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UAE 2010 (once again) Day 2 – Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi F1 and Linkin Park concert

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Dec 21, 2010
/
Music/Videos, Travel, U.A.E (Abu Dhabi/Dubai)

Date: 13th November 2010

If you are wondering “Errr…. where’s Day 1?,” well, I wanted to push this one out because it contains a large chunk of why I was in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for a second time this year. Long story short, I won a contest on VH1 to fly all the way to Abu Dhabi during F1 weekend to watch Linkin Park, one of my favourite bands, live in concert.

All the details of how I got here will be in the Day 1 post. [EDIT: Day 1 is now live]

Since we had shopped a bit yesterday, we had to spend the morning trying to find a carton to fit all of our IKEA shopping. We met up with my friend Azhad who took us to a cargo shop to find us a large box. After we bought one, we made our way back and then headed out for lunch.

For lunch, Azhad took us to a Syrian restaurant in Al Rigga.

Aroos Damascus restaurant Al Rigga Deira Dubai — This was the restaurant

Aroos Damascus Syrian restaurant Al Rigga Deira shawarma — And that is a LOT of meat

Aroos Damascus tables outside Syrian restaurant Al Rigga Deira Dubai — Azhad and my brother Nithin at the table to the left

As fans of Arabian cuisine, we ordered a few items unaware of just how much food was coming our way.

Syrian Arab lentil soup dal — First up: Lentil soup (dal)

Aroos Damscus restaurant Al Rigga Deira starters Dubai — Then, salad and a diamond shaped bread

Fattoush salad Arab restaurant Dubai — Next, fattoush salad

Arab restaurant kuboos bread Deira Dubai — With healthy supply of kuboos (Arabian bread)

Arab restaurant fresh fruit juice kiwi — Then our juices (the green one’s Kiwi fruit; it’s what I ordered)

Arab restaurant hummus mutton — After that, our hummus with mutton kheema & grated almonds

Aroos Damascus restaurant Deira grilled chicken — …and finally, the ‘main course’ — one full grilled chicken

By the time our ‘main course’ arrived, my hunger was already taken care of. All I could think of was ‘how the hell we were going to finish that bird!’.

And just as we began to dig into it, I get a call. It was our taxi driver, for our pick up. We had to tell him to wait at least 15 minutes as we were having lunch… and that we had an entire chicken to go through.

Sadly, even 10 minutes in, we knew it was hopeless. We would have needed at least an hour of slow eating to finish all the food that was on our table. Or according to Azhad, we needed our friend Jassim.

The bill came to around Rs. 1200, very reasonable considering what we ordered was enough to feed 4 to 5 people. After we paid up, we quickly made our way back to our hotel where our taxi was waiting for us.

Now, we were expecting a taxi. We weren’t really expecting this:

Lincoln towncar black Dubai — This was our ride

Lincoln Towncar limo interiors — Not bad. Not bad at all.

We dashed off to Abu Dhabi via Sheikh Zayed Road.

Emirates towers building from car — The Emirates twin towers

Sheikh Zayed road metro station — This is what Dubai’s metro stations look like

Sheikh Zayed road small building contruction — Construction activity has slowed down…

Sheikh Zayed Road Gloria hotel rooms for rent — … because there is still plenty of over-supply

Sheikh Zayed Road offices for lease — Still no takers

The real estate scene hasn’t seen much improvement since the last time I was here.

Burj Al Arab from inside car — Burj Al Arab in the distance

We drove past the impressive Dubai Marina and entered Jebel Ali zone.

Sheikh zayed road Ibn Battuta Mall — Seen at Ibn Battuta Mall

Dubai Hummer stretch limo rent — Okay, so our limo wasn’t as pimp as this one…

Sheikh Zayed road radio tower — Not a whole lot to see on Sheikh Zayed road…

Sheikh Zayed road vehicles — … besides cars

Sheikh Zayed Road is one heck of a highway. For one, it’s really straight. So it’s filled with a lot of speeding cars. And despite being extremely wide, and UAE’s strict code on the way you drive — accidents are still common.

We lay witness to one one this trip.

A Toyota Yaris lost control, swerved right across two lanes, rams into a Mercedes convertible, and dangerously reverses back on to the highway. Everybody brakes. Fortunately we were slightly far behind and the Yaris did eventually come to a stand still.

Sheikh Zayed road accident Mercedes — The Merc that got rammed into

Sheikh Zayed road accident Toyota Yaris crashed — Dunno how he lost control

The police car quickly made its way towards the accident site…

Sheikh Zayed road accident truck overturn — …from *another* accident it was tending to

So yeah, just because you have awesome roads, don’t assume its accidents-free.

An hour-long drive later, we were in Abu Dhabi.

IKEA Abu Dhabi near Yas Island Ferrari World — Damn you IKEA! Here too?!

Ferrari World La Rossa roller coaster — La Rossa — the fastest roller coaster ride in the world, part of Ferrari World

We actually asked our driver to drop us at Ferrari World because we had time and didn’t want to head to the Yas Marina Circuit so early. Plus I had to check it out, sine the last time I was, it was still under construction.

