West Malaysia loop ride

Day six. The final day of the West Malaysia Loop Ride for 2011. We decided that we would sleep in a little later this morning and so breakfast was planned for 9am. I normally did not take breakfast in hotels when I am in Melaka…good food is in abundance there if you knew where to look. Still, we met at the hotel restaurant for breakfast this morning.

The entire theme of this resort is rustic village charm. I really liked the simple yet elegant look of the place. Breakfast was the usual buffet fare. I usually did not enjoy Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles) for breakfast…but this one was exceptionally good! In fact, I had a double helping! Hahaha!!! We had a relaxing time reminiscing about the days that had gone before…and discussing our options before leaving Melaka. We decided that we would check out after breakfast and head for our second breakfast before leaving for Tuas. Hahaha!!! We sound like Hobbits!!!

The place simply invites you to relax and so we took a leisurely stroll back to our rooms.

I really liked how this place was right next to the sea…and would have loved to lounge on this the entire day with a book and a drink…and a special someone!

I was greeted by the same sense of tranquility everywhere I turned!

We got back to the rooms and started packing…and then got the bikes ready to go. It was really great that we could park our bikes right outside our door!

Our ride today would take us about 240km through two states: Melaka and Johor. We would be riding on Route 5 mainly until we hit the Second Link Expressway new Gelang Patah.

The checkout was just as smooth as all the other hotels we were in during the trip…in fact…they were all a lot smoother than many other hotels I had been to. We headed towards Melaka town for our second breakfast. I decided to give the gang a mini riding tour of Melaka so we headed through many of the smaller streets as we rode towards our second breakfast destination.

I don’t know about you but I have a special place in my stomach for a good kopi-o-kosong and kaya butter toast. This was my simple childhood breakfast…of course…I had Milo when I was younger! So when I tasted the coffee and toast at Juat Lye, I was floored. It was the absolute best toast I had!

Not only was the toast good, we also ordered prawn soup noodles which everyone enjoyed. In fact, some of the gang proclaimed this the best prawn soup noodles of all time. Hahaha!!! Be sure to pay this humble little coffee shop a visit the next time you are in Melaka!

We headed off after breakfast for the second part of our little Melaka riding tour, covering the areas of Melaka on the other side of the river. We rode through the streets with the red shops, the big old church, the museums, the Mahkota square, Bukit Cina, Portugese Square and many more. No photographs unfortunately as I was shooting video instead!

We headed down south after visiting Portugese Square along Route 5. We covered many different towns along the way. The ride was generally uneventful. I could sense that everyone was so used to each other it was easy riding all the way. We did make a wrong turn at Pontian but that was soon corrected. Route 5 was pleasant but was a little less fun now as it was straightened and widened at some stretches. Thankfully, we still had that nice little stretch of plantation road getting from Pontian to Gelang Patah!

We arrived at the rest stop just outside Gelang Patah at 6pm, giving us sufficient time to take a break and get back into Singapore by 7pm. We gathered for our final Teh Tarik…some fun and jokes…and then it was time to take that group picture at the end of the ride.

I am really proud of the gang for completing this ride. While we covered a similar distance to the ride last year, we were challenged by the tougher roads and the mix of different bikes. We covered highways, cities, towns, villages, mountains and even some small stretches of really bad off-road conditions. We had a bike with brakes failing, one that was missing a rear wheel bolt, one that was so heavy it took three attempts to overtake a truck…and riders who were touring for the very first time. All in all…kudos to the entire gang…I am really proud of you…and it was a real joy touring with you all.

I started the trip with my odometer at 98256km. I saw my meter reset to zero while I was in Melaka and ended the trip at 100259km. This worked out to a total of 2003km! The West Malaysia Loop Ride has done it again!

See you next year!