Adventure Bikers

The blind leading the blind??

2009-09-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

KO SAMUI RIDE – 28th Aug – 1st Sept 2009

(please click on the pictures to zoom in)

Now, before you accuse me of posting pornography, let me categorically state that this is not the case. The rock solid picture on the left is from Ko Samui and the locals call it the grandfather rock! It is a rock formation that nature has made and interestingly so, nature also made a grandmother rock! Comprende?

Now that I've got your interest, do read on…

Day 1, Friday, 28th Aug 2009. (KL- Hatyai)
After months of discussion and planning, finally the 28th August arrived. This was the day that we would start for Ko Samui…and it rained! It had been raining since the night before and it would not let up. But Kwa and I decided to follow thru with the plan when we met up at the Petronas Damansara and started to ride northwards on the NSE. After all, we are bikers mah!

Along the way, we stopped at the Tapah R&R for hot coffee and sandwiches before we continued on to meet up with Francis at Sg Perak, the next rendezvous point. When we arrived there, Francis was with Caltex Tan (another V Rider) waiting for us. Caltex was on his way to Grik when he spotted Francis’ V and decided to stop by for a chat and to wait with Francis for us. The 4 of us chatted for a while and after having topped up our bike, Francis, Kwa and I rode towards Juru Auto City to meet with CM.

We arrived there at about 12.30pm and we had a quick lunch at McD while we waited for CM to join us. It was still raining then and I could feel the wet in my boots. After a short while, CM arrived and soon we 4 jolly riders were heading to border.

Along the way, we stopped at Changlun to get our Thai insurance for the bike, changed our ringgits to Thai bahtss and had a little makan before we crossed the border. We also tried to stop at the last petrol station in Changlun for fuel before entering Thailand but most of the stations were out of petrol. So we had to U-turn back for a couple kilometers to top up our bikes. It was still worth it considering that petrol costs RM 3.30/litre in Thailand. A lesson learnt - don’t do things at the very last moment. We could have topped up at the next available station while in Changlun, instead of the last.

Going thru the border was a breeze this time around and it took us less then 30 mins before we were heading for Hatyai, our 1st stop in this ride. Kwa had helped to book rooms at the Chachuda Place during his recent Hatyai Bike Week trip and it was a real welcomed sight after having rode in the wet for the last few hours. By now, the rain had stopped. I think it was the Malaysian rain that had followed us earlier and it did not have a passport to follow us thru the border!

After having settled in, we took a tuk-tuk into town for dinner and thereafter jalan-jalan around the Lee Gardens area. It had been a long and wet ride for us and we were all tired. So after the Lee Gardens, we headed back to hotel for a good rest. Riding with our new pal Francis has taught us a trick or two. As I had mentioned ealrier, our riding boots were wet and they would definitely not be able to dry out by the next day. This bloke passed on a useful tip - stuff plenty of newspaper into the boots to absorb the water. We did that twice and on the 3rd time, left them in the boots till the next morning. And you know what? It was dry the next day! A damn good idea. Secondly we learnt that he wore rubber instead of riding gloves while riding in the wet since it would keep his hands dry and comfortable. Kwa thought that it was a compromise on safety so he improvised by wearing the rubber gloves inside before putting on the riding gloves and got best of both worlds!!!!! They say necessity is the mother of invention...and I am sure we've just witnesses that.

Day 2, Saturday, 29th Aug 2009 (Hatyai to Donsak / Ko Samui)
We got up early and had our breakfast at the usual shop nearby the hotel which serves noodles and tim sum. After that, it was back to the rooms for a short rest before we started our ride from Hatyai to Donsak via the “coastal route”. Along the way we had to stop for petrol for a particular BIG bike which consumed so much more petrol then the V and to repair his faulty signal light. I had preprogrammed my GPS to take us on the coastal route towards Donsak (I have never been to Ko Samui before and it was a case of the blind leading the blind!) But this wonderful gadget took us all the way without a missing a turn. Hah…now even the “blind” can lead!!!! But on a more serious note, those who are adventurous should never leave home without it!

Expecting the coastal road to be more scenic, we found that it was so only along the Songkhla stretch. Soon, it was a a ride without much view of the sea or beach but going thru small towns and villages. It was nice as there were less traffic compared to the central route, which we took on our return journey. Passing thru Nakon Si Thammarat, we decided to have lunch (noodles, fried chicken and fish at a road side stall) and also to top up our bikes. From the preplanned route, it took us thru the town center before joining the main road and the traffic was really bad in Nakon. We needed about 30 mins to clear a short stretch in the town center, but after that, it was a smooth ride all the way to Donsak for the ferry to Ko Samui. Somehow, our timing was just right as we arrived at Donsak at 2.30pm (local time), just in time for the 3pm ferry. It costs THB240 for a bike and it’s rider since our bikes were classified as BIG bikes. The 33km ferry ride to Ko Samui lasted for about 2 hrs.

While approaching Ko Samui, the weather looked like it was about to rain and since my GPS is actually a phone and is not waterproof, I requested for Francis to use his waterproof Garmin to guide us from the pier to the hotel. After having disembarked from the ferry, we continued our ride to Lamai Beach where Bonny hotel was located. Francis led the group using his GPS and after about 30 mins of riding on the island we found the location but somehow missed the small hotel entrance by about 5 meters. So we asked for directions from a local who couldn’t help us but a orang putih showed us where Bonny was at! From this incident, it was very clear that Koh Samui had been invaded by the whites.

My personal observation while riding to Bonny was that the road was narrow and undulating at times. Some parts of the road were made of cement while some were tarred. The cement parts made the ride felt “harsher”, not very friendly to my back.

Bonny Hotel. The place was ok except that the shower was weak and the bathroom floor was slippery. The good point about this place was that it has 2 beds , a single and a double. And you know what, thanks to Francis, Kwa got the double (man, he was damn happy you know, since a double bed sleeps double mah! Wonder if he got double sleep?) We took a short rest before heading out for dinner. We strolled along Lamai town to familiarize ourselves and noticed that there were many makan shops but mostly catering to the whites. Since it was our first trip to Ko Samui, we did not had much of a choice but to just picked a decent looking shop for our dinner. Mat-Salleh style, every one of us ordered a rice and dish and we shared out the dishes. A good idea too since it was not that expensive, less then THB200 each with beer! And it was election week that weekend and no beer was allowed to be sold in bottles/cans in public areas. So we had ours served in glasses (hey, we got class mah). Cheers!

After dinner we strolled around town and went for a foot massage (THB250/hr). Kwa didn’t like the massage and thought that it was lousy…like tickling the toes and feet. After the massage, we found a road side food court and decided to order some local snacks. While we will having our snacks, we noticed a mat salleh drinking beer from a bottle! So our beer drinking CM went over to enquire, and then off he went to 7-11 and returned with 3 cans of beer and a soft drink. So not only Malaysia Boleh but Thailand also Boleh. And with that we called it a night.

Day 3, Sunday, 30th Aug 2009.(Round Ko Samui island ride)
From the recommendations of Mrs. Nong of Bonny hotel, we went to Lamai market for breakfast but after checking out the place, we decided a change of venue as we were not too comfortable with what was being offered at the market… local fares, with lots of deep fried stuff. While looking for an alternative for breakfast, we somehow got separated from Francis but we manage to meet up again after a short while. Not sure where he went, but we later found a nice and clean shop for our breakfast. Some of us had noodles while others rice with duck. It as a real decent meal with nice surrounding. After breakfast, we started our round island ride. First, we visited the Grandfather and Grandmother Rock (Hin Ta and Hin Yai). Then CM insisted on visiting the Mango Village Resort (a most interesting place known only to him). We also visited Wat Khunaram where we saw the Mummified Monk and rode thru Nathon (the main town). Later, we came across the Big Buddha, a tourist location. We also rode pass the up-market Chaweng Beach, View Point. Lunch at a very nice cliff top cafe overlooking the sea before we headed back to Lamai Beach and Bonny Hotel. We took a rest before strolling again, this time for some shopping. The later part of the day, we went for a swim at Lamai Beach, minus Francis who preferred to relax on a borrowed beach chair, reading an old copy of the Sun paper. Maybe he can cannot swim????

In the evening, we went for dinner and as usual and after dinner sat at the roadside food court for some snacks, beer and chit chat. Since we will be riding back to Hatyai the next day, we decided to take an early rest ahead of the long ride back.

Day 4, Monday, 31st Aug 2009 ( Ride from Ko Samui / Donsak to Hatyai via
the central inland route)
We decided to head straight to the ferry terminal without having our breakfast as the weather didn’t looked so good. And since there’s makan sold on the ferry, we could save time by having a light breakfast on the ferry. We took the 7 am ferry, which was only half full with cars and arrived at Donsak at about 10am. Once again, assisted by my GPS programmed for the central route, we made our way through some village roads before joining the trunk road. After a very short ride, I noticed that my right mirror was loose but I did not have the proper tool to tighten it. As a temporary work around, I tried to tie it down with a piece of rubber string but it did not work too well. Riding along, we managed to find a small bike shop. Initially the attending mechanic could not tighten the mirror BUT then came a man wearing a Suzuki tee shirt. He solved the problem easily and did not want to accept any payment. I think he must be the master mechanic of the place :-)

A short distance away from the mechanic was a petrol station and a noodles shop next to it. We decided to have our long overdue breakfast at shop after filling up our bike. Thereafter it was a smooth ride via the central route heading towards Tong Song. There were instances where the road signs pointed to Krabi, and I was a little concern that we were heading the wrong way. Krabi is at the west coast of Thailand and we do not want to go there! Fortunatelt, it was only road signs pointing the way. There were many parts of the central route that were so straight and nice to ride and some of us tested our bike's speed there (what else???).