Ferrari World mall entrance reception — The entrance leads you to a mini-mall

Ferrari World mall escalator stores — But a lot of stores were yet to open

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi main lobby — The ticket counter is to the right

Ferrari World Ferrari store Abu Dhabi — They have a pretty big Ferrari store to the left

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Formula 1 model car — This was in front of the Ferrari store

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi gates to theme park — You pass these gates to enter the theme park

After checking out the store, I made my way to the ticket counter. The tickets to Ferrari World come in ‘general’ and ‘premium’ classes — the only difference being the premium admission give you access to a VIP lounge. Otherwise the general admission costs AED225 (Rs. 2500) and entitles you to unlimited rides. Not bad, compared to how expensive other world class theme parks cost.

But I still felt compelled to ask the ticket receptionist if it was worthwhile if we went in today. She replied that we’d need at least 2 hours to go through the whole place (Ferrari World is the largest indoor theme park in the world). Also, the main attraction at Ferrari World: La Rossa — the fastest roller coaster in the world, wasn’t (let’s just say) functioning perfectly. There were stopping it intermittently to run check ups.

Now, I know Ferrari World had just opened during this year’s Grand Prix race, but I didn’t feel like paying AED225 to be a crash test dummy at 250 kmph. So I decided to skip it and check it out next year. Hopefully by then all the chinks are sorted out.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi entrance hall — We made our way out

That’s me ^_^

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi cascade walk — There was an open area we felt like checking out

Ferrari World cascade walk fountains Nithin — My brother Nithin

It was nearing 5pm at this point, so we decided to leave.

Ferrari World bus to Yas Marina circuit — They had buses to Yas Marina Circuit

Inside bus to Yas Marina circuit Abu Dhabi — The buses go all around the circuit stopping at all the entry points

Entering North Stand Yas Marina Circuit — We got down at the North Gate entrance

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi road to Yas Marina — Which isn’t very far from Ferrari World

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix F1 ear plugs guide — This is what you get as you pass the gates: ear plugs and a guide

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit Yasalam — This is where Linkin Park is going to perform

Abu Dhabi Yas Marina circuit sunset — It was time to go in

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit Yasalam Linkin Park stage — They were running a sound check and you could hear Chester test his vocals

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit North Grand stand lounge — This is the lounge area for North Grand Stand ticket holders

Yas Marina Circuit North Stand panorama view — This was the view from our seat

And this is the action we saw:

Our seats were great, we were at the grand stand at the North section of the track. The vantage point is a good one as you get to see the cars coming in from a distance (though in a matter seconds, they’re already at the turn) and then you have the long straight stretch where you get to see them accelerate.

First thing that really hits you is the noise. I experienced this during the Singapore F1 back in September. I loved it there, I loved it here as well. Of course, you have to love cars to to enjoy the sound of a lightning fast engine. Otherwise you’d be deemed ‘weird’.

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina Lewis Hamilton St. George flag — Since this was the crucial final race of the season, the Brits obviously had Lewis Hamilton’s back

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit north stand flags — Not that the Spaniards and Canadians were far behind

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit big screens — They had screens broadcasting the rest of the circuit

They had commentary on the speakers too, but because of the noise from the cars, you won’t hear it until the cars pass.

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit Red Bull car — Red Bull racing was doing pretty well

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit Force India car — Force India wasn’t doing that bad either

After seeing cars zipping by and listening to engines for nearly an hour, I went inside the lounge to have some of the gourmet food on offer.

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina North Grand stand lounge food — Gourmet food in very tiny portions I might add. But you can take as much as you wanted.

The whole affair was very posh, with German waitresses and what looked like local celebrities (or posh posers) in the lounge.

After having a bite and drink, as I walked back, I suddenly stopped. And I do mean suddenly stopped. I literally froze.

I turned to my left and in front of me were two guys. One, a fairly large, tattooed white bald white dude and next to him, a regular looking Asian guy, fairly tall. Dressed in formals, he looked like a guy who probably worked in an IT firm. I looked at him and they both looked back at me. The white dude sitting next to him nodded as if to say: “No”.

But in my excitement, I said ‘hi’ and that I had one question to ask him. I began to prep the camera when he smiled and said: “No Interviews”. The bodyguard was about to get up so I put my camera away and just asked him. He answered and then I asked him if I could take a photograph. The bodyguard said “No,” but he said “It’s fine,” gave my camera to his bodyguard and asked him to take our photograph.

The bodyguard pressed the shutter and it didn’t click. The guy joked: “He’s not very good at this” and asked his bodyguard to take the shot again.

So who was the guy?

Mithun with Mike Shinoda Linkin Park Abu Dhabi F1 — None other than Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park! The ONE guy I was hoping to meet!

I thanked Mike and told him how much I liked their new album and said: “Keep experimenting” to which he smiled and said “Thanks”.

First impressions. Wow, he’s taller than I thought (I’m 5′ 6″). Plus, he’s changed a lot since his Hybrid Theory days.

Oh, what was the one question I wanted to ask him and finally could?

“When is Linkin Park coming to India?”

Mike said they needed find the right promoter and figure out the logistics to try and cram it into their tour schedule. It wasn’t a very convincing answer so I asked him whether they had ever considered touring India, to which Mike replied: “Oh yeah! Of course!”. I told him Linkin Park has such a huge fan base in India and he nodded his head: “I know…” with a smile. He said it will happen and assured me the band would tour India — but he just couldn’t tell me when.

