Driving videos - Singapore (Part One)

Introduction

I took with me a small Contour Roam that mounted to my motorcycle helmet. It came with two mounts, but I only even attached one to my helmet. I assumed that at some point I would probably have to replace my helmet and then I would use the second mount, but it never came to that. As a result, all of the shots are in portrait when they would probably have been much better in landscape.

Regardless, this footage is really valuable for people wanting to drive through some of the areas I have driven through. The GPS is good, don't get me wrong, but there is no Google Street View in many of these areas (although Singapore had a lot), which I use extensively in Australia when I am navigating to a new location to get an idea of what the roads are like and what sort of landmarks or road markings I should be looking out for.

I also didn't realise the size of these clips initially, both in terms of time and bytes (or should I say Gigabytes). There were times driving where twenty minutes could pass without me turning the camera off and there were certainly times when I forgot to turn it off. Finally, they are raw footage, and if you don't like them, bad luck, as they are great memories for me.

First recorded drive in Singapore

My first drive in Singapore from RAM Racing Engineering to my hotel undertaken in the dark did not have any video associated, and lucky, because not only did I go to the wrong location, I also got myself lost and drove around in a circle. Glad I had my wits about me, I noticed I had been there before, and pulled over to check the maps that RAM had printed off for me. I am so glad they did. I found the point where I turned left instead of right and just stepped through them again.

This video is the first time I drove in Singapore with the Contour Roam on and it is about 25 minutes of footage. I have left the audio as recorded. Although I am not a great speaker and I sometimes stop when I need to concentrate, it is my first footage of what it is like to drive in Singapore during the day. Some of my commentary helps to show my own thought process and might assist in both placing it geographically and pointing things out. It might also be funny to hear my brain disengage from my mouth at times, if you have never heard that (some of my friends might say this is a regular occurrence, but I beg to ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long).

This video sees me drive past the Automobile Association of Singapore headquarters on River Valley Drive (and the lovely Rosie Chan who has really helped me out with all the paperwork in getting the insurance and carnet sorted out to drive in Singapore). It also shows the relatively tame Singapore traffic, but watch out for those taxis, and the Chinese New Year set up, like the big red dragon along New Bridge Road/Eu Tong Sen Street. I find out talking in the wind does not work on this first trial.

I especially like the attempts to turn right and then left into a one-way street. This happens a few times in the early days of driving in Singapore because I have been walking down the streets and failed to really notice the traffic is only one-way. After a lot of round town hunting, I finally get to my hostel and if you watch up at minute 23 or 24, I actually forget how large the panniers are and get stuck on two concrete poles just before parking. Worth it for the laugh.

Chinese New Year

It didn't take me very long to get the itch to ride around Singapore, which is not that big. Even then, I did not stray too far as I was still getting my feet (or wheels) around both the new bike and the new country. I have a process for learning my way around places and it works on foot as well as with the bike. I go around the block a few times and get my bearings, then I extend the block to two blocks, then three. If I have a map, I head off in a direction for twice the time I have taken to explore around three blocks, then try to find my way back, using landmarks and skyline to navigate.

This is what I did on the first day of Chinese New Year, but several streets had been blocked off for the celebrations and I didn't really count on how many one-way streets or how few u-turns were available. This meant that if I tried to duck down a side street to turn around, I found it was one-way (for better or worse).

I had been parking my motorcycle in a paid parking location directly opposite my hostel (Beary Best) on Upper Cross Street. I had my camera on the helmet, just in case, but once I rode down the street and saw the spectacle unfold in front of me, I had to turn the camera on. This shows me initially on Upper Cross Street and approaching the corner of Upper Cross and New Bridge Road/Eu Tong Sen Street. From what I could gather (and I could be wrong) New Bridge is one side of the street, and Eu Tong Sen is the other side. This stumped for some time and I am still unsure if it is correct. It seems that the locals consider this two separate carriage-ways, but for me it seemed that one side had a different name to the other side.

This clip shows South Bridge Road down to Neil Road during the high point right before the first night of Chinese New Year celebrations, past the Sri Mariamman Temple and the Buddha Tooth Relic and Museum. It also shows you how packed it can get before the celebrations and how many people are roaming around.

Gardens by the Bay

The Gardens by the Bay at Marina South were very hot and humid during the day, but once I got the bike, I could roam a bit more on my own and so, on Chinese New Year Eve, I decided to get away from the traffic around Chinatown and head across to the Gardens by the Bay to take a look at them at night.

