The Star Cruises Cycle Cruise concept had been initially born aboard the SuperStar Virgo in October 2013 and it was initiated by a group of fun loving adventure buddies during a voyage to Phuket and Langkawi that year. 

During the ship’s call at each port, they would embark on their cycling tour, covering more than 100km of riding in total, during the two days.

Since then, Star Cruises have been offering these Cycle-Cruise adventures regularly – in order to continue to cater to the market for fun-loving, sporty people who love engaging in both travel and exercise at the same time.

As I do enjoy travel, cruising and cycling myself, I must say that this had been a rather intriguing concept that had definitely appealed to me, when I first heard about it from Star Cruises. 

So I joined the 10th edition of Star Cruises’ Cycle-Cruise this month, which took us to Taiwan and Japan.

An 8D 7N cycling cruise that took place from the 7th to the 14th of June 2018, we were brought on an exciting cycling adventure in some picturesque areas of Taiwan and Japan, including Kaohsiung, Miyakojima, Naha and Taipei. The price of this trip had begun at S$1,863 per person.

And overall there had been five days of cycling that had been built into the trip, covering a distance of roughly 200km of mileage in all.

According to Star Cruises, these cycling trails were also advertised as being perfect for all levels of cyclists, and with arrangements being provided for those who need rest in between the routes too.

For cyclists who did not want to transport their own bikes along, arrangements were also made by Star Cruises, in a collaboration with Taiwanese bike company Giant Bicycles, for cyclists to rent a full set of bikes, helmets and safety equipment.

For the rental bikes, we had been required to provide our height measurements. This was important so that we could get a suitable bike to ride on comfortably during the trip.

As for myself, I had opted to rent a bike, because I thought it would make things easier – I did not want to undergo the hassle of packing my own bike into a box and then re-assembling it again when I had reached Taiwan.

The type of bikes provided were hybrid bikes suited to both road and trail terrain, and according to Star Cruises, none of their cyclists have complained about the quality of the bikes yet. 

So I had felt quite reassured with renting a Giant bike, instead of carting my own road bike along for the trip.

As an avid marathoner and triathlete who does both running and cycling regularly, I had been simply raring to go and embark on the trip. 

Though I admit that I do not usually cover 200km of mileage on the bike in a single week, I had been nonetheless confident that the fitness that I have gained from my regular exercise routine would be enough to see me through the cycling portion of the trip.

So at the early hour of 4am on the 7th of June, I found myself at Singapore Changi Airport, to catch my 6am Scoot flight to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to begin my adventure. At that stage, I had been feeling rather sleepy yet quite excited at the same time at what the next week would be like for me. 

Coming along with me had been roughly about 40 other like-minded cycling and sports enthusiasts, mostly Singaporeans, but with about nine having flown in all the way from Australia in order to join in the adventure together with the rest of us.

It must be noted though, that according to Star Cruises, they don’t typically use budget airlines for their Cycle Cruise trips, but Scoot was the only airline that flies direct from Singapore to Kaohsiung, so this was the main reason why it had been the choice of airline this time around.

Due to the early hour, I tried to spend my time sleeping on the plane, and before I knew it, we were in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I admit that I had never been to any part of Taiwan before, so naturally, I had been quite excited at what the upcoming days were about to bring.

As I had been feeling rather peckish after the Scoot flight, I bought myself a chicken sausage as well as a packaged Apple Milkshake from the convenience store at the Kaohsiung airport before boarding the bus which would take us to the Kentington Resort in Pingtung County, Taiwan, where we would then undergo a bike fitting session before beginning our first ride.

The bus journey had been rather long, lasting about three or four hours, so along the way, we stopped at a roast chicken restaurant – which specialises in cooking chicken in teapots – for our lunch. 

There had been plenty of food served to us, that had included not only chicken, but also other items such as egg omelet, wantons, vegetables and tofu, and the meal there was really yummy too. So I ate heartily, and without a single thought about how having such a full stomach would affect my cycling later that day!

We reached the Kentington Resort at about mid-afternoon, and we were given a rather short time to bring our luggage to our rooms and quickly change into our cycling gear to begin riding. 

I must say that everything had felt rather rushed for me at that point, as I hastily dug through my luggage searching for my cycling jersey and my padded pants. 

In fact, it was at that point when I began to wish that I had packed a set of cycling gear into my hand-carry instead of my suitcase, so that it would have been easier for me to find.

It also didn’t help that the resort grounds had been quite large, and that my suite – which had consisted of a bedroom, bathroom and a living room – had also turned out to be one of those that was located slightly further away from the main lobby area.

