-

Sh: "So, you're a vegetarian?"
Me: "Yeah.. but don't worry I'm not standing on a moral high ground.."
Sh: "Religious reason? or personal choice?"
Me: "Choice.. for me it's like we're standing on a junction and you choose to turn left while I turn right..haha.."
L: "Well except there's more food on the left.."
Me: "Yeah.. well..."
__
And since we were in a middle-eastern joint, here was a sample pick-up line for a middle-eastern situation, suggested by a fellow CSer:
"I'm the falafel to your shawarma..."

=D

Morsels from Manila

Manila... Touched down around 12 noon.. The Philippines is an amazing sight from above - Manila is surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges and well.. for me it seems like the city is surrounded by folded green velvet hahaha..

Anyway, found out that the Clark airport is actually around 2 hours car journey from the actual Metro Manila. Note to self: Do more research when taking budget airlines. Eventually we entered Manila, though.. and hey! I felt like I was back in Indonesia! Almost everything from the weather, the building types, the traffic, the cars, the scenery.... Oh wow.. The only different thing is that signs are in English and Tagalog. Found the hostel, located in quite an interesting area where all the street names are space objects (Jupiter st, Polaris st, Juno st, Orbit st etc). It's actually a studio apartment converted into a hostel, and very cosy! Great first impression of Manila....

... but things kinda went downhill from there.. Took the train to see sunset at Manila Bay (Interestingly, the sunset here is great because the air is opaque due to pollution..). Manila has 3 train lines with the trains looking like KTM (Kereta Api Tanah Melayu from Malaysia). Well, no problem with those, clean and good. Then we reached the Central Manila station.

Hmm... the station itself does not look like a Central Station because it was very dilapidated, and -gasp! - banally modernist.. Walked to Manila Bay, and uhm... reached Manila Bay... and saw a bit of sunset.. and that was it... The thing is, the whole walk consist of a rather barren pavement beside one long, wide concrete road and the so-called landmark buildings are mostly neo-classical cast-concrete entities smothered with pastel-colored paints. (Nothing personal against pastel colored paints.. It's just that I've seen enough of salmon pink and pale yellow Corinthian pillars in Jakarta.) The absence of street food is noticeable, though for the adventurous 'balut' - duck egg with embryo - is very easy to find. Then, there was the smoke, the cars (My apologies for contrasting Manila with the more charming bycicle-laden Vietnam), the smell.. Actually, the smell makes it kinda fun..As one walks, one is really assaulted with various kinds of smells, leaving one's imagination guessing as to what is the source... Hahaha...

As it grew darker, there's not much of street lamps, which, combined with the large scale of roads,pavements and buildings, and the barrenness of it all, creates a rather eerie atmosphere...

Oh, and the last thing... Manila is not a vegetarian friendly city.. not even pescatorian friendly! It was difficult to find vegetable dishes around *tho there's always Subway*. On the other hand, if you love chicken, then this is the place. As we walked along Jupiter st, there was no shortage of billboards with various smiling chicken characters (One of the greatest contradictions in life.. Chickens advertising for places that aren't exactly chicken-friendly..).

The most interesting thing in Manila is probably the jeepney, a special public transport modified from ex- US army jeeps. It's pretty long, and passengers sit in two long lines at the back facing each other while the driver is in front facing the road. Then, when it's time to pay passengers just pass coins from those at the back to those closest to the driver, and each time the driver receives and puts money in a box without really looking.. I wonder if the driver trusts the passengers so much to give the correct amount of money, or he's just got a sixth sense to know if it's correct!

Another good thing would be, everyone here speaks English pretty well, and signs are mostly bilingual, so if you're a traveler that doesn't like to learn a bit of local language (though then I would question your definition of 'traveler'), this is a pretty good place to start.

Well well, for now, that is my impression of Manila.. I know I'm painting a bleak picture of it, and I do hope it will change.. It's Day 1 out of 11, for goodness sake!

For now, though, magandang gabi! *Good night in Tagalog*

It's THAT time of the year.....

.....to vote for the sexiest vegetarian alive =) PETA organises the "Sexiest Vegetarian Alive" competition annually and it pleasantly surprised me that there really are famous names in that list, including Shania Twain, Alanis Morrisette, Carry Underwood, Fiona Apple (Fiona Apple??vegetarian??? Do, u wanna follow her footsteps? ;p ), Pamela Anderson (yeah I was surprised too..), Stella Mc Cartney, etc....

