Didn't join FENR.
A hoo-hah ensued over the beating of red lights during this FENR.
From now on, I will try my best not to beat a red light on my bike, no matter how great the temptation. Hope I can succeed.

I did not eat McDonald's fries on Tuesday

Rode with Archer to Hup Leong (my first time there) to get the Sigma taillight; its brightness did not disappoint. Archer bought a cute Cateye bell and got his wheels trued.
Then we rode to East Coast Park -> Bedok Jetty, where I was inspired to ask Archer to call Siok Heng out since she stays near ECP... what do u know, she was on her way to meet Cannoncal and Johnson at ECP Macs. So we made our way there, and arrived before her. All of us then rode to Changi Village via Coastal Rd (I went home from there by Loyang while the rest had to go back by Coastal again).
This ride was worth it, even if it's just for the chance of seeing Cannoncal and Johnson in identical Cannondale jerseys, identical Cannondale tights and identical SIDI shoes, i.e. twins by coincidence! *grin*

Friday:
Joined FENR (another climb of Mt Faber and Telok Blangah Hill).
Left handphone at ECP Macs; failed to retrieve it.
Was cranky over the weekend.
Sunday:
Got a replacement SIM card (same number) and bought the Nokia 6610 (white).

My long-sleeved shirt is drenched now. I can't seem to cool down, which always happens when I take in lots of carbohydrates.

Consuming 4 large fries for the price of 2 sounds good to me. Maybe I have to stop taking rice from now on.

I saw the most beautiful ad from McDonalds in the front page of ST today: "Buy one large fries and get one FREE" (pity it's only till 4 June). Hallelujah, I'm so ecstatic that I wanna write in to thank the CEO of McDonalds... and also to suggest bringing back Super-size fries on the menu. McDonalds, here I come.

Met Mavic at Bedok Jetty yesterday at 5pm to slack at East Coast. Snapped pics of his black/maroon '02 Norco XC Team. Decided that ECP would be boring, so we proceeded to do a round of Marina South instead. I found this ride particularly therapeutic... a smooth comfortable pace coupled with great weather (yes, it was HOT the whole day but became cooler at 5pm) and scenery. Cycling during daytime has its advantages; there's much more to see when there's sunlight.

Fortunately, Benjamin is back in class today (36.8 deg) and is allowed to take his exams.

Taken from Mag's blog, who's probably enjoying her obscenely long poly hols now:

Things to do tomorrow:

wake up at 8.30am
stare into blank space for 12 mins
listen to xiao an, while staring into blank space, till i get tired of it
shower
make breakfast at turtle-pace
eat breakfast at turtle-pace
read newspapers
plan tv schedule
carry out tv schedule for the day
other times when not on tv, play sims
play sims
eat
play sims
eat
tv
play sims
...

It's nice to be able to enjoy the finer things in life.

It's AWFULLY HOT invigilating in the classroom!! Look at my shirt!

2 students from my class registered temperature readings of 37.5 deg (Lynette) and 37.7 deg (Benjamin). Lynette had to take her exam in the Art Room while Benjamin was sent home eventually; incidentally, Benjamin showed me a temperature of 38.1 deg the other day, but that was a prank (he rubbed the probe). Well, this time it's for real.

Manic Street Preachers are releasing their compilation of b-sides and rarities titled 'Lipstick Traces (A Secret History Of The Manic Street Preachers)' on 14 July. Just previewed the track-listing-- HOW can they ever leave out R P McMurphy, Patrick Bateman, Too Cold Here and Hibernation ??!! >:(

Was free on Saturday night, so decided to join Patio's ride. It was supposed to be a slack ride, as the event-post put it, but only fools would believe that. Route: ECP mac --> Mt Faber --> Telok Blangah Hill --> Orchard Rd --> East Coast Park --> Coastal --> Changi Village.
It was getting late when we reached East Coast Park after Orchard Rd, and naturally, I gave Coastal and Changi Village a miss
and headed for home. As you can see, it has been another Tour De Pek Xua, and at a chionging pace too. Patio, on her recently acquired 2nd-hand Sintesi frame, proved to be a strong rider.


Backblog time:

May 13:
Attended cousin Charmaine's wedding dinner at Four Seasons Hotel. Throughout the day, I was feeling something did not agree with my stomach; I blame the $1.20 chicken rice which I ate at the school canteen. Not surprisingly, during the third course (steamed fish), I had no choice but to rush to the toilet and managed to empty the contents of my stomach through my mouth into the toilet-bowl without spilling a drop. Was I grateful for the relief.
Seated one seat away from me on my right was Yvette, a sweet-looking child. Her mum (who happened to be Cheryl's sister-in-law) was between us, and had to leave her seat from time to time since she was the emcee. Yvette was aloof and shy at first, until I showed her what my digital camera could do... did it spark her interest.

I noticed Ben Yeo (of Channel U fame) was seated at the table behind me with his girlfriend (I guess the girl must be a friend of Charmaine's). The female guests at one particular table away from mine all happened to be of the retina-pleasing variety, not unlike a beauty pageant; according to cousin Edwin's sms: 'they all very power'. I guess they must be ex-colleagues of Charmaine, who used to be an air-stewardess. Below is one of the guests; pic was taken by Yvette, who was overly-enthusiastic with my digicam... oh well, who am I to complain.


