A Singapore Biker’s Life

Sorry about this… this has nothing to do with biking but this is really quite…. argggg…

It’s the lunar 7th month and the noise pollution is really unbearable considering that my family do not have air conditioning system @ home.

Lion Dance
Dragon Dance,
Wayang…

You name it…

it’s 1130pm and they are still @ it.

SG has this law that there are not supposed to be such "noisy" activities after 11pm but like these people care.

So I decided to give a call to the Houguang NPC @ 11.10pm. Sgt Sharifa answered and told me that they will look into it. Dun ask me how I got to know this but it’s from experience… They (The cops) have set "priorities" for cases and for "noise pollution" cases… they are supposed to attend to it in 30 mins.

After 20 mins… I tried my luck and called them again… Sgt Shariffa answered and I asked her what was going on…. You will not believe their answer.

"Sorry but we are short of resources"
"We will attend to it once we have the man power"

I was like… WHAT!!!!!!

It’s not the resoultion of the noise pollution that I am concerned about…
But what happens if there are other cases??

e.g. Emergancy like gang fight… etc??

Same thing??

Sorry……..

IMHO…. There are some things that we… I as a citizen do not "expect" to hear from people like the police, and one of them is
"Sorry but we are short of resources"
"We will attend to it once we have the man power"

Anyway, it’s 11.40pm now… The noise juz stopped…
exactly 30 mins… But the thing is… I really never did expect the police to tell me such a thing.

It’s like hearing from your teacher from school…
"Sorry class, I forgot to revise this chapter before today… let’s do this lesson another time"

Are the authorities so reactive now a day?

e.g. An event that goes wrong…
Are they only waiting for something to happen then say… "Oh we are short of man power??"

Juz to side step alittle more…
Even for the case of the recent MRT break down….

Who is answering for this?? Is there a POR aka Post Outage Review or RCA Root Cause Analysis done?

Seems like the NKF lesson has not been fully been learnt yet.

*Sorry, has gotta be a Job hazzard… I work on SOX.

Here is an interesting link.

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~mycki/avoid.html

But by the looks of it… it’s not been updated for quite some time liow.

Believe it or not but… Some of these places will not even let you into the building even if you pay what the cars are paying.

But add into the list.

1. Conrad Hotel
2. Sunshine Plaza
3. Orchard Plaza (Believe it or not, they have bike lots but they have a sign @ the entrance that says "No bikes allowed")

Any fellow bikers who come accross any of places like this, please feel free to gimmi a shout or comment here.

On Tuesday afternoon, MT gave me a call and told me that the bike is ready.

In my mind, I was getting quite worried as the estimate of the repairs that I expected was gonna burn a hole in my pocket.

Anyway, I tried to ask him what was the "damage" and he told me to just come down and collect my bike…

I thought… was the amount that bad / huge??

Sianz…

Anyway, when I got down… MT asked me to get the bill… well…
Praise God… It was much lesser than I thought it was gonna be!!!

But on thing though… they did not mention what was done though…

Anyway, have been really careful over the last couple of dayz to make sure the problem did not come back…. so far so good though.

MT… Still my fav mechanic.

I posted my blogg Monday morning… The indo Tsunami hit in the afternoon.

To date, there are about 500+ lives lost…

Sometimes… looking @ the "real" thing… Sometimes our problems are really so small as compared to these who are really fighting for their lives.

For fellow Christians who are reading this… Do say a little prayer for the victims & their family.

For bikers… well if they were to have a fund raiser ride, hope to see you there.

God Bless.

I have never in my life… Seen a motor vehicle’s temp shoot up so fast to the red zone…

I have never seen one reach the red zone before.

Sianz………

Guess what……. I thought it was just the pipe that was damaged with the scratches was all (See prev posts)…. Little did I know, that was not all…

Saturday morning, I saw some "wet spots" under the bike… thought it was from the previous biker who parked there…

Anyway, Doris & I was having a little "Durian" party in our placed so I took a shot ride to my Punggol place to take out the Durians from the fridge. When I got back to the bike… then I saw it… a patch of coolant fluid on the floor the size of a tissue paper.

sianz… again??

