored faces, and wait!, a guy picking his nose. What’s up with that? Thank god, when I’m driving home during festive seasons I don’t get to see that often.

What I do see is people who love to cut other cars, because, apparently the guy in front of him is going too slow, and he’s so impatient he drives faster than that guy, all the while saying in his mind, This is how the professionals drive!

What’s the point exactly? Once again I ask, what’s the rush? What about, Safety first?

*sighing*

I guess, all I can do is complain and watch. No one can talk to this people. They themselves have to educate themselves. As a good citizen, I will play my part by abiding to the rules, and definitely not doing anything disgusting like picking my nose, or, I don’t know, chewing my toe - nails, perhaps, while driving my car. Who knows who’s watching, right?

Clandestine dinteraz

WHAT CAN YOU GIVE UP FOR 30 DAYS (DAY 2)

No Fast Food and Carbonated Drinks
Day 2
22 October 2009
10.15pm

The clock is ticking away the hours of Fast Food and Carbonated Drinks Restriction. Into the second day and no temptation made its way through me.

Breakfast:-
I had to skip breakfast today due to unforeseen circumstances.

Lunch:
After toiling away at work, my friend invited me to have lunch with her, and I jumped in the bandwagon as I was way past my meal-time (be it my breakfast, brunch or lunch).
As we scouted around the mall's food court for food, my friend decided to get her lunch from dear old KFC. Quietly declining to follow her, I made my way to the Thai Fried Rice Corner, and ordered a nice plate of Chinese Fried Rice with no Meat and an Omelet, and a glass of Iced Grape Juice to go with that.
As I was sitting down to enjoy my somewhat scrumptious meal, my Sister plodded over to join me. As a responsible elder sister, I had encouraged her to go on this No Fast Food 'Strike' with me and she had agreed full-heartedly. But knowing her all this while, I know her little phase wouldn't last, so i egged her.
"You know, you don't have to give up Fast Food if you don't want to,"
"No, it's okay," she replied, "I'll stick with it."

What made me concerned was that while she was saying that, her eyes never looked away from the Fries that my friend bought from KFC. Screwing my eyes, I studied her as she watched our friend take the fries and chomped it down.

"You don't have to do it, if you're following me," I said, as I didn't want to force her to do something she doesn't want to, "You do it when you feel like it yourself. Not 'cos I influenced you to."

Thinking it over for just a mili-second she said,

"Oh, what the hell..," and grabbed a handful of fries and chucked it down her throat.

I smiled to myself. She lasted only one day. Maybe one day, when the notion slips into her mind on its own, then she'd be ready to sacrifice Fast Food.

Dinner:-

I almost wanted to get myself an Egg Burger.

"After all it's not made in KFC or McDonald's right?" my thoughts were saying to me. Those are the demons trying to stray me away from my aim. Whether or not its made in those places doesn't matter, it's still in the same category.

So in the end I decided to get myself two pieces of Roti Canai and a Lychee Drink.

Looks like I'm not going to be shaken on my mission.

WHAT CAN YOU GIVE UP FOR THIRTY DAYS? (day One)

Please refer to the post below for the intro. Tq.


Day One.
20th October 2009
9.47pm

So far, so good. I managed to go a whole day without any Fast Food or Carbonated Drinks. To sketch what I had the whole day:-
Breakfast:
I had Nasi Lemak (Traditional Malay Rice cooked with coconut milk and served with half-boiled egg, and spicy sambal) , with a piece of doughnut and kopi ais ( coffee with milk and iced)

Lunch:-
I kind of skipped lunch today because I was so busy, I didn't noticed time passing.

Tea:-
After skipping lunch, I had a bowl of Mee Rebus ( noodles with curry soup) and Air Assam Boi ( Tamarind Juice )

Dinner:-
I walked over to the Pasar Malam (Night Market) near my house, and was almost tempted into buying a packet of crispy, hot, fried French Fries. Here I was, walking like nobody's business, turning away from hawkers trying to sell me things I don't want, and would you know it, I walked straight into a stall selling French Fries, right out of the hot oil. Without hesitation, I put my hand out to reach for it, as I had done, many times previously, and all of a sudden, everything stopped in mid-motion, as if in a bad thriller movie. Suddenly out of nowhere, a voice started reminding me of my Vows for this month. Everything came back alive again, and I quickly walked away from that stall, never looking back, until I had reached my car, and gone home safely away from the temptation. So for dinner i just had Orange Juice, and a Boiled Corn.

So, safe to say, I managed to survive one day. Lets see how the rest are going to be.

WHAT CAN YOU GIVE UP FOR THIRTY DAYS? (SOMETHING YOU REALLY CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT)

There are many things in life that you can't live without, such as your mobile phone, your laptop, your mom, your dad, ermm, your kitty, ice-cream, paper hats, icing cake, and the list goes on and on. So, here's the deal! What would you do if you were to choose any one of those priceless things and you had to give it up for a whole month? Sounds tough? Well, i decided to try it. The one thing I really can't live without is my love for Fast Food and Carbonated Drinks. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to push aside my appetite for Fast Foods and Carbonated Drinks for one whole month and at the end I'm going to see how I am going to fare letting go of something very, dearly precious to me. It means, that no matter how tempting or seductive the food may be beckoning me, I am going to stay far away from it. I dare others to join in my quest in letting go of something they can't let go. In the end, it's not the weight you lose, or the money not wasted, or time not spent that matters. What matters is the will power you have to resist temptation, in the end, proving that you are strong-willed and no one is able to move you around.