The Singapore Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious and glittering spectacles of sport in the world. It’s one of only two city circuits and the only night race on the F1 calendar. People flock from around the world for it is a marvel, a wonder, and if you’re a pedestrian, it is an utter ball ache.
We arrived in Singapore on the Wednesday afternoon and we decided to walk from our hostel, which was 5k out of town to stretch our legs after many long hours on planes and trains. Now, the Singapore F1 is held over three days: practice on the Friday, qualifying on the Saturday and the actual race taking place on the Sunday.
On the Wednesday before hand things were just starting to take shape, roads were only just being closed and so we found ourselves continuously walking onto parts of the track which were half complete, all the while unsure if we were about to be shouted at or not. Saying that, overall the Wednesday and Thursday weren’t too bad for us to navigate, many roads were shut but the majority were still open even if the direction for both was a little vague.
The REAL trouble started to begin on the Thursday night, we wanted to get back from the town to our cozy little hotel room. We had by this point changed from our hostel; if you want to read about that delightful experience you can so do here.
The problem with getting back was that more roads had been shut and more sections of the track completed in the time we had spent in the town centre and Marina Bay Sands. So the little knowledge we had gained about maneuvering around the closures had been obliterated.
This lead to around 3 hours of wandering around on already exhausted legs, ending up in dual carriageways, shopping malls and car parks. We felt like two mice in trap.
Two very dumb and confused mice.
But like Pinky and the Brain, we had a plan. We decided to ditch walking and use the MRT to get everywhere. The MRT is exactly like the London Underground - except it's the exact opposite, the MRT is fast, reliable, cheap and beautifully air conditioned. It’s so OCD about being clean and tidy they have specifically banned this type of fruit from the train system as it apparently smells awful.
So for a couple of days we were very pleased with ourselves, and on the Friday we even made our way into the center and took a trip to the observation deck at the top of Marina Bay Sands; of course, this was amazing.
We spent hours up there just looking out at the world; then the real fun began. From afar we could hear the penetrating noise of an F1 car's engine and to our delight realised we could see so much of the track from the observation deck. We settled in to watch the practice session. The views, the noise, the heat it made all the aggravation and the stress worthwhile, it was without question one of the best evenings of my life.
Unfortunately we decided to push our luck a little too far.
On our last day we decided it would be good to have a really slow and relaxing day, take a trip to the Gardens By The Bay, go and eat a the Gluttons Bay Food Market and then head back to the hotel early to pack our bags for the 5am start and 14 hour journey into Malaysia capital city, Kuala Lumpur.
Getting to the Gardens was a joke. So many of the roads were affected by the race, but the information and direction provided really depended on how bothered any given official could be.
Each time we thought we had sussed a way around we were met with the picture below. At which point one of two scenarios would occur.
Scenario 1: We were told the road was shut, there were no signs for diversions, the road was simply just shut and you could piss off anywhere so long as it wasn't down that road.
Scenario 2: You walked merrily down a road with the official saying nothing thinking you had finally made some progress, only to pop out somewhere you really shouldn't be. In our case this meant appearing from the bushes into the Dom Perignon champagne garden at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
*Side note, Scenario 2 will ultimately always end in Scenario 1 and you will have to re-trace your steps.
So instead we decided to cut through the shopping malls, which turned out to be a hideous idea. All the shopping malls in Singapore are connected in some way or another, either by an overpass or underground station and from what I can tell they all look the EXACT DAMN SAME.
Three hours after setting off we made it to the Gardens via a combination of walking, taking the train and eating ice cream. In fairness, however we felt pretty good about the reward, just look at these gardens.
By the time we were done here it was mid afternoon and we felt positive about our early night plan, the place we wanted to eat was on the other side of the water, we could literally see it.
All we needed to do was cross a bridge, of which there are two. Both were shut for the F1. No matter, we had a few hours and 4 days experience of the city, we could do this, right?
Wrong. 4 hours later, across the road from where we wanted to eat, I’m talking yards away - I could have thrown a tissue and hit the table I wanted - we were told we could not get across, as we didn’t have the F1 access pass, a £200 pass.
I have never hated anything more than I did the Singapore Grand Prix at that moment. We had walked for a total of 7 hours, in 33 degree heat at 80% humidity. In loops, in circles, in every direction except the one we wanted only to be told that essentially we didn’t have enough money to enter the centre.
Our early night was gone, the magic of the Grand Prix and Singapore was gone.
But then we went and had some dinner, and on reflection watching those cars from way up on high was still worth every moment.
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