The outside lane (right) of the road has “exits” at regular intervals that would link to the other side of the road, which was separated from us by a wide piece of land (> 20 ft). I think this is great as it offers a wide buffer zone between the 2 sides of the road and reduces the threat of hitting an oncoming vehicle in case of an accident. The buffer zone has short grass grown, like a field. I was told by someone that sometimes, the local farmers would keep their livestock there (cows, goats, etc.) Overall , it was a good ride as the weather was kind to us, cloudy with a light drizzle here and there.

Along the way, we stopped at Tesco-Lotus in Tong Song for our lunch. The air conditioned food court was a treat and the food was nice. After our lunch and a short rest , we continued with our ride towards Hatyai, heading to Chachuda Place again. As we neared our destination, I decided to overrule the GPS as it was pointing us towards the border, and as a result, we went for a short detour before having to do a U-turn to get to the hotel. By the time we reached Chachuda, it was about 4pm. So we freshened up, took a rest and went for a real Thai massage at Oliver after 4 long days of riding. After that we have our dinner at the Rose E-San restaurant, a short walking distance from Oliver. This is a family operated restaurant and the young daughter and her boyfriend waited on us while mummy cooked. This young lady would “curtsy” with her head (like a slight bow) each time we talk to her. A sign of family upbringing???

Finished our dinner and headed back for a good rest. We would be riding back home sweet home the following day.

Day 5, Tuesday, 1st Sept 2009 ( Ride home)
We had our breakfast at the usual shop again but this time we ordered the famous keow teow fish head for CM and Francis to try. Kwa missed it too, especially so after the Hatyai Bike Week ride. Then it was all the way to the border , duty free shop, top up and straight to Juru. However there was a small incident leaving Hatyai when Francis's bike got tangled up with a kapcai with three young boys (which suddenly turned right in front of him) for a few feet. But both bikes remained upright, separated and went on their separate ways safely.

Heading southwards, CM took us to Nibong Tebal for a very nice lunch , curry udang galah , fish, veg, rice and bread. Thanks CM it was a darn nice meal and price very reasonable too. RM80 plus with drinks for the four very hungry bikers…and I got this place logged into my GPS :-)

And it was from here after the makan that we said bye bye to CM and it was down from 4 riders to 3, heading to Sg Perak where we said our goodbyes to Francis. He had decided to stay in Ipoh for a day, and thereafter we were down to 2 riders.

Continuing the journey, Kwa wanted to buy a very special brand of coffee which he usually buys in Bidor. So when he veered off from the highway into Bidor, I could not join him as there was a trailer between him and me and I over shot the junction (riding too fast I guess). Tried to get Kwa on the phone at the next R&R, but he didn’t pick up the phone. SO I guessed that he was already on the bike by then. From that time onwards, it was a lonely ride all the way back home. The good thing is that all of us reached home safely and this is the MOST important consideration of any ride.

Overall, we had a real good time and a damn good fellowship all the way. Kudos guys and Bravo to you!

Thanks guys for your company. We will ride again….soon. Did I hear someone say Mae Hong Son??? ;-)

Thanks to Kwa and Francis for contributing to this article.

IHVR signing off.

Affinity Banking -Sorry, not biking!

2009-08-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

I have come to a point in my life where I had to withdraw money from the EPF to fund my children’s further education. Somehow I choose to start a new account with Maybank so that EPF could deposit my withdrawals directly into this account. So when I went to the bank to open the account, I was asked if I have a Maybank account before. I told the officer that I had an account but had terminated it some years ago, and could not remember the reason why. So I duly filled the form, handed over the money, IC, etc. and waited for the officer to complete the process. And I waited and waited and waited. There were people who came in after me and they completed their transactions and I was still waiting. Finally, patience ran out so I asked the officer concerned what happened to my account. To my surprise, she had overlooked it and it was just sitting in her tray at her desk. Then, it came back to me, why I had terminated the earlier account with MayBank…due to unsatisfactory service. But since I had already started the process, I decided not to judge based on a single incident, and maybe the service from Maybank would have improved over the years. This happened about 1 year ago.

On the 4th Aug, I wanted to buy US currency and a bank draft for my son since he will be leaving for the US soon. This home branch told me that they do not sell US currency and asked me to go to the Jln Meru branch instead. So off I went to the Jln Meru branch and approach an officer, who was sitted behind a desk with a computer. I told her that I wanted to buy some US currency and a US $ bank draft. She told me that my daily limit was RMxxx since this was not my home branch. It was less than what I had wanted, but in order to catch the day’s exchange rates, I decided to purchase what ever my limit would allow. So I enquired about the rates and was told to go out of the bank, around the corner where the bank has a foreign exchange counter to get those rates. The officer told me that she could not see the rates in her computer. So I went out of the bank, around the corner and to the counter. I managed to get the exchange rates, and when I told the counter that I wanted to purchase a bank draft, I was told to the upstairs of the bank. So I went upstairs and asked one of the officers at the counter how to get a number for the queue. She told me to go back downstairs to get a number! So….I was downstairs, got sent out and then back into bank to go upstairs and was told to go back downstairs, even before I can start any transaction! Is this what Maybank’s service is all about?

I left that branch without getting anything done.

Yesterday, I went back to my home branch, bought a US$ bank draft for my son and transferred the rest of my money from that account to another bank. have decided once again to terminate my account with Maybank. But I must express my thanks to Satish Chander, who was most helpful when I was buying the bank draft and tried to empathize with me, I must say that he was the saving grace for Maybank. Apart from that, I am thankful that there are other banks that I can operate my accounts with.

So you heard about affinity banking? It sure looks like there is no affinity between Maybank and me!

Hatyai Bike Week Ride - 4/7 to 5/7.

2009-07-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

4/7
On a very nice and early morning (3.30am) of 4/7,myself and Lonerider meet up at Tmn.Klang Jaya for our ride to Hatyai.This is the 1st night or rather dark ride for me,it was nice b'cos is cooling all the way but the downside is you hv to be super alert as is dark.
Since there only 2 of us,no drama all the way.We enjoy a cool,nice and "slow' ride.Stop at B'worth for b'fast at the famous seow bak (bbq pork) mee,ok lah but not as good/nice as Lonerider claimed,(5%-95% theory).Custom clearing was a breeze,stop at Satit Hotel,Danuk to check out room for Koh Samui.We reach Chudchada Place at abt 11am,abit too late to join the bike week ride to Songkhla and since our room was not ready, we went down town to hv lunch with 2 Klang bikers from James Yap group.Not bad chicken rice!!!and if u like and can take chicken skin this is the right place,is thick and juicy!!!On the way we meet Yeoh and the Malacca group (Au Kait and Co.) at Golden Crown Hotel,sitting right in front of the entrance stair.
Then bk to hotel,check in hv a nice shower/rest before heading to town for a good massage.
As is was raining in the evening,we cannot go to the park for dinner,so we join James and the gang for seafood dinner in town.Food was nice but too much and expensive,BTH610/pax.
Once the rain stopped we went to the park,not much changes from last year. This year there is no free makan and beer,so u can see most of the tables is empty,unlike last year.Bought a couple of T-shirts for friend bk home,lepa around then it started drizzling,the next moment we was on our bike and headed bk but thanks to Lonerider,who like rain so much that he took me went rounding(lost his way).he!he! And that's for the night.
5/7
We was up by 7am,went for b'fast but very disappointed we cannot hv the keow teow fish head as the portion is too big for 2 of us so we settle for chichen and tim sum but Lonerider even hv Bak Kut Tea!! what a eater.Is here that we meet Jimmy Yap 58yrs who rides a Suzuki 150 and after some chatting with Lonerider,he decided to join us bk. and we start the exciting ride bk.
After crossing border like a breeze,Jimmy encounter jerking to his bike,so we stop at Petronas for him to change s/plug.Since he was going quite slow,he get him to head start and we join later,abt 30mins but the problem is that we still caught up with him before our next stop,so we stop again under trees/flyover.....He was doing abt 80 to 90km.
Then his bike overheat (coil) and stop before Simpang Pulai toll but was able to re start and go for abt 100 to 200m before it stop again.We discussed and agreed that he will stop/go,stop/go till he reach Simpang Pulai petronas station,which was abt 6km.We waited for abt 45mins before he arrived.Luck was on his side,meet a small lorry stopping for toilet and is wiling to take his bike till Sg Buloh RR.We help to load up the bike onto the lorry,then we head to Bidor for our lunch (5pm) but poor Jimmy was on top of the lorry holding on to his bike.We meet at Sg Buloh RR,unload the bike and head bk to Klang.His bike was ok after the cooling period but still doing 90km.
Anyway,we all reached home safely at abt 7.30pm and this will go down in record as the "most number of stop " for a ride bk from Hatyai to Klang.
Sorry guys,no photos with me.
Lonerider,if you are reading PlS download photos from your camera.
Tks.
Over and out.

Taman Negara Ride (20-21 June 09)

2009-06-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

(please click on photo to enlarge and click play on video attached)

On the 20th June 09, I rode with Kwa and Chew from Klang to meet up with the XtremeFreedom Bikers at the BHP station after the Gombak toll. We were joining them for the ride to Taman Negara. CM met us there after having arrived from Penang a few days earlier. After all the riders have arrived, Ong the leader of XtremeFreedom Bikers, briefed the group on the ride and there was a photo shoot (XtremeFreedom). Then we were on the way, riding on the Karak Highway and heading for the Temerloh exit. There were 12 bikes all in all plus a few cars with families (wives and kids). There’s a GTR, 4 Versys, 2 BMW, a couple of Kawa Z series, a Fazer and 1 EN500.

Those of you who are familiar with the Karak Highway will know that there are a few curves to be enjoyed along the way. And although the group consists of quite a diverse bunch of riders (some fast and some not so fast), it was not long before that everyone settled into the ride. The guys were really taking to the curves as if duck to water. You could see the smooth flow of bikes along the highway and this was quite a sight especially, if you happened to be riding at the back of the pack. The ride to the Temerloh exit was uneventful and pleasant. The weather was fine. It was not hot even when we started a little close to 9 am.

