A series of roller coaster rides!

The poster, designed by yours truly!


The map marked out by Mingloid.

The elevation chart prepared by Max and Mingloid.

A "before" photo. For more photos, click here. For a short video of what it looked like from the top of one of the knolls, click here.


And now, our very own rolling hills....covered with the best carpet grass in Singapore! :)
For more photos, click here.

And here's a link to a funny video by Broken Arm Productions about the makings of this trail!

And a big thank you to the folks who put their blood, stinky sweat and tears to making this trail happen, most notably : Papa Smurf Nik, HM Eaglet, some of the other boys who helped to design the trail and of course, Maximuzzi!! :)

Just one question : when can we have cows and sheep?

Sabah Adventure Challenge 2005

This year has been ultrabusy for me in terms of work! No free time in office to talkcock, singsong, and write about my adventures! Hmmm....so many adventures, so little time, even less time to pen them down!

Well, here's an article written by fellow adventure racer, Wilson Low, photos by Kang Wei and Kimmy!







Sabah was the longest race I've ever undertaken, well....til the MTB Himachal 2006! SAC 2005 was epic race for 2005, and MTB Himachal for 2006! Wonder what's in store for 2007? Hmmmm....

Doggone it! It was Halloween!

Halloween was a non-event for me. Can't remember what I did, really! Wanted to go explore Istana Woodneuk from across the road, but I had an unwilling spouse. Will write more about that as soon as I've gone in to take some pix!

Anywayz, I'd just like to wish those born on 31 Oct a belated birthday! BTW, Halloween Babies = Mingloid + Winnie + Tar Baby!

Subaru Action Asia Challenge 2006 (as seen on TV)

Edited version compliments of Mingloid of Team MingLing infamy, who was caught split second in the video. Others caught in the thick of action : first ladies team, Team BeccaRina, Andrew and Janice, Foo and Walter and marshalls Chi, Nik (and his vroom vroom)....

Action Asia Challenge 2006 - da video!

Just another regular Sunday morning in the lives of Ming & Ling....hee hee!



Excellent video extracted from : http://extreme.sportal.com/Main/0,14684,,00.html

And oooo...more photos : http://www.howiephoto.com/force%20five/2006-09-03%20%20Subaru%20Action%20Asia%20Challenge%20Singapore%20Assignment%20by%20Action%20Asia/index.html

Action Asia Challenge 2006 (extended ver)

Here's Janice's account of the race (and cool pix taken during the race) : http://ickleoriental.livejournal.com/575601.html

And more evidence of the torture below....

Action Asia Challenge 2006

Yesterday's race was a blast! Can't say that the level of adrenalin had surpassed our first race in 2004 (it was novelty then to abseil down the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and zipline down the Esplanade), but this time round, I have no complaints about the race route, the daredevil stunts and especially my race partner, Mingloid!

A few surprise podium finishes :

Becks and Rina (Team Angels) managed to outrun, outbike, outkayak etc. 12 ladies teams (some of them very strong contenders like naval diver Esther's team and some of the giant ang mo teams, well at least, in comparison to us puny Asians).

In 2004, then Team Ming-a-Ling came in 41 out of 150+ teams! We got cut-off at the kayaking station, but still managed to sneak in the ropes section! We could only join 1 category : the Mixed Team category (as there was no age group cat save for combined age of 80+, which we could probably join in a couple of years time). This year, we were "forced" to join the combined age group category and notwithstanding our coming in 49 out of 110 over teams (i.e. after a few misadventures along the way), we still managed a third prize for our Mixed 70+ category! Woo hoo!

Walter and Lai Thutt were going strong, but they had super strong opponents in their Men's 80+ category! Tian was plagued with the cramps (actually, so were a lot of us), but theirs was extra bad, and Tian apparently only had 2 hours of shut-eye the night before. So, this was Jason's first towing race, but they were happy to have not missed the ropes (back in 2004, they didn't even reach the ropes section)! Read about their incredible story in Jason's blog! Hee hee!

And finally, Andrew and Janice made their way to the finish line in style. It's tough racing with the spouse, and I take my hats off to them for making it all the way! If it had been Max, we would have stopped halfway for a bowl of bak chor mee and a massage! :)

'Nuff said today.....Team MingLing will have to work up an appetite to finish our reports for 2004 and 2006! Will leave you with a collection of articles about this year's race.....


So glad that Alvin and Kim Hong did us proud! Our claim to fame : we actually crossed paths during this race!!!
Andrew and Janice celeb team practising their abseil at Climb Adventure. I was standing right next to the reporter when she took this shot! Ming was blending in with the background.