Rode all the way to Looi’s. There were about 5-8 other bikes waiting for Meng Tong. Double Sianz…

MT asked me to let the bike cool down first and see if the leak starts again.
15 mins… still nothing… He then also mentioned to me that he added alittle more than normal amt of coolant cos it completely leaked out previously. So this may have been the "over flow".
Then he told me to "call" him if this happens again.

Anyway, was rushing for time, so I left.

Monday… rode to work… Everything looked fine.

The after work… @ 7pm… Walked to the bike… then I saw it…
There was a "trail" of liquid from my bike to "long kang" aka drain @ the side…

Thought that it wasn’t too bad, so I decided to ride from Jurong to Looi’s @ Kaki Bukit.

One the way there on the PIE, I noticed that the bike was feeling quite strange….
Then I looked @ the speedo… speed looked fine… Fuel… ok…. RPM… normal… then I noticed the small little meter… the temp… it was really close to the red. It never happened before.)

I thought the meter was faulty… So I tried this little test.
I closed the trottle and let the bike "glide" on Neutral.
As the bike is quite heavy… I was able to move quite a fair distance.
very very slowly… I noticed that the temp did drop alittle… Then I turned the throttle and then the temp "flew" to the reds……

Super Sianz………

I stopped @ the road side opposit CJC.
Came off the bike and saw that the coolant was leaking very much faster than before…
10 secs later, the "puddle" was about the size of a PDA liow.

aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggg……..

Called MT, he told me to let the bike cool down for about 1/2 hr then ride there "slowly"….
How slow can I go on the expressway?? Anyway… 15 mins later… I started the engine and the temp was @ the 1/4 mark… looks ok…
So I stared my journey to Looi’s again…

1 - 2 mins into the journey… the temp shot to the reds zone again…
How to make it there??
1 - 2 mins, rest to 15 - 30 mins… by the time I get to Looi’s, it’ll be mid-night by then.

Anyway, decided to call MT again, he advised me to leave the bike there… (I was still on the PIE, near the Serangoon exit. ) Call for the tow truck tomorrow morning.

Mega Sianz…..

I tried my luck and called the Ah Leong who towed my bike last Thursday…
He remembered me and told me that he will be there in 30 mins…

THANK GOD!!!

Anyway, 30 mins later he came… We pushed the bike up the truck and drove to Looi’s.

By the time we got there… It was 8-830pm liow…

Thank God again, there was still someone in the shop.

Ah Leong unloaded the bike and MT was still in there… Taking a "break", having something to drink…

The boyz were chillin and chit chattin…

MT was surprised to see me, then he saw Ah Leong. MT then said, "wah… you very lucky to catch Ah Leong man…"

Anyway, I went to the coffee shop, bought some more drinks and we chatted for quite awhile.

It’s been quite some time since I caught up with these guyz.
esp lesser after getting married and lesser still after having Jed.

Anyway after all this, still wanna thank God that these people were still around to help.
That I did not need to leave my bike on the side of the road till the next day and coordinate the pick up again…
Would have wasted more time.

Anyway, also got a lift from MT to my home.

Saved more money & time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQD9pYKcVzA

On Thursday 13th July 2006…

My bike dropped… again!!!

aarrrgggggggggggg………

Well… This brings about one issue I have with buildings who are NOT BIKE FRIENDLY!!!

Well, what do I mean by bike friendly.

Well for one…. Have proper lots for bikes!!!

Two, barriers that are wide enough for bikes to pass through!!!!

I never really understand why they have to make their barriers extend all the way to the end… If this is not a lame way to prevent bikes I don’t know what that is.

For this case… it was
The C*** Hotel Car Park!!!(Near Suntec)

Why… cos the barrier was so narrow, I could not pass without damaging their barrier, I even tried to "pay" with my cash card.. like a car to enter but they refused… so I had to "park" my bike to call for the attendent… there was a slight slope and my bike rolled and "dropped"…
Normally there is a side crash bar to protect the sides but this one… the bike hit the curb… on the fairing… aaaaaarggggggggggg

Sianz….

Best thing of all, there were 2 cars behind me and they did not even "try" to help….

Sigh….

Anyway, since the bike was down… I tried to push it in @ 45 degrees pass the barrier….

