Love at first bite

Our columnist meets and eats a mac and cheese burger he cannot forget. THE thing I love most about travwere only serving a late night And I’m a guy that’s had a lot of burger arrived, I immediately bly, it was because, instead of my eling is eating. I was in Las Vegas menu that consisted only of about burgers. took a picture of it. And in the buns being lightly buttered and last month, and decided to take six choices. I wasn’t overly optiRemember Johnny Depp’s charweeks that have passed since that gently toasted, they were stale the advice of their infamous slomistic. acter in Once Upon A Time In moment, I have found myself gazand burnt over an open fire. gan: “What happens in Vegas, I spotted a mac and cheese Mexico? He goes around ordering longingly at that photo, Whatever it was, my mac and stays in Vegas”. And so, I ate with burger, which had apparently ing the traditional Mexican remembering the fleeting cheese burger did not resemble reckless abandon. won awards in New York, but I Puerco Pibil because that’s a moment I had with those pieces my burger love in Las Vegas.

Okay, that’s not what people chose it mostly because I didn’t thing he does. He wants to taste of grilled beef smothered in Or maybe it’s just because I’m picture happening when they picwant the other five selections. the dish everywhere. Well, that’s cheese and pasta. not the best cook in the world. My ture sin city, but that’s what I did. And this led to a moment I’ve just like me and burgers. Save for And when looking at these phofriend constantly bags on me over

Big buffet- style breakfasts with been thinking about ever since. the fact that Depp’s character kills tos, I actually am hit with pangs my “famous” bbq chicken, burnt fluffy pancakes and lots of syrup, The burger came, garlic butthe chefs who make a good of sadness and remorse, because on the outside, raw and rich with huge steaks with white beers at tered bun gleaming in the Puerco Pibil just to “restore the burger is gone. And I live in salmonella on the inside. lunch, and brilliant Mexican cuilight, the burger the balance” ... I don’t Hong Kong, and the mac and In any case, the first attempt sine that made me scream out for smothered in creamy tend towards hurting cheese burger is so far away. didn’t go so well. thirds and fourths – at least metamacaroni and anyone, especially Well, I decided to do what any But it’s a mac and cheese burgphorically, since I didn’t want to cheese. Thick slices people who cook love lost sap would do when sepaer, I can make another attempt, actually pay for thirds and of grilled bacon good food. rated from their love. and another, because this mac fourths. were tantalisingBut I’m not a I’ve decided to make my own. and cheese burger is my white

But the winner for me was Guy ly visible under big take- photosOkay, I know that’s not really whale. It is my Frankenstein. I Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen, which was a the bun. of- my- meals what you do in relationships, that will work obsessively on until it place we went to late on the first When I bit into kind of guy. In would be sort of creepy and deslives! Or at least until I can eat it night in town because we missed the burger – mac fact, I’m anti- takeperate, but it’s a burger. A mac without making a face like it dinner and it was the only place and cheese sliding photos- of- my- meals, and cheese burger. I can make hurts. open. off the sides, as I because I don’t underthat. Then, maybe, I can stop staring

It looked like an over- decorated laboured to get my mouth around stand it. You take photos of the Or so I thought. at that photo of a burger on my North American sports bar. And everything – it didn’t disappoint. good times in life to remember Maybe the problem was I’d phone, and then perhaps my balyes, I know North American There was some kind of sauce, how you felt. You don’t take phonever made macaroni and cheese ance will be restored. sports bars are, by definition, tomatoes, and all of it came tos of food to reminisce, well, that before; or maybe it was that my over decorated. But this was even together to make Guy Fieri’s Mac burger made me understand why grill wasn’t oiled enough and the more overdone. and Cheese Burger the best burgpeople take pictures of food. beef patties broke apart when I

Upon sitting, we realised they er I’d ever had. But when the mac and cheese tried to scrape them off; or possi- Time we consider working on our own mental game to improve our physical condition.

