Tales of Angkor

During my summer internship stint, my travel buddy, Sue Lyn and I were casually discussing about planning a holiday before I head back to the UK and when the rest of my besties were travelling to Seoul. Finally, we decided to go ahead with our plans and booked our flights for Siem Reap. Since I am obsessed with ancient sites and Sue Lyn likes those gigantic trees, the Angkor Archeological site would be the perfect fit.
Initially, we wanted to spend 4D3N in Siem Reap but then we shortened it to 3D2N because I wanted to travel only after the Hungry Ghost festival ended (call me superstitious la) and Sue Lyn needed to be back for her mom’s birthday. So, we are left with only 3D2N.

We flew on Malaysia Airlines and the flight was pretty decent but the thing I can’t comprehend is why the short 40 minutes flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur had in-flight entertainment but the 3 hours flight to Siem Reap didn’t have any entertainment. Imagine being stuck in a tiny seat for hours and my companion was asleep half the time. Minus the meal service and take off and landing, I had about 2 hours to kill. So, I took tonnes of photos of the wing of the plane and the clouds and read the in-flight magazine about 3 times, cover to cover.

One of the countless shots taken from my seat on the flight to Siem Reap. Feels like I was doing an advert for Malaysia Airlines

As we are approaching Siem Reap International Airport, the view was filled with lush green fields. Definitely something you don’t see everyday. Despite doing research on the place etc, we had a massive panic attack at the immigration. Everyone was filling in the visa application form and it needed a passport photo. Although I carried a huge stack of my passport photos in my wallet, Sue Lyn had none. Luckily it was a FALSE ALARM because ASEAN citizens do not need a visa to enter.

Approaching Siem Reap International Airport - those green fields look so pretty!!!

We were picked up by a tuktuk arranged by our the hotel on arrival but everyone else seems to be leaving in air-conditioned taxis. I guess a tuktuk is all you get when staying in a midrange hotel. The journey to the city centre took about 15 minutes and the road from the airport to the city centre is probably the proper highway in Siem Reap. Luxurious resorts are blooming on both sides of the highway all the way to the city centre. Approaching the city centre, there road narrowed into tiny single lane roads with branches of alleyways and local small shops were lined on both sides of the road. The air was dusty due to the untarred walkways.

From behind our tuktuk driver to the city. Apparently most people don't wear helmets and at times there are 3-4 pillion riders.

The hotel of our choice, Apsara Centrepole Hotel is located right in the middle of the city centre. The hotel resembles a huge bungalow with rooms distributed on 2 floors. Our double room with balcony cost USD40 per night and I personally felt it was reasonably priced for the location and standard of the room. Located about 50m in an alleyway from the main road, the hotel was a stone throw away from the Night Market, the famous ‘angmoh’ hangout spot, Pub Street and the Psar Chaa (Old Market).

After checking in, we were undecided if we should head to Phnom Bakheng for sunset or visit Tonle Sap. Persuaded by the hotel and the tuktuk driver, we chose Tonle Sap and honestly, it is a waste of money and a clever scam plying on the sympathy of tourist. We were taken out to Chong Khneas on the Tonle Sap using a small boat which sits about 10 but we had the boat to ourselves. So how does the scam work? It all starts with locals pedaling their tiny sampans with little kids of a very tender age towards the tourist boats asking for donations. Then, the ‘tour guide’ (often locals who tells sad stories about lack of education opportunities, how difficult life can get) on the boat will discourage giving any donations and advise to tourist to donate directly to the floating orphanage by buying from the community market. From online reviews, it was very much a scam which works by getting tourist to spend on the bulk items and then have donated items returned to the community market. So, it works like a vicious cycle to con money off tourist and nothing much goes back to the locals who are really in need.  Being sympathetic, we fell prey to the trap. During the visit to the orphanage, it seem evident that the vicious cycle does exist as there wasn't exactly any of the bulk item like huge 50kg rice bags etc. at the orphanage at all. Surely if there are so many people donating, there is bound to be some left to be stored in the orphanage. The only yield from the exorbitantly priced ride was a nice sunset over the lake despite the cloudy sky.

