Monday 1 August 2011

Pengerang Boleh

Sunday 31st July 2011 marked our first overseas ride experience. Pengerang, Malaysia is a one hour bum-boat ride away from the Changi Village Ferry Terminal (the same one that takes you to Ubin).

The day started way before sunrise for the both of us, gathering at the ferry terminal at 615am. It was a riding trip organised by the good people at lovecyclingsg. A total of 60 plus riders would participate. Slowly but surely, throngs of cyclists rode their way into the ferry terminal.

Here are our bikes neatly tucked in on the bum-boat. Can you spot our brommies?

At around 8am, we arrived at Pengerang, Malaysia.

Buck posing upon arrival.

Our first stop would be the resident kampong kopitiam in Kg Jawa for breakfast. It was about 6km from the ferry terminal. Once we hit the road, we immediately felt the strong head wind leading to resistance as we rode against the wind. With the long stretch of seemingly flat but really gradual inclining road ahead of us, it didn’t take long to question what we had signed up for. It didn’t help that our thighs were still feeling the ache from 2 consecutive days of cycling. All we had on our minds were kampong chickens and kampong chicken eggs! That kept us going…

The kampong eggs are amazing. This is how eggs should look and taste like. Notice how different the kampong eggs look compared to the ones we get from our fair prices, cold storages etc. They’re generally smaller in size and paler. However, do not be deceived by its size. They may look small on the outside but when cracked open, the yolk is huge. And the taste hovers along the lines of heavenly. These are happy eggs, produce from happy and healthy chickens at their own time own target, unlike the line of egg producing lines of factory chained chickens we have in mass today. Gwyn was never the biggest fan of half boiled eggs, but for these, she actually asked for more! The only problem was that there were not enough eggs for all 60 of us. There weren’t enough eggs in the kampong to go around!

Who said that lady's best friend only came in a little blue box? Sometimes they come in little brown packets too!

The Mee Siam was simple yet delicious. Again, like the eggs, they were pretty much on a first come first serve basis. We were fortunate to share a packet.

Shortly after a delightful breakfast, we headed out for our next stop. The initial 6km of strong head wind proved to be a much needed warm up for the day’s ride ahead. After starting slow, our bodies began to adapt to the new riding conditions.

We pedalled another 15 km to the Ostrich farm in Sungei Rengit. Never happier to see Ostriches in my life!

There were Ostrich burgers, Ostrich steak and even Ostrich Bakuteh.

We came across this poor little fella showcased in a little container. Not sure why they had to put him through the physical torture of confined space and mental torture of witnessing his fellow species being served on a plate. =(

After the Ostrich farm visit, we made our way to the highlight stop of the day. Lobsters. Yes, food again. We ride hard...for good food. There was a feast awaiting us.

Steamed Lobsters

Lemon Chicken with some spices

Oyster Omelette

More Lobsters, fried butter ones.

Bittergourd with salted eggs. Wild boars / free ranging pigs.

A push cart soya beancurd stall came by...

Someone is very pleased!The situation was exactly what was claimed on the signboard.

All in all, we clocked a total of 43km, which by our standards is a new high. Again, we’ll like to thank the team at lovecyclingsg for organising this wonderful trip where we got to meet a lot of new friends and fellow riders who have come together in the spirit of one passion. Ride on!

5 comments:

  1. nicely documented. Great that u have started a blog for cycking stuff..ride (write) on!

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  2. Thanks Matt!We'll ride on!

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  3. Wow ... got talent !!! I love what I read , Thks !!

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  4. Very well written Kevin! Keep up the good work! Wish I could write like you guys!

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  5. Mary and Steven: Thank you for your encouragements! While we are enjoying our rides, we are glad you are enjoying our writes!

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