8-day Herbalife Trial - DAY 3

One of my pet hates is staring. I go all funny when someone watches me while I'm trying to write, or type, or read an email. I hate it when people stare at me in restaurants or shopping malls. I'm just unfortunate to be an "orang-putih" (white man) in Malaysia. I guess I stick out like a sore thumb!

Today my wife learned how to make the drinks herself and served me very well. However, she kind of put a bit too much ice in the milkshake and I found myself, dressed in t-shirt and shorts in an air-conditioned room, shivering like I was on the North Pole! (Or, more realistically, like I was in England.) One of the distributors there noticed the hairs on my arms standing up tall, while I struggled to stop my jaw from chattering!

Standing outside Kompleks Teruntum in the warm evening air, my super-iced chocolate protein milkshake still pulsing through my veins!

A little less ice and my wife will soon be making the perfect milkshake.

8-day Herbalife Trial - DAY 2

Day 2 was a lot easier than Day 1. I breezed through the drinks, finishing well ahead of my wife. There were just two other people there, two Muslim ladies. One of them looked a little older and had no teeth. I was very amused by her constant burping as she made her way through the drinks! "Angin" she commented in Malay when I looked at her. Later I decided to have a try and let out a long, loud burp. She laughed too! "Angin", I said. ("Angin" means 'air'.)

Here are the three drinks:

The aloe vera intestine cleaner

The lemon and hibiscus antioxidant herbal tea

The protein shake

8-Day Herbalife Trial - DAY 1

Just a little worried as we approached the makeshift 'drinking room' in a quiet secluded corner of Teruntum Complex in Kuantan, I remarked to my wife how it doesn't look like the room of a good, professional company. She gently reminded me that HERBALIFE is fairly new in Pahang and they are in process of shifting premises to Mahkota Square, near the Pahang State Mosque. Herbalife has been in business in Malaysia for around 4-5 years.

A lean distributor named Jess attended to us and sat us down in a corner of the room. She talked me through a little about the drinks and then served us the first one - aloe vera intestine cleaner. It was hard going.

A large group of Malays near the solitary whiteboard chatted energetically before they exited, and shortly after were repalced by another group.

The aloe vera intestine cleaner took a good 10-15 minutes to finish, probably 20. Whilst drinking, Jess shared her experiences with Herbalife and addressed a couple of my questions.

After finally gulping down the last swig of the aloe vera intestine cleaner, I felt quite bloated and wondered if I would be able to manage two more. The plastic cups, complete with my name, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 written vertically, and Jess's name, were a lot more voluminous than I had imagined.

Enter the second drink - the lemon and hibiscus herbal tea antioxidant. This is the fat buster. I was concerned it would burn away what measly fat I do have left, and leave me looking like a skeleton. Jess re-assured me it would be fine and would just clean my body of the bad toxins. I asked in jest if I could 'pass' drink 2 but the answer was 'no!' It was, however, surprisingly easy to drink.

The third drink - Blended soy and whey protein powder - in other words, "Chocolate Milkshake!" By now I was feeling quite good and growing in the confidence that I would be able to complete the three drinks. The chocolate milkshake was thicker than the previous two and had a distinct taste of peanuts, but was definitely the most tasty.

At odds with previous thought, I didn't actually feel too full and was rather chuffed for the rest of the evening! The only question mark that still hovers over my head is precisely what effects I am expecting to see in just a short 8-day trial period.

Anyhow, I'm excited for Day Two.

Stay tuned...

The first Sunday of October

We arose this morning to constant banging from our neighbours upstairs. It went on for a good half hour and was very annoying. "What the hell's going on up there?" I cried. We have had to call the police twice in recent times because of their fighting and shouting with each other, disturbing the peace of the whole block. "Who knows what's going on" I concluded. Sometimes it's better to just keep your nose out of other people's business; sometimes it becomes a necessity to do something about it, like when the previous occupant came running down the stairs with her husband chasing her, yelling to us to call the police as he shaped up to give her a good thump!

