Actually started last night when I realised that I need to start cooking all the food I’d have during the day. So we got home rather late and I started cooking 10:30ish.
So this morning this was my breakfast, which is pretty close to what I’d have normally except with an extra egg.
Sweet potato is a complex carb and eggs have protein so I figured that would get me through the morning. All good so far.
The usual hunger pang comes at around 10:30 which is when I had my apple. A very nice apple actually. Feeling great.
The worst part of the day came at lunch. I microwaved my rice + frozen veg + wombok and the rice didn’t go back to fluffy as it normally does. I had a taste, it was alright at first but then it started to taste awfully bland. I added salt but the hardness of the rice, the blandness of the veg started getting to me and I started to just try and shovel it in. It took a long time to eat that lunch…
The afternoon was difficult. Normally I feel pretty sleepy but this time I felt sleepy all the way through to 5pm. When I walked into the kitchen to refill on hot water, I smelt my colleagues lunches and their coffees and it smelt so good. I tried to whiff it up. Someone was selling chocolates…people had fruit on their desk when I went to see them. I managed to flick my eyes away from their food but I craved to have something with FLAVOUR.
I started eating my carrot sticks but it kinda tastes a bit funny. Not off or anything but no use anyways. A person in poverty has no choice but to eat whatever they have, bitter aftertaste or not…
I started to try and find better ways of cooking the frozen veg without boiling them as it was so bland and loses its nutrients. By the time I got home I was pretty sleepy and irritated.
Dinner was congee with wombok. Chris wanted one of my sweet potato to roast (it smelt so good) and traded me for an egg which I put in the congee.
I was reminded of my childhood that I’d hate being sick cause they’d make me ‘bak jook’ / plain congee which I just hated cause it was so bland. Was brought back to that tonight.
I was struck today by a couple of things:
– Lack of choice: the carrot tasted a bit weird. Usually I would think about throwing it. But it was crunchy and I didn’t get sick so I tried to keep eating it. Lots of people probably love to have more carrot when they’re in poverty. Also I wished I had picked the slightly more expensive jasmine rice rather than homebrand rice but I guess people don’t have the luxury of having ‘nice rice’. You just have to eat it…
– Waste-age: Usually I discard some bits I regard as ‘dirty’ of the wombok since it has been sitting in some market somewhere. I decided to wash it thoroughly instead of chucking it. When I was washing the wombok, I accidentally dropped a bit into the some-what dirty sink. I panicked as I realised I wasted the food when normally I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Same thing happened again when I washing the rice as I saw a few grains drop into the sink. For lunch I didn’t manage to eat some leftover plain rice. Usually I would just chuck it in the bin but I thought I would take it home to put inside the congee so we don’t waste it. Also when eating the apple, I’ve never eaten so close to the core before. I waste a lot of food.
Right now my body is pretty tired…too many carbs! Feeling apprehensive… 4 whole days to go! Aiya…
Grace Lung 