Something to chew on

I always know when I'm in the mood to blog. It's usually when I have quite a bit to do. I think the urge to procrastinate is genetic.

Anyway - topic of today's post issssssssss

On eating alone

Let me start with my experiences - not that you need to know them, but they're a nice starting point, aren't they. (Of course they are - this is, after all, my blog, duh.)

Let's see...the whole thing started when I was in Inti. See, the American program has this drawback - your schedule is never the same as your classmates. So while the A-Levels and other programs students would go out in herds groups during lunch hour, those in ADTP had to find kaki to go for meals. If it so happened that your usual gang didn't have the same classes as you did, then too bad. Either you try to squeeze in some lunch together during a 1-hour break (don't try), or you wait for them.

Or, alternatively, you go eat alone.

Before you think - Ho cham hor! - it isn't. It was intimidating initially, going out alone during lunch hour to find my own lunch. And then it became the norm, and soon I was doing my own thing pretty much. I'd rather eat alone than pack something and go eat in the college cafeteria, or between classes with friends. I'm one of those who'd rather be full than thin. Cos I get bad-tempered when I'm hungry.

It was convenient, at first, especially when I had braces and had them tightened every month. Eating buns and porridge for a week wasn't a problem, cos I was eating alone. I could go to McD's three times in a week, eat the same chicken porridge and McFlurry, and nobody had to complain about my eating habits. Not that I could eat a lot of solid food after my braces were tightened - it's like your gums are trying to rip themselves out of your mouth.

And then there were times when it was just nice to chill alone, especially in Asia Cafe before my classes in afternoon. I had to go to college early, see, since a) I didn't have a car and b) my parents fetched me there before they went to work. So even if I had classes at 11 or 12, I had to be there before 8. Yar, you kids can complain about the jaaaaaaaaaaaam and the limited parking spaaaaace, but you at least had the extra hours of sleep. (I remember one class I had for a sem - one hour class on Friday, started at 8, ended at 9. Or 9 to 10. Either way...let's just say I'll reach home when the morning rush hour was just over. I took the bus home nearly every day.)

Right - so it became a usual thing for me to do. Then there was this sem I was taking American History - ooo it was the only sem I actually read a textbook from cover to cover. Cos I'd go out for lunch alone, and read my textbook during the meal. Fun times. And I actually like that period of history - after Civil War to present day - and I learnt some history.

It isn't without a few drawbacks, though - sometimes it'll be so packed I have to eat lunch in Asia Cafe in between these huge groups of students...of course I felt self-conscious once in a while. But it worked out, and I read and didn't mind the other people, and heyyyy, I got lunch.

You might think there's nothing wrong in eating alone - I eat in front of the comp alone what! - but try going out among groups of people, who might or might not remind you of your friends who you could be eating with. It's not a sad thing to be eating alone, actually, though some people might find it a tragic thing. That's their loss, I think - you can't even stand being in your own company for a bit. Blehhhh.

Take this blog that started recently, that got me thinking about this - Table for One. Some people think it's sad, seeing people eat alone. Some think it's a good change. Others think it's a bit creepy to take pictures of these people without their knowledge - that I can agree on. But me - I'm on the side of eating alone once in a while. Not all the time - just the times when you feel like it. No, not in your own room. Outside. With everyone else talking and chatting and being busy with company around you.

I don't do it that much here in Drake - especially in the dining halls, when someone you know might just see you, and come up to say hi before asking the inevitable, "Why are you eating alone?" It's not a bad thing, eurgh.

Eating alone doesn't mean you don't have friends to accompany you. Sometimes you prefer to eat alone, especially when there's that new book to try not getting stains on. I think I did that before. Not often, but I've done it. And I wasn't messaging people during the meal, okays, or trying to look busy. I always had a book to read. What more do you want?

I have no problem going out in groups though - I like that too. But it makes a nice change, eating out alone.

Sides, you know something's not right when you can go to mamak and see two girls sitting opposite each other at the same table, each on their laptops. Not speaking to each other. That was pretty failworthy, to be honest. Apasal you want to meet up for mamak then, if you're both going to be surfing the Internet?

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Am reading Flora Thompson's Lark Rise trilogy. One of my favourite books. If somebody could write something like this about Malaysia, bet you it'll be remembered for a long time yet. It's not the writing, really - although there's lots of descriptions of food, mmm - it's about the feeling you get when you read it. Thompson really loved the place she came from, the tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere she grew up in. It doesn't sound preachy preachy, or dry, despite her detailed descriptions of the life and people living there. More like a memoir than history. Okay somebody needs to write one about Malaysia soon. Or I should go hunting for local books. I know there are a few out there in the market...

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Don't like hipsters? Here you go.

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D'you know one thing I like about being alone? I can read aloud - it's my habit, I can't concentrate properly unless I read aloud - and not bother anyone.

Plus if I start laughing about something I read, nobody's going to give me the look that says, "Please stop, it's disturbing and you're scaring me". Fun times.