It had felt quite good to have had the whole suite to myself though, instead of sharing one with a buddy – as this had meant that I could be as messy and disorganised as I had wanted to be – without worrying about inconveniencing someone else. Throughout the trip, I would continue to be allocated my own rooms.

Fortunately when I had finally finished changing into my cycling gear and headed out to meet the group near at the resort lobby – which was the rendezvous point, I realised I was not the last one to arrive there, so that had been rather reassuring.

When I got there, I saw that our rental bikes were already waiting for us. These were also tagged with our names so it was quite easy to locate the bike that would be mine for the next five days. I was quite happy to find out that my bike had a pink frame too, because pink is my favourite colour.

Additionally, we were each provided with a plastic water bottle courtesy of Giant. The bottle had also been thoughtfully filled up with ice-cold water, for us. This was placed on each bike’s bottle holder.

I had thought that this was really systematically arranged and organised well, and it was good to know that our needs were being well taken care of by Star Cruises and Giant, right from the very beginning.

With the hot weather in Taiwan and the temperatures possibly averaging about 30 degrees Celsius or more, I knew that I would definitely be needing the hydration along the way.

The bike fit had been quite a simple affair, where we had our helmet and bike seat adjusted so that we would be able to ride comfortably over the next few days. My bike had initially been a bit too low for me, so I had it adjusted. This was quite simple and took a few minutes only.

Soon enough, we were all set and ready to ride, after a quick briefing – where the Giant Bicycle folks instructed us on the basic safety rules in the country, for example, to always stick to the right side of the road when we are riding in Taiwan. 

Our first ride began on the grounds of the Kentington Resort and turned out to be a 27km journey along the peaceful country roads of Taiwan, to Fong Chuei Sha and back to the resort.

I had found myself thoroughly enjoying the first part of the ride and soaking up the countryside scenery, until I had reached the first long hill, which was about half an hour into the ride.

Though I typically exercise daily and I do consider myself to be quite fit, I admit that I struggled a little when it came to climbing the hill. This was because I have been quite spoiled back home in Singapore, running and riding on the mainly flat terrain around Singapore’s East Coast area where I normally train.

But the lovely scenery had more than compensated for the uphill challenges that I was facing though. In fact, I found myself stopping several times along the way to take pictures of the wonders of nature that surrounded me. I think perhaps I was just using the photo-taking as an excuse to have a break, though!

We stopped for our first rest at about 14km when we reached the summit of the hill at Fong Chuei Sha. This was at a beautiful beach area and I welcomed the break to stop, catch my breath and also get a drink of ice-cold water, because the Taiwan heat at this point, was already beginning to get to me. 

Apparently this had been due to the fact that the temperature had been more than 30 degrees Celsius. This felt really hot and humid. I admit that I don’t normally exercise outdoors under such temperatures back in Singapore, instead preferring to run or cycle either in the wee hours of the morning or later in the evening after the sun has set.

It was at this first rest point when I realised that our needs were well taken care of, because not only was there ice-cold water and Pocari Sweat isotonic drinks, but there were also plenty of snacks – ranging from bananas to Taiwanese fried noodle snacks, biscuits, chocolates and crackers – for us to replenish our energy levels with. 

I chose to eat some of the savoury cheese flavoured cracker biscuits. It felt good to get some salt back into my body, as the heat had been making me sweat quite a fair bit. And due to this, I had realised I was losing quite a lot of salt as a result.

But on the way back to the Kentington resort, I admit that I began to regret having had a big lunch. 

And this had been because I could feel my stomach beginning to churn and protest a little bit, from the over-indulgence of food. The intense heat was also doing me no favours, either.

The return trip was the same route that we had just taken too, on the way down to Fong Chuei Sha.

Fortunately the ride back had been easier because it was mainly downhill, so at least this had been a relief for me.

I had also realised too, that this first ride had been through country roads where there was not much traffic. I wondered if this had been the intention of the organisers – to cater to the less experienced riders who may not be used to riding on open roads.

I survived the remainder of the ride, and eventually made it back to the resort on my bike, in one piece. At least I didn’t get bad stomach cramps – so this meant that I could still complete the ride. Cramping has happened sometimes when I have exercised on a full stomach.

To reward us for our efforts on the bike, our group dinner later that night was at the resort and it was a big Chinese meal that had resembled a wedding banquet to me. Our dishes had included chicken, prawns, soup, fish, vegetables and fruits as well as Swiss roll cakes for dessert.

During dinner, I also took the chance to log into my Pokemon Go account – and was lucky enough to catch a high IV FarFetch’d, which is a regionally exclusive Pokemon that is only available in Taiwan and Japan.

The dinner had been really delicious and I ate hungrily, in an attempt to carbo-load for the next day’s long ride, which had been scheduled as being 62km long, in our itinerary. I knew that I would need the energy.

