f1

Shell #LoveMyRide Festival

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Sexy KL Promoters

This has gotta be the most interesting festival I’ve been to. A lot of events are (to be brutally honest) a little dull and I go coz I have to, not coz I want to. This is the total opposite – I was up bright and early on Saturday morning coz I wanted to be at the Shell #LoveMyRide Festival.

LoveMyRide

There were more than 50 food trucks and stalls, racing simulators, 3D art fixtures, music performances and I got a free engine oil change and a tank of fuel to boot.

Shell LoveMyRide

#LoveMyRide Festival was an outreach to all car enthusiasts (attendance is free) but it appeals to practically everyone. I was particularly intrigued by the gathering of KL’s best food trucks and the ultimate engine rejuvenation experience provided by Shell.

Bay

I was allotted the 9:30 am slot and got assigned a number and a car bay to change my engine oil. The kind people of Shell gave this to 500 lucky winners who registered at their website.

Free Oil Change

My car (a Toyota VIOS) was due to have the next engine oil change anyway, so this was great timing. Shell provided the correct oil filter and changed my engine oil to Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology.

Shell Helix Ultra PurePlus

This is Shell’s most advanced motor oil and the first one ever to be designed from natural gas with PurePlus Technology. It’s the best motor oil in the market which also contains Active Cleansing Technology additives to clean my car from inside out!

You can find out more about Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology here. This is the engine oil that was provided gratis to the winners.

Shell Helix Lounge

I could chill out at the Shell Helix Lounge while my car was getting its ultimate engine rejuvenation and I took the time to enjoy the cars, music and food they had on offer.

Shell LoveMyRide Festival

Each visitor was given a limited edition map that can be used to complete fun activities and get stuff like free ice cream and Coke upon completion. You’ll also get a loaded goodie bag if you finish visiting all the attractions and activities.

3D Art

First up was a photo at one of their 3D art installations.

3D Art Me

I chose this one coz it looked really cool. That’s a real automatic screwdriver BTW.

deli2go Memory Game

There was also a deli2go where you can get discount vouchers from a memory game. The people there were kind enough to give me a complimentary iced Americano when they saw my half-asleep countenance. Haha.

Mixology Masterclass

I also participated in the Shell Helix PurePlus Mixology Masterclass. It’s was a live mocktail mixing session to demonstrate Shell Helix Ultra’s patented GTL (gas to liquid) process where you get to play around with various fruit (to represent base oil) and vegetable juices (to represent additives). I sampled my own creation and pronounced it good. smirk

Free Ice Cream

Free ice cream was provided to members of the public, which was awesome coz it was a very hot day.

Shell V-Power F1 Challenge

Next, I went to the Shell V-Power F1 Challenge where I tried to win a Sony PS4 console.

Pumping Gas

This is very interesting and as authentic as you can get without climbing into a multi-billion dollar F1 machine as you have to factor in the gas (fuel) aspect of racing as well. You’re allowed a certain amount of petrol which you have to pump yourself – more means you get to drive longer but your time is penalized.

F1 Simulator

I just made it to the cut-off point and climbed into the F1 cockpit. I tried my best but only came up to #9 at the end of the day. I didn’t get the PS4 but at least it was fun.

Fashion Bazaar

There was a fashion bazaar there was well. Like I said, this caters to everyone, not just car enthusiasts.

BMW 428i Gran Coupe

BMW was also there and featured some of their cars like the BMW 428i Gran Coupe.

BMW 328i Gran Turismo

The 328i Gran Turismo made an appearance too…

Mazda 6 SKYACTIV

…as well as the new Mazda 6 SKYACTIV 2.5L.

iamNEETA

iamNEETA got on stage at 12 pm to perform. I’ve seen their videos online before and I thought they were great. Diandra and Reza Salleh also did sessions on the stage.

Malaysian Book of Records

You can also go on test drives by Mazda and BMW if you want. I registered but unfortunately the nice people at Shell called to tell me my car was ready so I told the people at the test drive center to give it to the waiting list (there was a long one).

Shell Oil Change

I collected my car after the Shell Ultimate Engine Rejuvenation session and found out that I was part of a Malaysian Book of Records for the most number of cars to do an oil change under 12 hours. In total, 500 cars underwent the oil change during the two days #LoveMyRide was on. Pretty neat, huh?

