Check out the new website - Viktor Predan | Bicycle Touring Sweden to Singapore

Check out the new website:

Viktor Predan | Bicycle Touring Sweden to Singapore
http://swedentosingapore.wordpress.com

All the best,
Viktor Predan

Thanks

Just wanted to write a post to thank people who have sent me books and magazines after I have been arriving to Sweden.

The first thank you goes to Bastian Döhling and his team at interesting.org who sent me "The Idea Book".

It is a truly inspiring book which stimulates creativity within all of us. Please check the website www.inspiring.org.

The second thank you is to Amresh who sent me the last edition of the NewMan magazine in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in which they wrote a big article about me and my adventure.

Please check the website: NewMan Magazine.

A short update:

I am back in Sweden, currently studying a course in engineering, and everything is fine. It has been great and tough coming back. Great to see home and family and friends, and tough because many of the things I do here in Gothenburg are not as funny as cycling. When cycling, new things happen every day, and looking back at it, it was a truly amazing time. However, now new challenges arrive I am ready to face them.

Thanks for having followed my blog!

Presentations and other stuff in Singapore!

I write this from the airport in Kuala Lumpur. I arrived here from Singapore today and will catch a flight to Shanghai in about 8 hours. I have no idea why I am here already. I didnt want to pay for a night at hostel, but now I have to suffer for that. The floor is haaaard. In Shanghai I will stay a month, learn mandarin and do other stuff. That will be a good transition between my trip and school back home.

Last week in Singapore was characterized by a lot of presentations for different companies, like Maersk, Google, Ericsson, AstraZeneca, Nordea, Statoil. It was hectic and great. I met a lot of interesting people.

Martin, my fresh-caught Swedish friend in Singapore, bought my bicycle for my emotional value. That was a great addition to the funds. Thanks a lot Martin. It saved me the hassle of shipping it home. He promised he will take care of her! It was a liiiittle sad to get rid of it.

Lunch at a local place with bankers from Nordea.

I asked myself: "If I could choose one company, whichever, that I could make my presentation for, which one would it be?". I thought Google. So after a lot of phone calls and hassle I managed to find an e-mail-address of someone working at the Google office in Singapore and we arranged a presentation. It was funny, there were people from the office in San Fransisco joining in on the video conference. Before the presentation we did a round the table, and everyone said their name and were they came from. I forgot about the guys in the video conference, which they reminded me of just when I had started my presentation: "Heeey, I think you forgot someone here". That was very funny.

OK, with the Google logo in the background.

Haha, the European Chamber of Commerce invited me to speak at a networking night at Singapore Cricket Club. I had no idea it was a fancy event so I arrived with t-shirt, shorts and shoes full of holes. They said "Excuse me, I dont think you are appropriately dressed". "Oh", I said. "But I am going to speak here. Can you please bring me the organizer down?". She came and they offered me to lend a pair of jeans and a jacket. I said "No... I am not gonna do this. If I will speak for 200 nicely dressed guests I dont want to look like an idiot :)" and went back to my hostel. But just after arriving I thought, "Ah, in my presentations I talk about the importance of getting out of the comfort zone. Then I have to practise it also". Haha, so I went back to the cricket club and said "Ok, I do it".

From IKEA I got vouchers to eat at their restaurant so I had Köttbullar (meatballs) and Lussekatt. Lussekatt was the only name given for that bun so when I ordered I said "One lussekatt please". Hehe, they didnt understand first - I must have had the wrong pronounciation :)

Yes, I was taken to a couple of fancy bars and had Guinness. I love Guinness.

It was a little sad to leave Singapore. The bus to Kuala Lumpur almost went the same way as I came on the bicycle. I miss the life on bicycle quite a lot. Anyway, now hopefully a great month in Shanghai awaits before arriving to Sweden in middle March. I dont know if Blogger and Blogspot is blocked in China. Probably. So I dont know how I will update my blog then. We'll see. Thanks for reading.

Viktor

I arrived to Singapore!!

So I finally arrived to Singapore. Totally fantastic of course. It is amazing to reach a goal you have been working for so long. Here in Singapore the pace hace been kept up through holding presentations about the trip for different organizations. In fact, the last week has been totally amazing. Feels like a good reward after the sometimes tough cycling.


I was waiting and waiting to see the first sign of Singapore. That never happened. In Malaysia, "Woodlands", a district in Singapore, was the only sign that appeared. Small disappointment.

Here is at the border point in Johor Bahru, the last point in Malaysia.

And here I cross the bridge from Malaysia to Singapore. That was cooool.

