In Surabaya

From Sydney to Surabaya... I'm in Indonesia leading some students on an overseas immersion programme. It's been 6 days since I arrived and it's been a struggle as far as watching my diet is concerned. I'm staying with a host family so I've pretty much been busting my diet with the food my host family has been feeding me. They're really hospitable so they've been buying all sorts of yummy local food for me to try... from lemper to bak pau to pestel (a curry puff with tanghoon/vegetable fillings). And well... in order not to offend, I've had to at least try one of the stuff they buy... and I must admit most of them are quite yummy. The other thing about eating out in Surabaya is that it's really hard to find vegetable dishes! Most of the dishes I see in the food courts are usually deep fried and drowned in some sweet sauce/peanut sauce. Even the soupy dishes are pretty oil laden like the every popular Soto Ayam. But the surprising thing is, although I see the Indonesians eating all the sinful food, they don't seem to be extremely overweight.

Well, I'm trying hard to eat in moderation but I think I am failing... just hope I don't put on too much weight before my 10km run. It would be wonderful if I basically was able to keep stable at the end of the trip.

The good news though is that there is a gym just barely 30m away from my host family's place. So, I'm glad to say, in the six days I'm here, i've visited the gym twice. It costs 75000 rupiahs per visit which is about 12bucks. The gym is pretty huge but most of the equipment, though functional, is pretty old. But hey... all I need are some weights and the ever reliable elliptical/treadmill. Running in the open is almost definitely a no-no here. Roads aren't well constructed and it doesn't really feel safe/clean running in along the roads. So, until I return home, it will probably be doing some interval training on the elliptical. Hope I'm able to keep up the training for the 10km run.

The other good thing is there are some outdoor activities. Will be going on a 3-day, 2 night outdoor trek tomorrow. Hopefully I'll use it to burn off some of the extra food I've been eating and not end up snacking and piling on the calories again. :)

Will be home in a week... a little scared to face the scales and my 9km route....