fasting's a pain......
done ragin' and spewin' some religious lecture on me yet? i'm not sayin' i don't wanna do it or it's unnecessary. i'm just pointing out the obvious; it hurts. and it's supposed to, i guess. now, you may have come across the usual non-muslim fasting for whatever reason they're doing it for, and only lasting till noon ( as a note, for those of you who are thinking of trying it next year, don't bother. we've spent our childhoods practicing. more likely than not, you won't last past 2pm. don't beat yourself up cuz of it), but i can tell you this; hunger is the least of our problems.
"but it helps you lose weight, right?" that pretty much depends how you tackle the situation. do you stockpile your food, eating twice (or thrice) as much as you normally would in a meal, during sungkai/sahur, because of the "hey-i-didn't-have-no-snacks/lunch/breakfast-during-the-day-so-it's-ok" mentality? yes? congratulations! you'll be wearing some tight baju kurong come Syawal! but how? as i've said; stockpiling . rather than increase the amount of food you eat during night time, thinking you're making up for the daytime fasting, you're more likely to lose weight if you take you're average intake of food during a meal, as you normally would outside of Ramadhan, unless, of course, you're involved in some pretty strenuous activity during the day.
What my body DOES NOT look like, after Ramadhan..... or ever, really
oh, it weakens you by the knee alright. the pain, considering that you didn't have sahur earlier that morning, is unbearable ( i know, cuz i've been there). but it's not like grinding your teeth and tightening that belt won't help. what really gets on my nerves is getting thirsty, especially since Ramadhan also happens to fall on the drier months here. and roadside ads are not making this any easier.
ever drive up on the highway heading towards (or away from) the huge roundabout linking Bandar, Kiulap and Gadong, and as you're about to pass the Gadong Properties area, and you see, on top of one of the building, a Pepsi signboard, all icy wet with water dripping down it and the huge can of pepsi, lookin' oh-ever-so refreshing in the scorching heat? at times, i wish people would be a bit more considerate of the season. that signboard just makes me wanna find a hidden ramp (ala' GTA), rev up my already broken down car, worned out engine be damned, and drive and fly into that huge pepsi can, and just drown a sweet, fizzy death. and thats just one of the many culprits in and around the country. though, for some odd reason, just buying a can of drinks, and putting it in the fridge for later kinda quenches my thirst. subliminal message? well, it works.
After 9 hours without drinking, and the afternoons are scorching hot, don't lie to me that you wouldn't wanna die drowning in a pool sized cup of this!
then, there's nose and ear picking, nose especially. this may not be a problem to those not suffering from what i call, chronic booger syndrome (nose booger flowing non-stop. also, quite a band name. i should put that in my list), but it's just too much of a temptation. the thing about boogers, in my case, is that, once it solidifies, sometimes, it causes my nose hair to stand out. i'm a wuss, so pulling them out kinda hurts ( i usually tuck them in as i dig my nose). oh, and breathing ain't easy either. though, after sungkai, picking them out is kinda (i'm hesitant to say this) rewarding.reading the above paragraph, can't help but say i sound so immature and and like an 8 year old. whats that you say? what about sex? you tell me. no point asking a 25 year old virgin (i cry before i go to sleep), but if porn counts, eh, not so bad. as long as you "blow" off some steam before going back to sleep after sahur, all is fine.
and then, comes Syawal. ah, how annoying it gets having to think twice before eating, drinking or picking any of your open orifices, cause you're so used to not doing them in the day. only thing out of this month i like is the food and discounts (oh, Most Def, can you not open a restaurant?). i do however prefer Ramadhan over early Syawal. as for the reason, stay tuned for the next episode of..... ABC! (i swear i just noticed that!)
