Vegetarian Chicken Rice

So yes this post is dedicated to the delicious grubs I ate when I was in Singapore! I am very happy that in this trip I managed to try all the food I've been wanting to try. Especially this awesome vegan chicken rice in Ang Mo Kio that I've been wanting to try since like 2019 haha but didn't manage to try!

Thunder Tea Rice and beer. A good match, trust me!

To start with I had thunder tea rice with Jeslyn at Lau Pa Sat. Thanks Jes for the treat and for jioing me! The funny thing is that I was actually craving for TTR and so happy that Jes brought me here haha. I love TTR ever since I tried it last year. I think I'm gonna make it a tradition to have them everytime I'm back in SG mwahaha. We also shared a beer tower. And it was like 8% so I got tipsy very quickly haha. But it was a great lunch together with Jes and Leon! Talked about many things man.

After I reached my hotel from Chinatown (that was about 6:45 PM I think) I was using Google Map to see if I can reach the vegetarian chicken rice using public transport. But I realised the stall is closing at 8 PM I think. So I decided to just Grab to AMK haha. It was an expensive Grab but worth it I guess cause I don't wanna miss this chance to have it again hahaha. And also it is super delicious!

BEST VEGETARIAN CHICKEN RICE EVER
33 Vegetarian Food at Ang Mo Kio

All of the vegetarian chicken rice I tried are made using starchy mock meat (or tofu). But oh my goodness this vegetarian chicken rice from 33 Vegetarian Food in AMK is the best vegetarian chicken rice I've tried. The texture is insane, it tastes like succulent chicken rice! I am super amazed by the flavour too cause it's super fragrant as well. I opted for Set A which comes with the steamed chickn and roasted chickn. I gulped them down quickly. I think I will come back again! It's super good.

Finally having Bak Chor Mee after 10 years. And it's vegan too!
Chee Wei Vegetarian at Potong Pasir

Next up for Day 3 breakfast I went to Chee Wei vegetarian at Potong Pasir. I actually discovered this stall from a YouTube video haha. And they sell... Bak Chor Mee! My goodness I haven't eaten this in like probably 10 years and now I found a vegan one?! I'm super blessed haha. It was a delicious bowl of BCM but not gonna lie, it tastes nicer with pork hahaha. Okay the noodle is saucy and delicious but it lacks that oomph. But overall it's a great bowl of BCM. Cause it satisfied by decade long craving haha.

Refreshing Bandung Soymilk from Mr Bean. Brings back memories

On my way to Little India for Syaz wedding I saw a Mr Bean stall at Potong Pasir and wow I miss it too! So I decided to grab a cup of their Bandung Soymilk and wow brings back lots of memories especially my year 3 days where I had Mr Bean for breakfast almost every day hahaha.

Yummy vegetarian food in Syaz's wedding. So good!
Thanks Syazwani! 

Also I'd like to say a special mention to Syazwani for providing vegetarian food! It is a hearty plate of Indian food (which is something I was craving also) and it is so delicious! I wanted to have more hahaha but well I'm meeting Tacy for dinner so better leave some space in my stomach. Thanks Syaz!!

Impossible burger and Impossible Vork skewers at Prive

For Day 2 dinner Tacy and I decided to dine at Prive. They're famous for their Impossible Burger so I had that, and their vork skewer as well. Very delicious! Love the sauce of the vork skewer and the cheesiness from the burger. Tacy had the roasted pork aglio olio and looks good as well.

Veganburg limited edition chickn rice burger!

Last but not least for Day 3 lunch I went to meet Try at Veganburg and tried their limited edition chickn rice burger! It was in conjunction with SG's national day and it was only available till like September I think. It was a delicious burger and love the garlic-ginger sauce and the chili sauce slapped on top of the patty. It was so wholesome and delicious! I hope they can make it a permanent menu haha.

The infamous tea brewing machine at CCSC! 
Had the Dong Ding Oolong Tea

That's all for the food! And I also finally tried Chicha San Chen which is recommended from my cousin and also from the Twoset video haha. Love to see the machine at work! Alright I guess that's all for the grubs I ate in Singapore. Can't wait to go back to try more food and come back to these delicious fooooods. On another note, I'm not too happy about the Rupiah-SGD exchange rate hahaha. But oh well, it's okay to splurge once in a while! :P  I will see you again soon.

Suntory Strong Zero is my new favourite beer now
Also random sugarcane juice from AMK food centre haha

Also PS: You know you're old when you go back to your hotel early to drink beer you bought from 7-11 and then just knock out early haha. I just discovered a new favourite beer!

Beyond Impossible

With the idea that we now have a burger that looks and tastes like meat, but is made entirely out of plants, that sounds Beyond Impossible for me haha. To be honest back then, one of the top reasons why I didn't want to go vegetarian was that I was afraid of missing the taste of meat. Although to be honest once you go vegetarian, you won't miss it at all (for me that is). Especially if you do it out of ethical reason, you'll learn how the taste of meat isn't worth the life of an animal.

