There was a rumour that this year would be the last year that Singapore would be on the Formula One racing calendar so we were keen to bring the family over and enjoy the 3 day event together.
The week of the event friends and family started to arrive, once we were all together on the Thursday night we had a belated celebration for BT's birthday including a home baked cake (with decorations chosen by BT!)
During the day there was time for a spot of sightseeing, BT being keen to visit some of her favourite places, including the lovely little roof top garden at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple with it's giant Tibetan prayer wheel
and then lunch in Haji Lane at the little Mexican place that makes the best guacamole ever
After he finished work, we met Papa T for a drink at Southbridge Bar on Boat Quay which although only being a few floors up has really good views
HT and 2 of his friends joined us and as it got dark it was time to go and join the F1 fun
The Singapore Grand Prix held on the Marina bay Street Circuit was the inaugural night race in 2008 and was the first street circuit in Asia for F1 races
We had 'Walkabout Tickets' which allowed us in to several areas and some of the grandstands. We spent most time on the Padang which had easy access to viewing parts of the racetrack plus it held the Padang Stage were much of the entertainment was being staged both in-between some of the races and at the end of each nights racing. That night the main acts were Lianne le Havas and One Republic
We met up with more friends and went for 'one last drink' at Clarke Quay. Many drinks, mad dancing and some time later it was the early hours of the morning and time for home.
Papa T, HT and his friend OS had to be up for 6am the following morning and having had about 2 hours sleep it was of course a huge struggle to get up but they were out of the house by 6.30 to drive to Johor Bahru were they enjoyed a day's golf
The cars move so fast that it's extremely difficult to actually photograph as they zoom by at 2-300kms/hour
but the excitement was palpable and the backdrop incredible
Two acts headlined on Saturday night, first Ariana Grande, who I think appeals more to young teenagers but as she and her dancers were pretty scantily or sexily clad the chaps seemed to enjoy watching her performance too!
and at the end of the night it was The Chainsmokers who had the whole crowd up dancing
but it's fair to say where not Papa T's 'cup of tea' !
The following day; Sunday was the last day of the Grand Prix and also us all being together. We rested in the day and packed as the next day we would all be leaving Singapore to go our separate ways. I popped into the 'boys dorm' where HT and his 2 friends had had to squeeze into for the past few nights and was impressed with OS's packing, I have never seen such organised packing, particularly from someone who has back-packing around Asia...
For me, one of the highlight of the day was having all my family together and their friends joining us for a traditional Sunday roast lunch, something that sadly now we live in Singapore is a rare event.
After this we set off for the last night at the Grand Prix, the boys were ready for another good night out
We arrived just in time to catch Duran Duran, they were fun to listen to but I couldn't get over how old Simon Le Bon now looks and it was clear that most of the people trying to get to the front of the stage were also of 'a certain age'!
It was then time for the Singapore national Anthem before the final of this years Singapore Grand Prix, the crowd was huge and everyone stood. It was hard to get through the crowd to the front of the barriers but we could see the race on the giant screens. With several cars crashing and spinning within the first 10 seconds of the race it was a tense start, fortunately no one was hurt
and Lewis Hamilton crossed the finishing line in first place. After the presentation the firework display began, it was fantastic.
In the excitement of the whole event I forgot to take any photos of the last act which was Calvin Harris who again had the whole crowd on their feet.
The following morning we would all be leaving Singapore, BT and Michael were off to Borneo to find Orang Utans and beaches, OS and NL to Bali to do whatever young men do in Bali whilst Papa T, HT and I were flying off to Sri Lanka hoping to find great herds of elephants .
It had been wonderful to have the family back together albeit only for a few days, but what exciting, exhausting, noisy, alcohol fuelled and fun filled days they were. I'm now counting down the days to Christmas when we can all meet up again
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