Free Gas

I was given a voucher for a full tank of Shell V-Power Racing, the top-of-the-line fuel from Shell. I didn’t know I was going to have this so I actually filled my tank just the day before – nevertheless, they managed to get 4.45 liters inside.

V-Power

The people attending the pump were nice enough to squeeze in all that they could. I was quite impressed they could get that much inside.

Shell V-Power Racing

I’ll fill it up with more Shell V-Power Racing soon so I can do a proper review about the fuel. It comes with Friction Modification Technology which allows the engine to turn more freely.

Food Truck KL

I went back to the festival and checked out all the food trucks there. The Pisang Cheese, Little Fat Duck, La Churreria, Sangkaya and more were there. My better half couldn’t attend due to a prior commitment so I bought a lot of food back for her.

BangsarBabe

I think I spent more than RM 90 on food and drinks alone!

BMW Z4 sDrive20i

Shell #LoveMyRide was so awesome that we actually turned up the next day again. They had a “Kiddies Den” section where you can draw and do sand art activities. I have to say that this is one of the best festivals I’ve ever attended and will definitely look forward to the next similar event by Shell!

Salam Mesra Lewis and Nico!

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g force

Do you know that F1 drivers experience an intense amount of G-force whenever they drive? It’s totally unlike this at all – I was just horsing around…

petronas solaris

…but what I wanted to write about is the recent trip Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg made to Malaysia for a Meet The Drivers session at PETRONAS Solaris Serdang!

meet drivers

It was held in the afternoon and the sight of a *real* Formula One vehicle inside a gas station sure garnered a lot of attention.

lewis hamilton

I’m sure that’s a dream come true for a lot of people. I have a friend who’s a huge fan of Lewis Hamilton – insisted on me trying to get his autograph for her and passed her handbag (!!!) to me one season. I didn’t manage to do it but if she was here that day, it’ll have made her day, her week, her month, and even her year. 😉

rc racing

There was also a remote control car racing competition between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. I thought that was a fun concept – I wonder if aptitude with RC cars have anything to do with performance on a real F1 car. I seriously doubt it, but it’s a cute activity. Heh.

hand prints

The two drivers also did hand prints and signed plaques for the Race On contest.

nico rosberg

You know the best part? The two F1 drivers actually filled up the gas tanks of people who came into the PETRONAS station at Solaris Serdang that day! Guess who those lucky people are? They’re Mesra Card Top Spenders! The lucky few who got to get *up close* to Lewis and Nico, pose for photographs and get their cars filled up by them! It’s bragging rights for eternity! 🙂

You might have missed out on this one, but there’s a very nice car (Mercedes-Benz A-Class) you can win by participating in the Mesra Race On Contest!

What is the Race On contest?

It’s an amazing promotion going on at all Mesra stores at PETRONAS stations nationwide. You just need to buy any of these combos:

mesra f1 combos

…and win great prizes! The best thing is that the combos are much cheaper than if you have bought the individual items together, and they make a perfect snack on road trips or just a cool drink with the hot weather here.

prints

You can also participate by purchasing RM 15 in a single receipt in Mini Mesra and unbranded stores at PETRONAS stations (except for Primax 95, Diesel, Kerosene, Touch n’ Go, Cigarettes, E-payment services and controlled items like flour, sugar and cooking oil).

petronas f1

Just fill in your name, email, and contact number and answer an easy question at the back of the sales receipt and put it into the box at PETRONAS stations to get a chance to win!

mesra contest

The grand prize is the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class! There’s also 10 x LED HD Smart TVs, 20 x Macbook Air, 30 x iPhone 5 and 40 x Mesra gift cards for a total of 110 prizes. Get more details at the Mesra site.

It’s so simple and easy to take part – just look at the back of your receipt and jot down your details! 🙂

Driving at the actual Sepang International Circuit!

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sic race track experience

Yes! I can strike another one off the bucket list! I’ve actually driven on the Sepang International Circuit – one of the official F1 race tracks around the world! w00t!

model

I was at the Volkswagen Das Auto event held to herald in the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup 2011 at SIC and got to experience this once-in-a-lifetime chance. Heh!

vw

I was there pretty early – the event was very well organized – there’s even parking near the paddock and a shuttle to ferry you there so you don’t have to walk.

driving experience

After a quick registration, I signed up to test drive the Volkswagen Polo GTI.

polo gti

I got the 9:45 am slot so I grabbed a quick breakfast of hot noodle soup and coffee before testing out the car.

testing

This is a real world 7.7 km circuit around SIC comprising of various conditions you’ll expect in your daily commute.

