little miss may

Hey there, folks.

Yes, it’s been awhile, and I had intended to prolong the ’silence’ for even longer but I did promise angel, winn and ah seng that I’d post about the dessert place we went to last night. So here I am. But first things first, a little paragraph on what’s been happening over the last 6 months…

Let’s see… nothing much, really! Changed jobs, working harder, enrolled in a yoga teacher training course earlier in the year, taking a break from work and yogi-ing, enjoying life as it comes along, now on holiday in KL for a couple of weeks. Well, one week left, really. Time sure flies from the cuckoo’s nest even faster than you can say “tookie tookie”.

In the last week I’ve been devouring my favourite Malaysian food - prawn noodles, asam laksa, roti canai, roti bom, some local kueh, hokkien mee, cantonese-style noodles, dim sum, lor mai fann… I’m still waiting to sink my teeth into some chow kuey teow, Ipoh hor fun… what else am I missing?

Last night we (re: the trio and I) went to a cafe-style restaurant called Cinta Ria @ DJ. The food is pretty good, and it has its regular patrons. The biggest surprise was finding out that the place was opened by an ex-schoolfriend of mine, with her brother. It’s a small world after all! Really great to see them doing well.

A little in-your-face promotion here (and it’s voluntary, they didn’t twist my arm to do it!), try out their delicious nasi lemak which is their signature dish, amongst other delicious yum-yum dishes at:

Cinta Ria @ DJ Restoran and Kafe
78 Jalan SS22/25
Damansara Jaya
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-77268981
Business Hours: Daily (9.30am -9.30pm)

After dinner, we went to My Honeymoon at 1 Utama where they served delectable desserts that would tickle your tastebuds. The place had an interesting wallpaper of books on shelves, and love the red seats and lamps which gave it a rather cosy ambience.

I had my first durian in 2 years, in the form of durian cake - pretty nice, and thank goodness I didn’t have durian breath after that. The other bowls of “tong sui” we had were good too, not too sweet, not too bland.

Well… one more week till I fly back to Sydney. Any suggestions on what else to eat to last me till my next visit home?

It was a slow start to the year.

Having stayed up on New Year’s Eve till the wee hours, my body was naturally craving for more sleep. But I decided, nah, it’s an absolute waste to sleep in on a beautiful day like this. I could always crash early tonight.

At a hot 34ºC, one would think it crazy to go for a ride in the afternoon. Strangely I didn’t mind the heat so much - maybe it’s because I grew up in similar climate for most of my life. Having said that, I wasn’t in a mood to an ambitious long distance ride either, I just wanted to get out and about.

I happily (and sweatily) pedalled down to Berry Island, a nice neighbourhood spot that’s surrounded by water. It’s not exactly an island, more like a small peninsula. Parked myself under my favourite tree, stuffed my ears with sweet music, and laid there staring at the sky for a good 45 minutes.

It was bliss.

If only I didn’t have to pedal uphill home.

I’ve always been fascinated by the traditional Irish Claddagh ring, with two hearts clasping a heart and surmounted with a crown. The expression which was associated with these symbols in the giving of the ring was: “With my hands I give you my heart, and crown it with my love.”

This Christmas I decided to paint the symbols that formed that ring, as a gift to myself, and a gift to all of you.

For there is no greater gift than love.

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

After months of wanting two wheels again, I finally made the investment in a brand new Trek 7.3FX WSD bike. It’s quite a beauty, with its matt gold finish and cool girly decals. I must say that I preferred a black one, but that would’ve set me back and extra 600 bucks which I wasn’t prepared to fork out for. But no matter - gold is good, eh?

My two girlfriends - Thao and Linda - and I went West to the Sydney Olympic Park for a ride a couple of Sundays ago. We got there extra early before the crowds rolled in, and a good thing we did too ‘cos the weather wasn’t behaving and rained later in the day.

The Parklands Circuit was where we rode around, following the bike path to wherever it would take us. It was pretty scenic if you didn’t mind the awful smell from the mangroves. There were even lookout towers where you could climb up, have a look at the surroundings, and spot the unmistakable Ikea building in the not-so-far distance.

The circuit was a cool sight with ducks, fishes and all, but I think I dig the UFO-looking fountain opposite the ANZ stadium the best. You could literally ride through (under) it if you want, and get soaking wet. Thao and Linda did, but because I had a camera strapped onto my bike (plus, I didn’t wanna get my new wheels wet!), I decided to give it a miss.

It felt good to pedal as fast as I could and feel the wind on my face again. Made me miss my mountain biking days back in KL, though I must admit I now prefer the “cleaner” rides i.e. no mud splatters up my arse compared to having to wash my bike down after every trail trip.

Yep, I think I’ll stick to bike paths and roads now.

Just one more week till Summer is officially here… woo-hoo! What’s everyone been up to? New jobs, new playthings, new gossip?

I’ve been… errmmm, I’ve not been overly busy. I was telling misti earlier this afternoon that Blogland seems to have lost quite a bit its luster… Well, to me anyway. Even on the days when I’m home with nothing to do, my mood to write wasn’t quite there. Ah, but fear not - there still are days (like this one) where I bite procrastination by its arse and get a long overdue post going!

And what better topic to write on than food?

We discovered this gem of an Italian restaurant called Puntino Trattoria, just a stone’s throw away from where he lives. The first time we went there, it was a quiet Tuesday night. We had the homemade lasagna as one of the mains, and heavens, it was the best one we’ve ever tasted!

A few weeks later we went back, bringing his friends Mario and Emi along with us. Since there were more mouths to feed, we tried a few more antipasti and mains. The lasagna was still his favourite though.

I liked their pizza of the day the best. You’ll never know what you’re gonna get, but each one’s spot on with uniqueness of taste and texture. And guess what? The pizza maker is a Malaysian from Penang! It’s quite amusing how we always converse a little in Malay whenever I’m there. I wonder if he tries to make the pizza extra nice for us because we share the same roots… lolz.

No visit is complete without dessert! The panna cotta is a must-have; oh-so-smooth and creamy custard-like dessert that melts in your mouth. They have a variety of cakes too, as well as the traditional tiramisu (I still prefer my homemade one, though).

More updates coming soon - and I hope I won’t slack off for another 6 weeks before that happens!