I have been eating really well lately. My mother has excelled herself with adapting some of my childhood favourites to macrobiotic standards. For example, a fish moolie, sans salt, chilli and coconut cream but using instead organic, unsweetened soya milk. It was surprisingly good and I did not miss the salt at all.

Last night was a major culinary triumph for her - mee rebus, macrobiotic style. For those who are not mee rebus cognoscenti, this is a noodle dish with a gravy made from sweet potato and dried shrimp (or beef stock,depending on which ethnic group's mee rebus we are talking about). My mother uses a recipe handed down from my grandmother. No specific portions of anything, just 'a handful of this, a soupcon of that, sweet pototo - aga-aga, lah...'. Totally a family secret recipe. Strictly speaking, shrimp is not mainstream macrobiotic, but anchovies are, which is what we put in instead of shrimp.

If you use wholewheat noodles, this is totally macrobiotic, and if you also have a boiled salad starter, which we had, it is macrobiotic in food proportions too. The result was surprisingly fantastic!

When I tell my friends (foodies all)I am macrobiotic, they cringe, and feel sorry for me. They think I now lead a life of deprivation. Although my mother cooks the stuff, she refuses to eat it - hats off to her for at least cooking it! But you know, I am totally absorbed with trying new recipes, making substitutions and coming up with meals that support my need for widely varied meals in any single week. In my family, we are used to eating a variety of cuisines in any one week - Western, Malay, Nonya, Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern, Greek, - you name it. Traditional macriobotic cuisine, in the sparse Japanese Zen tradition, is an initial shocker. But I am discovering that the joy of macrobiotic cooking is taking the principles and making them into a cuisine that is totally unique to you.

And that is the heart of the macrobiotic philosophy - flexibility, and enjoyment of food (and life). This is yet another journey of discovery that I am beginning to enjoy. And this is totally compatible with the lifestyle and philosophy that cancer survivors find themselves having to inculcate.

So, for lunch it will be - oil-less fried brown rice with chickpeas, stinky bean (petai to those have been initiated!), daun kedok (sp? - a herb lost to HDB development, but still alive in select back gardens), and green veggies. It is going to be fabulous.

Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, I eat extremely well, and am STILL losing weight. 18 lbs and counting! What more could a girl ask?