Day 1: Skudai-Kota Tingi

Date: 3rd April 2005
Distance: 45km

Mixed feelings and Murphy
So the day finally arrived. We were to gather at June’s place for a hearty breakfast at…7am? I remember feeling very excited, very nervous, very apprehensive, very unprepared. And Murphy’s Law struck that morning. My bicycle lock got stuck! After trying relentlessly, using means like a knife, spanner…I called the guys over. Ngiam and Jiin Kae came over and eventually, the key also got stuck with the lock. Resolving to violence once again, Ngiam took a hammer and ended the life of the bicycle lock there and then…problem solved.

Breakfast was blueberry jam with pandan bread, thanks to June who have the best motherly instincts. Gathering there, we were doing last minute “touch ups”, mostly trying to secure our baggage’s on the bike. We took off first for Joshua’s place. As promised during last night’s mamak session, Joshua was supposed to send us off. True to his words, he was ready with his camera and a flag (the Sarawak state flag). We spent some time trying to find a spot to place the camera on a flat surface for a group pic. By the time we headed off, it was 8:30am.

We steered towards Pasir Gudang, using the Johor-Singapore highway. The ride went smoothly for 15 minute, with us stopping occasionally at traffic lights and riding as near to the shoulders to avoid being squashed into Roti Canai (as described by Jiin Kae’s dad). We turned into the Pasir Gudang highway, so far so good. Then after 1km….poof! Lady luck was not smiling anymore. June’s tire was flat. Ah!There is a petrol kiosk near…a Projet.

Question of the day, how many people does it take to fix a bike? Well, June’s bike is no ordinary LeRun or BMX. The bike, worth a four figure sum, had super tires which took super skills to fix. June was fully prepared with those hard to get spares. The main problem was getting the inner tube rubber detached from the metal frame. Definitely we needed brains and not brawn.

A few calls to June’s bf. A few drinks from Projet. Plans. How about calling Kim Own? No, he is back in KL. Aimin? Gosh, do we turn back? No way. Not after the way Steven betted on us not being able to make it. Ok, let’s try again. Occasional yells of “妈Maaaaa的de!” from Ngiam as he forces the thing out. Violence is the solution! Oops, we broke a part of the metal tubing. How come cannot, I tried before and it was easy. Hey, that’s Nara!(An AIESECer, stopped by for petrol.)

So it went on in this pattern for two hours. I have no idea how we did it in the end, but the stubborn piece of rubber came off in the end. God bless us!

In the midst of it all, I was also smsing away. To friends and family, telling them the first part of the journey went quite safely, no one was hurt, just a small hiccup and we’re stuck in Projet now. I also got a cute one back:

“Today’s breakin news: a crane, a rhino, a moose & a giraffe was spotted on da highway2 kt tinggi…drivers bware & make way 4 this convoy unless u want ur tires gone & hair exploding. Tis public service announcemt was brought2u by jess.fm” happy cycling!!:D hugs…

Dear sweet jess…:)

By the time the commotion ended, it was around 11 in the morn. Lunchtime! I took out my Mosley bars and I can’t remember what else I bought to eat. Soon, we were ready to continue on.

Getting the rhythm
Pretty soon, we turned into a double lane highway with less traffic. The journey there was windy with super super hills. We passed a fish farm/shop called Molly fish( heaven knows why I jotted this down in my journal). I was developing a major butt ache and the hills were not a help at all. To keep going, I chewed on my Wringley’s gum, forming a constant rhythm. I kept my mind preoccupied, to lure it away from the pain or tiredness. And of course, without needing to try, I was already constantly thinking about Brandstorm. Songs kept running inside my head. Sarabande from the Levis advert, I was wondering how Gayaneh suite would suit our mood, recalling Bjork’s weird MTVs, thinking about the Carnival of Animals etc.

For people who prefer visualizing tales…I’ll try to describe how we look. In the order we were cycling:

Jiin Kae aka Giraffe:
Greenish Le Run, Brown normal size backpack, MHS rectangular bag filled with 2 sleeping bags tied to the rack at the back together with the tent, yellow Youthopia shirt matched with a longer sexy bicycle pants

Me! aka Crane:
Orang white Montana (Aimin’s), porcupine helmet, gloves, sandals, blue sleeveless shirt, navy wind breaker, long track pants, red backpack, big green sleeping bag and june’s bag tied to the rack at the back…I am the most covered J

June aka Rhino:
Red pro looking jersey, riding on an even more pro looking bike, porcupine helmet, gloves, sandals, short pants, black backpack…she looked the most prepared for the journey J

Ngiam aka Moose:
Blue Montana, big red backpack, camping tent tubes/sticks jutting out at the back of his backpack, tiny sleeping bag squeezed at the front frame, T-shirt with an extra sexy short bicycle padded pants, sunglasses (and at one time when the rain came, his goggles…he says he keeps the sunblock flowing into his eyes)…overall, he looks like he is ready for war.

The ride was not yet so intimidating. We made quite a lot of stops, making it hard to build consistency, but Jiin Kae’s bike wasn’t as canggih, so we needed to compromise as a team.
4km from Sri Saujana, we met an army guy who was on a bike. I think we were stopping for a rest or to readjust our luggage and out of curiosity this army guy came over for a chat. He was doing arms training, had 16 years of exp in the army and was under UTM ATMA. As we were talking, grey clouds began to gather. We excused ourselves and sped off, hoping to avoid the rain, but in vain. We got a little drenched.

