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Mithun Divakaran with Rick Astley Singapore F1

Singapore: Day 6 – F1 Saturday (Rick Astley, Shakira and Shaggy concerts)

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Feb 03, 2012
/
Singapore, Travel

Date: September 24th, 2011

Today started real slow. Got up… I don’t know when, had breakfast at the hostel and just chatted with the other guests staying at River City Inn.

I only stepped out in the afternoon to meet up with my friend Aimee and her fiance for lunch. After much pondering, we sat down at a seafood restaurant on Boat Quay.

Alex Presto Aimee Marie boat quay lunch Singapore — Alex and Aimee

Alex Presto Aimee Marie boat quay restaurant — Don’t remember what the conversation was about

Haven lobster seafood restaurant Boat Quay Singapore — Haven Lobster & Seafood restaurant is where we sat

Mithun Divakaran spring rolls chopsticks Singapore — Feasting commenceth!

Aimee Marie Alex Presto lunch Boat Quay Singapore — This was just the appetizer

Chinese chilli fish Boat quay Singapore — We had this fish next, which was alright

Singapore chilli crab Boat Quay seafood restaurant — I finally got to eat some Singapore chilli crab — pretty much the city state’s most famous dish

Singapore chilli crab after — Had it with some white rice. It was yum.

It was a nice lazy lunch as I was in no hurry to enter the F1 circuit and didn’t care much for collecting today’s Fanzone passes like I did yesterday. I felt relaxed with tummy full and sipping on chilled beer. Well, relaxed until the bill came. I knew the chilli crab was pricey but I was willing to pay for it beforehand. The fish you see above cost SG$88 (Rs. 3,400) — which we felt was a ripoff as it wasn’t even that tasty! It was the price we had to pay for making the mistake of not finding out the cost before ordering.

Alas, we paid our SG$300 (Rs. 11k/$240/€180) bill — the most expensive meal I’ve had on this trip so far.

Seafood restaurants Boat Quay Singapore afternoon — I wouldn’t rate where we ate as the best in terms of taste. I’m sure there must be better in Singapore, or even here at Boat Quay.

Alaskan king crab forum seafood Singapore restaurant — The Alaskan king crab — way, way more expensive than what I just ate

Mud crabs Alaskan aquarium Boat Quay Singapore — Plenty of seafood available here — but given the location, expect to pay way more than inner Singapore

I parted ways with Aimee and her fiance, and made my way in to the F1 circuit.

Singapore parkour boys practicing — Some boys were doing a bit of parkour practice

Singapore boys parkour jumps Marina Bay — I wonder if these guys come here every weekend. Felt like asking them if the building’s management objects to this French import being practiced here.

It was 4:30pm, but I still walked straight to the Padang grounds to see if the Fanzone passes were still available.

Padang ground F1 Saturday fanzone Singapore — Guess what! They still had a few left 😛

Trouble is, I didn’t know what to do to pass time now. There was nothing on the schedule for Zone 4 I was very keen on witnessing, except for the Rick Astley gig.

Singtel booth F1 Saturday Singapore — The SingTel booth was busy as ever

Singtel booth formula one car simulators Singapore GP — I felt like having a go at one of these simulators but you needed to sign up a form first. Thought I’d do it later.

Taking underpass to Esplanade theatres Singapore — Decided to take the underpass to get to the Esplanade side of the track

Basement parking The Esplanade theatres underpass Singapore — Quite a basement

Singapore F1 circuit Esplanade view — This is in front of the Esplanade

Singapore F1 Esplanade drive zone 4 stands — The JK Racing first race was taking place

Esplanade drive Singapore F1 race stands — I walked to the stands

Esplanade drive F1 stands zone 4 Singapore GP — They have quite a few viewing platforms here

Singapore skyline JK racing Saturday race — Since it’s an elevated platform, the views are better

Walking to Theatres by the Bay Esplanade Singapore — I walked to where Rick Astley was going to be performing

