So exciting! F1 in Singapore. And the first F1 night race ever in the world!
And a good omens aplenty for me at this event. Let's see. First, the Singapore Meetup group organized an event at this pub to watch the F1 race. Wasn't very sure of whether I wanted to go there all by myself so I didn't sign up for the event. A week before the event, I decided to go for it anyway but it was fully booked. Too bad.
Never mind. Somehow, I kept checking out the Meetup website (too much time at hand...) and what do you know? 2 days before the event, they kicked out all the people who RSVP-ed 'Maybe' and there were a few places available! Yeh! Quickly signed up for the event.
Having really enjoyed myself at the Malaysian and Singapore Society yesterday, I set off in a good mood for today's event. But, the dilly-dally that I was, I set off pretty late and had to take the tube to the pub instead of my original plan of walking there. But then again, having decided to wear my nice nice high heels to the event wouldn't have allowed me to walk all the way to the pub, near my campus, anyway.
At the tube station, I found this newspaper's Sports Section left at the seats. And right in the centre-fold was an article on the Singapore F1 race! Woohoo! I miss the Singapore skyline... And all the familiar names: Marina Bay, City Hall, Esplanade... Sigh...
Arriving just in time at the pub, I sat with this group of professional gals (finance, AMEX, adverts) who knew nuts about F1. Got to swipe some food off their snacks platter which they couldn't finish. Free food - yummy!
It was quite fun to be able to talk with Singaporean adults. How long they have been here, how they can't bear the thought of staying in London (or Europe) for long, and yet don't really want to go back to Singapore either. I wonder if the kids whom I spoke to yesterday will have the same thoughts couples of years down the road. Of course, being the chameleon that I am, I had absolute fun blending in with the kids yesterday and the grown-ups today. In fact, thanks to the lot yesterday, I feel totally youthed-up today.
There weren't much seats left at the front of the pub in front of the big screen, so all the late-comers came to sit around us. There was another gal (finance again) with her friends from Hong Kong. Cute guys. But too far away to talk to. *grin*
But got to talk a lot with this doctor, Ig, who sat next to me. It was good to be able to learn some stuff about the F1 - the gals only knew which drivers they liked. I was more interested in how the race works, sigh... I remember how much I loved the engines and car design modules when I was back at NTU.
Very interesting character. Also just re-started his career as a 'professional student'. Haven't had such fun and ease talking to anyone since I arrived in London. It was comfortable chatting with him.
After the race, Ig suggested taking a walk along the Southbank which I agreed to. Not sure why I did so, he's a perfect stranger after all. But he's known to the people at the Meetup group, so I guess he's not a complete psycho. Just someone who asks a girl for a walk after they have met for 2 hours? *laugh*
But it was a great walk. We talked about our previous work, our incoming work as students, interests - he's going to try this gliding thing which is so totally cool! I wish I will get the chance to try it too! Ig was into dancing - sigh, another 'hobby' I gave up after starting to teach. Hope I'd have a chance to pick it up again. He is also into tennis - I probably will never get the hang of it, but hey, it's not easy to find company for outdoor sports! We visited the BFI - yeh, a fellow film freak! and the Tate Modern - sorry, I thought I liked modern art, but please give me clear designs of elegance, function and form - Art Nouveau, Art Deco.
After visiting the National Gallery, I realised I really enjoy Renaissance paintings the most. Like the ones I saw at Vatican City, it's amazing how life-like the paintings can be with such primitive resources that they have. Given that paints were super expensive back then, they also had to use their paints effectively and efficiently. The paintings are fantastic not only in the techniques used to portray the human form realistically, but also to render perspective and light more naturally. I still remember how my friend and I would run along the walls of the Vatican trying to figure out which pillars and windows were drawn on and which ones were real! Although we were both computer geeks who did a lot of photo and graphic work, we were so wrong in many of our guesses (at finding the real ones).
After our 4.5 km (thanks to google maps) and 2 hours walk along the Southbank, we went back home. Ig was very kind and did ask about my feet when we started on our walk. I said I'd be fine and I was. Until the walk ended and we went on our separate ways. I mean, I hardly felt any pain when there was company. But when I was walking the last kilometre back home from London Bridge, man, I wished I could walk with my bare feet. And heck care how dirty the streets of London were!
Of course, I persevered on and made it back with my feet intact (more or less). Was thinking of soaking my feet in hot water, but since the cold weather was helping with the pain, I thought cold water will be better. Yeh! I was right. And so thankful that I have my foldable pail with me. There's a use for it after all!
To top off such a happy weekend, I had another treat for myself - chicken and corn soup! Yum yum!