Sunset at Tonle Sap

Our first dinner was at the Touich Restaurant Bar which is literally located out of nowhere. I found the reviews on tripadvisor to be quite impressive and we decided to give it a try since we are unable to get a table at the rank #1 restaurant in Siem Reap on tripadvisor. We showed the receptionist the address and he arranged for the same tuktuk driver who had been driving around to take us there. The journey was fine all the way until we turned into this tiny dirt road with countless potholes and no street lamps and can fit only one tuktuk at a time. At some point of the journey, the overgrown branches of trees were hitting me from the side. AND, the potholes was so bad that we were jumping off our seat when the tuktuk went through a hole. It was quite funny that the tuktuk driver would look back everytime we passed a massive potholes as though he was making sure we were not thrown off the tuktuk. We had the fresh spring rolls, sand grilled red snapper and pork ribs on glowing ember. Unfortunately, the lighting was really bad and we were too hungry to bother taking pictures under the low lighting. The food was however, extremely delicious and the fish was especially fresh. BEWARE MOSQUITO ATTACK!

Also be careful about paying the tuktuk driver. Often they demand more than agreed. Our tuktuk driver demanded more than we agreed with the hotel. We totally comprehend they don't make much each day but it really comes across to me as extortion. We took a stroll along Pub Street and the Night Market. Pub Street was very alive with tourist drinking and having a good time in the many pubs along the street and there are tonnes of locals offering foot massage, manicure and pedicure for only USD1. The Night Market lacks a feel of authenticity and culture and was extremely modern.

Fresh spring roll with prawns at The Touich Restaurant Bar.

The next morning was extremely exciting. After reading reviews on tripadvisor, we booked for a private tour with Angkor Temple Guide. (Yes I'm a big fan of tripadvisor) Our tour was a full day tour including sunrise at the Angkor Wat, Bantreay Srei, Beng Mealea, Angkor Thom and Phnom Bakheng and it costed us USD85 excluding entrance ticket and meals. Our tour guide, Chaya picked us at our hotel at 4.30am and we headed towards the Angkor Archaelogical Park which was about 15 minutes drive away. At the ticket counter there is a crazy queue of SUV and flocks of tourist trying to buy entry tickets. Somehow epic things always befall on me! Everyone had to have their face captured to be printed on the ticket and for whatever reason a Japanese or Thai lady's face instead of mine was printed on my ticket. How can this even happen?! The worst part is they can't do anything about it because the ticket can only be issued when a payment has been made. So I'm stuck with a stranger's face on my ticket as souvenir.

The whole fiasco totally delayed our journey and it was a race of time to capture the sunrise because the colour and contrast of the skyline at daybreak changes with every minute. Chaya was excellent in bringing us to different spots to get a different view of the sunrise. Unfortunately by the time we got to the reflection pond, it was very crowded and the sky was already quite bright. Nevertheless the view was still spectacular and despite the crowd and chatters, watching the sun rising from behind the Angkor Wat accompanied by the morning chanting from the nearby monastery was extremely calming; a rare kind of peace and serenity. Soon after the crowd dispersed and Chaya brought us around the complex of the Angkor Wat explaining the meaning of the paintings engraved on the wall. Seriously all we did was walk, climb stairs, walk then climb more stairs and more stairs after. We were done with Angkor Wat by 8.30am and by then, my extremely active sweat glands managed to soak my shirt and jeans with buckets of sweat and it felt like I was wearing my clothes straight out of laundry. Although the weather is somewhat similar to Malaysia, it's much more humid. Being higher north than most South East Asian country, the best time to visit is actually in December when the weather is more cooling.

Views of Angkor Wat at daybreak- mesmerising shades of red and orange in the sky

Angkor Wat from the reflecting pond with the sun rising from behind

After a stop for breakfast at a local eatery nearby, Chaya brought us out to Bantreay Srei which is about 40km away. The best part of the ride is the 25 minutes of air-conditioned ride! Bantreay Srei is a temple of a different period from most of the temple in the Angkor complex and it was built with red clay bricks. I love how this temple is surrounded by green fields and secluded from others.

Engravings on Bantreay Srei

Details of the naga on the roof of Bantreay Srei

We headed back to Beng Mealea nearer to the main Angkor complex. The unique feature of this temple is the gigantic trees growing out of the archeological remains. Definitely somewhere that vegetation triumphs! According to Chaya, it was believe that birds and other animals had dropped seeds onto the temple and after decades the gigantic tree grew from within the temple. The temple gained fame after being featured in one of the Lara Croft films.

An overgrown tree from the roofs of Beng Mealea

We took a short break after Beng Mealea and Chaya took us to a nearby Khmer restaurant. We ordered the popular Khmer dish, Amok which is a fish stew with local herbs and spices. Tasted like a non-spicy and creamier version of Thai green curry to me. Not quite a fan but it's definitely a must try. With the crazy walks,  by the time I remembered to take photo of our food it was half eaten. In the midst of lunch, it started pouring and us being 'smart alecks' brought huge golf umbrella all the way from Malaysia only to leave it in the hotel. Chaya told us the afternoon showers are common and it would be over in an hour or so which was indeed true.

