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 and AimeeDon’t remember what the conversation was aboutHaven Lobster & Seafood restaurant is where we satFeasting commenceth!
This was just the appetizerWe had this fish next, which was alrightI finally got to eat some Singapore chilli crab — pretty much the city state’s most famous dishHad 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.
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.The Alaskan king crab — way, way more expensive than what I just atePlenty 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.
Some boys were doing a bit of parkour practiceI 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.
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.
The SingTel booth was busy as everI 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.Decided to take the underpass to get to the Esplanade side of the track
Quite a basement
This is in front of the EsplanadeThe JK Racing first race was taking placeI walked to the stands
They have quite a few viewing platforms hereSince it’s an elevated platform, the views are better
I walked to where Rick Astley was going to be performingYou have bars and eateries by the Esplanade WaterfrontAs seen at a restaurant hereThis is the end for Zone 4 ticket holders, that over there is the Zone 3 Bay grandstandGood weather today
For some, it was quite a relaxing settingIt was 5pmThe Rick Astley gig was in an hour’s timeBut I still sat down to reserve myself a good spot…because by 6pm, this was the sceneI took out my 70-200mm zoom lensI would be using this lens throughout the concertBy 6, the band got on stageThe music began……and from the side of the stage walked a man with a deep baritone voice
Rick Astley began the concert with his number 1 hit “Together Forever”Rick Astley still had his distinct voice — which sounded great even at age 45The 80’s pop idol posed with fans while he sangRick had a fantastic sense of humour tooLike when he complained about the heat in Singapore and really wished he had some cold beerPoor 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.But then came this damsel, with a glass of beer, to Rick’s rescue!ReliefThe organizers finally relented and gave Rick some beer… in this bottle. Which Rick and the crowd agreed looked like something else 🙂Even though not everybody in the audience was familiar with Rick Astley’s songs, it was still a fun atmosphereHeck, even I only knew “Together Forever” and his biggest hit “Never Gonna You Give You Up”After all, had it not been for an internet prank, Rick Astley wouldn’t have seen a resurgence in popularity
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”…
… racing supremo Eddie Jordan on drums!
(You can watch the final performance of Rick Astley’s set here)
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.
The Rick-roll internet meme has inspired clothing prints tooRick Astley was busy with photographsRick 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.
The guests staying at Marina Bay Sandscould watch the race from the SkydeckThough at that height the F1 cars must look like slot carsThe Saturday practice session was going onThis was the Esplanade Drive straight stretchI tried my best to freeze frame but these were F1 cars — it’s no joke how fast these things go on a straight stretchBut I got to see how the professionals photograph an F1 race. You see that section to the right?There’s an opening, through which authorized photographers can take photosLike so!There’s also better lighting where he’s taking photos from — and no barricades covering the viewOdd looking building, but looks impressive at night none the lessThe ArtScience museumI decided to head back to the Padang groundsThe practice session had just endedI 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.
🙂So, in the end, I still got to shake Rick Astley’s hand and compliment his voice. Mithun Divakaran, officially ‘Rick-rolled’ in Singapore!Everybody was heading towards the Padang stage for Shakira’s performanceI didn’t rush, I already had access to the Fanzone anywayI didn’t bother trying to get too close to the stage todayThe sexy Colombian singer hit the stage just after 8:30pmShakira had a pretty big band to back her upQuite straight away, Shakira got down to ‘business’ — much to all the whistles from the audienceDuring her performance of “Whenever, Wherever,” Shakira brought up on stage a few Singaporean girlsAnd she taught them how to shake their hips
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”.But it wasn’t long before she was back to writhing about on stage and doing chest thrustsLots of flamenco and belly dancingShakira sang a lot of her Spanish songs, which I didn’t mind. I figured she was saving her English hits for later.
Shakira went through a couple of costume changes
Another dress change later…… Shakira returned to perform the first song I ever heard from her — “Ojos Asi”. It still ranks as my favourite Shakira song!Shakira got a lot of love from her truly global audience
More sultry dancing… and then back to singingWhen 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” bitAs soon as this came on, everybody cheered… because we knew what time it was“Waka waka” time!Even though the 2010 World Cup is more than year over, this song remains wildly popularIt 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.
I decided to try out the F1 simulator at the SingTel boothBut first I needed to sign a liability form — just in case anything happens (to me)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).
As I left the SingTel booth, there were many clamouring to take photos of some dancersIt was a group of Brazilian Samba dancersIt wasn’t easy to photograph the girls. They were moving fast and many men were in front of me.So I just took overhead shots the best I couldI 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.
The artist closing out Formula One Saturday was none other than…… reggae star Shaggy(!) “Singapore, remember me?!”“No? Awww… come on!”‘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”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.The way he ‘sang,’ it was as though you could sense his frustration about being ‘not so cool’ anymore“Oh just give up Shaggy”He did try his best to energize the crowdsBut I had no energy left. It was another tiring day for me and I left the circuit past midnight.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!
