i still can't believe 2008 is almost over. 3 more days to go and we're done for 2008.

Neither can i believe Christmas is over. i would love to spend more time preparing for Christmas... (there's nothing much to prepare for Christmas) or rather just to enjoy the atmosphere.

2008 started off extremely painful... but it picked up shortly and it's been a pretty good year. At least i think i've become more cheerful, which is a positive change from the past few years of my life.

Anyway, time to sleep!

Just returned a while ago from our 01S21 class gathering. The turnout was around 32 people - one of the highest turnouts so far! The host invited a few of his friends from the same school but not from our class. That's when i found out how small our school was... or how famous/ notorious i am... THEY KNOW WHO I AM!

Damn... i thought i kept a really low profile in jc...

But main thing was, the gathering was fun. Lotsa hard work into making it happen, but worth the effort. :)

The year is ending in a few more days... 2008 is gone just like this and i say the same thing i say every year - What have i accomplished this year? Nothing.

Next year will be an exciting year... hopefully with some changes in career/ goals.

i'm back to post some photos on my latest overseas (business) trip - 5 days in Phuket.

We were all initially reluctant to go because of the political situation in Bangkok at the point of time. As you might have already known, the Bangkok airport was closed and people who wanted to leave the country actually travelled to the airport at Phuket to take a flight out. We were afraid that the place would be chaotic, our luggage might go missing and all of us pick-pocketed or robbed.

But being the garang people (and Boss not being too worried about all the above issues), our group decided to go ahead. We left on Wednesday afternoon. After all, the goods and tentages were already on their way there.

It was one of my colleague's first airplane flight and the guys gave her the window seat. Boy, big mistake for me to sit beside her - she was grabbing my arm and screeching when the plane went into turbulence. Hahahaa!!!!!

We took a total of 855 photos in the span of 5 days & 4 nights. i would love to post up all as there are so many comical shots (as expected from a bunch of crazy jokers) but no, i'm picking a few just to show what we did in those days.

Big poster of the event at Phuket airport.

Our lovely hotel room at Dusit Laguna Resort.

On one of the nights, we were too tired to ride out to eat, thus ROOM SERVICE!!

Our booth at the race site.

One of our customers' car. Man, you don't wanna use this car to run away from someone. We spotted the car everywhere it went in Phuket.

Very friendly organizers who came over for a photo with our group.

M5 (rip off from F4). M5 stands for Mechanic 5.

ZX decided to shave a rectangle patch of hair off his leg to accommodate for our company tattoo. The tattoo couldn't stick well before the shaving happened.

Privilege of having a girl colleague to do the job for him!

Had dinner at a cosy roadside store one evening. By then, i was already quite sick of all the spicy Thai foods.

Race morning. We woke up at 4am to start our booth and to provide last-minute support to the participants. It was great to see that everyone appreciated our effort (by not scolding the mechanics or retail people for no valid reason).

It was a really good trip. Boss saw our photos and were glad that we all had fun there. He felt almost honoured that this trip gave my colleague a first flight opportunity. He missed the fun but there's always a next time.

(But anyway, i would still prefer not to go for overseas working trips. It's stressful most of the time. This event was fine because it's just a slightly-longer-than-Olympic-distance triathlon and not a full ironman.)

~X'mas is round the corner~

It's exactly 3 months since i last blogged. i've been very occupied all this while, travelling a fair bit, riding quite a lot, and as usual trying to work more normal hours. Since i'm not quite sleepy now, thought i'd just blog so that i can refer back next time. :)

The travel bit first...
There was the cycling trip to Desaru to give a colleague moral support for his race. (It ended up more like a sleep-eat-spa-eat-beach-eat holiday.) The mileage and terrain to Desaru from Pengerang jetty was good training for a riding trip that was to come. We stayed at Golden Beach Resort (i think that's the one) and that part of the beach in front of the resort was really peaceful.

2 bored and nothing-to-do fellas playing around with the camera timer. All it took was 1 try for this shot.

On the weekend following this Desaru one, i went with Ojy and Mariam to Cameron Highlands & KL. Hadn't been to Cameron for years and i'm glad the place is still cool. Stayed at Equatorial Hotel which was pretty much the highest hotel in the region. Went for the local tour to farms, watched the sunrise, plucked strawberries - all activites were very relaxing. Headed to KL for Ojy's graduation. So coincidentally stayed at Equatorial Hotel again! The KL one felt more like a 5-star hotel compared to the one at Cameron, but i like both anyway. Went clubbing at Zouk but honestly, it was boring. i didn't felt like drinking a lot and neither did i want to get drunk in an unknown place. Music could have been better, lights could have been dimmer, the paint on the wall could have looked newer.