We continued to the complex of Angkor Thom which has massive gateways and houses the Bayon temple; famous for the hundreds of Buddha faces on the stupa. The gateways were really an impressive work of art. The details of the faces of Buddha at that period would require great skill and the gateways were massively huge which made me wonder where do they find the technology to support such massive structure. Finally, we climbed endless steps to the top of the Bayon temple and we were surrounded by the view of hundreds of Buddha faces. I didn't even know where to begin taking photos. Chaya gave a couple of great suggestions and the view we would get at different angles. Amazing advice!

The gateway to Angkor Thom after the afternoon showers

One of the many faces of Buddha on the Bayon Temple

Touching noses

Finally we headed to Phnom Bakheng for sunset but we were really pushing our luck with the extremely overcast sky. The sun was hiding behind the clouds and our hike up to the temple on the hill was all in vain. We headed down with the rest of the disappointed crowd and Chaya drove us back to our hotel, officially concluding our full day tour. I would definitely recommend hiring Chaya as tour guide for the Angkor Archaelogical Park. He was really friendly and had quite an extensive knowledge about the temples. We were well taken care off with countless bottles of iced water and cold towels along the whole journey.

We had a late dinner at Haven Training Restaurant right across our hotel (it was rank #1 in tripadvisor). The food was delicious but I find it a little too salty for my taste. However, I am impressed by the intention of the owners of the restaurant. It is called a training restaurant because the restaurant trained orphans after they leave the orphanage so that they have skills to make their own living.

Fish fillet with sweet chilli sauce served with rice and stir fried vegetables

 We were totally knocked out by the end of the night. Before heading to the airport, we walked to Psar Chaa (Old Market). Situated in a old French colonial building, the outside were filled with souvenir shops while the inside of the market was a typical wet market. A great inside to the life of the locals and the ideal place to get souvenirs.

Local goodies from Psar Chaa - always remember to bargain because very often you will win the war of price

Finally headed for home after a short adventure in the land that was once known as Angkor. Definitely a place not to be missed in one's lifetime. Plus, a voyage to Siem Reap served as a great reminder for appreciate everything I have in life. Seeing how many struggle to make ends meet while I am blessed with luxuries of life gives a great wake up slap to be thankful for every small things in life.

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Life in Recap: Globe Trotting

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

-St. Augustine

Growing up in Asia, living in London opens the door to endless opportunities for travelling within Europe. Being thousands of miles away, the only glimpse of Europe I ever had when I was younger was on the television or occasionally, travel magazines. So, the opportunity to study in the UK is really like a dream come true.

Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero taken on my second visit to Paris

Starting out, I was nothing but an amateur in travel planning. The first self planned trip to Paris was something I would called poorly planned with expensive air tickets and a lack of research on the destination. However, making mistakes are the best learning opportunities. At least today, I’ve learned to plan in advance, research on budget accommodations and eateries and take opportunities of all the deals available for students.

Among the things that I’ve learnt so far, most museums are free for residents of the European Union. With a student visa and the permission to remain in the EU for more than 6 months qualify you to receive the same benefits as the residents of the EU. The Lourve and Château de Versailles is actually free and during my first trip to Paris, I paid to enter like everyone else.

The journeys I’ve made in the past 2 years had made me fall in love with travelling and realise that to travel and see the world is an opportunity to learn more than what schools can teach.

I’m glad to have packed my bags and travelled. Watch the most breath taking sunset in my life thus far; stand on the Alps during the icy cold winters; cross crystal clear blue seas; explore ancient sites and of recent, travelling solo.

The majestic Eiffel Tower under an overcast sky.

St. George's Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle

Living in London allowed me to watch this over and over again. So far, I've watched it 5 times and having to battle the huge tourist crowd every single time.

Rialto Bridge in Venice. The Grand Canal of Venice is nothing but amazing.

An upclose pinecone in Zermatt. Something I don't usually see in my life for the past decades.

The Matterhorn viewed from Zermatt - till today, this is still my favourite place in Europe. Despite having visited Zermatt twice, there is always an urge to revisit. Coincidentally, this was taken exactly a year ago.

Sunset in Mykonos; the prettiest sunset I've seen in my entire life.

