I rode down to Singapore on Thursday to attend the launching of Bike Asia 2008. I left Kuala Lumpur at 9am on a 2005 Aprilia Tuono. Pravin Menon from The Malay Mail accompanied me on his Suzuki DT800. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we rode so leisurely that we arrived at the Johor immigration checkpoint well after noon.
 Getting into Singapore was pretty straightforward. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive because I had a pretty colourful passport. In the past two or three years, I had travelled a few times to Pakistan and Indonesia on assignment. What was worse was that I also had an Afghanistan visa, and with my beard - I fit the profile of a terrorist pretty well. I half expected to be stripped down and body-searched.
 Pravin - who was dressed in all black body armour didn't help things much by appearing like a futuristic Tamil Tiger. I smiled at him weakly as I handed my passport to the Kiasu-looking officer sitting in his booth.
 Thankfully, the Singapore border guards were calm and were not trigger happy with their machine guns - and while we raised a few eyebrows - everything went smoothly, and we were soon heading at a steady 80km/h to the city centre.
 Ah.. Singapore. That wonderful city-state that is similar, yet so different from our own country.
 It's funny - all the plants on the side of the road are the same. The sky is the same colour, so is the stifling afternoon heat - and yet you can sense that something is just not right.
 For one - the police use Toyota Corollas and other Jap cars instead of Proton Wajas. Then there are the road signs - which are all written in a different font.
 Also, there is no trash on the side of the roads, nor smelly monsoon drains - which is a tell-tale sign that we had left Johor.
 In the 43 years since the island severed it's political ties with the mainland, the PAP led government introduced many regulations to make the lives of Singaporeans safer and better.
 Among the least favoured ones were the cameras littered all over the island to ensure people adhere to the speed limit.
 As we rode at a snails pace around the island enroute to our hotel, we watched in awe at people riding CBRs, Hayabusas and Ducatis at a responsible 90, 80 and 50 kph.
 If you have never driven on Singaporean roads, perhaps the best way to describe the feeling is by imagining perpetually taking a road test with a Road Transport Department officer looking over your shoulder, just waiting for you to make a mistake.
 You soon become paranoid, and with Big Brother peering over your shoulder, you start imagining all those SGD going down the drain.
 As if the speed limit wasn't enough - as we approached the city centre we had to avoid Electronic Road Pricing gantries - which are essentially tolled checkpoints to reduce congestion.
 If you passed through one without a special electronic pass - you would be liable to a fine. The gantries are operational at peak hours during the weekdays.
 We went in circles around the city for some time looking for our hotel, before finally reaching it at about 6pm.
 We rested, washed the road grime off our faces - then went down to the lobby where we took a cab to an Italian restaurant somewhere in the outskirts of city.
 There, we met fellow Malaysians Chris Wee and Faisal. After an Italian dinner, we were given a briefing by a group of mostly Italians. Their leader spoke loudly in Italian about the events that would be on tommorow while an American translated for our benefit in English.
 What was most interesting was that we would meet 73-year old Sophia Loren, who is some kind of brand ambassasodor for Italian products.
 The next morning, we were up by 7am. We took a cab to the expo centre. Due to the ERP, we couldn't ride there, because we didn't have the pass.
 It felt odd - going to a bike show in the back of a cab. But well, this is Singapore - and there are a lot of rules.
 But it was all worth it when we entered the exhibition hall.
 The first thing that caught my attention was the 2008 model Euro 3 spec Cagiva Mito SP525.

