This is the third time I’ve been on a Critical Mass Harbour Bridge ride. With more than 400 cyclists, this year’s turn out isn’t bad. I’m glad it didn’t rain this time.

As always, it’s a great photo opportunity.

There’s the crowd at Hyde Park waiting for it to start.

And this time, since it’s not raining, we can fit in some posing while we waited for the ride to start.

And then it’s time to start!

Typical “stopping in the city” shot complete with someone looking back and someone else taking a photo.

And one where I look back.

And a closeup of me.

And we get closer to the bridge…

Almost there…

There’s got to be some interaction between the cyclists and the motorists…

And finally, we got onto the bridge itself.

The obligatory photo of the bridge.

As always, there’s the bike lift on the bridge. As the too-much-stuff-girl, I can barely get mine off the ground, so I took a photo instead.

As always, someone I don’t know offered to take a photo of me. Back in 2007 when I didn’t have panniers, I at least attempted to lift my bike when posing for such a photo, and even then I couldn’t get it over my head. This time round there isn’t much point in trying.

And then it was time to keep riding.

As with the ride in 2007, once again I have a photo featuring Bina.

Riding up the Pacific Highway at North Sydney, I went past this family on recumbents. Aww… <3

And that’s the end of it at North Sydney.

This year, I have stickers to sell.

So, that’s another great ride. Critical Mass Harbour Bridge rides will always be special to me. My first one back in 2007 made a real difference to me. It was pretty much the start of my social life. I remember looking at all those cyclists all dressed up for the ride and spotting Miss Helen in the crowd. It was her idea to go to BikeSydney’s twilight ride together, and ever since then I’ve been a regular. All these big group rides also helped me get used to going out and meeting people. Now I’m part of so many groups that it gets annoying when I leave Sydney during the holidays, because I know I’ll be missing out on lots of parties. I have a t-shirt that says “Asexuals Party Hardest”, and I live up to it.

On the other hand, it also means that I don’t really have the same excitement looking forward to events any more. There’s just so much happening that it has became the norm for me. Time seems to go by so much more quickly these days. There are so many things happening that I don’t even remember everything I’ve done in a week. I used to always have something interesting to tell mum when she called, but these days I usually can’t think of anything to tell her because everything is so interesting and nothing in particular really stands out any more. Back in 2007 I went to Hyde Park an hour early because I was so excited. This year, I arrived 10 minutes before the mass was due to leave. (I did get a flat tyre on my bike on the way there, but still.)

Actually, this lack of excitement also applies to uni. Then again, doesn’t this happen to everyone? I was surely a lot more enthusiastic back in first year. This semester, even in stuvac I was already in holiday mood, and I just didn’t feel like studying. Once I get into studying, I actually really like it, but I still lack the motivation to start.

And to think that I’ll be doing my last arts unit in semester 1 next year… it’s all engineering from then on. It’s just not as exciting.

Oh well. I know I’ll make up for it with all the excitement from riding my bicycle.

The gearing on this bike is actually more suitable for riding in Sydney than the one I have in Sydney, but this one can’t take a luggage rack so it’s not really right for riding to uni. Conversely, the bike I have in Sydney has the right kind of gears for climbing the big hills, but it doesn’t fold so it’s not right for Hong Kong. So, this bike stays in Hong Kong (and the one in Sydney stays in Sydney).

“See you this time next year! I’ll miss you.” Yes, I actually said that to the bike… while holding back tears and smiling for the camera. Saying goodbye is the one place where I always get teary.

Yes. with both of you too, Alice and Sylvia. Alice, I’ll see you around this time next year. Sylvia,  “有緣千里能相會” in English would be “fate brings together people even if they are far apart”. 有機會再見啦。

My bike is under the green cover now. I’ll get to ride it again next time I go back to Hong Kong.

Saying goodbye aside, I’m definitely glad to be back to Sydney. I was tired enough after only getting about 3 hours of sleep on the plane, and this year the staff at the airport seemed to be a lot stricter than last time I came back. Someone questioned me about being a permanent resident returning to Australia (even though I have an Australian passport), and then my contact lenses were mistaken for food when my suitcase went through the X-ray machine.

