Formula One F1 Night Race 2012

The last time I got into the F1 scene was when Beyonce and Black-Eyed Peas headlined one of the nights at Fort Canning, and I must say it was an awesome experience that got me paying attention to BEP more after that. But that concert seemed detached or independent of the F1 race itself, held a few throws away. This year, the F1 set-up seems different, with all the activities centralized around the race tracks. I will call this the F1 ville - upon entry one is greeted by all the buzz and the electrifying scene... and the smell of barbecue wafting out from somewhere, which made me realize I was starving so I promptly told my husband that it should be our first stop!

 A few bands and acts were playing last night - unfortunately I didn't recognize the names. But I must say the one we chanced upon played well in a folk-rock kind of way (read: not my genre anyway! I could relate more to the music that my millenial nieces and nephews listen to:-). Jay Chou was supposed to be the biggest draw and appearing a bit later in the night, but my tummy was reminding me we needed to go find the other kind of chow! So off we went in search of the barbecue stall, though along the way we got distracted by some stilt dancers who seemed to keep some passers-by amused, a free tattoo booth, and the requisite souvenir shops - all of which created the atmosphere of a big fair.  I am no F1 fan-girl, but I think ending up at the F1ville, albeit just for the practice session, was a good way of spending an otherwise aimless Friday night.

 After grabbing barbecue and some drink (yes Maslow I hear you), my husband and I headed to the pit grandstand to watch the practice session per se. And here, the purpose of this weekend could not be ignored! The noise from the revving engines was totally deafening! I tried to protect my already fragile ears (diagnosis: selective hearing. My husband once expressed buyer's remorse after finding out I have this problem) by putting on my iPhone earphones, but to no avail. And before we would go real deaf prematurely, my husband went down to buy those survival kits which we earlier ignored - rookie mistake number 1! The kit included a pair of nifty green earplugs that go right into the ear canals. And while they did not totally cancel the noise (but what would!), they at least made the watching a bit more bearable. The other content of the survival kit was a white raincoat which I was glad we didn't have to wear last night.

 After settling into our seats, I started taking pictures using my iPhone (yes, one of the many times it served me really well!). And I swear I took a million clicks in the hope of catching one speeding race car into the frame. Of course I took some videos too, but one still-shot would really be nice I thought - easier to share around than a video! But with all these nano-second speedsters, I knew the task was almost impossible to begin with given that I was not properly equipped - rookie mistake number 2. Note to self - next time please at least bring a multi-shot camera. But undaunted (some would call it foolishness/stubbornness), I kept on clicking anyway until finally, I got one into the frame...and as would be expected, the race car zoomed by in a blink, and captured on camera, it looked like a blurry tail! By this time I think all the race car drivers had done their rounds. I saw Lewis Hamilton's clock-time flashing on-screen. I wasn't exaggerating when I said these cars go by nano-seconds. Hamilton clocked in 45 sec I think (pardon me for poor timing estimates - rookie mistake number 3). The other big names, Schumi and Alonso, clocked in their times as well - I will leave the papers to do the more responsible reporting on this one :-)

 On the way out from the pit, I threw my earplugs into the dust bin, and I was wondering why my husband wasn't doing the same. He just flashed his evil grin and told me he will keep them. I asked, as a souvenir item? And he replied, "for the weekend 'noise cancellation' at home". He was indeed looking forward to a 'peaceful weekend' with the help of these earplugs!  For the record, I am no loud-mouth. And by most accounts, I am a soft-spoken person. But as with other things, my husband tends to have contrarian views. But just for tonight, for scoring me free tickets on last-minute notice, I would let this roommate have the last word on the matter...at least until he gets the Katy Perry tickets :-)

Is it a bird? is it a tail? it's an F1 car!



The night was also a good excuse to capture some of the beautiful scenes and store in digital memory!






















Entrance to F1 Ville

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