Soon we approached the exit and as planned, we had to regroup after the exit. After exiting the toll and waiting for a few minutes, all were riders were accounted for and we proceeded towards the traffic light (T junction) to turn right towards Jerantut, the next destination. But before getting into Jerantut, the group would have to refill at a station about 50km away.

While approaching the T-junction, we all slowed to a stop as the light was red. I turned to the BMW at my left to talk to him but the lights turned green. All the bikes began to zoom off to the right. I turned my throttle, expecting to follow them, but the bike didn’t move! Somehow, while at the junction, my engine died and I did not notice it. So I tried to re-start the bike a few times but was unsuccessful. I sepnt about an hour at this junction before the bike would start again, and it was with the help of Kwa and CM who had back track to help me. What happened? Well….that’s a different story. :-(

After having successfully starting the bike, we rode into Jerantut to rejoin the main group who were having lunch. And since we came in late, Kwa, CM and I sat at a smaller table in the restaurant, where the main group had already ordered and had gone thru their lunch. The restaurant’s owner, taking our orders somehow thought we latecomers also wanted the same dishes as the main group and started to propose the various dishes. Ong asked the owner to speed it up for us as we latecomers were hungry. Some of us needed to go to the bathroom and with all these happening simultaneously, confusion reigned. We did not realized what was ordered until the food came. There was fried hor fun, “manee choy” and a steamed Patin fish. Well, we were hungry, so we ate. It is only when we were paying for the meal that we realized it costs us RM165!!! This was one expensive lunch and the fish alone costs us RM143!!! In case you are wondering where this restaurant is at, it is the

Restoran Tokyo, located at S1 & S2 Taman Intan in Jerantut. But I must be honest as well. The restaurant had a sign in Chinese stating the price of fish in per 100gm. Unfortunately, we did not see earlier on. It is only when we returned the next day to order lunch (but no fish) that we saw the sign. I suspect that this restaurant is famous for the fishes they serve. Why? Cos’ when we were having lunch, delivery came with a big fish. It is really very much bigger than the one you would see in the markets.

After lunch, the group proceeded towards Kuala Tahan, which is part of Taman Negara. After a short distance of about 15 mins, we turned off the main road at a sign pointing towards Taman Negara. This road was narrower and not very well maintained. There were some holes and it was quite common to see small stones on the road. After a while, we went thru a stretch of the same road that was very oily. There were palm tress around and we were going thru a plantation. I guess this is due to the oil palm fruits falling off the trucks which carried them from the plantations for processing. Probably during the journey, some of the fruits had falled off onto the road and got crushed. Overtime, this crushed fruits left behind the oily layer on the road. 2 wheelers must be very careful when passing thru this stretch. I dread to think what it would be like when it drizzles and the film of oil is brought to the surface on the road!

The journey to Kuala Tahan had some interesting stretches with curves and it undulates with slopes that prevent riders from seeing over the top of the slope until you are up on it. Usually when I ride, I tend to use my sights as the primary source to read the road ahead. Due to the limitations on the use of sights, navigating thru this particular road would require one to depend on road signs as a major source of input to help us anticipate what lay ahead, e.g. the road curving to the left or right. Anyway, after riding for about an hour, we finally reached Kg. Kuala Tahan. We would be staying at the Persona Village Resort, which is about 10 mins bike ride to the jetty.

Persona Village Resort is divided into 2 parts. The first consists of the reception, dining area and some chalets. This is the section that we can ride to. Then this section of the resort is connected to a second section via a suspension bridge over a chasm of about 30 ft deep. The second section of the resort consists of chalets only, and the Klang group stayed here.

Upon arriving at about 2pm, we waited at the reception/dining area while Ong sorted out the rooms etc. While waiting, we were told that the boats needed for us to go for the various activities in Tmn Negara had been fully booked for the day, and to RV at the reception at 3.30pm, so that we all could go to the jetty to book our boats for the next morning’s activities. CM went around o gather a group so that we would have 12 pax to a boat.

So we got our key and went to our rooms. After about 15 mins wait, we go our keys and proceeded to cross the suspension bridge to our chalets, They were all air-conditioned, complete with hot water shower. Not bad for RM65 twin sharing. We started to unpack and relax and very soon tt was soon 3.30pm. We met at the reception with our bikes and rode towards the jetty. Upon arrival, I noticed that this “jetty” area had been developed from what was once trees and just “jungle”. This was the spot that was directly across the river from the Mutiara Resort. About 20yrs ago, Mutiara (I think it was called something else then) was about the only “resort” around. Across Mutiara was this little floating restaurant/canteen thing then. Now, the place opposite the Mutiara has developed with more floating restaurants, a few “motels” and a sprinkling of resorts. There’s a lot of people on this side of the river who are mostly are tourists. I venture to guess that this was probably because this side of the river had more rooms or accommodation space than that was available from the Mutiara, and Mutiara is also more expensive!

We proceeded to book a boat for the next morning and then spend some time having drinks at the floating restaurant, just relaxing and taking in the environment. There were motorized boats all over. Some smaller ones would take you across the river for RM1 each way. Then there are some big and small boats meant for excursions, just like the 12-seaters that we have booked. Here, the river is like the highway of the city. Boats are just going up and down the “lazy river”, ferrying people to their destinations. I call it lazy because the water was flowing quite slowly and sort of gives you the feeling of a laid back atmosphere.

After having lazed around for a while, the group decided to cross the river to “recce” the Mutiara. Kwa, CM, Stephan and I went across, paying RM1 each. Upon arriving on the Mutiara side of the river, we had to climb a flight of stairs to get to the main compound of the resort. Noticed that there’s a welcoming committee, complete with drinks and traditional instruments. But they did not “welcome ” us with their music or free drinks since we were not the resort’s guests. We just walked around the grounds of Mutiara, looking it over and enquiring about the price. On the way back, we again had to descend down the stairways, and decided to stop and chat with the hotel staff. Somehow the conversation went on to the topic of rainy season, and we were told that most rainy seasons, the river would swell. However, sometimes the water level can rise to where we were standing, which was more than 20ft above the current level! Just imagine the amount of water it would take to fill up the place and to raise the water level that much! I think it must be a very fast and raging river by then. No more lazy river and no wonder these guys have floating restaurants!!! They would just float, anchored and following the water level. However, I would not sure too sure about the patronage by that time. (Click on picture to enlarge. Each yellow segment that I have inserted is approx 5ft, based on the man standing by the river. Count the number of segments to the middle of the stairways)

After a while we continued down to the river to get a boat across. Luck for us, there were 3 boats waiting for passengers and the boatmen called out to us. Kwa, enterprising as usual, managed to bargain with one of the boats to take us across for RM0.50 each. All of us boarded the boat but I know someone was waiting to see if this boatman would stop the boat halfway across the river and ask us to pay another RM0.50 each just to continue the journey to reach the other side. But he did not do that. :-)

Upon reaching land, we proceeded to ride back to the chalet and to freshen up. There’s going to be a BBQ for dinner. On the way back, Stephan wanted to buy a pair of slippers so that he may use them for the next day’s water activities. However, we both ended up with the “Adidas Kampung” for RM8 per pair. I think it is a better alternative to slippers as it offers better protection.

Dinner time. There’s food at the buffet trays, but the preparation was not fast enough for all the hungry folks. We finished up the fried mee and rice as soon as it came out and had to wait for it to be replenished. Some of the cooks were out BBQing the chicken, fish, prawns and lamb near to the dining area. So we paced our eating. Then beer arrived. Chang brought his mini music system and very soon, we were having a session of food, drink and music! And to say we are staying at Tmn Negara, in tune with nature!Towards the later part of the evening, jokes were flying around, probably because the beer was talking. By then, food was abundant as in most BBQ, the later the evening, the more food gets cooked! It was a good and enjoyable evening with some good fellowship amongst the bikers.

Sunday morning. All those going for the boat ride were supposed to meet at the floating restaurant by 9am, ready to roll. CM, Kwa, Chew, Stephan and I rode to the jetty at 7.30am for breakfast. By 8.30am, I could see my fellow boat-mates congregating at the floating restaurant for breakfast too. All to soon, it was time to start the boating adventure But before we could start the journey, we were told that we need to have “permits” to enter Taman Negara (RM1 each person plus RM5 per camera). Kwa went ahead to arrange to this by crossing the river to the Mutiara, where the permits were being issued.

Once Kwa came back with the permits, we were ready to roll. First stop was the canopy walk. The boat took 12 of us up the river and we disembarked at the designated spot. After a brief hike thru the trees, we came to this “station” where we had to purchase tickets for the canopy walk. Thereafter, it was free time “up there”. Views from up at the canopy were fantastic , and being so closed to the leaves that were “high up there” was really a great feeling…......peaceful....... serene.........., until someone yelled "a-yeeooo-yeeeooooooo", thinking he was Tarzan.

After the canopy walk, we went back to the boat to “shoot the rapids”. This was probably the most exciting part of the day. There were thrills and spills. Everyone got wet as expected and didn’t mind. Heart rates went yo-yo but mostly up and if your heart rate did not go up during this ride, I think you better see a doctor! As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. For the following 1 million words, please see attached video.

After the boat ride, we went back to the chalet so that we may get cleaned, pack and checked out of the chalet.

Once everyone was ready, we gathered at the reception and Ong was there to help us with the check out. As we waited for the rest, 5 of us slower riders decided to ride out first so that we may have lunch (and we were hungry) before the ride back to KL. After saying goodbye to the rest of the group, we headed back to Tokyo restaurant for our lunch (simple dishes and no fish). After lunch, we refueled in Jerantut and started our journey back.

The journey back saw a few of us testing our bikes for speed and some welcome home showers wetted us as we near KL. Our next RV was at the Genting Sempah Petronas where the 5 of us had a short rest, topped up our tanks and said our goodbyes. We went our separated ways. The Klang riders had to endure a very heavy downpour as we near the Damansara toll area, but all managed to get back safe but wet.

Overall, it has been a good weekend. Good fellowship and ride. There was fun and there were new friends made.

