What to do with 3 days off?

Had a long weekend off rest days from work last month in Oct. Got absolutely no idea what to do with it and have not been riding (on the nice twisty trunk roads) for quite a while. Joseph had left his bike under my care and went for a long holiday to Europe with his wife, I had the chance to take it for a spin up north. Pack some stuff on a Sunday morning and headed for the causeway. The selected route, as usual, is my favourite federal route 3. Destination, unsure, maybe Cherating, Kuantan or Telok Chempadak, WHEREVER I MAY ROAM.

Everything was uneventful on the Sunday morning all the way to Kota Tinggi, was trying to see if my fav wanton mee stall is back to business after the floods. Seems like lots of changes to the road directions and stalls layout around town. Confused, I exited out of the area before getting stucked in the pre Hari Raya shopping crowds.

The V-Strom's seat is very comfortable. My butt outlasted my bladder in the battle for endurance. Stopped somewhere near Jemeluang to throw water (buang air). Rode on to Mersing to look for lunch. Saw some big Singapore bikes riding around town, some rode past without batting an eyelid to wave hello or even smile. Too fast a bike given the big capcity of the bike (and ego?). Wanted to re-fuel when I saw a Shell station having V-Power (labelled by red coloured pump), which is not available everywhere. Took it out and was about to pump while the petrol kiosk uncle shouted something at me (I had music blasting inside my helmet). Turned off my MP3 player and listened him, fwah lucky, this is not V-Power leh but leaded petrol. Leaded petrol are used mainly by older engines and 2 strokes motorbikes. Joe, if you are reading this, "heng ah".

Road along the east coast. To the right is the South China Sea.

The road is nice after Mersing with some light traffic along the way. I was blasting them away and enjoying the music that almost rhyme to the riding. Almost a highway to heaven....

I still have not decided on where to stop and spend my night at, was having a short break at a petrol kiosk somewhere in Rompin. I remembered there's a place called The Shadow Of The Moon At Half Past Four in Cherating. I read about it in Michael Fong's book on his RTW (Round The World) trip. It was his very first stopover in the early part of adventure after starting off from the Causeway. This should be a nice and quiet place to stay away from the crowds. Afterall, this book and the trips he made were very much part of my motivation for riding, meeting strangers, new foreign faces....

Ok, target locked on, Cherating Lama. Rode on into Kuantan, a typical Malaysian bustling city with heavy traffic, but a least not as bad as K.L. Continued on route 3 up and I realised that I had passed by Swiss Garden Resort earlier. I was contemplating weather to ride up there with my wife last year but we chose Swiss Garden Damai Laut. Made a U-turn and went back the same way, wanting to check the place out. As it turns out, charges are a bit steep. It is located near villages along the main road, nothing much I can do at nite. Don't like happy hour in the hotel.

Wasted the time by riding all the way back to Swiss Garden and it's near late afternoon, but that's what is good about riding alone. OTOT, own time own target! The only thing grumbling now is my stomach, and I'm also feeling abit feeling. Didn't want to go on to Cherating today already. Tried my luck at Telok Chempadak, see anything to offer there anot. Not bad, nice beach (better than ECP lah), 24Hrs Mac, a few F&B outlets (Read: Beer).

As it seems, Hyatt there is having some promotional price due to low season. Comes to about the same as Swiss Garden. Hack it, at least I can take a walk out of the hotel at nite.

Took a walk out after a short nap.

Cherating Beach. Nice and clean. Walked around to the end of the beach where I had camped for 2 nites years ago after forgoing a trip to Berkelah waterfall due to heavy rain and flash floods. Had a simple dinner at one of the eatery and went looking for the rows of pub which i saw when riding in this afternoon. Pretty quiet place on a Sunday evening. Immediately my eyes locked onto the big ERDINGER sign outside one of the pubs and without hesitation, a 0.5L glass was served, hehe. Went back to hotel after that, thinking of the next destination for tomorrow and knocked out.

Buffet breakfeast at the hotel. Seems like only me and 2 or 3 other guest helping ourselves to their spread of variety. Very full and sleepy, which is nice.

Wanted to take a morning dip in the water but the sky is still overcast from the early morning showers and it looks cold, sure can wake me up after all the food. Better not lah.

Packed up and move out late morning. Decided to take the Karak highway and exit at Gambang to ride on route 12 to Segamat, passing Lake Chini. Decided to go Mount Ophir and maybe stay a nite at the resort there.

Towards K.L. The whole road to myself, only 1 or 2 Protons passed by.

Didn't take much pics after this cos riding all the way up to Segamat non-stop. Sad to say, it started to rain cats, dogs, tiger, lion when approaching Ophir resort. Mood cut by half already. No point staying indoor at the resort if wet weather all the way. So decided to call it a day and go home. Indeed, it is wet weather all the way back to Singapore.

Filling up at GP, wet, cold and hungry. Went looking for some hot and spicy food to fill up my stomach too.