After just two days to recover from the jetlag, it was time to start summer school. That was tiring. At least I didn’t fall asleep in class! I like summer school though. The intensive course is just right for me.

Then again, even though I was tired, after having ridden up Blue Pool Road in Hong Kong, North Sydney does seem a lot easier in comparison. The traffic also looks a lot less intimidating for now. xD

When I’m in Sydney, I ride uphill on my way home every day. I remember when I first started cycling to uni, I often had to pull over twice between the Harbour Bridge and my home because the uphill ride was so tiring. Of course, once I got used to it, I have no trouble riding up those hills.

Now that I’m back in Hong Kong, it’s time to try something more challenging. I don’t have to look far. Blue Pool Road is right nearby.

I managed to ride up to the Cricket Club. It’s steep like this almost all the way there, which is about 2.5 km altogether. Appropriately, my iPod played “Still Alive” just before I got to the Cricket Club. “This was a triumph. I’m making a note here, HUGE SUCCESS. It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction…” I love it when my iPod does that. I’m glad I didn’t play that song at the beginning. For the start of the ride I chose “Dans ma fusée”. “Three, two, one, zero, rocket takeoff. Are you comfy, Ilona? Have a nice trip!”

That was last week. Today I decided to try the next part of the challenge, Cricket Club up to Parkview. That’s even steeper.

Well, this second part is only about 1.5 km, but it was a lot more tiring. The hill is steeper than it looks in the photo. One thing I can say is, when I look up there it makes me glad that North Sydney isn’t anywhere near this steep.

I made it up to Parkview. What a shame that my iPod didn’t play “Still Alive” this time. It would’ve been even more appropriate. My legs aren’t that tired, but I could feel my heart beating, and I was out of breath.

Special shout out to Miss Helen: Now I think I can understand how you feel riding uphill.

Even though the semester has ended, somehow I still managed to be really busy.

One of the events that I looked forward to the most was of course the Critical Mass Harbour Bridge ride. It rained on that day. How disappointing. So much for all that postering.

Well, while it wasn’t as successful as last year, at least 200 people turned up despite the rain. Still fun.

It was especially funny when my iPod played “Still Alive” just when I arrived at the other end of the Harbour Bridge. “This was a triumph. I’m making a note here, huge success. It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction…” xD

After the November CM ride, it was time to leave for Hong Kong. I wasn’t looking forward to that.

Well, there has to be something here to cheer me up. Dad bought me a bike. Just in time for this group ride that I found via the Hong Kong Critical Mass mailing list. Water-front Bike-ride for Pollution Free Hong Kong… Sounds good.

How ironic is that? There’s a “no cycling” sign at the park where the ride started.

Too bad that didn’t work out either because of a flat tyre. There was a taxi that carries the spare materials and a photographer, so the marshals arranged for the taxi to take me to the Golden Bauhinia Square (the next stop of the ride) to see if anyone had a patch kit, but it turns out that the bike had a tubeless tyre (Is that even the right translation for “原子呔”?) and it couldn’t be patched. How disappointing. Oh well, at least there’s still Critical Mass later in the month. (I wouldn’t ride alone in Hong Kong (except for in the New Territories where there are bike paths). Hong Kong traffic is scary. On average, the drivers are even worse than the ones in Sydney, and many roads are so narrow that there’s no riding past stationary cars.)

Since I was there anyway, I decided to take some photos of the other cyclists while they were stopped.

Someone noticed that I have a better camera than the designated photographer, so I became the second photographer. xD

Bikes aside, I’ve been eating too much in Hong Kong. (Then again, I’m generally not as hungry when I’m here because I spend most of my time sitting around, so maybe I haven’t really been eating as much as I think I have.) Time to make everyone hungry. xD (No, this isn’t all in one sitting.)

One thing that wasn’t too disappointing was my grades for semester 2. At least I’ve passed everything, and I did get the HD in Syntax as expected. Now I can truly relax and enjoy my holiday. That said, I do have another problem in that one of the subjects in which I’ve pre-enroled has been moved from semester 1 to semester 2, and now it’s messed up my pre-enrolment. (Not really that much of a surprise knowing the online system. That’s what I get for overloading all the time.)