I was quite impressed with the car – it handled the straights very well as you can see in the video above. The traffic was pretty light at that hour so the kind folks at Volkswagen let me drive through it twice. This isn’t the actual track (more about that later) – there was a lot of stuff to do that day.

racing sims

…like this driving simulator located throughout. It’s customized so you can see the new Volkswagen Polo in the simulator.

I also went for the Volkswagen Driving Experience – which is basically a safety course. Obstacle avoidance, emergency braking, stuff like that. It was a lot of fun though and I was so glad I got there early coz the spots were all quickly taken up till 4:30 pm.

polo models

The highlight of the event was the launch of the Volkswagen Polo GTI. The car is a beauty!

gti

All the meals were provided that day. I guess they don’t call it a VIP experience for nothing. Heh.

lunch

Catering was done from Pan Pacific so the food was pretty good.

scirocco r

There’s also a Volkswagen Scirocco R car inside – this is the actual car used in the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup 2011.

scirocco r cup

Here’s another angle of the car. I don’t think this highly tuned and spec-ed up car is road legal but won’t it be a blast to drive it? 😀

girls

Anyway, the event that everyone has been hoping for with two fingers crossed came up after lunch – the lucky draw to drive an actual Volkswagen car ON the Sepang International Circuit! The names were announced and there was a mad rush to the monitors see if we were one of the lucky ones.

lucky draw

FUCKYEAH.JPG

I think I’m going to have a stroke. *pounds chest

twitter

My name was on it! I am going to drive on an actual F1 circuit. There are people who would kill for this. I know, you all hate me. 😉

on track

I suited up in safety gear and went into the car. There were Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen Scirocco up for grabs and as I headed to mine, I suddenly thought – how am I going to film the experience?

safety gear

I mean, this is an experience of a lifetime, I’ve gotta get it on film! Thus, I randomly scanned the crowd of people who weren’t as lucky and picked one at random.

celine

Say hello to Celine! She’s from Penang and has agreed to be a passenger in return for filming the Sepang International Circuit drive.

race

I actually filmed the entire experience (or rather, Celine did) but I had the radio on at the beginning – it was Eminem feat. Dr Dre – I Need a Doctor and I forgot to turn it off so I couldn’t upload most of the drive around SIC.

I can tell you though, it was hair-raising. I pushed the Volkswagen to its limits, hitting 220km/h on the straights and doing corners at 180 km/h. I have to say, the latter is not to be attempted by anyone less than a professional.

sic track

I nearly skidded out of control three times and it’s a testament to Volkswagen’s ride and handling which corrected my amateur mistakes. I think I might have frightened Celine though, heck, I frightened myself at the power of the car and the experience of driving at high speeds on an actual racing track.

Thank you for the experience of a lifetime, Volkswagen. I’ll never forget it. 🙂

Good luck in the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup 2011 season!

Win a trip to the 2011 Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix!

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f1 night race

You know the one right? It’s the only F1 GP in the entire world with a night race. I reckon it was an ingenious twist to the F1 format when it first came out – it stands out from all the others and makes Singapore one of the places to be if you’re an F1 fan!

f1 singapore

The actual race will start on the 25th of September with a total of 61 laps, making it a 309.316 km drive. Well, the F1 Grand Prix is of course the highlight of the event but I wonder if you know how they live in Singapore? 😉

sharika

The 2011 Grand Prix Season Singapore lasts from 16-25th of September and is set with parties, fashion shows and performances throughout the season. It comes at a reputed entertainment lineup bill of SGD 5,000,000. That’s slightly over RM 12 million!

shaggy

This mostly goes toward their Live Louder than Life theme this year with a focus on music performances and dance parties. If you remember last year’s theme, it was “It’s Gonna Get Loud” and this year’s will expand on that by giving F1 racing enthusiasts the experience of a lifetime by introducing them to the exciting and glamorous Singapore nightlife!

singapura

That’s right, no one goes to just the race itself. From experience in the F1 races in Melbourne and Sepang, there’s loads of events going on at the time to cater to the fans during the lulls in the action on track.

linkin park

Singapore is one of the most glamorous places to party in Asia – I believe they’re at the #1 spot or close to it according to this clubbing report I read. They’ve got an outstanding lineup of international artists this year – Chemical Brothers, Linkin Park and Shakira is just the tip of the triple A list entertainers coming in.

