Bonkers for Charity - MAD 2007

Sunday 23rd September was the 3rd Making A Difference (MAD) Ride from Shenton Park Hospital to Scarborough Beach.

The ride was to raise money and awareness for spinal research, for both Shenton Park Spinal Rehabilitation Unit and REDS.

The weather was perfect for the MAD Ride and Festival, with heaps of stuff going on. There were stalls and displays, bands, music, food, a mad cow rodeo, laser games and the MotoGP coverage.

I put the R1 in the Show'n'Shine - didn't win anything but as always, Dugy took some fantastic photos.

The Casey Stoner Replica Ducati was won as well as heaps of other prizes. The money raised (total to be annouced) was to be a huge improvement from last year's $20,000 kitty. Rumours have it that MAD has raised near $100,000 this year!

Channel 10 News Coverage of the 2007 MAD Ride

mmm, Conti's

I've finally pissed off those Pirelli tyres from the R1 and bought something decent.

I'm the first owner of Continental Race Attacks in Western Australia, and the 11th customer Australia-wide. Continental have been bringing in motorcycle tyres for a while now, but the Race Attacks have only just made it on our shores.

In summary, I love them already. They have fantastic grip, heat up quickly and look dead sexy. I had the tyres fitted last Wednesday but only really took the bike for a spin on Saturday morning. This weekend I'll be taking the R1 out to test out the tyres some more in a race environment, more acceleration, more braking, more fun!

I'm Back

Thursday morning at work, things have finally started to settle down again after spending the last three days ploughing through unread emails and fighting fires whilst I was away.

Away where? Sensational Singapore!

Flying from Perth to almost anywhere internationally, people stop in Singapore. They loiter around Changi Airport for a few hours, buy some booze and a watch or a camera then jump on the next flight to wherever they're going. They're truly missing out. Singapore is such a fantastic and lively country and I loved every minute of it. Except maybe when I had a cough attack in a shopping centre and frightened the locals with SARS!

9 nights in Singapore, Robin and I stayed at the SHA Villa; an old colonial building of 3 floors, about 40 rooms lots of space around the building and food on the corner of the block. We were 5 minutes walk from the Somerset MRT (Mass Rail Transit), and another two minutes from the business end of Orchard Road - The Strip. This meant we were pretty close to the centre of town but weren't staying in the main tourist district. Food and booze was cheaper here too compared to the chic cafes on Orchard.

Being a true holiday (unlike the planned out Contiki tour of 2006), I made an effort not to use computers or be online; all I wanted to do was explore, relax, eat, drink, shop and be merry.

So, because I didn't blog live during the week, I'm going to write my stories up as I go, and backdate them to midday of the day I'm writing about. There should be lots of photos and I hope to have them all in my gallery soon.

Jeez, its hard being back at work.
:P

EDIT: Photos now on my gallery here: www.sulk.cc

Singapore 07 - Day 8 and 9

Ah, the final days in Singapore. I guess the mood got a little sad the last two days; the holiday was nearly over and much fun was had. In a couple of days the party would be over and it would be back to work, back to the hard slog.

Well, it was time to exercise the credit card a little more with another trip to the Mustafa centre to buy a mega suitcase for all the other shit we'd bought during the week. Here I also picked up a funky mobile phone for dad; a Samsung U300 (not available in Australia yet)and Robin got some sunnies. It was nice to just continue loitering around the shops - its actually quite relaxing as I don't do it at home. After the Mustafa centre we went back to Singapura Plaza and bought carbon fibre and stainless steel rings (very nice). Dinner was a Snickers and Mars Bar icecream.

Well, it was the last night in Singapore and we sure as hell weren't ready to go back home.

We woke and headed off for breakfast again, I suggested we have a fatty hot breakfast so we have the energy to survive the long day ahead, including the flight home that was to land at midnight. As we had test-packed the day before, there wasn't much to pack away and we had checked out after a nap. We took a taxi to Changi airport where the taxi driver gave us change in currency from Borneo - it looked pretty suss, but when we went to do our tax-free shopping rebates, the gent at the counter explained that it had the same value as the Singapore Dollar.
I got about $140 back, which helped ease the debt, but not by much.

