Its Christmas Day

Saturday being Christmas, almost all stores in NYC were closed. So we decided to go to the Ground Zero. The site of the World Trade Centre that was completely destroyed on September 11, 2001. They have started groundworks to rebuild the site. Then we decided to walk upto Soho. There really is nothing much to see when all the stores were closed. Its nice to walk because the street were almost empty but it was really cold and windy.

We arrived at the hotel at around 3pm. Actually we wanted to queue fot the theatre tickets. But the queue was a mile long. So we decided to go back to the hotel and felt asleep! So much for sightseeing in NYC. In the evening, at around 8pm, we decided to watch the movie, Meet the Fockers. It was really good and funny. But my sleepy head won. And I managed to steal a quick nap among the thunderous laughter in the Cinema. [In case you guys are confused. The theatre i mention earlier refers to live show, like a play in Broadway]

Anyway, after that we went back to the hotel and sleep again. Zzzzzzzzzz

Its New York Day

So this is it! Friday, December 24th, 2004. The day finally came, my guess woke up at 5am. Its good though since they took 30minutes each to get ready, shower and all. As for me, I woke up at quarter to 7am. At about 7.10am or so we started to walk to the bus stop, which is about 10 blocks away, just about 20 minutes walk, with luggage and the cold and windy weather. Anyway, its a good thing that we left the apartment earlier. Its first come first serve. Eventhough, the bus was scheduled to leave at 8am, it was full by 7.40am and left for New York at quarter to 8! I dont really care cause we were already in the bus so the earlier the better. We arrived in New York just before 12 noon, and checked into the hotel. After a moment of rest, we went to Times Square. You just cant go to NYC without seeing the billboards. After that we went to eat. And shop a bit. This being the christmas eve, shopping in New York is just next to impossible. Everywhere there were long lines of people either queueing to pay or to wrap their presents.

Then we went to the Central Park, the largest Park in the middle of a city in the world. Ofcourse we cant just skip the The Plaza, the hotel, was it Home Alone Lost in New York? We also went to the Rockerfella Plaza, home of the NBC studio and ofcourse the famous toys store and FAO Schwartz, here you can find any toys imaginable. But then, I was looking for Scrabbles but I couldnt find one. Oh well...

Thurday Is Rest Day

I dont think rest is the correct term. But I woke up late today, 9.03 am to be exact. I cant believe today is Thursday! Oh yeah, I just remember I was `sick' yesterday. Anyway, I arrived at the Office at 10am, and by 12 noon, my boss give us the green light to go home early. Hooray, I've only been in the Office for two hours, ha ha. Anyway, being a good worker that I am, I decided to stay until 3pm. Ofcourse, the heavy rain and the strong wind helps me in my decision to stay back. There is no point in getting wet and being blown away by the wind. Especially since we going to go to New York tomorrow.

Oh well......

Wednesday Is Sick Day

Hopefully my boss does not read this blog. Otherwise, I'll get fired in an instant. The thing is I called in sick on Wednesday. I was 'sick' and need to get out and check-out the Museums to cure my sickness. So by 12 noon, we arrived at The Mall. Here are some of the most beautiful Museums in the world housing the most precious work of art. We went off the Smithsonian Metro Station, and are welcomed by the two most prominent sight of Washington DC. On the left is the Monument, and on the right is the Capitol Hill. On the way to the National Art Gallery, we passed by the Sculpture Garden. It really is nice and make me thinking. Mmmmm this is interesting, since I dont green fingers like my other counterpart on the other side of the world, I might consider have a Sculpture Garden instead. Then to the National Art Gallery. It really is beatiful. Before this I only get to see the print version of the works by Vincent Van Gogh and Monet. Now I can see it first hand. I should have come to this place much much earlier. So maybe from now on, less shopping for me during the weekend and more Museums hopping. For those who are interested in seeing the sights of Washington DC, go this link: http://dc.about.com/od/touristattractions/ or just go to www.washington.org

Today, Thurday, is the last day of work before the long Christmas Weekend. Therefore we get to go home early by 1pm. Hmmm not a bad day, considering I only arrived at the Office at 10am!