And the man who made this happen....Michael Maddess, with the help of organisations and volunteers in Singapore.....was great to see familiar faces along the way.....the volunteers we knew from SACA and Friends : Maximuzz at Hindehe Quarry, Peiling at the T15 biketrail, Nik at bouldercity, Renhao at the startline, Chi (and supposedly Huimin) at Visitor Centre Carpark, Eric while on our way to the finishline (too tired to turn my head to say hi), and Dr Low all over the place!




Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting too old for this shit? But the voice within me shouts, "no....never surrender!!!" My legs and contused neck beg to differ! :P

Eskimo Rock & Roll

Goddamit! Still can't do an eskimo roll after more than 50 bodytwisting, lungwatering and brainwinding attempts (95% there, says Instructor Kimmy). Only consolation is that it's not something that one covers in the 2 star course, so my battle with the kayak has been postponed to the 3-star course....

In the meantime, found out that we can pick up some good tips from the following website :-

Learn to Eskimo Roll a Kayak

Let's rock & roll...and errrr.....dun forget to breathe!

Kiara KGP VCD

Presenting to you....the Kiara Grand Prix MTb Championships 2001 VCD, produced, shot and edited by Merciless Productions!

The Race and The Trail



The Racers and The Organisers



The Man Behind The Kiara Trail



Cliffhanger from KGP Race 5



Bonus track by Hans Fritsche

Kiara KGP 2001

This weekend, we be headed to Kiara for the KL MTB Carnival 2006! Below was the first video I ever produced from footage taken over a few timetrial races in the Kiara Grand Prix 2001 race series!

The video is longer than the 10 min / 100 mb limit that most video hosting sites would accept, so the resolution ain't that great! But hope this video makes you wana take the first flight to this MTB haven right in the heart of KL....errr....well, the outskirt, at least!

Chiku, the mountainbiker's Haiku

Haiku : What u need to know about the Haiku to fully understand the Chiku, local cousin to the Japanese Haiku...

1. A 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.

2. Haiku-poems can describe almost anything, but you seldom find themes which are too complicated for normal PEOPLE's recognition and understanding. Some of the most thrilling Haiku-poems describe daily situations in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation.

3. Each Haiku must contain a kigo, a season word, which indicate in which season the Haiku is set. For example, cherry blossoms indicate spring, snow indicate winter, and mosquitoes indicate summer, but the season word isn't always that obvious.

4. E.g. Buson, Yosa. (1716-84).

Pressing Sushi;
After a while,
A lonely feeling

Chiku :

1. Not your typical syllable, but a "Sillyblur" rider concocts this sorta stuff while waiting to be picked up for prata before epic MTB ride!

2. No change. See above.

3. Kigo : Thunderstorms (forecast for next 3 hours in Singapore, which never materialised! Bad weather reporter, real bad!)

4. E.g. ChiWei Yap (morning of national day 2006)

Waiting outside my place looking at the black clouds.
I see a bird get fried.
Some hairy shit like dirty candy floss.

My ride,
discontinued,
I cried.

NUMBERS!!! Arghhhhhhh!

Back in school, I used to love math (pronounced "Mets" in Singapore primary school). First comes the numbers, then numbers + symbols + formula + brainpower, then calculator minus (numbers + symbols + formula) minus what little brain cells we had left.......you get the drift!

I always wondered if I'd ever use these mind-boggling formula ever again in my life! I thought I'd moved to a profession that requires me to deal with absolutely NO numbers and formula, but boy, was I gravely mistaken! The numbers just keep creeping back (kinda like the video of creepy crawling numbers in the Ring)....

.....e.g. I've had to deal with some numbers lately : convert some funky floating rate formula into words in a legal document, calculate the remaining mortgage payments for the next century (yikes), organising loads and loads household bills (yawn) while factoring in holiday potential expense claims (yippie), updating timekeeping results (and making it a note to learn excel), and this is an easy one : counting the number of times my computer crashes on me!! Arghhhhh!!!

Ok, but I should know better than to let the numbers turkey get me down! If you're ever bogged down by numbers, know that there is a creative silver lining at the end of that complex and numerically cluttered cloud! Hee hee!

Math problem 1

Math problem 2

Math problem 3

Math problem 4

If you asked me, that square root sign surrrrre looks like a soccer goal post!

Fix you!

The word "fix" is a small and simple word, not particularly interesting if you asked me. Yet, this word could open a can of worms, depending on how you use it.

