This is nothing new. I mean, bikers do this kind of thing a lot. I am no exception. Its a convenient excuse to go on a short ride, with little commitments. After all, it is similar to the routine breakfast do that almost everyone perform on weekends. Leisurely leave the house without the stress of having to punch in on time at the office, and arrive at the breakfast place knowing that you can spend as much time as you like.
Most of the so called weekend warriors like to do the "twisties" ride. But of course they also have breakfast or similar meals at some point during or after their ride. Same different. For the so called weekend warrior, the determining factor is "which twisties" or which "track"? Track, meaning the public road that offers challenges in terms of bends, twists and turns. The more difficult the route, the more challenging it is, the more likely bikers will flock that route on weekends and public holidays. Karak highway leading to Genting Highland (Awana) or Bukit Tinggi is the most popular "track" among bikers in Klang Valley. The Kuala Klawang road from Cheras is also equally popular. There are also other "tracks" away from KL - Simpang Pulai-Cameron Highland; Kuala Kubu Baru - Frasiers Hill and many more…
Whereas for our "breakfast ride", the determining criteria is "what and where are we having breakfast on Saturday?". And as I said earlier, this can also be extended to "what and where are we having lunch?". Probably, the best label for our ride is "The Makan Ride"! The "Durian" ride is a good example of our "Makan Ride". A more recent one would be the breakfast in Port Dickson and also the Bidor Mee Kari Ride. These two stories are here!
14th December 2013: The PD Breakfast
Nowadays, my ride is too few and far apart. Probably the days of long distance ride is gone (for now, at least). And what's left is the occasional ad-hoc short distance ride a.k.a The Makan Ride. Also missing are my riding buddies from days gone by. Nizam and Dahlan were the original riding mates from when I first first started serious superbiking. Along the way, more came along during the days when the shortest ride would take us from morning till way past our kids' bedtime, if not an overnight do. Then, one by one those guys hung their helmets and glove. Maybe temporarily for some, but for most its permanent retirement! Nizam and Dahlan still ride, and occasionally I still ride with them.
Presently, my buddies are from the now defunct (?) internet forum Superbike Malaysia (SBM). Notably, Khairul Anwar @ Drifter, Zakir @ Zack and Dr. Zul Ahmad @ Dopto are my riding "gang" now :-) just to name a few amongst many more. There was a short period of scootering that took me and the guys from SBM (Ayabren (Hj Capt Azizi), Rik, Zulfa, (Allahyarham) Shah, Idrus, Nox, Halman (Halim), Azuwan, AsyrafR1, and few others) all the way to Krabi! That was a really exciting episode in our biking life I would say. Would there be a possibility of repeat? Most definitely! But for now, breakie ride is just as good :-)
So there were were, in a fair weathered Saturday morning, embarking on what would later be dubbed as the "Ride Wey Ride" event. The story behind that? Too complicated to write about…. hehehehe.. But in a nutshell, its the call sign for a planned ride, enticing the lazy riders to come out of their bike-covers and join ride events :-)
Zack and Drifter was already weary at the RV point, Shell Bukit Besi on the North-South Hiway, as I was a bit late than the roll-out time of 8.30am. When I got there, there were few messages on my phone from Zack. So, immediately after the customary greets, we rolled out, after agreeing to do the Sepang - Lukut route to PD. This rather short trunk road offers a few exciting twisties and could provide a respectable about of adrenalin rush for the twisties-junkies. Not as challenging as the usual "tracks" of Karak or Kuala Klawang but its good enough for the sports bikers.
Drifter & Zack
In less than an hour later, we were already at PD. And without any particular plan of where to eat, we scoured the roadside and decided to stop a what we saw was a decent place. And it was not a letdown! The Bangi Kopitiam is just next to a Asam Pedas stall. Most convenient (for Drifter!).
The Menu - Bangi Kopitiam @ PD
While Zack and I stayed true to our intention, i.e. having breakfast, Drifter went slightly astray! Zack had the traditional nasi lemak with rendang while I had toast with egg. Drifter? well, he went full scale and had nasi + ikan asam pedas.