So far, this trip to Hong Kong has been better than last year’s. I’m not as moody, not even on the days when I didn’t ride the bike. (Of course, getting to ride at least once a few days makes a big difference.) Actually, this reminds me of a comment I got about being in Hong Kong for a whole month. xD Probably right for last year, but maybe less so this time.

Well, I didn’t have as much chocolate last week. What’s my other main focus? Cycling, of course.

One of the highlights of the week was the BikeSydney twilight ride, featuring Art and About.

These Tetris blocks are so cool! Let’s just hope they don’t fall down like in the actual game. xD

Ooh, tanks.

This one’s my favourite:

Can’t really tell what these are… xD

This recursive reflection effect is so cool. xD

There was the “Love TV” at Taylor Square.

On our way there, we saw the star Aphrodite standing at a pedestrian crossing, and she cheered when we went past. xD That was kind of funny. Somehow, this kind of reminds me of my officer title “Cupid domestique” in the group “Love me love my bicycle“.

Hyde Park also became a gallery for this Art and About thing. Hey, this one has a bicycle in it.

This one is so cute!

I like these lanterns too.

Wednesday was National Ride to Work Day. Now, I normally ride to uni anyway, but with all the people gathered at Bradfield Park for the free breakfast, it’s like having a party in the morning. The food wasn’t particularly good, but it wasn’t too bad either. I drank quite a lot of apple juice. xD

So many people…

Look at all those people coming down the stairs. Some people are very busy giving them HarbourLink flyers. I can see Russ keeping a tally on the number of people crossing the bridge too. Too bad I wasn’t fast enough to get a photo of the person who wouldn’t take his hands off the handlebars but instead took a flyer with his teeth. That looked kind of interesting. (Then again, I hope the really aggressive flyer-givers at uni don’t see things like that, or they’d be expecting that from me too. Wait, they probably already do… xD)

Wow, this person rode down the steep ramp on a recumbent bike. Too bad I didn’t get the photo while he was still on the ramp.

I stayed around until the last minute and only just made it to uni on time. xD That’s the problem with morning parties. Of course, my iPod and speakers got me quite a lot of attention. As random as it is, I was asked “is that your real hair” again. What an odd question. (Nothing new though. My hairstyle seems to make people think that my hair isn’t real.  >.<; Of course it’s my hair. What else would it be, someone else’s hair? xD)

Another bike-related photo: a unicycle on the bike rack. I think it’s the first time I’ve actually seen one on a bike rack. This one is slightly awkwardly positioned so that even though it’s smaller than a bicycle, it kind of takes up the slots on both sides. (Then again, I suppose it’s better than the motorcycle standing right next to a bike rack as if it’s camouflaging with the bicycles. xD)

It’d be funny if one day I get a “Hey, that’s my bike!” comment from someone who sees that I’ve taken a photo of their bike. Not only do I check out bikes more often than I check out people, but I go around taking photos of bicycles too. Then again, I don’t really “check out” people at all, so that’s kind of a pointless comparison. xD

Look at the Pyrmont Bridge… it swings open like that to let ships through. That was on Wednesday, and it delayed me for about 5 minutes on my way to uni. Luckily, I was actually somehow a bit early on that day anyway.

I saw another interesting bike on Wednesday. See how that bike is only held together by that one thick bar? (Literally, I check out bikes more often than I check out people. xD Then again, I don’t really check out people.)

There was the C&S awards night on Wednesday. SURCAS was performing there, and someone got a ribbon caught in the lighting system.

I really looked forward to the start of the prize giving.

This special prize for ChocSoc was a real surprise. It’s 10kg of chocolate!

ChocSoc was also a highly commended new club. I was so lucky that the prize giving part ended just on time for me to rush to Central for the last train. Last train at 21:40… that’s really early. Should’ve just stayed around and rode my bike all the way home in the dark. xD

This huge bar of chocolate was just in time for the ChocSoc AGM.

We at ChocSoc love our chocolate cakes, and this being ChocSoc’s own birthday party, we have three cakes.