For instance, our dear Mr Lee had explained that if the opposition were to hold 10 to 20 seats in Parliament, he would have to spend much more time thinking what was the right way to "fix" them. Mr Lee later apologised for using direct language to get this important point across to a mass rally crowd!

The word "fix" is written all over the TV show "LOST"! Jack, after having fixed his ex-wife, gets marooned on an island so that he has an endless string of problems to fix!

My best "fix" for last month was watching Coldplay perform at the Indoor Stadium, live on 10th July 2006! Their Twisted Logic Tour apparently started with outdoor shows in the UK in early summer 2005 and they have been through Europe, Japan and the US.

They played most of their songs from their third album 'X&Y', and me thinks one or two from their first two albums, 'Parachutes' (2000) and 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' (2002).

(Photo of Coldplay : Guy Berryman (bass), Jonny Buckland (lead guitar), Will Champion (drums), and of course, Chris Martin (vocals, guitar, keyboards) - also married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and I can see why).

It was friggin awesome being showered with amazing visuals and spellbinding laser shows for each particular song! I could see that a lot of thought was put into stage artistry and it was one of the best concerts I've ever been too.

I shall leave you with one of my favourite songs from the X&Y album, "Fix You".

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love some one but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

I am absolutely fixated!

Referee Fever!

I first started playing soccer when I was in high school in the land where little girls like to giggle. Since returning to Singapore, I've learnt quite a lot about our local branding of soccer "lingo" - most notably, those relating to the least celebrated person on the field : the referee!

For instance, apart from the words "GOAL!" followed by "ole, ole, ole, ole....ole...ole", the two other most common terms that I can think of are :-

Referee Kayu : According to Talking Cock dictionary, kayu means "wood" in Malay, used to suggest stupidity. Hence, no prizes for guessing what "referee kayu" means!

Referee Kelong : No, I don't think this has anything to do with a kelong that a referee lives in. According to the same cock dictionary, "kelong" is a term used to describe any form of cheating or corruption in any competition. Hence, when he or she drives away in a flashy car after a match, you start to wonder if referee.....

Since the World Cup this year, I've learnt a new term :

Shamsul Maidin : According to Wikipedia (no Cock Talking here) (born April 16, 1966) is a football (soccer) referee from Singapore......blah blah blah...He was rated the top referee at the 2006 FIFA World Cup by Soccernet.com

Everyone's been talking about this local sensation.


Mr Brown : Top rated referee in the World Cup at soccernet today

Sivasothi (well known-celebrity) : Shamsul Makes Me Proud to be Singaporean

How does one become a referee anywayz? Well, when I was younger (and fitter?), I was asked by a fellow female soccer mate if I wanted to become one of the first few female soccer referees in Singapore! Having umpired for several Netball games, I didn't think it would be too different? But I think it's a totally different ball game altogether (excuse the pun)...

I was in for a real surprise! I forget what the criteria was (as it was quite a few years ago and I blame my short-term memory loss on my face plant incident) but I remembered having to sign up for a basic referee course with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS). A couple of class-room training sessions and written exams on the Rules of the Game later, we were off for our mandatory fitness test! I can't quite remember what the test entailed, but according to an English website on "How to become a ref", the standard FIFA fitness test will involve :-

1. Eyesight test, car number plate at 25 m
2. 50m sprint in less than 7.5 seconds
3. 200m sprint in less than 32 seconds
4. 15 min break
5. A distance run, 12 minutes continuous running covering at least 2,700m

I recalled passing this test and then being interviewed by some newspaper.....hmmm....

Anywayz, it was heavily emphasized during the course that the referee has to be "the" fittest person on the field, having to run to where the "ball" and "action" is, while keeping a tab on what's happening on the rest of the field...and that's where the eyes behind their backs come in with the aid of their linesmen. Not an easy task, if you asked me!

In the words of Shamsul in an interview :

'Being a referee is an art,' he says. 'You have to be physically and mentally strong to handle 22 players, 22 kinds of characters.' He adds: 'I keep reminding myself in a game that I should be above the players in self-control. There's nothing for me to lose, but they get nervous because they have something to win.'

