Ride to Kuantan (Part I)

9 November, 2005, Wednesday--Ride to Kuantan (Part I of II)

This is my second bike tour. I a bit more lao jiao liao, so no longer as nervous as my first one.

Just a few hours ago, at 4.00 pm on Tuesday, Spectrum asked me at 4.00 pm “Endless, want to go touring tomorrow or not?"
I said "On."
I only got a few hours to prepare myself and Frost (the name of my Fazer1000) for the ride. But this time I am more cool and steady liao.

Spectrum suggested we go Kuantan. I don’t know what is at Kuantan or what it looks like. I only remembered vaguely that Kuantan got turtle lay eggs.

Packing for the Trip

Unlike many other guys in Singapore, when my SAF Boots come out, it means play time!

This time round, only need to pack for 2Days and 1Night. Plus don’t need to pack sleeping bag because I think I should have a bed to sleep in.

So I only need to fill up one of my two saddle bags. The other saddle bag still empty. Maybe can use it to bring one turtle back from Kuantan.

Eeie is also joining us on the trip. He rides a very fast bike--the Suzuki Hayabusa. Eeie is a very sociable and jovial person who likes to crack jokes. He helps to make our trip even more fun.

So on this trip, there is a Honda, a Yamaha and a Suzuki. Therefore, Spectrum thinks the title of this trip should be called "Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki". This guy got no imagination.

Our Ride Plan

9th November, Wednesday:

7.00 am: Meet at GP Esso.
After that: Breakfast at Kulai.
After that: Take Route 94, followed by Route 3, all the way to Kuantan.
2-3 pm: Expect to reach hotel at Kuantan.
After that: Find something to do.

10^th November, Thursday:

11.00 am: Check out.
After that: Take Route 12 to Segamat.
After that: Take J41, followed by J32, to Pagoh.
After that: NorthSouth Highway to Kulai for dinner. Then back to Singapore.

A Smooth and Quiet Morning

It was a good time to meet. Because there is almost no traffic at the customs of both Singapore and Malaysia side, towards the direction of Malaysia.

But not so for the side entering into Singapore. I was shocked to see a ant-like queue to clear the Singapore customs stretching almost half a kilometer long onto the 2^nd link bridge. Should have at least half a thousand of Malaysian bikers queuing.

Good thing that Eeie and Spectrum are very punctual and not those type that got rubber band timing.

It was a bit unusual to see that we have the
whole GP Esso to ourselves.

We set off to Kulai to makan (eat) at Yun Lai, the coffee shop popular amongst Singapore bikers. We discovered Yun Lai was closed. So we ate at the coffee shop opposite to it.

Route 3 (To Mersing)

Our plan is to ride along Route 94 first then Route 3 to Mersing. I have been through this route many times liao.

Route 3 is a popular weekend playground for many Singapore bikers because some stretch of it has got some interesting turns. Last time I think Route 3 is the best trunk road to play on.

But having rode the Gua Musang road at Cameron last week, I think many people will agree with me that I still think Gua Musang really much better than Route 3.

But Route 3 is much nearer lah. To go Gua Musang, you must ride 500 km just to reach it. Route 3 only needs about 50 km.

Don't know why, but this morning, Spectrum ride faster than his usual self. I need to put in a bit of effort to keep up with him. Maybe it is because we have quite a bit of ground to cover, so he wanted to ride a bit faster. Or it could be I was “detuned” from the last ride with Simon Soh’s larger convoy. Or maybe this morning, Spectrum mixed up and ate Viagra pills instead of his normal Vitamin pills.

After riding a short while on Route 3, Spectrum suddenly stopped by the road side, next to a piece of rock to take picture.

Then he pose and waive in front of the rock to take picture. What is wrong with him?

Never see a rock before is it?

Spectrum said this rock was actually a bunker!

I passed by this rock many times but never thought much of it. Now that I am dismounted, I can see it more carefully. It is really those type that can have soldiers inside fire machine gun ones, just like in the Saving Private Ryan movie. Spectrum said it was properly built to guide the trunk roads from enemy.

Spectrum Got GPS

At first, I thought how come this Spectrum so busy one?

