Las Vegas, The Sin city. LA6of6

SEX anyone? read furthur...

can anyone advise me on this air ticket? 1017P means ten seventeen PM or ten seventeen Pacific Time? 750A means seven fifty AM or seven fifty Australia time?

One of the very few occasions that we were being invited into a RV in any campground. Don and Judie gave us a very nice breakfast and some informations. They were kind to us as they were also bikers. He had an ATV and a Goldwing 1800 inside this motorhome.

We could see many cities in Las Vegas. There's New York, Venice, Paris......

These machines were very easy to use. if anyone has a dollar bill, he can just slot it into the machine and start playing. the minimum amount to play a game is just 1 cent! The machine will not dispense any money but a ticket with barcode. with this ticket, plays can walk to any ticket machines to redeem back the amount of winning money.

Live betting on the sports game like american football. It should be a good income for the up-coming Intergrated Resort in Singapore.

The players had a choice to keep their eyes on the cards.

When motorcycling and gardening is together. The plants grew all over it.

I had always wanted to watch a live adult show but maybe....next time when we are not on budget.

Another type of 'freedom of speech', self claimed 'World largest'.

Coyote Ugly bar.

This guy was arrested for... i don't know. He caused a traffic congestion for the main road of Las Vegas. Passing vehicles would slow down to look.

This time, i could win the fight with Rocky.

For my personality, im too nervous to play such card game. Sam was cool enough to play. The rule sounded simple and to our advantage.

The dealer needs to have 17 points or above. player can have any points. sounds good? well, not easy for us to break even our 'cost' and get away from the table.

when anyone sits down to play a game, the waiteress would come over and take drinks order. it's free. it's another marketing tactic or strategy. after ordering the drink, the player will need to continue on the table for the game till the waiteress comes back for the drink, it's kind of courtesy.

we saw many people walking around with branded shopping bags. we walked the street with our take away food bag.

Las Vegas is just amazing, it's not a biker place but a sudden transition of our lifestyle.

what amused me most in Las Vegas were these people on the street, giving out cards like catalog for social escort.
They were very enthusiastic in their work by creating excitement when handling the brochures in their hand to the passer bys. They wore ‘call girls’ t-shirt and always in high energy, not upset by those who rejected them or threw their brochure after passer by had taken from them.

I would say that they are very professional in their job.

There are free live shows at Treasure Island. These live show attracts people like us, go to this casino and wait for the show to start. while waiting, we walked around the machines and donated a few dollars.

Underaged are not allowed to play.

a good budget place to stay in Las Vegas is Wild Wild West Casino. if booked through the hostelbookers.com website, a weekday per person rate would be US$8.88. But total for 3 nights of stay for 2 of us cost about US$75.00.

N36 06.079 W115 11.085

Note that this isn't any free WIFI service in this place. Public internet access in Las Vegas is very expensive. it could go up to US$20 per hour. I guess it is because the owner do not want the guest to use internet all the time and that caused the guest to get out of the room and slot some money into their jackpot machines.

Route 66 and some bad business tatics.

Grand Canyon is too much touristy. We went south to seek for better weather to stay, reaching a town 'Williams' of Arizona. The RV park we stayed was very nice. the owner let us stay at a carpeted ground. first night was very cold, reaching -8 degres celcius. out of goodwill, the owner took a electric heater that warm us up on the 2nd night. Williams was a cool and quiet town. the main attraction was part of the Route 66. This road on 66 wasn't fun to ride on but the towns that glued on were historical and very old west American.

There were many 'world famous' things in USA. I guess it's the freedom of speech in USA where people can say anything about everything. I went inside to have a look, nothing special. It's just some marketing strategy by putting up the signboard, self claimed 'world famous'.

Lots of oldies stuff to see along the town of Route 66.

The first non american bikers we met in USA. He was supposed to travel alone in this 650 but met the girl along the way and they hooked up. good luck my friends.

Harleys: something very american. These riders were very special breed of bikers...quoted by my friend.

Joshua tree!