Whilst at Changi we ate some fantastic sushi and generally chilled out, stocked up on booze and perfume and then it was onto the plane. The flight was pretty rough and surprisingly, the food was bad. At least I had my new Bose QC3's and was drinking some Singapore Slings. Robin and I were rocking back to Ministry of Sound, till we landed.

Once in Perth, we were lucky enough to have our luggage come out last off the plane, then got to line up for quarantine with 600 other people as a flight from Malaysia had landed only 10 minutes before us. We declared the mooncake (which was egg-free luckily), had our bags scanned then got home. N'aw, work the next day.... :(

Singapore 07 - Day 7

When you think of Singapore, you think of tropical weather. Hot days, hot nights, humidity, overcast, rain... yes? How about -8°C in a massive chiller, going tubing down a slope, throwing snowballs and climbing through igloos? Yep, Robin and I went to Snow City in Jurong East, Singapore.


We jumped on the train late in the day after lunch and took the looooooong way to Jurong East, the end of the train line. The loooooooong way meant that we got to stop at heaps of stations both above and underground, see the suburbs and a bit more of the life of Singapore. Jurong East is like the Midland of Perth - there's no reason for tourists to really go here, no real sights unless you've got a lot of time in Singapore. Which we did! Ever seen Japanese tourists in Midland? No? Well you'll understand when I say that we were THE ONLY white people in Jurong East. Must admit that the best food from the holiday was also here. From the vegetarian spring roll and chilli paste at the train station, to the chilli squid at the hawker and the wanton noodles and apple and lychee drinks at the Kopitiam. Real food made the way the Singaporeans eat it.

After going nuts for an hour at Snow City we hit the Jurong East markets. Thousands of stalls with umbrellas, business suits, jewellery, toys, slippers, everything! I bought some trinkety things here and there and I think the lot came to about SGD 29!

Back on the train, we took the quick way back to the villa and kitted back up for more shopping. It was time for round two of Chinatown for mooncake and Suntec City; Robin wanted more skate gear. We also hit the Adidas shop and Promod, all in the nick of time.


I cooked dinner that night, 2 minute noodles.
:)

Singapore 07 - Day 6

Thursday was the perfect day for the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. It's a beautiful zoo as far as a zoo goes, very lush and green with some amazing animals.

Lucky for me, I got chosen to throw a frisbee to a sea lion at the splash park and I found half a banana to feed the lemur.

The Night Safari was also awesome, with an animal show and a night tram tour. Tim spotted our photo on the wall (the ones they take of you to buy) and we caught up for a short while after the show.

Singapore 07 - Day 5

Wednesday was hump day, although this time I was glad I wasn't at work! Today was a pretty lazy one. We jumped on the train again and headed to City Hall where we worked our way through the underground shopping malls and over to Suntec City. Five towers of shopping on quite a few levels! We were at Suntec for hours and hours just checking out everything. Robin spotted a little shop in the corner of a mall with heaps of skate gear - here we bought a few tees and shorts. Very funky and original designs!

Even after the shopping had ended, the day was going to continue to be one of the best nights in Singapore... We went around the towers and checked out the Fountain of Wealth. We then headed back undergound to check out more shops when I heard an announcement along the lines of:

We currently have a situation in the building. Please remain calm. We are investigating the situation and the possible outcomes. Thank you for your attention.

I immediately sensed something wasn't quite right. Robin said he didn't hear the message, wasn't listening. I don't think many others in the mall had heard the announcement either. I suggested we head up to street level "in case". As we emerged, about 1,000 people lined the streets between the towers of Suntec City. "What the f*ck?" Turn out the earthquake tremors from Sumatra were felt in the building.

We didn't really know what was going on at the time so we just kept walking and headed to the Raffles hotel for the famous Singapore Sling cocktail. There's that "to do" list again!

We sat down at the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel where again the tourists pay premium. SGD68 for two cocktails, plus tax, plus service charge. One thing they know how to do very well in Singapore, is plus plus plus.

