Biking for Brunch

 

Not Singapore

Readjusting back to life after our dreamlike escape to Thailand’s Andaman Coast took some getting used to. No more unfamiliar restaurants, hotels, and late nights trolling the ‘walking streets’ in search of stimuli. Back to the familiar, meant the same roads, same directions, same places to eat, even the same bikes to ride. Yay. But this is Singapore, go away for 30% of a month, and viola, there will be change.

I decided to head out further today to our island’s East Coast, expensive yet sublime living by the sea, lots of eateries, a nice bike path and home to half  a dozen bike shops in one stretch of road. First I have to deal with 12 kms of cross island cycling.

As you can tell roads and traffic takes precedence over everything else

Surprise, surprise ! A shared path along Paya Lebar Road, a two lane that has 'blossomed' into an eight lane with an expressway tunnel to boot

It's still quite new and tricky with a road bike, not that the sand bag was in the way when I am shod with 28C rubber

It was too good to be true, all 800 metres of it as more factories and another widened road (Old Airport Rd) got in the way

I shouldn’t complain as traffic was light and quite courteous for Singapore, and I soon reached the shady suburbs of Katong. My great plans to ride by the beach was thwarted when I rode by the once highly touted Dunman Food/Hawker Centre. I’ve been here before and my mind searched it’s data bank for the delights within it. Wan Ton Noodles came up. 11.35 am. Just right. If fact, I recalled this place being a battle field among a trio of noodle stalls laying claim to who was the first and best. As a stranger to this neighbourhood, whoever was still in business must be the triumphant victor in their very own food feud.

In some serious cases, er fights, the police, boiling water and knives were involved !  That was in the past, it’s better for all to let their customers taste buds be the judge.

Shady Dunman Road

Dark and danky Dunman FC (food centre not football club!)

Whenever a hawker dish like the humble wan tan noodles is up for accolades, one must consider the fact that, try as best they can, some hawkers just cant get all the various components right. I mean there are at least 4, the noodles, the roasted red pork (char siew, locally, ‘moo daeng’ in Thai ) the wantons, and for me the chilli sauce. Veggeis and soup are lesser considerations. The first appeals more to the fairer sex, and having more soup as a filler is a waste of time, and yes, you’ve been cheated.

Shiok ! Google it.

Pardon the DOF. Had to sneak in this quick shot as the stall holders seemed a weary and wary lot

The Dunman Rd noodles wins on 3.5 counts out of 4.

Noodles : perfect, springy and not overcooked. These are almost pasta like and filling. None of those tasteless shiny, alkaline based crap from a factory somewhere else.

The wantons : 4 or 5 of them on the plate. I had a mild shock upon not finding them in the soup bowl, but herein lies the fact that they get soggy waiting in the bowl. Plus the sight of the wantons and char siew over the lip smacking noodles made the meal look larger than it is.

The chilli was smooth and red, reminiscent of that in school canteens of my generation. It was noodles all way, with exotic cuisine like pizza and sushi unheard off. Smooth chiili sauce is also great in that there are no sinewy bits of dried shrimp and or garlic and what not found in other chilli pastes. It was a tad salty, but being on the side, you’ll be able to add as much or as little into the mix. More importantly it was fiery, blended no doubt with chilli padi, the small red hot ones.

The char siew was not so much of a let down but,  again tastes differ. Theirs was on the soft fatty side  (meaning : cheap or the chef’s, meaning mother wasn’t in the mood today)  Don’t expect the grandly roasted, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside found in posh eateries. Those stalls with perfect char siew usually have crappy noodles and portions that will be just right for a teenage hamster. Consistency is the bugbear of all cooks and restaurants.

Exactly 8 minutes later, and yes I chewed, a bit

Hey all this for S$3.00 upsized noodles too!  ($2.50 if you’re stingy or on a diet)  Some noodle stalls have already outsourced their char siew. What a crime.

The last component, the wan tons were heavenly. Thick skinned and succulent, flavourful (a hint of sesame oil) minced pork inside. None of the extra padded trimmings of water chestnuts and yuks, green peas that fill in for pork. if you’re fussy about the moo daeng, just get  the wanton and noodles. My game plan the next time.  (BTW friend wantons?  Gimme a break. An evil plan by yuppie hawkers to attract clientele still in their school uniforms. Fried wantons with mayonnaise. Yeah, soon to be on McD’s menu.)