From the guys' side, we have people like Alec Baldwin, Bryan Adams, Kevin Bacon, Ruben Studdard, Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf himself, for those who doesn't know..), and Tobey Maguire. (ok I've never loved Spiderman more than now hahaha...) 

So yeah, cast your vote dudes!

http://www.peta.org/FeatureSexiestVegetarianCelebrity.asp

Something Fishy This Way Comes...

Hm....

Hm....

Tried to eat a piece of fish for lunch today, in preparation for my Vietnam trip.. *don't wanna trouble the villagers there with vegetarian food..*, and also in case I can't survive in Europe's colder climate with just veggies and cheese...

Uhm.....

Somehow it's a lot fishier than I remember it to be...And I frankly did not enjoy it at all.. Tried to mask the taste with soya sauce but...The texture..The fishy taste *duh shiela..it WAS a piece of fish..* Guess I lost my acquired taste for fish and had to re-acquire it...I clearly remember though that I loved to eat fish....Hated pork, ok with beef and chicken..never wanted to try strange meats like frog, dog etc..but when I was young my parents would order fried fish for me when we ate out..And deep in the recesses of my mind I remember cleaning fish bones of their meat and licking my fingers during the meal.....

Oh well...

To the question: "Why fish?Doesn't fish suffer when being killed too?" hm...I don't know..but somehow I feel more ok to eat fish than chicken or beef... Well...Discounting the fact that it died of suffocation..and that its corpse was then disrespectfully treated by frying in hot oil...When I became vegetarian, I told myself I won't eat animals except in the case of survival....And the time has come when I should define "survival"...

Haih...

Would've eaten shrimp instead since it reportedly has a simpler brain structure and *my wishful thinking* is hopefully less sensitive to pain...Too bad am allergic to it...

Hm....

Which one is better, fishy or shrimpy?

7 things meme - tagged by Ren

7 things that scare you:
uhm...I'm not really scared of anything...so will change the title to:

7 things people are usually scared of and why I'm not scared of them:
1.insects - I think they're gorgeous and cool =D
2.ghost/evil spirits, at least the way they're depicted in horror movies - part of it has to do with me being a christian, another part is because I believe they can't do anything to me.
3. death - just another phase of life...in fact I'm sometimes curious as to how it feels..
4. failure - well, one can't stay on top all the time
5.loss of a loved one - will hurt, but life goes on
6. hurting a loved one - can't help doing it sometimes..say sorry and face the consequences..
7.being alone - quite enjoyable if one gets used to it
Used to be afraid of people's expectations as well as my own's..and also of being given too much responsibility,but have since learned to manage it.

7 things you like the most:
1.books!!!!
2.Nature
3.good friends
3.the colour Blue
4.lame jokes - and people who can crack them
5.tempe goreng...my staple food!
6.trees - currently my fave tree is the raintree
7.piano

7 important things in your room:
1.my books... (ok I'm cheatingi...but they are the most important things...)
2.laptop
3.guitar
4.potted plants (neutralise chemical contaminants!)
5.keyboard...though it's not exactly inside my room...
6.dark blue curtain, gift from my mom..makes the color of the whole room a very nice blue
7.drawing - modelling equipments

7 things you plan to do before you die:
1.see the Aurora (dream since childhood...)
2.visit all major architectural works around the world
3.write a book
4.volunter in an ulu place for half/one year,alternatively go around Indonesia visiting small tribes and learn how they live
5.climb a mountain (short one will do ;p )
6.design a house that my parents would love
7.make my clients very happy,as an architect

7 things you can do:
1.study for 5-6 hours straight, then go eat and continue studying..ya..my reputation as a mugger is kind of deserved..
2.either make people laugh, or otherwise freeze them, by telling jokes
3. read very fast, and very widely..I'm a very curious person regarding Nature and things
4.eat tempe goreng for lunch and dinner everyday without getting bored
5.learns languages pretty fast if I get to speak it quite often
6.can deal with insects..never thought this is a big deal before I went to ISCF camp and even the guys didn't dare to remove the insects in some girls' room...
7.can eat no meat for years,and years, and years..haha..not really an ability though, comes from being vegetarian..

