G.R.P.

I just returned from Chiang Mai touching down in KLIA at 9.00pm Friday.  So naturally I was a bit tired when I got up this morning. However when I noticed that the call for a ride by Ajizizi has only one respond (from Krambit), I was compelled to join them.

It was already 8.45am when I called Krambit to ask if the ride was “on” or otherwise.  He and Ajizizi had already arrived at the RV location. I got there around 9.15 and was told that we would be heading to Kuala Pilah – mainly for Ajizizi to visit his eldest son whom is studying at Kolej Matrikulasi Negeri Sembilan. Now, that would be three rides in a row going to Kuala Pilah!  Ajizizi brought us through a different route than the last two rides though. The route, according to Ajizizi would be through Mantin, with breakfast stop at Lenggeng.

Nothing fancy. Just regular nasi lemak with fried egg.

Ajizizi has missed quite a number of rides, no thanks to his irregular work schedule. And when his weekend is free, others have commitments. This weekend is no different. When Ajizizi asked in our chat group about riding during the upcoming weekend, the response was not at all encouraging.  Earlier on, Zack suggestion to go “melandak” received negative responses. Understandable as the price of meals there has spiked exponentially in recent years.

He has just came back from an extended training/vacation in Azerbaijan/Turkey.  Naturally, his sharing on that trip was plentiful.  A good catch up amongst the tree of us, with loads of tips on impromptu travel from Ajizizi.

Ajizizi led the way towards Kuala Klawang. Krambit and I haven’t the faintest idea where he was taking us.  I was a bit puzzled when he rode into a house compound.  It turned out the house in Serting Ilir was his wife’s aunt’s.  Puzzle solved.  hahahaha...

Thanks maksu for the thirst quenching Sunquick orange juice.   The sun was out in full force today.  While we would love to stay, Ajizizi has a lunch date to keep.  So just before 1:00pm, we rode out from this beautiful homestead heading towards Kuala Pilah. It was already zohor when we reached town. Thus we stopped here for prayers.

As always, Ajizizi googled for a place to do lunch, and found an ikan bakar restaurant located 3km away, according to google map.  After fetching his son Hakim from Kolej Matrikulasi Negeri Sembilan, we headed to the said restaurant.  Half way through, Ajizizi made a U-turn.  We learned later that the restaurant was way out from Kuala Pilah.  We settled at this roadside makan place, serving Kelantan food.  Sedap. :-)

Just as we were finishing lunch (and Ajizizi’s bonding with his son), it started to drizzle, and in no time rained heavily.  The clock was showing 3:30pm.  I have another appointment with Razzman in Nilai at 4.30.  As it was getting late, we agreed to continue our journey.  A little rain never hurt anyone.... especially if you have a raincoat. :-)  Well in our case, only Ajizizi had it.



Ajizizi soaked – just got back from sending his son to the hostel (Krambit and I waited at the eatery)



Luck was definitely not on my side.  Or maybe it was.  We reached Nilai shy of 5.30pm.  I couldn’t locate the Al Salam Signature restaurant which according to Razzman was just after Shell station.  Stopping by the roadside just after Shell, I called Razzman whom gave the right direction.

The restaurant was just a few meters ahead from where we stopped.  Fate has it, my GSA could not start.  Not enough juice from the battery to crank the engine.  After a few tries, we decided to just let it be and go to the restaurant to meet up with Razzman.  Interestingly, Razzman’s GSA had the same issue the week before.


Krambit and Ajizizi was quick to “viral” my mishap to the world (well, not really… jut our group chat and their FB).  So our ride now turned into a TTS when Zack turned up to join us. The three of us had nasi goreng for dinner while Razzman and Zack settled for tea.

When Razzman’s bike could not start (previous weekend), he bought a new battery.  But as it turned out, the problem was not with the battery, but a loose connection to the bike’s starter motor.  So, it was a blessing for me I guess as Razzman loaned his old battery for my use.  After fitting it to my bike, my bike was back to normal. Jazakallah Man….

Ohh… by the way, Razzman had an appointment to view a Suzuki V-Strom650 at the same place.  We met up with the owner, whom later learned that Ajizizi was one of four riders on the famous KL-London Versy ride (Ekspedisi Merdeka 1Malaysia).  He was very excited and almost forgot that he was there to sell his bike.. hehehehe ..

Well, that was about it for this weekend’s experience.  This will be another memorable moment in our lives, I’m sure.  We bid adieu when the clock past 9.00pm, reaching home around 10.00pm.
Thanks guys for your patience, support and friendship

So there you go.  What originally was a planned half day ride to PD became a “all-in-one” outing.  As remarked by Krambit… “complete with breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and TTS”..

More than 300km covered, started at 9:00am and reached home close to 10:00pm.  Total ride hours, more than five.  Total time spent, slightly over 12 hours.  Priceless!

And we added (actually Ajizizi) another “label” or “nickname’ to our little group… :-)

This event took place on Saturday 13th October 2018.