Colours by the Bay Esplanade Singapore — You have bars and eateries by the Esplanade Waterfront

Panda suits Esplanade restaurant Singapore — As seen at a restaurant here

Zone 3 Bay grandstand seats Singapore F1 — This is the end for Zone 4 ticket holders, that over there is the Zone 3 Bay grandstand

Sunlight ray through clouds Singapore Marina Bay — Good weather today

Man sleeping Marina Bay Singapore afternoon — For some, it was quite a relaxing setting

Amphitheatre by the bay stage Singapore — It was 5pm

Apmhitheatre by the bay concert stage Singapore — The Rick Astley gig was in an hour’s time

Amphitheater by the bay seating Singapore — But I still sat down to reserve myself a good spot

Amphitheatre audience Rick Astley concert Singapore — …because by 6pm, this was the scene

Marina Bay Sands skypark observation deck Singapore — I took out my 70-200mm zoom lens

Merlion park evening Singapore — I would be using this lens throughout the concert

Rick Astley band backup singer Singapore concert — By 6, the band got on stage

Rick Astley band playing Singapore concert — The music began…

Rick Astley entering stage Singapore F1 concert — …and from the side of the stage walked a man with a deep baritone voice

You can watch the video of his entrance here.

Rick Astley Merlion Singapore concert — Rick Astley began the concert with his number 1 hit “Together Forever”

Rick Astley singing Singapore concert Marina stage — Rick Astley still had his distinct voice — which sounded great even at age 45

Rick Astley fan Singapore concert — The 80’s pop idol posed with fans while he sang

Rick Astley winking Singapore concert — Rick had a fantastic sense of humour too

Rick Astley drinking water Singapore concert — Like when he complained about the heat in Singapore and really wished he had some cold beer

Rick Astley looking at watch Singapore GP concert — Poor Rick wonder how much longer he had to be on stage in this humidity, because the organizers denied his request to serve him alcohol on stage. The audience booed.

Rick Astley fan giving beer Singapore concert — But then came this damsel, with a glass of beer, to Rick’s rescue!

Rick Astley drinking beer Singapore concert — Relief

Rick Astley beer bottle Singapore concert — The organizers finally relented and gave Rick some beer… in this bottle. Which Rick and the crowd agreed looked like something else 🙂

Rick Astley concert audience Singapore F1 — Even though not everybody in the audience was familiar with Rick Astley’s songs, it was still a fun atmosphere

Rick Astley with back up singer Singapore concert — Heck, even I only knew “Together Forever” and his biggest hit “Never Gonna You Give You Up”

Rick Astley on stage Singapore F1 concert — After all, had it not been for an internet prank, Rick Astley wouldn’t have seen a resurgence in popularity

That prank being the “Rick-roll”. Basically it works like this: “Hey, check out this amazing video of me doing the splits while juggling!” And if you opened that link to watch the video, you just got “Rick-rolled”.

Rick Astley singing Singapore F1 grand prix concert — The British singer entertained us for over one and half hours, despite the heat!

Rick Astley ended his concert with the song everybody knew (okay, some still didn’t — they probably don’t spend too much time on the internet I presume). He even brought on a special guest for “Never Gonna Give You Up”…

Rick Astley Eddie Jordan drumming Singapore F1 concert — … racing supremo Eddie Jordan on drums!

(You can watch the final performance of Rick Astley’s set here)

Rick Astley Eddie Jordan Singapore concert — Eddie left the stage, and so did Rick soon after

It was a fun concert. Rick Astley knew the cheesiness of his 80’s pop music in today’s times but he didn’t mind indulging in the campiness of it all. After the concert, as I packed my bags, there were many middle-aged women in the audience who all spoke of how young they suddenly felt seeing their teenage idol perform. Rick Astley was a nice addition to the Singapore GP’s entertainment line-up.

