Living in the Moment

1st week of April, 2009, I had the distinguished privilege of staying at KLIA Pan Pacific Hotel. Needless to say, it has been such a pleasant experience staying there that I'd definitely recommend anyone to stay there before leaving for their homes in faraway countries. Life is so enjoyable here. With the luck of a tooth fairy, I got the magic number : 8!

What's so special about level 8 in KLIA Pan Pacific hotel? First of all, this is the only level which offers an internet lounge just for the airline crew. In this loungue, there's a big LCD TV, a nice 3 - seater sofa, a massage chair, a place for playing football and a small libarry. Most importantly, 2 personal computers for public usage.

The best thing about this crew lounge is that it offers food and Wi-Fi 24 hours! You can just simply bite into the crunchy Fuji Apple while surfing on your laptop for free! Once you feel the aching in your joints and neck, you can simply lie on the massage chair and get a good massage from the machine.

Besides that, the gym is opened to all guests 24/7 too! So, one doesn't have to worry about the gym closing after office hours, or using the sauna at 6.30 am, the hot jacuzzi at 8pm and cold jacuzzi at 7am.. One can even select whether to have a dry sauna or steam sauna. Right here, right now, I feel that we live only to enjoy the moment.

Ignorance is not Bliss

Oh! I haven't even arrived to the best part yet. Since we were staying in the hotel during the peak season of the F1 race, the hotel was fully booked. We were lucky to have been able to secure rooms for ourselves. Here, I learnt something. Knowing who's -who in the business will definitely bail you out, anytime.

As a typical female, I held no interest in F1 whatsover. All I knew about F1 was:
1. It is a race organized for cars
2. The most famous driver in this F1 race is Michael Schumacher
3. The winning team is always Ferarri.

Every morning, since the first night of our stay, we savoured Thai Cuisine and Fusion Food at the same hotel with these F1 celebrities. We didn't even raise our eyebrows by a single milimeter when Fernando Alonso dragged his travelling luggage, walking tall and in stride, with 2 ravishingly beautiful girls by his side.

Why is that so? It's all because I am not an F1 fan. So, I have never been so crazy as to take the effort to identify all the F1 drivers in the newspapers . In short, I didn't recognize him.

On the fourth night of our stay, the driver of the buggy whispered in hush tones to us, "You know what? All the F1 drivers are arriving tonight. If you want to meet them in person, greet them and get their autographs, just come to the lobby. They'll be checking in at 9.30pm tonight!"

Naturally, I was excited. After all, I would be getting the opportunity of a lifetime. Millions and zillions of F1 fans out there are dying to meet their favourite F1 drivers face to face. Now, I have the chance to do so! Even though I don't recognize all of them, at least my friends do, or so I thought.

And so, at 9.30 pm on the 2nd of April, I rushed all the way from the 5th floor of McDonalds at KLIA, and forced the buggy driver to reach the hotel lobby within 3 seconds. Once we arrived, I practically jumped out of the buggy and rushed to the lobby. In my mind, I had already conjured up an image of a group of drivers, dressed up in their Formula 1 uniforms in bright colours, lining up at the reception, waiting to register.

Lo and behold! What a shocking sight greeted me when I reached the lobby. There was not a single human body in the professional F1 uniform. All of them in plain clothes, fair, with the typical complexion of the average European, tall and hair which ranged from light brown to dark brown. Who's who? I thought. Surely, there must be some famous drivers amongst these group of Europeans. How do I identify them? I definitely do not know!

So, I asked my two friends beside me. "Hey! Do you see any F1 drivers here?"

I guess my 2 friends must have been shocked to their wits ends as well! 'coz here's their reply, "Gosh! We don't know!"

The size of my eyeballs must have expanded 4 times at that particular moment. "You don't know!? How come? But you know all the drivers names!"

"Well, we do know. But.. Look at them! They're all in plain clothes! How do we know which team do they belong to? How do we identify them?"

True true. without their uniforms, they are just normal people like you and me. Oh no! What a disappointment! Next time, I will read up on all celebrities, recognize their faces and remember them for life. Just in case I meet them in the LRT, or the cab, or the KLIA-Transit Train, at least I can rush up to them with a pen and paper in my hand and say, 'Hi! My name's Jean! I'm a big fan of yours! Can you put your autograph on my favourite book please? I'd definitely keep it for my future generation and tell them about all about the spicy details of your life!"

Contrary to popular belief, ignorance is never bliss. Because ignorance will cost you to miss the chance of your lifetime. And like most things, what's done cannot be undone.

Entering the F1 Sepang Circuit.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Today, I'm going to F1 Race in Sepang Circuit! Yes! Yes! Yes!" I kept repeating this whole sentence to myself the whole morning! I just can't wait to go to the circuit!

