Ciao amici!

Hello! my friends

Just call me HAPPY:) . Endlessloop is a very good friend of mine. Though we knew each other barely for a year, we clicked very well… guess... one of the reasons is we are both quite “xiao”.

FYI, in case you think I am another of your biking flock. Sorry hor! I am a chio speed “demon-lass” who get the kick out of speeding down major expressways in my red chii beamer!

Never thought of sharing my dark kept secrets of how I haunt road-users esp. the motor bikers till one fine day, my good “bruther”, Endlessloop, as usual, came to my office (I think my good friend needs his regular dosage of eye candy), “ponk” himself comfortably on the chair in front of my desk and in his very MCP mannerism told me (I really mean “tell me” not “ask me”) that I should be his guest blogger.

If he had stared into my eyes intensely with his cute doggie eyes, I would have said YES straightaway…. Moreover, No $$. No Honey.

Anyway, to cut the long story short, I am here after being bribed with 3 gifts.

If you are a regular visitor to Endlessloop blog, you should know that he created the “Hazard-Oriented Vision Theory” and is a goody-goody law abiding biker, a role model commonly cited by the TP ( Traffic Police or Ti-ko Pek??!!)….. Whereas I am totally the opposite from him. Outwardly, people tell me I am demure, feminine, gentle, cultured and did I mention chio? But in actual fact, I am a hell rider on the road who get a kick out of “qionging” red lights!!

Let me share with you my self-developed H2K2H2 driving theory tips on how to “Qiong” red lights. For those who

has “P” plate on yr car
Ride less than 1000cc bikes or less than 1000cc cars
Never drive on extreme right lane before
Never clock more than 60km/h
Never overtake other cars before
Will “ka-rang ka-bo” when see amber lights
Stop for birds to cross the road
Cannot tell the difference between a traffic police bike or a CISCO bike

These tips are not for u cos’ either you have roads~phobia or are above 50 years of age or drive not more than 20 times per year or belong to the majority blur~like~sotong women drivers.

I heard you asking me what H2K2H2 stands for?

Make a guess? Guess correctly you get a ride on my chio beamer with a chio bu beside you.

Show you my nicely manicured finger to entice you :)

Cannot guess huh?

Give hint? Clue?


Hmmmmm…..


Sorry! Happy :) will only tell u next time.


Ai ya! So late liao! I share the tips with you next time la.


So come back and read Endlessloop blog and look out for my next entry.


I WILL BE BACK!!!


Happy :)

P.S for those ah mohs or non-Singaporeans out there, let me explain what those red italics mean
Xiao~ Patient who just escape from mental hospital
Hor~ yawn
Chio~ things that cause you to drool
Chio bu~ another Ms. Universe but minus the upsize cup.
Chii ~ Chilli buddy red
Bruther ~Bi-sexual; brother with sister nature
Ponk ~ action + sound made by a droopy butt sitting heavily on the chair
Qiong or Qionging~ dash ahead like a headless chicken

Ti-ko Pek~ man fonds of exposing his genitals anywhere, anytime, anyhow
Ka lang ka bo ~ in fits
Blur like sotong ~ a land creature with multiple tentacles that cannot get accustomed to life above sea cos it was migrated from the ocean.
Ah-mohs ~ Caucasians or those Chinese who can’t speak Mandarin

Phuket On A Bike

12-13 Feb 2007

Many Singaporeans have gone to Phuket, Thailand. Phuket is famouse for its beaches, water for diving and its resorts. But few of you have travelled around Phuket on a motorbike.

I have. I shared with you my 2 days in Phuket.


Getting There By TigerAir

I choose to fly to Phuket using Tiger Airways because it is one of the cheapest, S$25 niah! Excludes airport tax; at this kind of price, you can also forget about being served any food and beverage on the flight.

But I warn you first, if you want to fly Tiger Airways, you must CHIONG for the seats one.
Because free seating. First come first serve.
So once the boarding gate is opened, all the men, women, uncle, auntie, ah gong, ah mah, ang moh, xiao jie all lose their composure and all chiong for the seats.

Tiger Airways, the survival of the fittest and fastest.

Aiyah, mai hiam (don't complain) lah. S$25 is really very cheap you know. The whole airplane got only 100 people or so. I don't know how our $2,500 total plane fare is enough to pay for the jet fuel, let alone got 2 pilots and the few stewardess and the mechanics servicing the plane.

At Phuket Airport

2 hours later, I reached Phuket airport liao.
After clearing the custom, I stood outside the airport looking for a taxi to get me to my hotel.
Before coming to Phuket, I did my research liao. And I heard that here you must dare to bargain. If not you sure become Cai Tai (cabbage) and let people chop. Means kena ka-tok.

