Tag from *someone*

RULES
#1) You must fill out EVERY question! No skipping!
#2) Tag five people afterwards.
#3) Leave a message on their page telling them their tagged. …NO

ARE YOU?

1. Perfect?
Yes I am.

2. Tall?
Taller than my sister 😀

3. In your pajamas?
No. I’m naked, reader. I’m naked.

4. Left handed?
Look ma, no hands!

LAST:

1. Friend you saw:
Gwen

2. Talked to on the phone:
Pa

3. Person to text you:
May

4. Was today better than yesterday?
I dunno. I hope not.

FAVORITES:

1. Number:
2

2. Color(s):
Black and white

3. Fruit:
Kyoho grapes

4. Place:
Out there on a trail with a friend and a pair of bikes… something that is not going to happen anytime soon

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:

Q: What was the first thing you did this morning when you got up?
A: Hey at least I woke early on my own again…

Q: Do you have anything bothering you?
A: Er… ya. Lots. That’s why my pa says I’m getting thin and hungry like a wolf.

Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
A: Dirtout

Q: Where is the last place you went?
A: My aunt’s house to give her the offerings

Q. Do you smile a lot?
A: If there is a reason to, and if there isn’t a reason to but I feel like smiling anyway

Q: Do you wish upon stars?
A: Used to but soon I realised if you keep seeing them every night there isn’t much reason for it to work

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: When I feel like it

Q: Where did you sleep last night?
A: On my bed i think

Q: When was the last time you cried?
A: When I was cutting up the fucking onions yesterday

Q: What was your last thought before going to sleep last night?
A: Bikeasia tomorrow… Need to wake up early

Q: Rate life as of right now one being bad ten being great?
A: Could be better

Q: What do you hear right now?
A: Seh kai deh yi deng!!!

Q: Does anything hurt right now?
A: Yes I need to pang sye

Q: What’s your favorite month ?
A: Any month there’s good weather and a long holiday

Q: What did you do last night?
A: Hm I fixed my internet connection

EIGHT EMOTIONS:

1. Are you missing someone right now:
The person I was missing has a day off now ^^

2. Are you happy?
Today was so-so. I didn’t get my helmet. I didn’t get anything done. So I guess no real reason to be that happy.

3. Are you sad?:
No.

4. Are you bored?:
A little, but my energy is kinda low today anyway so I don’t mind.

6. Are you nervous?:
Not that bad la.

8. Are you tired?:
Low energy day.

ABOUT YOU:

001. Real name?
I have a proper name, unlike “scratches chin” *someone*

002. Nick names?
Service staff take it upon themselves to call me by half of my name without my permission

003. Eye color?
Dark

004. Zodiac sign?
That one *points*

005. Male or female?
Somewhere in between

[Insert the missing-for-who-knows-what-reason 006 through 007]

008. Slut?
Yes please.

009. Smart?
If I slap you it will.

010. Hair color?
Copperish-brown

011. Long or short?
Somewhere in between

013. Sweats or Jeans?
Camo shorts

014. Phone or Camera?
Camera phone

016. Drink or Smoke?
Drink in moderation

020. Tattoos?
Not on me. On my Knut perhaps.

021. Righty or lefty?
No hands!

FIRSTS:

024. First best friend?
that rotting mushroom

025. first crush?
Hayabusa

027. First pet?
Zhou jielun the fighting fish

028. First big vacation?
Ji-pun

CURRENTLY:

049. Eating?
Hungry

050. Drinking?
Thirsty

052. I’m about to:
Fart but somehow i cant

053. Listening to?
親愛的再會吧

054. Plans for today?
Rest and recharge and do research on the internet about my future helmet and about how to get help from the authorities to help me claim my rightful money from Mitsui

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?

