Choices

It's all about choices. Sometimes we make the right choice, other times it turns out to be a wrong one. Whichever it is, most times there is no turning back.

We are what we eat..... how true this has turned out to be, especially in my case. You know, when one is young, one takes one's health for granted. It never strikes you that your body is vulnerable, that by eating the "wrong" things, you could be setting up your body for a nasty surprise sometime in the future.

I've always had a sweet tooth and I'm now paying for it. Yes, I've got the disease that my doctor says " it's a disease you don't ever want to get". It's the terrible Diabetes Type 2. I had already been warned by someone that since both my parents have it, I would have a 99% chance of getting it. Ever the optimist, I thought that I would belong to the 1% where I wouldn't get it. Boy, was I wrong!
I was diagnosed a few years ago. I have the feeling that I dropped into it because I was greedy. It had been a horrible stretch of dry hot days and I was ever so hot and thirsty, so I ate lots of ice-cream. I love creamy ice-cream. Everyday I indulged in ice-cream. Little did I know that unusual thirst is a symptom of diabetes. Thus by eating lots of sweet things I pushed myself into the dreaded disease of diabetes.

Sigh.... now I cannot eat the food I love most...... ice-cream, chocolates, durian, potato chips & crisps and the list goes on. You know, when the doctor saw my blood test results, he frowned and said that I've got to bring the figures down.

I've got books on how to control diabetes, what to eat, etc etc. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.....you know what I mean? So sneakily I have an occasional ice-cream, a few squares of chocolate, sugar free chocolates, biscuits, jam.....all sugar-free but my daughter warns me..... it's no good for you.

My sister tells me..... you only die once, eat what you like, we have to die anyway and it's already pre-ordained, the manner of our death. Small comfort but somehow it makes the eating less guiltful.

So what have I been up to lately? My significant other and I have been to a centre which has these seatpads linked to a machine called Dr Tron and we sit on them, together with all the other elderly people, for about 20 minutes and then we sit in a spa, called Ezy detox where we sweat it out for about 15 minutes. After that we go for the far infrared lamp which is supposed to heal our aches and pains. A friend who has been using it for a couple of months testified that she has a better complexion..... her liver spots have faded.

I've been for about 3 weeks and I must say that the spa is good. It's akin to the soaking in the spa waters in Japan. A lot of sweat after 15 minutes. I would have liked to remain in it for longer but then there's a queue and the 15 minutes had already given me a good sweat.

Since there is a current promotion on, I decided to purchase Dr Tron and it comes with the spa as a free gift. My friend who also purchased it said it was a good buy and I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of Dr Tron and my spa. It will be good to have it at home so that we can both enjoy the benefits of Dr Tron and the spa. The spa is actually a tent which has hot air circulating inside. Many people have testified to the good health benefits that they have experienced such as normalising of their high blood pressure. I look forward to having my blood sugars revert to normal if that is possible!

Friends & Fairs

Last weekend was a packed one. Saturday morning was a fun-filled morning with friends, all staked out in Karen's computer lab with Johan and Alex teaching a group of ladies how to twitter and to network using Facebook.

We had many a hilarious moment thanks to Johan and Hanaa. The ladies attending this workshop are all members of SWEPA, a biz network that helps women entreprenuers and it also plays an active role in the community. The morning hours flew by as we tried out the various features in Facebook, guided by our two trainers. It was an exciting learning experience under the capable tutelage of both the young gentlemen. We will soon be tweetering once we get more familiar with it.

Sunday afternoon saw a few of us gathering at 1Borneo shopping mall where a handicraft exhibition featuring Malaysian batik and handicraft was showcased.

The beautiful batik designs and the striking colours of the baju kurung ( a traditional costume favored by Muslim ladies ) attracted many women shoppers. There was also a good range of batik shirts for men. Creativity was the hallmark of the modern designs of the batik. Some of the colour schemes were arresting and there were a few elegant designs. A fashion show brought out the beauty of the batik, so very different from the traditional designs of yesteryears.