 I had read about it in international motorcycling magazines, but this was the first time I was seeing it in the flesh - or should I say, metal.
 Three of them were displayed at the Cagiva booth, and they attracted a lot of attention.
 I inquired with a representative from Hong Seh Superbikes Pte Ltd - the company bringing them in to Singapore, and they said they would be selling the bike for SGD15,800.
 From observations, the bike seems to share the same mechanicals as the Mito Fauzy edition sold by Momos but has a different coverset and a catalytic converter.
 Despite the SP525 designation - the bike retains it's 124.63 cc single cylinder engine.
 The latest incarnation of the Mito also appears much bigger than other 125cc bikes, and looks more like a superbike.
 BikeAsia 2008 is touted by it's organisers as the first international exhibition on bicycle, motorcycle, accessories and components in Southeast Asia, which is kind of funny, because I remember a bike exhibition in Malaysia just last year which was supposed to be this.

 Nevertheless, this regional show has an outreach of 500 million people who can reach Singapore within five hours flight and over a billion people within eight hours.
 "Thanks to the minimal visa requirements, its location in the middle of Asia and the high number of flight carriers in the area, Singapore is the ideal location to hold the first edition of BikeAsia," said the press release given to journalists by the organisers.
 Bike Asia is of course, an attempt by Italian manufacturers to bring their goods to South East Asia. And to spearhead this move - representatives from some of Italy's most well known brands were out in full force.

 This included Aprilia, Brembo, Colnago, Ducati, Guzzi, MV Agusta, Nolan, Piaggio and others.
 But perhaps the most interesting exhibit was the one by Marabese Designs - the reknown Italian styling house that designed some of the most stunning bikes of the last few years.  The 30 year-old styling house has produced work for manufacturers such as Piaggio, Moto Guzzi, Moto Morini, Aprilia, Triumph, Gilera and Yamaha.

  At their booth in Singapore, they displayed a special concept based on a BMW HP2 drivetrain.
 It was pretty amazing. I'm not sure if it can run, but the design was just simply radical.
 The designers were really thinking out of the box when they penned this bike.
 But sadly, this bike was the only really outstanding concept bike displayed at the expo.

 What the show lacked was prototypes. Being a trade show - many of the bikes on display had already been seen before by the visitors. Some, like the Demaks - where downright common.
 Besides the bikes, there were of course helmets, apparel and accessories.
 At about 11am, the show was officially opened.

 Miss Loren, the celebrity guest strutted in - accompanied by Lee Yi Shyan, the Singaporean Minister of State for Trade and Industry. With them was Roberto Fabbri, the managing director of BikeAsia.
 Sophia is quite tall in real life. She visited many of the booths before leaving.

Although there were wasn't any Japanese bikes at the expo, we did manage to spot one Kwak hiding inconspiciously at someone's booth. It was the new Kawasaki Ninja 250. At first glance, we thought it was the ZX-6. In fact, even after a minute, we were still debating whether it was a 250 or the 600.

But finally, after inspecting the exhaust closely and realising that the front fairing had no intake hole, we concluded it was the 250. It's simply gorgeous, and we hope Kawasaki Malaysia will bring it in soon and make it affordable to us bikers. After taking pictures and a quick lunch, I and Pravin left and headed to the famous Ah Boy for some shopping. I bought a pair of Forma boots and Pravin bought a Domo helmet.
 At 6pm, we headed towards the Tuas checkpoint with out booty. There, I and Pravin separated ways.
 A few minutes later, I regretted my decision to leave early.
 The hordes of working class Johoreans on kapcais were heading home from dozens of Singaporean factories.
 They lined up - six rows thick all the way to the checkpoint.
 It took more than an hour to literally inch the Tuono two or three kilometres to the checkpoint.
 My advice is - avoid leaving at this time. If you still have to, avoid lining up behind a two-stroke bike. I lined up behind a KRZ 150 and I could almost taste the two-stroke oil in my throat.
 The moment I passed the checkpoint, I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. Finally, the Tuono could flex her muscles.
 Cruising on the rightmost lane on the highway - I arrived in Kuala Lumpur three hours later, stopping just a few times to refuel and eat.
 In all, it was quite an experience. However, I came back wishing that the expo had been organised in Malaysia. It would have been great - especially if we could actually ride to the expo site.