Durian durians and more durians

The flesh

The thorny fruit

Honestly, you either love durians to bits. Or hate it like its gonna kill you.

I fall within the I hate it category. And I am amaze that some folks can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its not as suggested by the following bannerat Donald's in SS2 but seriously my mum can have it for all 3 meals in a day.

However, there will be the days that the cravings for it come. It has nothing to do with the time of the month or being pregnant. Its just cravings. Amusing cravings that has my hubby smiling from ear to ear simply because if he attempts eating durians on his own or with Shalom our furkid, both will have to sleep in the living room. Yea, I hate the scent that much. It does kinda remind me of garbage.

But when the cravings come, its no biggie. Most days, I just have 1 pip /1 seed. The cravings are never great enough to call for 1 whole fruit. But at least for hubby and Shalom, it means they get to eat durians openly.

The recent cravings back to back was scary:P I ate some in Seremban on Wednesday and barely a week later, the cravings returned with a vengeance. I actually ate 8 seeds. Small matter to many but that is a super duper achievement as far as I am concerned. The last time I ate was some 8 months ago:P

I supposed the good company made the difference and the good grade too. See the different expressions when eating durian:

Min's finger licking good:D

Lilian looking quite pleased and savouring the 1st seed for the night.

Suherman is totally drawn into the whole explosion of wonderful texture and flavours.

Jo - I really can't make up what he was up to:P

Victor and his infamous かわい look

Jeff is all smiley despite having spent so many years in London

Belinda finds it absolutely divine!

Hubby was in heaven since he could officially eat durians that night.

There are far too many grades out there but I have been eating only the bitter and creamy ones. Never one with a sweet tooth, the bitter creamy ones are just superb. Yeah. Superb only the cravings hit me. LOL.

But some precautions when you eat:

• Don't mix it with alcohol. Different theories to it but some say it has something to do with getting yourself a stroke or a spike in your blood pressure.

• Wash your hands with the durian shell to remove the offending smell. I tried it and hmmm the smell went off and returned with a vengeance.

• Drink water or salt water out of the shell to reduce the heatiness. I normally just opt for cooling herbal tea or young green coconut. Actually I found the green coconut to be the most helpful:P

• Store leftover durians in the fridge. To prevent the smell from lingering in your fridge or car, place a piece of bread or charcoal in the fridge or car. When it comes to the car, I personally just open the doors and windows and sun the car:P

And a favourite left over dessert recipe which aids to remove the heatiness of the durian:

Green Bean with durian

• Ingredients - 200g green beans, Brown sugar (gula melaka) to taste, coconut milk, left over durian minus the seed, 1000ml of water (more or less depending on your preference for thick or light soupy finishing), pandan leaf and 100ml of coconut milk (optional unless you love the creamy milky feel similar to bubur cha cha).

• Method - (1) Wash the beans. (2) Soak the green beans in the water for 30 minutes to an hour. Then boil till soft. (3) Add the durians and pandan leaves. (4) Then add the brown sugar to taste. (5) Add coconut milk before serving. You may want to keep the coconut milk on the side so that one can opt to omit coconut milk or add more according to preference.

I know you can make durian puffs too. But I have not tried that yet. So will put that up when I have done so. Meanwhile enjoy the durian season:D

When will the next craving come? I seriously have no idea:P

LuxOnU

What is LuxOnU? Its a site dedicated to luxury bags and accessories. And for us Malaysian, its a dream come true. A dream come true to shopaholics and bagaholics like me.

Why? For starters, we're looking at models not found in Malaysia. So basically you get your own unique piece without having to travel. And the big plus - its cheaper than buying it from the boutiques.

Original? YES YES YES!

This evening, I attended their special preview and was utterly vowed. We were treated to the previews before they open next week:

Saturday 28th August 2010 from 12 to 2pm

@ 23-2 Jalan Kenari 12, Puchong.

And during the session, we heard about tips to care for our bags. Among some that I will be doing tomorrow morning:

• To use Baby Johnson white lotion to clean off stains from our white leather bags! Just lightly dab some on your facial cotton and quickly wipe over the stain.