I suppose the healthier version of what I had will involve a full bowl of soup, but what is the point?  I see most people leaving the soup , having polished off everything else, and are still dreaming of the oily chillied goodness of the dried version.

Oops I forgot the oil ! Definitely lard, but refined, clear as olive oil lard, no chunky bits your doctor or slim wife warned you about. If your wife is a slim doctor/cardiologist/nutritionist, may will power and God help you. Actually 10,000 km or more, on a road bike each year works too. See, there is hope. The lubricant blends all the components like a well oiled (pun intended) machine, and your taste buds will thank you for it. About the chilli, take your time, Having it go down the wrong tract, leaving your red face gasping for air is not…..cool.

Madame has her feet up as I 'cof-feed'

Dunman Rd noodles is also blessed with a nearby coffee shop that has good, what else coffee, even a Vietnamese blend @ $1.20 a cup. I can’t write about the lunch crowds, I wasn’t there!

Oh yeah opened , 11 am – 10 pm every day except Thursday.  Sole survivor hours I guess.

Dunman FC is eerily quiet (equals clean bathrooms) and the preferred choice of Shell pump attendants and the sole roadie

We just wanted to welcome you to our $2 million home. Please read carefully.

On a full stomach, it's time for a visual treat at the Rebound Center http://thereboundcentre1995.blogspot.com/

Sleeping on the Bay

 

In another world

With the opening of the gargantuan $6 billion Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort* at Singapore’s Marina Bay, our ‘little’ skyline has changed dramatically over the last 5 years. New skyscrapers, a new marina, a promenade and a new coastal highway, parts if it an undersea tunnel will keep our building contractors very very busy. One good spin off from all this building is that some parts of downtown are now more open to cycling. It’s actually faster to cycle when traffic is moving at 12.5 kmp/h. Parking and driving, looking  for an expensive lot sucks, cars can’t drive on the very wide promenades, walking sucks even more as, well, you’d have to walk a lot, in the unshaded areas.

*MBS IR = politically correct term for CASINO. Yes after many years of resistance, and debates, money talks and conscience walks……… but why am I complaining, we’ve got another (yes) posh hotel room and restaurants to try out. I could not even bring one of my folding toys to ride around the Fullerton Bay Hotel. They sent a 3 month old Mercedes E250 to pick us up from home and back.

A balcony view of the MBS and the bay

36 shots of Nespresso coffee for 24 hours. Just about right. Tea is for women

A spanking new throne with a phone to tell someone about the spring loaded toilet seat

Bath time with Ms Rice. A motorised screen will roll down to cover the glass window if you're shy

Designer suds

See through weighing machine. Hide it if you like an afternoon 'high tea'

High tea....see what I mean ?

The 5th floor pool with the 'old' city skyline. 50 laps ought to work out yesterday's tea

OK dear this is better than cycling home. You win. We did !

 

 

Seeking wanderlust

 

A name with many twinking lights to get you wondering

Down in the depths of Serangoon Road or rather Singapore’s ‘Little India’ we chanced upon a quirky establishment billing itself as just ‘Wanderlust’ A bronze plaque on a ground floor pillar gives some insight into the building’s history. It was old, it was a former boys’ school, (in the 1930′s) it was imposing in it’s heyday and I believe if it’s been gazetted as a conservation building by our urban planning authorities, it cannot be torn down.

However, gutting the insides totally and turning it into a hip hotel and restaurant, while leaving the exterior in it’s refurbished splendour is OK. Besides it’s cheeky name, one has also to ‘wonder’ what dining and spending a night here will lead to. You will need 29 nights to try out each different themed room.

We had a room, rather loft with some 'vegetation' on the ceiling. Officially, it's called the 'tree monster' The steel ladder made for a good workout!

On the lower level, there's a bath and toilet, and a flat screen TV to the right of a small desk. There's a larger 42" TV in the loft.....no fighting over the remote

The bath is a tight squeeze with a view of the street below, or of yourself if the shades are up

I got a bit dizzy looking at all that mosaic

Had a peek into the 'princess' themed room. Double glazed windows as in our room to keep the street noise (unsuccessfully) out

I don't know what to make of this but it's not leading to a diving board, but another loft bedroom

The jacuzzi at the back of the hotel

 

Prologue : Singapore – Bangkok – Udon Thani – Nong Khai: Getting there is half the fun

Wednesday November 5, 2008

Or half the torture, if you like multiple take offs and landings and have a burning desire to see Bangkok’s massive new airport, Suvarnabhumi (one of many spellings) I’d rather something easier to remember, like Swamp Bunny.