After my physical fitness test, I borrowed a basic black referee uniform, collected a list of items : whistle, little black score book, red and yellow cards, a set of flags etc. and attended my first assignment....a game between 2 men's soccer team, not as a referee but as a linesman (who, as we can see from the Zidane incident, is equally important; who else would have spotted the head butt?) During the game, I remembered being bored to tears! I was itching to play! It was then that I realised that refereeing just wasn't my cup of tea...and besides, the only remarks I got when I took the test back then were exactly the words "Referee Kayu" and "Referee Kelong"! :P
I think it also takes a certain assertiveness and self-confidence in order to do well. If I ever get around to completing my course, the following would be good advice to heed :

".....[Shamsul] reveals that one of the highlights of his career so far was meeting his idol, Portuguese referee Vito Melo Pereira, at the Confederations Cup 2005 in Germany, where Mr Shamsul was also refereeing.

Mr Pereira, 49, offered him this piece of advice: Look sterner. 'He told me: 'In dealing with the mega-stars of football, you come from a smaller country, so it's a disadvantage. When you look at the players, look at their eyes, don't move until they look away. When you show the card, be very, very confident. Once the player is satisfied, let him go first, then you put down the card.''

Well, if the chances of our making it to the World Cup are looking rather dim, there is still light at the end of the tunnel! The FAS offers basic referee courses for working adults ($58.80) / students ($27.30). All candidates (men or women) have to be physically fit, be between the ages of 16 and 34, and be able to speak and write English! If we can't play, at least we can play our cards right!

A fortuneteller told me

A few months ago, a visit to the regular medical clinic for the annual company chest x-ray ended with the most extraordinary experience...

The friendly and cheerful Malay radiographer at the clinic started a conversation with me to pass away the time...or so I thought...

X-Ray Man : "So, are you studying or working?"

Me : "Oh, I've been working for sometime now."

X-Ray Man : (adjusting the radio machine) "So, how is work?"

Me : "It's ok, thank you..."

We continued chatting for while before he gave instructions on how to position my arms etc. Snap....snap....and it was all over in a few seconds. And before he left the room....

X-Ray Man : (pausing for a moment before looking at me reassurringly) "Don't worry, all will be well after July."

He shuts the door.

I scratched my head, wondering where did that come from? worry? about what? work? hmmm....work's been pretty slack since the beginning of the year.... hmmmm....

I quickly slipped out of the robes and back into work wear. I bumped into him before leaving the clinic...

Me : "Nice chatting with you. By the way.........why July?"

X-Man : (looked at my records, from which he probably extracted the information needed for the advice he was about to give)..."Now, Saggitarius is moving backwards.....[and he went on about stars shifting and other stuff you read about in Linda Goodman's astrological bestsellers] and will eventually align with your ruling planet, Jupiter".

Me : (looking rather amused) "Errr...thank you very much for the advice".

I found it hilarious that a radiographer could offer more than even Superman's x-ray vision...a vision of my future! I think I'll dub him "my personal soothsayer"!

That afternoon, a ton of work fell from nowhere and onto my desk! All the marketeers started feeding me with matters marked "urgent"! A big project required me to burn the midnight oil every night and for 3 weekends! Day had become night and night, day! Unbelievable! I thought to meself, when it rains, it pours! Such was the nature of my job! Or was it? Did this have anything to do with the X-Ray Man and his astrological predictions? Who was having the last laugh?

Upon reflection, one never knows in what form foretune-tellers will appear in one's life. I've had my palm read several times, once by a reportedly famous blind Taiwanese fella. I can safety say that most of their predictions were easily forgettable, mostly general speculative statements that could have applied to a dozen other persons.

The most accurate palmreader for me to date was a lady introduced to me by my younger sister, Ping, both of whom are currently residing in a little island called Waiheke in NZ. Faye was born in the 1920s in North Island, NZ and reminded me of a character who had just stepped out of "Little House on the Prairie"! Her life story begs a whole blog of its own!

Anywayz, she said many things which held very true, which unless my sister had blabbered to her about before our meeting, could not have been known to her.

Or did my face and mannerisms hold the answers? Was I so easy to read?

One of the things she warned me about was the hazards of living in the "city". Because I needed to be "close to nature", I had to compensate for the lack thereof by keeping at least 17 plants at home. The first thing I did when I reached home was to count the number of pots I had in my little garden! Ok, I've at least passed that test with flying colours!

My fascination with "fortunetellers", "palm readers" etc. had waned through the years as my "cynism" meter started rising. I pondered about how general prediction statements usually read, and how easily one could be swayed by the words of someone professing to be able to predict another's path in life.

I remembered treating Linda Goodman's Love Signs as the ultimate dating bible - with the pages on which star sign was most compatible with a female Saggitarian being doggy eared! Haha! Looking back, it surely was an entertaining piece of work, but was there an ounce of truth?