So, at 1pm, we went to the race circuit with our batch of students from Perak state. The moment we arrived, the cars were already racing. Zoooooom! Zoooooom! Zoooooom! The cars screeched every few seconds! Every one of us just couldn't wait to enter the racing compounds of the F1 Sepang Circuit.

Stepping into the F1 Sepang Circuit is like stepping into a whole new world. The only place where the world revolves around cars and merchandise, not on humans, politicians or models. For 3 hours, it is not about us. It is about how fast can the cars go, how many laps can they make in an hour and a half, the type of tyres and brake that are selected, the varying combinations to provide the best performance. It's all about the sound, action , heat and celebration.

And My! People certainly go crazy over a bunch of F1 Merchandise. Every team has their own merchandise. The bright colours and logo printed on every item catches my eye. There are booths from the Ferrari team, Vodafone, BMW-Sauber-PETRONAS, RedBull... etc. I am impressed. And everybody is willing to part with hundreds to thousands of dollars just to collect items of their favourite teams.

Well, who am I to judge? After all, if you love something, you'll show your support in any way possible. Buying an item to show support for something you care deeply about is a natural expression of affection.

BMW-Sauber-PETRONAS Merchandise Booth

Ferarri F1 Merchandise

After walking past the merchandise booths, we arrive at the car exhibition area. All of us are flocking in droves just to see the expensive cars. Admittedly, I know nothing about cars. All I know is I like cars that are comfortable and function perfectly throughout its lifespan. No frequent breakdowns, and no frequent visits to the workshop. Neither do I care about its performance as I am concerned only in using it to get from one point to another. As for its looks, well, I love white, shiny cars.

There are several points of entry into different seating areas. For us, we entered Gate 1! As a first timer, I was so excited! I just couldn't anticipate what to expect! How would it look like? What would the atmosphere be like? What kind of people would I meet inside there?

Entering Gate 1

As soon as we entered, we saw the monumentary scoreboard, erected right in front of the entrance. What a sight! This is the scoreboard that all of our corneas will focus on in the next few hours. The moment it lights up, we will be glued to our seats. Observing the number of laps, eyeing the first, second and third positions, betting among ourselves who will be grabbing the Champion Title. and for those few hours, we will just foget all our worries under the sun. Everyone of us will be all pumped up with adrenaline even before the race.

The Scoreboard , right in the middle of the Mall Area!

United by a Common Goal

Going as a newbie into an F1 race must be the most bewildering experience that one could have.

I was fazed by the sight of several people dressed in their favourite team's T-shirt! Vodafone was bright, luminiscent orange. Ferarri was bright red with a logo in the middle. BMW-Sauber-PETRONAS was white with blue and black stripes in the middle. Those are the only few shirts which caught my attention. And the best part was, here, one feels so united in spirit and heart with the supporters of the same team! At one section, I saw a whole group of people in red-shirts, evidently supporters of the Shell-Ferarri team. At another section, I saw another group of people in White shirts with blue and black stripes in the middle! Wow! What unity!

Apart from that, I also saw many strong supporters holding flags! The way they held the flags showed how proud that their team was competing in the race! It seemed really heavy to me. The length of the flag pole was perhaps five times of their height. Yet, they held it stealthily in their hands. Without wavering! And they proudly waved it high among the crowd!

Another strong supporter!

Oh! Come to think of it, this is my first time I am holding a ticket in my hand to watch a competition of any kind. I have never in my life paid for a ticket to watch a badminton match, football match, basketball match or a taekwondo match. The only sports match that I have ever witnessed was the first time my younger brother took part in a basketball match in the district level and got 2nd place. I didn't understand the game as I never bothered about things that disinterests me. The only thing I remembered about the competition was the delicious apam balik with lots butter and peanuts and jagung that an old uncle for 50 cents a piece.

So, I was pretty taken aback when I saw 2 Korean ladies, dressed in their traditional Korean costume, wearing their Korean wooden clogs, walking down the stairs to hang the flags of their favourite driver's native country, walking up to sit for a while, changed their minds and immmediately came walking down the steps again, untied the strings to the flags, and shifted it to another more visible location. Will the drivers appreciate it, I wonder? So much exhiliration just over a race. This race must mean a lot to many people out there.

The flags which were hung and moved

On the day of the qualifying race, it was simply hot and humid! It was with great relief when we saw so many vendors selling ice cream every 10 metres! Look at these young and energetic youths selling ice creams under the hot sun! Hats up for them!

Relief in the form of Ice-Creams

Atmosphere Around the Racing Tracks

In and around the F1 Sepang Circuit, it was really, really noisy. All of us were totally unprepared for the noise level. I knew it would be loud, but I didn't expect it to be that loud! The noise exceeded 120 dB and even though we wore the yellow ear plugs, the noise still vibrating through our ear drums. As the cars roared, we could feel every inch of our soul ringing with resonance of the screeching cars through every single vein, and our pulse increased to 120 pulses per minute.

