[Blogs] Today while riding...

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

the 3 vehicles were, in order of "pole position":

 

LOL. Too much Formula One spirit in local drivers.

[ninnypants]

today while riding... first lesson at comfortdelgro.. very fun!

[Raptor]

Got mirrors but fold in.

 

Want to change lane.. got to turn around and look and get a shock because he did not see the car overtaking him at a very fast speed.

 

Swerve back into his own lane and had to e-brake and nearly collided into the car in front of him coz it was slowing down for the turn off.

 

Riding bike is already dangerous... why are there idiots riding on the roads who try and increase the odds against themselves???

 

If he had used the mirrors... he would not have to put himself into such a dangerous situation.

 

For a moment I thought I was going to be witness to an accident. Its the Chinese Devil month... alot of hungry ghosts looking for company to join them when the gates of Hell are closed again.

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

Does using hazard lights increase safety?

 

Back in my phantom knights convoy days we used DIY hazards for the leading bikes to signal to the wolfpack behind that there's "something" ahead - keep an eye out and slow down.

 

So it became a habit for me to practise that in public roads as well. Need to emergency lanesplit, flip hazards on. Also a good "I need space!" indicator if not wanting to lanesplit, follow behind other cars in slow traffic.

 

Every evening on the way back on the CTE->SLE where the highway merges with the TPE, there's a huge traffic jam of cars filtering in from the left cutting to the right lanes simultaneously. Most motorists actually travel at 100kph or more towards this dangerous location at the end of the CTE (the big high speed turn).

 

So... approaching that area I will continually flash the brake lights and turn on the hazards making sure the vehicles joining the SLE know "someone is coming" , and the people behind me don't follow too closely in case I need to take action to evade a driver/rider intruding in my lane.

 

I observe that drivers;

 

when hazards are on when lanesplitting - try to move a bit to the side to let the bike(s) pass, or brake/accelerate gently to let me form up in front or behind the other cars. It helps to at least pretend to look into the mirrors occasionally, so the drivers note "bike is trying to filter left/right shortly" and "rider is wary of surroundings"

 

when indicating possible dangerous traffic situations - the guy behind notices something's up and reduces speed immediately, or moves to lane 1 to overtake me in advance/avoid the filtering vehicles in front.

 

One other note is that taxi drivers are quite receptive of your requests if you've given way to them before. I usually let them have the right of way by default, and tag along behind.

[mild_slevin]

ouch. i got that b4 when i accidentally ZHAM my big toe into the stairs... so i can imagine how blardee painful that must have been. good news is it'll grow back. i actually cut it all out, since ald detached from flesh..

 

the tire compound issue is.. eh..

 

basically soft compound = more friction but easier to botak (More grip vs $). hard compound = less friction, especially when wet, but more hardy, literally (less grip vs economical). check with fellow riders abt the compound of ur tire, or ask the mech! unfortunately i dunno so cant help much.

 

 

Shall check out manufacturer site for more details. A uncle told me to take note of the arrow on the tire side, thread dept should not be less than 1.6mm. *Correct me if I'm wrong

Class 2 bike rear tire center always seem bald... wonder if its normal.

 

Got mirrors but fold in.

 

Want to change lane.. got to turn around and look and get a shock because he did not see the car overtaking him at a very fast speed.

 

Swerve back into his own lane and had to e-brake and nearly collided into the car in front of him coz it was slowing down for the turn off.

 

Riding bike is already dangerous... why are there idiots riding on the roads who try and increase the odds against themselves???

 

If he had used the mirrors... he would not have to put himself into such a dangerous situation.

 

For a moment I thought I was going to be witness to an accident. Its the Chinese Devil month... alot of hungry ghosts looking for company to join them when the gates of Hell are closed again.

 

true. Taking unnecessary risk, don't throw ur life away recklessly.

 

Does using hazard lights increase safety?

 

Back in my phantom knights convoy days we used DIY hazards for the leading bikes to signal to the wolfpack behind that there's "something" ahead - keep an eye out and slow down.

 

So it became a habit for me to practise that in public roads as well. Need to emergency lanesplit, flip hazards on. Also a good "I need space!" indicator if not wanting to lanesplit, follow behind other cars in slow traffic.

 

Every evening on the way back on the CTE->SLE where the highway merges with the TPE, there's a huge traffic jam of cars filtering in from the left cutting to the right lanes simultaneously. Most motorists actually travel at 100kph or more towards this dangerous location at the end of the CTE (the big high speed turn).

 

So... approaching that area I will continually flash the brake lights and turn on the hazards making sure the vehicles joining the SLE know "someone is coming" , and the people behind me don't follow too closely in case I need to take action to evade a driver/rider intruding in my lane.

