little miss may

I’ve always been fascinated by the traditional Irish Claddagh ring, with two hearts clasping a heart and surmounted with a crown. The expression which was associated with these symbols in the giving of the ring was: “With my hands I give you my heart, and crown it with my love.”

This Christmas I decided to paint the symbols that formed that ring, as a gift to myself, and a gift to all of you.

For there is no greater gift than love.

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

After months of wanting two wheels again, I finally made the investment in a brand new Trek 7.3FX WSD bike. It’s quite a beauty, with its matt gold finish and cool girly decals. I must say that I preferred a black one, but that would’ve set me back and extra 600 bucks which I wasn’t prepared to fork out for. But no matter - gold is good, eh?

My two girlfriends - Thao and Linda - and I went West to the Sydney Olympic Park for a ride a couple of Sundays ago. We got there extra early before the crowds rolled in, and a good thing we did too ‘cos the weather wasn’t behaving and rained later in the day.

The Parklands Circuit was where we rode around, following the bike path to wherever it would take us. It was pretty scenic if you didn’t mind the awful smell from the mangroves. There were even lookout towers where you could climb up, have a look at the surroundings, and spot the unmistakable Ikea building in the not-so-far distance.

The circuit was a cool sight with ducks, fishes and all, but I think I dig the UFO-looking fountain opposite the ANZ stadium the best. You could literally ride through (under) it if you want, and get soaking wet. Thao and Linda did, but because I had a camera strapped onto my bike (plus, I didn’t wanna get my new wheels wet!), I decided to give it a miss.

It felt good to pedal as fast as I could and feel the wind on my face again. Made me miss my mountain biking days back in KL, though I must admit I now prefer the “cleaner” rides i.e. no mud splatters up my arse compared to having to wash my bike down after every trail trip.

Yep, I think I’ll stick to bike paths and roads now.