Until the next ride…

This is IHVR. Over & out.

Blue skies & everything nice

2009-05-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

(please click on the pictures to enlarge)

“Until next week, here’s wishing you blue skies and everything nice” said the DJ to his listeners in the 70’s English radio program. This was his signature closing note. Listening to radio programs was about the only in house entertainment for me then. We did not have a TV nor phone. But those were the happy, carefree days of my youth. In the 70’s blue skies were common everyday sights.

Fast forward to the present day esp. for the Klang Valley, I sometimes see grey sky instead of blue, even when it is a sunny day. This is due to the pollutants in the air that we have introduced over the years, in the name of progress. So you can appreciate my delight when I saw blue sky, white clouds and vast arrays of green at the Bertam Valley of the Cameron Highlands. This is also the site of the first tea garden in Habu, Cameron Highlands when BOH Plantations was founded in 1929 by J.A. Russel. This is also where our Malaysian Nature Society have their dorms and chalets, the place where I and the rest of the bikers would be staying over.

On the 9th May 09, a group of bikers including me started out from the Rawang R&R and headed towards Cameron Highlands from Klang was via the NS Expressway, exiting at Simpang Pulai. The riders were Roberto Yeoh, CM, Terence, Graham, David, Jalil and I. Terence’s friend, Joe joined us at Simpang Pulia.

While riding the NSE, Roberto took the lead at a steady 150 kph. CM’s EN500 was almost at full throttle but he managed to keep the pace. Me? I was the guy behind the EN500, trying to play sweeper. But someone else though that this apek need some looking after, so David (?) was usually behind me. All this was fine until we started to climb towards Cameron Highlands. The younger ones were soon zooming away and eating up the bends and curves as if there’s no tomorrow, and were all “outta sight” in no time. But hey, no problem man. That’s what this ride was about…to enjoy the bends and curves!

We rode up to Cameron Highlands, passing thru Kg. Raja, Tringkap, Brinchang and Tanah Rata. While making our way up thru these places, we chance upon groups of people on the road and some were carrying kavadis celebrating Wesak. Though not a big as we would see in KL, they liven up the ride with their colors and sounds. And of course, our bikes were able to squeeze thru the traffic jam that the celebration had created.

After having arrived at Cameron Highlands and still on the way to our destination, I somehow found myself tin the front of the group. This was probably because the guys waited for me near the turn off to Kg Raja and due to the jam, I managed to get ahead of the other riders. Taking lead, I turned off towards Sg Palas, thinking that this was the way to go to our MNS chalet. But Yeo, who came later told me that this was the wrong way and we all had to U turn back to the main road. So it was while doing this U turn that I made my famous “red jacket tumble”!. Those of you who have seen me fall from my bike before would know what I am talking about. My famous “red jacket tumble” is when I started out from a standstill position, then when I tried to maneuver the bike to another position, I then loose the balance due the weight of the bike falling on one leg. At this point, I had to let the bike fall, with me taking a tumble. Usually, there is no or minimal damage to the bike, e.g. a minor scratch here or there. So far, I have been very lucky to get away with just a bruised ego. And luckily (as always) I have had the help of my fellow bikers to help me pick the bike up. Thank you guys. You know who you are! Why red jacket? Cos I usually wear a red riding jacket, and somebody else that I know did the same thing on a Fazer, and also wore a red jacket!

Continuing the journey, we soon came into Tanah Rata and decided to lunch there. CM and I decided to buy a few pieces of cooked chicken from a Malay stall as take-away. It would serve as part our dinner that night. After lunch, we continued with the journey and arrived at Habu within a very short while. Turning into the road that would take us into the tea plantation, we could see the neatly arranged rows and rows of tea planted along the slopes at the sides of the road. This road was narrow and undulating with lots of bends and blind corners. There were road signs asking us to use the horn at these corners…and my horn died. Why? I dun know! So I have to make sure that I follow another bike who used the horn. The road had loose gravels so we had to be careful so as not to slip on them. Soon, we came to a bend and Joe noticed that Jalil’s white ER6 rear tyre looked a little flat. So all of us stopped and everyone tried to help. It was here that I got to demonstrate my skills in repairing a puncture. I even took out my air compressor to pump up the deflated tyre! (Actually, this was the first time I was doing it, but don’t tell anybody! Hehehe)

After the puncture repair, we continued with our with journey and Bertam Valley soon opened up to us. The view was really something and this was when it struck me, that “blue skies and everything nice” feeling. It was a take-me-home moment, back to the time when I was much younger and life was simpler. Country side was really country sight and not concrete jungle! Some call this déjà vu. Even the road was a part tarred part gravel track and it snaked along the slopes of the hills that created the valley. This winding road soon came to a place that had some orange spokes planted vertically near the edge of the slope, marking the place where we would park our bikes. The group got off and started to admire the view. Roberto pointed to a eucalyptus tree nearby and told that group that koala bears eat the leaves of the tree for food. He even plucked some of the leaves, rubbed them and passed it around for us to smell…like eucalyptus oil (ahem..I think the oil came from the tree lah).

After a while Jalil decided to pump up his tyre again, and thereafter the day trippers (Jalil, Terence, Graham, David and Joe) departed for their ride back. As they rode their way down the slope, they appeared like little dots in the distance. Roberto, CM and I grabbed our stuff and proceeded to climb some steps to the MNS chalet. For those who do not exercise regularly, climbing this flight of steps would probably require a couple of stops before one can get to the top. I stopped twice.

Arriving at the top of the steps, I noticed the MNS logo at the side of the chalet. Looking over the place, I noted that the roof had some green things growing on it. Wow, we were really this close to nature. There are 4 units of the chalet, all arranged in a long house style. Each unit would have 2 rooms and each room would have 2 beds. Entry to the rooms was from the common corridor share by all units. Upon entering the room, there was also a back door that would lead to a common kitchen and bathroom for each chalet. This meant that 2 rooms shared a kitchen and bathroom. There’s a fluorescent light in each room and a few at the corridor. There were also some chairs and tables at the corridor for us to use.

The floor and walls were made of wood, reminiscent of the buildings that I used to see in the smaller towns. The wooden railing at the corridor reminds me of my home when I was in primary school. Again, it was like a welcome home thing! And this would be our home for the next 24 hrs.

The cool weather was good, and we lazed around at the chalet, just admiring the view before us. The valley was in front of the chalet, and to the right was a flat topped hill. Roberto said that there was an airstrip up there and it was used during the colonial days. Not sure if it is still maintained or any plans landed there recently. All around were just tress and rows and rows of tea.

After about an hour, I saw a 4x4 drove up to where we were and I told Roberto that his friends had arrived. Sure enough, Roberto went down to meet them, and one by one, they came up the steps. Some were panting away. They were Eloisa, Lucy, David and “Melayu”. Very quickly, they settled in and we introduced ourselves. The rest of the afternoon was for lazing around.

After a while CM & I decided to ride down to the valley where the workers’ quarters were so we may recce the place. Saw a Tamil school, kindergarten, some children playing football, 2 sundry shops and a factory. Apart from these, it was mostly houses for the workers. It was like another world, isolated from the one that we are so familiar with. Slow paced, and very quiet. After a while, we all then went back to the chalet. Getting bored, Roberto went off to hike up the hill at the back of the chalet and I followed. It was a trek up the hill through the rows of tea. There was not proper path to trek, not as I had thought it would have with the neatly arranged rows of tea. I had to use a route which was a little drain created by the flow of water as it eroded away the soil. Sometimes the “drain” was deep, sometimes shallow. Sometimes the undergrowth obscure where the foot should go. Since I was on a slope, I was constantly aware that I had to ensure proper footing or risk rolling down the hill, like in Jack & Jill!

Halfway up, I decided to stop as there was a lot of “thorns” stocking to my shorts and shirt. These thorns were very similar to the “love grass” that we would find in the fields, only bigger; about 1 inch long. Not sure if these were from the tea. Looking up, I saw that Roberto was already perched on top of a rock that protruded out from the tea, as if saying he's the King of the Hill! After a short rest, I went, back to the chalet. Wanting to clean myself up, I went to the bathroom to try out the gas powered water heater. There were so many pipes running all over that it took some time for me to figure out how it worked. I also showed Lucy how their hot water system worked.

After having washed, I started to look into cooking dinner since the time was about right. I took out my instant noodle and found that the gas regulator for the stove was leaking. This made it dangerous to cook as the leak could lead to a fire, and I do not want to be remembered as the one to burn down the MNS chalet! So I went over to the next unit to use their kitchen. Cooked my instant noodle and heat up the chicken we bought from lunch. CM brought some bread and had the chicken with bread. One this was I forgot to bring along tea or coffee. So we had water with the food for dinner.

While we were eating, the girls were cooking dinner for Roberto and friends. Great dishes! CM and I were invited to join, but we declined ‘cos we already had cooked dinner. After dinner, I brought out a surprise, my little flask of whiskey. CM surprised me with a can of Royal Stout. So the two of us spent the evening sitting at the corridor looking into the dark, which was the valley. We chatted and I put on some music from my phone. Suddenly, I saw this “thing” next to me. Looking closer, it was a spider that was coming down via his string of web. I took my phone camera and started to take pictures, which startled the spider and he went up the same string of web that he came down. The funny thing was, when he went up there’s no web left behind! Hmm…does the spider use a reel system for his web, like a fishing rod?

Soon, my eyes got heavy and I told CM that I was going to bed…at 10.30pm. He too joined me a little later.

Early next morning, about 5 am, I heard people moving about. I got up about 6 am and peered into the valley. The sun was about to rise over the horizon and I could see the reddish sky from the sun’s light. But there was no mist over the valley nor the tea nor the trees! Bummer! I went back to sleep.

