Singapore Grand Prix
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2008
1
18
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Singapore,
Singapore
Saturday, September 27, 2008
We found a map with the metro routes and decided it was the best way to get near our hotel.The ticket machines in the metro are almost perfect i say almost because they do not except any money over 10 dollars, so off we go to the desk and sort out our 3day tickets, as the ony way to get around is using the metro.
we get off the metro and head up to the street ( I must point out that since we landed until this point it had been air conditioned all the way ) as we walk out side we were hit by a wall of pure 80% humidity wow it was amazing, and it was about 10.30pm. we get out our maps and compass to try and work out where our hotel is,i suppose we did look a little lost and it wasnt very long before somebody asked us if we needed help, we told him where we wanted to go and he had never heard of it, so we decided to get a taxi,until the same helpful man told us about a little trick that the taxi drivers do, after 11pm the taxi drivers can charge a little bit more so from 10.40 until 11.05 they just drive around with their 'busy' light on, clever hey, so we decided to walk, it didnt look very far, and it wasn`t very far about 5min from the metro,we could actually see the hotel sign from the road
Aston Martin cup
.When we walked in to the hotel foyer we were just in amazment "helen had been looking forward to this hotel since 3 months ago" as it has a differnet theme on ever floor. We are staying in the Beegees room. http://www.hotelre.com.sg
We are only here for the first ever night formula one grand prix,in total i think we will be here for 4 days, this is an amazing city with so many different races and cultures,yet they all seem to speak english which is really handy. Also when it comes to food you are spoilt for choice, you can go into these food courts where you can have nearly any food from any country you like.
The first morning when we woke up there was yet another amazing thunder and lightning storm.From our hotel window you can see the motorway, and it was just one big swimming pool, cars were travelling so slowly.The storm lasted about 5 hours, when we decided to eventually venture out with a brolli in hand.We went to see the race track when it is lit up and its
amazing. Helen was like a big child jumping up and down as the f1 cars
went past at 300kmh, and of course as the race is in a built up area
there is no where for the noise to go except in to your ears
Formula 1
.September 8th the GP day......
We arive at the track at about 1pm,and take our time to walk around the track and all the different stalls around the place. We had read in the paper that you can hire a mini tv thing which allows you to watch the race from the tv cameras, and also choose any driver to follow him on the onboard camera. It also done a load of other cool stuff,which Merlin spent hours playing with. It cost £40 to hire this tv thing which was more than the tickets themselves..... but by the end we were really pleased to have treated ourselves! We found ourselves a great spot on a bridge where we sat for 2 hours waiting for the race to start. There was a parade lap of the drivers at about an hour before the race started which was great to see all the drivers up close.
The race started and the noise levels are unelivable! After a few laps Barrichello broke down right in front of us. we tried frantically to wave at the cameras to be seen on tv..... but I don't think the cameras could pick anything up except those bright lights! We had a crowd of people around us trying to watch our tv, and asking us the positions and times etc..... we should have charged $10 for each person and made our money back!
Two hours later, the race finished, and we started to make our way towards one exit, but the queue was massive to get out. So we went out a back way and managed to get back to our hotel within 20 minutes!! Result! We have had a good time in Singapore, although there isn't really much to do here. Tommorrow we leave either by bus, plane or boat (havent' decided yet) to go to Malaysia.So roll on the next country.......