I decided to practise my bargaining skill.

I stepped out of the airport and immediately a Thai man came to me and offer me 450 baht (1 sing dollar=23 baht) to take me to my hotel. I shake my head to indicate No, and said 200 baht.
The Thai immediately left me.

Soon, another thai man came to take his place and offer me again 450B. I thought maybe I offered too unrealistic a price the last time, so this time I offered 300B. He also left me immediately.

I tried it out on several other Thai taxi men. And finally I found a satisfactory offer and hop onto a taxi. The taxi fare remained at 450B.


Bang Tao Beach

Phuket actually got many many beaches. The one that most singaporeans go to is called Patong Beach.

I wanted to book a hotel at Patong beach also. But because I booked too late, all the hotels at Patong Beach area are fully booked.

Na bei. Must be all the kiam siap Singaporeans all flocked to Patong Beach to avoid staying in Singapore during upcoming Chinese New Year period in order to save on ang bao costs.

So I hum tum one alternate beach. The Bang Tao Beach. It is slightly north of Patong beach.

The resort I booked is called Best Western Premier Bang Tao Beach Resort & Spa. The name si eh dern (very long).















Best Western Premier Bang Tao Beach Resort & Spa.
The resort is very nice.

If you stay at Patong beach, you will have access to a very big shopping area. The downside is that Patong street and beach itself are very crowded with tourists.

Bang Tao beach is much quieter. So if you want a quiet relaxing stay just by the beach, then you might prefer Bang Tao beach.















The lazy beach of Bang Tao beach.

While I was at the resort, I noticed the people around me. First, I am the only asian staying there. The rest of the tourists are all ang mohs. I think the asians all like shopping so stay at Patong.
The second thing I noticed is that the Thai people are really thin. You can hardly find a fat Thai girl. Must be the slimming effect of all the Tom Yum soup they drink.

Renting a Motorbike

I want to go to Patong shopping area to jalan jalan. But the taxi fare cost 550B one way. Two way costs 1,110B.

Then I saw on the street, the ang moh zooming around on kup kia (small 125cc Honda wave type of motorbike). I figured they must have rented these bikes.

But I a bit worried. Wah, never ride before in Phuket, don't know I will lang-gar the traffic or the road, or not. Wait get lost how?

Then I see another few ang moh zipped past on kup kiaps, wearing no shirt, no helmet and carrying their girls behind them. Then I think, "Basket! Cannot lose to them! They got no motorcycle license also dare to ride. Back in singapore, I ride my 1,000 cc motorcycle on thousand kilometre rides to unfamilar places in malaysia, so how can I be scared now?! No balls is it?!"

I immediately walked into a shop by the road side with the sign board, Bikes for rental.

After paying 200B for 24 hour rental (so cheap!), and signing a form which basically says you die not their pua sah (not their business), I collected a filmsy helmet and the key to my bike.

Me and kup kia, my transport around Phuket.

The kup kia bike is a Yamaha. I don't know its exact model. Even though I owned and test ridden so many 600 and 1,000 cc bikes, I am a bit nervous as I have never ridden before a kup kia.

There is a choice of automatic gear or manual gear one. I asked for a manual gear one as I have never ridden before a auto bike. Good choice on hindsight as later on, I need to ride up and down some very steep slopes. And the manual gear allow me to have better engine braking going down the steep hill.

I am surprised by how light and how agile the kup kia is. The one thing I not use to is the flat 2-piece heel-and-toe gear selector. I am used to the normal motorcycle's gear selector which you use the front of your foot to step or hook below the gear level. There is also no clutch lever. The bike will never stall. It took me quite a while to get use to it.

To Patong Beach

The brown line shows you the route I took to travel from Bang Tao beach, southwards to Patong Beach. The distance is about 13 km and it takes me about 30 minutes in the day to cover.

I just ask for as many free maps from the bike rental shop. Above is one of the free maps. The maps are good enough as there is usually only one route from one beach to the other.

So I just wack and bashed towards the right direction. Along the way, when I feel lost, I just stop and ask the local Thais. "Patong? Patong?" I will say. The Thais are very helpful and they will point which direction and off I go towards where they point.

The busy streets of Patong Beach town.

Patong town is really very happening compared to Bang Tao. Everywhere are tourists, tu-tu (taxi), kup kia and sellers.