Got up again about 7ish and after having cleaned up, I started to pack. The girls next door were already preparing breakfast and again, we were invited to join in. This time, I gladly accepted. Had bread with sardine spread, some fried rice and even a warm cup of coffee. The best meal in the last 12 hrs! Once we finished breakfast, we started to discuss plan about getting home when CM said that he will be riding back to Penang. I decided to accompany down to Simpang Pulia while Roberto and his friends chose the Tapah route. With that, we said goodbye to each other and left the chalet at about 11am. CM and I rode to Brinchang and it was close to noon. So we decided to stop and have lunch. Finishing lunch and riding down to Simpang Pulai, CM and I parted ways. He rode north and I rode south, and I arrived home at about 4.30pm. Why does it take so long? Dunno. Maybe I ride slow?

Until the next ride…

-IHVR-

Biking Lifestyle

2009-05-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhh.....after almost 9 years involve in biking lifestyle finaly I have to put a temporary stop!
Last week I sold my AT to a biker friend from IPOH.
With the Eric help; I deliver the bike to IPOH. I did sale my bike to someone who love bike very much.
After sale the bike, a lot of biking friend is asking me what is my next bike? To be true, I am not sure whether I will go back in biking or not. But I will alway update the biking activity around me and I hope those biking will keep me in the mailing list so that I know what is happen seround me.
OK, to those biker out there; ride safe and enjoy your riding

Kuala Gandah & Tasik Chini_11th April

2009-04-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

Meet Up Point: Gombak RR (BHP Station)

Date: 1th April 2009
Plan route; Karak H/way, Lanchang (Kuala Gandah), Tasik Chini, Tasik Bera
Plan duration: 2D1N
I feel so lazy to wake up on that Saturday morning; this maybe due to over dos OT on Friday night. I need to support my member to prepare her presentation material. Since I have already promise my ridding buddy then I have no choice to wake up! This will be his last ride before flight off to China. After prepare myself, I left my house around 8.30a.m
After the 45minutre ride via NKVE, I meet up with Woo at BHP along Karak H/way. We meet up with a group for sport biker, they are heading to Karak for nasi lemak…….they all having a nice and new bike….you may see in the photo I attach (GS1200).
After a short rest and chat with those sport biker, we start our journey.
Due to the yesterday over dose OT, I have lost my riding confident. I don’t feel like to riding fast and don’t enjoy much when we start our journey from BHP to Lanchang. Anyhow, I still try my best to concentrate riding.

After an hour ride, we reach Lanchang exit. From here we were heading to Elephant Sanctuary Park. To our surprise, most of the visitor to this elephant sanctuary park is foreigner; almost 95% is foreigner. There only 2 Malaysian family and 2 ‘crazy biker’ in this sanctuary park. Well, I would like to express my gratitude to Jabatan Perhilitan for their well maintains of this park. To be true Malaysia has a nice elephant sanctuary park (although compare to Thailand is very much different) but we Malaysian do not really enjoy this facility, what a waste!

After spend more than an hour in the sanctuary park, we continue our journey to find Malaysia largest fresh water lake, Tasik Chini.
From Lanchang exit, we heading to Maran exit. We stop over at Temerloh R&R for some food and patrol. I have a very bad experience on the R&R price tag which I can’t believe it; it’s more expensive than hotel price liah…..just imagine a plate of economy fried noodle+beehun and an egg will cost you how much???? It is RM5.00!!!! To be true, this is the most expensive economy noodle I have in my life! Please do not visit this stall “Rasa Bintang Timur”!

OK, after refill our stomach and the patrol; we continue our journey. This time, I get back my riding mood! The riding toward Maran is fun and enjoy. When we reach Maran, we encounter a problem to find the road that can lead us to Sungai Pahang. With some natural direction sense, we gone through a small and un tar road. This is tough but very adventure road. After 30minute ride through this ‘trunk’ road, we saw the mighty Sungai Pahang…….so impressive to see the West Malaysia mighty river. We ride along this mighty river until we reach Kampung Belimbing. Kampung Belimbing is the jetty that normally Cub Med patrons visit Tasik Chini via Sungai Pahang and Sungai Chini. We are so lucky that we stop over at this village.
We meet Pakcik ‘Din’ and we start chatting. He told us a lot about Kampung Belimbing history and the previous float incident that hit Kampung Belimbing. From his information we got to know that Tasik Chini Resort was close for renovation. With this unexpected situation, we decided to go back on the same day instead of stay at Tasik Chini. We also decided to take Pakcik Din boat to tour Tasik Chini.
We start our boat journey around 1.45p.m. After cross over Sungai Pahang, we cruise along Sungai Chini before we reach Tasik Chini. Along the way Sungai Chini, we can enjoy the nature scenery…..it is a nice and relax cruising.
Tasik Chini is not as big as I have image to….a little bit disappointed but still worthy to visit. It is peaceful and calm lake, it really can make you feel relax……this is totally different kind of feeling compare to our hectic environment in KL. I have snapped a few photos …..please enjoy it.
After 2 hours cruise & tour at Tasik Chini and Sungai Chini, we come back to Kampung Belimbing jetty. So coincident, once we reach the jetty, it starts raining. The rain is so heavy, we have to wait until the rain stop. It took around 30minute for the rain to stop.
We start back our journey when the rain is not so heavy; we can’t wait longer due to we still have long journey to ride. This time we are using totally unfamiliar road (which not in our map), we are just base on our natural basic instinct. We had gone through the ‘Kampung’ road which leads us to road 2. The road is terrible; there is so many pothole and land slide. It took us around 30 minute to finish up 20km road. Once we reach to road 2, we are heading to Temerloh.
The ride from Maran to Temerloh is so challenge because the road is wet after the rain. After 45minute, we reach Temerloh town. We are looking for some hot ‘stuff’ to warm up our stomach. It is difficult to find a Chinese food stall in Temerloh town. We have to round 2 or 3 round to find a Chinese food, finally we found it. We have fried rice, ‘mun san mee’ and ‘nya po lo si fun’. The ‘nya po lo si fun’ look good but it is tasteless……not recommended.
The day is getting dark; it’s around 7.30p.m. We have our bike to fill up at Patronas before we continue our journey to home sweet home. The road from Temerloh to Karak, is totally dark, winding and wet. This is the 1st time we are riding in night time at a stranger road. There is so thriller and adventure…….feel so good that we are able to finish ride.
We suppose to have our last stop at Gombak rest area before us heading to our own home sweet home. Just after the Genting tunnel there is a heavy downpou; the visual ability is poor, we are really exposes ourselves to high degree of dangerous. But thank god, we able to finish the ride in one piece.

Conclusion, I would like to say that this ride is full with adventure, dangerous and fun! For me, I am really looking forward to have this type of ride (maybe with a night stay over at Chini).
Final ride route: Lanchang (Kuala Gandah) & Tasik Chini. We miss Tasik Bera
Duration: Day ride

The Songkran ride (pt 3)

2009-04-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

13th Apr – Songkran day. Got up and expected to see the people on the streets this morning. But it was very quite. No water splashing or hosing like the night before to be found. Had breakfast and proceeded to check out form the hotel. Asked the staff in English if they are celebrating the New Year and they said yes, but someone had to work! So I teased them saying that they would probably be paid more working on New Year. We then proceeded to load the bikes, getting ready for the ride back and the girls from reception came over to look at our bikes. This was when our Kwa started to sprinkle water on the girls who ran away. A little later, they came back to complement Kwa’s gesture. So, it was with this New Year blessing that we 4 bikes started the journey back.

All along the way, we saw people standing by the roadside with water guns, hoses or dippers as they tried to soak the passersby. Quite often, we would see a truckload of people at the back , complete with huge containers of water. These are the mobile “blessing” units. Like army vehicles, they would travel slowly along the road and would splash water on passerby or have a water war with another similar passing vehicle. Of course, this was all in good fun, in the spirit of the festival.

As we traveled the roads thru the towns or areas with a smaller population, there would be instances where the merry making took those celebrating onto the road, i.e. they would wander or stand at the middle of the road and try to flag down those passing by. Some would just pour water on you while some would apply saffron or chalk powder/paste on you. Sometime you get scented water and sometimes color water. All these, though merry making, have to be approached with care as they do pose a hazard to traffic, and we do not know how far they’ll go in this celebration. On my part, I have been “watered” numerous times, even though my bike was moving. I found that my left side would tend to be wetter than my right side of the body. This was because the people who splashed me usually are those who stood on the roadside to my left. While riding under the hot sun, the splashing water was a welcomed blessing as it cools me down, albeit one sided. After a while, I would seek out the trucks and follow behind them slowly and I would signal those at the back of the truck to splash me! They were usually very surprised that I wanted to get wet and would happily splash me with the water. With a nod of thanks, I would then speed of until the next truck. There was once I actually pulled over to the side of the road and signal for the children to pour their water on me. Of course, they all ran over but only to my left side and I would signal for some of them to get to me right side to “wet” me.

Towards noon, we came into Klong Tom, a small town and we looked around for a place to lunch. Did I say this was Songkran?

Well, almost all the shops were closed. No much choice. We stopped at probably the only 2 shops that were opened and had lunch there. The next time we talk about Songkran, must remember to consider where/what to eat!

While having lunch, some of the locals with their kids came around for lunch too. And Kwa started a water fight with the kids. They were having such a goo dtime that I think Kwa must be re-living his childhood years!

After lunch, we continued on the road and then got separated. LoneRider and SkyRider disappeared. So it was I and Kwa riding along as we approach Trang. Somehow we got on a new highway that bypassed Trang while the other 2 Riders went into Trang. Realizing this, I SMSed LoneRider to wait in the town for us while Kwa and I U-turned back to Trang. Where about to meet in Trang, I am not sure. But at least, we would have narrowed down the area. And as the someone watching over us would have it, the 4 bikes merged into the same junction from different roads at the same time as we entered Trang! Talk about timing. Happy that we were now together again, we continued along the main road and decided to stop by a 7-Eleven for a break. Sitting by the roadside, I could see the people of Trang happily celebrating with water. As we prepared to continue the journey, Kwa started the water sprinkling of the 7-Eleven staff. Hmmn…is there a pattern here? Kwa and his water?

