It is a great priviledge indeed to have family members and relatives in high places! I managed to get VIP tickets to the qualifying race yesterday, prestige guests of one of the organisations that sponsors the event. All thanks to my uncle, who managed to get a set of tickets (for all three days!) so he gave my mum and I the passes for yesterday's race.
Initially, it was my first brother who was supposed to go, but he did not wish to mingle with the crowd, and he did not want his ear drums shattered. So I begged him to give me his pass. He was surprised of course, since I am never into F1 like both of them. But then I figured, what better way to mix with the affluent crowd, experience the live atmosphere and drool at cool cars and cute guys at the same time? :-p
The practice session started at seven so we were supposed to be there by six. However, due to traffic congestion, coupled with the fact that we dropped at the wrong place, we had to walk all the way. We were supposed to enter by Gate One, but the map given was so ambiguous! We entered by Gate Seven (outside Marina Square), then realised Gate One was actually at the other end of Suntec City, next to Nicoll Highway!
Worst was that the volunteers / ushers had no idea where to go, so directed us in different directions. As a result, we got lost and ended up walking a big round. There were not enough signs showing us exactly where we were, so we had no idea where to go as well. We went through so many false entrances, only to have people tell us we had to walk even further down!
The practice session already started before we even reached the place! We had to make our way to the VIP Grand Stand, where we were in one of the alcoves in the Pit Suite. By the time we reached the Grand Stands, there were so many alcoves! We turned to the left only to find out we were lost (again!) and were told to turn to the right. Finally we reached the place, half an hour after seven!
The Practice round was good though, albeit noisy. Luckily the goody bag we were given contained ear plugs, which everyone put to good use! Dinner was provided, so after the practice session, I ate to my heart's content, while mingling with some of the other guests, partaking in red wine and dessert. And there are quite a few cute guys too!
So it was a fun evening of food, cute guys, rally, cheering, cute guys, wine and cheese, blueberry tiramisu, and did I mention cute guys? :-p In any case, I tried to take photos while the car raced by, but it turned out my shutter speed was not fast enough to capture the car(s), so whatever I managed to snap of those cars that whizzed by were a blur!
Initially, it was my first brother who was supposed to go, but he did not wish to mingle with the crowd, and he did not want his ear drums shattered. So I begged him to give me his pass. He was surprised of course, since I am never into F1 like both of them. But then I figured, what better way to mix with the affluent crowd, experience the live atmosphere and drool at cool cars and cute guys at the same time? :-p
The practice session started at seven so we were supposed to be there by six. However, due to traffic congestion, coupled with the fact that we dropped at the wrong place, we had to walk all the way. We were supposed to enter by Gate One, but the map given was so ambiguous! We entered by Gate Seven (outside Marina Square), then realised Gate One was actually at the other end of Suntec City, next to Nicoll Highway!
Worst was that the volunteers / ushers had no idea where to go, so directed us in different directions. As a result, we got lost and ended up walking a big round. There were not enough signs showing us exactly where we were, so we had no idea where to go as well. We went through so many false entrances, only to have people tell us we had to walk even further down!
The practice session already started before we even reached the place! We had to make our way to the VIP Grand Stand, where we were in one of the alcoves in the Pit Suite. By the time we reached the Grand Stands, there were so many alcoves! We turned to the left only to find out we were lost (again!) and were told to turn to the right. Finally we reached the place, half an hour after seven!
The Practice round was good though, albeit noisy. Luckily the goody bag we were given contained ear plugs, which everyone put to good use! Dinner was provided, so after the practice session, I ate to my heart's content, while mingling with some of the other guests, partaking in red wine and dessert. And there are quite a few cute guys too!
So it was a fun evening of food, cute guys, rally, cheering, cute guys, wine and cheese, blueberry tiramisu, and did I mention cute guys? :-p In any case, I tried to take photos while the car raced by, but it turned out my shutter speed was not fast enough to capture the car(s), so whatever I managed to snap of those cars that whizzed by were a blur!
Start of the Practice Session
Cars lining up for the Aston Martin raceThe Aston Martin race was after the practice session. While we were having dinner and mingling around, some volunteers would drive the Aston Martins around the tracks. Needless to say, after watching the F1 racers, the Aston Martin race was a big letdown!
The Grand Stand (VIP seats were at the back)
The Grand Stand opposite where I was
The Flyer was right on top of the Grand StandI suppose the people up there would have a bird's eye view of the race! Wonder if the Flyer tickets went up yesterday, or for all three days for that matter?
The "race track"
Managed to capture one of the cars whizzing by!
This was directly on the spot, but the car was moving too fast!
Rounding a bend (unfortunately could not capture any car)
The big screen on the Grand Stand
My VIP PassThe Qualifiers started at ten, so after dinner, we went up to the top of the Grand Stand, the Sky Suite, where there were bar counters and a sky garden, as well as a pretty nice night view!
Top of the Grand Stand
View of the race track from top
Left part of the Sky Garden
Glimpses of the big screen on top of the Grand Stand
Right part of the Sky Garden
View of the spectators stand on top of the Grand Stand
Start of the Qualifiers - Fans waving the flags around
If I am not mistaken, I believe this should be Lewis Hamilton's car
Someone waving the Ferrari flag when Felipe Massa came in first for the Qualifiers!
If the rest of you have not already known, the top three for the Qualifiers are Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi (I can never remember his last name!) Although personally I still like Michael Schumacher, even though he is history! But then again, I always like history! :-p
After the results were announced, we started streaming out one by one. Outside the Grand Stand, there was a display of antique cars, so I could not resist taking pictures of them!
After the results were announced, we started streaming out one by one. Outside the Grand Stand, there was a display of antique cars, so I could not resist taking pictures of them!
We followed the crowd out, intending to take a Shuttle bus to the nearest train station, but we had to walk such a long way (about fifteen minutes) to reach the Shuttle bus stop. Upon reaching there, the stop was so crowded that we decided to just continue walking to the nearest train station! We had to walk for another half an hour or thereabouts before reaching the train station, afterwhich we called my dad to come pick us up!
By the time I reached home, I was feeling really bushed! The excitement, coupled with the humidity and the long walk. Still, when I checked through the goody bag again, I was happy to find my very own Formula One teddy bear to keep!
By the time I reached home, I was feeling really bushed! The excitement, coupled with the humidity and the long walk. Still, when I checked through the goody bag again, I was happy to find my very own Formula One teddy bear to keep!
My very own F1 TeddyStill, with the financial crisis that is going around, I cannot help but wonder, is this a good time to pump so much into a car racing event? No doubt the race had been on-going and planning since last year, but I fear with the amount invested, the returns and losses may not be recouped so easily considering the situation now. What a bad timing for things to happen!
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