There were north rim of grand canyon, south rim and west rim. most tourist went to south rim and some go to the west rim, just because they saw a photo of an over hanging glass bridge that can overlook the grand canyon. Sam and i saw this picture few months ago and was determine to go and have a look. we saw catalogs of this glass bridge in many places but these catalogs do not have any pricings. the road to this glass bridge was bad dirt road. not friendly. reaching this place, we saw many helicoptors and private airplanes for tourist to view the grand canyon. i told sam that we will not be taking these airplane stuff, it should be expensive. we just want to walk on the glass bridge.

intresting? i just downloaded these pictures were from their webpage. no cameras were allowed on the glass bridge.

so we went to the counter and check if need to buy any tickets for west grand canyon (GC) as we already had a ticket from the north rim GC, it's valid for 7 days thro out the whole GC. we also used it at the South rim of GC. we assumed that this ticket is also valid for west GC, which is this glass bridge. but......

the counter lady said:

the glass bridge walk cost US$29.95 per person. but a Hualapai Legacy tour package MUST be purchased before we can buy the glass bridge ticket. the Hualapai Legacy tour Native american villages and see how they live (for the tourist).

so to go for the glass bridge, we must pay:

$29.95 for Legacy tour

$29.95 for glass bridge visit

$4.20 for 7% tax

$3.00 for fuel charge

$8.00 for impact fee

GRAND TOTAL PER PERSON = US$75.10

i wanted to point my middle finger at everybody here on this moment. we walked back to Hope Too, ate our sandwich went off.

this is the marketing strategy of USA style. the catalogs we saw everywhere did not have any pricing. they made the road so bad that after traveling this road, visitor realised the price, thinking that it's a hard way here and they will pay for the $$$$$$$ for glass bridge.

we are not doing this. we were really pissed off. infact, the 7days GC ticket does not apply to this place.

Disappointed, we went to a RV site to camp. Sam got off Hope Too and went into the RV office while i was idling Hope Too on the thick gravel road. most RV campground laid their roads with thick gravel, it's too RV friendly, not Hope Too friendly. i made a slight left turn with Hope Too and the rear tire dugged into the thick gravel, slided to the right, Hope Too fell on the left and i was thrown out of the bike. at the same time my right knee hit the windscreen (bought in Argentina) and broke it.

I was very angry. why am i coming to this shitty place and i am very sure that the windscreen would not be avalible for sale in USA.

To neutralize all these anger and dissappointment, we met Bill. He came from the northern state and came here for his hobby. he stayed in his RV with his dog. seeing us cooking our dinner, Bill came and said hello and find more about us. To our surprise, he is a fan of Teresa Teng. He bought a chinese magazine about Teresa and we translated some paragraph for him.

Bill had an intresting hobby, that is gold hunting. He took off on his ATV with his dog, Coco, together with the metal detector and equipment, he would spend many hours to walk the desert with to find gold nugget.

On the next morning, he gave us one of his gold nugget, that would simply cost about $100-$200.

check out Bill's webpage:

http://prospecting.50webs.com/1prospecting.html

Hoover Dam seprates Nevada and Arizona. It generates most of the electricity that Las Vegas would need.

Utah and Grand Canyon (Arizona's income)

Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon, too much tourist.

Grand Canyon again, we got sick after the 3rd hour of it.

Grand Canyon of Arizona...again.

Such a rug, selling at this price in Grand Canyon, to the tourist coming from all over the world. To me, it's just a piece of rug.

Grannnd canyonnnn... it was created few million years ago, before the bible times, (4004BC)

Some daily life we had.

Horseshoe Bend. Seems small? look at the greeny stuff on the bottom left of the picture, it is a tree. You will know how deep this is. Don't drop your wallet here.

Arches National park of Utah.

Arches National Park, where there are alot of these 'natural bridges' formed. We gotta park our bike, lock our helmet and riding gears on the bike and carry our valubles and hike deep with our motorcycle gear to take this picture.

Arches National Park of Utah.

Our hiking route.

Can't remember the details of this photo.

Sorry my friends, we had not update the blog for 2-3 weeks. there wasn't a suitable place for me to write and upload. Usually the national parks here do not have WIFI or electrical supplies. We would be lucky to have a site to stay without reservation, being in competition with those motorhomes where they would stay for long term in a site.

After Mark Weeding's warm nest, we force ourselves to start moving on. Going thro Idaho, then south to Utah. We stopped over a tourist infomation center and a local rider approached to recommand over his state about nice riding route. we changed our initial plans.

The route he recommanded was really great. Our first approach to the national parks in USA was impressed. they were well organized and well maintained.

