 |
| Balik Pulau's assam laksa |
Patience is a virtue. If you can endure that, all good things come to he who waits. That, I can safely say for Balik Pulau's assam laksa.
We waited as hell for the shop to open and when our noodle dishes were served, it was a pure bliss.
The guys feasted on assam laksa and I ordered two plates of sotong kangkung, a typical street food in the island.
Ricky, Johnny Ng's kid brother was attracted to the smell of heated lard and went on to check out a char koay teow stall nearby.
We ended up with a big feast!
 |
| Worth the wait: the assam laksa shop |
 |
| The char koay teow man, hard at work |
 |
| workers preparing the noodle dish |
 |
| The gang |
 |
| One happy camper: Ricky Ng and his hearty treat |
We spent about an hour porking out in Balik Pulau. The guys were really happy with the spread of street food...
 |
| Processed squid |
 |
| This stall has the best sotong kangkung in Balik Pulau |
We rolled out from Balik Pulau to join the herd.
This time, its up again in the hills and the weather seemed pretty awful. I asked the guys to pull over and waterproof their belongings.
Johnny made a detour to meet up with some of his customers who were also riding along. The rest of the gang made their ascent towards the top of the hill. It was a straight-forward climb. About 10 kilometers.
I met some interesting folks along the way. While climbing, some dude with a fancy road bike greeted me. "Hey Sam! Keep it up man...", said the guy. There are many friendly cyclists along the way except for an asshole who cut in from the left when I rode towards Tanjung Bungah. The moron was wearing a "share the road, beware cyclist" jersey. What an ass!
 |
| Rolling down from Titi Kerawang |
 |
| There's no place like Hard Rock Hotel! |
 |
| Siblings: Johnny and Ricky Ng |
 |
| With William while waiting for the gang in Gurney Drive |
Goodbye Georgetown!
We rode all the way down towards the city centre and made a beeline to Penang Road. I promised Johnny a Cendul treat before heading back to the mainland.
Ricky, who was obviously worn out, was asking if the place is far. I told him to chill out while we wait for the rain to stop before rolling out to the makan place.
The guys ate so much, I guess they are just looking for a place to hangout and cool down from a whole day of riding...
 |
| Waiting for the ferry to arrive |
 |
| All aboard and a nice view of Georgetown from the lower deck |
After a good fill, I led the guys back to their hotel before parting ways. From Macallum Road, I cycled towards Weld Quay and waited to board the ferry to the mainland. There were a couple of cyclists at the ferry terminal. One that stuck out like a sore thumb was did dude in tight lycra shorts. He rode a touring bike. What the fuck happened to Baggies? There were a large number of M.A.M.I.L.S (Middle Aged Men in Lycra) on the island. But this touring dude, well, he looked out of place...
 |
| The Pirate-Ninja performed its duty and is bound for Kuala Lumpur |
 |
| Who's Kilroy? |
 |
| My ride to KL Sentral |
 |
| A very tired biker dude headed for Parit Buntar |
Butterworth train station: a state of confusion...
As soon as I rolled out from the ferry, the first thing that came into mind was to find a path to the train station. There is no direct link from the ferry terminal to the KTMB station. After a nice runaround, I decided to head against traffic and found my way to the entrance of the station. There, at a bus stop, I bagged my bike and began my long walk to the platform. I met a fellow cyclist with his road bike. The man was headed to Parit Buntar. He missed the 2pm train and had to spend another two hours waiting for his ride. The guy said he paid a RM2 surcharge to have his bike onboard. It was a KTM Komuter ride to his home. I guess he was tired and he had to continue his journey.
 |
| My bike, bagged for transport |
 |
| The packed LRT ride to Putra Heights |
 |
| Home at last! |
 |
| Total distance clocked... |
I had to endure six more hours on the train before I could get off at KL Sentral. The journey was really boring. Some music on the smartphone, food bars and a pack of meat jerky made the trip bearable.
Just outside of Kuala Lumpur, some dude barfed in the toilet. Then, the coach janitor yelled out: "Eh, siapa punya beg ni!!!!".
It was then when I realised that the floor was flooded. Piss and puke was all over the toilet floor. The grumpy janitor cleaned up while I moved my bagged bike to a dry place.
The excrement did not wet my carry on cover. Phew!
With KL in sight, I alighted at KL Sentral with the bike and made my way to the Putra Heights bound LRT coach.
It was peak hour and the train was packed!
Some Bangladeshi dudes who stood nearby had body odour permeating from their body. I can see the looks on other passenger's face as the guys kept their composure.
After an hour's ride on the train, I got off at the Subang Alam station. There, I redeployed the bike and rode home.
My wife and dogs were waiting and as soon as I pushed the bike to the porch, it was a sigh of relief as I have completed my bikepacking ride.
That said, I had Langkawi in sight and we will do this in November!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment