Doing the unexpected

The trip was fun, and could be better. In the spirit of teamwork and accomodating one another, we cycled very slowly. I would have prefered to go faster, I think most of them would definitely agree.

There are many things I would have never imagined myself doing, like having BBQ with people whom most of them I did not know. I still find it quite uncomfortable to mix around with a big group of strangers, luckily the ODAC people (Steven, Yvonne, Peiyu, Ben) are the friendly-with-other-people types and not cluster-amongst-themselves people.

Also this is the first time I played mahjong at a chalet, with people I would never have imagined playing mahjong with; the CE guys and the ODAC people. I also never thought that you could play mahjong other than at night time.

The sunrise was quite dissapointing. The fog was too heavy for me to make out where the sun was. After feeding mozzies for twenty minutes, I went back to the sofa to sleep till it was about time to leave.

"Style Factor"

This is the first time I hear people posing, and is not shy of it. Every bit counts, and adds to the thing called, "Style Factor", a term coined by Roland (the one on the furthurest right).

There are poseurs everywhere in the world. They are sort of an eyesore, but pretty harmless otherwise. In fact, they are quite useful; just bear with their posing and non-existent, self inflated airs, you are bound to reap some "好处".

In general, these poseurs like to "献殷勤" and "好表现". And these traits will 自然流露 with zabors around. So in a mixed group activity like cycling to desaru, poseurs are fairly welcomed. They will shield the girls from danger, encourage them to cycle on and give lots of advises to help them cycle faster. They will also take initiative to get the menu to the table, consolidate order 贴心-ly and then finally get the bill for the table. Action bedeks lah in short. Roland got himself served with a slice of fish from all that goodwill as well. It was a pity I wasn't close enough, if not I would have went in for the kill and expose the poseur's agenda.

Don't forget the sunglasses.

Pity my astigmatism, if not I would like to pose as well.

Fulfilling dreams and wishes

Dreams coming true can mean different things on different occasions.

Firstly, I got to cycle outside of Singapore on my own bike, for a distance I could not have been able to cover in Singapore.

Secondly, my back wheel burst on the first day of the trip, as it was played out in my dream. I was very lucky that it happened while we were cycling through a town (Sungei Rengit) where there was a bicycle shop. The guys did not carry tire tubes that could fit my tire size, so they might pinch again. So at the shop, I managed to get a suitable tube replacement there. The puncture not only lost me a tube, I also broke a tire lever. Another lucky thing was that I need not stay on the lorry with Wesley whose tube could not be patched, and did not use the spare tubes available. The instant patch I offered leaked again, the breakage was simply too big to fix I guess.

The nightmare never recurred, and the experience taught me how to change the tubes on my own.

ODAC was one of the clubs I wanted to join for their activities but did not have time to do so till now. WSC and Hall activities stole my 1st and 2nd year. Looks like after this trip, I might shift my activites outdoors from year3 onwards.