Non Pretentious Dinner

It is seldom that one finds good Italian home cooked meal. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to one such good eating spot in a quiet spot called boatHouse Restaurant somewhere near TTDI near Rahim Kajai.

The environment was good, the music was very Continental. There was Spanish, french and Italian ring to the place and what better way to enjoy good food except with good company. I have tasted quite a few Italian type Food, and this by far is the best especially the Lasagna. To remind me of the menu, i took the liberty of taking a few photograph to remind me what to expect the next time round. I just love the presentation of the dishes itself.

Here is the preview of what Pasta can look like at BoatHouse. Don't you just want to preseve this.




And look at the Brownie, though its not as chocolaty as the ones in Ms READ, this dish has flavour going for it.


In summary, this Restaurant is about Flavour. Try IT.

Trailing the Time

PCC organized a Time Trial this recent weekend. You can check out the details here.

Yours truly actually went there to volunteer service and have a casual ride with a friend. Being lethargic and just recovering from a bout of Flu, i didn't expect to ride. Upon arrival and seeing all the excitement, managed to get my friend and myself registered in the last two available places.

With very little warm up, we went through the course in a leisurely time not really intending to compete. Interestingly, my friend managed a neat time , having come in 3rd in her category and me 8th in my age group finishing the 15km course in a slow 33 minutes. Hope to publish some pictures of the event though.

Addendum

Here are some photos of the event uploaded to Flickr courtesy of Adrian and the PCC Team. Thanks Adrian ;-)





Adrian at the registration Counter








Fren winning a Tour De Langkawi Cycling Jersey






Cycling and getting good time with Knobby Tires on MTB

Memories of the Past.......Present

I was walking in from my car park at Avenue K this morning and passing through the Putra LRT Station to my office, and my memories lingered to the first time I touched down at Heathrow in the UK and proceeding to take the Tube. What a quaint scene, all the workers packing the fruits, mopping the floor, cleaning glasses, picking up rubbish and manning the counters.

What jolts me of these memories, is that, these are all foreign workers. When i first landed at Heathrow, from the immigration officers, the sweepers, the cleaners and other general workers that I met, there were definitely not Caucasian, but were imports. I remember getting a lecture from one immigration officer with an Indian twang telling me that "We British......". This was almost 30 years ago. Malaysian does not seem to undertake work that are perceptibly labor intensive anymore.

If Malaysia is 30 years behind in its social structure to the UK, imagine what race relations and challenges we are going to face in the near future. Welcome globalization....

Queen and king of Mountain (Genting Sempah)

I had a late nite coming back from Tampin and Melaka. So getting up Sunday morning is never easy. However, i was so keen to see my friends attempting their ride at Genting Sempah, I hauled myself out of bed and was there by 7:15am.

The race i was going to is the King of Mountain race starting at Hospital Orang Asli and finishing at Genting Sempah. Adli (otherwise known as IceCube) and his brother is already there. Ashely, Ros and Stephanie was also there. Some familiar faces from Way2Ride (the organizers) were there and seeing them was fun

After seeing them registered, I drove up to Genting Sempah and unpacked my bike to ride down with intent to take some photos. These are some photos of Ashley, the eventual winner in the ladies division. Second was Ros and followed by Stephanie Chok. Ashley is the one in the yellow jersey.

My other fren IceCube managed third in the Seniors. U can see him in the white red jersey using the red Proton bike with those fabulous ZIPP wheels. Overall, the event went extremely well and we finished by 11am after the prize giving ceremony.

If U can believe what Tarot Cards - HUH

I was browsing through Nadio's Blog and came across this test. What a real Casualty for me to take this "Test". Duh........

You are The Lovers

Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse.

The Lovers represents intuition and inspiration. Very often a choice needs to be made.

Originally, this card was called just LOVE. And that's actually more apt than "Lovers." Love follows in this sequence of growth and maturity. And, coming after the Emperor, who is about control, it is a radical change in perspective. LOVE is a force that makes you choose and decide for reasons you often can't understand; it makes you surrender control to a higher power. And that is what this card is all about. Finding something or someone who is so much a part of yourself, so perfectly attuned to you and you to them, that you cannot, dare not resist. This card indicates that the you have or will come across a person, career, challenge or thing that you will fall in love with. You will know instinctively that you must have this, even if it means diverging from your chosen path. No matter the difficulties, without it you will never be complete.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Road Track Review - Hill Climbs

Someone ask me, which particular short ride do you find the most interesting? I find that each ride has different sets of challenge, much like life. However, maybe I should document my rides tracks and explain what interest me about some of the hill climb ride. This article concentrate on the hill and mountain climbs.

Genting Sempah

We usually start from the Hospital Orang Asli in Gombak and the climb to the top is about 15.8km . What i find interesting is that this road has very little traffic especially on Sunday and the climb gives u ample warm up before it gets steeper in the last 5 km. I will normally pace myself at average 16-18km/hr average before reaching the last 5 km. The last 5 km is reasonably challenging as some of the hills is about 18 degrees gradient. The better challenge is to go down to MacDonalds at Genting Sempah and climb back that 1.2 km track up. This track is doable even for beginners and is good training. It shud be done within a time frame of 60 -65 minutes. Coming back from Genting Sempah is a nice exhilarating downhill which u can reach speeds of 60-65km/hr subject to guts.

Janda Baik

Extending the hill climb from Genting Sempah further would be to go to Janda Baik. The rolling hills there can be fascinating and challenging, especially when u have just climbed Genting Sempah. After going downhill a bit for about 5km, u will reach the junction to Janda Baik. The rolling hills there kinda reminds me of indoor rpm training. Some of the hill climb can be reasonably steep albeit only for short distances.

Frasers Hill

Parking your car at Kuala Kubu Baru, this hill climb is challenging not becoz that it is steep, but becoz of the distance. U have 30+ kilo of gentle climb, and after sitting on a bike for 2 hours climbing this hill, your mind will be wondering when is this going to end. Then u reach GAP and making matters worse, u have another 9 km of steep, granny wheel type climb. Even with my small chain ring, i have difficulties in sustaining this gradient having to heave 85kilos of FAT up this hill. Sometimes weather can work against you, it can be quite chilly when u reach GAP. I find this most challenging so far. It takes a toll on your mind though.

Genting Peres

Genting Peres is a good training ground for hill climb. This is located in Ulu Langat area near Semenyih. If u approach from the Tekala Rest Area, u have a 2.5km steep climb which more of a mental exercises then anything else. U then have about 12 km of downhill which u can reach upto speed of 70km because the road is wide. However, you can also do the climb in reverse from Pekan Batu 14 to the Tekala Rest area which can be quite interesting.

Puncak Alam

Coming from Sungai Buloh, you can take the challenge of attacking Puncak Alam 7 hill climbs. The objective is to head towards Shah Alam's Guthrie Corridor. It is important to pace yourself as you can run out of breath attacking this hill. Though they are 7 hills, only 3 are of any significant and the stretch can be dominating. This hill climb is interesting because of its dominating view and scenary. This hill climb is suitable for people who have some hours of ride behind them but is doable even for beginners.

Other Notable Hills

There are other interesting hill climbs such as the hill climb on the way to Taiping on the old Federal Route 1 at Bukit Berapit. Another memorable hill climb is in Penang near the Dam in Balik Pulau. This is part of the Penang Round Island Race which ends at Jalan Tun Saadon. My two other outstanding hill climbs is Cameron Highland and Genting which I hope to do when my legs gets stronger and I loose another 15 kg.