And guess where i went on the consecutive weekend? CAMERON HIGHLANDS (again)!!!!!!!! i swear, all of these were not planned by me. But anyway this trip was a complete change from the previous weekend. It was a 5-day trip:


Day 1: Hired van driver Colin drove 8 of us (with bikes) to Ipoh.

Day 2: Attempted to ride from Ipoh to Blue Valley (in Cameron). Only managed to cover 60km out of 90km when the van sweeped us off at 6pm. Terrain was up, up and up. i think there was a variety of climbs - 6%, 7%, 8%, 9% or 10% ones. Or to put it simply, 10kph climbs or 8kph climbs.

Day 3: Hiking at Mossy Forest and Coral Hill. Interesting vegetation up there. In short, 3 types of plants - green ones are moss, white ones are corals, anything with flowers are orchids.

Day 4: Jim Thompson trail. We started from the top and went downhill for about 20km. It's like T15 terrain except with beautiful tea plantations all around. i could feel the change in pressure in my ears and the increase in surrounding temperature on the descent.

The highlight of this trail is the 7km climb. If you've ridden trail with me, you'll know i'm never much of a climber. (i'm always the first to get off and push.) But somehow my body was feeling 110% that day and i just tried to keep going. i gave myself small targets like a water or snack break after 1km of climb.

(Wah, i look damn fit in the photo hor? HENG AH!!!! i actually gained weight since i started riding more on my GT.)

There was this gigantically steep hill that nearly killed me. My heart was almost exploding when i reached the top. If i had a HRM, it would have burst. Anyway, all of us who went for the trail ride completed it. i didn't eat any Power or Hammer gel/bar!!! Juli was fueled by M&Ms, green peas, Nature Valley bars, 100plus and water. No leg cramps or bonking out either. i like this diet.

i'm going to say that i was just lucky that the amount of hydration that i brought (3L of water, 750ml of 100plus) was only enough for the ride (40km). If we were to go any further, i would have faced a hydration problem.

Went for charcoal steamboat at night! Yum... tired body, cool weather, sunset, charcoal steamboat...


Day 5: Balik kampong!!!

*Cameron ride photos courtesy of Pamela

**Now that i look & think back about the climbs on Cameron, i really wonder how i made it up anything at all. i think trying once is enough...

Okay, next part.

i went to our franchise store in KL together with 3 colleagues for work 2 Sundays ago. Went by Tiger Airways. Our aim was to do stock count there. Out of the 4 days we were there, i was plagued with headache for 3 entire days. i rarely have headaches and i think i was probably running a slight fever at that time too. Other than singing K on the first night, my clearest memory of this trip is my headache.

If life wasn't exciting enough, we came back on Wednesday afternoon, rushed the report on Thursday and i had to go KL again on Friday. My coach and hotel were already booked, so it was very hard to get those changed. -.- Fortunately the second round was for holiday with BoiBoi! Our purpose there was actually to watch the KL urban downhill race at Bukit Jalil.

We stayed at The Legend Hotel (just beside PWTC station) and the room we got was amazing!!! It was clean, modern and it felt so homely that we actually spent most of our time in the room (apart from going to the race site). We even had most meals in the hotel. Furthermore, very coincidentally, there was a direct train ride of around 25min to the race site!!! Saved lots on cab fare!


Of course, we very, very luckily managed to get a shot of BoiBoi with Cedric Gracia and Steve Peat!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!??????!!?!??!! They are pretty much the fastest DH riders on earth! BoiBoi was extremely excited and elated to get a pic together with them (and to put his hands on their shoulders). We actually didn't have the entrance pass to that area, but we were walking on the race track when it closed during an interval and we somehow ended up in that area. Since the 2 guys were chilling at the table and there was no queue, i insisted that BoiBoi go over and ask for a photo!!!!!


