Palembang Day 4 - Palembang Brompton Ride by BOS Brompton Owners Sriwijaya

Good morning Palembang, we were told to meet up at Palembang Icon Mall for a Brompton Ride invitation at 6.00am.  A hot coffee at Indomaret nearby the Icon Mall was just perfect before the gathering.

We were the first to arrive and one by one the tiny wheels of Brommie started to appear including a police patrol car.

Some came in group and some came individually but for sure it was a big Brompton gathering.

One welfie with the polisi while waiting for the ride to start.

Meeting new friends and witnessing the power of Brompton owners in this region of this hemisphere.

One with the Head of BOGI - Brompton Owners Group Indonesia, Om Baron in sunglasses.

 There are so many Brompton Owners groups in Indonesia and they are simply awesome and are truly passionate with their hobbies. Even the custom officers at most check points are knowledgeable with Brompton folding bikes and are always inquisitive whenever these bikes pass through the scanners.

The impromptu Brompton Ride in Palembang began with the Police patrol taking the lead for a safe ride.

A beautiful Sunday morning with a good weather and it was always cooling in the morning at this time of  the year.

Yes, the checked man!

It was a short ride maybe around 10km starting from Palembang Icon Mall taking Jalan POM IX, Sumpah Pemuda, Angkatan 45, Demang Lebar Daun, Jend. Basuki Rachmat and finally Jalan AKBP Cek Agus before arriving at Siantar Men Restaurant.

Thank you BOS (Brompton Owners Sriwijaya) and BOGI (Brompton Owners Group Indonesia) for the invitation and the fabulous fellowship.

Drone was flown as the group was in a joyous mood for a photography session at the courtyard. The location of Siantar Men Restaurant is GPS : -2.955744, 104.769790

My capture of a portion of the group as we were grouping for a friendship photo taking.

The food was local and more pempek to savour. It was fabulous and a great experience to taste the variety of the famous local taste. One must taste it before you leave Palembang.

Without also forgetting other delicious food allocated for the taste buds and of course a sweet dessert to complete the meal (I forgot to take a picture of it).

Entertaining the guests with dangdut songs with a bit of dancing creating happy moment for everyone of us. There were several supporting Brommie riders singing along at the mikes.

One more at the photo prop at the courtyard.

All good things must to come to an end as everyone started to bade farewell and leave Siantar Men. Terima kasih once again to BOS - Brompton Owners Sriwijaya for a wonderful fellowship, til then we shall meet again. It was definitely an extra and memorable itinerary for this Palembang visit trip of ours.

The 4 Malaysians then cycled back to Demang from Siantar Men where we went off course a bit passing by through strange places and some kampong surrounding .

Moslim took a separate way back to his hotel while the 3 continued with further Palembang exploration.

Hitting into small and narrow lanes surrounded with homes of all kind and we got help from these kids to take us out of the maze.

Old houses, single storey and new houses clustered together without proper layout planning which probably resulted from the olden days orientation.

We were actually yearning for a cold iced Kacang Merah dessert.

Bumped into a wedding at one of the houses in this kampung.

And finally we were out of the kampung and found a kopitiam that serves es kacang campur.

Indonesion ice is "es" so this was the Es Campur we had in the kopitiam opposite a food court we wanted to go but it was yet to be opened (OTW Foodcourt). Tapai (fermented tapioca) was found as one of the ingredients in this es campur and it's rather strange for me to eat it in this way. A lovely coconut was also on my order list to quench my thirst on a hot day.

Pempek Panggang (BBQ Pempek) were placed on our table even though we did not order it. Pay only when you bite it. Looking good but we had so much of it during the Sriwijaya Brompton Onwers' treat.

And finally back to the hotel with my laundry waiting for me. For less than 2kg(min) it cost 24,000 rupiah (RM8.00) and I don't have to hand wash like I used to do it during most of my cycling trips.

The actual Brompton ride was around 10km, we covered 35km overall for the morning ride.

We met up with Moslim again later in the evening for a dinner hosted by him before he goes back on the following day. We decided to lepak at Benteng Kuto Besak before the dinner.

Benteng Kuto Besak is such a crowded place on a Sunday, you get to seeseveral improvisation of entertaining gadgets at the square. The Indons are really hard working people and trying to make a decent living in the vastly populated country.

One for the long history of Benteng Kuto Besak history.

We then followed Moslim to Restoran Sederhana at Jalan Jend. Basuki Rachmat No.1, Ario Kemuning. GPS : -2.959888, 104.739269 for a Nasi Padang treat.

Thank you Moslim for a sumptuous dinner and a delicious Nasi Padang treat indeed. We shall see you back home in Kuala Lumpur.

We were off course again into a dark scary stretch of pot holed road passing by a cemetery and then we heard loud Chinese music with people singing along. There were amplified announcement in Bahasa Indon which later we realised it was a wedding dinner ceremony in a Chinese Temple.

I guess it must be a wedding season after seeing so many wedding flowering notifications on this very Sunday. Eventually we found OYO Maleo 322 and a good night for everyone.