New Fish song out~!

Fish has a new song out already! It's a duet with 古巨基... Song name's《还是好朋友》...~

In the meantime, in other news, my cable Tv setup box seems to be faulty, and I'm left with flickering Tv shows with moving horizontal lines moving up like an inverted waterfall... And my mum has just been inflicted with cataracts, and has to go down to the SNEC for a checkup, with surgery pending... Sleepy me, stayed up to watch Euro finals, man Spain play brilliant football! Viva Espana~! Pondering whether to go to the nearby Shell to pump up my bike's newly changed back tire (only Shell can pump above 80psi!)... Working back in CPL tomorrow, then I have an appointment with Boss Sioh regarding my FYP, and then another dinner/movie date... Busy busy... Good good~

My Saturday~

Biked to Labrador Park on this Saturday evening... I just love to be near the sea... I love the sound of waves, and the fresh sea breeze... I love the excitment of seeing fishes and other sea creatures in the water... Totally relaxing... I really pity those NS army guys who are stationed here, and at many coastal locations around the island, day and night, 24/7, just for a certain Mr Mas Selamat... Heck I really don't see Mr Selamat getting caught anytime soon, with these NS guys here or not... To these NS guys' credit, they really do present a good image to the public, by not doing anything else stupid, despite the boredom of spending days in the midst of boredom, no radio no entertainment nothing, sitting and watching, surrounded by people having fun... that, to me, it's a job well done already~

Labrador Beach gives beautiful sunsets every time I've been there~

My bike's back tire just exploded out of sudden, out of no apparant reason... The blast toppled several bottles of bike oil and polish wax 30cm away from it, and nearly blew out my right eardrum as well... My right ear's still ringing as I'm typing this post! Hope my neighbours don't start calling the police to report a gunshot that they've just heard... So strange, after 9 years of cycling, this is the first time that I've experienced, or even heard of any bike tires self-exploding when parked at home! My tires' are rated for 100psi... Hmmm maybe I need to check if my inner tubes are rated for 100psi as well... Just in case I better release some air from the surviving front tire~

EOM~!!

After wearing the green uniform for 2 weeks, spending many hours and days in my tank, being muddy and dusty and dirty and messy and sweaty and itchy and pimplely and rashy and tired and sleepy. 3 days in the jungle was a big challenge nowadays, after Civilian Conversion Course, especially the part about bathing - the lack of it. The lack of quality sleep was another, about 6 hours of sleep every day in the jungle, interrupted by people snoring, walking around, rifles dropping, alarms ringing, mosquito bites on the hands, legs, face, ears, mosquitoes buzzing into your ears and nostrils, the thick stench of mosquito coil smoke in the air, mixed with the whiff of pee, and the occasional excrement as well, from the neighbouring grass patches, and the eu de perfume from my own smelly uniform... Glad that it's over, for another year, really glad... It's a blessing to live a peaceful civilian life really~

4 hrs to Book In~

My before booking-in snack attack~! My favourite Chipsmore double-choc cookies plus a sudden craving for Pringles and a cup of coffee... amidst the mess of army jockey cap and camp pass and my lab safety goggles and my Fish March/April calender unchanged since my exams ended lol~! Spent most of my weekend sleeping, watching online streaming movies and snacking, after having my Saturday morning burnt to help transport my SSPH from Kranji to Sungei Gedong Camp... In the midst of trying to speed up things, I was caught driving in "Drive" instead of "Low" gear while trying to park the SSPHs in Gedong garage... in front of my CO, S3, BC and RSM... Luckily no scolding lol! Managed to drive 3 guns smoothly up and down the low-loader trailer despite not having done that for at least 3 years... Funny but now I'm known as "Alonso" among my fellow SSPH drivers for my garage stunt despite me being an anti-Alonso F1 fan... New nick after being known as speed devil during my NS days... Looking forward to driving my air-con (one and only in S'pore) SSPH Primus on Monday for my 4D/3N outfield exercise amidst sour jealousy from all my fellow gunners wahaha~!

Timed a trial ride from home to NTU on my "sports car" bike... Took only 25 minutes! On a bike with no gears! The up and down slopes were a little more taxing on the legs, but the pure simplicity of no gears allows for the greater enjoyment of many other aspects of cycling, freeing brain space for concentrating on pedaling, cornering, traffic, looking at girls etc~ But found out that my 1.25 inch width tires can get caught in drain covers... no joke~! Loved my bike setup totally! The skinny tires accelerate like wind, held speed like a missile, and corners like Lewis Hamilton's McLaren... Never regretted having that Rockshox Dart2 fork in front despite adding like 2.5 pounds to my ultra lightweight bike setup... Cheap, super smooth, and the option to lockout when I feel like out sprinting buses and lorries at traffic lights and upslopes, and helped to maintain control on high speed bumpy downslopes... The GT Aggressor frame is really so aggressive... Corners like a Lotus Exige and sprints and climbs like Lance Armstrong's Trek TT bike... Stiff but forgiving on bumpy surfaces, with a special spring to help on out-of-saddle efforts... Not to forget my Sram 9.0 v-brakes, set-up for power braking, so strong that I have problems braking smoothly despite being used to my Shimano XT 4-piston hydraulic disc brakes on my other bike... Man I love cycling~! Happy to see Mr Brown as a fellow bike commuting supporter as well~!

