West Malaysia loop ride

Day six.

Having had such a long ride the yesterday, we slept in a little later this morning and left for breakfast only around 8:30am. We would be heading out towards the mountains today for a nice and hopefully cooling ride. For breakfast, I wanted to let the guys try the fantastic yummy food at one of my favourite Malay food shops.

Morning is always so nice (Photo by Chris)

Making sure everything works properly (Photo by Chris)

Are we going up or down? (Photo by Chris)

We rode out to the Federal Highway. Traffic was brutal this time of the morning. It was peak hour traffic and everyone seemed to be in a rush. I was, once again, thankful for the bike lane on this highway as we could move forward with minimal fuss. However, this joy was shortlived as we had to turn into the LDP soon after…and that road was completely packed with traffic. Every inch forward felt like a major accomplishment. We squeezed to the left, the right and the centre, over the bridge, under the bridge, then squeezing left and right again, getting into every single available slot in order to make progress. Eventually traffic started moving, albeit slowly, and we found ourselves riding next to the One Utama Shopping Centre which is great news as this meant we were getting close!

I would normally take a right turn at One Utama and head towards Kampung Sungai Penchala through Taman Tun Dr Ismail. However at this time of the day we were not allowed to make that turn. So I followed the road till the end and had to make a U-turn, eventually turning into a road called Jalan Sungai Penchala. I was surprised to find such a small narrow road immediately after turning off from that big expressway. After a few turns, we were led up to the top of a hill, then through a short stretch of badly worn road, and then down towards some nicer roads. We eventually got to the place and parked our bikes at the back.

You get the idea that this must be quite a good place with a car park this size at the back! (Photo by Chris)

Sambal Hijau has been a favourite haunt of mine for awhile now. I love how they had so many different types of sambal (spicy salsa) available to pick from to accompany a meal. Also the large variety of lauk pauk available was simply awesome. The guys picked their food and tucked in with glee. I had to remind everyone not to take too much as I had a big lunch planned for them. It proved to be really difficult not to eat too much as the food here was simply outstanding!

Look at the big spread of food…the entire wall on the right is lined with three tiers of food! (Photo by LPG)

My god…this is breakfast???

Take a closer look!

I wasn’t the only one with a big plate of food! (Photo by Chris)

With breakfast over, we headed out onto the Duke. This was a nice easy ride on a wide and smooth expressway. Traffic was much lighter at this time of the day too. We made a stop at the Shell station just before turning into the Karak expressway. This was to be our only fuel stop for today. Everyone fueled up and then we headed onto the Karak expressway towards Pahang.

We made the turnoff at Genting Sempah and headed up towards Janda Baik. The roads here were nice and curvy and empty. The temperature became cooler and cooler as we went further and further uphill. Before long, I made a sharp left turn and we started heading rapidly downhill towards the town of Bukit Tinggi.

From here we headed further east towards the Berjaya Hills and up the fantastic stretch of road towards Colmar Tropicale. I had driven on this stretch of road before and made it a point to be here again with my bike. This road is filled with elevation changes and lots of corners…tight and sweeping, up and down…it is a beautiful road to ride with hardly any traffic. We rode up all the way till we arrive at the entry of Colmar Tropicale, made a U-turn and headed back down. This time we went at a relaxing pace, enjoying the cool and crisp mountain air as we meandered down to the expressway below. It was a fantastic ride!

From here we headed back towards Bukit Tinggi as that was to be our lunch spot. We turned off the expressway and into a road that seemed to lead to nowhere. I could see in my mirror that the guys were ready for me to indicate a U-turn with my hands…just to see me turning into a gate.i could then see them reluctantly follow. I guess we made quite a few U-turns before this!

The Bukit Tinggi BBQ restaurant (Photo by Chris)

Nice parking spot eh? (Photo by Chris)

This restaurant had no signboard outside. One would only find his place if one was exploring or have heard about it from a friend. I found the place very quirky with many umbrellas hanging down from the ceiling…and many wine bottles lining every wall. Very cool.

The wall lined with wine bottles! (Photo by Chris)

Ceiling filled with umbrellas! (Photo by Randy)

We definitely need a group photo with this!

It seems one photo was not enough!

