What have I learned over the past few days?

... that it's really best to have my mobile phone battery fully charged before setting off downtown to a place I've never been to. Like Abraham, I went, not knowing where I was going. And like him, I providentially ended up in the right place. Unlike him, it took me a lot of SMS exchanges and 20 minutes going round in circles in the best of KL traffic to reach a place I'd passed three times without seeing.

... how good it feels to run through town in pouring rain.

... that when doing a food review with a team from another publication, one needs to check first that the other team's photographer has snapped a dish before one digs into it.

... that it's not only in the movies that the lights at a whole series of pedestrian crossings turn green for you when you're in a hurry.

... that the tastiest dishes aren't the ones on display.

... just how unhappy my feet are unless they get to dance. And just how much they love Latin.

Slow down, it's time to fast

I realise the previous post may have been a bit ambiguous about my current state of mind. For the sake of clarification, yes, I'm fine and dandy now. "Happy chocolate-fuelled thing" would describe me quite well, most days. Especially now that I've ended the fast from sweet things, although I may soon start another one. Quite apart from the fringe benefit of losing weight, I've found that denying myself the food I enjoy most is really very good for teaching ...

Irony of ironies, I briefly abandoned this post while typing the previous paragraph because... uh... (blushes) my boss offered me a slice of her fantastically delicious birthday cake and I accepted. How could I not?

So, where was I? The fast! Right. The fast. Yes, I think I need to do it again soon. Because, as I was saying, denying myself the food I enjoy most is really very good for teaching me all about discipline, about appreciation of everything I take for granted, and about letting go of the petty things I find important.