It was a very elegant bar, made me feel like I should have been taking photos in Sepia mode, 1930's style. There were boxes of peanuts everywhere and the aim is to crack them open and throw the shells onto the floor. I also spotted a 50kg sack of peanuts used to refill the small boxes! The cocktails themselves were very nice and went down a treat.


I hadn't mentioned it yet, but most of the things on the "to do" list I've gotten from the Lonely Planet Singapore book. Another one of these items it to have drinks at the New Asia Bar. What better night to get on the piss than a Wednesday? After the Raffles Hotel, it was back to the villa to freshen up, sexy up and strut to the 70th floor of the Swissotel. Being a Wendesday, crowds were down (apparently) but it was still packed, there was no cover charge, the tunes were cranking, the food was excellent (I picked a winner with the Dim Sum banquet) and the views were... well... stunning.

Singapore 07 - Day 4

One of the many things on the Singapore "to do" list was to pay a visit to Sentosa Island. Like Western Australia's Rottnest Island, Sentosa is a holiday spot for the locals. With it's man-made beaches with imported sand and designed bay - its a fake beach that actually feels pretty nice. The water itself wasn't too crash hot, it'd be the equivalent of swimming at Kwinana by our standards, but it was hot and I didn't care. Just don't go under. :P



We took the monorail from the City Hall station and shopping centre (whilst getting pretty lost in the process trying to find the monorail entry). The monorail only took a few minutes and we had arrived. During the trip I noticed some HUGE excavations at the front of the island; more resorts no doubt. That's the crazy thing about Singapore, they're never content with what they have. They always have to build, develop, expand and improve! They also work 24 hours on construction sites. In Perth, builders are at the pub by 3:30pm. In Singapore, you'll hear pile drivers at 11:30pm whilst walking through town.

Robin and I spent the afternoon in the sun just swimming and relaxing, napping and chatting before the munchies kicked in. Like most resort islands, food and drink was going to be a premium and we knew it. The only "white" food we ate the whole time we were in Singapore was at Sentosa. Basically because it was the cheapest. At least the beer was really cold. The bar we were at had funky tunes, an awesome view and the food was pretty nice albeit overpriced. "Beach Bar Culture" was the CD they were playing... Still looking around for it... let me know if you find one eh? :)

Jumping back on the monorail we went back one station and walked around some of the tourist traps including the 70 metre Merlion, botanic and fairy gardens, water features and some of the shops. Robin and I also got to hold a snake (everything on Sentosa costs money - even the snake was $5).



As the sun was dipping, we bought tickets for the return trip back to the mainland in a cable car - another tick on the "to do" list. The sunset was magical; purple, pink, blue, orange...

Once the sun had gone down Singapore had lit up in full colour. A beautiful city night and day.

Singapore 07 - Day 3

Day 3 also happened to be my 25th Birthday. For the last few years I've made a bit of an effort to make sure I wasn't at work for my Birthday. This year I couldn't have asked for a better day.

We were up early and had breakfast before 9am, but something wasn't quite right. I felt a bit... average. Robin noted that I looked tired; and I felt it. I had a nap and woke up around 1pm, which by Perth standards is a waste of a Monday - shops would be closed in a few hours. In Singapore, at noon, you've got a whole shift to go before shops start closing.

Lunch was more food from the Hawkers on the corner, some excellent chilli squid with bok choy. Again, off to the MRT station and into Little India to scout the motorbike shops for bling and accessories. We spend the afternoon checking out shops and scoping out stuff to come back and buy.

Later in the day we stumbled upon Singapura Plaza, a massive complex above the main rail interchange we took. I'd been looking for Bose headphones around the place as well and some retailers suggested a shop in this complex, so off we went. For those that live in Perth, you'd be familiar with Karrinyup and Garden City shopping centres. Now, stack them both on top of each other, then triple. OMG!! 7 floors of shops - from trinkets, jewellery, gadgets and gizmos, haberdashery, fruit, coffee, musical instruments, a LEGO shop, fragrances... everything. It was almost like the complete issue of Perth CBD shops in one area.

