Sykt Perniagaan Chin Seang Bicycle Shop

This bicycle shop is located at Jalan Perai, Taman Indrawasih. It's been operating for quite sometime but I only notice it recently during my rides on BORR. I decide to check it out to see what bike range this shop carries.This shop sells mostly kids and low to medium range mountain & racing bikes and is a Polygon brand bike retailer. He also sell some Venzo brand bike accessories. The layout of the shop is quite pack as he needs to store a lot of stuff in a small place. 

The shop owner Mr Tan is also quite friendly and I found out the prices are reasonable and goes along with the quality. For higher end parts he will need to order as he doesn't keep stock as he doesn't have much customers who seek high end bicycle parts. I've bought a FSA seatpost from him which need to order due to it's oversize diameter which not many people seek. 

The contact are as below:

Mr Tan

Sykt Perniagaan Chin Seang

2913, Jalan Perai, Tmn Indrawasih,

13600 Perai

Tel: 04-3992061

H/p:019-4486472

Portuguese Delight at Bkt Gambir Opening Promotion Buy 1 free 1

New Portuguese Restaurant opening at Bukit Gambir. Penang Island on 30 June 2011.

Menu of Portuguese Delight (click for larger picture)

Raleigh Enduro Pro Hardtail MTB

Raleigh Enduro is one of the the most common hardtail mountain bike to be seen. The reason for that is it is cheap. It cost approx RM1,000 - RM1,200. The bike comes with mixture of Shimano components, mechanical disk brakes, Suntour XCM suspension fork etc. With the cost of slightly over RM1,000 this is a decent entry level mountain bike. 

However, based on my friend's feedback as he owned one, there are some items which he isn't happy with the bike. Firstly, he doesn't like the XCT crankset as it doesn't shift smoothly. Once he upgrade it to a Deore Hollowtech II, there has been no more complaints.

Next, he changed the pair of rims to a lighter ones. After the modification, he is happy with the bike. The bike now weighs lighter and also the gear change is much smoother and rarely give problems.
Another thing is a tall person might need to change the seat post to a longer one as the original seat post might be too short.

Overall this bike is a good buy for those who are new to mountain biking, just spend a bit more to change some parts that you are not happy with.

Natural Sports Drinks/Food that could be found at home.

I came across and article on Bikeradar by Dr Kevin Currell on sports fuel which is very interesting. The article explains that most sport food are made of everyday ingredients that we can find in our cupboards and fridges. These are the following foods that we can use to together with shop bought sports food.

Milk
Every household will have some in the fridge. Research shows that milk helps recovery and re-hydrate due to its high protein content. Drink a pint immediately from the fridge after the ride once you arrived home.

Cola
Most of us will stay away from cola after workout as it is gassy. However, this is not the case as it contains caffeine that could help boost your performance further. Before that we need to let the cola go flat before putting it into cycling water bottle or add some water to dilute it a bit.

Fresh Fruit Juice
This is a perfect alternative to a sports drink. Furthermore is also consist of some vitamins which is good for our body. Fill the bottle with half fruit juice and the other half with water. For a hot whether like in Malaysia a pinch of salt can also be added.

Dried Fruits 
Dried Fruits are high in natural sugar. Consuming them will help to delay tiredness and also provide our body with other nutrients and vitamins. It is also easy to store and carry. They can be raisins, apricots, sultanas, dates, etc.

In conclusion, this article provide some insights on what are the main ingredients of sports drinks and some alternative which we use and they are readily find in our homes.

Click here for the full article.

Cherok Tokun Uphill ride on 6/26/2011 with E-Forest team

This ride I joined my friend Al Ric with his E-Forest We started our ride on 8.00am up BM Hill. The ride is approx 4km uphill with a gradient of 30 - 45 degrees. The gear to use for this climb is the lowest gear. The road up to the hill for 1 - 3km is very bad with a lot of holes. Therefore it is not an easy climb up.

Assemble before the ride at the foot of the hill. 

Stopping for after approx 1km uphill rest before continuing our climb. Need to ride slowly to conserve energy as this is my first time to this place and I've heard from other riders, this place is tough.

Manage to finish 3km on top of the hill. Still have 1km until the summit. Stop for rest and wait for others to catch up. There are also other group of people. Many of them came for hiking and morning walk as the air is fresh and cooling in the morning. There are also other mountain biker groups who stop by.

