I’ve actually been on a 21 day partial fast, inspired by "The Daniel Fast" by Jentezen Franklin Ministries.  The motivation in doing was in believing God for a breakthrough both individually and corporately as a church.  The basic premise of the fast is how Daniel in the bible only declined the rich Babylonian food, and restricted himself to water and vegetables for 21 days - after which he ended up better in appearance and stature than the other Babylonians. 

Practically speaking, the guidelines of the fast encouraged eating lots of fresh vegetables, legumes and fruit, and to abstain from the following:

• Meat
• Fried foods
• Caffeine, carbonated beverages
• Refined sugar and sugar substitutes
• Foods containing additives or preservatives
• High fat products, e.g. margarine and shortening
• White flour and products containing it

Spiritual benefits aside, I’ve noticed a marked improvement in my well being and health.  In fact, I’ve managed to drop 5 kg in these three weeks to my ideal weight, which was extremely encouraging given that I had been unsuccessfully trying to do so over the past 12 months just through exercise alone. 

I must say that it took some getting used to though, especially because you had to think before including anything in your diet.  All the usual indulgences I used to have were now off limits - coffee, chips, fried chicken and fast food, coke, sweets, chocolate and rich desserts.  It was fun being creative in meal preparation - vegetarian omelettes, salad wraps, vegetable soups and chickpea dips were all the craze.  My wife even prepared a 4 course vegetarian candlelit dinner for Valentine’s day, and I tell you, food never tasted so good!

I was never hungry either - I could eat as much as my stomach wanted to, just none of the bad stuff!  It dawned on me that what my body needed wasn’t another fandangle diet, or weight loss shakes or more hours at the gym to burn off all the excess calories.  All that was required was simply to eat healthy!  All the unnecessary things I described previously that were part of my diet were simply a result of our modern convenience-driven, quick-fix, consumer-based lifestyle. 

The twenty-one days are up now, but the results speak for themselves. I don’t think I’m giving up meat altogether for the long run, but I will definitely be incorporating the principles learnt, - to eat healthy, eat fresh and no junk!  If you’ve embarked on a similar diet or journey, I would definitely like to compare notes and experiences - let me know how you went!

As a soon-to-be dad, the results of a survey of 2400 Australian air travelers brought some thoughts to mind.  According to the survey, 81% of travelers thought that there should be a separate area for babies on long haul flights, 16% thought that everyone deserved to be treated equally, while 3% believed that babies did not belong on flights at all.

I can definitely see how sitting next to a crying baby for 12 hours straight might be an extremely stressful experience for some, especially when you are unable move or do anything about it. Worse still if one is trying to sleep, or at least preserve some semblance of peace on the flight.

The other side of the coin is always the cry for more understanding - that we should be more accommodating of fellow passengers.  I’m sure it’s just as tough on the parents as it is for everyone else, and they are just as helpless to alleviate the situation as anyone else.

So what is the solution to this dilemma?  Complimentary noise canceling earphones for all?  A separate area for passengers traveling with babies?  For myself, I would certainly think long and hard before taking my own child on a long haul flight, bus journey, or similar.  If traveling, I would make preparations and try as much as I could to ensure that fellow passengers were inconvenienced as little as possible.  If the airlines were to offer a separate area for babies then I would definitely take up the offer. 

I definitely think though that banning babies completely from flights is not the answer - after all, if we start banning every little thing that causes us inconvenience, where do we draw the line?  What about people who talk to much, or hyper-active kids that won’t settle down, or larger sized people that take up too much elbow room?  What do you think?

What is it about hotels that make it such a luxurious stay?  Is it the fact that you can leave the air conditioning on all day and night without a care for the bills?  Is it because your comfy bed is made and room tidied every day?  Or that you can take long, hot showers and use all the cool little soaps and beauty products in cute little bottles?

For Valentine’s Day, I treated my wife to a stay in a 5 star hotel, and it was a treat!  The buffet breakfast was absolutely divine, and she said that it was the best night’s sleep that she has had in a few months. 

