Eating to Lose Weight

As I have posted earlier, I wanted to lose a great deal of weight. For almost a month now, we've been listing our weight in our whiteboard here and I'm glad to say that we lost several pounds already.

Best part is, there is very minimal effort on our part to lose this amount weight. By this, I mean exercise is limited only to the normal day-to-day walking; nothing unusual. The only thing we changed in our routine is our eating habits. Significantly changed, I might add.

Before this little experiment of ours, what we consume everyday is as follows:

• heavy brunch + snacks + heavy dinner + snacks; or


• light breakfast + heavy lunch + snacks + heavy dinner + snacks.

Lots of "heavy" in there plus lots of extra snacks. No surprise with our weight then.

Now, we are sticking with this eating, uhm, "patterns", if you will:

• cereal brunch + heavy dinner + snacks; or


• cereal breakfast + heavy lunch + cereal dinner + snacks.

In this new plan, we have reduced from two to three heavy rice meals to just one rice meal a day. Wheat bread or cereals serve as the substitutes for the missing heavy meals.

Weekends are also important; we noticed a trend in which we actually gained a few pounds during weekends. This is when we go out and have fun, which always includes eating a lot. We then realized that we have to be more committed; when going out, we not only plan where we will be going, but also what we will be eating.

Take this Saturday, for example. We have plans to meet with friends and watch the play "Avenue Q" in the evening. We anticipated a heavy dinner. So for today, we plan on having a cereal brunch (which I just finished), probably some wheat bread for in-betweener snacks, then the heavy dinner, wherever that will be. Sounds like a good plan to me. :)

In this case, the whiteboard is a great motivator for us. Whenever we see that we lost more weight than we expected, we are more encouraged to stick to our eating plan and to think of other ways to lose even more weight.

Like I said, we lost weight just by changing our eating habits. However, we still have a long way to go. In the next few days, I plan on including some regular exercises as well. This will be tougher for us, I think, but it's something that must be done. :)

House M. D. - Season 5 Episode 5 Quotes

Dr. House: Oh my goodness! I played a practical joke on my best friend. I think he's badly injured. Should have learned this valuable lesson earlier.

---

Dr. House: How does thirteen know about it?

Dr. Cameron: Uh. Apparently, she was with the patient last night.

Dr. House: At 3 AM? [long pause]
Oh yeah!!! Penthouse foreign meets medical mystery. Maybe there IS a God.

---

Dr. House: Empty transient sex? I've been waiting for you to spiral out of control ever since you got your Huntington's diagnosis, but this more than I dare hope for.

---

Dr. House: That's what we're trying to diagnose. It's how steep of a spiral you are on.

---

Dr. House: Is he in this room? Reason he's not, I don't care what he thinks. Unless he's a she and she was there last night, too, in which case I care VERY deeply.

---

Dr. House: Thirteen, go stick a needle in your girlfriend's pelvis. And, no, that one wasn't a metaphor. Suck out some marrow. That one was.

[As Thirteen starts to leave and notices House is following her.]

Dr. House: I like to watch.

---

Dr. House: I assume my name came out last night in a form of a moan?

---

Spencer: Whatever you think we did, we... we did. And then some.

---

Dr. Hadley: You used me.

Spencer: You used me.

Dr. Hadley: My motives were clear.

Spencer: You might have figured out my motives faster if you'd bothered to ask my name.

---

Dr. Hadley: Yeah, I get it. I was wrong. Can we move on?

Dr. House: You're just upset coz the whole time she was with you she was thinking of my huge... throbbing... diagnostic skills...

---

[To Dr. Foreman who's trying to pick the doorlock of Thirteen's apartment.]

Dr. House: You're a disgrace to your stereotype.

---

Dr. Foreman: There are ways of getting to know people without committing felonies.

Dr. House: People interest me. Conversations don't.

Dr. Foreman: 'Coz conversations go both ways.

Dr. House & Dr. Foreman: Like Thirteen.

---

Spencer:We just met. We were both drunk. It's not like there wasn't potential. Little more practice for the both of us, I'd say we're looking at a nine, easy. But, that would require a repeat performance.

---

Dr. Foreman: Just spoke to my brother.

Dr. House: And by brother you mean?

Dr. Foreman: I mean my parents' other son

Dr. House: Wow! Same dad.

---

[After Foreman concludes that House was wasn't taunting him because House find anything on him.]

Dr. House: That's because... You haven't done anything stupid, spontaneous, or even vaguely interesting since you were seventeen. And that's just sad.