Compared to the beach of Bang Tao, the Patong beach is very very crowded.
It is so crowded that to sit on any of the chairs at the Patong beach, you need to pay.
Like machiam in Singapore you must pay for parking. Bang Tao beach is free seating.
But of course, Patong beach more happening. You see carefully above photo.
Got one person is doing para-sailing.

Shopping at Patong Town

What is there to buy at Patong you ask?
Well, you see the wordings on the T-shirt below and you can tell what are the more popular tu-chang (local produce).

What you can get at Phuket

Here, I decided to give my negotiation skill a try again.
This time I am more successful. Whatever the seller offer, I will start by countering back by one-quarter the price! Yes, one-quarter the initial offer price! So if they offer a T-shirt for 400B, I counter with 100B.

They might say no, and counter back. So the counter back-and-forth goes on. Thai people are very very friendly and smiley people. They enjoy bargaining. So don't bargain with them with a serious face. Othewise wait they give you a muay thai kick. Do your bargaining with an equally friendly smile. The best tactic is to walk away. They may call you back.

At the Patong town, you can get away with half to one-quarter the original offered price, depending on the item you are buying is commonly available or not.















Big Bikes available for rental at Patong Beach.
I don't know how much the rental is.

I was surprised to hear the growl of big cc bikes at Patong shopping area.
These are the ang mohs who rented and ride bikes like the latest Honda 600cc Fireblade. There are also R6s, 400cc shadows. But I not sure with the crowded streets of Patong and the windy country side roads, how fast can you really go on a Fireblade there.


I tried to learn some Thai words. There is the Sawadi-Krup. Which means good morning, good afternoon, good night, hello, all also can. There is also Kup-Kun-Krup which means thank you. The ending Krup is used only if you are a man. You should end with Kup as in Kup-Kun-Kup, if you are a woman or ah kua.

Alternatively, for short, just Krup. I assumed it is a short form for thank you. So I just Krup here Krup there and Krup the rest of my way in Phuket.

James Bond Island

What else is there to do at Phuket besides sun-tanning at the beach and shopping?

You must take a boat ride to the so-called James Bond Island. Why is it called James Bond Island? I think the story behind is that there was one James Bond film where they filmed at the island.

To go to James Bond Island, just sign up for a half-day or full day tour with your hotel.















The boat ride to James Bond Island.
It is very fun and the scenary is really beautiful.

The Rock.
This is the famous and amazing rock as part of the tour.

The tour includes sitting in canoes, paddled by Thai boatman.

They will take you to explore the interestingly shaped rocks and islands.
Including paddling below a very very low cave, as seen in this picture.
The two tourists in front have to lie down as they start to enter the cave with a very low ceiling!
It is very fun!

But there was one incident that made my ball shrink.
My thai boatman brought me to a quiet secluded spot to explore.
As I was marvelling at the steep walls, the Thai boatman, who is a well built young Thai (from all the paddling) asked me "Where are you from?"

As I was busy taking photographs, I nonchalently answered, "Singapore".

After I answered, I immediately realised, Oops, there was a lot of recent bad press in the newspapers saying the Thai are upset that our kay-kiang Temasek went to buy over their national jewel, Shin Corp telco. So I was a bit worried that the Thai, including this boat man, might be upset at we Singaporeans.

The Thai boat man, next said, "Singapore very rich".
Oops. Wah, how to answer?
Then he followed by, "Singapore very clever. Win the soccer asian cup. Yes?"

O-Oh. He was referring to the recent soccer finals where unexpectedly, the singapore team beat the home and hot favourite thai team to claim the championship.

Si Liao! Die! I was sure I was dead meat.
He must be upset at Singaporeans. Here I am at his mercy.
No one around me, but water.
I die here also no one will know.
I was prepared to jump over board into the water and start swimming for my dear life.

But fortunately, the Thai boatman is true to the friendly Thai attitude and such a gracious loser (not like our jeng hu). So he was just asking innocently and praising Singapore. He paddled me around the rest of the caves, not knowing I was very nervous inside.

What Else

What else did I do?

I rode a horse!
This is me and Billy. She is 19 years old.

I thought I can play cow boy. But Billy has a mind of her own and I could not really control her.
My saddle was also not adjusted properly. So whenever Billy starts to trot at a faster pace, I will bounce up and down. Next day, I kar chen pain.

A beautiful view looking down at Patong Beach.

This is the nice thing about being able to ride around on your own on a bike at Phuket.
I can stop anywhere I like. To take pictures. Or to look and buy things which catch my eye. Or to eat and taste interesting food.















I will leave you with this beautiful photo of the setting sun at Patong Beach!