Here I did eventually find the Bose headphones I wanted, with 10% off and not to mention the exchange rate - It ended up being a pretty sweet deal! Robin also got me a little "something" - a beautiful blown glass necklace. *thanks Robin!!* We bought heaps more stuff and ended up finishing our shopping around 10pm, walking through Singapore at night is awesome!

Back to the villa again and munchies kicked in so I dolled up and we headed out to grab food. Where else in the world can you pick up lobster with spicy noodles, a lychee cocktail and a jug of beer at 11:30pm on a Monday night!?!?!? Ah, another awesome day in Singapore - and a wonderful way to celebrate a quarter of a Century!

Singapore 07 - Day 2

Sunday, was a magnificent day: sunny and radiant. It was going to be a hot one. Robin and I filled our Camelbaks to capacity before heading out.

When walking towards the Somerset station, we'd always walk through the skate park and we were lucky enough to see some guys doing some street art on one of the brick walls. Here's the before and after - I think its pretty awesome!


We jumped on the train and headed to Clarke Quay because I was keen to check out the Great Singapore Duck Race... I'd only read about it till now, but what a sight it was, and a top day at that - almost like a carnival, with music, mascots and fun all round. Even got to peg a few ducks around that were caught on the sides of the river away from the current.


Whilst walking around Clarke Quay we stumbled upon some fountains and made the most of the cooling (albeit chlorinated) water.


After Clarke Quay and their expensive beers (SGD17.80 for two middies) we headed back to the villa for a rest and a shower. It was then back off into town, Chinatown! A vibrant area of Singapore, where the food and booze is cheap, the souvenirs are nasty and the tailors annoying!
Almost everything was 3 for $10, so I stocked up on slippers, those kitsch gold cats with the waving paw, and lucky fish as well as some postcards which I was going to send out to mum and a few mates.


Our first "expensive" meal in Singapore, we paid about SGD41 for a massive feast and a litre of beer. Here we have 3 different types of Satay sticks (recommended by the hostess), chilli squid and noodles with fresh chilli. Some of the best Chinese food I'd ever eaten and it was only going to get better...

Singapore 07 - Day 0 and Day 1

Day 0 was more so the day Robin and I (we) flew out. Whilst lining up in the queue for Singapore Airlines in our PSB hoodies we were spotted by a fellow PSB member Tony, whom we had a chat with and eventually got us into the Silver Lounge. There we dined on sushi, cheese platters, spring rolls, fresh fruit and dosed our thirst with Tiger. One of many to follow.



The flight was pretty simple, we had noone sitting next to us so I took the opportunity to get some sleep using the extra room. I was pooped because the same day I had already been to the hairdresser for a cut and colour.

We landed in Singapore at 9:30pm and we were soon out the door after stocking up on Absolut 100 and Bacardi Oro. Friday night in Singapore, trying to get across town in a cab? Took us a while, but the sights were worth it. The whole place was lit up, people everywhere!

Rather than hitting the town straight away, we decided to rest up and do a reconnaissance run in the morning. After fears of losing my wallet and finding it in the last pocket of my backpack, we checked in and crashed out soon after at the SHA Villa.


Our first day was a Saturday. It was hot already at 8:00am, we headed downstairs for breakfast then headed out for a stroll to Orchard Road, which is "the strip". Shops, food, cafe's - it's all there. Designer labels galore. Heuuuuuge shopping plazas. It was stunning. We headed to the tourist centre, scoped out some events and kept exploring.



After my shoes had chewed through my feet and my first experience at using a squat pan *shudder*, we headed back to the Villa to freshen up. It was then onto the train to Dhoby Ghaut and on to Little India. Here I bought mum some gifts and we stopped for food. Robin had taken me well outside my comfort zone. I didn't like Indian food, at all. I thought I was going to either get the shits or leave hungry. Must say, it wasn't too bad at all! Little India felt scummy and dirty, but on a closer look, it was probably still cleaner than a 16 year old's grotty hands at your local Maccas.

After lunch we checked out the local bike shops for accessories and bling. Lots to choose from, and there are some wicked helmet designs around the place. Didn't buy anything as I was only checking stuff out for now...