Kai Yan and His Cycling Adventure

This is a story about 5 young adventurers decided to cycle around, wanting to find their own sanctuary in Singapore.

Prologue

The story took place on 30 January 2009. It first started at Pasir Ris, where the main protagonist, Yeo Kai Yan was waiting for his 2 friends before meeting the rest of his gang at East Coast Park. It was 3.30pm at that time when he reached the Bus Interchange, and he was waiting for Yi Shyang and Alvin. Yi Shyang came a few minutes later and both of them waited for another 30 minutes for Alvin. However, the weather suddenly turned dark as they were waiting, and drizzle can be seen shortly. Kai Yan told Yi Shyang that his mother's premonition came true again. Just last week, when the night cycling was confirmed but was cancelled in a last minute notice since most of his friends were not able to make it, and that situation was also predicted by his mother. He really wished that he could cycle this time round.

The main objective for this guys to meet out was actually to celebrate Kai Yan's birthday, which so happened that it falls on the first day of Chinese New Year. He wanted to have a night cycling with his friends, and his birthday wish came true. The rain stopped at around 5pm, and the 3 of them met up with Ming Jie at Parkway before making their way to East Coast Park.

Chapter 1 Waiting for the Rest of His Gang

Kai Yan, Alvin, Yi Shyang and Ming Jie went to have a seat at McDonalds while waiting for the rest of the gang. Kai Yan was already hungry, so he ordered the Beef Prosperity Burger Meal, while Alvin bought a set of Poker and Ming Jie went to check the rate of Bicycle Rental. The 4 guys played Bridge for an hour before Darrell made his appearance. Cheong Guan also made his special appearance! Actually, he was organising a chalet of his girlfriend's birthday and the place was at East Coast. It looks like he is continuing putting on weight! It has been such a long time since all of them seen Cheong Guan, and apparently, rounder and chubbier. Meng Yong also came shortly after Cheong Guan's appearance.

It was around 8pm. The 5 guys who were embarking the cycling journey were Kai Yan, Alvin, Ming Jie, Meng Yong and Yi Shyang. They first rent the bicycles and cycled to the Hawker Centre for their dinner, while the other 2 drove to the destination.

Chapter 2 A Dinner of Seafood

After they found their seats, Yi Shyang went to buy the Famous Fried Carrot Cakes for Kai Yan as birthday "cake". The others also split up to order different dishes, and the table was filled with so much food suddenly, mainly Seafood. There were Bloody Cockles, Sambal Sotong, BBQ Stingray as Main Courses, Chicken Satays and BBQ Chicken Wings as Side Courses. Everyone was enjoying their food except for Yi Shyang who do not eat calms and squids, so he ordered a bowl of Lor Mee for himself, and his stomach was the fullest after that meal. Everyone was already surprised to hear that he do not eat calms and squids. When he also claimed that he dislikes Kang Kong, which is a Singaporean favourite vegetable, everyone was even astonished.

Kai Yan and Gang then decided to head to Cheong Guan's chalet while waiting for Shen Yean aka Potato to come and gave Kai Yan his wishes personally. However, he has already reached the hawker centre when they were about to leave. Since Potato has arrived, he joined the rest of them to Cheong Guan's chalet.

Chapter 3 Waiting for Nothing

The 5 cyclists cycled to a random chalet to wait for Cheong Guan, while Potato took Darrell's transport there, but Darrell went off after sending him. The 6 guys took pictures and had a small chat and changed to singlets (Except Potato) before embarking on the journey. Kai Yan was not wearing a comfortable pants, he was wearing khakis... So Yi Shyang lent him his sports pants, and it actually fitted him surprisingly! Kai Yan's friends have also presented his birthday gift to him, a Adidas bag. Before the gift was presented, Yi Shyang gave him some hint that he would be getting a bag, but he still did not get it until the bag is presented to him. Talking about bag, Potato's bag seemed to have a lot of things inside it, just like Doraemon's pocket!

After 30 minutes, Cheong Guan called and said that it was not convenient for Kai Yan and gang to 'crash' the chalet since they were playing Mahjong. As a result, they had to bid goodbye to Potato and began their journey to find their sanctuary. At that time, it was 11.30pm. (I Guess)

Chapter 4 Lost and Found

The first part of the journey for the 5 of them to... GET OUT of East Coast Park of course! Well , anyway, the formation was Ming Jie to lead the way, and Alvin stayed at the back. Kai Yan positioned behind Ming Jie. They used around 10 minutes to cycle out of the park and made their way to Kallang. The cyclists first took a short break when they reached the Outdoor Stadium and figuring for the next route. These guys decided to trust their instincts and took whichever route that seemed would take them to the city. In the end, they ended up cycling one round around the Kallang River, and reached the street to Gelyang! Obviously, these guys were lost, but they could still find their way to the city.

