Cherating - Chukai, Part 02

Ruby's resort revisited...

We took our dogs to Ruby's resort in Cherating four years ago.
Barran was there and we took a detour, heading to his sister's place.
It's about 1km from the junction to the Cherating Turtle sanctuary and Club Med.
We rode through a sandy patch and realized that this was the perfect setting for our Dahon Jetstreams.
Unfortunately, my Jetstream EX is out of commission due to a busted brake lever.
After a short ride, we caught up with Barran.
He said he had wanted to talk to me about the new guardhouse in our neighbourhood and asked if I could contribute some cash.
Right now, the project is short of RM1K.
I told him that I agree and later gave him 1/10th of the amount.
We were treated to some tidbits and beers.
While cooling off, one of Ruby's customers came and ordered a beer.
He said something about a bike shop in Kg Tunku that sells Tern bikes and that he had one 20" bike used by his wife.
I did a time-check and realized that we were already at early evening and decided to ride back to Kg Cherating Lama.

Riding to Ruby's

The sandy patch

Chilling out with our neighbour Barran

Bring on the night.. 

We chilled out at our chalet till late in the evening.
Managed to get a shower and stored the bikes in the hut.
Michelle suggested that we fill the icebox with beers. 
And we did just that by heading back to Chukai to get our stock.
Took us a while till we managed to locate a place that sells them.
It's into the icebox and back to Cherating. 
We decided to eat at a makan place called Intan Seafood.
It's a short walk across the beach toward this restaurant and it's packed with customers.
Michelle was rather disgusted with how disrespectful some local tourists were with their dressing.
That doesn't bother me as this is a Muslim eatery and most of the patrons there were breaking fast.
We decided to have a simple meal, so, I ordered Seafood nasi goreng and Michelle had nasi goreng kampung.
That, and with some fried pepper crabs.
Service was extremely slow here, but when the food arrived, the quality of the food served here was pretty decent.
Our bill came up to RM64 (RM42 for the crabs).
After having our makan, it was back to the chalet..
We had some chilled beers and after a few, I decided to call it a night.. 

One of Ruby's cat

Rolling out

Cherating.. 

An unusual cloud formation...

Mrs Samo and her dinner

Intan Seafood

Fried pepper crabs

Seafood fried rice

Heading back to the real world...

With whatever sleep that we can get, we managed to cap off a few hours.
I woke up at 8am, packed our stuff, pushed the bikes to a lawn area near where the car is parked and worked on organizing the luggage and folded bikes.
Took a while, but we managed to cram in everything.
In less-than 20-minutes, we were on the road again.
Our mission was to get some fresh seafood in Beserah.
We went to our regular fish market there and bought some fresh prawns.
Later, we went down to Kuantan and had breakfast at a local coffee shop.
After the simple meal, we fueled up the car and rode towards Karak and met Ah Pan, our friend and had lunch with him there.
The drive back to KL was over an hour and when we got home, it's just great to be reunited back with the kids.
There were lots of unpacking and laundry to do and our day ended just like that.
Cherating is fun, the ride was short and definitely worth a follow-up in the future..

Cherating - Chukai, Part 01

Spontaneity..

I had a couple of days off over the weekend and it was perfect for a short excursion out of town.
All it takes, was a simple route and we're on our way.
For this effort, I'd circled out Cherating in Pahang because I have been there many years ago.
The plan is to book a chalet, set up our bikes there and ride off along the coastal route to Kemaman.

Tanjung Inn revisited..

So, I did some searching on the internet.
Found a chalte in Kg Lama Cherating and the rates were pretty decent.
There this place called Tanjung Inn. 
They charge RM90/night for a hut with a fan if you book through the internet.
Walk-ins pay RM20 less.
With the chalet's number on hand, I called and they had rooms.
I sealed the deal by leaving them my name and phone number. The guy on the end of the line sounded like a foreigner.

And the weekend finally came.. 

 I packed the bikes the night earler, we are going at the bare-minimal.
The Tern Eclipse S18 is an all-inclusive bike, there's no need to pack lights and blinkers.
All we did, was pack our spare change of clothes, bring an ice-box, bike tools and one side of the smaller Ortlieb backroller pannier..
I prepared the car for the 3-hour haul to Cherating via the East Coast Highway and it didn't took us long to arrive at the junction towards the Kg Lama Cherating.

Calming our pooch down.. 

Preparing the bikes.. 

Rolling out

Approaching a dangerous stretch.. 

A short and sweet ride..

