Marina’s Bloggariffic

As expected, the TAA Charity Ride was fun! It is always exciting for me to ride together in a convoy along with the other two-wheelers. Its a pity that the convoy was much too short though.

I was worried that I was unable to get to the Kallang carpark, which was the designated meet point for all the bikers. I had a tendency to get lost on the road and was still unable to read maps. Luckily for me, while riding on the expressway, I met up with a huge group of bikers whom I assumed were on their way to the carpark. It was so cool to see them and I felt proud to ride with them.

Eventually, I reached the Kallang carpark and was marshalled to a group of riders.

Marshall 1 : You can ride with the gilera group there (points)

Me : But I’m not riding a gilera! :P

Marshall 2 : Oh a Vespa, your group is at the other side.

Me : Thanks guys!

I knew I was with the right group when saw a large procession of Vespas - both classic and modern. I finally met up with the rest of the vesporeans who were present, Moon_star, Kahwoon, Natsume, Mengster and Un-Sith whom was representing the group.

I admired the multitude of colours and varieties of two wheelers. There were so many types - Harley Davidsons, Scramblers, Hayabusas, Ducatis and many others. There was a festive purring of engines everywhere.

At length, we got on our scooters and lined up to start the convoy. I turned behind and saw a facinating looking man with a long white beard on top of a Harley. He could have been Gandalf in an alternate universe if he becomes a biker.

As we rode in our convoy, I noticed the excited looking pedestrians as they pointed at animatedly at our convoy as well as the awed looks of the car drivers. It was so funny to see that I couldnt help but to chuckle. There was a road marshall who rode beside us to ensure safety.

Shortly after, we reached our destination and drove in the compounds of the Malay Heritage Center. Huh? Thats it? I wasnt satisfied! It was such a short ride!

We parked around the quickly filled compound went to explore the center as well as Muscat street outside. The area was lined with food bazaars selling all sorts of delicacies.

The gang chanced upon a pink drink and were curious to know what the black seeds at the bottom where. Mengster explained that it was Bandung Selasih, a rose syrup drink with milk with sweet basil seeds. It was refreshing and crunchy - wonderful to have in the hot weather.

And a hot weather it was! It exacerbated my thirst and I longed for a glass of bandung. We were supposed to wait till 5.30pm for the charity presentation, but with over 2 hours to kill, I persuaded the gang to enter the museum as it was cooler and much more entertaining than doing nothing.

Entry to the Heritage Center for the charity riders was a dollar and four for normal days. I revisited back my roots and marvelled about the facinating history and artifacts. Modernisation has made it impractical to use now, but these items are so intricate and beautiful, proof of our naturally artisan traits. I nearly forgotten about items like these :

I like looking at the display and the old photographs. I liked to imagine myself in the picture and transport myself to what the people in the picture were thinking and feeling.

Upstairs, I saw a tribute to some of the noted malays whom have contributed to arts like Zubir Said whom composed the Singapore national anthemn as well as P. Ramlee who was arguably the most talented and versatile man whom had sucess as a scriptwriter, composer, singer, filmaker, actor, comedian.

We have such a rich heritage. Even as a Malay, I was facinated and enlightened by what I saw.

I took my time looking at the display and at length and stepped out of the building to see that there was a lively crowd outside filled with visitors. Festive music was played and a host in a malay costume was emceeing.

I didnt stay for too long aftwards as I felt rather lethargic after the days activities, but to what I last heard, the TAA has raised about 34k which is not a bad sum :)

Here is a clip of the day’s activities.

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View in youtube

Links

• The TAA (Tabung Amal Aidilfitri) Trust Fund
• Bikers Aid Charity Ride thread
• Pics of TAA Charity Ride 2006
• Vespa Club Singapore
• Malay Heritage Center
• Kahwoon’s entry about the event

And big thanks to our Goldwing friends for marshalling!

• Goldwings Webpage
• Video of the goldwing marshalls

Two weeks ago, I noticed a leak coming out of my scooter and I consulted the mechanic. After what he believed it to be caused by the metal washer, he repaired it and I got it back.

I still had the same problems the next day, but I had to bear with it as I needed the scooter to get to work and night class.

On monday, the leak was even more than what I anticipated. Engine oil was spilling out on the floor! I was so alamed that I sent it for repairs immediately.

