Monsoon fun at Cherating

It is the Monsoon season. Despite reading about the floods etc, nothing dampened our holiday getaway mood. So there we were, a family of 3 (hubby, me and of course our furkid Shalom - mind you, Shalom is family!!!) packed our bags and headed off to Cherating beach for our impromptu break with some pals.

The drive there this round was fun. No 90 minutes jam for a stretch of 30km. Little diva Shalom was all excited and restless in the car. Bravo, as soon as we reached and opened the car door, she ran straight for the beach. Indeed a water baby.

Waves were quite huge but nevertheless we still hit the beach for a walk. No way could I nor Shalom nor Jo resist the sea. We went in nevertheless for some good cold salty water therapy. Felt good. Till it hit me...ooops there we go again - 2 hours grooming for diva Shalom.

When it rained, we hid in our chalets. Not sleeping but enjoyed a good Javanese massage and foot reflexology. Then in company of good pals, we enjoyed our wines, stout, beer & vodka, tidbits and chats - yes this is what we call our AA session - Alcohol Appreciation:P. The furkids also got their share of tidbits. Think they ate more snacks than their regular kibbles.

Discovered a new stiffed crab in Kemaman. Sin Bing Kee - It is a few shops away from our regular Tong Kee. Reason being it is just pure crab meat marinated. Unlike Tong Kee which had some vegies. Don't get me wrong. I love my vegies, but it was "refreshing" to have stuffed crab that was spewing with crabby goodness:P

Makan-makan - loved the lobster. Greedy me actually wrote down that this round we must have:
(1) lobster

(2) salt grilled prawns

(3) or chean (oyster omellete)

Popped to Hai Peng - the famous kopitiam in Kemaman. Discovered tapai - fermented rice. But wasn't sure if it was to come with fungus:-( Told the waiter, he took it from us and nicely wrapped it and placed it back at the cpunter for sale. Aiks:-(

This was Nova - GSD pup's maiden trip to the beach. She was fabulous. Curious yet in a way fearful of the sea. Nevertheless, she walked and on the 3rd day began mustering more courage to hit the sea. Looking at her, Jo is bound to return to Ruby's Resort for her own getaway and of course for Nova too!

Trampolin. I discovered this is not easy to jump. Hard work. But fun. Am talking about the big huge ones. Not the small tiny at home. The best part...falling and landing on our butt:P I also learnt it is tough to jump with 2 persons. Jo jumped and I fell. LOL. Lilian and her hubby Goo also had a fabulous time with Goo trying to execute some kungfu flip. Hehe.

Cherating at Ruby's Resort. Its just amazing. And yes, we've packed our packs to head back there in CNY!!

Shalom turns 6

Our lil gal finally turns 6. A huge furball with lots of love and certainly a very cheeky babe.

A friend commented that Shalom is lucky to have been adopted by us. I seek to differ. In fact we are so blessed to have her in our lives. Coming home to a furry ball of joy and jumps and licks. After a tiring and long day at work, its so good to be greeted by her and her choice of toy. Yes...her choice of toy. Somedays, it is her octopus, another day the pink slipper, some other days she will choose the dinosaur. It all changes and hehe, she has amassed over 40 toys on her own. I have not included the ones not given to her yet and those from her birthday presents.

It was a fun day in the park with food for the furslaves and furmasters (furkids) alike. Something new that I learnt for the kids, jelly cake! Will be making it for a picnic with the furkids very soon. But I think I will make it with more meat and some mince so that I can achieve a harder consistency. Some of the kids didn't know how to eat the soft ones.

Birthday cake was superb lamb and pumpkin with lots of love and attentin by a wonderful friend Min. Min makes lovely cakes for humans and furkids. Check her out at http://mamamin.wordpress.com/

The 50 party packs finished. We gave to her pals who could not make it too. And think we had close to 40 furkids for the 3 hour picnic. Some kids went into the pond. Shalom being such a water baby, I had a tough time keeping an eye on her. She was making her way to the pond inch by inch and slowly...only to hear her momma scream "Shalommmmmmmm" and the lil one runs back to me. LOL.

It was good to note that one of her friends, a black poodle boy Mika who was so scared of water prior to our Cherating trip, now loves water so much. his slaves for the days Alex and Jacklyn had to hang on ti him for fear that he would get himself all wet by jumping into the pond. They came unprepared with towels.

Human...do you know that a Malaysian fave "Nasi lemak" goes well with Siu Yok (BBQ pork). Amazing combination and definitely potently potent as far as the cholesterol is concerned with coconut milk and pork fat (lard). But thanx to Alex, we discovered that joyous sinful food:P.

Caffeine

Yes...good or is it bad caffeine?

I have a love hate relationship with caffeine. It perks me up when I need that extra kick in the system. Somedays, the body and brains just don't want to work. LOL.

