Musings…

I just arrived a couple hours ago from an 8-hour trip from Sepang, Malaysia. We watched the Formula 1 Grand Prix 2006 held there. It was my first time to watch the race live! And oh boy it was great! It really felt that I was still dreaming…

We left Singapore 3AM of Friday. I was not able to sleep because of the anxiety. It was my first time to go to Malaysia and see the race live so I was pretty excited. I can’t describe the feeling. It’s like going out with a girl you like for the first time. haha! We rode a van that could accommodate at least 12 people. At about 6AM we were restless because of the freezing air-conditioning of the van. I should’ve have worn shorts and slippers. My bad there. I never knew it was going to be that cold. Well, I managed to get a pair of socks and wore it ’til the sun rose.

I can’t remember the time we reached Sepang. It was probably about 10AM when we got there. We were early for the last practice session which started at 11AM of Saturday, March 18. Boy the F1 cars were really noisy! Good thing we brought ear plugs. At about 2PM the qualifying session started. I said to myself, “So this is the real thing!”

After the qualifying session we went to the hotel in Kuala Lumpur where we would stay overnight. Upon arriving, we rested for a while. Then we went to KLCC for dinner at Chili’s. The lamb chop I had was great! After eating dinner we went to see the famous Petronas twin towers. These towers were really tall! In fact I feel uneasy looking at its peak. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go in to see the bridge connecting the two towers. It’s okay because I have fear of heights anyway.

After Petronas we went to Pit Stop. Something like El Pueblo which has I think 4 clubs. Night life based on my experience is more interesting in Malaysia compared to Singapore. Beer is a little cheaper but also not that cheap.

It was RACE DAY! We woke up early to travel to Sepang and finally watch the race. My favorite driver Kimi Raikonnen qualified ahead of Alonso and Schumacher so it was a good thing.

Well, sort of…

The race started. In just a couple of seconds after the lights hit green, I heard that Kimi was hit by Klien of Red Bull that made his rear suspension to fail. Dang! It was race over for Kimi!!! Waaah! The bad thing is I didn’t even see him racing live in the part of the race track we were seated. It was a real blunder. I was really disappointed that this happened to my favorite driver. In fact, I was seated beside Kimi’s countrymen and I even broke the news to them since I heard it from the radio broadcast. It was really a bad day…

Well, that’s life. Taking everything that has transpired, I still enjoyed the experience very much!!! Formula 1 is indeed the ultimate thing when it comes to high speed racing. Remembering hearing those V8 engines roar still gives me a chill…

I guess I have to wait for next year to see Kimi race in Malaysia again…

I’ll post photos I took during the event as soon as I have them ready…