Surely I’m not the only one who thinks 2 grand is a lot of dough to be dropping on a grinder.
Category: Daily
Burning through data like an addict snorting cocaine
4k TV + Kodi + Zen addon = insane couch sessions.
Suffice to say, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do in terms of movies and also TV shows.
One standout though (and this perfectly depicts how backlogged I am with flicks):
Benicio Del Toro carried this all the way.
Denis Villeneuve paced this outstandingly well.
Chuck in top notch cinematography and you have a winner.
The last movie that made me go oh shit oh shit like this was zero dark thirty, and we all know how critically acclaimed that ended up being.
Chilli Pan Mee
We Malaysians love our food. That much is as true as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
The day I got off that plane and started calling this upside down country my place of residence, that wave of regret just washed over me. Don’t get me wrong, I have been utterly fortunate to been able to travel extensively during my childhood, but knowing that status quo (at least food wise) will return in 2 weeks is one heckuva big security blanket.
It could just boil down to the air, the unsanitary conditions, or even the humidity (hey, all these factors play a major role in how food is perceived e.g. aeroplane junk), but nobody does food like we do. Put a bunch of shy south east asians together and we’ll probably mumble our way through topics of conversation until we get to food. Now that is a topic that truly fuses people of different walks of life together.
I’m digressing.
On my last trip back home right before we popped into a mall to get a new pair of glasses made up for my fiancee, we had lunch at this place called Gerai. Now upon doing more research, this place seems to be a franchised chain of sorts but that shouldn’t take away from how pleasantly surprised I was with what I got served. Serendipitously, I picked their chilli pan mee (yes yes, nothing tastes as good as the O.G but when you’re on a tight schedule, you take what you can get).
T’was a good bowl of noodles, but IMHO a little bit more greens would have been nice (I devour vegetables like no tomorrow). Fast forward to yesterday and on the spur of the moment, I decided that I would give it a go at trying to make my owl iteration of the recipe.
To be fair, I took shortcuts along the way. The weather took a turn for the worse while I was stinking up the neighbourhood with my deep fried anchovies and I barely made it back indoors before it started spitting.
I also noped out of making home-made sambal belacan and purchased a bottle of granny chilli oil and bought fresh kway teow noodles instead of hand making them egg noodles.
It’s quite ironic that in light of my above comments regarding Gerai, I had zero vegetables tonight. To be fair, there really wasn’t much room left to chuck anything in there.
All said, pan mee in 25 minutes tops maybe? I’d say it definitely goes on the weeknight dinner list of recipes!
Note to self: Don’t attempt 3 days of cardio straight
I am totally going to be feeling the effects of this tomorrow. And maybe Friday, perhaps even Saturday.
Without going into too much detail, my eating habits have changed drastically since the family got here. Out goes delicious white rice, hello chewy brown variety.
Lovin’ this new interface
Espresso Fuelled Mania
Can’t wait for this to come out on BluRay so I can snag myself a legal copy.
The past couple of weeks (who am I kidding, it’s more like since I got back from my holiday) have seen me break my 4 day a week gym cycle and spending most of my free time assembling furniture (I am genuinely sick of Ikea right now).
2017
And so here we are. 10 days into 2016 2017.
In 10 days time I’ll be flying back home for Kev’s wedding and also a little r & r.
I’m hella psyched tbh, this holiday has been a long time coming.
Shall we start with the customary new year’s resolutions ?
No 1 is to further reduce how much I imbibe. By my rusty calculation, my longest streak came very close to 2 months (the winter months were the easiest what with the cold and all because all you crave is a warm cup of tea while curling up with a book / movie).
That’s not to say I intend to swear off alcohol altogether, but really to start treating it as well, a treat.
Second on my list is to somehow persist with this semi-healthy eating habit that I’ve formed and to also not let my fitness deteriorate. Those close to me will know of my struggles with the injuries I’ve accumulated over my sports playing days and how they’ve genuinely affected me throughout 2015.
2016 was a huge step forward in terms of being able to keep up with everything that was going on around me, and I fully intend to keep building brick-by-brick upon the base that’s already been formed.
#3 would be to worry less and let things come as they do. I generally try to stay away from sensitive topics (e.g. work lest I run afoul of rules of engagement) so read between the lines. I have realised for quite some time that I need to be less hands on with what I do, but it is not something that is easily accomplished.
The desire to strive for perfection is very much a sisyphean adventure.
For number 4, I’m going to combine 3 items that strike very close to home (and I hope will continue to be my mantra).
Read more, write more, and to stay hungry for all things new.
One of the simplest pasta sauces ever. Reduce some canned tomato with a few dollops of butter and an onion until you get to the consistency of a sauce that you desire, then slap that good stuff on some freshly cooked farfalle.
Round 2 of dog sitting before NY got me feeling like a grandpa. All we did was chill, chill, and chill some more while I devoured episodes of Stranger Things like they were going out of fashion.
L: http://www.grubstreet.com/2017/01/whats-the-best-bottled-water.html
While I’m overjoyed that we’re all over this sugar infatuation, this bottled water fad is still as bad when you come to think of how catastrophic it is from an environmental standpoint.
How do you play futsal without shoes?
After a bout of pseudo flu (as I like to call it) for 2 weeks, I’m finally feeling like I have my legs under me again. Trying to commit to going to the gym 4 times a week, basketball & indoor soccer at least once weekly, plus a good ‘ol park workout on the day of the Sabbath (my Sundays consist of 2 hour gym workout, 1.5 -2 hours basketball session, and then capping it off with said outdoor session at least during these nice glorious Summer days) – and you can see how my body sometimes just says “No hun, you need a rest day”.
Right around this time last year, I remember panting like a dog and giving up midway through a workout we did at the beach. Running up and down sand dunes, doing suicides and sprints…man, I really did feel like I was going to chuck my guts up.
Almost 365 days later, I can confidently say that gardening would be a more strenuous activity.
Looking back, running was both a good and bad thing.
Running was my solace, but metaphorically and literally speaking, you can’t keep on running forever.
Maybe having my knees taken from me was sort of, a good thing.
There were those 6 am gym sessions that I would force myself out of bed made only possible because Steve was willing to be the other idiot that would rise that early with me. Those dark cold winter months were harsh I tell you.
Lifting weights to me is a boring, repetitive action that neither brings me any satisfaction nor gets me out of breath. Believe it or not, my holy shit moment came when one day I decided to do some leg presses and as sore as it made my glutes feel, I knew it had loosened up my lower back.
Long story short, my goal is to prolong my ability to participate in basketball and soccer on a level that I feel is competitive enough. Coming from a skinny kid growing up, I’m ecstatic in being able to find the balance where I have the stamina to run all around the court but also not get pushed off by bigger players.
Truth be told, I don’t quite know how long I can keep up with this crazy schedule. Being semi-single and not having a family here definitely makes it easier, but things are going to be changing in 2017.
I’m just going to worry less about the things I can’t change, and do more about the matters that I can influence.
ps: I also plan on committing to writing once daily (believe it or not, I could not spell entrepreneur on my own without autocorrect stepping in) as I feel like my command of English is sinking ever so slowly.
