The lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarian goes Paleo...

When I was young & impressionable (16 years old), I decided to stop eating farmed animals.

Image from here

After seeing some ham packaged similar to the one above in the supermarket, I thought emo-ly "How can the pig be smiling if it was raised in a box, killed & vacuumed packaged?!"

Since then I tried my best to avoid meat - though admittedly I should not be eating farmed fish, dairy (especially cheese since enzyme from the stomach lining of calves are used to make it!) and eggs if I were very strict about sticking to my principles. So for social reasons, I drink my mom's meaty soups and I eat meat when I'm in the village (unfortunately for me, as tough as it is to eat meat, sometimes I get served fermented meat in the village!!!)..

For the first year I stopped eating meat, passing a KFC outlet drove me mad. And for 2-3 years every Chinese New Year, I salivated whenever I smelt smoked pork (bak kuah/ chee yok korn). BBQ-ed lamb was also another teaser.

However it is safe to say that I lost of liking for those food. During NOI, I tasted lamb for the first time after almost 10 years and did not want to have more...

Note: That's not me eating the lamb. I tried two dainty, bite sized pieces off Jonson's plate.. using a fork!

Now, not able to have my daily yogurt, milk & other great processed foods reminded me of the time when I just went lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarian (aka fishytarian). It was a great mental challenge - but at least I'm not going through this alone this time.

Just like how most people would be appalled by eating monkey meat (while I have some friends who swear by how delicious they taste, especially the fingers).... it is how I feel about meat in general.

My car sticker

Maybe after these 30 days, we will become wiser about processed food and view it in the same light as eating a monkey.

"Oh that is delicious" said my friend to me when I showed her photos I took from the Bako National Park.

p.s: Feels great writing not-for-work-related-stuff.