Sharing cake takes a lot of time. This whole AGM / party went on for two hours. While this was an AGM, one of the big highlights had to be the “surprise” at the end. That is, the chocolate-smashing ceremony!

Yum, smashed chocolate.

We then went around to share the chocolate. Lucky group there sitting in the hallway!

Josh plays air guitar with the box that originally contained the chocolate.

Another lucky group to get chocolate is the Malaysian Society, which was having their party at the Union Square.

Yay for ChocSoc!

What a mid-semester break… after my birthday, there was Farah and Chandri’s joint “birthday” party… never mind that both of them have their actual birthday in August. xD

Now, that was on the same day as the ChocSoc exec pre-AGM “lunch” (afternoon tea / dinner?). I realised that the only photos I took were of food. xD Then again, the seating arrangement at the place wasn’t really that good for photo taking.

Afterwards, when it was time to head to the party, I did the usual “see you there” thing. (Well, for this one there isn’t another way. I can take my bike on a train but not on a bus.) I got there first anyway. xD Walking to the bus stop and then waiting for the bus takes almost as long as it took me to ride to the party. I would’ve got there even earlier if it wasn’t for the way the numbering works on Oxford St.

Here I am with the two “birthday” girls.

Funny how when Farah went out to look for the other ChocSoc execs, she was stopped by people in the nearby makeup shop where there was some kind of VIP party. They did her makeup for free, and she got a free hug too.

The decor of Fringe Bar is quite interesting. I don’t really like having too many candles around though.

Here’s the glasses crew. All that stuff about glasses, all because Zinah got new “lesbian librarian” (as well as many other adjectives – reminds me of X-bar theory) purple glasses. I wear contacts now, so I don’t get to join in.

We got quite a lot of random pizza towards the end. There was a lot of cheese on the pizza. Yay cheese!

Yay for sharing drinks too.

Quang’s party on Saturday was another chance for us to share drinks. There’s a drink called “Sexual Chocolate”. I suppose this is the kind of name that Donna and Zinah would probably call “scandalous”. xD (Well, Quang made a joke about it when Avari said she wanted to try this drink.) The other kind of drink that also has chocolate is the Black Forest. Now, we ChocSoc execs have to try both.

The best way to try out different drinks is… communal drinks! xD The one that Avari and I were drinking is the Sexual Chocolate. Donna’s one is the Black Forest.

Don’t remember why Avari was so happy. Drunk, maybe? xD

Here’s a nice group photo of Avari, Zinah, and Donna.

Yay, let’s hold hands! xD

Hmm, Avari, Donna, and Zinah seemed to have got all the spotlight. What about the birthday boy? Oh, there here is, blowing out a candle. xD

Well, I guess Quang doesn’t get to keep the spotlight for long. Donna and the other girls linking arms and rocking side-to-side can be interesting to watch.

The big picture doesn’t look as funny.

Dotto carries Zinah’s bag. Interesting pose there.

Way to walk into this photo, Avari.

I guess all that jumping around and rocking must’ve been exhausting. Falling-asleep corner?

Since everyone is getting tired, it’s time to give Quang his present. Look at the reaction on his face! xD

Time for a group photo! What a party.

It’s now Sunday. Daylight saving has started. I remember looking forward to daylight saving every year since I moved to Sydney, but this year it was just “oh, daylight saving starts again”. Just another sign I’m drifting away from IRC. As much as I like parties, I do miss IRC when I don’t get to be online. Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait until summer when I can be on IRC more often.

Let’s see… the month started with the Verge Arts Festival at uni. It was very heavily advertised. There were models posing on Eastern Avenue and people handing out balloons. Luckily enough for me, they weren’t too much of an obstacle course. I actually took a balloon. Helium balloons are great for deterring tailgaters.

There was the EWB trivia night. Michael was there with me, but we needed two more people for a team, so we ended up forming a team with two random people whose names I’ve forgotten by the end of the trivia night. xD

Our team was named “Credit Agricole” after the team in Le Tour de France. (Michael’s idea, not mine.) That wasn’t really such a good idea because the people announcing the scores always pronounced the t in “Credit” and so it sounded kind of odd. We came third at the end.

On the next day, there were people performing taekwondo on the Wentworth Lawns.