 

I observe that drivers;

 

when hazards are on when lanesplitting - try to move a bit to the side to let the bike(s) pass, or brake/accelerate gently to let me form up in front or behind the other cars. It helps to at least pretend to look into the mirrors occasionally, so the drivers note "bike is trying to filter left/right shortly" and "rider is wary of surroundings"

 

when indicating possible dangerous traffic situations - the guy behind notices something's up and reduces speed immediately, or moves to lane 1 to overtake me in advance/avoid the filtering vehicles in front.

 

One other note is that taxi drivers are quite receptive of your requests if you've given way to them before. I usually let them have the right of way by default, and tag along behind.

 

do u mean double signal light?

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

do u mean double signal light?

 

Correct, also termed "4 way flashers" in the States.

 

It's quite easy to DIY. Only need soldering tool, solder, some wire, and a toggle switch. Minor surgery. Cable ties and electrical tape for waterproofing & cosmetics.

[Silent Hunter]

Today on the way home on TPE from Ikea, SUDDENLY all the cars slowed down alot!

Then from far, can see smoke! Alot of smoke!!!

There was a lorry on fire on the road shoulder!

And a very very thick and very very black column of smoke was spiralling up!

Actually it's the goods it's carrying on fire! So alot of furniture and electronics goods gone up in flames just like that! And the fire was big! Like Chinese funeral burn a big big paper house kind of big!

Very drama! Another lorry stopped infront of it and try to stop the fire, the driver went back to get something maybe going to get a fire extinguish, but didn't stop to Kay Poh to watch. So don't know the ending.

 

 

Wah! Wondering what started the fire, cannot be chinese ghost month burn things right? Even if want to burn things, also don't like that burn leh.....

[sfowner]

not quite agree with what Raptor has said. My NDP 2010 wish would rather be:

 

May ALL SINGAPOREANS be ahead of the FTs so we can be their boss, not their competitors.

 

To add on, having such thots for a moderator is not very productive actually. when i was younger, ppl r able to converse in at least 4 to 5 languages with ease (father and mother's dialects, mandarin with other dialect grp, market malay with non-chinese). i dun see why nowadays the kids have to struggle with only 2.

 

Was buying lunch the other day. Two teenage local Chinese girls in front of me, ordered some noodles in English. Server, obviously PRC, asked them a question in Chinese. The girls looked at each other and shook their heads... didn't understand a word he said. Sigh...

[ninnypants]

sometimes its the accent bah...

[lucius]

Local chinese girls dont understand mandarin? you know something is getting out of hand when situation like this start becoming common. It's like speaking English to Brits and they couldn't understand a word you are saying. tsk. Hate to say this but, WHY-tf are they chinese? Nowadays people make it feel like its a social stigma to speak/understand good mandarin. It's your f**king language, learn it well, duh!

[Tyrian]

drives a car but too dumb to understand "carpark full"

 

if i cut your lane u r not happy, too bad coz u r driving a car and this "carpark full" sign only applies to u, donkey!!

 

still want to come out of ur car and confront me? lol, think twice before showing to me your intelligence is less than 100.

[fredeee]

not every PRC speaks perfect mandarin, they all have different slangs + accent, even if a local can speak good mandarin, he/she might not be able to understand them.

 

on 2 separate dining occasions in 2 consecutive days, my friend and i had to point out the exact picture for the food that we wanted to order, just because the PRC servers didn't understand us (in english) and we were not sure if the mandarin translation for the food item they mentioned was the right one. the menu did not come in mandarin versions. nor malay or tamil.

 

why do i have to struggle to communicate and to make myself understood in my own country? more and more, i feel like i'm a foreigner trying to live in another country where no one gets what i'm saying and i have to point to pictures and rely on sign language to get thru my basic daily chores like shopping or ordering food.

[Raptor]

why do i have to struggle to communicate and to make myself understood in my own country? more and more, i feel like i'm a foreigner trying to live in another country where no one gets what i'm saying and i have to point to pictures and rely on sign language to get thru my basic daily chores like shopping or ordering food.

 

Exactly my same sentiments.

 

Why can't they learn to speak proper English, so that all Singaporeans, may they be Chinese, Indian, Malay or Eurasian... understand???

 

Singaporean Chinese is different from China Chinese... and I am a Singaporean Chinese who cannot speak Mandarin but its not a problem for me coz I am living in Singapore not China.

 

All FTs should not be allowed to speak their native language but English only if they want to work here.

[JackOHJack]

today while riding... first lesson at comfortdelgro.. very fun!

 

jiayou! all the best.

 

Got mirrors but fold in.

 

Want to change lane.. got to turn around and look and get a shock because he did not see the car overtaking him at a very fast speed.

