Kevin Wong - Fine Tuning Bikes and, Life

Credits to Kevin Wong, training at Javelin

What do you do when life throws you a challenge?

For Kevin Wong, he'll throw back a strong fighting attitude and own that piece of feat.

One of Singapore Disability Sports Council's prominent athlete, Kevin is a professional motorcycle mechanic by day at Race Werks Motorsports, and trains hard in Archery by night for Team Singapore that takes part in the annual Asean Para Games.

Kevin setting up for his Archery training

Life is never always smooth sailing as we all encounter different mountain of challenges at different stages in our lives, and every scar tells a story. Often, scars that cannot be seen are the most painful, but the courageous one will take a step forward to overcome that tribulation.

Kevin working on Race Werks KTM RC390

It was a quiet weekday where I was privileged to spend some time with Kevin, learning about his very own story. 

Tall, well built and masculine, I felt a little intimidated when I first caught a glimpse of Kevin when I walked into Race Werks.

"Hiiii, Kevin?"

He looked up at me with a warm smile and instantly, I didn't feel that intimidated anymore.

"Hi Vaune" he said, as he took his eyes off the KTM RC390 engine he was working on for a while, and we begin to.. talk about bikes. Haha that's what bikers talk about first, isn't it?

Barely only a few minutes into our conversation, I could already sense his noticeable passion for bikes.  I grabbed a stool and sat next to him as he continued to work on the engine. Though seemingly a little reserved at the start, he gradually opened up. 

Some years ago, on a random night, Kevin and his biker friends decided to spontaneously ride up to Malaysia for some late night supper. With their super bikes ready and passports in their pockets, off they went.

Kevin's Kawasaki 636

Cruising along the North South Highway, with nothing but the winds and sound of their roaring engines, Kevin was enjoying every moment on his Kawasaki Ninja 636.

Until the unexpected happened.

Credits to amgico

Another biker had his throttle on full, coming up from the back at a speed faster than you'd ever imagine. It was dark at night and by the time he noticed Kevin, it was too late. He smashed right into Kevin's rear, sending him flying forward.

Credits to tribuneindia

Blood was everywhere.
The enormous impact caused Kevin's right leg to detach on the spot, as they found it almost 100 metres away from where he laid, unconscious.

Credits to daildosemd

Kevin was immediately rushed back to Singapore,  where doctors urgently stopped the excessive bleeding and started the amputation on his leg at National University Hospital.

Life onwards?

Needless to say, it was tougher than any ordinary human would know.
Furthermore, for Kevin who loved sports so much, to lose a leg was.. like not living at all.

Depression can drive a person to his deathbed. It's a dangerous psychological condition, a medical illness that affects a person's thoughts, feelings and behavior that could lead to insomnia, irregular eating habits resulting in health issues, causing the sufferer to be even more depressed.

Sadly, Depression often leads to suicide.

It was a deadly cycle that Kevin was fighting to get out of for years.

It's easy to say life goes on, it's another to live it.

Handsome lehh

"Family", he said.

With the unconditional love and support from Kevin's family, he pulled himself out of Depression and decided to do so much more in life than he ever did before his accident.

Today, Kevin specializes in dyno tuning and customizing Öhlins suspensions for super bikes at Race Werks Motorsports. His passion for bikes grew intensely as he has gone onto testing exotics bikes like Vyrus, Bimota Testi 3D, Norton and many more.

I'm totally not jealous at all?

Kevin jokes a lot, greeting people with a big smile. It was hard to imagine this man who always has this sparkle in his eye, was once so caught up in depression.

Credits to Kevin Wong

Not only does he excel in his day job, Team Singapore is proud to have him as an outstanding national athlete in Archery.

Credits to Kevin Wong, his glorious wins!

Training at least twice a week or more with the Asean Para Games coming up, Kevin is a disciplined athlete but will always make time for family and friends.

And I'm thankful he has made time for me! Even allowing me to follow him to where he and his team mates train at Queensway stadium.

Kevin and his archery team

You could see how focused they are when they're training but the minute they're off their bow and arrows, they laugh, joke around and I could just feel this sense of energy in them that drives them.
That alone, is inspiring.

I quietly watched Kevin train..

