In the confusion and the aftermath...

Will-2-Wheel NUS MS Night Cycling 2008 is over. Alhamdulillah it was okay. Thank you Cen Com (Central Committee) and all other helpers (i.e. Fairus, Hakim, Ahmad, Fadzli, Ramli, Hamid, Zai, Haikal, Walid and so many more). Without your help and support, I wouldn't be able to execute my role well. Thank you to all the participants and facis. You guys are the reason why we're here. Sounds like a band's appreciation for their fans. I hope everyone had fun. I apologise from the bottom of my heart if there were any flaws and shortcomings on my part or I hurt anyone's feelings in my stressed state. I'm sorry!

Well, the day started off with me going to NTUC to buy some logs stuff, followed by going to Haekal's home to collect the water dispensers. We didn't use them in the end but nvm... Reached school around noon. We were gonna load all the necessary stores from school to the van and lorry. The trolley was heavily damaged so it was quite a hassle bringing down the stuff and transferring them to the vehicles. Hakim (MS Vice-Pres) was driving the lorry and Ahmad (German) was driving the van. Both vehicles were in the state fit only for the junkyard but I guess for $50 per day, we couldn't complain much. The headlight was smashed and the speedometer wasn't working for goodness sake!

Reached Masjid Kampong Siglap around 2:45pm. Called Pak Basir the noja to open the rooms and Audi. They were so kind to lend us such a huge room and the equipment such as groundsheet and loudhailer. Thanks to Masjid Kampong Siglap for your help, especially Ustaz Mahyudin and Pak Basir. Couldn't do it without you! After solat, me, Aizat, Haekal and Hakim headed to East Coast to the Kit Runners Bike Shop. Oh yah, Omar joined the lorry as soon as he reached MKS.

I was at the bike shop for around 4 hours from 3:15pm onwards... Loading bicycles into a small lorry is tough! 155 bikes... we could only load up 15 bikes at a time... so we have to make 11 trips. It was taking too long. We were supposed to finish loading at 5pm. Stress! So I requested for the van to come aid us after they have finished collecting the food. Haekal is a pro-arranger. Haha. Towards the end, we couldn't care less how the bicycles were arranged, we put them vertically, pile 3 of them and other questionable methods. 155 helmets had to be checked. Solat at the bike shop itself when they brought as a canvas to solat on.

Went back around 7:15pm to take my dinner. Reached MKS to find a faulty van waiting for me. It couldn't start. Using my acquired automotive technical skills (macam real) I diagnosed the fault as a weak battery. The engine couldn’t even crank. So there I was trying to figure out how to solve the problem without a jumper cable. Wanted to push start the vehicle but that could destroy some parts in the engine. Called Haekal to confirm if it’s okay... it wasn’t, but no choice. Haha, so there we were, 4 guys pushing the van while Ahmad was in the van. When the car almost reversed into the curb, Fadzli and Fairus pulled the windscreen wipers in an attempt to stop the van. Haha, worth remembering. Alhamdulillah, it worked. But the engine cannot be switched off lest we have to push it again. The van was needed to fetch some of the guys and some bikes from the shop. I was still hungry. And when I went up to the room, there wasn’t food left for me. The van has yet another task to do: get food.

There were many participants there already. It was a bit daunting as I imagined all of them cycling... Safety must be of utmost importance. There were many more non-NUS participants in this supposedly NUS event, so there were many unfamiliar faces. I was STILL hungry. Had a bit of chicken rice from Sarah and Maryam gave me an apple pie. Hehe, one of the small joys in my life is an apple pie. Thanks, people. After solat Isya’, I went to check on the bikes and tagging. I also set aside some bikes to be used as replacement bikes for any faulty ones during the event. Loaded up some of them onto the lorry with the help of Izyana. Went back up to the room and they were asking me to finish eating Khairiana’s chicken rice. Alhamdulillah, finally something filling. Thank you again people. Saw Khairi’s scar, kesian dia. While eating, we had a short Cen Com meeting. We discussed on what food and drinks to issue when, the small change in the route and the tasks to be done at hand. All this was done while Hasanul gave a tazkirah. I forgot to bring extra batteries for the walkie-talkie, so only 3 out of 4 could be used. Sorry... The meeting was concluded and Yusri gave his short intro to the event. Yusri’s wit and sarcasm can be seen in that short intro especially in the introduction of the Cen Com members. The emphasis on my lack of weight was a bit overdone but it’s okay. Haha, even Omar said that the cables of the Singapore Flyer was as thick as me. My self-defence mechanism cannot work here. After all the briefings were done, the participants had icebreakers. The participants were asked to collect the bikes in two groups at a time. I gave a briefing to each batch about helmets taillights and tags. Yusri took over which allowed me to help with the issuing of bikes.

