Stem & Root - Weight Loss and Lifestyle Diary

It's Christmas! : Christmas Gift Exhange Program

2009-12-24T06:48:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas!

As we all have planned few weeks earlier in our office, we had our Christmas gift exchange program today.

A rule was implemented inside the program where everyone needs to buy a gift that is worth around 50 bucks. The price of the purchased gift should not exceed more than that.

I did my shopping few days ago in Pavilion. Pavilion is a shopping center that is located right in front of my office. Imagine the temptation to go shopping there everyday.

It was exciting to explore Pavilion to find the perfect gift that is worth 50 bucks. There were too many choices to choose upon. I eventually decided to buy multiple goods, which tallied up 50 bucks in a whole.
Christmas songs were blaring out loud through the meeting room's speakers. Hysterical laughter filled out the office and everyone went nuts taking photos of each other.

For a moment, it felt like we were teenagers again exploding with warm squishy sweet marshmallows.
Devil in Me

That fake devil horns!

I love it so much that I wore it throughout the whole day in the office. I also wore it when I went out for lunch with my colleagues at the Pavilion shopping center.

Goofball? That's nothing new for me.

I enjoyed seeing the guards and the janitors in the building where I work laughed when they saw my horns.

Even better, a little boy screamed to his lung when he saw me. "Monster!!!" He shrieked whilst pointing out his index finger at me. His father laughed. I grinned.

I also borrowed an angel's halo from a colleague just for the sake of snapping few goofy photos.
My Christmas Present

I forgot to snap a photo of what I bought.

But if I remember correctly, I bought a picture frame in a shape of a TV, a faux leather business card holder, a piggy bank that wears a bikini, a box of chocolates and a compact fold-able mirror in a shape of a frog.

I also bought a few additional chocolate bars but I didn't include them in the end. The total figure of my gift will exceed 50 bucks by adding them. So I gave those chocolate bars to the building janitors instead.
Lucky 10

To make the Christmas gift exchange program all fun and fair, the gift exchange was done under a lucky draw.

My lucky number was 10.

John (Not real name) who is the owner of 'Present No. 10' passed his present to me.

I truly had no idea what was inside the present that I received. I shook it a bit just to get a hint. John guffawed.

"Why is he laughing?" I wondered to myself.

I slowly unwrapped my present.

Hmm ...

"It's a body lotion." I thought.

Eh, wait ...

What the ...

It's not ...

Oh, my ...

It's a tube of cream indeed. But it's not a body lotion.

The tube states, "Climax Heat - Personal Warming Lubricant. Feel The Heat".
My jaw dropped.

I looked at John with my eyes wide opened. He burst to laugh once again when he saw my face.

Shocked? Yes, I was.

Was I upset with the gift? Nope.

I actually rolled on the floor laughing. Not just literally but really rolling on the floor. That was probably the most original and amusing present that I have ever received in my entire life.

I then gave him a soft punch on his stomach.

"I will use it wisely." I told him.

Guess who received my gift? John himself! By George, it's a miracle!

The rest of my colleagues forced us both to pose silly for a few photos. We obliged by giving them the goofiest sexual poses. Everyone laughed like there was no end to it.
"You can sell these photos as scandalous sex photos" John joked.

I laughed.
So there you have it, folks!

My small report on what was happening in my office yesterday.

Last but not least, Merry Christmas to everyone who is celebrating it and have a good holiday to everyone!

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I want to see Avatar since every critic gave it a good review. But I personally don't have the urge to watch it. I probably have to drag my own feet.
Listening to: Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't It Be Good
Current Weight: 73 kg (160.6 lbs)

Update: The Annual Dinner at T.G.I Friday's

2009-12-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Update On the Annual Dinner at T.G.I Friday's

Okay, whew.

What a long day it was.

11 colleagues plus my boss had our annual dinner at T.G.I Fridays yesterday.

Our dinner was set on 6.30 pm, which was a good thing as I do not eat my dinner later than 7.00 pm to 7.30 pm. Sounds strict, eh? Probably. But the concept works for me. So why fix something that is not broken?

Right after I sat down, two waiters approached our table to serve appetizers that was ordered earlier by my boss and a colleague. They served us three huge platters of Chicken Fajitas Nachos, Fried Mac & Cheese and Friday's Three For All.

I gulped.

Chicken Fajitas Nachos is basically tortilla chips blend with chicken breast, grilled onion, green pepper, Monterey Jack cheese and Jalapenos. It was served with sour cream, guacamole and something else.

Fried Mac & Cheese does not need to be elaborated. I think. The name of the dish pretty much explained itself.

Friday's Three For All contains Loaded Potato Skins, Fried Mozzarella, Buffalo Wings, sour cream, celery sticks, and cheese dressing. According to Eat This, Not That website, Loaded Potato Skins alone is already 1430 calories. Whoa ...

I didn't touch any of the appetizers except for obviously, celery sticks.

"JJ, you're not going to order salad, aren't you?" A colleague who sat at the end of the table asked me.

"I am." I gave him a flashy smile.

Rest assured that all of my colleagues know my history and my health freak being. They also know that I am on a mission to reach my ideal weight. Hence why they don't mind with my cautious dietary and overall, my lifestyle.

But as highly discipline as I am in dietary, I am no party pooper. I still eat 'normal' food once in a blue moon. In fact, I ate a slice of chocolate cake two days ago as we had a birthday party in our office. See? I am a human after all.

Just to let you know, I don't criticize or troll around my colleagues with what they eat.

Everyone is free to eat anything they want as I am free to eat anything that I want. Just because I choose to be a health freak, it doesn't mean that I have to convert everyone to be a health freak too. If that's my intention, I might as well form a new religion.

Now back to T.G.I Friday's.

As I already planned, I ordered a Shanghai Chicken Salad. I reckoned that it is the healthiest dish in T.G.I Friday's.

I politely asked the waiter to separate the dressing from my salad (Just in case if they pile up the dressing on top of the salad).

For drink, I ordered Orangeade.

Bad move.

I thought it was an orange juice as the menu states it as a freshly squeezed orange drink.

Well it may be so. But it wasn't your typical orange juice. It's a carbonated drink blends with a freshly squeezed orange. It actually tasted like Sprite but in orange flavor. Groan.

Our long table was then filled with countless of huge plates and platters containing all types of dishes.

I lost track on what was served on our table. Steaks, ribs, salmon, fish & chips, mud pie, fries and more that I could not think of. Appetizers, main dishes and desserts come and go in only a few short minutes.

Shanghai Chicken Salad

My salad was served in a really huge plate too. Actually it was more like a platter than a plate. It was mounted with a lot of veggies, mandarin oranges, slices of lean chicken and tomatoes.

I decided to taste a tiny bit of the dressing as I was curious.

The low-fat Cilantro-Lime dressing was spicy, tangy and most importantly very salty. High sodium alert.

I ate the rest of my salad without the dressing.

In overall, I must say that the salad was actually good. It wasn't heavy but it still managed to fill me up completely.

My criticism is only towards the mandarin oranges. Compare to regular oranges, mandarin oranges tasted ridiculously tangy sweet. But it should taste fine as long as you eat it with the chicken and veggies altogether.

Overall, I approved Shanghai Chicken Salad as a safe healthy meal in T.G.I Friday's. Of course as long as you don't eat the dressing, that is. But if you must, just take a few small dips.

We closed down our annual dinner with a surprise birthday party for a colleague led by the T.G.I Friday's staff.

Oh, oh ... guess how much was the dinner bill?

I took a peek at the receipt that my colleague was holding. The bill was a staggering 847 dollars.

Crazy and unbelievable. I thought I was hallucinating but I was not. It was indeed that amount. To think of it, it seems to make sense. A Grilled Salmon alone is around 46 dollars. Mine was probably the cheapest dish at 28 dollars. Scary.

Bye T.G.I Friday's. Hello Karaoke.

Our night didn't end at T.G.I Friday's.

My colleagues apparently have reserved a karaoke room at a place called Red Box.

It was my first experience attending a karaoke session thus I was pushed to sing a few songs. They insisted me to sing and dance to Michael Jackson's songs since I am a hardcore fan.

I actually thought they were kidding.

My boss was excited to let me sing. Sheesh.

You know, no matter how hardcore I am as a Michael's fan, I always failed to sing his songs as his songs are solely tailored for his voice and singing style. My voice is too soft to reach the pitch of his songs.

But eh, they want me to sing so I did! Superbly off key in few parts even!

Obviously, I gave them a Billie Jean. Without the dancing.

"Louder, JJ!" My boss who sat beside me patted my back.

I also did a duet of Smooth Criminal with another male colleague. We did Michael Jackson's falsetto impression, which cracked everyone out.

"Annie, are you ok?" My friend sung the verse.

"I'm ok!" I replied.

We then took turn to shout "Aaow!" until the song faded out.

By the way, I found out that my boss is also a fan of Michael Jackson. He showed me all of his Michael Jackson's tracks in his Iphone. He actually suggested me to sing a track called Dangerous! Only a real big fan would know that song. I was impressed with my boss.

I left Red Box at 10.30 pm. My voice was hoarse as I was singing and screaming to my lung. The rest of my colleagues stayed and continued to sing.

In A Nutshell

Overall, my experience in T.G.I Friday's didn't turn out to be a nightmare after all.

My only mistake was ordering a drink that I thought to be a fresh orange. It could be worse but thankfully it didn't.

Oh by the way, I was itchy to know my weight today. So I scaled myself and voila! I'm still 73 kg (160.6 lbs).

I have survived T.G.I Friday's!

P/S: I forgot to bring my camera to the dinner but my colleagues did. However I can't promise to publish the photos that they took in this blog as I need to respect their privacy.

Truthfully,

JJ

Listening to: Harry Nilsson - Over The Rainbow
Random: Hooray! Following up the step of my broken video camera is my laptop. RIP. Darn, the content of the hard disk inside.
Current Weight: 73 kg (160.6 lbs)

Annual Dinner at ... Cripes...

2009-12-16T04:01:00.000-08:00

Annual Dinner

Tomorrow as in Thursday, I will be joining my colleagues and big boss for our annual dinner at T.G.I Friday's.

...

Yep, T.G.I Friday's.

That T.G.I Friday's.

The one and only T.G.I Friday's.

The restaurant that serves 1590 calories bacon cheeseburger* and 1360 calories salad*.

...

World, hear me bawl.

Sob.

