Obesity in UK

Hello from England! I’m posting again in less than two weeks, someone give me a medal.

Obesity in England is pretty well known. I don’t know if it’s stressed enough, however, how fat we’re getting.

Let me say it now.

We’re really large.

What with the World Cup running now, I hope it’s inspiring a lot of people to get out and do sports. I know I am – lost quite a bit of weight this week. Gained it all after having a magnum, but my fitness has increased a lot. Maybe it’s the fact I’m in high school – there are lots of sports going on, so I enjoy participating in them.

NHS calls obesity a “epidemic”. I disagree – it isn’t an epidemic. It’s been a gradual climb up, just no one really realised it. It irritates me that politicians are wanting a “sugar tax”. Pardon my language, but that’s a load of tosh!

We’ve survived these past thousand years without any laws, and now suddenly the human race has to be dependent to stay fit? Why is eating healthily such a chore for us? Why is going outside such a hassle?

It shouldn’t be: it should be a way of life. Soak in the sunshine, run around a bit, talk to friends. Do anything other than holing yourself up in your room. I used to do that – be a little hobbit in my room. My attitude towards things changed so much, my laziness increased, my weight went up, fitness went down, socialising was nil. Finally woke myself up from it thanks to a bit of help, and now I can enjoy life. I’m probably making myself out to be an overweight ass, but I’m really not 😉

I just get disgusted when I see “Weight Watchers” “Guilt Free” and all that other bull. YOU DO NOT NEED THAT! Just eat normally with normal portions and go out and have fun.

I’d much rather be a health freak than a slob, quite frankly. At least then I’ll be comfortable with my body and unafraid to show skin.

It sickens me. UK is the same as America and India, but people make out to be just behind them. We’re not, we’re easily side by side with these countries.

I sincerely hope the World Cup inspires a lot more people to go out now it’s happening.

– Tanvi x

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Hidden Río

 

 

 

It’s the World Cup, & I thought it would be appropriate to make a World Cup themed post. The poverty of Brazil is widely known, but people don’t really recognise how serious it is. I had a real wake up call, simply going on to Google Maps Street View & looking for myself. Others would say, “Hello, you’ve not really gone to Río and seen this, so how do we truly know?” and to that question, I reply with these photographs. I don’t think much else needs to be said. The ramshackle houses, narrow streets & huts clustered together leave little to the imagination.

Some graffiti.

Do I have the audacity to say “This is the real Río not shown on TV?”

No. I do not. But this is one side not publicised very much. If these two photos are not evidence enough, I will post more on.

– Tanvi

 

 

Japan – Azuki Buns

I am going to stop apologising for my constantly late posts, because if I continue, then every single one will start with a “sorry.” Sorry, though!

I have always had a fascination with Japan. Can you blame me? I think it’s a wonderful country with a rich, diverse culture and mouth watering foods. Their history is so intriguing, and the language is just beautiful.

Because of my passion for the land of the rising sun, I am going to keep accounts of my journey as I start learning Japanese and cooking different foods. It will be an account that I can reflect upon in my later life – will I stick to it? Or will it all flounder? (My bet is the floundering, but may as well try it anyway!)

Today I made some anman – Sweet Azuki Bean Buns. I don’t have  a photograph, but this is how it looked:

A steamed bun with Azuki Bean paste inside.

They were delicious, and I used this recipe, because I forgot to buy yeast for the occasion. I used canned Azuki Sweet Bean paste, which I had bought from an Oriental Supermarket in Manchester when I had visited Chinatown. However, they are found in most Asian stores, but supermarkets such as Tesco do not stock them. It is a shame, really, because it means for eastern foods I have to travel into the city centre, which I don’t do often. My mother also gets quite fed up of going to the store, because I beg her so often!

There were a couple of problems with my anman though. I misread the recipe and dumped all the water in one go. The dough got incredibly sticky and was a real pain. Consequently, I added a lot more flour while kneading, and so the buns tasted very floury. The Azuki Bean Paste, in my opinion, is also too sweet, so I advise that if you decide to buy canned bean paste, you have a  very strong sweet tooth. I’m sure homemade paste will taste a lot better – yesterday I bought some canned Azuki Beans, and am planning on making my own paste.

In major UK supermarkets, the beans are down as “Aduki Beans” instead of Azuki Beans. So yes – they are the same thing!

Anman is perfect for a breakfast or a snack, and I really do love them. The recipe on Hiro’s website is lovely (she uses a lot of pantry ingredients, so you don’t have to go out of your way to buy yeast) so saves on a lot of stress.

– Tanvi x

 

Rebooting . . .

I have deleted all posts prior to this, as a nice fresh start to Spring.

There is also a new segment!

Journey Through Japan.

Follow me as I entice your senses with delicious food, language lessons and an exploration of my favourite country’s culture. All in the comfort of my own home! 

I love Japan, and seeing as I’m not going to get any plane tickets to there anytime soon, I can experiment here in rainy old England.

The first post kickstarting this is “Azuki Bean Bun.” Each Japan post has a hyperlink at the bottom which will take you to the Japan category. Hopefully these posts will accumulate and I will have a fabulous collect at the end of it all.

– Tanvi x