Tuesday Is Cake Day

Didnt I tell you December is a bad month to start a diet, here where I work? Apart from the cold weather, which manage to make you hungry all the time, my theory being we need to burn a lot of food to keep the body warm, it also is the month of parties. Today is gonna be our office party. Its only a small do, for an afternoon coffee. We'll have Caramel Pudding and dare I say this, WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE. I am not kidding you, the very moment I wanted to type White Chocolate, my phone rang, it was my Malaysian colleague, calling me to give me some sandwiches......aaaah how nice, but at the same time, there goes my diet down the drain for today. Maybe I'll push myself to go to the gym tonite. If only it is not that cold! Hmmmmmm

Monday Is a Lazy Day

I managed to finished my paper for Tuesday Meeting before 11am. So I decided to joint a Technical Briefing on Food Security. I must admit though, my reason for doing so is not entirely to gain more knowledge on the hunger problem of the world. Its more for the cookie and coffee that they serve during this briefing. But I did spend a little more time listening to the briefing. Atleast I learned something new today. Although, in terms of Propotion of Undernourished in China and India are just about above 10% and 20% respectively, as compared to almost 60% in Central Africa for the period 1999 - 2001. In terms of absolute numbers, China has close to 150 milllion, India more than 200 million. While Central Africa has just 50 million. Its a sad fact. For that I am thankful that I get to eat everyday. Mmmm it makes me thinking, why do I even bother to diet. But as I said time and again, my mission is not to diet to lose weight, its more for healthy choice of living with less fat and reduced cholestrol. Aaah, this makes me wanna go to the gym again tonite.

Oh where was I? I havent begin to explain why I said Monday Is a Lazy Day. This is not true. I think for me, everyday is a lazy day actually. I am just lazy period. But I use this title because at 12.20noon I decided to go home and think about taking my two guest to go and watch a movie, its a Chinese move - House of the Flying Daggers. By the time I reached home, I changed my mind though. I am lazy but I also like to think that I am still responsible and dont just want to leave the office like that. But it doesnt stop me from taking a quick nap, and ended up getting back to the Office at 3pm. Here I am now. There is really nothing much to do. Xmas is just around the corner. I think everybody is taking their long leave for xmas holiday and the new year. Oh well, I am stuck here now. Looking forward to our trip to New York this weekend.

New York, here I, well, here we come!

Sunday Is Sporting Day

Oh I so wanted to sleep late on Sunday. But it was not meant to be ha ha. My uncle called from home, he missed his daughter. It was like 7.40am in the morning. What? I dont even wake up after 8am during the work days. Anyway, after that I just can't sleep anymore. And my cousin and I decided to jog to the Waterfront by the Potomac River. So at nine we leave the apartment and jog ever so slowly. After only about five minutes, my cousin requested for us to slow down, in fact just walked. Anyway, we get to the Waterfront, and she was impressed with the scenary. It looked like a scene from a postcard, she said. I agreed. The winter make the scenary almost imaginary like, not that it has snow but the foggy atmoshpere is really a dreamlike experience. So we started to jog a bit around on the banks of the Potomac, it really was nice because at this time, even the bird has not risen yet. Talk about early bird! I said this, because at 2pm in the afternoon, they were a lot of birds flying around, so much so that we accidentally sit on thei poo, ugh!

Then we walked up across a bridge over a canal. My cousin said, it reminded her of a scene from Ju On III, don't know if I got the spelling rihgt. It is a Japanese movie after all. Then we went window shopping for furniture that is, all those modern funiture and lighting, mmmm I could just sit there for hours and hours dreaming of how my house will look like. Then we window shop some more. Ofcourse I didnt buy anything. Cause today is my sport day.

