Whoaaa

Ahem. Hi.

It's been a pretty long time since I have written anything actually. Unless you count my brief captions on Instagram and Facebook and that one Yelp review I posted.

To address my online absence, here are some FAQs I am sure you are dying to know because I think I am that important:

Q: Where the hell have you been?
A: Well, still here in sunny Singapore. I have graduated and am adulting...at least trying to. (I just paid these things called..taxes or something? It was like a lot of money.)

Q: Do you still cook/bake or have you sold your soul to the corporate working world? 
A: I do not have a soul so there isn't really anything to sell but yeah, I still cook and bake time to time.

Q: Are you still a fat ass? 
A: Yes, of course I am but I would like to say lesser of a fat ass? Had a check up with a doctor few years ago and the convo went a bit like this:

Doc: You are almost obese. You need to lose 10 kilos. Here ar-
Me: What? That's fat shaming!
Doc: No, real-
Me: I love my body and will not accept this, Doctor!
Doc: That's great but you really nee-
Me: *grabs her collar* I. Love. Food.

Okay - I exaggerate but I am currently trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. I exercise now and then and even...*whispers* like it. I think it's part of this adulting thing? It's terrifying. Did I also mention that I am turning 27 soon and feel like I am about to have a break down every morning I wake up before heading to work? No? Well, now you know.

Now that you are caught up on my glamorous life, let's get back to the main purpose of this blog which is for me to talk about food AND, wait for it...TRAVEL. Yes, that's right folks, I might re-vamp this blog and put random black and white pictures of planes, nature and buildings to give off that 'oh-my-god-i-am-travelling-be-jealous-but-i-am-so-broke-when-will-i-save' sort of feeling to you, as the reader. We shall see!

ANYWAYS - here are a few pictures of my travels:

1) Melbourne, Australia, December 2015

This was near 12 Apostles. We rode on a helicopter!! It was pretty epic.

I mean it's not Niagara Falls but it was sort of like a hike and it was pretty fun.

Phillips' Island and we saw penguins after this!!

Melbourne was a pretty awesome experience with my sister and mom. Though Melbourne was pms-ing like crazy in terms of its weather, I would definitely visit this place again. I would post pictures of the food I had in Melbourne but it was mainly kebab and gelato. Not very picturesque foods, I must say.

2) Siem Reap, Cambodia, March 2016

We had to leave our hotel at 4 AM for this. It was crowded and hot. Was it worth it ? Definitely. Would I do it again? Hell nawww.

Oh hey - just sitting on some ruins of a temple. 

The famous Tomb Raider temple. I don't think anyone cares for its actual name. The point is Angelina Jolie was here at this very temple shooting for Tomb Raider and adopting kids.

The freshest mango I have ever had. Our lovely, totally not creepy driver who may/may not have fallen in love with me *ahem - a story for another time*, bought a few mangoes and placed them in ice while waiting for us! When we were done visiting what seemed like the 7364th temple in Angkor Wat, he gave the mangoes to us and it was a refreshing treat. Did I mention Cambodia was hot? Like so hot and dry.

This was probably the highlight of the trip - ATV bikes! It was da bomb. I saw green rice paddy fields and cows which I had to take photos of...because I am a tourist.

Spending 7 days in Siem Reap was INSANE. Do not do this. 3 days. That is ALL you need. The hotel staff was shocked that we were spending 7 days. They were like "Wow, 7 days? That's great..but why?". It was definitely too long and there were so many temples. SO. MANY. It's a beautiful city no doubt but we could have planned this trip better.

I think I will end the post here and talk more about Chennai and Kochi in a separate post. Those cities were food havens fo sho.

Till then, byeee....

Another Weight Loss Resolution? Really?

Well, December is coming to an end and you know what that means - realising that the resolutions you made at the start of this year are still not fulfilled! Hey, I am not judging you or anything. Hell, I stopped making resolutions for years now so that I won't be disappointed. Trust me, the satisfaction rate is 100%.

