The Samick Sage Oddyssey...

A trip long overdue...

I've been wanting to check out an archery shop in Malacca for some time. It wasn't until I had the opportunity to upgrade my wife's bow that I had finally gotten the break I wanted.
The plan was to get a new bow for Michelle and after much research, we settled for the Samick Sage takedown recurve bow.

Taking the long drive

Malacca is located some 130km away from where we live.
The path to this coastal city is rather straight-forward. We take the highway and get off at the Ayer Keroh interchange.
My last trip to this historical state was a year ago. I attended a traditional archery tournament organized by the same archery shop.
After completing our daily chores, Michelle and I took the car down the Elite Highway and headed South.
It took us about an hour and a half to reach Malacca.
Much of the recognizable landscape here has changed tremendously. I used to work in Malacca and am familiar on how to get around.
From Ayer Keroh, we turned towards Bukit Baru and located the archery shop.

The exterior of the shop in Bukit Baru, Malacca

Bows displayed at the store

Michelle checking out the goods

3D archery targets 

Traditional bows

Michelle was impressed with the selection of goods at the store

Archery accessories

Re-homing the Sage...

The Samick Sage takedown recurve bow received rave reviews by archers from all over the world.
Basically, it's a cheap bow that performs. The shop, Monster Chill archery sells them around RM633 inclusive of GST.
I sponsored 70% of the cost and Michelle settled the rest. This includes the bow string, arrow rest and a set of new Easton Tribute arrows spined for a #35lb bow.
After we checked out the condition of the new bow, Michelle was satisfied. So, one of the sales guy went to to set it up.

Something we didn't quite expect from a Professional archery store...

I was browsing around and noticed that the sales guy was struggling to string the bow. What was appalling was the fact that he didn't know how to string a recurve bow. The guy had literally forced the limbs down while another worker held the bow's riser with both his hands.
If they broke it, we would walk out.
Michelle was rather pissed off. But she kept her cool. Clumsy services like this is something that will sink the store's reputation. We inspected the bow and found no visible damage and went on paying the bill.

I didn't leave empty-handed...

I saw a 3D target on the shelf. 
It was a hog and the quality, fit, and finish were not bad.
And for that, I blew about RM650. Having given much thought to foreign currency exchange, freight charges, and tax, I settled for the 3D target. It was not cheap, but sure became something that I would welcome at the range outside our home.

This little piggy is headed to Subang Jaya

After picking up the 3D target, it was time for lunch. We drove towards Bukit Cina and had a meal in a noodle shop.
From Malacca, we begin our journey home. It was another one and a half hour of driving and after we crossed the Malacca - Negeri Sembilan state border, we witnessed an accident.
There was a body lying on the road and it was covered with a bath towel. Next to the victim, I can see another person seated by the road shoulder with her head hanging down. It was a bad day for them.
We reached home around 3.30pm. Michelle went to work while I took the time to fletch my damaged arrow shaft.
The Monster Chill shop was impressive. But the stuff the sell are very expensive. Other than the fool who couldn't string a bow, I guess all is good...

Malacca Ride Part 2

Michelle at a mural behind Jalan Munsyi Abdullah

At the Malacca river

Riding along the Stadhuys 

Last leg of the ride at Stadhuys

We didn't hangout that long at the Portuguese settlement. It was high tide and rather windy. 
From there, we rode back along Melaka Raya as the morning traffic was getting heavier by the hour.
We staged our ride to the Stadhuys where traffic came to a standstill. 
There was a large group of runners from the city's event and tourists were already flooding the main attractions of Malacca.
At the same time, the sun was out in its full glory and we began to feel the hit.
We rode from Stadhuys to Laksamana and made a U-turn back to Jonkers street and rode to Tengkera before turning to Jalan Ong Kim Wee and back to Jalan Kubu.
Michelle made a halt at Datuk Gan Boon Leong's gym and took some photos there. 
We proceeded to Jalan Hang Tuah and by this hour, the traffic was chaotic. 
From there, we made our way to Kampung Morten and the old bus station. 
There were some bums and prostitutes hanging around a bridge linking Jalan Tun Ali to Jalan Munsyi Abdullah.
We found the backlanes painted with a set of murals depicting the Malacca Sultanate of the 14th Century. Very nice and colourful.
From Munsyi Abdullah, we rode past a series of backlanes and back to Jalan Bendahara for a late breakfast.
I suggested a stall at Jalan Bunga Raya, but the hawkers there didn't allow us to park our bikes, so fuck it.
Then, we made our way to Jalan Temenggong and ended up at a coffee shop serving fishball noodles.
That really made our day and at RM12 to feed two people, one cannot complain.
After a hearty meal, we cycled back to the Jalan Bendahara carpark and packed up our bikes.
The journey home was breeze and we took a lunch break in Seremban before heading home in Subang Jaya.
Michelled had to head to work while I processed the photos of our ride today. 
We are looking forward to another fun ride in Putrajaya next week!

Malacca Ride Part 1

At Ujong Pasir Portuguese Settlement

A Famosa Fort ruins

The Malacca River at dawn

Michelle and I had little sleep to get an early bird advantage of a trip down to Malacca today.

Our mission was to recce a route with our folding bicycles and the two-hour drive didn't slow us down at all.

We left at 03:30am this morning and arrived in Malacca at about 05:30am. Had some breakfast at a Dim-Sum shop near Masjid Kapitan Kling and chilled out there for an hour.

At 06:30 sharp, we made our way to the Jalan Bendehara open air parking lot and set up our bicycles.

It didn't take much effort to rig up our rides. 

The only thing that took time was my Airzound horn with took a little bit of time to assemble onto my Dahon Speed P8's handlebar.

From the parking lot, we rode through the Stadhuys and made our way to the museum complex.

This is fun because only bicycles are allowed to pass through the 1km trail which led us to the St Francis High School and Equatorial Hotel. 

During our ride, we saw a bunch of school kids who were part of a city run led by the state's Chief Minister Datuk Ali Rustam.

We rode along Jalan Shahbandar towards St John's hill and the destination was Ujong Pasir Portuguese settlement.

The air quality in Malacca was rather poor as it was filled with haze. We can smell the burnt particles probably from a nearby plantation or peat swamp fire.