After work, I went down to the workshop and the mechanic and I finally saw what was causing the problem. It was the engine chassis. It had a split!

Me : What could have caused the problem?

Mr Wee : I have a scooter of the same model as yours too. It could be caused by too much pressure - If you had a passenger and they shook your scooter, that could have caused cracks in the engine.

Me : This is very bad.

Mr Wee : There are two options. Option one is to replace the entire engine which costs about $700. But I’ll recommend you to take option two - I’ll use a sealant and cement the split together. This will be cheaper.

Me : Ok, lets go with option two and we’ll cross our fingers.

—

I got the scooter back yesterday and so far so good. No leaks after parking it overnight and after a ride to work today, its still dry. There looks like a patch there but its actually a stain from the leak and its actually dry.

Still, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Sidenote : There will be a TAA (Tabung Amal Aidilfitri) Charity Ride this Sunday. There will be a convoy ride of approximately 1000 bikes and scooters to an end venue, where the presentation of donated funds will be held.

If you have a two wheeler, come and join us! Riding in a convoy is fun! :)

I was scooterless for the weekend.

For the past few weeks, there has been a trace of brown liquid and drops of coolant on the floor each morning when I take the scooter out of the carpark. And though it wasnt leaking much, I was still rather concerned. I didnt want to risk having my scooter explode on me!

I sent my scooter to Tong Aik on saturday morning and I met the mechanic, Mr Wee, whom handled my scooter the last check up. He promptly took my baby under his wing.

While waiting for Mr Wee to complete the check, I met Yaoming, a fellow vesporean. He recognized me from the Vivo Vespa event and approached me. I learnt that he was collecting his scooter.

Yaoming told me that he was on his way to go the Big Bike Fest and will be meeting the rest of the vesporeans later. Initially I contemplated on going to that event, but having already been there last year, I wasnt too appealed by its male-oriented activities.

There was a bike stunt performance that seemed interesting to me. But even that didnt make me feel all that compelled to go.

At length, Mr Wee told me that he could not trace any obvious flaws and needed time to inspect my scooter more thoroughly. I headed for home.

I took the bus.

After the convenience of my scooter, it feels so different taking public transportation again - sitting passively on the seat, blocking out the sound from the mobile-tv, staring at the scenery, and then finally lulled off to sleep and waking up blearily just in time at my stop.

Come monday morning, I walked to the bus stop to head to work. It was the same scene of over a year ago. The same listless people waiting for their busses. Some familliar faces. The annoying auntie pushing her way to the front to enter the bus.

I received a call by Mr Wee later at work telling me that my scooter would be ready for collection in the afternoon. Luckily, my brother has already finished his shift and was willing to give me a lift to Tong Aik.

Unfortunately for me, I was wearing a pair of skirt on the day. Though I was confident of wearing a skirt on my scooter, little did I know that I would re-enact the infamous scene as Marilyn Monroe in the seven year itch, being a pillion to my brother, all the way to the workshop.

Speaking of skirts, after collecting my scooter back from the workshop, we were on our way back home. My brother noticed that there was a guy on a class 2A bike whom almost fell off his bike when he saw me. Gosh! Has he never seen a girl wearing a skirt and wedge shoes on a scooter before? :P

I should wear skirts more! :P

But anyways, when I get to the carpark these this morning, I am greeted by this :

Just what is wrong with it?

I missed out on much of the activities for the Vespa Club first year anniversary. But I still had an eyeful looking at all the colourful and interesting scooters of all sorts of shapes and size.

When I reached Wild Rocket at Mount Emily, I could see lots of people lounging around over at the verandah. Most of them looked a little tired, probably from the activities that they did this morning.

Some of the Vespa Club members explained to me that the participants did a number of challenges around Singapore. It sounds fun, though I have to admit that I didnt miss it all that much in account of the rain and traffic due to the Iron Man Triathlon on sunday ;)

So I walked around and looked at the rows of beautiful vespas. I enjoyed looking at them. There’s something just so unique about it - a work of art by itself.

