Clementi Bikers Journal

16th December 2005 There was a gentleman that was posting about the food that he saw while browsing our humble website and he said that after seeing such pictures, he is motivated to come down here. The technology of today is indeed wonderful is it not? we can experience what is happening in another country all through the power of the Internet and boy, is our site becoming famous! All because of a group of friends who gather round Block 603 in Clementi and exchange banter. In any case, speaking of our little haunt here at Block 603, today was a rather quiet day with only Ah Beng and myself meeting at the usual rendezvous and chatting. He had a coffee and I had my dinner plus as bottle of mineral water.But the talk went on for almost two hours with us chatting about almost anything under the sun. Imagine, with just two people we chatting, we can already find so many things in common!

15th December 2005 We learnt a lot of new things today about Sherman. Peter, Sherman and myself were down at the usual haunt and were having a coffee and talking about bikes. Sherman suddenly said that his girlfriend was coming down to the coffee shop to have a drink and keep him company and that was when we er...found out about Sherman and what he wears. Let us just say that the revelations kept us in literal stitches for a greater part of the evening but what was revealed to us will never be revealed in public. But I will say this...Sherman will get a ribbing forever. In other news, Peter is now working in a bike shop and is learning the ropes of working in such an organisation. He already has some great skills in handling machinery and bikes are machines by any other name. Sherman is doing quite well working in the bike shop industry as well. Well, we are Block603 and we are one big family.

11th October 2005 At yesterday's little gathering, I did something that I have not done in a very long time...I drank till I could not drink anymore. I arrived at the coffee shop pretty late after work and the first thing that greets my eye is a bottle of single malt Australian whiskey. Next to it were several smaller bottles of Riesling German wine. Ah Yong looked pretty plastered by then and some of the other people sitting at the table clearly looked like they had been on a liquid diet all evening. I think I understood why. After just one swig of that single-malt scotch I was feeling nice and warm, and the fans that were constantly blowing did little to cool me down. But in the end, the evening went on but not before we drank beer, wine and some Baron's Strong Brew. Now I can see the faces of people who are probably reading this excerpt and are thinking how a group of drunkards can possibly go cycling. All I can say is that we enjoy ourselves, on the saddle and off! Long live Block 603!

7th October 2005 Two orders of chili crab and three bottles of red wine. That was the order of the day yesterday at the coffee shop at the bottom of Block 603 as we met and talked non-stop late into the night. Last night's attendance consisted of Ah Teck, Ah Yong, Mr Yap, Peter, Sherman, Michael and Ah Pui. The talk we had yesterday ranged from Mont Blanc pens and watches to Ponggol owls with 44 teeth. The team decided to go riding on Friday night (which happens to be today) but I have other plans so I politely declined the invitation to ride with them. A great day yesterday nevertheless. Chili crabs and red wine makes for a heady combination, to say nothing about owls that can go at 77 kilometers per hour. I wonder if the crabs we were eating could go at that speed or even faster? They must have because maybe it was in a fit of jealousy that we ate them with such gusto. Ponggol crab?

3rd October 2005 It has been said that crabs and red wine just do not go together. Some wine purists would put their two cents in and chime that it is nothing short of sacrilege, to have red wine with seafood instead of white wine. What these guys fail to realize that it does not matter what one is drinking when eating crabs and seafood. One could even drink coffee. The point of the matter is that when we have fun, anything goes. And fun is what we had at the coffee shop last night. Three bottles of red wine and a few bottles of beer, four packet of sweet peanuts and the afore-mentioned crabs and steamed fish. All wolfed down by people like Ah Pui, Peter, Ah Yong, Michael, Andrew and Sherman. A heavenly evening indeed and one that will go down in the books of what the Block 603 riders do when we are not cycling.

2nd October 2005 It seems that we are spending more time drinking than cycling but as far as I am concerned, a meeting with friends is just as important as keeping healthy through cycling. Yesterday's drinking session consisted of Ah Yong, Ah Teck, Ah Pui, Low (who came down while on his taxi-driving job), Michael and some drunk fool who was giving everyone the shits. Peter was not around and after a couple of us phoning him, it was decided that we carry on the day’s festivities and wine drinking without him. Ah Yong brought a bottle down, I brought down two and one of Ah Yong’s friends brought two bottles of red wine down. It was mostly a red wine drinking session and it was a nice. Everyone was feeling very good after that and I must say that it was a fantastic evening chatting with friends and watching Fulham being beat by Manchester United by 3 goals to 2.

