Food Watch

Following my painful headache attacks, I was diagnosed with migraine by my doctor. Not that it’s a serious disease, although there was this one case where a woman DIED because of her migraine.. but I guess that doesn’t happen very often and I’m just glad that it’s not anything worse. So while I’m not exactly thrilled to watch over my diet and stress level, I’m pretty happy to finally understand what’s been bugging my head all these years.

What’s this about food and stress watching? Well, being the geek that I am, I went on a google frenzy to find out the common triggers of migraine, because they say it is much easier to avoid the attacks rather than take medication to soothe it when it happens as the latter may take time – and I, certainly have no time to wait for the meds to work.

I found this list to be the commonest food that triggers migraine:

• peanuts and peanut butter
• caffeine in all products, not just coffee
• dairy products
• yeast
• some beans (which includes peanut), as well as broad, lima, Italian, lentil, soy, peas
• avocados
• dried meats
• sauerkraut
• pickled herrings
• canned soups and packet soup mixes
• chicken livers
• ripe banana
• soya products as well as the bean itself
• sodium nitrate, which is used to preserve hot dogs, bacon and cured meats
• the preservative benzoic acid and its associated compounds
• MSG, common name for monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer which is now in almost universal use in almost all processed foods
• nuts
• sourdough breads
• cheeses which have been aged, i.e. cheddar
• red wines, beer, champagne, vermouth
• chocolate
• anchovies

Good grief. That’s like, everything that I eat on a daily basis!

And if the list doesn’t seem depressingly long enough, there are other triggers as well. Check them out:

• Emotional stress (PhD = stress!!)
• Menstrual periods
• Changes in normal sleep pattern (again, PhD = abnormal sleep times)
• Extreme fatigue (survey,articles,cook,kid..)
• Excess caffeine intake or withdrawal
• Skipping meals; fasting
• Changing weather conditions
• Exercise (hehe.. OK, note taken)
• Smoking
• Bright and flickering lights
• Odours

For the past three weeks, I have been watching what I eat and so far I’ve only had two attacks, and they were of minimal pain (a scale 1 or 2 on my headache-o-meter). So I guess for me, food does play a major role in triggering my headaches. Ugh. I’m only 30.. Got to start watching food already?? Man.. How I miss those delicious Reese’s peanut butter chocolate cups.

What’s Wrong With Gmail?

OK, what on earth is going on with Gmail?

As I’m communicating mainly via emails to my respondents -the lags and frequent ‘oops.. the system was unable to perform your operation’ is driving me crazy! Arghhh!!!

Ayat-Ayat Cinta

 

After reading all the hype about this movie, which is actually based on a best-selling novel of the same title, I was intrigued by it (ironically I seem to catch more movies when I’m on my study leave!!).. Ok, confession: I watched on You Tube instead of the big screen but that was only because I didn’t have the intention to watch it at first. I just wanted to catch its trailer.. then one thing led to another and a couple of hours later I was smiling and almost misty-eyed at the same time. He he.. So what did I think of the film?

Well, for someone who has not read the book yet, I thought it was a great film. Of course, those purists (i.e. those who have read the book, like this person) will grind the movie as unworthy. But let’s talk about it from someone who sees it as a film and not a novel adaptation. To me, the duration of the movie (I think close to 2 hours?? Not sure as I was You Tubing) wasn’t that bad, I mean I’ve seen longer and slower films that make me yawn half a dozen times while watching them. It’s a love story, so obviously, no gun actions or special effects here. As for the actors, I think they did a pretty good job -no kayu acting or anything. And while the hero is not particularly good-looking (at least, to me), he has the aura that stands well for the Fahri character. I liked the way they arranged the scenes where he met and gotten to know his future wife, Aisha. No touching and no obvious dating, yet one can sense the attraction that these two felt while still faithfully observing the Islamic teachings.

OK, I’m not going to provide any spoilers (you can get that aplenty in other blogs) but suffice to say that this movie truly is “a beautifully portrayed Islamic love story”. It makes me wonder if I could ever have that strength as a wife under those horrid circumstances and whether I could truly uplift the spirit of Islam beyond that of my female emotions. Let’s face it, the movie does center around the concept of polygamy (one that is not liked by many women) but somehow, it makes the concept acceptable -all thanks to great storytelling (to this, I think we must all read the book as the movie may not utilize the dialogues as succinctly) and common sense.

