Gee Hin Chan’s Minivelo Roadshow

Local bike shop and bike parts supplier extraordinaire Gee Hin Chan held a roadshow at their Waterloo location to officially release their newest minivelo models into the local Singaporean market.

There were three models out, but I didn’t pay any attention to the mixie (the minivelo fixie) because… well, I can’t cycle fix. LOL. This guy does though. Here he is doing trackstands.

Tokyobikes launched their minivelo model, the Tokyobike 20. Made from chromo-steel with a standard frame size of 45cm, it’s kitted out with Shimano 8speed cassette. It weighs around 11kg. Retails at S$875.

The other model available is the Gios Mignon, available in two frame sizes, 47 and 51. Also made from steel/chromo and kitted with 8 speeds. Retails at just under a thousand Singapore dollars.

Nice, but I don’t like the over branding.

Gee Hin Chan has a pretty big space. I think they occupy four stalls.

Ro tries out the Mignon.

So does Okky.

While both minivelos were nice, none of them really called out to me. I can’t remember which bike it was, but it didn’t have mounts for racks or fenders.

What I did like was this Bianchi Pista Sei Giorni. If I had to get myself a full sized bike, I’d want it to be lighter than my folding bikes, right? Too bad this one is a fix.

May Manila Randomness

Ten days after I returned from Cebu, I flew back to the Philippines — Manila this time — to attend a wedding at the beautiful Paco Park Chapel.

It was just a quick weekend jaunt. For the first time in over a year, I didn’t fly with a bike.

It didn’t matter though, as I had a Gogobike Vigor waiting for me back home. Truth be honest, it was the first time I really used this bike since I bought it. I originally bought the bike as a spare whenever I’m in the Philippines but I decided to bring it back to Singapore because of the CARRYME CURSE!

If you’re not familiar with Pacific Cycles’ CarryMe, well, it’s a single or dual speed folding bike which folds upright and rolls on 8″ tires. It’s solidly built considering its diminutive size and it rides pretty well. The smaller size chain links compensates for the smaller wheels so you’re not pedaling any harder than you would a regular wheeled bike.

It seems like everyone is into a CarryMe these days, while I’ve already sold mine! There’s even a Facebook group of local CarryMe enthusiasts.

In order to thwart myself from buying a Carryme again, I decided to just bring my own mini-foldie. With the Gogo at half the price and in a cute red color, my CarryMe envy has now subsided a bit.

The day after I arrived, Folding Bike Pilipinas had a night ride for kids at BGC. I met up earlier with my friend Lisa who rode the Tikit below. Look at small the 14″ wheels are against the Tikit’s 16″ ones!

Our ride was delayed by the rains. We spent some time just chilling out and talking and just waiting for the sky to dry up. By the time, the rain let up, we were raring to go! My sometimes boyfriend, six year old Jason, also uses the same bike as me.

We looped around the North Bonifacio area and eventually ended up having supper at Mercato Centrale food market.

The next day I met up with Lisa (again!) and Lawrence. We checked out Lifecycle in Greenhills and really liked the Trek Earl.

While we waited for Lawrence to arrive, we hung out at Krispy Kreme. Once again, the skies opened up and the rains poured. All the while, my little red Gogobike sat still in a quiet corner.

One of the reasons I wanted to see Lawrence was because I was picking up the folding bike shirts I ordered from him. He designed the shirt below: a Filipino wearing a barong and traditional hat; holding a Philippine flag, on a Brompton with a bayong. Originally sold in green, I also asked for prints in orange and bought a whole bunch to give to family and friends.

May is also fiesta season in the Philippines. Mandaluyong City had a bike race to start off their fiesta celebrations.

All CarryMe photos courtesy of Taiwoon.
All FBP Kiddie Night Ride at BGC photos courtesy of Roel Sy de Vera.

Cycling Negros Day 3: Chasing Dolphins in Bais

Fifty kilometers north of Dumaguete lies Bais City, a coastal town in Negros known mostly for sugar refinery and its protected reefs. One very VERY early morning, my friends and I took our bikes aboard a bus so we could check out the wild dolphins in Bais Bay. From the bus stop in town, we cycled towards the sunrise to Capiñahan Wharf (KAH-PIN-YAH-HAN) where the tour boat was waiting for us.

Much of the surrounding shoreline is dotted with mangroves. They are the source of the rich marine life in this area.

The Bais City Tourism official who handles these tours sucked. She added us to another tour group, and forgot to inform them of the time to meet. She told us we had to be in Bais by 6:30am — in fact, she called to make sure we were on the bus at 4:30 in the morning! — but the other group only got in at nearly 9. When we asked her to contact the other group — the tourism official simply disappeared!

Thus, we were at the pier waiting for over two hours before the rest of the people on our boat even showed up. Hungry, hot, annoyed, and cranky is not a good way to start the day! Even worse is the possibility that the dolphins wouldn’t even be there by the time we headed out to the water.

When the rest of the group showed up, my temper finally cooled off a bit. The boat chugged its way to the deeper part of the Tañon Strait, a protected marine sanctuary.

They say that the Tañon Strait hosts a lot of other wildlife besides dolphins. Sometimes even smaller species of whales are found here. The waters were pretty calm when we got to the middle of the bay…

And then… DOLPHINS!

These dolphins are wild! Don’t expect them do tricks for fish. Nonetheless, it was really amazing to see them in their natural habitat. When I was younger, I used to go to the southern part of the Philippines via a passenger ship instead of on a plane. Flying fish, small whales, and dolphins like these were a common sight. 🙂

Because the spotted dolphins were wild, our little boat had to go chase them around the open waters. Then they’d simply swim the other direction. What a tease! Hahaha.

Where did they go?

Oh they’re over there! Why are they so far away?

Hello baby!

After a long time chasing after dolphins, our boat docked at the Manjuyod sandbar where we stopped for lunch. At low tide, hundreds of feet the sandbar would be visible. When we got there, it was obviously NOT low tide. Pia takes a cooling dip.

After lunch, we headed back to the wharf and argued about the boat fee. I hate this part. I don’t wanna remember it anymore. I just wanna say that sometimes Philippine tourism sucks, ok? ESPECIALLY THAT MOTHEREFFING LADY WHO MANS THE BAIS TOURISM OFFICE. Seriously, when I think of her, a string of cuss words just plays through my mind.

Once on shore, we headed off to the historical La Planta hotel for drinks.

Waiting for the bus going back to Dumaguete City.

Sorry regular Ceres bus, we want airconditioning!