Dave and his Bike

Days 115, 116, 117 & 118.

Day 115.

Today was another one of those mixed emotion days. Great that I will have finished the third leg of my voyage; even more great that I will be re-united with Jane; sad that I will no longer be cycling in Malaysia; even sadder that I lose my cycling partner Steve.

We had a quick coffee in the room and were on the road before 0800hrs. We anticipated the crossing to Singapore being busy, especially as we had been watching the traffic queuing for hours both last night and this morning, and wanted to make good time as the girls would be arriving at the hotel before midday. Somehow we still managed to get it wrong. We hit the morning rush hour.

Picking the correct lane to be in proved to be a challenge to start with. We got it wrong (my navigation), and had to scoot across a central reservation to correct it. Then we joined the queue to leave Malaysia. To be fair it was fast moving, despite there being more small motorbikes and mopeds than I’ve ever seen in my life – with maybe the exception of Mumbai. In a few minutes we had officially left the country and were heading up another ramp towards the causeway (not a bridge as I had initially thought). The narrow motorcycle lane across was horrendous. Far too narrow for the number of bikes on it, and one of the scariest parts of the ride since I left home. I dared not look round to see where Steve was, but fortunately it isn’t that long so didn’t take more than a few minutes. Queuing to get into Singapore took longer. We had submitted our digital arrival card requests, and once we got to the immigration kiosk it took no time to process us. Sadly they don’t stamp your passport here though. Overall the process took just over an hour, so not bad in the big scheme of things. Riding through the city was also relatively simple, but mostly on dual carriageways. Google allows cycle route planning here, which is a bit of a bonus but still didn’t find any smaller roads.

A short coffee stop, and absolutely loads of traffic light stops were interspersed with road improvement works and navigation checks, meaning that the whole ride (albeit not very long) was stop-start from start to finish. It’s quite draining riding like that in the heat; it felt like riding a criterium with panniers on.

Before midday we had arrived. Our lovely wives were waiting for us outside the hotel which was fantastic, and we managed to check in early, and lock the bikes in a secure(ish) car park.

After showering and changing some cash, food became a priority. We resorted to a Burger King for convenience. I enjoyed it.

Then came the task of finding boxes for the bike transport. There are plenty of bike shops here, so we walked to the nearest one that was open. No success. There then followed several Grab rides to other establishments and phone calls by Steve until we hit the jackpot at Treknology, Big boxes in good condition, the only downside was that they charged us $10 each for them. They were also a bit of a squeeze getting in to the taxi back to the hotel.

After the anxiety of the box search, we all had a well earned drink (beer/wine) when we got there. On the plus side, one of the other shops we had been to, OneBikeAsia, said they will change my cassette and chain tomorrow, so I’ve got high hopes for a minor service along with that.

Dinner was at the Zam Zam restaurant a few hundred metres away near the mosque (thanks Liv for the recommendation). It was the best murtabak I’ve had.

Distance cycled so far: 6423km.

Day 116.

Singapore.

A day to spend exploring and packing up the bikes. We had opted not to have breakfast at the hotel, for both physical and financial health reasons. So a cup of tea in bed was followed by a swim in the hotel pool, a quick coffee, and then a walk to the Chinatown area (not far away). We stopped off at Raffles Hotel to check out the opening hours, dress code and the like, then headed towards the Marina Bay area, not quite knowing where we were or what to look for. What we did see was quite impressive though.

A short taxi ride back, a coffee in the hotel restaurant and then I rode off to the bike shop as arranged. Thanks to the guys at OneBikeAsia for changing my cassette, chain and rather worn out saddle. The power of sweat.

Whilst I was out, Jane rather considerately picked up some lunch bits – a potato roti, onigiri, crisps and some drinks. Excellent. After lunch came a rather hot and sweaty bike packing experience, which took us far longer than I had hoped, but after almost two hours both bikes were secured in cardboard and bubble wrap and back at the hotel luggage storage point under the watchful eye of Ali, who had kindly provided extra duct tape and cold water whilst we toiled.

