The Race Begins September 26

Only 45 more days and these lights will be switched on to brighten the Singapore night.....
for the first training on our new Marina Bay Race Circuit!
Major construction is more or less completed but there is still a lot of work to do.

Let me show you some impressions from the busy course:

The Pit building construction is done, inside work yet to be finished. Pit Grandstand works:

Turn 2 and 3 with grand stand:
The race track is snaking around the Singapore Flyer

The nearly 1km almost straight Raffles Boulevard underpasses 2 overhead bridges at Milenia Walk and Pan Pacific Hotel and will allow top speeds
A sharp right turn at the War Memorial Park
followed by a 200m straight and a 90 deg left turn into high speed St. Andrews Rd. stretch (ca. 500m) with a gorgeous backdrop of business district buildings
At the end of it after the Cricket Club drivers need to engage their brakes to slow down from over 300 km/h to meager 80 km/h for the narrowest and probably most dangerous part of our race track: The Anderson Bridge (built 1909)
then follows a sharp left to another high speed straight "The Esplanade Drive".......
at "The Esplanade: Theatres on the Bay" a 90 deg right turn leads to a short straight and to another critical part of the course. A combination of right-left (passing the Bay Grandstand and the Floating Platform) - and left again cutting underneath the Grandstand and exit with a right..
At this point the racers have almost completed one lap. There is 1 more right and 3 easy left turns until either the pit lane or the start/finish line
After estimated 61 laps the first winner of the 1st Singtel Singapore Grand Prix will be crowned. He will have passed 23 turns and 5.067km per lap, with speed in excess of 300 km/h along Raffles Boulevard and between 250 and 300 km/h on Pit Straight, St. Andrew’s Road and Esplanade Drive. The slowest speed will be measured at about 80-100 km/h.
Furthermore all the drivers will have completed the first ever F1 night race on the second most scenic race course besides Monaco.

There are still some great tickets left although 92% are already sold!
Hope we see you all there or you can also watch live on TV.

THINGS ARE HEATING UP THE CLOSER OUR 1st F1 RACE COMES

National Day celebrations are over, but an even bigger event is approaching fast. A new milestone in Singapore's history: The first ever Formula One night race! Everyone is getting hyped for September.
Companies are having lucky draws or other incentives to win tickets for the race.
Four Chefs of the Royal Plaza on Scott's have created the first life-sized race car made of 31kg white, 45kg milk and 14kg dark chocolate. Value: SGD 25,000
You can check out this sweet display in the hotel's lobby till September 30 and buy a scale model version. Parts of the proceeds got to Community Chest, Autism Children's Centre.
You can also purchase a lucky draw ticket ($5) and stand to win a night stay in an Executive Suite, an I-Pod Touch or Champagne Brunch vouchers.

Erich's Wuerstelstand of course is also gearing up for the big event, don't miss it and check our website regularly.

A SYMPHONY OF LIGHTS

Celebrating the Singapore Spirit, a totality of Singapore’s attitudes, beliefs and dreams.
27,000 lucky ones got the chance through a ballot to watch the National Day Parade from the grand stand at Marina Bay.

The huge floating platform was covered in a cloud of lights, sounds and joy with hundreds of performers to celebrate the Nations 43rd Year of Independence.“The Singapore Spirit” which has brought prosperity, peace and prominence on the international stage for this tiny (in terms of size) city state.

Plurality and the human element played a major role in the conceptualization of this Singapore Spirit. The segments of this National Day Parade showed a mirror image of Singapore’s everyday live. The precision drills of the Military Police Command reflected the discipline of the people they needed getting to where they are today.

The vibrancy and dynamism shown in the performances of the Line Dancers reflected the tendency of Singaporeans to stay young at heart.
Singaporeans from all walks of life took part in the National Day Parade – from the old to the young, from the able-bodied to the physically challenged, all had a part to play, be it participant or spectator. There was perhaps no better tribute to the old Singaporean adage of “unity amidst diversity” than this very fact.

The SAF Red Lions Parachute Display Team was up in the skies once again this year. Besides expanding the number of jumpers to 12, they increased the difficulty of their jumps to live up to expectations of the thousands of spectators. The team executed free fall display from an astonishing 10 000 feet. As a final stunt the Red Lions landed on the narrower promenade instead of the floating platform.

The State Flag fly-past is a long standing tradition at the National Day Parade, a proud and splendid sight when the large Singapore Flag hovered over Marina Bay.

