Pent-up cravings are dangerous. They make me eat more than I should in moments of weakness, break my low-protein diet and cause me to worry no end if I had caused my kidneys more damage. Most of those cravings are for meat dishes, if not meat then food high in purine and those that make me itch.

After 6 years of attempting to carefully watch my diet, I still succumb to such temptations every now and then, especially when Wuan and I make trips to Ipoh and Penang. There are simply too much good food in these two places to ignore. It is in Ipoh that I usually throw caution to the wind; invariably, at Restoran Wong Koh Kee, where the food is simply too delicious to resist.

Thankfully, it is not that often we travel up north to these two food paradises. Thankfully, too, Wuan keeps a close watch on what I put into my mouth. The look in her eyes when I am about to binge is enough to tame my cravings, however great they may be. She also keeps my diet in check by ensuring that my lunch on most weekdays are healthy and balanced.

Life is less flavourful when I need to watch what I eat all the time. I console myself with the fact that there are more interesting things to life than just delicious food. There are still sights to see, sounds to hear and sensations to feel. Being able to fully enjoy three out of those four is not that bad. Most importantly, I am alive. That desire to be alive longer so that I can spend more time with Wuan is the best deterrent to not succumb to my cravings.

Today is the first time I feel fully invigorated in a long while. I woke up energised to the hilt and ready to go. There was none of the tiredness that I have been experiencing on most days for the past few years. Usually, I would become tired around 4pm and take a 2 hour nap. Even then, I would still wake up tired.

It has been more than 9 hours since my day started and I am still at my peak. I did not even take a nap today. I am wondering if the chrysanthemum tea I drank at Zun Express at The Gardens Mall yesterday has something to do with this. If only every day is like today. I have a feeling I am going to have a good week ahead.

Our pet cat Cheeky.

Cheeky is 24 years old already, in cat years that is. He has been with us for two years and has grown up to be a handsome feline. His fur is generally white except for a small patch on his tail that looked more like a smudge than part of him. Other than that, he is pink all over – his ears, his paw pads and everything else not covered by his white fur. His nose gets even pinkier when he is excited.

Although he is neutered, he can be aggresive at times. The multiple scars on Wuan’s hands and legs are testament to that. He has been very gentle to me, though. Whenever I took noon naps, he would hop onto the bed, purr loudly into my ear to get me to extend my hand for him to rub his face against. If I ignored him, he would put his front paws on my belly and gently knead until I extended my hand for him.

On the other hand, he only responds to our calls as and when he wishes. The times that he responded, he would amble from wherever he was at, usually from the back of the house, and nonchalantly walk pass us. He would then lie down, keeping slightly more than arm’s length distance from us so that we would not be able to touch him. Those times, we wished we had adopted a puppy instead.