After 45km
Reached Kota Tinggi at around 5pm. I am not sure what we did first, but it was the following. Checked into an inn owned by a Chinese, which was quite nice and clean. Jiin Kae put his bargaining skills into good use and got us a great price. Went around looking for bicycle shops to get spares I think and check on our bikes. Got ourselves ice kacang which tasted simply beautiful! Had chicken rice for dinner and some ice mango pudding desert thinghy.

In the night, all four of us squeezed into the room. Three of us were on the bed and Ngiam took the cushions from the sofas to form a mattress on the floor. Out came the journals and diaries, except for Jiin Kae, who tried to peek on what Ngiam was writing and got a “Whooooaay!”. So Jiin Kae started dictating what he would write and commented that he had very good writing skills in Mandarin. Could not remember much, but it was quite good, beginning with the very cliché Chinese phrase, “在一个风和日丽的早上…”(“On a bright and sunny morning…”)

We knocked out quite early and hence the first day, one fifteenth of our journey.

How it all begun...

The first was a tumble of enthusiasm and coincidence which ended up with Ngiam, Aimin and I making our way to Orchid Valley to “crash” the annual Local Leadership Development Seminar. That first trip was quite a nightmare for me, having no choice but to use my ancient rusty four year old bike. The trip there was tiring yet memorable, being the first ever such experience. I think we started around seven in the morning (hoping to escape the scorching afternoon sun) and took at least one hour before we reached Orchid Valley. On the way, we happen to meet pro-looking cyclist with even more pro-looking bicycles perched on top of their four wheel drives. If not for them, we could not have fixed Aimin’s punctured bicycle. That was when it hit me that technical know-hows are going to be a matter of making the trip a pain-staking one or an enjoyable one.

This group of cyclists was from Singapore and armed with all kinds of cool looking gadgets which were totally alien to me. We innocently told them that we plan to Thailand and were instantly greeted with exclamations of disbelieve. I was thinking, “Wow, even the pros are against it….must be something worth doing!” Well, that’s just me. :)

The journey begins... 

There and back again

The second trip, we were more adventurous. Having made it to Orchid Valley, it was time to stretch our limits further, so the next destination was obviously Gunung Pulai, the famous waterfall for UTM students wanting some time away from civilization. This time it was just between me and Ngiam. Armed with better bikes, we made it there (a rough 20km) in an hour, an improvement. Our fish loving and nature enthusiast Ngiam was set on exploring a new path to the top of the hill and me being quite adventurous, decided to follow him on his quest upwards to find the water source. Following a small stream, we hiked in unchartered area of the dense forest, pausing often to push some vegetations or thorny plants (which seemed to form a strong affinity to Ngiam, perhaps because of the type of fabric he was wearing).

This went on for almost two hours, and still the water source was not to be found. It was becoming a nightmare. Before our eyes the hill seemed an eternity upwards, blocked with a maze of greenery sprouting in all shapes and sizes. Behind was another eternity jungle of green life and I could not even see whence we came from. Worst of all, the small stream seemed to have evaporated into thin air, probably dried and shriveled up during the last dry season. I began to remember my lessons from the National Park (Taman Negara), trying to alert my pseudo animal instincts to any signs of water source and also surrounding menace.

At that instance, we both agreed that since we had endured that much of torturing, the only way was to finish it off by continuing the journey UP!


(To people who are reading this and are interested in small and sharp details, you might have noticed I have failed to include our bikes till now. Well, they are tied to some trees at the bottom of the hill, and no, of course we are not crazy enough to carry them with us.)


It was a glorious feeling when we spotted the top after three hours of endless hiking (with stops in between). Since this is not a fiction, I could not tell you happily that we found the water source, because the top was as dried as those dates served during Chinese New Year or Muslim break fast dinners. I was exhausted, thirsty and sweating like a pig. Water supply was really low. It was lunch hour and the only edibles we had was a big packet of Mamee.

It is funny that at odd moments in life, small things become such cravings to you. Like the time I yearned for sambal (spicy prawn paste) during the three months in Beijing and the time I wanted so much to eat a McD cheeseburger in the middle of the night. During the whole hike in Gunung Pulai, I had one yearning, and that was to drink cold icy sweet orange juice!

After rest, we made our way down and I was personally worried about getting lost. The highlight of the whole trip was when Ngiam suddenly alerted and stopped me. To my delight and horror, a slithery bright green snake was basking in the sun atop a seven foot tree, which was approximately four meters away from us. I was immediately awakened to the fact that we did not belong here at all. The menace was us. It was the same feeling I had that during the “Burung Hantu” night walk. Even the mosquitoes belonged there more than us.

Getting back to civilization was a real relief. We had our needed meal at almost four. I immediately ordered something cold to drink. The instant the smooth cold feeling gushed into my throat; I felt I was in heaven. That sensation had since climbed my chart of “most euphoric moments in life”. You see, little things like this are what makes life worth experiencing and living J

The misadventure of our second cycling trip ended with the curtains of sunset rays falling on our sweaty backs.