The 12th Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) aerobatics team, the Black Knights, after an 8 year hiatus, was performing for the very first time at Marina Bay and made a triumphant return to the National Day Parade celebrations.

With six new red and white F-16C Fighting Falcons the Black Knights performed breathtaking aerobatics whizzing past in symmetrical formations, flying within mere feet of each other, painting patterns in the sky with their billows of white smoke which really has thrilled the crowds.

Putting the performances together, the work involved in piecing together the whole National Day Parade was a gentle reminder for the need of coordination and collaboration as one Singapore to face the challenges ahead of a globalized world, a weaker economy and higher costs of living due to the highest inflation rate since decades.

In the finale of NDP 2008, when all the performers came together, each holding a star, each and everyone shining for Singapore, all of them, tens of thousands of spectators watching from the Merlion Park, the Esplanade Bridge, the Esplanade Promenade and hundreds of thousands on TV might have experienced this transcendence from a multitude of voices to one single unified voice as well, the voice that people here call the Singapore Spirit.

Much anticipated and again spectacular fireworks ended the 43rd National Day Celebrations.

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY, SINGAPORE.

For more photos click here:

Singapore National Day 08

PARIS FOR PRESIDENT

McCain, Obama or Paris that is the question and it's headlining the news since the Primaries started over a year ago. It is important for the world which direction US politics will be heading to, no doubt about that, however sometimes the coverage of most TV News channels is getting to much, if not annoying . There is more going on in the world than these childish 'tit for tat' reactions of the candidates.

You like America or not, but one thing no one can deny is the freedom of press. It is really refreshing and entertaining to watch some of these "Late Night Shows", be it Jay Leno, David Letterman, Brian O Connor or others. They can openly make fun of their President or the candidates without being sued.

I'm not a fan of IT girl Paris Hilton but her reaction after having been featured in McCain's video about Obama's celebrity status is a funny one which I guess no one would have expected her to be able to do. Watch this: If you have trouble watching click this funny video link or below

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Beijing: Bad Air Quality Makes Athletes Suffer Even Before Games Start

Let's hope this dream doesn't turn into a night mare!

The more athletes arrive in Beijing the more intensiv the discussions regarding pollution are getting. More and more blame the International Olymoic Committe (IOC) for false information about environmental conditions.

Most of the time the IOC is referring to official statements from the Chinese Government. Real comparisons of air quality readings with European or American standards are obviously not available or wittingly kept undisclosed! (Chinese practices as usual)
Despite a persistent 'smog-soup' last Tuesday official Beijing reported “slight air pollution” only! And IOC-Chief Physician Arne Ljungqvist doesn’t see “any serious health risk“for athletes. What else can he say? He doesn't compete anyway!

The parties concerned however have a different view. Especially outdoor endurance athletes such as cyclists or long distance runners will suffer most. One team physician: “Heat and high humidity we had in previous Games as well but here with micro pollution a third dimesnion has been added. Endurance athletes will be extremly charged.“ He further elaborates:“ If readings regarding CO2, Micro Pollutants and Ozone are critical we have to think about allowing atheletes to start.“
As one of the cyclists who has been in Beijing since a week puts it after one of his training sessions: “ I am shocked! It’s really bad, lungs and even my eyes burn seriously! I tried to inrease my speed, however the pressure on my lung became almost unbearable. Three hours of training here feel like 6 hours elsewhere.“
I am sure more and more reports about air quality will turn out and the Chinese will again take it personally and blame the unreasonable Westerners in destroying “their“ Olympic Games.

What else to say? We shall see!

Let’s hope the 8.08.2008 at 8:08 will really be a lucky nummer and everything changes to the better! So, let the games begin!

After 4 years of preparation and training for the Beijing Games the athletes deserve great, peaceful and trouble free Games and good luck. That's what we wish them, regardless of colour and race!

The Gates Of Hell Are Open

Since last mid night (1.08) the seventh month in the Chinese calendar, the most inauspicious time of the year is back. The "Month of the Hungry Ghosts” is a festival widely observed by

Chinese in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Buddhists, Taoists and believers of Chinese folk religions believe that hungry ghosts are ghosts of people that did not find everything they need to survive in their afterlife. If a ghost passes on, but does not have enough food, water, shelter, and other material things, it will come back into the world of the living to scare people and feed off their energy and fear. This month is believed to be the time when the gates of hell are opened to free the hungry ghosts who then wander not only to seek food on Earth but also to cause misfortune to the living. During this dangerous time they suspend all important activities and decisions. At its climax, they celebrate the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts.

