Bike life cycle...take 2...no actually it's 3

The gumtree posting read like this:

Wheels Alex As-1 Rims 2008 700 C
Tyres Specialized All Condition Armadillo 28 C
Stem Specialized
Crank Sugino
Gears 27
Gear Shifters Deore Lx
Brake Levers Deore Lx
Brakes Tektro V Brakes
Front Derailer Deore Lx Back Derailer Shimano Deore M531
Saddle Specialized Patent V Groove
Seat Post Specialized Carbon
.....
PLZ NOTE; THIS BIKE IS VERY LIGHT N FAST!

Seems like I am not very good with bikes to be honest coz I couldn't really make out much of what is listed, but the 2 most important considerations on my mind have been answered...it is VERY LIGHT and it is within my budget. These are good enough, and after viewing it, and doing a test ride for few minutes, the deal was closed. Regardless, I was so excited to be riding again - farewell to the stupid tube and morning bus jams along Victoria/Trafalgar Sq.

I know have my 3rd bike in a year, 1st bike made me terribly sad for a week, 2nd one makes me laugh when I think back. Hopefully I do not have to look for the 4th one.

The innocence of attending kiddo birthdays

Was very kindly invited to a 3 year old's birthday party over the weekend. It was just amazing how time has flew past - Euan was still in Mommy's tummy when his daddy and I were slogging away in a tiny office, trying to test/market/find funding of a web application that we were building. 3 years later, he has grown to be such a cute little blonde boy, taking on all the wonderful features of his beautiful mommy and eloquence of his lawyer dad. Never have I expected to be still in this country after almost 4 years, but I am glad to have met some amazing people and their family during this time.

By the way, Daddy informed me that Euan has proudly voted my gift of a garbage truck that he used to collect all the sweets triumphed over all others, even the excellent push bike from his proud parents! I am so proud of myself :)

How to 'lose' a bike in 1 day

Yesterday I tweet about finally getting on the wheels again after 3 months heartache of losing my bike. Closed a quick sale for a deal from gumtree at 8pm only to find that it wasn't exactly very suitable for my size. Decided in the morning to list it back on gumtree and was quite lucky to get a few interested inquiries over the day. Eventually sold it to someone from Lewisham at 10.30pm although I did pity that he had to cycle back in a snowy night (Yes, it's SNOWING in Oct!!!), but glad that I can continue on my bike search again.

ps. the picture is probably terrible at showing the snow (I in the middle of central London, so snow doesn't accumulate). Chaitanya's picture on his FB is probably much better.

How to annoy yourself by been forgetful

Nothing is more annoying when I come back from a trip only to find the photos I took are far from ideal. And this was what happened to me for the batch of pictures I took in Memphis, Saqqara and Giza. I forgot to change the ISO from 400 that I had used the night before back to 100 and ended up with unusually grainy pictures taken in 37 degrees sunlight...arrggggggg!

From the lands of the pharaohs to the land of the sacred cows

Has been traveling a fair bit over the past 2 weeks, initially taking an holiday to Egypt with my loved ones, followed by a work trip to Gurgaon, off Delhi in India. Only managed to wash my laundry after leaving work slightly earlier to catch the laundromat before it closes, else might have to end up wearing stinky clothes to office soon.

Trip to Egypt has been really amazing in terms of getting close to the amazing history of the Egyptians and getting to comprehend the sheer scale and size of all the monuments built thousands of years back. My history of the country has never been better in my life although we did have the feeling of too much sand, tombs and temples after 1 week. The friendliness of the people in the cities of Luxor and Aswan really left a deep impression on me, and is genuinely touched by how they are living happily even though life is so tough for them (a white collar worker earns EGP250/mth, £1 is about EGP9.50!). Touting in the country probably takes the meaning of hassling to a new level, but it is just mainly because their lives rely so much on tourism. Never have I see so many donkeys, horses and cows still used as the primary transport in the little towns. It's just so surreal. Have started to upload some of the photos, but has been very slow so far...

India was pretty much a brand new experience altogether. Our office was situated slightly off the Delhi, in Gurgaon, but was close enough to visit after work. Someone told me that there are more cars in Delhi than the sum of all the cars in the rest of India! This basically translate to crazy journey times to the city even though it is barely about 70km away. As one would expect, the city is in a crazy mode of building, with roadworks, new apartments, buildings and shopping complexes sprouting up everywhere. This also meant that the pollution is probably as bad as what I experienced in Cairo. A few of us had the opportunity to visit the city of Agra during the weekend, and witness the magnificent Taj Mahal in its grandest glory. The 20hr trip really sap our energies completely and most of us were glad to be flying back the next day. Even though the city is in a rush to get itself ready for the 2010 Commonwealth games, it still amazed me to see cows in the middle of the road(I finally understood the reason and history behind the sacred cows from my guide), and hogs walking in front of our hotel!


For once, I really looked forward to having sandwiches for lunch again in a loooong time...