I recalled reading the book when I was a teenager...and reading it again 10 years later. I was shocked to re-discover that Linda had specifically mentioned that people of my starsign would, for the love of animals, organise a charity event for organisations such as the SPCA. True enough, a couple friends and I had organised a concert titled "Animania Musique" to raise funds for the SPCA in our early 20s!

Was it a self-fulfilling prophesy? Had I somehow allowed Linda to creep into my sub-concious? Hmmm....I'm no psychology major, and I'm sure debunkers out there will scoff at my silly theories offering a dozen valid explanations....but I'm sure the truth is out there...somewhere, if you really need to know the answers.

For an interesting read about fortune-tellers in our region, I would highly recommend the book "A Fortune-Teller Told Me" by Tiziano Terzani. Extract about the author from Wikipedia :

"Terzani knew much about the historical and political background of Asia, but had also a deep interest in the philosophical aspects of Asian culture. Though an unbeliever, he always looked in his journeys for the spiritual aspects of the countries he was visiting. He lived in Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and New Delhi which became his second home. His stay in Beijing came to an end when he was arrested and expelled from the country for "counter-revolutionary activities".

And about the book : Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a year, Tiziano Terzani, a vastly experienced Asia correspondent, took his first step into an unknown world. Traveling by foot, train, bus, car, and boat, and consulting soothsayers and shamans along the way, Terzani discovered as never before the complex traditions and unexpected delights of the people and lands he had been reporting on for years. "I was marked for death, " writes Terzani, "and instead I was reborn."

I guess I have in my own little way a special connection with Mr Terzani when I first heard about him when I was studying in Japan. His daughter, Saskia Terzani, had just joined our class and we heard that he'd worked for Die Spiegel and had just been expelled from China, fleeing to Japan. Last I read, Tiziano had passed on almost exactly 2 years ago. And I hadn't seen Saskia since high school!

It's the 1st of August, and my workload has tapered down somewhat, though not to the state pre-Mr-X-Ray-soothsayer visit when life was a lot less hazardous!

Maybe it's time to pay another visit to the X-Ray Man to find out what lies ahead for me? But then again, maybe not....:P

Action Asia Challenge 2004

Last weekend. Michael Maddess, Race Director and Course Designer for Action Asia events, raced in the Men's Masters category of the Kent Ridge Mountain Bike Championship 2006 and came in 6th! I doubt he even had time to test the trail as I heard that he had just touched down in Singapore the night before! Madness? No, Maddess!

Anywayz, Team MingLing just can't get 'nuff of all that torture and have just signed our lives away for this year's Action Asia Challenge 2006! *gulp* Evidence that we're suffering from short-term memory loss......it'll all come back to haunt us again when the pain hits us where it hurts most during the race! Yikes!

At least we'll have good company : Becks and Rina are forming an all ladies team, and Tian and Cyen have also decided to jump on the bandwagon! To read more about Tian+Cyen's belated account of the 2004 race, click here.

Then called Team Ming-a-Ling, have yet to complete our write-up of the 2004 race...hope this is not an indication of our snail-paced perfomance this year! Hee hee!

Check out the following articles on the 1st Action Asia Challenge back in 2004...the merlion.......all the squid bodies.....the bridges.....it's all coming back to me now! Double yikes!






39 more days to go before 3 September 2006! *shudders* Only thing I'll be doing consistently from now til then is carboloading on kettle chips! Haha!

Tour de France : The Phil & Paul Talk Show

Can you imagine watching the World Cup in silent mode? Or Tour de France live without the ramblings of a commentator? Worst still, take away the subtitles, the results and anything else in writing which gives you a clue as to what is going on on the screen.

Can we really enjoy broadcast sports without a sports commentator? Well, maybe only if you're sitting in a pub with other thugs with nothing between you and the TV screen but an unlimited supply of beer!

Having watched a couple of World Cup matches and some of the Tour de France stage races, I am totally amazed by the knowledge about the sport and the competitors amassed by the live sports commentators! They are literally walking encyclopaedias who not only know what the hell is going on, but are able to read the game/competition, give their personal assessment / analysis of the situation, and most importantly, be able to entertain and keep their target audience glued to that channel!


Maximuzz and I ventured up north to Genting Highlands in 2005 to catch Stage 5 of Tour de Langkawi. That was when we were fortunate enough to have been introduced to Phil Liggett & Paul Sherwen, the Tour de France television commentators. Above (left to right) : Phil, Max, Merciless, Paul and Adele hanging out at a coffee joint, waiting for the cyclists to arrive at the top of Genting Highlands! That was also when I realised that everyone was in love with Koji Fukushima! That's a story for another blog!