Mission accomplished!!!

~~~

BoiBoi's birthday is coming up... i think i'm more excited than he is. Hahaaa~~~

Life can't be more exciting than this... :)

i feel miserable today. No motivation to do anything. Absolutely too tired to ride to work.

It's such a vast difference between the times i'm high and low. Or at least my colleagues can tell.

Back to the anime...

My Zaskar is resurrected!! Now it's looking very, very retro and totally unlike the xc hardtails you see now.

Specs
Frame: GT Zaskar Race 2001 (size xs)
Fork: Rockshox Judy SL 2001
Wheels: Front Sunrim Sub IV/ DT Comp/ LX hub, Rear Alex DM18/ Philwood/ LX, Michelin Wildgripper Hot S 2.1"
Groupset: All LX 2001 except for XTR 2008 42,22T, Middleburn 32T, XT rapidrise rear D.
Brake Booster: Shimano Carbon
Stem: ITM Outback 90mm
Handlebar: ITM Millennium 22"
Headset: Fireeye
Grips: ODI Attack
Seatpost: Thomson Elite (NEW!)
Saddle: Velo
Pedals: VP double cage
Computer: Cateye Cordless 2
Blinker: Cateye TL-LD600

Total weight: Approx. 11.8kg (inclusive of all above specs)

i'm going to ride to work and back every single day. It takes so little effort to do that since i've been riding much heavier bikes for the past few years.

It feels so different to be riding an xc bike. Cornering is totally different from a trail or ds bike. The bar is so short, sprinting feels odd. The cockpit and wheelbase is so much smaller, i didn't even feel correct sprinting or climbing.

But the bike has been built for the idea of touring and yes, i think with barends, it will be THE bike. Reliability: 10/10

Maybe not so... the front shifter doesn't engage well. i hope it can last coz it's integrated with the brake lever and changing the shifter means changing the lever too.

Anyway, i should try to sleep now. How to wake up and ride to work like that!!!!!! i haven't been sleeping well for the past 1 week. Just tossing and turning in bed every night and wake up feeling just the same.

Planning to build up the GT! All the parts are in my room now and i just have to assemble everything together.

Guess what? i didn't know that the BCD for this year's XTR chainrings were compatible with the old cranks. i just put together a crankset that consists of 2001 LX cranks, 2008 XTR 44T & 22T and a Middleburn 32T chainrings.

All of them are in different colours. -_-

Too fun to be true!

This year's birthday was unbelievable. i don't know why but maybe i'm a happier person now compared to 1 year before.

i feel so fortunate to receive lots of well wishes from friends and family. On top of that, i received a whole bunch of gifts! Stuffed dog and ba gua, bottle of pebbles, hand-painted cup, Beijing 2008 Olympics mug, vouchers, mp3 player, chopsticks, dinner treats, flowers, cake, and so much fun.

Colleagues and i went to Wala Wala on Wednesday night for pizza and beer. Unforgivable! Talk about some healthy lifestyle...

(This is excluding being pang seh-ed by 2 guys for the Kent Ridge ride on my birthday...)

The pink mp3 player given by my colleague was in the shape of Mickey's head - as in big sphere, small sphere & small sphere. It was wrapped in a really high-class and cool wrapper with ribbon too!

And BoiBoi and i went on an excursion to the Bird Park on Saturday. It was interesting looking at all the strange birds there. Been a loooooooong time since i last visited that place.

Anyway, life's pretty good for now. i've been trying so hard to work lesser (not slack, but just work the normal hours) and live life a little more, even if it means just to go home, shower and watch anime.

i am actively converting myself to liking foods that i have all along disliked. Method? Just keep trying the food again and again. It's such a waste not to eat so many foods.

Converted foods:

• Otah
• Beetroot
• Sliced fish beehoon soup
• Avocado (in the form of guacomole)
  

In the midst of converting:

• Ramen
• Beer & Wine
  
• Capsicum
  

Will convert in the future:

• Cha/ Zaru Soba
• Wasabi
• Plums
  

Highly unlikely to convert:

• Tomatos (both raw or cooked with the exception of ketchup or pasta base that i already take)
• Fresh oysters
• Fresh wheatgrass juice
• Gherkins
• Blue Cheese
  

Don't ask about all other foods that are not listed. i eat all the other common foods.

Don't ask me to chew on dry spices. That's not called eating.

Unloading photos from my phone again. A couple of pretty interesting ones this time. Don't mind me, the pics are very random.

One day, i returned to my office desk and finding myself staring at this...

!!!!!!!!!!

~~~

i was riding past my kindergarden on my way back from a supplier's place one day and i realized it has been taken over by the government and is considered state land now. i really can't remember if we took any photos of the place when i was a kid but it's a place that houses plenty of happy times. Check the place out (from the main gate).

