coming at you from every side

just a couple of hours ago my good neighbour, duane and i decided to make last minute plans to get ourselves in town/CBD at 12mn with nothing but our bikes. not having enough money to get a cab back (midnight surcharge) and having just enough dough to fill up our tummies in case we couldn't find anything decent to eat, we set off at around 10pm from the house, taking the path of braddell road to get us to CJC as soon as possible, where travelling to town would be a breeze after. this is our rough plan:

home---braddell---toa payoh---balestier---CJC---SJI---far east plaza---orchard road---somerset---dhoby ghaut---waterloo street---city hall---raffles place---boat quay---clarke quay---mohd. sultan---all the way back

we brought nothing but our wallets and mobiles, and soon enough we were sailing through toa payoh within the first half hour of leaving. upon reaching CJC from balestier we found no way to get ourselves across the school to the road behind, even though we tried the private apartment roads and the hostel 'hill' to try to get behind. didn't work. so we stuck to the shoulder of the expressway and tried as fast as possible to get to SJI from the highway, lest we get stopped by highway patrol and get sent home. made it across in 5 minutes.

we had several stops before reaching the CBD, where we pulled into the nightlife of the clubbing scene of singapore--the infamous clarke quay, where most of the people awake would hang out on such weekends. it was extremely crowded and i wouldn't say it was quite pleasing to walk in such a place with home clothes on and dragging a bike along, but still it was quite an eye-opener. the whole of clarke quay was filled with bass from the hits being spun, involving mostly the works of rap, hip-hop and rock. when i first saw the whole lot, i was, 'damn, this is da' shit, man.' i swear i'll pay a visit the moment i have a chance after the promos. so many clubs to walk into, and all the names i have been hearing everywhere i go--Ministry of Sound, One Nite Stand, Indochine, etc, etc. i can't wait till next year.

we hung around the esplanade for a short while before making our way back, retracing our steps. we were half-dead already and the bikes were giving us problems, having run out of air in the tyres. we managed to make our way back home at around 2.30am, where the roads were just empty and the air was really still. we had the tiny little bit of Green Day's "Homecoming" ringing in our heads.

this trip was quite a success, from what i could tell. it was probably due to the bike again, with the one i rode harnessing phenomenal acceleration and quick upshifts. i love it alot. but unfortunately it isn't mine. altogether we spent only a few dollars--less than ten to be exact, we covered a total of around 40km of open roads and we had a really good sleep. for the price of a busted right leg, though. and a few bruises. cycling expeditions are not really considered expeditions if you don't get knocked here and there anyway. lol.