There was the Wine and Cheese Night too.

A photo of Courtney taking a photo of people cutting up cheese! (I like taking photos of people taking photos. xD)

I wish I had my huge mouse with me that day. All that cheese… I liked the music too.

Of course, one of the main highlights of the month was the ChocSoc birthday party! It’s finally my turn to sit down with the other birthday people.

I got to see what it’s like when everyone else stands around to sing “happy birthday”.

I had a chance to cut the cake too.

Of course, I’m nowhere near as good at cutting the cake as Barton, our professional cake cutter.

As per tradition, the other execs bought me a present. Since I brought a mouse instead of a bear to the Teddy Bears’ Picnic, here’s a teddy bear for me to bring next time. (Well, not really. It’s more because they couldn’t find a mouse.) They also gave me a “bike love” photo frame. I’ll find a photo of my bike to put in it. Yay bike love!

Another highlight of the month was the twilight ride. Look who’s got a bright light in this group!

Twilight riders get to see the best scenery.

Oops, the pub at the end of our trip didn’t have a bike rack, so we’ll just have to share this one pole.

Come to think of it, on the day of the twilight ride, I found a really bad piece of chalking near the engineering buildings. Things that people write…

In the same week, there was also the zine fair of the Verge Arts Festival.

Look, it’s Miss Helen!

Some other interesting stalls:

I like rainbow colours!

Being involved with two stalls must’ve kept Harrison very busy. xD How convenient that they were next to each other.

This isn’t related to anything else, but this label is kind of silly. “Pet thing”? Yes, it’s a pet “thing”, but what kind of thing?

As well as the twilight ride, I also went to the full moon ride. Centennial Park is a nice place to watch the full moon. It’s also the day after Mid-Autumn Festival (well, Chinese holidays don’t match the seasons in Australia, but who cares), so I brought moon cakes to share.

Look at the bright moon!

We always stop near the lake for our picnic.

That’s me posing in the dark. xD

We can see the light of the city from the park too.

SUWIE had a cake stall on the day after the full moon ride. When I arrived, there weren’t so many people near it. I rode past it on my bike, and I bought a cake without getting off my bike. It’s not drive-thru, but “ride-thru”! xD

The SRC elections were on that week. There were tables for people to fill out their ballot papers, but they were crowded, so I just used my own… well, it’s not a table, but it’ll do.

Of course, election time means… flyer spam time! xD When I arrived at uni in the morning, someone actually tried to stop me to give me a flyer. Well, way to be silly. While I did slow down to almost walking-pace by the time I get up the steep University Avenue and was therefore easy to stop, both my panniers were full (because I put my whole backpack in there when I ride) and I needed to hold the handlebars so both of my hands were full too, so it’s not like I had anywhere to put the flyer.

It’s a competitive environment.

This has to be the most impressive advertising:

The week following the elections was the Enviro Week. There was a bike workshop. Yay, bikes!

The forums were interesting too. It would’ve been nice if more people turned up though. Of course, the bike scavenger hunt was fun. One of the items that we needed to collect was a balloon. I actually took one of the balloons that were tied to a fence on Eastern Avenue. xD Riding up the Shepherd St carpark to get to the checkpoint at the top was fun. Never mind that I was riding the wrong way half the time. xD I ended up winning a bar of fair trade chocolate. Couldn’t be a more appropriate prize for me. Actually, come to think of it, there was chocolate at the picnic afterwards too. If I knew that I would’ve invited ChocSoc.

Actually, I’ve seen some interesting bikes around uni lately. Look at this pretty pink one with flowers on the basket!

This one says “syntax”. I wonder who rides this bike. A syntactician, maybe?

Another major event of the week was the Battle of ChocSocs.

 I like the ribbon in Avari’s hair.

Here are the presidents of the two ChocSocs.

Ooh, a chocolate cake! (Well, this is a ChocSoc event. Of course we have cake.)

Avari plays pool…

The cue also makes a good weapon. xD

Prize giving time… once again, my team was named “Credit Agricole” (which again was mispronounced, but that was expected), and this time we came equal third with another team, which is part of the reason why there are so many people in this photo.