Oh well, at least he knows we’re dying to see the band live in India.

As I went back to my seat, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. When I got the call from Vh1 telling me I had won, I was so hoping to meet the band. But I was informed there would be no meet & greet. And despite all that, I still got to meet the one guy I wanted to talk to. I know for a lot of girls its Chester Bennington, but for many hardcore LP fans, it’s Mike Shinoda — the unofficial spokesperson and leader of the band.

I told my brother Mike Shinoda was inside and he got a glimpse of him too, but neither of us disturbed him again.

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit night race — The race was at its final laps

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit at night — The qualifiers had ended; Vettel took pole postion with Lewis Hamilton in second

Abu Dhabi F1 Yas Marina circuit photographers — That’s the kind of lenses you need to cover an F1 race

We got up from our seats and went back into the lounge to get a good view of where we were heading next.

Abu Dhabi Yasalam Linkin Park concert venue — There were people already making a beeline for the concert gates

As I walked out I saw Mike again… and Dave Farrell, the band’s bassist! Dave smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up, probably after noticing my Linkin Park t-shirt and I wished him all the best for the show and that I was looking forward to it. I was tempted to ask for a photograph again but the bodyguard kept looking at me everytime I passed by. Oh well, he’s doing his job.

Walking towards the venue, I came prepared and fully charged with my camera and lenses… but unfortunately, there was dude announcing on the speakerphone that DSLRs and other high end cameras were not allowed in. Crap.

So, I hesitantly hand over my camera to the counter and make my through the gates. Hundreds were getting their alcohol (on sale for 21 and over only) and though there were a lot of people at the venue, everybody had enough space to move about freely.

Me and my brother chose a spot a bit far away from the speakers and right in the middle.

Yasalam Linkin Park Abu Dhabi concert panorama — They were showing promos of who all had come before… (yes, the Jonas Brothers were here before LP)

We could have gone further up front but I was going to be recording videos on my phone and staying too close to the speakers only meant “brrrrr brrrr” in recordings.

The stage itself, as you can see above, was quite impressive.

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Linkin Park concert warm up — They had a DJ spin out some good hip hop to warm up the crowd.

After half an hour or so, the DJ leaves the stage. The crew come on, clear everything and the crowd begin to cheer. A lighting rig comes all the way down, two guys get into seats on either side and the rig goes up again.

After some more waiting, finally, the show begins:

They opened with The Catalyst, the first single off their latest album A Thousand Suns.

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Linkin Park concert — After that, the crowd went crazy for the next song

And when I mean ‘crowd,’ I mean me, my brother and a few young Arabs around me. I was seriously aghast the whole crowd wasn’t jumping up & down.

But then again I reminded my self that this concert was only open to Formula 1 ticket holders, most of whom were 30-plus. Not exactly your core Linkin Park fanbase.

Abu Dhabi formula 1 Linkin Park concert chester on stage — Man, Chester can scream his face off!

I didn’t record every song in full, intentionally. I had to conserve my phone battery and I didn’t feel right about recording the entire concert as though I was going to bootleg this or something.

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Linkin Park concert Mike Shinoda — “Hey, I met that guy!” 😛

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Linkin Park concert Joe Hahn — The awesome Mr. Hahn

Of course, some songs I had to record in full.

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Linkin Park concert stage lights — The lighting was just as good as the music

This was the ending set:

After a very brief break, the band were back on stage for the encore.

First, they performed one of my favourite songs from the new album:

…before closing out the show with some more of their biggest hits!

Nearly an hour and 45 minutes later, the show was over. In that time, they played pretty much all their singles (except for “Breaking the Habit“). The band said their goodbyes and left the stage. Everyone except Mike Shinoda that is, who would spend nearly 10 minutes or so shaking hands and greeting fans in the front row. What an awesome guy.

We left Yasalam, collected my camera bag and managed to contact our taxi driver who had come all the way from Dubai to pick us up.

Abu Dhabi Formula one buses after race — They had plenty of buses plying from the venue to Abu Dhbai city and Dubai

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 bus service to city — But there were quite a lot of people queuing up for them

Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Ferrari world at night — We had nothing to worry about…

Inside Toyota Previa taxi Abu Dhabi — … ‘cos we had comfortable private ride back to Dubai. Tee hee.

Leaving Yas Marina circuit Abu Dhabi — It was past 11pm, time to leave Yas Marina Circuit and Abu Dhabi

As we drove back, I couldn’t help but think back on the past few hours. Sure, we were tired as hell, but what a weekend! Landed in Dubai yesterday, went around, shopped, today witnessed a Formula One race on a Rs. 40, 000 ticket (which we got for free) and then watched one of my favourite bands perform live (again, for free)! But most of all, the moment that did it for me, I met Mike Shinoda and got a photo with him! That was good enough.