Flying on a low cost airline like Air Asia also meant going through immigration and checking out our bike boxes and repeating the same but opposite process on each and every sector. Thankfully we’re doing this only twice in a day, at the start and end of our trip. 3 and 6 hour layovers to and fro left us quite frazzled and no amount of fake red lipped smiles from tightly outfitted stewardesses could ease the drudgery of killing time in a busy airport. I Pod to the rescue.

My partners in grime for this foray in to Laos are Alvin and his University of Hawaii and Oregon buddy Koh Gay, henceforth referred to as KG for short. We quickly found some solace in a small eatery where the airport employees hang out, eating almost real Thai food at almost real Thai prices. Like us they played refugees from the many fancy and relatively expensive restaurants where first time arrivals don’t know better, and splurge out on crappy $10 hamburgers or tasteless pseudo ‘Asian’ wanton noodles. Now if you’re really in a pinch, and that can happen on the final day of your trip, there’s no shame in heading for the freezers of 7/11 or Family Mart to try out a host of Thai style TV dinners. Microwaved on the spot with a smile. Tasty spicy stuff when you dont want to fill up too much before flying.

And I suppose studying in Hawaii has it’s dreamlike tropical perks. Us guys are also from the Hawaii Five-O and Magnum PI era. What’s there in Oregon you ask? Well for starters, there’s BIke Friday, and a host of other bike companies, which at that time, to my pal Alvin, was as alien a concept as cycle touring in Laos. Of course, we know better now.

By the time we landed in Udon Thani, 60 kms from the Mekong River and into Laos, it’s late. 6 pm late and dark. An info counter selling bus tickets to Nong Khai or even Vientiane is just past customs to make your life easier. A fixed 200 Thai Baht per passenger in a VIP minibus to the border. Seeing big bike boxes, the helpful grandma and grandpa manning it, make a few quick calls. To hasten things, we reluctantly add another 100 Baht for each box. Udon is my favourite Thai provincial airport. I spot a Lao Airline poster advertising direct flights from Udon to Luang Prabang just a week ago.

A quick 45 minute ride in a twin cab Hilux pick up brings us to Nong Khai town, right on the river. My previous ride to Nong Khai was at 8 am, last January in very foggy conditions. I am destined not to see the countryside on both occasioins.

We check in to the Ruan Thai guesthouse’s Bungalow D, a great deal for 2 huge beds that sleeps 4 in a teakwood house at Thb 1000. My regular place next door, the Khiang Khong was booked out, even with email and phone reservations guaranteeing 2 rooms. Darn TIT! meaning short for, This Is Thailand. What were you thinking?

Reservations in these parts work when the rooms are empty the day before you arrive. If there’s a guest in your so called reserved room who is a long stayer, maybe more than 3 days, most proprietors are loath to ask that guest to move out. Since we arrived at the ‘agreed’ time of 6 – 7 pm, there was this excuse that we were late ! TIT logic rearing it’s ugly head.

Frienddhip Bridge at sunset

Penang to Singapore: Homeward Bound

Friday May 14, 2010

Had a very relaxed morning looking to buy one of those rip stop nylon folding duffel bags for all my stuff as I did not feel like packing the panniers for a flight. At a small back lane rife with litter I see a huge crowd lining up for something that must be yummy. Looked like coffee and toast and soft boiled eggs. Gary from the bike shop was there with 2 nubile and lanky girls with funny tan lines on the arms and thighs, just like me. At least let me pay for BF I said, in return for the bike box and getting to know lanky girls with funny tan lines.

With BF, goodbyes and duffel bag done, as per usual, I always like to lie flat and ponder over the whole trip, the good the bad and the ugly, while staring blankly at the ceiling and slow spinning fan.