Not that I’m opening my arms so wide for another ’sister’ to join my household (not at all!) but faced with similar circumstances, it takes a true Muslimah, one that is strong emotionally (first), mentally and physically to abide by the Islamic law. It’s nice that the movie tries to reach out to non-Muslim viewers why certain things are acceptable and unacceptable in Islam so that they can judge with the proper information. And while most guys will think it’s easier to have more than one wife -hold your horses. Even someone as pious as Fahri does not want to, until forced by his wife (strange? You gotta see the movie). So until you can cater for your family financially, be fair and be equally religious (do you fully pray/fast/know what’s right and wrong?), just stick to one.

*sigh*.. Thinking of watching it properly -on the big screen with hubby. And of course, to read the book. (Hmm.. Can I squeeze this in between my ’supposed’ readings?)

Home Shopping

Hubby and I have been house-hunting for a while, but more aggressively (read: paying visits) in the last couple of days – house hunting in the middle of your PhD?? Yeah, I’m losing my mind . I must say, unsurprisingly, that it makes me even more depressed that I would’ve been with just my research progress. So why bother getting all depressed? I thought I had my reasons:

1. The price of properties in the Klang Valley has skyrocketed in the past few years that I fear if we wait till I complete my studies, we would end up not affording to buy any landed properties at all. Now, although this statement seems to indicate that I plan to stretch the duration of my studies, trust me, I’m not. From very early on, I came to realize that studying/researching for a doctorate is very different from our first two degrees so I’m not gonna lie and assume that everything will be according to plan that I’d be able to do it on time. So this is basically just in case I drag my leave a bit. If landed properties are so expensive, why not choose a condominium or an apartment? Well, not that they’re bad, it’s just a matter of preference. With little kids running about in the future, plus the fact that we both had some nice kampung background as children adds to our penchant for wanting to have some soil around our home.
2. There are just so many awesome (blame ‘Kung Fu Panda’ for this word seems to stick in my vocab) new townships around now that I can’t resist a peak. I think I’ve mentioned about these two developments before, and as expected, there’s no way in hell that we could afford such places, at least not until we triple our household income. Desa Park City is a beautiful township, with superb location and natural (planned) surroundings that seem great to raise a family. However, an average terrace unit costs around RM 600,000 to RM 850,000 and corner lots reach over a million ringgit. On top of that, you need to pay some more for monthly maintenance (good-looking neighbourhood and security certainly don’t come cheap). Another cool township is the homes at Precint 18, Putrajaya. It’s only recently launched so the price of each unit is still unknown, but with a tag line “A Dream. A Lake. A Home”, one could anticipate a price that costs an arm and a leg. Daydreaming aside, we’ve decided to be more realistic and open our option to second-hand homes. Alas, the decent ones cost at least RM325k in the area(s) that we want. With those sorta price, we might as well get a brand new house… but
3. .. while there are equally beautiful new developments that fit our budget more around Puchong, Shah Alam and Bukit Tinggi (Klang), they are just too far off our (my) way.. Newly built homes in Cheras are also nice and a shorter distance away but the mere mention of that area makes me see red, as in terrible and heavy traffic (jam!!!).. So to avoid future cursing by yours truly who hates long drives and massive traffic (don’t we all?), we’ve decided that it’s best to stick to living somewhere nearer. Having said that, I’m blessed to have such an understanding partner who doesn’t mind sacrificing his time, effort and petrol for very long drives to and from work (Cyberjaya). In fact, it was he who suggests that we settle down around here i.e. around Gombak/Ampang/Melati/Wangsa Maju etc. But I gotta tell ya, new properties in these areas are soo expensive -think half a million ringgit for an intermediate terrace unit. We really liked the design and surroundings of Sering Ukay but unless we want to have some part-time jobs as birthday clowns or cleaners (hey, they actually make good money) after office hours, it’s a no-no. And although houses in the second-hand market aren’t too bad in their costs, there are other factors to be considered like the age of the house (most homes in Sri Gombak, Greenwood and Melawati are over 20 years old. Now, we wouldn’t want our dream home to collapse earlier then our dear selves), the tenure (nice homes in Sec. 5, Wangsa Maju are mostly leasehold -dang), security (*sigh* with the new recent trend of gated and guarded communities, the absence of a guard house in our residence is weird. But this is just me being mengada.. we can actually make do without this, hehe..) and whether it’s too far up in the highlands (nice homes around the Bukit Antarabangsa area such as Ukay Bistari and Ukay Perdana have nice designs and pleasant surroundings but the incidence of ‘tanah runtuh’ are ever so often now that it spooks us). Guess there’s just not enough good land around here. That, and because these suburbs are quite close in proximity to K.L. Hence, they are expensive. Bummer. And here I thought where we live is quite hulu..
4. I enjoy googling ‘houses for sale’, much more than my literature.. which confirms my earlier statement that I’m probably nuts.