Ancient ruins in the grounds of the Acropolis in Athens. The hottest and dustiest destination I had ever been too. At the end of the day, there is nothing but layers of dust above the layer of sunblock.

Having traveled near and far, in groups and alone. Travelling companion can sometimes make or break the holiday. Thus far I'm thankful to have awesome travel buddies. Definitely had lotsa fun with this bunch in Greece.

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Life in Recap: Lessons of Life

It has been quite awhile since I last blogged consistently; perhaps a year or two now. I’ve always had things to share but I never managed to get my thoughts together and pen it down. A couple of weeks ago after reading Timothy Tiah’s blog, it came to my realisation that blogging is a mean of cataloguing life.

Often thoughts will come and go; experiences will linger but through time, memories will fade. For example, some of my trips abroad were one of the best travelling experiences I had but I can hardly remember the details now after months and years have passed by. All that is left is a skeleton of events that happened. Sure, when I look back at the photos, I will be like “eh I remember this” but at times, it is still difficult to put the pieces together.

One of the perks of living in London: Being close to tourist attractions like the Tower Bridge

After moving to London in 2011 to read law, much had happened and the lesson of life had been more intense than ever. Though it had been an amazing time, there were up and downs and I had learnt 3 extremely valuable lessons.

Lesson 1: True friends will always stick around.
It is common for everyone to realise that their circle of friends will shrink as time goes by especially after high school when everyone takes off in different directions to pursue their dreams. Nevertheless, with every new chapter, the door opens to new acquaintances and a new circle of friends. Be it an old friend or a new associate, time will tell the true friends apart from the rest. Often they are those that will stick around and help you through the tough times.

Lesson 2: Dependency Kills
Though the world operates in a system of codependency, the ability to survive on your own is the best living skills. Codependency is important but the ability to live as a single entity is definitely more useful.

Lesson 3: Live in the moment and take time to appreciate life
Cherishing every moment is perhaps something everyone fail to do in the fast moving pace of life. Living in London had taught me to cherish things that come along the way in life and to appreciate every experience. Being away from home allowed me to learn to appreciate kinship and never take those you love for granted.

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Weight Loss - My True Story

Now that I finally have more free time in my hand, it hits me that I should start blogging again; starting with what I’ve been up to for the past 1 year.

Well, I’ve been working on shedding some pounds and here’s my true story. It is a long one so apologies in advance.

HOW I MADE IT TO OBESE

I had always been skinny as a kid because I never like eating. Being one of those annoying children that runs around during meal time, I probably burnt more calories than what I ate daily. Finally, in high school I started to find a passion and love for food. I would eat almost everything. Sometimes it feels as though I ate in revenge of all the meals I rejected as a kid.

In high school, I would do anything to escape PE classes because I hated sweating and having to get through the entire day of class smelling like crap. Constantly I ate like the world is gonna end the next day. All that was in my mind when I see food is either eat now or I won’t ever get a chance to eat again. If I could recall correctly, I grew from mere 45kg to 56kg in the span of 5 years. Some may say it is just puberty and part of adolescence but honestly, I think it is just pure gluttony.

The beginning of the journey towards obesity

Sept 2008: This was taken from an extremely good angle. Definitely much fatter in reality at this point of my life.

After high school, I started working part time in an Italian restaurant where my boss would constantly feed me and my colleagues with Italian supper from the kitchen after our 10pm shift about twice in a month. Imagine those rich pasta and pizza going into your stomach at such hours. How not to grow fat? Finally, I broke the 60kg barrier.

Then came the college days. Living a sedentary lifestyle and eating out everyday just made everything worse. Besides those frequent late night mamak sessions, I had minimal to no exercise. I think I didn’t even walk 2000 steps a day (when a healthy person should take 10000 steps a day). From time to time, I would come to realise that I need to try to shed some weight but I never tried hard enough. I would control my meal intakes for a few days and then give up; play badminton for an hour then eat a whole plate of mee goreng ayam for supper. Two years in A Levels made me grew to 67kg.

Aug 2009: Two months into college days - I LOOKED LIKE A BALL!

June 2011: The last day of college and the damage is pretty obvious

Finally, my first year in university. Living in London was a brand new experience for me. Given my passion for food, I was eating, eating, eating and eating. From French pastries, chocolates, takeaways, pizza, Chinese, Korean, Japanese; seriously almost everything that came my way. To make things worse, I lived 20 minutes walk from my university campus (considered relatively near in a country where everyone walks everywhere) and the only time I walked to school was on my first day. The rest of the time I just took a bus because all I had in my mind was ‘it’s too cold to walk’. Since the Easter holidays in April started, takeaways, pizza and instant noodles with added ingredients like sausages, egg etc. became my staple.