And because of the intense Taiwan heat, this had been quite a punishing long ride though – even with several rest stops along the way.

In fact, I could already felt the searing heat getting to me at the first rest stop, which had been just under 50 minutes into our ride and I needed to drink plenty of water and electrolytes as well as eating the savoury crackers available in the supply van, in order to replace all of the salt that I was losing from sweating. Only then did I feel good to get going again.

Fortunately this route, which had brought us to the South of Kenting areas in Taiwan, had been somewhat flatter than the previous day’s route. Apart from one slope near the beginning, the rest of the ride was quite okay for me.

We also stopped for a short hike at Mt. Gui, Kenting National Park, midway during our ride. 

Mt. Gui is billed as a hidden beauty in Taiwan. Located in the North West of HengChun Peninsula, the name is loosely translated into “Turtle Mountain” in English because its shape resembles that of a turtle shell.

After leaving our bikes at the base, I admit that the uphill hike through the trails to the summit had been quite hilly and so it was quite challenging. I would estimate the hike to be possibly somewhere between 750 metres to 1km in total.

I was already panting and sweating buckets when I got to the summit. As a marathoner, I can usually run or walk long distances easily. So my panting could perhaps have been because I was feeling dehydrated from the heat as well as from all the cycling that I had been doing.

But when I had finally reached the top, I thought that the view from the top was definitely worth it and I took plenty of pictures there, after taking the chance to finally catch my breath.

Fortunately the hike downhill, where we then collected our bikes in order to continue cycling, had been much easier.

Lunch was along the way too. We cycled to, and stopped at a seafood restaurant after about 40km of riding for what had felt like another eight to ten course Chinese banquet meal. Once again though, the food had been really delicious and I enjoyed the meal. 

As well, it had also felt good and refreshing, to enter the air-conditioned restaurant for a while, in order to get away from the heat outside. 

And by this point, I had realised that our needs were being taken care of very well. In fact, the organisers were certainly feeding us with many times more calories than we could possibly be burning from our rides! 

So this meant that even though I was doing quite a fair bit of cycling, I had concluded that I may even end up putting on some weight after this one-week trip.

We finished lunch about an hour and a half later and carried on with the ride. As we continued riding, everyone carried on at their own pace, with some of the faster riders cycling on ahead and the slower ones falling behind.

I had been cycling around the middle of the pack, taking my time to enjoy the ride and occasionally stopping to take a few photos on the way. But as I rode, there had been stretches of road when I did not actually see anyone else around me.

However despite that, I quickly realised that I did not have to worry about getting lost though. 

This was because even if I got separated from the group, there were a few riders from Giant Bicycles who were constantly looking out for everyone throughout the ride, and at times, they had stationed themselves at the main junctions to make sure that everyone was cycling in the right direction. 

As well, there had been a lead rider and a sweeper too, in order to make sure that nobody went on too far ahead or else got left behind. This was to try and keep the group as close together as possible.

I had thought that these measures taken by Giant Bicycles, had all been really helpful for those who had a bad sense of direction like me – especially considering that we were cycling in an unfamiliar country too.

Unfortunately I had managed to underestimate the heat in Taiwan though. Despite having applied sunblock already, I found that I was getting a bit of a sunburn as I approached the end of the long ride – from the many hours that I was spending under the sun that day.

Though the ride took place mainly on scenic Taiwan country roads, the last kilometre of the ride was through the small HengChun Township, located within Taiwan’s PingTung County. 

As this had been a more built-up town area, there had been more traffic here than there was during the early parts of our cycling-cruise.

But despite that, I had quickly realised that Taiwan has cycling lanes clearly marked out on the roads. I also felt that the drivers in Taiwan were fairly courteous towards cyclists.

As well, we had been riding in a group too. So I felt that everything was quite safe for not only me, but also for the less experienced cyclists who may not have had any prior experience riding on open roads.

Also, the Giant Bicycle folks had been helping to control the traffic, for example, when it came to crossing the road to get to our hotel, indicating to us when we could cross and stopping the group when it became dangerous to do so. I had thought that this was good of them to do so and it had reassured me too, that they had our safety as a top priority.

However I must point out that instead of being 62km, this ride had turned out to be a 69km journey according to my Garmin GPS watch.

But I can’t complain about the extra distance though, because at least it meant that I had burned a few extra calories… meaning that I could eat a little bit more at dinner that night.

We ended the ride at at Kenting’s RichForest Resort – where we were spending that night. At the hotel lobby, the Giant Bicycle folks led us through a quick stretch. After a long ride, this stretch had been good for my muscles, and was also useful to reduce muscle cramps or seizures the following day.

