Cooking...

Yesterday I received a package from Jason and Shelen. I was so happy to see my ‘big’ name on the package. Everyday, when I go take in the mails, I always look through them, hoping to see anything with my name on it. Even the month bank statement from the bank make me happy sometimes. Haha…Crazy.. I guess I’m hoping to see something that shows that I’m being remembered by my friends or family. Sadly, it’s few and far in between. Anyway, Jason and Shelen sent me a card, and ingredients for making ‘zui kuay’. When they came over from Texas the week before Christmas, we talked about our cooking experiences here and they knew that I like ‘zui kuay’, so they sent it to me. Really very touched by their gesture. They sent me some package spices to make chicken rice and curry chicken. I really am very happy! Finally authentic food of Singapore!

Today, I tried to make the ‘zui kuay’. Anja, my au pair friend from Germany came for a playdate and I let her try it. I don’t think she likes it. She was polite and just said that the taste is strange to her, so she really can’t say whether it’s good or not. Hahaha…I know it’s strange. The ‘cai po’ that Jason and Shelen sent and bought from Texas tastes different from what we had in S’pore. I guess can’t ask for too much. The ‘zui kuay’ itself is good though. Maybe next time I try to eat it with soy sauce or chilli sauce. I still will eat with ‘cai po’, but maybe not put too much.

During my stint year in USA, I really cooked more than I did during my whole life time in S’pore. What to do. You want to eat something, you have to cook it. Since I’m in Connecticut, there’s not many Asians here. The Chinese restaurants are mostly Hong Kong taste. They’re also Americanised, after a few tries initially, I stopped eating them because the menu is mostly the same - those that the Americans like, like sweet and sour chicken/pork, Sesame chicken/pork, broccoli, etc. Every restaurants have the same dishes with not much variety. Now, I learn to cook stir-fry bean sprout with carrots, red bell pepper, broccoli and luncheon meat, onion omelette, fried rice, and now ‘zui kuay’!

Actually I lost weight initially when I came here, but now I gained back the weight!! boo hoo…I just love eating so much. My host mum just this week went on the South Beach Diet. I wanted to follow also, but Chinese New Year is coming, I hope to at least eat a little more before I go on the diet. When on the diet, the first 2 weeks is for cleansing, so you can’t eat a lot of things, like rice, pasta, white bread, corn, carrots, potatoes, anything with sugars(including fruits), etc. After the 2 weeks, you can introduce some things back into the diet but things like rice and pasta are really no-nos as they’re too rich in carbs. These are the so-called ‘bad’ carbs. The main motto of the diet is not to eat less and exercise. It’s to differentiate between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbs and follow the diet for the rest of your life to keep your weight. Of course, after you reached your desired weight, if you want to indulge occasionally, you can do it. It’s really up to you how you want to live your life.

Frankly, to me, if having to live your life being so restricted, it’s just such a waste of time. I rather eat whatever and then just exercise to keep them off. Well, of course, when you exercise, you can not keep up with the calories that you eat, but I try my best. Just hope to not be too fat when I get back home. S’pore is full of thin girls. Really very stress for me. Here, I’m considered petite. Gives me a false sense of confidence. Everyone says I’m ok and I know that I’m within the healthy range of my BMI. But in s’pore, all those bean-pole thin girls makes me feel so fat!! Of course, I’m not making too much effort also. If a guy only looks at my surface, then he’s not worth it.

Life is a constant struggle…