As the flight was 1715 hrs and check out was extended to 1300 hrs, and it is just 1000 hrs now, I figured vegetating till 1500 hrs when the taxi arrives, would not be productive. I go down to the palatial Chinese 70s inspired decor (read : tacky as hell) lobby to chit chat with Mr Hong, who vehemently denies that he’s the owner of the Hong Ping, lest I have kidnapping plans for a small time tycoon like him. He’s the smug one who kept the TV remote for 202.

 

CEO of the Hong Ping chain

We discuss everything Penang and I got some pretty good insights. He told me not to come during year’s end. Prices are doubled and they still have to turn away guests. I did that once in 1998 and learnt my lesson. There’s a massage place in front where a coffee shop used to be. The one that Muslim men are banned from and have to go all the way to Hat Yai for their jollies.

How did I know, asked Mr Hong. Well you see, in the last millenium, more precisely 1989, when I was a bike touring virgin, me and 3 friends stayed at the venerable Hong Ping. Sleep was not easy as when any car passed by, the whole front room would rattle. NO AC or TV remotes in those days. Back to the center for muscular and joint relief. Malaysian MR$50/ or abt US$15 per hour base price, more for hanky panky. After that duffel bag, I am just MR$45 short.

Being a majority Chinese state in a majority Malay/Islamic country has it’s challenges too. Every business sign has to have a Malay translation, which cannot be smaller than 50% of the English one. So Emma’s Boutique will have ‘Butik Emma’ under it. Or John’s Restaurant is followed by ‘Restoran John’ Good times for signboard makers. A tad confusing for English readers.

Also of interest are the famously infamous ‘Khalwat’ or ‘close proximity’ laws. Who knows, if you fall out of love with your bike and in love with a local, research like this IS vital,

‘Know Your Rights!’ http://www.wao.org.my/news/20030104knowrghts_khalwat.htm

In the meantime, mention Penang to any one, and you’ll be asked what are you going to eat / have eaten there? It actually makes sense to start a trip in Penang and cycle off somewhere just to burn off those calories.

Choose your own 'slop'

Wantan mee @ midnight

Blood red tandori chicken

Phuket

 

Phuket’s beaches thru the looking glass

Sunday May 2, 2010, 38 km (24 miles) – Total so far: 38 km (24 miles)

Touchdown in Phuket at high noon, and the sun/UV is intense. Found a quiet airconditioned corner of the arrival hall to build up the bike. It was quite a dump actually, only airport workers sleeping/skiving in a forgotten corner where the other tourists bypass, unless you’re that agitated Ellen Barkin look alike waiting for the Post Office to open. Being Sunday after all, I guess lunch hour can be doubled.

One bonus though is the large free standng AC unit pumping out cold air. Just what I needed before setting off. Then again the few drops of water which I mistook for misty cool goodness smelt funny and a cursory look upwards revealed a ceiling panel with brown water stains close to some leaking sewer pipes. Yikes, no wonder the cleaning lady came by with a mop to clean off a tile, yes just one tile a foot square, every few minutes or so. I thought she could be admiring the bike or worse me!

Got everything together in about 35 minutes then it’s out of the doors into a Thai sauna. Had a look see at the airport shuttle bus into town. Thb 85 or about $3 bucks for the 35 km ride. The ticket office is on the departure floor, one level up, next to Burger King, dont ask me why, this is Thailand. Changed my mind when I saw the state of the buses, belching thick, black smoke, that belong more in a scrapyard than the roads. The local government is trying it’s level best but the only maintenance that can happen here, is usually a total replacement.

All fixed up and ready to go

For those heading to the west coast beaches, you’ll have to deal with other tuk tuk operators, not unlike sharks, who’ll charge what they can get. If cycling then the are no worries (well the buses are handy in a thunderstorm) Just head left out of the airport gates, ignore the shouting as I did to turn right where the Phuket signs tell you to. This is a bit longer and hillier with real estate signs tempting you to get that hill side pool villa for $5 million. The narrow road left runs alongside the runway and the control tower on a hill, for 2.6 kms before the T junction that is Rte 402 south to Phuket town and north tothe Andaman Coast and other provinces. That’s on tomorrow’s plate.

I manage another 6 kms before the first Thai meal beckoned, a small eatery in front of a house seperated by a small drain and the road where everyone drives like a bat out of hell, ie way too fast. Fried rice and a lemon juice and all the free (almost) iced water for a thirsty cyclist. The chef, all of 18 yrs old used a small tea spoon to taste every dish she made, and when she couldn’t find it, she used her index finger. Hmmm.

