Our final day in Cambodia was a laid back affair save for a quick trip around the market to stock up on some last minute souvenirs. It still felt as though we’d only just got here, and yet all too soon it was time to head to the airport for our flight to Singapore. Unfortunately, by the time we took off in the early evening a sizeable storm had rolled in, so the first half-hour of the flight was borderline terrifying as the plane shook and rattled in the heavy turbulence and lightning flashed through the cabin, which had been kept dark by the crew for an unnervingly long time. When at last the lights came on, the seatbelt sign was turned off and Katy had stopped swearing, she vowed never ever ever to get on an aircraft ever again (which should make for a very interesting series of blogs as we travel home by road across the Eurasian continent).
Fortunately, the rest of the flight was a relatively smooth affair and there was a palpable release of tension from the entire plane when we finally touched down at Changi International at the very eastern tip of the island city state. Going from Cambodia to Singapore meant that in the course of the evening we had travelled from South East Asia’s poorest country to its wealthiest. Per capita, the typical Singaporean is 45 times richer than the average Cambodian, and as such the taxi ride through the streets of the city from the airport to our Airbnb was like being driven across another planet. For one thing, the roads were about as 2D as it’s possible for roads to be!
We arrived at our Airbnb just north of the city centre and met Ken, our host for the weekend, as well as his 6 cats who were all very keen to explore the new smells and toys (our luggage tags) that had wandered into their home. It was now gone 11pm and we initially felt a little guilty that Ken had had to stay up so late to let us in, that was until we found out that he was still waiting on some more guests who had booked his other room. Our room was a spacious and luxurious 10th floor apartment annexe featuring a private bathroom with a loo that can handle toilet paper (being 45x wealthier you’re your neighbours definitely has its perks), shared kitchen, British plugs and air conditioning. Oh, and they drive on the left here and understand the principles of forming queueing! We like Singapore!
The following morning, we awoke giddy and excited for what the day might bring and made our way into the city centre to collect our Grand Prix tickets. We had treated ourselves to ‘weekend premier walkabout’ tickets (read: premium economy), which gave us access to all 4 viewing zones around the circuit. We couldn’t enter the grandstands, but we could watch the action from any of the numerous make-shift terraces that lined the side of the track. Our plan for Friday then was to explore the circuit, trying out the different viewpoints to see which would be the best for the race on Sunday. We still had a few hours to kill between collecting our tickets and the gates to the circuit being open though, so we went off in search of a spot of lunch and to explore the city.
We wound up having a lunch of falafel-filled pita breads in a covered food-court near the central business district, before heading north towards the circuit through the maze of skyscrapers following the banks of the Singapore river and up to the historic Anderson Bridge. Here we crossed the river and excitedly made our way through the gates and the security checkpoints and into the circuit. Where we entered was at the far end from the pit straight in a section where the track loops around the grounds of the Singapore Cricket Club (Ah, the relics of Empire!). The pitch had been converted in to essentially a festival site for the weekend, complete with a stage flanked by big screens, shops and stalls, food vendors and bars, row upon row of portaloos and a marquee for dolling out complimentary (sic) spray-on tattoos which Katy insisted we get (eyeroll). At the time that we were exploring the circuit there was a Porsche Super Cup race happening, one of several support races taking place across the weekend in between the F1 sessions, so we had the opportunity to try out some of the viewpoints from which we might potentially watch the Grand Prix. Most were nothing special, lacking either a big screen or a decent view of the track so we continued on through the circuit towards the pit straight down by Marina Bay. All around us the sounds of the Porsches blasting through the city streets filled the air, their unmuted engine noises echoing off the surrounding skyscrapers and periodically drowning out the prattling of the Australian presenters over the PA system, who were busily hyping up the weekend to come (personally, I didn’t fully understand the need to sell me on an event that I’m already attending, but maybe I’m being too British about the whole thing. Leopards and spots etc…).
My favourite part of this hype building was the caveats they had to add to the ‘Night Race’ selling point of the weekend. When Singapore first hosted a Grand Prix in 2008, it was F1’s first and only Night Race and as such it made this USP front and centre of the marketing. In the subsequent 12 years though, the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi grand Prix’s have become ‘night’ and ‘day/night’ races respectively, meaning that now Singapore has to advertise itself as “F1’s only fully-at-night street-circuit race in Asia!”. Not quite as catchy.