Every time we stopped for even a short while, he has to keep looking at his handphone.

His wife and girlfriends cannot let him tour in peace is it?

Then I learnt that the handphone-like thing that he is holding is a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) device. The screen shows that he is on Route 3. Pin point your position to within 100m or less.

I think, “Wah, with this thing, during army topo (topography) exercises, blur sotong also can become topo king.”

I will not go into detail about Route 3 today. I will just say that after Kota Tinggi towards Mersing, there is a stretch of long straights, part of the straights have gentle upslope and downslope. Then around the 265 mark, there is stretch filled with some good C and S curves. Then after that, it is mostly straight again until Mersing.

Route 3 Straight Roads also have.
Curve Roads also have.

See nice curves on Route 3 then cannot self-control.
Must corner liao.

Swap Motorcycles

This Eeie very keen to try my Fazer because he thought of getting one. And Spectrum very keen to try Eeie’s Hayabusa. I also keen to ride Spectrum’s Hornet 900. So we all agreed to a 3-way deal.

Hornet 900 Comparison with Fazer 1000

Sitting on the Hornet 900, it feels really small compared to the Fazer 1000. In fact, I felt like I am sitting on a Super4.

The Hornet feels more agile and smaller than the Fazer.

The Hornet engine is, well, very refined and smooth. It pulls seamlessly from very low rpm, all the way to high rpm, without missing a beat or complaining. I like the Honda’s engine that it give a throaty growl when accelerating around in town traffic.

The Hornet brakes are pretty good. But I like the Fazer’s better because The Fazer brakes has a more immediate bite and bites harder.

The Hornet has a better gearbox. It is slicker, lighter and easier to shift than the Fazer’s.

Spectrum has a small aftermarket windscreen. It looked even smaller than Frost’s. But it worked very well too. You will not feel the wind blowing at your chest. So you can ride to as high as 150kmh without feeling like being blown off. Frost offers a slightly better wind protection, only because it is half-faired. So it is not a very equal comparison.

If you do a lot of riding in town or heavy traffic, the Hornet has the advantage over Fazer. The Hornet will be an easier bike to move around in town. Because it is smaller, it is more nimble to maneuver in confined places and heavy traffic. It is also easier to manhandle and park. Its engine, being EFI, develops stronger torque in low rpm, so it can accelerate stronger in town traffic.

For long distance touring, the Fazer has the advantage. On the Fazer, you can fit hard luggage (2 box or 3 box combination) while still maintaining its elegant looks. As the Hornet is smaller than the Fazer, I thought the Hornet would look a little awkward if fitted with side boxes. The other advantages of Fazer during touring are, it has a half-fairing (but Hornet does have a half-faired model as well) combined with a slightly long hence stable wheelbase, a more laid back riding position and a softer seat.

Both bikes are good for trunk road busting. The Hornet has the slight advantage of being more nimble. The Fazer has the slight advantage of a stronger mid and top end.

All in all, you can’t go wrong with either the Hornet or Fazer. They each feel slight different but they are not all that different. It is like some like to drink Kopi (coffee white) while some prefer to drink Kopi Au (coffee black). You understand me or not?

My turn on the Hayabusa

We reached Mersing around 12.00 pm but we did not stop for lunch there. One reason is that we weren’t that hungry. Another reason is that I have yet to find a good place that offers delicious food there. So if you know, let me know.

After we reached Mersing, we decided to swap bikes again. Even though the Busa was Eeie’s, he was so happy on my Fazer, he preferred to stay on the Fazer. He even started calling Frost “His Fazer”.

So I swapped with Spectrum and I got my first chance to ride the 1300cc Hayabusa. The sitting position is distinctively less comfortable than the upright Fazer and Hornet. It is a sports bike hunch down position. But I would say it is slightly more comfortable than a true blue sports bike like a FireBlade or R1. There is not so much weight on your arms. And the seat is actually the softest of our 3 bikes.

My Short Ride on the Busa

We continued with our Route 3 and left Mersing and rode towards Pekan.

The engine of the Busa felt like a big muscular ox. It pulls effortlessly in any gear and at any rpm. I hardly need to change gear even when I overtake cars during trunk road riding.