We had a few dishes that were unique to this place. Seafood steam pot, fried egg on cold tofu, chilli fried green chilli and a steam fish. It was a real feast of a meal! But the highlight of this meal was something Randy had been craving for for a few days…BBQ lamb chops. They were succulent…juicy…tender…perfectly cooked and seasoned. Man…it was definitely the crowning piece of the meal!

Steamed seafood pot! This was exquisite!

This looked like just an ordinary dish of fried eggs…

But take a peek underneath and you’ll see tofu! (Photo by Randy)

Fried green chilis…simple but oh so very yummy!

For some reason Bukit Tinggi restaurants are ALL great with their steamed fish dishes!

This was what Randy was craving for the entire time…Lamb!

Hang on guys! Need a picture for the blog! (Photo by Randy)

Attack!!! (Photo by Randy)

When you’re done with the seafood, they use the bottom part of the pot to make a vegetable soup that had infused all the taste of the seafood! I had the honour to serve the soup. (Photo by Randy)

After lunch, it was time to head back to the house and refresh ourselves before heading out again for our afternoon adventure. So after a quick shower, we headed out again…this time in a taxi…and headed for the Subang Skypark Terminal. The journey there was a short and pleasant one. It was really nice. It to have to ride sometimes…we got to enjoy air condition comfort in the taxi…what luxury!

On our way to the Skypark!

We were at the Subang Skypark Terminal for one reason…to have a go at the aircraft simulators. They had two simulators available: the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. The Boeing, being an older aircraft, had a captain’s seat simulator complete with the yoke and rudder controls. The Airbus, being a newer aircraft, had a full two seat simulator complete with all the buttons and switches that the real airplane had. Woohoo!!!

Waiting to fly!

We took our turn at the simulators. Randy and I tried out the Airbus while the others tried out the Boeing. It was a super duper fun and educational experience flying the simulators. They even had switches for switching on the seatbelts and no smoking signs…and we had the opportunity to fly past the twin Petronas towers! What an experience!

Chris took his turn as pilot of the 737!

Me taking my turn on the A320 (Photo by Randy)

Randy learning about the controls of the A320

Flying over KL!

It was fun!!!

Captain!

We finished just in time to head out to the dinner place. It started to rain just as we walked out of the airport terminal. The driver used Waze to find a good route as rains usually mean jams in these parts. What we did not expect was the intensity of the rain. It rained so heavily that many parts began to flood and we were pretty much caged in by the waters. Every road we tried ended up in an impassable passage due to the flood. We circled around for almost two hours before getting out and finally made it to our dinner place.

Super heavy downpour at Subang Skypark! (Photo by Chris)

It was pouring the entire time! (Photo by Chris)

Flooding EVERYWHERE! (Photo by Chris)

Our very worried driver (Photo by Chris)

Teresa originally suggested we go to have crabs at Taman Megah. Unfortunately the place was closed. Even if it was open, we would have to wait hours given we arrived that late. So it was good that we settled on the Restoran Yugayong Seafood located at SS23 Taman Sea for dinner as it was right next to Taman Megah.

It was almost dark by the time we got to the dinner place (Photo by Randy)

We ordered lots of food, as usual, as we were super hungry by that time. Italy Fresh Water Prawns, Roasted Pork Ribs, Nonya Style Steam Tilapia, Paku Vegetables with a Picante Sauce (served in a Tiger Beer glass), Salted Egg Squid and Giant Clams Soup. I don’t know about the rest but I felt like royalty having this much good food in one meal!

Fresh Water Prawn that looked like a lobster!

Nonya style steam fish

Paku vegetables with a picante sauce

Stewed tofu in a claypot

Salted egg fried squid

Roasted ribs!

Giant clam soup

We went on to SS2 after dinner to walk around the night market there. Some of the guys wanted to get a massage after a long week of riding as well. The night market at SS2 was vibrant and colourful with shops lining three streets! There were stalls selling all sorts of things ranging from household items, to clothes, to electronics and food! I always enjoy walking around the night markets in Malaysia.

We headed back to the house at Subang Jaya after the guys finished their massage. It was late by the time we got back but a few of us had energy for drinks and chit chat. It was, afterall, our final night on the ride. It was always good thinking back about the experience from day one…and wishing we had more days. I guess we all had one more day to look forward to…and of course…there is always next year!

Day 1: 511km
Day 2: 568km
Day 3: 161km
Day 4: less than 100km
Day 5: 620km
Day 6: 121km