To find out more about these gurus of Tour de France sports commentating, go to :- http://www.olntv.com/tdf/article/view/741/?ss=reports&tf=Body.tpl

Things that KRank at ya!

Poster designed by Papa Smurf and Merciless Productions.....




Video by Papa Smurf Productions...



And yet another video by Broken Arm Productions (the fella who coined the term, Steroid Sistas aka Yew Weng)

KR Trail rocks!!!

A word of thanks to NParks (sent via email)...(below, photo of one of my favourite spots - the mossy green rocks, taken by eaglet)

Dear NParks,
C/o Alvin Lok


"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it"
To Kill a Mockingbird

To understand what a mountain biking trail means to a mountain biker, I think it best to see it from the viewpoint of a mountain biker. I am a keen mountain biker who has been mountain biking for over 8 years, and have dedicated 5 years of my life as a volunteer for the Singapore Amateur Cycling Association (SACA).

I will try my best to tell it like it is, based on my experience thus far.

Biking is one of the top 5 sports in Singapore attracting more than 10,000 cyclists; I believe the numbers are growing by the minute. Cyclists who cycle on the roads either do so to commute, to get from point A to point B, as part of their training programme or for the pure enjoyment of cycling. Many "leisure cyclists" prefer congregating at the crowded East Coast and Pasir Ris Parks, or riding along park connectors. Anywhere which is relatively flat, concrete, not remotely close to the hazardous bike-unfriendly roads, you will find these bikers. These paths require very little off-road skills, albeit a decent amount of road savvyness.

The above just about describes the bikers that most of us are familiar with. Many people are not aware that there is more to cycling than meets the eye. There is a creature called the "Mountain Biker". They are generally nature lovers who bike so that they can be close to nature. They take the opportunity to socialise with other like-minded mountain bikers while on the trails. In the process, they get a good work-out bursting their lungs on the uphill, and then feel a sense of satisfaction in negotiating a challenging downhill! It makes them physically and mentally stronger, allows them to bond with other bikers, and promotes a healthy lifestyle!

Many mountain bikers start off on their BMX bikes from as young as 4 years old, and then pick up the sport later when they can afford to buy a mountain bike. We have kids as young as 4 years old joining our youth races! Some start out riding on the Tampines BMX and MTB trail - a good introductory trail to basic off-road cycling. Next, they will attempt Pulau Ubin - which offers a variety of off-road trails to suit beginner to advanced level bikers. As their skills improve, they are ready to take on Track 15 and Chestnut, and then eventually graduate to the mother of all MTB trails in Singapore - the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Mountain Biking Trail, touted to be Singapore's most technical trail. They will continue riding BT every weekend until they master it. So, what's next?

Many mountain bikers are content just riding these same trails for the rest of their lives. Some turn to other trails not sanctioned by the authorities. Others will no longer find these trails challenging and will venture to our neighbouring countries in search of new trails. Some will cross over to road cycling. Some will stop cycling completely. With the few mountain biking trails Singapore has to offer, one would naturally ask : is the sport of mountain biking dying? Well, statistics show that it is very much alive in Singapore!

A few hundred hardcore bikers have ventured into competitive mountain biking and most participate in the SACA races and races in the region. To compensate for the lack of mountain biking trails meeting worldwide competitive standards in Singapore, these bikers will look to regional trails to train and to compete. The Subaru Mountain Biking Championships held in Sentosa attacted 600 participants and 5000 participants over a weekend! That trail was touted to be even more difficult than BT, but unfortunately, part of it has been destroyed to make way for a more lucrative "luge" track! The up and coming sport of adventure racing, such as the Action Asia Challenge, will see more worldwide participants coming to Singapore to take on the multi-sport discipline. This sport will almost always include a mountain biking leg, and the usual biking venues will include the BT, Sentosa or Ubin trails.

It is amazing that our national athletes are able to remain competitive when their skills are pit against the region's best cyclists, given the limited trails on which to practice on; in particular, there are no "mountains" in Singapore. In order to be a world class cyclist, one needs to have the facilities to train on. Some countries rank their trails on a scale of 1 to 6, 6 being the most difficult. None of our trails even come close to reaching 6 or even 5 for that matter! Wouldn't it be great if we had a technical trail in our own backyard where our national atheletes could improve their bike handling skills? They could in turn pass on these skills to our youths who may wish to take on the challenge of winning honours for their school, their club, or maybe even in the long run, our country?