The handicraft stalls featured beaded necklaces in the distinctive local patterns, the traditional gongs, parangs ( short or longish knives ), woven boxes and placements, small baskets to house trinkets, larger ones for fruit, small souvenirs, etc. There was also a loom with the weavers demonstrating their art.

We made some purchases and called it a day.

More Food!

How nice it is to be able to partake of different types of food!

My sister Ellie put on a delectable dinner for us a couple of nights ago. Dish of the night ( a unanimous vote ) was the sambal petai. Petai is actually a pod of smelly beans and it is very bitter. You guessed it! Anything vegetable that is bitter has good benefits and Petai is high on the list.

It is touted to be good for almost everything ranging from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, etc. The best way to cook it is the sambal way. It kind of tones down the smell and of course cooked this way it is very delicious.

Apart from sambal petai, we had Indian curry chicken. This has to be specified as we have Malay curry chicken, Chinese curry chicken and Nonya curry chicken. Each type has its own subtle taste.

Indian curry chicken

There was also a pineapple and cucumber salad, fried taufoo rolls, fried okra, hum choy taufoo soup (salted vegetable & taufoo boiled in chicken stock ) and rock melon for dessert.

hum choy soup fried taufoo rolls

fried okra

Best part was the catching up with my younger siblings who were also present and my lovely niece who looked so elegant in her new hairdo. Sunitha has blossomed into a lovely young lady.

Malaysians are very lucky to have a fantastic range of different styles of cooking, thanks to our diverse ethnic communities. Food tourism ought to be one of our attractions to bring in people who are adventurous with their tastebuds and ready to try out local cuisine. A type of cuisine known as fusion food has evolved but I for one am not a fan and prefer to stick to the authentic local fare which is best savoured at our hawker stalls that proliferate in urban areas. The easiest gauge of how good the food served is, would be the number of customers frequenting that particular stall. Good food is best advertised by word of mouth.

Baby blues

This morning I was at the Women & Children's Hospital for my routine checkup. While waiting for my turn I looked at the others who were there patiently waiting for the doctors to arrive. Doctors usually do their ward rounds first before coming downstairs to attend to their clinics.

Quite an assortment of people were either sitting patiently or walking about, with children in tow. Many were young fathers or fathers-in-waiting who were accompanying their very pregnant wives for their ante-natal checkups. Some men were following their wives, with the wives' handbags in their hands. Wherelse can you find men carrying their wives' handbags... and walking docilely behind them? Usually it is the wives following behind their husbands, carrying their own bags and shopping to boot.

One particular couple stood out. The wife was carrying a young baby around two months old while the husband was a burly young man with a limp. The mother was held to ransom by the young baby. I presumed the baby is a girl, judging by the sound of her cries. She would not let her mother sit down and she would scream if the mother stopped rocking her in her arms. Her father tried to relieve his wife of the baby by carrying her on his lap. No sooner had the baby realised that she was not being rocked, than she started screaming again. The poor father quickly passed the baby back to his wife. Once the mother had her in her arms and walked about rocking her all the while, the little girl calmed down and I swear it, had a smirk on her face!!!

This has been and always will be the experience of new or young mothers. The baby will attach herself/himself to the mother, declining other people's attention, and as such, make their mother's life a nightmare. Imagine having to carry the baby all the time, without any respite, even though you are dead tired, esepecially with demand feedings if you are breastfeeding, and with other chores waiting to be done. I've known of mothers who cannot even put the baby down for a minute just to go to the toilet, without having the child screaming his head off.

Having had three of my own and now two grandchildren as well, I know what young mothers have to go through. However it is part of learning to be mums and to realise what their own mothers went through when they were young.

Lucky are those who have relatives or hired help to assist them. Those who have to struggle on their own would need their spouses' help. That's how husbands and wives bond and become closer as they raise their child. Even so, there is always the extended family members to fall back on, especially in our Asian communities. Auntiees and grandparents are looked upon as godsends especially in times of crisis. A daughter or son has only to send out an SOS and mum & dad would come rushing to their aid.

So a big salute to all grandparents and aunties who respond to young parents in need of help. We hope that in our times of need, when we are not able to even send out an SOS you will be there for us.