Here are highlights of the few parties that I think is going to be a blast:

Amber Lounge & Amber Lounge Fashion Singapore
Date: 24 to 25 September 2011
Venue: Temasek Reflection (Water wall behind Millenia Walk)

This is an annual VIP party with F1 drivers and stunning models gracing the club with a fashion show set to beats of international Djs from London to St Tropez.

chem bros

Avalon
Date: 16 to 25 September 2011
Venue: Marina Bay Sands, South Crystal Pavilion

The Chemical Brothers are going to spin here! It’s headlined by The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 and also features Benny Banassi (!!!), Massive Attack and Boy George. The entire list is too long to well, list here, but it’s hard to argue with the Chem Bros playing Dig Your Own Hole while you soak in the panoramic views of Marina Bay…it’s Avalon, the hottest club in Singapore!

Red Hot Racing Weekend @ St James Power Station
Date: 23 to 25 September 2011
Venue: St James Power Station

DJ Angie Vu Ha – Asia’s first supermodel DJ will be spinning there on the 23rd of September. You can also race on the F1 simulators and stand a chance to win exclusive Ferrari merchandize. Need I say more? 🙂

Bollywood

Worldwide Festival
Date: 16 to 18 September 2011
Venue: Zouk & Velvet Underground (16 September), Avalon (17 September), Tanjong Beach Club (18 September)

Yes, it’s BACK! The Worldwide Festival returns with artists which includes Kyoto Jazz Massive, Floating Points, Mala, Gilles Peterson, Shuya Oniko and more! It’s 3 days of partying in indoor and outdoor venues. This is going to be awesome, there’s nothing quite like a beach party.

performers

Anyway, if you’re a fan of both F1 and partying (it seems like there is a high correlation between the two) you can gear up to the actual event by participating in the Grand Prix PartyBlaster contest. You can hear sample tracks from the top DJ’s who will be performing at the Grand Prix Season Singapore parties and share them.

The best part is when you share a new track with your Facebook or Twitter friends, you’ll unlock a new one!

check

No, I’m just using a US-based proxy. Excellent job in detecting and allowing me to select the correct country though – it’s the little things that matter.

grand prix partyblaster

The best thing about this application is that you get to win a FREE trip for two to Singapore, inclusive of race tickets, airfare, 4D3N accommodation and access to selected clubs and parties all weekend, if you’re the “loudest” (most number of posts shared) user.

twirling

…and hey, even if you don’t win, you’ll have a blast (pun intended) listening to the A list DJ’s. Turn on, tune in, drop out, at YourSingapore.com!

A trip into the F1 Paddock in Sepang / Malaysian Grand Prix 2011 race

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me anita

The paddock! It’s the dream of every F1 fan to be able to walk amongst the pit crews, engineers and drivers prepping the F1 cars before the start of the race. I was fortunate enough to be able to join in just one such expedition.

f1 paddock

There are scheduled pit walks if you’re a member of the F1 Sepang Paddock Club (where you have to shell out a staggering amount for the privilege) but ours was by the Lotus Renault GP team.

girls

Our liaison was Anita Nyers, who travels around the world with the Lotus Renault team as Liaison Officer. She brought us into their allocated garage, which was bustling with activity. There were people hurrying around, all wearing the Lotus Renault GP shirt. I am also donning one of the tees – which I got from PROTON, who is supporting Group Lotus in its sponsorship and involvement in F1 through the Lotus Renault team.

lotus tag

This is the almost magical Lotus Renault GP VIP Garage Access tag that granted us entrance into the area. I still have it. 🙂

sepang

The paddock visit was scheduled at 11 am in the morning and I drove down to Sepang much earlier than that (didn’t want to risk missing this chance) and parked in PA1. The SIC has decreed that parking this year will be slightly cheaper – I paid RM 50 for the ticket, which is valid for two days. I like the parking spot, it’s right in front of the Sepang International Circuit.

f1 sepang

Anyway, back to the paddock trip, we saw the Lotus Renault GP team working on the cars, tuning and checking every single component before the race in their garage.

garage

The weather and track conditions (temperature of the ground, ambient temperature etc) are tracked constantly with computer monitors. It’s an engineer’s wet dream.

computer

They use all this data to give them an edge in the race. Here is a tyre stack – two front and two rear wheels which will be used during the race. There are spares in stacks all around.

tyres

The interesting bit about this contraption here is that it HEATS the tyres starting from 3 hours before the race based on the track temperature so it’ll perform optimally.

lotus garage

The attention to detail is incredible and F1 cars are amazingly complex machines.

helmets

These are the real racing helmets that the drivers will be using later.

