Thursday, January 5, 2017

Resolutions

I don't usually bother too much about making resolutions at the New Year because committing to do something for an entire year is the easiest way to set myself up for disappointment. I know this because I'm someone with a very short attention span, little perseverance, and gets bored of things rather quickly.

Fortunately, I've since mastered the art of drawing energy from my failures so even though I will very likely break my resolutions within the first few weeks of setting them, I am going to set a few anyway. And then break them. And then feel bad and listen to Chumbawamba's I Get Knocked Down for a couple of days. And then get back to them.

I felt a little out of place on New Years Eve, surrounded by so many people who were just so done with 2016. The year had been a really good one for me so saying bye bye felt bittersweet. In between all the beer pong and confetti was an irrational fear that everything good that‘d happened in 2016 would vanish into thin air when the clock struck midnight. That didn't/hasn't happen. So far so good.
With our specially reserved barstool 
Forcing my friends to play cards with me
Just some white guy

Anyway, my resolution for this year is to get off my bum. I've been feeling very sluggish and lethargic, and this is gonna sound counter-intuitive, but one way to overcome this is to get my Qi (life force) flowing by moving my body. Scott and I are going to yoga class this Saturday. And Amelia and I are going to go for tap dancing classes after the Lunar New Year. There, I've said it. Now we've got to do it!!!! I also kinda wanna say that I'm gonna read for 30 minutes before bed every night... but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Since we are on the topic of forming good habits, we made muesli for Scott to take into work. We did this on and off last year - more off than on, really. Anyway, I'm a hardcore breakfast person, in the sense that I cannot start the day without eating breakfast. And I mean a real breakfast. If I am at home (ie: I don't have to wake up early to prepare my own breakfast), I usually have a bowl of hot oatmeal and an egg. Sometimes I have steamed sweet potatoes and a fried egg. Sometimes I have rice and fish. It depends on what my mum feels like cooking that morning. My friends have always found this really weird and would say, "that sounds like a full meal! How can you eat that in the morning?" Errrr... the last thing I ate was 12 hours ago! Of course I could eat a full meal in the morning. I think we are supposed to.

Anyway, Scott doesn't seem to need breakfast. Or rather, claims he eats some fruit/toast when he gets to the office. I half believe. Hot breakfast at home is something we aspire to do but haven't been able to make the adjustments/resist the snooze button just yet. Until then, we prepare the muesli on the weekend and he soaks it in milk the night before. I suggested water/coconut water/juice, but he was just like, "nahhh..."

It's super simple to make your own muesli. And so much healthier and more affordable than buying muesli off the shelf. 1. you can tweak the ingredients to your preference. 2. you have a better idea of what's going into you muesli. (Again with the trust issues...)
Scott likes to toast his rolled oats over the stove for a bit, but I usually skip this step because I think they taste ok raw. We add nuts, which you can get for between $12 and $15 (500g) from a small provision shop along Upper Dickson Road in Little India. (Sorry, I don't know what the shop is called but it's a couple of doors down from the food place, Madras New Woodlands, which serves really good appam and thosai by the way. Also note, the provision shop has weird operating hours, which I'm not sure how to advise on. So, I guess good luck! Hope you find it!)

Then we add some dried fruit for sweetness. The kiwis are a one-time thing. A fruit and nut vendor came to my office one day and I hadn't had dried kiwi before so decided to try. It's just very, very sweet. Cranberries are good. And sultanas too.

Basically you can add anything you like, in whatever quantities you want. We also add roasted black sesame seeds because Scott is convinced that his hair is falling out. (PSA: black sesame seeds are the secret to thick luscious locks) Anyway, good luck with your resolutions. And if anyone has any quick and fuss-free breakfast ideas, please share!

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