Rick Astley tshirt Singapore — The Rick-roll internet meme has inspired clothing prints too

Rick Astley band backstage Singapore concert — Rick Astley was busy with photographs

Rick Astley with fans backstage Singapore gp — Rick then posed with a lot of fans/random people in attendance

Here’s a brief video I took:

I was pretty close to him and I just wanted to shake Rick Astley’s hand and tell him he still sounded amazing, but there were more ‘real fans’ eager to have a few seconds with him, so I stepped back, let them take my place and I walked back to the F1 circuit.

Marina Bay Sands ArtsScience museum at night panorama — The guests staying at Marina Bay Sands could watch the race from the Skydeck

Marina Bay Sands skydeck watching F1 Singapore gp — Though at that height the F1 cars must look like slot cars

Esplanade Drive standing platforms Saturday night Singapore gp — The Saturday practice session was going on

F1 car barricades Singapore grand prix — This was the Esplanade Drive straight stretch

Petronas F1 car Singapore GP race — I tried my best to freeze frame but these were F1 cars — it’s no joke how fast these things go on a straight stretch

Esplanade drive barricaded track at night Singapore F1 — But I got to see how the professionals photograph an F1 race. You see that section to the right?

FIA photographer taking photos Singapore F1 race — There’s an opening, through which authorized photographers can take photos

FIA photographer taking photos Singapore gp — Like so!

Singapore F1 night race Esplande drive track — There’s also better lighting where he’s taking photos from — and no barricades covering the view

Marina Bay Sands at night from bridge Singapore — Odd looking building, but looks impressive at night none the less

ArtScience museum at night Singapore Marina — The ArtScience museum

2011 Singapore F1 crowds Esplanade drive — I decided to head back to the Padang grounds

Singapore F1 track Esplanade Drive — The practice session had just ended

Esplanade theatre dome Singapore at night — I went back to the Esplanade theatre to take the underpass

As I took the escalator down to the basement parking, I saw a familiar looking man taking a photo of a blonde woman posing with one of the security men.

Rick Astley taking photo Singapore Esplanade — 🙂

Rick Astley Mithun Divakaran Singapore F1 — So, in the end, I still got to shake Rick Astley’s hand and compliment his voice. Mithun Divakaran, officially ‘Rick-rolled’ in Singapore!

Singapore gp Saturday crowd — Everybody was heading towards the Padang stage for Shakira’s performance

Shakira concert Padang stage Singapore gp — I didn’t rush, I already had access to the Fanzone anyway

Singtel Singapore F1 Shakira concert stage — I didn’t bother trying to get too close to the stage today

Shakira Singapore F1 Saturday concert — The sexy Colombian singer hit the stage just after 8:30pm

Shakira band performing Singapore gp concert — Shakira had a pretty big band to back her up

Shakira jumbotron Singapore concert — Quite straight away, Shakira got down to ‘business’ — much to all the whistles from the audience

Shakira Singaporean girls concert Singapore F1 — During her performance of “Whenever, Wherever,” Shakira brought up on stage a few Singaporean girls

Shakira hip dancing on stage Singaporean girls F1 concert — And she taught them how to shake their hips

Shakira guitar on stage Singapore F1 concert — Despite her visual appeal, there’s no doubt Shakira has a myriad of talents. She even performed a mellow(er) version of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”.

Shakira on the ground drummer Singapore F1 concert — But it wasn’t long before she was back to writhing about on stage and doing chest thrusts

Shakira dancing Singapore F1 concert — Lots of flamenco and belly dancing

Shakira music singing Singapore F1 concert — Shakira sang a lot of her Spanish songs, which I didn’t mind. I figured she was saving her English hits for later.

Shakira dancers Singapore F1 concert — Shakira went through a couple of costume changes

Shakira silhouette Singapore F1 concert — Another dress change later…

Shakira belly dancing Singapore concert — … Shakira returned to perform the first song I ever heard from her — “Ojos Asi”. It still ranks as my favourite Shakira song!

