Actually this trip to me was a blur blur trip from the start as it was only my 2nd riding trip and my 1st time riding in the middle of the night. I met the entire group at GP Esso (instead of Tuas SPC) as I overshot and was already at the Tuas checkpoint...hahaha.
After a short briefing by Lead biker Scarab at GP Esso and setting up the green cilium stick, the convoy moved out at about 1am plus. Everything was just stop and go till the early morning for me; don’t even remember where I have stopped… hahaha.
But once day breaks, I remembered the OT OT (Own Time Own Target) ride to Tapah petrol station. It was then that I sensed my riding trip. The highway was still a bit misty from the cool night. The ride was great from then onwards. I was enjoying the scenery when 2 pulsars(Nemesis_5k and SuVespa) glided past me with riders poised like 'superman' ?!?! Then came Solar in similar fashion! Lol.... Think they should be hitting their top speed of around 120 to 130km/hr.
After the petrol top-up at Tapah, the ride up the curving roads to Cameron Highlands was rather tricky for me initially as I have never been to such tight curves and further more there were slow moving vehicles in a two way one lane roads. Didn’t dare to overtake until much later when a bit of confidence grew or is it bxlls got a bit bigger…hahaha. But still on the cautious side as a lot of tight blind corners all the way up there.
Along the way, the convoy stopped at a beautiful waterfall named Lata Iskandar Waterfall to take some photos and an official photo just in front of the waterfall. Much as some of us wanted to take a dip in the clear water, there was not much time to lose; it was move out again...hahaha.
On the way up, two bikes was close to me as the rest broke up due to the traffic and riders experience. thatone1 (TA200) and Solar (Pulsar180UG3) was mostly with me during the ride up to Bringchan.
I think we arrived our destination at about 1pm plus and had our lunch at one of the stalls.
After lunch, we rode to our lodging Tudor Home Inn just behind the stall that we had lunch. The 4 Pulsars riders were allocated a room and we wasted no time unpacking and got a bath. The heaters were what I would say minimum. You have to set the temperature to maximum and the water flow to minimum to get decent warm water for bathing...lol.
Our appointed representative did not informed us that there was a trip to one of the Strawberry farm at 3.30pm, so the 4 pulsar riders were happily napping away while the rest moved off.
Dinner was a steamboat meal at O.K. Tuck restoran just a few minutes walk away from our lodging. It was great to have a hot meal in the cooling weather. Initially it was much too cool with the fan blowing and the steamboat had a hard time getting to a decent boil...hahaha.. A bit sad as SuVespa had to have his meal on his own as the steamboat was non-halal.
After the meal it was OT OT at the night market just a few minutes walk up the road. They were selling many souvenirs and foods snacks. Bought myself some small souvenirs and a delicious Dageng Ramli burger to satisfy myself.....Yummy....
I was tempted to buy the Char Kway Teow as I saw many people queuing to buy it but seem the stomach doesn’t have any more space to stuff it so it was a pass.
Sleeping time, ehhh.... I can only say it was a symphony.
Next morning 10th Aug 8.30am, we moved out to have our breakfast at another small town nearby. It was a lot of miscommunication at the stall. Our food kept getting mixed up and when we enquired what food is being brought, the staffs were not able to tell us. So we waited for quite some time before everyone got their rightful orders. I was hungry by then and quickly tucked in when mine arrived. My order was a cheese naun with tandoori chicken. Sad to say, although the dish looks good, the chicken was still raw near the bone and the dish was nothing to shout about.
After breakfast was done, we moved down to one of the tea plantation. It has a cafeteria for visitors to have a relaxing sip of tea while enjoying the view. Some of the more adventurous took their ride and went further down the beaten road of the tea plantation to take a closer look of the small man-made water fall at the foot of the hills. SuVespa, Nemesis_5k, PaLmEr, Kushinagar and lost_soul were the ones who rode down. Me? I just sat at the ledge of the cafeteria and enjoy the view and weather.
Next we rode to the small BOH tea plantation and the road up there was narrow and sandy with blind twists. Speed was slow as it was really sandy at some turns. When we reach, it was dismount and a climb up a hill to have a better view of the plantation. This climbing up was kind of tiring but the cool wind and view at the top made up for the effort.
Sleeping time, ehhh.... I can only say it was a symphony.