The scene along the road was almost the same and we arrived into Hat Yai. If you can recall, from Pt 1, I mentioned that we do not have any hotel reservation here. Time was about 4 pm and we started to look around for rooms. Came to one of the hotels that bikers frequent, and found that the owner had taken the initiative to book some rooms at a nearby “mansion” for cold cases like our. Very quickly, we grabbed 2 rooms. This was the Wanthana Mansion. Very basic and quite run down as some of the fixtures were dropping off. But we needed a place to stay, so who’s gonna complain? We parked our bikes at the bikers’ hotel and walked to the mansion.

While trying to settle in, I had to walked between the 2 places to get my things and to charge my phone (using bike’s battery). While all these were going on, Kwa went down to the road side and bought some mango pulut rice as his roommate was hungry. Once we got ourselves settled, we proceeded to walk out on the streets towards Lee Gdns.As we approach the Lee Gdns Hotel area, we could see that the main road had been turned into a party area. People were just dancing on the road while the music was pumped out from big speakers on the road side. There were “bubble” machines who made “soap bubbles” and the whole road around the place were covered by the bubbles Mostly young and some more senior people could be standing on a platform dancing away, as if in a trance. While mostly were dancing and having a good time, those at the peripheral of the crowd were playing with water. Vendors and hawkers somehow were still able to continue with their business.

We went into a bazaar type area and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. While having dinner, I got the waiter to make a hole in a mineral water’s cap. I then filled it up with ice water from the bucker of ice that most restaurant would supply to the table. This time, I would not only get wet, but would join in too!

After dinner, we proceeded to walk back and as expected, people were spraying water all over. Then, there was this driver of a truck who sprayed me with his water gun. Then he continued to drive slowly, concentrating on his driving. I sneaked up and emptied the bottle of cold water thru the driver’s window on him. Ha! Got him. But I too was “shot” in return. We then looked and just laughed at each other, smiled like little boys! Now, I can say I participated in Songkran! We then went back to the hotel.

As the evening tuned into night time, the water splashing ceased. The Songkran celebration had now ended. People would now return to their normal lives and shops, etc. would return to what they had been normally doing, if not for Songkran. We walked back to the Lee Gdns area and everything had gone back to their usual activities. After walking around for a while, we went back to the place near our “mansion” and I and SkyRider had our feet massaged. Kwa wanted a body rub so he went upstairs. LoneRider preferred his own thing and was not with us. After that, we bought more mangoes for "supper" (see how quickly they can cut a mango).

The we retired and prepare for the next day.

14th Apr – checked out of the mansion, had breakfast nearby and proceeded towards the border. Got thru the border quite fast and soon we were on the Malaysian side riding back.
Skyrider parted from us at the Butterworth ares as he wanted to go back to Penang. Then it was 3 of us riding to Klang. Apart from the regular stops for fuel and food, no much to mention here. But at the last stop, we noticed that the sky was getting darker, and we were about 1 hr from home. Should we prepare for the wet weather? Hey, we just came back from Songkran. We went there to for the water festival. So, we decided to just ride. Somehwhere around the Sg Besi area, it started to pour, I mean really pour, Cars slowed down with the blinkers on. Visibility was low but we had gone thru Songkran. No problemo. We continued riding in the rain and reached Shah Alam before the weather let up. By then we were all dripping wet, a reminder that this was what we wanted in the first place. To celebrate Songkran and to get wet.

Then it was home sweet home.

IHVR

The 4-6-3-4-6-4 Ride (Pt 2)

2009-04-17T00:51:00.000-07:00

…cont from Pt 1

So…at last we have arrived at Patong. But we were not "home base" yet. We were on the street with our bikes and were without a clue where the hotel was at! After having rode around for a couple of minutes, we found that the authorities have changed the flow of traffic for some of the roads, probably to better control the higher volume of traffic from the visiting bikers, and to route them to the correct destinations. Feeling lost, Kwa came to the rescue again. He spoke to a tuk-tuk man, had him get on a kapchai and led us to the hotel! Simple and effective solution. Some say men don’t ask for directions. This one asked to be led there!!!

RayaBuri is a very nice small intimate hotel. Nothing done overboard, but enough of elegance to make it feel posh. After some wrangling, we even had a dedicated parking space for the 4 bikes, complete with security guard. Now, this is customer service! And Kwa, who shared the room with LoneRider was able to see our bikes from his balcony. This was the added bonus to the security situation.

The hotel reception informed us that the bike exhibition was at Jungceylon while the party’s at the beach. So the 4 of us quickly settled our luggage into the respective rooms, got ourselves cleaned up and we were ready to take on the Bike Week.

First stop was Jungceylon, which was a mall. There's a little booth outside the entrance of Jungceylon that sells the bike week T-shirts and the entrance pass (Bht150) for the party at the beach. The cost of the pass was inclusive of dinner and it’s happening that very night as we stood there. Looking at the time (about 6pm local time) we decided to forego the pass and headed into Jungceylon to view the bikes. There was another booth promoting the bike week stuff next to the bikes on exhibition. This time, we decided to muse around since it was in an air-con environment. I bought 2 bike week T-shirts but could not find the bike week sticker for 2009. Going around the bike exhibition was a breeze. It’s over in minutes, since the exhibition consists of less than 10 bikes. Very much like sex….lots of expectation and over in minutes!!!

Since we could not find the sticker, we went to the booth outside at the entrance, but still no luck. All sold out!

Well, what else was there to do? Let’s fill our stomach, and LoneRider again showed us his favourite place call Dang; reasonably priced in spite of the many Mat Salleh tourists around. While taking dinner, we noticed that people were already starting the water soaking activities, though not so prevalent. The peddlers were really promoting the water pistols/guns of various sizes. I asked and they were not cheap ~ 250bht. Decided not to buy.

After dinner, we decided to walk around and LoneRider showed us his Soi Eric. Great! We’re going to get free drinks. But that was fat hope. Showing off Soi Eric was all that we were going to get! Bummer! Then LoneRider showed the famous Bangla Street. This one he cannot claim! Bangla Street was one place where the happenings were at. Lots of eye candies, pubs bars, etc. As long as you are willing, this place can empty your wallet in no time! Of course, being a prudent person (not kedukut OK!), I decided to stay away from these places. Also no money la.

Soon we were heading out to the beach (Loma Park) and found that we did not need a pass to get in. There were the usual rows and rows of stalls selling biking merchandise and a rock concert going. It was really loud and full of profanities in the lyrics. What else to expect from an event like this.

After a while, I came across a stall that sells the same thing as the bike week stall at Junceylon, but this one still has the bike week stickers. I made the purchase. Moving around, it striked me that most of these stalls were selling the stuff targeted at the cruiser/easy rider market. Those riding DP bikes have very little to see there. Sad.

Then, another thought came to mind…this place was full of people and very few bikes. It’s different from other bike week events where the bikes and riders congregate into a single location. For this event, it seemed that Patong was the congregation point and the bikes are spread all over i.e. decentralised in Patong! This feeling was so much different from say the HatYai bike week, where everything was happening at one place, the bikes, people, the stalls, concert, etc. The atmosphere was totally different. But I guess it was due to the tourists who came to Patong for the Songkran and that had made the atmosphere different, since their focuses were different. After having gone around Loma Park for a while, we decide to head back to the hotel for the much needed rest. This was the end of 11th Apr. 09.

12th Apr – the 4 of us got up, had breakfast and naturally headed out to Loma Park, where we were the night before. It looked very much different in the day. No crowds or loud music. Just the early risers and riders like us and a couple of stalls that had opened early, i.e. the T-shirt stall. We decided to take some pictures and LoneRider got a call from Chan, saying that he was going to join us. So we hung around at Loma Park for a while and then Chang came by. As all of us were all geared up to ride while waiting for Chang, it was an anti-climax when he said that he wanted to look around at the park. So we waited. But it seems that our friend was really taking his time to look over the stalls, T-shirts, etc. So we decided to move out on our own after having informed LoneRider and Chan. We are now 3 bikes.

Looking at the map, we decided to take the “coastal” road north from Loma Park. This road took us thru some very nice sceneries, small towns, the FantaSea and even some very unique road signs that you don’t get to see at home, e.g. the Tsunami sign (click on picture to enlarge).

Eventually we stopped at Thalang town. Here, we decided to have lunch as it was close to midday. Found a small shop with lots of locals by the main road and decided to do lunch here. A family operated stall, the owners were very friendly. Asked where we were from and in a mixture of sign language, a smattering of Thai words, we somehow managed to communicate with them. There’s one particular dish that I can remember so very well. They had these steamed bowls of soup and one of them was Bak Kut Teh! Our Mr. Kwa can be seen here in the picture trying to promote our famous BKT to them.

After lunch, we decided to ride towards Phuket town, but on the way, the dark clouds gathered and it prompted us to head straight back to Patong. Back in the hotel, we freshened up and decided to walk about in Patong. Somehow, we ended up at Jungceylon again and after spending some time there and contributing to the economy, we started to walk back to the hotel when we saw LoneRider at Dang having a meal. All of us sat down for a drink while LoneRider finished his meal. Looking around, I noted that the water splashing and fights have escalated! Of course, we are now coming to the eve of the Songkran, when it would officially begin!

After Dang, we continued to walk, trying not to get wet and saw that Bangla Street now was a war zone. Water shot off from hoses, water guns and whatever container that may be used, and it was all along the street. Of course, this was all in good fun and the place had been cordoned off so that it was only accessible to pedestrians. It’s a riot there. We continued to walk but did not manage to stay dry. Almost every Mat Salleh had a water gun, even the more senior ladies. They were all really dressed down and ready for the soaking. After all , this was Songkran. Found our way back to the hotel and we were all wet. Walked to the back of the hotel and there was a shop who welcomed us, wet and all for dinner. After dinner, we retired as the next day, we would be riding back from Phuket to Hat Yai and we wanted to start early so that we may have more time at Hat Yai looking for a place to stay.