"TGI Friday's?"

My eyes widened.

"Yes, we're going to have our annual dinner at T.G.I Friday's." My colleague confirmed it.

I've never ate at T.G.I Friday's before. But I'm well aware with the reputation of this restaurant when it comes to food calories. All thanks to David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, the writers of Eat This, Not That.

Unsurprisingly I felt slightly nervous and uncomfortable after my colleague broke out the news to me.

"Oh hell, what am I going to eat at T.G.I Friday's?" I muttered under my breath.

I then quickly rushed down to my workstation to do some investigation.

I summoned my old pal, Google to assist me in finding a healthy menu in T.G.I Friday's. If it's possible to find one.

There was a lot of results but all of them left me with dissatisfaction.

Finally I decided to visit the T.G.I Friday's website itself. To my relief, they've listed down some of their main menus in the website.

To my delight, they serve four types of salads in the restaurant. But my gladness dims a bit after I've read the content of these salads.

Based on their websites, they have four salads:

Chicken Caesar Salad
Cajun-Fried Chicken Salad
BBQ Chicken Salad
Shanghai Chicken Salad

Okay let's analyze each one of them.

Chicken Caesar Salad contains marinated, char-grilled chicken on top of Caesar Salad. Sounds tame, right? Yes, it does. But it still left me to wonder. What are the ingredients inside the marinade and what type of oil do they use to grill the chicken.

Cajun-Fried Chicken Salad. The name of the salad itself speaks volume. This salad will not be in my eat list as the content of this salad scares the hell of out me. The content includes fried chicken, Monterey Jack Cheese and Honey Mustard Dressing. No, just no.

BBQ Chicken Salad contains barbecue chicken with tomatoes, onions, cilantro and Monterey Jack cheese. It is served with Barbecue Vinaigrette. I'm not too excited with cheese.

The last one is Shanghai Chicken Salad, which contains fire-grilled chicken tossed with low fat Cilantro-Lime Dressing. Uh, sounds tame but how low is the low fat in this dressing?

So which one sounds the safest to be consumed? I personally favor the last one. What do you think?

Man, I just hope that I will do alright tomorrow. I worked hard to be where I am today and I hope that I will not pick the wrong dish. I don't want to ruin my years of tears and sweat.

If someone can give me a hint on the 'healthiest' menu in Friday's, please do tell me. Save this poor soul as I'm trying to lose weight. I'm not aiming to clog my arteries. Been there, done that.

Oh yeah, speaking of weight. Tadah! I am now 73 kg (160.6 lbs).

Now the question is can I hold to that number until the end of this month? Better yet, can I lose more within this month?

Hmm, I do not dare to predict but I will do my best to maintain and lose weight at the same time.

P/S: By the way, I'm trying to find a book about holocaust. Specifically on the gas chamber tragedy that was used to kill Jews, Homosexuals and others. Amazon has a few but I'm not sure which one to buy. So recommendation would be very much appreciated. I'm also interested in Normandy invasion.

Truthfully,

JJ

*Source: Eat This, Not That and Health Yahoo.

Listening to: Robbie Dupree - Steal Away
Random: My video camera broke down few days ago. Darn it! I feel ... incomplete.
Current Weight: 73 kg (160.6 lbs)

December : The Honeymoon is Over

2009-12-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

December : The Honeymoon is Over (Ha, it rhymes!)

I had pleasure maintaining the same weight for almost 5 months in a row. It was fun and all but that period has come to the end.

So bye bye to my lovely honeymoon.

December - Cardiovascular Routine

December marks my return to weight loss journey once again. It also signals my return to the cardiovascular weekly routine that I used to practice religiously during my first three years.

The cardiovascular weekly routine that I was referring to is none other than my daily morning (6 am) brisk walk. Currently I combine my brisk walk with jog and sprint here and there.

During the maintenance months, I brisk walked twice a week.

I'm elated with my own return to the morning brisk walk as I miss it so much. It's just my music, the jogging park and me. Brisk walking in the park whilst cold breeze dancing around is my personal euphoria.

So far I haven't got any problem to wake up early to catch up my morning brisk walk. I neither feel tired nor sleepy afterward as I now sleep earlier than the usual.

I did however encounter a small problem during the first three days.

My left tibia was left aching a bit due to constant and continuous running.

As some of you guys probably know by now, I can run but not for a long duration. I can only run for a minute before my left leg starts to ache.

But the pain starts to fade away now as I have reduced the amount of running and more of brisk walking. It's a bit of bummer though as I do love running particularly running down hill.

Speaking of running and brisk walking, I should hunt down for a new pair of jogging sneakers as the current one is about to 'expired'.

December - Food and Lifestyle

During the maintenance months, I allowed myself to become loose a bit.

By all means, I allowed myself to have a lunch in a restaurant few times in a month. I did not order any fried and fattening food though. I only ordered salad and roasted stuff.

But I'm rewriting my freedom on this lifestyle as honeymoon is over.

I think it would be difficult for me to avoid eating outside completely as my big boss once in a blue moon would invite everyone for a lunch altogether.

I can decline a colleague invitation but my big boss? Hardly appropriate, I think.

But just to let you know, my big boss knows about my weight loss accomplishment. He congratulated me before. I think one of my managers told him about it.

December - Weight Goal

It is only ideal to lose 4 kg (8.8 lbs) in a month and nothing more than that. You only lose water and muscle if you exceed that number.

But for December, I'm only targeting to shred 1 kg (2.2 lbs) as it is my first month after a long maintenance.

It would be great if I can lose more than that but I also don't want to be too highly confident. Too much expectation would only lead to stress. A healthy lifestyle should be enjoyable and not forceful.

Wish me luck.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: Christmas is coming by. I need to buy a Christmas present as we are going to have an exchange gift event in the company. I need to find something that is unisex.
Listening to: Darren Hayes - Insatiable
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Bad Breakfast, Bad Lunch...

2009-11-25T04:20:00.000-08:00

Bad Breakfast, Bad Lunch...

Morning

I was in a bus heading to my office when all of a sudden my stomach went sort of berserk.

First it felt like my stomach vacuumed itself and left a hole inside. Then a big pang of hunger stroke me hard. My stomach acted like it hasn't been fed for a day or two. It was later followed by this nauseous feeling.

Once I reached my office, I quickly rushed down to the men's room.

I couldn't think of any other option than forcing myself to throw up. I know that forcing yourself to throw up is a dangerous thing to do but it was something that I really had to do at the time.

Not a lot of uh, 'output' came out but I absolutely felt much better after throwing up. That queasy stomach slowly faded away.

I thought what happened this morning was really weird as I have never experienced something like that before.

Did I eat a stale food this morning? Hmm ... no, I don't think so.

I only ate my usual oatmeal and a homemade sandwich this morning. I really doubt that it was due to the sandwich as it was freshly made (I prepared few sandwiches last night to bring to work today. I ate one of the sandwiches for breakfast.)

I eventually concluded that it was just my random bad day.

Afternoon

That stomach ache and nauseous feeling have long gone by lunch time hour. I was so relief by it.

As I've mentioned before, I didn't suspect anything wrong with my sandwiches. Thus I ate another sandwich during my lunch time.

Oh, boy. Wrong move.

That stomach ache and nauseous feeling suddenly returned. But it didn't come with that pang of hunger this time around.

I then stormed back to the men's room and forced myself to throw up for the second time.

Unsurprisingly, I felt much better afterward.

CSI Analysis

'What in the world just happened to me? " I wondered to myself after throwing up for the second time.

I was so puzzled by it that I decided to retrace back the ingredients of my sandwiches.

Being a former fan of CSI franchise, I exploited every skill and knowledge that I have learned from those three series.

I analyzed my memory - CSI style.

"Zoom in. Enhance. Zoom in more. Enhance more. Hmm, the resolution of my memory is not high resolution enough. No worries. I just have to zoom in and enhance more of my blurry memory to get a better resolution. High definition even!"

With the wonder of a lot of zoom in and enhancement, I managed to get every tiny detail of what I have put inside my sandwiches yesterday.

These are the ingredients of my sandwiches:

Wheat bread
Oyster mushroom
Freshly roasted potatoes
Onion
Carrot
Lettuce
Baby tomatoes
Slices of roasted chicken
Slices of chicken meatballs
Red chili
Green chili
Cinnamon herb
Black pepper herb
Oregano herb
Paprika herb
A left over of homemade chili sauce
Extra virgin olive oil

Hmm. Nothing unusual really.

So what could it be?

Hmm ... I need more zoom in and enhancement.

"Zoom in. Enhancement. Zoom in much further. Enhance some more. Wait for it ... wait for it ..."

Then, kapow! It hit me.

I forgot to cook the mushrooms.

As far as I know, it is not advisable to eat cultivated mushrooms raw as they contain natural toxins or compounds that can interfere with digestion.

I always cooked my mushrooms. Unfortunately I forgot to cook it this time around as I was so busy slicing vegetables and roasting other ingredients.

That pretty much solved out the mystery.

David Caruso would be proud of me.

P/S: I trashed the rest of my toxic sandwiches.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: Never thought that this one lad that I have been supporting for is one hell of a bigot and prejudice person. My apology to myself for realizing it quite late but it's better than never. I really doubt that he is going to change. Time to dump a 'friend'. He is not worth my time.
Listening to: Scissor Sisters - I Can't Decide
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

You Sir, Are A Jerk

2009-11-15T04:02:00.000-08:00

You Sir, Are A Jerk

Today I had to meet a friend of mine who works as a cameraman for a bridal shop. I had to see him due to a freelance business errand.

Unfortunately he was busy catering a customer. But no sweat as I can wait for him.

I waited outside of the shop as it was packed with customers inside.

I wasn't alone though as the owner of the bridal shop was hanging around with a customer outside of the shop too.

He then saw me and approached me.

"Wow, you are thin and fit now."

"Thank you." I curved a genuine smile at him.

"But your face ... it looks sunken! It's like the skin got suck into your face!" He pointed his index finger at my face. "See? See?"

I was speechless. I was completely in a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot mode.

"Do you take protein?"

"Yes." I replied firmly.

"Do you do exercise?"

"I do cardiovascular exercise and weight lifting."

"Well I go to a gym. It looks like you need a lot of protein. You need to eat a lot of meat!" He said out loud.

"I have been doing this whole thing for 4 years ..." I tried to tell him that I am not a 'rookie' and I'm also not a weight loss instant product.