Tire Pom Jek

04 March 07, Sunday

I was riding in the middle lane of AYE at 10 am. The road was light in traffic.
Then suddenly I hear a muffled "POMP!" sound. Like somebody just burst a small plastic bag below my bike.

But nothing happened to my bike.
I rode on a short distance and thought, "Better check my bike to be safe."

I pulled to the road shoulder on the left and checked.
Nothing wrong leh.

Then I started to move off. I felt the bike moved-off was slighly wobbly.
Maybe I was just imagining. Maybe not. I side-standed again and check for any damage.
Nothing.

Then I start to move off again. Now the wobbliness is more obvious.
Something is wrong. I check the front tire. No damage. Check the front forks. No damage.
Then I check the rear tire.















Basket! The rear tire kena puncture!

The POMP sound must be my tire kena something and burst.
Despite the sound, good thing the puncture does not destablise my bike, until the air ran out of the tire.
I remembered some time ago, there was a discussion by some bikers that a biker fell off because his tube-full tire in his small kup kia bike punctured and he was thrown off the bike.
Someone said tubelss tires, which are used in most spokeless bikes in modern and especially big cc bikes, will not burst even if kena puncture.
So my this incident validated that tubeless tires are indeed safer.

BTW, my tires are Bridgestone Battleaxe BT-o20 sport touring tires.
I highly recommend them for sport tourers and long-distance tourers.
They provide more than enough grip for road cornering. Grips well dry and wet.
And they last long. My last 20,000 km liao. And looks good for another 5,000 to 8,000 km.

I told a friend that my bike kena puncture.
Wah, she very resourceful. Knows that can call LTA (1800-CallLTA) and ask for EMAS.
EMAS got free towing service.

I immediately call. Really EMAS provide free towing service if you breakdown along the expressway! But alamak, they kiam siap lah. Only tow you until the nearest expressway exit, to the nearest petrol kiosk or carpark. No use to me. I still need to get someone to tow my big bike to a bike mechanic to have my tire replaced or mended.

So I called a bike towing company to come tow for me ($30).

Frost stranded along the AYE with a tire pom jek (puncture).
Strike 4D also not so zun.

Sad to leave my frost without me. I immediately felt like a bird with its wings clipped.
Today and tomorrow no bike to ride around.

Hazard Oriented Vision (HOV): A Life-Changing Knowledge

Opening Scene
...Some stirring music please...thank you.


Once in a blue moon, you would chance upon a random piece of information, that at first seemed to be interesting, but it remains interesting...

You then proceed to tuck this piece of interesting information at the back of your head and get on with your life...

Then one fine day, the secret of this interesting information suddenly dawns upon you and unveils itself.

And you realised that you had chanced upon a piece of information so useful that it is going to change your life...

Today. Next. You are just about to chance upon another piece of potentially life-changing information...

How It All Began

...Change music to soft music...

It all started back in 1995, when I first got my Class2B motorcycle license.
Many things came along the way.
Finally, 10 yearas later, in 2005, March 9, when I wrote this on the Singapore Bike Forum:

...play some stirring music like main theme of StarWars or Superman..

Hazard Oriented Vision (HOV) Safety Riding Concept

http://www.singaporebikes.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67876&st=450&#entry2052536