Shakira on stage Singapore concert — Shakira got a lot of love from her truly global audience

Shakira bending belly dancing Singapore F1 — More sultry dancing

Shakira singing Singapore F1 concert — … and then back to singing

Shakira Hips Don't Lie performance Singapore F1 concert — When it came time for “Hips Don’t Lie,” we didn’t get Wyclef Jean but a guy who looked like him to sing the “Shakira, Shakira” bit

Shakira Waka Waka visuals Singapore concert — As soon as this came on, everybody cheered… because we knew what time it was

Shakira waka waka dance Singapore concert — “Waka waka” time!

Shakira waka waka concert Singapore F1 — Even though the 2010 World Cup is more than year over, this song remains wildly popular

Confetti Shakira concert end Singapore F1 — It was the last song Shakira performed

As Shakira left the stage, her latest hit “Rabiosa” came on the speakers — which sucked, because I expected her to perform it, in either English or Spanish! She didn’t perform many other hits like “Did It Again” or “Objection (Tango),” so it wasn’t a full fledged concert. Who knows, maybe Shakira had to be at some other event.

Singtel booth simulator car Singapore — I decided to try out the F1 simulator at the SingTel booth

Waiver liability form Singapore F1 car simulator — But first I needed to sign a liability form — just in case anything happens (to me)

Singtel F1 car simulator Singapore gp booth — Fortunately I got in just in time. It was 10:30pm and they closed the booth.

The experience in the F1 car simulator was alright. You go around the Singapore Grand Prix track and experience the bumps, the breaking and the jerks that one experiences (when you drive badly :P).

Cameras people thronging samba dancers Singapore — As I left the SingTel booth, there were many clamouring to take photos of some dancers

Samba dancers at Singapore F1 — It was a group of Brazilian Samba dancers

Brazilian samba dancers Singapore F1 performance — It wasn’t easy to photograph the girls. They were moving fast and many men were in front of me.

Brazilian samba dancing Singapore F1 — So I just took overhead shots the best I could

Brazilian samba dancers Singapore F1 — I had never seen hips being shaken so violently before! Forget what Shakira did on stage, this was the real deal!

For someone who ranks witnessing the Rio Carnival pretty high on his travel wishlist, it was a good experience to see real samba dancing in all its exotica. It’s like the organizers didn’t want to leave anything out as far as world-class entertainment went!

I had dinner from the circuit itself and went back to the Padang grounds for the final act in Saturday’s concert line-up.

Singapore Formula 1 Padang main stage — The artist closing out Formula One Saturday was none other than…

Shaggy Singapore F1 Saturday concert — … reggae star Shaggy(!) “Singapore, remember me?!”

Shaggy singer Singapore F1 concert — “No? Awww… come on!”

Shaggy concert Singapore — ‘Mr. Bombastic’ performed all his hits from the 1990s including “Summer Time” & “Oh Carolina” before moving on to his 2000 singles “It Wasn’t Me” and “Angel”

Shaggy concert Singapore F1 2011 — But as with all rap/urban artists, half the time it was shouting instructions: “Wave you hands!”, “Put ’em up!”, “Say ho-O!”, do this , do that! Ugh.

Shaggy mic in pants Singapore F1 concert — The way he ‘sang,’ it was as though you could sense his frustration about being ‘not so cool’ anymore

Shaggy backup singers bored Singapore Saturday concert — “Oh just give up Shaggy”

Shaggy reggae band Singapore F1 concert — He did try his best to energize the crowds

Singtel Singapore Padang concert Shaggy — But I had no energy left. It was another tiring day for me and I left the circuit past midnight.

South bridge lights at night Singapore — I walked back to the hostel and called it a night

Tomorrow was going to be the big day — the Sunday race, and Linkin Park!

