Bicycling on Christmas day

Bicyclist at Yashima Ohashi (C) Lrong Lim


I love riding my mountain bike to work.

Driving is fun too, except for the morning jams and the occasional ill-mannered driver who literally cuts into your face as he (normally, as observed) skids into your lane.

I recall a Philippine friend, gnashing: you never learn how to swear until you learned how to drive.

In bicycling, there is little need for gnashing as I can take my own sweet time to cruise.

I get to 'exercise for free', and I get to enjoy the views along the way. For free, too.

In winter days like now, the sights of the migratory birds feeding at low tide near the river mouth is indeed a pleasure to see.

What more, there are designated lanes for bicycles (and pedestrians as well) in the city, so chances of getting knocked down by a car is pretty slim although one can never be too sure.

I penned a letter yesterday and submitted it to Malaysiakini for consideration of publication.

I have had the honor of seeing about three or four of my letters published by this admirable Internet newspaper of high integrity.

Just as I was about to leave my office, I noticed an email from an unknown sender, Steven, with the caption, Re: Seasons greetings.

Oh no, not another one of those scam emails from some tin-pot African nation, I thought.

But no, it was from Stevan Gan, that... yes, that Malaysiakini Editor.

In verbatim, he said, 'Dear Lrong, Thanks for your message and for your kind words of support. On behalf of the Malaysiakini team, I'd like to wish you Merry X'mas and a very Happy New Year to you and your family. cheers, steven'.

I was so pleasantly floored...

Indeed I was... as I bicycled home to my nest...