• I love patent leather. The sad thing is, they seem to discolour. My white have turned yellowish. My blue one looks a lil brownish. And that not because its dirty. But merely, patent leather tent to absorb colours from its neighbouring bags. So its advisory we keep them in suitable dust bags and not stashed with other coloured bags.

• Hate the fact that our bags sometimes look wrinkled when we want to use them? Simple tip - just stuff some papers or balloons (we saw balloons in a 6 year old LV bag). That will keep them nicely in shape and crease free.

• And in overcoming molds from your bags, always air the closet where your bags are kept in. And a good tip is to put a pack of silica (the ones you get when you purchase shoes) into each bag.

Among the lovely bags available:

And this is the Longchamp that I have eyed and will be there on Saturday to buy it:

This preview has been utterly fun! Not just beautiful bags and accessories, we were treated to yummy cakes from Sweet Indulgence. Cakes are home made fresh and are available at LuxOnU.

And also had wine appreciation courtesy of Evergrapes.

Ah...here's some shots of the girls having fun.

I love this really goofy pic of April Yim and Rebecca Saw.

And if you want to grab your bag:

Saturday 28th August 2010 from 12 to 2pm

@ 23-2 Jalan Kenari 12, Puchong.

Drive slow TT

Its been sometime since we took a night drive to Genting Highlands. So when Johnson suggested we have a slow drive, it was an immediate YES! Plus the weather last night was so delightfully cool and the skies were clear. Unlike the usual daytime hilly drives, this would not result in sunburn. But with such cool air, perhaps moonburn burn:P and being nicely chilled.

Many asked "Drive slow TT, sure or not?" Well...we did got slow and easy. The air was so cool and the skies were so clear, so why not drive slow and savour the mood? And really its all about driving within our 

limits.

This round, we had the company of Porsche Cayman S

Toyota MR2 

and 3 Spyders.  

My fave elements of this drive:

• Reunited with my law school classmate who coincidently also bought a Spyders recently.

• No regrets in buying the Ohlins suspension. Firm ride and almost no body roll. Totally different feel compared previous runs of this similar drive and route when we were on Sportivo and Tiens.

And my fave pic:

I know it says no parking or else your car will be towed...

however, I think its all about telling the guards nicely that you want to park there for a while. In our case, we were sitting at Starbucks having our TT. And that's pretty much smack in front of where our cars were.

And after being fed with sugar and the fresh air, Gladys my neighbour from Kluang and now nieghbour in KL went cute:D

And tradition calls, that the blokes will always be peering under each other's car. Fondling each other's car:P

In short, its been a good kick start to my weekend...

Search for Shalom's new stroller

We bought a stroller for Shalom as we live in an apartment. Well Shalom is "illegal" as far as the local municipal folks are concerned. So whenever we bring her out, we'll use a stroller for the diva.

Of course the stroller comes out real useful since she weighs almost 8kg (I think its the fur:P). Rather than break our arms carrying her, its convenient to push her around. Here's a happy Shalom in her stroller and her happy daddy who conveniently put his newspapers on her stroller. And I normally hang her backpack filled with her drinking bottle, toy, plastic bags, hankies & treats on the stroller too:PShalom has been performing stunts on her stroller whenever we use any other cars than the Spyder. In a way it's our fault because we shd fold the carrier box the same way we do it when we're using the Spyder (a cabriolet with very minimal space to keep the car under 1tonne). So in her joy and excitement, Shalom will jump onto the top of her carrier box and has thus broken the farme a few times. Needless to say she has also bulldozed her way into and out of the carrier box before its being unzipped. All rescue works by her daddy has surpassed its lifespan. So now we have to look for a new one that fits into the MRS.
Dimensions of the carrier box are:
Height 16"
Width 13"
Depth 18"
Again its really important that this foldable. This one has zips all over and can unzip to almost 2" thick so it fits snugly behind my seat.

Dimensions of the wheeler is:
49" and must be collapsible as shown in the photos.

