Seth Borges, 18
Student at Inti University College, Nilai

I accepted the challenge to cook three meals a day, three days in a row. I’m not too bad a cook, though I had some challenges along the way.

I did not have much food around the house, so for three days in a row, I had eggs for breakfast.

Definitely not KFC material, but Seth reckons his version of fried chicken to be his best dish in this three-day experiment.

Lunch, on the other hand, wasn’t so easy. I didn’t want to be eating eggs all the time (having three days in a row for breakfast was bad enough), so I had to turn to hot dogs. It was a little boring having them for lunch two days in a row, though.

Dinner was my favourite. For two nights, I had burgers cooked the good, old-fashioned American way, and one night, I had fried chicken. The burgers took a little time to prepare, but it was worth it.

It might sound a little unhealthy, but who cares? I was satisfied!

I became the butt of all jokes in the family for messing up the kitchen. My mum almost made me wear a funny-looking apron. I think she just enjoyed seeing me look like a total fool, which I did. That was partly because I couldn’t always find the proper ingredients, and partly because I was a goofball in the kitchen (I was trying to mimic Jamie Oliver and his accent).

I had a great time cooking my own meals, and of course, eating what I cooked. There is nothing quite like eating something you cooked up on your own. It tastes that much better.

Eggs for every breakfast every morning? Not a problem for Seth Borges, who had eggs for his breakfast for three days straight.

Sheldon André Sequerah, 22
Student at UCSI University, Cheras

Cooking three meals a day is not easy especially for an average college student, living away from home. The reason why I say this is of course because of financial issues that we usually face. To make matters worse, even the ingredients for certain dishes has increased.

Therefore, I decided that the best way to address this challenge was through budget cooking – which means that I cooked one dish that can last me through three meals a day.

Not only I would be able to save up some money but also at the same time I can enjoy my favourite dish three times a day. Most of the cuisine that I have learned to cook here was taught by my mother and grand aunt.

What do you do when your wallet does not provide for your everyday meal needs? The solution; cook up a meal that can last for the entire day. As Sheldon puts it, 'budget cooking'.

On my first day, I prepared sambal egg. The best part about this dish is that you can replace the eggs with prawns, chicken, squid or anything you like. You can say it’s a versatile dish, as it is affordable, easy to prepare and taste absolutely delicious!

On the second day, I cooked clay pot chicken rice. This dish is easy to cook and prepare; all you have to do is fry the meat and dump it all in the rice cooker with the rice and sauces. A great meal with minimal effort I must say!

I cooked butter prawns for the last day. As you can see, all my meals are simple (but taste awesome!).

It is good that a guy can cook. Many people think that men are incapable of cooking and that women are better cooks. This is not true though. Look at all the famous chefs out there! Most of them are men! The ironic part is that most women turn to them for cooking tips. Cooking no longer falls under the domain of women as men too can cook as well as them.

Sheldon munched away his plate of chicken rice for one of his meals during the experiment period.

Jonathan Mah, 23
Masters student at Brunel University in West London, Britain

Being in a foreign land makes it a necessity to be able to cook. I can’t be picky. What we cook is what we eat. The taste? Well, that’s a whole other issue.

Since I’m always pressed for time, I plan the menu a couple days in advance. I stock up on groceries for the rest of week. My solution is simple – limiting my meals to the same meals a couple of times a week.

Things such as pasta, sauces, meat can all be pre-cooked and stored until needed.

Devising such a system saved me the headache of figuring out what to eat three or more times a day.

For this experiment, it was pretty much the same menu for the three days. First day’s lunch was some oriental fried pasta with beef, basil and seasoned with some salt and pepper. I ran out of bottled pasta sauce but had loads of pasta left over. I had this for dinner for the first and third day.

I ate the same thing for lunch and dinner on the second day as I was pressed for time again. On that day, dumping rice into the rice cooker and eventually having fried rice satisfied my hunger.

Lastly, lunch on the third day was a little more elaborate. I deboned a chicken leg and cooked it with some Thai chilli paste, added spinach and ate it with steamed rice.

The key to surviving with your own meals is to plan ahead and allocate time to prepare for these dishes ahead of time, as practised by Jonathan.

The biggest challenge for me now however is figuring out what to eat next week. After a week of cooking the same stuff over and over again, you’re usually faced with the prospect of cooking something you know you will be able to cook well or trying out new dishes for the following week. This gives me the chance to experiment and improve my cooking skills.

I have been surviving on my own cooking so far. No major medical emergencies – yet. Some people say guys can’t cook. I can ... I think.