Singapore is expensive. A looot more expensive than countries like, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia. So I have gone back to the baked beans for lunch or dinner as always European and other expensive countries. Not that I have missed them but... dont taste that bad.

This is the National Library which I live very close to. It is sooo fancy. Cant believe the facilities are for free. I always sit in this "Study Lounge" on the 5th floor and use the wifi. Here is were I am acutally writing this at the moment.

I met a professor in psychology to discuss the psychology behind cycling. He was cycling quite a lot too so that was really interesting.

A new found friend took me to a very fancy bar in Singapore. And it was totally amazing - he knew the owner of the place so I sat at the VIP-table and could order whatever I wanted for free the whole night. Talk about contrasts.

And the Swedish football team and Champions, AIK, was in Singapore at a training camp. So they came to this restaurant/bar also. It was really funny, they wanted to take pictures with me before I even asked to take pictures with them. This is captain Daniel Tjernstrom.

And here Dulee Johnson. Haha, he bought me drinks even though I had access to the VIP-table. That was a great night.

My friend Martin playing clarinet at a restaurant

Here is were I am staying. It almost feels like sleeping outside since the room only have three walls. That's fine.

During this week I have kept myself very busy with talking about my trip for different organizations, like universities and companies. Here is at TetraPak.


The audience.

And here is after holding my presentation for the two IKEA-warehouses here in Singapore. That was great fun. IKEA is something special. The founder Ingvar Kamprad is a man I really look up to. I could integrate a lot of his thoughts in my presentation.

So I will be here in Singapore for a week more or whatever and visit some other companies, the Swedish Church etc. Then I will start the journey back, and probably stop at HongKong or Shanghai. I have not really figured it out.

Thanks for reading.

The final route can be seen here:
By pressing here you can make a comment.

My time in Malaysia. It is soon over. 199km to Singapore.

So, here is a summary from my time so far in Malaysia. Now I have only 200km to Singapore, that is two days. I think I will reach on Wednesday. When the cycling is tough it feels great that it is so few days left, but like today, when the cycling is so nice, it feels really sad. I will miss everything of course.

The cycling in Malaysia has been great. Couchsurfing was availiable again, and people speak English (unlike in Thailand). I will also show some pictures from one of the best things during the whole journey - my presentation at Ericsson.

Cute little one.

People in Malaysia always shout "Welcome to Malaysia" on the roads.

Nooo, one spoke got snapped again. Same problem that made me not being able to continue with the bicycle in India. However here I had an extra spoke and the Thai bike mechanics know their stuff. So much smaller deal than in thought.

Couchsurfers designer home.

Beautiful Taiping Lake.

Funny story connected to this one: I asked this man to take a picture of me. He then asked me where I started my journey from. I said Sweden. He asked: "How long did it take you to reach here?". I said around six and a half month. He then said: "Oooooh, so you're going very slowly".

OK, I will watch better how I park my bicycle next time.

Oh my god. The day before I just reached the place to stay one minute before a huuuge rain started. I was very nervous when I saw this coming closer. But somehow I managed to keep it behind me for the last 20km and it started just when I reached the place to stay again.

In Kuala Lumpur I held a presentation for Ericsson. My first presentation for a company.

Jan Signell, President of Ericsson South East Asia, held an opening speech, talking about the core values of Ericsson and sustainability.

Then it was time for my presentation. The audience consisted of the team of Ericsson South East Asia, customers and media.

I showed pictures and told stories from my journey. I also shared my reflections in goal setting, the importance of taking the step, identifying critical steps, overcoming setbacks and pushing the limits.

My presentation was then tied together with the three core values in Ericsson: Respect, Perseverance and Professionalism.

Signell thanks me and gives me the latest Sony Ericsson mobile phone. Woow, I got so happy.

After the session, media had time for asking questions and make interviews. I appeared in a couple of articles and a report in newspapers and a lifestyle magazine.

The same day but during the evening I met with a cycling magazine in Kuala Lumpur. They introduced me to Velomad, a couple who has been travelling the world on bicycle for four years and plan for another four. One part is the lady in yellow shirt and the husband couldnt participate at the dinner.

Passing by close to the Sepang F1-circuit outside Kuala Lumpur. OK, I like F1.

In Melaka I stayed with Anna and her family, who had lived in Sweden for some years. She made me Swedish meatballs from IKEA!

Anna also introduced me to the cycling community in Melaka. Here a dinner at her place.

They laugh at my bicycle. They couldnt believe I went from Sweden with that 550 Euro bicycle. It was crap for them. One of them had a bicycle as expensive as 4000 Euro. Insane.

Buddy by the road.

