Lots of tourists flock to Singapore for the Grand Prix, including those with a lot more money than I. At the time of booking, I had noticed that the more upscale hotel properties nearest the course were either unavailable, or very expensive. The Marina Bay, where I would have looooved to stay, was sitting at around $900 per night. The infiniti pool looks extraordinary, but not that extraordinary.

Instead, I went with my trusted pal Hotwire. I ended up getting a room at a place called the Village Albert Court. While nothing special, it was clean, located near an MRT stop, and had excellent air conditioning. I didn't end up spending much time here anyways.

The Grand Prix takes place between the Friday and the Sunday. For those unfamiliar, Friday is practice, Saturday qualifying, and Sunday the race. The nice thing about the Singapore GP is that it's very much a festival atmosphere. There are concerts throughout the circuit park all weekend as well as other racing. The big acts this year were Gwen Stefani, Muse, Fatboy Slim, Swedish House Mafia, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I went to several of the concert and they were all great.

The Thursday after I arrived would serve as my main sightseeing and "errands" day (shopping for the family, mailing postcards, etc.). I started with a visit to Maxwell for the well-known Hainanese Chicken rice, washed down with a serving of Pad Thai.

The walk to Maxwell, where a number of men had wanted to sell me shirts for some reason:



Maxwell:





I followed this up with a trip to Little India, and the Mustafa Center, where Anthony Bourdain had said you could literally find anything. Indeed, the shopping center was an immense smorgasbord of everything imaginable. I managed to find the aisle where he bought his snow globe on the episode of The Layover when he had visited the city.

It was here, I decided, that I would set out to find a unique Singapore gift for my kids. In addition to overbearing laws, which don't translate well into gifts, there are a few things that Singapore is known for: the sling, food, orchids and the MERLION:



Needless to say, the Mustafa Center delivered on this last one, and a few minutes later I had a couple new pals in tow to accompany me during the rest of my trip. We first collectively decided that a cold beer was in order:



Gotta love the vending machine culture. Not sure why it hasn't taken off in North America:



I love the entrepreneurial spirit, but sometimes it's important to ask the question "Why am I first?" Granted, I'm not familiar with the product and whether or not it's good.



The next day I headed down to the Marina Bay area fairly early. The Porsche/Ferrari series mechanics were doing some last minute work on the cars:





I also went down to see the magnificent Marina Bay Sands:



where, in retrospect, I had decided that it was a good thing that my wife did't accompany me on the trip:



I then proceeded to enter the circuit through the gate at Helix bridge, which was designed to look like DNA:



For the weekend, I had purchased a combo ticket package. This allowed me to sit at a different grandstand each day. The first day I was at the Pit Grandstands, followed by Padang and then Stamford on race day. Stamford by far had the best viewing angle, whereas Padang was convenient because it was next to the main concert stage. Strangely, I wasn't really a fan of the Pit Grandstand area, which was the priciest.

Pit Grandstands. There had been some accidents during practice and the pit crews were frantically working to repair the damage before the next session:



The Singapore police were, of course, out in full force. There was a tactical team patrolling in full gear. I felt bad for them in the heat. They also had this robot driving around capturing video. It reminded me of Sheldon's contraption in big bang theory:



Tough to beat Singapore at night:




The next day I similarly headed downtown early. I had a few cold ones by the bay:





I would be at Padang grandstands for the qualifying session today. Though I didn't spend a ton of time in my seat. There was too much going on.



I caught the Gwen Stefani concert, after which I met a British expat working in Singapore. We had a few beers and shared some laughs over the respective political circuses going on in our respective countries: Boris having trouble with Brexit, and Trudeau caught wearing blackface several times in the past right in the midst of an election campaign.

I had to leave by 12 to catch the MRT and still owe him a beer. We decided that would happen either once I'm in London or he's in Ottawa.

Gwen:



Race Day:

The unthinkable had happened during qualifying. Leclerc had set an amazing lap time, and Ferrari had the poll. I started the day with a walk through the Botanic Gardens.




It was the first time in my memory that I had seen orchids growing. And I managed to avoid any dangerous snakes. Score!

While waiting for the racing to begin, I went to check out the Singapore Flyer. This is the view from the bottom. Unfortunately, unlike in years past, they weren't allowing free entry to F1 ticket holders. I think it costs $30 dollars.



The race was excellent and wasn't without controversy. The teams had to be very strategic, and Ferrari had pitted at just the right time, allowing them to go 1-2 in the end. Before this race, a team had never finished 1st and 2nd in Singapore. It was Ferrari's day based on when the safety car had come onto the track. Lewis' tires simply didn't hold out well enough for him. I finished the evening up by going to see the Chili Peppers. They were excellent, as they always are. There were way too many people, though, and the organizers had done a terrible job at controlling the flow of people, creating numerous bottlenecks and bringing out a lot of frustrating. Combined with a day full of drinking for a number of the patrons, and the police were kept busy.

I returned to my hotel by about 1 am, packed, and napped until 5 am when I had planned to get ready to head to Changi and go home.