28th September 2005 Yesterday was one of the days when our chat session at the coffee shop far exceeded the table space that we sat at. It was so full! There was Ah Teck, Ah Yong, Peter, Ah Pui, Michael, Sherman and two other guys that obviously found our little group interesting or else I do not think that they would have joined us there. The topic was on mermaids, owls and of course cycling. As usual, there was the usual drinking of beer and the exchange of tips, tricks and offers of help, the usual things that friends do to help one another. Sherman said that he would be going to push himself on the road bike today to see just how much that new Litespeed road bike of his is capable of handling. We all wished him good luck and Sherman promised to look out for owls who leave their perch in the trees and hop on roads looking for prey, especially at Punggol Street 17. It seems that those owls can go at a speed of 77 kilometers per hour and when they smile at you, they exhibit 44 teeth.

22nd September 2005 I came back pretty late last night and I managed to catch Peter, Ah Teck, Ah Yong and Ah Pui at the coffee shop. By the time I got there, there was evidence of two bottles of wine that had already been consumed. The fellas were naturally apologetic about the whole wine fiasco, saying that I should have come earlier if I was to partake in their wine drinking. But work really held me up and I am afraid I was not able to make it. The conversation turned towards one of our members who claimed that he could push a speed of 77 km/h on a mountain-bike with a 44-tooth front gear. We all dismissed his claim as bloody ridiculous. This same person also claimed that he could make it from Clementi to Fort Road in 15 minutes. Wow. He must have been traveling at some speed to accomplish that feat. After much guffawing at such perceived notions, we left the coffee shop at about 2330 hrs and made our way back home. Ah. The friendship and all. It does not get any better than this

19th September 2005 Petrol prices seem to be on the rise. It is not going to be long before the cost of public transport rises in tandem with the rising fuel prices. That is why we believe (at least some of us) that cycling to work would be the better option rather than getting your own car. A car is good but the cons still out-weigh the pros. I mean the cost of a car with regards to maintenance, car tax, fuel, parking in town all will add up, not to mention the already high price that one must pay to own one. That is why we, the Block 603 bikers, would rather talk about and cycle bikes rather than owning a car. Plus, the good thing about it is that we get exercise and this good for our bodies in the long run. But sometimes, we joke to ourselves that we are getting too much Vitamin D in the form of the many beers that we drink almost every night when we are not cycling. The Cafe-Link boss knows us all by name and we are on the first-name basis there now. But the underlying message still remains. Get on the bike and cycle. It may actually do you a lot of good in the long run.

15th September 2005 We had an excellent time drinking at the Cafe-Link coffee shop today but today was drink with a difference. We had wine, two bottles initially at first sponsored by Ah Yong. After that when Sherman came, he bought another bottle and then I sponsored a bottle too. So, in effect, we had four bottles of Australian wine, one bottle of 1997 vintage French wine and countless of bottles of beer. Today’s crew consisted of Ah Yong, Ah Teck, Ah Pui, Peter, Sherman, some Malay dude and some other people who saw our merry little gathering and wanted to join in the merry-making and the food. Oh yes…the food! We had flower crabs, venison, fried pork and lastly, chicken cooked in Coca-Cola! Simply wonderful. The photos are in the photo part of our website with today’s date. Honestly, Block 403 has really got one solid group of friends!

4th September 2005 Today was a day that was spent at the coffee shop. Ah Teck was there, as was Low, Michael and Sherman. All of us were glad to see Low, as it had been some time since we had seen him. He looks better now and much more cheerful. In any case, we discussed bikes and bike wear and where to get them in Singapore. Sherman was telling about his experiences in working and plying the bike trade. You know, there has got to be something about friends like these who care about each other. It is camaraderie and it is something that we treasure a lot.

1st September 2005 We finally bought over the domain name block603.com and now, we finally have a website with a proper Internet name. For quite some time, it was pretty impossible to make somebody remember the domain name as it was too long and a bit too much of a hassle to remember too. This should serve as some sort of homecoming as far as domain names go because we are and will always be the Block 603 bikers. Are we becoming famous or what!

21th August 2005 There seem to be a lot of groups, cycling-wise, that are from our side of the island. The west seems to be pretty popular and that is no exception, given the fact that there are lots of interesting places to ride. I wonder. While riding in the future, will we meet up with these people that we only read about in the forums? Will we get along? As bikers, I like to think of us having pleasant personalities and just channeling all our energies into riding. But sadly, sometimes some people go ballistic and that is not what most of us want. It is stressful enough in the corporate world. Let us not bring it into cycling. In any case, we are always at Block 603 and we will stay down there on the days when we are not cycling.