"Well it's not enough! You need protein. Look at your face!" I truly didn't get what he was babbling about at this time.

He went on and on criticizing my face and lecturing me about the importance of protein intake.

Fortunately my friend appeared few minutes later and cut out the conversation that we were having. I took the opportunity to storm out from his sight as I was getting sick with the crap that he was giving out to me.

Mind you, we had that whole conversation in the presence of another person - His own customer.

His customer was standing right beside him throughout the whole conversation. He rambled about it as loud as he could. I was so embarrassed by it. What he did to me was simply disrespectful and utterly uncivilized.

He is my freelance client thus I tried to be as courteous as possible. I naturally don't curse but for the love of Zeus, how much I wanted to say that F word to him. But I didn't. I decided not to go low as he did to me.

What exactly was he expecting? How is it possible for me to retain the same amount of fat inside the skin of my face after weight loss? If he truly knows the concept of exercise and what he is doing in a gym, he should know that there is no such thing as a spot reduction. Rookie or not, that's a general common sense and knowledge.

And by George! I happen to love my new face. I personally think that I have a sexy face. Better yet, I also feel sexy as a person for the first time in my life. There, I said it!

I was undeniably annoyed and embarrassed for being humiliated like that. But thankfully, that frustration didn't last for long. I managed to snap out of it by reminding myself that he is only one person in a million.

His unfounded judgment on me contradicts with the praises that I received from my colleagues, neighbors and passersby. That speaks volume and hence why I should just shove out his critic as well as that whole incident out of my mind instantly.

I know that he was just trying to make and have a 'friendly' conversation with me but he completely failed in that department. He seriously needs to upgrade his social interaction skills.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to stand in front of a mirror and gush to myself on how handsome I am now. I'm going to praise and butter myself until I turned red hot as Maybelline lipstick.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I can fit into a 34 inches pant now! That was a shocker to me.
Listening to: Lady Gaga - Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Metamorphosis of Perspective

2009-11-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

Metamorphosis of Perspective

Weight loss carries more impact than what a pair of naked eyes can see. It does not only change me physically but mentally as well. It changes the way I think and see.

I had a different take on life in the past. My view at the time was entirely influenced by my physical and living condition.

Thus unsurprisingly these two factors drove me to a melancholy life. That distress life led to me to have a narrow and limited perspective on what life can be and what I can be as well.

The Irony and the Hypocrisy

First of all, I speak on my behalf based on my experience. I do not speak for anyone else. So please don't be offended.

There was a time when I did blame everyone for my obesity. I blamed everyone except for myself. It's rather hard for me to admit this as it is a shameful confession. But this is a fact.

I also complained, protested and whined to everyone for mistreating and discriminating me. I loudly demanded for equality and justice.

I remember standing in front of my class telling my teacher and classmates on how much I hate myself and how hurt it was for being mistreated by the society.

I also repeated the same 'soap opera' presentation in college but it completely backfired. I was slapped with a big ouch when a student from another class shouted, "Oh, please. Stop whining!".

Few of my classmates had a fight with that kid to defend me. I felt so bad at the time for being a drama king. It was utterly embarrassing.

But what did I do to make things better? What did I do to stop all these mistreatment?

Nothing.

I continued to chomp fattening food that guarantees to clog my arteries. Every day and every night whilst watching TV on a comfy couch.

The hypocrisy can be read on my face. Crystal clear.

Fair enough, there is no excuse for the public to mistreat a person just because that person looks different from the norm. But in the end, I also asked for it.

I opened up a path that allows people to cast their ignorant behaviors to me. Instead of trying to close that path, I made it wider than it was before.

Sure, the public can be blamed but I have to be blamed first and foremost. I was the one who planted the seed on the first place.

Rebirth of Perspective

Five years ago I wouldn't be caught dead slaying and criticizing my own self. I wouldn't dare to admit my own mistakes as I have ego that I do not want to bruise.

As I've mentioned before, I also had a quite narrow and limited perspective on everything that is related to me. I had a different view on life in the past. My view was entirely influenced by my physical condition and my somber life.

But this is now.

Every aspect of my life has been given a new breath. A new breath that allows me to stimulate my life broader, deeper and further than it was before.

As I've previously said, it changes the way I think and the way I see myself. It also has changed the way I see the present, the future and the world.

Over the Rainbow

It is difficult for me to describe how beautiful and wonderful my feeling is right now. My life literally explodes with Skittles, rainbows and pyrotechnic lasers everyday.

Each day invites me to experience something new and something that is mostly impossible for me to have in the past.

Beyond that, this whole new rebirth allows me to think openly without limitation as I now know that anything is possible.

My openness leads me to become more positive and modest (Cough, cough) as I am willing to learn life and myself without prejudging.

More power to me. Huzzah!

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I'm having a fever right now. Well accessorized with mild headache and dripping watery nose. Thus pardon me for the late post.
Listening to: Andy Gibb - An Everlasting Love
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Complimentary and Flirtation

2009-11-01T00:19:00.000-07:00

Complimentary and Flirtation

I'm risking myself to sound like a Narcissus again by writing this little piece. But I am too excited with this new experience that I am having and I desperately need to blurt it out.

A wink. A coy and flirty smile. A sexy continuous stare and eye contact. Body language to a simple hello and further chit chat. I have been receiving a lot of these in the past few months from absolute total strangers. They either passersby in a street or people that are working in the same building as I am.

All these left me feeling awkward and slightly nervous. Delighted and honored though.

This shouldn't be a surprise really as flirtation is something new to me. I have never experienced it in my morbid obese life before. Hence I take flirtation as a culture shock.

Complimentary

I'm aware that weight loss has opened up an infinite of possibilities for me. But I honestly didn't see this one coming.

It never crossed my mind that people would approach to me and blatantly called me, handsome. I don't know how many times I asked them why they called me that.

As I've mentioned before, I've never seen myself as a handsome guy. Cute? Sure, I can tolerate with that. But handsome? That's too far-fetched for me. Or maybe my mind has been corrupted with pigeonhole on what and how a handsome man should look like. Darn you, magazines and TVs! Darn you Ryan Reynolds, Burt Reynolds and every other Reynolds out there!

So anyway unsurprisingly, I thought these people were being cynical or such as I am used to that. But they proved to be sincere.

Flirtation

I encountered three obvious flirtations within this week.

I felt pleased to experience them but yet felt so awkward at the same time.

So far in general, I haven't been really good at responding to flirtation. I responded a flirtation in an elevator by staring at the elevator's buttons and at the floor. I ended up a flirt in a monorail by slamming my face at a pole. I responded a flirt at a street by tripping my own foot. But once in a while, I managed to respond like a man should have. Without being a klutz.

I enjoyed being smiled and winked at but that's just about it. I'm not ready to go further than that.

I strictly want to reach my ultimate goal before anything else. I will not let other things to enter my life until I am completely satisfied with what I see. This is a personal goal that I have sworn to and it needs to be done without interference.

I'm Learning

Complimenting is one thing, flirting is another thing. But all these come at once and with that, it makes the culture shock much more challenging.

What's so challenging about it, you asked? Well when you lived your 22 years in sort of a 'seclusion', your tampered mentality will take some time to adjust to the new environment.

I guess I'm still a work in progress. I'm still under construction. Ho, ho ...

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I went to watch Michael Jackson's This Is It last Thursday. I watched it two times in a row. I watched the first one by myself and the second one with my colleague and his girlfriend. I thought it was simply, epic. I had tears during the first show. But I didn't cry during my second watch. I was busy clapping and bopping my head like a silly kid. My colleague's girlfriend did cry though. Along with most of other audiences. This Is It was epic.
Listening to: Frank Sinatra -The World We Knew (Over And Over)
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Accepting a Loveless Reality

2009-10-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

Accepting a Loveless Reality

I have a confession to make.

To everyone, I am a highly confident young adult. I concur (And I'm modest too).

But at the tip of my heart, I realized that I still have a flaw that sometimes diminished my high self esteem. It doesn't attack me all the time. It only happens once in a blue moon. But rarely or not, it happens.

My flaw is my injured left leg (My tibia bends a bit).

I fell downstairs when I was 11 years old. My left shin was soaking with blood. But I didn't bother to tell my parents or anyone about it. An injured leg without a proper medical treatment is only asking for long term trouble. But I was just a kid and was still kind of stupid at the time. I didn't think of its consequences.

I know that I have said too many times to myself that I will not let my injured left leg bother me and that is true.

It doesn't bother me most of the time but in the end, I am only a human. So no matter how strong my heart can be, it can still tremble apart once in a while.

I can accept the fact that my left leg is injured. It has never been a problem for me to accept that as a reality. But to witness it with my own eyes is a different story.

I can't bear to see my own reflection in a mirror whilst walking (front view). It is unpleasing. It is something that I still failed to grasp.

It tears down my heart a bit and with that, it allows insecurity to crawl inside. Fortunately I've always managed to snap myself quickly before insecurity could even take its first breath inside.

Run Like a Wind

Personally one thing that I am longing for is to run. I'm longing to run for a long duration like every other joggers in my park. Run like a wind in free spirit whilst the world stay still.

I can run but not for long. I can only run for a few minutes (2 - 3 minutes nowadays) before my left shin starts to ache a bit. So for cardiovascular exercise, I rely mostly on combination of brisk walk with few short sprints or jog in between.

Boy, you don't know how envy I am with everyone who can run normally. You lucky people.

Whine

"I almost have it all. I'm almost there. All I'm asking for is a normal looking left leg. That's all. I've worked so hard. I have struggled since I was a kid. Why can't I be 'normal' once in my lifetime."

A little voice woefully spoke within me.

I know it sounds like I am not thankful with the things that I have and somewhat selfish to my own self. But again to remind everyone, I'm just a human like you that sometimes needs to whine, groan and sigh.

This is my moment to whine and soak myself with drama so that I can feel much better by tomorrow.

I'll Be Fine

Honestly I don't know when I can accept with what I see in the mirror. Probably I will never be. But I do hope that one day I can learn to swallow it with a good pride and without feeling insecure at all.

I am dampened today. Nonetheless I can assure you that I will be fine by tomorrow. Sulk today and feel super mighty on the next day. That's how I work.

I love and appreciate with what I have and what I have accomplished. But I couldn't help to wonder - what if and if only.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I'm sorry for hurting myself. And for being stupid.
Listening to: Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Super Lunch Pack

2009-10-17T03:25:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you my super lunch pack.