The bikers who have been assisting and consulting with NParks on the Kent Ridge trail are a passionate lot! They all have had extensive experience riding in overseas mountain biking tracks and are more than ready to share their knowledge and give back to Singapore in terms of trail creation! They have been busy gathering information, surfing the net, consulting with other trailbuilders such as IMBA on how best to create biking trails while taking all necessary anti-erosion and safety measures suited for our climate and weather conditions. And they all unanimously gave the KR trail three thumbs up!!! You can almost see the pride in their eyes and hear the lilt in their voices when they speak about the new KR MTB trail!

This infectious disease has spread to the mountain biking community of Singapore, who can't get enough of this new trail! Many are discovering their newfound biking skills, while others are summoning the courage to experience it! About 3 videos have been produced about this trail, the trail has been discussed ad nauseum in biking forums, and bikers are coming in droves to check out what this new trail has to offer!

So, what's my interest in the KR Trail? My fascination with trail creation and maintenance started off in Malaysia when I took part in a biking event at Bukit Kiara located just off KL City. To read more about how that trail was created, you may wish to go to :-http://lingthemerciless.blogspot.com/2005/11/evolution-of-biketrail.html

I then helped to organise the BT Trail Maintenance event 2 years ago, a community project run by mountain bikers! It gave bikers a sense of ownership in the trails on which they ride on, while understanding that a trail is only worth riding on if maintained properly.

I have also been attending the Penang Mountain Bike Jamboree held in Penang since 2002. It is an annual event organised by a Penang bike group where the Penangites get to boast about their awesome mountain biking trails ...and their food! The ride includes a food and heritage ride on a Saturday, followed by a super challenging ride on Sunday! This ride originally attracted 270 participants, and has grown to over 500 bikers from all over Malaysia and even Singapore! It is easily one of the biggest events held in Penang, supported by the government!

To find out more, you may wish to visit these urls :-http://lingthemerciless.blogspot.com/2005/12/penang-jamboree-2002-1-hill-ride.htmlhttp://lingthemerciless.blogspot.com/2005/12/penang-jamboree-2003-expect-unexpected.htmlhttp://lingthemerciless.blogspot.com/2006/01/penang-jamboree-2004-see-u-dare.htmlhttp://lingthemerciless.blogspot.com/2006/01/penang-jamboree-2005-ready-for-more_23.html

I thought to myself : wouldn't it be great if we could organise our very own Singapore MTB Jamboree? Then I thought about the mountain biking trails that we had to offer and decided that the only way we are able to make this work is to create more challenging trails and string all the existing trails together (even the ones which are off-limits to bikers) so that it would be worth the while of overseas bikers to come to Singapore for this event!

Now that we have a new KR MTB trail, I could proudly tell my fellow Malaysian riders that we have a reason to entice them to cross the border to ride in Singapore for a change! I would also advise our local bikers to hone their technical skills at this new trail so that they can at least remain competitive with our friends in the region!

And I am able to do so because NParks has made this happen by giving us another trail that we can be proud of! On behalf of all mountain bikers that I know, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

I will end off with a quote from a famous bike visionary :-

"I live for the moments when the bike just blots itself out, and every little element is singing the same note - me, the bike, the trail, the sky, the dirt. Yes, yes, yes.

Maybe what I'm trying to say is this : ride more.
Get on a bike.
Fall off a bike.
Leave something of yourself in it.

Does a bike have a soul? Only if you do."

I say, does a mountain biker have a soul? Only if a good trail is in the equation!

Avid Mountain Biker (hopefully with a soul)

Shelley's Weirdos

It seemed like just yesterday that we went to visit Maximuzz' relatives in Perth! Now the kids are all grown up...and much much much taller than I am! Sigh!

Thankfully, their youth and innocence were captured in 2 home videos which I made just for laughs. I knew I could count on the Eramanis for a hilariously good time!

Shelley's Weirdos Part 1



Shelley's Weirdos Part 2

Snake and Ladders!

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Kent Ridge Trail

Another Cheap n' Quick Production by Mingloid!



I managed to ride most of the new Kent Ridge Mountain Bike Trail today! Woo hoo! Trailbuilding has its privileges! :)

What Makes Grown Men Cry?

The answer? Working your ass off for the past 4 years, and then having your hopes shattered as someone else steals your chance of clinching the worldcup championship title in your homeland! And that is exactly what Italy did to Germany, last 2 minutes prior to the anticipated penalty shoot-out! The score, Italy vs German, 2-0! I wonder whether they will suffer a double-whammy after playing Portugal tonight!