So when I get to Singapore I plan to stay there for slightly more than a week. Last days I have been busy fixing my schedule. I will meet a lot of interesting people, companies and a university.

The plans after Singapore has long been unsteady. However, it would feel very stupid to go 7 months to Singapore and then fly back 1 day. It would be very tough mentally to come back to Sweden even though I miss a lot from home - mostly people. But recent updates from family says it is very cold and snow. Noo, I will stay away until April. I will most probably go by bus/train to Kazakhstan and study Russian there for at least one month. Not that it is much warmer there, but at least the journey home will not be that fast. Well, I will have reason to come back to this issue, because I dont exactly know what will happen.

Now 2 days more and then the goal is reached. Let's see how it feels when I get there. Probably a mix. Happy to have reached the goal. Sad that it is over. I get back to that one too...´

You can leave a comment to the post here.


Viktor Predan

Yes, Thailand!

Thailand! Everything is sooo much easier here. So much more adapted for tourists. But the days dont include as much action as in India and Bangladesh. On the good side, I have had a looot of tail wind and the road quality is great. I could make 1250km in 9 days. I wanted to rush down to Koh Tao and spend Christmas with my friend Mattias there. Well, pictures follow.

Oh, here I even have my own lane - a huge margin at the side of the road. It was so pretty when I saw that they gave a thought to the two wheelers. That was long time ago.

I added this picture because of the story it contains. I stopped at some small place at the side of the road, a little frustrated after having made a long stage. I asked for an ice coffee and they didnt understand. I thought "oh my god, how can they not understand the word "coffee"". It is almost the same in Thai also. So I repeated "COFFEE please". Didnt understand. By frustration I took off in hope to find another place. But I cycled and cycled and no other place. I was very tired and really wanted something cold to drink. Then this truck driver stopped me and handed over a plastic bag...

...with this note and two ice coffee. It was from one of the customers at the place who heared me order a coffee. On the note it says: "I Mr. Phaiboon. I was see you looking for coffie 10 minit ago. I was sorry some one didnt know but I ask someone. I buy it for you. Good luck..." Sometimes people are very nice.

This is one of the funniest nights. I dont know, met these Thai people in some small town. They were also cyclists. We just connected and joked the whole night. But is it very hard to find Thai people who speaks English in non-touristic places.

Strange vehicles.

Field worker!

Noooooo! My first puncture. I really thought I would make it to Singapore without puncture. And it happens on a perfect road in Thailand. Anyway, I was very lucky, it happened just outside a repair shop for bicycles. Still I have never in my life repaired a puncture.

Cheer up?

Bastard. Sometimes you see elephants walking around on the streets. I still have no idea why they are there. Tried to find out but couldnt find anyone speaking English.

I thought I had seen the last packed vehicle when I left India and Bangladesh but they are really packed sometimes here also.

Oh, this picture is only here to symbolize when I was cycling with stomach illness. It was so horrible. I think it was the breakfast. I had saved some rice from the day before and bought some yoghurts which were stored in my hot room during the night. I had a mix of them both for breakfast. However, a couple of hours later my stomach started to get bad when I was cycling. Oh my god, I felt so bad and had to empty myself all the time. However, I wanted to reach my goal of the day. Sometimes I couldnt ride because I felt too bad and the place on the picture is where I lied down for a couple of hours. I finished my 120 odd kilometers, but when I reached the guesthouse of the night I could barely move. 0 energy. I feel asleep with all my cloths on and slept for more than 12 hours.

Hehe, I met an old Thai lady. She said she would like to marry a foreigner because she thought that foreigners "work, and after work they enjoy". Thai people "enjoy and work at the same time". The next day I understood what she was talking about. Some officials drinking away daytime.

I met my friend Mattias from Chalmers and Madrid at Koh Tao. Spent 3 days and Christmas there. Really good days. Just relaxing. Very different to what I have been doing.

I am such an artist! And almost as tall as Mattias when I stand on a stone.

Many and many hours were spent like that. At the sea shore with a couple of beers and just talking and talking about everything.

Chang.

Fireshows as always on the Thai islands.

And that's it. Now I am cycling alone again after the days on Koh Tao, and I thought it was gonna be tough to come back on the bicycle but it is actually quite nice. Cycle for two more days and then make a short break for New Years! Malaysia is only 300km away and Singapore 800km more, so it is really getting closer. In Malaysia there are a lot more couchsurfers than in Thailand which I am really looking forward to cause it can get a bit lonely stopping at all those towns were nobody speaks English. That is it for now!

Viktor

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A map the route I have been taking can be found here