[d2] singapore

The Perak Hotel is home for two nights. A shophouse hotel in Singapore's Little India district, the Perak is around the corner from the extraordinary Masjid Abdul Gafoor mosque.

I reassemble the bike in the hotel laundry. Partly pulled down and boxed for the flight from Australia, it has arrived undamaged. The hotel will store the box for the next two weeks.

A sealed bike track runs through East Coast Park to near the Tanah Merah ferry terminal road. I meander indolently along the track — it's a weekday and few people are about. When the track peters out, I continue on Changi Coast Road, skirting the airport, and on to Changi Beach Park and Changi Point. It's easy riding, but hot and humid. Nasi lemak and fresh lemonade from a village stall at Changi Point fix the hunger pangs and the thirst.

On the way back to Little India, an afternoon storm brews over the South China Sea. I stop for a rest by the beach, moving on before the storm hits. Eventually, when it does, I shelter in a service station off Mountbatten Road. After the storm, the Perak is welcoming, and the bike goes back in the laundry.

July 16 | 65.2 kilometres | 4:03 | 16.1 km/h average