Post.

A week and a bit after arriving at my doorstep in Malaysia and all I can think of is this :
Anything to an excess is debilitating to health

sigh

Try telling that to my relatives. Their never ending quest to show their 'welcome' is starting to show on my waist line --ARGGHHGHHHHh

Ever since I set foot upon the blessed Malaysian soil, I've had to attend LARGE family meals with more than 8 different dishes at chinese restaurants all over penang in a continuum i hope to break! And yet , having to play the part of the grateful student deprived of the tastiness and goodness of scrumptious food not found anywhere else in the world ( except maybe in my over active imagination when the craving sets in), i am fighting a losing battle. It doesn't help to have to face the comments on how I look from the very same relatives who are the proprietors of these sinful banquets either........:(

I do cherish the time spent together however, sometimes, I feel that even though food may be the perfect opportunity rekindle weak flames of togetherness, shouldn't there be an alternative method?

Of the many family meals I have attended, the only ones where one truly bonds with family are those where all family members take part in the conversation. THat is almost unheard of when meals take place in crowded chinese restaurants full of roaring ruckus from other patrons. We literally can't hear what each other has to say and so, many are forced to bellow at the top of their lungs , entering the vicious cycle of talking at the top of our voices just so we can be heard.
HAH!! Don't even start about soft spoken cousins. The only way to communicate with them in a noisy environment is to sit next to them .Thus even though I may want to get to know them a little better after a long absence, I may not get the chance ---given that the opportunities to actually talk are so limited in the chaotic atmosphere of popular restaurants.

On a different matter, still in line with the comment on excesses:

I learnt a valuable lesson.

NEVER EVER EXERCISE TILL YOUR BREAKING POINT

just do so till 75% or 80% of your capability - know your limits

I am now paying the price for pushing my muscles over their limits 8 months ago on a threadmill in the gym. Right after that, I couldn't run, let alone jog for 3 whole weeks. However, when the pain subsided....I went back to my old ways, thinking that I was stronger from the 'fall' BUT after that, I would have recurrent pain sporadically at the area where the injury occured. Luckily, I still managed to train for the 12km run and finish the race without incident.
Now, 8 months later, just for running in the gym, the pain has returned ....worse than ever....and all I can do is wait till I find out what's wrong.....humph....my exercise routine is thus limited to brisk walking and hiking ..SHEESH

Mullings of a dent on holiday
June