Formula 1 - Marina Bay

The Marina Bay GP was driven in Sinapore on 23.9. We went to see it with the finnish guys Joonas, Aki, Ville, Juha and Aki's friend Tapsa. We paid 107 euros for the tickets. They didn't allow us to sit at grand stands but we had access to the wide area and the best corners. The day included four races and the concert of Katy Perry as the official afterparty in the area.

The day started in the afternoon with Ferrari Challenge. That was quite impressive to see those sports cars doing the thing they are designed to do. Right next to us there was an incident and spin after about half of the laps had been driven. Unfortunately the circuit staff were unable to get the wreck out so the race was finished with the safety car on the track.

Ferrari Challenge

180 degree spin

After Ferrari Challenge the next race was GP2 race. During the race we were walking much around the area and didn't really follow the race that much. The cars looked very much like F1 cars.

GP2

Lotus F1 team merchandises

Since the GP2 was finished we were hungry. As everything in the race area was very expensive and our tickets were multiple entry we decided to go outside to eat. We missed the whole Porsche Cup race because of that but we wanted to be ready for the F1 race. Once we got back we looked for a good spots to view the race and went there to wait the race to begin. The race was cool and surprisingly easy to follow once you learnt to recognize drivers from their helmets. I hardly saw the screen so I had to count the standings in my head. Our spot between T7 and T8 was good as we saw some nice overtakes and the Schumacher's accident was just behind the corner. The winner of the race was S. Vettel and Kimi was 6th. It was really hard to take good photos from fast cars in the dark.

It was hard to get a clear shot.

After the race we were all quite tired because of standing for long time. We went to see Katy Perry right away but didn't really watch it to the end. Next day we all had flights to take and didn't want to risk it with too hard partying. I flew to Vietnam and from there I got to Cambodia but I'll write about that later.

The concert

Made in Hong Kong

I haven't written for awhile. Have been busy with travelling and studying. It feels like a double life already - half of the time backpacking, the other half studying.

14. - 17.9. we went to Hong Kong with my Finnish friends Ville and Juha, also exchange students in NUS. The only agenda for the trip was to see Hong Kong and we did no planing in advance. We just had our flights and hostel booked. Hostel was quite expensive comparing it to other Asian travels so far. We paid about 18 euros per night each for a small 3-person room. Still the hostel was livable and well located.

Me and Ville in the hostel room

Eventhough Singapore and Hong Kong are both huge cities with high population density, they look very different. Hong Kong didn't look that much like an Asian city, in some points I felt like being in USA or so. Comparing to Singapore, Hong Kong is very much cheaper. Goods don't have taxes which makes Hong Kong a very tempting place to buy electronics and brand clothes (I bought some Calvin Klein and bluetooth headset). Also food is cheaper and better (as it includes a sufficient amount of meet and vegetables). Especially food on streets was really cheap and tasty. With 80 euro cents you got some grilled octopus with tasty sauce.

Ville and Juha having some local food

Delicious food on the street

The most markable sight we visited was totally Victoria peek. It's a mountain located in the western half of Hong Kong island. You can get to the top with a traditional Peak Tram. The trams have been taking tourists to the top for a hundred years now.

Victoria Peak

Very nice view over Hong Kong

Another interesting thing we saw during our visit was the Central–Mid-levels escalators. It's the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The entire system covers over 800 metres in distance and elevates over 135 metres from bottom to top. It was built in 1993. We went the whole thing from the bottom to the top.

Central-Mid-levels

The city seemed to be very wealthy. The cars were way more newer and fancier than in Singapore in average. My roommate Ryan told me before the trip that there are the most Rolls Royces per capita in the whole world. We saw some and also plenty of nice sports cars such as Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porches.

Ridin in style

Nightlife was also nicer than in Singapore. Mostly because of the prices. Drinks and entrances had reasonable prices and the clubs were nice. We went out at the second night with all three of us. At the second night Juha didn't feel very good and he stayed at the hostel. Ville and I met my friend Wendy from Hong Kong. She was an exchange student in my home university TUT last year and I was her tutor. We spent the whole evening together talking and drinking. She also showed us the light show at the harbour where some of the skyscrapers were programmed to blink their lights by the music. That was amazing! It was very nice to meet her again!

Wendy and Ville

The light show

All in all the trip was very nice and my very first with any of the Finnish guys. We all enjoyed the good food, nice people and great nightlife. I think Hong Kong is a must visit if you come to South-East Asia.