This clip shows me heading out to Marina South Park, starting on Central Boulevard and turning into Marina Station Road, then Marina Street, Marina Place, Marina Boulevard, and finally into Marina Park and the Gardens by the Bay. The second clip, below, shows parking at the park.

Not going to Sentosa

No one told me that motorcycles aren't allowed on Sentosa. I had heard about how glorious the place is and the magnificent beaches. It also has the resorts and Universal Studios theme parks, but I was not overly interested in seeing them. I decided on the morning after the first night of Chinese New Year celebrations to head over to see for myself.

This footage shows what happens when you take the left fork in the road once you are across the bridge to Sentosa. I realised I could not skip lanes, so thought I would ride it out, not stopping and just doing a loop around to find that you have to go back across the bridge to turn around and try again. I wondered why the security were waving me through - because unauthorised motorcycles are not allowed on Sentosa Island.

This clip shows what happens if you take the right fork in the road once you are passed the bridge, but it doesn't show you much else as I was turned around quick smart. No unauthorised motorcycles are allowed on Sentosa, which is a shame because I decided from that point that I would not bother seeing the island if I couldn't do it on motorcycle. I am a responsible rider and don't see why I should be penalised because of the scooter punks. Maybe they should just ban scooters.

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery

After being turned back from Sentosa, I travelled to the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery on the day after Chinese New Year celebrations started, not knowing this is a traditional time for Buddhists to visit the monastery. Initially, I thought there must have been an accident on the road ahead, but as I approached at a snails pace, I realised the monastery was the cause of the traffic.

Next clip, showing my ignorance, is where I realise it is a Buddhist Monastery. For some reason, I never bothered to find out before I turned up and then I seemed to be surprised that it was Buddhist.

The parking was incredible and on repeated occasions I was directed to ride on the footpath or around cars, but I was still new in Asia and not quite used to the disdain for traffic rules that all other motorcycles and scooters show. The following clip shows my travel through various parts of the monastery as directed by security.

Batu Caves (Part Two)

Walking up the Batu Cave steps to the Temple Cave, I made sure when I started to feel fatigued that I concentrated on where I was putting my feet. The photo below was an exchange with another solo tourist who wanted a photo like this with her in it, so we negotiated an agreement. If you look in the background to the right, you will see two guys in the process of being mugged by monkeys. This was a smart phone snatch and the guy in the black shirt lost his latest edition iPhone because he held it out to take a photo of a monkey who decided it was an offering, snatching it and running.



Nearly to the top (Pic exchange with another solo tourist)



Only a few more steps, surely

Getting to the top, you assume that there are no more stairs, but you are very wrong. The Temple Cave complex is vast and much larger than I expected before I got there. The caves themselves are amazing structures, but the amount of space is impressive as are the shrines and temples built inside. I had a few monkeys approach to see if they could steal anything, but I think my helmet put them off as it was latched to my belt and looked like a face watching my rear.

Welcome to the cave entrance

More steps, both down and up

The temperature drops significantly once in the shadow of the caves. Although there are no more banana stalls from this point, there are many tourist shops, even selling little die cast Petronis Twin Tower replicas and "I love Batu Cave" bumper stickers. They also sell drinks in these stalls, so if you have run out of water you can grab more here.

 

One of the many shrines inside the Temple Cave complex

There are dozens of detailed shrines and temples inside the cave complex, some are off-limits and some are being repaired, but many are open to the public to pray at or take photos of. The detail in the work is amazing and I found myself happily snapping away just because they were incredible works of art, not just religious in nature. I was a bit disappointed with the Main Temple after such incredible build up outside and the size and scope of the cave itself. I was imagining a massive and intricate temple hidden in the caves.

 

Batu Caves Main Temple

Batu Caves Main Temple

It seemed that there were no more monkeys this far into the cave complex, but I was wrong. Looking back the way I had come, the caves themselves were still impressive and quite large, but as mentioned above, I was expecting more inside the caves than there was. Maybe the caves themselves were so revered that to build anything inside them really needed to have a good reason.

Also be aware, even though there are signs everywhere, you need to remove your shoes if you are going to enter the temples. I watched a tourist from one of the Eastern European countries fail to read the signs and she was monstered by one of the monks who told her in crisp English to remove her shoes. She continued as if she didn't understand and he had to physically walk her out. Then she started to remove them where she stood and he had to point to the signs for her to figure out she was still too close. The signs really are quite obvious, so I don't know what she thought she was doing.

