A week of F-1 Madness!!!!

As the whole world knows....it was F-1 weekend last week here in Singapore and we made F-1 history by staging the World's first ever F-1 Night race. I never thought I'd say it but Im glad I got to be a part of it coz it was HEAPS of fun!!!!! Check out some of the pics I took with my Nikon s700!!

So the week of F-1 madness started for me on a Weds when I was told I had to do a training session with Team Redbull's F-1 Driver,Mark Webber over at the new BNM Gym. I ain't gonna lie but...to be honest...I was like..."WHO???" No disrespect.... I mean I just have no idea about the F-1!?!... I mean don't get me wrong I have the utmost respect for them...driving that fast requires immense concentration especially with all that G-Force!!...I can't even bloody sit in a bus or a train for 20 mins without falling asleep.....so yeah there goes my F-1 dream!! =) haha

We were introduced to Mark Webber and we just had abit of casual conversation. The owner of BNM Gym Francis gave Mark his training kit. (A pair of shorts that looked like the English flag with his name printed on the back and a pair of handwraps with his name stitched into it.) I had a gift for Mark too...it was one of my sponsors,Tuff Boxing tshirts. I just made conversation and asked if he's ever done any Martial Arts and he said abit of Boxing. I mean I know you think drivers are just drivers......."yeah he just sits in a car"...but you'd actually be surprised how much they have to workout to stay fit and also the specific exercises they have to do for their necks due to the ridiculous amounts of G-force they get from driving at such high speeds. I asked Mark what's the fastest he's ever hit on his F-1 car and he said...375KM/PH!!!!!!!!HOLY F@##&$!!!!!!

Me giving Mark a Tuff Boxing Tshirt

So Mark got changed into his new gear and we got started. Got him to warm up by skipping, and lucky for him and the camera crew he can skip pretty well!! I've seen some realllllly bad un- coordinated skipping in my years of teaching!! haha So thank god Mark could skip or it would look pretty bad on TV haha!! So while he was skipping I just explained to him about Muay Thai...and what it was all about. After skipping we decided to let our fists do the talking, I taught him the basics of Muay Thai.....and showed him how to throw the 8 Weapons,Punches,Elbows,Knees and Kicks! After that Petch took him on the pads and made sure he got a good workout. After the padwork I explained to him what the Wai Kru was and what it means for us fighters to perform it.

Mark throwing a very good knee!!!


Mark kindly posing for a pic with me after training!!



To watch a video of the whole training session click on the link!!

After the session,Mark was very pleased and happy with the whole training session that he invited all of us to The F-1 Redbull opening party the next day at Cafe Del Mar on Sentosa. I have been to some cool parties before...but the Redbull party has to be one of the better ones that I've been to this year. It was free food from about 9 - 11?...and Free flow Vodka Redbulls all night??...That meant some serious partying for some people!!!! Got to have a quick chat with Mark briefly when he came back to say HI to me (which I thought was extremely nice of him!!!)....then he got MOBBED..and I mean MOBBED by the crowd!!!! So he had to leave!!

The DJ lineup for the party was pretty awesome too....with Maxi from Faithless who played some real classic tracks and even dropping in stuff from the Stone Roses which really got the party going!!! Maxi then handed over the decks to the DJ duo Coburn who took it up a notch with some pumping electro choons!!!

Maxi on the Decks playing at the very crowded Redbull party!!

After a mad night out at the Redbull Party. I sent an email to the P.R agent of Redbull Racing Team,Britta,as she had organized the invitations for us to the Redbull Party. I just sent an email saying Thanks and if she could help wish Mark best of luck for the race. I got a reply saying that she had 2 grandstand tickets to the Test Drive and she wondered if I wanted it?... Intially I was like..."Hmm nah it's gonna be such a hassle to get there and all that coz some roads are closed!....."....but then I thought...."It's not everyday you get GIVEN FREE Grandstand tickets to the F-1!!!"

So after calling her and arranging everything, off I went to the races to meet Britta and collect my grandstand tickets. But I got alot more than I asked for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arriving at Suntec I walked closer to the gate and the sound of the F-1 cars was getting louder and louder!!...Initially it was..."Hell yeah Im at the F-1!!"....After 20mins without the earplugs it was,"F@#$ thats loud!!!!"

At the entrance of Gate 2,I saw this guy wearing a Redbull Racing Team Tshirt....I approached him and asked him if he worked for Redbull Racing or if he just bought the shirt at the Memorabilia stand!! He said yes he actually works for Redbull!! So I told him the deal with me having to meet Britta. So he introduced himself to me as Anthony and he said..."Alright no worries,I'll take ya in there myself."...He then said he's got 4 VIP passes and he was waiting for only 3 guests so I could have the last VIP pass temporarily to go to the hospitality area to meet Britta. Anthony said that I was very lucky coz these passes were EXTREMELY hard to get hold of and even with money you can't buy it...you have to know someone in there!!!!...I was like..."Ohh cool wow.".... While trying to stay calm on the outside....when all I could think of was screaming.."YES YES YES!!" and doing some cheesy little dance!!!