endlessloop

Posted: August 05, 2005 04:34 pm

Class 2 Group: Members Posts: 867 Member No.: 4579 Joined: August 03, 2003

Hazard-Oriented Vision (HOV) I wrote in one of the early posts in Street Smart that I had safety riding concept that had so far seen me safely. Many people had requested for me to share my safety riding concept. A major part of it is HOV. So here it is. HOV is used by UK Traffic Police I first chance upon it when reading an advanced riding manual which is also used by the UK Traffic Police. I have forgotten its original name. Now I called it Hazard-Oriented-Vision, HOV for short, pronounced ?Hor-f?, which is more intuitive. What is HOV? What are its Benefits? Look at the examples and you will understand. Why is it that the Bat can fly in the dark and not bang into the wall? It is because bat has a form of radar. Without this radar, the bat will blindly collide into obstacles in its path. Just like some motorcycle riders do in many accidents. With this radar, the bat will be warned in advanced and be able to avoid these obstacles. Another parallel is the above plane, an AWACS (Advanced Warning Airborne Control System). Its radar can detect threats even when they are far far away. With this ability, the AWACS can warn the friendly forces and buy for them extra time so that they can react accordingly to the threats. The idea of HOV is the same. Overview of HOV HOV functions just like AWACS. Except that we rely on our vision instead of radio waves. HOV is the continuous process of watching out for hazards when we are riding. The process within HOV is also very simple: 1. Scan for hazards continuously 2. Identify hazards 3. Prepare to react to hazards 4. React to hazard Step 1: Scan for Hazards Continuously The Concept of Hazards What constitute hazards? They are anything that potentially can bring about harm to you the rider. Examples include the appearance of a car waiting at the minor road to enter into the main road which you are on, a child standing at the tip of the pavement or heavy traffic up ahead. Many examples of hazards can be found in the Street Smart posts. For ease of understanding and remembering, hazards can categorized them into the following: 1. Terrain 2. Other Road Users 3. Weather 4. Time 5. Your Bike and Equipment 6. Your Self Some Common Types of Hazard to Bikers 1. Traffic Junction (be it you turning right, going straight or turning left). 2. Left Split Lane 3. Bends 4. When you are on major road, any minor adjoining the major road. 5. Flyovers, as the downward sloping side are blind corners. 6. Taxis 7. Vans. 8. Large vehicles that you can't see through. Includes buses, lorries, SUVs and MPVs. 9. Debris or sandy road. 10. Unattentive drivers. There are many many more types of hazards. But if you can take care of these few, you would probably take care of 90% of the hazards that you would encounter on the road and signficantly reduced your risks. Over time, through experience and learning from others, you would start to build up an inner encyclopedia of hazards to watch out for. Knowing the HOV concept is one half. If you do not know what hazards to watch out for, then you wouldn't know what to avoid. How to scan for hazards? Scan both vertically (near-far) and horizontally (left-right). Scan Near-Far. You need to scan for hazards immediately in front of you, as well as as far as your eye and the terrain allow you to see. The further you can scan, the more time you have to react upon identification of hazards. Scan Left-Right. Not only do you need to scan for hazards appearing within your own lane, you also need to scan for hazards on the lanes immediately left and right of your own lane. The other key word in this step is CONTINOUSLY. This requires you to be alert and focused on the task of scanning through out your ride and on every ride. Be like the fighter pilot who is flying in hostile sky scanning for enemy planes or missiles. Step 2: Identify Hazards If you do your scanning properly, you will be like this radar. Hazards soon turn up on your radar screen. Once you have identified the hazards, you need to track them carefully to see if they materialize into real threats. You may need to track multiple hazards to handle at the same time. Step 3: Prepare to React to Hazards After you have spotted potential hazards, it is useless if you do not start to prepare yourself in case the hazard materializes into a real threat. You need to plan in advanced on how to react to the high-threat hazards in a way that will not compromise your safety. If you do not plan in advanced, then a spontaneous but inappropriate reaction may put you into harm?s way. What do I mean by ?Prepare to React?? It will depend on the hazard and exact scenario. It could mean: - You stop accelerating or even slow down, so that you can brake in time. - Positioning your bike so you can be seen, clear sufficient braking distance in front and behind - Do a Finger-7. Left thumb on horn button and left index finger on high beam. Step 4: React to Hazard When you think the hazard is going to turn real, you then activate your planned reaction to the hazard. Training HOV is a skill and not just a concept. It is easy to understand the concept of HOV so far, but being able to be proficient in using it is another matter. To help you implement HOV, the following training is useful. Commentary Riding Basically, it requires you to talk to yourself when you identify the hazards on the road. As you ride on the road, for example, you say to yourself, ?Car waiting at cross junction?, ?Taxi in front may suddenly stop?, ?Pedestrian waiting at payment to cross road?, etc. Instead of just thinking in your head, talking to yourself is a far more effective means to force you to explicitly concentrate on scanning and identifying hazards. The key is you must physically move your mouth. If you just start on HOV, I advise using commentary riding for every ride for 1 month. Extend if necessary until you get the hang of HOV. Advanced Riding School in UK also Practices Commentary Riding In the UK, there are ex-TP private instructors conducting advanced riding school. They equip a small convoy of student riders with radio sets each. The instructor then leads the ride and gives his commentary so every student can hear his commentary on their radio sets. The student then takes turn to lead and give commentary. Myths of HOV 1. If you really implement HOV, it is going to make you a tortise on the road. Not true. If I am a slow rider, I do not think that I would be riding a 1000cc sports bike. I also do not think that I would have accumulated 6 demerit points for speeding. 2. HOV is for beginner riders only. Not true. HOV is an advanced riding skill. It can only be learnt if the basics such as E-Brake are learnt. In UK and US, HOV is taught as part of the syllabus of some advanced riding schools. Also, HOV is taught as part of the UK Traffic Police training. 3. HOV makes riding less fun.. HOV has made my riding so much more enjoyable and rewarding. Because: - HOV makes riding more enjoyable because it is now safer. HOV significantly increases riding safety because now you are being proactive. - You are constantly rewarded. Each time you are able to anticipate hazards, you feel happy and good. You also get satisfaction from being able to anticipate faster than other riders and drivers. - HOV makes riding a constant learning process full of new lessons to learn If you are the sort who enjoy going into a little technicalities of motorcycling, then HOV promises lots of learning opportunities! 4. You only need 1 day to learn HOV You only need 15 minutes to read this article. You need 1 week to reflect on its meaning. You need 1 year to practice HOV before it becomes second nature. As long as you diligently implement HOV, it is there for a lifetime to protect you. Other Points about HOV 1. HOV is not the complete and sole answer to motorcycle safety. HOV is useful because it is a PROACTIVE safety system. It complements and requires the PASSIVE safety system such as Ride Bright, Ride Visible. Vice versa, if one relies solely on passive safety system, then one is missing out defense against the whole list of hazards that HOV is designed to react to. HOV forms the defensive shield for riders when they are in the act of riding. But a big part of defense is before the riding actually commences. 2. HOV is as good as the rider is. As much as I would like to guarantee you that after learning HOV and you will be completely safe, I am unable to. Because the responsibility lies in your own hand to properly use HOV to get yourself out of danger. 3. HOV complements and utilizes the Street Smart information Many posts in Street Smart identifies the common hazards. Understanding HOV allows you to better understand, remember and use this body of knowledge of hazards. As mentioned earlier, a critical part of HOV is the need to be able identify the common hazards and how to react to them. Have fun!