Then I saw it… green liquid…
Coolant… sianz….

Anyway… Then I saw smoke after I stared the bike….
Mega sianz….

After I found a spot to park… green fluid poured… lagi sianz….

So I decided to pop by Looi’s (My regular workshop)…

Going out had no problems…. but then I started to feel a fish tail…. then I thought I had damaged the wheel alignment… sianz x 100… then the rear wheel spun and down the bike when while going up the car park slope…

imagine seeing your bike sliding down the car park slope… sigh………

Cos the coolant was pouring now… the coolant caused the tyre to spin… coolants are slippery..

sianz….

Anyway here’s the damage…

I made some calls… the coolant replacements would cost about 600……… sigh………

Then after some time, Looi’s called… total repairs charges……. 80 including transport.
30 for transport.
20 for coolant…
30 for damaged pipe….

Praise God!!!

Thank God that the repairs was much lesser than expected…

But this delima comes….
Next time…. Will I try to "protect" their barriers??
Or will I "try" to stretch the barrier to allow my bike entry?
or risk dropping my bike again??

temptation………

Juz got a mail from the inurance company a couple of dayz ago… Got a shock to see that they said that they were going to settle the amt… Well… that’s my impression anyway cos there were very little details.

e.g.
No details on what was the amount that they were willing to settle for?
3.2k as the other party claimed or ???

So I called the insurance company, they then told me that the company is actually offering them 2.3k to settle. But…………. They have yet to accept…… Wah…… like this also can ah???
1. I thought they "settled"
2. I though they agreed to pay their claim amt of 3.2k.

Blurz…..

Anywayz….. 2.3k for such a slight knock…… JOKE of the month.

My repairs?? 200…

IMHO, I find that 2.3k is still too high.
If I could… I would ask the ins company to offer 1.5k max.

Anyway, as they mentioned that they have yet to accept the offer…. & 2.3k is below the "Increase loading" limit for my next insurance… Thank God….

Have to see what the other party decides to do…

Accept?? or Not…..

Juz upgraded to SCV’s 6.5k…

ya ya… it’s shared… but then… they are givin out a 6818… I needed a phone…

Anyway, Juz to show how "fast" this 6.5k is…

Anyway, it’s also largely dependent on the content provider’s bandwidth…

Simply put… using water…
If your water source can only give you 10 litre of water every min (e.g. Your Content Provider), you can connect a fire hose to your tap (Your Internet connection speed, mine is 6.5k) don’t expect the hose to put out any forest fires if you know what I am saying.

Another example.
If your Content Provider e.g. www.jeffrey.com.sg only has a 512kbps connection,
and you have a 6500kbps connection… expect only 512kbps if you are the only person using that site.
But if there are 2 users?? 256kbps lo…
The figures are juz examples sake only.

Meaning that apple has quite a huge bandwidth man… @ least 1000kbps… hehehehe…

Anyway ISDN, ADSL, Cable etc etc… Dun trust their specs… But maybe the ISDN ones… hehehe…

Well, @ least I know my 6.5k CAN burst to 700kbps…. hehehehe……..

Sorry quite off topic hor.

Juz saw that show a couple of dayz ago… Tokoyo Drift… Then I thought… These guyz drive like Singaporeans…

How?? Well, except the "drifitng" part… Did you happen to see how close they were driving next to one another??

Well… So you may think… Well try remembering this if you drive / have sat in a car often enough… If you were turing into the expressway and trying to "filter" into lane 1 or 2 for the faster cars…
ya ya… some of you may have got it… great… but to those who have not… but did you see the car that is behind the car that you are trying to get behind?? How close was he driving to "not let you into the lane?"
Now do you see the "drift"… hahahaa…

Anyway, the only thing that I liked about the show was the…. Sound tracks… hehehe…
Cos… This was my ride… http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/363252 & my friend KP http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/160357

Memories….

Sigh…

Anyway sometimes, I really dun understand… How come some people will "save" that couple of cents and makan with one eye on the food and another on his car juz in case the "auntie" with the the giant SUN hat come and give a red packet.

