Today is the second time I got scolded by a Dutch old granny... Here are the detailed reports:

Incident #1 _ Cycling on pedestrian path

One fine afternoon after studio I was cycling back to my apartment. After 5 minutes of peddling, I finally reached the road right in front of my block. Only problem is... a car was approaching from ahead and the road width was too narrow to accomodate my bike, the approaching mini, and a parked veh. Wat to do? Lift up the front of the bike (still cycling, jhee agile~), mount the curb and dash into the pedestrian path. Only to meet a Dutch old granny who was a good 10 metres (no kidding) away from me.

What I did: Slow down, maneuver the bike to the extreme right (already brushing against the bushes), and give her enough space.

What she did: Thinks that I have violated her air space, raised up her walking stick with her left hand, used it to block my way and stop me from advancing.

What I did: Stop. Bo pian... unless i crash into her stick... her walking stick.

What she did: SCOLDED ME LIKE MAD. Her tone was stern and reprimanding. Her stare were like the sun piercing through cumulonimbus. Her voice, loud like thunder. With her left hand she raised her stick... her walking stick, and pointed it at me, and poked my bike's front wheel (ouch... ramble ramble ramble... ouch...) She was obviously upset that I have mounted the pedestrian path.

Incident #2 _ Parking beyond designated bicycle parking

Today I went to Dynabyte (where I bought me new ASUS) to get my free ram upgrade (mine was the last set in the store on display, flashing Dynabyte commercials for 2 weeks +/-. After some negotiation with the store employee, he agreed to let me have it, and give me a free 1GB ram upgrade when his ram sticks are restocked). Parked my bike outside the store right beside a brick wall clearly out of the way of any living organism imaginable (from ants to elephants), and happily strolled into the shop. What I did not know was a Dutch old granny was following me into the shop!

What I did: Saw the store owner, greeted him "Morning Hans!" and he recognized me and waved back as he bent over to pick up the brand new ram sticks from his counter. I walked over to where he was standing and took Zelevol out of my bag.

What she did: Interrupted me conversation with Hans the shop attendant and SCOLDED ME LIKE MAD. Her tone was stern and reprimanding. Her stare were like the sun piercing through cumulonimbus. Her voice, loud like thunder. Thankfully, she had no stick... err... walking stick. She was obviously upset that I have parked me bike illegally, so the speak.

Postmortem

Here's the funny part. For both incidents, the Dutch old grannies spoke in Dutch. Yep, the older generation can't speak english. So all I could do was stand down there and guess what they were trying to tell me and... SMILE! Which made them more furious I guess... Larki they don't have high blood pressure... else they would have coughed blood and I would... have to do extra laundry.

Anywayz... another attendant in Dynabyte came by from the corner of the shop to the counter and asked me, "So what'd she want from you?"

"I owe her rent money..."

"Serious?"

Hans said, "No. You parked your bike along the pedestrian walk way."

"Oh... Really now..."