OK. So you have it.

My Hazard Oriented Vision (HOV) Riding Safety Concept that has kept me safe for 10 years.

Would it be a life-changing knowledge for you? It has been for me.





Credits
End of show liao.
...Play some credit music. Reuse any of previous music lah...
Don't know why every movie must show credits. I feel like the credits like eat into my movie ticket price. Shit!

Author----Endlessloop
Writer----Endlessloop
Origianl scriptwriter----thanks to the many many car drivers, truck drivers, bus drivers, also got other motorcycle riders that nearly killed me over the past 10 years but never managed to that led me to develop HOV.

Special Mention---Over 100 riders get killed in Singapore every year. Rest in peace to the riders who past away and to the riders who were injured, may you recover back to life as soon as possible.

Some movies like to give you bonus at the end of the credits, as if to thank you for sitting through all the bo liao credits. Movies especially like Jackie Chan movie.

So I bo liao also give you one now:

Bonus Track
....Star Wars movie...

Yoda appears. With his scruffy voice, he whispers to you:

"When you can see without seeing, mastered HOV you have."

Ride to Mount Ophir 2 Dec 2006

Ride to Mount Ophir

2 Dec 2006 Saturday


Many of you might have heard of Mount Ophir (Gunang Ledang) from Malaysia.
It is not the highest mountain. But it is the most climbed mountain in Malaysia.

This ride is interesting because it is the LARGEST convoy I had ridden so far.
There are over 160 bikes in the convoy!

4o plus bikes from Singapore's Hornet's Nest (www.hondahornets.com).
120 bikes from this rider group called Madaco.

I have many pictures in this blog entry.
Read on to see the pictures and experienced the ride of this huge convoy.




Route

I describe the route so that you can go there yourself.
But get lost don't come and find me.

North-South highway until exit at Tangkat exit.
At the T-junction of Tangkat exit, take the right turn.
Ride straight and you will end up in Tangkat town.
From Tangkat town, take Route 23.
After a while, you will see a big big sign that says G Ledang.
Then turn left and exit Route 23. Ride straight and you will end up at the foot of Mt Ophir.

Our return trip consists of some trunk road busting action:
Back track and turn left into Route 23.
From Route 23, turn right into J34.
From J34, turn right into the familiar previously written J32 (except now opposite direction).
J32 until Pagoh entrance into NorthSouth. Then NorthSouth back to Singapore.

Meetup at Esso GP

The usual dressing up again routine after the Singapore 2nd link custom.
This is Ah Kim(R6) and Mark(GSX750).
(For the rest of the pictures in this blog entry, click on the picture to expand the picture to see more details!)

At this point in time, I had no idea how big is the convoy.
When I reached GP esso, I just know that it looks very crowded.
There were a lot of people wearing Orange long-sleeved T-shirts. This is the Madaco group T-shirts. From near, they looked very nice because got many sponsors' name.
But from far, especially when there are so many people wearing them, it looks like the attire of those bangladesh painters painting the road railings in Singapore!