Finally reached the peak of BM hill. The final 1km the road is much nicer to ride. Not many holes as compare to the first 3km. It is much easier to maneuver up. 

During the descend, it is much trickier as we need to play with out brakes well to slow down. It is also advisable to lower the seat for ease of control. I descend in stages as I worry my disk brakes will overheat and I won't be able to stop. I only continue once I feel my rotors are cooled. It's also dangerous as we need to look out and avoid hitting people who are hiking down the hill.

Overall, this is a good place to ride with fresh air and cooling atmosphere. Add to the challenge are the pot holed roads. After the ride, there is also a tea spa on the foot of the hill where you can relax.

GT Avalanche 3.0

This is an entry level bike of GT Avalanche's product range. It still has the GT signature triple triangle design that is unchanged for as long as I can remember. It comes with a mixture of mid to low range Shimano components such as Alivio and Acera and Suntour XCM suspension fork. There is a choice to choose the V brake model or the Disk brake model. At a price of less than RM900 for the V-brake model, we can't complain on the components that comes along with the bike.

A friend of mine bought one when he started to get involve in cycling. Once the interest is there he began to upgrade to full Deore components and changed the suspension to RST First since the frame is able to cater to the upgrades. He has been riding this bike until now with no issues.

Jawa Mee, Leng Chi Kang and Lor Bak at Sungai Petani Food Street opposite KWSP building

We are at Sungai Petani Food Street. Some of the stalls start selling around 2.30pm. I like the Jawa Mee there. The jawa mee sauce is thick with blend of starch and potatoes and with a bit of tomato sweetness. This stall has been selling for a long time and has been featured in Ho Chiak program.

We also ordered Leng Chi Kang. It's very refreshing especially when it is a hot day. At RM2 it comes in a big bowl which my wife and I shared.

Next we also ordered the Loh Bak. There are a lot of Lor Bak choices to choose from at this stall. There are prawn fritters, century egg, yam coated salted egg, fried ray fish, crab sticks, fried tau hu, fish balls and many more. This is the only stall selling Lor Bak so it is easy to spot. The chili sauce is also nice and it goes very well with it. I think the chili sauce is homemade. 

The stall owner still arranging the food at his stall. There are still some dishes not yet been displayed. 

Variety of food choices being displayed.

Our dish. Prawn fritters and salted duck egg coated with yam. There are still a number of stalls which we haven't tried so there is plan to return.

Deore Hollowtech II Crank

This is one of the cheapest 9 speed Hollowtech II crank design by Shimano. Cost approx RM220 with installation.
This design it also reduces the weight of the bike as you don't need to have a BB. My friends who bought this crank never complain about its performance. With the combination of Deore front derailleur, the chain shifting is smooth. This crank only weighs 1063 grams with its bottom bracket.
The only weakness which was told to me is the bottom bracket wears out pretty fast compare to other higher models such as SLX and XT. Another thing is the Deore words will fade when your shoe is rubbing on it continuously when you cycle. Other than that there is no weakness that we could find.

website link:
http://bike.shimano.com.sg/publish/content/global_cycle/en/sg/index/products/mountain/deore.html

Tektro Draco Hydraulic Disk Brakes

 

This is one of Tektro's entry level hydraulic disk brake. It comes together with my bike and I've been using it for about 2 months. So far the performance meets my expectation. The stopping power is good. When I was going down a slope at 60 km/h, I had no problem slowing during the descend. 

The only problem is it tends to squeak loudly if the brake pads/rotors are not cleaned from time to time. To clean the pads, I just use a white rough paper and rub in between the calipers. You will see the white paper being turned to black. Keep on repeating this step until it is cleaned. For the rotor, I use a rag cloth and some alcohol. Just pour a bit of alcohol onto the rag and wipe the rotor until it is clean.

Since it is an entry level disk brake, it might not be suited for extreme off-road downhill rides but for normal tarmac and cross country rides there should be no worries. 

Website:

http://www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=147&sortname=Disc&sort=1&fid=1

Which one is nicer?

Both are hot, nice and have sleek curves. Which one will you choose to take home?

Taj Saba Arabic Restaurant - Cheapest Arabian Restaurant in Penang

 I was introduced to this restaurant back in 2010 by my colleague. At that time I haven't started this blog. At that time the food was really good. But due to change of chef and some problems, the quality went down. Recently in June 2011 it has re-organize and the food quality has improved to almost as good as last time.