Next morning 10th Aug 8.30am, we moved out to have our breakfast at another small town nearby. It was a lot of miscommunication at the stall. Our food kept getting mixed up and when we enquired what food is being brought, the staffs were not able to tell us. So we waited for quite some time before everyone got their rightful orders. I was hungry by then and quickly tucked in when mine arrived. My order was a cheese naun with tandoori chicken. Sad to say, although the dish looks good, the chicken was still raw near the bone and the dish was nothing to shout about.
After breakfast was done, we moved down to one of the tea plantation. It has a cafeteria for visitors to have a relaxing sip of tea while enjoying the view. Some of the more adventurous took their ride and went further down the beaten road of the tea plantation to take a closer look of the small man-made water fall at the foot of the hills. SuVespa, Nemesis_5k, PaLmEr, Kushinagar and lost_soul were the ones who rode down. Me? I just sat at the ledge of the cafeteria and enjoy the view and weather.
Next we rode to the small BOH tea plantation and the road up there was narrow and sandy with blind twists. Speed was slow as it was really sandy at some turns. When we reach, it was dismount and a climb up a hill to have a better view of the plantation. This climbing up was kind of tiring but the cool wind and view at the top made up for the effort.
Took some decent photos and also some of Nemesis_5k and stoner “exclusive suggestive” photos...lol. Censored
Next we rode to a bigger BOH plantation and man by then I was hungry. Along the way there, almost came close to kissing PaLmEr ride as he suddenly realize a good photo spot and stopped at the side at a small turn while I was following him from behind. Luckily I was still alert and manage to avoid with lots of space to spare. So guys, be on the alert and not be lulled into complacency during all riding trips.
When we reached BOH tea plantation, it was official photo taking time with all rides parked in line and riders beside it. Once up in the cafeteria, I ordered a raspberry tart and a cup of Strawberry/Raspberry tea. It tasted so good as I was hungry by then. =P
Next we rode to a bigger BOH plantation and man by then I was hungry. Along the way there, almost came close to kissing PaLmEr ride as he suddenly realize a good photo spot and stopped at the side at a small turn while I was following him from behind. Luckily I was still alert and manage to avoid with lots of space to spare. So guys, be on the alert and not be lulled into complacency during all riding trips.
When we reached BOH tea plantation, it was official photo taking time with all rides parked in line and riders beside it. Once up in the cafeteria, I ordered a raspberry tart and a cup of Strawberry/Raspberry tea. It tasted so good as I was hungry by then. =P
Lunch was at the town’s KFC outlet. It was yummy as by then I was totally famished. Next was a trip to the Cactus Farm which was just behind our hotel. We rode there and it was OT OT after the entrance. I took some photos and found that Nemesis_5k was very fascinated with the varieties of cactus. Later back in Singapore then did I get to know that his parents are avid cactus lovers and spent the whole night admiring the species that he brought back that day. His bike was like a delivery bike with the cactus packed in a carton box secured on his passenger seat. He kept saying “India Pulsar way to go.”
I found another Strawberry farm further up from the cactus farm and the farm was very neat and organized. There was also Hydroponics farming being done there. Actually I was led up there by the enticing advertisement banners being put up by the strawberry café. Honey yogurt strawberry, strawberry milk shake, strawberry waffle etc... Yummy food trail.
Finally found the café and got myself a Honey yogurt strawberry and sat down there to enjoy the dessert. It was delicious; the honey was fresh and sweet. A while later 2 other riders Dr Wong (spark135) and xiangkia (X1R) also came up and they ordered one dessert same as mine and a waffle with strawberry and ice-cream topping.
Dinner was at a Malay restoran less then 5 min walk away, which was the only time SuVespa had a meal with the whole group.
I tried to knock-off before the symphony starts but not much success. But still I got my much needed rest towards the early morning. =P
11th Aug 7.00am, all pulsars woke up to have an early breakfast before moving out at 8.30am. It was roti-prata for breakfast and I ordered 2 which was a bit too much for me cos the portion was rather big per piece.
At 8.30am, the whole group check out of the Inn and proceeded to O.K. Tuck ( place where we had our 1st dinner ). Then it was waiting and waiting and waiting which I don’t even know why such a long wait. Finally about 1hr later, the convoy moved out but stopped and waited at a kinder-garden. Here we took some photos of the old school and cute kids.
After some more waiting, we were going down to Ipoh from the other side of Cameron Highlands via Simpang Pulai where the roads are newer with exhilarating twist and turns and a view to match.