The scale of the event can be seen when the participants were lining up along the road. This is gonna be huge! Some of my friends participating asked if I was gonna cycle. I told them “Sorry, no. I’m doing logs (logistics). The work where a lot is done but is rarely seen or appreciated”. Haha, it was like a scripted answer to recognise the efforts of the Unsung Heroes Contingent. “No it’s okay, I cycled alot during the recce for the event. You guys have fun!” It was nice to see all the smiling and excited faces of everyone. We gave Nani a decorated bicycle which comes with balloons and even a P-plate. She just learnt cycling and her birthday just passed, so Khairi decided to make this special for her.

11:30pm, they flag off! 30 minutes pass planned timing but that’s expected. Barely 10 minutes into the event, there was a request to replace a bike. The lorry couldn’t be mobilised yet cos we were still loading up stores into the vehicles. The faulty bicycle wasn’t so far away and so, there I was riding a bicycle to the rescue scene. Replaced Syamim’s bike. There was something wrong with the derailer but it was good enough for me to cycle back to the masjid. Back at the masjid, we were loading up stores and storing the extra bikes. The extra helmets and some stores were stored in the room. The stores can be picked up later in the morning. The van died again... needed a push-start. Then, I had a call from Aizat. He requested to pick up 2 girls from the underpass cos they were struggling. Hanisah was with them, so that makes 3 people needing rescue. That means we need the lorry to pick up the bikes and a car to pick up the people. Then, Omar called me requesting a bike replacement at Fort Road. There was a slight confusion over whether to bring the Milo packets or not. We decided not to bring them due to space constraints but the room was already locked. Time check, 12:30am: so the cyclists should be going out of East Coast to Fort Road. No time! Everything was so stressful that I almost broke under pressure. Alhamdulillah, Pak Basir was there so I requested him to open the store room at the ground floor so we can store the Milo packets. Called Hanisah who passed the phone to Aizat and it seems that all of them are going to Fort Road after all. Alhamdulillah, that centralised the rescue locations. The van was also up and running again. So this was the plan, the lorry and car (driven by Cassim to be a manpower vehicle) goes to Fort Road while the van goes to Kallang Riverside park to set up the rest point. Unfortunately, Ahmad doesn’t know the route. So in the end, all 3 vehicles went to Fort Road. Alhamdulillah the first group just reached Fort Road, so we still had time to set up the rest point. I replaced the one bike Omar requested. The 3 girls were still far behind. So, I gave the responsibility of replacing the bikes to Haekal and Fairus while I go with the van to set up the rest point. Informed Gadisti in Cassim’s car before making my way to Kallang Riverside Park.

Along the way, Ahmad informed me of a problem. The van was running low on fuel. The problem was that we have to cut the engine in order to refuel. That would mean having to push-start the van again. And there isn’t much space to push a van at a petrol station. We decided to set up the rest point first. Rauf’s car also arrived. He was assigned to drop off Zuraimi and Izarina who are road-marshalls at Fort Road. So, his arrival meant that the last group has left Fort Road which means they are arriving at the rest point soon. I discussed with Rauf and Ahmad about the fuel problem. We decided to just go to the petrol station and if we get stranded, we will request help from the lorry guys to push the van. As we moved off, the first group just arrived. Alhamdulillah, at the petrol station, the uncle allowed the engine to run while refuelling after I explained the problem. How many times have you refuelled while the engine was running? I even asked if I could get crocodile clips in case the van dies again. It wasn’t worth it, he says, if we are just using the van for this night. Bought batteries for the walkie-talkie. Went back to the rest point and everyone was there. Haekal and Fairus were replacing bikes. Syafie helped to repair some of the bikes. The Progs Team were giving out the food and drinks. We decided to do away with water dispensers cos we had too much drinks sponsored. There was a briefing for the facis which was followed by a briefing for the Cen Com by Haikal. Apparently, there were some safety issues. It kinda killed the mood. I wasn’t there to see so I couldn’t judge for myself. Alhamdulillah no one was hurt, that was of utmost importance. Luck was not on our side, Allah is. Alhamdulillah our do’a terkabul. The hardest part was over. So, if we keep up the safety, InsyaAllah everything will be fine. Haekal was abit annoyed cos the facis were chatty and didn’t settle down for the briefing. He had to shout to silence them. Don’t take offence people, cos really, it was a serious thing and Haikal was like waiting there for people to keep quiet. So, Haekal decided to take action. Don’t get confused with ‘Haekal’ and ‘Haikal’. He knows when to get serious, trust me. So the Cen Com took it positively and we moved on.