Until a few years ago when I found out about the Beyond burger. I was skeptical at first because it was made out of beet (or the extract of it that is) and how could it taste like meat? Then there was the Impossible Burger, and now we actually have a lot of brands that make meatless burgers.

So I had the wonderful opportunity to try both the Beyond and Impossible burger when I was in Singapore. And here's my personal review of both burgers! Although to be honest... It's not going to be a "complete" review, you will understand why later on in the post alright.

I tried the Impossible Burger at Fat Papas with Candy and Syazwani. And we also bought the Impossible Nachos, and Candy bought the Impossible Shepherd's Pie. The Nachos came first and wow seriously I was blown away by the nachos! Okay it has the same texture as ground beef. But taste wise it was rather ambiguous for me, because it was masked by the tomato sauce. But it really taste like a proper nacho with ground beef that I once had last time haha.

Fat Papas Impossible Burger!

Then I tried the burger and holy cow. Wait I mean holy cucumber (HAHA). It really tastes like meat! I was so shocked at first and I asked Candy and Syaz to try to make sure it's not meat haha. Well okay the only thing it is missing is the gamey smell of beef. But it really taste like meat! Well I haven't eaten meat in 3.5 years so I don't exactly know how it tastes like anymore. But it is truly reminiscent of a good burger for me. Couple with the cheese, it tastes savoury and goooood.

Texture wise it was like meat. There's a certain chewiness as well as juiciness when you bite into it. It's just like a good burger, complete with the smokiness of the patty and the soft fragrant buns. It's so terrifyingly accurate haha. I'd definitely try it again. Giving it an 8.5/10 here!

Okay before I go to the Beyond Burger, I actually had quite an unpleasant experience with this one. And I will not name the place that I had this at haha. And this is why this review is "incomplete".

Beyond Burger. Need to give this another try somewhere tho

So I ordered the Beyond Burger and it came looking very promising. However when I gave a bite of the burger... I realised that the patty was still frozen heh. At first I thought it was the mayo that they used (cause it's cold) but then I bit the patty alone and yup, it was still frozen heh. So I asked the waitress and the kitchen gave me a new one. However I'm not sure why but the taste was a bit off. Like I don't think the restaurant did justice to the Beyond Patty heh.

The patty itself was a bit tasteless, and there's a weird smell to it. And also the patty was red in colour. There was no charring of the outer layer of the patty and so on, like how a burger is like.

Maybe I'm bias because I watched and read a lot of reviews about the Beyond vs Impossible taste test. And a lot of reviews that I came across with actually have the Beyond burger emerging victorious heh. Perhaps I need to try the Beyond Burger on another place to give my full review.

Thus... No score given for the Beyond Burger.

Anyway it was an interesting and enlightening experience to try both burgers! To me thus far, the Impossible won by a lot. Because it tastes really good haha. I am really interested to try more of them from different places. And see their spins on it. But also I'm actually amazed by the invention of these two products. We're truly in the future, because I have never expected for them to taste this good!

Alright that's all from me today. I hope you can give both burgers a try if you have the chance to! :)

1000 Meatless Days part 2

Right I have just finished with work so time to talk more about what I was writing about yesterday! 

Maybe I should talk about my journey to this day. Even though I talked about it a year ago I think. But yeah in the jist of it, I am vegetarian for the animals. Because I see no difference between humanely and inhumanly obtained meat, as a life is lost at the end of each process right?

I think these 1000 days have taught me two things. Or they reaffirmed my view on meat consumption.

The first one is that why should we kill animals for our food when we can get whatever we need, nutrients and minerals, to function normally, from plants! Okay maybe there are some topics that are debatable like vitamin B12. I read that it is obtained through the digestion of meat, as it is made from the bacteria in our guts. But I also read that food like tempe contains B12 too and we don't have to worry about being deficient as long as we consume them. Also there's supplements! :)

Secondly, now that I have not consumed meat in 1000 days, I begin asking myself the real reason that we eat meat. If we can get what we need from plants... So why do we eat meat? I think I have come to the conclusion that the only reason why we eat meat is simply because for its taste. Like we can actually live without meat. We just love the taste of it, thus we consume it. But would you trade an animal's life for your tastebud? Is it actually worth the killing of a living being?

These are some of the questions I asked myself before I go meatless. There are times where I "convinced" myself to eat meat (while I was still considering my decision!). Like I tell myself just eat less meat, don't worry, animals are meant to be eaten anyway bla bla bla. But yeah I think eventually I told myself that it's not really worth the life of an animal. While I enjoyed the taste of meat, a life has to be unwillingly taken. So yeah I felt it wasn't worth it. Hence I stopped eating meat.

Although yes I am aware that I haven't fully stopped contributing to animals' suffering as I still consume dairy and eat eggs. I am transitioning though. Although err I broke my no-dairy promise today haha. I was really craving for pizza so I got myself Dominos veggie delight pizza. There's cheese in it so eeep. So sorry. I have stopped consuming milk and cream tho.

