Valentine's at the Peak - 10th Feb to 12th Feb 06

alrighty..the next trip i gonna write about is the recent fraser's hill with genting highlands added in for good measure. Fraser's has always been a fav ever since i went up for the first time back in feb 04. the last time i ever went to a real cold place was in ROC with the army. practically freezing in my pants up on a hill while the rest went about their flank.

valentine's up in fraser wasn't the first time for me and my babe but it was for some. the memorable event the last time round was jeremy (a sai la) proposing. now, he's eagerly anticipating his first kid. Of course, the dinner prepared this time round was something a little different from the last..more on that later.

first up, i thot some pics on that fraser trip back 2 years back on the 14th Feb would bring back some memories for some and a piece of history for others.....

the sunset

walrus basking in the sun

the dinner then

the posse by the bridge in 04

and memories of a departed friend will never fade at chamang waterfalls...

there are several first timers on this trip, so it's been quite some time i've heard the standard briefing. shamen and mei were my school seniors back when we were still in skool.. (no, it wasnt very long ago) and i had prepared them (sorta) by gg to malacca for a day ride two weeks back. William lim's william tan's fren. (yeah, sounds gay) and johan is also making his debut to fraser's.

shamen the semen and Mei

johan preparing to move out

the william the 3rd in kruzers

the route is also slightly different this time, skipping chamang waterfalls to hang out at hulu langat just east of KL city on a hillside. we first came upon this spot last year during the gerik ride (see route without horizons series - day three) and it was the last stop we had before the heavens rained down on us. isaac reckoned the sunrise would be pretty magnificent over the hill and seriously, sunrise seldom looks dull.

arriving at hulu

while most took the time off to catch some forty winks, dear was clicking away capturing the sequence of sunrise. massive credits for capturing some breathtaking pics. Once first light broke out, the tiredness usually associated with riding at that ungodly hour vanished with the cool breeze.

a brand new day

moving out

i cldn't resist this: a humpin car in a brand new day...boleh!

Off we set off again, this time in search for breakfast. somewhere along middle ring road 2, we loaded ourselves with pratas, nasi lemaks and left the indian shopowners beeming.

william (the first)'s as wide as the table

the ride to bentong was pretty quick and efforts were made for the wines and beers in preparation for a good night's feast. Once again, warnings were given out for the twisties coming up and the wet roads didn't help very much. (rained at fraser's since morning though we weren't really caught)

riding along the karak

By the time we reached the gap, we were pretty tired and couldn't wait to hit straight up. having arrived on an even hour, we had to wait for the timing for us to head up and the already shivering masses huddled around, talking the time away. there were a lot of cars heading up as well ans while we tried to give them as much lead time as poosible, most of us still got caught up with them and we slowly ambled our way up. i never liked cars in twisties cos 1) they cant corner 2) they're slow and 3) i get sick sitting in a car cornering away.

the two gan cheong spiders must wear helmet first

we arrived at 12...

raymond thinks he's in pink lady

as the altitude climbed, the temperature got noticably colder and in fact, this was the coldest fraser ride i've ever experienced. a quick lunch and many of us quickly herded up to silverpark apartments to unload and for most, to catch up on lost sleep.

a sample of the flora and fauna at fraser's

The scenery that greeted us in the apartments was non-existent. thick clouds obscured the vision to prob around 50 metres out. heck, we couldn't see the tree in front of our apartment.

ccccold

having been to fraser's for the fifth time, it is regretable that i never took a walk around the various trails, so this time round, i was pretty determined to walk around, even if it wasn't in the trails. the rest needed convincing, but the probability of food (lunch wasn't particularly fantastic) nudged some of them.

the kinky boys: motorcyclists' fashion sense wasn't this bad
singapore's version of brokeback mountains starring isaac and sean

the posse terrorising fraser

valentine's mood in the air

caught sight of this nectar sucking bird

and i guess they all enjoyed it. the benefit of using your feet is that you would probably get to look into the details of some places, like the strawberry farm along the way down. i hadn't noticed it before but im glad i did. they serve some mean choc waffles and the warm sensation down the stomach does wonders in such a cold weather.

waiting for my choc waffle

strawberi pharm

the cold cold day
the steeds braving the cold

two hours of sleep was all we had b4 dinner came around. mei was incredulous that we were having a BBQ valentine's dinner cos we didn't seem to prepare anything. as it was, dinner was being well prepared by the friendly staff at silverpark. the steak and crabs were the most aimed food and really, one can see why.

the bbq-er for the night

while the rest were warming their hands, joc couldn't resist the warmth of hot armpits

lonely men's klub: william the first, william the 2nd, william the 3rd, ah siong, puiray, seanny, beary the leery

the couple klub: isaac and Jo, shamen and mei, rach and limpei, Cs and chili, gavin and joyce

rosli gets a flower from his sons....awwwwwww

a gathering at isaac's apartment for the evening to down the beers and wine was on the cards and was also a great time for all of us to interact. as for me, i was knocked out by the five glasses of beer and two wines.

the morning brought great cheer as the sun made its belated appearance and blasted that dense fog away. shamen and mei then had their virginal look out into the horizon, cluttered with ridges and the oh so blue skies. breakfast was wolfed down quickly as we headed back to prepare for a ride around fraser's.

the next morning

think it's a bird

regular morning taichi

out for the ride

silverpark on the left

the roads of fraser's

we left fraser's at around 12 and had a fantastic time coming down from the gap towards KKB. the combination of smooth long arcs and neverending twisties brought about grins from ear to ear to almost every biker i see when we finally did stop by a bridge to regroup. aside from a scare when overtaking, everything went smoothly.

rounding up the rear

dear by the bridge

beary easing his constipation unsucessfully

heaving a sign of relief after the twisties

the group by the bridge

rach and mabel

pharm (?), bernard, Alex/ Harry (no pun intended)

genting was next on the itinery and it was going to be a ride by only. though halfway through, a terrible rain disrupted the flow of the ascent and out came the rain gear. the worse was yet to come as we headed to the titi range for more twisties. a wave from a fellow biker along the karak brought initial fears of just a petrol dryout. but when looked upon more closely, the problem was beyond the scope of all except our mechanic who was, thankfully, with us for the ride.

i had the scariest time moving back with rosli from the front convoy to the stranded bike along the road shoulder for 5km. a motorbike narrowly missed whacking into us by mere inches when the rossi spirit entered into him, along a bloody road shoulder.

welding was needed and by then, the front convoy had to go ahead first as the first signs of rain was appearing. while we headed towards the projet station and waited for them patiently, another group of them were out there attending, towing and pushing the almost 400kg, 2litres mammoth to the welder's in some wretched rain. i wouldn't like to be out there riding, much less pushing one. a big salute for these ever helpful people. i wasn't at the scene, but would really like to see the royalstar tow the 2 litre monster..hahaha

the ride to titi had to be abandoned due to the time spent and while there was disappointment, we knew that there will always be another time.

till the next ride, limpei will be living my life like this.....