The Bike Shed

I might need another bike rack soon looking at the way this is going. Hsemate has just decided to take up Triathlon and managed to borrow a old racer to train. And a new collection to the Team. Pinarello FP3.Anyone keen to get a 'light' bike, should be looking at Scott or elsewhere but not here.
Frame weight + Ultegra grouppo, Most oversized Crank and Look Pedals: 4.8kg (after the handlebars have been changed)
This exlcudes the wheels, seat post and saddle. Frameweight is a modest 1100g which is not too far off the mark but its the handlebar, seatpost, saddle which lets it down! Thankfully I think Pinarello realised this, as the seatpost is 31.6mm. An easy alternative to look for a lighter replacement.

One thing I cannot fault: Riding the same route every Saturday on an aluminium and converting to carbon, the damping properties are amazing. Not sure if its just the properties of carbon or the propriety ONDA forks, but every bump and humps used to send jolts up my back/neck but not anymore.

Cooking

Hey Cat, its not the puttaneasca but its where it ended up and whats been keeping me busy these past few weeks. Trialling a 10 week pilot program of physical activity and healthy cooking.
I am quite amazed at how some people do not have the basic cooking skills at all while others just lose it over the years with hard work at the desk and substituting it with fastfood or takeaways.
U cannot talk about a healthy diet if the people do not have the basic skills to do it and that was how this was born!

Tacx vs Park Tools PCS 10

The final piece to the workshop. Tacx's Spider Team bottom bracket vs Park Tools PCS10.
The Tacx is quick and easy to setup, pretty much good to go after opening the carton. Even comes with a handy tool tray. Its easier to stow away and is much lighter then the PCS 10.
Unfortunately with Park Tools, some assembly is required. Its much more suited to a fixed position. Not a stand I'd fold up, stow away and pull out when I need it. While its stable and also much more bulky; I wouldnt say its more stable that the Tacx.

The only main difference, the Tacx allows you to spin the bike 360 degrees while servicing (not the Park Tools).

But the Park Tools allows you to set the bike at any incline (if you foresee a lot of that happening, not that I could imagine a lot of scenarios).

Last piece of the puzzle

Hey Mike, finally the last piece of the puzzle.

Park Tools PK63

The grand-daddy of all bike tools, Park Tools PK 63. Bought it while the US dollar was at an all time low few months back. My day job, Dietitian, night job; Sports Dietitian and now a weekend wrench. The first project was restoring a mate's 1950's Malvern Star (suppose to be a pro bike in its hey day) Will try to get some picts next time round.
While you may have the best tools, it does not buy you experience. You just pick up a book and learn the hard way. Try looking for a 2-3mm ballbearing which I dropped while I opened up the hub of a Shimano cup cone wheel.

Options

"...our squad of athletes have grown dramatically over the years..."
"...we need someone who knows the sport and is willing to train with the athletes... but also know their life outside the sport.."
"...we need someone who knows the education system and the stress the athletes face.."
" ...we need someone has done the hard yard, has life experiences and who the athletes can look up to as a life coach.."

Just some extracts of a phone conversation I had with the Singapore Sailing CEO last Friday. The irony, I worked with passion hoping for a full time job only to be told, we really need you, but red tape restricts us from hiring you (full time). I left the country and with it my disillusion.

"..we had a meeting some time back and your name came up as the best person for the job.."
"...would you be keen to take up a high performance/sports science coordinator for the junior squad of National sailors for the upcoming Asian Games and 2010 Youth Olympics...."

Me: How much are u going to pay me! ( not those exact words but similar meaning)

"no scale really. Its up to you to negotiate.." (I take that as any thing I want..ha)

I couldn't really sleep on Friday. I had initial granduers of box seat tickets to a stadium pack full of people while watching our group of athletes walk into the stadium. But am held back with a good stable job, my own patch and a lifestyle only people in Singapore can dream about. Do I really want to give it all up for passion again?

Darwin's Waterfront

5 years back when I arrived, I recall the census reporting a population of just 100,000 for the Northern Territory (this includes Alice Springs and remote). Meaning; there's a lot less in Darwin. Houses were still pretty cheap then, you could get a land and home package for $250k.
Not anymore. Populations almost doubled and it was only befitting that we had a convention centre to match. National conferences were always held down South as there wasn't a location that could accommodate such a large crowd. Next year, we're finally having the National Dietitians Conference up here in Darwin for the first time

Apparently the State government put aside $500k for the celebrations with 2 days of spectacular fireworks. Some contested the splurge who thought the money could be better spent.

Happy Snaps...