Alright that's all from me now. I have no plans to go back to eating meat. And I have never felt the temptation to as well. I think I've seen through the taste and aroma. I've heard the cries of these helpless animals who have no voice. I hope you can give Meatless Mondays a try! Or whatever day that suits you. It's good for the animals, good for your health and also good for the earth.

1000 Meatless Days

I just realised that yesterday was my 1000th day of going vegetarian! Sounds crazy, it's been almost 3 years. But I think going vegetarian is one of the best decisions I have made in life. Although still to be honest, I don't feel any difference actually haha. Physically that is. Maybe everything will be proven in my blood. But that's the point I want to make - that we can all lead a normal healthy life without meat!

Yes I do understand that I'm not a vegan yet. And I am still causing suffering to innocent animals. But I am currently transitioning weee. I have skipped dairy for almost a month now? Okay err I actually did have some relapse especially during my grandma's funeral. Ate some bread which I'm sure have milk in it heh. I'm trying my best! I am actually planning to go vegan next year weee.

I am actually quite proud of myself of going this far. As someone who could devour one whole chicken by myself (the rotisserie chicken at Cold Storage), who loved eating steak and charsiew, who loved innards and loved foie gras so so much, here I am now. Revolted thinking of eating them! Heh. Also I have a confession: I used to make fun of vegetarians and vegans. I thought they are living a life that is too extreme for a human being. Especially since our time is limited here.

Like I used to have the thought of "enjoying life" before I leave this earth. And as long as I can eat animals where they are as humanely slaughtered as possible, I'm okay with it. Until I come across the thought of what's the difference between humanely slaughtering a living being, and inhumanely slaughtering them? Their life is taken away in the end anyway. So yup, that's the spark.

I am vegetarian for the animals. Like I once said, whatever I get and contribute to in the end, like good health and doing my part in saving earth, is like the good "karma" that I obtain from my choice. 

Okay it's getting pretty late now. I think I'm going to spend another night writing this! See ya :)

Eat less meat. 

Mock

 Vegan!

So on Sunday when we were having the 7th month prayer here at home, I posted a photo of a vegetarian braised "pork" dish on my insta-story. And one of my friends sent me a message telling me that these mock-meats are actually unhealthier than real meat, so if I'm a vegetarian cause of health reasons, I should stop eating them and go back to meat. But if it's for animal concern then no worries.

Well it's true. My dad always asks me what goes inside this mock meats, as they look like real meat. Well they definitely don't taste like meat though. All I know is that most of them are made from gluten (seytan). Some are made from soy. For example the braised "pork" is made from soy and konyaku. The fat part is made out of konyaku and the meat is from soy. At least that's what I tasted.

Since they're made out of gluten, they are practically carbs right hahaha.

To be frank I actually don't like mock meats cause they taste weird haha. Except for the ones from Dharma Kitchen which tastes really good. I'm more of a vegetables and tofu kind of guy. I really love veggies. I can't eat without them. I need them in every meal! Haha. So yeah it isn't much of a problem for me. As a vegetarian I'll eat anything, as long as it doesn't contain meat!

But hmm I'm not sure if I agree with the statement that it's unhealthier than meat. Okay maybe those store-bough ones are. Cause you don't know what they put inside. Lots of preservatives perhaps, and colourings and whatever. But if you make your own "meat", I'm 100% it's healthier than meat haha. Not only it does not contain cholesterol, and that it contains less fat, it is also loaded with nutrients!

I don't make my own mock-meats but I like to make "scallops" out of tofu, burgers out of chickpeas/beans, and meatballs from tofu as well. I've yet to make another veggie burger. And how about those beet burgers! They look like meat right haha. But yeah that's what I think.

Someone once asked me why we vegetarians still eat mock-meats. Does this mean that we still miss meat? That we crave for them? Hmm well not for me. To me the idea of eating mock-meats is to tell people that like hey you can still enjoy food without killing animals. It's not that we crave meat. It's the idea that we don't want to eat meat, therefore we go creative to think of alternatives mwahaha.

Some vegetarian chefs are so crazily creative really! Their creations are truly amazing.

Okay this is a really random post about mock-meats haha. Been meatless for 1.5 years now and I'm still enjoying it! The idea of going back to meat has never crossed my mind. I'm even thinking of going vegan soon... I'm not ready for it though haha. Maybe when I live by myself so as to not trouble my mum. But anyway I've been avoiding both dairy and eggs so far! Hope I'll go further <3

Veggie Lyfe

I know I'm supposed to blog about this yesterday, but since today is the first day of the last lunar calendar, I think it's good to talk about it today instead! Yup, I'll finish my 366th day of becoming a vegetarian in two more days and I'm feeling accomplished by this. Because back a few years ago, I never have any thought of becoming a vegetarian but here I am now. 