May 15 (Vesak Day):

Armed with my 'The Essential Fantastic Four' comic compilation, I spent a lazy day at Siloso beach in Sentosa. Grace, Jasmine, Lynda and Serene got the idea of burying people in sand, and their victim was Jasmine's friend, Mark. Note the interesting way they sculpted the sand.


May 16 (FENR night):
Made a detour to Tiong Hin at 9.30pm after cycling off from Toa Payoh, but there were no riders gathered. There was no posting for FENR, since Cannoncal and Deus were recuperating from their Penggarang trip the day before. Decided to go home via East Coast Park, but who should I meet there but Psyduck, Iamnotfat, Mudsoap and one more guy whose name I didn't catch. They were going to Changi Village via Coastal Rd, so I went along; met Smitty cycling alone at ECP, but he decided to head for Suntec in the end. Archer joined us at Changi Village hawker centre.

I could swear my big toe is feeling better now. The swelling has lessened and it's not as painful as yesterday; should be on the way to recovery, whew.
It's pouring now... the sound of the rain together with the scenic green landscape of the compound (not unlike that of some hotels) of the army building make up a nice, tranquil atmosphere. I realize I miss going to the Botanic Gardens. Nothing beats looking out to greenery accompanied by the sound of falling water.
The guard at the entrance this morning asked whether I'm reservist or full-time N.S; he guessed reservist, cos he remarked that I look rather old for an NSF. True, inside a huge army camp like Pasir Labar, I'm surrounded by budding teenage boys who radiate youthfulness; a good example would be the signaller Private who gave us an introductory lesson to signal sets. With the sparse growth of hair on his head, the geeky black-frame glasses and unwrinkled face, he indeed looks fresh out of JC and BMT.

Somehow, I have sprained my right big toe without knowing it. It has been hurting for the last two days. I have to walk with a slight limp. The toe is swollen but I will have to endure that with my army boots on.

I'm holding the ball and Hotei wants to play catch. Fine, except that he has the annoying habit of bringing back the ball but not letting it go. Everytime, I have no choice but to stick my hand in his mouth and wrench the slimy saliva-drenched ball from his jaws. Look closely at the top right-hand corner of the pic; can you spot something sticking out?


A tireless, lunatic bundle of energy that simply cannot keep still. Here, he is seen stealing food from the german sheperd's cage. And when you walk him outdoors, he gets into staring (and barking) incidents with every strange dog he comes across, never mind that some are twice his size!


And Buttons, oh Buttons... here's an animal that will make your heart melt. Sweet-natured, submissive, endearing, and runs in the funniest way, what more can you ask for?

It's lunchtime now and I'm typing this in an army camp. The lounge is air-conditioned, there are comfy leather sofas, and there are 3 broadband computers for anyone to use (don't worry, this stuff is safe for me to mention, just don't ask me what my ICT course is about-- hush hush). Luckily, lunchtime is still from 12 - 1.30pm, which gives me ample time to relax in the lounge (the cookhouse food sucks by the way, apple curry... what kind of curry is that?!).
Last Sunday, swam at Brenda's club and managed to take pics of Buttons (chihuahua), Miko (miniature pinscher) and Hotei (german sheperd) but the jpgs are at home so can't post them up now. Incidentally, Patio owns a chihuahua too, but hers is the long-haired kind, unlike Buttons (I do think Buttons is prettier).
My no. 4 kind of stinks now, cos of field exercise yesterday and today. I feel sorry for the people who will be sitting beside me on the long MRT ride home.

Went for 2 more rides during this week. Met Cannoncal, Archer and Siok Heng at Bedok Jetty on Tuesday night and proceeded to Esplanade because Cannoncal and Siok Heng were bored of doing Coastal. At first, we were thinking of going all the way to Fong Seng for nasi lemak but we thought the better of it and turned into Marina South instead. From Marina South, we went beneath Sheares Bridge and exited at Marina Square for supper at Beach Rd. At the muslim coffeeshop, we were joined by Ah Lai, Alvin and Ryan, and we had a lesiurely ride back to East Coast Park and back home.

The ride on Wednesday was a Round-Island ride since it was on a public holiday eve. Route: ECP mac --> Esplanade --> West Coast Rd --> Jln Buroh --> Boon Lay --> Lim Chu Kang Rd --> Kranji Rd --> Upper Bukit Timah Rd --> makan-point at muslim coffeeshop near Beauty World --> Bukit Timah Rd --> Serangoon Rd --> Macpherson Rd --> and home via Bedok Reservoir Rd. Quite a tiring ride; my sweat gave me a glowing effect, as captioned by a pic of me snapped by the ever digicam-happy Zaskarboy aka Adrian.

Went to Jane's wedding dinner on Labour Day. Sheraton Towers has lush greenery behind their coffee-house with several miniature waterfalls, nice! Reached the hotel early and found the sounds of the waterfalls especially soothing and therapeutic after the tekan session I had earlier. Jane looked great in a striking red Peranakan kebaya; she said she got it made at this shop inside the Esplanade.

Due to the hoo-hah that resulted fom Patio's photo in Showrooms, Skylink and Sehsuan had gotten themselves a 2-week suspension from Zishin. However, I noticed that Skylink has started posting in TGP, which meant that his suspension had only lasted one week. What I want to clarify is, does that mean that Sehsuan's suspension is also over? Do the admins in TGP know the meaning of being impartial?