 

Looking back toward the entrance to the caves

The large temple at the far point in the Batu Caves

There are more temples and shrines at the far point of the cave so don't just stop at the Main Temple and think you have seen it all. It is still worth heading up the final set of stairs to see the back of the cave. This is also where the more peaceful monkeys are and the only place I saw the little baby monkeys, clinging to Mum with big bright eyes. Many of them were not happy to have their photos taken, but they were not as aggressive as those out the front of the cave complex, which I thought was a little strange as they had young to protect.



I exchanged my saved banana to get close to this Mum and baby

Many of the tourists were trying to get close to the babies and the mothers would just take them higher into the caves to get them away. I remembered then that I still had two banana in my backpack, stashed for an emergency like this one. Wary that these monkeys are not stupid and often cannot be cajoled into doing anything, I thought that just offering two bananas would be a nice thing to do as the guys out the front were clearly not bringing any bananas into these depths for the young.

She hissed at anyone else who got close, but I was favoured

Initially, I pulled them out and some of the younger monkeys came up to me intending to mug me, but they soon found out I was wise to them and when they couldn't get behind me or form a pack, they relaxed a little. I moved as close as I could to the Mum and baby I could find within throw range and threw my first banana at them. Mum realised it was for her and the other monkeys also knew it was for her, so they let her come forward to collect it. She still wouldn't let me hand her the second banana, but she checked it was suitable and then gave the remains to the baby who munched it down.

The choice photo, contemplative and caring

I threw the second banana a little closer and she knew I wanted her to come closer so I could get a photo. Once the second banana had been devoured, she considered my request and then clambered down onto the stairs for some close photos. She hissed at the other photographers if they came closer than I was, clearly understanding the trade we were making. I was able to get about four meters closer than any of the other photographers and took some great shots of the couple.

This was probably my highlight of the day. The caves were amazing and the temples were detailed and beautiful, but the interaction with the monkeys was the most fun. They are not stupid - in fact, I think I saw much more stupidity from the "higher" monkeys. They were often outsmarted by the "lessor" monkeys. There is such a curiosity and intelligence in these eyes that I think we humans sometimes forget that we are not the only sentient creatures on this planet.

Perhaps this was my lesson from Haruman?

Batu Caves (Part One)

I took advantage of the good morning weather in Kuala Lumpur to get to the places I wanted to see. One of the primary locations I had been recommend were the Batu Caves. A friend had told me to get some bananas at the bottom of the caves and take them up into the caves, which is what I planned to do, unaware that my friend had tried to set me up for a monkey mugging, but I'll get to that a little bit later.

The drive from Kuala Lumpur to Batu Caves is relatively easy if you don't over think it and there is a train station right next to the cave complex. I over thought the entire thing, so was looking for the temple on the GPS and in the maps, via Google Maps, and other tourist maps I had available, but I was concerned that there is also a suburb called Batu Caves. I could not tell if I were just being guided to the suburb or the temple complex. In the end, I placed my trust in Tourism Malaysia as I had seen signs to Batu Caves on my way into Kuala Lumpur from Kuantan. It took me only a short time to find these signs again.

When facing the complex, to the extreme left is the Ramayana Cave which holds a range of Hindu statues and pleasant lighting, but when I arrived, the large warning signs out the front and the restricted access put me off going in as it looked like it was being renovated. No one else went anywhere near it and even when I spoke to the guys at the Hanuman Temple, they could not tell me if the cave was open or closed for work. I had not yet seen the arrogance and ignorance of many of the Western (and Chinese) tourists on site, so I refrained from investigating for fear of insulting someone or causing trouble.

50 foot tall figure of Hanuman

Hanuman, the monkey trickster and Hindu deity, was the first temple I stopped at and probably appropriately warned me of what I was in for later. You know who your real friends are - those who try to catch you out when you are a tourist in a foreign country so they can get the good stories. I watched a guy try to get a monkey to take the photo he wanted by bribing it with a banana, but it didn't go well. He thought the monkey he was facing was the only monkey he had to deal with, but within minutes, he was swamped by a pack of about a dozen who clambered all over him to get the single banana. At first, I thought about helping him, but he was with a group of friends who were being no help at all and I left them to figure it out themselves.

One of the things I have learnt while travelling is not to get involved if you can help it.