Around 1am, everyone moved off to Esplanade. The midpoint is War Memorial, somewhere there where there is an open area for games to be conducted. The Unsung Heroes Contingent packed up and made our way there. On my way there, I realised I didn’t have my camera with me. Oh darn, I was stressed for a moment and then I pasrah. Hopefully it was in the room back in the masjid. Everyone was concerned and I told them not to worry and stress about me cos I wasn’t worried and stressed. My own carelessness... worrying and stressing won’t change anything. Explains my lack of pictures for this event... Reached Connaught Drive, the nearest place to park the vehicles. We had to change our midpoint cos of the Chingay contraptions at Esplanade Park. It was a blessing in disguise cos apparently, there was a crime scene there... so, Alhamdulillah. Khairi called me and it became apparent that the gang in Cassim’s car went back to Kallang Riverside Park to look for my camera. I was sincerely touched. But I told them not to worry cos I’m fine. Their action turned out to be a blessing in disguise too cos there were 2 bicycles there that we forgot to pick up. They were the faulty ones that needed replacing.
Everyone arrived and we had games. Due to the lack of time, we had to cut short the games. We planned for 3 games but we ended up doing 1.5 games. The Cheering was meant to be part of a Mascot Game. They played Text Twist also. It seemed everyone was enjoying themselves, which is important. They had very interesting cheers :
1) Captain Planet Group: “Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Heart. Go Planet!” (someone jumps from inside the circle)
2) Transformers: Ehwah Bulan Cheer. “Te-rans-form” it’s a 3-syllable word, mind you.
3) Tom & Jerry Group: The MGM lion... Haha, that was cute. And Hanan and Irah chase like cat and mouse
4) Popeye group: “Assalamu’alaikum, Kum apa? Combat! Bat apa? Batman! Man apa? Mentel! Tel apa? Telephone! Phone apa? Pondan! Dan apa? Dancing! Cing apa? Singapore! Pore apa? Popeye!” that was classic! Haha I wanted this group to win.
5) Looney Tunes: They hummed the famous tune... and “Beep beep” Azhar. They had to re-do their cheer cos abit confused but funny nonetheless.
6) Scooby Doo team: “Dooby do, Dooby do” Melodious... except when Hazirah said “Nyanyi ah!” Haha. Fadli was supposed to sing solo.
7) Casper team: “Ooo.... Ah... Ooo La La...” Transition from ghost to cheer... nice.
8) Animaniacs: There was this fit guy leading the cheer. He can be a great faci. It was fine except they forgot the tagline: “Helloooo Nurse!”
9) Flinstones Team: Short and Sweet. Really short... not so sure about the sweet part actually. Haha, good effort nonetheless.
10) Smurfs: The unforgettable gelek by this guy named “shy”. Winning Team.

It was fun. Making noise at 2am in the morning. Our loudhailer was quite loud. Could hear them from Connaught Drive. After the activities, they set off for the end point. The Unsung Heroes Contingent separated. The van went back to MKS to collect the Milo and our stuff from the room. While the lorry and car followed the cycling body. I was in the van and with the help from Ustaz and Pak Basir, we managed to transfer stuff without much hassle. We went back to East Coast and by that time, the fatigue can be seen as people nod off in the van. There was a sulphur dioxide build-up in the van due to the faulty battery... recoginsed the smell from my mech days. Had problem finding a suitable place for the end point cos the bike area had 2 bars which will not be conducive for solat Subuh. We went around for quite a while and finally jsut decided on a grass patch near the carpark after the bike shop. Carpark C-4 if I can recall. Sorry to everyone for setting up late. Everyone reached and they they separated into 2 groups to take turns to solat. The marketing gals along with Syamim went to collect the breakfast from Afghanistan (the one at Tampines, not Middle East). Ahmad was really tired. I salute him for his perserverance.

The nasi lemak with chicken was great. Alhamdulillah. After breakfast, everyone send their bikes back to the shop. I went back to MKS with Hakim, Haekal and Fairus to load up the bicycles from the masjid. Me and Hakim stayed behind cos the lorry had to make 2 trips. Apa lagi, tido ah. It was coming to 9am. Nampak sah lambat for madrasah. Khairi called and I said I’ll be going to pergas in the state that I am. Without books and baju kurung but with laptop and greasy jeans. I told her we would be late but she didn’t want to go alone. Sharing a cab is better anyway. After loading up the final bikes, we reached the shop around 9:30am. Without much thinking, I handed over the money and receipts to Aizat, salam every guy and said goodbye to everyone. There were some missing and defective items. Can’t be helped. Went to Pergas with Khairi and reached around 10am. The fare was only $8.80. We were late for the first lesson but my principle is, 30 minutes of learning is still learning. I dozed off alot during class and could barely understand or remember what I was writing. I even slept with my head on the wall and woke up when I heard someone said “night cycling”. The ustaz was looking at me... Haha, rabz ah. So that concludes the experience... Alhamdulillah everything turned out fine and the weather was good. Generally everyone was happy from the event. Alhamdulillah.

P.S. I’m ugly when I sleep in the bus when I’m super tired.

Interesting quote for the day:
"Verily in all difficulty, there is relief" (Al-Insyirah:5)