I usually bring my own lunch and dinner to work. Most of the time, I would just settle down with wheat bread sandwiches as they are easy to prepare and carry around in my bag.

Besides it doesn't take a lot of effort to prepare two set of sandwiches (For lunch and dinner) everyday. Slice this and that. Top this and that. Microwave this and that. And voila! Mouth watering sandwiches.

In case I'm too tired to prepare food at home (Rarely though), I have few bags of Quaker Oatmeal loyally waiting for me in the office. My colleagues are always amazed with my affectionate towards oatmeal. All they see in my oatmeal is gooey glob porridge. I only see sweet, sweet love porridge that needs to be gobbled.
Today I decided to prepare something different for my lunch pack.

I called it The Super Lunch Pack due its enormous packaging. Well actually it's not that enormous. It's big but not that big. It's the size of a normal big. The size of the container is equivalent to uh, let see ... four adult fists?

It also requires quite an effort to prepare this lunch pack as it has three parts.

Meatballs Spaghetti Roasted in Yogurt
Roasted Black Pepper Chicken Salad
Fruit Salad

Meatballs Spaghetti Roasted in Yogurt

It took me 10 minutes to prepare the first dish.

The spaghetti was actually a left over from the last dish I published in this blog. Heh, heh ...

I just blended the spaghetti with one tablespoon of natural yogurt, frozen vegetables, herbs particularly paprika and of course, few meatballs.

Then I roasted the spaghetti with my lovely microwave for a few minutes.

The serving size is equivalent to one manly fist.
Black Pepper Chicken Salad

The most demanding preparation amongst the three.

The Roasted Black Pepper Chicken was also a left over.

What makes this dish so demanding is the slicing and cutting vegetables. That's all. I love onions and garlic but for the love of Zeus, I hate peeling off their skins.

I somehow managed to cram one whole carrot, an onion, a garlic and half lettuce inside that small section of the container. Sheer genius.
Fruit Salad

My fruit salad consists of

2 Oranges
2 Plums
1 Fuji Apple
1/2 Guava

I originally planned to include watermelon but decided not to as I was too lazy to cut and slice a newly fresh uncut watermelon. Besides, my fruit salad was already well crammed inside the container.

I didn't eat the fruit salad during lunch time. I left the fruit salad for my later snack (4 PM snack).
Homemade Lunch

I don't dismiss eating outside. In fact I do eat in a restaurant with my colleagues once in a while. But admittedly, I prefer to bring and eat my own homemade lunch and dinner as I do not need to worry about calories, fat content and such.

My colleagues once asked me how I managed to find time to prepare lunch and dinner daily. Actually to be honest, I don't know. I just can (Risking myself to sound like Mr. Smartypants over here).

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I bought it! I have the Michael Jackson's This Is It ticket (Gold Seat - 29th October 2009). It costs quadruple than a normal ticket but anything to avoid cellphone's ringing in a cinema. I also bought another three regular tickets for the same date. My colleagues and his girlfriend are going to watch the movie with me.
Listening To: Michael Jackson - Butterflies (Remix Feat. Eve)
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Speedway Spaghetti

2009-10-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

It has been a very hectic, chaotic and stressful week. I was only able to sleep 2 to 3 hours every night for the past few days as I had to finish a lot of work.

The company that I'm working with is holding a two-day property exhibition this weekend. As the company's designer, I was constantly chasing time to design materials for the exhibition, newspaper ad etc.

Normally I don't bring work to home but I had to this time. It was unavoidable.

But all hard work paid off once I saw the advertisement that I designed in a few major newspapers. Full spread. As a designer, I am very much jolly happy. Another artwork to be inserted into my portfolio.

But admittedly I will not be completely satisfied until I get feedback from my colleagues on next Monday.

I need to know how effective my ad is. There's no point of designing a beefy pretty fancy ad but yet so ineffective to attract and catch people's eyes and hearts. That's a personal doom call for a designer. At least for me.

But for now, all I want to do is catching up my sleeping beauty sleep.

Speedway Spaghetti

Well anyway as I've promised prehistoric ago (Okay, 7 days ago to be specific), here is my Speedway Spaghetti. Voila!
Ingredients

Spaghetti

Chicken Meatballs (Frozen or homemade. That is simply up to you)

Leftover marinade from the previous recipe, which was Microwave Roasted Salmon

Dried Oregano

Dried Paprika

Dried Parsley

Black Pepper

Peas

Carrot

Chili

1/2 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice

Directions

Fill a pot with 1/2 to 3/4 water (Not the sparkling type. Preferably low sodium).

Boil the water. Some people like to sprinkle salt in the boiling water but I don't. So it is up to you.

Once the water starts to boil, add spaghetti to the boiling water.

Boil your spaghetti in the pot for approximately 10 minutes. Remember to stir it occasionally as you don't want the spaghetti to stick to the pot.

Once cooked, drain the boiling water inside the pot using a colander.

Place your spaghetti in a bowl.

Pour the leftover marinade from the previous recipe.

Sprinkle all herbs (Dried Oregano, Dried Paprika, Dried Parsley and Black Pepper) to your own generous quantity. I mostly love to sprinkle a lot of Paprika and Black Pepper into my spaghetti.

Add the 1/2 teaspoon of Lemon to remove the previous fish marinade odor. If 1/2 teaspoon is not enough, add more to your own generous quantity.

Add a few frozen/homemade chicken meatballs. (Hint: You don't need to heat up frozen meatballs using a stove. Microwave is your best friend. It only takes about 3 to 4 minutes to heat meatballs.)

Lastly add your own vegetables. I added slices of carrot, chili and peas this time around.

Blend them all up.

Done!

Sauce

I generally don't use any other sauce except for Extra Virgin Olive Oil for spaghetti. But for today's recipe, I used the previous marinade sauce instead of typical Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I personally don't use sauce such as Tomato sauce due to high sodium content (For my standard). Spaghetti alone without a sauce can already make me full and bloated. Plus, chicken meatballs already contain a bit of sodium in them. Thus I don't need more sodium to make me extra bloated.

Salt Usage

Some people like to sprinkle salt in their spaghetti. I don't.

Chicken meatballs as I mentioned above, contain salt. The amount of salt in those chicken meatballs are good enough and sufficient enough for me.

Small Bowl

I usually use a small bowl or plate to serve my spaghetti.

It's a way to cheat your mind thinking that you are eating a huge amount of food in general.

Just make sure to eat your food slowly. Munch your food with debonair and gracefulness. When you rush, you tend to get hungry much faster afterward or eat more than you should per meal.

Spaghetti Intake

I frequently eat spaghetti these days but not in a big amount. The amount of spaghetti that I eat per meal is equivalent to the size of my fist. That's all.

Spaghetti is high with carbohydrate content. Mostly in a form of starch. Hence why it is not recommendable to eat Spaghetti a lot particularly when you are watching your weight.

Last but not least as I usually would say, Happy Gobbling!

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I accidentally slammed my face at a pole inside a monorail yesterday. I didn't see where I was walking whilst heading out from the monorail as I was busy talking to a tourist. The tourist went, "Owww!!!". Out loud - inside the crowded monorail. My pride ...
Listening to: George Michael - Fastlove
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Microwave Roasted Salmon

2009-10-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

Microwave Roasted Salmon
The celebration of Hari Raya is still going on but mildly now. The presence of Hari Raya can only be truly felt on its first week and the second week. It slowly fades away by the third week.

Today's post is not about the celebration of Hari Raya but a recipe. A simple recipe with a whipping good taste.

First of all, the original recipe can be found at Recipezaar (Click 'Recipezaar' to visit the recipe page).

I modified the recipe slightly to suit my taste and also my work schedule. The most obvious modification that I have applied on this recipe is the roasting method. I use a microwave instead of an oven to roast my Salmon.

Let me tell you something. I've done quite a lot of my cooking with a microwave (A Chef weeps from afar). Yep, a microwave. Who says microwave is only worth to heat up popcorn and frozen food? You can make instant healthy and delicious food with microwave as well.

Anyways, the original recipe uses an oven and it requires up to 45 minutes to roast the Salmon fillets. I skipped the oven and used microwave instead. It only took me about 6 minutes to roast the fillets in a microwave.

No, I'm not slagging the ol' mighty oven as I often use oven myself. But I turn to the young and restless microwave when I'm in a rush or plain lazy to wash the oven grill afterward (I'm a human too!).
Ingredients

2 Cloves garlic, minced

6 Tablespoons of extra virgin oil

1 Tablespoon of dried Oregano

1 Tablespoon of dried Parsley

1 Tablespoon of Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon of Dried Paprika

1 Tablespoon of Lemon juice

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

2 Salmon fillets

Directions

Prepare marinade by mixing garlic, extra virgin olive oil, oregano, parsley, black pepper, paprika, lemon and salt in a big bowl.

Place Salmon fillets inside the bowl. Cover the fillets wholly with the marinade.

Marinate in the refrigerator for approximately an hour. You can always prepare the marinade in the morning before you go to work and roast the Salmon fillets once you get home.

Place the Salmon fillets in a microwave safe dish. Pour the marinade on top of it.

Microwave it. I roasted it for 4 - 6 minutes. You have to keep your eyes on it to make sure that it is well roasted. Watch the color contour changes from raw pink to grilled brownish pink.

If you are not sure whether your fillets have been well roasted, take your fillets out from the microwave every 3 to 4 minutes. If your fillets can be easily flaked with a fork by all means it is cooked.

Done. That's all.

Lemon Usage

I like to squeeze a few drops of Lemon juice on top of my Salmon fillets before eating. It's up to you. You can also add more black pepper or your other favorite herbs too.

Salt Usage

Salt usage varies to your individual preference and taste. The original recipe recommended one full teaspoon of Salt. I only added 1/2 teaspoon.

If you're unsure, you can always use 1/2 teaspoon before you roast the fillets and add another 1/2 teaspoon afterward.

The Leftover Marinade

I didn't throw away the leftover marinade. I used the leftover marinade (Mixed with few drops of lemonade) for my speedway meatball spaghetti. I'll show you photos of my spaghetti on the next post.

Simple Good Recipe

It's a very simple recipe, isn't it? Mix in a bowl, place in a refrigerator, roast in a microwave and hey, presto! Done!

So if you are in a rush to prepare a dinner, give this recipe or the original recipe a try.