Along the way, my thoughts changed, and yup. I can definitely live without meat. Looking back, I've been considering this lifestyle change since 2010. Like I did have thoughts of becoming a vegetarian at some point of my life, but not this soon. Well I kinda regretted not starting earlier. But whatever the case, I'm here now and I'm definitely not looking back. So far I haven't found any reasons to go back.

To give you a bit of history, I've been going vegetarian twice a month since 2010. Although it was pretty much an on-and-off thing. In 2013 I decided to really dedicate two days every month to go vegetarian. I continued this until 2015, when I watched Dr Greger's video on YouTube about plant based diet and decided to go Meatless Mondays (then Saturdays) from August onwards.

Everything changed in November when I watched Cowspiracy. And then Vithya sent me a link to watch Earthlings. I could still remember watching it... Hmm... Exactly a year ago! And on that night I stopped eating meat heh. Okay I still eat some meat but I decided that I'm going to turn into a vegetarian this year. Which I did, and 364 days later, I'm still one. I'm even considering to go vegan now heh. Okay not so soon, my plan is to go ovo-vegetarian next year (no dairy, consuming eggs though).

How am I feeling now you may ask? I actually feel.... Pretty normal heh. I'm not sure if I feel any major difference ever since I go meatless. The only difference is two things - One is that I never experienced any constipation and two, I feel kinda more energetic. Usually I'll feel sleepy after lunch and I would go take a 10-15 nap before continuing work. But nowadays I don't feel sleepy at all.

Oh and I also never feel bloated after every meal. Except when I'm eating lentils and petai.

Fun fact: I also didn't lose any weight. I don't know to be happy or sad with the fact that I didn't lose or gain any weight. I was 89 in 1 January and I've been in this weight till now heh. Well I did actually lose 3kg on the first month but I ate too many kue lapis during CNY and I'm back again HAHAHA. Lots of people say my stomach looks flatter though. No, it's still bulging but smaller in size I guess.

See the thing is I don't become a vegetarian for health reasons. I really do it because I just feel that if I can be alive without having the need to kill animals, why not right. I'm not gonna be a hypocrite, I still kill mosquitoes and cockroaches and other creepy crawlies. But I'm sure you get my point. And no I haven't fully stopped causing suffering to animals since I'm not a vegan yet.

And whatever I get in return, be it good health or weight loss, I take it as the good karma I gained.

Although I've been reading Dr Greger's book How Not To Die which shows the benefits (proven by studies) of a plant-based diet, and how it can reverse many diseases. So maybe it's true that plant-based is the way to go. And thus perhaps it's true that what goes around comes around. There is a price we have to pay for consuming meats.

But I'm just gonna let you be the judge, try some meatless Mondays! :D

Okay so maybe I should share with you some of the questions I get when I tell people that I'm a vegetarian. I'm gonna list them from the most frequently asked questions.

1. Where do you get your protein?! You can only get proteins from meat!

Tofu, tempe, broccoli, beans, lentils and other vegetables. No, there are proteins in plants. If not how do cows, elephants, monkeys and pandas can grow so big and muscular?

2. You only become vegetarian cause you wanna lose weight right? Are you on a diet?

No, if this is the case I would have stopped 11 months ago.

3. Do you ever feel weak and dizzy and tired?

Nope. Not sure why but this is one of the most frequently asked questions to me. I really don't think that an absence of meat can cause the above symptoms. An absence of carbohydrate will.

4. But God created animals for human's consumption.

I don't believe in creationism :)

5. You're so young, you should not become a vegetarian and enjoy life.

I am a vegetarian and I am still enjoying life :D

6. How can you not eat meat? Do you miss it?

Not sure how but I can. And surprisingly I don't miss it. I do still miss bakso though lol!

7. But you're also killing plants you know. Plants have feelings too.
At least I don't have to kill an entire tomato plant to eat tomatoes. And other veggies etc. But you have to kill a chicken to eat its wings and a cow to enjoy your steak. So yes. 

You see the funniest thing that I ever encountered is this. When people ask me why I become a vegetarian, I usually say because of my religion. Which is not true. I do it 80% for the animals, 10% religious and 10% spiritual. The reason why I said this is because some people usually get very defensive when I tell them the true reasons. They will try to convince me that we have to eat meat. That being a vegetarian is "too extreme". I even have someone telling me it's against "God's Will" to be one. 

Errr.......

So yeah I stopped telling people my true reason why. Perhaps people are uncomfortable with the truth? Perhaps they are guilty? I don't know. But see when I tell you that I am a vegetarian I'm simply telling you I don't eat meat. I don't know why some people have the tendency to take it as "you have to be a vegetarian". I'm really fine with you eating meat. It's your life after all. I used to think vegetarians are crazy for giving up meat. Now that I'm one, I find some non-vegetarians even crazier than us heh.

Okay anyway, I do learn some lessons across this journey.

