Short race report
The race tonight was cool, not that it rained (it was a warm night), but the spade of activities which occurred could be one of the most interesting to watch for this whole year- interestingly cool I will put it. Though there is no record for the number of cars which crashed for a race tonight (sorry destruction fans), there were 2 major crashes and the safety car was called out not once but twice due, which to the dismay of many is rather drenching for leading cars to fall back and lose the lead they are trying so hard to maintain.

The favorites for tonight’s race have to be the McLaren and Ferrari, but that didn’t seem much of the case after the race started given the spade of activities which happened for team Ferrari themselves. Given Nelsinho Piquet first spectacular crash at one of the bumpiest high speed corners, the rush for impromptu pits stops by many teams created some rather interesting pit drama (not to mention large re-shuffling of positions as well), such as the Massa’s Car laughingly pulling the fuel line, not only giving the pit crew the full knocks of the sub 700 bhp engine and ripping the fuel line off and trailing off till the end of the pits lane as. Well now that’s entertainment from discord! Massa disappointment on that incident really affected his race performance, dropping from pole to finishing 13th on the race, questioning not only the bad performance as a whole on the team but the reliability of the stop go pit light system (in absence of the lollipop man) as well. Just as you can visualize Michael Schumacher possibly jumping up and down in dismay at while watching the race, Kimi’s crash at Lap 58 gives Ferrari the final blow for tonight’s race for them.

The Renault and Force India made a rather bold moves at the start by cutting the first chicane for position. Being the real rookies, Force India kept on in the race as cars just get plucked off the track one by one, a good start for the newest F1 team this year for a finish tonight. Team Toyota is impressive as well, considering their entry into the sport at 2002 (which I stopped following till now). Timo Glock just simply paint the fact that besides having a German at the wheel this largely Japanese “branded” team is coming up rather quickly and not just one that is just always there, or not “up” there, but one too also never far from from the back either (they are 4th in the constructors now), something I guess you have to ponder to Team Honda (pka BAR) who entered F1 since 1964 but still yet to win a championship.

Lewis was cool and steady, despite pit penalties, but he managed to pull of quite a good sint from the back of the pack to finishing top 3. About the decision not to pull and aggressive stance for the 2nd position at the last 5 laps from his 3rd could largely due to the “play safe” strategy- Lewis has taken many risky overtakes to get up to 3rd, all that could come to an end on just a false move for that 2nd position, and I glad that the team kept to that and secured the points rather than risking it all, nevertheless, a perfect finish for the Brit Rookie as well.

Whether you say Fernando Alonso deserves the race title today is very much open to comments by many. The facts are, despite an engine failure on qualitfying and starting 15th on the grid, it’s not small feat to find yourself slowing inching up to pole and getting the checkered flag, impressive on it’s own. After all he has the 2005 and 2006 championships under his belt, so that is still something not too far fetched and the very large possibility of a win by him as well. The renault team was one the only few who openly came to Singapore early to test out the race, they have a considerable amount of pre-race preparation even before the season started, so it’s only deserving that I say, Fernando to take the chequered flag for Formula 1 first night race.

Now as you can hear all the contractors packing and cleaning up the place overnight for the road opening tomorrow, it will be a year before the race comes back to Singapore, for now, its Fuji speedway (Japan) to go next.

Drivers/teams who did not finish

Interesting notes of the race:

• Various cutting of the chicane at the 1st lap (IMG Renault, Panasonic) – Various pit penalties metted out
• AT&T Williams (Nakajima)- Wheel lock on brake first spectacle and tire flattening smokes
• First crash Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault after making the Suntec straight- notoriously bumpy area at the junction
• Impromptu pitstops- Ferrari pit-crew failure to disengage fuel line, ripped from station and crew injured as Massa leaves and as Kimi enters
• Impromptu pitstops- Various pit drive through penalties and pit (hold) penalties
• Rubens Barrichello (Honda) – Engine failure, retires in pits
• Mark Webber (Redbull)- Engine failure, retires in pits
• Jarno Trulli (Toyota)- Transmission/engine problem crawling on track, retires in pits
• Minor Fuel hose problem for the Red Bull Team (Coulthard) at the pits, car stopped in time and not ripped off like the Ferrari’s
• Felipe Massa (Ferrari)- Skids trying to overtake Jarno crawling at the floating platform, spins into barriers (No damage) spilling accumated water from barrir onto track
• Adrian Sutil (Force India)- Crashes right into the barrier which Massa knocked into, just seconds after Massa left the area
• Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) Crashes at the Suntec straight- notoriously bumpy corner

Current Driver standings and Constructors on the click:

Had some time over lunch with my mum today and talked quite abit on Singapore’s racing past given the Formula 1 fever up now over the past week and running up the race weekend. Despite it’s introduction in the 1950s, formula one was a sport I’ve always followed since the late 90s even before the fever touched Malaya with Sepang. That was a hidden interest I never saw surface (and something limited to watching on the TV screens either).

Or I can say that at least my love for motorsports is something I have out of a genuine personal interest, even given at times where the sport was know from nothing to none compared to soccer here. It’s weird sometimes too, besides Go-Karting as a pasttime here or overseas. Neither will my bike or driving instructors keep yelling at me on the way I tend to naturally take my turns from the outside into the inside of a chicane on the exit. I enjoy driving just for the joy of driving, and I believe not anyone will just get their car out just for a relaxing “aimless” drive.

