MerDragon China Rally 2010

[NaPTuNe]

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Some mainland chinese are very cultured. Not all are loud and rude. This man above is practising his caligraphy on the floor using water.

 

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The kids showcasted their talents on the floor using water too.

[NaPTuNe]

18th Aug. 8am.

Nanjing ---> Wu Xi, 230km.

 

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My hopelessly dirty bike. Because i choose to spend more time sleeping, eating, playing rather than washing it.

 

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This is a rider in Nanjing who rides a CBR1000. I forgot his name. He heard of us and came to send us off. Some people are so nice, aren't they?

 

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H.M our photographer decided to be pillion for that day. He wanted to take better photographs of us on the move. He has deep passion for photography.

 

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Ah Poh & Me.

[NaPTuNe]

9.30am, we stopped by the town's petrol station and i spotted a chinese girl with the face of an angel...

 

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She was promoting for mineral water at the petrol station. She needs to sell those boxes of water behind her. She's 22. I am 25 yet we are so different, living in a whole different way. She was impressed by me & my bike. In the end, I helped her sales by buying a box of water.

[NaPTuNe]

My Duke gave up on me...

 

Here comes the moment when my bike finally gave up on me. So, the rumors are true eh? I am mad to take a ducati on this trip.

 

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After the petrol top up, we travelled slowly out into the highways. My bike stalled while on the move due to overheating. It was running on a temperature of 106 degree. I force start it a total of 3 times and it moved. When it switched itself off the 4th time, I couldn't start it anymore... There I was still in motion on the road and the bike finally broke down. It had enough of my nonsense.

 

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It was a freaking hot day of 42 degree. A couple of the guys stopped and helped me with my bike. The main convoy moved on.

 

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I was disappointed... Yeah, i was. I thought I could prove to you all that i could do it. But i couldn't. Still, I never regret I went for the trip.

 

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Local people started to gather and see.

[NaPTuNe]

Enjoy my misery...

 

I forgot to tell you Richard's bike totally broke down. He didn't ride the last two days. His Harley already in the tow truck, my Duke went to accompany his...

 

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[NaPTuNe]

Due to the extreme hot weather, we do anticipate people acting like monkeys... See below.

 

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And this guy below acting like some chao ah gua (transexual) soliciting for business. I dunno what the heck he thinks he's doing...

 

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I was talking to one of the local people and i noticed he had a rattan bag and the bag moved. He showed me a rabbit inside the bag. After i finished taking picture of it, I asked if he's going to keep it as a pet. He replied me "No! Its for dinner! Rabbit stew!" The poor rabbit knew he was going to be dinner because when i took photo of it, it was shaking uncontrollably. He knew it was coming... Poor feller...

 

These are his last few moments...

 

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Now when i think back, why didn't I offer to buy it over from the man and set the rabbit free. My mind tells me that even if i did that, the man will just go and buy another rabbit to eat. I am only stopping the action but not the cause of the action. But if i did save this particular rabbit, at least this rabbit didn't have to die that day.

[NaPTuNe]

After all that "Ducati action", here's the action that went on at our Wu Xi hotel. As we are approaching near to Shanghai, the locals are more wealthy and we see more local big bikes. They rode to our hotel and we had dinner sponsored by WISECO.

 

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[NaPTuNe]

Check out this bike's clutch & brake handle, it's the other way round!

 

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We had dinner sponsored by Wiseco.

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[NaPTuNe]

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The Wu Xi bikers didn't get to see my bike. It was in the tow truck. Everyone thought i was just another pillion, nobody came and talk to me. But it was good somehow.. I get some peace. Still, our group of guys didn't forget to make fun of me inside our photos.

 

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What a super colorful helmet by Suomy!

 

Attempt to fix the Duke but failed...

Later part of the night, Ah Poh & Eng Chye was very eager to fix my bike. They tried charging my bike's battery and my bike was able to start. However, the engine just got weaker & weaker and it just dies off. They suspected it might be the alternator not charging the battery.

 

The very next day, the convoy will be riding down to the port in Shanghai to load the bikes for shipping back to Singapore. Its just one more day of riding left. I only wasn't able to ride the last bit of the journey. It's okay... So just let it be. I sat on the coach bus the next day.

[NaPTuNe]

19th Aug

Wu Xi ---> Lunch halfway to Shanghai ---> Shanghai Port.

8am-----> 2pm lunch ------> Arrived at the port 3pm.

Ride straight to the port for loading of our bikes. The journey that day was around 200km, alot of time was spend waiting & resting. The weather was extremely hot. Also as we approached Shanghai, there was strict custom checks thanks to the Shanghai Expo. We waited and rested and also had lunch, the journey time streched to about 7hours in total.

 

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There I am, not riding anymore. Sitting on the coach bus that day. This was taken at 8.50am. After that i fell asleep.

 

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I woke up and saw the riders "suffering" under the hot sun... I had air-con and food in the bus.

 

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3.15pm, all of us arrived at the Shanghai port.

 

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[NaPTuNe]

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It was a damn clear sunny hot as hell day...

 

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Our pallets are placed nicely waiting for our bikes.

 

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Check out this Shanghai babe walking around taking photos of our bikes. I couldn't get a proper face shot of her. She knew i was taking picture of her so she used the camera to block her face.

 

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[NaPTuNe]

Here comes the grand finale... The 2 bikes that broke down. A Harley & a Ducati.

 

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Richard and Me.

 

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Bike broke down still expect me to smile and post for the camera...

 

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Its finally the end of the roadtrip. Everyone is safe. That's good news so we opened champagne and celebrated...

 

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Peter had both champagne and beer. No wonder he seems abit dazed later part of the day.

 

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Champagne and my sexy ass... (the bike i mean...)

Edited September 6, 2010 by NaP^TuNe

[NaPTuNe]

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I especially loved this picture. Ah Poh looked so happy and natural. A picture that managed to capture the happiness of that moment. Photo taken by H.M, our trip photographer.

 

Check out these larger-than-life chains we saw at the port.

 

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Soooooo enormous..

 

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[NaPTuNe]

19th aug was the end of the riding. But it wasn't the end of the trip. We stayed in Shanghai for 2 nights.

 

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Each of the riders received a certificate for the completion of the roadtrip. It says we have completed a total distance of 1998km during the MerDragon roadtrip.

 

Later that night during dinner, a couple wore a matching pair of t-shirts with this printed on the back:

 

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How sweet...

 

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Saw this dog after dinner. The owner took it for a walk. So furry & cute. This breed is called Chao Chao. Originated from China.

[NaPTuNe]

My Bike came back today... 06/09/2010

 

This morning 10am, I collected my bike from Pasir Panjang Distripark and Ah Hui the recovery vehicle guy took it straight to Ducati Service shop. The bike is at the service center now.

 

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My poor baby....

[NaPTuNe]

20th Aug

A free day for everyone in Shanghai.

 

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The main group went for sight-seeing. I ventured off alone again. I went to The Shanghai Expo.

 

Guys,

I had enough of talking and explaining my photos. I realised I have been uploading for more than 2 weeks on this thread. My hard work and effort. I wanna die already~~

 

So, what I'm going to do now, is just blast all my photos taken during my day at the Shanghai Expo without any explanations. Picture tells a thousand words anyway...

 

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[NaPTuNe]

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[NaPTuNe]

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[NaPTuNe]

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[NaPTuNe]

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[NaPTuNe]

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[NaPTuNe]

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[NaPTuNe]

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[NaPTuNe]

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