If somebody asks me "So how was your chess?", how exactly should I answer the question?
a) I got 2nd place out of 4 competitors.
b) I got 2nd place.
I tried both answers on one particular specimen - my chaletmate, I.. When I delivered Answer B, she said "Oh, congratulations! Hebatnyaaaaa.." to which I replied with Answer A.. And then she said, "Oh, it's ok.. Try again.. You'll become good soon.."
Then and there, I decided to use Answer B to all questions regarding my chess tournament :P
My trip to Sepang to catch the Malaysian F1 GP was eventful.. In fact, the most boring part about it was the actual race.. Coming into the circuit, I could see and feel the upbeat atmosphere from all the spectators around me.. Almost everybody wore their team colours.. Some even had them on their faces.. But despite the fiesta feel to it, there were lots of grouses in my point of view.. Firstly, being an international sporting event, the Sepang International Circuit management could improve a lot in terms of traffic control.. The only signs we could refer to were sparse banners with fonts so small they were so hard to read.. Cars were heading everywhere and the way the traffic police handled the huge stream of automobiles was awful.. They blew their whistles to almost everyone while gesturing wildly to every direction imaginable.. All ticket-holders were told to buy parking tickets for designated areas (which costs a bomb at that) and they help the traffic controllers to identify which cars should go where.. To ask for a friendly smile is an impossibility, even while we were talking to these people personally.. All they do is grunt.. But I guess maybe it's because of the heat, which probably explains their short fuse..
We got there in time for the race proper.. Then my dad felt hungry so we went to get some food.. No outside food was allowed inside the circuit so there's no other choice but to buy the preposterously expensive food they were selling.. A hot dog set costed RM18.. And since there were four of us, my dad ended up paying RM72 for a lunch that couldn't even beat Sapphire's fundraising food.. Well, OK, the food wasn't that bad.. But with that amount of money, we might as well be feasting someplace else instead of eating slabs of meat in between rolls of bread..
This trip is my second visit to an F1 race.. The last time was when I was in Form 5 and at that time I was sponsored by Proton Edar together with a group of my schoolmates.. We were provided with food, earplugs, umbrellas, caps, t-shirts and transportation.. But despite all the free luxury, I found out that albeit being an F1 enthusiast, I hated watching the race from my hillstand spot.. I could barely make out who was driving and I ended up messaging a friend of mine - who was watching the live TV telecast - every 5 minutes to know the current standings.. So I made it a point to forget about catching the race in Sepang again.. Unless I had grandstand tickets.. Which was the case for today.. So after experiencing an F1 race from the grandstands, has it changed my perspective? Not even close. The cars just zoomed past me and thankfully I was able to monitor the whole race through the huge LCD screen nearby.. We sat to the opposite of Minardi's pit crew so once in a while we could catch a glimpse of an actual pit stop up close..
So I'll definitely be saying no to any more free F1 tickets coming my way in the future.. Unless it's for seats in the air-conditioned, fully catered Paddock Club :)
For full F1 results, visit http://www.formula1.com/.
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NHA at 5:30 PM ::
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