Next posts:

Singapore 2011: Day 7 – Little India, F1 Sunday race, Linkin Park concert and Avalon Club

Leaving Singapore, and discovering certain truths about this famous city state

Previous posts in the series:

Singapore 2011: Day 5 – Chinatown, F1 Friday (Charice, Seungri and GD&TOP concerts)

Singapore 2011: Day 4 – Marina Bay Sands Casino and views from the SkyPark observation deck

Singapore 2011: Day 3 – Bukit Timah and Singapore Botanic Gardens

Singapore 2011: Day 2 – Jurong Bird Park and… *ouch!*

Singapore 2011: Day 1 – Landing a second time; walking around CBD

UAE 2010: Yas Island, Abu Dhabi – Ferrari World and Yas Marina Circuit

Date: 14th April 2010

I was so looking forward to today. After Vishu celebrations at home with family, I called up our usual taxi driver and headed to the final stop in my sightseeing itinerary of UAE.

Since I was leaving from Musaffah, Yas Island wasn’t very far — 15 minutes or so by road (it’s around 30 mins from Abu Dhabi city).

The US$30 billion plus (yes!) Yas Island is the flagship project of Aldar Properties. It’s such a huge undertaking that you might as well visit Aldar’s website to see what all they plan on building out here.

But the Middle East story remains the same. What was once nothing but desert sands is now being turned into a gargantuan construction site offering the best of everything to the world.

Though still far off from completing everything envisioned, some of the tent pole attractions are nearing their opening dates — like Ferrari World.

Set to open before the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Ferrari World is set to be the world’s largest indoor theme park. And this being themed after Ferrari, it will also house Formula Rossa — the fastest roller coaster in the world. How fast? Up to 240kmph (or 149 miles) with the power of 1.7 Gs pressing against your chest! Scary.

If you are wondering what is so impressive about this monstrosity, well, photos from the ground below are not going to do it justice unfortunately. For that, you should see what it looks like from up above.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi construction timeline — Images source: www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com

Crazy isn’t it? That they actually built something this futuristic and alien, on such a scale!

(Question: How are they going to clean the roof?)

After driving past Ferrari World, the taxi driver took me to the attraction I was mainly here for — and the only one fully complete on Yas Island.

Yas Island Marina circuit hotels — Some of the (barely inhabitated) hotels on Yas Island

Road to Yas Marina circuit Yas Island — Nearly there…

Yas Marina circuit track bridge — The Yas Marina Circuit

Yas Marina circuit track tarmac — Home to the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 race track…

Yas Marina circuit Abu Dhabi panorama — … which also has a man-made marina in the middle of it…

Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi building — … and the most strangely-beautiful 5-star hotel on earth

Last year, at the inaugural race held in Abu Dhabi, seeing the Yas Hotel all lit up on TV made for quite an impressive sight. The only day-&-night race (starting in the evening) on the F1 calendar, Abu Dhabi had to one-up the Singapore F1 — the first night race — and also one held along their Marina Bay (albeit a natural one).

I asked my driver to drop me here and come back around 7:30pm as I was going to be here for a while.

Since I had some time before sunset and the Yas Hotel lights came on, I checked out the docks first. Also because visitors aren’t allowed access on to the tracks, so I didn’t really have much choice.

Yas Marina hotel docking bay — I don’t know how one gets their boats into the Marina…

Yas Marina dock black yacht — … guess only rich playboys are privy to that information

Yas Marina hotel dock panorama — (Panorama comprised of 6 shots)

Yas Marina racing teams yacht Sun tower — The FIA GT1 championships were happening that weekend

Yas Island yacht Al Bandar residences background — Al Bandar residences in the background

Abu Dhabi plane fly sky — One of the many planes setting off from the near by airport

Yas Marina sun tower — The Yas Marina circuit Sun Tower

Yas Marina circuit do not signs — Photography is allowed though

The sun was setting, which only meant the lights were slowly starting to appear on the Yas Hotel.

Yas Hotel under lights — Decided to go to the other side

Yas Marina hotel golf car — How workers get around at Yas Marina circuit

Yas Marina docks big yachts — Big-ass yachts

It was past 6pm by this time and the lights were finally starting to show.

