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.
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