Safety features such as the brakes are great especially when we're on teh escalator or when we park her stroller with her inside while we run our errants etc.
So the question is where to get a replacement that fits our requirements? Can find this model or similar ones anymore. Any others can't fit into the Spyder:-(

Pixie Lott "Cry Me Out"

Heard this on the radio today. Not exactly mainstream music... Found a few videos but decided on this of her singing live.

Lyrics as follows:

I got your emails

You just don't get females now, do you?
What's in my heart
Is not in your head, anyway

Mate, you're too late
And you weren't worth the wait, now were you?
It's out of my hands
Since you blew your last chance when you played me

You'll have to cry me out
You'll have to cry me out
The tears that will fall mean nothing at all
It's time to get over yourself

Baby, you ain't all that
Baby, there's no way back
You can keep talkin'
But baby, I'm walkin' away

When I found out
You messed me about, I was broken
Back then I believed you
Now I don't need ya no more

The pic on your phone
Proves you weren't alone, she was with you, yeah
Now I couldn't care about who, what or where
We're through

You'll have to cry me out
You'll have to cry me out
The tears that will fall mean nothing at all
It's time to get over yourself

Baby, you ain't all that
Baby, there's no way back
You can keep talkin'
But baby, I'm walkin' away

Gonna have to cry me out
Gonna have to cry me out
Boy, there ain't no doubt
Gonna have to cry me out

Won't hurt a little bit
Boy, better get used to it
You can keep talkin'
But baby, I'm walkin' away

You'll have to cry me out
You'll have to cry me out
The tears that will fall mean nothing at all
It's time to get over yourself

'Cause baby you ain't all that
Baby, there's no way back
You can keep talkin'
Baby, I'm walkin' away

You'll have to cry me out
You'll have to cry me out

Furkidzzzzzzzz

We took this picture of Shalom in our home after we shot our wedding anniversary pictures some time back in Covershots Studio. She was only 3 years old then and still sporting the short puppy look then. These days, you see with her long sweep the floor look:D
It makes her look like a girl but its nevertheless "hard work" of having to groom her daily. But I reckon when i look at the photos, its worth it. Shih tzus should have long hair like the following:

nice unlayered look.

looks kinda dry but nice neverthelessslightly layered...

But they all look like a lot more work on my end. And I reckon that my diva Shalom can't have all the fun she wants in jungle trekking etc. So, we'll just stick to this:

still pretty and adorable. right?

But seriously, after all she's gone through as a puppy, short hair, long hair, puppy cut, teddy bear look, I really don;t care. I love her for all her traits. Even if she messes up the house daily - she gives scatter cushions the literal meaning by taking them from the couch and scattering them all over the house. Or littering the whole house with crumbs from her food, I still love her. Look at those mata kesian emo look:P
Never mind her character was never ever closed to Colby / Colburst a west highland terrier who's such a perfect gentleman. Colby passed away a year after Crackers. This was a perfect boy. Easy to handle, obedient and yes he has learnt never to pee on tyres, pillars, gates and dustbins.
Would I still love her if she is a mongrel? Of course I would. Meet Crackers:

this grand dame lived till 15 and despite having epileptic fits. Thanx to the kind doctors who gave her a second chance for 4 years unlike the private ones who said "put her down"

and Geri:

Geri was adopted from SPCA. She came to us looking dark brown like chocolate and somehow grew to be beige in colour within her 1st year of being with us. She is not without health worries - she has fluid in her lungs and her liver is weak from the medication) but the kind folks in UPM also extended her lease of life and is still with us today at 8 years old.

and Hana.

this is Hana's definition of fun - biting at water!

And Mini:

Mini left us barely a year we adopted her from the Setapak pound at the helm when the expose on TV3 came about that the pound people were drowning cats and breaking the necks of the stray dogs. She contracted Parvo. Again we never gave up. Malaysian Dogs Deserved Better (MDDB) helped us all the way and encouraged and supported us to ensure she had the bext while she stayed with us. She went on with Inmune Boosters and lived like any other dogs until she passed away. This yound lady was a fighter as much as we were. She would try to stand and walk as much even though her body was failing her. But I am gald we did not leave her in the pound. We gave her all the love she wanted.

Pedigree or otherwise, love the kids. They love us unconditionally and so should we!