How forgetful of me. I wanted to mention that at 10.30 am after the jog, we went to Le Madeline, a french cafe and had Strawberry Napoleon ( a cheesecake layered with cream and strawberry and almost, simply delicious) and French Toast (filled with strawberry and banana and covered with Maple Syrup and a sprinkle of fine sugar, its so delicous, its beyond words!). After that at 11.30am, we watched the movie called Series of Unfortunate Events. Its a kid's movie but plenty of matured audience, and the only sound of laughter I heard during the show is from a mother of 3 or so, who was seated just behind our rows. Needless to say, I found the movie boring and slow. The best thing though, I get to catch some sleep during the show.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Saturday Is A Shopping Day

A hectic Friday Night, was followed by a going to be hecting Saturday Morning. The thing is, the bus to the Potomac Mills leaves at 8.45am. So meaning we have to leave the apartment at 8.30am. Aaaaah, only 4 hours of sleep for me? Thats not good, I am gonna be sleep walking through the Shopping Mall. Anyway, I did manage to catch some sleep on the 1 hour bus drive to the Mall. But alas, mid through, there is this Indonesian Lady, who keep talking and talking about her shopping experience at the Potomac Mills. I think she did not realise that there are other Malay Speaking passengers in the bus.Oh well, its nice though, at least my two guess have an inkling what they're gonna see at the Mall. It really was such a long day at the Mall but even my sleepiness did not stop me from acquiring two pair of shoes! What two more pairs? How many do I have by now? 25 pairs or so. Ah never mind, I am living in less then 2 months time. Back home I wont be shopping for any more shoes. Unless...........mmm let me think first.

I also get to check some three tier cake stands and corelle (for patterns and stuff you can check the corelle website at www.corelle.com). I am not really interested in the Corelle, apparently its break and chip resistance, mmmm that's sounds interesting though. Anyway, the three tier looks good, its made of glossy steel, so I dont know whether it will rust or not. Why am I babbling about this three tier? I could have just email it to the person who is interested. Ah, the damage has been done and I am not anout to delete this paragraph. Like the heading on my sis blog, it says, read it if you like it, its my story and I can write anything I like. Or something like that. In Malay language, the tone of the statements sounds more light-hearted and not to be taken seriously. I am not about to justify myself here, so case closed.

Oh by 4pm, I felt really sleepy and decided to take a nap on one of the many benches scattered all over the Mall. The bus leaves at 6pm, and surpise, surprise! We get to meet the Indonesian Chatter Box again. But this time I just sleep all the way through.

The Annual Party

Where shall I start? It was last Friday, December 17th. The Annual Party. We thought its gonna be a boring thing. We just want to see what's it like. We as in me, my cousin and her friend. The party starts at 7.00pm. I think we were amongh the first few to arrive. So we get to eat pretty quickly and get to sit at a table. Its on first come first serve basis. The food was really nice, and I ate a lot of shrimp with cream sauce. So much for the abs diet. I think whoever wants to start a diet, shouldnt start in December. Its party time all month long. Atleast where I work that is. Anyway, after the heavy dinner, we went off to look at the dessert spread. They were serve on a different area. Next stop dance floor. The dance music was great. But we are a little bit intermidated because there were not that many people dancing. But I want to dance, on the pretext I want get rid of the excess food that I have consumed that evening. Excess food or not, I just want to dance, actually. Ha ha. So the three of us dance, and dance, and dance. The music was not that great, mostly Latin music. The only one we knew was Y M C A. It was fun.

We ended up dancing until 10.30, maybe from 8pm. We were tired and hungry by the time we get home. And we, well they, cooked instant fried noodles, and who am I to refuse?

Till later then.

Does Time Has Wings?

People always say time flies when you are having fun. So I wonder if time really has wings! The fact of the matter is, time really flies by you. I am now in the third week of my diet. I havent seen any improvement yet. Although, I must say my weight is within a reasonable limit. Reasonable is the keyword. Anyway, lately my diet is going helter-skelter! [For those who are interested in the meaning, helter-skelter means: An interruption of regular procedure or of public peace: agitation, commotion, disorder, disturbance, stir, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, uproar.] Anyway, since I am having visitors I can't just eat according to my diet, for fear that my guess are thinking I am starving them too. Anyway, I've been having rice lately, and in a moment of weakness, or shall I say politeness, I manage to eat three whole donuts, all full of cream and cheese. Yuk! I must make it a point to go to the Gym tonite, even if it is just for 30 minutes!