Utah, Utah Utah.

How nice it was? you could see from the pictures. some of our pictures were accidently erased... i donno why. so we could only recall from memories and could not share with you.

along HWY 128, after visiting Arches National Park, there were about 8 campsites within 11 miles. it was near sunset and we rode in this beautiful valley and wanted to look for a tent space under the cloudless stary night. I can't believe it. All these 8 campsites were filled with motorhomes and RVs. Luckily a lady stopped us along the road as she knew that we were like her, being lost and desprate looking for a place to pitch a tent. She showed us in the dark on the avalible space beside her. It was the time where Sam and i did not put on the fly sheet of our tent and we slept under the stars!

I say again, HWY 128 of Utah is a thumbs up!

I also met a guy outside a grocery stall telling me how much he loved ABC stout (a dark beer from Singapore). Anyone could export it to USA, he would be glad to be the distrubutor. Hmm, i think he would rather drink the whole 40feet container of beer than selling it off.

Escalante, the grand staircase, really scares me off, as a rider. why? I am riding on the ridgeline of a mountain and the landscape below was really beautiful. it's a one lane, 2 way road. off to the left below was the beauty. off to the right below was also the beauty. i just can't keep my eyes off it! then i realise that Hope Too was swaying to where my eyeline was looking at, that was about to go DOWN into the hill! I better keep my concentration on the road while Sam video it down.

I'm getting tired now, internet is too slow. will keep you updated when i reach LA when Hope Too would be crated up in the freight forwarder's warehouse and i have more time to write while waiting for our flight to Sydney on 26 November.

I would update about the Las Vegas experience, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco with Thor Anderson + Gerry and Redwood park. We also visited a nude club where i went to soak in the hot springs with naked males and females!

Now it's your chance to win some $$$

We are now in Utah, Wellington, stayed 2 nights due to the shower.
Our plan ahead is:

Oct
17-19: Grand Canyon
21-22: Phoenix, Arizona (If we could meet up with Dawn and stay with them)
25-27: Las Vegas, Nevada. (See Below on how to win $$$)
28-29: Death Valley
30-1st Nov: Yosemite (California)
Nov
2-4: San Francisco (Visit Thor Anderson and go to Singapore embassy to have the bike registration paper endorsed.)
5-9: Redwood National Park
10-12: Hardin Hotspring (sponsored by Mark Weeding)
13-14: on the road to Los Angeles
15: reach LA
16: Bike washing day and prepare to sent bike to freight forwarder.
17: Send and disassemble bike at freight forwarder’s warehouse and paperwork.
18-24: Stay in LA without bike.
24: Bike will fly to Sydney.
26: Flight from LA (LAX airport) to Sydney (Australia). bye bye America continent where we have been here for 15 months…not enough!

So, what about Las Vegas???

We are going to win some cash there and YOU also have the chance.

our plan is to play jackpot on your behalf.

we will consolidate a list of people that wants to play, for example:

Mr XRV give me US$30, stop playing amount at $60
Ms KLR give me US$15, stop playing amount at $20
Mr FJR give me US$60, stop playing amount at $100


I will enter the biggest casino in Las Vegas with this list and play the game for them.

I can only help each person to play 3 times.

I sit infront of the jackpot machine and take out my list:

‘ok, now im playing for Mr XRV. he give me US$30, so each roll will cost $10.’

I will place the bet on the maximum amount of lines and make each bet worth $10.

so I roll 3 times.

After 3 times, I the total fund from Mr XRV becomes $90. so I will return Mr XRV $30 and the profit of $60, he will take back 80%.

so if in a winning jackpot game after 3 rounds, amount of $ to be returned to him would be

[(Final Sum – Cost) x 80%] + Cost

What if after 3 round, the fund inside the machine is less than the cost ($30)?

I will continue to use the same bet and try to get the fund until $60 (as indicated by himself on the above) and stop playing for Mr XRV until it reached $60 or $0.


then I will play for the next player, Ms KLR, $15 for 3 rounds.

with the same procedure.

then I will play for Mr FJR…and the list goes on.

So, put your bet now, you do not have to fly to Las Vegas to win the grand jackpot prize over a million dollars. I can play it for you.

Playing base on the trust of us. Do not play if you do not trust us. If there is a tax on the winning amount, it would be deducted from the Final Sum before any calculation.