So what’s the verdict? After our brief episode of house visits, we might end up waiting after all.. There’s some talk about the appreciation in value of homes (minus prime areas like PJ and D’sara) being a bit slow in the next few years. So if all goes well and we could save some more in the next 2-3 years, hopefully we could afford decent second-hand homes in these areas. As much as I’d like to secure for ourselves a good home right now, I think more funds will save us from making drastic (i.e desperate and wrong) decisions. Who knows, maybe we still have a chance of owning one of ‘em units at Sering Ukay.. Heh.

The Truth About The Yusofs

It’s like a breath of fresh air. Wish I’m referring to my newly picked up exercising habit, but I’m not. I know this is stale news but I totally missed out on this as I didn’t catch the news on telly! Anyway, I just wanted to do my part and share with as many people as possible so as to clarify the negative air surrounding this poor family. All the hype and media attention are so unjust, it makes me sick to the stomach. Thank goodness for the internet, huh? Now real people can go against the press.

Alright then, don’t read it from me. Go ahead and check them out yourself.

The Yusof family blog.

Exercise Take 2

In my attempt to be ‘fitter me’, I’ve finally visited a gym. First time in 30 29 years.. And I must say it was pretty scary (poof you fitness freaks. Don’t mock me). I went to a free one, of course, lest I find the place daunting. Besides, I just wanted to check the atmosphere out or testing the waters, whatever you call it.

I spent an hour on my first day (which was yesterday) and have tried cycling, free weights, dumbells, some leg exercises on that machine (yeah, am that bad. Don’t even know what it’s called) and the treadmill. The report: completed a sad two laps in 10 minutes for cycling, took on at most (only) four weights on the leg machine and slightly more than 2 laps on the treadmill -for fifteen minutes. In total, I think I lost about 70 calories. Ok, so I don’t really know how bad that was but suffice to say it’s been a while since I last sweat! Make that a long while.

While waiting for my turn on the treadmill, I cycled. I watched the girls running, one of them alternated between running, jogging and brisk walking while the other girl ran nonstop (!!). I could barely go longer than 10 minutes cycling (on a measly speed 7 max), how on earth can you run for a whole 30 minutes? And the worst thing? She was way chubbier than me. No, she was chubby. Period. But her level of fitness -wow. As for lifting weights, oh dear, I had to use both arms to pull the weight of one arm! That’s bad.

When my turn came on the treadmill, I started walking, then brisk walked. And didn’t go any faster. Couldn’t! My legs were tired already lah from the previous so-called exercises. Ayoo.. I so gotta go back there and work out more.

In today’s session, I managed to inch up a bit on my ‘performance’. The report: completed a almost four laps (same 10 minutes) for cycling, still took on at most (only) four weights on the leg machine and almost 4 laps on the treadmill for the same fifteen minutes. Total calories lost, er, more than 70 definitely, hehe.

I know these statistics aren’t all that good, but I’m trying. And while I’m still highly spirited, think I’ll definitely make my visits there often.

Getting Fit

I haven’t posted anything for a while. Blame that on my laziness.

Speaking of being lazy, my sluggishness is beginning to affect my health. I have always hated exercising and to think of myself running (oh God) around a field, sheesh, I can’t even make it around my residential block (and that’s only 10 houses along one road) without huffing and puffing horrendously.. Not a pretty sight. But while I have always been unfit in the past years, I was never bothered by my state of physique. Until now.

Now, not only am I not fit, but I feel it too! And I can tell you that it’s not a good feeling. It’s not those average stories you hear about lazy out-of-shape people. Not those “oh, I get so tired easily” or “I’m not energetic” stuffs. Mine is more like, “I get sick pretty often” and “My head aches a lot now”. Guess you don’t need a high degree to recognize which one’s worser.

I visited a doctor yesterday and she gave me loads of iron tablets to help ease my low blood pressure (and to think people with high blood get all the attention). I shared with her of my dizziness, to which she corrected me and said it’s headaches in my case, as my head ‘pounded’ not feel lightheaded. Uhuh. Anyway, she was surprised that I’ve been having those headaches (yep, right term) for almost 13 years and didn’t do anything about it. Thing is, I didn’t even realize it has been that long until she told me to recount my earliest episode. I guess the headaches come and go (and it has been a ‘go’ most of the time) that I feel it’s pretty common. But when she proceeded in asking me of the other symptoms that I experienced, she diagnosed (but yet to be confirmed) that I may have a migraine problem. She prescribed me with these yellowish pills called ‘Ponstan’ alongside another chewable pill to counter any stomach ache that ensues, and told me to keep a diary of my ‘headache’ attacks -what triggered it, what I ate prior to it, how long it last etc for about a month. If nothing improves, then I should go back to her. That seemed simple enough.