 

Chicken Kabsah Dish- This is chicken boiled in soup mixed with middle eastern herbs and spices. The taste of the soup is aromatic and nice. However, it might be strong for some people.

 

 Vimto Drink - Taste a bit like ribena blackcurrant drink. This one is a bit sweet and taste nicer. It's cool and refreshing during a hot day.

Their signature dish is called Mandi Rice with chicken and mutton. The rice is cooked in a big oven pot with a mixture of spices and herbs while the chicken/lamb is being cooked on top. The essence of the chicken/lamb is allowed to drip into the rice giving it a rich taste and together with the herbs and spices gives out an aromatic smell. A set comes with 1 quarter chicken, mandi rice, fresh salad, soup, chili paste and arab tea or vimto and it cost only RM10 nett for the whole set. The cheapest in Penang. Next visit will have the Mutton Mandi set.

Mandi Rice Set

I was fortunate to be allowed into the kitchen to have a look at the rice. Below is the Mandi Rice that has been prepared. It's prepared in a big iron cauldron and cooked in a tandoor oven.

Fresh Mango juice for RM3 per glass. The juice is thick and sweet without sugar added. Only available during mango season.

The restaurant is located at :

2-1-18 Halaman Bukit Gambir, 

Ivory Plaza, 11700 Penang, Malaysia.

Tel:014 - 9447879

Char Koay Teow - Sunrise Coffee Shop

This Char Koay Teow stall is located at Raja Uda, Butterworth. It is beside Kwang Hwa primary school. This stall only starts selling at about 8.45pm and his business is very very good. Once he start, he will never stops frying.

I went to have mine at 11.00pm at night. At that time you don't have to wait long. I waited for about 10 minutes and it was ready.You have an option use duck egg instead of chicken egg in your koay teow. I like my koay teow without beans sprouts and cockles. But a normal one will have them. It cost RM2.90 for a small plate.

Off Road bike ride & Dim Sum at Chai Leng Park - 6/12/2011

We started our ride from Bagan Ajam BORR  at about 7.30am. The ride took us approx 30 - 45 minutes to reach Chai Leng Park from Bagan Ajam toll plaza. Then we rode to the market to have our breakfast.

We didn't eat a lot as it is not healthy to exercise with a full stomach.

Steam Glutinous Rice(Rou Mai Kai)

Prawn Ha Kao

Roast Pork meat which Mr Chow tapao from the market opposite.

Addition we had Pao, siew mai, chai kui and Pu Err tea. Then we start our ride, we use the housing estate road to enter the paddy fields nearby to avoid the main road traffic. The ride took us longer than what we planned but it was a good ride. Lucky it a bit cloudy that day.

 

Tajuddin Hussein Nasi Kandar

This is one of the well known Nasi Kandar shop in Penang. It is located at Little India. I was introduced to this restaurant by an ex colleague who loves mamak food. I first went there during lunch time, it was really crowded with people. This visit I went there in the evening where it is not so crowded but there is still a lot of people.

The unique thing in this nasi kandar restaurant is they don't mix the curry gravy with the rice unlike other nasi kandar stalls. We go with our normal orders which as below:-

Chicken Curry

Ros Chicken which is spicier than the curry chicken

White rice

Ros Mutton curry.

They also have other variety of mutton & fish curry and fried chicken. Another unique curry is goose(angsa) which I plan to try on the next visit. They have goose meat and goose internal organs curry.

The best thing about this restaurant is it is not open 24 hours unlike other nasi kandar outlets.
This restaurant is located at 49 Queens Street, 10200 Penang.

Seducing Drink from Mecca

If you translate the Malay slogan directly to English, it would mean "The Malt drink that Seduces". This is far off from what it's English slogan stated above it. I wonder it how powerful is it's seducing power.

Exitway XC 10 - SLX Groupset a good buy.

The above bike Exitway XC 10 cost approx RM2,100 - 2,400. The only thing catchy about this bike is the Shimano SLX 10 Dynasys speed group-set. It comes with mechanical disk brakes and a Suntour XCM suspension fork which is not too bad. In my opinion it is a good buy as the SLX Dynasys group-set cost approx RM1,200 on its own. If you don't like the frame design, it can be changed to a Giant ATX 7 frame, or any other frame brands of your choosing.