Sinful guilty pleasures

Whenever I eat something so devilishly rich and exquisitely delicious, I tell people it’s a sinful delicacy. I wanted to say divinely rich, but it didn’t quite complement ‘sinful’, so it became ‘devilish’; more so because the end result of such indulgence usually bears a certain degree of guilt since repentance (in the form of exercise and work outs) is something I don’t have very much will power for. Wonder if that’s why some other people call it guilty pleasures.

Anyhow, working with bosses usually leads me unfailingly towards committing myself to all these sinful delicacies, on a daily basis. Especially because we have lunch appointments with key customers almost daily and they usually consist of fine dining activities; and to add to that, each field trip with accompanying manager entitles the product specialist to a welfare dinner of which I am given the freedom to choose whatever and wherever I want to eat. Besides, the whole time bosses are around, I save considerably in terms of finance in lieu of all the meal expenses being paid for by my manager.

I chose to have my welfare meal today, only because every other lunch period has been taken up with appointments with our pampered clients. The term ‘welfare’ so understates the whole context of it all, but who cares, as long as it’s free, I don’t care if they call it compassionate even. Boss said I could have double coz I missed my last welfare the last trip back coz it was the puasa month and ever other night then was spent having dinner appointments with clients just to accommodate my eating time. So after mentally ticking off the places I’d like to go to, I settled for Sakae Sushi (peppino can wait another time).

As I sat down with my boss in tow, I realized I haven’t been there for quite some time now. It used to be one of my family’s favourite outlets. I immediately felt a sense of familiarity I missed about the place. Its cosy and I’ve always liked it there. I proceeded to order everything we ate, starting with all my favourites. The service was fast as usual and we wasted no time eating, each bite just as sinful as the other. By the time we finished, we’d been there for almost 3 hours, goading the food to slide down our digestives. I didn’t eat that much, not as much as before, but by my current portion standard, it surpassed my daily norm by quite a margin. Boss was slightly bloated as anything I didn’t finish, I pushed his way, so to help ease his sufferings, we went for a walk in jusco each in our own separate ways, easing our stomachs and pleasing our eyes. I ended buying a new set of headphones (I needed that) and after locating him in the electronics section, deep in phone conversation, I signaled him to leave. We were back to work by 3.30pm and ended up confirming another lunch appointment tomorrow (which was all we did). By 4.30pm I was on my back, stuffed and lazy. Boss too appreciated the early end of work for the day, and I couldn’t be much happier to get back home.

I’m here now typing this at home, still full from lunch. I’m skipping dinner tonight, and for now, the thought of food repel me. And the guilt I feel is halfway there, slowly sinking in.

Oh well, at least I have some repenting plans to do this weekend.

The downside is, I have another boss coming to work with me next week, all eager to fulfill their annual field trips quota before year end. Another spate of sinful soiree to attend to. Considering it all taking place within 40 days to my wedding, what bubble busters these are I reckon. So I told them next week is to be the last I would entertain anymore bosses for the year and if anymore wants to come they can either work alone or get someone else to babysit them.

But in a positive light, I get to save ample money from these, and I am now forced to submit myself to constant repenting – which is a good way to start cultivating it as a habit. Personally I wouldn’t worry so much. My stomach has in fact slightly shrunk of late and I seem to have a stronger resistance to food these days (my boss will vouch for me. Even he finds me unusually frugal on my palate).

To fiancé, really, you have no cause for concerns. Be rest assured that I am well contained within my consumption limits.

Anyways, just to spruce up this page, here are some photos of my not-so ‘welfare’ lunch.

Our station, our order screen and the view opposite us.

The usual suspects: my favourite chinmi, chawanmushi, temaki, salmon and unagi sushis and edamame.My whole plate of crabby affairs and not a pinch of crabbiness.

The most sinful dish of the day. Cheese and loads and loads of it on soft succulent chicken.

Drinks and dessert of the green tea variety.

post-script: no, i did not eat all of that on my own except for my chinmi, that plate of soft shell crabs and drinks and dessert. Everything else was shared in half and even then i push most of it to my boss. So stop giving me that mocking wide-eyed look. I'm not that horrible a sinner okay..