---

[After Thirteen gets fired by House.]

Dr. House: No. I just prevented you from getting a drug test. Probably saved your career. I'm already taking responsibility for one doctor with a drug habit.

Dr. Hadley: I don't have a drug habit.

Dr. House: Slutty, party girl is fun, til she pukes on your shoes. Then she's just a pain in the ass.

---

Dr. House: He's an idiot with a messiah complex. Savior to all who needs saving. That's why his first wife had a wooden leg, second wife was Canadian. He's the one whi needs to be saved.

Lucas: From you or the ho?

Dr. House: The ho's just using him for his money... Wait... Bad example.

---

Dr. House: Why not men? You're bisexual. You're just being self-destructive. If you're having random sex with men, better chance of getting assaulted, catching a disease. If this were just getting laid, it would be easier to pick up men. Or ugly girls. This woman's hot. Which means you like the challenge of conquest. It's the control that gets you off. By controlling women is as close as you're gonna get to controlling to what's going to happen to you.

Dr. Hadley: Here I though I was just into boobs.

Dr. House: Why don't you try taking it to the next level. Play God. Tell the girl that she's got ten years to live.

---

Dr. Hadley: You're gonna be numb for a few more days. Then you'll go home and cry for a few weeks. And then you get angry. Start telling yourself nothing matters anymore. You start doing stupid things. Maybe you go out to bars and pick up a bunch of women.

Spencer:You're.. [Thirteen nods.] How long do you have?

Dr. Hadley: Maybe a little more than you. Maybe a little less... I'll race you.

---

Dr. Chase: You don't let other people's problems affect. You don't let your OWN problems affect you. And it's the screw-ups that make us interesting. You're never out of control. Which is good, and... boring. Never losing control also means never putting yourself out there. Never.. pushing your limits.

---

Dr. Wilson: I'm actually kind of insulted. No way I'm a drug addict. But you completely buy that I fell in love with a prostitute.

Dr. House: You played to your strengths. By which, I mean you played to your weaknesses.

---

Dr. House: Oh my god! You invoked your dead girlfriend's name to sell me. You're my hero!

Dr. Wilson: Best thirty dollars I ever spent.

---

Dr. House: Another life saved, by girl on girl action.

Scouting for a new flat in Singapore

Just the other day, we had attended a viewing of one HDB here in Singapore. As this is our first time to actually view a room for ourselves, we hadn't exactly done much in terms of preparation.

Anyway, the viewing turned out well (and decided not to rent out the highly-contested unit) and we had come to some realizations. Hope this can help others looking for a room, HDB unit, house, or condo, or whatever here in Singapore:

Before you go, here are some things that you should check out first or bring along with you:

• Map. Go to www.streetdirectory.com or get the book to check out the locales, nearby establishments, roads, nearest MRT stations, etc.


• Compass. Just bring it for whatever reason you have. Either for a simple and practical reason as to finding out whether the windows will be directly facing the sunrise, or for a more esoteric, perhaps "Feng Shui", reason such as determining whether any of the eight directional compass points cross any of the critical elements such as a door, stove, toilet, or whatever. [Yeah, I dabbled a little with Feng Shui since high school. I don't claim to be an expert; I just know the basics.]


• Pen and Notebook. Never hurts to lilst down things.


• Camera. Either the digicam or a phonecam with a high-enough resolution. In case you are like viewing a total of 10 units or more, bring one so you can remember what every unit looks like. Be polite and ask the agent and/or landlord if you can take pictures yet. Or, you may want to be as discrete as possible.

Now here are some things to note about the general physical condition of the flat:

• Flooring. Do you prefer linoleum, tiles, or wood parquet? Do you find the flooring neat or dirty? Do you prefer light-colored or dark-colored flooring? We actually prefer large, white tiles for flooring as this contributes to how well-lit the place is.


• Walls and Ceilings. Same principle as above.


• Natural lighting and ventilation. How many windows does it have? Do the windows provide ample natural lighting as well as ventilation? Are there buildings that are blocking the air and sunlight? This is where the compass comes in handy.


• Floor area of each room. You only have a limited amount of floor space to use, so make the most of it. The flat that we viewed, although had a lot of space for the bedroom, living room, and dining areas, the kitchen and laundry areas are crammed into a very tiny amount of space. We actually wanted more space in the kitchen area so we can move freely while cooking. Of course, others might not find this a very big issue, though. This is up to one's personal preference.


