Joyriders, Transform and Roll Out!

What a ride! There was the whole bunch of us, in our all-new 2007 sunrise themed Joyrider jerseys, flying down the Kranji-NeoTiew-LCK loop and on to Taman Serasi for breakfast.

New jersey!

Been a long time since I joined in for the breakfast rides (Sunday is usually my run day), but this ride was special. Not only was it the launch of our new jersey, but it was also sort of a farewell ride for Sengkang Joerg and Security Andrew, but expats who are due to return to their home countries. (Germany and New Zealand respectively) So in spite of yesterday's Desaru Desaster, I pulled myself of bed at 530 and hauled my ass off to Longhouse.

Phototaking in the morning was quite a difficult affair, with at least 58 riders trying to pack themselves into a 4R photo. Haha.. Quite like the Panasonic Lumix television commercial.

The whole jink gang.. Can you spot me?

the ladies showing off their butts.. =P

Ride began after the phototaking. Thanks to the front leaders/pullers, the ride began at an astonishingly fast pace. Any ideas of a leisurely Sunday saunter to Taman Serasi or a disciplined two-by-two ride à l'ANZA were quickly erased.

moving off..

at the top of Mandai hill with le Turtle King Bernard

The first group was too fast for me to catch after the initial break, so I dropped behind and helped to pull the second group. Did a pretty ok pace inside NeoTiew and down LCK, and finally reaching Taman Serasi a little under 2 hours.

me and Jany, very strong rider from France!

Some individual shots of some regular riders:

l'esCarGot Caroline, the wackiest, zaniest and slimiest of them all

Joe++rg.. Pulling away as usual *huff* *puff*

Jihad Baoying.. Always riding with a vengeance

Change Your Helmey Benny with Iron Johnson and Jap Doll Mika behind

Con-Fusion Kenneth with another shot of Benny behind

Can't resist this, so here's a pic of yours truly!

Bonjour!

More madness ensued at Taman Serasi. We sort of colonized the entire external seating area. Joyce was nice to bake us the July babies two walnut and banana cakes and we had sort of a mini-celebration there. Of course, Joerg and Andrew were asked to give their farewell speeches, which both of them delivered emotionally.

Taman Serasi kena colonized..

5 birthday babies: Kenneth, Patricia, Judith, Sharon and moi

All in all, it was an excellent Sunday breakfast ride. Love the jersey, love the food, and most importantly, love the company! Thank you all for contributing to such an enjoyable ride! =)

parting aero-longtong shot..

desaru desaster

On the jio-ing of our dear l'escargot Caroline, decided to venture up again to the land of Truly Asia for a jaunt around its traffic light-less roads. Other that knowing that we were headed towards Sedili Besar, neither Caroline nor me knew anything about the ride.

First shocker of the morning was that we were going up to Desaru by ferry instead of bumboat. Luckily I had decided to bring $30, just enough for ferry fare!

Secondly I found out that there were only 4 of us heading up: l'escargot Caroline, Spiffy Sharon, NTU Bernard, and me. Erickong and friend were sick, so they had to back out at the last minute. Nice, I thought, should be just another Saturday social ride, with hopefully more conversation than cadence.

However as soon as we had checked ourselves into customs, we rounded a bend and then we saw it: The black overcast sky. My morale fell a few notches lower at this sight. Damnit.. I wasn't really prepared to for a wet ride!

Oh well, as predicted, it started pouring real heavily en route to Desaru.

Reached Desaru in a little more than half an hour but we had to postpone our bike out till about 9. Moped around at the ferry terminal and chatted with a fellow biker whom we met on the ferry. He had actually came here alone and had brought along a change of clothes in case he could not make it back in time for the evening bumboat! Really salute that chap.

Rolled out when the rain seemed to be a little lighter. However it was quite chilly and in my skimpy triathlon attire, I was freezing! The others seemed to be alot more prepared, all togged out in their jerseys and arm warmers. =(

Ride was nothing spectacular. We departed from Belungkor instead of the usual bumboat Penggerang, so roads were much quieter and nicer to ride on, save for a short stretch. The road leading to Sedili after Desaru was quite memorable, with burnt grass (?) on both sides of the road and just nature all around. Nice.

Caroline and me decided to truncate the ride, as the dreary weather had dampened our spirits somewhat. Sharon and Bernard decided to stick to their original game plan so they pedaled on into the unknown.

Ride back was as uneventful as our ride there. Save for a little excitement in the form of a new signboard:Caroline, with her longer-than-mine legs and shorter-than-mine shorts, was obviously the ideal criminal for the moral policemen. No wonder she kept getting weird stares all the way from ferry terminal to turnabout point! Anyway, I think that the cops there will flip during the Desaru Half-Ironman later this year! =D Who would possibly do a half Ironman in that "culturally sensitive" garb?

Reached back the ferry terminal in good time, ate some food (non-synthetic), and snoozed all the way back Singapore where Caroline was ever so gracious to offer me a ride home so I did not have to battle with the motorists all the way back. =)

Went home, cleaned, and prepped up the cervélo for the Joyriders' ride the next day, then swung out immediately to collect my new jersey. Grabbed dinner on the way back. Reached home and just hit the internal snooze button. The day had been long enough.

Now you know why I sounded so gutted when you called. That, and more.

Here Without You

A man returns home one day after a tiring day of work. He just wants to sit around and love his wife, give her warm hugs and receive kisses before he tucks in for the night. He drives into the porch in his vintage car and gives a honk while parking in the usual spot, to signal to his wife that he has returned.