Happy gobbling!

Disclaimer: I recommend you to try the original recipe first as it is the original recipe. My recipe is based upon my very own taste and preference. Batteries not included. Ingredients and microwave sold separately.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I just realized that one part of the trumpet section in Hawaii 5-0 resembles to Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity. Maybe it's just me.
Listening to: The Ventures - Theme of Hawaii 5-O
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Hari Raya Celebration - Part 3 - Hari Raya Cuisines

2009-09-24T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hari Raya Cuisines
I went back to my parents' house and what did I see? I found my mother, sister and little brother all busy cooking and baking. By Zeus! we have more cuisines this year than last year.

Usually people start baking Hari Raya cookies, cakes and traditional cuisines on the last week of the fasting month.

All of my siblings can cook very well including ahem, me. I guess we successfully picked up our skills from our parents.

My little brother to everyone surprise, bakes very well. So well that he once supplied a college cafeteria with his homemade cakes. But he eventually stopped operating his little business as he was still studying at the time.

I used to cook at a Red Cross Orientation Camp for three years in a row. I was asked to cook the very same recipe every year as it happens to be everyone's favorite.

This year we have a combination of traditional and modern cuisines.
Lemang is a glutinous rice that is wrapped with banana leaf and cooked inside a bamboo. It is pretty much the main course for every dining table in every house during Hari Raya.

It is impossible for you to find Lemang outside of fasting month and Hari Raya. Unless of course if you live in my neighborhood. Heh. There's this one family that sells Lemang all year round.

It is tender, moist and also sticky. It has a tiny pinch taste of salt but also sweet at the same time. People occasionally eat Lemang with Rendang.

I've cooked Lemang before . Simply say, cooking Lemang was a really dull process. You can't take your eyes away from it as Lemang can easily overcook or cook unevenly. Granted, great things come through patience. Burp. Pardon me.
Rendang is a spicy tangy beef sort of stew. It comes in all sorts of variety and flavors (Different states, different style of cooking). Rendang is very versatile as you can eat it with rice, Lemang (Glutinous Rice), Ketupat (Rice Cake) and even with a plain white bread. Heck, you can also eat it with Spaghetti and Macaroni.

Occasionally you can find two types of Rendang - Chicken Rendang and Beef Rendang. You can also find Mutton Rendang and Prawn Rendang but they are not as famous as the first two.
Nasi Impit or Ketupat is basically a rice cake. Traditionally the rice is boiled and compacted inside coconut leaves that have been woven. If that's cooking method is too much for you, just buy the instant one from a supermarket.

I think Ketupat is more versatile than Lemang as you can eat Ketupat with almost everything. From Rendang, Curry, Peanut Sauce to Satay. Whilst Lemang is mostly known to eat with Rendang only. But Lemang rules! Actually both are even. I think.
I opened our fridge and there it was! Creme Caramel made by my sister. I didn't eat it but eh, I can tell you that it looks good and most probably taste good too. Especially considering that few slices of it have been eaten.
Usually it is my mother who will bake this particular chocolate cake. She loves to bake this cake every year. But my sister decided to fill in my mother's shoes this year and bake this cake by herself instead.
My sister made few batches of super size chocolate chip cookies. I ate one cookie and as usual, it was fabulously crispy. The cookie and its chocolate chips warmly melt in my mouth.

One cookie was enough for me though as it was a huge cookie. Besides I can't eat a lot of chocolate as it somehow makes me feel a bit dizzy.
These small cakes resemble a lot to cupcakes. All I know is these small cakes are topped with chocolate icing and sprinkled with chocolate rice and some sort of nuts.
My mother cooked this fried macaroni for everyone in my family except me. She knows that I do not eat fried food thus she left me with a big Tupperware containing plain boiled macaroni. I took over from there by adding herbs, meatballs etc.
I do not know what this is. If I recalled correctly from my obese life, it is deep fried and it tasted almost exactly like chips. Crispy, crunchy and also spicy.
These banana chips used to be my favorite. Crispy, salty and sweet at the same time. But I have stopped eating them as these chips are highly addictive due to its Sodium content. You chomped one of it and it will leave you helplessly to have another. And another. And another. Burp. And another. And another ...
These two were purchased. During fasting month, you can find a lot of Hari Raya cookie booths along Ramadhan food bazaar and shopping malls. So if you don't have time to bake your own cookies, you can easily buy them off. But there is a catch though. Not all of them taste good. Sometimes they are too crispy, lack of taste and so on.
Batang Buruk are made of wheat flour, rice flour and coconut flour. They are in cylinder shapes with holes inside. If I'm not mistaken, fried green beans are inserted inside.
They are basically fritters. Fried flours in shaped of small balls containing onions and occasionally prawns as well. There are many types of Cucur and this is one of them. My mother made the onion version. People generally eat Cucur with chili sauce.
Puff, puff ... you think that was all? Nope.

That was most of it but absolutely not everything. There are few other homemade cuisines that I do not feature in this blog and that includes Fruits Pudding, Chicken Curry, Curry Puff and Peanut Sauce. I couldn't snap photo of these cuisines as they were served to guests at the time.

What's missing on this year's dining table is my mother's famous homemade chocolate sprinkled cupcakes. But considering with what we have this year, I think we can give it a pass.
I didn't touch most of them as I am ... a health freak nowadays. I suck, yeah. What's new.

My mother even had to cook a separate Rendang for me. My low fat Rendang was cooked with a slightly different ingredients and method. But it tasted exactly like a normal Rendang. I tell you one thing, my mother is a genius cook.

Actually I do not have any problem to eat all of them - Zeus forbid deep fried delicacy though. But I just don't have the same appetite as I used to back then. I think.

Or maybe I'm just afraid that I will lose my sanity whilst dining. I am just a human after all.

Hmm. I prefer the first excuse.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: There's a curve of smile but it ends with a tip of distress. Can run and hide till the end of the night. But tomorrow's morning will welcome you to yesterday once again.
Listening to: Iron and Wine - Each Coming Night
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Hari Raya Celebration - Part 2

2009-09-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

Hari Raya Celebration - Part 2
Kuala Lumpur, a city that is synonym with its suffocating traffic jam has morphed into a deserted ghost city. Well almost.

How deserted is Kuala Lumpur right now?

Well you can literally lie in a middle a road for a few minutes without being rolled by trucks, buses and cars.

Most shops and restaurants (Shakey's, Pizza Hut, Subway etc.) in my neighborhood have been temporarily closed down. Shopping malls are practically empty with shoppers. The jogging park in my neighborhood is sparkly clean too.

Majority of people in Kuala Lumpur have returned to their hometowns in the other states to visit the rest of their families. This is a common culture in Malaysia.

Unfortunately this is also the month where you can find a lot of tragic car accidents that normally involved one whole family. When I say tragic, it means death.
Once again, I had to cancel my trip to visit my hometown. But this time for a different reason. I haven't visited my grandmother for almost 3 years now. So it left me groan.

The rest of my grandparents have passed away. But my memories with them are still freshly intact.

I still remember watching my grandparents baked and cooked local cuisines, playing with fireflies, taking bath in a clear fresh cold river, visiting relatives until late night, accidentally stepped on this huge slug at night (I scrubbed my feet vigorously after that) and a lot more.

I miss everything.

Sadly one of my grandparents' houses has been demolished to make a way for a highway.

Personal Preparation for Hari Raya

I only bought one complete set of Baju Melayu this year. That's all. I don't think it's necessary to buy more than one as I bought five pairs last year. I'm just going to re-wear them all.

Oh, what is Baju Melayu? It's a traditional male attire that can be seen regularly on fasting month, Hari Raya, wedding ceremony and other special functions. It is common but still it's practically a must to buy a new set of Baju Melayu for Hari Raya.
A complete Baju Melayu consists of matching long sleeved shirt and trousers made of cotton or silk. It is completed with Samping (Sarong like) and Songkok (Head gear). Add a pair of leather sandals called Capal in the collection to get the most authentic and nostalgia look.
Samping is commonly made of a textile called Songket, which is a handwoven silk or cotton and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. Songket fabric can last for a long time and it is commonly passed from one generation to another.
Songkok as I've mentioned above is a headdress made of cotton or velvet. From what I understood, the ancestor of Songkok happens to be the Fez from Ottoman Turks. Fez appeared in Malay archipelago circa 13th century. Hence why Songkok resembles a lot to a Fez.
I do not know much about Capal. What I do know is Capal was widely worn in Malay archipelago long time ago but it slowly died in the emergence of modern era. Fortunately it has made a comeback. Oh yeah, Capal is usually handmade and it is made of leather or faux leather.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I would like to say thank you to my late grandparents for being the best and the coolest grandparents.
Listening to: Dayangku Intan - Senandung Hari Raya Untukmu
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Hari Raya Celebration - Part 1

2009-09-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hari Raya Celebration - Part 1

Fasting month is over! It's time to celebrate Hari Raya (Celebration Day of Fasting Month)!

First of all, I'll be honest here. As paranoid as I was with my weight status during the fasting month (Also known as the Ramadhan month), I actually enjoyed the fasting month from the F to the G. And put T within the F and G too! (Readers: What the heck is he babbling about.)

Every day was a moving day. You just can't see the atmosphere and the environment of Ramadhan month in the other months. It's different and special.

I can't forget waking up groggily everyday for predawn meal to prepare myself for daily fasting, frantically chasing bus and light rail transit to go home on time to break my fast, visiting food bazaars that cramped with massive hungry crowds, witnessing delirious mega sales and so much more. Ahh ... I simply love it.

Weight Status

Triumph! So far at least. I have successfully maintained my weight throughout the whole fasting month without gaining a pound. That's a major victory for yours truly as my weight zoomed up few pounds on last year's fasting month.

The way I approach this year's fasting month is entirely different from the last year.

Last year I did a 1 hour brisk walk daily hoping that it would help to maintain my weight throughout the whole fasting month. However I did not balance my exercise very well with food intake as I only consumed two meals daily (Pre dawn meal and break fast meal). Yep, only two meals in a day. That collides horribly with my typical 5 meals a day that I usually have outside of fasting month.

This year I decided to become a guinea pig by risking myself with a new 'diet' plan. Specially 'tailored' for the fasting month.

So what is it?

Well I just turned my day and night meals upside down. Genius isn't it? I was born to be the next Tesla. In food department. Ho, ho ...

How does it work?