The man in white is Spectrum.
He is conducting the usual pre-ride briefing.
The pre-ride briefing is very important for the riders to get coordinated.
But I admit I wasn't really paying attention as this is the nth time I have heard it.
All I heard is, suddenly, "...Sweeper is Endless!" Me again?!
This means that I am the last bike in the convoy.

After collecting the road-side-cleaner-yellow-vest to mark the sweeper, I was all set to ride.
Then we were told to go for another briefing.

Wah. But this briefing got many many bikes.

Paddock girl.
In the middle of all these bikes, there is this cool-looking lady holding an umbrella.
I understand she is Korean.

Another pre-ride briefing. This one held by Tony (the man with the black cap), the organiser of Madaco. Then finally, the briefing is over and we are finally ready to roll.

One group photo of the Hornet Nests riders before setting off.
So many bangladesh painters go Mount Ophir.

Start Ride NorthSouth Ride

We set off at about 10 am.
As the last bike, I waited for all the bikes roll onto the NorthSouth expressway.
Man, are there many bikes!

Spectrum (in yellow vest) leading the Hornet Nest convoy.
The 2nd bike is one of the markers, SV650 (in orange vest) riding his Suzuki V-twin SV650.

Part of our 160 bike convoy on the NorthSouth highway.
Our convoy stretched for as long as 10 kilometers (a quarter the length of Singapore!)

Our covoy formation looks even more impressive than those motorcade from our Traffic Police during National Day Parade!

Spectrum on his Honda Hornet 900 leading the convoy.
This nice photo is taken by Smokin. He takes very sharp and accurate photos.
How does it he do it?
A lot of hard work!
He has to ride a head of the massive convoy, park his bike, get onto high ground and stand then to take with his powerful SLR digital camera.
When all the bikes have past him, he gets back onto his bike (Hornet900) and has to ride from the tail of the convoy to the head of the convoy and somemore and start all over again!


Not everyone has the good photo taking skills of Smokin.
The above is an example.
I took a point-blank shot with my handphone camera riding side-by-side to Spectrum and end up like this!

Me and Frost (my trusty Yamaha Fazer1000).

Many people think that to go on touring rides to Malaysia, one needs to have a big bike with big cc. I have been to so many rides and I tell you this is not true. Touring does not depend on what bike you have. It depends on the bike owner's mentality.

See, kup kiah (Honda Wave or similar bike) also can go.
This Madaco rider is young at heart!
I think he is at least 50 years old!

My rear view mirror shot.
See the large convoy behind in the reflection of my mirror.

As the sweeper, I am supposed to be the last bike.
The sweeper's role is to "catch" any bikes that fall out of the convoy for various reasons (bike break-down; rider wants to stop for a rest) and not leave any bikes stranded behind.
But for this trip, I am not the last bike, strictly speaking.

The last "bike" is actually a car. A Honda Jazz.
The driver and passengers are from Madaco and they are driving along to the Mount Ophir.

Along the NorthSouth ride, I meet interesting company.

What is inside this lorry?

Big Moo-moos!

We also met a small convoy of classic Alfa-Romeo sports cars from Singapore.
They may be classic, but they sure are fast (>150kmh)!

We finally reached the Tangkat exit.

Tangkat to Mount Ophir

It was one huge orgy of bikes at the Tangkat exit!

At the Tangkat exit, we saw an unusual sight. A Malaysia police car was there.
Not to do his "usual business". But to escort our convoy to Mount Ophir!

We rode into Tangkat town.

It is not easy for 160 bikes to fill-up their tanks at the petrol kiosk.
The Malaysia police car came in handy and helped to direct traffic.

Just ride straight on from Tangkat town along Route23.
You will see this big sign board on your left. Turn left to go Gunang Ledang!

The convoy riding in an organised and steady pace towards the resort at the base of Mount Ophir.

At the G Ledang Resort

At last we reached the resort at G Ledang. It is about 1 pm.
Good thing the resort has a huge carpark to accomodate our 160 bikes.

Bike parade.
Most-bikes-at-one-spot that you can see in your lifetime.

We made our way into the large reception area of the resort.
Lunch is supposed to follow.
But cannot eat yet, even though stomach hungry liao.

First, the Madaco Riders group photo.

Then, Tony gave another speech.
On stage, he reminded me a bit of Michael Jackson.

Then, we are finally released for lunch!

