CNY!

The 8th year of friendship. Celebrating CNY and Teck Sheng's birthday :)

2008 Has Been a Jolly Good Year

Perhaps its the final moments of 2008 that made me want to look back on the year; more specifically, the last 2 hours, before I usher in the new year with new hopes. 2008 has been a jolly good year because in chronological order:

1. Feb-I mounted my first solo motorcycle tour to central thailand. That was a major psychological barrier for me, a test of independence, and a touring milestone.

2. May-I travelled Sydney and Canberra in Australia. That wasn't the best travelling experience, but the sights were memorable.

3. June-I got together with Debbie, and life's been jolly good ever since.

4. July-I passed the class 2, and was thus finally done with aquiring all 3 motorcycle and car licenses. Goodbye SSDC. You have taught me well. I will always rerember the instructors, including the fat one whom I snatched my booklet from when I lost my patience back in 2B days.

5. July-I bought the Fazer 6 and continued enjoying riding on the road everyday (almost).

6. October-My role changed from administrative to instructive during the HOV motorcycle safety course Endlessloop conducts. That was a major milestone for me. I look forward to working with my shifu in advocating motorcycling safety. Debbie and I also mounted out first tour together, and I'm looking forward to a more exciting tour calender in the year ahead.

7. Dec-I didn't fail my Forensics Science module, which I was pretty certain I would. That was a real breather. Debbie and I also mounted our first Thai tour, and that was a major milestone for us as a team.

With an hour left before 2008 expires, I shall lie back in bed and think about what I want to achieve in the year ahead. 2008 has been a jolly good year, and I expect an even more exciting 2009 ahead. Wishing all a Happy New Year, and may your resolutions all come true :)

Betong & Penang Tour

Cruising along the NSH at a leisurely 130km/h in KL traffic, I was at ease riding with traffic. Keeping an eye out for Debbie leading somewhere in front of the trailer I was trailing and minding the cars on the slower lane, the miles was easy towards Betong when... KA BOOM! A cloud of dust erupts; shredded rubber disperses from the 18 wheeler's rear in a clanging of metal against wood. I am jolted awake and quickly overtake the punctured Goliath, thankful I was following at a safe distance. Apart from a fallen rider by the E-lane and the S'pore Lancer that dented the divider before we passed, day 1 was uneventful. Unware that the Betong Border closes at 6pm, we had to spend the night in a miserable "chalet" at Pengkalan Hulu, the last Malaysian town before the border. Later we would return to retrieve Debbie's spectacles, but first, here's the only pic on day 1.

By world tour standards, Thailand is a short leg because it is accessible in 1 day; yet it is also far enough that a majority of bikers have not rode there, nor is it what an amatuer tourer will attempt on a first tour. Henceforth, our Motov mates will have little doubt Debbie is a full fledged tourer. I'm proud of her, and look forward to more tours together beyond Thailand in the years ahead.



On day 2 we went about the town. Despite being here last year with Alan and Endlessloop, I stll managed to waste time getting lost with navigation for a short while. Bummer. Intermittent showers was frequent, but we didn't get caught out for long. It ended as soon as it started.


Hot Spring




Betong Musuem


Piyamit Tunnel


Maybe next time I should leave the topo to Debbie. At least she doesn't mix up the RnR with pit stops like me.


We started day 3 early, doing road 4017 before we left for Penang. Last year, the road was incomplete and impassable, unless
1. You had off road tyres
2. You have road tyres but feel gung ho and adventurous
3. You underestimate the risks

Recapturing last year at the point where we turned back.

This year we managed to finish the route, but it was more broken then the last, with half the road falling off the cliff from erossion or blocked by mudslide at many points. 4017 is by far the most treachourous route Fizzy ever plied. Debbie almost looked like she wanted to cry, but all turned out fine as we did it super slow in gears 1 to 2 for the most part.


And this is the part I didn't get to last year.


We left for Penang and returned onto E15, where there was a motorcycle lane. It was probably a good idea, shielding bikers from traffic with a barrier. But the lane was too narrow to overtake other bikes safely. I finally decided to ignore it after the east bound journey slowed us down too much. Towards Penang, I told Debbie, we'll give the toll the fly when we get there. I'm not sure if it was mandatory for bikes to use the bike lane; but I didn't intend to stop at the toll if there was a problem. In any case we slipped by a gap at the toll and never looked back. Next time I will probably avoid E15 altogether.


We arrived at Penang early and had a nice sea view from our room.


Sights at Penang







It was a pity the monorail leading up Penang Hill was under repair, and the locals gave us the wrong info that it was accessible only by rail. In any case, the drizzle encouraged us to return for the evening on day 4. With a sleepy start to day 5, we headed back to Singapore safely and concluded Debbie's first Thai tour.

HOV, Melecca & Camerons

Its seems I've been doing those mountain roads for fun. Its my 4th trip up in one a half years. What was supposed to be an overnight steamboat hit and run spontaneously became a pre-steamboat stopover at Melecca first. Instead of leaving on Sunday, Debbie and I left on Saturday after the HOV Motorcycling meetup I co-organised with my shifu, Endlessloop.

Endless presenting again

A huge turnout of 20 participants left us short handed.

This HOV meetup marked the first time my role switched from administrative assistance to instructing. The first 2 batches of convoys were led by Endless, while the last convoy was led by me. My convoy however, was split up and out of 6 participants I led out, only 1 returned with me. Later, I heard some of the lost sheeps went to town instead. I better plan something better next time.
Anyways, back to the tour, Debbie and I hastily packed out stuffs and set off from 2nd link at 7pm.

A 2 hour night ride placed us in Melecca. A little bit of asking around and we were in the main town area. Some pics from the morning before we headed up Camerons.


So we hit the roads in earnest. Deb's on the open highway.

Camerons on the way up.

This is my favourite pic of Deb's before we tucked in.

Calling Takumi, this what u were looking forward to? :p

It started raining and we decided to turn in early. The next morning the Boh tea plantation turned out to be closed. So folks, don't go there on a Monday. They're closed. We did go get some strawberries though, after the wanton mee breakfast. A must have at the peak.


Since we went up on the easy Simpang Pulai route, we took the Tapah route down.
Me kupping corner on Fizzy.

Tapah Waterfall


This tour marked a new milestone for Debbie, and we covered a good 1250km in 3 days. Not bad for someone new to touring. Not bad at all. Looking forward to more motov group rides

Halfway Up Postponed

I've decided to shlelf the plans for the time being. When I planned this tour 10 months ago, it was meant to be a solo. How things have changed so dramatically in a short span of time, I'm still amazed. Like what bikers always say, 'the road's always there'. Someday I'll do that tour, and it might not have to be a solo. In the meantime, there's the HOV meetup tomorrow which generated an unprecedented sign up of of close to twenty participants. There's also a quick tour on Sunday. Will update again.

HOV Class

My shifu Endlessloop will be conducting a HOV motorcycling safety class next Sat on 8 Nov. To sign up, please click on the thread below.

HOV Thread

Sunray Smile

One of my all time favourite youtube video, which i uploaded on imeem :)

What a difference a sunray can make
in a world that's tired of the rain.
What a difference a smile can make
in a heart that's filled with pain.

(She had a) Sunray smile
Fairer then the spring or a rainbow
Sunray smile
Come to melt away the snow

The darkness of a shadow always flees
where ever a sunray is found
The darkness in a heart always leaves
when the glow of that smile is around

(She had a)
Sunray smile
Fairer then the spring or a rainbow
Sunray smile
Come to melt away all the snow.
In my heart today.