Leave me a message to indicate
1) your name
2) amount of money to play, which is the cost
3) stop playing at $___ (value must be greater than the cost)

To confirm the bet, click on my paypal button above.
please note that if u send me US$100, I will only recive about US$90. so I will only bet US$90 for you.

Amount will only be transected using paypal.

after winning, I will use paypal to return the money to u.

For Singaporeans, I will use POSB to return the $ to you.

So, this is your only chance to win the Vegas Million Jackpot without being here.

NOTE:

This is not a gambling site.
This invitation is not open to the public, only to my friends from
http://singaporedream-rtw.blogspot.com
Dateline for $ collection would be 23 October 2009.

Mark Weeding and Rosana Davison

Hi Mark

Hi Rosana.

We would like to thank Derek Yap of Camphora Pte Ltd and Hii Chun Hui for their generous cash contribution. we will update later on what did we use for it.

Thank you again.

Cold road yesterday!

One of the best value sheltered place we stayed in north america. Castor, Alberta, Canada.

http://www.castor.ca/

this town had a population of 1000. maybe that's why the lodging is cheap/affortable.

locals looked at us strangely when we walked into grocery stall to get our body fuel because there wasn't much tourist in this town. the strange look was a postive look from them. they were curious and welcoming.

Cooking in room is not advisible to all readers. (as shown in the picture)

then we visit a small muesum in Castor. only open 3 days a week, 2 hrs each day. when we arrived there, the lady incharged of the muesum is about to lockup the door. she was very kind to open the door again and showed us around.




want to perm your hair using the old school way? direct electrical current...

We noticed that her movement is very slow. she had very minor movement disability but able to drive a car to this musesum 3 days a week. She was always talking about the days when she was a little girl, in the 1930s. one of the above picture where u can see some military uniform, one of them belongs to his husband. she donated to this muesum after her husband pass away few years ago. another set of uniform belongs to his brother-in-law, which was donated few years ago after he passed away. these uniform had gone through the world war.

She will turn 86 soon. when will we see her again?

After 'hiding' 2 days in Castor for the weather to turn better, we headed south to Montana,USA. I had ordered a set of Metzeler Tourance tire to Mark Weeding's house in Miles City, Montana. it was a 2 days ride from Castor to Mark's house. we told him that we will be there on the 8th Oct but we reached the town of Miles City on a day earlier.

On my mind was just telling Hope Too and his tires to last until Mark's home and not to give us any problem on this long, lonely and cold road.

'Mark,Mark,Mark,Mark....' was what happened on my mind while riding. To reach Mark's home safely.

We went to Walmart and top up our grocery, 13 miles before Mark's home. we do not know if he was at home (or not) as we did not have his phone number. Just browsing on the shelf in Walmart (name of big grocery stall in USA), he showed up in front of us! Mark only visits Walmart once a month and we were so lucky to meet him there!

We followed him to his house after that.

Miles City.

Mark Weeding's product.

He had a ranch of 1 square mile. visiting his ranch was like a Safari experience. He explained to us about his job and the industry.

Pro!

Looks cute? it is a pest in the farm.

Mark helped me to change the tire. Mark bought a bed specially. Mark gave us warm and comfort, a shelter from the cold weather. Mark cook us meal and brought us to town for entertainment. Mark bouught us beer. Mark gave us a safari tour on his ranch. (you have to be Mark's friend to experience this!). When we left, Mark gave us hot coffee, cookies and handwarmers to take away! He and his girlfriend, Rosana Davison, gave us money to take away! They put it in an envelop so when we left his place and had lunch, we realised that there were money and money inside the greeting cards he gave us!

Other being a great host, i must say that Mark surely know his area well. He is able to show me on map nice place to ride and route advice. I guess he had scored an A-plus for his geography lessons! There are so many places to explore and ride in North America which i am proud of him to explore his own country first before going to other countries!

Thank you Mark Weeding and Rosana Davison for everything! it's getting too comfortable to stay with them and we had to make a hard decision to leave the comfortable nest.

We have to go online to check the weather ahead for the next 10 days on the possible route that we are heading. We have to skip yellowstone park because of the weather. Also today, where i am typing this blog, we are staying in a motel for 2 days till tomorrow where the weather WILL BE BETTER for us to ride again. Yesterday we rode at below freezing point for the whole 6 hours journey. the lowest was -8.2 degree celcius! Our neck and nose nearly broke.