A quick shower, and Raffles was beckoning. A grab got us there so that I wasn’t dripping on arrival, and an interesting walk through the hotel and grounds looking at the immaculate buildings and gardens took us to the Long Bar, home of the Singapore Sling. A great ambiance, a ridiculously expensive drink (or two), too many peanuts and great company. An amazing end to a fantastic ride through Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Thanks to our lovely daughters for buying the drinks.

Dinner on the walk home was Singapore noodles, which I was hoping to find whilst we were here. It didn’t disappoint.

Another full day of exploring tomorrow.

Day 117.

A proper lie-in until after 0900hrs this morning. It was nice to relax a bit more. Bedroom picnic breakfast preceded a Grab ride to the Botanic Gardens – a spectacular haven in the middle of the city. They weren’t half as busy as we thought they might be, so casually wandering around (after a coffee) was really pleasant. We paid the fee to see the orchid gardens, which was money well spent. Absolutely stunning!

We then had a 7Eleven lunch and took another taxi to Marina Bay. The Sands hotel is mighty impressive. We took a lift up to the top floor (which we shouldn’t have done) in an attempt to get out onto the observation deck, which sadly closed today for a week for renovation work. Should have come yesterday. Still managed a sneaky photo though. Once back on the ground we saw the official entrance to the roof, with clear closed signs displayed.

The hotel is on the edge of more park land. Not as big as the gardens we visited this morning, but lovely all the same. They have architectural structures (not sure how to describe them) with a walkway between them. More money, but again worth it.

Back to the hotel for a swim. This time on the MRT (metro) for the experience. A beer in the bar, swim and shower, then out for food. Excellent Chinese again, duck and rice based for us, then a stroll down Haji Lane for another beer. Great vibrant street with bars and restaurants which I wish we’d found earlier.

Tomorrow we move on to Bali. Singapore has exceeded my expectations and I feel like there is much more to explore given the time.

Day 118.

Travel day.

We paid for breakfast in the hotel this morning. It wasn’t our best investment, although the coffee and mango juice were good. As was the toast. Otherwise quite average.

We had mostly packed last night, so getting out of the room by 1100hrs wasn’t a problem, and we met up with Ange and Steve in the lobby. A 9 seater bus to the airport was duly booked and arrived within seconds, meaning that we were at the airport suitably early. Final farewells at Terminal 1, where we left our great friends after both an amazing bike ride over the last five weeks, and a fantastic few days in Singapore.

We then got dropped at Terminal 4, only to find that our 1745 flight had already been delayed until 2100, meaning a 9 hour wait. The disappointment however, didn’t last long. After a conversation with Air Asia staff, and a bit of to-ing and fro-ing we were soon booked on to a 1615 flight, with front row seats and our baggage taken care of. It couldn’t have been better!

We didn’t seem to have been waiting long, and we were boarding. Great seats, but a family of five with very small (and noisy) children next to us. They weren’t too bad though, and the flight wasn’t long. I still managed a snooze with music on my earphones.

The process in Bali wasn’t as smooth and easy. The chap sitting next to Jane had told us we needed to fill in some on-line forms, which we had somehow overlooked. A Google search on landing showed that we needed a visa, a health declaration and a customs declaration, all to be done on-line. We set about it, until an hour later we hit a blockage (no pdf file of Jane’s passport). At that point we discovered (thanks again Liv) that the visa was easier in person. It was. As was paying for it. The other two were relatively simple, but any time we had gained by getting an earlier flight we had just lost. Oh well.

Once through, and officially in Indonesia, the Grab came quickly, and the ride to the homestay was quick. Lovely place. Swimming pool right outside our door.

We are on a quiet road just off the busy eating street in Kuta. Dinner (and a beer) was therefore easy to find, but with everything we had done it was still quite a late night. Looking forward to exploring more in daylight tomorrow morning.