Back online...

My internet connection in my apartment has been turned on. The plug is on the far end of the living room though. But they gave me a really long cable downstairs at the front desk, which not-so coincidently ends up to being just long enough to reach my bedroom desk. I'm considering getting a wireless router (next time i go down to Wancha1), but for now there's a cable snaking behind my sofa and through the doorway... one of the nice thing about living by yourself is that you never need to close any doors.

In other news, I bought a bike this evening after work. After doing some searching on the web, I found a bike shop near my house.

Despite what the website would lead you to believe, it was a really small shop that was packed w/ partly assembled bikes (w/ dozens more out on the sidewalk.

The staff guy's english wasn't very good (everytime he wanted to say a number in english, he would start counting out loud on his fingers from 1 to make sure he was saying it correctly), nor was his mandarin, but we eventually were able to communicate...

This place had a wide range of choices, from pricey imported carbon fiber to cheap china bikes. After living almost two years in Japan with a 20" folding bike, I wanted to get something a little beefier, especially considering the hills I need to tackle the last bit of my commute to campus. So I asked him to show me the mountain bikes. Also my urban riding in japan made me want to try a bike with a suspension too (all those curbs and potholes get to you after a while).

At first he was showing me some nice Taiwanese 'hard-tail' bikes in the $200 range, which I felt was a pretty decent price, but then I noticed it had quick-release tires and seat, etc and I remembered the fact that I'm going to have to park this thing outside of my building over night, so I started asking him about bike theft... he said some canto-english equivalent of 'oh yes, there are lots of bad people who steal bikes here... for this bike you'll need three locks.'

Three locks sounds like a pain and I asked him to show me some of the cheaper options, he showed me a cheap ~$65 bike that had front and rear suspension. But it was heavy and clunky and felt cheap. He said 'this is a one lock bike.'

Ultimately I settled on this two lock bike:

A world famous 'Solar 2OOO' brand bike. Its 18-speed with Shimano gears , an aluminum frame and a front suspension. Its like half the weight of the ' one lock' one. Unfortunately they have to order mine, so I have to wait a week. Total price on this one will be US$100 (including two locks).

Not bad! I'm looking forward to getting back on the road and getting some exercise again.