• Toilets. How many are there? This would matter greatly for larger groups of people who would go to work around the same time. More toilets means more people can be accomodated at a time.


• Inclusive Furnishings. Determine which furnitures and appliances will be provided once you move in. In our opinion, these are the must-haves: sofa set, bed, cabinet/drawers, dining table and chairs, TV, refrigerator, stove, aircon, and washer/dryer. Others necessities include (but is not limited to) phone lines, internet connection, oven, and electric fans.

After the viewing, better clear up some details by asking questions to the agent and/or owner (whoever showed you the place):

• Payment details. Of course, the monthly rate, any possible discounts, and the method of payment (cash, online transfer, GIRO, etc.)


• Prepwork before move-in. Confirm if the owner would be shouldering the renovation, repainting, and/or cleaning of the unit before the desired move-in date. Take note especially if the unit you viewed is currently occupied by the outgoing tenants.


• Specific policies. This could be anything under the sun: no smoking, no cooking, no visitors, shouldering of PUB (public utility bills), etc.

Not sure if I've covered all the bases here. However, I think the above should be enough to get you started.

Word of caution: It's best if you check out the forums as well. There have been recent incidents in which some tenants paid for a unit only to find out that it is currently occupied and is not for sale/rent.

House M.D. - Season 5 Episode 4 Quotes

Chinese guy whose name was not mentioned: Why don't we go back to their house? Wait for them there.

Nicole: Yeah. 'Coz they'll probably answer the door the sixteenth time I knocked.

---

Dr. House: Well, that's the way women sound when their spouse of fifty years dies.

---

Dr. Foreman:
Anybody read Chinese? Otherwise, we have no idea what these doctors did to her.

Dr. House: Kutner, you're sort of Asian, right? Get it translated.

---

Dr. House:
I'm not deflecting because I'm avoiding something deep. I'm deflecting because I'm avoiding something shallow. Seriously, I'm fine. I didn't even like the man.

---

Dr. House: Like a salmon returning to the stream where it was born. You become whole again but you get eaten by bears.

Nicole: They denied my existence... [cough]

Dr. House: Four parents, not one of them taught you to cover your mouth.

---

Dr. House: I'm just a technician. Her doctors will be by later, you can schmooze tha...

Nicole's Dad: Can you let them know that we uh... we went by her apartment, collected all her medication.

Dr. House: I'm a technician and a doctor.

---

Dr. Cuddy: If there's anything I can do to just...

Dr. House: You know, you're right. I don't think I can sleep alone tonight.

---

Dr. Cuddy: Drop your pants.

Dr. House: You know, I usually pay tens of dollars to hear that.

---

Dr. Cuddy: Your mother wants you to deliver a eulogy.

Dr. House: Eulogy. From the Greek for "good word". If she actually asked me to deliver a "bastardogy", I'd be happy to.

---

Dr. House: ...My mom didn't call Cuddy. She called YOU! I knew you couldn't stay away. I knew you love me too much...

Dr. Wilson: I'm doing this for your mom.

Dr. House: I'm not doing this at all. If there were something to be done, I would have done it in the year he spent dying.

---

[MmmBop plays on House's cellphone.]

Dr. House: Where's my phone? It's the team. It's their ringtone.

---

[To Dr. Wilson after House's team called.]

Dr. House: My ringtone for you is Dancing Queen by Abba.

---

Dr. Wilson: You don't want to say anything, don't say anything, but GO! Tell your mom, you're sad. FOR HER!

Dr. House: Just by being there, I'd be lying.

Dr. Wilson: She wants to think, for a moment, that she had a happy family. So give her the gift. LIE!

---

Dr. Kutner: We have these two categories: inside and outside. Patients stay inside and then when they're better, we let them go outside.

---

[To a curious passerby.]

Dr. Kutner: Such a beautiful, we thought we'd do all our doctoring outside.

---

Nicole: People stare at me anytime I'm out with my family. It's like a puzzle: which one of these things doesn't belong.

---

Dr. Wilson: Of course. You were a brilliant, socially isolated 12-year old and you create a parallel universe and that your life doesn't suck.

---

Dr. House: I look at the facts. First of all, he was deployed on training exercises off Okinawa during the time I had to be conceived.

Dr. Wilson: And since you are a hundred fifty years old, air travel was impossible.

---

Dr. Kutner: She was adopted when the parents thought they couldn't have kids. Then they had three more. She took the message as "thanks for playing, but we have our real children now".