The Kid in me

Sis is gonna kill me for this, but I must say, the intention was there. I was to buy something for my nephew and 2 niece. But sometimes I wonder if I'm buying what I want instead. Am sure David (my nephew) would have been happy with a brand new train but no, not after I laid my eyes on the most elaborate (and expensive) train set!
And with that, I pretty much blew the budget. Then again, I'm a 'boy' person. I can wrestle, tickle, poke and play rough with my nephew, but obviously, my niece dun enjoy that..ha.

Did she ever feel secure?

The Dry Season: cool and crisp weather, sky's crystal blue. Time to enjoy a little good ol' nature. Went back to Kakadu National Park for some ideas on my parents itinerary but I doubt we'll be spending much time here as mum's not the sit by the camp fire type. Gosh, we havent even got to the toilets yet...
Anyway, back to the post. I thought I got asked a question that sounded awfully familiar.
Gina: "Does your girlfriend ever feel secure?"
Me: "Why?"
Gina: "Well, you seem to know more Taiwanese backpackers than us (backpackers). And they're all girls."
First, let me set things straight. Perhaps guys are more focused on careers, that the thought of resigning from full time employment for at least a year to travel is a huge ask thus most of the backpackers are females.
Second, (not most but) all my colleagues are females.
So why am I single? Perhaps I'm used and contented with single life, perhaps I dun see myself in Darwin for the long haul. But one thing did come out of that conversation, its definitely harder getting to know people once you leave Uni and start working, cos its an extra effort that on days you'd rather sit back and relax in front of the telly.

Top: Was suppose to be rock art at Ubir but I think the camera was focused on other art.

Glenti 2008

The annual Glenti or Greek Festival here in Darwin. All my Greek favourites from Yiros to fried Octopus and short bread to vanilla slices over the weekend.
Darwin only has a population of 200 thousand. If we take out the remote population, and a turn out of 35 thousand is expected, it pretty much a huge part of town. Thats a good crowd.

Back from Brisbane

Was in Brisbane the previous 2 wks doing a course looking at the management of Type 1 Diabetes. But what I really do enjoy is the travel allowance that come with it. Its what I look forward to everyday when I'm on course.
You see, even though there's a limit, I am quite happy with cereals for breakfast in my hotel room and perhaps a quick sandwich at the hospital cafeteria or the bakery across the street. Which leaves me with quite a bit of budget come dinner. My daily routine has been grabbing a boost juice at the end of the day and trawling through the restuarants on SouthBank and in the City. I had been having a different cuisine everyday Chinese, Greek, Italian, Korean... with a few fine dining thrown in here and there. I can totally see how hard it would be for Steph to resist all these choices and good food (especially when the boss pays the tab). Took a couple of days after for some R&R and went for a day trip to the Lamington National Park.

Paranoia

My housemate has this thing about the flat burning down. For me, I've got an obsession with security. And trust me, if I had the choice, I would never have gotten the flat on the ground level. I'm probably one of the few people who would pay $600+ for a 'flyscreen' door, the only difference is that the mesh is stainless steel, and you cannot lift it off the rails. I dun wanna have to close the sliding doors everytime I'm gonna take a shower.

Perhaps its also the fact that we've had someone broke into our place in Singapore previously. When the cops came and asked what was missing, we noticed that the burglar had actually taken something from upstairs. Meaning he actually came in, and ventured upstairs when we were sleeping. Frankly, I'd hate to walk into one, if I ever had to take a leak middle of the night. Anyway, Mike introduced me to a torchlight, Sure Fire. It's one used by police/tactical forces and is meant to blind assilants with its powerful rays; which I sleep with under my pillow!! (there goes my element of surprise).
I was doing the sheets this week and I noticed that the washing machine was more noisy than usual. As I started taking the sheets out, I realised that the torch was in there. When I opened it, it was bone dry inside and still works.

Any torch that has batteries with a shelf life of 10 years, can blind would be burglars, used for my camping and is able to go thru a whole washing machine cycle; thats where I'd put my money.

P.S. Its slightly smaller than the size of my palm so will fit nicely into any handbags ;)

Double Barrrel

Double barrel, triple volume, thats the claim and a pump that even Jeanie will like. For anyone pumping up tires you would know that for mountain bike, you pump it up to 40-60psi (depending on the tires), for racers (110-120psi).
Once you start getting into these ranges, you start to use your body weight to try and squeeze in that extra bit (and here's where Jeanie and even myself hate doing). That last extra bit.
For racing tubular tires, I cant even begin to imagine when we have to get it up to 220psi. Here's perhaps the key to the pump. 3 settings. Once you flick it to the 200psi setting, it somehows engages different chambers, cos its very easy and smooth. You cant get as much volume in but the needle on the guage moves. Sort of like dropping gears on a bike to climb up a hill.