Ming Jie initially wanted to take the guys to the city via Nicol Highway, but he led them to Lavender, then to Bugis instead. Then from there, they went to the city. It was only 1am when they cycled around Suntec City Mall and Marina Square. They made a stop at Xin Wang Cafe at Marina Square for about an hour. The previous meal had not actually filled the guys' stomachs apparently, as Ming Jie and Alvin ordered porridge and Meng Yong had Hor Fun. Yi Shyang had Sesame Paste. This was another surprising case: Kai Yan did not ordered any dish! He only ordered a drink... Well, with a scoop of ice cream on it. Meng Yong have already complained being tired and sleepy by that time...

Chapter 5 The Marina Barrage

After the supper, it's time to continue to find their sanctuary. The so-called sanctuary was actually The Marina Barrage. According to Ming Jie, the building is situated near the Singapore Flyer since you can see it from the rooftop. According to Yi Shyang, he saw the picture taken from the top, and all you can see is grass patches. The guys decided to hunt around the flyer, hoping to spot it from there. However, they could find none. Ming Jie and Alvin asked around and finally found a way. An EXTREMELY long way.

The guys have to enter the on-going construction area for the Integrated Resort, and follow the signs and directions to find that place. Along the way, as they were cycling in, they found the road was so deserted. And when they finally found the place, the location was even more secluded... Kai Yan and gang went up the rooftop to feel the breeze and enjoy the scenery around... A complete dark scenery... You could see nothing when you take picture with the background...

The Marina Barrage is a building, or rather a dam for the reservoir in Marina Bay. It is designed in such way that people are allowed to come in at anytime to chill out. The Singapore Flyer is indeed within the sight, but are separated by that reservoir... Although the location was secluded, many people still went to the place at the middle of the night to chill out.... Mostly made up of Hooligans... Making noises out of the peaceful and quiet night...

Chapter 6 Making Circles

At 3am plus, the guys cycled back down the construction area at full speed. Alvin and Meng Yong cycled at crazy speed!!! Yi Shyang was puzzled how could they cycled at such speed despite of having painful ass and legs... They made their way back to Raffles and to City Hall. This time, the "lead"er, Ming Jie suggested to take Nicol Highway back to Kallang, which is a lot faster. However, after cycled through the highway, they have reached the area where they have been making circles before. Then, after crossing an overhead bridge, they also reached another spot where they have been turning circles before! It was then they have realised how foolish they were... But now, they were familiar with the road, and made their way back to East Coast Park a lot faster.

Chapter 7 Sleepyheads

The race continued as the cyclists reached the park! This time, Ming Jie joined in the fun and the 3 of them cycled at insane speed! Kai Yan said he was also quite tired and joined Yi Shyang in leisure cycling, but his speed became too fast for him and eventually catched up with Ming Jie. Then, both of them waited for Yi Shyang up ahead while Alvin and Meng Yong continued racing. Because of the race, Kai Yan and gang reached McDonalds faster than expected. It was 5am. All of them had early breakfast.

Everyone was mentally exhausted, except Yi Shyang, who was actually physically exhausted. (Why I'm always the exceptioal case?!) However, the bicycle rental shop would not be open till 9am. The rest of the guys decided to sleep, leaving him sitting there alone unentertained or no one to entertain... He has to plug on his iPod to his ears and listen to music... Kai Yan was so amazing when sleeping, Meng Yong and him remained unchanged in sleeping position, while Alvin and Ming Jie kept on adjusting to find the comfortable position.

Epilogue

The sleepyheads slept until 7.30am when Alvin said that he needed to make his leave as he has something to attend in the morning. Kai Yan left with him since both of them stayed in the same area. Alvin and Kai Yan took a cab back home, and of course they remain concussed throughout the journey. He left the 3 guys to return the bikes... Ming Jie and Meng Yong continued to sleep until the loud music in the McDonalds drove them to Coffee Bean. The 2 sleepyheads continued their work in the cafe. Yi Shyang finally got tired because of boredom and slept for 20 minutes. At 9.05am, the shop finally opened, and the boys returned the bikes and went home immediately. Meng Yong and Ming Jie shared cab back home while Yi Shyang walked back to Parkway, then to Katong to take Bus Service no.12 straight home.