It was good to go to my room and wash away the dirt and grime after almost a whole day of sweating it out whilst doing cycling.

Our dinner that night was at the Kenting Night Market, which had been conveniently located just outside the resort we were staying at. I enjoyed browsing through the various food stalls, and tucking into all of the the delicious Taiwanese street foods. 

I tried many of the items at the market, including the fried chicken, grilled beef, soft-shell crabs, stinky tofu, taoyaki, eclairs and ice cream, and though I was not actually initially intending to eat so much, I had still been feeling quite full by the end of it all. After all, Taiwan is supposed to be well-known for their street food, right?

After tucking into a buffet breakfast at the RichForest Resort in Kenting, our third day of riding took us to Taiwan’s scenic Sun Moon Lake. This had been a short afternoon 12km ride. But before that though, we had spent the morning and half of the afternoon in the coach travelling to the Sun Moon Lake.

Located in Taiwan’s Nantou County, the Sun Moon Lake is the largest body of water in Taiwan and the area round the lake is also home to the Thai tribe, one of the many aboriginal tribes of Taiwan. As well, the lake also surrounds a tiny island called Lalu.

The name of the lake had been initially derived because the east side resembles a sun while the west side resembles a moon and this beautiful area is also one of Taiwan’s tourist attractions.

On the way to Sun Moon Lake in the coach, we stopped at several rest points where we could take restroom breaks and also buy some Taiwanese snacks to bring home. I picked up a few items here, including the famous Taiwanese pineapple cakes as well as their egg rolls.

I admit that it had been quite nice to rest and relax for a while inside the coach, after having had two consecutive days of riding. And I used the opportunity to catch up on some valuable sleep too.

We stopped for lunch along the way, at a restaurant specialising in turkey rice. As the main dish was turkey rice, we had this of course, as well as several side dishes, which had included steamed fish, pork ribs, octopus balls and tofu. 

The food had been really tasty and I particularly enjoyed the turkey rice but the number of dishes were quite overwhelming. In fact, I felt as if I was at another Chinese banquet! But at least the variety of food that was given to us had been quite good.

We reached the Sun Moon Lake area at about 3.30pm and began our ride there almost immediately.

Beginning at the entrance to the cycling trail around the lake, this was a scenic ride around the lake. The first couple of kilometres or so were very straightforward and we simply followed the bike trail. 

But I admit that I got a bit lost when I came to the first intersection and I was not sure which direction to go. I had wondered at that point, where the Giant Bicycle folks were and how I had been separated from them. Had I spent so much time taking photos earlier on during the ride, and cycled too fast in a bid to catch up as a result?

However, instead of allowing myself to panic though, I backtracked in the hope of finding the group. Fortunately after a few minutes, I located them, riding in single file due to the narrow pathways. I was quite relieved, and I then began following the group again.

The first rest point along this route had been at the Sun Moon Lake’s Giant Bicycle shop, where we took our time browsing through the cycling apparel and bicycles on sale. Some of the clearance items were being offered at quite steep discounts! So I got myself a pair of cycling gloves because the price had seemed rather good.

We were also given a couple of Taiwanese tea egg to munch on, to replenish our energy levels. A typical savoury snack in China and Taiwan, this is basically a boiled egg that is cracked slightly and then boiled again in tea, sauces and spices to create its intense flavour. The cracks create darkened lines with marble-like patterns on the egg.

The second half of the ride brought us to the WenWu Temple. Located on the Northern Hillside surrounding Sun Moon Lake, this temple originally got its name because the place was used to worship Confucius, WenChang Emperor as well as gods. 

The temple had originally been established in 1832 and is easily recognisable because it possesses stone crimson dragons playing with two huge pearls respectively, standing in the front of the structure.

While it is now easy to get to the temple – simply by driving or cycling (as we had done) down the country road that encircles Sun Moon Lake, visitors to the temple in the past had been required to catch a ferry to the the northern foot of the mountain below the temple, and then climb the 366 stairs. The stairs symbolise one year containing 366 days to the temple.

Today though, these 366 steps still stand, mainly as a tourist attraction. So I took a photo at the top of the stairs for fun, and also for myself to remember my visit to the WenWu Temple.

The view of Sun Moon Lake from the top is magnificent though, and I can imagine how visitors in the past would be rewarded with this scenery upon conquering the steps.

As well, I also took a few more photos around the temple grounds as the place had been indeed scenic and pretty.

I must point out however, that the path to the temple is not exactly flat though – my Garmin had recorded 874 metres of elevation. So riders who are not used to cycling up hills, may struggle with this route.

