FINALLY

we have too many bikes at home..and a half - well, foldable one as well

More than a year ago, I dropped off my full-sus giant anthem 1 mountain bike at the Rebound Center for a customized paint job.

I knew it would have taken about 3 months worth of work but I was then in Laos for the SEA Games and then continued on to Bangkok for more than a month and just kept traveling.

It worked out in the end because Sulaiman, who was the artist in resident, I call him artist because that's what he essentially is _ could then take his time on my bike.

It was a lot of work. He had to paint the butterflies ONE at at time and let each layer of paint settle and dry.

And it looks like 2 tones of pink but it's just one with different amounts of black mixed into it.

I appreciate all that effort put in.

He's not just a talented man but a very gracious and soft-spoken person who is very patient.

I guess those are requirements for someone in this line of work where you are working with your client and his ideas and concepts.

So I already had the design in mind and it was almost like going to the hairdresser's where you have what you want in mind and you're leaving it all in the hands of the other person.

I'm glad we understood each other completely and the end result is better than what I had envisioned.

I had chosen butterflies because it was fitting for trails and hot pink against black so that it would still maintain that "fierce" vibe.

Baby pink would not have passed the bill.

So slightly more than a year later, yesterday, I was reunited with the bike and its finally time to hit the trails and off-roads again.

Necessary?

Not at all but sometimes it's nice to put in some effort in things that don't just pay the bills if you know what I mean.