Dr. Taub: And the real children probably think they're accidents, while she was handpicked. Everybody's got problems with their parents.

---

Dr. House: You lost track of your speed? I think that was Hitler's excuse: lost track of the Jews. No one held him resposible.

---

[Dr. Greg House was called to stand to deliver the eulogy to his father.]

Dr. House:
There's a lot of people here today, including some from the corps. And I noticed that everyone of them is either my father's rank or higher. And it doesn't surprise me. Because if the test of the man is how he treats
those he has power over, its a test my father failed. This man you're eager to pay homage to was incapable of admitting any point of view but his own. He punished failure, not accept anything less than... [pause]

He loved doing what he did. He saw his work as some kind of... sacred calling, more important than any personal relationship.

Maybe if he'd been a better father, I'd be a better son. But I am what I am because of him, for better or for worse.

I just... I just wish...

---

Dr. Wilson: That's what you wanted, wasn't it? Why should it depress you?

Dr. House: It doesn't depress me. Doesn't make any difference at all. That's what depresses me.

Dr. Wilson: Well, I guess nobody gets to choose who their parents are. I'm not even sure anymore we get to choose who are friends are.

---

Dr. House: If you're coming back because you're attracted to the shine of my neediness... I'd be okay with that.

Wordless Blast from the Past - Bohol Jan '07

House M.D. - Season 5 Episode 3 Quotes

Dr. House: Information saves lives. Saving lives saves money.

Dr. Cuddy: No. Saving lives costs money, which is why I'm trying to make sure there's still some left.

---

Dr Kutner: In college, my friends and I came up with an inverse square law.

Dr. Taub: Looks like a real fun group.

Dr Kutner: The girls who you think are the most inhibited, straight-arrows, they're the ones you hook up with.

Dr. Taub: Are you saying my wife is a slut?

Dr Kutner: I'm saying if my wife was a slut, I'd want to know.

---

Dr. House: You're not allowed to be not terrified. There's only two good reasons not to be terrified in a hospital. You're delusional but you're not afraid of contrast material either. Or you know you're fine. Since we haven't told you you were fine. You obviously have information that we don't have.

---

Dr. House: Hottie, thinks that he's a great artist, selling art to the rich and tasteful, but is stupid enough to be fooled by the canvases. Bank accounts don't lie. He needed money. How many jobs you can do that don't require time, training, and intelligence. And I know you're not a newsanchor or supermodel, coz those jobs seldom cause agnosia. He's a guinea pig. Company's pay him to test their untested drugs.

---

Dr. House: Couldn't even if I cared enough to want to.

---

Dr. House: Just to shortcircuit that discussion, people should not be testing drugs because they're desperate. But, people won't test drugs unless they're desperate. We need drugs to save children and puppies. Ergo, we need desperate people. Ergo, welfare kills sick children.

---

Dr. Taub: What purpose could that possibly serve?

Dr. House: None. That's why I'm not saying that you should. But you will! (Sarcastic smile.)

---

Dr. House: Miserable people save more lives. If your life has meaning, your job doesn't have to have meaning. Screwup's more palatable if you have someone's arms to go crying.

---

Dr. Taub: If you open your mouth, one of two things happens. She either forgives you or she leaves you. At best, you wind up exactly where you are right now. It's noble to want to confess. Really, it is. But if the result's just damage and pain, that's not noble, that's selfish.

---

Lucas: I'm in to you, coz you're HOT. And smart. In that order, but both are needed. Photos can be retouched. And House IS an evil genius, which makes this photo suspicious. And yet you're not suspicious. Which means either you're not smart enough to be suspicious in which case I am less interested in you; or you're not suspicious because you know this is actually a doctored photo of House in which case I am more interested in you. But I am wasting my time because you know this is a game we are playing on you and I am busted and I'm screwed.

---

Dr. Taub: Are you glad he told you the truth?

Heather: Yes, of course.

Dr. Taub: But... Were you happier before you knew?

---

Dr. House: You know people hate people who have theories about people.

To do list for the last 10 days of work... and after

Ten more days and officially I'm unemployed again. It's not a necessarily a bad thing...

I needed a break anyway. After the insane work coupled with some not-so-helpful and I-will-drag-you-down-with-me colleagues, I few weeks relaxing is exactly just what I need.

Of course, I can't help wondering what to do next. After a while, a few weeks of doing nothing but relaxing will slowly become depressing... Been there, done that; Longest time I was unemployed was about three months...

