Since I’ve been posting a whole lot of food and a feature of an event
on my initial postings, I decided it is about time I put in a partner for my
Trekking article with another that borders on the testosterone population
(oppps, no worries, ladies do have it too, you’ll know later). I am referring to my adventure travelling to
Malaysia to watch (drum roll please)….. F1 RACE EVENT at Sepang InternationalCircuit. And do note, I haven’t been to
the Malaysian shores and haven’t been to any racing event. Oh, and by the way word of caution, I am a
Ferrari fan so yield if you must (pun intended).
Attending and seeing a real F1 race car live in action has been in my ‘Top
26’ things to do before I turn 26 but somehow, being in Philippines makes it
extra difficult. So I summoned all the
courage in me, well that includes an eager co-worker too at the side, to
finally do something about this wish of mine. This blog shall focus on the steps we took in
order to SECURE and SURVIVE this trip. So
with hope in one hand and the love for everything F1… Mark, Lala and I embarked
on our adventure. Just to give you a feel of the atmosphere at the circuit see below video clip (well at least the sound, ehe)
PIT STOP 1: Securing our Tickets to the event (this was the most difficult to do)
If you intend on watching the Grand Prix in the Asian regions for
2012, December is the best time to do it because majority of the countries
hosting the event are offering discounts.
Malaysia for example is offering a whopping 50% discount already if you
secure your tickets before December 31.
Researching for this article had me rethinking my pledge not to go the
race next year (I’m trying to be as thrifty as possible so I can eat and attend
events more for the blog). We had ours
online, I think this is the most efficient way although there are a few
existing local group who can do it for you although the prices are expectedly
higher. I would want to route you to the
site/link we used, but there might be better deals so I’ll just update this
post when I found one.
DETOUR 1: a quick detour while you are thinking of
which ticket to buy is to decide which seat you want to experience ----
translated into F1 language that means
which view you want (and afford).
Note also that every country has its own racing circuit and that
translate to a different lay-out, seat and view types. Malaysia International Circuit for example
has about 16 options. Singapore offers a
whole new deck of options as they have theirs done on actual public roads (yup,
just so you know, the streets of Singapore are so good, they pass the F1
standards) as the racing track. So you
have then the whole of Singapore (or at least areas covered by the roads to be
used) as your seat option. I’ve read of
blogs and personal accounts of them watching the race from below their hotel
window, next to the restaurant right beside the road, etc. Now just like in a concert, the closer you
are in the action, the higher the cost. Although
for my Malaysia trip, ours was not that costly but the view was
breathless. We had ours on the
hillstand. Below pix shows you the
layout of Sepang International Circuit as well as different views taken from
pictures when I attended the actual race.
 |
| Sepang Crowd --- Hillstand |
 |
| This was how close we were to the track |
ROAD BLOCK: Securing a Plane going to Malaysia
Options for plane ride are Cebu Pacific and Air Asia for Clark
Airport, while the selection grows more for those who will be Manila bound via
NAIA. There should be promos every so
often so you need to be both patient and strategic as you do not want to book
your flight so close to the event date.
(Do not underestimate. The idea
that ‘Filipinos are not into the grandprix anyways so there will be flights
eventually, will not guarantee you a safe pass). As for our case, we opted to be safe and
booked flights in January. Lo and
behold, a few weeks after there was a promo!
The news crushed our hearts (as much as it crushed our wallets, well
that was an exaggeration but a promo is a promo still), but it was a consensus
from all three of us that we’d rather be safe than pay more later.
Timing is also important. Now by
timing I meant the flight that you will be taking. This was one area I think we
over-looked. Why? Well, we did not factor in an earlier flight
for us to have enough window to explore and have the opportunity to watch the
qualifying events. Now if you intend to
go around Malaysia too and really immerse yourself in the ‘Grandprix village’
when you go, I suggest you book either the earliest flight out or the most, a
day before.
Below is the actual screen shot I took of a sample roundtrip flight
cost (date is 12/8, around 3pm). It is still quite pricey I would say. On this you have to really suck it all up and decide.
PIT STOP 3: Finding a temporary ‘Home’
After securing the event passes and flights, the next thing you would
want to settle immediately is your temporary home during your stay. You are lucky if you have relatives or
friends who are already living to your destination of choice. This will already create a big slash in your
computation of expenses. With the case
of Malaysia, I’ve seen Filipinos (let me
correct that, is there any place where we don’t have Filipinos anyway? Ehe)
during this trip so try re-establishing your contacts. Our choice, after exhausting our social media
contacts to the 3rd degree, was to book a hotel. Thank God for Agoda as they gave us many
options to choose from. We got a booking
at My Hotel which is located near the railway station so it was a good enough
place I may say.
