I watched the 10 pm news on Chn 8.
In the interview, Goh says during the trip, he realized that "the moon outside is more round", but he urged the oversea Singaporeans to return and serve the country. Not surprisingly, i read the article in ST and nowhere to be found Goh's remarks was mentioned. Not sure whether this was cited in Zaobao.
Aug 2, 2010
Travelling the world - on a motorbike
By Jennani Durai
Mr Goh Mia Chun and his wife, Ms Samantha Pan, set out on Jan 1, 2008 to travel the world on a motorbike and finally returned yesterday to their home in Clementi, marking the end of their 21/2 year journey through almost 40 countries across six continents. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
THE quiet of a Clementi Avenue 2 neighbourhood was shattered yesterday by the blaring horns of 30 motorcycles and cars.
Cheering riders and drivers were welcoming home Mr Goh Mia Chun, 32, and his wife Samantha Pan, 28, who have spent the past 21/2 years travelling round the world on a motorcycle.
The intrepid pair had quit their jobs and left Singapore on Jan 1, 2008, on a journey to almost 40 countries across six continents. Mr Goh said: 'I only had a general plan for the route we were going to take. The rest, we just made up along the way.'
They took only three plane rides and a couple of boats. The rest of the way was by their mechanical steed, a second-hand Honda Africa Twin. This 700cc model, the choice for long, tough trips, is famed for past successes on the arduous Paris-Dakar rallies.
From Singapore, they rode through most of Asia and Europe; they then went through Africa and boarded a boat with their bike, bound for South America.
From South America, they headed north to the United States and Canada, and then took a flight to Australia, where they rode across its vast expanse, before finishing up on the Indonesian archipelago and coming home.
Mr Goh, a former landscape architect, had been planning the trip since 2001, when he read the book, A Tankful Of Time, by Michael P. Fong, a Singaporean who had taken a motorcycle trip to West Africa with his wife.
Mr Goh dreamed about making such a trip and talked about it with the woman who was to be his wife. Ms Pan said: 'When he first mentioned the idea, I told him he was crazy. I was worried about safety and also about leaving our jobs and getting new ones when we got back.'
But he won her over by taking her on short bike rides to Thailand and showing her adventure movies and books.
Their trip did not lack harrowing moments. In Timor Leste, for example, they took 10 hours to cover a remote 80km stretch of rocks and m&d. They had not thought the distance a problem, so they did not pack food for that leg; when it took much longer than expected, hunger set in. 'I thought we might die,' he said.
They also had two brushes with crime. In Ecuador, he chased down the man who had stolen his wife's cellphone, screaming Hokkien expletives at him until the thief dropped the phone and fled; in Colombia, armed robbers closed in on his wife, but decided at the last minute to go for an old man instead.
The motorcycle also gave its fair share of problems. The machine they were to have gone on was stolen in Johor two months before the trip, so they had to scrabble enough funds to buy the
second-hand one they eventually used.
It stalled a few times, sometimes stranding them in one place for weeks. They had its engine replaced in Texas and continued on their journey.
When asked how much their adventure had cost, Mr Goh said he had not totted up the numbers yet, but reckoned it to be the same as a university education.
He added that they had lived frugally, and enjoyed the hospitality of people who welcomed them to stay with them or gave them food or money.
'There are places like Pakistan where I thought people may be dangerous, but when we got to know the locals, we realised the world is full of nice people. Pakistan was one of our favourite places on the trip. The whole village knew us by the time we left,' he said.
But still, the pair said, it is good to be home. 'We want to come back here to share what we've experienced, to contribute to Singapore,' said Mr Goh.
He said of the unforgettable trip: 'I imagine it's something we'll still be talking about years from now, when we're old and spending the whole day in rocking chairs.'
In the interview, Goh says during the trip, he realized that "the moon outside is more round", but he urged the oversea Singaporeans to return and serve the country. Not surprisingly, i read the article in ST and nowhere to be found Goh's remarks was mentioned. Not sure whether this was cited in Zaobao.
Aug 2, 2010
Travelling the world - on a motorbike
By Jennani Durai
Mr Goh Mia Chun and his wife, Ms Samantha Pan, set out on Jan 1, 2008 to travel the world on a motorbike and finally returned yesterday to their home in Clementi, marking the end of their 21/2 year journey through almost 40 countries across six continents. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
THE quiet of a Clementi Avenue 2 neighbourhood was shattered yesterday by the blaring horns of 30 motorcycles and cars.
Cheering riders and drivers were welcoming home Mr Goh Mia Chun, 32, and his wife Samantha Pan, 28, who have spent the past 21/2 years travelling round the world on a motorcycle.
The intrepid pair had quit their jobs and left Singapore on Jan 1, 2008, on a journey to almost 40 countries across six continents. Mr Goh said: 'I only had a general plan for the route we were going to take. The rest, we just made up along the way.'
They took only three plane rides and a couple of boats. The rest of the way was by their mechanical steed, a second-hand Honda Africa Twin. This 700cc model, the choice for long, tough trips, is famed for past successes on the arduous Paris-Dakar rallies.
From Singapore, they rode through most of Asia and Europe; they then went through Africa and boarded a boat with their bike, bound for South America.
From South America, they headed north to the United States and Canada, and then took a flight to Australia, where they rode across its vast expanse, before finishing up on the Indonesian archipelago and coming home.
Mr Goh, a former landscape architect, had been planning the trip since 2001, when he read the book, A Tankful Of Time, by Michael P. Fong, a Singaporean who had taken a motorcycle trip to West Africa with his wife.
Mr Goh dreamed about making such a trip and talked about it with the woman who was to be his wife. Ms Pan said: 'When he first mentioned the idea, I told him he was crazy. I was worried about safety and also about leaving our jobs and getting new ones when we got back.'
But he won her over by taking her on short bike rides to Thailand and showing her adventure movies and books.
Their trip did not lack harrowing moments. In Timor Leste, for example, they took 10 hours to cover a remote 80km stretch of rocks and m&d. They had not thought the distance a problem, so they did not pack food for that leg; when it took much longer than expected, hunger set in. 'I thought we might die,' he said.
They also had two brushes with crime. In Ecuador, he chased down the man who had stolen his wife's cellphone, screaming Hokkien expletives at him until the thief dropped the phone and fled; in Colombia, armed robbers closed in on his wife, but decided at the last minute to go for an old man instead.
The motorcycle also gave its fair share of problems. The machine they were to have gone on was stolen in Johor two months before the trip, so they had to scrabble enough funds to buy the
second-hand one they eventually used.
It stalled a few times, sometimes stranding them in one place for weeks. They had its engine replaced in Texas and continued on their journey.
When asked how much their adventure had cost, Mr Goh said he had not totted up the numbers yet, but reckoned it to be the same as a university education.
He added that they had lived frugally, and enjoyed the hospitality of people who welcomed them to stay with them or gave them food or money.
'There are places like Pakistan where I thought people may be dangerous, but when we got to know the locals, we realised the world is full of nice people. Pakistan was one of our favourite places on the trip. The whole village knew us by the time we left,' he said.
But still, the pair said, it is good to be home. 'We want to come back here to share what we've experienced, to contribute to Singapore,' said Mr Goh.
He said of the unforgettable trip: 'I imagine it's something we'll still be talking about years from now, when we're old and spending the whole day in rocking chairs.'
