West Malaysia loop ride

I usually wake up early when I am away from home. I don’t know why. Maybe it is because I am sleeping in a different bed…or maybe its because I don’t want to waste any time sleeping when I can be out exploring…but today I had wanted to go out for a walk and see if I could capture the sunrise. However, all was not to be as I snoozed my alarm one too many times and woke up with just enough time to get to breakfast on time!

It was great waking up in the morning after a good rest from a long ride. Today was no exception. I met up with Alex and Tony at the breakfast room and we had a nice and easy breakfast. Dan elected to have a little more rest. I think the long ride late into the night took a toll on him. I had some nasi lemak which was pretty good! I have never been a big fan of hotel breakfasts in Malaysia. After all, why “waste” stomach space by filling it with a hotel breakfast when a local breakfast not far away can be so much better? Still, hotel breakfasts had their benefits…especially since it did not require putting on all my gear just to ride five minutes out for some hot Wan Ton Mee.

I made up for this by going for a walk after breakfast to the nearest market about 20 minutes away. It was amazing how quickly those minutes flew by…must be because of the great conversations we had…though I cannot recall the topics of our discussion! Hahaha! I quickly saw a stall (it was actually a truck with special equipment at the rear platform) that sold home made soya bean products (the drink and the dessert). I simply had to have some because it has been a long time since I had “Tau Fu Fah” (a soya bean based dessert)…especially with the “black sugar” (palm sugar, I think). So I had a bowl…and Alex decided to join me. The dish was awesome! It was hot, it was lightly firm, it was smooth and it was the perfect sweetness! Yummy!!

We went walking around the area after that to explore the neighbourhood. I chanced upon what looked like an Alfa Romeo signboard. On closer look, the sign actually said “Alfa One”…it was an internet cafe…hahahaha! How creative the owners were to come up with a name like Alfa One with a modified Alfa Romeo logo! Tony noticed a bike shop just across the road from this Alfa One place so we went in to take a look. They had lots of stuff…we were interested in something that we could use as a simple windscreen on our bikes. We found the screen for an RXZ and were talking about how it could be mounted on our bikes. The lady there must have overhead our conversation as she advised us not to use that screen because it can crack at high speed wind gusts. She suggested that we try out the GIVI factory instead somewhere nearer town. I was glad that she openly advised us…showed that she wasn’t there just to make money…very cool! Did you realize that going “back” always seemed faster than going “there”? I mean, if I spent the same time getting from Singapore to Melaka…the leg back to Singapore always seemed to take less time. No difference this morning because the walk back to the hotel was quick…much quicker than the walk out. Hahaha!

Since this was a rest day…we decided to take a rest in the hotel before riding out for lunch…yeah…more time for me to blog!!!

Soon it was time to head out for lunch. Dan decided to join us as he was out of bed. I decided they should try some Fried Hokkien Mee for lunch and led them all the way to the section 14 corner coffeeshop…the one opposite “Simon’s Delights” (not mine unfortunately). However, I found out that you can only get this from that stall in the night time. SO I decided to have the gang try some Ipoh Hor Fun instead since we did not have any when we passed Ipoh yesterday. As usual, we got lots of attention everywhere we went. I guess putting four bikes in a procession with riders fully geared up would capture some attention…hahaha! I ordered some “light” lunch of Hor Fun with soup, steamed chicken, Wan Ton soup and bean sprouts. Lunch tasted fantastic and the aunty at the shop was very kind and helpful in getting our orders out.

Dan, though, was feeling out of it. He had been going to the toilet quite a lot and even vomited in the morning, it seems. He was feeling dizzy again this morning and decided he would give it a miss. So he slept at the table while we enjoyed out lunch…poor kid! He decided to rest back at the hotel after lunch…so I led him back there before we proceeded onto our afternoon program.

The afternoon program was a really loose one since…it was a rest day. But I knew I wanted to visit my dad’s grave. Both Alex and Tony decided they would ride out with me. Now I didn’t remember how to get there…so I telephoned my uncle again…and found out that he wasn’t sure either. The only instruction I had from him was to head towards Subang Airport…so that was where I headed with the gang.

I had never ridden a motorcycle in the Klang Valley. I can tell you honestly that the riding here is great! They had dedicated motorcycle lanes that ran alongside the main expressway…how cool is that!!?? So I rode on these motorcycle lanes and was on the lookout for the Subang Airport sign. I must have mixed up the signs (yup…again!) because we ended up in Subang Jaya (the town) instead! We ended up making a humongous figure of eight just so we could get back onto the expressway. This time I did not take the motorcycle lane as I did not want to be lost on such a hot and sunny day! I eventually found the cemetery…and it was just extra peaceful there. We parked out bikes outside the gate and took a look around. After doing what I went there to do, we sat at the gazebo and had a nice chat before heading back to the hotel.

The way back was mostly uneventful…but I do have two things to say: I really liked the motorcycle lanes…and I saw a big guy trying to push a Proton Saga up the expressway ramp! Needless to say, we stopped our bikes at the side of the road and helped them out. It was easy since we were so strong…HAHAHAHA!!! Now back to the motorcycle lanes…they are built like mini race circuits…complete with bends, tight corners, up and down slopes, tunnels and all. I guess this explains why so many bikes ride like they were in a race!!!

Alex mentioned that he felt really thirsty so I took them back to the same place we were after breakfast. This time I had some Soya Bean milk with black sugar…while Alex and Tony had some fresh guava juice, some guava slices…and some “Sardine Ham Chim Beng”…and they were delicious…according to Tony. Hahaha! We headed back to the hotel soon after refreshing ourselves…and decided we would use the swimming pool…YEAH!!!

There was a bunch of folks from India  at the pool area. It looked like they were having some team building activity there. Good thing they were out of the pool so we had it all to ourselves! It was very fun because Tony brought along a camera that can be used underwater. We captured some nice shots and videos too! Check back in a week to see them…and trust me…you will have a GREAT time watching some of them! Three persons in a swimming pool with time to kill must be some kind of magic formula…hahaha!

I arranged to have dinner with my No Five Uncle and Aunty and we were to meet at 7:30pm. We decided to take a taxi there since it was a short distance away. Dinner turned out to be excellent! I only took pictures of two dishes…because I was too hungry and forgot all about photographing the rest! Oh well…you’ll just have to imagine the food: Roast chicken, steamed green vegetables, steamed fish, crispy fried large prawns…plus another chicken dish near the end…which I ate 80% of! How am I gonna maintain my figure???

Dan was still sleeping when we got back to the hotel…I hope he will feel better in the morning so he can re-join the ride!

Well…it turned out to be a fun day! I had a great time with the gang…chatting, joking, walking around, riding, dining etc. It was a fantastic day to spend a rest day…don’t you agree?

Tomorrow we head to Melaka…tune in again soon!