This festival goes back to the Buddhist Ullambana Sutra, which tells of Maudgalyayana, who as a young boy left home to become a disciple of Brahma, and later of Buddha. When he attained enlightenment, he remembered his parents and looked for them. He found his father in heaven, but his mother had been reborn into the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts, a realm of hell. She hadn't respected his wish that she welcome any Buddhist monk, and had instead been greedy with money and kindness.

The description of her ghost is terrifying. Her skin was "like that of a golden pheasant when its feathers have been plucked, her bones were like round stones placed one beside the other. Her head was big as a ball, her neck thin as a thread, and her stomach like a great sea swelling out." Because her throat was too narrow to eat or drink, but her belly so distended, she went terribly hungry. But the rice and water that Maudgalyayana gave her caught fire in her belly. So he pled with the Buddha, who instructed him to gather the Buddhist monks and sacrifice food and drink, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Maudgalyayana did so, and his mother was liberated.
Both Chinese Buddhists and Taoists claim that the Ghost Festival originated with their religion, but its roots are probably in Chinese folk religion and antedates both religions.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist festival Ullambana and the Ghost Festival were mixed and celebrated together. Chinese Buddhists often say that there is a difference between Ullambana and the traditional Chinese Zhongyuan Jie, usually saying people have mixed superstitions (such as burning joss paper items) and delusional thoughts, rather than think that Ullambana is actually a time of happiness. This time of happiness is sometimes used as a reason for the festival to be called as the Chinese Halloween.

How is it celebrated?

For those who maintain these traditional beliefs, all sorts of activities may grind to a halt. People have to be home before midnight of August 1 so ghosts don’t find “empty” houses to enter and occupy.

I witnessed this year’s start here in Chinatown and at about 9 pm you could see how fast streets emptied and shops shut down to get home in time. The ones who stayed started to set up tables with a tablecloth and chopsticks and plates and glasses of wine, beer, a roasted chicken and duck in the middle of it, but no one sitting at it. That’s because it’s reserved ......for the ghosts.

Even here you could see the “kiasuism” of some Singaporeans trying to be the first to start burning the incenses and offerings, because after one year in hell the ghosts are hungry and the ones serving them first will be blessed with the most luck. If you’re late the ghosts might be already full and not taking your offers! But it’s not only food which is offered daily items for spirits to use in the after-life are being burnt as well, paper effigies of homes, maids, money, (paper) fabrics for making cloths and more. In this modern but still superstitious city’s such as Singapore and Hong Kong, people wind down their nightlife, property and car sales usually enter a lull period during the festival, people are also not supposed to get married and many more activities must stop. I overheard someone saying that when they were young, their parents used to tell them not to go to the beach during the "hungry ghosts" festival because they were afraid that they might be captured by ghosts in the water.

Surprise Visit

A dear "old" friend had to make an unexpected but welcome stopover in Singapore. Due to overbooking of his SQ flight to Australia, Gerald and his partner were grounded here for a day, however stuffed with a very generous, adequate compensation. No wonder they charge as so much at SQ! Gerald better known as "Der Maulwurf (the mole)" was in Singapore not too long ago and dug the huge hole under Ford Canning park, called tunnel.
If anyone has complaints regarding this tunnel, get in touch with me I can forward to Gerald.

Of course immediately after checking into his "day only" hotel room his first visit was Chinatown and Erich's! That's what I call loyal customers and this is a driving factor for running this blog, to keep former expats but also friends and locals updated whatz up in Singapore and the region.
The other thing is: Who does not like to gossip at least once in a while. But I promise I will not try to compete or start a war with Singapore's 2 most famous blogger Xiaxue and Dawn Yang who are in a legal battle now. The reason why I mention this issue is because they are all over the newspapers, not gossip magazines, Singapore's No.1 "Straits Times" and others!!! Ya right, don't they have better things to write about than about 2 pseudo celebrities?

Well our policy is to fight differences eye on eye at Erich's Wuerstelstand with his delicious sausages and bread and probably Erdinger beer. The loser has to pay for food and drinks! Way cheaper and so much more fun than hiring lawyers, isn't it?

So Gerald, enjoy your holiday in down under, come back soon there are a lot of tunnels to dig here. Was great seeing you again. Best regards to "big mole" Hannes who is doomed to dig in Vienna the next few years.