On one hand, I enjoyed a evening with a decent crowd with no pushing or shoving and an amazing stage setup. On the other hand, the concert could have used a better crowd. But thinking about it, I can’t fathom how much I would have hated the first Linkin Park concert in India — with thousands of their young fans who are going to go absolutely apeshit because they waited for so long to finally get a glimpse of their rock idols. (I pray Linkin Park plays at least 3 venues when they land in India)

Every artist uses the “We’ll be back” line at the end of their concerts. Some do, some don’t. Linkin Park will be back in UAE for sure. And next time, it will surely be for their real UAE fans at some event more suitable like the Desert Rock Festival or a stand alone concert.

Dubai driving Sheikh Zayed road night — An hour of cruising at a 100kmph later, we were in Dubai

Once back in our hotel, we quickly went out again to grab some shawarmas and some juice for dinner. We didn’t have anything planned for tomorrow other than packing and heading to the hotel.

Yeah, it would have been nice if we could have stayed back one more day, saw the Sunday race and watched Prince perform afterwards. (We had tickets for all 4 days; Kanye West performed on Friday but we couldn’t have been bothered to drive all the way to Dubai for his inflated ego). But I just couldn’t afford to. I had to head back to office on Monday and then on Tuesday night, had to catch my postponed flight to Thailand for my next trip.

All in all, a hectic but memorable experience.

Oh, and finally, thanks VH1 India! (Especially Aparna)

Jay Park live in Bangkok: First Step in Thailand fan meet (Fancam)

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Dec 06, 2010
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Bangkok, Concerts, Korean Pop, Music/Videos, Thailand

Though I spent 13 days in Thailand, I thought I’d get this story out first.

When I won the contest to go see Linkin Park live in Abu Dhabi during the F1, I had to postpone my trip to Thailand. At first, the dates were Nov 17th to Nov 28th, a Sunday, so I could get back to work on a Monday. Then I heard about Jay Park’s fan meet happening in Bangkok — so I pushed my return date to the 29th!

Jay Park

Now, if you’re someone who reads my blog or is wondering, who the hell this guy I pushed my dates for is, here’s a brief intro on Jay Park. Park Jaebeom, is a Korean-American (though more American than Korean) artist who gained fame when he became a member of a Korean boy band called 2PM. He was the group’s ‘leader’ and with their smash hit “Again & Again,” they were one of the hottest boy bands (both in terms of fame and appearance) in Asia.

And then, controversy. Apparently he said something on his Myspace page (back when people still used Myspace) about how much life in South Korea sucked (he’s a third generation Korean American born in the US) and that riled up a few Koreans. Demanding an apology, they asked for action to be taken against Jay Park. 2PM’s label said all is well but then a few months later, bad news. Jay Park is out of 2PM.

Fans are shocked. Mostly because JYP didn’t make it public as to why he was “fired” from the group. All that was mentioned was that he did something worse than saying “South Korea sucks”. What it was, nobody knows… which pissed off fans even more.

Jay Park soon left South Korea and made his way back to his home town in the US. Tears were shed at Incheon Airport by 2PM fans but to no avail. “Leader” Jaebom Park was officially out of 2PM, and the country.

Months pass and no word on what the guy is up to. And then, he pops up on YouTube and decides to sing a cover of “Nothin’ On You,” the then fresh single by debut rapper B.O.B featuring Bruno Mars. His version became sooo popular that he actually released a version of his own and a Korean version of the same featuring B.O.B.

Jay Park is now signed to Sidus Entertainment, another Korean agency and announces he’s going to be appearing in a dance flick called Hype Nation out in 2011. Jay Park has always said he loves b-boying more than anything so it seemed like a natural fit that he stars in a movie on the same (though, its not like there hasn’t been others).

So when did I become a fan? When he teased a single from the movie called “Demon”. I can’t really share a link or anything… because the single hasn’t been released yet.

I heard it for the first time back in August I believe and since then, the initial performances have been since removed from YouTube. It was from a performance he had done in South Korea and the audio wasn’t very good. But even despite that, from what I heard, I loved it! It’s a killer track!

Produced by the legendary Teddy Riley, “Demon” was a song originally written for Michael Jackson, and now posthumously given to Jay Park. Either his label paid shit loads for the song — or even Teddy Riley realized Jay Park is destined for greatness and agreed to give him the song.

None the less, “Demon” is going to be featured on the soundtrack to Hype Nation, so I’m guessing the music video (even though they have already finished filming it) isn’t going to come out until a few months before the movie does.

Anyway, coming to the Thailand fan meet. I booked my ticket while I was in Chiang Mai and I opted for the 1000 baht (Rs. 1500/$33) seat because… well the guy hasn’t even got an album out, so I was going just to see him perform “Demon”. Plus, I didn’t want to sit so close to the speakers because when recording, the only audio I would have gotten would have been the thumping bass… plus a lot of girls screaming.

It was on the 28th of November, a Sunday evening, held at the Royal Paragon Hall — which is located on the 5th floor of the Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok city. I got there by around 5pm as I had to collect my ticket. There was quite a line already.

Jaywalkers were out in full force too.

Jay Park Thailand young fan — Even very young fans

Jay Park Thailand fan meet media — So were the media

After standing in line for nearly 45 minutes, I make my way near the counter only to be told I only had to go to another counter for online bookings.