However, the most popular resolution is: I am going to lose (insert an impossible number that won't be pulled off unless you drink water everyday) pounds/kilos. Prior to my cynical years, I did such a thing and I did stick with my "healthy regime" for the first 1 month or so. After that, reality set in : I loved food. Don't get me wrong, I am not promoting unhealthy food or encouraging the best form of exercise is to sit and do nothing but thinking of that huge number to lose is cray cray (Yup I said it). As a 24 year old woman, I have had my fair share of diets and exercise regimes. Some worked. Some didn't. Well looking at me now, they mostly didn't. 

Just for laughs, let me tell you a few of the regimes I have tried. 

1) Eat less, move more.

"Well, my arms are doing quite the workout shoving this huge burger into my face - this counts right??"

Yeah...this one did not last long.

2) "Atkins, bitches"

Even when I was 12 years old, I was on a diet. Let's just say, the fat disease found me when my family moved to America. Anyhoo, my second sister and I had numerous, hilarious diets. One of which was "the first one to eat a bag of potato chips or anything unhealthy owes the other person $20". 

During this diet, we would eat healthy crap and no rice. One morning, my sister decided to make us a salad. She chopped some lettuce, cucumbers and effin' raw mushrooms. My mother saw what my second sister was doing and she was laughing her ass off. Who the hell eats RAW mushrooms? And my second sister made me eat it too.  

Sis: "Do you want to lose weight?"

Chubby me: "Yes :( "

Sis: "Then, eat the damn salad."

Of course, I am not sure of the exact words but I was pretty convinced to eat a salad with raw mushrooms. I guess you could attribute it to my 12 year old naivety but this incident made me realise how hungry I still was even after downing a huge bowl of salad.

Anyway, being the weakling I was, I bought a snack size bag of Lay potato chips and paid the 20 bucks to my sister.

Couple of years after that, during the fasting month, my mum and sis wanted to try the no carbs thing again. Like in the morning, before fasting started, we normally would have rice and some side dishes. I thought - hey, why not? I am not 12 years old any more so I did. My mother and sister were fine at the end of the day. I, on the other hand, was counting down the minutes and seconds till I get to put food into my mouth again. Of course, this is not the case for everyone but it was for me. 

To me, rice or any form of grains is essential. I mean I don't eat a lot of it but even eating 1/2 a cup of it reassures me that I DID have food. And you do need to have carbs. I mean, eating a ton of it isn't good but not eating it, isn't good either. 

3) Calorie Counting

This IS the most effective way to lose weight and you know what - if you have lost/gain weight using this method, I salute you because you are pretty awesome to have that amount of discipline. 

To me, keying in every food and drink I consumed into MyFitnessPal mobile application is freakin' insane. Sometimes, I eat unhealthy food because once a month, my uterus takes over my brain and commands me to eat fries and ice cream. Okay, let's be honest, I just do that whenever I want to.

Regardless, I was loyal to my mobile application for a pretty long time until I fell sick and that kind of screwed up everything and it went back to "Shanaaz keyed in for 1 day". Give me a break - I thought you WERE my fitness pal. Pun definitely intended. 

In all seriousness, trying to restrict myself to 1200 to 1400 calories was pretty tough and you know what, I was hoping that after this hell, I would just get to do whatever I want. Then it hit me, holy shit, I have to do this EVERY DAY even AFTER I hit my goal weight. 

Then I got it, it has to be a lifestyle change. Once the diet or whatever is over, you just go back to eating the way you were comfortable with. It's not a permanent solution, for me at least. Right now, I think that is something I am trying out like drinking more water and stuff. It's a slow journey but I am trying to get there. Of course, knowing the calories of what you are consuming is definitely important. Some of the foods that you are eating, you will be surprised how much crap there is in there. For example, a hot fudge sundae from McDonald's is like 500 calories which is almost the calorie intake for 1 ENTIRE MEAL. 

Thus, I conclude here - have a realistic resolution. Better yet, fuck the resolution and do what you want to do because you want to do it and not wait for fucking 1st January 2015. I can already foresee the hashtags: " #2015resolution #365daysofhappiness ". Ugh.

I know this is not a recipe post so no food photos but here is one from the internet: 

 And another:

I'm done.

BYE.