And tried to mimick but erm, quite fail. I didn't even have the strength to pull the string all the way. Hahaha #Itried.

Once a biker, always a biker.

It is always inspiring to see how Passion, Courage, Perseverance and Determination ignite Life in a person all over again and again.

Kevin is one of the athletes of the Singapore Disability Sports Council whom which I will be raising funds and awareness for with my upcoming long ride #BeyondEverest. You may donate directly to them here.

Set that target, soar towards it and fearlessly achieve it because no one or anything can take that drive away from you. Don't hold yourself back from whatever that makes you feel alive.

Electric Blues by Shunji Matsuo Hair Visual

I've changed my ombre hair color so many times, friends have lost count and some don't even remember what color I previously had.

For the benefit of those who forgot what my previous color was, it was GREEN.
 
So one day, some friends and I decided to do a picnic! We got to a park, had some homemade sandwiches and just lay down on the grass, staring into space. My girlfriend stood up to get some lemonade, only to hear me scream as she accidentally stepped on my hair.

Zzzz.

Credits to 123rf

Reason? She couldn't tell the difference between my hair and the grass around me.
What a good excuse to change my hair color right.

Deciding on my hair color

So this time, much thanks to Shunji Matsuo Hair Visual, time to electrify some blue in my hair! Using only the highest quality products and technology and featuring premium salon products from L’oreal, Shiseido, Arimin etc, I know my hair won't dry off despite coloring again.

Joey working her magic

My hair ends were extremely dry, any more bleaching would just break all of them.
Base on the expertise of my stylist, Joey, she decided to skip the bleach and go over my existing green with the blue dye.

Finishing off with premium L'Oreal hair treatment accompanied by Shunji Matsuo's Nano Steam Technology that effectively helps the treatment to penetrate deep into hair roots, guaranteeing a moisturizing effect. Not only are my colors locked in, but my damaged and dry roots are repaired too!

What color do you get when you mix green and blue?
CYAN. Or, turquoise.

Thankfully with Joey's skills, a warm ash brown overall blended nicely with a dark electric blue ombre was achieved and yes, I'm happy to take this hair color through my month long ride to Tibet!

No more blues with this electrifying blue ombre!
Thank you Shunji Matsuo.

ICON * Shunji Matsuo Hair Visual
100AM Mall
100 Tras Street #04-01
Singapore 079027
Tel: 6604 7255

Sawadeeka! Let's Ride from Singapore - Thailand

Sawadeeka!

It was my first time riding from Singapore to Thailand straight up on my little black lamb, the Suzuki DR200SE.

I can already here some of you say,

"Wah, xiong"
"She's gonna reach there with no more butt"
"It's gonna be a longggg and slow ride"

Well, you're almost right if you said that!

Covering close to 1,000KM
Over 14 hours of riding non-stop
Across two borders (Malaysia, Thailand)

  
Day 1, 11:00PM - Singapore Woodlands Customs

Jam at Singapore Woodlands Customs Checkpoint

It was the eve of Public Holiday, Labour Day. EMBRACE THE JAM!!
I expected some traffic build up at the customs but, man, this is quite bad. I can't.. even.. see the end of it. But there's no turning back, literally. So let's just, roll through slowly.

Day 2, 6:05am

Dawn breaking

Setting off at 11:00PM, we rode through the night, from dusk till dawn. Cruising at an average speed of only 95km/h, the North South Highway was more monotonous than ever. When fatigue crept in, it was tough fighting the temptation of dozing off while riding.

Credits to gettyimages

I tried slapping my legs, hitting my helmet, pinching my arms, shake like I was dancing in the club, but to no avail. I STILL felt like dozing off. Uhh~

When I get off my bike at petrol stops for refuel, I'm fine. But the minute I get on and start cruising at that tortise speed, every fight-the-fatigue process repeats again. Ahh!

Taking a moment to watch dawn break

We passed Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, as we got closer to the end of Malaysia, and nearing the south of Thailand. As the sky started to lit up, so did my fatigue gradually fade away. Its like the "tired moment" has passed. It was so refreshingly beautiful just looking at the sun rise slowly, with its light touching everything around as we continued riding.