Best of all some of these car drivers even park on the bike’s lots… Cos if you notice, bike lots are either located @ the best or worst spots. But then if it’s a bad spot, usually the cars will not want to park the one…

But good spot… like the picts in the previous posts… sigh… cars take liow.

Sometimes dunno why also, they can afford to pay 70-100k on average to by a car but then cannot afford the parking…

Some lagi better, park on the road side…

e.g. In the front of this Upper Serangoon Center, there is this stall that sells durians… But then, this durian stall is right @ this junction that has this… "IMHO" Useless FLYOVER…
Will explain later.

Anyway this place is a tight 3 lane road… which usually has lorries parked @ the left side cos there are shops there…
Leaving only 2 lanes for the rest…
Even if there are no lorries parked there… the extreme left soon "filters", yes yu heard me right… filters to a main junction, *Filtering but not turning. We now come to the junction of Boundry Road & Upper Serangoon Road.

Anyway alittle more details on this junction… This junction used to be a circus, as in the circus that newton has, not the lions kind. Anyway, before the junction, not too far after this "filter lane" is a durian stall and not that much further, a bus stop all in a short distance from the filter lane to the durian stall to the bus stop, a whopping distance of 50m or less….
And somehow, there are always some inconsiderate jokers who will buy durians and park @ the road side (If you think the jokers @ Geylan Durian Stalls are bad… ), forcing one lane to be closed and sometimes if it’s not these cars that is blocking the traffic, it’s buses…
The best thing is that about 100m from this filter, it’s like this floodgate of lanes… from 1 lane to 3 straight and 2 turning lanes, a total of 5 lane!!!! Imagine this from 1 lane, less than 100m, it becomes 5 lanes… (It’s the same the other end too…)
Remember this is for the other direction too… from 4-5 lanes, into 1 miserable filter lane…
And you think the way into JB is the biggest traffic bottle neck?? Think again….

Talk about bottle neck…. Who the H*** designed this place??

Anyway, why did I call this "flyover useless"?? well cos it is… The start of the "flyover" is before the Boundry Road exit and the other end is slightly after the CTE exit @ Braddell Road.

Who uses it??

And also, the funny thing is that there was a recent change in the traffic light’s timing…

Gone were the dayz when the "right green" arrows are meant for cars who are turing right to "move" into the "Boxes" to wait till it’s "safe" to turn…

Well now the authorties think that these arrows serve another better purpose… as another traffice light. Why am I saying that? well cos the traffice lights @ that junction from Serangoon Road turinging into Paya Lebar Road is doing just that… It only appears to tell you to turn, and there is no need to stop. Best of all, the only thing that is changed is the traffic light’s timing but not the sensor that is telling the traffic light that there are still cars trying to turn… to stay green for awhile longer for the rest to turn…
Why am I telling this, well… cos it’s causing a hellofva JAM!!!
In the past, that junction used to allow easily 15-20 cars to pass… me, being on a bike usually do not even need to wait / stop of any traffic light there. Now, sometime I need to stop @ that junction 3 times!!!

Sometimes I see only 5-8 cars make that turn… Are the authorities causing more jams?? COs the timing came about the same time as the CTE’s 4.30pm ERP started…

*Dun even get me started about the road works in Paya Lebar or even Thomson Road before Lornie Road… etc etc…

Sigh…. sometimes I wonder… Is this some of the reasons why some drivers are so… impatient??

Even Christian drivers / bikers??

My Pastor once told this "story", once there was this older man who was over taken @ dangerously by a young and reackless driver and the older man started to give alot "hand gestures" to that other car that juz over took him…
A traffic police saw the whole thing and he stopped the older man’s car.

The man stepped out and asked "What are you doing? Why are you not chasing the young man who sped past me?"

The office said "Sir, cos I saw this" pointing @ a Christian Bumper Sticker "and I saw what you did… after he over took you I thought this was a stolen car."

he said.

My Pastor then asked, "If you were CONVICTED to be a Christian… DO they have prove to convict you?
"

Sometime thinking of the way that I drive… / ride… Someone / most people will not be surprised if I were to say that I was with the world renouned… Hell’s Angels.

Even in things as small as this… I too need His grace.

*But I still missed this sticker that I used to have…. It said "Honk to see Finger!"