1. Happiness 

I learned a lot about happiness. Ever since I become a vegetarian my meals are getting simpler and simpler. Just stir fried veggies, or soups, or fried veggie fritters and so on. They taught me a lot about gratitude. I eat whatever that is on the table. I feel like I've been living like a monk. Cause I told my mum that I will just eat whatever dish that is on the table as long as it doesn't contain meat. The thought of me having food everyday is already enough to make me happy. While some people out there are starving without food for days and even months. I'm really thankful for the food on my plate.

2. Creativity

Well I learned to cook and devise my own food heh. Although some of them are failed ones. I used to make different vegetarian dishes but as the days go by I become lazier and just cook simple dishes. I made like vegetarian meatballs, lentil curry, noodles, vegan burger and mac and cheese! Also I usually mix up some other dishes to make a new dish. My favourite thing to do is to make rice bowls. Just a bowl of rice topped with vegetables and sometimes tofu. Or whatever I have on that day heh.

3. Health

One of the biggest lessons I learned is that being healthy is actually very easy, if we want to control our diet etc. You don't have to be a vegetarian to be healthy. I mean increasing your fibre intake and so on can help you a lot. Yet I see many people who would rather take pills in order to be "healthy". Like pills to lower down cholesterol, for good digestion etc. We can all skip these pills by changing our diet and nutritional intake. I did a blood test a few months back and the result was great. Everything is in normal range. My triglycerides level was low too.

Yet when I tell people that they should eat more veggies and avoid certain types of food, their response will be "Nahh I'm taking (insert drug name here) already so I should be fine". Well...

And the biggest lesson, like I said, is that I can be alive without consuming animals. That's enough.

Anyway I would like to thank my mum for cooking me so many lovely vegetarian dishes, and for trying out to cook vegetarian version of my favourite dishes (changing meat to tofu heh), despite of just me being the vegetarian of the family. To my dad for joining in the fun to cook our veggies with vegetarian seasonings and not the usual fish sauce. To my aunts who always buy vegetarian food/snacks for me when they are traveling. To my siblings and sibling-in-law (is that such a word?) for also buying and cooking so many vegetarian dishes. I feel so loved awww. And my family helper who always cook some vegetarian lunch for me mwahaha. Thank you so very much for making this journey an enjoyable one.

Last but not least, a special mention to Vithya for giving me the inspiration to turn into a vegetarian! Afer 2 years of telling you that I want to turn into one, I'm finally one now hahaha.

Alright that's all from me today. To those of you who are interested in this lifestyle change, if you can turn overnight that's really good for you. If not, you can always try meatless Mondays (or any other day actually) first! Or even do it twice a month. Remember that you should always be concrete about your decision. Don't do it because you want to lose weight. It won't last long trust me. If you have any questions whatsoever, I'll try my best to help you. If not the internet is a wonderful resource.

May all living things be happy! 

PS: Or you can watch the documentary Earthlings, Cowspiracy and Forks Over Knife

Meatless

Presenting: Vegetarian roasted "pork" haha

Sorry for missing this day but... I've now been a vegetarian for 203 days! Mwahaha. I feel good, because I've won the bet my family puts for me heh. My dad gave me 6 months to "give up" and nope I didn't. Well it's been a great experience so far. I still regretted not starting earlier. 

To be honest it doesn't feel as "difficult" as I thought that it would be. I'm not sure why I had so much doubts and worries about turning into a vegetarian last year. Now that I've gone meatless for half a year, whatever I worried about didn't happen! I don't crave meat at all, I don't look for meat, and I'm feeling awesome. I still haven't lost weight though haha. But well that isn't my goal!

The only non-vegetarian thing I miss is bakso AKA Indonesian meatballs heh. And my mum ginseng chicken soup. But she now makes a wonderful gingery tofu soup which is equally awesome so no complains! Besides I've been enjoying the vegetarian dishes that she cooks for me.

So just to give an update.. Do I have any health improvements etc? I'm not sure really. I feel pretty normal. I feel quite good about myself though. And I think my mood is kinda getting better? Not sure why heh. Still enjoying my time in the toilet too, egesting undigested fibers. 

I'm even thinking of creating a blog or another instagram account showcasing what I ate on a daily basis hah. Inspired by the many vegan YouTubers "What I eat in a day" videos! I'm not a vegan yet but I hope it's a step closer to become one. And talking about vegan... I'm starting to give up dairy slowly. I still can't give up eggs urgh. But I'm kinda feeling the dairy effect. Here goes why.

So about a month ago, I went a bit overshot with  dairy. I drank milk tea everyday for a week haha. That's pretty bad right. I didn't really bother much about it but suddenly at the end of the week, I had four pimples on my chin. And on Sunday of that week, my pimples got so bad that my bottom lip was actually swollen! It's kinda scary because I never experienced this before.