We made our way to the pit straight and found an elevated viewing platform overlooking the last corner in the shadow of the Singapore Flyer, the huge Ferris wheel that’s taller even than the London Eye. From here we could see the back-end of the main straight, the pit entrance and several of the garages. There was also a big-screen on the opposite side of the track so we wouldn’t miss out on any of the action that was happening elsewhere. From there we watched the first practice session of the day, the first chance for us to see the F1 cars up close at full racing speed. The close-quarters of a street circuit make for a very different viewing experience from purpose-built circuits like Silverstone. The cars fly past mere milometers from the walls and only a matter of feet from the stands and the hemmed-in nature of the city streets contains the sound and makes it reverberate through the scaffolding that holds up the temporary stands. The sensation of watching and feeling the cars go past is truly visceral, and the immersion is dampened only by the heavy-duty catch fencing separating you from the track which has the annoying habit of drawing the camera’s focus every time you try to take a picture (It also, you know, protects you from being hit by debris from a 200mph shunt should the worst happen, so on balance Its probably best that its there).
Between 1st and 2nd Practice we had about two and a half hours to kill, so we headed across Marina Bay to Gardens by the Bay, perhaps Singapore’s most unique and iconic landmark. The complex is massive and covers much of the artificial peninsula which makes up the southern bank of the bay. It features numerous indoor and outdoor gardens including an Eden Project-like enclosed Cloud Forest, all centred around the ‘super-tree grove’, an amalgamation of towering metal trees up which are grown orchids, climbers and myriad other flowing plants. The aim of Gardens by the Bay is to serves as a demonstration space for pioneering far greater and more creative incorporation of green-space into urban planning and it can’t be denied that it makes an impressive and inspiring job of it.
You need the best part of a day (and a sizeable wad of cash) to visit the whole site, so as we only had a few hours we settled just for visiting the super tree grove. The grove is arranged with the largest tree closely encircled by six smaller ones from which a walkway is suspended about 2/3rds of the way up. The path follows a semi-circular route around the central tree and can be accessed for 8 SGD (about £5) each. The view from the path in the dwindling light was great, especially as the LED lights built into the trees came on and made the towering sprawl of the metal branches glow shades of green, pink and blue.
After 15 minutes or so on the path being gently ushered along by the attendants, we wound our way down and grabbed some snacks from the nearby food court before plonking ourselves on an open grassy area to watch the light display on the trees as the night descended. At 7:45 the light display began and the spotlights and LEDs around the super-trees began blinking and flashing a whole spectrum of colours to a medley of classic and contemporary music from all over Asia. For 15 minutes the display went on whilst we lay on the grass completely transfixed. It was totally mesmerising and thoroughly engrossing and exactly the sort of thing needed in a country where seemingly all psychedelic substance use carries the death penalty.
The light-show over we headed back across the bay to the circuit for second practice, this time finding a spot up near the first turn where the pit exit re-joins the racetrack. This was the first time we had seen the cars run at night under the glare of the massive network of spotlights suspended from overhead gantries. Seeing the cars under the glow of the artificial light was really cool and the spot we had chosen was a great place for photos as the cars moved slowly enough as they came out of the pits that the camera could keep up, but not so slowly that it focussed on the fence instead (most of the time). Once practice was over we headed back to our Airbnb, thoroughly pooped after a long day of walking, according to our pedometers, the best part of 15 miles around the city.
Fortunately for our sleepy minds and weary legs, the following day there was no activity on track of note until about 5pm where there was the final practice session before the evenings qualifying. In the meantime, we had a very leisurely lie-in before heading into town to engage in perhaps the most cliché touristy activity it’s possible to engage in whilst in Singapore; sipping a Singapore Sling at Raffles.