But the engine is different from that of a true blue sports bike. The engine will climb the rpm but it will notl climb as energetically as a FireBlade (I used to ride a Honda CBR954 FireBlade). The positive side is that even though the engine is able to accelerate the bike so smoothly that you hardly notice it and it will not threaten to throw you off.

The sitting position is really that of a man sitting on a big missile. It reminded me of those children stories with witches flying around sitting on their broom stick. I think their backside sure dam pain one. But the Busa will not make your backside pain because the seat is very soft.

Eeie’s busa has a tall aftermarket screen. It deflects windblast so well that your head and body will totally feel no wind, even when you are riding very fast. It should be very good if you are riding at over 200kmh along the NS highway. But on the trunk road, it does make the journey a bit boring.

Some say the Busa is heavy and hard to turn. I don’t feel it is so when riding on the trunk roads.

One thing I distinctively uncomfortable with on the Busa is its brakes. I feel like I am riding on a train. I can accelerate it easily but I must be careful that the train needs to roll to a stop and is not quite capable of doing an emergency stop. Maybe I don’t know how to make the full use of the Busa brakes within the short time of riding it.

I must profess that I am not the type of rider suitable to a Busa. After riding like 50 km, I wanted to swap to either the Hornet or Fazer. I swapped out of the Busa so quickly that there isn’t any photo of me on the Busa. So my opinions could be very biased lor.

I could see that the Busa is wonderful for those riders that like to cruise at over 200kmh along the NorthSouth Highway comfortably for great distances.

If you like finesse riding such as braking hard and shifting gears at the right rpm, ride low around the corners, then a pure sports bike like the FireBlade or R1 might be a better choice. But if you like to ride fast in a straight line for long distance possibly for touring, then the Busa is a good choice.

Break at Lanjut Resort

We turned turned right, off Route 3 (Rompin), into the road leading into Lanjut Resort.

Eeie on my Fazer at the entrance of Lajut Beach Resort. Followed by our bikes and us resting by the scenic Lajut Beach Resort.

There we took a break and had a drink. Lanjut Resort is just by the sea side.

We also took the opportunity to do some filming of our bikes.

Lunch

We rode on and stopped for lunch at Pekan, at this road-side mini-hawker centre of sort. It was about 2.30 pm.

I enjoyed eating at where the local people eat. Spectrum has this theory. If there are a lot of local people eating at a particular place, it must be good. Or else the local people will not eat there. Of course, another reason is that it should be cheaper. Or so I thought.

At this place, there were plenty of local people eating there. Every one eating there was local. So we ordered from this nasi padang stall.

I think the term Chao Tao (carrot head) is used to refer to a person, used in the context, when the gets duped or cheated by a seller into a bad deal. It is like the carrot head kena chopped off on a chopping board.

Spectrum's nasi padang and mine cost 5 ringgit each. We did not order a lot. It is not that cheap by local standard. Spectrum and I felt like little Chao Tao.

But Eiee’s nasi padang cost 10 ringgit! So Eiee is the big Chao Tao.

But Singaporeans also one kind. Kena chopped still kuai kuai pay. Then only know how to come home and complain over the internet.

Route 3 (Pekan)

On the Malaysia map, you can see that this stretch of Route 3 runs parallel and just next to the East coast for about 70 km.

The South China Sea does break out at certain stretches along the road, next to your right. If you are on a loose schedule, the beach is just 10 meters off the road, so you can exit Route 3 and go enjoy the beach. This is what I called really East Coast Road. Singapore’s East Coast Road cannot really see the coast one.

On the open roads and plains, next to the sea, along Route 3 (Pekan).
This is also our most preferred combination for most of our journey.
Eeie on my Fazer. Spectrum on Eeie's Busa.
I on Spectrum's Hornet.

For the rest of the stretches where the sea view is not visible, it is still a nice ride. Because the road takes you through an unpopulated Pekan, I recommend that you don't rush your ride and you will find this stretch of road very relaxing.

Kuantan

I expected Kuantan, being a coastal town, to appear like Mersing. I was quite surprised to see that Kuantan is really quite big. Almost like a city. And it is bustling with activities. Traffic was also heavy and there is quite a dense network of roads within Kuantan. So this make navigation not so straight forward.