I've been reading articles about dairy consumption and acne problems. So I tried going vegan for 4 days. Magically, that four pimples just disappear on their own and so do my other pimples! So yes... That's why I'm starting to give up dairy. I've been avoiding cheese too. Well because I don't really like cheese. And no Indonesian food tastes good with cheese haha. But sometimes I just can't help it!

It's quite difficult for me to give up dairy and eggs because I love cakes and desserts too much haha. But I know that one day I will stop eating them forever. I can definitely live without meat in my food for sure. And I'm gonna keep on going baby. One of my bucket list is to die as a vegan so yeah.

Alright that's all for now. Got a couple of blog posts to blog about. Coming soon! :)

100/365

Today is the 100th day of 2016! Can you believe that. Okay I need to stop asking myself (and you) whether you believe that time is flying so quickly! But yes, 100 days of the year is gone and we have 266 days more to go. How's everyobody's year going so far? I hope everything is okay, and that you're in track with you resolutions and goals for the year! Well mine is going great so far...

Because today marks the 100th day that I've become a vegetarian :D

This is the longest ever duration in my life that I go without meat. And tell you what, I can definitely live without it! Mwahaha. The past 100 days have taught me that really, I can live without meat. Just don't take away rice and chilli from me :P I've been doing really well so far. Still enjoying my time in the toilet egesting undigested food with the help of lots of fibers teehee.

Well to be honest with you I am feeling normal. I don't feel "healthier" or "better" in some sort (except the egesting of undigested food part). I didn't lose any weight... As I was hoping haha. Well I did lose weight in the first month but after that I went back again. But here are some health improvements that I felt throughout these 100 days. Well something that I've noticed in myself as well.

I feel that I fall sick less? Okay I did catch a flu and sore-throat back in January like after I returned from Singapore. Usually I feel very horrible when I'm sick, and it takes quite a long time for me to recover. But this time round I recovered rather quickly, within 2 days or so. And then after that... I can't remember anytime else that I actually fall sick. I hope that's a good thing!

I was reading online about how this is normal. Because perhaps before I was a vegetarian, I didn't receive enough nutrients to keep my body strong. And now that I've been eating lots of vegetables and fruits, I received the right amount of nutrients, and thus keeping my immune system better?

Secondly I feel that my mood become better. More like... I become less moody, and I feel that I can control my emotions better I suppose. Perhaps this is because of my meditation as well. But again, I was reading online about how a diet rich in plant-based food help to improve hormonal balance in the body. That keeps your emotion levels checked, and make you become less moody.

Thirdly, this one is the same thing experienced by Vithya - I feel more energised! This is something I noticed the most throughout my day. Okay here's the thing, usually I'll feel very sleepy after lunch. I even usually take a nap before doing work after lunch. And sometimes I'll even nap before lunch! Because I usually feel sleepy and groggy. But I realised after a month of being vegetarian, I have more energy and I feel less sleepy. Which in turn also helps my sleep quality at night :D

Fourthly, I never experience constipation ever haha. 

Fifthly, this is not a great difference but I feel that my face clears up. Usually I get huge pimples every month. Now I usually just get one or two, tiny ones! Not sure if this is something to do with my diet, but like as a saying goes, what you eat can determine your outside beauty mmhmm.

But nevertheless, what I'm happy the most is that...  (Almost) No animals have to be killed to give food on my plate. And that's my goal out of this lifestyle change - to decrease the amount of suffering in this world. Even though I'm not a vegan, and I still consume eggs and dairy I hope I play a tiny role in this world. I really want to be a vegan. But I'll wait until I live by myself or something.

You see the thing is I don't really care much about the benefits I get out of being a vegetarian. I'm happy as long as I can help to reduce the suffering of these animals. Whatever I get in return for doing so, I take it as a gift from nature heh. So I may not lose weight, I may not feel wonderfully special and stuff. But well, less animals have to die because I don't eat meat! So yep.

I hope you can join me in this veggie merry-go-round! You can always begin with meatless Mondays :D

Curried Chickpeas Taco

Hello again! It's the 15th of the 2nd Lunar Month today so I'm going to share with you the vegetarian recipe for this month! It's a new recipe I tried, Curried Chickpeas Taco (with kangkung).

Curried Chickpeas Taco With Kangkung  

Ingredients:

- 400gr of Chickpeas

- 2 cloves of garlic, diced

- 1 small or medium onion, diced

- A handful of kangkung (watercress)

- 1 teaspoon of garam masala

- 1 teaspoon of curry powder

- Salt and pepper to taste

- 1 tablespoon of oil

- A bit of water

- Taco shells

Directions:

As usual, if you're using dried chickpeas like I do, soak them overnight or for at least 6 hours. This time round don't crush them haha. I boil them for about 10 minutes till they're nice and firm (but nice to the bite). Or you can also skip the soaking and boil them straight away. I think you can do that.... I haven't tried it though heh. Or at least soak them for about an hour prior to boiling.

