The Girls of RCGNTN

These, ladies and gentlemen, are the girls of RCGNTN.
RCGNTN is an online zine that focuses on local talents and the goings-on of the arts scene in Singapore.
The zine was set up some 6 months ago and unfortunately for me, I made the mistake of joining them.
Now I’m a semi-slave and they only feed me once a week. Anyways, despite my semi-enslavement, these 2 girls have actually left quite a mark on me.

Sam - the one with the short hair – is never short of ideas. Laid-back, calm and always open to suggestions, she is the brains behind RCGNTN and also one of the most driven individuals I’ve ever met. Conversations with her always end up in the realms of politics and more often than not, she’d be on the receiving end of my endless rants.

The other girl on the team is Yawen. A beautiful lady (I’m not being sarcastic here Yawen, really), and the exact opposite of Sam. She’s got locks that would make even Rapunzel proud. People tend to mistake her nonchalant demeanour as a sign of weakness and I must say they couldn’t be more wrong. The girl is one very opinionated young lady and trust me, you do not want to mess with her.

Despite their differences, I find one thing very similar in them.
Their ability to get me to talk about things that used to be important to me when I was younger.
For that, I can’t thank these 2 girls enough. Really.

Thank you.

One.

p.s. – I’m writing this in the hopes that they would actually feed me more than just once  a week.

When Hectic is Good

Another old shot of mine.
Just like the previous post, this was also shot in April 2007.
Nothing spectacular, just a shot of the unfinished Singapore Flyer.

Anyways, I’ve been thinking of shooting some stuff of my own.
I need to get out of my comfort zone and try something challenging.
Luckily my “muse” has agreed to help me out.

Oh, I think the on-going debate between people who believe in God
and atheists is hilarious.
One side believes in God, the other does not.
And both sides are trying to prove each other wrong.
The way I see it, it’s like watching two kids arguing about ice-cream flavours.
One is into chocolate while the other digs vanilla. Both will try to convince the other that their flavour of choice is better and more often than not,
they will end up fighting.

Why don’t the God-believing side just eat their ice-cream and the atheists eat theirs?
I may be over-simplifying matters here, but sometimes simplicity works.

One.

Once Upon a Time

This was shot way back in April 2007.
I hate this photo because nothing in the photo is sharp.
This was only my 4th month dabbling in photography so please spare me.

What I do like about the photo though is the fact that the city skyline was still unobstructed.
Even the empty space that used to occupy much of Marina was still around.

Now everything’s changed.
This view is no more.
“Let’s develop the island in such a way that Singapore becomes unrecogizable in 10 years time!”.
Bah!

One.

The T.O.S.; Through My Eyes

Aaron fooling around with the walkie

12th of December 2009
After months of planning, discussions and late-nights, the much-anticipated
Tour of Singapore is finally upon us.
This is my take on the goings-on of that day.

3:30 PM: Most of the riders were already gathered at The BK Whopper Bar at
Clarke Quay.
I was quite surprised though, as I was expecting a lot of late-comers.
We had a quick bite, briefed the participants about the routes and by 4:30 PM, we’re all set to go.

Official number of riders: 53 of which 3 were females. There were only 2
single-speed bikes.

Shidi & Adwin from KL

Oh, in our midst were also 2 riders from KL. When I first heard that they were planning to come down for the TOS, I thought they were just fooling around.
Until I saw them in Haji Lane.
It was their 1st ever trip to the Lion City. Mad props boys!

James being “peaceful”

From Clarke Quay, we made our way to TR Bikes for a quick stop before moving on to the 1st leg of the tour.
Everyone was in high spirits.
The ride from East Coast to Changi Coastal wasn’t much of a challenge to most of the boys.
Oh, I always find myself riding alongside The KGB and more often than not, our conversations would always make no sense.

Vira needs a haircut

The recce ride that we did prior to the real TOS was a big help really. The ones who were already familiar with the route always kept a look-out for the other riders.
After a quick stop at Changi Coastal, we then proceeded to our next destination: Seletar.

The ride towards Seletar this time around was a bit different as there were more people and we had to ensure no one lost their way. It was all good though. JJay had always been pessimistic about her chances of completing the tour, but the boys were very supportive and there will always be at least one rider accompanying her.