Like this Green PX150. I really like the paint job for this one. Green is such a beautiful colour. This owner has impeccable taste. *thumbs up*

Though this scooter isnt really my type of style, once has to admit that it is very eye catching. This very flashy chrome laden vespa even comes with a babe. The fact that she’s wearing green makes the vespa even more valuable :D

Isnt this Hello Kitty Vespa the cutest? :D This scooter is such a head turner that its even stomped! Now I’m considering of respraying my scooter and stick a rinaz avatar! :)

Soonafter was the lucky draw and then the prize giving presentation :

Winner of the best overall vespa

Winner of the best paintjob Vespa (Coincidentally, I nominated this Vespa the best looking vespa at the Big Bike Fest last year)

Very lovely scooters indeed! Do you like scooters? Would you get a Vespa? :)

With thanks to redmini03, pauche and novi03 for the pictures

More pictures at the Vespa Club Forum :)

Its been raining very heavily in Singapore these few days. So much so that the roads has been about an inch high of rainwater. If only I could part the water like Moses, this would be very very cool indeed!

Related articles :

• Singapore Big Bike Fest
• The Vespa Song
• The Vespa Club roadtrip to Malacca
• How to renew your road tax
• My first road accident
• O what a day!

In the weekend, Malique and I were talking to each other on msn and suddenly we talked about the wildly popular umbrella song.

Malique : Did you know that there is an alternate version? You can be my cinderella. Ella ella eh eh eh.

Marina : Haha! That reminds me of Ridj’s remake. Hey! We should totally make an alternate version using to Vespa. Espa espa eh eh eh. Hahahaha! Wanna collabo?

Malique : I WANT! I’ll be Jay-Z

—

So here our remix! Sillier than the dutdut song! Mareena Spinna, presenting Malique Tick, the vespa song!

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View on youtube | Download the mp3| Lyrics to Song

Update : Check out Malique’s remix!

My trip to Malacca was fantastic! Yesterday was the first time that I was riding out of Singapore and it was such a memorable experience. I would love for to do it again! :)

The Vespa Club, an enthusiast group which I joined last year organized an outing to Malacca last Sunday. As I’ve always wanted to experience riding overseas, I jumped immediately when I knew about it. Malaysia was a great place to start because of its vast natural terrain, picturesque sights as well as wonderful food along the way.

As I slept at about 3am the previous night, I woke up groggy when the alarm clock rang at 5.30am. I was supposed to meet the gang at 6.30am and was still deciding whether to go or no. At length I dragged myself out of bed and stuffed my passport and other necessary items and had a quick shower.

I reached the Jurong Bird park which was the designated meet-up point and saw that the others were there already. I was late! I tried to bribe everyone with the chocolates that I bought from the chocolate factory last friday.

Moon_star, she’s in the pink scooter, lead us to the Tuas second link immigration check point where we had our passports checked and paid S$0.60 using our cash card for our scooters to cross over. It was another RM$1.30 for the Malaysian vehicle toll later.

After the check, I took in the beautiful sights as we crossed the bridge connecting Singapore and Malaysia. It was gorgeous to see the rising sun coming out from the sea and into the blue skies. At times like these, I wished I had a helmet camera. I would love to show you the lovely sights I saw while on the road.

We stopped by Gelang Patah to meet up with the rest of the gang and to have our breakfast together. In Malay, Gelang Patah translates to Broken Bracelet. But as to why the area was named as such is a mystery to me. I quickly exchanged my Singapore money to Malaysian money (1 SGD = 2.20 RM) and then I had Nasi Lemak and Teh Halia! Yum!

After our breakfast, Roadster, who will be leading the group later on, briefed to us on the road that we will be travelling as well as cautioned us that because the travel would be long and monotonous, to try to keep ourselves awake and entertained.

But first, we pumped petrol at the petronas petrol kiosk that was nearby. There is no Premium, 98 or 95 (and other different types of petrol). Here there was only two choices of oil. Petrol or diesel. I stared at the pump, not accustomed to how it works.

Its very different here. The meter will not reset till the person has paid for his oil at the counter. So if the person takes his time, or worse, drive away without paying, the next person will have to wait a very long time. After a while, the meter reset and I filled my tank. I paid about ten ringgit for the fill. Cool!

And that we started our journey. It was a very long ride. I kept myself entertained by listening to my mp3 player and taking in the view of the plantations. There was no commercial or housing buildings anywhere along the highway. It was only trees everywhere. We stopped only for some of us to refuel and for all of us to stretch our legs.