I was thinking though, all these little things contribute to a great experience, but the best thing about staying in a hotel is that it makes you feel special!  From the way everyone refers to you by name, to going out of their way to make sure you have everything you - it’s an amazing feeling to know that on the other end of the phone is someone waiting to answer your beck and call 24 hours a day.  Well, we don’t enjoy these pleasures often, but once in a while, it’s nice being treated like an important dignitary, even for a day.

Hey, according to an article in The Age, scientists are now proposing that high consumption of sugary drinks "don’t just go hand-in-hand with obesity, but actually cause it". Wow! The traditional view is that it’s more the lack of exercise and poor eating habits that causes obesity; but now they’re actually saying that it’s due to our drinking habits!At work I usually drink plain water all day (yes, no tea or coffee) but as of late, I’ve been having a takeaway coffee in the morning and, if I’m really stressed, I’ll indulge in a can of Coke Zero. At dinner too I might have a soft drink or two or three. Doh, looks like I better call the quit line for sugary drinks…So here’s my prediction for the Coke of the future! Carbonated savoury drinks… yes. Just imagine… Mm… fizzy tomato, or bacon-cola, or schweppervescent chicken soda… *runs to the patent office*Don’t say I didn’t tell you…

I’m so bummed… I took a walk to the supermarket especially to buy a bottle of Pepsi so I could enter their rock paper scissors promotion… You sms in a special code found on the bottles, and 1 winner is picked every 30 minutes. If you win you can choose between a Nokia 3250, $500, or 2 x 2G iPod Nanos. I really wanted a Nano…

So I got back to my desk all excited, typed it up carefully and then sent the SMS off… and they said:

";-O ur unique code xxxxxxxxx has already been entered. Each unique code equals one entry. Pls buy another specially marked promo bottle, 2 enter."

Ripped off!! I can’t believe it! I don’t know whether someone took a lucky guess and stole my code, or whether they looked through the bottle at the supermarket… or perhaps there’s a hacker ring that’s cracking codes or something like that. Maybe the whole thing’s a scam?

Either way, I’m pretty disappointed… *sniff*… *sigh* back to my Nano-less world.

If only everyone didn’t take life so seriously…

I almost killed a guy today! I was driving into the city for my usual midnight to 5am stint for work, and was approaching the intersection of LaTrobe and Elizabeth Streets. It was green for me, red for traffic going across, including the little red man which usually means the opposite of go. Out of the corner of my left eye, I spot a cyclist — one hand holding a mobile phone to his ear — speeding on the sidewalk to go cross the street in front of me. So I jam on the brakes, and come to a complete stop. The cyclist on the other hand, suddenly comes to his senses, swerves and falls of the bike, skidding right under my bumper. I even hear his hand slap my bonnet as he goes down!!! I’m so glad I managed to stop in time, otherwise he would have discovered what dough feels like after being flattened into a pizza base.

Anyway, I wind down the window and ask how he is, and he proceeds to get pick himself up (obviously shaken, but not visibly hurt) and starts yelling at me. I say back to him "Mate, the light was red for you - what do you think you’re doing?" and he turns away and searches for his mobile phone, which must have smashed to pieces on the ground. A few moments later, he moves his bike (under my wheel) and comes up to my window, saying "sorry mate, that was my fault". We shake hands and I drive off. I’m just gobsmacked when I replay the scene back in my mind. How totally surreal and scary at the same time!

Funny video of a dog trying to bite its own leg off…

Here’s a tip if you’re planning to eat sushi with a friend - wear protection! I recommend body armor like the ones SWAT teams use. I had quick lunch with my wife today, which turned out to be a long lunch due to an unfortunate accident. Wanting to be cool, she used chopsticks to eat her sushi roll, and managed to drop it right into the saucer of soy sauce. The sauce went everywhere, making a very nice patterned design on my white business shirt… Anyway, we had to go and look for a new shirt so I could go back to work without looking like a loser… I got a nice brown one, which I reckon could be worn tucked out with jeans as casual wear…

You know things are pretty bad when your manager’s playing World of Warcraft in plain view of everyone during business hours. Granted, the manager in question accepted a new role in a recent reorg and will be moving on, but still… My other manager’s a workaholic though, so I guess it balances out.