Major details of how I won is unimportant. It was a fun quiz organised by the company and I got the highest score. The prize announced earlier was a couple of tickets to a theme park. However, in the last minute, the CEO threw in a couple of extra tickets for the Formula 1 race, that he had purchased, for which I am guessing he could not go. So plankton like me, right down in the food chain, felt like we hit a jackpot. Those tickets even included a free pass to a Kanye West concert later in the day. Should have seen my face light up, when I learnt of the bonus prizes! I think only Charlie's emotions when he found the last golden ticket inside a Wonka Bar could come close to that moment. Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a little. But this kind of thing doesn't happen to me everyday.
After getting over the many hours of shock, disbelief and joy, I had to pick a partner to accompany me to the race. It was not easy, on such short notice. I had 3 girl friends from work who are my closest friends. To pick one seemed impossible and heartless. Then I thought, I'll take another friend who I wasn't so close to. He agreed but ditched me later with a bunch of excuses. I tossed and turned in a state of insomnia most of that night, trying to figure it out. Early next day, I sent a sms to my closest friends from work explaining the situation. One of them was going on a vacation to Maldives in a couple of days, so I eliminated her, as I justified that she was already getting a chance to enjoy herself. One of them had gone to the F1 last year so she suggested that I take the 3rd friend. So it all ended peacefully and I had a partner!
The night before the races, some of us drove 2 hours for a free Sean Paul concert and drove back afterwards, reaching home at about 5:30a.m. It was a good concert overall. This was the first concert of its kind I have attended in about 10 years!! Our group consisted of a young guy, who had no issues making a total ass out of himself with some very goofy dance moves. It helped to smudge the fact I had only a couple of outdated dance moves from high school. Only one girl in our group had it in her to groove naturally to reggae. No surprises, she is from Africa!
The day arrived. A mere 3 hours of precious sleep later, and I was off to pick my F1 partner and drive 2 hours to the racing circuit. My Jeep - Chariotte, whose name was recently feminised by my French friend (also my F1 partner), was our faithful and reliable steed.
The F1 village was just jaw-dropping. Amazing. Gigantic. No words of mine can bring justice to how well built and organised it was. From the architecture to the well-trained friendly staff, I was totally blown away.
We did not see the F1 drivers up close and missed an autograph session as we were late, but we did see them racing and coming to their respective stations to change tyres. I also learnt a few extra names of these drivers! I think I only knew about 5 names before I arrived there. After sightseeing and enjoying the many events the day had to offer, we headed to the Kanye West concert. Another night of dancing and listening to booming music in a sea of people, all in the warm circle of my 3 closest friends here (2 of them who I could not take for the races, had managed to get free tickets just for the concert! The girl from Africa somehow gets what she wants!). I presume that with time and practice, my dancing would get better and the number of moves I have will increase and I'll stop dancing in one spot!!
This experience was the most I had enjoyed in years, even decades maybe. My F1 partner was fun to hang out with and a good sport. We took lot of photos, which I have not had my hands on yet. I am extremely thankful to my CEO, for if not for him, I would not have experienced such a memorable event.
With all that said, Shu can finally get back to blogging about mundane things!
Here's another favourite of mine:
"Pump It" by The Black Eyed Peas
That sounds fan.tas.tic!!! (:
ReplyDeleteI've never been much too interested in racing or cars, guess I should go sometime though, just for the experience. After all, it is unfair to dismiss smth without trying, no? Next year, f1 sg it will be then! (:
Also, loving the new name, Chariotte! Heh (:
-s
Yes, I was very skeptical about it too... but only when I went there I realised it was unfair on the spirit of the whole thing... I sure hope you get to see the next F1 in SG!
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