From September 19th to 26th, I visited Singapore for a second time. Here are a few photos:
First order of business, collect my Singapore GP ticket from the Swissôtel The StamfordI then walked all the way to the Merlion Park for the obligatory ‘Yes, I’m in Singapore’ shotSecond order of business – head to Funan IT mall to buy a camera backpack. There was a Gear of War 3 launch event going on as Singapore was going to get the game a few hours before the rest of the world did. A few hours early is a big deal to gamers when you go online dammit! 🙂
Day 1 went according to plan. Got my Kata Owl DL-272 from John 3:16 for SGD185, nearly Rs. 2000 cheaper.
Day 2, I decided to go to Jurong Bird Park, which I couldn’t do last yearUnfortunately, it began raining heavily (dark clouds and all). This was taken on my phone.But eventually the heavy rain subsided and I continued shooting. It wasn’t easy though. Holding my Canon 7D with the heavy 70-200mm lens in one hand and an umbrella in the other hand. I tried my best.
I was nearly done with the park when disaster struck. Because of the wet grounds, I slipped on a downward slope and fell on the ground. I tried to break my fall as I didn’t want to damage my camera… but …
Long story short, this is what my hand looked like at the end of the day. It hurt. But what hurt more was that the filter on my 70-200mm lens dented in so badly that nobody could remove it by hand. Eventually Canon service had to carefully drill two holes on the side without touching the main lens and remove it. Cost SGD130 though.
Day 2, obviously not according to plan then.
Day 3 was supposed to be Sentosa & Universal Studios but with my 70-200mm lens still at the service center, so I couldn’t go there without it. So instead, I hopped on a bus and see where it would take me.I basically wanted to see the inner parts of Singapore and the more residential areas. Not just the usual commercial areas every tourist sees.The weather looked gloomy today as wellIn the afternoon, ended up going to the Botanic gardens because I told myself I can’t justify this trip unless I take a lot of photos!Even though such places aren’t really my thing, I ended up liking the gardens a lotThen ended up clicking quite a lot of photos once inside the Orchid Park. Really worth the SG$5 fee!Left the gardens and met my friend Aimee on Orchard Road. She’s no angel, that’s just Photoshop.
Day 4, I got my lens back and decided to go to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel & Casino. Played $65 at the casino — and lost it all 😛 Photography isn’t allowed inside the casino, so I have no photos, but take my word for it — it was impressive!
After the casino, went up to the skybridgeThe views from up here… worth the $20 fee! The Marina Bay Sands Skypark is even higher than the Singapore Flyer.Didn’t feel like going to the Singapore Flyer after thisFrom up here, you can see why Singapore Port is one of the busiest in the world. Oh, they’re also constructing more attractions at Marina Bay.The famous pool at the hotel. Hopefully one day I can afford to stay in this hotel, just so I can use the swimming pool 🙂
Day 5, met up with Aimee again as she showed me around Chinatown.
Last year, myself & Loiyumba only strolled through Chinatown at night, so I didn’t even know about this Buddhist templeFinally had bread ice cream by the Quay. Durian flavoured ice cream that too!Oprah loved her, David Foster promoted her and ‘Glee’ made her even more famous. It was Pinoy fever as Charice kicked off the concerts on Friday night. What a voice she has!Then I got my K-pop fix with Seungri first taking the stageAnd later, fellow BIG BANG members GD&TOP ended the night with a stellar (albeit short) performance
Day 6, had lunch at Boat Quay and had my first taste of Singapore Chili Crab.
BeforeAfter (Disclaimer/just saying: There were three of us at the table)I was in no rush to enter the gates when it opened at 3pm just to get fanzone passes to be closer to the stage today. But I still ended up getting them at 3:30pm.Waited for this man to perform at the Marina Bay stage. Yes, Rick Astley. He still sounds great!He was also quite funny. Drenched in sweat (like the rest of us) he asked for some chilled beer for him and his band. The organizers handed him one bottle of beer, to which he pointed out that it looked like something else 🙂Rick Astley was later joined by racing supremo Eddie Jordan on drumsMithun Divakaran, officially ‘Rick-Rolled’Next up, the incredibly sexy, talented Shakira. But all her writhing about and moaning got a bit annoying for me after a while.Four lucky Singaporean girls got a chance to shake their hips with Shakira as wellThey also flew in a Brazilian samba dance troupe. Never seen hips being shaken so violently before! I don’t know how they do it, but I hope to see the Rio Carnival in person one day.Finally, closing out Saturday’s entertainment…wait for it…“Singapore! Remember me?…. No? Aw, come on!…”I didn’t bother staying too long for Shaggy’s set. As with all rap/reggae/urban artists, half the time it was instructions: “throw your hands in the air!” “say woahhh” “do this, do that!” -_-“Oh just give it up Shaggy”
Day 7 was the big race on Sunday.
