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| Cheered by The Minions |
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| Breakfast chatter |
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| The complete team |
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| The doctor is on duty! |
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| Who's the boss? |
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| Selfie or satay? |
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| Henry needs to work on his smile |
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| Part of the Looney Tunes cast! |
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| Wet, wet. wet! |
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| Wildly crazy folks |
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| Why cover the face? |
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| The quest for Hakka Thunder Tea Rice brought the thunderstorm onto us! |
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| Hakka Abacus Seeds made with yam |
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| Soon kueh with assorted fillings |
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| The contacts |
....there it goes again!
....the bowling ball rolling down the air duct!!
“One pink elephant. Two pink elephants. Three pink elephants.....”
As an easy technique she learnt from watching “Bob the Builder”, Claudine began counting from the flash of light to the crashing sound. Thus, based on the approximate that sound travels at one mile per second, each elephant represents one mile distance before the storm hits and .... By Gosh! The storm is really coming!!!
Reassuring everyone that it may not pour in Pekan Nanas, we all agreed to meet for breakfast before deciding on our next course of action. After all, it was worth the gamble as most of us had taken the effort to load our bikes into the car the night before. Moreover, a little breakfast get together was definitely worth the drive!
Closing in on meet up time, Paul and Susanna, being the firsts to arrive, reported heavy thunderstorm in Pekan Nanas. But by then, most of us had had our first hand experience on the full onslaught of the storm. Visibility was so bad we could hardly see 10 meters ahead!
Sitting down for breakfast, there were 2 teams. Those that heeded the chatroom’s call to dine by the food court near the main road and those that were stranded at the corner coffee shop right opposite the meet up point. Only when the rain teetered to a drizzle, did we managed to regroup for more chatter and coffee at the latter venue.
It doesn’t take any meteorologist to figure the rain will never let up for the day. Given the choice to quit, everyone were not letting up!
When Howard finally did arrive, we fully understood his delay. He was playing pretend, dressed as a doctor! Only 7 weeks short of Halloween and he’s already all eager to party!
Rolling out towards Kelapa Sawit, we were met by looks of amusement from the locals. Not quite the circus parade but with our colourful rain gears, we almost made it to Looney Tunes!
The ride along the foothills of Gunung Pulai has always been Claudine’s favourite. There was the usual game of “spot the fruit trees”. Roadkills became a joke when a dead snake, long enough to be made a belt was spotted by the road side. In fact, VT thought he saw a coiled up phyton by the edge of a palm oil estate!!!
We were drinking in the rustic ambience of village life which saw domestic pets scurrying along lawns that were beautifully decorated with flowering plants. Of course, we could literally drink in the rain that pelted on us incessantly as well!
On a rainy day, Gunung Pulai was shrouded in clouds and mists. However, there were no Godzillas to kill when our police force, armed with guns, took to the streets. They were merely undergoing some training, offering cheers of encouragements when we passed them by.
Out of the little hamlet, we went on to Kampung Melayu Raya. Right behind the village, lay palm oil estates, serviced by irrigation canals that are controlled by small lock gates.
We were cruising along this route when a sudden noise alerted Claudine. Thinking it was a lorry coming out of the bushes, everyone squealed when it started to pour heavily again!
As it was impossible to find shelter in the middle of nowhere, we treaded on only to squeal for a second time. Right before us was a monitor lizard, the size of a crocodile!!! Frightened by our noise, it dashed across the road and was lost in the thick greeneries.
Soon, we were cruising under the North South Highway viaduct. Being the start of a long weekend, the toll charges was unjustifiable considering the congestion!
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| Junction to Route 1 |
Joining Federal Route 1, we were only required to travel a mere 1 km before leaving this old trunk road that was once the main artery connecting the northern states with the south. However, like bowling pins we were falling one after another! Tarred many times over the years without expanding the road shoulders, the road had heightened significantly! We were forced to roll along the white line like little gymnasts on a tight rope while allowing as much space as possible for the passing cars.
The first to slip off the road and lose her balance was Eva. Following behind in the support vehicle, Mr Pang must have panicked over the safety of his wife. He floored the horn button continuously to alert other motorists.
Watching Christopher slip and lose his balance was blood curdling. We were all in a paceline, only a few feet from each other. On a wet road, the brakes may fail! Hesitating, Claudine took a calculated risk. Tapping on her brakes, she turned to check traffic before swerving out of Mr Lim’s way, avoiding a pile up!!!
Short of 20 m from the turn off, the fall was the most unfortunate thing to happen, made worse when Christopher declared extreme pain to his knee. He could not move his leg and had to hobble to the car, supported by Mr Lim and Mr Pang. Thankfully, there was a clinic close by and upon doctor’s advice, Susanna ended her ride, arranging for Christopher’s checkup at the hospital instead.
Post mortem wise, Christopher was seen picking himself and bike up as soon as he fell. He then squatted and grimaced before standing up as ordered. However, when asked to move his leg he kept shaking his head which was what worried us.
As the rest of us resumed the ride to the nearby Hakka Thunder Tea Rice shop, everyone were in a somber mood, mulling over the unfortunate event. However, our moods soon lifted, charmed by The Minions and murals along the old street!
Sinking our teeth into the food, all negative thoughts were quickly erased. Never before has comfort food been so comforting! Even a confident Mr Pang left his duty as support crew, promising to meet us at the end point, later! Could he have sneaked into the Chinese temple to seek God’s blessings, we will never know!
Returning to Pekan Nanas, we navigated on unchartered course via the backroads of Kelapa Sawit. Without a proper navigator, we were banking on instincts, memory and the help of the locals. In the latter case, a very friendly Pak Cik on a motorcycle pointed us to the right direction but not before complaining in a joking manner that we were hoarding the road!!! Quite a few times, we had to flip out Google Maps to check our bearings but as soon as the river was sighted, we were more than home free!!!
Route 90/90 – 90 ended on a high note! Christopher was sent to Regency Hospital for a checkup. Thankfully, X-ray showed no fracture and he was sent home limping but playful!
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| Ellie was the happiest ! |
90% flats, 90% car free and 90% rained out!!!
Photo courtesy :
Susanna
Photo courtesy :
Susanna
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