7 things you can't do:
1.can't stay in a crowded places for a long time
2.can't be with people all the time - I need quite some time alone
3.can't concentrate with music around
4.can't live without books..haha..
5.can't be serious for long stretches of time, even when I'm alone
6.can't NOT think too much regarding some things
7.can't sleep with the lights on

7 things that attract you to the opposite sex:
1.knowledge - will be very happy if we can converse about lots n lots of things
2.sense of humour
3.ability to play musical instruments
4.love for Nature
5.interest in books and poetry,and Indonesian language!
6.straightforwardness
7. D.I.Y ability (fascination comes from watching my dad repair almost anything around the house..)

7 things you say the most:
1.buset
2.hah?
3.wahlau (ng...baru nyadar betapa singlish-nya gw kadang2...)
4.dude
5.yo
6.shoot
7.are you serious...?

7 random facts about you:
1.likes to make friends with people from different countries since I like hearing about and learning about other cultures
2.have difficulty remembering names, especially Chinese names..so yeah,I'm very happly if people's names are unique and easy to remember
3.used to be tomboy but have since gotten much better (at least I think so...)
4.want to learn Hindi and go around India..since I adore Indian food and am fascinated by Indian architecture and mythology
5.am a very tropics person..hates cold and snow but loves strong sun and pouring rain (whether to be seen through the window or be experienced directly ;p )
6.used to wish I'm born a boy and a pribumi so I can go around my beloved country exploring without my parents being so worried all the time.In any case, yeah, I used to REALLY wish I was born a boy.
7.for a person who studies design...I have a very can't-be-bothered and practical attitude towards my appearance and the things I use..as long as they can function well, then that's enough.

Hm...I really don't know who to tag..oh well, anyone who reads this and feels like being tagged, be my guest!

Random thought

Well well....first thought: I have too many books!! Aaaa.....I'm very aware of my bad habit of wanting to read every interesting book I can lay my hands on... Went to NUS Forum bookstore yesterday n even though I know my reading schedule's all packed this holiday, I still went on buying a book (about chemicals commonly used on books and cosmetics. Well if I haven't restrained myself it would've been more than 1 book....)

Anyway, at Forum there were 2 books displayed that caught my eye. One was about the life of the current Japanese crown princess, Princess Masako. Forgot what's the other one. But what caught my eye were rather big yellow signs "Banned in Japan" and "Banned in Iran" beside the two books..
Controversy sells, I guess...but I would've been much more interested if the sign says "Banned in Singapore" ;p

Speaking about controversy..the new tagline for SingTel's mobil phone plan for free outgoing call on campuses is "I support FREE SPEECH on campus!" . The advertisement's kinda everywhere...can't help thinking how ironic and desperately wanting to be contoversial the tagline is. I mean, c'mon, do you really understand what free speech means? Bandied about by Singapore Telecommunications, no less.

And speaking about Sg, there's a new book out, "Chicken Soup for the Singaporean Soul". Yep, no kidding. Was kinda surprised. Flipped through the book n it's filled with the standard issues - food, school, singlish, racial harmony,etc..but am somewhat interested to really read it...soon as I have time...hahaha....

Oh, and was reading newspaper this morning when I came across the article about "World's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity", apparently an annual contest to choose, well, the sexiest vegetarian celebrity. Went to check out the site, GoVeg.com. and was pleasantly surprised by the list of vegetarian celebrities, including past winners....Names include: Natalie Portman (Queen Amidala in Star Wars), Barbie Xu (Meteor Garden..), David Duchovny (X Files guy), Maggie Q (newest Bond girl), Joaquin Phoenix (Johny Cash in the movie), Joel Madden, Carrie Underwood, Kim Basinger, Tobey Maguire, Amitabh Bachan (strongest candidate yet for sexiest Asian male celebrity category), Shania Twain, Chris Martin of Oasis, Paul Mc Cartney, Sir Ian McKellen, Jackie Cheung, Naomi Watts....oh well go check out the list yourself.

Oh n there's an article about Ruben Studdard going vegetarian n losing 80 pounds..haha..but I guess it's true being a vegetarian kinda allows you to eat more n stay slim ;p provided you don't eat certain chinese vegetarian food so much, ladden with oil n seasonings.