Here is a video of us at one of our stops :

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Click here to watch in youtube

But it was really fun for me to ride in a procession with the vesporeans. We must have been a sight to behold with our colourful and eye catching scooter. Everywhere we go, there will be someone waving and shouting, “Vespa! Vespa!” at us. I saw that there were also other motorcycle group along the road. Even they were waving and giving us the thumbs up. I feel happy and proud.

After about 3 hours, we finally reached Malacca! It was already noon so it was hot hot hot! The gang went to have lunch at the famous Chicken Rice Ball restaurant. But as the place wasnt halal, I didnt eat there. Roadster was really nice to accompany me for lunch as we searched for a suitable place to eat.

We stumbled upon an indian restaurant and feasted on the yummilicious chicken biryani. Even though I wasnt so hungry, I find myself polishing off the rice. It was so good!

After lunch, Roadster wanted to go shopping. So I took the chance to roam around by myself and take pictures. As Malacca was formerly colonised by the Dutch and the portuguese, there are a number of landmarks here which had a European look.

This is the Stadhuys building. Formerly a residence of the Dutch Governor and his deputy. Now it is converted into a museum.

A gothic church was built by the French priest.

The colourful streets itself too made me feel like I was walking back in time. There are loads of antique things and sights.

Like these clogs. These shoes are memorable as they have a very loud “click clock” sound as you walk around in these. But they can hardly be found in Singapore anymore.

This man here is doing a handmade sweet. He’d chisel off the hard candy made of sugar. You can hear him when he works and the loud sound of the clinking will attract many children.

While walking, I chanced upon a chendol shop! I love chendol! These cool dessert will surely cool you down in the warm weather. I love looking at how the dessert is prepared. First the man will take a block of ice and puts it in the machine. The ice is then shaved into a container which is then layered with coconut milk, gula melaka, red bean and jelly. Yum!

There is a river down the path that I was walking at and I admired the view. Just as I was daydreaming at how nice it would be to take a dip on this hot day. I saw something interesting …

Err … I think I’d rather not have the dip.

Later on we grouped back together and rode around the Malaccan town and did a quick bout of shopping and then it was time to head back.

The way back home is easily one of the most stressful riding experience that I’ve ever had. Somewhere along the middle of the journey, traffic got congested and got heavier as we went along. And then the skies got darker and angrier and the rain poured down.

I always get nervous at times like these. Visibility is low and tempers are high. Accidents always happen on the roads when there’s a heavy downpour. And true enough, there were at least 3 accidents which I saw along the way home.

Every motorist wanted to go back home so much so that they squeezed through everywhere! Even the cars and busses cut into the shoulder lane!

This journey was very physically challenging indeed. My back and legs felt sore from all the riding. It was already nightfall and the only illumination was from our vehicles. I definitely wouldnt want to be stuck here alone!

I was wet, cold, tired and miserable. My mind started to play tricks on me. I could hear loud cheers and I looked around me to see where the sound came from. Could it be from the plantations? Could it be a cult? I shouldnt have watched the 100 scariest movie scenes the night before.

Then I realised that it was the tour bus-coach in front of me which was playing a movie. The cheering scenes emanated through the glass panels. Bah!

After what seemed to be forever, I was really grateful for the quick stops at the R&R along the way so that I could get warmed up again. A warm drink and a stretch of the legs and we were off. An hour later, we were back in Gelang Patah again for our final stop and dinner.

I couldnt decide on what to eat. In the end, I decided to have a burger. Cerealz seemed shocked when I translated the words of the banner at the burger stall :

Arnab = Rabbit
Kasawari = Ostrich
Rusa = Deer

How on earth did the stall owners able to buy Ostrich and Deer meat anyway? But I tried the rabbit burger just to see how it tasted like. Interestingly enough, it tasted like chicken. Maybe they were all chicken meat … hehehe.

After dinner, we pumped petrol for the final time and then headed back to the customs then we said our goodbyes to each other. By the time I reached home, the first thing I did was to head to the bathroom to get out of my dirty and wet clothes and have a nice warm shower and then collapsed in bed and snoozed immediately after that. I was that tired!

I realise that I didnt buy much things in Malacca. I still had a little souvenir though.

Wow, what a tan! Hehehe. But now all my limbs feel stiff and my skin feels like a radiation effect. I’m sunburnt! Argh!

Links

• More pics from the outing
• Vespa Club Forum thread
• Moon Star’s Flickr
• Un Sith’s recap

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