Well, its Monday morning again. The weekend certainly sped past faster than the F1 cars I was watching yesterday. It was really, really fast. The weekend I mean. Everyone knows F1 cars are fast.
And loud. I thought that I would be able to handle the sound without ear-plugs. Boy was I wrong. After 1 or 2 laps my ear drums felt like they were going to break, so on went those cute orange plugs that came in my $2 survival kit.
Btw if you’re still not sure what I’m talking about, I was at the first ever Singapore F1 grand prix yesterday, 28 September 2008. First ever night race as well – and it was absolutely stunning.
Reached there in the afternoon just after the gates open (kiasu Singaporean) with Moreen, Spencer and Dear and we went spot-shopping, as in trying to see which is a good spot to camp for the next few hours.
Actually nothing much to see wor.. the F1 village was pretty messy. But on a positive note, we managed to get ourselves some Uniquely Singapore flags! Food was pretty expensive as well, with carrot cake and chicken rice sets going for $8 and a cup of coke going for $3.
But I guess its targeted more towards tourists. After all they already spend many Ks to come here, what’s another $8 for a plate of chicken rice from a ‘world-class’ food-court?
Heck, I even saw some tourists lugging along that portable TV set which costs $150 a day to rent!
Anyway, around 3 plus we made our way to our chosen spot, which is on a bleacher at Turn 13. Quite a happening atmosphere there with the place already taken up by a group of Indian guys who were having a good time just bumming around.
So we found a nice spot near the front and start camping, watching the Aston Martin Cup, Formula BMW and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Races and just talking rubbish.
But as time wore on, people started coming up the bleacher and try to jostle for a place where we were. I quite admire their determination and stealth-pushing abilities. For instance, just around the start of the Formula BMW race, we suddenly found in our presence this secondary school kid armed with a Canon DSLR.
I was initially irritated that he never even said excuse me or what and just squeezed himself between Moreen and Dear, but in the end I felt okay with it, and all of us even managed to chat with him.
In fact, he would prove to be a good blocker later when two ladies tried to squeeze into our space when the F1 race was just about to start. Together with Spencer, all three of us guys decided to just use our massive presences (and girth) to our advantage. The two ladies wandered somewhere else.
Maybe you could call us selfish, but hey, we were there camping under the hot sun for this place so you can understand how we feel when people try to come at the last minute to block us off.
Anyway, the support races were pretty exciting, especially during the Aston Martin race when a car smashed into the wall where we were at! The Formula BMW cars were pretty loud (and fast) as well.
The F1 experience though was unbeatable. Nothing can beat the sensation of feeling the earth tremble as those raw beasts thundered through our section. Loud, powerful, fast, that’s how one can sum up the feeling there.
Of course, that is when you overlook the squeezing, jabbing, pushing that was going on around us. And smoking – obviously some of the tourists didn’t know about the ban. Dear and Moreen were relocating all over the bleacher when the F1 race started coz they kana prodded and kicked (they sat down most of the time) and also felt quite hot. (The back of the bleacher was pretty cool)
A funny moment happened when Rubens Barichello’s Honda car ran out of fuel abt 50 metres from where we were and they had to drag the car past us to the corner. Barichello came out of his car and walked towards us, where he flung his glove out supposedly to the crowd -but it landed in the river!
Actually I think the commentator got it wrong. It was not the wind that blew it into the river. From my position I can clearly see that he threw it in the wrong direction. Maybe he was a bit disoriented or something.
But it was an exhilarating race. Massa driving off from the pit with his refueling hose attached to his car. Coulthard doing the same thing. Piquet ramming into the wall in a horrific crash, with Raikonnen following suit near the end. Guess it was pretty exhausting for them, especially in our hot and humid atmosphere.
In the end Alonso from Renault took the chequered flag. Well-deserved … and lucky.
After the race, we got our pretty easily coz we were near the exit (like 100m away) and we went to Lau Pa Sat for dinner/supper. All of us were pretty famished at that point.
Well, that was one of the best experiences ever. At the very least, I can say that I WAS THERE AT THE FIRST EVER SINGAPORE FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX and the FIRST EVER FORMULA ONE NIGHT RACE.
