Things have changed

Feb distance: 129 km

Tampines, 28 km. I used to go north. Today, on a whim, I go east. Things have changed. There used to be jungle by the road. The jungle has been flattened. The road, which used to be "free flow", now hosts major junctions. I go past factories which are still being built.

Well, at least the dogs that used to hang out here and chase me are gone.

Dying and dead

Jurong, 69 km. Yesterday, I visit an (ex) colleague spending her last days in a hospice. Today, I go to a wake - another colleague's grandpa is dead. He would've been 108 if he'd lived till his next birthday. H

The dead guy lived through five governments (including the Japanese Occupation) and the Great Depression. The dying lady is half his aged and didn't even get to retire. She's so responsible; when she was on extended leave (before going to the hospice), she'd help her replacement by phone.

This is the first time I've cycled to a wake and "meet" anyone a century old. I get lost on the way home, but make it back, taking the long way home. The route is the same, but a large part has been widened, with new asphalt.

I ponder about life, about what I'm doing with mine, and how a few seconds of adjusting the air conditioner for my dying friend made such a difference to her.

Scaring myself

Good life eh?

Seletar, 32 km. After cycling on grass, roadside debris and grass, I hear hissing. And my front tyre

looks flat! I dismount and squeeze my front tyre. It's hard like a rock. So what's hissing?

Ah, a gardener spraying water on parched grass. Sometimes, things aren't as bad as they sound?

It's Chinese New Year. Another year, the year of the ssssnake, has passed. Last year was the 10th anniversary of my first epic ride.