Here’s a video of The Paddock! Experience it vicariously! 😉

driver

Oh, we bumped into the Malaysian driver for Lotus Renault GP while walking in The Paddock – here’s Fairuz Fauzy.

lotus renault lounge

We were also brought into the hospitality lounge where there’s anything and everything you can think of. I had a bottle of Italian sparkling water. There’s Evian, Perrier, various carbonated drinks and even Corona beer in the fridge. You can help yourself to it, or more accurately, Lotus Renault GP has a staff member which helps you get it.

monitors

They actually FLY these people all the way around the world with the Lotus Renault F1 drivers – everyone from the pit crew to the chefs. The drivers have very specific diets and brings along their own chef and food.

monitoring

I discovered a coffee machine which is quite nifty – you just put a packet of coffee that you choose from a dispenser above and put the entire thing in. There’s no need for you to open it or pour it out. The entire packet – unopened – goes into a slot and out comes your coffee. I don’t care if it makes me look dumb, but I’ve never seen anything like that before.

me

I also had a croissant (which is one of the largest I’ve ever seen) and a banana coz I didn’t have breakfast and then we walked out to watch the pit girls parade past, waving to the drivers and teams in The Paddock.

Here is one final video of the Lotus Renault garage in The Paddock!

parade

We had to vacate the premises soon after that for the qualifiers so we did. I watched the 4 pm qualifiers and went back to catch some much needed sleep before the real finals on Sunday.

paddock

Sunday came and I decided to go 5 hours early to beat the jam. It turned out to be futile. It was congested at certain parts of the road to Sepang and though the traffic police did a great job in directing, it took me the better part of two hours to get there.

view

There’s still ample time when I got there so I parked and started walking around before deciding I wanted to go up to one of the towers instead of sitting at my allocated seat. There’s a girl at the entrance which checks your ticket but I guess I was quite official looking with my tags and all on Saturday so she didn’t ask me for my ticket when I went up.

prep

I decided to stroll up again and smiled at her. She recognized me from the day before…and yes, did not check my ticket. Heh! I went up to the 3rd floor, which offers an awesome 360 degree view of the track – I can see the starting point, several straights and two bends.

flags

The pit girls came out parading the flags of the participant countries…

ready

…before the F1 cars came roaring out of The Paddock and into their allocated slots.

Here’s a video of the lineup of all the F1 cars at the Malaysian Grand Prix 2011 final race!

There was an initial placement round and then the race started proper…

…and they’re off!

start

Man, was it exciting! Red Bull Racing’s Sebastien Vettel started charging right off but Vitaly Petrov of Lotus Renault was right on his ass, giving him lots of pressure. Vitaly finished 3rd with his Lotus Renault in Melbourne before this so he was a favorite in Sepang. His pacing was impressive and it must have kept Vettel looking at his rear. It was unbelievable!

bend

I was rooting for Nick Heidfeld though. He’s also with the Lotus Renault team but didn’t start out as well as Petrov. However, he just kept at it and it paid off at the end, as you’ve probably heard.

chase

Petrov did things with his Lotus Renault F1 car that it was not meant to do – aerodynamic stunts – and had to retire at the 52nd lap. It was sooo close to the end but unfortunately he hit the side of the track and actually became airborne for a while before gravity took hold and pulled the car back down. The impact damaged the front so he had to exit after that.

chasing

I was standing all through the entire race – running from one side of the tower to the other to see the action. Nick of Lotus Renault was the dark horse in this race and I like rooting for the underdog. He kept on pushing the limits.

watch

The other fans up there were equally excited, some flew thousands of miles just to come and root for their team.

corners

It was a nail biting race – each lap saw cars trying to outmaneuver each other at bends and vying for position on the straights and Hiedfeld of Lotus Renault managed to come in at 3rd place!

race

It’s not the chequered flag but being able to stand on the podium is quite an achievement in itself. This is especially sweet for PROTON since Lotus Renault’s Heidfeld did it on home soil. 😀

finish

Out of the 3 Malaysian backed teams, only the Lotus Renault team managed to get into the top 3 and pop the cork on the champagne bottle in the podium. w00t!

tickets

Lotus Renault GP is sponsored by Group Lotus. PROTON in its support of Group Lotus’ sponsorship of the team kindly provided me the tickets to F1 and the rare chance to go into The Paddock and even better – get INSIDE Lotus Renault’s garage. Not many people have that chance and I’m glad I managed to experience it.