Jay Park Thailand fan meet tickets — All I had to do was come here

Oh well. Once ticket in hand, the next queue was for the security check. I came fully prepared with all my lenses, extra batteries, extra memory card and with my Canon 70-200 f2.8 in tow, I wasn’t worried about being so far away from the stage.

Unfortunately…

Jay Park Thailand fan meet no cameras — … they were taking away camera bags and DSLRs

But guess what, I put my bag on the other shoulder and made it past them! Woo hoo!

Unnnfortunately when it came to the gates, where security were checking handbags, they saw my DSLR and asked me to hand it over to the folks in charge of taking away cameras.

Crap.

I went in with lenses, but no camera body to fit those lenses onto. Well, at least I still had my phone.

Once inside, I got my seat. The hall wasn’t sold out, but had a very good turnout none the less.

Jay Park Thailand fan meet Royal Paragon Hall — Waiting for the show to start

At around 6:30pm, the lights go out. The crowd (mostly girls) start to scream! And then two Thai MCs come on stage. I obviously didn’t understand what they were saying but I’m pretty sure they were asking if the crowd was ready to see Jay Park. Obviously, we all were.

So the hall goes dark again. And then:

The girls sitting beside me were going crazy! This was a ‘sit down’ show, and in their excitement, I expected them to stand up to get a better view. But they didn’t. They were just jumping and shaking in their chairs. I couldn’t help but laugh!

Anyway, after kicking off the show with his cover of “Nothin’ On You,” the lights dimmed once again and then a video came on screen:

After hearing the song (twice) I essentially came for, I felt satisfied.Yeah, I didn’t manage to get the best recording, so if you want a closer look, check this or this one out instead.

After the performance, Jay came back on stage and was joined by the two Thai MCs for a Q & A session.

Sadly, that’s all I could record. Security came by and told me to stop recording — and then went around telling everybody else the same. They were pretty strict about it henceforth.

During the Q & A, the questions were fairly childish and basic. Like what he likes to do in his free time, his hobbies, etc. Jay Park looked lost most of the time, mostly ‘lost’ in translation. The hosts didn’t seem well prepared either. Took ages for one of them to understand “bromance” and when it came selecting 3 girls to come on stage, oh boy, did that seem like ages.

Three lucky fans did get a chance to get up close with their idol though.

One of them even got Jay to draw something for her, one of them got to squeeze his nose and the last girl got to hug him. There were fans who had come from Indonesia and Hong Kong; but since the guy who came from India was sitting all the way in the back, he wasn’t noticed :/

Jay Park was also joined on stage by his b-boy crew Art of Movement.

Jay Park Thailand fan meet AOM Q & A — Jay Park is right in the middle

The hosts were asking the audience what they’d like to know and when it came to asking for secrets about Jay Park, Cha Cha from the AOM crew said “Jay likes to bathes himself in hot sauce,” to which Jay LOL’d. Not quite sure if he meant Jay just loves hot sauce or he actually likes to smear hot sauce all over his body.

The crew left the stage and said they’d be back for their performance, which I was so looking forward to. When they did perform, the minute I raised my phone to try and record, the security came by my row. Sucks.

Anyway, it’s not like Art of Movement doesn’t have videos on YouTube.

There was also a performance by rap duo The Quiett & Dok 2. They performed two songs, along with the usual rap instructions: “Throw your hands up in the air” and “Say ‘Yeeeahhhh’…”. There were okay. Then Jay Park returned to the stage and joined the rap duo for a song.

Other songs Jay Park performed were “Speechless” with ChaCha (who wrote & produced it). Jay Park also hit the stage with a cover of Jay Sean’s “Down” and Usher’s “U Got It Bad”. The roof came down during “U Got It Bad” when towards the end, Jay Park finally did it — he ripped off his vest. I’m sure the girls got their money’s worth.

The last song Jay Park performed was “Bestie” and the entire AOM crew came on stage to join the performance.

After that, he and AOM said their goodbyes and left the stage. Immediately, some got up and began to run towards the exit. Maybe they just wanted to head home quickly or wanted to pick up their cameras. I know I sure wanted to, so I got up as well. And then the Thai MCs came back on stage.

Again, they were speaking Thai so I couldn’t understand but I got the drift they were asking if we enjoyed the show. Also, they pointed out to the fans making their way out as if to say “You’re leaving? You think it’s over?”

Guess what, it wasn’t! Jay Park along with the AOM crew hit the stage once again for a dance off…

Jay Park Thailand fan meet Art of Movement — … and all I have to show for it is this crappy cellphone photo. Sorry, but even now the security was looking at me.

After another stellar show of their dance skills, this time the show was actually over. And everybody knew it.

Jay Park first step in Thailand fans leaving — The show ended at around 8:30

After a good 2 hours of entertainment, I collected my camera and saw several fans queuing up again!

Jay Park Thailand meet & greet — There was going to be a meet & greet with Jay Park now

Of course, it wasn’t for everyone. It was open only to those who bought the most expensive tickets — 4500 baht (Rs. 6600/$150).

I wasn’t one of them, obviously, but I did finally get a chance to shoot with my 70-200mm lens.

Jay Park Thailand fan meet handing out posters — Every fan got an autographed poster & a chance to shake hands with Jay Park

Here’s just a few who were lucky:

Even though the fans were instructed not to get too physical or spend more than 2 seconds with Jay, some did manage to get what they wanted.