In addition to that, I was chasing an impossible dream of winning the grand prize from McDonald’s annual Monopoly game. With the purchase of McDonald’s food and drinks, stickers of property for the contest could be collected. Similar to the Monopoly game, the aim is to collect a set of same colour property. So, the more McDonald’s that I ate, more stickers were collected, the higher the chance of completing a set of same colour stickers and the fatter I grew.

Finally, I made it into the 70kg category. (I am making it sound like an achievement LOL)

Through these few years, I grew from underweight to normal to overweight and finally I hit OBESE, extremely obese to be exact. Being only 4ft11, my BMI was hovering at about 31.5.

September 2011: At my farewell dinner with my friends, I was hovering close to the 70 kg barrier.

Right before departing for London

Instant noodles with pork balls, egg and ham slices - my supper for most nights and staple throughout revision weeks

REALISATION

Honestly, it was not until June 2012 that I finally realised that something had to be done about my weight. Despite my interest in photography, I started to avoid taking pictures of myself. I just dreaded the thought of being photographed because I look horrible in every single photo.

The post exam trip to Sweden with a group of my uni mates completely changed everything. Well, a couple of photos from the trip gave me a serious wake up call. Not forgetting a message from my mom who told me right in my face to lose some weight because I am wasting money on holidays and looking ugly in every single photo.

With my ex-college mate after our exams

I look like the Michelin tyre guy. THOSE STACKS OF FATS *gasps*

THE CHANGE

The Beginning

July 2012 marked the beginning of my weight loss process. Coming home to Penang, a food heaven, it was an extremely difficult start. After 9 months being abroad with the absence of authentic Penang hawker food, I came home with a massive craving for everything but I needed to have self control.

The first few weeks were the most difficult time of my life. Starting off with the Tony Robbins 10-day challenge (something that my uncle picked up from Tony Robbins’ seminar a couple of years back), it was the most torturing 10 days of my life. For 10 days, I started my day with a glass of fresh fruit juice for breakfast. Then throughout the day my meals were salads and lots of vegetables, occasionally some fish, no meat or poultry and drinking lots of water. There is more to it like how to breathe etc.

(Just too lazy to explain) Read more about it here: http://www.energiseforlife.com/tony_robbins_nutrition.php

I could still recall that occasionally, I was eating salad in my car while hanging out with my friends. While my other friends were enjoying their food, I had to sit and stare then tell myself it will be worth it in the end. I made it through the challenging 10 days and managed to slot in some gym sessions in between. After 10 days, I managed to lose about 2kg.

Charging Ahead

After the 2kg head start, it was down to making sure that I maintain what I have lost and continue to lose even more. So, I resorted to calories counting. My Fitness Pal became my best friend. I was recording all meals and exercises and keeping track of my calories intake. Despite trying to keep my intake within 1200 calories a day, I slotted in one rest day every week. On those days, I would indulge in one of my favourite hawker food like Char Koay Teow, Hokkien Mee, Curry Mee etc.

The biggest change was eliminating the ‘bad’ food from my diet. For 21 years of my life, I have been a fan of instant noodles, fast food etc. Once and for all, I got rid of all these from my life. Instant noodles – the almost nutrition-less food, processed food like sausages, nuggets and burger patties, fast food like McDonalds and high sugar content drinks were all out of my diet. Anything with high saturated fat content was also a huge no-no.

Besides that, I started setting realistic goals of weight loss that I would be able to achieve and would not demotivate me. As part of my motivation, I made plans with one of my buddy that we would go for a beach holiday in summer 2013 and look presentable in beachwear. I also bought a dress which I could hardly fit and made it my goal to fit into the dress by a certain time.

Throughout the summer holidays, I was hitting the gym about 3 to 4 times a week. My buddies in Penang were amazingly encouraging and supportive. Most of the time they would hit the gym with me and made sure I reach my goal for the day.  After awhile, hitting the gym became a routine. I was addicted to the endorphins from all the exercise and it became such an easy thing to change into gym attire and run a couple of kilometers. The improvement from being able to jog/walk 1km to 2km and finally 3km and more was something that kept me moving forward. Though such distance seem minute to some, it was a great achievement for someone who hardly exercise.

By the end of summer, I’ve lost about 7kg.

