Thursday, August 9, 2007

National day and a not-so-ok BBQ

Today is Singapore's National Day, happy holiday to all Singaporeans, I hope you enjoyed the fireworks as much as I do :)

Today I went to bendeemer marketplace again and found a small stall selling fried local food such as banana, green bean cake, yam cake, etc. I bought the green bean cake and yam cake. The yam cake was great! It also had some ocassional small chunks of yam in it. The stall is located near junction in the marketplace leading to the bendemeer hawker centre. There are also a couple of stalls selling tu tu kueh at 3 for $1 at the market place.

The last two days have been quite tiring as I had to prepare for the BBQ yesterday night which last till the wee hours of the morning. It was a meat BBQ and I had my own area on the grill for my own veg stuff as I am the odd-one-out there. I tried to use eggplant in the BBQ, but they took so long to grill and it taste half-cooked, I am glad my friends didn't try it LOL.. I guess I shld have slice them thinner. To make things worse, I forgot to bring my vegan margarine along, and I used oil for brushing instead. I brought a pack of vegetarian fish balls and what my mum call "vegetarian kidneys" (eeks! What a name!). The "kidneys" were almost tasteless, but much better after grilling. But it took so long to grill as well. Perhaps that's why I didn't even feel hungry anymore. I told myself I must learn to be a really good cook, otherwise, it will be a bad image for vegans and vegetarians wouldn't it?

I have a collegue at work who's a Christian. She was a vegetarian before she became a Christian. She tells me biblical information about why meat should be eaten and about animals having no soul. I had always thought that real Christians would be very nice people which was true, for she was very kind and helpful and even treated me to lunch. But I can't agree with her on the point that I should eat meat. When you look at the scences of slaughter, you'll just know. You feel the pain in your heart and it's something you can't fool yourself and say "they are dying happily".

I have been eating lunch alone these few days as my collegues didn't call me along. Although I am not really used to it, it's better than them feeling they have to accommodate me whenever they do lunch.

14 comments:

r0ck0nz! said...

hello fellow vegetarian! happy national day! just thought you might want to visit our vegetarian restaurant site! http://yummy-xinmin.blogspot.com/ thanks!

urban vegan said...

Sorry it didn't go as planned--but it was a funny story.

I hate when people justify their own participation in cruelty in the name of religion...Tell your friend that there's a lot of biblical evidence that Jesus was a vegetarian. And St Francis, of course. And the Buddha. And though the prophet Mohammed was not vegetarian, he preferred veggie foods and had a great compassion for animals.

Long story short--if it was good enough for them, it's good enough for me!

Anonymous said...

Hehe.. I never tried veg* BBQ before yet. I'll take not to slice the veggies real thin before grilling. :P

Hmmm.. I feel human always use religions to justify what they do...

Fredrik said...

-Take a slice of aluminium foil. Wrap it, at least twice, for strength
-Fill with veggies but slice them in appropriate sizes first. I prefer potatoes, carrots, celery, peppers, but you can use almost all of vegetables.
-mix olive oil with spices, salt and herbs
-pour oil over the veggies and close the foil
-put on grill (and you don't really need to worry about meat-free zones)
-cook until ready. Potatoes usually are the limiting factor.
-enjoy a great meal!

I don't know, but I think a bbq with meaties is a good place to avoid mock meat. YOU are the one who will be mocked!

Fredrik said...

Regarding Christianity and meat. Isn't it so that the Bible only allows people to eat meat? It doesn't give any reasons for why we should eat meat, does it?

zweiya said...

Oh i think you have missed this black pepper mock steaks and burger patties at NTUC, they are the must for bbq. Pre-seasoned.

Those "vegetarian kidneys" you mentioned need seasonings. Even those mock 'mutton balls' (which are better for bbq) would taste better if you seasoned it with mushroom sauce. :)

I guess the one with no 'soul' are the one who can turn their heart away from the brutality of slaughtered animals. Not that i believe in soul theory but what is animals to them? mmm, machines or A.I? Sad.

To make you feel better i had lunch alone for 3years till my a new colleague join me. I'm lucky that she's easy-going, but i'm prepared even if she's not. I guess it's nothing personal, just personal ethnics and preferences :)

Jari (travelling-vegan) said...

Edanator has good BBQ suggestions there, I'd like to just add mushrooms and corn, real easy and always works.

As for the Christian thing, I have half a family of "born again" Christians who certainly don't try to claim the Bible would tell them to eat meat, but they do use it as a last resort when they can't find any other argument as to why they should not. The 7th Day Adventists are vegetarian of course. But don't take my word for it, here's a direct quote from the Bible (King James version):
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."
(Genesis, 1:29-30)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like what happened to me a while back-- the BBQ that is. The vegetables grill up very quickly if you marinate 'em first (if it's possible). Or slice 'em up about 2cm thick and rub some oil+herbs- they come out real good. Also if you have time try par-boiling them-goes a long way in reducing the cooking time.

jn said...

Oh, thank you everyone who gave some tips abt BBQ-ing.. Now, I'll have an idea what to cook.. Hehe..
I once invited some friends over for BBQ and I purposely did not invite my two vegetarian friends as I am not sure what to cook for them.

Btw, dreamy, I don't feel it's anything weird to eat lunch alone. I do that for more than 7yrs! haha.. In fact I prefer to eat alone, rather than listen to gossips.. :P

dreamy said...

Hi UV, I am afraid I am not well-verse in the Bible to do so..

Now that u mentioned it, I realise many ppl will think you are religious once you tell them you are vegetarian in Singapore - did u experience that too VB?

Eda, are there any veggies that can be grilled directly? That sounds like a good point point, I think the Bible just allows it.

That must be hard for you Zlyrica, 3 years of lunches alone! I wonder if I will experience that soon hahah... but I guess we will all get use to it. I am trying to see where are the other veg places ard my workplace, at least even if I eat alone, I won't have to eat from the same place everyday. :)

Now that you reminded me Jari, I did told her the everyone was vegetarian before the fall, but I was told smth about making no difference before or after the fall, so I gave up.

Ah I did marinate them... but they still took quite a while, I guess boiling them is better..

VB u beat Zlyrica to it! Hmm that's true, I can actually taste my food really well when I eat alone, but sometimes I can learn about worklife by chatting hehe

Anonymous said...

Yeah, a few ppl actually ask me is it that I am a Buddhist? I told them I am free thinker. :)

Anonymous said...

I prefer to lunch alone, then i have the time to go shopping, do some errands. One other reason that i don't stick to one group for lunch, i don't like to be confined to only one group. Is this good, i don't know.

Sometimes, i will ask them where are they going for lunch, if that place have veg food, i invite myself or just say i going there too. So, if they go to those foodcourts with veg. food, they will ask me to come along. If they have secret to talk abt, then, they won't ask me along :p

Sometimes, i just ask one or two and buy them veg. lunch, of course, i need to get some snack for the others too lah. So, i still get to hear a bit juicy news from the grapevine ( just don't believe everything :) ).

--crystal

dreamy said...

It's good you have time to do some errands :)! Usually if I stroll around, I will not have much time left for lunch.

Roslyn Duvall said...

It's true that the Bible just allows people to eat meat rather than commanding them to, and it didn't allow them to until after Noah's flood. Before then, everyone was vegetarian, including the animals (see Travegan's quote).

Then here's a passage about the Messianic era (what it will be like in the future):
Isa 11:6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

On the humane treatment of animals:
Pro 12:10 Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
Deu 25:4 "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.

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