Like most people who work in a big city, my typical crazed daily itinerary really leaves little time for the kitchen.

The fancy cookware we fill our kitchens with usually ends up collecting dust and only getting used once in a blue moon. Besides, temptation is too huge outside to resist.

I used to be proud of being at the vanguard of my cohorts in exploring tasty and exotic restaurants. Having waiters hand over ready meals really puts a shadow on my sweaty and greasy travails in my own kitchen.

However, the recent change in climate and my hefty workload ambushed me and threw my delicate digestive system out of whack.

Just at this point, an experience at a small diner tipped me over the edge and I got food poisoning. In the following feverish days, I found my stomach could no longer handle the inflow of restaurant food.

After a week of rest, I finally got up and about. One tends to calm down and think retrospectively when you're down and I saw the light and got out of the fast lane of eating out all the time and knocked some sense into my head.

The long-term effect of failing to eat healthily and of neglecting nutrition tossed me into the pit.

I bet I'm not the only pebble on the beach here. Many of my friends and colleagues who like to eat out are either growing little round mounds where their flat stomachs used to be or are as thin as paper.

Yes, it is probably unfair to put all the blame on the food offered outside, but, let's face it, recent scandals show that there is some malpractice in the catering industry.

A few drips of a chemical can turn bland water into a mouth-watering chicken soup that is supposed to only be obtainable after stewing for hours.

Waste oil can be recycled and make its way back to the dining table.

The restaurants with problems are only a few in number, of course, the food provided by most is safe and of high quality.

But in this day and age, we put too much premium on the taste of food and that has been exploited by shrewd businessmen who seek to control costs while maintaining taste by using artificial flavorings - some of which are toxic.

Frequent eating out also predisposes us to try food we have not eaten before. Just like other business, restaurants change the menu and update it so as to draw in the maximum number of customers.

But it might be in your best interests if you are not too adventurous.

Lucky for me, the silver lining from my illness was that I have started to take control of my diet the old fashion way - by cooking for myself.

I have started by setting aside the weekends as "cook days" and I've polished my idled kitchenware.

Now I'm doing my cooking by numbers, using suggestions from cookbooks and TV shows.

I don't know if my concern about health or the long process of actually preparing and cooking my meals is responsible, but this is really starting to grow on me.

I've started to get a kick out of it.

And I've managed to make myself into a competent cook from the all-thumbs butterfingers I was before.

Spending some time preparing vegetables on the chopping board can feel like a rest after a long week's work.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/29/2010)