Dear reader; if you, like us, are not the type who was raised in a modern, dense, tightly packed super-city, then you might find navigating such a place a tad difficult. I normally have a pretty good sense of direction but soon found myself completely thrown by the warren of tunnels which double as shopping malls under the city and that connect the metro stations to all of the surrounding buildings. Eventually, after inadvertently stumbling in to the foyer of the building we had picked up our tickets from the day before, we found our way out above ground on a street which hadn’t been cordoned off as a result of the grand prix (who’s idea was it to host a grand prix here? Grumble grumble) and made our way out to Raffles Hotel.
Around the back of the building we headed up to the Long Bar and joined the queue of other punters who had had the same idea as Jackie Boyce. After about 15 minutes we were invited in by a very dapper barman and shown to our seats at a table flanked by two other couples also sporting F1 attire. In fact, nearly everybody in there was wearing a lanyard with a Grand Prix pass attached, so at least we didn’t look too out of place (aside from being a good 20 years younger than any of the other patrons).
We ordered our Singapore slings and tucked into the hessian bag filled with complimentary peanuts that each table is provided with. Part of the fun of the experience supposedly is to eat the peanuts and drop the shells on to the floor, all whilst being fanned from above by leaf-shaped bamboo paddles. Rich people are weird. The inside of the bar is, as you’d expect, very tasteful, sporting wide leather chairs, marble-topped tables with wooden trim, mahogany and stain-glass bay fittings and a white and black chequered marble floor partially obscured by peanut shells. The paddle fans wave gently at the top of the room, though this is just for ambience now and powered by an electric motor, the heavy lifting of the cooling instead provided by formidable A/C. There was a little wait for our slings, which were being produced 8 at a time by a dedicated mixologist with what must have been the world’s largest cocktail mixer. When they arrived, we were almost bowled over by how much alcohol was in them, they certainly hadn’t scrimped on the booze which, for £25 each, is the least you would expect (Thanks Jackie :D).
The Singapore Sling was developed to look like a fruit juice so that ladies in the early 20’s could have an alcohol during a time when it was uncouth for them to be seen drinking. Seems to me though that the stated purpose of such a drink is completely defeated if just one contains so much booze that anyone can tell instantly from how you’re walking that you’re somewhat inebriated. After making the most of our slings we staggered out of the long bar back into the heat of the day and worked our way to the circuit, the mix of heat and alcohol giving us absolute clarity of purpose that what we needed next was ice-cream!
We again worked our way down to the Singapore flyer next to which stood a highly-recommended gelato bar with a mouth-watering range of options. I had Apple Crumble and Salted Caramel and Katy had Banoffee and Red Berry Pavlova. It was damn expensive, about £12 for both of us, but it was quite possibly the nicest ice cream we’d ever had and, in the heat and humidity of the late afternoon, worth every penny.
Next up was another practice session and we chose a spot near to where we were anywhere which had free seating for us non-grandstand plebs so we watched half the session from there before taking a ride on the Singapore Flyer, timing it just right so that we saw the last 15 minutes of the session from on board the giant Ferris wheel as well as the sunset as we went over the top. As the flyer is closed off to the general public and open only to grand-prix ticket holders it was practically deserted, and we ended up with a whole air conditioned capsule (designed for 20 people) all to ourselves. The ride takes about 30 minutes in all and offers gorgeous views of the city and of the racetrack, much of which can be seen from the top as it winds its way along the bay weaving between the buildings. The fading light, the glow the racetrack and the neon illumination of the skyscrapers of the CBD made for an absolutely stunning view which only got more beautiful as the wheel slowly turned and the night descended. Singapore really is a spectacular city and the vantage point our private cabin gave us really brought it home how lucky we are to have the opportunity we have had this year to see all the things we have seen and go to all the places we have been.
Once we left the Flyer, we had about an hour to kill before Qualifying started and, expecting the circuit to be quite busy, we made our way up to the same stand we had watched the second practice from the previous night from to claim our spot. The Qualifying hour proved to be one of the most exciting part of the weekend with 5 drivers in with a realistic shout of pole position and the climax of the session coming down to the wire. As it was, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the top spot on the grid much to the approval of the massive Ferrari fan base in the crowds. The excitement over for the day we headed back home again eagerly anticipating the race the following day.
