Fries for 2013

2012 was going to end and I was looking to do something. I decided to go to a Gurdwara somewhere in Sg Besi to welcome the year of the snake(according to the Chinese calendar).

When you are at a Gurdwara, the normal practice is either you perform a prayer or get involve in some work. Knowing myself, getting involve in some work is my work.

The committee needed someone to prepare French fries. Not my kind of food however still better than not doing anything. So, I started. At first we got the cooking oil, a good 5 liters of it, into a huge pan and get the oil heated up. Once the oil was heated up, we later put in 2 begs full of fries. I think each beg must have been about 500g. So it's 1kg of fries in 5 liters of oil. 'What a killer combination' hilariously I told myself.

I discovered that when the fries are put into the pan, it gets somewhat coagulated inside and as it's being cooked, it surfaces and it makes it very easy to be scooped out once it's cooked. I was sure I witness food technology in practice there.

I think food technology has come a long way in helping us humans to plant, grow, preserve and do many other things with crops and foods to custom to what is convient to us. However, laterly it has taken a massive negative publicity. From genetic modified organism to engineered seeds that produce cancer causing reaction to our body in the fast foods that we consume, alot is being said about it nowadays.

When the fries were done, I scooped the fries into another container. Here I need to add salt. I added salt and then I tasted the fries. As I lifted one of the hundreds of stick of fries, my brain couldn't resist from calculating the amount of calories. I rationalized and 25 Calories came to my mind. I'm sure my bodies metabolic processes could take care of it. The fries by the way tasted very good. Psyching myself up, I told myself I can now be in food business. Well I'm sure that's a different ball game all together.

So, at the end it was saturated fats, trans fatty acid and sodium for 2013.

Focus

When you have your meal, what do you focus on? Do you focus on the taste or do you focus on the nutrient content? Do you focus on the way the food is being prepared or do you focus on if it's spicy? Do you focus on your fullness or do you focus on the calories? Do you focus on having a balance meal or do you focus on having what your taste buds require? Do you focus on having a carbonated drink with it or do you focus on plain water? D o you focus on eating just enough of do you focus on putting in everything you can? Do you focus on taking a walk after your meal or do you focus on taking a short nap? What you focus on, you tend to do. What you tend to do, you eventually will become.

Get Moving!

Trends for 2013

2012 was a challenging year. The economy was very uncertain yet it was certain in some ways. We have been fortunate to be able to be with many organizations from many different industries. Being around these different industries has allowed us to understand how things work in some ways, therefore here are 3 of my predictions for 2013:

1. Organization want more knowledgable, skillful and independent employees. Times are such than some organization prefer working lean, therefore quality is more important than quantity.

2. Trust maybe the most important element to work in an organization. From managing perception to being transparent, start thinking of ways to increase it.

3. More employees will face psychological burn out. As the saying goes, 'as the going gets tough, the tough gets going'. Learn coping skills like meditating or pick up a useful hobby like cycling; especially mountain biking. It definitely melts your stress hormones away and it improves your knee joint as well.

All the best for 2013 and happy new year.

Chamang Jamboree, 2012

During the weekend, I went for a mountain biking jamboree at Chamang, Pahang. Chamang is off Bentong town and Bentong town is an hour from Kuala Lumpur via Karak Highway.
The ride was for 30 km. The first 10 km is on road followed by off road and hill for the next 10 km and ending with on road for the last 10 km.
During the mid 10 km, the journey will bring you thru a breath taking view thru a river. If you were tired, I'm sure your tiredness will be hijacked by thoughts of connecting yourself with nature.
It was my first jamboree. I was glad for completing it and going thru it non-fatiguely.
The jamboree thought me a few things:
1. Almost all the riders don't warm up before the ride. It's fair to mention that there was only 5% of the riders who warm up. On 2nd thought, I think it was much lesser than 5%.
2. Many riders start of cycling as a mean to lose weight and as they become fitter, performance becomes the focus.
3. You will have a choice to stop or to continue. The answer depends on your mental toughness.