In the above picture, you find the hall on the left. One of my deepest memories of the hall was the graduation performance when we had to put on sarong kebayas and dance to the song "lengang kangkong" (don't know how to spell it).

Every day when i was in class, my grand aunty would sit together with the other grandmas and aunties somewhere on this flight of stairs outside the church. Some would bring bean sprouts to pick off the shoots, the rest would just chat. My grand aunty never failed to buy prata for me for lunch every day.

The place looks run-down and sad now. Life and soul have been zapped out.

~~~

Just around 1-1.5 months back, we got a new Austrian colleague. Since his homeland was smack in the middle of land, sea was a rarity. We brought him to Sentosa where there was one of the most beautiful skies i've seen so far. Sentosa is not usually the nicest place for sunsets but we were lucky that day.

~~~

We went to Big O for dessert for a secondary school friend's birthday. i like the characters depicted on the menu. It's so applicable to us. :)

~~~

Father's Day lunch at Lei Garden (Orchard Shopping Centre). It was close to my grandma's birthday so it's really a 2-in-1 lunch. i ordered this "shou tao" with bird's nest inside for her. The peach bun just looks so big in front of her. Hee... Camera effect!

~~~

My secondary school friends wanted to celebrate my birthday by having dinner out. i chose Hog's Breath Cafe for the steak because i needed to recce the steak there so that i know how to train for a 1kg steak challenge. Talk about some training...