…. to be continured - IHVR

The 4-6-3-4-6-4 ride (Pt 1)

2009-04-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So what does this picture say to you? A group of not-so-young bikers with their iron steeds at the Welcome to Phuket sign…

For me, it was a sense of achievement, the satisfaction knowing that have I done it too. For others, it could be a similar feeling, or it could be a sigh of relief after having travelled over a thousand kilometres which lasted 2 days to get here! Mind you, we are no longer the sprightly young studs we were years ago. Nowadays, my back aches, my joints are stiff and sitting on the bike for extended hours does not help.

All this started about 2 months ago when I decided to ride to Phuket for the 15th Annual Bike Week and to experience the Songkran celebration, after having read about the water festival in the local newspaper some time ago. Songkran was being celebrated just after the Phuket Bike week.

Researching into the meaning of Songkran, I found that it is also the new year celebration and the throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. For the young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles.

The use of chalk is also very common having originated in the chalk used by monks to mark blessings.

Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from traditionalists. The water is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad away and is sometimes filled with fragrant herbs.

After reading this, I was eager to experience this celebration, so I started conversations, exchanges of emails and sms with my fellow bikers and soliciting their support to join the ride. There were a lot of uncertainties like who can make it, how much time was needed, where to stay, etc. By the time we got thru the discussions and firmed up the details on who was going and when, most of the hotels were getting filled fast because there were 2 events that brought tourists and bikers to Phuket, i.e. the Bike Week and Songkran.

But as always, we have a group of wonderful fellow bikers who were more than willing to share their expertise and experience. Kwa was the person who volunteered without being asked, by calling travel agents, searching the internet and liaising directly with the hotels in Thailand and got us beautiful rooms at the Raya Buri hotel in Patong, just 5 mins walk to the beach. And we even had free WiFi to go with the price too.

So here we have 4 riders, made up of Kwa (Versys), Lonerider (X9), Skyrider (EN500, CM) and myself (Versys)…all pumped up with expectations and ready for the 10th – 14th Apr ride. But knowing that getting from KL to Phuket is a 16 hrs iron-butt ride, we looked towards Lonerider for his views as he has travelled into Thailand more times that any of us 3 other riders. It was decided that the group should break the journey into 2 days with 8hrs ride per day. What this meant was that we needed to get accommodation just across the border, probably at Sadao on the first night and to book similar accommodation on the way back from Phuket, preferably at Hat Yai since it is a bigger town compared to Sadao. Unfortunately, we were not able to book any room at Hat Yai for the return journey as the hotels were all fully booked for Songkran. Still, we decided to try our luck when the time comes. Or we can stay at any small town close to the border, or even cross the border into Malaysia for a worst case scenario. The forward journey was not much of a concern for we were sure we would be able to get hotel rooms at Sadao.

Then 10th Apr arrived. We gathered at the Klang JJ Esso station at 7am and started the journey, Lonerider, Kwa and me. We stopped at the Sg Besi R&R to meet up with Skyrider and had breakfast there. Soon, we were on the way. After a brief stop to fill up, we arrived at Butterworth at about noon. Lonerider had some errants to run so we decided to visit Mega Fortune, just to nosey around. Then Lonerider came back and we had lunch nearby.

After lunch, it was a straight ride to Changloon to get the Thai insurance for our bikes and for some currency exchanges. We filled up just before the border because petrol is more expensive in Thailand…trying to squeeze every sen’s worth of petrol while we can. While we were filling up, it started to rain and arriving at the at the border, we had to queue up in the rain at the bike lane as the Malaysia immigration processes our passport. We were all drenched to the bones.Once we were clear from the Malaysian side, we had to spend about 2hrs at the Thai side because their Customs system had a printer problem and there were lots of bikers, quite a lot of them from Singapore. By the time we got thru the Thai Immigration and Customs, we were literally in Danok, Sadao. A short time later, we found a new hotel with rooms available, and WiFi too. Checked in, change out of our wet clothes and soon it’s time for dinner. By then the rain had stopped and we walked into town. Lonerider showed us a reasonable joint for dinner and I noticed that the it was opposite the “Govenor Office”. Wondered to myself if the Govenor ever dines here. After dinner, we went backt to the hotel as it was starting to rain again. Good thing the hotel has a massage parlour. Can you guess how we spent the evening? Ahem…This is a no-brainer. I had a 2hr massage. The girl scrubbed lots of dirt off my back too.

11th Apr – the sun was up and bright. Had breakfast and we started towards the Hat Yai – Pattalung junction. Waited at the petrol station ‘cos Lonerider had some friends who can show us the way. Spent about 30 mins waiting and 2 bikes arrived.

Now the 4 became 6 riders! Comprende? The 2 riders were Chan (Caponord) and Yong (Fireblade) who took the lead and Lonerider volunteering to ride sweeper. The six of us headed towards Trang and arrived there just before noon. On the way the Chan-Yong team was really squeezing the throttle and I was trying hard to keep up with them. We stopped at a park which was at the entry point into the Trang town for a short breather. But then we found that Chan’s Caponord could not start. A few of us helped him to push the bike up & down to trying to push start but the engine just refused to kick. Finally, suspecting that it’s the battery, Yong who could converse in Thai, used Lonerider’s X9 and went into town looking for a replacement. A while later, he came back with a mechanic who had to verify that the battery will fit the bike, but he needed to go back to charge it before it can be used! So we waited and waited for the battery to be charged., and someone decided to snooze, but hunger soon overtook us…so we walked across the road to a small shop for lunch. After lunch, we continue to wait for the mechanic to return with the charged battery. Finally it arrived and was fitted to the bike. Overall, we had waited for more than 2 hrs. The convoy was ready to roll, but Chan needed to fill up. The Chan-Yong team lead us thru the Trang town looking for RON95 petrol. The place looked like maze to me and the leading team took us thru some red lights and stopped when the light was green. Scary but we had to follow the lead or else be lost? And I was thinking to myself that it was acts like this that gave bikers a bad name and I was doing it! Eventually, we found what we were looking for. Filled up and we were now really ready to roll, 3 hrs after we had come into town.

Moving out from Trang - Yong and Chan again were the faster ones and they went on ahead leading. Lonerider decided to ride up front as well this time around. Then it rained. Kwa, Skyrider and I decided to stop and put on our rain gear. Soon, we 3 were travelling on our own, frequently to find Yong waiting at the road side up ahead, to ensure that we were on the right track. Once we passed him, he will pass us a little later and repeat the whole process numerous times just to make sure that we 3 were OK. Apart from that, we could not see the other riders. By now, we were really keeping our eyes on the passing road signs, reading whatever little English words that were available; just to make sure that we are heading in the right direction. It should be Trang- Krabi-Phang Nga-Phuket. At about 4pm, we rode thru Krabi town and decided to top up on fuel because we were not sure how far we will need to travel or should we loose our way, etc. But I guess it was a “straight” road from Trang to Phuket, except for the turn that we needed to take, which we got it right the first time. It was at this junction that Lonerider was waiting for us and we were 4 riders again. Very soon, we started to see the word Phuket on the road signs. So, Phuket here we come!

Crossing the bridge from the mailnad to Phuket Island, we came across the "welcome sign" (above) and decided to stop here for some pix. Then we rode a little more and got a surprise. The Bike Week organisers had set up a "break point" for riders to rest and we met up with the Chan-Yong team again. Not sure where they detoured to cos' we arrived at this point before them. We are now 6 again.

At the break point, we were given cold mineral water, bread with margarine (?) and sugar. Simple fare but I loved it, esp. after a long ride. It's the simple things in life that matters most, and this was one of them!

Continuing the journey, we had to ride thru Phuket town before we can get to our hotel at Patong... and my thanks to Kwa who had done an excellent job of booking the hotel for us.

… to be continued - IHVR

Riding buddy…….do we need a riding buddy?

2009-03-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

Riding buddy…….do we need a riding buddy?
I been riding for pass 9 years……it has never cross in my mind about the riding buddy.
Last time, for me the important of riding is your must enjoy every moment of the riding especially when you are on bike…..but do not know start from when I realize this is not really true…..beside enjoy riding your bike you still need a biking buddy (or buddies) to ride along with you.
The reason I said that is we are not on bike for all the time; we need to stop for many purpose such as refill or rest…..during this time la we need someone that can enjoy the same thing that you like….this totally make the thing different.
No doubt, riding compose more than 70% of the enjoyment of biking activity. If we can find a good riding buddy (or buddies) then I believe we can complete the 30%. I encounter and realize this when one of my friend start venture into the biking activity.
I do not said I do not enjoy the previous biking but I would rather said that previous purpose is different…..previously I am really looking forward on the convoy biking or some biking gathering especially in Thailand, the organizer and the event is super …those biker know what I mean.
Now my biking paradigm is shift to more relax biking such as discovery some nice trunk road or some nice scenery in Malaysia. I will stop as when I want……no hurry and no target…..important is enjoy the good riding, good scenery and good joke from riding buddy (or buddies). By doing this it really help me to reduce my working stress and pressure…..so nice and relax.
People always said; good thing would not last long……my friend that I mention just venture in biking is going to leave Malaysia for further his career….with this he has to put a stop on his biking….what a miss for this biking buddy.....well…we need to continue our life is it? So nothing to be too sad….just wish him all the best in his future undertaking…….
For me….well….I will still continue my riding as long as I can and try to share my riding activity in this blog
Let us continue biking and ride safely!