070. Shorter or taller?
Anything la

072. Romantic or spontaneous?
I didn’t know they were opposites. I think it’s possible to be spontaneously romantic

074. Sensitive or loud?
Not over-sensitive and not too AA, please

075. Hook-up or relationship?
Depending on the guy and the situation

HAVE YOU EVER:

079. Drank bubbles?
Yes it made me fart

080. Lost glasses/contacts?
All the damn time

081. Ran away from home?
Seldom. Once i did walk out though but they found me downstairs

084. Broken someone’s heart?
Er… might have but he was being unreasonable anyway

085. Been arrested?
Er the closest thing I ever had to that was being caught passing through the ERP without a cashcard in my IU

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

090. Miracles?
I supposed they do happen… but they really should happen more often

092. Heaven?
I bet there are bikes there. All good bikes go to Heaven.

093. Santa Claus?
I believe in mall santas

094. Love?
I suppose it does happen since so many people swear by it.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

097. Do you like someone?
I like most people, unless they disrespect me, treat me like a fool or try to shortchange me.

099. Do you believe in God?
Not the Christian one.

100. Answered the truth on all questions:
I dunno? *smiles bimbotically*

And I tag:
What’s with making people feel obligated to answer?

I am eating alone because I have no friends

I am eating alone not because I have no friends but because my friends and family all have lives of their own and I can’t expect them to be free to have all my meals with me every day, can I? (I’m not a baby, I don’t need to be fed, so wth?)
Stop all this eating alone nonsense already. Eat alone then eat alone lor. What’s there to be so ashamed about?

Why do girls like to go on about this kind of nonsense? Eating alone is better than eating with company you don’t like fyi

Ouchs sunburn

My arm hurts from the sunburn on Friday. In case it isn’t clear, these are the events that led to the sunburn.
After calling Dirtwheel to tow my stranded bike, I went MTBing again.
We rode from Seletar to Punggol (I think but don’t trust my direction cause my direction is super screwed heh)

Hm, there were a lot of new experiences.

It was my first time cornering through sand.
KTM skidded but managed to recover.
I skidded and fell @$%#$%!!! (And yelled “Nabei” on top of it… KTM didn’t hear lolz)
Don’t mess with soft sand k? It’s deceptively difficult!
(Especially when you accidently stop on it in the wrong gear and starting again is one hell of a bitch)
The damage: 1 ‘orh cheh’ (bruise) on the leg. Nothing much (it was soft sand)

Then we also had to cross a bridge, but it was high tide and the bridge was totally submerged.
It was my first time riding through water.
Erm… the feeling was very weird lor. There was all this debris near the water that I had to navigate and went I entered the water, I had this feeling like I was riding through a fish tank. Not to mention the strange bumps hidden underwater and the row of holes in the bridge (that fortunately wasn’t hidden)
The water was all the way up until my pedals, therefore my whole shoe was submerged and is still hanging up in the balcony to dry.
On the way there we didn’t know whether to ride through or not but we were lazy to lube chain and sprocket (and I had never been through water before and couldn’t swim) so we just carried our bike across.
Then there was this security guard coming toward us to tick us off so we rode away.
On the way back, we decided to ride across cause we could lube chain back at the van. I realised the guard did not intend to tick us off after all, just tell us to ride our bikes across, cause there was a sign that said something like “No pedestrians, only bikes and vehicles allowed” on the bridge.
Hohohoho!
(I would have taken a photo but I don’t carry my hp with me when biking)

Other than that it was quite an easy ride la.

Anyway the water washed all the lube off my chain.
Think I need to go lube chain again.

And now I am two-toned again. Hohohohoho!

For Gwen

Congratulations Gwen, for getting into Mass Comm!

It’s an opportunity that not everyone will have, do make the most of it!

^^

Other people are always dropping my bikes

Today my friends X, T, H and C decided to mess around with my bike after lesson.

I showed them where the important parts of the bike were, and they were very impressed when I turned the throttle. Vrooooooom!!!!

I had initially allowed X to ride Knut, cause he already had a driving license and therefore understood the concept of clutch and throttle control. And he could ride a bicycle so he would most likely be able to balance a motorcycle.