Anyway, 300g with 2 sides was really quite filling. 1kg would be a little over although doable. Strategy for me: Eat faster and finish before my body realizes that i overeat.

~~~

Today, my new colleague treated me to Sushi Tei. YUM! Don't we all love Japanese cuisine! The bunch also surprised me with a cake and a gigantic bouquet of daisies!!! i love Bengawan Solo's pandan kaya cake. The bouquet was HUGE!!!!!!!! It's with 23 big flowers... although i'm supposed to be 24 this year. Thanks for the downgrade! i really need it! i think it's the biggest bouquet i'll get in my entire life. *tear* So touched...

A bike boutique store has to have a professional flower repair stand...

It was dinner and drinks at Wala Wala after work. Tasty pizzas, 1-for-1 beers, what else could a rider ask for... :)

i feel so loved by everyone. i feel so fortunate. My life feels so different, like never before. As much as there are ugly things, there are so many beautiful stuffs that i now notice and enjoy.

We (SJAB friends) went Hog's Breath Cafe at Holland V for dinner yesterday and the steaks were good! Yum... Bummed at Coffee Club after that and i realized that i have so many common interests with one of them. It's really amazing... Coffee, old/ strange places, taking photos, The Picturehouse shows... i thought i was the only freak around!!!!!!!!!!

Supposed to go for a round island ride today but the whether couldn't get any wetter this morning... and i got lazy when it was drying up.

And so i ended up watching Itazura na Kiss (Jap drama) at home the entire day.

Thinking of going out later... can't bear the thought of having my whole Sunday spent at home.

It's gonna be a super hectic week ahead... i foresee nights of 1.30am again.

And anyway, check this place Sinema out. i have to find a chance to go there!

It's been such a long while (almost a month) since i posted anything at all. Somehow i've been really lazy to type anything much outside work and as usual been working too much for anyone's liking.

It's gonna be my birthday next week! How time flies... Before i know it, half of 2008 is already gone and i am as usual questioning myself what i have achieved so far.

There's been some staff movement in and out of the office and it's kinda sad. But we all wish them the best in all the plans that they are embarking on.

i come into the office, know what i need to do, but don't know where to start from. There are so many little things to tie up and more big things are coming along the way.

i plan to take leave on the birthday. Maybe go riding. Maybe just bum around like how i do every weekend

Thinking of clubbing one of these weekends. Drink lots. Have fun. (Spend too much.) That sort of thing.

Anyway, back to shopping for bike parts... for the company.

Exactly 1 month to my birthday.

Time really flies... i still remember the time i was being quite upset over becoming 21... :(

Online Games

The weather's so warm, i think the sun's not functioning very well.

i thought i'd be going out the whole day but till now, i haven't set my foot out of the main door yet. i'm getting an off day tomorrow and hopefully i'll do something constructive then.

Every time i watch Initial D, i want to drive like those guys in the show. The driving's amazing. The concept (technical knowledge and lots of skill) and lifestyle is somewhat similar to a rider's. But of course it can't be compared... A car has so many parts as compared to a bike's and obviously the price is another huge difference. (It'll be my life-savings gone if i crash a zhng-ed car as compared to 2-3 months' salary if i crash my bike.)

Speaking of bike... i'm so close to giving up on tweaking my bike. i've tried all the travel settings, most of the shock positions, most of the fork settings, nothing works for me. Now, with a 120mm travel on the front, i'm virtually running on a dh setup with 65.8 deg head angle.

ARGHHHH~~~~~~~

But the 100mm one feels wrong too... and i wonder what the head angle was with the 140mm travel initially...

i dropped Foes racing an email and hopefully they'll reply (and better still, with something helpful).

Got my new crankset that's 167.5mm and now i'm so having fun spinning away at high cadence like a circus clown... There's absolutely no power if i stand and sprint. i just have to learn how to cycle all over again. Didn't think that just 7.5mm would make such a huge difference.

Come to think of it, riding up stairs would be a bigger problem now... less leverage!!!

Anyway, time for a shower, then dinner and probably a short spin nearby.

i want to go travelling!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't wanna be stuck here!!!!!!!!

Oh my gawd oh my gawd oh my gawd. Check out the placing for team Full Sussers!

Absolutely no training done. Too bad the race was stopped halfway or else we could have gotten something on the podium... =D Looks like our team's guys are really good!

It's been a pretty interesting weekend. All the little things that make the whole 2 days+ so fun and memorable.

Friday:
Busy with work the entire day. Found out (in shock) that i had to go for Bikeasia 100 race briefing in the evening (which was in Tampines). It was a shock because my bike was at my colleague Jason's place in Geylang and the first train from Lakeside was too late for me to get to Geylang and ride to Tampines in time for race registration. And so, i went from work (Amoy St) > Tampines > Home (Lakeside) > Paya Lebar (stayover @ Jason's). Ah, did i mention, i reached Tampines just in time to miss the briefing session...

The most consoling part - his bed was sssssooooooooo comfortable......... zzzZzz............ The host had to manually blow up an inflatable mattress to sleep on... Err...

Saturday:
