Cha Cha Moon

Another of Alan Yau's venture in the heart of London, Cha Cha Moon has finally open its doors this month. Went there for lunch the other day. Tucked in one of the side streets on Carnaby Street, its signature entrance is again obscure of its existence. Claiming to serve sze chuan food, the menu is more of a mixture of oriental stuff. Cha Jiang Mian, Dan Dan Mian, Lo Mian, Spring Onion Pancakes, Dumplings etc. All at a rate of £3.50, opening price! Once in the restaurant, the dimly lit alley is brightened up a bit by the pink glass that separates it with the open kitchen. The seating is like Wagamama's except that it has cushions on it hehe. The food was not bad for £3.50 to be honest. I would say I prefer Wagamama standards food wise, but I guess it depends what kind of food you are going for. Ref: http://worldfoodieguide.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/cha-cha-moon-chinese-london-england/

Bye Bye Locks

I finally decided and actually did cut off my long locks which has been with me for nearly 7 years now! I was quite bored with long hair and thus the bold decision. Went to J Moriyama again. This time to the branch near Bank. Did a cut and color and was in the salon for nearly 2 and a half hours. Total up to 75 quid which is not bad. The hairdresser (can't remember her name :S) was really nice, always checking is this ok? I think this is the thing about jap salons. They are just so meticulous and good mannered!

I felt like a kid! But still liking it. Totally geared up for summer!!!

Losing the Extra "£"s

After reading some book recommendations from the Times, I brought home 3 books about slimming (it's a 3 for the price of 2 from Waterstones btw): Skinny Bitch, The Cellulite Solution and How The Rich Get Thin (They will be referred to in this entry as Book A, B and C respectively). Ok, I'm not trying desperately to be thin but was just wandering around Waterstones for almost half a day and ending up bringing home half a dozen of books. And just thought these are somewhat interesting to read. And plus the fact that now I'm in my mid twenties, I can't just dive in all the BKs, McDs, Pizzas to abuse my body just like that. But hey, as we age, metabolism decrease, another depressing fact, and that's life.

I suppose every female in the universe who like to look pretty have at least the faintest ideas about losing weight. What I realised was, it always occur to me that the urge to lose weight fluctuates, the occassions plots a trigonometric sine function graph. I don't feel like controlling my diet or going to the gym until I feel fat! And when I decided to start the "tomorrow diet" regime again, I tend to forgot how to do it, i.e. err what did I need to do to lose weight again?

In fact, after reading those three books, vague memories of techniques I used to lose weight start coming back to me again. Surprisingly, these three books suggest that the techniques I used before is not 100% correct. Although there might not be a 101% correct way of losing weight, I still have to give credit to the advice given.

I may sound like I am reviewing these three books here, but the following do consists of some good stuff. How effective? Am due to find out.

Commonalities of the contents from the 3 sources:

• So crash diets only helps you reduce unwanted water weight. And is not a long term solution if you want to lose the extra fats stored in your body.


• Losing weight is as simple as eating healthy. And these "healthy"foods include good proteins (amino acids) normally found in goji berries, nuts, legumes, whole grains, tofu, fish etc., essential fatty-acids from nuts, seeds, soy helps repair cells and are water attracters (so that water don't wander around your body as wasted water and instead absorbs by cells to stay healthy), Vitamins A, B, C and E, trace minerals and of course anti-oxidants particularly pomegranates, goji berries, green tea, blueberries, citrus (grape fruits!) etc.


• Processed food are normally and generally bad stuff. Learn to read nutrition labels. Anything you can't spell is bad. Avoid hydrogenated fats! Original ingredients are the best.


• Refined is the prohibited word (white breads, white rice etc), Sugar is the devil (refined white sugar!), carbonated drinks although diet but are only aspartames that is bad for your bod.


• And that also means giving up on most of my fav snacks - chocolate cream eclairs, Gu pots, corn tortillas, cookies, cakes...you name it!

Book A stresses a lot of being a vegan. It will lure its readers into believing how gross it is the poultry and meat production industry is. Many meat alternatives suggestions were given, although most of them are US based products. And of course, small portions of "healthy" food is the key to becoming a skinny bitch. Skeptical me don't really buy into the idea of being a vegan to stay slim tbh. Reasons, I tried going vegan for a week and found myself getting bored of all kind of veges and resort to cooking most of the veges with other carbs like brown rice, pasta and noodles. Carbs tend to increase sugar levels and makes your bod to crave for more food, which implies, it is also fattening. Hmm. I suppose the portion counts a lot. But as an adventurous foodie, there is no way I am going vegan!

Book B has a very descriptive content of who missus cellulite are. Very scientifically explained. And actually encourages readers to eat healthy stuff too. Not particulary stressing on losing the extra pounds, but more of repairing cells. Many of those mentioned in the list above, especially soy products which has essential fatty-acids to repair cells, amino acids, trace minerals, antioxidants and B complex vitamins to boost metabolism. Apart from that, there are also a lot of suggestions in taking extra supplements for each of the required category, for e.g. glucosamine and vitamin supplements. I merely thought it is just another motive of this published material to market the author's products. Apparently he is a doctor and has his own brand of these supplements. Apart from the marketing gimmicks, the rest of the book is very informative.

Book C is a little more to read (A and B are quick reads). It says Calcium and Protein helps you lose weight. Have you ever wonder why mineral waters of different brands have different prices? Not because of their brands, but of their content. Apparently, some brands have way more calcium content than the others. And generally the more expensive ones have more. The implication is that drinking mineral water is a win win solution - gives you the calcium you need and the daily requirement of water supply for your body! Meal plans laid out consists mainly of plain low fat yogurt, low fat cheese (for e.g. Jarlsberg Lite - gonna try and get this from Whole Foods) and skim milk for breakfast and salads for lunches and dinners.

I also found out that in most of the meal plans from the 3 books, fruits are often incorporated in breakfasts, and rarely in lunches and dinners. And maybe sometimes in snacks between meals. What a complete different style to how I used to live! Well, in most traditional malaysian chinese houses (as far as I know), fruits are like for after dinner. Hmm maybe something I can try out!