Free Fridays: The V word.
5 December 2025
Can I please tell you a story about how I’ve grown up?
Well, I’m gonna anyway.
So earlier this week, I had a lunch date with Asma’. As usual, we couldn’t decide where to eat – takde options, salah, banyak options, salah… Since I arrived in the area first, I said ok I’ll walk around and decide for us. She was more than happy to delegate this big life decision to me.
I walked past a few restaurants. Hmmm, rice dishes – too heavy. Walked some more, noodles place – too bloating. Walked some more, a pasta place – gluten central. Walked some more, I found a place that was filled with fruits and vegetables and brown eco-vibes. It was called Dusun. Hmmm, what is this place? They had a fridge with cold fruits and cold juices. It felt heavenly on a hot day like this.
I saw tables and chairs so I thought maybe they offer food as well. I walked in and went to the counter, “Hi, can I see the menu, please?”. The lady gave me the menu and that’s when I realized – omg this was a vegetarian restaurant. Everything in the menu was healthy and had green things that looked like kale.
I whispered to ask the lady, “Ohh, is this a… vegetarian restaurant?”
She leaned to me over the counter and whispered back, “Yes it is…”
Both of us probably wondering why on earth were we whispering to each other.
For me, it was natural. It’s like saying a bad word – vegetables. Can’t say it too loud. Later people hear.
I smiled at her, said thank you and walked out.
If you don’t know me (why are you here?!), I’ve always been “allergic” to vegetables. Since young, I don’t eat vegetables. It’s not like my parents didn’t try – they’d force it on me, they’d scold me about it, they’d blend it in the bolognese sauce, they tried everything! I was such a stubborn child that when I went to restaurants and they’d force me to eat the broccolis, I’d take them and drop them under the table when they weren’t looking. They’d be so happy seeing my plate empty, but the restaurant waiter was probably not so happy finding the green treasures under the table skirting. *please forgive me now, waiter, I was a little child…*
So I grew up a carnivore and relied on fibre from fruits alone. I even developed a life skill - to take out every vegetable that was in my dish. Literally, every taugeh, every cabbage strip no matter how thin, I could take it out. You know those Thai fish cakes? I could take out every single green bit that’s embedded in it. It’s truly a skill, Masyaallah. 😂
Now I’m 37.
I’m always constipated and I have developed lupus – I do believe the lupus was also triggered by bad eating habits for decades. My body was fine, until it wasn’t fine anymore – so I hope this can also be a wake up call for my other bad diet homies out there. Marilah kita bertaubat bersama-sama.
This woke me up to be wiser in making choices about my health. My whole lifestyle changed, as I’ve shared before – exercise is consistent, I take vege juice every morning (I don’t breathe because I don’t want to smell it!), I drink a lot of water, I take good supplements, I sleep early and wake up early. And I’ve never felt better.
As for me and vegetables, we’re still working on our relationship. It’s not easy for me to chew it in my mouth and taste, I still have the gag reflex that I can’t control. But yesterday, I ate sawi voluntarily and I found myself buying lettuce from the supermarket earlier too. So there’s hope here to repair our estranged relationship. You can laugh at this – I actually made doa. Can you imagine?! “Ya Allah, please make it easy for me to eat vegetables” – literally the words after my prayers. These are things that He created - I want to love it and not mock it! Something so natural to you, yet something so foreign to me. Sometimes I wonder if something traumatic happened in my childhood with broccoli – why am I like this?!
Anyway, back to my lunch place hunt.
I walked down the street to see other restaurant choices – didn’t find any that tickled my fancy.
Suddenly, the unthinkable happened. My body automatically turned around, and I found my legs walking themselves back into the vegetarian place. What is happening? I have always said “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a vegetarian restaurant”, yet now my entire body is walking there voluntarily. From my legs to my throat that suddenly craved a smoothie bowl.
The lady smiled at me. Tulah, tadi eksyen, her smile implied.
“H-h-hi again,” I managed to croak. “Can I see the menu again?”
I ordered a few things, and when it came to the smoothie bowl, she asked, “Santan or kefir?”
Ok, new language.
What on earth is kefir?
Sounds like kafir, so I didn’t order that.
“Santan,” I answered confidently, internally asking why would my fruits need santan – isn’t santan for my kari tulang?
It turned out to be so delicious, guys!
You won’t believe how significant that lunch was in my life journey. It’s something I was so anti of for so long, yet now my life is turning around for the better. You really should never say never, because life gets you somehow and you’ll do exactly what you said you would never do. So be careful with sentences that start with “I will never…”.
That night, I proudly showed my friends a photo of my lunch. “Look, look, I went to a vegetarian restaurant!”
They were shocked, knowing me and my “allergy”.
When they saw the photo, they said, “You were at a vegetarian restaurant… but where’s the vege?”
Shoosh. Don’t ruin this for me.
Before you go…
December is my birthday month! My gift to you is a discount on the paid subscription package: 20% off for the annual subscription of Sincerely, Vivy. Time to tell your friends who like to read also! Click here to redeem the offer —> https://sincerelyvivy.substack.com/birthdaymonth
Before you really go…
Let me know you’ve read this. Comment “ok you’re vegetarian” on my latest post at @sincerelyvivy.
See you there! :)
lol you made a whole post and there’s not a veggie in sight 🤣🤣🤣 step one just entering the place
Hahahah