19th August 2005 Today marks the end of the 15 days that were "set aside" for the Hungry Ghost month and that means more evenings out of the house than in it. Due to some people with their beliefs, it was thought best to keep all night activities to a minimum during this month. After 15 days of prayer offerings and staying at home, it is time to stretch our legs and do what we do best. What is it I wonder? Of course you know the answer! Funny question, really.

13th August 2005 The nation's birthday has always been a cause for celebration. As a matter of fact, it is no different from any other birthday, cake or no cake. Singapore celebrates 40 years of nation building this year. It was 1965 when we separated from Malaysia and thus it will be remembered as its independence. This birthday feeling will last all the way until the end of August and it is a great feeling mark my words. Other than these feelings of patriotism, nothing much has been happening with our rather motley bunch as we have been pretty busy with Hungry Ghost festivities. The Chinese believe that during the Hungry Ghost month, the gates of hell are opened and ghosts are free to roam the earth. Offerings of Hell money are used to appease the ghosts, as are offerings of food and the like. We will be going for more rides after this ghost month!

18th July 2005 It was a rather cold night tonight, what with the heavy rain in the afternoon. As a result of that, more time was spent in the coffeeshop with idle talk than active biking. The roads are slippery and wet roads and knobby tires do not always get along. More often than not, riders are sent flying from such a combination and that in itself, is undesirable. So the usual gang met up at the coffeehop. Ah Pui brought down a small jade statue or some sort of jade carving for us to see. It was very intricate and a picture was snapped of it. If we could, we will put it up here for all to see. There was still some talk about the NKF or National Kidney Foundation and the peanuts issue is still on every ones mind. It is amusing really to see how cynical our fellow Singaporeans can get. I do not think that they will let Mrs. Goh off any time soon.

15th July 2005 Today was a day with a difference. Never mind the fact that it was raining and that the roads were all slick with water. So what did we do? Meet up at the coffeeshop for some banter. Interesting. First we started with some rojak and then moved on to pepper crab and then chili crab, as the evening wore on. Not to be contented with the mixture of beer and stout, we had to have some Johnny Walker Black Label scotch whiskey as well! Even Cheong the drink guy had his share and by the time the evening rolled to a halt, we were well and truly pasted. Today's motley crew consisted of Peter, Ah Teck, Ah Pui, Ah Yong and some other dude. A very, very good evening. We were reminded that it was about 21 days before the seventh-mnth Hungry Ghost festival and when we do celebrate, we are going to have a slap-up meal. Ah, that is the spirit of Block603 bikers! We value our friendships and when we eat, we eat!

13th July 2005 Met up with Ah Pui, Ah Teck, Peter and Ah Yong at the Cafe Point coffeeshop yesterday. The general talk was on the NKF fiasco and how much reserves they had, in addition to its CEO being paid in excess of $600,000 a year. For once, the topic was not on cycling but on the ethics of a so-called charity organisation. There was general talk all around as well about the NKF building being vandalized, gold taps in the CEO's bathroom and what not. All agreed that it would be interesting to watch the NKF show tomorrow to see what kind of reaction there would be. Just like the man in the street, we are indignant that such an organisation would use hard-earned money, seemingly donated to this same organisation, to purchase gold taps for the CEO's private bathroom. NKF = Nation Kena Fucked.

12th July 2005 This may be a cycling website but I feel that I have to give my two cents worth about the NKF or the National Kidney Foundation. Today, their CEO T.T. Durai took he Straits Times to court over an article published last year. The long and short of it is that the article was about a $1000 golden tap that was fitted in the CEO's private bathroom. Well, for a non-profit entity, T.T. Durai admitted to the court that he get a salary of $600,000 a year. Wow! Who would have thought of such a thing? And all this time we were donating to the NKF, believing in all the sad stories and pitiful faces showed in their shows. Sorry NKF. You will not be getting another cent from us.

11th July 2005 Clementi is a cool place to be. We are relatively close to the town area so we can cycle there when we feel like it. For endurance training, we can cycle to Mount Faber, and then torture ourselves with a rather arduous ride up the damned hill, and enjoy the thrill of speeding down it. We are close to West Coast Park, but the problem is that the damned sea view has been obstructed by some construction work there. It will take some time before we can see the sea again. Eating places are nearby like that Cheeze Prata place and also McDonalds is in abundance with no more than three restaurants within a short cycling distance. So the next time someone laments the fact that Clementi is boring, we have a story to tell them!

8th July 2005 Somehow, we are all feeling very sad about the terrible acts of terrorism in London. All of a sudden, we do not feel like riding. How low can terrorists get by staging such cowardly acts. Absolutely despicable this act is. Our sympathies and well-wishes go out to the people of London.