I was riding next to her some 3 kms away from Seletar Dam when she suddenly said: “I’m gonna do my happy dance the moment we reach Seletar!”. True enough, she did!

Next up was Kranji Dam.
I could sense that some of the riders were already tiring. Fatigue had set in and some were beginning to struggle.
The fitter ones though were having the time of their lives.

Wei Jie & Ben

A few riders decided to throw in the towel when we reached our next stop over at Kranji. I had expected that. But it’d have been great if everyone had been able to complete the tour together.
Nevertheless, it was great to see that the majority of the riders were still standing strong and were raring to go.

Our next destination is Boon Lay.
This particular leg of the tour is by far the most treacherous. Initially I thought it was just me, but after talking to the rest of the boys, I concluded that this is
“The Death Stretch“.
Why? Because it tortures you mentally. I know it mind-fucked me bad. Bey had to keep sane by singing some CD anthem or something.
Jon told me that he had to concentrate on the road markings and block out his surroundings.
More than once did I entertain the thoughts of giving up, but again, the sight of my fellow riders, friends & some that I’d even consider brothers, spurred me on. (It didn’t help that I had a major headache going on)
And so I continued cycling. To be honest, I was on “auto-pilot”. My mind was blank, but my legs kept on moving and moving and moving.

I felt so relieved when I saw the familiar sight that is Boon Lay.
I was hungry. The boys (and 1 girl) were hungry.
We made a quick stop, grabbed ourselves some Nasi Lemak and after a quick session of psyching each other up, we moved on towards the final stretch of the tour.
The War Memorial – City Hall.

The final leg of the tour was undoubtedly the best for me personally.
All of a sudden, the familiar surroundings of the cityscapes were around me.
Everything becomes familiar. The boys were going crazy.
People like Arm, Cong and James were going super-fast.
Others decided to just ride a little slower and take in the night scenes.
When we reached the Harbourfront area, we thought we might be able to see some party-makers (ZoukOut was held that night) but alas, none were seen. The place was pretty quiet. I guess we were the only crazy ones to actually be outside of Sentosa at that hour.

At approximately 2:30 AM, the final group of riders arrived at the Memo.
Along in that group was one very special person. Jjay.
She actually completed the whole damn tour! The very person who kept insisting that she’d falter and give up. Mad props to you woman!
Wing Tong, that one-armed bandit, he completed his 2nd TOS in the space of one week.
Shidi & Adwin - 1st visit and they’ve actually circled the whole island. Wicked!

And so, after close to 10 hours of riding, laughing and sweating (not to mention fighting all the thoughts of throwing in the towel) I have completed the TOS.
Twice.
I still find it surreal. I still can’t believe that we had actually rode around the island together.
Nothing beats the feeling of riding with people who share the same passion as you.
Nothing.

I thank each and every single one of you guys for making this ride possible.
Let’s hope this won’t be the last.
Oh, mad props to my man Aaron and the Pokaywak boys for  helping us out! Thanks guys!

Special thanks to our sponsors and supporters:
Nookmag
PEONFX
Nike
Burger King
TR Bikes
Gee Hin Chan & Co.
Flesh Imp
New Balance

One.

Some photos were contributed by: Haiqal

Words of the Unwise

Wing Tong for Sup Clothing

I’ve seen too many  kids romanticising this thing called “photography“.
They come up with things like: “The shutter button is an extension of my soul” and what-nots.
I’m not hating here. I just find it funny.

To me, photography is “just anyhow whack one!“.
Can someone please tell these “photographers” to just have fun and not be too serious?
Please.

One.

The Story Behind T.O.S

The T.O.S.
The Tour of Singapore.

Talks of it started some 8 months ago when Bey, Idris, Jacky and myself would go out on some random ride and we would jokingly talk about cycling around the island on our bikes.

I found the whole idea a little “over-the-top” as far as I’m concerned. I’m not the fittest of riders around and I honestly felt that I’d never be able to complete the so-called “tour”. But interestingly, over the next couple of months, the boys and I embarked on a few long rides that somehow made me realize that a “Tour of Singapore” is actually a feasible idea.

Remember The Pride Ride & The Mandai Ride guys?

So what started out as a “joke” amongst ourselves suddenly turned into something “serious”.
Idris was so into the whole idea that he came up with a route for the T.O.S.
He had to make a few changes and eventually he settled on a 120-kilometer route that spans the outer perimeters of the entire island.