Of course, we were also encouraged to buy those high-tech headphones/earplugs which were sold all along the way for a hundred bucks and above. The best part of these headphones were that they fully covered your ears, and you could even tune in to a certain frequency of the radio waves to listen to the commentary given by the commentators. Yet, thinking that I would only be using it just once, I skipped the option.

Before the start of the race, I got a chance to talk to a German medical doctor and a young Filipino nurse. With my curiousity perked on high, somehow, we got talking. The doctor then flipped out his camera and showed me the environment inside the clinic beside the paddock. He told me that there is always a safety car following the cars from behind. I also found out that there are always doctors and nurses on standby throughout the race. Several ambulances and helicopters are also ready to respond should an emergency take place. It suddenly occured to me that a whole team of people out there are all working together to make this race a success. Just like our oil and gas industry. Everything magnificent and grand is usually the result of superb teamwork.

The Ambulance and Clinic on the Right

My First F1 Race Ever! I Love It!

My curiousity's piqued! What's the building in front of me for? What's on the left? What's on the right? Why are there so many helicopters flying around? I was flooded with so many questions that I just had to yielded the questions to the right person. Fortunately, I was seated next to a knowledgeable and wise doctor who told me everything.

The building in front of you is a paddock. This is where the cars go in to change their tyres, engines, brakes, etc. Walk further down and you'll see the paddock for each driver! I did so and I was impressed by the length and the number of people in a team working to ensure the success of a fully, completed race without hurting a single hairline of the drivers' ".

The Clinic and Standby Ambulance and Safety Cars (Notice the empty Hills)



An hour before the race, the empty space on the hills are occupied!

Paddock on my left



Racing tracks and Helicopter on the right

Before the race started, a group models walked out in a straight line with half of them walking poised on high heels holding the flags of participating countries high in their delicate hands, another half of them holding placards (I think). The sight of a group of pretty girls with hourglass figures walking down the road is enough to make anyone's heart pound faster than the neon lights flashing in the night at the hottest spot of any city.

The Models On the Racing Track

The Girls in their Skirts holding the 3 Symbolic Flags

Once the girls came out, the support teams came running out, dragging their tyre-carts with them. What a sight to behold!

Look at the whole set of tyres!

Look at all the teams!

After the team, came the cars! And my! The drivers are pretty pampered! As they wait for their cars to be 'readied' under the hot sun, there's somebody holding an umbrella to shield them from the heat, and another holding a cup with some probably tonic drink out just for him. As the driver comes steps out of his car, takes off his helmet, his fire proof suit, sunglasses, etc . and faces the crowd, the whole crowd rushes forward to take pictures of him drinking his health drink!

It's just full of activity on the tracks at the starting point! The media, ministers, organizers are all on the tracks! Five minutes more to go! The team hurriedly finishes up everything they're supposed to do and run back in! The sound of tires dragged on the tar roads make our hearts beat faster! Yes! The race is gonna start!

Once the race started, I just couldn't stop looking at the scoreboard!

01 - 023

02-022

03-006

...

...

10 - 009

At first, these numbers didn't mean a thing to me. Until my colleague flashed out her newspaper and showed me amidst the exploding Vrooom! Vrooom! Sound that I knew that the numbers represented the drivers and their teams! As each car whizzed past us, I couldn't figure out who's who! Red bull, Vodafone cars, white cars, black cars, orange cars, I just couldn't pieced it together, until I memorized all the details!

It grew even more exciting as it began to pour! Water had accumulated on the tracks and the cars still kept on racing! The water splashed into a beautiful quadrant and I loved every minute!

After 32 laps, the race finally ended. I was partially relieved and sad! Both due to the fact that with the end of the race, hence the noise.

What I Love About Formula 1...

The day after the F1 race, the first section I turned to on the newspaper was the Sports Section! I was a converted F1 fan. It also struck me that sports is relatively neutral compared to the politics section. At least you know that the power of change is not in your hands, yet people are working hard to improve their performance every second. Unlike politics where change is possible all the time, yet, all it lacks is willpower and discipline.

From there I got more details. I learnt that the race was stopped because the water had accumulated and it had turned into a lake! The drivers felt that it had to be stopped because they couldn't race anymore! To continue would have been to put their lives at risk. Yes! I finally am able to piece everything together!

Watching the F1 at the Grandstand has been the greatest highlight of my life this year!

After coming out of the circuit, every zooming car that passes me by catches my attention. The slightest roaring of its engine reminds me of my exhilarating experience at the circuit! Next, I'll watch the night race in Singapore! I just can't wait!