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  • The GIVI Malaysian Adventure 2019 convoy headed back to the west coast on Day Six.

  • First stop was Melaka, before heading to the GIVI Rimba Raid at Janda Baik 2019.

  • It was certainly heartwarming to see our visitor friends enjoying historic Melaka.

Day Six of the GIVI Malaysian Adventure 2019 was the stage when we cut back across to the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The GIVI Rimba Raid at Janda Baik 2019 event beckons.

But first, we will ride to the historic city of Melaka to spend a night.

Leaving Teluk Cempedak, Kuantan

Truth is, it seemed to not matter where we’d be riding to, as long as we leave the Hyatt Regency, Kuantan. Sure, most of the staff were friendly and the rooms were comfy, but there were a number of things they got wrong and refused to acknowledge. Personally, an episode left a bitter taste in my mouth during dinner. I asked a chef about what sauces was I looking at and he ignored me. I thought he didn’t hear me, but he walked a few metres away and yelled at a waiter to assist me.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

So, it was like that Animals’ song, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.”

The Ride

This leg was supposed to be an uneventful, but the lead marshal took a wrong turn and led us down a route with corners stacked upon corners. The usual droning ride suddenly turned lively as each Explorer swept through corners. It’s said that and adventure is “when something unplanned happens,” this was a happy mistake! The pace was still controlled by the lead police car, however, so it was a safe ride.

But it certainly opened my eyes as a Malaysian that even foreign visitors could enjoy our roads so much. (We’ll upload the videos later.)

The biggest worry for us Malaysians is trying to get into Melaka, given the large amount traffic lights and heavy traffic. But the hardworking police escorts and marshals did an outstanding job of providing a smooth ride.

Joseph Perucca, GIVI’s Overseas Operational Director and organizer of the ride had advised us to ride as closely together as possible to minimize the length of the convoy, thereby minimizing the time the escorts need to block off traffic. It worked and the ride cleared each intersection in less than 30 seconds.

We found the large overhead bridge along Jalan Keroh and near the Bukit Beruang intersection is now operational. It’ll save lots of time on future trips.

We made it into the city under Melaka’s infamous blazing sun and stopped at the Ole Sayang Restaurant for lunch. The eatery served authentic Baba and Nonya cuisines such as otak-otak, sambal fish, etc.

I was seated next to Manuel De La Pena from Mexico. “What is otak-otak?” he asked. “It’s steamed fish meat,” I replied. “But what does otak-otak mean?” Oh dear… I was afraid to scare him off… “It means brain-brain… but it’s really just steamed fish.” So, he tried it and liked it. Phew.

We headed to A’Famosa after lunch. The local authorities had opened the gates for us to park in the square outside the ancient fort and Declaration of Independence building.

The Explorers hiked up the hill to St. Paul’s Cathedral on top of the hill and down to the Stadhuys on the opposite side. These sites represent just a small part of the UNESCO World Heritage city’s history, but it was a great introduction. A number of participants rode the multi-coloured trishaws back to the where we stopped.

We regrouped and rode to Zong Heng Motors.

The shop was the first authorized dealer apart from GIVI Points in the country. The staff welcomed us with fresh coconut water to help us cool down.

Zong Heng offers almost every item in GIVI’s catalog of products from riding jackets to the latest luggage and everything else in between. They had also “dressed” up a number of bikes on display with GIVI accessories. So, do make your way to Zong Heng motors to equip your bike.

It was finally time to say goodbye as we headed to The Majestic Melaka to check-in for the night. It might be easy to miss the hotel’s pre-war facade since it’s only two-stories high. But it’s actually connected to a modern ten-storie building at the back, where our rooms are. The rooms were cozy with lots of wood paneling but provides modern amenities. The staff were also very hospitable and helpful. They never failed to smile and greet us whenever they saw us.

From the 10th  Floor, we had a front seat view of a bend in the Melaka River, where Kampung Morten i.e. Kampung Melayu was situated. A few metres down the river was the Ghost Bridge. It’s macabrely called such because the Japanese invaders during World War II beheaded prisoners there and hurled the heads into the river.

Dinner was served in the restaurant on the second level of that old building. Having local food for dinner was a welcomed changed for us Malaysian and Asian Explorers. However, it was also good to see our visitors enjoying the dishes, too.

Most went to visit Jonker Walk after dinner. It would’ve been a short walk had we stayed at the originally planned Casa Del Rio (Ronald told me it means “River House” in Spanish), but the hotel couldn’t provide enough rooms. But fear not, it was just a RM 5 Grab Car ride.

We turned in early tonight as we’re headed to Janda Baik tomorrow.