Anyway, I just realised I havent been updating my blog for 4 days now, when my sis mentioned it last night. Its not that I am busy, its just that I dont feel like doing this anymore. But I am glad that I made an effort to update this blog today, it makes me wanna continue my mission to get rid of the flab! Oh not that word again! After all my challenger on the other side of the world, has been working hard to get fit for their upcoming adventure, there is no reason why I cant use my upcoming shopping season as a motivation. I do need a lot of stamina to carry all those shopping bags.

Oh by the way, did I tell you that I use to have a Malaysian colleague who brings me food for lunch? Anyway, he has left the Office now. But in his place, there is another Malaysian. Guess what, she brought me fried rice yesterday. Will this temptation ever end? I shudder to think of the amount of temptation I'll be facing back home! For this, if my other counterpart succeed in their quest to get rid of their flab, I'll salute them and they will forever hold my respect for dedication and strong will! Mmmmm what shall I eat today? There is that cheesecake I wanted to try yesterday. Oh what about that cheese and macaroni. Yawn!

A Matter of the Measuring Tape

Last time I measured my waistline, I broke my measuring tape. I was thinking of going to Ikea this weekend to get some more. But then the weather is too cold outside that I rather spent my time in my apartment. In addition, I get to accompany several night owls who happen to be residing on the other side of the world (for those guilty party, you know who you are). Anyway, after a lengthy indecision, I decided to drag my ass (pardon me, there is a Malay word for this that one of my midnite owl said to me, but I dont think thats appropriate here). Guess what, at the end of the rows and rows of cookies shelving, I found a measuring tape! Ha ha, atleast now I can measure myself without having to worry that the tape will break. I wont tell you my new measurement though, I think its enough for me to say that the Thursday lunch did a lot of damage to my confidence. But fear not, I WILL SURVIVE!

I had fun this morning (Sunday), sending files and files of photos to my counterpart on the other side of the world. I hope their computer dont crash and they have a nice dream for it. Unless they get to dream about a certain flower called Harum Sundal Malam. Dont ask me the english name for it, I just dont know. For those who are really interested to know, maybe you can ask the gardener in our household at www.ninasayu.blogspot.com.

I cant believe the weekend is over but atleast I got to clean my apartment in anticipation of my incoming visitors tomorrow. Its gonna be fun and stay tune for the updates.

Down Time

Aaaah, why is it the world seems to be against me? Friday, December 3rd, in fact it was only last week, we had dinner in honour of our colleague who is leaving Washington DC. And yesterday, Thursday, December 9th, we had a meeting lunch. Not that I am complaining, the food was out of this world. Although, I badly needed to try the cheesecake, I have to settle down for berries, which are included in the Abs Diet Powerfood. But still, I ate a lot! By the time I came home in the evening, I get so hungry again, and I also decided to have coffee. Oh my, it must have been 1 whole week, since I last had my cup of coffee. Anyway, I treat this as a temporary relapse in judgement, sort of a down time. I promise myself, come Monday, I'll hit the gym. But wait a minute. I wonder if it is at all possible. My cousin will arrive on Monday, and I am not sure I want to welcome them to DC by spending time at the Gym. Oh dear...........I wonder if this down time gonna last 2 weeks instead of just 2 days. Oh well..there is always the New Year. Hmmmm thats a thought, why dont I just start this challenge on a New Year, sort of as a new year resolution. So what do you think?

Nothing In Particular

Could it be that I have lost interest in my Abs Diet Challenge? I havent read the book for 2 days now. After 2 days, even the smoothies lost its charm. Don't get me wrong, making the smoothies is as easy as it can ever be. My problem is with cleaning the blender! So much for a new found friend. Oh wait a minute, now that I've thought about it, I just realise I havent eaten rice since last Friday, believe me its more to do with laziness than the diet. The diet does allow rice, but it recommend you to consume the brown version. In a similar vein, I also have stopped drinking coffee since my last cup on December 1st. Funny thing is, I am not that tempted. In any case, the Diet allows you to go crazy one day in a week, and eat anything you like. So come sunday, I'll probably be sitting in Starbuck sipping my favorite coffee and biting on my fav muffin.

