Singapore Grand Prix: 3 of 3

Posted on September 30, 2008

Singapore is famous for the high number of exotic cars it has. Although I’ve been to Singapore a dozen times, this was the first time I pretty much saw one on every single street. The number of Lambos was unbelievable. Outside this hotel was a Pagani Zonda in baby pink.

Interesting hue, but it still looked hardcore nonetheless.

Monday night was my departure time, and initially I wanted to spend the day shopping on Orchard Road. But a near monsoon downpour hit, and so I decided to kill the time by going early to Changi airport’s new Terminal 3 instead.

Terminal 3 has to be one of the best airports in the world. It’s absolutely massive in size, and there’s anything and everything on offer. There’s countless lounges - each playing a different channel or movie - and quiet areas with reclining seats for those who want to rest. Of course there’s free wi-fi, but also numerous desks with power for those with laptops. There’s even a quirky mobile phone locker where you can lock your phone in a cubby hole and charge its batteries for free.

Singapore Grand Prix: 2 of 3

Posted on September 30, 2008

Here’s the Paddock Pass, which you need to gain access to the exclusive paddock area behind the pit-lane. On the other side’s my photo, name and publication. The security’s extremely strict: first you go past a security check point before going to the turnstiles, which require you to swipe for access. Your face is then displayed on the turnstile’s screen for visual confirmation from another security guard. Then there’s the metal detectors and bag scanning. There’s another two security check-points to get into the media room.

Took a while to familiarise myself with the track layout and to find the Paddock. It was a bit like a treasure hunt trying to navigate the FIA’s map to the media room.

Loving this shot of one of the brake markers that lined the track. Considering how flood lit the track was, it was quite difficult to get shots that were moody.

Hehehe sorry, can’t show the pics of the interesting stuff as they’re for an upcoming feature in ASM!

Right above the pitlane was the media room, which is an absolute bee-hive of activity. There’s hundreds of stations, filled with journalists (photographers have their own room next door) from all over the world. As I was doing the double role of photographer and journalist, I ended up staying in the media room until the early hours each morning. Even though I was leaving at 1 or 2AM, there was often still over half the media still punching away on their laptops. The hospitality was fantastic however, with the lounge fully stocked with sandwiches, wraps, soft drinks, Red Bull (yeah baby), coffee and Haagen Dazs ice cream.

Singapore Grand Prix: 1 of 3

Posted on September 30, 2008

Finally got back to Sydney today after a crazy non-stop weekend at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix.

Here’s SIA’s lounge at Sydney airport. Was pretty umm… crap compared to other lounges.

Boarded a 747 for the trip to Singapore. Judging by the amount of automotive apparel I saw in the terminal, quite a few Australians were also making the trip to see the first ever F1 night race.

First time I’ve been on the upper deck of a plane, and put simply, it’s f*cking awesome. It’s a hell of a lot quieter as it’s all business class, so there weren’t any screaming babies or the idle raucous from a few hundred passengers. SIA’s hostesses were great, and it has to go down as one of the better flights I’ve been on.

The same couldn’t be said for the return leg, which I did in econ on the A380. Although the screen is massive, there’s power for laptops as well as slightly more leg room, the whole trip was rather diabolical. Was a full flight (the flight was also carrying a fair few Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic passengers), made all the more worse by the woman next to me who kept elbowing me while asleep. Took roughly half an hour to get my bags off the baggage carrousel as there were an additional 100 passengers compared to a 747.

New phone

Posted on September 24, 2008

Recently the 8800 started playing up even more, and so I upgraded to a new phone with Vodafone. Enter the Blackberry Bold.

Being with Vodafone for over ten years means that I’ve received a fair few upgarde phones, most of which I usually give away to friends or leave them in the cupboard. While I confess that I’ve always been a designer phone whore (particularly with Nokia’s 8 series), for once I’ve gone with a phone that actually does something. It’s pretty damn wide compared to what I’m used to, however it’s thinness makes it bearable in the pocket. Still haven’t had a chance to play with it as I have to pack for Singapore tomorrow, but I’m sure there will be plenty of time for that waiting in the airport lounge.

Cool ad

Posted on September 23, 2008

Went with a few colleagues to Ramen Kan again for some tan-tan ramen. Between the four of us we’ve been to Japan over 20 times, and we all love this place. On the way back to the car Garth spotted this cool street campaign by my fav beer, Asahi. Awesome design.

My weekend job

Posted on September 20, 2008

Today marked the last race weekend for this year’s Drift Australia championship. It has been a couple months since the last round at Eastern Creek, and so I had forgotten just how draining it is and how much stress is placed on the shoulders of the teams.

