30 August 2009 ride report - Sunrise surprise

There is something about riding a motorcycle that liberates me. I can't really put my finger on it thought. Maybe its the freedom of being able to go where many cars are not able to go. Or maybe its the feel of the wind blowing through the hair...can't be...cos helmets are compulsory in Singapore. Well...whatever it is, it sure is addictive!

I had just completed a late night 70km ride three nights ago. I wanted to capture some images of industrial lights and was at the south-western part of Singapore. I went on another ride just last night covering the southern part of the island. And this morning, I went on an early morning ride with two biker friends.

My alarm went off faithfully at 4:30am, jolting me from a wonderful dream that I can no longer remember. I have had my share of mornings when I "snoozed" my alarm clock several times over because I need a little more rest...but today I sprang out of bed enthusiastically. You see, I had an ambitious route planned and am very eager to get on with the riding!

The plan was to meet at the stretch of petrol stations along Upper Thomson Road at 5am. The route promised a lot of fun involving many old roads with minimal expressway runs, incorporating a stint of hiking up Bukit Timah for the sunrise, topped off with a hearty breakfast and a nice cuppa. Meeting at a petrol station would give everyone a chance to fill up before this 70km adventure. Have a look at the route in Google Maps for a better idea.

We started on our journey with a nice ride long Old Upper Thomson Road. It was nice to start with this as the road has a good series of bends that were easy to negotiate. While I have enjoyed this stretch of road many times in the pass, riding together with others made the journey more meaningful. Somehow, seeing everyone negotiate a bend successfully made me feel happy. Go figure! Seriously though...I felt really happy seeing everyone complete a bend on my rear-view mirror. Hahaha!

It was going well. In fact, it went well all the way until we hit the Kranji Dam. You see, I had requested for one of my biker friends to let me know when we approached 5:30am. You see, in my route planning, I had forgotten to include the half hour required for the hike up Bukit Timah into my timing calculations...and when did I realize this? Yup...at the Kranji Dam. Why? Because 5:30am crept up on me while we were there.

Thanks to this miscalculation, I rationalized that we had to hightail it to Bukit Timah if we wanted any chance to catch the sunrise, and that we will get back to Kranji Dam after that riding our original planned route in reverse. We took the most direct route possible to Bukit Timah to make up for the time we didn't have, eventually arriving there twenty minutes later.

After parking our bikes and removing our helmets and gloves, we started our hike up the hill. I knew it would be dark as the sun wasn't out yet, but I was completely blinded by how dark it was. While there were quite a number of people walking up and down the path with flash lights, it was still too dark for me to see my own fingers without turning on one of our own flash lights! It dawned on my then that this was, indeed, a nature reserve! The fact that the Parks Authority took this stand made me smile...though I'm sure nobody could see even my teeth!

In a way, the blindness turned out to be a blessing. You see, the hike up Bukit Timah starts off by taking your breath away...literally...with a slope so steep it could make an ant sweat! This would have been a challenge for any hiker, irrespective of fitness level...and here I am...hiking up with my full riding gear (jacket, pants and boots) on and my helmet in my hands! Hahahaha! What in the world was I thinking? The blessing though was that the darkness stopped me from looking ahead and worrying about how long the slope was going to be. I ended up focusing on what was tangible to me at that time - the next step. And so, one step at a time, I conquered that slope...and promptly encountered another! So it was uphill all the way. After lots of heavy breathing...the three of us eventually made it to the summit, and immediately, I could see that we will not be captivated by any sunrise this morning!

If you have been up Bukit Timah, you would know (and probably remember - unlike me) that the summit is completely surrounded by tall trees. It was a wonderful spot in the afternoon to cool off after a sweaty hike. But it was an impossible spot to see a sunrise! I was just glad my two biker friends did not get annoyed with me (at least not visibly since there wasn't much light still) for lugging them all the way up here, to see what they can probably see in the comfort of their bed at home!

As they say: "no point crying over spilt milk". So with the spirit of making the best of what we had, we went about taking pictures. As the sky was taking much longer to brighten up than a snail would take to travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, we took our time to scout around the area for interesting photograph opportunities. I walked around and eventually found an angle for this shot.

I wanted to take a picture that makes it clear that I was at the "Summit of Bukit Timah". I did think of that radio tower that is so synonymous with Bukit Timah. But since some people have absolutely no clue what the summit looked like, I decided that this picture would say it better. I had to crawl on the ground to get this angle. I think its nice to see the carving on the rock together with those trees lit by the brightening sky (now you understand why there's just no way we could see the sunrise!)

The clouds happened to be low and thick this morning...this means the colours of the sky is subdued and desaturated. In fact, there isn't any real colour at all! So I decided to focus on things that are less dependent on the colour of the available light.

I've always enjoyed macro-photography. Actually the term is a misnomer since "macro-photography" is the act of photographing small (micro) things. So strange is the English language! But I digress. I walked around and soon found this dried leaf lying on the grass and I thought it looked really pretty. I could not resist capturing this. I have always loved the way a leaf looks. They're so beautifully formed...even to the very end!

I was all over the place, walking around, looking up, looking down, on my knees, on my elbows, on my back...taking pictures...just minding my own photography business. Suddenly, this set of steps grabbed me and refused to let go!

Captivated, I spent some time examining the steps, admiring the stone work. It was really pretty. Surprisingly, it was colourful too! But I thought it would be nice to stick to black and white for today. So you will have to hike up Bukit Timah if you want to see the brilliant colours! Remember to do it in the early morning or the colours will be different...hehehe!

Not wanting to be outdone, everything else started grabbing my attention. I tell you, there's nothing like taking photographs. After awhile, everything wanted my attention. So I gave my attention to everything that called out to me. Unfortunately, all the pictures I took had that faded "old year book" look. So this is the only other picture I felt you should see.

I try to do my best and give justice to everything that I photograph. This was my best effort for this particular subject. I love it though...its so...its so...its so...ahhh!

Well, soon the whole place is bright and starting to fill up with other folks. I decided its time to head off and get some real riding in before the morning is over. The foot of the hill could not have been more different from earlier. It was now bright, of course, and more interestingly, it was PACKED with cars! Who would have thought this place would be packed on a Sunday morning? People obviously love nature! Wow!

I led the way and off we went according to plan...the alternate plan, that is. We went on many interesting roads...beautiful scenery (sorry no pictures)...great curves...no cars...cool weather...and super dark clouds. Silly me checked the weather forecast up till 7am and was so happy it would be a dry and partly cloudy morning, forgetting that the ride will only end around 9am, and that rain was forecasted for that time. Still, I had to take a stop when we got to the end of Lim Chu Kang Road...for this.

This scene was right in front of us and it would be a crime not to let it slip by without sharing it with you. It was like a scene out of an old Bruce Lee movie (I did mention him sometime ago in another article, didn't I? Hmmm....).  I love the way that jetty is so ragged and how the storm clouds look so threathening, and yet the entire scene is just so serene!

We headed off again soon after trying to avoid the inevitable rain that would come. Our target was a breakfast place at the Kranji Industrial Park nearby. So after making a wrong turn and the first signs of a long shower, we ended back at Kranji Dam.

Yeah, there is more light now and I could not resist taking a picture to show you how big that dark cloud cover was! It wasn't long before the rain would start pouring down!

And rain it did soon after. We got pelted with huge, cold raindrops! Good thing the breakfast place was just a few minutes away. Some prata, dosai and noodles quickly filled us up, while our kopi and teh gave us the perfect excuse to stay dry and chat as the rain continued to pour! It was the perfect end to a wonderful morning ride!

Come join me next time!