Heat some oil in the pan. Stir fry the onion until they are fragrant and transparent, then insert the garlic. Make sure they're not burnt (I learned my lesson here heh). Add in the curry powder, garam masala, salt and pepper and mix them all in into kind of a paste. Add a bit of water to loosen them a bit, make sure they're not too dry. And then stir in the chickpeas! :)

Mix until well-combined and a few minutes before serving, add in the kangkung and mix them till they wilt. Have a taste and add more seasoning if required. Take em out and serve! Just take a spoonful and put it on your taco and nom your way baby. You can also use burrito wraps I guess, I had some taco shell leftovers so I ate them on the taco shells. Or serving it with rice is great as well.

Alright that's it for my second MVR! I haven't tried any new veggie recipe so far... Made some miso soup last week though and it's quite good. Okay see you on the next MVR :D

Five-Spice Vegetarian Balls

Alright as promised, I'm going to share with you my 5-spice vegetarian meatballs recipe! I actually came up with this recipe after trying to make some falafels. Instead of using curry powder, I changed the seasoning to 5-spice seasonings, the one you can get at supermarkets! Here goes:

Five Spice Vegetarian Balls 

Ingredients:

- 500gr chickpeas

- 3 cloves garlic

- 3 cloves shallots

- 5 dried shitake mushroom (or fresh ones!)

- 1 carrot, boiled and diced finely

- 1 teaspoon of cornstarch

- Five spice seasoning to taste

- Salt and pepper

Directions:

If you are using dried chickpeas like me, soak the chickpeas in water overnight. Make sure you have at least 6 - 10cm of water above the chickpeas. If you are using canned ones just use them right away. Same goes for the shitake mushroom. After soaking them in water, dice the mushroom finely so that you can incorporate them into the crushed chickpeas. Same for carrots too!

I don't have a food processor so I blend the garlic, shallots and salt together in a pestle and mortar into a fine paste. I smash and crush the peace out of the chickpeas (get what I mean?) using a huge pestle and mortar too haha. Blend the chickpeas until they are almoooost fine. Do use a food processor if you have it! Anyway for the consistency it's really up to your preference. For me I like it not too fine, so that my "meatballs" have a bit of texture inside it. Once everything is blended, combine everything!

I put everything in a plastic container and use my wonderful hand to mix everything in. Fun fact: Some Indonesians believe that your food will taste nicer if you mix them using only one hand, and not both. Also please don't use your left hand. It's considered the "dirty" hand.

Once everything is combined, make into balls about 3/4 of the size of a ping pong ball. You can make them into a patty too to make burgers. Anyway one trick I learned from my sister-in-law is to fry one piece first to give it a taste and see if you lack any seasoning. When I cooked these I find that my mixture lacks in five-spice fragrance so I added more. Fry these balls in batches until they turn golden brown. Best served when it's hot! Either with chili sauce or garlic-soy dipping sauce :)

There you have it! The first of my recipe series (gonna label it as MVR - My Vegetarian Recipe). Sorry for the lack of photos, I might consider taking photos of the steps taken and include them. I will update you with more recipes! Happy cooking, and I hope you like the recipe. Try to eat less meat alright :P

Being Vegetarian

So today is the 15th of the last lunar month of the lunar year! Can you believe it. Time surely flies. And we're now 7 days away to the last day of January. It's terrifying at times, but well that's how the way life goes I guess. Always moving, always going forward. And in the blink of an eye, we've grown up.

Anyway since today is the 15th of the lunar month, I guess it's a good time to share you my thoughts and experience of being a vegetarian so far this year! Actually I feel bad, cause last year I always go vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month. And I always keep track of these two dates. But ever since I become a vegetarian, I didn't take notice of these dates (oops). I've decided to mark them on my calendar so that I can go to the temple for prayers too!

Right moving on....

A lot of people were surprised when I told them that I've decided to become a vegetarian. I'm not surprised because I was once a foodie. I really really love food. I enjoyed a good steak. I love ramen and char siew and a good roasted chicken. But my view regarding eating meat changed a few years ago when I watched a video from PETA. It was about chicken farming and how cows are slaughtered for meat. I was pretty shocked, and the video opened my eyes and my heart to be honest.

But I wasn't ready to commit to become a full-time vegetarian. So I decided to go vegetarian twice a month during the first and 15th of the lunar month. I remember in 2012 Vithya and I made meatless Thursdays haha. I didn't continue the tradition after I returned home. But I continue my twice-a-month vegetarian routine. I continued doing this till last year in August-ish when I watched a video by Dr Greger, which I got a reference from theneedledrop (thanks Anthony!) and it opened my eyes more!

So the video is basically talking how there's a strong relation with meat and common cardiovascular diseases and also intestinal cancer! Well I've always known that too much meat is bad for you but I didn't know that meat itself is the problem. This is the turning point for me when I decided to go meatless once a week. First it was meatless Mondays but I changed it to Saturdays haha. Cause it's more convenient.

