Japanese chain

I had to put a new chain on the fixie, as it was worn and was creaking and squeaking as it went around. I go through a lot of chains, mostly because my work is near a aggregates recycling place. There are endless trucks going in with stuff that has been dug out of the ground, which means the road is coated with a fine dust seeping from all the trucks.

https://chillikebab.wordpress.com/2026/03/14/japanese-chain/

Riding round New York

In the middle of last year, I had to go to the US on business, and because I had to be there for two weeks ended up with a free weekend in New York. Whilst travelling on business and being away from home is hardly great, New York is a great city and so there was some upside in this trip - notwithstanding that the US is not really a place I'm keen to visit right now.

https://chillikebab.wordpress.com/2026/03/07/riding-round-new-york/

Arnott’s Scotch Finger Reduced Sugar

In these modern times, there is undoubtedly a move to eat less sugar. I too am eating less sugar, which may well make me a biscuit-reviewing fraud (and also explains the relatively fewer sweet biscuit reviews on this blog). But Arnott's have clearly seen an oportinity in the market, and launched reduced sugar versions of a few of their classic lines.

https://chillikebab.wordpress.com/2026/03/01/arnotts-scotch-finger-reduced-sugar/

Skullduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy

Regular readers may recall that a while ago I was called upon to write a book review that was unusually stressful. And now I must go into the breech again dear friends, because Chillikebab Jnr #2 has similarly requested that I read a book that has become an obsession - complete with the obligation to enter into long and detailed discussions about it.

https://chillikebab.wordpress.com/2026/02/21/skullduggery-pleasant-derek-landy/

A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara

This is a very uncomfortable book to read that took me some time to finish, as I had to put it aside from time to time and then come back to it. It follows the lives for four protagonists - Jude, Willem, Malcolm and JB. It opens with them all reaching adulthood after college and starting out in the world; each in different fields (law, acting, architecture and painting respectively), and follows them through the ups and downs of their lives.

https://chillikebab.wordpress.com/2026/02/15/a-little-life-hanya-yanagihara/

Arnott’s Murray River Salted Caramel Tim Tam

Another biscuit review, this time from the archives. I actually sampled this biscuit in 2023, and made some notes, but never wrote them up. I am no longer sure you can actualy get this flavour, but I supposed it is good to have it here for historical purposes; years into the future it is this record that will tell our descendants about the wonders of this remarkable biscuit.

https://chillikebab.wordpress.com/2026/02/07/arnotts-murray-river-salted-caramel-tim-tam/