5th July 2005 Sometimes, it just is not worth it to ride in all weather, be it rain or shine. The flu has managed to attach itself to a couple of our riders and it is not good to ride with a fever. So it is Vitamin C and lots of water. In other news, the International Olympic Committee is currently in Singapore to choose a host for the 2012 games. Lots of TV time dedicated to this event. But all in all, we would much rather be in Clement West Coast, where it all happens!

1st July 2005 Once in a while, some people show up at the coffee shop while we are having our evening cuppa and ask us about our motley group and the bikes that we ride. We always welcome them for our rides but when the topics come up like having a ride up Mount Faber, they gasp in awe. "You mean, you guys actually ride up there?" That is a common question that gets posed to us almost every time. Some people fail to see that cycling is a great form of exercise and is very good for lowering your cholesterol level, as Richard (one of the gang) is fond of telling us. Yes, we are not quite fat old fools but a little exercise goes a very long way in this relatively stressed-up society that we have. But we manage and we still love biking. You should too!

28th June 2005 I apologise that we have not had anything much to write in our journal these past few days. It is not that we have not gone out for rides or anything. It is just that there was nothing to write about. We are all great and we are thinking of riding tomorrow. Do join us if you can make it!

24th June 2005 Today was our usual meeting at the coffeeshop at night. The members present were Micheal, Ah Yong, Ah Teck and a couple of others. We were discussing the possibility of us cycling to Bukit Timah tomorrow on Saturday. The weather has been erratic as usual and it has not been much fun anticipating rain and finding all your plans dashed. So, the coffeeshop would be a great place to get together if it does rain. After all, it is still a gathering of friends

22th June 2005 I do not quite know what to make of our weather recently. We woke up yesterday to a drizzly morning and the morning today was so nice and sunny. Anyway, what that meant was that yesterday it was not possible to cycle to work. Today was a heavenly morning and cycling to work was a nice leisurely affair, with no traffic on the roads at all. Well, we all should be at the coffeeshop today so if you are in the vicinity, join us for a cup of coffee.

20th June 2005 Last night's rain was a rather welcome respite (there, I have said it again) for the hot weather we were having. Actually, it was more like early this morning rather than last night. Cycling to work would have meant water thrown up by the wheels and thus dirtying work outfits so most of us kept our bikes at home. Let us just hope for more fine weather ahead!

19th June 2005 Ah Teck said that the Block 603 bikers went for a ride at Pandan Reservoir at about 1600hrs yesterday afternoon. We later met up at the coffeeshop at Block 603 for our usual night chat and meet-up. Ah Teck brought along a bottle of gin and we had a little party with lots of gin and tonic. We might be riding today as the weather looks really nice. We should be at the coffeeshop again later on in the evening. Feel free to join us!

18th June 2005 The weather has been getting pretty unpredictable and that spells bad news for us casual cyclists. Yesterday afternoon it threatened to rain and rain it did but only for a few minutes. Wanted to get a feel of Bukit Timah but in the end we just told ourselves that it was not worth it. Mudfalls and wet muddy tracks are not in our best interests as cyclists. We will go to Bukit Timah another day and we welcome you, the visitor of this website, to join us when you can. Don't forget, Block 603 Clementi.

16th June 2005 There are not many places to ride in Clementi, other than West Coast Park and the nearby estate. What we normally do is to cycle to far-off places like Changi Village via East Coat and such on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, just so that we can partake in the nasi lemak at Changi Village. More often than not, we come back pretty late but then again, that is what cycling is all about.

15th June 2005 Ever since the Runway Cycling, the days that followed semed to be days laden with rain. It is a cooling respite from sunny days but knobby tires on a bike do not take too kindly to wet roads and thus we can go slip sliding everywhere. This is a message of caution to all bikers...take care!

13th June 2005 We are still recovering after the Runway Cycling yesterday. There was an article in Channelnewsasia about the event and we still think that this is a great event to look forward to. Imagine a whole runway all to yourself, no cars and all to put you off balance unless of course you count the skaters that were there in full force as well. The rain was pretty refreshing and the rest, well, is history.

12th June 2005 Today was the Runway Cycling Day and we all went down to Paya Lebar Airport to have some fun cycling. Unfortunately it started to rain but that did not stop us as we are cyclists and we cycle, rain or shine! We had a really good time and we look forward to more national events like these! In other news and other than that, we are still the same gang that hangs around Block 603 at Clementi West Coast. Sherman is now working at Treknology Bikes and can be found at the Tanglin store. He is enjoying himself and we wish him all the best.