THERE is something awe- inspiring in seeing Olympic athletes display sheer mastery in their sport, pushing their honed and toned bodies to the limits of human strength and endurance. The “lightning bolt”, Usain Bolt, has repeatedly burst world records for running speed, zipping to golds in three Olympic games. Our own Datuk Lee Chong Wei carried the heavy burden of the hopes of a nation through three Olympics, emerging with silvers in all.

The golds are the grand prizes, but just to be an Olympic athlete is a feat in itself. Every athlete performing in the games at Rio was a master, a winner, excelling in his or her sporting field.

The display of human physical prowess was not the only objective of the original games in Olympia. The ancient Greeks valued the holistic development of mind, body and spirit, and thus, spiritual and mental strength were as valued as the physical.

The original “gymnasiums” in ancient Greece, including the noted Academy, were centres for sporting and scholarly pursuits. The Greek ideal was a healthy body and mind.

It was felt the path to physical perfection inevitably involved developing desirable traits, such as discipline, endurance and patience.

In today’s Olympics, we barely consider such incorporeal aspects. Perhaps, at best in Rio, there was the inclusion of refugees, a touching gesture of humanity. Otherwise, the human spirit or mind stays in the shadows.

But a wisp of the original ideals of the games still lives on somewhat. On a personal level, many modern Olympians can testify how their training has built character and how they overcame tough mental battles to succeed.

Bolt began “training” as a boy when his father ordered him to carry buckets of water over miles to the family home in Trelawny, Jamaica, which had no running water. That experience, Bolt has said, made him strong, physically and mentally.

Imagine the mental pressure that our badminton players were under in Rio, with the whole nation pinning their expectations on them.

Not surprisingly, there is now a trend to employ psychologists in sports; they help athletes cope and

build resilience, by, for example, simulating high pressure situations.

Cara Bradley, a mental strength coach to athletes, says Olympic athletes have to have a “fierce focus” – the capacity to be fully immersed in an activity, shutting out all internal and external distractions, such as anxiety, cameras or noisy crowds. Some experts refer to this as “being in the flow” or “mindfulness”.

Other techniques used include self- talk to pep up spirits, reframing for new perspectives, visualising desired outcomes, writing down goals or meditation to stay calm. At 12, Michael Phelps wrote down his goal to be an Olympian; later he wrote exact times for each race – and got them.

Phelps has said mental toughness is critical, and identified this as the weak spot in the Australian swim team. Indeed, mental strength gives elite athletes the cutting edge.

As gold medallist gymnast

Shannon Miller explained in a Huffington Post article: “In the Olympic games, everyone is talented. Everyone trains hard ... What separates the gold medallists ( from others) is simply the mental game.” Perhaps, we should consider our own mental game to improve our own physical condition. What mental barriers have we set up? What is our internal dialogue? “That’s too hard for me” or “I can’t run that far”? Our limits of endurance may be set in our mind. If you feel age is a barrier, think again. While it’s true that athletic performance does drop with every decade – which matters for professionals – there are still many superb older athletes. Robert Marchand is a champion cyclist – and a centenarian. Then there is the “Iron Nun” who does triathlons. Sister Madonna Bruder is a record- breaking Ironman triathlete who now fea- at aso o fre o o Life s ire stro e o

tures in a Nike ad campaign. Oh, did I mention she’s 86? The only failure, the Iron Nun says, “is not to try.”

And exercise is definitely worth trying for. The benefits of exercise are so plentiful that I could write a whole column on it. It helps protect us against all the big chronic diseases – heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and so on. It helps beat ageing, clears our minds, improves memory and protects against Alzheimer’s. And it is an elixir for the spirit, helping combat depression. So go on, try. Consider yourself an Olympic athlete in training. Stay focussed, practice mindfulness, do the positive self- talk, have a training plan, and whatever it takes to get the mental game right. The personal benefits of mind over matter may well be olympic for our health in the long run.

a ai a ase ara rites ost o ea t b t a so e ves i to a t i o bei a e as or e it i ter atio a b i ea t bo ies a as a asters i b i ea t