Sunday dawned and again we took our time getting up, hoping to conserve as much energy as we could for later to attend the after race show down at the cricket ground. A healthy late breakfast of Subway sandwiches and we were on our way, deciding this time to come into the track from the south to take advantage of the pleasant walk from the bayfront MRT along the banks of Marina Bay towards the bridge into the circuit.
Expecting a particularly busy day we had made plans to get to our chosen seating area with plenty of time to spare to ensure a good view, so we headed along the path following the back of the pit straight leading up to the first corner. Along the way we found ourselves in the midst of a large crowd of people hanging out by the entrance to the paddock where all the teams have their garages set up. It quickly became apparent why all these people were here; there was a steady stream of drivers, team big-wigs and other celebrities making their way from the large hotel complex just outside the circuit to the garages. We stood a little back from the crowd where we could get a good look at (and photo of) those approaching and over the course of about an hour saw around a third of the drivers, including Katy’s favourite Valtteri Bottas, as they made their way to the track. We’re not normally ones to get swept up in this kind of celebrity adulation but it was weirdly compelling to watch small groups approaching from the distant walkway and see if anyone we recognised was going to come past. It was a really fun thing to have stumbled across, especially as the crowd was by-and-large well behaved and most of the drivers were happy to take the time to sign a few autographs and snap a few selfies. Katy even managed to get a wink out of new Red Bull driver Alex Albon as he made his way past, I might have to have words with him.
Once we’d had our fill of being star-struck we continued up to the ‘Fan Village’ just to the north of the circuit where Katy got another spray on tattoo (eyeroll) and I refilled the water bottles in the free water dispenser located far away enough from the track that it was (almost) not worth the effort and settling for the over-priced bottles available from numerous vendors in much more convenient locations. After that, and with about 3 hours to go until the start of the race we made our way to the viewing platform, sticking with our chosen spot from the previous day on the inside of turn 2. There were still support races taking place, so we had that to entertain us whilst we waited, as well as interviews and race discussion being broadcast over the PA system. All of a sudden, the banality of passing the time until the race started was dramatically interrupted by a car spinning off and slamming into the wall just 20 feet down the track from where we were sat. Despite the deafening crunch of the impact against the concrete barrier the driver was fine and climbed out of his wreck with a wave and to a round of applause from the crowd. It’s been less than a month since Antoine Hubert tragically lost his life in a Formula 2 race in Belgium, itself a support race to the F1 race that weekend, so seeing a driver walk away unscathed from an accident, even a relatively minor one like this one, is a great relief to everyone.
As the marshals cleared away the damaged car and repaired the barrier, the big screen opposite continued the running 3 day hype-train by talking about upcoming acts on the various stages around the circuit and encouraging the fans to share their pictures on social media, when suddenly the picture I took of Alex Albon winking at Katy and that she had posted on Instagram appeared. This was all getting out of hand now, definitely time to have words!
It was a good job we did get to the viewpoint when we did though, as bout half an hour later and with still a couple of hours to go before the start of the race it was pretty much full up. Next up was the drivers parade where the drivers are driven around in open-top cars to wave at the crowd like a procession of former US presidents. This used to be a slightly less glamorous affair, with all the drivers packed on to the back of a low-loader and driven slowly around the circuit together. Jenson Button once said this was his and many other drivers’ favourite part of the weekend, it being the only time the drivers were together in one place without the media or team handlers monitoring every word they said. In fact, the drivers enjoyed the opportunity for a chat amongst themselves so much that they invariably forgot to wave at the crowd, so Formula One Management (understandably valuing public engagement more than the driver’s social lives) had to separate them all like naughty school children.
I would’ve loved to have included more pictures from the drivers parade but unfortunately for the duration of the parade our camera developed a particularly keen fascination with the fence, so we now have a lot of nicely framed and well balanced shots of metal fences with blurry men in cars in the background. Brilliant.
With the driver’s parade having passed us I set off to get us some sandwiches and some beers for the race from the 7/11 located inside the grounds of the Singapore Flyer. Being the cheap-skates we are, we had clocked the previous day that the 7/11 was there and was selling beers for about a third of the price of the bars around the circuit. Presumably some lawyer somewhere was unsuccessful in their exclusivity negotiation and now the organisers were stuck trying very hard not to drawer any attention to the fully stocked convenience store inside the circuit grounds.