Jay Park Thailand greeting fan — And Jay Park gladly obliged

Jay Park Thailand fan meet young fan — This kid even got a hug from the burgeoning global star

After 15 minutes of shaking hands and receiving many, many gift bags from his loyal supporters, Jay Park finally said goodbye.

Jay Park Thailand fan meet thank you — First, a big “khob-kun-ka” (“thank you” in Thai) to his fans…

Jay Park Thailand fan meet goodbye — … and finally, lots of love.

With that, Jay Park left the building.

Jay Park Thailand first step in Thailand ticket — So was my ticket worth it?

Yes.

I pushed my dates just to see Jay Park for a reason. Ever since I heard “Demon” and started getting to know more about Jaebeom Park, the more I started to believe Jay Park is going to be a huge star. The guy can rap, sing and dance. He’s writing his own material with his friends in AOM and working with some of the biggest names in the music business.

Sure, the tickets were slightly expensive. But I can understand why. I can imagine how much it would have cost to not just bring Jay Park down, but his AOM friends as well (and not to mention his management staff too). Sure, I didn’t get to capture the event the way I had hoped to share it with everybody. It’s ok. I can understand if MTV paid for exclusive performance footage. It’s all business at the end of the day.

Sure, if I had a chance to ask him some questions, I would have asked him about his music. Like who are the other producers or artists he’s collaborating that we don’t know of yet. Or like, what date and time is “Demon” getting an official release! But I guess I’m in the minority. I’m a 28-year old guy who likes ‘Jay Park the artist’. Most Jaywalkers (mostly young girls) like him for his music, his 2PM legacy, his abs, his hair, his looks, his… anything!

And Jay Park knows that.

I know it’s too early to shower so much praise on a guy who hasn’t even come out with a full-fledged album yet, but I’m calling it now itself…

– Jay Park is going to be the break-out star of 2011

– won’t be surprised if “Demon” tops the Billboard Top 100

– the next big ‘Jay’ of Asian descent (the first being Jay Sean) and the first Korean-American solo singer to have a no. 1 single globally

I may end up being wrong of all the above, but even if I am, I still have faith in Jay Park’s talents. Even if he doesn’t crack the Western markets, he’ll still be crazy popular in Asia.

And I’ll still pay to see him perform. Maybe just a little bit more the next time.

P.S: He he, I even made an appearance on Thai television. Around the 0:53 mark ^_^

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tigers staring

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Nov 07, 2010
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Malaysia, Singapore, Travel

Date: 27th September 2010

We only had from morning to evening in Singapore today, so we decided to skip Sentosa as the journey all the way to the theme park wouldn’t be worth it unless we could spend time at Universal Studios as well… for which we didn’t have “sufficient funds”. So, Singapore Zoo it was.

This being our last day in Singapore, I decided to take a few photographs of ABC Hostels, in case you were curious as to what its like from the inside.

ABC Backpacker hostel reception Singapore — The reception

ABC Backpacker hostel reception free internet Singapore — The hostel provides free internet; we found it quite slow

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast kitchen Singapore — This is the kitchen

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast kitchen restroom Singapore — …where you’d come to make your own breakfast or anything else

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast table Singapore — Once made, you have to sit outside. Once done, wash the dishes yourself. (Photo taken by my friend Loi)

ABC Backpacker hostel rooms Singapore — Our room was at the end to the right

I didn’t take a photo of the room we got because it was in a mess, but picture this: not a big room, big enough bed for 3 mid-sized adults, functional split A/C, well-lit, with a mirror and table. That’s it. If you want more than a room for just sleeping, its best you book yourself into a regular hotel.

After finding out how to get to Singapore Zoo, we set off for Bugis MRT station.

To get Singapore Zoo, we first needed to get to Ang Mo Kio MRT station, and then take a bus from there.

Ang Mo Kio bus station Singapore — Ang Mo Kio bus interchange

But as soon as we got down, there was a van waiting with a woman approaching tourists with a deal. Buy the entry ticket with 4 tram rides and a drop to the zoo in a van (one way) for SGD23 (SGD18 + 5 for the tram rides). We knew the entry fee is SGD18 (Rs. 620/$14/€10) for adults so it seemed like a good deal (but what do we know). Plus we didn’t have to take the bus.

Singapore Zoo entry ticket special — The entry ticket costs SGD18 even if you were to buy it at the zoo entrance

When the van quickly filled up with other tourists, we set off.

Ang Mo Kio branch office Singapore — This part of Singapore was noticeably different

Ang Mo Kio metro road traffic Singapore — It’s still well connected by the metro

Driving to Singapore Zoo lush greenery — There was lush greenery around these parts

After a 15 minute ride, we arrived at Singapore Zoo. The weren’t a whole lot of people in queue — but we just walked straight in as we already had our entry tickets.

Singapore zoo elephant statues — They have real ones too

First up, monkeys…

… then parrots.

From this point on, the zoo truly begins.

Singapore Zoo greater mousedeers — Greater mousedeers they are called

Singapore Zoo asian small clawed otter — These otters were ‘busy’

Singapore Zoo siamang hidden in tree — There was a siamang (a type of ape) hiding in the trees

Singapore Zoo Tiger Trek gate — Next up, my favourite animal

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tiger den — There they are!