My wife is starting work for HERBALIFE which is an American company recently opened its business in Malaysia. It specialises in herbal health drinks which lead to a happier, healthier life. For a long time I have not been interested in all these health supplements because I didn't think they would make a difference and they can be costly. But the saying, "If you don't pay for your health, you will have to pay for your sickness," keeps coming back to my mind. With all the fast food and nasi dagang, nasi lemak and all other fatty, high cholesterol Malay foods, I think I'm not as healthy as I could and should be. (I just love the taste of a good nasi lemak!)

So we're doing an 8-day trial at the Herbalife centre here in Kuantan which involves drinking 3 drinks each day. The first drink is an aloe vera drink which cleans the intestine; second is a tea mix of lemon and hibiscus which is a strong antioxidant; thirdly is a blended soy and whey protein powder concoction. Later this afternoon I'll be having my first session. Yesterday my wife tried the three drinks and amazingly stayed awake until 12 midnight watching the football with me! She's usually flat out on the bed while I watch the second half alone. So I could clearly see she was a lot more energized than usual.

And I just found out that the Barcelona and L.A. Galaxy football teams drink Herbalife products and are sponsored by Herbalife, so, if Lionel Messi and David Beckham drink this stuff, then so can I! I'm a little excited, a little apprehensive about going to drink this stuff, but if it gives me greater energy to play badminton in these stiflingly humid conditions, then that will be great.

My 8-day trial starts later today. So far this morning I have woken up, had our church meeting, then sat down on the sofa and yawned several times, felt quite sleepy and experienced achy legs for a while. Doesn't sound so healthy, right? Maybe my body is just paying the price of all my endeavours during the last week. I cycled to Teluk Chempedak beach, the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple, and the Kuantan Waterfront in the heat of the tropic afternoon, and I could feel at times, the humidity sapping me, draining out moisture from my body. Sunday, our rest day, may be the chance for my body to pay the price with a few aches and pains, before I get ready to brave the coming week...

Or I'm just not optimally healthy.

Let the drinks begin...

(P.S. As I was labelling this post, I can't believe how this is the first time I have ever mentioned David Beckham on my blog! His label didn't exist before today!)

Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple, Kuantan

The Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple in the heart of Kuantan draws people in for its colours and numberless statues on its roofs. Situated near the fire station a stone's throw from the Darulmakmur Stadium, it is a sight to behold.

Every major religion under the Sun can be found in Malaysia. While we must admit that there are gently simmering hostilities between the religions, it is relatively peaceful and harmonious when compared with other plural society countries. It is not uncommon to find mosques, hindu temples, chinese temples and churches on the same street in Malaysia, and sometimes even lined up beside each other.

My visit to the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple was a different experience to my previous visits to the PAHANG STATE MOSQUE AND PAHANG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION and to the SIKH TEMPLE. The Pahang State Mosque is intricately designed with beautiful symmetrical patterns and graceful Arabic calligraphy adorning the walls. The Pahang Buddhist Association combines a temple containing a huge statue of Buddha with beautiful gardens and a lake. The Sikh temple was stunningly simple in design, with lovely carved wooden doors and glittering chandeliers. However, the one thing all these places had in common was reverent silence.

Here is the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple in Kuantan. Here there were bright colours in abundance. I even engaged in a conversation with an Indian woman who was there to clean the temple. We spoke at length about how I came to be in Kuantan and I was able to share with her my appreciation of the lovely temple we were in, my beliefs about God, a living prophet, and other Christian doctrines, which she received with humility. It was easy to share these things with her. Since we were in a hindu temple I related to her about our Christian temples and a little about the work that goes on there. From the Book of Mormon we read of former Christian missionaries: "and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them."

These curious little black stone statues were the most intriguing part of my visit to the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple. Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity to ask a few questions I had in mind to the Indian lady there.