I also went to the Rain concert which was included in the ticket.

anita nyers

Thanks to Jeffrey and Alvin from PROTON for being great hosts and Anita Nyers from Lotus for being an awesome tour guide. I can now say that I’ve held a real F1 steering wheel in my hand and rubbed shoulders with the pit crew inside the Lotus Renault paddock. 🙂

An interesting fact about the Lotus Renault team: Their golden suits is not just for the bling factor – it allows them to stay cool in Malaysia’s hot weather compared to their traditional black ones.

straight

Now that the Malaysian leg is over, I have one more year to recover from the sonic assault on my ears. I didn’t wear earplugs on both days and I think I might have developed slight hearing problems. 😉

Full videos of Rain Live in Sepang, Malaysia 2011

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rain concert sepang 2011

Here’s another two full videos of Rain performing live in his Rain Live @ Sepang, 2011 concert. I recorded several of his set songs that day but since I don’t actually listen to him I’ll just call it “the fast song” and “the ballad” coz that’s just what it sounds like. Heh!


The fast dance music tempo song

The songs are in Korean – I don’t know the titles of them but the crowd went wild for both so I’m guessing they’re either fluent in the language or just too awed by his muscular pecs and brilliant mane of hair. smirk


The ballad

Speaking of hair, Rain only registers to someone like me (who doesn’t listen to K-pop) coz he was endorsing shampoo in a series of ads on TV a while back. I’m not sure if you can make girls go all weak kneed if you have his hair (remember Aaron Kwok and his popular haircut back in the 90’s?) but having a full crown of hair always helps. 😉

rain concert sepang 2011 pyrotechnics

Svenson’s Save My Hair Facebook contest is ending on the 16th of April – that’s just in a couple of days! Click over for your chance to win a full hair treatment session. You can also get a free hair consultation just by submitting a photo of your current hair problem(s) to their Facebook application! 😀

Rain Live @ 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix Concert, Sepang

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rain concert start

I dropped by the Rain concert after the F1 race in Sepang on 10 April 2011. It was after the final race and there was already a good sized crowd forming there at around 7 pm. Luckily, I had pretty decent tickets so I managed to get into the pit – was about 5 meters from the stage itself.

rain concert billboard

I can’t say I’m a fan of Rain. I don’t know him at all except from the Clear shampoo TVCs. I went to catch his performance with very little expectations since I don’t listen to K-pop.

this is rain

Rain has a really good stage presence – his choreography is excellent and the stage set is managed well by his technical people. However, I can’t say I’m impressed with his singing. I don’t think he’s that talented – he’s just one of those pretty boy “idols” that teenage girls go all gushy over.

rain live

However, I must admit that he’s quite good at what he does – namely his appealing looks and dance moves. The pyrotechnics helped a lot too!

rain concert sepang

I’m not his target audience, but there were legions of fans screaming for him. His fan base is predominantly female and he knows the usual tricks to get them into a frenzy.

rain stage

One interlude had him commenting on the heat in Malaysia while taking off his shirt and wiping his sweat with it and throwing it into the crowd.

rain concert

That went down very well. It was a huge hit with the crowd and I bet the girl who caught it would really treasure that personal souvenir. I don’t want to think about what she would do with it in the privacy of her own room. 😉

I will refrain from making captions like “It’s raining (men)” but that is apparently his most well known song. I think it’s called It’s Raining. I captured it in its entirety for your viewing pleasure.

rain dance

I don’t know how many people who’s reading this is a Rain fan. I’m not but if you are, I hope you enjoyed the video coz I had to stand there for damn near two hours before he came on stage. 😉

The kindness of strangers

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food container

The F&B places all started to jettison their food stock straight after the F1 final race in Sepang with “Buy 1 free 1” promos and 50% discounts. I wouldn’t pay RM 20 for a soggy sandwich but I was feeling particularly hungry and at RM 10, it didn’t sound so bad. It started to sound like airport food prices to me. 😉