22nd March Ride...confuse (Part 2)

2009-03-23T04:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great ride….riding along with ‘old’ rider which I have long time no ‘chance’ to ride along with them.
At the same time, yesterday also happen to a ‘big’ communication breakdown day for me. As discuss I suppose to wait for the KSR group at Clatex near Subang Exit (Elite H/way) at 8.30a.m. I have arrived Caltex around 8.25a.m but actually the KSR already much earlier arrive and depart. There is no message about it. I have to wait there for 30min for nothing then only notice they all already had arrive S’ban R&R. After notice the mis communication, I have to ride alone to S’ban R&R.
Meet up KSR group and ‘old’ friend around 9.25a.m; then notice another miss communication happen when I notice Woo is not around. Have no choice I have to leave a message to him since the KSR group already start move to S’ban. We go to S’ban 2 for a b/fast.
After reach S’ban, I receive a call from Woo and he just arrive S’ban RR. I have given him the guide to S’ban 2. Finally we re-group at 10.15a.m.
After discuss with Eric; we decide to de tour to Tg. Sepat for the seafood lunch rather than to Malacca for ball2 chicken rice. We are using: S’ban 2 to Sendayan to LBJ to Sepang to Sg Pelet to Bagan Lalang to Tg Sepat.
We have a good food and good laugh at Tg Sepat before move to Banting for butter coffee.
Reach home at 4p.m.
Overall, it is a good ride!

22nd March Ride...confuse

2009-03-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hi, seem like long time do not take out my iron horse for a ride. I am about to think where to ride this weekend; but suddenly flow in a few riding event. some of the biker is looking for a long journey ride to Phatallung for a Phatallung Bike Week. What a ride man! I hope those biker will enjoy it.
As for me……..original plan is ride to PD for a curry chicken bun breakfast then back to Tg Sepat for seafood lunch. But out of no way, there is another proposal....riding to Malacca for a famous ball2 chicken ride. Ehhhh…..how to decide???? Very confuse na…….
Anyhow, due to recent work stress...I really need to have a ride this weekend, just not sure where to ride to. OK, let see what is the new progress this few days before decide where to go to.....important is a enjoyable and relax ride...

Slow & Easy

2009-03-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

On the morning of the 28th Feb 09, I met up with Poh at the NKVE Shell at 8.30am. We headed towards the old Gombak road 68 via the Duta toll and Jln Kuching. But before we started our journey, we had to meet up with Woo at the Shell stn near to the Gombak toll. After meeting up, we started on our journey.

3 bikes, with no agenda but to enjoy the ride, real slow and easy. Nice.

Road 68 is a really very quite route with a lorry or car every now & then. Apart from that, we had the road to ourselves, almost. On the way, we saw quite a number of cyclists coming from the opposite direction. They must be the early birds who "took to the hills" much earlier than us. The route is very scenic with lots of green to look at. The morning sun shining on the trees is a real treat for tired eyes. It really shows the glory of nature in it's full splendour. There were even monkeys (real ones) on the road, just to underscore how quite the place is. The pix on the right gives the perpective on how vast the "jungle" is compared to a bike (red circle on lower right of picture).

This was the road that I used to take some 30+ yrs ago when I was working in
Kuantan. Then, the buses, lorries, taxis, etc. would take this road between KL and Kuantan. It was narrow then, and still is now. Once in a while, you will see vehicles "squeezing" past each other. Imagine a lorry balak and bus in the situation in the pix. It was real scary then when I had to travel by bus. For a bike, no problem lah.

Following the road, it took us to the Orang Asli Musuem but we did not stop there. Rather we went a little further up to the Bkt Tinggi area where there's a coniferous forest reserve. Stopped for a while just to admire the place. Thereafter, we headed towards Janda Baik and stopped by a river. Again, it was a joyful experience to be close to nature, nearly unspoilt. Further down the same river, we met some bikers enjoying themselves in the water. Looks like this is a favourite place for city folks to get away.

After the brief stop at Janda Baik, we headed towards Bentong and had ABC and pulut nasi lemak in the town. This is our friend's favourite food, so he tells me. Then, the Ktn-KL bus would stop here for a short makan break before continuing it's journey. If I can recall correctly, it would take about 7 hours for the jouney, which explaines the makan break. Everyone and everything changes with time and the town has changed from when I last saw it about 30 yrs ago and I could hardly recognise it.

Leaving Bentong and a short ride toward Raub, we left the main road and headed towards Chamang Waterfall. You won't get lost here as the road ends at the waterfall! Being a Saturday, there were quite a number of people there but the place was big enough to take in all of us without having to feel "cramp in". We spent some time at the waterfall just lazing around and admiring the view.

The amount of water that gushes down the slopes is so much that just a minute's worth of that flow will probably meet my whole month's worth of water usage, or more. The white water looks real dangerous and I wouldn't want to be in it. There's even notices put up by the authorities warning people to stay away from these areas.

Lower down the fall is the pool area, and this is where one should be swimming.

Noticed that there were some butterflies at the edge of the pool where the people were swimming. Wish I could have joined them. The water looked so cool and refreshing that I just wished that we have came better prepared. Sigh!The next time we go on a trip like this, I am going to bring everything, except the kitchen sink!!! We ended the day taking the Karak Highway back to KL and I reached home at about 4.30pm. Overvall it was a great way to spend a Saturday. I loved it. Do it again? Definitely!

Over and out. - IHVR

Kota Sepai_22nd Feb

2009-03-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

A view from a newly build restaurant

Ijay has invited myself and Woo to join him for the ‘Sembayang Dato” at Bk Rambai.
We start our journey from Nilai at 10.30a.m. We are using Seremban to Senawang then to Tampin before heading to Bukit Rambai via Alor Gajah.

On the way to Bukit Rambai, we did passby Pedas Hot Spring Water Park and Gunung Dato exist. Along the journey, we did enjoy a good kampong scenery. It is good for us to try out this new route to Bk Rambai.

We arrived Bk Rambai around 12.30p.m noon. Once we arrive the “Sembayang Dato” festival already started. The festival is great; you can see all the Bk Rambai people enjoy the free food especially the lamb and ayam kurma. With the good food, Woo, Ijay and myself also enjoy our good lunch.

After the lunch, we have our good cendol at Bk Rambai. It is highly recommended!
At 3.30p.m; we decided to use the coaster road back to Nilai. We use Tg Bidara route to Pengkalan Balak then to Kampung Nelayan before heading to Port Dickson. I would like to said, we have make a good decision to use the route because we have encounter a treasure that is Kampung Nelayan. We went to Dutch Fort (Kota Sepai). The view is fantastic. You may refer to the photo I posted.

My personal opinion is we should take a bike to ride along this coaster road. It is fantastic especially if we are riding during the sunset…..what a super view!

Pantai Dickson Ride 21st Feb

2009-03-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

Kampung Nelayan at Pantai Dickson

2 bike at the newly build jetty

Beatiful Pantai Dickson

Near Pantai Dickson
Near Pantai Dickson
At Blue Lagoon

It has been long time I am not riding and feel stress with current work situation. So what I have to do this weekend???

OK, get Woo along to make a short day ride to now where (original plan). I try to get James along (which I am informing him in very short minute) but he can’t make it.
Woo and I meet up at Palm Garden IOI Resort at Putrajaya around 9.25a.m. We start our ride to Nilai to meet up the birthday boy (Ijay) for a breakfast. What a good propose from Ijay, we have the chicken rice for the breakfast! What a heavy breakfast!

After the breakfast, we start our journey and our route as below:
Nilai -->Labu --> Sendayan --> Lukut --> Teluk Kemang (Pantai Dickson) --> Bagan Lalang --> Tg Sepat --> Home Sweet Home

Our original plan is to stop over at Blue Lagoon for some drink, unfortunately we miss the junction that is why we go straight until we saw the Pantai Dickson.

Wahhhh….I will said Pantai Dickson is a beautiful and nice beach. It is nice to relax because it is so quite. You can swim because the beach is nice, but the back draw is there is not fresh water supply for you to clean up after you swim at the sea.

After a good rest at Port Dickson, we went to Tg Sepat for our late lunch. On the way to Tg Sepat, we stop over to Bagan Lalang to see what is the new development there.

Finally I reach home at around 6p.m. Pity Woo, he only reach home around 9p.m due to the heavy rain at Putrajaya.

Batang Malacca Ride_CNY

2009-03-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

Woo arrive with his TDM
Photo taken infornt Istana Lama Sri Menanti

Bike infront Istana Sri Menanti

Biker and bike with Istana Lama

Bike breakdown at Masjid Tanah

The year 2009 adventure ride was start off on 6th day of Chinese New Year to Malacca. After meet appointment with Woo and our Malacca friend (Tuang and Ijay), we have agree to ride on 6th Chinese New Year.

Woo and myself meet up at Semenyih Patronas at 9.00a.m. That day weather was cloudy!!!
The riding route as below:

Semenyih --> Seremban --> Sri Menanti à Kuala Pilah--> Senaling --> Dangi -->Gemenche --> Batang Malacca --> Maccap --> Durian Tunggal --> Bukit Rambai --> Masjid Tanah --> Port Dickson --> Sepang --> Shah Alam

This route was fantastic especially the Senaling to Bantang Malacca. We by pass Felda plantation estate…the road is good and the view is super! If you have chance, you have to try it.

On the way back, my bike faces some trouble at Masjid Tanah; my battery terminal contact point having some problem. Lucky with the help of the car accessory shop owner, he has solve my problem. Thank you!!!

Ride for Freedom!

2009-03-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

The adventure biker idea blog was pop up from a few friend discussion especially Eric. He did mention that we should have some source of forum to talk about our adventure biking activity since most of us have the dual purpose bike.

I try to put in my little effort to start off this blog and I hope those have the same interest will share the same feeling in this blog.

We enjoy riding and we hope to document our riding in some source of riding. It not necessary to be a formal write up but just what is happen I think is enough for us to share it. I am welcome for any input for better blog.

Ride for freedom!

Adventure Bikers

2009-03-02T02:28:00.000-08:00

Hi all the bikers or claim themselves as bikers:

The purpose of this blog be created is just to find a platform for me or my friend to share our ride review or feeling. There is no hidden agenda behind this blog; it is only purely to share the riding feeling. If you think you have the have thinking with us, you are most welcome to join in for any discussion in this blog. Please do not make any personal attack OK.

We hope to have a natural platform to share riding feeling, that all!

Ride safely!