Mark's property. Can you see Samantha? of course not, because she was behind the camera.

Mark certainly understand how to handle and breed these guys. i had my hats off to him.

The tire that i will not use again. Continental attack. all my previous rear tires on this trip lasted for 18000-22000km (road tire).

The first one, a Pireali, lasted from singapore to greece, about 22000km. It went thro the tough road of Karakurum and Baluchistan desert.

The second one, Metzeler Tourance. from Greece to Argentina and used in the rugged terrain of Bolivia, to Brasil and changed at Viedma, Argentina which lasted 17000km.

The 3rd set, a Metzeler Enduro 3, (made in Brasil) a 50/50 tire that lasted the Ruta 40 of Argentina, supposing to last 50% lesser than the Tourance but i got the rear changed till another 10000km, the front lasted 13000km.

The 4th set, with Metzeler Enduro 3 and rear Metzeler Tourance, (made in Brasil) lasted me from Chile till Denver in USA, crossing the bad roads in Peru and some of central America, about 19000km.

The 5th set, Continental Attack, a road tire, that bought me to Alaska and back to USA. Road in Alaska were not so bad as we thought but the rear tire only lasted 12000km. what a shame.

The 6th set, ermm, Im going back to Metzeler Tourance. I only changed the rear while the front, the Conti Attack, still usable. We are carring an extra front tire now.

Thank you

We would like to thank Atwin and his friend from Singapore Bikes forum

VARA (Varadero Adventure Rider Asia)

for the fundraising, supporting our trip. they had sponsored us for all the lodging and gas bill in Alaska. below is the break down of what we had used. all quoted in US$:

15 Sept: Camping @ Tok - $15
16 Sept: Camping @ Fairbanks (Riverview RV park) - $19.90
17 Sept: Camping @ Coldfoot - $0.00
18 Sept: Camping @ Fairbanks (Riverview RV park) - $19.90
19 Sept: Camping @ Fairbanks (Riverview RV park) - $19.90
20 Sept: Camping @ Wasilla - $0.00
21 Sept: Alaska Back Packers Inn @ Anchorage - $54.00
22 Sept: Mendeltna Lodge @ Mendeltna $20.00

total for lodging in Alaska: $148.70

15 Sept: Filled 27.17ltrs @ $0.963/ltrs = $26.17 for 542km
17 Sept: Filled 24.15ltrs @ $0.994/ltrs = $24.02 for 450km
18 Sept: Filled 20.29ltrs @ $1.058/ltrs = $21.47 for 424km
20 Sept: Filled 25.46ltrs @ $0.923/ltrs = $23.50 for 426km
21 Sept: Filled 28.12ltrs @ $0.944/ltrs = $26.61 for 524km
23 Sept: Filled 22.02ltrs @ $1.031/ltrs = $22.72 for 413km
23 Sept: Filled 17.17ltrs @ $1.019/ltrs = $17.49 for 300km

total for Gas in Alaska: $161.98

Total for Lodging and Gas in Alaska = US$310.68 (S$447.38)

Thank you my fellow biker's friend from Singapore!

robbery while there’s a fire outbreak

Many people asked (in north America): where did your rode from?

I had my Singapore flag on Hope Too, maybe they just want to start a conversation.

Me: we came from Singapore

Stranger: did u shipped your bike from Singapore?

Me: er…no. we rode from Singapore to France, shipped to argentina, from there we entered usa from Texas and now we are here (Alaska/Canada).

Stranger: waooo! awesome! that was cool! u rode from Texas to here!

Me:………………………. (you only know where is Texas).

Broken bearing.

We are heading towards Whitehorse from Anchorage. the journey seems forever. I would stop to check the bike as there are a lot of random noises, then I would stop to go to the toilet, knowing that the services between towns are limited.