That’s the high point for me in this trip. The turns were excellent for cornering! There were also no vehicles on the way down. Most riders were broken up and I found myself riding down alone with only the exciting road and mountains with me. I became a speed demon wannabe and was attacking corners like I’ve never done before in Singapore. My foot pegs and boots were literally touching the roads at every corner. Kudos too to the new Battlelax BT039 that I have changed to before the trip, it was solidly gripping the road with every corners I took. At some points, I was yelling out with excitement! But still guys don’t throw caution to the wind. Found a video in Youtube and a link to give an idea how the downhill ride looks like :
Cameron Highlands Downhill Video
Simpang Pulai
Then the corners became shorter and sharper with the weather becoming warmer, I knew the downhill ride was coming to an end. At these corners, I became very cautious and slowed down. Finally SuVespa caught up with me and overtook me. Later he told me that he saw me somewhere in the middle of the downhill turns and was trying to catch up with me but lost sight of me ( Maybe I was too good then, =P joking lah ).
Finally I reached flat land Ipoh and the weather was hot hot hot! Saw the markers and stopped by the road side and SuVespa came over and told me how he tried to catch up with me when he saw me up there. Must give him some respect as of all the pulsar riders, he’s the more experienced of us.
The convoy went for a petrol top-up and had lunch at one of the coffee shop nearby. After lunch, the convoy moved out and was skirting around KL towards Tapah petrol station. The rest of the organizers were to join the group there.
This is the part where it got interesting for me. Kushinagar decided to move forward for the rest of the organizers to meet-up at Sungei Buloh last petrol station. Bigcow wife decided to stay and wait for Bigcow while Sweeper who-noe also decided to stay and wait for the main organizers.
The whole convoy moved out from there. I was following closely to the front group which is lead by Stephen/Deauville650 and Atlantic 200/John both with equipped GPS.
The trip was supposed to be about 120km ride. When reaching Sungei Buloh, it was past 120km on my meter and I saw the 2 lead showing hands signal pointing to the GPS and hands up in the air like "where the hell is it". It was at this point where I slowed down to about 60~70km/hr. There was no markers along all rest points so I moved forward(convoy rule) until I came to a Y split. The left turns takes me to JB, while the right goes to KL. Instinctively I took the left turn towards JB and I made a stop at about 400m after the turn and parked at a bike rain shelter.
I realized I had overshot the rest point but there was no panic as I knew I was on the correct route. I made a call to Nemesis_5k that I was further up the highway. During the wait, there was a police checkpoint made just after I stopped and I was thinking did I violate anything? The officers were friendly and asked about me. I replied politely that I was waiting for my friends. Phew! Thought they were going to book me for something or nothing!?!
Nemesis_5k called back and ask me to wait under the bridge a bit further up. I geared up and was waiting patiently and finally I saw the lead biker Scarab followed by the whole convoy. I joined the group happily giving the thumbs-up. Luckily our Pulsars have a longer ride range and were able to move forward without the need to top-up. The traffic was more congested during this part of the journey, the big bikes were able to overtake with ease whereas we 2B had to take more pre-caution when over-taking.
Dinner was at somewhere near Seribum A&W (can’t remember clearly), the 4 of us Pulsars packed out and sat down on the floor to have a meal together with Kushinagar on the floor. It was quite an experience to eat this way. Captured it on photo.
Moving out was in small packets after this point. The cubs and Alantic 200s were to leave 1st with Deauville650 leading and Kushinagar sweeping. Our Pulsars were to move out 10mins later with the TA200 leading and SuVespa sweeping. During this hops, I realized that we were able to keep up with the TA200 but when there’s a slight up slope, the TA200 being a bit on the heavy side, tends to drop speed at these slopes.
In no time, I was surprised to see in front of us the 1st packet of cubs. We overtook them and were at the next station at Machap in no time. The next hop to GP Esso was pretty much the same order. But I realize Nemesis_5k has a problem maintaining his alertness along the way, he started to slow down and was drifting from left to right within the lane.
The whole convoy managed to reached GP Esso safely and after a final top up and a short de-brief by the Lead biker Scarab, the trip ended and we were on our way back to Singapore.
Finally, this trip was a great experience for me as this is only my 2nd long distance trip. Total distance covered at the end of the trip was 1253km. It was the 1st convoy trip for me and the experience gained will be remembered forever. It helped to bond the Pulsars team together and you can bet there will be future trips to come. Maybe Thailand!?!?
Most importantly we went as a group and came back as one. The organizers were very experienced and took great care to ensure everyone came back safely. Thanks to all of organizers for the efforts and the participants who went for this trip to make it a successful and memorable one.
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