The return journey was much easier though because this was primarily downhill. I always love downhills – as they require almost zero effort on my part.

After completing our 12km ride, we boarded the coach to take us to our lodgings for the night. This was at the Fuli Hot Spring Resort. 

Prior to getting off at the resort though, we were asked to dig through our luggage to search for the ship luggage tags that we had been given prior to our departure from Singapore – so that the Giant Bicycle folks could tag these to our bikes and to load them onto the cruise ship in preparation for the next ride.

This had been one of the few shortcomings on the part of the organisers – they were supposed to have warned us to put these ship tags into our hand carry bags so that we could easily locate them. But it had seemed as though they had forgotten to do so.

When I had stepped into the grounds of the Fuli Hot Spring Resort, I must say that this resort had easily been the best accommodation by far, throughout the trip. 

This was because the room was quite large and spacious, and I even had a personal onsen inside my bathroom in addition to the standard shower facilities. It definitely felt luxurious and I was impressed. I told myself to make the most of my time there.

We had a group dinner within the grounds of the Fuli Hot Spring Resort too and this was another Chinese banquet style meal complete with a cold dish for appetiser, soup, prawns, pork ribs, fish, fried rice, vegetables, and dessert.

As a surprise too, we were also each given a slice of rose flavoured cream sponge cake at the end of the meal. Decorated with a chocolate star, the presentation of the cake was really pretty but unfortunately this had tasted a bit on the sweet side.

The following morning, Fuli Hot Spring Resort’s buffet breakfast had seemed rather luxurious and besides the Taiwanese style items available such as tea eggs, there was also cheese and crackers, cereals, eggs, and char siew bao, just to name a few of the items available.

For this fourth day of the trip, however, there was no cycling. The organisers had probably wanted to give us a break from all the riding of the past three days. Instead, we took another long, four-hour coach ride to Taiwan’s Keelung port, where we would be boarding the SuperStar Virgo. 

The flagship vessel of the Star Cruises fleet in Asia, the 13-storey SuperStar Virgo offer cruisers plenty of facilities ranging from restaurants and bars to a swimming pool, gym and sauna, as well as a hairdressing salon and duty-free shopping.

This would mark the cruising part of the trip and we would be on the ship during the next three nights – as it sailed to two of Japan’s offshore islands, Okinawa and Miyakojima, before then heading back to Keelung.

The folks from Giant Bicycles had also come on board the ship with us, in order to coordinate things, in preparation for our upcoming cycling adventures in Japan.

But prior to boarding the ship though, our lunch had been a free and easy affair. So I took the chance to check out the Keelung MiaoKou Market which was an easy five-minute walk away. 

There, I bought a few types of Taiwanese street snacks for my lunch, such as sausages and fishcakes. I also bought myself a cute Hello Kitty bag which I simply could not resist because I love the character.

We boarded the ship at roughly 4pm that afternoon. Once on the ship, it was free and easy until about 5.30pm when we had to attend the mandatory passenger safety drill.

After leaving my luggage inside my cabin, I spent my time exploring the ship. I ended up taking plenty of photos around the swimming pool area as well as posing for photos on the ship’s top deck.

Dinner that night was at the Pavilion Chinese Restaurant on the ship, where we were served with a six course Chinese dinner, complete with a cold dish and a soup item.

However what I really liked was the personal touch from the Star Cruises folks that had been prepared specially for the Cycling Cruise group. We were given a fruity mock-tail with a small cardboard sign bearing the words ‘Star Cruises Cycling Cruise 2018’ on it. 

This had made me feel quite special, but the bigger surprise was still yet to come – after the main course, we were each given a caramel cream doughnut pastry that was beautifully plated together with a French macaron, berries and vanilla ice cream.

And furthermore, written in chocolate on the rectangular plate were the words ‘Star Cruises Cycling Cruise 2018.’ It looked really nice, and I took several photos of the dessert before I could bear to take a bite.

The dessert had tasted as delicious as it had looked, and I ate it with relish. This had satisfied my sweet tooth nicely.

The following morning, after checking out all the meal options on board the SuperStar Virgo, I headed over over to The Star Dining Room, for a Western breakfast of sausages, bacon, mushrooms and baked beans. 

This meal came with a continental buffet spread too, comprising of items such as bread, cereals as well as Cantonese style congee, just to name a few things.

Besides the Western food that I had, there are dining options to cater to everyone on board the SuperStar Virgo. For Chinese food, there is the Pavilion and for those who prefer buffet, they can head to The Lido. These are the three inclusive dining options on the ship that are built into the cruise package price.

However for those who don’t mind topping up extra for their meals, they can try out other more exotic cuisines such as Indian, Japanese or modern Italian, at the other restaurants that are also on board the ship.