And then Vithya asked me to watch Cowspiracy. It is a very thought-provoking documentary about the meat industry and I recommend you to watch it! I was reading the comment section and I saw people commenting like "If this doesn't make you turn into a vegetarian, I recommend you to watch Earthlings. But watch at your own risk". And a lot of people were giving that warning hah. I didn't know what they're talking about. But Vithya asked me if I want to watch it, cause she has the link for the movie.

I told her that I don't dare to watch it (cause I have a bad feeling about what's gonna be shown in the documentary) but I asked her to send me anyway. I watched the documentary, and couldn't even survive half of the documentary! I skipped most of the part, because it's too cruel seriously. Now, I don't even look at meat the same way anymore as I did last time. Seriously, go watch Earthlings.

To be honest I was going back and forth about becoming a vegetarian this year but Earthlings just stabbed me in my heart and I just went fuck it, I'm going vegetarian now haha. Okay my ultimate goal in life is to become a vegan. But I want to take vegetarianism as a step first, before I jump straight. I know some people are saying that vegetarian is still not cruelty-free. Cause we're still "supporting" the egg and dairy industry which is equally bad. I am aware of that, and I try to avoid eggs and dairy.

So when people ask me why I go vegetarian, my answer will be 80% ethical reasons, 10% religious and 10% spiritual. Ethical because I don't like the idea that animals have to die just to satisfy our meat cravings. Religious because as a Buddhist I believe in compassion, although being a vegetarian is not a must in Buddhism. Spiritual because I feel there are too much suffering in this world. And I want to alleviate them. To the best of my ability, to all sentient beings on earth.

And from these reasons, I'll get some benefits like health benefits! So far I've been enjoying my time in the toilet when I egest my undigested food. In the first two weeks of going meatless I was pooping a lot. Like I can poop three times a day. But now I'm back to my normal pooping routine haha.

I don't want to force my belief in other people. Just like them, I was a meat eater once, and I know how difficult it is to make the change. But well I would suggest for you to maybe reduce the amount of meat you eat? Go meatless once a week like me! You'll feel some difference. Of course, the world will be a better place if we don't have to kill animals for their meat, and they don't have to suffer to get their products. A world where cows graze on grasslands with freedom. It will be so lovely!

Alright I might do another post regarding becoming a vegetarian. I will talk to you soon! Have a great week ahead everyone. Love each other and be nice to one another! :)

Vegan Mac and Cheese

 Not the most photogenic food. But here's a bowl of vegan mac and cheese!

No dairy, no meat, nothing! (Except for pasta and veggies)

Not sure if I have told you this but I am actually going meatless every Monday! Yup I'm a vegetarian (but also avoiding eggs and milk) every Monday. I hope it helps me to get closer to my goal of becoming a vegetarian. I'm seriously aiming to become one starting of next year. I've been starting this habit 5 weeks ago (this is my 6th) but I failed on the 2nd and 3rd week cause on the 2nd week I was out of town and I was brought to eat in a restaurant and the 3rd week I was having dengue and my mum cooked non-vegetarian food for me so... Yes. But anyway, I'm gonna share with you the food I cooked!

So last week I cooked this deconstructed guacamole on toast, drizzled with truffle oil for breakfast. Tasted really good, and is probably the fanciest breakfast I've ever cooked. I also made guacamole for dinner, and it's funny how everyone in my house freaked out when they saw me eating a bowl of mashed avocado with rice. Because here avocado is eaten in the sweet way. And no one eats avocado with rice HAHAHA. But sadly no one wanted to try my guacamole :(

Okay guacamole is normal. But this week I finally tried cooking something I've been wanted to try cooking! It's vegan mac and cheese! Okay not really interested in the "mac" part but the cheese part! Okay I've read up on the net how vegans make/eat cheese. They use raw cashew nuts that are soaked, and then blended. Mixed with lemon juice, salt, nutritional yeast, and additional ingredients of their choice (like truffle oil, olives and more). But anyway, I got this recipe from Buzzfeed video haha.

So for the cheese part, the recipe goes like this. Boil potatoes, carrot and onion wedge. Blitz them with cashew nuts (I soaked them for 1.5 hours first though). Then I added salt and nutritional yeast, mix them again and we're done! Well it looks like cheese. But definitely doesn't taste like one. But trust me, it tasted so good! Seriously. It just tasted really creamy and just so good.

Okay I did make a few mistakes like firstly, I used too much potatoes and cashew nuts. Also I used one whole onion when you're just supposed to use like half or even a quarter. And I couldn't blend the ingredients because I didn't add enough water. Although eventually my sister told me to. So lesson learned: Follow the measurements in the recipe. Agaration is bad for health.

I am seriously interested to try on more recipes. I've learned how to make vegan cheese and now I can make more stuff! Like vegan cheese burger mwahaha. Anyway going meatless every Monday have helped me to embrace the vegetarian lifestyle more and more. I hope I can achieve my goal next year. Also, did I tell you that my colon is feeling super awesome every Monday? :P