Welcome to my journey. I roll the dice and sometimes i get a ladder that takes me up onto cloud 9, but the very next turn i might step on a snake that brings me back down with a thud. It's never ending, it's never easy, but it's life isn't it.
Was at Pavillion for the Lotus Racing Event. Forgot to use my camera there except to take this picture
Lovely Lotus Buds
From there, headed over to the Petronas Pit Pulse near KLCC. Saw Dina perform. Haven't seen her since the Malaysian Idol days. Good thing was that Mr Schumacher was on time and with him came Nico Rosberg, Ross Brawn and Norberg Haug. Jien was the emcee.
Dina under the spotlight
He came...
He interviewed...
He left...
It was a rather decent appearance. The crowd could have been better but i blame the rain. Those who were there were clearly delighted to have had the chance to see the legend. Pity they didn't have a change to get autographs...
I know it's been a couple of weeks since the opening round of the Formula 1 season in Bahrain and i really want to blog about that experience as well as an amazing time i had at a small Spanish circuit in Almeria.
But while i get around to working out the words for those adventures, here's a very generous article that was published in New Man Magazine (Malaysia), March 2010 edition. Enjoy.
Alright, i know, i'm guilty. It happens. You create a blog, you start blogging and then one day you loose the mojo and your blog sits abandoned. Unattended. Deserted.
Well i fell into that trap. Yes, i did. of course i could come up with a millions reasons to justify my laziness. It was the end of the season, i was on holiday, backpacking in places so beautiful that the last thing i wanted to do was sit in front of a computer, i got back to work and got caught up with getting my life in order. I could go on, but i won't.
Let's just say i've got my second wind. The Formula 1 season is about to begin and i'm getting on a plane in a few hours. But before i head to Bahrain, i've got a detour to Almeria, Spain for an Engine Block assignment. Yup, the season is underway and i hope there will be many adventures in 2010.
And in keeping with the first posting of the year, i resolve to keep blogging about each and every one of them... as we say in TV land, stay tuned.
My first real trip for Engine Block was to the 2006 Macau Grand Prix. Three years later, I decided that it was about time that we revisited the event and went back to one of the most historic races to be held in Asia.
Since there were no direct flights from Singapore, my cameraman Kheng How and I went via a night in Hong Kong while Paula’s busier schedule meant that she’d budget it direct to the island. Turned out that an ex colleague was also in Hong Kong that weekend and we all met up for dinner and drinks.
Wait.. do what here?
Hmmm... fish balls on a stick... nice
Dinner at the infamous Goldfinch restaurant where they shot the movie in the poster
The next morning and a ferry ride later, we were ready to start shooting around Macau before heading to the circuit. I think Macau is actually a very pretty place. It’s got well preserved Portuguese heritage and that also means excellent food!
At the World Heritage Site
It's all NOT in English...hungry
Well this turned out well... food was excellent the entire trip
When we finally made it into the paddock, I instantly remembered why Macau is so special… and really, it’s all about the grid girls. Maybe it’s because even the strippers in Macau need a day job, so these grid girls have no qualms about wearing the skimpiest, skankiest and non existent pieces of cloth to get the job done… and by no means is this a complaint, merely an observation.
Tattoo marks the spot
"And shorty got low, low low low..."
Remember, it's still work!
When we eventually did get down to work, we went about interviewing the stories for the weekend, including Alex Yoong who was racing a Malaysian built Buffori around the street circuit. I also managed to grab Daniel Ricciardo who was racing in the F3 category ahead of his test with the Red Bull Racing F1 outfit.
With Alex in his dungeon pit garage
Might see Daniel in the F1 paddock in a few season
The highlight of the trip for me had to be completing my first ever bungy jump for the show…. It was all in the spirit of a race fan’s desire for an adrenaline rush. But jumping of the 233m Macau Tower was mind blowing! It’s surprising the thought process that you go through before taking a leap of faith. It took me a couple of attempts to muster up the willpower to override my natural sense of preservation and jump off, but once I was falling, all I can say is that it is the most blissful experience ever! I can’t wait to do it again.
No Macau trip would be complete without a visit to the casino and we headed to the Venetian. I managed to skim a couple of hundred from the blackjack tables and splurged it on dim sum. The best food is always free food.
Dim sum with Kheng How and Calvin
A couple of friends of mine from Hong Kong came over and we had a good night, enjoying a few drinks and chatting the night away. It’s strange that even though we all live in different countries and have different lives, common relationship chaos seems to be a common thread amongst most people…or maybe it’s just a case of birds of a feather.
Jessie and Charlotte's first visit to the paddock
The tables are turned on Paula
Whatever it is, a few drinks amongst good company after a hard days work is always welcome.
When i sat down to write this post, i was torn between writing about what was going on versus what i have been going through the last month or so. But i decided that writing about what was going on would be much more cheerful business, so here it is.
We road tripped up to Sepang to shoot an episode of Engine Block during the Moto GP weekend. And it turned out to be quite a fun weekend indeed.
The Moto GP paddock was much more warmer than in Formula 1 and the riders were much more impressive. When we met Jorge Lorenzo for the first time, there was a sense of a rugged and more masculine character that seems to be lacking in Formula 1. All the driver in Formula 1 are so polite and PC to the point they are quite boring sometimes. They say that motorbike men are a different breed, and you know what? It was quite apparent.
Jorge Lorenzo was sitting at his table and his personal minder asked if we could push back his interview till after he’d gone to the medical centre and cleaned up a nasty gash on his hand that he’d suffered during practice. And on top of that, he already had a cut on the bridge of his nose from his last fall in Philip Island. This man has broken so many bones in his body that it’s amazing that he keeps getting quicker and quicker on his machine.
In Formula 1, I can imagine the press officer cancelling an interview cause the driver was bitten by a mosquito or something ridiculous like that, but here, you could sense that blood and broken bones came with the territory. Riders make drivers looks like little girls.
Paula chatting up Jorge Lorenzo
Interviewing Marco Simoncelli was great fun
The crowd waiting for autographs at the main mall area
The best thing about the whole experience was the fact that the organisers were going out of their way to try and make sure that we had everything that we needed for the weekend. I happed to mention to them that it would be great to try the Moto X2 which is a two seater ride around the circuit and they made it happen. It was awesome! It’s the second time this year that I’ve done something like this and it just keeps on getting better.
All geared up
And so was she
The best motor sports experience ever!
My ace rider, Randy Mamola
And just in case those pictures don't say a thousand words, then here's the video to give you and idea of how awesome this was...
We made our way to the starting grid and were under the podium for the prize giving. It was awesome to just soak up the atmosphere cause Rossi had just nailed the championship and the whole Yamaha team was in full celebrations mode.
Getting busy on the starting grid, pole sitter, Rossi in the background
The celebrations begin
Stoner wins the race but Rossi bags the championship
I went to interview Rossi after and walked away with the best score of the weekend… forget investing in unit trusts… this here is my retirement fund!
A grain of sand in the Sahara, a snowflake on the tip of Everest, a drop of water in the Atlantic. Significant when under the microscope, but in reality, immaterial in the bigger scheme of the universe.
A