After breakfast, I headed to the ship’s Samurai Restaurant – this was the designated meeting point for the Cycling Cruise folks as the ship approached the Naha port in Okinawa, Japan. 

As we had bikes with us, we were granted with priority disembarkation from the ship so this meant that it was crucial that we would be all in one place.

Our second to last cycling adventure, the Naha ride, turned out to be a 38km ride that took us through the city areas of Naha, located in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture. But we had to stop at the traffic lights many times here.

This had been slightly disruptive to the riding, as we could not simply keep going on and on like we had done in the Taiwan countryside. But if we were cycling through the urban areas, then I know it is necessary because we have to obey the traffic rules, after all. 

At least these constant stops gave me a good chance to whip out my iPhone 7 Plus and take some photos along the way though, without having to speed up to catch the group later on.

In contrast to Taiwan where we had to stay on the right side of the road, we were also reminded constantly to stay on the left side of the road when we were cycling on the roads in Japan.

All too soon, we had our first rest stop, which had been somewhere about 5km-8km into the ride. The support van here had some really tasty snacks, including rice crackers, mini sugar doughnuts, corn chips, some KitKat as well as sweet cookies. 

I think that everyone had been enjoying the snacks so much here, that the break time had passed all too fast and we were all reluctant to resume cycling again!

But we eventually had to re-start again… to burn off all the calories that we’d just had.

And as I continued riding along the Japanese roads, I had noted that the drivers in Japan were very polite and courteous towards cyclists, than some of the ones.

Like Taiwan too, it was good to know that Japan also has cycling lanes on the roads, to cater to those on two wheels.

In terms of the elevation though, it had been definitely flatter than the roads that I had encountered in Taiwan. So I would say that this had been a little bit of a relief.

About halfway through our ride, we stopped at Carnival Park, which is located at the Mihama American Village – for lunch and to do some shopping. Since I had been in Japan, I figured that I should pick some Japanese food, so I ate some beef udon soup with prawn tempura, for lunch.

Because I had some time, I also purchased some Japanese snacks to bring back home too, such as KitKat chocolates, as well as other types of cookies that were recommended.

After shopping and eating, we then continued riding. Along the way, there was one more break at a convenience store, where I caught sight of a chocolate mousse cake that was made using Godiva chocolate. I had been tempted to get this to try to satisfy my chocolate cravings, but because I wasn’t really feeling hungry, I decided against it.

Besides the shopping area and city, part of the route also brought us through the beach areas, and these were quite scenic, so I decided to stop a few times – to grab some snapshots for the holiday album.

I also noted that at about 25 to 27 degrees Celsius, the weather had felt much cooler than what I had experienced in Taiwan and I did not feel quite as thirsty or exhausted when I was riding.

It also helped too, that it had been a rather cloudy day in Okinawa, and there had also been a brief light rain at one point during our ride as well. This was good because it had helped to cool us down further.

We reached the Naha port again all too soon. And I took the chance to get a couple of photos posing with my bike and the cruise ship in the background.

But after that, instead of boarding the ship immediately after like I had expected though, we took the coach to the Kokusaidori shopping area so that we could to take a look around. There was time for us to do this, as the SuperStar Virgo would not depart from Naha till 10pm. 

Kokusaidori is the main shopping area at Okinawa, and I had a whale of a time browsing through the various stalls, taking photos and sampling the local snacks. While I was at it, I picked up a few souvenirs too including a mini Pikachu plush toy wearing a souvenir Okinawa tee-shirt.

As well, I also tried the Okinawa soba for dinner at one of the noodle restaurants there. And then to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings, I picked up a mini Pablo cheese tart as well as a mango sorbet for dessert. Yes, I know that I can be rather greedy when it comes to my sweet treats.

At about 9pm, we got back onto the SuperStar Virgo, just in time before the ship set sail to Miyakojima, where we would be embarking on our final ride of the cycling cruise trip.

The next day, when we had reached the Miyakojima port in the late morning, we gathered once again at the Samurai restaurant for priority disembarkation, and we cleared the immigration before heading to shore via tender boat. 

Once I was inside the tender boat, it also made me feel that the SuperStar Virgo ship had looked really gigantic alongside the small boat.

This was also the first time that I was using a tender boat to get to shore from a cruise ship, and I must say that it had been a rather unusual experience.

Once we began our final cycling session, I must admit that the Miyakojima ride had been easily the most scenic ride of our entire trip. From the Miyakojima port, we headed along the Irabu Bridge.

A 6,500-metre long bridge connecting Japan’s Miyako and Irabu Islands, the Irabu Bridge – which is billed as the longest toll-free bridge in Japan – was amazingly scenic and had stunning views.