In non fasting month, I eat four meals during the day and one meal at night (My dinner is at 6.00 pm - 6.30 pm). So for this year's fasting month, I simply rotated my food cycle.

I take one meal in the early morning (Predawn meal to prepare myself for daily fasting) and I take the other 4 meals at night (One heavy meal and follows by another 3 light meals in every 1 hour).

Heavy Meals

I didn't have the appetite to eat wheat bread during fasting month.

My heavy meal consisted of oatmeal with slices of bananas, a small bowl of chicken salad and several apples or oranges.

I replaced oatmeal with macaroni or spaghetti with meatballs once in a week. Sometimes I added a piece of home made roasted black pepper chicken in my menu too.

Light Meals

A big jug of home made smoothie would do for me.

Just mix 4 apples (2 green and 2 red apples), 2 carrots and 3 bananas to create a fresh, creamy and sweet smoothie.

I did not add milk or even yogurt this time around. Those bananas were enough to give my smoothie a creamy and milky texture.

Normally I would keep my smoothie in the fridge for 2 hours before I gobble it.

One big jug of smoothie divides well into three light meals.

Or

I just eat fruits. A lot.

From oranges to guavas and a lot more. I still haven't lost my skill splurging one whole watermelon within just one night. Or eating 10 mangoes in a row. Whew...

Brisk Walk and Workout

I cut my brisk walk short from 1 hour to 30 minutes only. I had to restraint myself from doing more than 1 hour as I needed to preserve energy and also to avoid myself from feeling tired throughout the rest of the day.

One thing that I have to admit is it was challenging to do workout on this year's fasting month. It was different then as I was not a full time designer who works from 9.30 am to 5 pm. But I am now.

I was fine during the first two weeks but I had to struggle on the last two weeks. I struggled mostly due to lack of sleep as I was lacking with my normal 8 hour of sleep.

Hopefully I can sort this problem out on next year's fasting month.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I'm back to my 5 meals a day now as fasting month is over.
Listening to: Rafeah Buang - Bila Takbir Bergema
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Day 25 - Fasting Month - Little Kid of Bukit Bintang

2009-09-14T05:06:00.000-07:00

Little Kid of Bukit Bintang

As I was about to cross the busy street of Bukit Bintang, I felt like someone tapping my lower back from behind. I turned around and there he was. This little guy in a pale old green t-shirt and a worn out pant. I think he is somewhere around 9 to 10 years old.

He said hello to me in a gentle voice.

I replied his hello.

He asked if its possible for me to lend him some money as he would like to buy food for his siblings. According to him, he has 6 siblings to feed.

I asked him for his father. He said he's 'gone'. I'm not sure what he meant by that but I didn't ask any further.

"How about you mother?" I asked him.

I couldn't hear what he said to me very clearly as he spoke in a low soft voice . But I think he mentioned something about her mother's working but still couldn't afford to feed everyone.

He needed money to buy food to break fast.

I was slightly hesitate. Could this be a scam from a beggar?

You see, during Ramadhan month it is common to see illegal migrated and also local beggars infesting Ramadhan food bazaar and busy street like Bukit Bintang.

You usually don't see them during the first week of Ramadhan food bazaar. They only appear afterward. In a large number.

It's quite depressing and disturbing to see beggars sitting and crawling begging for money right in the middle of a Ramadhan food bazaar.

Sympathetic? I think everyone automatically will be but please do not. The more you contribute in donating money to beggars in a bazaar, the more beggars will appear at that bazaar. In truth, these beggars are just scammers.

So anyways back to the kid.

I stared at him. "You're not lying, aren't you? It's not good to lie especially within this fasting month."

He said no in a low gentle voice.

I asked him the same question repeatedly. Three to four times just to be sure.

"It's okay if you don't want to hand me money. But please can you buy food for my siblings and me?" He looked desperate now.

I lost my words. Okay, he got me. Wrapped and sealed.

I don't mind taking the kid to the Bukit Bintang Ramadhan Food Bazaar as we were just 10 meters away from the bazaar. But I was in a rush.

So I took out my wallet from my jacket and handed him 10 dollars. "Is this enough?"

"Food for 6 ... "

It makes sense. That amount of money can't possibly cover 6 meals. One meal is usually around $2.50.

I handed him another 5 dollars. I wish I had another 10 dollars instead of 5 dollars inside my wallet.

"Thank you, big brother. I promise to pay you back after the celebration of Hari Raya." He said to me.

I curved a smile. "No, it's okay. You don't need to pay me back."

He said thank you and slowly walked away.

I know that my forehead is stamped with naivety but I am confident that he was telling me the truth. I strongly believe that he indeed comes from a poor family and thus why I helped him out.

Kuala Lumpur may be a modern and a well developed city but we still have poverty hidden and dwelling in almost every corner of the city. Not a lot but still.

Truthfully,

JJ

P/S: Note to self. Check spelling and grammar tomorrow. Post looks messy. Too tired to check it now.

Random: No one knows this little habit of mine but I love to buy fruits and meals for bus and taxi driver. Not all the time but quite frequently. I can't explain why I do it. I just think that by surprising them with meals, it would take away a bit of their stress for driving around the city nonstop to cater the public.
Listening to: Henry Mancini - Exodus
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Day 15 - Fasting Month - My Wallet Was Stolen

2009-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

My Wallet Was Stolen

What supposed to be a good Hari Raya shopping adventure turns out to be a painful nightmare.

To make the story short, my wallet was stolen in Zara, Pavilion shopping center.

I accidentally left my wallet inside a fitting room after trying out a jacket. I only remembered about it 5 to 15 minutes afterward.

By the time I realized my missing wallet, it was too late as it was already gone.

I frantically asked the staff if by any chance they have found it. But none of them did. They kindly assisted me as much as they could. But nonetheless they also can't do much as they had to cater a big number of customers. Zara was having a clearance sale thus it attracted a huge crowd today.

I really felt helpless at the time. Panic, frustrated and heck, I almost wept. I circled inside Zara multiple of times trying to search for my wallet.

I wouldn't feel that upset if there was only say, 100 to 200 bucks inside that wallet. I think I can still swallow that kind of amount.

But my wallet contained 420 bucks. Plus ATM cards, identity card and public transportation ticket worth of 150 bucks (Unlimited usage for bus and light rail transit for a month).

420 bucks is not a small amount. That is a big amount.

I eventually gave up trying to find it after 10 to 15 minutes. I left my contact number to a staff just in case if he or anyone somehow managed to find my wallet.

I walked out from Pavilion feeling very much empty. My mind was cloudy and heavy. I was trying hard to figure out what to do. How can I go home? Walk again by feet like I did before? To whom should I inform first, the police or the banks?

Then out of the blue, my cellphone vibrated. I quickly answered my cellphone and silently hoping that it was a call from a staff at Zara. But it wasn't. It was a call from a Pavilion security guard.

"Hello, sir? Are you JJ? Did you lose your wallet?"

"Yes, yes. I did."

"One of our janitors found your wallet inside a trash bin in a men's room" He explained.

"Oh my god ..." I squeaked.

"Are you still in Pavilion, sir?"

"Well I'm standing in front of the entrance ..."

"You can pick up you wallet at our help desk in front of Gucci."

"Coming right away!"

So I rushed down to the location as fast I as I could. In my mind, I was hoping that the thief somehow has decided to cancel stealing my wallet as this month is the holy month of Ramadhan. Yeah, that will be the day. Fat chance, JJ.

There were few staff and security guards flocking around the help desk.

One of the security guards asked me how and where I lost my wallet. I explained to him thoroughly to the smallest detail.

"Is there any money left inside my wallet?" I asked bluntly. Duh to me.

"No, it's empty. No money at all. How much did you put inside your wallet?"

"Well there was 420 bucks left inside my wallet ..." I sighed.

"Oh boy ... that's a lot. But unfortunately we can't get your money back."

"I understand."

"But at least the thief didn't take your ATM cards. But just in case, you should inform your banks" He said to me.

I nodded.

"Where did you lose your wallet again?" Another security guard asked.

"In Zara's fitting room ..."

I explained to the other guard the whole story again from A to Z.

I left them with a thank you.

Who On Earth

I find this whole thing to be utterly bizarre.

What kind of customer steal another customer's wallet inside a store like Zara?

I can't pinpoint to the potential thief as Zara was crowded with customers due to their clearance sales. There was a lot of young teenagers, adults and tourists. So really I can't tell who was the one who took my wallet. But who ever stole my wallet is a freaking prick.

420 Bucks

It's unfortunate. The money inside my wallet was meant for a charity usage. I was planning to use those money to buy gifts for the Grant A Wish (Children's Day 2009) program.

Yesterday I was handed a book by an activist at the street of Bukit Bintang. The book contains a huge list of orphans and disabled children as well adults with their wishes.

The list touches my heart. Most of their wishes are decent and nothing demanding like towels, diapers, rice, cooking oil, bangles and so on.

Emmanuel, a 26 year old male with Mental Retardation is only asking for a new shaving kits.

Alecia, a 4 year old little girl with Intellectually & Leaning Disable is only asking for new toys.

Chan Yenn, a 28 year old man with Intellectually & Leaning Disable wishes for new toiletries or puzzles (1000 pcs).

You get the idea.

This is what the 400 bucks of money in my wallet was meant for.

But no, a thief has decided that my money is worth to be used for a different purpose.

One Person to Blame

I neither blame Zara or sigh, even the thief. There is only one person to blame and that person is me.

I do not consider this whole thing to be a bad luck. What has occurred today was simply due to my carelessness. I deserve to be slapped for leaving my own huge wallet inside a fitting room of a busy clothing store.

One lesson that I have learned from today's incident is I need to stop using a big huge wallet. It's so huge that I can't fit the wallet inside my pant's pockets.

It Could be Much Worse

As frustrated as I am to lose such enormous amount of money, I am still thankful and quite relief.

At least the thief didn't 'wipe out' and 'touch' my ATM cards. So in other words, this whole incident could be much worse but fortunately it didn't.

I haven't told anyone about today's incident. Not my friends and not even my family. I can guarantee you that I will be 'butchered' by them if I did.

I know that I deserve to be lectured but just not today. Maybe tomorrow or the day after.

I'm trying my best not to think about today's incident that much as the more I think about it, the more depressing the whole thing become.