We were 16km to a town, Haines Junction. I felt a strong wobble on the rear wheel and stopped. couldn’t see any loose nut, pinched tires or any nails. Samantha had better eyes and noted some unusual looking stuff on the rear wheel right side bearing. I took out the rear wheel and the bearing was broken into metal chips. i couldn’t hammer that broken bearing out. didn’t have a proper too. at the same time we were struggling with the cold. cold. cold. cold weather. At last a vehicle passed by and I stopped it. he was willing to get towing services for us when he reached the town. meanwhile, a RV a stopped. The uncle provided me all the tools he had to hammer the bearing out but it doesn’t work. then a police vehicle came, which was informed by the first vehicle. he came to check us out and went back.

meanwhile, we went up to the RV to seek shelter from the cold. the uncle offered us hot tea and instant noodle, knowing that we had not eaten since leaving the campsite without breakfast as there isn’t any food stop in between. that was the marvelous breakfast and lunch and his invitation really kept us out of the cold until the policeman came with a trailer, to tow Hope Too to the nearest workshop.

I had a spare bearing but wrong size. lucky again, at this small town, at this messy workshop, there was the bearing I needed. off we go again!

These 2 Canadian saved us.

Strange place.

we had 3 night rest in Whitehorse where we updated the blog, sent letters and parcel, stock up our kitchen and set fire for BBQ. The weather at Whitehorse was really nice.

then we traveled 420km eastwards to Watson Lake where we camped ‘free’ at the park. we set our tent under a roof and there was free firewood to keep us warm. it was a nice place. in the night, it rain and I told myself that we are lucky to have this roof to keep our tent dry.

it rained till the next afternoon, 1pm. the sky was dark but the rain stopped. we packed up and went out to the town getting ready for another 500km to the other stop. when we reached the town within 15minutes, it started to rain again. my plan was to ride over the clouds hoping that the sky would be better on the other side. we rode and rode, it rain and rain. we did not have any rain gear as it was torn. wet, cold at 2degress Celsius, flooded boots and wet glove under the cold wind. there wasn’t any services along this highways as it was winter and many were closed. at last we stopped at a gas station’s café. walked in, water dripping from our jackets, cold and desperate, there sits a old woman that stopped her conversation with the younger owner. she looked at as because we are wetting the carpet. there were 5 tables and chairs in this café but it was filled with their shopping materials. we were NOT allow to sit in the café. we don’t feel welcome. I am not begging for sympathy. went in just to buy a cup of expensive hot coffee and stood outside to drink.

we are desperate to look for a place to stay and Sam ask the owner how much was the room. she said:

well, actually we are going to close in 3 days due to the season but if u have a sleeping bag, u could sleep here maybe for a few bucks……like CAD$40. (S$60)

I was FUCKING ANGRY but kept my cool. there’s a Chinese saying:

Robbery while there’s a fire outbreak.

kept cool and said goodbye to them.

can you reconize that this is Hope Too? Just a night after staying at the record breaking room.

it's about 3 inches of snow on Hope Too.

Nice paintwork?

Hope Too was giving much weird noise from the chain. there isn’t flat ground for me to put on center stand to oil my chain for the past days. then the front disc brake was giving knocking noise. then we were cold. mountain after mountain, the sky dosen’t seems better. finally it snowed, which was abit better than rain as it was dry BUT we were already wet. we were looking forward to the next camp ground that we could set a tent under a shelter with firewood,

there wasn’t any because the campground stated on the map were closed due to winter.

we had to break a record this time:

to stay at the most expensive lodging in our trip: CAD$90 excluding tax. that came out to be S$150.00. that is for a room of 3 meters by 3 meters.

this is another case of

robbery while there’s a fire outbreak.

but after some brainstorming, it isn’t this case. they provided the service with a price, I agreed and paid. it’s an official business transaction. they are just providing a service to desperate travelers at a desperate location.

we are desperate. Then I remembered my god sister’s quote:

the safest option will always not be the cheapest option.

we stayed.

Cold road. it's quite dangerous because there are black ice.

I remembered the day after we got fine from the Canadian border for CAD$1000, we reached a gas station and went in for coffee. the cashier and a customer was curious about us and asked about our trip. he was very enthusiastic about us. we answer the same thing and he asked more. I decided to take out my CAD$1000 ticket and ask them about some English word that I don’t understand. their answer was very short and tried to avoid me after that. I felt like they see me like a criminal.

anyway, we are heading southeast. it seems that the weather this autumn isn’t that good as it will be snowing along the rocky mountains here.

got to whip Hope Too to be obedient, not to give us any trouble along the way.

Goh.

Back to the south

cheap rain gear.