In fact it blew my breath away when I first set eyes on it – and I felt that even taking photos of the area, simply could not do this wonderful place justice.

Though there had been constant uphills and downhills as we had crossed the bridge on our bikes, the scenery more than made up for this. 

In fact, I even took a couple of selfies as I was riding along the bridge, in addition to asking other cyclists in the group to help to take photos of me. 

Along the way, we stopped at the Hotel Tidano Sato for lunch, where we had Okinawa soba in addition to a side serving of fried rice.

The bridge was not the only scenic attraction though. We also headed to the “Dragon Eyes” Pools, which proved to be just as beautiful and breathtaking. 

A pair of seawater pools located on the west coast of Shimoji-jima, these pools are actually sinkholes in the coral that had formed the island.

And during another rest break, we also stopped at the Nakanoshima Beach to take a look around. A natural beach located in the southwest of Irabu-jima Island, this is also billed as the best snorkelling beach on the island – but unfortunately, we weren’t there to snorkel.

This beach too, was amazingly scenic and I took many beautiful photos of the area. Also, there is a small tourist shop within the vicinity as well, where visitors can buy souvenirs, take-home snacks or even ice cream.

So that we could continuously recharge ourselves during our Miyakojima cycling adventure, there were also a couple of other rest stops that we had along the way, to catch our breath from the exertions of the cycling. But unfortunately, none of these had been quite as scenic as the Irabu Bridge, the “Dragon Eyes” Pools and the Nakanoshima Beach.

Despite the Miyakojima ride being the second longest ride in the cycling cruise, clocking in at a total distance of 57km according to my Garmin, I admit that it really did not feel that way, because of all of the wonderful sights and scenery.

As well, I think that the slightly cooler weather in Japan, as compared to Taiwan, had also helped me to feel more energised and alert, when I was cycling.

We boarded the SuperStar Virgo again all too soon – I’d had a wonderful time enjoying and exploring Miyakojima on two wheels and I didn’t really want to leave. 

In fact, I soon realised that I had taken so many photos at Miyakojima that my phone memory was full – so I was forced to delete a few apps as well as clear some WhatsApp chats in order to make some more room to snap some more images of the remainder of my trip.

Once on board the ship, we had a group gala dinner at The Star Dining Room. This had been a four course Western meal consisting of salad, soup, main course and dessert. For the main course, I picked the fish. Unfortunately it had turned out to be a little bit dry, though.

However when the dessert course came, this was quite special. We were each presented with a chocolate flavoured choux pastry, that had been personalised with the words ‘Star Cruises Cycling Cruise 2018’ written on the plate, in colourful icing. 

I had rather enjoyed these special touches, and I think that this made our whole group feel as though we were all VIPs on board the ship.

Besides tucking into the choux pastry, which was quite yummy, I also had a second dessert – a matcha ice cream. I usually do love eating ice cream, but unfortunately I was beginning to feel quite full by this stage, so I didn’t quite manage to finish this.

As this had been my last night on board the SuperStar Virgo, I also took the chance to catch one of the ship’s live shows at the Zodiac Theatre, after finishing my dinner. 

The nightly show had been titled Mystical Land and this had been a dance production that brought the audience into a timeless tale of myths and legends. I love myths and legends and I generally find them fascinating, so this meant that the topic of the show had appealed to me.

This show had also featured acrobatic acts, music, choreography and LED graphics as well as stage design elements. I thought that this was an interesting production and I was glad that I had made the time to watch it – even though I had been feeling rather tired after a day out cycling.

Even though I was not really hungry, I then headed for the supper buffet at the Lido, soon after the show. Perhaps it was because I was just nosey to see what sort of food would be available that night!

SuperStar Virgo was due to return to the Keelung Port the following afternoon at 3pm so the following day was a free and easy one for us. 

So I spent my time exploring and checking out all the facilities on the ship. Since there was no cycling scheduled for that day, I headed over to the gym to run on the ship’s treadmill for a while, in order to get some exercise. 

It had not been the biggest one that I have seen, but the SuperStar Virgo gym had a variety of machines that dealt with weights and CrossFit equipment to cardio machines such as stationary bikes, cross trainers and treadmills.

After that, I also checked out the swimming pool on board, taking the time to have a soak inside the water and to go for a short swim too. 

I’d noticed that there was a giant water slide within the vicinity of the swimming pool, but I didn’t try it out. And for those who wanted to just have a relaxing soak rather than a swim, I’d spotted two small jacuzzi pools nearby as well.