28 SEPTEMBER 2008 – A date I will forever remember.
I will enter a post on Saturday’s happenings later!
Wild Hamster
And loud. I thought that I would be able to handle the sound without ear-plugs. Boy was I wrong. After 1 or 2 laps my ear drums felt like they were going to break, so on went those cute orange plugs that came in my $2 survival kit.
Btw if you’re still not sure what I’m talking about, I was at the first ever Singapore F1 grand prix yesterday, 28 September 2008. First ever night race as well – and it was absolutely stunning.
Reached there in the afternoon just after the gates open (kiasu Singaporean) with Moreen, Spencer and Dear and we went spot-shopping, as in trying to see which is a good spot to camp for the next few hours.
Actually nothing much to see wor.. the F1 village was pretty messy. But on a positive note, we managed to get ourselves some Uniquely Singapore flags! Food was pretty expensive as well, with carrot cake and chicken rice sets going for $8 and a cup of coke going for $3.
But I guess its targeted more towards tourists. After all they already spend many Ks to come here, what’s another $8 for a plate of chicken rice from a ‘world-class’ food-court?
Heck, I even saw some tourists lugging along that portable TV set which costs $150 a day to rent!
Anyway, around 3 plus we made our way to our chosen spot, which is on a bleacher at Turn 13. Quite a happening atmosphere there with the place already taken up by a group of Indian guys who were having a good time just bumming around.
So we found a nice spot near the front and start camping, watching the Aston Martin Cup, Formula BMW and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Races and just talking rubbish.
But as time wore on, people started coming up the bleacher and try to jostle for a place where we were. I quite admire their determination and stealth-pushing abilities. For instance, just around the start of the Formula BMW race, we suddenly found in our presence this secondary school kid armed with a Canon DSLR.
I was initially irritated that he never even said excuse me or what and just squeezed himself between Moreen and Dear, but in the end I felt okay with it, and all of us even managed to chat with him.
In fact, he would prove to be a good blocker later when two ladies tried to squeeze into our space when the F1 race was just about to start. Together with Spencer, all three of us guys decided to just use our massive presences (and girth) to our advantage. The two ladies wandered somewhere else.
Maybe you could call us selfish, but hey, we were there camping under the hot sun for this place so you can understand how we feel when people try to come at the last minute to block us off.
Anyway, the support races were pretty exciting, especially during the Aston Martin race when a car smashed into the wall where we were at! The Formula BMW cars were pretty loud (and fast) as well.
The F1 experience though was unbeatable. Nothing can beat the sensation of feeling the earth tremble as those raw beasts thundered through our section. Loud, powerful, fast, that’s how one can sum up the feeling there.
Of course, that is when you overlook the squeezing, jabbing, pushing that was going on around us. And smoking – obviously some of the tourists didn’t know about the ban. Dear and Moreen were relocating all over the bleacher when the F1 race started coz they kana prodded and kicked (they sat down most of the time) and also felt quite hot. (The back of the bleacher was pretty cool)
A funny moment happened when Rubens Barichello’s Honda car ran out of fuel abt 50 metres from where we were and they had to drag the car past us to the corner. Barichello came out of his car and walked towards us, where he flung his glove out supposedly to the crowd -but it landed in the river!
Actually I think the commentator got it wrong. It was not the wind that blew it into the river. From my position I can clearly see that he threw it in the wrong direction. Maybe he was a bit disoriented or something.
But it was an exhilarating race. Massa driving off from the pit with his refueling hose attached to his car. Coulthard doing the same thing. Piquet ramming into the wall in a horrific crash, with Raikonnen following suit near the end. Guess it was pretty exhausting for them, especially in our hot and humid atmosphere.
In the end Alonso from Renault took the chequered flag. Well-deserved … and lucky.
After the race, we got our pretty easily coz we were near the exit (like 100m away) and we went to Lau Pa Sat for dinner/supper. All of us were pretty famished at that point.
Well, that was one of the best experiences ever. At the very least, I can say that I WAS THERE AT THE FIRST EVER SINGAPORE FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX and the FIRST EVER FORMULA ONE NIGHT RACE.
28 SEPTEMBER 2008 – A date I will forever remember.
I will enter a post on Saturday’s happenings later!
Wild Hamster