Whoever thinks that drifting is a cost-effective form of motorsport is kidding themselves. Its hellish expensive, and Oran Park Raceway’s abrasive surface shreds a brand new pair of rear tyres to the belts in just three laps. Granted we compete in Australia’s national comp, but the expenditure - in terms of tyres, race fuel, operational costs and maintenance - is well over a few hundred dollars a lap.

Early morning starts are something that I absolutely hate, but I honestly don’t mind doing it for drifting. The community is closely-knit, and each race weekend is like meeting up with old friends. Although things get heated out on the track, in the pit lane everyone helps one another. A few rival teams have come to our rescue, and we’ve done the same to others too. It’s awesome knowing that the tool your missing or a replacement part you desperately need is available only a garage or two away.

Although Silvias are still the most popular cars in drifting, Australia’s scene is still quite eclectic compared to other countries. There’s Robbie Bolger’s Monaro (built by a V8 Supercar team), stunt rider Mingay’s awesome carby Commodore, Beau Yates’ dry-sumped 3S AE86, a KE Corolla and even a V8-powered Z32 and S13.

Finally!

Posted on September 18, 2008

Something I’ve been working on for nearly a year was getting media access to the exclusive world of Formula 1. As readers of my column in ASM will know, I’ve been a mega F1 fan since I was a kid. Thankfully my application has been approved, and so next week I’ll be hopping over the pond to Singapore for the first ever night race. I’m super keen as I love Singapore, and Marina Bay is the perfect setting for F1. I remember walking down to the Ministry of Sound nightclub a few years ago and thinking that the roads were wide enough for an F1 race, and now it’s actually there, with the layout including racing over two bridges and a cool tunnel that runs directly beneath a grandstand.

With a fair few frequent flyer points racked up over the years, I thought it was the opportune time to spoil myself by using them for an upgrade to Business class on Singapore Airlines. Unfortunately I discovered they have a two-tiered system, meaning that a seat on certain planes (such as the A380, which is what I wanted to be on) will cost you double the number of points. The other problem was that there were hardly any flights out of Singapore for a week. After an hour on their website and a few minutes crunching numbers, I decided on business (on a 747-400) to Singapore and economy (on an A380) back to Sydney. This leaves me with enough points for another return trip to Asia at a later date, which is good because I’d love to go to Hong Kong again for a holiday (as well as the wontons!)

Canon competition

Posted on September 18, 2008

April, a friend of mine, sent me an email with a link to a photo competition that Canon was holding called Photo 5. And so on a whim I decided to enter.

Basically the premise of the competition is that Canon will send each entrant five items in a box which you then have to shoot or utilise in the most creative way possible. According to the stamp that came on it, each box cost just under $5 to send. When you times that by how many thousands of people have entered as well as how much their PR agency charged them to do the promotion, you start to understand just how valuable a database is for marketing departments.

After opening the box I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. The five items were a ribbon (which is wrapped around the box), a candle, a crayon, bubbles and a cocktail umbrella. Although at first I thought they were uninspiring, I’ve started to come up with a few ideas that may pan out.

Mmmmexican

Posted on September 17, 2008

Around a week or two ago I stated that Sydney is an unknown epicentre for food, with the Ace card being the multiculturalism that makes up our communities. That said, there’s one big difference compared to any major U.S. city and that’s our apparent lack of Mexican food. Indeed, it’s rare for Mexican to be suggested when going out with friends for dinner, with the usual suspects being Japanese, the latest and greatest steak-house or even good old Chinese. I certainly miss the Mexican food in L.A., and unfortunately what we have here is quite lacking in terms of quality. The above take-out was from a restaurant on Oxford Street and it was pretty bad. Regardless, maybe I should stop posting about food as my belly is growing larger by the day!

A Korean wedding

Posted on September 15, 2008

(photo by Mark Pakula)
There’s a bit of a Korean theme of late considering I only recently went to Seoul, and on the weekend I attended a Korean wedding.

(photo by Mark Pakula)
I’ve never been to a Korean wedding before, and to be honest it’s not that different to other Asian weddings. I cringed a bit at the Korean food as my trip to Seoul more than satisfied any cravings for a good year or two. Regardless, I was really happy to see my good friend Simon tie the knot with his new wife, Maricar. There were some scary looking hard-hitting Koreans there tho!

Bye bye weather

Posted on September 14, 2008

Chilly breezes, ocean blue skies and weak sunlight. Shame that’s all gone, with summer announcing its arrival in Sydney with hot temperatures. I’m a winter person and so when I woke up to find 27 degree weather (that’s Celsius of course) I was - unlike the rest of the population in Australia - rather not happy. While my friends were rejoicing that the cold had finally been replaced with our trademark warm weather, I found myself sticking indoors and turning the air-con on. Call me weird, but there’s nothing better than rugging up in the freezing cold.

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