The Shinchi Ultimatum

For a girl, they need to spend money into buying cosmetics, and to us, there are endless variety of them. Foundation powders, Foundation cream, eyelashes curl, lipsticks to name a few. These can easily add up to a hundred plus for each ’stockup’ trip , not to mention those cleansers, mask, etc. I feel that it is so easy to earn money from women. That is before I start my hobby of bodybuilding.

Now, I am spending more money than her cosmetics. Health supplements – Whey protein, Casein Protein, Creatine, HMB capsules, Multi-vitamins. Take Whey Protein for example, 1 bottle of Whey Protein, which last for an average of 1 and a half months, will cost around $100. Her foundation cream that last as long cost $30 bucks. Together with other supplements I take on mealy basis, its not difficult to calculate that I am spending like $400-500 dollars on supplements alone every 2 months, for mine stockup.

The biggest cost goes to food. I spend an average of 2 trips to the supermarket each week, buying Salmon, chicken, eggs, bananas, blue berries, strawberries, will cost around $60 each. Now, instead of eating the $2 Nasi Lemak I used to have everyday, I am having $6 Salmon for lunch. Breakfast can easily exceed $8 dollars with 3-4 egg whites, Yogurt , and whole grains. 

So if you are always grumbling that your girl is spending way too much money on her stuff, it is probably that you are not spending enough on yourself to look good while she is making herself so.

For those who played Fallout 3, the sound Civilization by Danny Kaye should be very familiar. Whenever you are treading across the wasteland, this is one of the songs played by Three Dog with a more joyous tune.

If you read the lyrics carefully, you can actually understand the meaning of this song, depicting out many natives are ‘forced’ into civilization by outsiders who take over their land. I especially can feel about it after I watch the movie "Rabbit Proof Fence" while in Perth.

Bongo, Bongo, Bongo  (With the Andrews Sisters)

Each morning a missionary advertise with neon sign
He tells the native population that civilization is fine
And three educated savages holler from a bongo tree
That civilization is a thing for me to see
So bongo, bongo, bongo I don't want to leave the congo
Oh no no no no no
Bingle, bangle, bungle I'm so happy in the jungle I refuse to go
Don't want no bright lights, false teeth, doorbells, landlords
I make it clear
That no matter how they coax him
I'll stay right here
I looked through a magazine the missionary's wife concealed
(Magazine? What happens?)
I see how people who are civilized bang you with automobiles
(You know you can get hurt that way Daniel)
At the movies they have to pay many coconuts to see
(What do they see Danny?)
Uncivilized pictures that the newsreels take of me
So bongo, bongo, bong he don't want to leave the congo
Oh no no no no no
Bingle, bangle, bungle he's so happy in the jungle he refuse to go
Don't want no penthouse, bathtub, streetcars, taxis
Noise in my ear
So no matter how they coax him
I'll stay right here
They hurry like savages to get aboard an iron train
And though it's smoky and crowded they're too civilized to complain
When they've got two weeks vacation they hurry to vacation grounds
(What do they do Danny)
They swin and they fish but that's what I do all year round
So bongo, bongo, bongo I don't want to leave the congo
Oh no no no no no
Bingle, bangle, bungle I'm so happy in the jungle I refuse to go
Don't want no jailhouse, shotguns, fish hooks, golf clubs
I've got my spear
So no matter how they coax him
I'll stay right here
They have things like the atom bomb
So I think I'll stay where I "om"
Civilization, I'll stay right here

If there is anything I bring back from Australia, that is flu + fever. Have visited wildlife parks most days and only contacted like 10 people average per day, me and my wife decided that it was the last day of the trip, when we are on board of a crowded ferry, that I caught the virus. Luckily my wife has an natural immunity to flu (she never had a flu in her life, her so call ‘I caught a flu’ is only mere cough that recovers within 1-2 hours, amazing), and me, being very susceptible to it, inherited from my father, soon find myself coughing , sneezing, and almost incapacitated.

The good news out of the bad one is that the doctor confirmed that it is not the H1N1 swine flu, as that will almost always began with attacks of body ache and then the onset of fever. For me, the body ache is non-existence and I am safe. Another good news is that the fever rise my metabolism so high that manage to drop 3.3 pounds. Since I can still lift as much weights as I can, I fathom its burning my body fat. So yea, I am now 66.5 kg thanks to the fever.

My biggest mistake is to continue my usual diet, thinking that a good nutritious diet will heal me like wolverine with a bullet in his head. What is eat is bascially lots of non-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, lots of whey protein, and salmon. These diet burn my fat and recover my muscles from interval trainings before I am sick. And coupled with that, lots of nuts and fiber-high food to slow down the release of carbs into my blood. The results? My body now works hard at digesting the high protein, and at the same time, has to fight the virus. It does not takes a genius to predict what state I ended myself with.

A search on Google shows that if I continue a protein high diet, a flu that takes 2 days to recover might drag to a week, and worse. Immediately, I drop all these and switch to a high-flu diet, nothing goes in my mouth except ginger tea, honey, lots of water and the medication. Now just 12 hours later I feel like a renewed man, and really to run my 10 km run I crave for so long.

Well not really, the mucus, will block my breathing, but yes, proteins works well on training days. Flu ? I bond new friendship with Mr Ginger.

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Good Bargains in Perth from shunjie hu on Vimeo.

Some good buys I have when visiting Perth.

Some good bargains I got when in the expensive city. Shorts for $9.95 each (you can get good bargains as asian’s size is much smaller and those are usually on the the offer shelves), Big Avocado for $1.50 each, and healthy low fat high protein milk shake for $3.50. Also home made fruit jams for $2 each and raw/pure honeys for less than $10 each.

Where to get them ?

Shops with Discount, Rural farms when along the highway, and their big convenience stores (the bigger the cheaper it gets).