PICTURE GALLERY

Today is the start of an epic journey through Indochina.

The ride starts at Pattaya, Thailand through Cambodia and Vietnam.

Day saw the distribution of riding gear and motorcycle allocation.

12th November 2017, Pattaya City, Thailand – The GIVI Golden Triangle Adventure 2017 has begun!

Day One was reserved as the day of arrival of the participants, consisting mainly of GIVI dealers from across the globe. There is a record number of entries this year, an increase from the previous years’.

The GIVI Golden Triangle Adventure 2017 is carried out under the GIVI Explorer banner and as the name implies, GIVI Explorer means riding through new and exotic locations around the world, discovering the land’s diverse beauties and cultures along the way.

It is also a platform for GIVI dealers to experience the usefulness and reliability of GIVI’s product line firsthand in the real world. Being designed to be great is one thing, but to actually use them under rain or shine, in various tough conditions is the most meaningful experience (more on this later).

Most participants flew into either airport in Bangkok and were then transferred to The Bayview Hotel in Pattaya City.

In the meantime, the GIVI crew were overworked at X-Speed, one of the largest motorcycle accessories and workshop Pattaya, in getting the motorcycles ready. Working hand-in-hand with them were the boys and gals at the shop.

They had to install different types of side cases, top cases, crash bars, spotlights, windscreens, tankbags, handguards, phone and GPS mounts, any many more within three days on the 21 participants’ bikes, plus another 3 of the marshals’.

GIVI’s Ismadi Ishak and I had ridden out of GIVI’s HQ in Bukit Beruntung on the morning of the 9th first to Songkhla, then to Chumporn and finally arriving in Pattaya on the 11th.

The fleet of bikes for the GIVI Golden Triangle Adventure 2017 consisted mainly of the Kawasaki Versys 650s and Suzuki DL650 V-Stroms. There were also the Honda Africa Twin DCT, BMW R 1200 GS LC (Joseph Perucca, GIVI’s Overseas Operational Director’s bike), and the Yamaha TDM900, Suzuki DL1000 V-Stroms and Triumph Tiger 800 XCA ridden by the marshals.

Participants had started arriving at The Bayview Hotel from morning, hence the customary riding gear and accessories distribution session began at 2pm.

There appeared to be no unhappy participant during this session, evident from their broad smiles. Well, no surprise here, since we received a Santa Claus-sized bag full of gear! It was like the New Year, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Vesak Day, Deepavali, Christmas all rolled into one. We were provided with the latest:

  1. GIVI HPS 40.5 X-Fiber helmet.
  2. Hevik riding jacket.
  3. Riding pants.
  4. Hevik technical riding shirts.
  5. A GIVI Golden Triangle Adventure 2017 event polo shirt.
  6. An event T-shirt.
  7. Hevik summer gloves.
  8. Bucket (fisherman’s) hat.
  9. Rainshoes.
  10. Under-helmet skull cap.
  11. A balaclava (made of silk!).
  12. Trekker fluorescent orange vest.
  13. Hevik lumbar support belt (which looks like a weightlifter’s belt).
  14. A set of Prime rainsuit.
  15. A set of Comfort rainsuit.

Why two sets of rainsuits? Remember we mentioned about using the products in the real world? The Prime rainsuit is an experimental model, so who better to act as testers than us GIVI Explorers, embarking on the GIVI Golden Triangle Adventure 2017?

That’s not all, as was with the ride in South Africa two years ago, a questionnaire on the motorcycle equipment and riding gear MUST be completed and handed back to GIVI as the basis for further research and development.

With the handover done, we prepared for the Welcome Dinner. Everyone was elated to meet their friends from the previous GIVI Explorer adventure rides, greeting each other with loudly and hugs. I can’t lie – I was very happy to see the familiar faces again.

The food was awesome, as always on GIVI’s adventure rides, but we also had our eyes on the final 2017 MotoGP round in Valencia, Spain.

We cheered on the Ducati Team and of course Andrea Dovizioso on his bid to claim his first world title, besides Cal Crutchlow. We were heartbroken when both Ducatis crashed out. (Ducati is also sponsored by GIVI.)

So, we came back to the matters pertaining to the GIVI Golden Triangle Adventure 2017, which was the welcoming speech, programme and safety briefing.

Tomorrow (13th November) we’ll be riding to Aranyapathet, Thailand which is one of the border towns with Cambodia, before crossing into the latter country and onwards to Siem Reap.

We were told to be extra vigilant when travelling through Cambodia as the traffic in Cambodia could be chaotic, but everyone was just excited to be riding under the GIVI Explorer banner again.

PICTURE GALLERY

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