What prompts 146 people to wake up before dawn to drive more than 400km to get away from Singapore?
They were all part of an event organised by Performance Motors, the official importer of BMW cars and motorbikes, one called Escape The City, held last weekend.
Pulling off the big 'breakout' this month, the traditional peak period for road trips to Malaysia, meant taking drastic measures - such as moving off blearily from the sprawling BMW showroom in Alexandra Road at 5.30am.
The strategy paid off even though a sizeable queue had already formed at the Second Link at Tuas when the group arrived. Apparently, everyone else, including a contingent of 50 or so Toyota cars, seemed to have similar plans to beat the traffic.
It would be almost an hour later before the occupants in the last BMW got their passports stamped and the Escape could get underway proper.
The destination for the BMW group, which consisted of 48 cars and seven motorbikes, was Club Med at Cherating Beach in Kuantan.
This was a paradise of sun, sand and sea along with more exotic activities such as archery, swinging on the trapeze and knitting (just kidding about the needlework).
But with vehicles such as these, a big part of the fun was in the journey.
In fact, Performance Motors with driving holiday specialist, Wheels For Fun, had planned the route to allow the drivers and riders to enjoy their machines over winding country roads.
It definitely beat piling on endless mileage along the efficient but not very exciting North-South Highway.
The drive, including food stops, took eight hours. Anyone expecting this outing of performance machines to be some kind of reckless cannonball run would be surprised.
While overtaking along the country road was integral to the band of BMWs reaching Club Med on time, everyone behaved and the journey was safe.
To move the cars briskly towards Cherating, the vehicles were broken into groups with the bikers helping to keep the pack together. Walkie-talkies in each vehicle kept all informed of the traffic situation ahead.
This being a very civilised kind of 'escape' for Singaporeans, there were plenty of good refreshments along the way too, including a shot of the local brew and toast from an obscure kopitiam tucked away in a back road less than two hours away from the Singapore border.
Maybe it was the idea of being liberated from the pressures of work - kaya bread never tasted better.