While I made my way back to the other side, I met a group of Indian workers who have been working on this ‘alien invasion of the desert’ since the beginning.

They told me how all this was nothing but sand when they began a few years ago… and how they managed to flood a desert and turn into a artificial marina.

Yas Marina Indian worker labourer — Rakesh from Lucknow, who witnessed the change in landscape

By the time I was done with our conversation, the skies had turned near-pitch dark, which only meant one thing — the Yas Hotel was now in full bloom.

I had seen it from a distance on my second day in Abu Dhabi but I’m so glad I chose to see it up close!

Yas Marina hotel lights reflection night — Quite a desert jewel

It was past 7pm now, so I made my way back to the entrance of Yas Hotel.

Yas Marina circuits track lights at night — The Yas Marina track at night

As I waited for my taxi, I noticed a bright red sports car make its way around the fountain. I then quickly realized it was the impressive Nissan GTR, the winner of a gazillion “Car of the Year” awards since its debut two years ago.

I went up to the car to get a closer look.

And then, the driver actually looks at me and calls me over. For a second I was like: “Oops, was I not supposed to take photos?”

But as I walked up towards him, the young Arab owner only asked me if he could see the photos I had taken. Then he asked me if I wanted him to park it better so I could take a proper photo!

“Of course,” I said 🙂

We began talking and he (Ali, I believe his name was) told me about his prized possession. Costing around INR 39 lakh, he got it second hand from the US and came to Yas Marina Circuit to find out how much it costs to drive one’s own car on the track.

He even let me sit in the car and get a better feel of the tech-loaded GTR.

Yas Marina inside Nissan GTR steering wheel — The Polyphony Digital-designed on-screen display

Yas Marina red Nissan GTR interior display — This one was an automatic

Yas Marina red Nissan GTR owner — The proud owner

He even asked me send him the photographs and we exchanged each others contact information. By then, I hear a horn beep and I turn around to see my taxi driver waving to me. He had arrived a few minutes back but waited as he saw me talking to Ali.

As we drove back to my parent’s place, we passed by the HQ office building.

HQ office building at night Al Raha Abu Dhabi construction — HQ is part of the Al Raha Beach development

While in the car, as always with this driver, he told me tales about his experiences in this country. As I recounted my evening at the Yas Marina Circuit and the cars, he told me about the spoilt lazy youth and how the Government just throws money at them in the hopes they’d end up with a career one day. I’m sure a lot of what he was telling me was true because it’s not like I haven’t heard about all this before.

Still, the visit to Yas Island was certainly one of the best highlights of this trip. I recommend it to anyone visiting the UAE. It’s only an hour’s drive from Dubai and 30 minutes from Abu Dhabi city.

I can assure you, once Ferrari World and the other attractions open, Yas Island will become one of the world’s ‘must-see’ destinations in a few years time — which is what Abu Dhabi is striving for.

This concludes all the posts on all the sights I saw in the two weeks I spent in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I only have a concluding post which is mostly going to be an editorial piece. Meaning: more words than photos.

Here’s a video I took from Yas Marina circuit:

Previous posts in this series:

UAE 2010: Heading back to the Gulf after 7 years

UAE 2010: Driving from Abu Dhabi to Dubai (& back)

UAE 2010: Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi

UAE 2010: Heading to Dubai by bus; checking out Bur Dubai

UAE 2010: Dubai Mall (Aquarium, Underwater Zoo & Gold Souk) – Part 1

UAE 2010: Burj Khalifa, At the Top (and Wafi Mall) – Part 2

UAE 2010: Driving around Dubai (Souk Madinat Jumeirah, The Atlantis & The Palm Islands) – Part 1

UAE 2010: Dubai Marina, Jumeirah, The Walk and David Guetta concert – Part 2

UAE 2010: Showing my parents the sights of Dubai; inside Ibn Battuta Mall

UAE 2010: From the desert sands of Abu Dhabi to the corniche