P.S Mike, whats the view on Tufo's racing tubular clinchers (C3 lite, 135g)

The Splurge

With a huge mortgage over my head, the splurging has been reined in (more or less). But when the government starts giving me a 'bonus' to counter the rising cost and the CPI, I still wouldnt use it. Well, I dun think I needed anything in particular really. Unfortunately the bonus comes with a catch as you would expect. If I were to take the cash, I would have to pay taxes on it meaning I lose 30-42.5% of it (not sure of my actual tax rate).
Here comes the other catch, cos I work for a not-for-profit organisation, we get certain benefits. If I were to purchase something work related, I get it tax free. Rather than give the money back to the taxman, I decided to upgrade the home office.
Got a new laptop. Point to note, the old on the left is a 14 inch screen , right 15.4, dosent look disimilar but an inch, I realise makes a huge difference when you need to cart it around!
Got a new b/w laser printer and gosh have prices come down ($69), and a new wireless G router, which I am making full use of now. Cos I'm watching a friday night movie and blogging in front of the telly.

Blackout

During the wet/cyclone season (Nov-Feb), we're advised to be ready for power outages, but its the official start of the Dry season now where the sky is clear, humidity is at an all time low (20-40%) and it never rains for the next 6 months but now I get a blackout from a faulty power junction! Well, at least the candlesticks came in handy.

Mahjong

I dun even touch the damn thing when I'm in Singapore, I guess I'm never as fast as the old-timers. But its become quite the novelty game here, well, at least Risa seems to be all for it. So much so that she has gotten someone to bring her back a set from Sydney. The tiles are much bigger than the pocket sized ones we were playing with initially. As its all for the fun of the game, there's never money involved and we never count the 'flowers'.
And if it includes lunch on the weekends as well, who am I to say no.
L to R: Odelia, Risa, Neil, Margaret and Joanna. All Taiwanese backpackers except Risa.Risa's got an interesting story. Japanese who met her Aussie partner as he was teaching English in Japan. Got married, went to Tassie where she opened a Sushi shop. Fell in love with Darwin when touring the country. Since then, they've just moved up here not to long ago and opened their second outlet here. Funny thing is, she's got to ask Patrick (her partner) how to make the sushi seasoning before he left for a month long trip but to Tassie. One thing about Japs, they've got a tool for everything.

Ride

My3 monthly dose of bike information... LiteSpeed Titanium Racer: 3.8kg (Didnt even think that was possible).
Cannondale's foldable bike. The only difference is that my friend Mike gets to see it in the flesh.

Bday Pressie?

Guess what I got from my boss; no its not speedometer/powermeter for my bike but rather a blood glucose meter. I wonder what does that mean? Should I be doing more at work??
Well, she didnt really say it was a Bday pressie anyway. But unfortunately, its not gonna to provide a lot of information if you're not a Diabetic cos your blood sugar levels will be close to normal in most circumstances.
Now if this was a blood lactate meter, that would be a whole different ball game.

Contentment

Frd: "So where are you working now?"
Me: Darwin.
Frd: " So ulu, what are you doing in that god forsaken place"

This was the conversation I had with a friend while I was back home in Singapore.
Contary to the title, if I was contented prehaps I would not have left Singapore in the first place.
Working in Singapore, we all cope as best as we can but the common remarks I hear from people about work is, the longer hours, work's not appreciated, pay is low, politics. Working here, I've never had those issues at ALL. Even if I had to work longer hours on some days, I gladly do it cos the gratitude from the patients or the appreciation from the boss well pay the dues.
And on the weekends, I enjoy my bike ride with friends and relax over my unhealthy bacon and fried egg breakfast finished with a nice coffee while browsing thru the local papers.

Sundays; I do my grocery shopping in the day, might clean up the house a little and head for a game of soccer in the evening.
Could I ask for more? Actually, yes I could. I do enjoy the cafe culture and fine dining that Melbourne has to offer (And the single and available doctors that Cat is offering). But for now, I guess I am contented.

U-lu? No, just the simple life.

Polar HRM

Here's the Polar HRM readout from my Saturday ride. HR scale on the left, Altitute on the right
As you can see Mike, Darwin isn't exactly very hilly! Then again, u would probably be bringing the MTB if you do visit.
All that data would mean a lot more if I had cadence and speed on it and I just realised that its compatible with the 625x. What say you?