 

Swerve back into his own lane and had to e-brake and nearly collided into the car in front of him coz it was slowing down for the turn off.

 

Riding bike is already dangerous... why are there idiots riding on the roads who try and increase the odds against themselves???

 

If he had used the mirrors... he would not have to put himself into such a dangerous situation.

 

For a moment I thought I was going to be witness to an accident. Its the Chinese Devil month... alot of hungry ghosts looking for company to join them when the gates of Hell are closed again.

 

go and zip him and lecture him?

 

LOL. Too much Formula One spirit in local drivers.

 

yes!

 

Does using hazard lights increase safety?

 

yes. especially when it is raining very heavily and u still have to ride. [pls just ride in lane 3 relac 1 corner]

 

lorries cars jit tao give u space. serious.

 

Shall check out manufacturer site for more details. A uncle told me to take note of the arrow on the tire side, thread dept should not be less than 1.6mm. *Correct me if I'm wrong

Class 2 bike rear tire center always seem bald... wonder if its normal.

 

bro, cant advice on that. if enquiries on ur previous bike den can

 

Today on the way home on TPE from Ikea, SUDDENLY all the cars slowed down alot!

Then from far, can see smoke! Alot of smoke!!!

There was a lorry on fire on the road shoulder!

And a very very thick and very very black column of smoke was spiralling up!

Actually it's the goods it's carrying on fire! So alot of furniture and electronics goods gone up in flames just like that! And the fire was big! Like Chinese funeral burn a big big paper house kind of big!

Very drama! Another lorry stopped infront of it and try to stop the fire, the driver went back to get something maybe going to get a fire extinguish, but didn't stop to Kay Poh to watch. So don't know the ending.

 

 

Wah! Wondering what started the fire, cannot be chinese ghost month burn things right? Even if want to burn things, also don't like that burn leh.....

 

fwa, u must really enjoy riding bro, evitime see chio bu/ something exciting!

 

heng the cars nv do stupid stunts like left go right right go left ALL AT THE SAME TIME coz of the scene..

 

drives a car but too dumb to understand "carpark full"

 

if i cut your lane u r not happy, too bad coz u r driving a car and this "carpark full" sign only applies to u, donkey!!

 

still want to come out of ur car and confront me? lol, think twice before showing to me your intelligence is less than 100.

 

it actually happened? roflmao... think his intel still less than pentium III, haven upgrade..

 

Exactly my same sentiments.

 

Why can't they learn to speak proper English, so that all Singaporeans, may they be Chinese, Indian, Malay or Eurasian... understand???

 

Singaporean Chinese is different from China Chinese... and I am a Singaporean Chinese who cannot speak Mandarin but its not a problem for me coz I am living in Singapore not China.

 

All FTs should not be allowed to speak their native language but English only if they want to work here.

 

eh.. unfortunately, sg bow to cheena, cheena dun need sg..

 

our branded undergahmen want to throw them out/ reject their access also have to look at the cheena brand undergahmen happy or not 1st.

 

our branded undergahmen size XXS, their undergahmen jit tao XXXXXXXXXL size, no brand nvm, big can liaoz.

[ThePole]

not say i want to defend those chinese migrants, but those are workers; doubtful they passed secondary or even primary. furthermore, i understand in China, they only learn english at University level(?!!) for those with degree, their English are as good as some of us. in fact, some even criticise our command of English.

 

however, for local chinese who cant speak mandarin, there is really something questionable. gahmen made you learn English and mother tongue since P1, end up ur English better than ur mother tongue? i dun see that much in our Malay and Indian friends, so what is the big deal with the chinese anyway?

[xXxRatedxXx]

not say i want to defend those chinese migrants, but those are workers; doubtful they passed secondary or even primary. furthermore, i understand in China, they only learn english at University level(?!!) for those with degree, their English are as good as some of us. in fact, some even criticise our command of English.

 

however, for local chinese who cant speak mandarin, there is really something questionable. gahmen made you learn English and mother tongue since P1, end up ur English better than ur mother tongue? i dun see that much in our Malay and Indian friends, so what is the big deal with the chinese anyway?

 

Sometime bo bian.... grow up with both parents speak english... naturally the english is better than the chinese... Some chinese even go out the window altogether cos its not "that important"

 

Case in point... O level already your score is calculated by your english language + best 5 or 4 other subjects... so as a kid, your english HAS to be of some standard or you're f@#$ed...

 

Also the government (lol, we always whack th e govt)... last time emphasize that english is an important language back in the 80s... then they moved on to bilingualism... and now that china is powerful... they are scrambling to change the language of focus to chinese.