Glancing out the window, he tries to spot the sweet smile of his darling wife welcoming him.

-Nothing-

He feels something amiss. Opening the door of his car, he feels a warm touch above his brow and all round his scalp. Must be the weather. Quickly he rushes to the front door, with thoughts running through his mind: "Maybe my wife is giving me a surprise! She's just waiting for me to walk through that door so that she can run to me and give me a hug. Yes, that's it."

The man carefully inserts the key into the keyhole, and his heart grows warm anticipating the warm arms of embrace that he is about to receive. The key turns, *click*. "I'm home darling!"

-Nothing-

Something is wrong. The man looks around the house, everything is in the right place. No signs of struggle or anything amiss. But where is my darling wife? The man feels a strange warm aura that resonates from his back. He smiles for an unknown reason. He feels as though there's someone there, but his eyes deceive him.

He walks up the stairs and goes to the bedroom; if there is a surprise, then it must be my wife waiting in bed with her sexy lingerie. "Oh that'd be so nice. No wonder its quiet around here."

He walks up to the bedroom door. In his heart are two emotions; one anticipating the possibility of a great night ahead, the other a sad desperate feeling. But he's not gonna take any chances, he's longing to see her. His hands grasp the cold metal of the knob and turns its gently. *swoosh*

-Nothing-

The man sits down on the side of the bed and wonders: "Where has my wife gone?" She never leaves home. No, in fact, i don't expect her to leave home. Its not normal for me not to know where she is. And what is this mild warmth that I feel all around me? Then it struck him.

She had always been there. She had always been around the house. In fact she had always been there behind him, and she had been hugging him ever since he stepped out of the car. His selfishness, sorrow, insecurity and jealousy had created a world that had covered his eyes so that he had been blinded from her. In this world, she cannot follow him; instead he has to open his eyes to find her. To find her in another world where she can care for him: One where she isn't the only person in the world, one where she has her own things to do, her own places to go, her own destiny to fulfill. He cannot depend on her to be his only other person in the world; because she isn't.

The man stands up and screams his lungs out, "Give me back my wife!" The resonant silence in the air strikes him back.

-Nothing-

It's all up to him now.

conflict

Tee hee hee.. Couldn't resist this. =P Courtesy of asofterworld.

I miss you.. Do you feel the same way too? =/

ironyman et al.

Think a picture paints a thousand words, so here you go:Sianness man.. The irony of it all! I was the first runner in today, but I went home with only a pass!!! Damn the new ELISS automated machines.. So difficult to jump far on the broad jump machine. Oh well.. SBJ has always been my Achilles' heel, and it looks like its going to stay that way for some time to come..

So no $200, or even $100 for me. At least Weiliang went home with $200 in the pocket for silver today. =(

Also amazingly bumped into good ol' crazy PC Terrence Loo from OCS at Maju! He is now CPT Terrence Loo, and OC of Foxtrot Coy, 6 SIR. He still looks as sadistic as yesteryear man. No doubt now he is still terrorizing the fresh recruits under his charge, cos somehow he still gives me the creeps even after like 4 years of separation! Weird.

Went to Vivo after IPPT to watch Death Proof. Had booked the 1910 show because it seemed that 2 hours were adequate to complete IPPT, as well as head home to shower. But alas we had forgotten about SAF's infamous "Rush to Wait, Wait to Rush" mantra. Only left Maju at 1900 because we were put in the second detail. (I doubt that we could have made it even if we were put in the first detail =/) Needless to say we were hopelessly late by the time we reached Vivo. Was unable to change the tickets we had booked to a later screening, so we had to forfeit those and make new bookings. Darn.. $15 for a weekday night show!

But at least the movie was good. As I have come to expect of a Quentin Tarantino film, it had lots of witty and sarcastic conversation, sadism, gore and ol' school terror in this Grindhouse double feature with Robert Rodrigue. The second part of the double bill, Planet Terror, will be coming out in August, and I seriously can't wait to watch it! Imagine pus-festering zombies getting their heads blown off by a femme fatale with a shotgun for a leg!!! OMG.. Maximum cool lah! =D

I so love senseless violence. =P

Need I say more?

the cinema scene so far..

Hors de Prix
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Spiderman 3
Ocean’s 13
Shrek 3
Transformers
Death Proof
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Simpsons Movie
Planet Terror

One French flick and three Marvel superhero showdowns later, I am none the wiser. Damnit missed Ocean's 13 and Shrek 3 because of a lack of cinema partner. But on hindsight Shrek 3 may not have been what I expected anyway. Planning to watch Death Proof this weekend, and can't wait for the last two films to come out!!! Sans toi, ma vie est comme ça.. C'est triste ou non? =)

falling apart

Comic courtesy of xkcd. Brillant artist and genius poet! I love the sarcasm, language, love and tragic of the characters. Somehow this and pbf can evoke feelings and illustrate thoughts many other comic strips are unable to do so. =)

Been feeling as though I was falling through a infinite hole these days.. Sort of like Space Mountain at DisneyLand, or maybe just like this comic (the shattering and all). I guess life's like that: Two people meet, connect, get together, but due to some reasons later they drift apart, cease being one entity and separate. And it shatters both of them. Irreversibly. Irreconcilably. And so they plunge. But I promise to bounce back. I will endeavor.

I will.