I'm waiting, and i'm still am.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

[[Cycling and then some.]]

Went out with Darren, Perry, Gabriel, Howard, Chris and his girlfriend today. The plan was to cycle the usual route from East Coast to Changi Village, have lunch, cycle back and head home from there. For the greater part it was pretty normal. The seats sucked because they were as soft as a couch, the bikes were as much as you could expect from rentals, but I think the best part is just the company. I mean I haven't seen the guys in a pretty long time, I'm guessing somewhere in the range of 2 months... since well, the shit happened. And I need not explain. It was fun because Howard finally went on a trip with us. New faces on the route are always welcomed, and if you can keep up you'll have no problems with us.

We rushed the first leg of the trip, hitting about 27 plus km/h before slowing down to a more leisurely 20. After about an hour and a half, we arrived at Changi Village. Chris and his new girlfriend were already there eating something in the shade. We just parked up next to their tandem and went to find a seat. Down went 2 packets of sugarcane juice (3 for Howard) and then we had lunch. At about 1 something we set off back to East Coast.

The trip back was a lot easier because I was chatting Darren all the way back while Howard, Perry and Gab were talking amongst themselves. The pace that we were at was really really slow. It took us about 45 mins just to get back to East coast. But it was worth the slowness.

Returned our bikes at around 3.30pm. We actually thought the time limit was 3.40, but the uncle actually wrote our return time at 4pm. So that bought us more time to take it slow.

And then a sudden decision happened. After cycling for about 40km, we decided to go ahead and play an hour of futsal. Indoor football on a fake pitch with 5v5 teams, for those who don't know. Originally it was just going to be us fooling around for an hour, but then a group of malay kids asked if they could join us for that hour, and split the cost with us. Why not? half the cost and some competition would be fun. So we let them in, and started out with a standard 5 team line up. Darren was the keeper, Gabriel and I were the strikers, Perry was the defender and Howard played mid/striking. We had a good mind that we were going to lose from the start, seeing that they were Malay, which meant that they would be naturally good at football. So we played with almost no confidence. But after the first 4 goals put in by both Gab and I, we were riding on a major high. So the relentless attacking continued, but after 40km of cycling our bodies started giving up. One by one we fell out due to cramps, till the point that the other team subbed one of their own for our players. The final score was somewhere in the range of 8-3 I think. But it was fun in the spirit of good football.

Cabbed home with Howard, Perry and Darren after. The ride costs $20.80 of which I owe Howard $5 plus. We discussed about Darren's driving license all the way to his bus stop.

All in all, after the super sunburns, the ultra-tiring cycle and the intense futsal, I had a really great time with the guys. Guess I just needed time alone to get myself back to normal again. :)

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Monday, April 5, 2010

[[Yes, a tablet is a good thing.]]

So I've had a lot of free time over the holidays, and since the exams have been over for a while, I decided to get to drawing some stuff on the tablet pad sitting around my study room. Plus the inspiration from Jac's drawings on Facebook really spurred me on. So using as much inspiration I could gather, and some photos I pulled off the internet, I got some stuff sketched and coloured.

Hope you guys like it :)

Graffiti: "Wings"

Inspired: "Street Corner"

Photos: "Dodge Challenger SRT"

Photos: "Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV"

I hope to draw more stuff soon, like people for one, and possibly some scenic backgrounds. Yeah that's about it for this post I guess, just wanted to put up some pics so this blog doesn't die.

Footnote: As for the ongoing F1 season, my predictions for Shanghai are - Red bull gets the podium for qualifying unless the car fails them, again. Followed by Mclaren and then Mercedes GP. Why no Ferrari? Their cars have not been any good so far, and even though Alonso is shining a lot better in them than compared to Massa, the constructor's championship always comes down to both the cars and not the drivers. So we could see Alonso sandwiched between the Mclarens and Mercedes cars, whereas Massa might be at a disappointing lower half of the grid.

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Sunday, March 28, 2010

[[Ode To London.]]

Upon either side of the blue serpent,

Victorian structures stand mighty against glass and metal wonders.

Of very different eras did they arise,

But of similar men do they hold to ponder.

Wet and dreary thus be the weather,

for with it London is a city like no other.

Holding court amongst it's people,

their warmth and grace fills the hearts of the able and feeble.

Strings dug into the grounds,

only to unite with the people commuting around.

Art, History and Literature,

Proliferate among the minds of the mature.

The rich, the poor and the average,

live side by side with remarkable parsimony.

For only with their strong cohesion,

Has London stood against many a century.

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Thursday, March 11, 2010

[[Nostalgia Tour.]]

Since it's the holidays, I figured I'd go for a ride back to my old neighbourhood just for old time's sake. And since most of you already know where I live now (which is quite scary), why not know where I USED to live. I'd have to say that a lot has changed since I've cycled there 4 years ago and all my friends would've probably moved out already. But hey, a hood's a hood and you can't forget your roots.