On a totally unrelated topic. I have just visited my sis blog, I am sad to learn that she has to go through all those thing to get rid of the ungrateful servant of mine. But like a marriage, (I quote this from an interview I saw a few days back), only two people who really knows whats going on in that relationship. So I'd rather just keep quite than adding fuel to the already raging fire. I guess this has also been my philosopy in life. I guess if I were a country, I will be Switzerland. Mmmm Switzerland......maybe one day.

I slept late last night. In fact I slept at 2.30am, needless to say I only arrive at the Office at 9.30am. But I shouldnt blame it on the late night, I always come to the Office at 9.30am ha ha. Atleast I get to finish my paper for next Tuesday meeting, so not too bad then.

As of this moment, I am still undecided whether I should bring my cousin to Florida, when she came in to visit me next week. I guess I'll check on the weather forecast firt, before I made a decision. Anyway, there is always New York!

It Can't be that Fast

Its a rainy day today. I worked up at 8am, but looking out the window at the dark winter cloud, I decided to continue my sleep. Hey wait a minute, today is Tuesday. Its a working day. But the bed feels so warm that I can't bear to leave it behind and face the cold winter outside. Alas, its my duty to go to the office. After all, thats what I am being paid to do. As usual, its a slow day in the Office, I tried to read the document that I am suppose to analyse for next week's meeting but to no avail, I am just bored and sleepy. So I decided to take a walk and ended up at the Clinics, this is the place I usually go to, to check my weight and blood pressure (Its all self service). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprise to see, that I managed to drop 2 kg since I first start this diet on December 1st! Its not even one week. I was wondering if it is a combination of me having been fasting since last Thursday. Oh well, regardless, I'll take the good news any time. I must confess though, that I didnt go to the clinic by accident. The thing is, I feel my pants keep slipping down, thats why I went to the clinic to find out whether I managed to shed some pounds or shall I say kilos. In the Abs Diet book, one guy lost 15lbs in his first week, so its nothing to worry about.

On the clinic there is a chart for appropriate weight for certain height. For my height, 5 6", I should weigh max 156lbs, but I weigh in at 146lbs, so thats not to bad, right? Next week, I will start doing the suggested abs diet exercise........mmmmm if only!

My New Found Friend

So Saturday, I went out shopping for the Blender. I dont know what's wrong with me, I can afford to spen $140 on an architectural book, but have to think 100 times before settling on a $35 blender! Anyway, long story short, because christmas is near, Macy is on sale, and the blender ended up cost me for only $22.30. That put a cheerful smile on my face. Its like meeting a new found friend!

So today, Sunday, I went for grocery shopping. I think I havent done a proper grocery shopping in months! But this time I have a purpose in mind. Go for the low fat yougurt, peanut butter, low fat milk, instant original oat, grapefruit, and whole wheat bread. I am making Abs Diet Ultimate Power Smoothie. It really is rather simple. For those who are interest, you just blend these ingredients togeter: 1 cup of non-fat milk; 2 tablespoons low fat vanilla yogurt; 3/4 cup instant oatmeal (immersed in water); 2 tablespoons peanut butter; 2 teaspoons chocolate whey powder (I used vanilla); and 6 ice cubes, crushed. Just blend for a few minutes, than you get a sinfully delicious smoothies! This you take early in the morning in replacement for breakfast and the other in the evening 2 hours after dinner. By the way, the mixture just now is for two servings, one morning and one evening, so dont cheat and finish all in one go. I really enjoyed the smoothies and from today onward, I now declare the blender as my friend.

Nothing much to report today, I just stayed at home until about one in the afternoon. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Say What? Cheeeeeese!

I have nothing much to say today. I was fasting yesterday, and my dinner only consist of a few slices of toast and cheese, my last piece of smoked beef, a glass of orange juice, a few pieces of almond, and a grapefruit! Mmmm looking back it doesn't look too bad. But I was guilty with the addition of cheese on my toast.

Today I continue reading the Abs Diet book, its on a section entitled Calcium: The Future of Fat Fighting.

