Cheryl Wee

My childhood dreams were hardly anything pageant related, they were more so of me singing and dancing on stage, acting or modeling. But somehow with a twist of fate, a window into the pageant world has opened doors of wonderful opportunities and invaluable training experiences to prep me for the stage

that i've never given up on.

I would like to share a series of 10 truths about pageants you probably didn't know.

Truth 1: We don't nibble on bird food, we actually do eat!!

First question most people ask: Do pageant girls starve themselves? nibble on bird food? Answer is, we actually do eat quite a fair bit. Sure, during the competition we do try to watch what we eat, but it is also because we need to stay healthy and well during that period. Besides, most of the time, the organizers provide 3 meals, of which breakfast is usually a scrumptious spread from the hotel buffet and lunch and dinners would be at the TVB canteen or takeaway lunchboxes. Which we can't exactly choose. And because of the tight schedules, meals are usually a simple affair of chicken rice, pork chop rice, vegetarian rice and roast pork rice. With such busy and long days that may start off as early as 4am and end off at 12midnight, it is pretty impossible to go on a strict diet with no carbs, we would probably all faint by the finals.

However, there are definitely the occasional few contestants who are very disciplined with what they eat. Protein diets are a popular choice among some, having an egg for breakfast, 2 eggs and some vegetable for lunch and 3 more eggs for dinner plus some other fish or vegetable...a grand total of 6 eggs a day! everyday! Well i must say that i take my hat off, because I'm too much a foodie to just eat plain boiled eggs. Besides I'm a strong believer of a moderate diet as a lifestyle, not in extremities. Some extremities include being good at math. "What has math got to do with food?" you may ask. Well, to keep track of how many pieces of vegetable or meat you've eaten. Which might be a problem in my case as I may probably end up losing count time and again, especially with great company whom i can chat on and on and on..... Another interesting diet habit is the raw food movement. So, to stick to a raw food diet in such a hectic environment, i must compliment these girls for being pretty determined. Some really do have the determination to search high and low, self-service takeaways from breakfast buffets and grabbing an apple or 2 from the earlier prayer ceremonies. Though we pageant girls are all guilty of at some point, looking back, it does bring some reality and humor into this glitzy capsule we're in.

"You are what you eat" is a saying I truly believe in. I guess the key is to eat in moderation. And pageant girls do eat like you and I would, probably minus the desserts and sweets and cakes for that 2 weeks, but in general we don't nibble on carrot sticks or peck on bird food, we eat!! in moderation...and that's where the discipline comes in. And so, is a "military style" discipline what pageant girls need to succeed??? Stay tuned to my next post on pageant's military training.

Lenna (Ms Chinese Int 2nd runner-up, Ms Malaysia) and I having reunion dinner backstage

Lunch box with mixed vege and rice

Roast pork rice from TVB canteen

Our favourite treat from Hong Kong's famous 许留山. Chunks of fresh mango blended into a smoothie topped with aloe vera jelly

My favourite 翠華茶餐廳 'bo lo pao' . Due to our tight schedule, i could only get it after the finals when we had a bit more time...i would have love to have a few more