[fredeee]

english is singapore's national language, our first language. we are a multi-racial country, do u expect us to communicate to our malay + indian + eurasian counterparts in mandarin as well? like that might as well make mandarin our first language so as to better prepare ourselves for china taking over as the superpower of the world.

 

some of our domestic helpers + construction workers also got approx. secondary or primary education, they also cannot speak english, that's why we don't hire them as sales & services staff in restaurants or boutiques.

[stanco]

fyi....

 

our national language is malay (some say singlish).

 

english, along with mandarin, malay and tamil are official language.

[huairen]

english is singapore's national language, our first language. we are a multi-racial country, do u expect us to communicate to our malay + indian + eurasian counterparts in mandarin as well? like that might as well make mandarin our first language so as to better prepare ourselves for china taking over as the superpower of the world.

 

some of our domestic helpers + construction workers also got approx. secondary or primary education, they also cannot speak english, that's why we don't hire them as sales & services staff in restaurants or boutiques.

 

well.... i think singapore's national language is malay.

that's why in the army, all commands are in malay.

national anthem also in malay.

english is our 1st language, which is for economic and common language between our different races..

then 2nd lauguage is the mother tongue.

[fredeee]

hmm that's what i kinda thought too when i was writing the previous post.

is malay still our national language?

i thought since it's taken a backseat for so many decades...

[Silent Hunter]

Today while about to go riding!

 

Alamak! Bike cannot start!!!!

Probably rain, spark plug wet.

I wipe the outside of the spark plug abit and pressed the starter, got starting sound then engine died!

And I was about to set off to go Planet to change it.

 

So no choice it's either DIY fix or call tow truck. But I die die don't want to let the @#$%^&* Tow truck service Planet uses to have a chance to earn my money, after the last time he attitude with me!

So it's DIY time!

But when I want to take out the spark plug that time, the spark plug connector head came out! Dangling was a live wire!

The L-shape connector was still on the spark plug!

 

Die! Cannot go Planet liao!

 

So I cut the wire's insulation a bit to expose more wire, cleaned and dried the spark plug and assembled everything back. AIYO!!!! Still no spark!

 

DIE! Really cannot go Planet liao!

 

Then I remembered I got one spare spark plug so can use it to troubleshoot is it spark plug spoil/wet or is it connector spoilt.

So went home take the new spark plug put in. Yay!

But still no spark!

Die lah! So sway connector spoil mare?!?!?

 

So last ditch effort press the starter again and again, no sound at all!

So sway battery also spoilt mare? But got horn and headlight leh!

Very the "Du Lan" already, so push start, the bike want to start liao, but jerk jerk a bit and died, then I saw something.....

My fuel c0ck was off because I knew I won't be riding until the weekend!

So on fuel c0ck, push start and BINGO! Start liao! It was battery weak from all the lights last week! Turtle! Make me so worried.

 

So it's off to Singpost to collect me CDI for my DR BIG and off to Planet, at Singpost rain very big before I reached Planet, but that is another story for another day liao!

Edited August 23, 2010 by Silent Hunter

[sfowner]

No point blaming the PRC for not speaking good or any English, blame your government for letting them in.

[JackOHJack]

No point blaming the PRC for not speaking good or any English, blame your government for letting them in.

 

no point blaming the branded undergahmen. just change the undergahmen when u can else will get dirty and smelly, not to mention fungi growth...

[xXxRatedxXx]

So last ditch effort press the starter again and again, no sound at all!

So sway battery also spoilt mare? But got horn and headlight leh!

Very the "Du Lan" already, so push start, the bike want to start liao, but jerk jerk a bit and died, then I saw something.....

My fuel c0ck was off because I knew I won't be riding until the weekend!

So on fuel c0ck, push start and BINGO! Start liao! It was battery weak from all the lights last week! Turtle! Make me so worried.

 

 

http://mikedinthehead.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/facepalm3.jpg

[crazydj]

hmm that's what i kinda thought too when i was writing the previous post.

is malay still our national language?

i thought since it's taken a backseat for so many decades...

 

Yup it still is.

 

Have you every wondered what a predominantly Chinese country is doing in the Malay archipelago?

 

There was this one documentary created by foreigners and it made a very interesting point. Raffles created Singapore out of thin air! Basically, Raffles asked permission from the Brother of the Sultan, who was not rightfully in power, to allow Raffles to create Singapore as a trading post and in return, the British will recognize the Sultan's brother as the rightful Sultan!

 

Moreover, Singapore belonged to and was part of Malaysia until 1965. Hence, the national languge, the national anthem and military commands are in malay. I find that in order to fully understand Singapore's history, you got to understand Malaysia's history as well from the colonial times up to the seperation from Malaysia.