Australia: Bicycle Diaries

A mother in Thailand has to decide whether to sell her 5-year-old son to child prostitution to ameliorate their impoverished conditions. My sister is torn between getting layers cut or a body wave. A teenage girl gets knocked up the first time she has sex and is forced to choose what to do with the baby. A father caught in a political gunfire must decide whether to shoot back at armed forces surrounding his house while his family is still inside. Our housemate Ben, in his meticulously drawn-out process of furnishing his home, is facing a tough dilemma between the 40" plasma TV or the 46". As you can see, every day around the world each one of us has to make decisions that may affect the rest of our lives. Justin and I are no different - every morning we wake up with the same dilemma: do we look for a job or do we go for a bike ride? Every morning our question is conveniently and resolutely decided by Mother Nature who has blessed us with blue bird sky and warm weather.

This past week, we have gone on bike rides every single day leaving my ass as sore as an altar boy's at a Catholic church. And you know how Asian women can't drive, well it turns out we're not that good on bikes either especially when pedestrians and cars are around. Move out of my way Granny! Still, I am undeterred and think cycling is the most winsome and leisurely way to tour Melbourne. The best trip so far has been taking our bikes on the train to Brighton Beach, then ride along the bay to St. Kilda where we stopped for lunch at the famed Stokehouse. We didn't plan out our route or have any maps with us - we just kinda winged it and kept following the yellow brick bike trail. But somehow we managed to make it all the way home after a full day of riding 30 km. (This is eerily parallel to how we lead our lives: Pick a destination without much planning, have blind faith that we will make it there and back while eating good food along the way.) So when you decide to come for a visit, forget tour buses - we have decided to take you on day-long bike rides instead.

As for every one else's decisions? The Thai mother sold herself to prostitution to spare her young son. My sister got layers after her hairdresser promised to show her how to create body waves with a straightener. Juno had the baby with that cute dork from Superbad and gave it to Sydney Bristow. A 14-year-old girl is dead as a result of her Hamas father's decision to fire back at the Israeli Defense Forces. After we unanimously agreed that an extra 6 inches never hurt anybody Ben chose the Sony 46" TV which will arrive in the next couple days. And last but not least, Justin and I are still unemployed.

The last three photos courtesy of QGuide (St. Kilda seaside) and Murray Oz Blog (Brighton beach houses).