Even Spectrum with the aid of GPS, has some initial problem in locating our hotel.

I can’t really recall how we turned here and turned there. I just follow Spectrum. I remembered we rode past several posh looking resorts and hotels, and a few golf courses. Then I followed him down a road that ends by a drive-through in a McDonalds by the sea side. So clearly this is not where our hotel supposed to be.

While Spectrum is asking the local for directions to the hotel, I noticed that in this scenic touristy location, there is a Malaysia army camp. I find it interesting that the Malaysia jaen hu very welfare to their soldiers. Their army camps are located in nice nice touristy places such as this. And at Cameron Highlands, Brinchang town, there was also a commando camp. Don’t ask me why the commandoes cannot train anywhere else but must train at so high up at Cameron.

Contrast this to the Singapore jaen hu. They like to put the army camps at ulu ulu and inaccessible places like Pulau Tekong where only refugees and wild elephants go.

After getting the new directions to our hotel from the local, Spectrum explained to me the route. He said something like “We are here…now we ride to…then when we see…we turn…then ride for another….” I don’t know where we are, don’t know the map of Kuantan and don’t know where our hotel is. But I just nodded my head and said “Orr.”

So I and Eeie just followed Spectrum. Then we ride, ride, ride and ended up on a road with the beach just off to our right. The neighbourhood is not that touristy but more filled with local kampong houses. Then suddenly, ahead rose into view is our 4-5 storey hotel. We found our hotel!

See, I was right. Just trust Spectrum, relax and follow him. He has many years of experience in navigation from his job. The best person to topo is him.

Check In

Our hotel is located at the Balok Beach, along Route 3. It is about 20 km after Kuantan and 16km before Cherating Beach.

This hotel certainly looked many times more posh than the apartment I stayed in at Cameron.

We looked for a place to park our bikes at the car park, but found none. So we rode to in front of the lobby to ask where to park our bikes. Much to our delight, we could park our bikes right in front of the hotel lobby!

In Singapore, to receive similar treatment at hotel lobbies, your car should minimum be a Porsche, Ferrari or Rolls Royce. Only here, a Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda will do.

Our bikes' VIP treatment.

While Spectrum did all the checking in at the concierge, I walked around the lobby. The hotel is very well designed. The lobby is at level 1. At basement 1, overlooked by the lobby, is an airy restaurant. Beyond the restaurant is a very nice looking swimming pool. Further beyond, but no further than a mere 100 meters, is the beach and the sea.

Quite an excellent choice of hotel by Spectrum.

Our hotel address is:

Swiss GardenResort & Spa
2656 Mukim Sungai Katong, Balok Beach, 26100 Beserah,
Kuantan, Pahang. Tel: 609-544-7333.
www.swissgarden.com.

Since the hotel is so near the sea, I went over to Spectrum and asked him what level is our hotel room on. Because I scared wait got tsunami come while we are sleeping.

Luckily, our hotel room is on level 3. The room number is a very nice 8360. One more time, 8-3-6-0.

The bellboy (if he is too old to be a boy, should I call him bellman?) wheeled our luggage which comprised of our helmets, soft and hard saddle bags, into the room. I felt a bit strange that I don’t need to carry my own helmet.

The room is like a nice 4-star hotel room. It has got a nice toilet, clothes cabinets, fridge, TV and even a balcony.

The best of all is the view from our room. We got a room with an even better view than a sea view. We got a hotel room with bike view. Look down from the balcony and we can see our bikes parked in front of the lobby.

Don't have sea view never mind.
Got bike view can already.

The time is around 4.30 pm. Our program is to go walk the beach followed by dinner.

The Beach

The beach is only a short walk from the hotel. I thought this is supposed to be the monsoon period and I expected to see strong and high waves. But the sea was calm and in retreat. The beach is flat and smooth.

The sand is not those sandy white type but more brownish. The sea is also not crystal green but also more brownish. But anyhow also beat our Singapore crowded east coast beach and sea. The sea stretches infinitely into the horizon (South China Sea). There is also very few people on the beach.

The weather also does not appear like there is going to be monsoon thunder storm. There are lots of low little cumulus cloud indicating fair weather.