It says calcium seems to limit the amount of new fat your body can make......In another study, it was found that men who added three servings of yogurt a day to their diets lost 61 percent more body fat and 81 percent more stomach fat over 12 weeks than men who didnt eat yogurt. A study in Hawaii found that teens with the highest calcium intakes were thinner and leaner than those getting less calcium.

Anyway, enough of the boring lesson! The point of my blog entry today is that I am happy to learn that I can eat CHEESE! Alas the amount of cheese I can take a day is only equivalent to one slice of Cheddar Cheese or an inch cube of Swiss cheese or 8 ounces low fat yogurt, mmmmmmmmm. Anyway, its better than having no cheese at all right. Ooops there seems to be a mistake here, after re-reading the chapter, actually I should be aiming for 1200 milligrams of calcium per day. The sliced cheddar is only 204mg, therefore I can have 5 slices a day. The day has just becoming brighter and brighter for me!

Today is Friday, the last day of the working week. Hooray. The weather forecast tomorrow looks good with no rain but still cold. Anyway, come rain or shine I still have to look for the fat reducing food and ofcourse the ever so elusive blender (until now, I still dont know what the blender is for though). Spinach! Spinach! Where Art Though?

Day and Night

I was really happy during the day yesterday because my diet got off to a very good start, well atleast I have oatmeal in the morning, not having coffee throughout the day, and just take salad with fat free dressing during lunch! But what a temptation during lunch, of all thing they chose my first day to serve cheese raviolli, mmm looks sinfully delicious. Anyway, by the time I got back home after work,in the evening, I was really hungry, even the one piece of banana doesnt seem to satisfy me. Then for dinner I only have two slice of toast with a touch of low fat butter. Yea rite, as if I can survive just on that. Luckily, there is still some left over of the smoked beef that my sister gave me when I last flew back from home. I ate that, because according to the book, beef is a good source of protein, and your body need to burn alot of calories to burn or break protein compared to carb - so there you go, while you are enjoying your beef you are also burning a few calories. Anyway, the point of my story is by 10pm I was hungry, so I cheated and eat a bowl of instant noodles....ooops. But I dont consider this as a major setback because I am suppose to take 6 small meals all throughout the day which I didnt, maybe be next week I will get use to it. In addition, I havent shop for all the food that I am suppose to eat...and there is still that blender thing that I need to buy. Oh well, Saturday cant come soon enough for me, and yet today is only Thursday!

Its a Miracle

Today is the start of my Abs Diet Challenge. First stop coffee, what a bad way to start the challenge huh? Of all the things that I am not suppose to, I drank coffee the moment I wake up in the morning. Anyway, I did have a plain old oatmeal as my breakfast. Now is already 11.26am, I am not hungry yet, so the oatmeal could actually be working.

I am only at Chapter 3 of the Book, how am I suppose to know what I am suppose to do? But I did get a very useful information on what exercise is better for you, if you want to lose weight or rather FAT. I really like this particular part of the book, and now I am quoting:

"Now here's an even shocking fact: When early studies compared cardiovascular exercise to weight training, researchers learned that those who engaged in aerobic activities burned more calories during exercise than those who tossed around iron. You'd assume, then, that aerobic was the way to go. But that's not the end of the story.

It turns out that while lifters didn't burn as many calories during their workouts as the folks who ran or biked, they burned far more calories over the course of the next several hours. This phenomenon is known as the afterburn - the additional calories your body burns off in the hours and days after a workout........."

Hmm not to bad huh, may be I should go and hit the gym and weight lift after work today. Anyway, back to my miracle story. So being the first day of the six week program, I've decided to brave the measuring tape and lo and behold! What a miracle, I measured at 31". Maybe then I should change my mission to reducing my waistline from 31" to 29" in 6 weeks. Oh well, as I often say, a man can always dream! In the office today, I went to the clinic, just to weigh my self. Surprise, surprise my weight is only 67.2 kg, a vast improvement from 68kg or so when I started writing this blog a week or so ago.

Anyway, will update you again on my weight and waistline. The thing is, I am not really concern with my weight, its more for the size of my pants. Maybe its time for me to go shopping for a new and slimmer wardrobe now. Too early? Okay, I will wait till the end of the 6 week program.