My SunDown photos are out~!!

In the midst of my 2 week In Camp reservist training now... Home for my NTU subject registration. Found that my Adidas SunDown marathon official photos are out~! This is me running over a bridge near Pasir Ris...~

This is me caught suffering behind a fellow runner~

Me at the finish line~! Impossible is nothing~!

Going to the zoo~!!

Went to the zoo today~! Got a free pair of tickets due to Blood Donor Day, and asked Shimei along... Both of us have not been to the zoo for at least 10 years! Ok... there were many many exciting new changes to the zoo, but dinosaurs are not really part of the animal exhibits haha~!

Come any nearer and I'll bite your nose! A curious blue-tongue skink~

Squabbling iguanas, over some humans-will-never-get-it-issues~
The animals mostly looked so so bored, either stoning-away and chewing on grass or just pacing around their enclosures in almost clockwork fashion... Except for the odd monkey or orang utan play-fight, or some really funny antics from the orang utans and the probiscus monkeys (R21-rated)...~

Posing with a "borrowed" Ah Meng soft toy... Soft toy Ah Meng is so dao, dunno looking at where hahas~

Otter family... ok ok, 2 oversized fake otters... some clay otters and a big cardboard otter... the real ones are in the enclosure behind the bamboo fence and are so really damn cute~! One individual otter was especially funny... it was doing backflips off a rock when we first entered the zoo at 10am, and he was still doing it when we left the zoo and 4.30pm!

No Feeding... strictly~!

My World~

Went with Marcus to Leng Kee Road to test drive the Toyota Vios, and collect the complimentary free movie tickets as part of a radio promotion. Then we went to next door showrooms Porsche and Subaru, where we test drove the new Impreza, and took turns sitting in the Porsche Cayman like deprived kids in a toy warehouse... The reality of life was laid out in all its naked glory... the marked differences in the lives of different individuals, after seemingly made equal when brought to the world... it really made me feel how puny I was as an individual... I really wasn't any comfortable at all despite being surrounded by so many pieces of machinery which I often scour the Internet and magazines for pictures, videos and technical specifications and reviews for to lust and drool over... perhaps the world of expensive fast cars and the accompanying owners and supporting cast, where members work hard to try to belittle all others, is really not where I truly belong...~?

This is probably the world which I truly belong to... I love the camaraderie between fellow cyclists (majority...), I love the friendly atmosphere at bike shops (especially at Bike Labz!), I love the freedom of being on a bicycle... I love squeezing past and irritating car owners stuck in traffic jams... At least I wasn't being looked down on when riding with people on bikes costing 2, 3 or more times more than my own rickety wheels, and age is not discriminated and doctors, engineers and secondary school students from ages 14 to 64 can ride and make jokes and gulp 100-plus together... worlds within worlds, guess this is life, ces't la vie~

My Bike No. 2 is here~!

After months of waiting due to some unforeseen issues, my Bike No. 2 is finally ready! Uncle Ah Chai of Bike Labz has done a great job... it's his first ever singlespeed bike project! Note there are no gear shifters front and back... I thought it would be a pig to ride up any slopes, but not did I not die riding it back from Changi Simei to my home, I did it in 2 hours! The lack of gears seemed only to motivate me to attack the pedals more, my speed on East Coast Park was even fast enough such that a roller blader chose to draft behind me for much of the way! Of course my skinny red 1.25" Panaracer T-Servs helped greatly as well... Uncle Ah Chai, as well as his shop assistant Ryan were pretty surprised by its speed and ease of acceleration when they took it out for test rides, good compliment considering all the other fantastic bikes they see and sell everyday. I especially love my gold-coloured headset and seatclamp... bling bling! Really appreciate the work by Bike Labz that I'm now wearing their t-shirt to help endorse their shop haha~!

I've Done my 1st Marathon~!

I've finished my 1st marathon! Went to Changi Village straight after receiving Aw at the airport, but man I was too early, with another 4 hours to burn, alone, before KarLong and Wood came. Luckily before long KarLong came and we lined up on the starting stretch and the airhorn sounded.
My 1st 10km went by pretty quickly and comfortably, the next 10km was tougher but by the 22km mark I was pretty much running/walking on empty... the PowerGel and banana booth at the 25km mark was a godsend. I really hated the overhead bridges, as well as that undulating/dark/narrow stretch along Siglap, and by the 30km mark my body is already experiencing pretty unprecedented levels of pain. Only Fish's songs on my handphone keep me from concentrating on the whines and screaming within my own body... Passed by some nice waterside scenery, some old buildings, and many sporty and pretty ladies beside me at times, overtaking me at times, but could conjure little strength to admire them all hahas! Luckily there were a few pretty road marshalls and motivators along the way who were generous with their bright smiles to lift my leaden spirits =p
It's now done and in the bag, all 5 and 1/2 hours of self-challenge... in fact the bout of heavy rains and strong winds after my cool-down was a big challenge too, as I struggled badly shivering into the main tentage with the warmth provided by the masses of sweaty people packed together...
The train ride from Tanah Merah to Jurong East never seemed shorter, as I was pretty much dead for the journey hahas! As well as being one with my bed for much of my Sunday as well... Now waking up, my knee and ankle joins are also feeling as rusted as those safety pins holding my number bib to my running shorts~! Waiting for my official timings and photos to be posted on the official website~!