My Office

The 3 most common remarks with clients coming into my office:
1. Gosh, its like a supermaket
2. Cheez, u've got a lot of crap in here
3. Did u really eat all that food? (of which the answer is Yes, over a FEW months!)

Never Plain Sailing

Coming from a windsurf background, I've always considered us as being fastest on the water when the wind picks-up. Surfing from Joe's Shack or PA sea sports club, I'd see sail boats bobing up and down and think to myself, "Gosh, I'd never want to be in one of those, it'll be damn boring".
As a Sports Dietitian I was given the sailing portfolio to look after, partly for my love of the sea and perhaps partly cos I stay pretty closeby. Guess my point of view changed after attending the basic laser sailing course. While the speed might not be as fast, u still get the thrill when the boat heels on a strong gust. Maybe the drawing card was although it was more technical it was still relatively easy to pick. Windsurf on the other hand can be punishing initially.
So when I was back in Singapore for hols and asked to tag along on the keelboat with 3 of the nations best, I never hesitated. The trip came up as a dry run as one of the sailors was doing a coporate teambulding gig, and we were the participants.
Justin Wong (same name as my bro) but totally different character, always ready to crack a joke and ogle at anything with breast. Anyway, when it came down to business, I could see why he was the best. Cos hes good at what he does, and FAST! To setup the sail, he had to climb up the mast. Just imagine climbing un-aided up a 2 storey pole on a boat that is rocking with each passing wave. Its no mean feat.
Seng Leong, who pretty much was at the helm to whole way. Between him and Justin, I think they could have pretty much sailed the boat by themselves.
Me, together with Siobhan's sister and b/f.
Packing up the sail for the day....

Incapitated..

Thats how I'm feeling......
After close to 3 weeks of being in the comforts of home (not have to think about what to cook, no dishes to clean up, laundry washing all done), its hard to get back into the routine again.
I have yet to touch my kitchenware.
Opening up my pantry and looking at whats in there dun give me inspiration.
Ask myself what I'll have for dinner and its a blank.
Lunch was noodle soup at the market and dinner as you can see; Red Rooster!
I'm sure I'll get back into the hang of things (soon, I hope).Spent the day setting up my 'training room'. Cant really rent the last one out jusy incase I get guest or family coming to visit so I might as well put the room to good use. Setup the telly for my CTS training sessions (courtesy of Mike) and the bike stand as well, which makes it look a wee bit more tidy.

What Oakley?

What are Oakleys good at? Advertising!
I couldnt find the exact poster/ad on google but I was sold on Oakley since young. I loved biking as well which could have explained it. I still remember the poster vivdly. Anyway, the ad went something like this... it had the sun in the foreground with its rays reaching Earth. And awaiting it was a pair of Oakley Sunglasses with the caption... the suns rays has travelled XxxXXx miles to reach Earth. Its a long way to come to be rejected. Now was that good or not.

But its come to a point whereby Oakleys are just getting plain expensive. While it is quality, they seems to be much more selection out there which are just as good (and cheaper).


Take smoke, sand, and fire--whip it into a frenzy with whirling chopper blades, or fierce winds. Now you have an idea of the environment Wiley X set out to conquer with the Climate Control™ Series (C.C.S.). This eyewear selection can't be beat when it comes to fast paced action and the need to seal off your eyes from outside elements. C.C.S. technology is as determined and tenacious as the men and women who wear them. All Climate Control™ styles exceed High Velocity ANSI impact standards

PRICE: A$149


ESS Features
* Optically-correct polycarbonate lenses for distortion-free vision
* Lenses are extra thick (2.2mm to 2.8mm) with 100% UVA/UVB protection, and premium Clear Zone™ anti-fog / anti-scratch coatings
* Goggle lenses have very high impact resistance, well beyond the ANSI Z87.1 requirements, and above the level of the US Military spec: MIL STD 662F
* Recently awarded Singapore Arm Forces contract.

PRICE: A$79

www.legear.com.au
P.S. Now, I thnk thats the closest you can come to bullet proof glasses

Spaghetti and Meatballs

When you in AngMoh land, u cook pasta and pizza.
When you are back home, you eat fishball noodles.

Well, cos AngMoh stuff is so much more expensive that you often have to compromise on quality as you start to forgo ingredients. I'd gladly pay a 'high' price to cook a piece of steak in Australia but back home at $45-$50/kg, I think not. But sis was abit tired of the routine lunch menu and asked that I did something different. Well pasta it was.
And it always good to get the young ones involved. At least my nephew got the herb 'parsley' right, which is more than I could say for my sis (Coriander in garlic spread?!). And if it was just a lucky guess, I made sure he had a smell of it.