It was deep inside Parry estate. Or was it called Rosyth? It's just somewhere near Simon Road.

Inside the road was a walk. And avenues and streets.

Parry Primary's field. And it's big. The old Rosyth school was on the far right.

This was the back end of it. Gone are the times of sleeping really late and still being early for class.

I used to wait at the drain for my schoolbus after Rosyth school shifted. sometimes in the drain. haha.

And further down the road was a Japanese cemetery. I kid you not.

I guess that's one good reason to have a bike, to head back and visit places of memories you hold dear. It's quite a feeling to see a road or grass patch and remember all the fun times you had there as a kid. All your friends and the games you played with them, the injuries, the camaraderie, the no holds barred fun.

It's hard to say anything else at this point, I really loved that old neighbourhood and house and just to see it was an indescribable experience.

I'll be back with more posts since I'm so damn free now. Aside from my trip and facil things and work (of which I am still looking for), I'll try to keep the blog updated. :)

So happy holidays (for people in poly and some in jc), talk to you guys soon!

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

[[OCBC Cycle Singapore 2010]]

It was cold, windy and dark. Amidst the crowd of some 9100 cyclists, there was an obvious air of excitement that lingered throughout the pre-dawn preparation. The sound of bikes' gears and chains rotating, people having general conversation and above all the voice of Rod Monteiro on the PA system. I met up with Joe, Justin Gan and Joel at the bike rental area after my dad dropped me off. Darren said that he was going to be late, but that proved otherwise when the flag off time arrived.

I wouldn't say that we were going to take the lead at the flag off, since we had gathered somewhere in the middle of the entire sea of people. And the flag off wasn't going to be a fast start cos Dr. Balakrishnan had to lead the way for a while. But after about 5 corners Darren and I left Joe, Joel and Justin behind because they were going at a more leisurely pace. And apparently Joel and Justin then left Joe behind because he was going at an even more leisurely pace.

The route was long, but majority of it was flat, and about half of it was in east coast park. So it pretty much looked like this:

It sure seemed a lot longer in ECP that it appears.... strange.

Anyway, there were 3 rest stops that were set up along the way at 10km intervals. Our plan was to draft as much as we could till rest stop 3 where we then could drink up on cold 100plus and set off for the last 10km. but somehow or rather, after we set off from rest stop 3, Darren disappeared from my view, I think it was somewhere along the bridge at nicoll highway passing the golden mile building. I slowed down to check my rear to try and get a visual on him but honestly, in the sea of jerseys its pretty hard, plus I still had to keep an eye on the road. So I pressed on, drafting more people (I targeted the bigger sized ones, cos they blocked more wind). Averaging about 33 to 35 km/h, I crossed the finish line in about 81 mins (minus 3 mins for standing still at the start line). And Darren came in just under 2 mins later. He wasn't that far away after all...

Joel and Justin then arrived, but Joe was no where to be found until he staggered in half an hour after us. I swear it was the funniest thing ever.

All in all I had a great time, and I hope they do hold this event again next year, cos by then I could try to assemble a team to take part. A team that, Ten years ago, was sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team.

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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

[[Exams are over.]]

So the year end papers are over and I guess most of you poly people would be celebrating your asses off, I would too, but I guess the happiness that comes with the end of the exams hasn't hit me yet... weird.

Spawning out complex literature shouldn't be the main thing to do when my papers are over, yet I find myself doing that at night more often than not... Contemplating the future and what I can do to make this holiday more productive than the last, really stirs the mind and a good night's sleep gets hard to come by. I would guess that it's because of the exams stress that's been bringing me down... sigh.

A click, feet firmly on the pedal.

Grip tightening around the bars, without a sound and you're off.

Scenery flies by, purport less, pointless.

Breath after breath, fatigue begins so descend.

Surrealism, Transcendence.

An unearthly feeling till you finally stop.

Everything makes sense now.

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Saturday, February 27, 2010

[[An Update, Finally!]]

Hey hey. Guess who's back with a brand new track? Me. A new lease on life, a freedom I've not seen in months and happiness on the ownership of my new bike!!!!!!!!!!

This baby set me back $1305. Not rupiah or Ringitt, Sing dollars. Topped up 50 bucks for a tire change, got the super thin 125's. Almost road bikes spec. Comes with full deore with an XT upgrade in the rear. Brakes by shimano, swapped from the previous Hayes ones that Darren has, Rock Shox fork and pedals that are still yet to be changed. So in total this whole bike will set me back close to 2000 bucks, but I really got what I paid for. It's freaking awesome.

But enough about my bike, next week's the last week of the exams!!

Monday - Econs

Tuesday - Stats, Freedom. Pussy Jackson.

Wednesday - Class cycling.

Sunday - OCBC cycle Singapore!

Hyped up about it, cos after that week the next event will be the facils bonding thing then LONDON!!! Man this coming holiday just doesn't stop getting better!!

So adios amigos, it's 2 am, gotta go sleep, continue econs tmr!

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