Light, medium & heavy breakfast!
While were half way through our scrumptious breakie (or early lunch for one of us), we were greeted by a surprise when Ghaz arrived at this eatery! It was indeed a pleasant surprise…
Ghaz in the middle...
We did order a second round of drinks as we chatted and catch-up with Ghaz. It has been quite a while since I met Ghaz, although we do communicate daily in our whatsapp group :-)
sharing light moments
The Three Machines
Well, that was that. It was getting close to noon. Drifter had to be home as early as possible for another appointment. So, we bid adieu to Ghaz and rolled out heading home. We took a different route - the PD Seremban Hiway and then the Seremban KL hiway. Quicker but no twisties :-)
Arriving home about an hour later, we received news that Drifter's italian lady stalled just as he was reaching his home in Pitrajaya. Luckily Baim, our buddy who is now running The Bikers Pit bakeshop in Melaka, was in the vicinity. Baim helped to transport the RSV to a workshop of Drifter's choice in KL… and that's another story altogether… :-)
Maybe she's tired?
4th January 2014: Mee Kicap Bidor
The story goes like this. Doc Zool asked in our whatspp group (SobatBaikMalaya) on Friday (3rd Jan) morning whether anyone wanted to go (repeat) to PD for breakfast the next day. Though I responded, but it was more a question rather than a confirmation of agreement to join the ride. I could not commit at the time as I had a few chores to attend to on Saturday. And there were no immediate or firm response from others in the group.
Later that night, Zack prompted going for "landak" meal, to which I responded interest, however I needed to be home by noon as I have to send my dotter to the airport. After a number of messages exchange later, we agreed to go to Bidor for a curry mee breakie :-). But Doc Zool was silent.
Apparently he had already committed on another ride with Hanafiah when they were response from his earlier suggestion.
Although there few others whom enquired about joining (notably Knizy @ Nizam), when I arrived at RnR Sg. Buloh at around 8.35am - our agreed RV place - only Zack was there. We waited until 9.00am - no one else showed up. So, we rolled out, just the of us...
The Dynamic Duo?
This was really a casual ride. The plan - take the highway and go to the "mee kari" place just off Bidor toll exit, have breakfast, then shoot back via the "kampung" road. I was no really sure what the route was for the return leg of this breakfast ride.
very easy to find this makan place
The owner is a Reverted Muslim
Well, one thing was certain. The place was crowded and the food - mee kari and mee kicap - was excellent! We had a bowl of mee kari each, and shared a plate of met kicap (albeit not an equal share…. :-) ).
Mee kicap
It was already 11.00am when finished our meal. And the workers at this eatery was in the midst of closing up for the day. Apparently they only operate for breakfast, and only open till 11.00am daily.
Our return route took us through some seriously nice and scenic locations. Really wished I had a GoPro! Although some stretch of this truck road were bumpy and with pot holes, I would repeat riding through these neck of the woods anytime. Speed less than 120km/hour, and with many unnerving moments (due to selfish motorist). Not a factor!
The route: Bidor-Telok Intan-Sabak Bernam-Kuala Selangor-Shah Alam. Passed through Sekinchan. Errr…. not initially planned, but since we were in Sekinchan, and it was noon, it would be rude not to stop and try the mentarang!
The Roadside Eatery
about the size of our thumb…
The Ideal Partner for Seafood
This roadside eatery also offers nasi goreng mentarang, mentarang celup tepung and sup mentarang. But for us, its just mentarang bakar dipped in sweet-sour sauce is just fine.
… the aftermaths…
We started with half a kilo, but ended ordering another half. And for RM18/kg… its worthwhile! For the not so familiar with mentarang, it is actually a type of clam and its living habitat is on the seaside. Its scientific name is "pholas Orientalis".
So, in a nutshell, or rather in a mentarangshell, that summed up our breakfast ride for the weekend. The half-kilo each grilled mentarang was a good snuff lunch for us. But wait! this is the breakfast ride.. hehehehehe...
the breakie duo?