Fussy Puss

I am fussy pussy. Yes, I admit it. Fussy, choosy, finicky, fastidious, particular – that’s me. I’m fussy about the company my pussy keeps, the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the TV shows I watch, the books I read... I guess that makes me appear difficult to please and I suppose I somewhat am.

I’ve gotten particularly finicky about what I eat: I don’t like greasy or oily food or food that has a lot of oil or fat in it. I’m so fussy I don’t mind spending time picking all the cut/chopped/shredded chillies, pieces of eggs (I don’t mind eggs being part of the ingredient of cake or biscuits or ice-cream but not if they appear on the food like tiny pieces in my fried rice) and certain vegetables from my meal and setting them aside. I try not to eat rice more than once a day (except on weekends where it’s not practical to cook another meal just so I can skip rice during lunch) and this has caused some minor problem whenever I travel with dad: he wants rice for lunch and dinner while I’m fine if I don’t eat rice at all. So we have to find an eatery where he can have his rice and I can have something else. In some places like Sibu, the hawkers don’t much like it if you sit at their table but order food from another stall (guess they’re fussy as well).

I don’t like to eat rice if there is no gravy dish or soup dish i.e. if there’re only ‘dry’ dishes like fried fish and the local salad (or ulam) – I’d feel like I can’t swallow my rice. I don’t mind ordering fried rice than having the headache of choosing the rice dishes that I may not enjoy. Also, guess what? I don’t like a lot of local food like roti canai, curry and nasi kandar and will not order them if I can help it. In other words, I don’t like mamak food and don’t go to mamak.

Funnily enough, I can be the very opposite of fussy when I travel alone. I don’t mind trying out the local fare (unlike some people who still insist on having rice) – though I’m still fussy enough not to want anything that looks strange, I don’t mind skipping meals, and I don’t mind having only bread or snacks for sustenance (on normal days, I dislike bread and hardly eat it). I don’t need to pack chillies or rendang just so I can have some hot and spicy food because I don’t much care for hot and spicy food (I do love a good hot assam dish or asam pedas – nothing too spicy, mind).

I suppose it sounds like I’m difficult to travel with. And speaking of travel, I’d prefer travelling solo than travelling with someone for the sake of the company which I may later not enjoy.

I don’t know I get to be so fussy over time but it’s probably because I was generally an uncomplaining and unfussy person back when I was growing up (you eat what you’re told and what’s served in front of you), at boarding school (if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it and so I skipped many meals. This has the undesirable effect of messing up my diet and body weight and hormones) and at uni (you don’t have time to cook elaborate fancy meals and I’m not a foodie so I didn’t mind frozen pizzas and instant food). Or maybe I’ve always been a fussy person but I didn’t have much choice back then: it’s either eating or starving and the opportunity cost involved (spending time cooking food that you like or utilising that time to study).

Or maybe it’s only natural to be particular and demanding as we grow up as we are exposed to more choices and improve our standard of living (so tell me it isn’t just me!).