Eeie and Spectrum go swimming in the sea. I never like water sports and swimming. So I prefer to stay on the beach. I enjoyed walking on the beach and admire the scenery. I find it very relaxing.

Kuantan got a couple of "dolphins".

Then I see a Wave.

Not a sea wave but a Honda wave, with an Ice Cream Man on it.

We bought ice cream from him.

He sells a special type of ice cream. I called it the incredibly-fast-melting-ice-cream. As soon as the ice cream man transfer the cone into your hand, you can feel the ice cream starts to melt already. But only 1 ringgit for a double scoop.

No time to pose nice nice.
Must faster eat. If not melt already.

Swimming Pool

After dipping in the sea, Spectrum and Eiee then go dip in the hotel’s swimming pool.

Introducing the synchronised swimming team....

The swimming pool even has a mini Jacuzzi in it. It has warm water for you to soak in and there are water jets in it.

But sometimes, no matter how gorgeous you are, the girls just keep their distance from you...

This is Eeie in the Jacuzzi pool.

Table Soccer

The hotel has a small amusement park. There is a table tennis table. We played table soccer. 5 balls for 2 ringgit.

We played a few games. He doesn’t look like it, but Spectrum is rather good at table soccer. The overall positions are Spectrum first, I second and Eeie third.

Pasar Malam

Spectrum asked the hotel staff where can we go jalan jalan (walk walk) at night. They suggested that we can try the pasar malam, which is nearby.

We were gamed on trying whatever local food we can find around there, instead of the more conservative approach of eating at the hotel’s restaurant.

We rode our bikes out at about 7 pm. Turn right on exiting the hotel. It was dark and there is very little street lighting. But traffic is not light and there are bikes and cars around us.

We rode for about 10 minutes without any turns and we reached the pasar malam. It is just next to the road.

The pasar malam is very interesting to me. There were a lot of food stalls and the place is bustling with activities and people. The sellers and customers are all muslims. The only non-muslim people there are the three of us. The people there are very friendly.

We walked around the various stalls. And whatever individually we fancied, we bought and ate.

I liked the fried chicken. The chicken is fried immediately, so it is still nice and hot. And it taste like KFC chicken. And a chicken drum stick cost you only 1 ringgit! Wah song ah! You can eat until you siok and you still wouldn’t blow your pocket.

Spectrum said order from those stall where there are a lot of locals buying and not from those stalls where the seller just sit there pa bam (beat mosquitoe).

Spectrum order satay. Eeie ate roast chicken.

Then Eeie ate murtabak prata. You believe got roti prata square one?

Eeie said the murtabak prate nice.

Spectrum and I also ate “lok lok”. Last time, Singapore also got lok lok. But now no more. In Singapore, the hawker food stalls are got a grading from the Singapore jaen hu. 'A' for cleanest. I think some of the food stalls here might get 'F'. But I say heck care. Don’t try now next time no more chance to try liao. So I got to experience lok lok, something many Singaporeans have no more chance to experience.

This is lok lok. How to eat?
Very simple. Choose any 3 sticks for 90 sens. Then boil the sticks of food in the small little pot. Then you eat.

Then, I saw a stall selling Sri Rasa burgers. Sri Rasa burgers are like our Singapore's Ramly Burgers. Spectrum said the Malaysia burgers cooked by Muslims got standard one. So I decided to try. I ordered the beef with egg (Daying Telur). I must say it is fantastic! The burger is very tasty and the ingredients got a lot of flavour. Yum yum. Mokamoka, who likes Ramly Burger, would have eaten at least three burgers.

It did not take long for us to fill our stomachs. We really still want to eat but we are really full.

We tah bao (pack or take away) back 8 Ramly burgers back to the hotel. 6 is for the nice and helpful hotel staff that we met. The hotel staff speak very good English. 1 burger is for me to eat. The other burger is to stare at Spectrum to ask him to eat it.

We turned in at around 10.30 pm. I managed to eat another Sri Rasa burger before I slept. Yum yum.

The beds are rather comfortable.
Zzzzzzzzzzz.

Will part up Part II, our next day at Kuatan, soon.