5 hours of sleep later, we got up to ride to Tampines. It was hot, sunny and muddy and everyone was in high moods and looking forward to the race. Tinker Juarez was there too!!!!!! Our tent was already pitched the day before (thanks to Jason) so we just had to sit around on little stools.

On a side note, there were these 2 Japanese guys who pitched a dome tent and arranged their stuffs to make it look really like home. There were 2 Pikachu stuffed toys at the entrance (1 spotting a helmet on the head), drink cooler and foods on the side, comfy-looking mattress inside the tent, tools, etc. It's really a Japanese thing. i wouldn't have thought of doing all these!!! But hey, it really adds to the feel of the event. :)

We were in a Quad team (Team Full-Sussers (211)) with Ian (local rider) and Ben (German guy who lives in M'sia) and i was the 3rd rider to go. It felt a long time waiting for my turn although Jason and Ian were both fast riders. It was hot, i was impatient and slightly hungry, the waiting really sucks.

It's actually my first time riding the whole of Tampines trail. i was on my Foes and it's really not the best bike for climbing. On the first few downhill sections, i was wondering why i couldn't seem to use most of the fork travel like how i usually do. The front wheel kept going off-course on the switchbacks and cornering sucked.

As usual, i cursed and swore on the climbs. The climbs were not steep - they were all gentle (but not THAT gentle) but quite long-ish with switchbacks. i was on 32T chainring and there was 1 hill where i had to stop twice (to rest!!!!!). i just stopped for a few seconds and started painfully spinning up because i didn't want to get off and push.

The northshore parts in the forest were pretty fun. There was another competitor right behind me who badly wanted to overtake me but couldn't because the planks were only meant for 1 rider at a time. That's when i got a voice at the back of my head that went "Faster, faster, faster!!".

No timing taken for my round but i really could have done better. After my round, i found out that someone... the person who rode my bike back... pumped my fork up and didn't release the air back to original!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ()!_@&($)@!)_+~!&($! Dear dear, my fork has a lockout function...

Anyway, there were really cool parents there - Ian's parents and Ben's dad. i thought it's so cool to have parents to be at the race and bringing the race support stuffs like food, drinks, gels, etc. It's even more cool to have your dad racing in the Men's Solo category...

After my first round, i was busy stuffing myself with food and drinks and psyching myself up for the next round. Ian was doing his 2 consecutive rounds but on his second round, it started pouring like no tomorrow.

There was a lightning & thunder storm and because the trail was so open, the organizers decided to stop the race. It was around 12+pm and it was only about halfway through the race. Everyone was really quite disappointed. The guys in my team (and even myself) were really psyched up to take the podium place but i guess we'll have to try again next time.

Did i mention that this was my first trail race? Surprise surprise...

Sheesh, i realized that we didn't even take a group photo! Haha...

Oh yes yes, she came over to talk to me!!!!!!!! *floating a little...*

After bumming around, washing our bikes and collecting the goodie bags, Jason and i headed to the coffeeshop nearby to eat and slack. Shiok man...

i rode back to Amoy after that so that i could get a thorough wash of my bike and muddy belongings and also have a good shower and a change of clothes (formal wear) for my cousin's wedding in the evening.

The wedding was at this restaurant behind the fire station on Hill Street. Very nice place with lots of historial stuffs. Throughout the whole buffet dinner, BoiBoi and i were analyzing my half-cousin who was sitting opposite him, my cousin & wife (the wedding couple) and also my bike and race.

i got a Limar 747 and wore it during the race!! Good stuffs! i spent around 10-15 minutes adjusting the straps and once it was done and worn on the head, it was forgotten completely. Comfortable helmet that conforms to my head and doesn't make me look like an alien.

Sunday:
Went with parents to pray to ancestors at Bright Hill temple and another small temple. i was snoozing away most of the time in the car.

i went to Orchard with BoiBoi after that and there was an Animal sale in Taka!!!!!!!! Good stuffs!!!!!! i bought myself a backpack, 2 tees, 1 berms and 2 pairs of slippers. Also bought BoiBoi 1 backpack and a tee. Cheap cheap! Everything came up to S$130+. And after that, we were both carrying our barang barang in our new backpacks! Happy!

i kinda wish every weekend would be so fun. It's been a long while since life's been interesting enough. i can't get enough of riding. i wouldn't mind riding every single day. Trails, commuting, bumming around on bike, everything's good.

Tomorrow's gonna be a long and busy day of work. i should sleep now! Nightz...

Took the morning off to ride some trail and get used to my bike on the trail. Decided to do BT because it's the nearest trail from my place.

By the way, it's been donkey months (or years) since i rode there. Not exactly my favourite trail.

Anyway, first round was bad. Huffed and puffed big time, pushed up many slopes, time and again rode into invisible strands of spider web. But really, maybe it's not that bad.

Back at the carpark where i was sitting at the kerb, i was contemplating whether to do a second round since it was still so early.

i knew i was going feel any sense of satisfaction if i didn't go for 1 more round. And so i went again.

The bike rode like an xc bike except that i couldn't climb well. The descending was good but i really would have preferred the fork to be at 120mm instead. Or maybe i just need to ride more trail and build trust in my fork.