The savage appetite of Mark unleashed!
I must say that for over 160 bikers, we were pretty orderly in going about getting our food even though we are very hungry after the long ride and many speeches.

After a satisfying lunch, we are given free-and-easy until 4 pm.
Most of us headed towards the foot of Mount Ophir, where there is a stream.
I don't think any of us came planning to climb Mount Ophir. Singaporeans don't climb anything one. We only know how to use elevators and escalators.
Many of us took a dip in the stream to cool ourselves.

This painting on one of the building walls depicts the trail to climb Mount Ophir.
It is over 4,000 feet (1,230m) tall.


Here it says that it is the most climbed mountain in Malaysia and 6th most difficult to climb.
It also says pay money first before climbing.

As we walked further in, we saw the stream.

Many people took a dip in the stream.
I also joined in. But I wouldn't show you my photos in the water (RA).

Even though the day is very hot, the water is all these streams in Malaysia are actually very cool. It takes a bit of courage and determination to be able to immerse yourself completely into the water.

At first, I thought I felt cold in the water because I am skinny so contained very little heat inside me. Later on, a bigger fatter Malaysian guy went into the water beside me. After a while, I saw him shivering in the water. That made me feel infinitely better.

On the way back to the resort after the dip in the stream, I saw this interesting car.
It is a guest from Thailand. See the car plate.


Be like Zoe-Tay!
At the resort, there is a blow-pipe range!
I was quite surprised that the blow-pipe is actually quite accurate at short distances.
This girl, who probably is trying the first time in her life, managed to hit the 1 metre wide target board standing some 5 metres away.
So chay, this means Zoe Tay's blow-pipe stunt during one of the past charity show is no big deal.
If only I can bring back a blow pipe. I will use it to shoot the backside of those pesky CISCO carpark warrants who go around summoning people!


Then, it is time to set off on our return trip.

It is evening time.
An idyllic scene with the setting sun cast long shadows on our bikes.


A final group photo before we take off.
I am somewhere in there. See if you can spot me .



Me at Gunang Ledang Resort.

Fun along the Trunk Road

Many people stayed overnight at the resort. About 20 of us opted not to stay overnight and we are going to have some fun along the trunk roads before we get onto the NorthSouth highway back to Singapore.


The convoy leaving the resort.

The returning convoy along the trunk road.

Once cut loose, it's play time!
The bikes hustling down the trunk roads of Route 23, J34.
I love to ride on the good quality Malaysian trunk roads!

Weee!!!

Sharp bend ahead!
The bends add fun to your riding. But one must be very careful when traversing the sometimes sandy trunk road bends.

My view when doing a sharp cornering.
This photo was taken with my one hand holding the camera phone and only one other hand steering my bike. I don't advise you to do the same thing.

Besides offering lots of fun, the ride back along the trunk roads also offer a lot of beautiful scenic photos.

The setting sun casts long shadows on the road.

Shadow of me and Frost.

A breathe-taking photo of the evening.

Our J32 route took us through Lenga village.
There, I witnessed our "Michael Jordan" effect.
I was the last bike of our convoy which was passing through a Malaysian kampung.
We passed by an open-air volley ball court, where there are some 10 teenagers standing there on the court.
Apparently, before our convoy arrived, they were playing volley ball.
But as our big possession of bikes rode past them, they all stood there motionless, as if kena frozen in motion, some of them with their mouth still left hanging opened, as they stare at the numerous big bikes passing by them.

Even though I had rode numerous time through J32, the route once again ended before I have enough of the trunk road riding.

We headed into the familiar Pagoh petrol kiosk to fill up our tanks before hitting the final stretch of NorthSouth before entering Singapore.



Sayonarah!
Bye. Going home.

Aftermath

Once again, it was a wonderful ride.
All these rides up north never fail to lift my spirits.

A couple of days after our Mount Ophir ride, the Hornet Nest riders met at Tanjong Katong LC Foodcourt. There, we exchanged our photographs with each other.

LAN Gaming? Hackers at work? Or VCD pirates busy replicating CDs?
No. It's the Hornet Nest photographers with their high-tech digital photography and laptop wizardry. There's Smoking (in black), SV650(in white) and SaintDuDu(in red).
Some of the multimedia stuff they produced on their laptops are simply amazing!
Imagined our Mount Ophir ride got turned into a modern MTV accompanied by a hip soundtrack!

PS:
My apologies for not updating this motorcycling blog for a while.
I hope to continue to keep it regulated updated.
I still have lots of motorcycling adventures to share.
Do come back again.

I will leave you with a beautiful parting shot of the setting sun taken during our trip (courtesy of Tweety).