What happened has happened. The least thing I can do right now is to learn from my mistake and carelessness. The hardest way.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: That freaking thief had the nerve to scribble something on my wallet using a red ink. It was like a signature or something. Oh, he also took all the freaking coins inside my wallet. I had a lot of coins inside that wallet.
Listening to: My own sigh and groan
Current Weight: 74 kg (162. 8 lbs)

Day 9 - Fasting Month (Vlog Ep. 14 - Bukit Bintang Ramadhan Food Bazaar)

2009-08-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

Day 9 - Fasting Month (Vlog Ep. 14 - Bukit Bintang Ramadhan Food Bazaar)

Episode 14 - Stem & Root Bukit Bintang Ramadhan Food Bazaar from Jay on Vimeo.

Following the previous video, I continued my adventure to find another Ramadhan food bazaar. It didn't take a lot of effort to find one as there is a Ramadhan food bazaar nearby my office. Approximately 120 meters walk in distance.

Amusingly it took me three days to find that bazaar even though its location was right in front of my nose.

It also took me three days to try to shoot a video. On the first day, my camcorder decided to go loco. It was raining heavily on the second and the third day. I only managed to shoot everything on last Friday.

It was challenging to capture a video at that bazaar as it was jam packed.

One guy gently pushed me aside from behind as I was blocking people's path at the bazaar during the video shoot. Heh, heh.

To my relief, majority of visitors just ignored me. Few people did take a glance at me. Few sellers smiled at me. Several young adults ... uh, whistled at me.

I did my best to capture the food bazaar scene into my MiniDV tape as much as possible. But honestly my shots were still kind of limited. It was me versus a crowded hungry strollers. You don't want to mess with hungry people.

Bukit Bintang (Or Star Hill)

A trip to Malaysia would not be completed if you do not visit Bukit Bintang as it is the urban soul of Kuala Lumpur. It's the home for countless of hotels, corporate offices, shopping centers (Side by side even), cafes, restaurants and clubs.

One irony aspect that I found about Bukit Bintang is the existence of an open bazaar selling replicas/pirated branded goodies. The pirated bazaar is just 100+ meters away from the real branded boutiques. You want to buy original Louis Vuitton in Bukit Bintang? No problem. That's what Bukit Bintang is there for. Faked Louis Vuitton goodies are also available nearby.

Personally I will never understand why some people are desperate to be 'in' the crowd by purchasing faked branded products. There's nothing wrong wearing affordable clothes, you know? You can look expensive and classy just by the way you carry yourself.

Bukit Bintang shopping centers are known to serve variety and versatility on products and prices. Just head down to Bukit Bintang if you are planning to purchase branded cameras, camcorders and computers as you can get all these expensive electronic goodies at a very much lower price.

It's easy to access Bukit Bintang as you can get there by monorail, buses and cabs. I recommend monorail before cabs to tourist as some cab drivers in Bukit Bintang like to exploit and dupe tourist. Not every taxi driver in Bukit Bintang is a schmuck, just a few. But it's better to be safe than sorry.

Bukit Bintang Ramadhan Food Bazaar

Bukit Bintang Ramadhan food bazaar is naturally packed with city dwellers and tourists. It makes sense as the food bazaar is located right in the middle of the city of Kuala Lumpur.

In general, Ramadhan food bazaar is where you can find variety of local delicious cuisines such as multiple type of curries, cakes, noodles, kebabs, drinks and more. You can only find Ramadhan food bazaar during the fasting month of Ramadhan. Basically it's a once in a year event.

Bukit Bintang Ramadhan food bazaar has quite a big contrast when you compare it to the food bazaar in my neighborhood.

Visitors of the Ramadhan food bazaar in my neighborhood are mostly parents with their children. It's pretty much a family oriented Ramadhan food bazaar.

Whilst Bukit Bintang Ramadhan food bazaar is mostly visited by multicultural urban youngsters and adults who worked in Bukit Bintang. Plus expats and tourists.

One thing still remains the same though. The traditional and cultural atmosphere of a Ramadhan food bazaar during a fasting month. It's always the same no matter where the location is.

Each stall delivered their best to serve colorful and mouth watering cuisines and also fresh juicy drinks.

Yeah, most stalls sold fried and deep fried food but from my obese experience, cuisines in Ramadhan food bazaar are generally delicious. You have my guarantee. I'm not missing my old appetite though.

If you are not careful with your wallet, you might end up buying food from almost every stall in a Ramadhan food bazaar. If not all. I kid you not. This is a normal 'phenomenon' that has occured to a lot of people including my family in the past. The power of a Ramadhan food bazaar.

It's easy to find the Bukit Bintang Ramadhan food bazaar. Just walk straight ahead from the exit/entrance of the Bukit Bintang Monorail Station and you're bound to find it. It's only a 3 minute walk from the monorail station.

So there you go. My short report on Bukit Bintang Ramadhan food bazaar. I'm signing out for now. Ta.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I was planning to publish this post earlier. But I had problem uploading the video on Vimeo.
Listening to: Sudirman - Gerimis di Lautan
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Day 1 - Fasting Month (Vlog Ep. 13 - Ramadhan Food Bazaar)

2009-08-22T23:11:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - Fasting Month (Vlog Ep. 13 - Ramadhan Food Bazaar)

Episode 13 - Stem & Root Ramadhan Food Bazaar from Jay on Vimeo.

The day to fast has arrived. The fasting month called Ramadhan is here to stay for a month.

After Ramadhan, we will celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Literally known as the Celebration Day of Fasting). But we'll get to the topic of Hari Raya later on as it is still one month away.

Generally when it comes to fasting in Ramadhan, one has to fast from 5.40 am till around 7.20 pm. You can't eat or drink within this time frame.

So majority of people will have a predawn meal before 5.40 am. We called it as Sahur.

For today's predawn-meal, I ate a bowl of oatmeal with slices of bananas and a wheat sandwich containing meatballs and veggies. I also took whey protein.

To break my fast, I ate oatmeal with fruits (Papayas and Mangoes).

Anyways starting from today, I hope I can vlog the scene of Ramadhan in Kuala Lumpur as many as possible.

Ramadhan food bazaar is synonym to the Malaysia's culture and atmosphere. You can find a food bazaar in every corner of a neighborhood, city, village and well practically everywhere in Malaysia. Even shopping malls and sometimes hotels hold their own Ramadhan food bazaars.

Note though, food bazaars organized by shopping malls are often pricey than the common food bazaar that you can find in a local street or neighborhood. Food bazaar in an uptown and high end neighborhood can also be slightly expensive than the normal neighborhood.

Today I decided to snoop around at a nearby food bazaar in my neighborhood. It's located not far away from my house (10 meters away) and just right beside the jogging park.

It was crowded but heck, today's visitors were not up to its usual standard. You have to wait for few days to see the real number of visitors.

Plus there weren't a lot of food stalls today. They will eventually pop up like mushroom in another few days.

I guess everyone still hasn't warmed up.

I don't buy food from food bazaar anymore as I prepare and cook my own food. Cuisines in a food bazaar are commonly deep fried hence why I don't buy them.

Yes, you can find grilled stall here and there but I still rather cook and grill my own food. Save money and more satisfying to eat my own homemade cook. But nonetheless it's still fun to browse and walk around in a food bazaar.

I do however buy young coconut in a food bazaar once in a while. It's refreshing to drink the juice of a young coconut during fasting month.

According to one of my colleagues, there's a food bazaar that is placed somewhere close to my office. My office is situated right in the middle of Bukit Bintang Golden Triangle.

Bukit Bintang is the major centerpoint for city dwellers and tourists to shop. You want to purchase affordable but funky and stylish clothes? Lowest price for all kind of electronic gadgets? High end branded clothes? Cafes and restaurants? Countless of shopping malls side to side? You can find all these in Bukit Bintang.

So it should be really interesting to capture the atmosphere of food bazaar in Bukit Bintang.

That's all from me today.

Last but not least, Happy Ramadhan.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I didn't bring my tripod at the time as it was impossible to use it in a such crowded place.
Listening to: Roberto Carlos - Detalhes
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Lunch in Tykoh Inagiku

2009-08-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

Lunch in a Japanese Restaurant

What a food fiesta I've been having so far within this week. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

Yesterday I ate my lunch at Nando's along with my other colleagues. Nando's is a restaurant that specializes in grilled chicken dishes. It's pretty much like Kenny Rogers Roasters.

The difference between these two restaurants is Nando's originally came from South Africa whilst Kenny Rogers Roasters was started in USA. Kenny Rogers Roasters was developed by obviously, the country musician Kenny Rogers and a former KFC owner.

I had a quarter of grilled chicken with potato salad. It wasn't as heavy as Kenny Rogers' grilled chicken as the chicken was smaller. Even the plate was smaller than the Kenny Rogers. But it still left me full.

Today (As in Wednesday) I ended up eating my lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Tykoh Inagiku. Quite a posh restaurant. I joined the rest of my colleagues to eat our lunch at that restaurant to celebrate and welcome our special guests from Hong Kong and Australia.

I thought I was going to be served with a small serving just like the previous Japanese restaurant that I went to. The previous restaurant only served me with a few super mini tiny bowls and plates here and there.

But holy canola! I was dead wrong this time.

Let see. First I was served with a cup of green tea along with a bowl of white 'pudding'. I was later told by my colleague that the 'white' pudding that I ate was actually a bowl of white eggs. Nice ... thankfully there was no yellow egg in it.

Then I was served with a huge wooden tray containing variety of mouth watering Japanese cuisines.

There was a plate of grilled Salmon marinated with soy sauce (I think), a plate of grilled chicken, a small bowl of salad, another small bowl with a different type of salad (Looks like seaweed), a bowl of white rice, a BBQ stick of grilled chicken livers and a bowl of soup containing tofus with chicken cubes.

It was later followed by a dessert, which was slices of fruits in a very tiny plate. Topped with sort of whipped cream.

All of these food have Japanese names but sorry, I don't remember any of them.

Overall it was a splendid experience but man, I was already full after I ate my grilled Salmon. I haven't even touched my grilled chicken and the others yet.

I ate everything except for the white rice, the livers and the whipped cream. Oh, surprisingly I didn't finish my grilled chicken either. I shared my chicken with my other colleagues.

Oddly I didn't feel that heavy after eating those stuff. Heavy as in heavy and bloated due to Sodium intake. Actually to think of it, it does make sense. My menu hardly contained Sodium. The soy sauce was probably the only part of my menu with Sodium.

