How do you adapt to a culture ? You can either ask them to join us or you stop fighting and join the rest of the ppl. Of-course, the logical way is the analyze the good and bad between the two cultures and decide to adapt whichever one that you believed in. But first of all, you gotto know the difference between the 2 cultures before you can analyze and before you can choose side.
Not surprsingly, there are a lot of difference between the 2 place but the most contrasting ones are the food. First of all, i don't understand why people here eat so 'SwEET'. it's like they 'pour' in sugar in all the things they eat. The curry mee, the prawn mee, the char-koay-teow are all SwEET here. Ewwwww. ... imagine a sweet curry. It made me realized that we actually prepared our food more salty and in almost every dishes in penang, it is full of flavour. Not just sugary.
Secondly, it's the volume when we speak. I came to realise that even i'm staying in a populated condominium, it's amazingly quiet around here. I used to vist my friends in condo while back home, and i realized the sound and buzz of the whole area. It's like visiting a whole community of people while you're at 1 home. Here, it's amazingly quiet. Then i came to know that it's because of the volume we speak. The volume we have is louder. It's like we're trying to express our enthusiasm and hospitality through our voice. When we talk to each other, it's usually more animated and more friendly and thus the volume gets pump up. Most people here speak with restrain and thus sounded more 'civilized'. Maybe it's because they are more restricted in expressing their opinion, they wanted to keep their emotion to themselves, they sound calm and cool and thus the volume gets tuned down.
Volume is just a way indicating the culture of the people. in PG, we are friendly, we are straightforward, not shy in showing emotion, more intune with feelings, warmer, friendlier and definitely less stress. Contrastingly, people here are restrain, stressfull, suspicious, reserved, conservative and repreived.
We took another blow from Diabetes just last week. My mom had Type2 diabetes for 16 years now and she had been doing a good job controlling it with medication up until things took a strong turn last week. All of us got the scare and i've made up my mind to start my own crusade against diabetes. My maternal-grandmother was also suffered from diabetes and now my mom and i understand the odds that's against me !
i've been 'careful' about what i eat for many years now, but i've came to realise that 'careful' itself is not enough. What i should be doing is monitor and restrict what i consume and shop. When i took a stroll in the grocery shop the other day, wanted to eliminate 'sugary' product from my purchase, i found it difficult to do. This is because i was presented with a whole row of cereal and instand noodles the moment i walked in. Then it's another row of biscuits and cookies and then the sweeten drinks and the list goes on and on.
That's why i believe the first step in controlling diet is controlling the purchase. When you purchase, you'll end up consume it. Unless like me, you took the trouble to throw them all into the bin. i'm actually pretty happy when i do that, it felt liberated ! :)
I went through the web trying to find more about food and menu. And i had to say, even with more than 20 Million people across the world suffered from this and yet the information is really not there.
Oh well, more to come, food chart and menu plan from me here. in the meanwhile, here are some more info : http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1919818,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1869815,00.html
here's my chair ! but ...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
it has been hijacked by Cassie as her reading spot ! ha
Change is tough ! yes it is. How's that for a change ? i've 'beige', neutral colored furniture and i really want to spike up the energy in our living room by introducing some red, hot, energetic colors.
I saw this HOT RED arm chairs and i instantly felt in love with it. I know how you feel, you think it's too radical, the color cannot blend and before that i felt the same way too. Now i found that i loved this hot-stunning color as it matches my new found passion in enriching others life. I've found out that no other color matches my passion better than stunning RED.
So, i'm gonna go for it ! i can envision myself curl up in the chair with a good book and a cup of good coffee. Or simply, sit down, relax and reflect. Or how about, goof in the chair with Cassie. Or sharing a romantic wine with hubby !!!
ar, can't wait !!
Dearest Cassie, because we wanted more for all of us, including you of course, we are making the changes and taking up challenges today. I believe that our actions today determine our outcome in the next 5 years. All changes are tough and it's necessary.
I've learned two important things when it comes to changes, 1st --> get started and 2nd --> never give-up.
So, here's a letter to the future for both of us, a reminder that today, we had started the change and remember never-never, never-ever, never give up. That's because we WILL, we MUST and we CAN do it !
It's August 1st 2009, beginning of a new month and a new beginning in my career stages. My career has taken me many places, met with many talented people, gained a lot of wisdom and i'm glad i did it. Now, it's time for me to do what i REALLY LOVE. You've got to understand, my job is my profession, i can do it with my eyes closed but there's not much spark in it. I'm just a pretentious zombie working in an adapted environment. This new business is my passion and i'm all shining about it, i can feel it, smell the new furniture and coffee, see the whole place in my mind. I have visions, dreams, ideas all about it and i cannot wait for it to start and share it with you !
Today is the DAY that mark the beginning of an exciting adventure ! No one can say for sure what the future will hold, but i can say for sure the possibilities are sparkling bright !!!
Here i am, woke up early in the morning and whisked out pan-cakes with Cassie's help. I believe things happen for a reason and different stage of life require different flips. Just like pan cakes !
what better way to celebrate new beginning with those fluffy flips !
while Cassie enjoyed the french toast, here's the snack that hubby loved. I think this is it an adult snack. Nothing beat the crispy, crunchy puff pastry with warm and soft filling. Best with a cuppa !
i know French Toast is probably the easiest breakfast ever and it's Cassie's favourite. I had lost count how many loaf of bread had we consumed just for French Toast :)
Have been a bit tied up lately, these are some back-dated post related to food :)