Alaska King Crab!!!

that is only one of the legs. usually in singapore we throw away the legs because there isn't any flesh in it but this leg, it feeds both of us! it's about half an arm length.

im selling the above glass bottle for anyone that is intrested. it contained Alaska's natural mineral: GOLD. it says 24k gold.

i only had 2 left.

we saw the native Alaska people. they looked very much like us. very asiatic. the above picture is taken in a musuem.

Aurora sightings! took this picture from a book.

We would like to thank Jack Jackson for his regular contribution to our blog.

Also to:

Blanca and Jim Williams,
Lawrence Pevec
and
Joshua Briggs

for the cash contribution to us which we had bought

1) a new sleeping bag for Samantha for the very cold weather,
2) Waterproof cover for the sleeping bag as it is big, we have to tie it outside the bike,
3) Small Lantern with candle, to keep some heat in the tent,
4) a few Hand warmer,
5) waterproof cover for our passport,
6) cotton socks for me as I had only 2 pair of socks before,
7) lightweight raincoat.

it's snowing. ignore what im doing by the side of the road on the picture above.

snowing!

snowing. from Anchorage to Whitehorse is tough. it's late in the season. 1st, we got rain, that soak us wet at a temperature of 4degress celcius with cold wind. then it snowed. the snow was abit dry, thats good but i have to use my glove to sweep away the snow on my visor, then it became icewater on my glove. the snow landed on our boots, then it became icewater. our feet and hands feels like being soak in a tub of icewater for 2hours.

cheap rain gear we bought. it was torn due to the wind.

a night after we woke up.

about 150km to whitehorse, thats where our pitstop is, Hope Too's rear bearing broke into bits. i can't take out the bearing with proper tools and it was very cold at the road. a kind man stopped his RV and offered us hot drinks and food meanwhile the Canadian policeman came with a trailer to tow Hope Too to the nearest workshop. i was lucky because the workshop had the same size of bearing and he charged me with a proper fee. we are heading south now.

Some missed out photos along the way to the north

We made it! from Ushuaia, picture below, to the artic circle, picture above. crossing from the south to north pole of the world.

picture below taken on 25 december 2008. distance stated to alaska might be flying distance.

at a local native american festival.

In Washinton.

Writing from North Pole of Alaska, sending a postcard back to Singapore.

Washing up Hope Too after coming back from the Artic Circle.

Samantha got a new friend in facebook.

you can write to Santa at the address, really!

Hope Too, as usual, being a dirty baffolo.

The night in Coldfoot, alaska. we wanted to see the northern Aurora lights but...

we reached North Pole!

That's what coldfoot is about.

coldfoot camping.

timer from the camera is too fast.

Canada.

The scottoiler broke! it jammed my chain and i nearly skidded.

at last we get to use the bbq grill from the swiss team. Now i got the skill to cook rice from firewood. the left pot is brown sauce for the meat, the middle pot is for hot water, the right pot is rice.

Vancouver.

We were lucky enough to be adopted by Don. Sue on his left and Ashley on his right. We felt very comfortable staying with them but we have to go. Thank you Don!

Glazier again...

we have to be bear-safe here.

and we are lucky to spot a bear.

the CAD$15.00 camping. we were provided with a bench and table and a site with small gravels. free running water by the stream and free trees to view. free toilet that has no flushing system that once i open up the cover i could see the waste 1.2meters below. must wash hands using our own water. we are free to bring in electricity and water without additional charges. free trashbin 20meters away. free bugs that flying around our ears and face.

Thanks 54victor and thanks MJ. I don't think these publication helps. Headache. what gave me more headache is explained below. its a letter to the canada border agency, regarding the CAD$1000 fine. i have not submitted it. will go back to canada to hand it over.

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
110-300 Main Street
Whitehorse, Yukon
Y1A 2B5
Canada

C/c
High Commission of the Republic of Singapore – Canada
Mr Koh Yong Guan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tanglin Singapore 248163 Email: yong_guan.koh@cpf.gov.sg

Dear Sir/Madam,

Request for Review or for an Appeal for seizure number 8081-09-0021

Firstly, I would like to compliment about the ample amount of road signage in Canada to warn all road users about the slightest debris that will endanger road users.

I am a tourist and a writer, travelling with my Singapore registered motorcycle, FQ3515B in Canada with my wife. I am promoting motorcycling tourism in Canada. We entered Canada on September 7th 2009 at Douglas Immigration, near Vancouver.