So the 3 guys arrive and I introduce myself to them and we walk into the "Paddocks". They were quite fascinated by the fact that I was a professional thai boxer?!..haha They were very funny the 3 of em. As we were walking someone asks for a picture with me....and all of them start to tease me...!!"Someones famous here in Singapore!!" hahaha (I was thinking to myself...!) "That guy couldn't have asked for a picture with me at a better time!!" hahahaha

We carried on walking....(It was abit of a trek to the Paddocks!) and Anthony then asks the guys,"So how was the soundcheck?" And I was like..."?Soundcheck? What do they do?"...And Anthony goes,"Have you ever heard the band Chicane?"......I was like,"YEAH OF COURSE I KNOW CHICANE!!!??".......Anthony goes,"Well thats them." My jaw hit the floor...!!! I was soooooo happy....I mean they were pretty much one of the first electronic bands that I really liked.....Their album Behind The Sun was like in my cd player 24/7 and I have a couple of their tracks on 12"vinyl records!!! So yes....Once again,OF COURSE I KNEW CHICANE!!!

So we sat at the hospitality room and chatted about dance music and abit about Muay Thai. We exchanged contacts and Louis the manager of the band said that he was gonna get me a backstage pass later that night to watch them perform at the Chivas Live party!! I was thinking,"Oh can this day get any better!!".... Britta then comes over and says,"Right I've got your tickets but since you're here let me take you on a tour to the Garage."......My jaw dropped again to the floor...."WHAT?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!!!??!!?".....

So we walked into the garage....it's as noisy as hell with all these machines going off,cars roaring past us on the pitstop!! Then as I saw the Redbull Racing F-1 cars there with not even the wheels on the car yet!! I was just so excited....I couldn't believe I was in the GARAGE of the Redbull Racing Team!!!!!!! All I could say to Britta was,"Ohh my god this is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo COOL!!!" hahah

Team technicians doing some final adjustments to Marks car.

The View from the Pitstop/Garage

The guys from Chicane walked in and we're all just in AWE.....It's just an awesome experience to see what goes on not from behind a tv screen!!! This was a once in a lifetime thing!!! So were all drooling over the cars and listening to Anthony and Britta explain parts of the car and parts of the design of the F-1 cars. The technicians and mechanics start fixing up the tires and doing the final adjustments as Mark and David Coulthard walk into the garage and get suited up to go for a test drive.

Mark getting strapped into his F-1 car.

Love this pic of David Coulthard getting into his car with his scottish flag on the helmet!

They handed all of us a set of headphones so that we wouldn't go bloody deaf when they revved up the engine!! What was extremely cool abou the headphones was that it was a team headphone,so we could actually hear them communicating over the radio set!! We were told to stand behind this glass sorta door as they were about to leave the garage. And as I was standing there....Maxi from Faithless walks in and I get introduced to him...."I was thinking SWEEEEEEEEEET!!!" Had to get a picture taken with another legend in dance music!! =)

Me and one of the bands that got me hooked on electronic music,Chicane!!!

Maxi from the awesome band Faithless!!!

So after the guys roared their engines.....!!! Seriously it is just an unbelievable experience to be that close to an F-1 car and feeling the roar of the engine in your body!!!! After that I left the pit/garage and went to watch the races from the grandstand!! =) It was definetly a very very cool experience all together!!!!

After dinner and all I was off to party backstage with Chicane at the Chivas Live party. The Chivas Live party was held at a very cool venue. It's an old swimming complex and the swimming pool was drained of all the water and so that was basically the dance floor!! The place was packed!!! The swimming pool was just full of people when Chicane came on to perform!! Chicane's performance was awesome.....they had to come back and do TWO encores!!!! =) Not very often you get that kinda crowd here in Singapore. The boys (and girl,Natasha!) were loving it and said that this was prolly one of the best atmospheres that they have performed at in awhile. =) So well done party people,you've made a lasting impression on Chicane!!!!! There was a DJ console on the old DIVING Board...where Singapore's very own Aldrin came on after Chicane to rock the party til about 5am!!

Chicane performing to an AWESOME crowd who were just up for a party!!

Aldrin rocking the crowd on his Serato Scratch Live setup!!
Serato the way forward!!!!!!!!

After a crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyyyy weekend of partying and meeting some amazing superstars. It's gotten abit quiet and Im actually MISSING it all now!!!!!! But it's back to the real world of training and personal training now!!

I'd like to say a MASSIVE Thank You to Britta and Anthony from Team Redbull Racing for taking me on the fantastic tour of the garage!!! It really was an amazing experience!!!! You have definitely converted me into a supporter of the F-1 now!!

Also I'd like to wish Mark Webber all the best in his races and Thank You for being so cool hanging out and chatting with us at the Redbull Party. Hope he comes back to Singapore and does some training soon or even some partying when hes off racing season!!!!!

To the band Chicane....It was awesome meeting you guys and Thank You for having us backstage!!! Had alot of fun and hope you guys get back here soon to perform again coz the crowd LOVED you guys!!! I am looking forward to the "Best Of Chicane" album due out in a few weeks!!!

Alright that was a long update!!!.....hope you guys enjoyed the pics taken on my Nikon S700!!!!

LaterZ people!!!