Oh, and the last bit. Exercise. Yeah, my favourite word of the day. “No need for anything vigorous, perhaps some brisk walking for half an hour a day?”.. Aight then. Best be off to get ‘em jogging shoes. *The author now huffs and puffs to the nearest sports store*

Stumped

Question: What is your average productivity level (for a given measure) for the year 2007?

Answer: OK

??

~~~~~

I had a pretty high fever last weekend -still haven’t fully recovered yet. Glancing through this particular response made my head spin again.

The Poor Teacher

Reading about this guy is kinda depressing.

I mean, it’s bad enough that he’s a millionaire doing what he likes at home, he’s getting paid to talk (!), I mean, give motivation (though that is still pretty much talking, to me) to corporations and other online business wannabes. He has written books, generated a great passive income for himself and he has a doctorate. All that and he’s not even 30 yet. Crummy.

I’m not jealous, in fact, I’m actually in awe. And very happy that a youngster of my ethnicity is so successful at such a young age. He’s definitely living proof that Malays are not lazy or unable to succeed without some sort of ‘tongkat’. In fact, his success story sort of reminded me of my earlier post not too long ago. Of course, with every person that loves your work, there are others who have doubts. But that’s life.

You certainly can earn a lot more money through business, may it be online or face-to-face dealings like our forefathers. As for me, business is and never will be my cuppa tea, so I’m just gonna do what I (think I) do best, that’s yakking nonsensically in class. I may not be able to become a millionaire through this profession (seriously, academicians don’t make money. The real dough is out there in the real world) but hopefully, I’ll have enough to live my life with my loved ones.

Going Green

During my short stay in the UK, several things struck me as unusual from our day-to-day lives over here.

• People walk more often there. Be it to the grocery store, post office, the University.. I walked more than two kilometers a day just going to and fro my house to the shuttle bus stop, whereas here, I sometimes drive just to get from one faculty to another (that explains the extra inch!). Then again, you can’t expect Malaysians to walk often due to valid reasons; (1) our weather is so totally not walking-friendly, (2) our roads aren’t many which are pedestrian friendly either. I can’t even begin to imagine walking along Karak Highway to reach my University, though the distance is similar to my daily walk in the UK. But I think this is closely related to point number 1 -got to do a research on this to confirm, hehe.. (3) hot weather + the polluted air = no, NO walking!!
• Women smoke a lot more freely, unlike here where female smokers are either “too pemalu” to smoke in public or not that many to begin with
• Obesity is a BIG problem, literally. From my preliminary observation, kids as young as 14 are too heavy to walk, hence the common sight of big-bodied youngsters riding scooters at public places. Nope, not those skateboard-like thingy where you slide on one foot, but the ones you ride on that are powered by motor. Maybe there is some truth in downing too much McDonald’s..
• Elderly folks like living on their own and are very independent. I was neighbours with this charming and ancient of a woman, and she lived her life in solitude pretty happily. Her home is filled with books. Well, what else is there to do anyway? Even at the city, you can see these veterans shopping by themselves, or riding the bus, with no kids or grandchildren to accompany them. The same thing can be seen here, though not common. I noticed most of our elders prefer to spend time with their offspring and grandkids at home. I attribute this situation to a good transport system. Not that ours are bad, but they definitely could do more improvements!

But one of the most glaring difference comes during grocery shopping. The Britons really do practise the use of recycle bags in good faith. Old or young, many shoppers are seen carrying their own re-usable shopping bags instead of putting their groceries in plastic bags each and every time they go grocery shopping. I noticed this trend, no, realization, is catching up in our country recently (public campaigns only started last year, right?). Six retail giants took part in giving awareness to Malaysian consumers on the importance of recycling. Kudos to Carrefour, Giant, Jusco, Mydin, Tesco and The Store for starting this initiative.

I admit I wasn’t that devoted in recycling before (not that I wasn’t aware of its importance) but it’s true that traveling and seeing different places open your eyes, and heart. I’ve begun to bring my own bag to the pasar malam, and it’s funny to see the hawkers’ reactions when I insisted on no plastic for their food. Some were intent on giving me their plastic bags anyway.. Hehe. Oh well, we got to start somewhere, right?