Lots of roadies out on the highway today being Sunday. Got tapped on the right, um butt by one of the guys, as they zoomed by. Well it could / should have been a girl, on that carbon Pinarello tri bike, but it wasn’t. Later on a few loud Harleys zoomed by, (are there quiet Harleys??) also another sign that this island is quite the tropical playground. What brought on a smile, was the huge white and wide girth farang riding the bikes each had a trophy Thai GF riding pillion. She was small and petite enough, that from afar you could mistake her for a small brown backpack clinging on to the back of the rider. It is also highly possible, I have not done any in depth research, that most tall big boned Thai women, were formerly men. As a silly ignorant tourist, I can make such generalsations. If you’re a real tall Thai woman, emphasis on real, please feel free to comment via the guest book. And keep it civil.

Traffic got higher on the last kms into town and a small hill just to irritate you and the first day’s ride with a heavy bike. At times it felt like riding in any other big city. Many many long strip malls, but being Thailand, there were also remnants of pineapple, rubber and palm oil plantations, which won’t be around for long.

They were not kidding about the heat

Found the Sunwest Guesthouse on Soi Phanga 2, a narrow building with free internet terminals in the lobby. Huge glass panels superheated by the evening sun. Inside there are 2 English girls, larger than life, over tanned and sunburnt, rear ends welded to the polyester cushioned chairs, by their own sweat. Like most travellers who are not on a bicycle, they were looking for things to do.

“Let’s go to the islands, which one? There are so many”

“How do we get there?”

“Umm, by boat I think”

Locked the bike under the stairs and said a big hello to the AC vents in my room.

Dinner was surprisingly good, mock meats that tasted better than the real ones. Plus the nublile young girls on the web page had my lovely wife questioning my motives for dining @ www.kopidephuket.com

Note to wife : Young girls are there for advertising and publicity. The staff on that Sunday night though young, were eons away from the made up starlets on the site.

I had visions of having breakfast here the next day, but my heart sank when they said their opening time was 11 am. I think that was their closing time. They do open at 9.30 in the morning, after checking their website….. a month later.

 

 

 

 

 

Phuket to Penang. The H is silent

 

Pronouncing it phonetically as in ‘Foo-ket’ or ‘Phoo-ket’ is dead wrong. A sure sign of being a new visitor. It might sound vulgar even, or embarassing if too much saliva hits a total stranger. Most people get by with ‘Poo-ket’ although some Thai purists say it’s more like ‘Boo-ged’ So the silent ‘H’ should be gone with the ‘P’ replaced by a ‘B’ I shall have to do an in depth study once I am on the ground there.

The island is Thailand’s largest at 800 sq kms. With a million and a half tourists inundating it’s shores each year, Phuket is very touristy, pricey and tourists outnumber locals 3 to one. If you’re on a touring bike, you might not get much cycling done, well maybe just riding to one of the 15 white sand beaches on the west coast, or packing your bike to switch hotels. As a total landlubber, I’m not too intrigued by beaches and the goings on above and under the water, but Thailand has some beautiful pristine coastlines and research shows that the remoter ones are not on Phuket. Cycling up the lush Andaman Coast in search of ‘remote’ will be the added bonus.

 

Phi Phi island

A beach on Phi Phi island near Phuket, scanned from a Fujichrome Velvia slide, circa 1993. The ‘h’ in Phi Phi is also silent

As I’m landing at Phuket International at high noon and assembling the bike and have to figure out lunch, I might as well ride south to Phuket’s old town just some 30 kms away. An easy first day, in search of a nice room, tasty street food, into one of the malls for dessert and an exotic bike shop or two, to jump start this tour.

You can start your very own virtual one here, www.mapjack.com

Select Phuket from the list of Thai cities, or if you prefer, San Jose among others, from the USA list.

Riding south into town is actually going in the opposite direction, as my plan in the coming days is to head up about 400 kms north to the Isthmus of Kra, close to the Burmese border, veer east over the mountains to the Gulf of Thailand and then south back to the Thai Malaysian border and eventually Penang Island. As a kid, our family spent many a vacation on Penang’s northern beaches at an aunt’s beach house, so riding into Penang for the first time will be bittersweet.

My partner in grime above, Surly Shirley