Sunday’s entertainment for me began with the off-broadway show Forbidden Broadway. A musical spoofing pretty much every popular hit broadway show from The Lion King to Wicked and more. Pretty funny, if you got the jokes that is!They mostly made fun of Disney’s infiltration of broadway with their properties and how Disney fool people into thinking everything from The Little Mermaid to Mary Poppins (both of which they also spoofed) are any good on live theatre.Watched a bit of the race from the corners where I could manage to take a few decent snapsBut I headed back to the concert stage so I could get close enough to see the main reason why I booked my tickets in May itself: Linkin Park!Chester actually had a cast on his arm but performed on stage without it. Needless to say, he was his screaming best. What an incredible vocalist!This is why I can’t do without my 70-200mm lens. Hardly did any adjustments to make this photo look any better.
After feeling great about getting my SGD138 worth of entertainment, I took the last train to Marina Bay to go see The Chemical Brothers perform at the Avalon Club.
After dancing for more than hour to hits like “Star Guitar” “Don’t Think” and “Do it Again,” I kept wondering why the smoke machine was on until Boy George began his set. Made me question if The Chemical Brothers were even there! I felt cheated in some ways.
Day 8, I went to IKEA for some shopping before heading to the airport at 5:30pm.
Finally had lunch from an IKEA and tasted their famed Swedish meatballs
Anyway, there’s a lot more to say and hundreds more photographs to put up. I will begin this Singapore series once I complete my Philippines series.
After concerts by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd tribute acts, it was a time for another tribute concert organized by Gigbox. But this time, it was for a far more recent band — Coldplay.
If you are wondering “why Coldplay?,” well then, you probably aren’t aware of the slew of hits the British Band have produced since 2000. Coldplay (and Linkin Park) are undoubtedly two of the biggest bands to come out of the 2000s, and both are still going strong. Sales in excess of 50 million worldwide and hit singles from four studio albums — that is enough material for a tribute band to play in Coldplay’s honour.
I wasn’t expecting as many people as there were for the Breathe – The Floyd Sound concert, simply because Coldplay’s fanbase isn’t as big as a legendary band as Pink Floyd. Plus, April 2nd was the Cricket World Cup finals which India won, so most of the city was still reeling in the joy (and hangover) of last night’s match.
But being a massive Coldplay fan, there was no way I was going to miss this show.
The opening act was American solo artist Thom Chackon.
His music was mostly acoustic fare with a country vibe
Here’s a video of some songs he performed:
Thom Chackon performed a good 6 to 7 songs
Once Thom Chackon left, it wasn’t a long wait before Coldplayer hit the stage.
I didn’t record “Violet Hill” in full because I needed to conserve space on my camera memory card.
The band were dressed similar to how Coldplay dressed for the Viva La Vida tour
One of Coldpay’s greatest songs – “Clocks”
More songs from A Rush of Blood to the Head (“In My Place” & “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face”)
Lead vocalist, who does a really good Chris Martin
“Trouble” and “Strawberry Swing”
(“Strawberry Swing” was performed two tracks later actually)
Gareth Whiteside on guitars; bassist Craig JohnsonJacob King
Moving on to my favourite Coldplay album, X & Y (2005)…
Coldplay’s epic “Fix You” (followed by “Talk”)
And then, the song everybody knew (most of) the words to…
My card got full halfway through the song and had to swap the second one in, thus the break in recording. No worries… as you’ll see down below 🙂
The band then left the stage after “Yellow,” which didn’t imply the show was over. There was no way a Coldplay tribute act was going to end a show in 2011 without playing “Viva La Vida“.
Come back on stage they did. Now, it was time for a break in pace and some acoustic fare.
Besides “Don’t Panic,” they also sang “Green Eyes” and one other song which I wasn’t too familiar with.
“The Hardest Part/Postcards from Far Away” and that song which is now a Coldplay anthem…
For the final song of the night, since the reception this song got the first time was so good, Coldplayer ended their gig with an encore performance of Coldplay’s first hit single:
With that, Coldplayer bowed to the audience and finally left the stage — this time for real.
Gigbox’s third concert was yet another stellar show. Sure, the UB City amphitheatre wasn’t as packed as it was for Breathe – The Floyd Sound, but you really can’t compare the fanbase Pink Floyd has in the city to Coldplay. The crowd was a lot younger this time and as you heard from the videos, they were very receptive.
My brother (extreme right) and his friends surely enjoyed itThe folks at Gigbox who put on the show
So after tribute acts for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Coldplay… who is next?
Ireland’s biggest musical export — U2, played tribute by U2UK. May 7th, see you there 🙂
I parted ways with Aimee and her fiance, and made my way in to the F1 circuit.