We now had only an hour to go until the race start and the buzz was really building in the now completely packed stands. Soon enough, to cheers and applause, the cars started making their way out of the pits to head to the grid ready for the start of the race. The national anthem played, the silly overdramatic intro music sounded, the commentators did their run down of the drivers and teams, the cars came around on the formation lap and the lined up for the start and then, at 8:10 in the evening, finally, it was lights out!
All 20 cars blasted past us making their way through the first sequence of corners, the sound like a vast swarm of angry miss-firing hornets fading into the distance in the city before slowly building up again as the field came around for a second lap. There was a long night ahead of us, 61 laps in all, each lasting around 1 minute and 50 seconds. For the drivers, this is the most physically demanding race of the years, the tight twisty circuit requiring maximum focus and the high humidity draining their strength. Throughout the course of the race they can expect to lose around 3kg of fluids in sweat alone. My 10 year old self might think differently but; rather them than me! Singapore is not generally the most exciting of race of the year, the circuit not lending itself to overtaking or close racing, though it can have its moments. Watching the race live however is a different thing; the lights, the sound, the smell and the atmosphere in the stands all make It so that even an otherwise dull race can be thoroughly engrossing.
What really strikes you about watching a race live rather than on TV is the lingering consequences of the things that happen. If a driver locks up a tyre going into a corner, they carry on and the TV coverage follows them, but the cloud of smoke hangs in the air for ages afterwards slowly wafting the stench of burned rubber into the crowd. The same goes for the sparks and smoke thrown up by the underside of the car as they bottom out at high speed, or if a piece of bodywork comes off; provided it isn’t on the racing line, it will just be left there until it’s safe for a marshal to retrieve it. Another thing that the TV doesn’t do justice to at all is the sound; not just the outright volume, but the texture and richness of it. It’s only when you are here that you realise how heavily the broadcast sound is compressed and is lacking the dynamic range that comes from occasional misfires, the whirring of the turbo and the surprisingly loud and guttural fluttering sound a car makes as it goes across the kerbs.
The most dramatic moment from our vantage point came towards the end of the race as Daniil Kvyat attempted to make a late pass on Kim Räikkönen coming in to the first corner. The two banged wheels and went wide across the entrance of turn 2 right in front of us, breaking Kimi’s suspension and forcing him to retire the car right there on track. There was a slightly surreal moment of disconnect as both Katy and I were watching the big-screen at the time, we saw the collision happen and then a split second later made the connection that what we were watching on screen was actually happening right in front of us. Kimi climbed out of his stricken car and ran across the circuit towards us, much to the approval of the crowd around us and after a brief safety car period to move the wreck, the race was underway again.
Before we knew it though the race was over, with Sebastian Vettel winning for Ferrari (boooooo) to a thunderous cacophony of fireworks and music. After the race had concluded the track was opened up for the crowd to walk along, kind of the equivalent of an authorised pitch invasion. It’s a nice opportunity for the fans to get down on to the track and up-close to the pit garages, and it also served as a way to aid the tens of thousands of people (the overall race day attendance was about 260,000) making their way from the stands around the circuit to the main stage where the Red Hot Chilli Peppers were playing the final musical set of the weekend. Pumped full of adrenaline and alcohol we set off on this journey around the track, taking the opportunity to have a sneak peak at the garage and high-fiving the enthusiastic ushers and marshals who were guiding us along, cheering, signing and generally just having a really great time.
By the time we had made the 2 mile walk down the track to the main arena though the alcohol and adrenaline had worn off, the humidity had got to us and the weariness of a very long and action-packed weekend had taken over us, so we made a token show of seeing the Red Hot Chilli Pepers then made our way out of the arena and back to our Airbnb.
The race may not have been a classic, but it was a wonderful experience being there, and it was a real pleasure visiting this stunning city-state. The organisation and execution of the whole weekend was superb, and you can’t help but admire the logistical finesse involved in pulling off an event of this scale in the heart of such a busy city. Singapore gets a big 10/10 from us and it’s a place we would love to visit again someday in the future.
Katy and Dave Avoid Adulthood 