This is the team that came second… but I’m sure it had more people in it. xD

Uhh, did the winning team really have this many people in it? Well, it’s obvious that people were just crowding the photo anyway.

The Friday of this week was the last one of the month, so of course it was Critical Mass time. This month’s mass was again chaotic because of the route we took. Oops. I invited the mass to VegeSoc’s party at Hermann’s Bar. While there are bike racks in the area, they’re all quite far away, so we’ll just have to crowd around a lamppost instead. xD

Hmm, pizza…

And finally, it’s the last day of September… my birthday! (I’m 19 now. I think this actually surprised some people, although I think most people know by now anyway.) I’m so lucky that ChocSoc is having a party at Lindt Cafe on this day.

I’ve never been to the Lindt Cafe before. I didn’t know where it was, and I thought it would be a good idea to follow this Lindt Cafe train. xD The passengers smiled at me. I think someone even took a photo of me. Someone suggested holding onto the train. I tried, but I think if I kept holding on like that I’d tip over. I move faster myself anyway.

Aditi gave me flowers.

Donna bought me a slice of opera cake.

These delices are for us to share.

This chocolate cheese cake was yummy too.

Of course, I just have to take a photo of Aditi mixing chocolate with milk. Looks delicious.

We got a good turnout. As usual, I’m the one who invited people who don’t even go to USyd, but it’s more the merrier anyway. (Of course, since both my guests are cyclists, it’s the usual “chocolate-powered transport” situation! xD)

A teddy bears’ picnic… how cute. Great idea for a ChocSoc event.

Being “Mousy”, it’s probably no surprise that I brought a mouse rather than a teddy bear. I knew that Donna would bring Shiwonnie, so I brought my huge mouse Lillibi. I expected that to be a challenge, especially since it’s Tuesday and so I already have three textbooks that I need to bring. Luckily, despite having the huge mouse strapped to my bike, my trip to uni wasn’t any more difficult than usual.

Shiwonnie the ChocSoc bear was waiting for us on the banner when I arrived at the picnic with Lillibi. Zinah’s bear and a plush microbe (or whatever that blue thing actually is) were there too, so of course Lillibi jumped off the bike to sit down next to Shiwonnie right away.

More people and teddy bears arrived later.

Hmm, brownies… Actually, we had cupcakes at the beginning too. Those were really popular. We ran out of them in less than half an hour.

Lillibi was going to try cycling on her own… except that doesn’t really work since she can’t reach the handlebar. Aww…

Don’t worry, Lillibi, we can ride together. We should’ve asked Shiwonnie and the other bears to join us for a ride too. Oh well.

The picnic was fun, but I had to rush off to class afterwards, and one of the tutors there thought that Lillibi was a prize that I won somewhere. xD

Exams have finished on Wednesday, and it still took me another three days before I get to this. That’s how busy I am. I didn’t even have
time to post anything here in the last month. That’s what I get for overloading and still
going to just about any event to which I’ve been invited. I had so many
assignments back-to-back that I actually had to stay up late to finish
them off. I wasn’t like this last year.

Then again, I went from doing a standard load and no societies to overloading on classes as well as having a few societies.

I’m so glad that the semester is over.

I now have a backlog of photos to put here.

Let’s see… photos going all the way back to the Ride of Silence. Just typical for me to take photos during announcements and all that.

I still haven’t found the time to cut out parts of the video to upload to YouTube. That video wasn’t really too bad compared to some other videos I took before, but since I don’t have anywhere near as much free time as I used to, editing a slightly dizzying video isn’t really something I can be bothered to do.

Here’s a photo of me where I was tracing my shadow with a laser.

These are from Blackwattle Bay, a few days later.

These two are from the Dreams on Wheels exhibition.

The spaceship-like recumbent bike looks so cool! On a rainy day it’d be nice to have the shell. Then again, with that you’d get stuck in traffic like a car.

This furry one looks great too. Wouldn’t last long in the rain though.

These ones are from Centennial Park on the moonlight ride. Yay for ghost-like effects from long exposure! xD

I finally had some rest today, but winter school starts on Monday. How did I go from the “Lemon Tree” person to being so busy?