Ah, frailty, thy name is soccer player....especially the English ones who tend to tear a lot!

Many soccer fans I know beg to differ, arguing that most of these players are overrated and grossly overpaid blokes who only train with their teammates a few months leading up to the big international event! Otherwise, most of the big names are busy making a living playing in the league games...and gettin' paid for them!

I've actually watched the Germans play live in the last FIFA World Cup held on 21 June 2002! I was in Korea for a working trip and told me MD, "hey, if you don't need me after this meeting, I'm outta here! Gotta get meself a ticket to the Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, pronto."

Needless to say, I was headed for the Germany vs USA game, which saw Germany's defeat over the USA 1-0 - which was also their ticket to advance to the semi-finals. I wasn't a big German or USA fan, but just wanted for once in my lifetime to attend a World Cup game live, and this was my big chance!

Our Korean clients were pleased that I showed such interest in soccer in their homeland, and assisted me in finding my "black market" ticket in the last hour! Couldn't remember how much they were, but I knew they definitely weren't cheap!!! Was it worth it? Every KWon of it!

Given my pathetic knowledge about the who's who in the soccer fraternity (shocking for an avid soccer player), the only German players that I kinda knew were Michael Ballack, who celebrated his 39th minute goal, and the German captain and keeper Oliver Kahn! Didn't even know the US were such strong opponents, even though I believe soccer is a game which most American junior and high school students play before they migrate to more lucrative sports like American Football, baseball etc. etc.

Anywayz, I checked out of the hotel, lugged my Samsonite suitcase with me, hopped onto the local bus, which took me from Seoul to Ulsan. I was going to catch the next bus or train back the next morning after the game to catch the early morning flight back to Singapore.

On the bus, I realised there was a group of Korean men who were travelling together. No prizes for guessing that they were headed for the soccer game in Ulsan! I tried chatting with the gentleman who sat next to me in broken English. He later introduced himself as a professor. Oh, educated one! Another spoke good American English, so I started chatting with he who later became the translator. I was told they were colleagues working at a finance company. And I left it at that. In the photo above, that's me with the Professiore on my right, and the English-expert on my left.

Being in a foreign country, where two other foreign countries are playing, I guess it just didn't have that "kick" as opposed to if I had been there when the hometeam from South Korea was playing against a foreign team. But the supportive US and German fans made up for it....all those fancy costumes, face painting and country flags! Brilliant! Would I have painted my face with the Singaporean flag if it were Singapore playing xxx? Lemme revisit that question if it happens! :P

My new Korean friends kept asking me where I was sitting, if they could help me carry my suitcase, where I was from, what I was doing there all by meself etc....and I thought, "hey, what a buncha caring folk!" When we entered the stadium, I realised they knew many of the security guards who were on duty. I asked where they were seated, and they couldn't tell me, so I made my way to my seat and waited for the game to start.


Lo and behold, the Korean contingent appeared and took their seats next to me! "What a coincidence", I thought to meself. But I was glad to see familiar faces.

The game was all that I'd expected! It was a blast! Just wished that I had my soccer friends with me for the ultimate experience! Part of the enjoyment of watching sports for me is to enjoy the moment with those who share the same passion for the sport. Well, these Korean folk who have been kind made up for it!

I took the same train back to Seoul with one of the Korean dudes. That was when he disclosed to me that he and his friends were from "internal security" and that attending the game was just part of their duty! And my fellow busmate was a professor of "criminology", who was probably psycho-analyzing me and wondering what the heck was a single Singaporean girl doing going to watch a soccer game all by herself, with that suspicious looking bag! Hmmm.....

Apparently, the South Koreans decided to upgrade their security arrangements for the 2002 World Cup following September 11th. "International terrorists may use the world’s biggest festival as an opportunity for committing terror to make demands and achieve their goals," a KOWOC spokesperson said.

The new measures were to include no-fly zones over its stadia, increased monitoring of the coastline, beefed-up security at industrial facilities and airports, reinforced cooperation with American, British and Japanese intelligence, as well as the banning of known or suspected terrorists. It was reported that security will also be stepped up inside and outside all World Cup venues with the deployment of special anti-terrorist squads!

I never found out whether I was on their list of "suspicious characters" but hey, at least I can say I've rubbed shoulders with Korean internal security while watching one of the greatest competitions on earth live! I didn't see any of the Germans or Americans cry though from where I was sitting! Perhaps the Samsung LCD screen advert really does speak the truth! Stay home, and you won't miss a thing on TV!