the day of formula 1 - history ... the first night race ever. i have to admit that i am not quite a big fan of that sport. but being here you can really feel the excitement - and it's hard to resist. i would bet that most singaporeans were not big racing fans before, too. however, this great event is just another chance to do some shopping. but more about that later.
in a few hours, i will be at the race track watching this spectacular event. and i hope my ears will survive it. the noise is just incredible and swarming through the whole city. here, in my room, about 1.5km away from the track, all windows closed, and with my crappy air conditioning on, the cars were still louder and audible.
singaporeans are apparently very proud that this event takes place. and they prepared it for years. the area around the start - finish line for example, was ocean before. the organization officers simply decided to create more land by filling up huge masses of material. this alone shows what is possible in this small but highly potential state. crazy ....
and, as mentioned, the race gives all the potential for firms to do some business. there are promotions everywhere ... win this with xxx, buy xxx and "race up your life", get your ferrari shirt and benefit from a free trial of xxx - and, obviously, singaporeans LOVE that! as they love to shop and consume, generally. i have been on orchard road on friday, the number one shopping mile here in sp. and what i saw was truly amazing. not that the shops itself were so breathtaking - but the amount of choices are stunning. it is said that you would need three days to walk through all of these huge malls. well, maybe, if you consider that you have at least 15 malls that stretch over 5 floors, with a kind of labyrinth of corridors, filed with shops that offer EVERYTHING. some of them are specialized in a specific product or product group. at suntec city, for example, there is one section in this huge complex that offers all kinds of stuff for little kids - 40+ stores full of clothes and toys and clothes and toys and ....
and beside that you find more and more stores for the rich ... and wanna-be rich. the question just always is: HOW DOES THAT ALL WORK? where do the people get all that money from to become part of this consumption circle? or do they just do window shopping? how, then, do all these over dimensional malls survive? whatever it is, one thing is for sure: these malls are always packed with people, no matter if you go there at noon or - even worse - after 6 or 7 in the evening. and since most of them are at least open until 10pm, there is muuuuch time to spend all your money - by the way, prices are not considerably cheaper than back home, at least in these huge and modern malls.
in a few hours, i will be at the race track watching this spectacular event. and i hope my ears will survive it. the noise is just incredible and swarming through the whole city. here, in my room, about 1.5km away from the track, all windows closed, and with my crappy air conditioning on, the cars were still louder and audible.
singaporeans are apparently very proud that this event takes place. and they prepared it for years. the area around the start - finish line for example, was ocean before. the organization officers simply decided to create more land by filling up huge masses of material. this alone shows what is possible in this small but highly potential state. crazy ....
and, as mentioned, the race gives all the potential for firms to do some business. there are promotions everywhere ... win this with xxx, buy xxx and "race up your life", get your ferrari shirt and benefit from a free trial of xxx - and, obviously, singaporeans LOVE that! as they love to shop and consume, generally. i have been on orchard road on friday, the number one shopping mile here in sp. and what i saw was truly amazing. not that the shops itself were so breathtaking - but the amount of choices are stunning. it is said that you would need three days to walk through all of these huge malls. well, maybe, if you consider that you have at least 15 malls that stretch over 5 floors, with a kind of labyrinth of corridors, filed with shops that offer EVERYTHING. some of them are specialized in a specific product or product group. at suntec city, for example, there is one section in this huge complex that offers all kinds of stuff for little kids - 40+ stores full of clothes and toys and clothes and toys and ....
and beside that you find more and more stores for the rich ... and wanna-be rich. the question just always is: HOW DOES THAT ALL WORK? where do the people get all that money from to become part of this consumption circle? or do they just do window shopping? how, then, do all these over dimensional malls survive? whatever it is, one thing is for sure: these malls are always packed with people, no matter if you go there at noon or - even worse - after 6 or 7 in the evening. and since most of them are at least open until 10pm, there is muuuuch time to spend all your money - by the way, prices are not considerably cheaper than back home, at least in these huge and modern malls.
yesterday, i firstly had a "hangover" - breakfast with my flatmates. not that i was drunk the night before - but they were (how surprising when you are invited to an "free champagne" - party where your company pays for everything). so, we went to mc donalds, had a BIG ball of ice cream and a freshly made juice (for about 1.50€ ... amazing).
later, i walked around the arab quarter which is just a stone's throw away. the (malay) muslims are celebrating the hari raya light-up right now. the festival aims to bring people from different ethnic groups together to have a better understanding of the (malay) muslim culture. different shows with traditional dances were held, and of course the streets were full of food stalls offering all sorts of typical food - shouldn't have had that big mac - stuff before, DAMN! however, it was beautiful and very enjoyable!
later the day, i walked to little india - only a 15min walk from my place. and this was a truly great experience. it is definitely not at all as real india is - too organized, to laid-back, to clean. however, compared to singaporean standards, it's light-years away from how i experienced the city so far. it's a little, lovely chaos, hundreds of shops selling all kinds of things - some vulnerable and important, some others ... less crucial. people were very friendly, open for a chat, smiling. and i had to try a lot of different kinds of snacks, just for the experience. the hindus are celebrating their "deepavali" right now - the festival of light, fireworks and sweets with the main day end of october - the streets therefore were full of chain of lights ... and all this added to magnificent moments. after all, i had spend 4 hours in the area, happy about the experience.
well, that's it for the moment. have to get prepared for the big race. weather doesn't look too good but that just makes it more interesting. tomorrow then is my first day at work. but till then, i will catch some great food for little money. and more pictures will follow later that week on my picasa- page ...
2 comments:
falls du die heimat vermisst:
http://wuerstelstand.blogspot.com/
lg, philipp
Hi Michi,
so you finaly made it to singapore!? good job and very nice pics, but i miss the chicks. I remember that i ask you to take some pictures from "well boobed" women in the pitlane. And of course i`d like to see some pics from the race cars.
maby later, hu?
greetings Mikey
Post a Comment