The trail on weekday is so nice and quiet. It's relaxing and almost therapeutic to be in the forest rolling along.

Lunch was at Queenstown hawker centre. The duck rice came with a lesser-than-usual portion of rice. Guess the price hike really affected these hawkers badly.

After that i headed to work. Washed my bike, washed my helmet, bag & myself, aired the clothes, then start work. It totally rocks to be able to do all these at the workplace! i mean, how many people have colleagues/bosses/workplaces that accommodate to muddy mountain bikers & bikes?

i think my favourite part is washing the bike. It's so easy with a spray hose and a dedicated area for washing. Brushes of all shapes & sizes, chain cleaner, degreaser, detergent, rags, all are available.

Shiok ah!

But i was so nuah when i finally got down to my work. A zillion things to do. Sleepy. Mouth itchy.

Anyway i'm going to rest now. zZzZzz... Ankles are aching from the ride.

i'm back after weeks of virtual non-existence.

Been drowning in work and i finally found one afternoon to get my bike fixed.

Oh mama, it's that feeling all over again... Finally more parts are mine!

The baby is specced with Fox Float RLC 07 (100mm), Hope Mono Mini, Salsa Delgado Disc Rim with Philwood Spokes & W.I. DJ Hubs, Kenda Nevegal 1.95, Salsa Skewers, E13 Chainguide with LX crank & 32T chainring, Azonic Riser Bar, Stone Edge stem 50mm, Raceface XY Seatpost, FireEye Saddle, Oury Grips, Easton Flatboys, plus all the small parts.

We shortened the travel to 100mm and ran it around 28% sag, 42psi but i don't feel 100% good about it. i've lowered the pressure to around 40 and hopefully it'll feel better. Still tweaking the rebound and compression controls too. What a pain in the ass to get a shock tuned up exactly how you want it to feel like. It's very fun though. Very race style of working things out.

And oh yes, i can't get past 70% travel for my fork. Trail, small drops, stairs (both up and down), the travel just hits 70%, nothing more. This applies to both 140 and 100mm setting. Must bug the Fox guy about it...

(This is the only time i wish i'm slightly heavier to actuate the fork more.)

Headtube angle is around 67.9 degrees, BB height approx. 13.8". (Wheel axle height is around 13.5".) Figures derived from measurements after bike was set up.

Anyway, i know whose bike it feels like - my colleague's Intense Tazer.

It rides like an XC bike now... Just before the change from the previous 40T chainring & 140mm fork setup, the bike felt and handled like a downhill bike with good steering (and my knees would hurt from long rides). The geometry is much more aggressive now but cornering doesn't feel as outstanding as before.

Now now, hopefully my fitness & stamina is enough for coming Saturday's race. i want a decent timing because my team-mates seem like a bunch of kickass guys. And hey, it's been a long while since i've joined any race...

i love my bike i love my bike i love my bike i love riding i love riding i love riding i love working in a bike store i love working in a bike store i love mountain bikes i love mountain bikes i love bicycles!

It's been a long weekend, great stuffs and all although work seem to have been haunting me last night.

My parent's close friend gave us a treat at Tung Lok @ Vivocity yesterday. The food was impressive! It seemed like all the dishes were re-created or done the Tung Lok style. The taste, the aesthetics, were very different from the ones you get at most Chinese restaurants.

We have pork shanks as starters, deep fried tofu cubes, deep fried bull frog legs, chicken soup with abalone and other yummy stuffs, fried mian xian and this coconut dessert. i think there's another dish but i can't remember what it is...

Pork shanks tasted like no other. It's a similar concept to the Teochew cold jelly-ish pork but this is purely cold pork flesh with fat, skin and all.

The tofu came in little cubes and the batter complemented the tofu excellently. There was a slight sprinkle of pepper and salt on it and the presentation was attractive.

The frog legs were deep fried in this really tasty batter. The flesh was tender but slightly oily. It's nothing close to the claypot frog legs with ginger and spring onions you get elsewhere.

The double-boiled soup was amazing... The taste of the scallops and abalone was strong and there were also Chinese almonds and chicken feet boiled together. Too bad each person only gets 1 bowl of the soup.

The fried mian xian was special. It's rare enough to get fried ones and the texture was nice and slightly chewy (and not soggy and broken as i'd thought it'd be).

The coconut dessert was really special. There were black fungus, seaweed (Japanese fresh kind), figs and Chinese almonds boiled in a Thai young coconut. The dish was served in the coconut. Refreshing stuff!

The food's really amazing but i guess they can work on the service. The dishes came fast but the service crew seemed overloaded and didn't change our plates when necessary.

Price wise, not too expensive. We didn't eat all the expensive stuffs and it's around $35 per head (ala carte).

Sigh, it's been all the glorious food and not much exercise... :(

It's one of those days that you feel that the world is so damn small... i was at my supplier's warehouse to meet up for lunch and i saw a friend's dad there...

Me: EHHH??? Uncle!

Uncle: Eh?

Me: Uncle! How come you're here?

Uncle: Hehe...

Supplier X: You call him uncle, he's our boss ah!

Me: AAAHHH????

Uncle: (takes out namecard)

Me: (receives namecard, looks at it. M.D.) *quite blur & very much in disbelief*

And we all had lunch together...

i can't believe how small the world can get.

This morning i was just watching GTO and saw the sukiyaki being cooked at home... and i just had to have sukiyaki tonight.