We weren't gunning for epic long rides in this part of the east coast.
Initially, I drew a rout to Kijal, but on second-thoughts, I kept it short and rode as far as Chukai town in Kemaman.
After setting up the bikes, we took it for a spin and noticed that the tires were deflated.
So, back to the car and remedial works were done.
We had the pressure up to 50psi on the Scwhalbe Big Bens and started our journey towards the junction to Kemaman.
This is a familiar route to me as I had spent some time squid-jigging off the coast of Southern Terengganu.
We set out to the border demarkation and snapped some photos there.
While entering Terengganu, I guy shouted out my name from a Nissan Navara pick-up.
It was my neighbour Barran.
Later, Suzie, his wife messaged me on Facebook messenger.
I rang him out and learned that he was taking a break at Ruby's resort.
This place belonged to his sister and I told him that I would swing by and pay him a visit.

At the border demarkation

Waiting for lunch

My favourite hangout in Chukai

Hailam mee

Boxed crabs

By mid-noon, we rolled into Chukai town.
I told Michelle that we are going to have some lunch at restoran Kemaman, our usual joint.
There is a row of eatery along Chukai town's main road. 
A few are quite famous with tour buses queuing up.
But frankly, they were overrated.
And best of all, these makan places are related to each other.
We parked ourselves at Restoran Kemaman, ordered a plate of Hailam mee and two pieces of boxed crabs.
The rest of the time we were there was getting hydrated with a glass of iced Chinese tea.
I find the food to be pretty decent and our bill came up to RM27. Not bad.
From Chukai, we rolled out towards Pantai Chendor back at the Pahang side.
Michelle and I took a break at a Shell petrol station and there, we chilled out and hydrated ourselves with a cool can of 100PLUS.
Some Muslim motorists were staring at us for drinking openly in the Ramadan month.
We kept our composure and rolled towards Chendor.

Leaving Terengganu

Entering Pahang...

Official bussiness only

On a sandy beach next to the blue sea in Chendor..

We hung around Chendor, snapped some photos of the deep blue sea and our bikes.
The day was getting hotter and hotter.
After spending some time there, we explored the shoreline a bit and this led us to a dead-end.
I spoke to a resident there and was told that a small stream separates the beach.
So, it was a cue for us to roll out towards Ruby's Resort in Cherating.
This was about 8km from where we were and that's just a short roll away.. 

The Road Warrior

The latest member of the Eclipse family..

I'm glad that I am not the only person who thinks that the 24" folding bike is an efficient way to get around.
Tern Bicycle's Senior Product manager Eric Lin further reinforces my thoughts when he said that team Tern had set out to produce a bike for the hardcore urban rider - hence the introduction of the Eclipse S18.
With its development shrouded in secrecy, very few people knew of this and I am proud to say that being in the "loop" does have its privileges.
The bike will debut in Eurobike 2013 and folding bike enthusiasts would have a chance to get a look at it up close and personal including test rides on Demo Day.

Big bike, small fold: the Tern Eclipse P18 - folded

All the good stuff packaged onto one bike

The new Eclipse P18 is meant for the serious urban commuter. 
It comes complete with a rear portage rack and the front spartan rack.
This means, you can snap on your panniers and bags for rides to the office.
I see a lot of potential on this bike - especially when it comes to intercity bikepacking.
The Eclipse folds pretty well and fast and once you pack it with a carry-on cover, no issues on bringing it up on a train.
Best of all, it's also packaged with the Joule III dynamo hub. This is an award-winning and green source of energy.
I tested this prior to its introduction at last year's Eurobike and I like it a lot.
The light is complemented with a Valo II headlight. This is said to be more efficient compared to the older Valo which comes standard on the Eclipse SS11i that is powered by the Joule HG dynamo hub.
So, that said, you don't need to purchase an additional headlight for your bike.

The Valo II

Versatility of the Andros stem

I've tested the Eclipse last year and it actually convinced me to pursue a 24" bike. 
That said, we committed ourselves to an Eclipse P9 (my wife is the owner) and an Eclipse X20.
There are some factors on why Tern's folding bikes would handle and perform very well.
When it comes to frame firmness, the OCL joint produces a solid lock-up.
Its complemented with the award-winning Physis 3D handlebar and steering system and I dare say that it maneuvers extremely well.
One particular advantage of the Andros steering system is the fact that you can adjust the height of the stem and handlebar to suit your style of riding.
And since its a single-piece stem, handling is superb.

Tern's latest: The Street Warrior

Pricing and availibility

The Street Warrior is priced at USD$2,100 (RM6.7k) excluding freight and tax costs.
And it will ship by the end of this year.
I am not sure if K2 Asia is interested in selling the bike as sales of their 24" bikes - Eclipse S11i is rather slow as there is a lukewarm reception for it.
Its not the case with the Eclipse X20 which is the hottest 24" folding bike in Malaysia where all five bikes that were specially shipped here were sold out.
To date, the Eclipse P18 is the third most expensive bike around with the Eclipse S11i and X20 at the top of the list.