However it becomes a hate when I have such lousy caffeine intolerence. I used to be able to have my at cup of tea - yes Malaysians love our good ol teh tarik by 6pm. These days, the last caffeine form coffee or tea has to be the latest 11am - yes before lunch time. Failing which, I am still very awake even at 4am. Yes, even after more than 12 hours after my caffeine intake, I am wide awake.

So what to do? How do I stay awake after lunch? Green tea, chocolate, even coke is just a bad idea. The caffeine in it will still keep me very wide awake?

I know that when we are sleepy, we should sleep or rest. But not during working hours... So what do I do?

On an interesting note on caffeine. Do you know that caffeine increases the level of circulating fatty acids. This has been shown to increase the oxidation of these fuels, hence enhancing fat oxidation. Caffeine has been used for years by runners and endurance people to enhance fatty acid metabolism.

Interestingly I also read that green tea, unless it is decaffeinated, also contains caffeine. Normal green tea itself may contain more caffeine than coffee, but the length of infusion with hot water, and the number of time you use the green tea leaves can greatly reduce your caffeine intake.

Shalom the gremlin

My life basically became very complete when this lil gal walked into our lives. We went to view the litter just to "entertain" a friend of ours. I never had in mind a shih tzu. Why? The ones I met were noisy, loud, eat shit. Not kidding, the ones I knew had Coprophagia i.e. eating their own poop or another dog's poop.

And true enough, when we arrived, the whole litter including the parents were barking their heads off. I told myself...OMG...shih tzus...so noisy!

Then came a young lady who trotted to us. All puppies are cutelah. Like some furball. This one was yet to be adopted. Easy to see why. Lousy markings. But this young lady came and sat with me and my pal. Comfortably she sat and slept after we gave her a nice rub. The rest they say is history. We ended up adopting her. or was it her who adopted us? While the whole world was screaming (I mean barking) their heads off, this one was peaceful & silent.

When she turned 8 weeks, I brought her home. Why 8 weeks? That is to ensure that she has weaned enough from her mother.

Our drive home...she is amazing. She sat quietly in her box. Till today, she is an amazing travelliing kiddo. I will post more pictures from our road trips up the hills, to the beach etc. She loves the cabriolet car that we drive. She has most fun sticking her nose to sniff the air and the wind that blows through her fur...an amazing sight.

Her puppyhood wasn't easy. She had very bad mange. The ones that left her bald and skin all reddish. I will share more later on how we went through the tough time of nursing her back to health. Lots of articles and tips that we relied on. Now she turns 6...in fact in a few days time, Shalom turns 6!. I will pictures from her birthday party:-)

Meanwhile, these are some pics taken from our recent holiday to Cherating and some shots from all over during the weekends.

Italian food

I chanced upon this place Trattoria in Kuala Lumpur. Its opposite Modestos, Aloha & Rum Jungle in Jalan Perak. Amazing...the place is just so amazing! Food is freshly made in their kitchen only when we order. So an average wait time is 15-20 minutes and during the wait, we are served yummy bruschettas and freshly made bread (baked daily - i love the bread with olives in it)!

Service is fun. Yes fun coz the team smiles all the time. And they are attentive. Attentive to whether you enjoyed your meal. Oh! Fun is also coz every visit, we spend some time chatting with the crew too.

My fave for now is the Grilled T-Bone Steak - 1kg:-) I also love the pastas done just right "al dente". The seafood pasta Spaghetti allo scoglio is definitely a seafood delight. The sauce is slightly spicy in a tomato base.

Another good to mention pasta is Gnocchi strascicati al forno which is oven baked homemade gnocchi with a yummy yummy creamy sauce with lots of mozzarella;-)

Pizza. Can't comment much coz I've only eaten the 4 formaggi mixed cheese, tomato & rocket salad. Another is the 4 stagioni a rich & delightful pizza with tomato, mozzarella, beef salami, chicken sausages, zucchini & mushroom). Pizzas are on a nice thin crispy base. Next trip....I wanna try a Leo which if my memory serves me well (LOL) should have mozzarella, gorgonzola, ham & tomato.

Desserts are lovely. The tiramisu is a must have. So is the Fondente al cioccolato con gelato alla vaniglia "warm chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream". The chocolate cake is not too sweet and boast of a truly soul satisfying chocolate kick!

Being a chocolate person...I could not resist the mascarpone al cioccolato. Abssolutely crea,y mascapone and a rich spread of chocolate paste.

And at Trattoria, this is the very first time I've ever tasted a cold chocolate with alcohol being served at the end of my meal. Yummy...its almost glass licking good. Not kidding. I have heard comments from friends and tables that they felt like licking the glass clean!

Hmmmm.. Trattoria is certainly a dream come true for me. Yummy.  As I head my way there this evening...I wonder whether leo will serve another surprise on us. On Monday night, we were given a nice cool fruit cocktail that consisted of passion fruit, orange, watermelon & rum.

Trattoria Kuala Lumpur

Rohas Perkasa 8

Jalan Perak

50450 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603 2163 2368

Twitter: trattoria_asia

Website: www.trattoriaasia.com