For those who wanna know why I became vegetarian, you can click the "Meet your meat" video link on the site or copy this link: http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=meet_your_meat&Player=wm
(not for the faint-hearted though)

Not trying to sabo ppl to become vegetarian, but well, since we're all part of humanity, let's find out what humanity really does. (Aside from that certain American human named G***** W. B*** Jr.)

Why am I a vegetarian?

One of the question ppl often ask me is "So why are you a vegetarian?" (Other questions include: "How can anyone love books that much?", "Why are u so lame?" and "When will u get a boyfriend?" For the last question, 90% of the time it comes from my mom. But let's save those questions for other posts.)

Been a vegetarian for about 7 years now - I remember it cuz I became a vegetarian nearing my birthday - and truly, I can't think of me not being a vegetarian, of ever converting back to the way of the majority - omnivorism with a dash of McDonaldism. (My mom did hope that this was "just a stage", but she gave that up several years ago. Well, I am a strong-willed child, after all.)

So why did I become a vegetarian? Contrary to popular belief, it's not because my pet gold fish drowned when I was small, leaving in me a deep psychological scar. Part of the reason is that I think vegetarianism is healthier. (which is why I don't like chinese vegetarian food, laden with oil n seasonings) Another reason is that I'm convinced my vegetarianism is my own little contribution to making the world a better place. It takes much less resources to feed a vegetarian, and the environmental impacts concurred in the process are also much less fatal. Consider this:

1. In terms of resource use, it takes 8 kg of grain to produce 0.5 kg of beef, but 0.5 kg of grain to produce 0.5 kg of bread. If u remember ur energy pyramid, u'll notice that only 10% of energy is transferred to the next level. All tt stuff about energy efficiency when u'r a primary consumer is real-life stuff, my friend.

2. Accordingly, much more land is required to feed a meat eater than a vegetarian. And most of the land cleared for farming comes from forests cleared by slash-and-burn. That includes land from the threatened Amazon rainforest, by the way.

3.If ppl in America reduce their meat consumption by 10%, enough grain would be saved o feed 60 MILLION PEOPLE. So yeah, I kinda become a vegetarian as a way to reduce my guilt over starving ppl in Africa.

But there's one primary reason behind my decision to be a vegetarian: I love animals too much to eat them. Simple as that. I can't stand the sheer hypocrisy of saying "Awww, that chick is so cute!" and then having fried chicken for lunch. Can't stand restaurant/food advertisements using cute-ified cows/chickens (like KFC's chicken) cuz the reality is not cute at all. I mean, how can u use an image of a plump, laughing chicken to promote chickens bred for profi in appalling conditions, slaughtered inhumanely juz to preserve the best taste? (Oh yes, there are ways. Horribly horrible ways) Can't stand the thought of factory farming either. (Google the term n u'll soon find out that humans breed and slaughter their feed using the cruelest of methods. Some pppl have the cheek to say "Well, I'm not technically the one that does the job, am I?" Think demand-and-supply, friend.) I read books and saw images on factory farming and slaughtering 7 years ago, and decided that I'll be vegetarian right away. Stopped eating meat and anything with eyes without any "transition stage". I just totally stopped eating meat one day, n that's it.

Having said all that, I don't think that as a vegetarian I'm standing on a moral high-ground, having the right to view non-veg with smug pride and disdain. For me,the feeling is no more than facing a junction with another person,and then I chose to turn left while he chose to turn right. No point being so smug about choosing one way over another.

The shit about humans being created to "have dominion" over all the earth and of protein malnutrition? Ask me directly if u wanna know my opinion, I'll galdly spare some time explaining why I call them shit. (ok the protein stuff might have some grain of truth, seeing as I'm verically challenged..but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Love needs sacrifices, anyway.)

Hufh..there were days when I wanted to do anything possible to save those animals from a fate worse that death .(Namely, being killed merely for another creature's tastebuds.) No, I don't dream of having my photo in some spandex costume splashed on the front page,"The ANIMAL ACTIVIST Strikes Again!!",but I did try to tell ppl about vegetarianism. Nowadays though, I eat my broccoli and carrot quietly. Enough if I can get ppl to eat meat with gratitude, since, however they wanna view it, another living thing died so that they may live, and live with pleasure.