So X went a few shaky rounds the carpark and proclaimed that it was very fun.

And then everyone except H wanted to try. C could drive, however he couldn’t balance a bicycle so he was out of the equation.

And T hadn’t got a driving license yet (he was taking lessons) so I asked him if he understood the concept of clutch control. He said he did.

On his first try, T stalled Knut. But that was nothing compared to the second try.
On the second try, T threw clutch/used too much throttle/both and Knut just flew off towards a parked car, then fortunately crashed right before the wheels of the car.
If Knut had hit the car, we’d be in deep shit.
It was our lecturer’s car.

And after that T confessed that he had only gone for his first manual car lesson before this =_=”‘

Knut was unhurt except for a bit of lost petrol and a broken screw on the handlebar, causing the mirror and the clutch to shake up and down. Fortunately it was the left side so I was still able to ride home.
We secured it with a number of rubber bands.

Later I went to buy some replacement screws at HomeFix.
Going to fix the mirror tomorrow.
So much excitement in one day.

A perfect day

Have a meetup with GEMS tomorrow at Vivocity but suddenly I feel lazy and don’t feel like going.
Sighhh….
(What can one do in Vivocity anyway?)

Just want to spend a day away from all those projects.
Maybe in the morning, I’ll bring Knut to the petrol kiosk to pump tires and pump petrol.
Then I’ll ride to school and submit my project.
Then spend the rest of the day lazing around in the sun washing and polishing Knut and getting rid of all the rust.
And then bring him out on a ride to check out all those places I feel like going to but don’t actually know how to go to. And have all the time in the world to get lost and then get found again.
Or else maybe ride him to Upper Peirce reservoir and take a stroll along the boardwalk doing nothing in particular.

What a luxury.
No, really.

Chink chink?

So I got Knut today.
And of course I got lost in Tampines after overshooting the PIE entrance, and then ended up so supremely lost that I took the TPE instead. Okay. Just another day in the riding life of SATan.

Anyway when I was parking Knut I heard the engine making this strange “chink chink” sound.
Like this: Vroommm…. chink chink chink chink…
The last time I rode with Biker #1, he drew my attention to the sound and said that showed the engine had problems. But at that time the sound was still rather soft.
Today it was very very very noticeable.
This bike has been giving me no end of problems since I got him.
First battery fuck up, now this chink chink thing.
If it’s engine problems, that will be very nice since the bike is only as good as the engine…
Well at least he can still move…
Sheesh.
I want my Rexz back!

KTM is very much better now. He might be discharged tomorrow 🙂
I smsed him about “chink chink” but he hasn’t replied yet…

This is Spaaartaaa!!!!

Anyway,

Knut reached the shop after all. He needed a battery change, which the shop did for me for free, I just had to pay for the towing.
He was ready for collection yesterday morning, but I’m only free to collect him on Saturday…

Anyway,
My final year project was due today. Unfortunately most of it isn’t done yet.
We managed to get an extension to Monday.
IT IS PURE MADNESS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW.

And KTM is allowed to drink sips of water now.
Poor KTM.
But it’s better than nothing though…

Worrying and worrying…

I’m worried.

I don’t know where my bike is.
Knut wouldn’t start last night and I parked him in a carpark.
I called the shop today at 11+am to tell them to tow it to the shop. They told me to leave Knut’s handlebar unlocked so that they could load it onto the lorry easily.
I unlocked Knut’s handlebars and went to class.
At 1+pm, Knut was still in the carpark.
I left to hand Knut’s keys to the shop before he arrived.
At around 2-3pm, I reached the shop and they told me that Knut hadn’t arrived yet.
So I don’t know where Knut is now.
I’m worried that they couldn’t find Knut, but if they couldn’t find him they should have called me right? And nobody called me so far, the shop didn’t call me, neither did the towing guys.
I’m a little worried he might get stolen… after all he’s already been left there for one night…

And KTM has an inflamed pancreas and has been hospitalised.
He looked fine today.
But his stomach hurts rather badly.
And he’s not allowed to eat or drink.
He ate two of my Eclipse mints though…. shhhhh…. 😉

How much is your head worth?