Thus, I parked my ass at the nearest place and started to eat.

sepang food stalls

I got an egg sandwich, managed to two bites and started to poke at the radioactive looking mess that’s supposed to be coleslaw when I accidentally upended the entire disposable container and got the gooey stuff all over my jeans. The splatter was everywhere – on the floor, on my clothes and it nearly even hit the person beside me.

coleslaw

Anyway, I was wiping futilely at my jeans with the tiny piece of serviette they gave me, just moving around the mess instead of doing anything productive to it, when the girl sitting next to me (see photo below) rummaged in her bag and held out a packet of wet wipes.

f1 food sale

I thought that was really nice of her. Most people would have ignored the scene and looked the other way but she was kind enough to notice and offer some wet wipes to me. It really made my day, even though I still had to go to the washroom to clean up most of the mess. Heh! Thanks anonymous girl! I’m sorry I didn’t get your name. 😡

muffin

I stuck to a safer-to-eat muffin after that. It was at bargain basement prices – a Coffee Bean bottled drink with 4 individually packaged muffins for just RM 5. 😀

F1 2009 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix

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sepang

F1 is synonymous with fast cars, grid girls and pit babes. I hear most girls won’t kick the drivers out of bed for eating cookies under the sheets too but I can’t comment on that since I’m heterosexual. 😉 The final race was on the 5th of April at 5 pm in Sepang International Circuit.

race

I went to watch Formula 1 last Sunday with Debra and Desmond (one of the Top 10 bloggers in Malaysia, it was an honor to meet him). It was the final race day (and my birthday) and we met up at 1 Utama before catching the SkyBus down to Sepang.

bus

We decided to take public transport instead of driving there. I’m glad we didn’t drive there – the traffic was appalling. The bus cost RM 15 from 1 Utama to Sepang International Circuit.

tickets

Our tickets were in the C2 area – covered hillside tickets, right around a tight corner which allows for great photo ops. It’s RM 200 each. Formula 1 tickets isn’t exactly cheap, cheers to Nuffnang for furnishing the tickets. Anyway, we caught the 3 pm bus, thinking we had ample time for the 5 pm race…

us bus

…except we did not account for the massive turnout. The inbound lanes were gridlocked so badly that some people resorted to parking their cars by the roadside and walking to the circuit. One of the outbound lanes had to be opened for inbound traffic to accommodate for the astounding amount of vehicles on the road.

traffic

Our bus was in that lane. What was supposed to be a 1 hour journey took more than two hours (!). The race had already started by the time we got there. There were street vendors everywhere – enterprising souls selling everything from umbrellas (it was drizzling) to beer (at a whopping RM 15 per can).

ferrari

I managed to find this corner where the F1 cars slow down to make the curve. It’s the perfect spot for taking photos of the cars since they brake before approaching the sharp bend. Ferrari, baby!

crowd

The crowd turnout was amazing – we have some hardcore fans braving the rain (it had started to pour by then) in the uncovered areas.

lead

There were even some people trying to get a Mexican Wave going. I have no idea why, it’s not a soccer match, but to each his own. 🙂

No one can be told what F1 is. You just gotta hear the scream of the F1 engines to experience it for yourself. 😉

track

It was fun though…the crowd was great, and so was the company.

overtake

The sky turned a forbidding shade of ebony and the loud rumblings of thunder could be seen (and heard, respectively) about an hour into the race.

rain

The inevitable downpour was nothing short of prodigious – the drains behind the covered hillstand overflowed and caused the already muddy grounds to be even muddier.

drain

I think all of us had a tough time walking without slipping due to the poor grip afforded by the wet mud.

umbrella

It got to the point where I had to stand under Deb’s umbrella ella ella eh eh eh since we decided to go up to the uncovered concrete instead of slipping around in the mud.

pacer

The pacer car came on the race track after that and we all thought the race would be postponed until the rain stops. It was seriously POURING on Sunday.

The race never resumed. It was canceled.

group

People started leaving and we headed for the bus back to 1 Utama as well. We managed to catch the 7:30 pm bus back. Desmond had to meet up with his friends so I had dinner with Deb at Sushi Zanmai before sending her back home.

sushi

It was fun to watch the race – the powerful roar of the high octane engines, the energy of the crowd, the company of good friends. I’m glad I went even though the race got canceled due to the heavy downpour.

It’s a great way to spend a Sunday. 🙂

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