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

A cool twisty weekend at Berjaya Hills

It was an absolutely fun weekend. In actual fact, weekend started on Friday morning. We headed off to our much anticipated JP Motorsport Berjaya Hills Challenge.

Basically it was nice and cool, then wet and slippery then some hot and windy. An amazing mix of all weather in the 2 days. Simple driving. Consistent driving. It was not just about speed.

The challenge was 3 - fold. Downhill challenge where we got our practice run and also to time our drive down the 8km hill stretch. And come Saturday, we repeat the same drive without any timing devices whatsoever in our cars, and we have to clock the closest possible to the time handicap that we had declared the day before. Sounds simple eh? Guess what, driving in the hot afternoon for our practice run and the actual run in the cool morning air means a lot of difference to the driver and car. Being cooler, its easier for the car to perform optimumly:P As such, we tend to drive faster. So the key was to basically, drive as how you would normally

 drive. No concern about timing...just have fun while driving and voila..our time variance was 1.06% faster than our declared time!

Similarly with the uphill challenge, we basically have to perform as close as possible to our declared time handicap.

The 3 challenge was Time Attack where driver had to drive around the cones (we call it donuts) and the obstacles without knocking them down. This we did it on top of the Colmar Tropicale roof top. Absolutely scenic and fun.

All in all, it was meant for the supercars & performance i.e. Lamborghini, Ferraris, Lotus & Porsches. A few odd entries from the Japanese school including mine got in and we did well for all 3 challenges - well means going home with top 3 positions:-)

At the back of my head, I asked why discriminate the Japanese cars? Only the GTR was considered deserving to participate. Anything less like the S2000 or MRS merely got in when we applied via a Singapore track group. Our individual entries from day 1 were not entertained. Not complaining much since I ultimately got to play and took some prizes home. Although I would have wanted the RM45,000 lucky draw prize from Sincere Watches. The jelly mold from Selangor Pewter in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign is good enough...it was for a good cause afterall. 

Berjaya Hills - kinda fun place. I have not been there for a good 2 years, and it was all nice and fun. I even felt a lil like a tourist. A lot of pics, but here's just some.

Maybelline - Simply Fabulous

http://youcallitmakeup.blogspot.com/

That's the link to go to to win passes to Simply Fabulous finale at Euphoria Ministry of Sound. Coincidently, I think MOS also turns 1 this month.

OH...There are freebies to be given away with the passes too. Now isn't that good? Simply simple, just give your answer and details in the comment box. Erin will pick the 3 lucky winners

I think Calista would be a probably winner. Quite a personality from the pics and videos that you can catch on 8TV's website. 

Debts and a Mr Ong

Tried calling a friend who is also a client on his repayment for some services that we rendered to him. 12 months plus down the lane, he has yet to pay the invoice. It was initially, yes, I'll give you a few postdated cheques. Then came to the time to collect the cheques, he would be busy and suddenly...disappeared. Life seems fun and exciting as he paints on his Facebook account BUT when confronted on his repayment, all sort of @$%^$# excuses pop out.

I am so tempted to call up his business partner from another business to set up an appointment to discuss eye ball to eye ball with this super elusive Mr Ong. he now absolutely refuses to pick up calls, reply sms and emails. What to do?

Sigh sigh Mr Ong, bila mahu bayar hutang? 

Why? Who? When? Where? How?

Right now its just lots of questions running in my mind. I realise that it is so many that I need to rumble out somewhere. Nope this will not be a whining blog. This will carry just any of my thoughts. 

I ask myself Why am I like this today? Am I in a rut? Perhaps yes to an extend. A rut of being stuck doing a business that I like yet dislike. Stuck in relationship that I like and dislike. Asking myself how to break free and when to break free. And even, can I break free?

On a normal day, I love dogs. I love food. I love the nature. I love cars. I love sleeping. I love life!

But on a day like this, I feel kinda twisted inside. Oh boy...what's next? I am trying hard to concentrate on work but my thoughts are all over. I tried writing down my to do list but its going nowhere. LOL.

And right now, I feel like having a day off at the beach. Just basking and doing nothing while my mind unclogs itself.