However, that still can't guarantee that my weight will stay intact at 74 kg. But hopefully and somehow it will as I did my usual '30-minute-city-brisk-walk' afterward.

It's crucial for my weight to stay below 75 kg as the fasting month is going to arrive in just another two days. As I've mentioned before, my weight will gain drastically after the fasting month due to the one month 'starvation mode'.

Thus I consider 74 kg to 75 kg to be my safe zone. I would not be that upset if I gained weight - as long as it is below 79 kg. Above 80 kg and I can confirm you that I will go nuts and will create a dramatic soap opera.

I wonder where I will have my lunch tomorrow. Such a mystery.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I went to watch District 9 for the second time today. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it as much as I did on the first watch. I was surrounded by talkative and mouthful popcorn young teenagers. The left side couldn't stop talking on his cellphone. He only stopped when I gave him this sharp fiery manly macho look. But it was only effective for few minutes as he received another two calls later. The right side kept giggling and whispering to his girlfriend. I groaned.
Listening to: The Dave Clark Five - Because
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Random Post: District 9 - What a Masterpiece!

2009-08-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

District 9 - Ultra Science Fiction!

This is a random post. I just need to blab about it.

Yay, I watched a movie in a cinema for the first time today! 6.30 pm at the Pavillion shopping center, which is located right in front of my office. Alone accompanied by a bottle of mineral water.

And the lucky movie was District 9.

I don't think there is a way to justify how magnificent it was. All I can say is it deserves to be nominated for The Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The film in a whole left me breathless. It is not your typical, cliche and stereotype science fiction film. It's risky to say that District 9 is a perfect science fiction film. So I will say that District 9 is almost perfect in every way you could ever imagine.

The main actor, which I have no idea who he is, was phenomenal. Annoying in a way but utterly brilliant. The emotions he played was spot on. This lad deserves to be nominated for an Oscar.

Congrats to everyone who was involved in the making of District 9. In my opinion, it will go down as one of the best science fiction films that has ever been produced in history.

I think it's easy to predict that District 9 will have a prequel or sequel. Heck, I would love District 9 to have them but I also don't mind if it doesn't. Leave it as it is.

District 9 will conquer the next Academy Awards. I think.

Last but not least, I am itching to see it again!

Truthfully.

JJ

Random: There weren't a lot of people in the cinema as it was a working day. Besides it was after 6 pm. That's what exactly what I was hoping for. Less people in the cinema, less noise, more feel at home. What annoys me about District 9 is the requirement to have huge local language subtitles - covering half part of the cinema screen. Yes, not just one subtitle. But two. Malaysia and Chinese language. Make that three as the alien conversation also had subtitle. It was a distraction for the first few minutes but thankfully I managed to ignore them - eventually.
Listening to: America - Sister Golden Hair
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

I'm Doing Great

2009-08-15T01:30:00.000-07:00

I'm Doing Super Fine

Prior to the previous post, I have received a handful of emails from concerned readers asking on how am I doing right now.

Okay, I fess up.

That whole rumor thing did bother me for a few days. Two to three days. I thought I could just let it go and ignore it. But apparently I could not.

It hit me really hard on the first day after that 'incident'. I could barely focus on my work and almost everything. I was all gloomy that day. The scene where I bumped into that so-called-friend kept repeating, rewinding and flashing up in my mind.

"Are you sickkkkkkkkk? Are you sickkkkkkkk? You look like you are sickkkkkkk ..." It continuously echoed in my mind throughout the first day. Ugh.

What's missing was a bucket of popcorn to eat whilst watching that horror annoying scene.

By the end of few days, I gave myself a big slap to wake me up from the unnecessary drama. Well okay, not really. I just asked myself, "Am I going to let him and other people ruin my life and achievement? Am I going to let their bastardized opinions and rumor tear down my new happy life that I'm enjoying to live in?"

The answer without a doubt should be a hell no. That's a veto, even!

I don't know what has got into these people's minds. Is it due to jealousy? Or is it downright of just being bunch of snobs? I know that some of them including that guy can be obnoxious in high school but holly hippo, we graduated from high school 9 years ago! Hence I expect maturity to hit everyone's head since then. Sheesh.

I say, let karma seal them up just like it got few of my former high school friends that used to mock me. Two of them ended up being morbid obese themselves. They are currently as huge as I was. I was shocked to see their new sizes when I stumbled into them in a cafe. Nonetheless I didn't say anything bad to them. See? I am all naturally good lad with low fat (Well not yet. But almost there). Oh yeah, very modest too.

So there is nothing to worry about right now. I am all good and dandy again. In fact, I am feeling very sexy these days. Ha. I'm probably just self absorbed but hey, I think I have a good excuse to feel good about myself. But no, I'm not at the par of Narcissus.

I'm not sure how to end this post...

Oh hell, power to me.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I'm going to watch District 9 next week! It will be my first experience to watch a movie in a cinema.
Listening to: Don McLean - Crying
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Rumor Spreading: I'm Ill Due to Weight Loss

2009-08-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

Nasty Rumor Saying That I'm Ill

Drama will never end, isn't it?

Tell me. How should I react when I heard that there's a rumor spreading amongst former high school friends that I'm ill. Supposedly because of my weight loss and the fact that I am thinner now.

Today I stumbled upon an old friend from high school whilst I was jogging. I considered him to be one of my best friends in high school. Admittedly he was one of my few best friends that bullied me once in a while.

"JJ, you lost more weight (Laughed). You don't look so good (Laughed). You look ill. Are you sick, JJ?"

I looked at him sharply. "No, I'm not ill."

"I'm only asking, JJ. Now that you have lost weight, you look ill. Really, JJ. You look like you are sick" He responded and laughed a little.

Note, he has a habit of laughing here and there. It doesn't matter whether the conversation is funny or not.

I continued to stare at him. This coming from a guy who smoked cigarette in high school because he wanted to lose weight. He though he was rejected by a female schoolmate because he was fat.

I really wanted to tell him that this type of attitude is what keeping me away from my high school friends. But I didn't as if I did, it will erupt another drama that I could live without.

This is one of the reasons why I ditched my past completely. This is why I do not keep in touch with any of my old high school friends.

Okay, fair enough. Not every of my high school friend is a bastard like him but for the sake of my own life, it's better to leave my entire past for the best of my own future.

I was taken aback by the nasty hearsay. It hurts so much like a knife slicing my flesh. My years of hard work have been ridiculed by unhappy leeches. Yes, leeches. Or Skunks. No, leeches fit them perfectly.

I'm not angry but indeed I am irritated and hurt by this nasty rumor. I never expected something like this to happen.

Yeah, I can guess on how and who started out this whole messy rumor. But I don't think it is necessary for me to go lengthy on this matter.

Sigh.

But you know what, if that's what people want to believe. Let them. I am not going to entertain them and try to straighten up this rumor at all. No press conference for them.

I will continue to have my revenge in my own very way. My revenge is just to ignore all these and carry on with my life. Be healthy and be happy. That's what matters to me.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: That schmuck also gave me his phone number, which he jotted down in a small piece of paper. "Call me if you get married or something.". I said, "Sure." Say hi to the dustbin.
Listening to: Joe Egan - Back On The Road
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Down to Size M

2009-08-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

Down to Size M

Unbelievable for me to grasp.

I am now able to wear size M. Holy freakazoid.

Last July I bought these slim fit shirts (Size L) and they all fitted tightly and nicely wrapping my body. However few months later, they all turned loose. I looked kind of baggy in those shirts now.

So last month I headed down to my favorite clothing shop to find few new shirts to replace my current loose shirts. I braved myself to try a size M shirt.

Unluckily I could not button up the size M shirt. Maybe some other time, I guess.

Three days ago I went to the same clothing shop and decided to try the same shirt again. Size M.

I managed to button the shirt this time around. Boy, I was utterly flabbergasted and so jolly happy. I grinned at myself like there was no end in the fitting room.

"Does it fit well, sir?" Asked the sales assistant.

"Yes, thank you." I replied with a big smile.

So that is the story of the day. I am now wearing size M for shirts. Size L for jackets. 36 inches for pants (Although it has started to become slightly loose as well).

I'm still wearing those loose L shirts but I wear them under one rule. Fold the long sleeves. Folding the long sleeves make the shirts look less baggy and sloppy.

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: My favorite color for a shirt is pink. Actually anything vibrant would do for me. Light purple, baby blue, red (checkered) and so on. It helps me to flow good energy and positivity throughout the day. I still wear white but it must be a slim fit shirt with a good patterned fabric.
Listening to: America - Ventura Highway
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)

Weight Status - July 2009

2009-08-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Fasting Month is Coming By

I'm down 1 kg (2.2 lbs) and that makes me 74 kg (162.8 lbs) right now.

August marks the attendance of the annual fasting month. It's a ceremony where I have to fast from sunrise until sunset everyday for a month. Once the fast month has been completed, I will celebrate an event called Hari Raya.

If I'm not mistaken, fasting month will begin on 20th or 21st August 2009.

Honestly, it's a ceremony that I enjoy to do and can't help to groan at the same time.

It's difficult to explain why I love fasting month. The mood, the environment and the atmosphere are truly different from the other months. Everything seems joyous and blissful. Plus, fasting month marks the beginning of the second Mega Sale in shopping centers throughout the country. Ho, ho ...

What I dislike about the fasting month is the effect that it will create to my body afterward.

I, unsurprisingly will definitely gain weight after the fasting month. It is not due to overeat but due to the 'starvation mode' during the fasting month. Fasting month will mess up my dietary system completely.

I just hope that my weight will not going to zoom up drastically in a big amount like it did last year. It took me months to get back to my old weight. I wasn't upset when it hit me but yes admittedly, it annoyed the heck out of me as it took me a long time to shred those uninvited fats.

I would love to share my stories on the upcoming fasting month as well as Hari Raya. Nonetheless I will not going to explain what fasting month and Hari Raya thoroughly this time as I have explained about these two quite lengthy last year.

It's 12.30 am and I should be heading to sleep. Good night. Zzz ...

Truthfully,

JJ

Random: I've decided to postpone purchasing Ipod Touch for now. I'm going to wait until my current Ipod goes kaput as it would be wasteful to buy a new Ipod whilst the current one is still working fine. The question is when will my Ipod die? It has survived 2 years and still going strong.
Listening to: Bread - Aubrey
Current Weight: 74 kg (162.8 lbs)