Aug 2012: Few weeks into healthy diet and gym, change was on its way

Back to London: Progress & Hiatus

My trip back to London started off with two weeks of vacation with my family. Surprisingly, the holiday was quite a great motivation despite the damage it had on my calories count. In December 2011, I visited Paris with 3 friends and I struggled to climb up the steps of the Tower of Notre Dame. Halfway through, I was out of breath. This time around, I had no problems climbing to the very top of the tower without running out of breath or feeling that I would never make it up the tower alive. Not only that, in that two weeks I climbed up St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the steps in Montmartre and the Arc de Triomphe. The proof of how 7kg of weight loss made such a huge difference was amazing. After the two weeks of vacation and all the sinful indulgence of pastries and pasta in Paris and Italy, going back to the usual healthy diet was quite a challenge.

Sept 2012: On the family vacation and I was already 7 kg lighter

Upon returning to London, I signed up for gym membership and told myself to make the most out of the £150 that I have paid. I was hitting the gym 4 to 5 times a week either before or after my lectures. My two gym buddies were extremely motivating and their company had made me push myself even harder and keeping me in constant check of my goals.

The advantage of living in the UK was the easy access to healthier option of food. There is always ready made salad available off the shelves if I could not find time to cook my own meals. The calories count displayed on almost everything made keeping track of my calories intake easier. Living on my own also mean I didn’t have to adhere to the standard Chinese home cooked meals where rice is a staple. Back home, my grandmother would ensure everyone is eating enough rice and I was always fed more rice than I can eat. Although I love her home cooked meals, the breakaway from the traditional Chinese way of dining was really helpful to my weight loss.

My daily homecooked meals in London

With steady progress for about 5 weeks, I bumped into a huge hiatus to my plan; a dislocated shoulder that put me away from the gym for almost 5 weeks. It was one of the most emotional times because at that point, I felt that all my efforts for the past 3 months were going into the drain. Undoubtedly, I was haunted by strings of negative thoughts and it was challenging physically and emotionally. At some point, I felt that I am almost destined to be obese for the rest of my life. The funniest memory from this hiatus was how I was crying in the A&E over not being able to exercise rather than the fact my shoulder was dislocated.

After a few physiotherapy sessions, I was cleared to hit the gym with the condition that I do not lift any weights. Finally, it was back to the treadmill. At last, in February 2013 my physiotherapist allowed me to lift light weights and everything was back on track.

RUN! RUN! RUN!

SUCCESS STORY

By March 2013, a good 9 months from the start of my weight loss initiative; I had successfully lost 16kg to bring myself to a BMI of approximately 24.5. I reached my goals about 2 months ahead of schedule and it had been an amazing journey.

February 2013: Successfully shed off 12 kg

April 2013: Successfully lost 17 kg

It was a sweet taste of success because there was no supplements involved throughout the process. It was all down to a healthy diet (with some exceptions), self control, perseverance and tonnes of hard work. Honestly, I actually had so many rest days and indulged in quite a number of not-so-healthy snacks. Throughout the 9 months in London, I had about 5 tubs of Haagen-Dazs (they were always on half price – I just couldn’t resist), two seafood feast, a few Char Koay Teow in Chinatown, 3 huge bags of Walkers crisps, occasional drinks and some  famous Goldmine Roast Duck.

All the indulgence I had throughout my weight loss journey - lobster thermidor, dim sum, ice cream etc.

What made it possible was my own desires. I wanted to be healthier, to be fit, to live a better life and to keep those obesity related diseases away. The true desire for change that comes within is definitely stronger than any other external factors in life.

Finally in June 2013, the beach holiday plan materialised and Greece was an amazing getaway and self-reward. During the holiday, I was standing at about 18kg lighter than the summer of 2012. My dress size dropped by 3 sizes and never had I thought I would fit into such sizes in my entire life.

June 2013: GREECE!!!

June 2013: On the caldera of Santorini with an amazing group of friends

June 2013: The pledge made and fulfilled. At least I think I looked presentable in the beach wear.

WHAT’S AHEAD

Being home for the summer had set me back a little since I am interning and it’s been extremely difficult to find time to hit the gym. Putting on the pounds brought about some rather emotional thoughts.

Today, I still find it difficult to strike the balance of my love for food and the perseverance to keep myself in shape. The emotional struggle of to eat or not to eat and the guilt from overeating still affects me deeply. At times, my friends think I am plunging into the path of being anorexic. So what’s ahead is to find the balance between indulgence and keeping the pounds away.

A note to anyone reading this:
The key to losing the extra pound lies within yourself and the perseverance and effort will get you there. It's all about the right balance. Who says you have to starve to lose weight?

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