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| My Hotel's facade (Yup, the name is really MY HOTEL) |
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| A decent room for three (3) people, that's Lala on the window |
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| The Location... The place wasn't hard to find |
 |
| The internet has a lot of information making it impossible to get lost |
Hotels closer to SIC
are expectedly costly even if you book early as the schedule of the racing
event is already known to the world. Don’t
worry though if you book a little farther as Malaysia’s transit system is quite
decent and easy to follow.
DETOUR: Researching, researching, researching
Another detour I consistently advocate for every travel or adventure
(or even eating escapades) is to do your homework and research. The internet offers tons of information which
will give you an idea to make better decisions.
Planning becomes altogether easy.
The first thing that you need to look into will be the racing schedules
for 2012, so you can check if you that elusive ‘leave of absence’ is at least
worth battling-out with your boss.
Check also which venue you want to visit, I suggest that you go to a
place where you may also do other things apart from the racing event (which
have schedules usually in the afternoon anyway). Below are the main race sites you can visit
for the Asian leg. Reading blogs of
those who have attended will also be helpful.
PIT STOP 5: Deciding on the Itinerary
Will this trip be an all-racing-event type or do you intend to also
explore the place? Make an itinerary factoring
the information you gathered in the internet including travel time. This one, I did not find in the internet but
word of caution for those favoring the Malaysian leg, please note that after
the race, the traffic gets very tight. As
in two hours worth of being stuck in traffic on the final race day. So while we sat in the bus, we said goodbye
to our visit to the China town as it was already 8pm of our final day in
Malaysia. Also, most racing circuit
would have a special racing event package for their buses so make sure you go
and learn as much from them as they provide hassle free ingress and egress to
the venue.
Here are some of the pictures I had from that trip as well as some of
the kits and bus tickets.
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| The crowd was overwhelming |
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| Obviously a Ferrari fan |
 |
| Obviously not a Ferrari fan, ehe |
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| The Ferrari Store.. i wished i had more money.. sponsor, anyone? |
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| Me feeling Rain, yep he performed there |
For general reference, please see below over-all 2012 schedule:
01
|
2012 FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND
PRIX (Melbourne)
|
16 - 18 Mar
|
02
|
2012 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA
GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur)
|
23 - 25 Mar
|
03
|
2012 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND
PRIX (Shanghai)
|
13 - 15 Apr
|
04
|
2012 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN
GRAND PRIX (Sakhir)
|
20 - 22 Apr
|
05
|
FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA
SANTANDER 2012 (Catalunya)
|
11 - 13 May
|
06
|
FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO
2012 (Monte Carlo)
|
24 - 27 May
|
07
|
FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA
2012 (Montréal)
|
08 - 10 Jun
|
08
|
2012 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF
EUROPE (Valencia)
|
22 - 24 Jun
|
09
|
2012 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH
GRAND PRIX (Silverstone)
|
06 - 08 Jul
|
10
|
FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER
VON DEUTSCHLAND 2012 (Hockenheim)
|
20 - 22 Jul
|
11
|
FORMULA 1 ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2012
(Budapest)
|
27 - 29 Jul
|
12
|
2012 FORMULA 1 SHELL BELGIAN GRAND
PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps)
|
31 Aug - 02 Sep
|
13
|
FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER
D'ITALIA 2012 (Monza)
|
07 - 09 Sep
|
14
|
2012 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE
GRAND PRIX (Singapore)
|
21 - 23 Sep
|
15
|
2012 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
(Suzuka)
|
05 - 07 Oct
|
16
|
2012 FORMULA 1 KOREAN GRAND PRIX
(Yeongam)
|
12 - 14 Oct
|
17
|
2012 FORMULA 1 AIRTEL GRAND PRIX
OF INDIA (New Delhi)
|
26 - 28 Oct
|
18
|
2012 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU
DHABI GRAND PRIX (Yas Marina Circuit)
|
02 - 04 Nov
|
19
|
2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND
PRIX (Austin)
|
16 - 18 Nov
|
20
|
FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL
2012 (São Paulo)
|
23 - 25 Nov
|
