i’ve had a blast over this F1 season. i found myself reading up more about the sport (read: lewis hamilton), following the latest updates and this time round i could even explain to af how the qualifier works. having had the opportunity to meet the drivers in person also made the sport more personal and engaging. and of course, who doesn’t love some controversy to spice up the sport. to the uninitiated that would be nelson’s piquet jr fessing up to his deliberate crash that enabled fernando alsono’s win in last year’s singapore grand prix.

that being said, it was the awesome company last night with the geek and af that made the event for me. i also loved the great photo opportunities.

this is a picture i took of an F1 car in action.

this is a picture that the geek took of an F1 car in action.

i absolutely love his photographic skills and technical expertise to capture these shots.

this year i managed to enjoy a different spectator view of the race. we were situated at the marina bay grandstand last year. this year we upgraded ourselves to the turn one grandstand. af had the pass to the pit grandstand to we  rotated among the three of us to gawk at the privileged people at the paddock club across the pit grandstand.

also, we had access to the F1 village (food & beverage and entertainment area) with our passes. the place was set up with a performance venue and restaurants erected in structures to resemble double story shop houses ala chinatown and kampong glam.

it so happens that the back street boys were performing on stage when we were browsing the F1 village. i didn’t think that they would have such a big following. i was never a fan of boy bands when they were in their hey day, but now i think they definitely are more like back street middle-age-crisis-men in denial of their age.

incidentally, at the other side of the world, my sister and niece also had high octane fun at the coronado speed festival this same weekend.

i think we were still on an octane high when we chatted online like closest speed junkies because this was what ensued:

vk: we went to the coronada speed festival. i’m loading pics now.

me: i’m loading pictures of fast cars too. but my fast car is faster than your fast car!

vk: mine are old fast cars. the owners are the drivers. yours pay people to drive.

me: that means my drivers are professionals and your drivers are amateurs.

vk: my drivers are professional owners… but old already.

i’ve never been close to being a groupie till now.

last night, the geek and i attending an invite only meet the drivers’ autograph session. both of us were only actually interested in lewis hamilton, but got the autographs of the other drivers who were present too since we were already there.

fans were told not to bring memorabilia for the signing. autographs cards were provided. just as well.

the autograph session took place at the singapore gp paddock club. the grandstand at the paddock club is above the pit lane and has plenty of action and the who’s who. if not for winning the online contest i don’t think i’ll be anywhere near the paddock club.

the set up is really plush, similar to a night club cum hotel lobby. free flow of drinks is available from the bar. music plays in the background and glitzy lights oscillates via a projected beam.

the highlight of the evening however was the man himself.

lewis hamilton has the best pr skills among all the drivers. he smiled at everyone and indulged his fans with mega watt grins for point blank cameras. he shook hands and greeted everyone. the guys from brawn gp were also rather nice and friendly. most other drivers were sullen and made it obvious that they wanted to get over and done with their pr obligations, especially toyota who were not popular anyway.

tomorrow evening, i’ll be at turn 1 for the qualifier. i’ll have my eyes peeled for the yellow helmet.

more pics to come.

ainan celeste cawley was brought up for discussion on class 95 at the morning express programme. (one of the few things i missed when i was away.) ainan sat and passed the GEC chemistry ‘O’ Level exam in January. he also displayed his genius by teaching a chemistry lesson at bukit timah primary school last november.

but above all, i was most awed by this account.

At one year of age, he held a very remarkable conversation in which he gave us an account of his own birth, as witnessed by someone whose perspective was from inside the womb. This was undoubtedly a genuine memory since we had never told him how he had come into the world: he was answering from his own memory of the birth experience. His memory remains uncannily retentive.

full article on PR Web

Speaking at Nan Hua Primary after a school visit, Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew reiterated the importance of allowing gifted students “a chance to mix with a broader spectrum of people. It is helpful for them in their all-round development … to learn and understand some of the difficulties and challenges other students may face, as well as to find ways in which they can learn from these students”.

full article on TODAY

yes, what a big risk the folk at the organisation are taking! if the gifted get contaminated by the phlebian, then lose their brilliance, then how? but that is the chance the organisation will have to take, because after all such a Can-Reintegrate-After-Parting (CRAP) programme might help the all-rounded students be even more all-rounded.

yes, let’s learn about the challenges these “other students” face that the gifted might otherwise be always oblivious to. now that the gifted are aware that they are indeed gifted, and have run out of new things to learn because they are so gifted, they can learn from the non-giftedness of the “other students” and value-add their giftedness some more!

if the programme was a failure in not fulfilling long term objectives and therefore needs to be scraped, just say so.