December 7, 2008
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A series of disappointing events...
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.