Anyway, aside from the important to-do things (like tying up loose ends and, uhm, looking for work!), I've been thinking it over for some time and here's what I've come up so far:

• Study for certification. In my previous job, all of us aimed for it for better compensation. The only thing holding us back was money; paying USD150 for a single exam is not exactly cheap. Since moving here, though, I guess we have more than enough to pursue this. Just need enough time to study and brush up on some topics.



• Lose weight... a lot of it. Desk jobs tend to build up fat. I still do some legwork, but not enough to keep my weight down. The place is great here; very wide and very clean -- at least until some residents start picnicking and litter the whole place. 'Might as well enjoy the view while jogging or whatnot. :) I'm targetting, for now, to lose 1kg per week. After I get the hang of it, I'll go for more until I get my ideal weight.


• Learn to cook. Since getting the Iron Chef episodes again, our desire to cook was rekindled. They're just too fun to watch. It's amazing what dishes they can whip up. I just hope I don't eat to much or I will never lose my excess weight.


• DIY stuff.There are some projects which I've always wanted to do but couldn't because of work. With it out of the way, I quess I have more than enough time to do them. I've been going through stores like Daiso (where everything is sold for 2sgd) for some items I can use. Oh, well, I better straighten out my DIY project list first. :))


• Finish a game.I've played many games, but I seldom finish one. When the game is extremely long, the tendency is to forget about it after some time. Yep, work gets in the way! :)) Maybe I'll finish up Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I'm halfway through the main quest anyway, so I might as well finish it up.


• Blog! Haven't blog for a while now. Hence, the post. :))Got that writer's block going -- I guess I'm too jaded at work, I can't think straight. :))

That's what I have for now. Any other ideas how I can waste my time? :))

Treat for Iron Chef fans on the Internet

So you are an Iron Chef fan, and you want to collect as many episodes as possible? Are you just dying to download and watch each of the episodes?

Che and myself have always been food lovers. I remember that one thing that Che really misses from their home is the Food and Lifestyle Network offered by SkyCable; our home in Sucat has Paranaque Cable which does not offer this channel -- at least during the time that we were there. And of the many food and/or cooking programs on this channel, we like Iron Chef (Japan) the most.



For newbies, in case you didn't know, the original Iron Chef (not to be confused with the spin-off Iron Chef America) is a cooking "battle" show, with challengers "from all over the world" pitted against one of the Iron Chefs. For each battle, a theme ingredient is chosen. The chef who offers dishes that best articulate the theme ingredient is the winner. There were four Iron Chefs, one for each cuisine/style: Japanese, Chinese, French, and Italian.

Of all the Iron Chefs in the show, the one we like the most is the original Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba. With his philisophy "there are no borders to ingredients", he creates magnificent (neo-)Japanese cuisines even using from non-Japanese ingredients. This inspired Che to experiment with the ingredients here in Singapore and cook some great dishes.

Anyway, for those who wanted to watch and/or download the Iron Chef episodes, you can do so from here. Unlike one site which wanted to "trade" episodes (i.e., if you can't share, you get nothing), this site only requires you to sign up once (no payment required) and you can download them for free!

Okay fine, it's not actually "new" news. I'm just doing my part to ensure that Iron Chef fans out there are well-informed about Iron Chef resources on the net. So Iron Chef fans, help spread the word! Hehehe :))

In Singapore - Year One

It's like one whole year just whizzed by. I dreaded coming here, mostly because of fear -- fear of the unknown, fear because, for the first time, I'll be working a long way from home.

And here we are, one year later; still in Singapore with no intention of going back anytime soon; AND, I'm looking for a new job, amidst the global economic crisis.

On a lighter note, our first stay here was actually great. We can easily afford good gadgets here, those gadgets which are way back on my "buy" list back in Manila. Things like laptops, digital cameras, and Nintendo DS Lite. I cannot see myself buying this in Manila with the salary we were getting then. :)

Also, many former colleagues are working here as well, so it's not that lonely as one would imagine. It's like a we never left at all. Good friends one and all are moving here. It's like a Pinoy invasion, with the large number of Pinoys from all walks of life moving here. :)) I just hope they don't get the same KIASU mentality many locals here have.

Speaking of locals; I guess we're lucky with our neighbors here. They're really friendly, unlike the ones some of my Pinoy colleagues have.

Well, that's all I can say about that. Here's to our first year in Singapore... And here's to hoping for an even more prosperous year!