Last minute shopping at Cold Storage for the ingredients. Pretty budget for 2 people but a good variety of food items! BoiBoi was in charge of preparing the broth and bringing the food to my room while i was in the kitchen washing and cutting the foods.

Smelled awesome! Very home-style, almost Japanese, except no short table and tatami or wooden floor.

We had the typically sukiyaki ingredient - 3 types of mushrooms, pork shabu shabu, crab leg, silken tofu, oden, udon and vegetables. i cannot describe how lovely the fatty slices of pork tasted. The oden, with vegetables cleverly hidden inside to trick kids into having more fibre, was really good too! It's one of those cold-weather foods that leaves you all so warm and nice inside. The broth and all the ingredients complemented each other really well.

There was also a 1.5 litre bottle of red milk tea to top it off. (It's the same brand & type that you get from the vending machine in Japan.)

i love the fact that it's so easy to prepare sukiyaki and it's much more healthy than BBQ, not to mention mess-free! Moreover, we can sit on the mattress in my bedroom, enjoy the aircon, tune in to some soothing music and have a heart-warming meal all at the same time.

Yes, we finished all the food (actually BoiBoi dozed off on the bed and i finished the rest of the food) and i only took a short while to do the dishes.

And to end off this post...

i finally got my own set of Hope Mono Mini disc brakes!!!!!!!!!!!

3 minutes to 12 midnight. (That's what my computer clock says.)

The week has passed in a blink. i thought i just came back from Genting?! i'm bored with work. i can't find the time and energy to ride. i can't find the time to order my bike parts and build another bike up. Sian...

Okay, let me rephrase the part about being bored with work. i'm not bored with the work itself. i'm just bored by the fact that i can work non-stop. Leave me there for 1 week, i can dig around for work and keep working. Re-label stuffs, arrange boxes, clean the place, dump more stuffs, etc. i've got a little more obsessive with keeping my desk really goddamn freaking neat since i dumped a whole load of papers a few days ago. Every piece of stationery has to be where it has to be. Same goes for every product or sheet of paper.

i don't know why i'm still looking at the monitor right now. i pretty much stare at the monitor the entire day already.

i want to ride... it sucks not to be riding more... how can you work with bikes, love bikes so much but have no time or energy to ride... that's so wrong...

It's about 3 weeks since i last blogged. Life's been pretty much work and sleep and not much riding.

Just came back from Genting with the 2 girls. Genting's such a damn boring place but the temperature there is lovely. i suppose it's around 20-23 deg C most of the time so it's like being in the aircon room the whole day. Took some rides, snapped some photos, enjoyed each other's company, that's about the highlight of it all. i won't tediously describe the entire trip in detail but here're some photos that were pretty decent.

Hanging around at the garden outside, waiting for sunrise. Looked like something was flaming.

1 of 3 of the "3 of us" photos in the whole trip.

The 2nd one of the series.

It was cloudy but we could see the sky change its colour gradually.

Bonsai!!!! This fella must be really old...

My favourite photo of the trip. i feel it describes her a lot.

AAAHHHHH!!!!!!
Swinging around at 100kph and holding a camera.

The 3rd photo of the series (as mentioned above).

Our room in Theme Park Hotel was good. At least it was clean and spacious for 3 of us. We also had a very good view of the theme park (and the theme park was right at the doorstep).

Fine dining at The Olive Restaurant & Bar Lounge.

Sirloin steak.

The trip to Genting was a good one (despite the sucky place). Wouldn't really want to go back there again though. :)

Feeling so tired and slack today. On half day (second half) off today. Got a bunch of invoices to settle too. Listening to 88.3 while doing work.

Haven't been blogging much recently. As usual, damn busy with work. TBB Malaysia had their Grand Opening on Sunday 3rd Feb and all of us went over to help out. Jason & i brought our bikes up so that he could show me some trails around the area.

i am so ashamed to say that my fitness sucked big time and i couldn't climb for nuts. Ended up pushing most of the time. (So much pushing, my upper body did more of a workout instead of the legs.) But hey, the trails were so fun! Technical, some parts rather flowy. We did a downhill section and it felt so good. The berms were all in the right place, right height, you just dig in very naturally. (Sorry, no photos of the trail. Too shagged to snap anything at all.)

i didn't do the drops and jumps though. Not confident and probably not enough protection too. We wanted to ride more on the next morning but everyone was tired and slept late. =( i'm just so glad that the trails are all so near to our new store and we'll be able to just pop by any weekend. (Note: Shower and bike shower facilities available in the store. Anything mechanical failure, the full Park Tool Master Mechanic Set is in the house to save the rig.)

The store just looks totally amazing. It's a very new concept in the country and many of the people who popped by to take a look were impressed. (Personally, i still am.)

And there's the SRAM Red groupset that all of us (yes, even the mountain bike freaks) were oogling and wowing about.


The guys built a R3 SL with the full Red grouppo and it was of race-illegal weight. It was around 6 or 5.8kg (can't remember the exact figure). Disgusting shit! Haha!

Anyway, more words for another day.

Happy Chinese New Year to all just in case i forget about my blog for a while... :)