On September 11th 2009, at about 4pm, I rode along highway 37A towards Stewart, British Columbia, Canada, looking for a good campsite in Stewart. Not being satisfied with the campsite condition in Stewart, I rode further along the road that leads to Hyder. I rode into Hyder and only saw abandoned buildings and within 5 minutes in Hyder, I only saw 2 people in the town. Knowing that Hyder might be a less populated town with limited services, I decided to go back to camp at Stewart, using the same road where I came from.

On the way back, I noticed that there was a building, I slowed down 50 meters away to observe the building at the speed of 10-20km/hr. There wasn’t any one manning the building, there wasn’t any barrier or gate, so I decided to continue my journey to Stewart.

When I reached Stewart, a police patrol vehicle stopped me and I was asked to go back to the way I came from, as instructed by the police officer. I obeyed every instruction from the police officer without questioning or struggle.

It was the building where I had passed thro few minutes ago and there stands 3 officers standing on the road with their arms crossed. I answerer all their questions and handed them our passports, motorcycle registration document from Singapore and later the bike keys. Custom officer 14365 informed me that they have to seize my motorcycle because I had ‘run the border’. She also informed me that I had to pay CAD$1000 in order to get my motorcycle back. Then she further explained the reason why she seized my motorcycle because of the CAD$1000 fine I had to pay for ‘running the border’ and they could not sent the fine ticket to my house in Singapore, the only way is to seize the motorcycle and that will make sure I would pay the CAD$1000.

picture 1

I explained to them that I did not realised it was an international boundary where I had entered Hyder, USA, as there wasn’t any signage of leaving Canada or entering USA, there wasn’t any custom and immigration at Hyder, USA side and all these terrain had forced me to assume that Hyder was part of Canada. (refer to picture 1 attached) When I rode near to the building, I slowed down and observed but nobody was at the building or any barrier. (refer to picture 2 attached) I also explained further that we are not trying to import anything into Canada illegally.

Picture 2

Officer 14365 said she could not do anything but had to execute the duty of seizing my motorcycle but she said I could explain the case to her superior, officer 10985.

I explained the same to officer 10985 but he does not seem to understand my point. He said that I had committed an offence of not stopping at the stop sign which I had rode thro. The fine of CAD$1000 is for not stopping at the stop sign, it would be the same as committing a traffic offence where I had to pay the fine before retrieving my motorcycle back.

I begged him for leniency for this matter and he said

I could charge you CAD$2000 now because it was 2 persons, now I am lenient to you and only charge you for CAD$1000.

Without speaking further, he left the office at about 430pm and I have to pay for the fine in order to continue my journey with the motorcycle. My wife paid the fine with an AMEX credit card and we had the documents and key back.

When I was issued with the Seizure receipt (Number 471290), the allegation stated on the receipt was:

That the said conveyance was used to transport persons into Canada in contravention of the Customs Act.

I strongly believed that the CBSA has misunderstood the facts or has applied the law incorrectly and I would like to seek for an appeal on this case as it was all caused by misunderstanding and the lack of communication.

Our journey will continue to USA, Australia, East Timor, Indonesia and Malaysia before reaching Singapore on May 2010. We could be reached via email at a faster speed of replying to any questions arise.

I hope to seek your justice on this case.


Yours sincerely,

Goh Mia Chun



what the F?! us running the border. these people are the same in the whole world. their ego is bigger than the whole universe. i didn't stop... they arrested me, went back to them, and all they want to feel is me begging to them and after that giving me a heavy punishment.

ego...

Artic circle

Yes! we have reached the Artic Circle in winter. we tried to view Aurora lighting last night but there isn't any luck.

coming back south on the same highway 11 is tough because it rained. the track became soapy, especially with my road tires. when we reached fairbanks this evening, we were welcomed by the cold and heavy rain. what to do? we still have to set up the tent, eat and sleep.

It's beautiful.

I'm gonna fly Hope Too out of USA from Los Angeles to Sydney on late November 2009 but the custom officer of USA wants to see the original document of my vehicle registration. i tried to explained to him that Singapore had gone paperless and everything has gone online but he insisted to see an original document.

Can anyone help me on this? Find an article on LTA website saying that the physical log card is no longer in use and everything has gone online and paperless.

help.

goh, sam and cold.