120 kilometers.
That number is not funny at all. Period.
We are no athletes.
We ride for fun. We ride because we love riding. We ride because we love zipping through traffic around the city.
The thought of it was daunting, but somehow each and every single one of us was actually looking forward to it.
We wanted to prove to ourselves that whatever other cyclists can achieve
(read: road bikers) on their bikes, we can do it too.

After a few discussion sessions, we concluded that we needed to do a recce ride and familiarize ourselves with the route prior to the real ride. And so on the 5th of December 2009, a total of 15 riders from Crank Arm Steady embarked on that 120-kilometer journey.

We gathered at East Coast Park that afternoon prior to moving off.
15 riders. 1 mission.
Complete the ride.

We left East Coast Park at approximately 6:30 PM and made
our way to Changi Village.
The weather was nice. Initially.
Halfway into the ride, it began to rain. Heavily.
The boys kept on riding. No one entertained the thought of stopping.
By the time we reached Changi Village, everyone is drenched.
We had our dinner there before making our way to our next pit-stop at Seletar Dam.
(We had to wait for The KGB. He was 2 hours late. *&%#@!)

The ride to Seletar was quite relaxing. The boys were having a good time, riding and making fun of each other.
It felt real good riding alongside some of my closest friends. Surprisingly, I was keeping up fine with the rest of the riders.
The best part of this particular leg of the ride was
when I saw the reservoir at Seletar Dam.
It felt so good knowing that we’re almost on the half-way mark.
We rested there for a while, re-fueled by eating ice-cream and off we go to our next stop.
Kranji Dam.

The ride towards Kranji was pretty okay, it was a bit chilly though.
Everyone was still upbeat and some even decided to have a lil’ mashing session.
We reached Kranji at around 2:30 AM, rested there for a bit and off we went to our next pit-stop.
Boon Lay.

At this point, fatigue was slowly but surely seeping in.
I was even entertaining thoughts of giving up. I wasn’t tired physically, I was just mentally fucked up.
But I brushed those thoughts away every time I saw Wing Tong riding past.
If that boy can ride with only one good arm, I have no excuses to even entertain those thoughts.

We reached Boon Lay around 3:30 AM, rested our sore bums for a bit, had some Nasi Lemak and off we go on the final leg of the tour.
Haji Lane.

The final stretch was undoubtedly the best. Everyone was pushing everyone else. It was an awesome sight.
And the best part was that we saw a lot of people making their way to the StanChart Marathon.
So we had a lot of fun with the “Good Mornings” & “Good Lucks”. Heh!

At approximately 5:45 AM, after almost 12 hours of riding, we reached Haji Lane.
Haji Lane never looked so good to me before. Really.
The look of relief to have finally complete the tour was evident on everyone’s face.

We were undoubtedly tired, but yet again we were also glad that we had achieved what we had gunned for all along.
Complete the ride.

One.

I’ve Got You Covered

“Howy with his Eddie Merckx bike“

I was on my way back from the pharmacy earlier and I was rocking my dad’s old road bike.
It wasn’t the best of bikes, but it was a bike nonetheless. And suddenly a realization of how much I love riding sank in.

I ride not because I’m an environmentalist.
I do care about the planet but I don’t go out riding my bike because I believe taking a car or any other form of petrol-powered vehicle is harmful to the environment.

I ride because I love pushing myself.
I ride because  I love telling myself: “Look buddy, it’s only 30 kms left!”.
I ride because I love the cool breeze when I make my way home late at night.
I ride because I love that sore feeling on my bum and legs after a long ride.
In short, I just love riding.

Enough talking, more riding.

One.

Urban Velo’d

Thanks Jeff!

One.

Ibtisaam

This was shot during Baybeats 2008.

Beautiful smile. Really.
I’ve always been amazed at how such a simple gesture such as smiling can do wonders.
She had no idea what it meant to me to see that smile.

In the midst of sweaty bodies and over-enthusiastic boys trying to be as rowdy as the infamous England football hooligans,
I must admit that to see her smile is a very welcome respite.

So whoever you are, thank you for smiling.

p.s. – I don’t know her. Really. Do you know her?

One.

Yes

Ask me again and it’d still be a “yes”.

One.