Approach to the Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave

I had all good intentions to see the other caves and investigate what was in them, but I wasn't really interested in watching dances or listen to chanting. Intellectually, I find these things interesting, but I really wanted to get up into the main cave to take a look. The Entrance Shrine was gorgeous to look at, but when I was there I didn't get too close as they were hosing the place down and I didn't want to get wet (although with the temperature, I understood why these guys were hosing things down and walking around in robes just covering bottom halves).

Entrance Shrine at Batu Caves

To the right of this image is a fortified store with banana and coconuts available for purchase, but they don't look the normal quality of fruits here in Malaysia and the guard out the front is not there to watch for people. The monkey's make sly passes every now and then and the guard is keeping his eye on them. There are no warnings anywhere for the tourists, but I was already watching those monkeys with wariness. They were also keeping a watchful eye on me.

One of the monkey muggers sounding me out

I purchased a bunch of bananas on a pink cord and asked the guy at the stall what the safest way to carry them was. He shrugged and told me to tie them to my belt, but I am pretty good at noticing those furtive glances between guards and the locals smiles. When the monkeys weren't looking, I stuffed two banana deep into my backpack and put the rest of the bunch in an external pouch in my backpack - out of view, I thought, but perhaps not realising their sniffing skills.

I moved toward the entrance to the Temple Cave and the impressive red and white painted stairway only to realise I was being followed. Perhaps tracked and herded would be more appropriate terms. I had a pack of monkeys, convinced I had bananas, trying to get behind me, but my martial arts multiple attacker sparring training came in handy and I was able to divest myself of the bunch of bananas quickly while sparing myself the monkey mugging I got to see happen around the place to less well trained tourists.

I wasn't stupid enough to try to give them courteously to the monkeys either - I threw them off into the distance for the monkeys to chase. I dropped one at my feet and backed off and when the bunch was complete (except the two I had stashed) I made a big show of being very sorry I had no more and put the last bits in a bin nearby. Like pretending to pick up a stone and throw it at a pack of dogs (of which there was a pack in the car park I had to tend to later), the monkeys were fooled and assumed they had got all I had.

At this point, I am noticing that an English couple are under attack a hundred meters away by about twenty of the monkeys, who had climbed onto the girl and were looting the bananas from her. She was bleeding as they dug their claws into her to hold on. Her clothes were not tough enough to stop them and when the guy moved to rescue her, several of them bared sharp teeth and then jumped on him as well. I decided I had come off reasonably well and cursed my friend for not warning me. On the other hand, I would probably have done the same to him, so I figured this made us even.




Entrance to the Temple Cave



140 foot statue of Lord Murugan (the worlds tallest)

The statue of Lord Murugan is impressive and can be seen from most places across the complex. You don't really get a good idea of how big it is until you are up in the temple complex itself and can look out and see the view that Murugan has over the surrounding land. I have found things always look much taller when you look down from the top rather up from the bottom.

Batu Caves stairway to heaven (all 200 plus steps)

The steps are quite narrow, but the red and white paint does help you keep a close watch on where your feet are. Many people I saw started off strongly, powering up them only to falter toward the middle section. There are three "lanes" but the middle lane had been closed for cleaning while I was there. The best thing for me was that I can walk up steps without watching my feet, so I noticed the monkey's sitting on the edges watching the tourists with some serious anticipation. I chose to remain in the centre of the stairway on the way up, avoiding what I was to witness along the way.

Monkey waiting to grab something from someone on the way past

This monkey waited looking cute and allowing photos until a girl got too close and then he stole her hair clip and ran off with it. Others, also posing for photographs, were spotters for the tourists who had made it this far with food. What the tourists failed to see were the other dozen monkeys on the outside of the wall waiting in silence for the sign to attack. While I walked up these steps I got to see a dozen monkey muggings and they didn't just steal food. I watched one take a guys watch while he tried to take a photo of a monkey. Another snatched a mobile phone and another acted as a diversion while a tourist's pockets were searched. I had to wonder if some of them had been trained and were returning their winnings to someone in the complex.

Not at the same height, but you get the idea of how big Lord Murugan is

Pausing to turn back is not just useful to catch your breath as the view can also be breath-taking. I was not quite at the same height at the top of the Murugan statue, but it still gives a good idea of just how tall it is with the city in the background and the size of the people approaching the Temple Cave lanes as they lead to the steps.