Lunch had been free and easy, so I had this meal at the Lido buffet restaurant, which I felt would be the quickest option. I thought that the desserts during this meal had been quite yummy, and I particularly liked the dark chocolate cake, which had somewhat reminded me of the Awfully Chocolate brand’s famous chocolate cakes, back home in Singapore. 

At about 2pm, the cycling cruise group gathered at the Galaxy Of the Stars, for a certificate presentation ceremony to mark the completion of our cycling cruise journey, before disembarking from the ship. 

This had been a pleasant surprise to me. We were called out individually by name and were each presented with a beautiful certificate that was even signed by the captain of the SuperStar Virgo. I admit that I was not expecting this and so, once again, I had been rather impressed by this personalised gesture.

For disembarkation, the cycling cruise group were also treated as VIPs as we had been given the clearance to be amongst the first ones to disembark from the SuperStar Virgo.

In fact, all throughout our time on the SuperStar Virgo, I felt that our cycling cruise group seemed to have been treated like VIPs and I had really appreciated these gestures made by Star Cruises to make us all feel rather special.

Upon leaving the SuperStar Virgo behind, we then headed to Taipei to spend our final night of our trip.

There had been no cycling involved that night, and it was free and easy for us. So I spent my time checking out the Shilin Night Market. Having never had the chance to visit Taipei prior to this trip, it had thus been a no-brainer for me to visit this market – because it is supposed to be the largest and most popular night markets in the city with regards to food.

I had my dinner at the market too and also bought a couple more Taiwanese snacks to bring back home.

Then the following morning, I headed to the famous Taipei 101 observatory, which is possibly the tallest building in Taipei – at a height of 508-metres. 

Unfortunately it had been a cloudy morning though, so this meant that the view from the top was not as breathtaking and stunning as I would have liked.

At least I did not need to queue to go up though, because I had arrived there early. 

Before leaving Taipei, I had an early lunch at the original Din Tai Fung outlet, which is located on Xinyi Road, and within easy walking distance from the Dongmen train station. 

As a fan of Xiao long bao, also known as soup dumplings, making a pilgrimage to this original Din Tai Fung store was definitely something that had been on my bucket list. After all, this was the shop that won a Michelin Star and had created a Xiao long bao cult following.

Because I had arrived early, I only needed to wait about ten minutes to get a table, so I felt quite lucky in that regard. And as for the pork Xiao long bao, the very dish that made this eatery famous, they tasted absolutely divine, though I would say that the quality is pretty comparable to the chain’s branches in Singapore. 

However the service at the Xinyi branch was definitely better than what I have encountered in Singapore, though. I certainly do not regret going there to check out and eat at the stall, even though I’d had a very limited time in Taipei.

At about 12.30pm, it was time to board the coach to head to Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport in order take our Scoot flight back home to Singapore.

I felt that the Cycle Cruise trip had passed by so quickly and throughout the eight days of cycling adventures, I must say that I got to see several new places on two wheels, that I would otherwise not have had the chance to explore. 

And at the same time too, I felt that I had made some new like-minded friends who shared my interests in travel and sports. In fact, many of us had exchanged numbers and added one another on Facebook towards the end of the trip, and we are still in contact today. 

Thanks to both Star Cruises and Giant Bicycles, it had definitely been a fruitful one week of travels, adventures, eating and riding for me. 

I also felt that as a whole, this entire trip had been quite well organised despite a couple of minor shortcomings. 

Everything went by rather smoothly in general, and the folks from both Star Cruises and Giant Bicycles certainly have almost everything down to pat, from the hydration and fuelling needs of the cyclists, to planning the cycling routes and looking after our safety when we were riding on the busy road. So I must say that they had done a great job in this aspect. 

I also thought that the balance between the amount of riding, sightseeing, shopping and touring throughout the trip was not too bad, with a nice balance between the shorter and the longer rides and rest days as well, in order to give the body enough time to recover in between.

With the frequent rests that had been planned in between each of the cycling expeditions too, the exercise was also generally quite enjoyable and nowhere near as tiring as I had expected it to be, with the exception being the 69km day. So I think that most sports weekend warriors who have a decent level of fitness should be able to complete the rides.

However, for some of the more avid cyclists though, a couple of the distances may have been a bit on the short side – such as the 12km day at Sun Moon Lake. But then again, I suppose that it’s virtually impossible to please everyone.

But I really appreciated the special touches – such as the VIP treatment that our cycling group had been given, at times.

My only gripe about the trip? There had been a bit too much food that was dished out to us – so I had failed miserably when it came to attempting to stop myself from over-eating.

In fact, I admit that I haven’t really dared to weigh myself yet, since returning back home to Singapore.

I must say that I had made a good decision to embark on this cycling cruise.

A $43 One-Day Cruise in Singapore