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tiger yawning roaring — Its roar was sooo… (oh who am I kidding), it was only yawning

Singapore zoo babirusa wild boar — Babirusa, native to Indonesia

The zoo has a few sections for smaller creatures, like reptiles which are on display in enclosed exhibits.

Singapore zoo pygmy hippo water — The pygmy hippo… or at least half of it

Singapore Zoo desert warthog — Desert warthog a.k.a Pumba

Singapore zoo Australian lizard — This was at the Australian Outback section

Singapore zoo carpet python — Carpet python

Singapore zoo Australian kangaroo — If you don’t know by now, they’re called kangaroos

Singapore zoo Australia kangaroo meaning — This I didn’t know

Singapore zoo Australia Steve Irwin tribute — Remembering the late Steve Irwin

Singapore zoo big bird small head — Funny looking thing, this bird

Singapore Zoo Hamadryas baboons entrance — Next up, baboons!

Singapore zoo hamadryas baboons ibex — They have to share their space though

Singapore zoo hamadryas baboons acting human — It’s fun watching monkeys behave human

Singapore zoo banded mongoose sand — Banded mongoose

Singapore zoo saddle billed stork bird — Saddle billed stork

Singapore zoo black backed jackal — Black backed jackal

Singapore zoo elephant fountain statue — Next up were Asian elephants

Singapore zoo elephant show panorama — This is where they have the shows

Singapore zoo Asian elephant SBI adopted — Good on SBI for doing so

Singapore zoo African penguins — African penguins

Singapore zoo African penguins info — Didn’t know there were penguins in Africa

Singapore zoo crocodile eyes above water — Guess what this creature was

Singapore zoo crocodile under water — Yup. I didn’t bother knocking on the glass or anything. I was too chicken.

Singapore zoo lake boat ride — Boat rides on the lake are also available

Singapore zoo chimpanzee trees — This is where the chimpanzees play

Singapore zoo chimpanzee — Couldn’t get a clear shot of its face

Singapore zoo pony rides — They have a few ponies at the kids area

Singapore zoo model house old chinese — This was some model of an old farm house

Singapore zoo KFC restaurant — Oh the irony of seeing a KFC at a zoo

Singapore zoo mandrill baboon — Mandrill baboon

Singapore zoo proboscis monkeys sign — More monkeys

Singapore zoo Malaysian horned frog — Malaysian horned frog. Waited for the guy to turn around. He didn’t.

Singapore zoo American bullfrog — American bullfrog

Singapore zoo pigeon hair small head — This is one of the most intriguing-looking pigeon-type bird I’ve seen

After this, we entered a fairly large netted section which enclosed a few bats, birds and some more interesting animals of this world.

Singapore zoo huge bat flying wing span — Took this on the same settings as the last shot, which is why it came out this way. Still, kinda cool.

Singapore zoo long tail animal closeup — You can get pretty close to these animals but you are asked not to touch them or feed them

Singapore zoo sloth hanging eating — Sloth. How these animals eat upside down is amazing.

Singapore zoo fragile forest — Went in here next

Shooting the above leopard proved to be quite difficult, and in this video you’ll see why:

Singapore zoo leopards — They did stay still eventually

Singapore zoo puma — Puma, the real thing

Singapore zoo lion — Finally, his highness truly

Singapore zoo lion tongue — 😛 to you too

Singapore zoo lion den ground panorama — The king gets a pretty big ground for himself

Singapore zoo feeding giraffes — You can pay to feed the giraffes and get your photo taken

Singapore zoo wind blowing trees — It was very windy and looked like it was going to rain fairly soon

Singapore zoo cheetah — The fastest animal on the planet, the awesome cheetah

Singapore zoo birds cleaning rhinos back — The rhino and its cleaning birds

Singapore zoo orangutan island — ‘Orangutan island’

Singapore zoo old big orangutan — I know you can’t make out much of what this is

The one above was a very big ape (I believe an orangutan), quite old in age who was kept in this glass enclosure and it was quite dark… so you really couldn’t see it. It was moving around very slowly but unfortunately, due to the darkness inside its “cage” and the reflection on the glass, I couldn’t really get a good shot.

Singapore zoo polar bear exhibit — Aww shucks, I really wanted to see the polar bear

Singapore zoo tram ride — Despite having paid for 4 rides, I never availed the tram rides

With that, we were finally done. Well, sort of. We could have stayed back longer and waited for some of the animal shows. But it was 2:30pm, we had to have our lunch and the skies were quite cloudy.

I still wanted to go to Marina Bay Sands and since Ramesh and Loi were against it, I wasted no time and decided to go on my own.

Singapore Zoo Night Safari entrance — Something for next time

I waited at the bus station just outside and in under 5 minutes, got one that goes to Ang Mo Kio MRT station.

Singapore Tagore Drive road — They have a street named Tagore Drive; not sure if it’s after our Rabindranath Tagore

It was nice to drive through the residential side of Singapore. Compared to all the commercial glitz and glamour of the central business district, Ang Mo Kio seemed so quaint and… nice.