11:40am

One word - SHAG

Now the sun was starting to heat things up and my tiredness is back with a bang. I was doubly tired I could fall asleep while standing.

Credits to wikimedia

As we were nearing Sadao border, I got hit in the rear by a motorbike at the cross junction, sending me diving to the ground as my left leg got caught under the bike. Luckily for my gears, I got away with just a swollen knee cap and a bruise.

Ok, it's the biggest bruise I had in my life.

Wait a minute, doesn't it look like a shape of my route from Singapore to Hat Yai?
ITS A SIGN!! Ngawww! Hahaha Nothing is gonna stop meee from getting my ass across to Thailandddd!!! So, on we go :)

It is mandatory to purchase a 3rd party insurance before you can enter Thailand with your vehicle, costs around 18RM. Plenty of insurance companies around, we picked the first one where we met many other bikers there too.


12:36pm - Sadao Border

EMBRACE THE JAM AGAIN!

You can feel the holiday mood in the air and it was beyond packed here. Every sqm left of tarmac road was filled with vehicles, we had to go off road to bypass the vehicle and human traffic jam. It was quite epic.

Crossing borders can be tricky, especially to clear customs for both you and your vehicle at different counters. Every country's custom and immigration can be different, so it's important to know what paperwork you need to avoid getting into any trouble.

By right, we have to park our bikes at one corner, carry our belongings and queue in person for at least 4 hours due to the jam at the customs.

By left, we paid 70RM to have all customs and immigration process done in 5 minutes. LOL.


1:16pm - HELLO Hat Yai, Thailand

Hello Thailand!

Finally,  barely any feeling left on my ass, with my wrist looking stuck in throttle position even after getting off the bike, I'm finally in THAILAND! Yayyy. Shag like don't know what.

Kantana Apartments

Hat Yai was about 50KM from Sadao Border, where I explored for the next 2 days. With most of the hotels fully booked due to the holiday season, I'm thankful that we found Kantana Apartments.

This western-style motel was simple, clean, had powerful aircon (a must), and most importantly it was safe for both us and our bikes. It was a steal at only 500baht a night.

Now, it's time to hit the sack.


Day 3 - Exploring Hat Yai and Songkhla

Well rested, we rode around Hat Yai, near Lee Garden Plaza Hotel (that's where downtown is). Traffic here is quite erratic, with kup kias (small 125cc bikes) coming out in any and every direction. Yes, even against traffic direction so gotta be extra careful.

It was great being on my Suzuki DR200 because it was small and comfortable trotting around at slow speed in Thailand's traffic.

Sleeping Buddha

We rode onto Songkhla and stumbled upon this huge Sleeping Buddha! It was so rich in Gold with the moon quietly sitting behind the Buddha.

Despite the hot weather here, I'm glad my RS Taichi Drymaster Jacket from Hodaka Motoworld was really light and airy with slits for ventilation yet I know I won't have to worry when it rains because it's waterproof too! 

Riding alongside the sunset, on the Songkhla bridge.

Heading back towards Hat Yai. Indeed, Thailand is a Land of Smiles. The locals here were laid back and friendly. Little children sitting at the back of trucks waving in excitement when we pass them by just warms my heart, as I smile to myself.

No high rise buildings, no city noise, everything here is slow paced and peaceful.

There is no bad food in Thailand. Only good, delicious and heavenly dope street foods! Dig in.

I'm drooling already, as the stall owner giggles at my greedy pig face.What better way to have a full satisfying meal before heading back to the motel to rest.


Day 4 , 7:00am - Hat Yai to Singapore

As our little weekend holiday approaches the end, it's time to head back home.

GIVI Bags strapped on firmly - Checked
HJC Rpha Helmet on - Checked
RS Taichi Drymaster Gloves on - Checked
Semi-iron Ass - CHECKEDDDD!!

Ready, let's go!

This time, there was barely anyone at the customs and the procedure was a breeze. How different from what it was just 2 days ago!

And it all begins again, 12 hours of riding straight..

Credits to Ismail

Cruising at 95km/h.. back to Singapore!

Hat Yai, you've been short and sweet! I'll be coming back for ya in June and I can't wait!
Sawadeeka!