recount of johor cycling trip well copied from npcc news letter by our dearest arjunah.
cut the crap and here it goes...
7.30am was the time we were supposed to report to school.
we planned to meet early so as to get ready all our neccessities, which we would be bringing along with us through the expedition to Penggarang,Johor.
some of the neccessities were mess tins:solid fuels,packets of maggie mee,some 1.5L water bottles and all of us checked whether we have brought our passports. it was the most important things after all.
our team consister of 10 members who were accompanied by 3 teacher officers. for that morning on 6th july,it was a promising sunny day. the weather was just fine with cool breeze and a shining bright blue sky. it was also yet another holiday in june. the atmosphere in school was so serene as there was almost no one in sight.
we boarded the bus at around 8am as our bumboat ride was scheduled at 9am. we would have to rech the new change jetty early, as we would not want to miss the ride to johor. all of us were so excited and chatty about the trip. we joked around like siblings and make our own self-check on our own belongings so that there would not be any problems when going throught the immigrating check-point.
personally,i was pretty energized, as this was my 1st time to johor since the last time was when i was barely 2years old.
the day would not have been completed without some of us cracking up jokes to key us up to another level of excitement. some of us had started to miss our homes and our parents even thought the journey had not offically started yet.
earlier than expected, we reached changi village. the teachers decided that we should get our breakfast, we proceeded to the nearest bicucle rental shop to rent bicycles for our cycling trip.
we were allowed to choose our own bicycles to our own satisfaction. i still remembered mine was a blue flamed viper. it was comfortable but i envied jeremy's bicycle as his had suspension which could prevent the rider from any impact force if ever he was to encounter any rough, humpy tracks or roads.
we all rode off to the jetty, helping ms zahira to carry all the plastic bags containing the necessities we were supposed to bring along as she had volunteered to be on foot instead of cycling like the rest of us.
we had to undergo an immigration check before we cold board the bumboat. it was a relief as no one was held back. the expedition was about to start. the game had just began.
it was an hour ride.
althought it made all of us restless we had cemented our mindset to how fun the trip was going to be, therefore the ride wasnt that boring, fortunately.
we were all cramped up in one bumboat with all 12 cumbersome mountain bikes.
luckily the lot of uscould fit in just nice.
we reached the jetty at johor and went through another immigration check.
after all of us wer through, we set off with our bikes and the challenge has already begun.
we start our cycling in line so as not to congest the narrow roads. mr lim led the pack and mr tan took care of the pack's tail. our destination was the resort right at the edge of penggarang. we were told it was by the bay, a nice looking resort that looked like paradise. looking forward to it, all of us were determined to race our hearts ther with our bicycles. with a few stops here and there to catch our breath, we managed to witness some of the village schools, decaving bus stops which looked very quaint, with every angle that we looked was green and blue, green trees and plantations were at the sides of the road and the blue sky looked down on us, the morning sun beginning to tan our exposed chins, and alongside with the tree our hair was blown to a frenzy. mr lim even got caught in with a durian tree, which he had spotted and took a picture of . we had food at roslizawati restaurant and relaxed.
we continued our journey with our lovely bicycles, which could still bear another promising 18km ride to the resort. althought some of us were at the verge of giving up, the stronger ones did not stop motivating the rest. the rought part of the journey began to rise. it was the upslope. it so too steep that i, myself could not figure out which proper gear to use for the bike to overcome the great gravitational pull. finally, i figured if i could maintain my pedaling, i would definitely overcome the obstacle. i tred my best at pedaling and maintaining my momentum. soon i discovered that we were surrounded with red hills and the roads had less vehicles. then i sensed we were reaching.
the signboards really helped. at first, the junction we turned into looked like it was going into an unknown village. however, i just cycled my way through and looked behind now and then to assure myself i was going the right way. i lost sight of syahiran sec5 and hizwan who were always in front of me and i started to calm myself down telling myself not to panic. while keeping a look out for oncoming vehicles, i told myself to just cycle straight. i followed my intuition and there i was the resort's signboard. i was so relieved and cycled through with uncontrolled jubliation. syahiran sec5, hizwan, jeremy, rafi and me were the 1st few to arrive apact from ms zahira who came first with a cab. we waited and gave encouragement to the others as all of us had overcome the challenge together.we started to choose our rooms, unpack and clean up.
as the purpose of the trip was to enjoy our holidays, we decided to play a game of vb. it was fun and humorous. everyone who played like hao yang, mr tan, hizwan, hidayah, rafi, syahiran, jeremy and myself had loads of smiles and laughs on our faces. it was as if we came here with a morotized-vehicle or something, that we had forgotten how tiring the journey was. at exactly five, hidayah, hizwan, syahiran, hao yang, tristyenni, zulaiha and myself, enjoyed our time swimming and soaking ourself in the clean blue sea. the water was cool and clear. the sand was fine and white. everything was really nice and pleasant. at 7 plus, all of us mellowed down and cooked ourselves a meal or two. we had maggie mee, beans, chicken curry and some soft drinks bought from the provision shop nearby. by 8 at night, everyone was in theif own room, watching independence day, which was shown on the small television the resort provided for each room, soon after, i found myself dozing off and it was quite uncomfortable in the first few hours of sleep due to the mosquito bites here and ther. however, the air-con helped a little and i could sleep as per normal. no doubt, i was beginning to feel a little homesick but after thinking that i am with my teachers and buddies, i just slept off my worries.
as i was the last one to get ready, i must have been really, tired out from ytd's journey. another promising 30km was waiting for me, everyone was waiting downstairs, bicycles neatly arrange, bags packed, everyone clean and all set to go home. we took a couple of group pictures for memories and off we went, the journey to lion city. somehow it felt faster than the day before. maybe this was due to the fact that normally we could roughly gauge how long it would take for us to reach our starting point. well, sure enough, after experiencing the long 30km road, voila, we reached the jetty faster than expected.
to further elaborate on an interesting twist towards the end of our johor cycling trip to penggarang, here goes,
some of us had already reached the jetty, unfortunately, one of our members's bicycle chain had snapped off while she was nearing the finishing point of the journey. it was due to an improper change of gears. unfortunately, fate was not on her side and it rained. and oh, the rain was nothing we could call a light one. it was raining incessantly. among us, we were proud to have people who were willing to help others in distress, hidayah and jeremy helped poor zulaiha hurry back to the jetty as fast as possible. between hidayah and hizwan, about an argument as to which gender was weaker or stronger as. soon after they laughed it off as they realized it was kind of childish.
after all that experience i've gone throught together with my other cycling members and the teacher officers throughtout the 60km journey,i've discovered an important learning point. one cannot work alone and expect extremely good results. when 2 or more sources of energy merge together they can make the best out of something. the trip has also instilled a stronger bond with one another. i would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who had participated in this event for making it happen. it was such a memorable trip that i would want to go for a second round, despite the rough roads. but hey, if i can handle life's challengers, what is a "mere" 60km cycling journey!
i'll sing for you, i'll do anything to see you smile.