Met up with Biker #1 recently as a sort of farewell meetup before he leaves for China. We rode out to have prata at Upper Thomson Road (near the Han’s) and I got misplaced again and ended up on Lornie Road and we had to double back -_-“‘. But as a newbie, it was nice to have an experienced biker riding with and taking care of you when you’re out on the road, especially if he’s someone you trust ^^ Not to mention he also pointed out my mistakes. His opinion was that skill-wise, I’m pretty ok already, just that I need more exposure to road conditions.

As for the prata, the prata was crispy and absolutely delicious 🙂

We had a lot to talk about, and somehow the conversation turned to helmets, since our helmets were lying on the table.
Me: “How much does your helmet cost?”
B1: Haha $50 only. Yours cost like $200 right?
Me: Ya… but even then, my other friend said it’s not safe. He said I should buy like those $800 ones. Like please lor, $800, that is like 3-4 years of my ang pow money already… =_=”‘
B1: Ya, not worth.
(etc.)
Me: Eh, your helmet like buang (crash) before right? (Looking at numerous “dings” on the top of the helmet)
B1: Haha alot of times already…
Me: Har… then you never go replace meh?
B1: No need la, he take care of me, I take care of him ^^

Er…. well, for his birthday maybe I should have bought him a replacement $50 helmet? Cause a new $50 helmet is better than a buang-ed $50 helmet right?

Well, for myself, I feel that if the helmet is involved in an accident, it should be replaced, but however, it is not feasible or practical for me to invest in a safe $800 helmet.
For me, I would pay at most $300 for a helmet, and even then that would be a little tight for my budget. $800 is way way way out of my league.

So back to the old question that pro-good-helmet people always use: How much is your head worth?
Maybe in the US, where people buy motorcycles to use as a hobby or as sport, this argument is effective in persuading the rider to purchase a good helmet.
But in a place where there are people who use motorcycles for their job (usually low-paying jobs such as despatch riders), where motorcycles are commonly regarded as cheap private transportation, this argument is not valid anymore.
How will the old man selling ice-cream on a battered RXK afford to buy a good helmet? How about the despatch rider with a family and four children? Might he even be able to afford a replacement if he is involved in a crash?
If your head is only worth as much as you are willing (in this case, able) to pay, sadly, some people DO have $50 heads.
Some people, like me, are slightly better, we have $200 heads.
If the person uses an inferior helmet, the person will be more likely to be fucked up bad after a crash. Then after that will they be able to afford the hospital bills and medical fees?
Another example of how through no fault of their own, the poor are fucking up their own lives due to lack of choices.
So how much your head is worth is actually linked closely to how rich you are, cause everyone has priorities on what to spend their money on.
Even if the poor person places a high priority on getting a good replacement helmet, basic needs have to be satisfied first and as he has less money to spend, he might not have enough money to spend on the helmet.
Then if he gets into an accident, that is “good” la. He might be in very bad shape afterwards, even if he isn’t, he’ll probably continue using the damaged helmet, and the next time he gets into an accident…
(And I think we can forget about asking him to buy a car instead, right?)
Life can be very very expensive, but life can also be cheap. It depends on the position of the person in society.

Educating people about the importance of a good helmet is good.
But again, this is only going to help people with at least a comfortable income.
Therefore it’s not going to help the most “at-risk” group.
Baaaah.

For the record, my own helmet has been dropped from about a 1 meter height before, but I can’t afford to replace it, not with an $800 helmet at least.
So if you have limited funds, is it better to replace a helmet that has been in an accident with a cheaper one, or continue using the buang-ed helmet until you have enough money to buy a good one? What if you’re a student and the wait is likely to take years?