Anyway, I arrived at Ang Mo Kio bus terminal in around 15 minutes and got down to take the underpass to the MRT station. Ang Mo Kio is located on the red line, so the train goes straight to Marina Bay — the last stop. The ride took another 15 minutes.

Once I was out of the station/construction site (it looked like they were upgrading the station) it was still drizzling.

Getting to Marina Bay Sands Casino Singapore — That’s where I was headed

Singapore marina bay rainy day — It was tough holding a camera on one hand and an umbrella on the other

Singapore marina bay financial district offices rainy day — When I saw this, I smiled 🙂

Why did I smile? Because seeing the above instantly reminded me of another ‘marina’ I was at in April. I could help but go: “Ahh, so that’s where Dubai got the idea from!”

Singapore Marina Bay City Gallery rainy day — Marina Bay City Gallery

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Singapore — The mall at Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel

Marina Bay Sands mall shoppes Singapore — More stores are set to open

Marina Bay Sands shoppes mall Ferrari store Singapore — Felt like going in just to see the car

Singapore Marina Bay Sands shoppes mall canals sampan rides — They offer boat (sampan) rides on these canals

Singapore shoppes mall to Marina Bay Sands Casino hotel — To get to the hotel and Sky Park counter, you need to go down this

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Casino way to Helix Bridge — Go up, come out the left side of the lobby, which leads out to the Helix Bridge

Singapore Marina Bay Sands observation deck sky park ticket counter — Then take a left and go down this escalator. Down here is the ticket counter for the Sky Park.

And when I got there they asked me to wait because the sky park was wet.

$@#%!

Turns out they have a “wet policy” which essentially closes the observation deck to visitors if the observation deck is wet. I asked them if I could go up as I was leaving Singapore in a few hours but they said sorry, they couldn’t make an exception.

I told them I couldn’t wait as I had a flight to catch in a few hours time, so I didn’t.

I made way back up disappointed and decided to check out the hotel instead.

You could tell by looking at the guests coming down to the lobby they were high rollers; in town to gamble a lot of money away.

Since I couldn’t check out the Sky Park, I thought I’d at least check out the casino.

Buuuuut… the casino has a strict dress code… and a “No Photography” rule — both of which I didn’t qualify for. I didn’t even bother using the “but I’m leaving Singapore in a few hours” excuse as one sight of the huge security men at the casino entrance will make you think otherwise.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Shoppes escalators — So I made my way back to the mall

Singapore Marina Bay Sands office buildings rainy day — Damn you rain god! Ruining everything!

Singapore Marina Bay Sands wishing well rain oculus panorama — Saw this “wishing well” of sorts outside the mall. I had to take a closer look.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands casino hotel rain oculus wishing well coins — If you are wondering what those are… they’re coins!

I went to the other side of the mall to where the buses to the Marina Bay MRT station are.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands convention center — Besides having a 2500-room hotel, casino and a shopping mall, they also have Singapore’s largest convention center

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Sky Park rainy day — Sigh. So close, yet nowhere near.

It sucks I couldn’t check out Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel the way I had planned. Oh well, another thing for next time.

It was past 4:30pm when I boarded the bus back to the MRT station. The drizzling hadn’t stopped, and I had to take the metro back to our hostel. I got to the hostel before my friends did and I used the time to get out of my wet clothes and re-pack. When the other two arrived, we took all our bags and walked towards Victoria MRT.

We took the MRT all the way to Terminal 2 at Changi. As soon as we got out, right in front of us was a board showing the layout of Changi Airport. Three big terminals… and then one tiny red square. That was our budget terminal 🙂

It was so funny, I regret not taking a photo of it. It was like the big guys just wanted to keep rubbing it in on how cheap people who avail budget carriers are, just so they would quit and use the regular airlines instead.

Anyway, we were at the budget terminal by around 6:30pm for our 8:15pm Tiger Airways flight. And then the flight got delayed by 30 minutes. While we could pass time by availing the free internet and having snacks at the airport, it was still annoying as it only meant our arrival at Penang would also be late.

Waiting at Singapore Budget terminal airport — A minute before announcing it was time to board, most of them were sitting on the floor

Singapore Tiger Airways Penang flight delay — Departing 20:15; current time – 20:38. Oh Tiger… 🙂

Once the plane did finally take off, we all three agreed on one thing: we were definitely coming back to Singapore!

Even though it was only 3 days, we loved every bit of it. Except the rain bit, we all hated that. We also decided we would come back during F1 week but stay much longer.

Singapore Port container ships at night from plane — Thats just some of the many container ships at Singapore Port

We landed at Penang, got through immigration quick and soon took a pre-paid taxi to head to Georgetown, where our guesthouse was.

Penang tree lights airport Malaysia — Hello Malaysia

Penang taxi at night Malaysia — It was raining here as well

It took more than half an hour to reach our hotel in Georgetown, that’s how far the airport was. We were going to be staying at Old Penang Guesthouse during our time on Penang island.

Old Penang Guesthouse triple room interiors — We booked a triple/family room

Since it was nearing 12am, we quickly went out in search of dinner.

We were told there were 24 hour restaurants, mostly serving Indian cuisine, not too far from our guesthouse. We walked under our umbrellas and got into one.