Thompson GP Track
Though my mum is more of a backseat driver now, my dad once said that she was quite heck of a driver if you put her behind the wheel. My mum is no stranger to the racing scene either, having lived at Nee Soon when she was growing up. Her old home was situated right next to the race track along the now defunct Upper Thompson road- Sembawang Hills. Exposure to racing elements such as GP, vintage-racing, bikes, touring to formulae-based races, or “pointed loti-cars” (bread cars) as they call it in dialect typical of the rocket shaped Formula 3 cars back then.

She remembered they had walls and fences up almost like that we see at Marina bay circuit now and her family will always be there to watch even if they didn’t pay for tickets. Whenever there was a race weekend, she and her family who get up as early at 5 in the morning so that they can move into the track compound and book a place before the ticketing staff come so they can enter for free. Tickets cost from $1 to $25 back then its almost an equivalent of the exuberant prices we see today as well. Drivers come all over the world to race, such as New Zealand and Japan.

There you can give a try of racing the route. The unique thing about the old Thompson route is that it is not only a street circuit, but one which can be made out of closed roads and form a continuous looping circuit. There are many hotspots around the track and driving the route is a thrill of it’s own with it’s own spectacle.

Racing were not as safe back then and the old winding roads of Thompson is one you can easily make out of the winding country roads typical of that in the WRC. There was a combination of terrain factors together with low and high speed turns as well as the rather notorious Devil’s Bend which is a hairpin smacked right in between 2 high speed straights.

A history lost?
Piecing together the stories my mum always casually told over the years (but I never seriously listened), Singapore’s motorsport heritage had came a very long way. Strangely, to many people I know it seems that it had never dawned to many especially for most of us youngsters, given those born in the early 1980 are almost as clueless on about Singapore’s long lost racing history. (Or is it just because that this phase of motorsport history was never taught in school, thus we need not know). It not until the early 70s around 1972 where racing was halted in Singapore due to increased traffic demand (thus unable to close roads for races), actions from authorities as well as developments around the area, taking a whole rich racing history into the dumps. The old roads cease to exist now, the stories only told as wise tales now only from those who lived and swear by the old Thompson track and never to be unearthed, till today.

I remembered catching a glispe of the Book “Snakes & Devils” presumably one named right after the few most notorious bends of the Thompson track, contrary to our rather generic way of naming our Marina turns as “turn 1″ or “turn 2″- typical to our naming scheme for the attractions we call around Singapore. The book will be quite an excellent read for those wanting to find out more of Singapore’s racing history.

We can only move forward in time. Unlike Monaco, the idea of the Asia’s first formula street night race is cool, well not just the fact that Bernie Ecclestone wanted it to be. Formula 1 is new in Singapore, but calling it the start of motorsport history in Singapore is laughable- one you say possibly say, nothing to do with the indecent lack of racing exposure our people have. Singapore is famous for it’s economic and resource citizens and there are of course exceptions, but on the front we are still barely past the infant stages of exposing or embracing such international events.

Promising motorsport future
But I won’t be one bit worried about what we can achieve with this new track, it will an event one can look forward to as anticipative as how one come across one’s birthday annually. And I am sure that Singapore’s short but rich racing history will guide us along this path for motorsports glory. Moreover, I can’t deny that history will pen itself further with many more great things to after this Sunday’s race. I believe the Marina GP track will be the start of many more smaller racing events to come and enjoy, given it’s isolated Pit-location by the bay- kart racing, figure racing, there are just so many possibilities, all made possible by just this one event on the 28/09/08.

More of the Singapore GP as illustrated by the Red bull team on the click:

Collected my phone yesterday at the Wheelock Nokia service center. The service was rather good on my personal opinion, besides the long string of complaints and comments the service center is notorious for. I mean, come to think about it, dealing with customers at the service is not an easy job, having to put up with downtime for the customers who area already fuming mad about their phones, only to put up with long waiting queues and slow service just makes it worst, well that’s what most people say of it. So in the benefit of the doubt to only people who are only good at complaining, here is a commendation for you Nokia.

I sent my phone in last Friday after it’s screen went blank after taking it out for an evening jog. Nothing fancy, just using it for the plain usual music. Same as what I did for my marathons and half-marathons, only that the screen was like not powered/no data went I took it out to make a call thereafter.

Having said that, my phone is almost about a year old already, so I wonder the warranty was still on. So I have to call them. My only gripe was trying to contact them with regards to warranty issues before dropping down. Apparently, based on their web contact they had their fax and phone lines switched- Calling their fixed line gave the fax buzz, while calling their fax line resulted in a ring tone but with no answer even after 5 consecutive calls. I went to search for more updated contact info on the web only to be bombard by complaints and dissatisfaction you get from the Nokia “Care-less” center, turns out Google is not a good place to get info on Nokia repairs.

So I went down to Wheelock anyway. My N95 8GB warranty without any warranty card is set to expire next October month by using the launch date as a reference. I was tended to on a weekday evening and sent my phone in in 10 minutes after getting my number. Collection was fast too, within 1 1/2 days I got a call that my phone is ready for collection. Collection was slower, as about an 18 minutes wait, but it was still bearable though. The counter and service staff were friendly and courteous, despite having to put up with so many customers for the day. They said they changed the screen and make my phone slider tighter, making it more firm now.

I think if I were to use my phone as a phone, it will bound to fail right after the 1 year warranty period, it’s like there is a time bomb in there waiting to go off. I think just like how IKEA stress test furniture for premature failure, bringing your phone for a jog/run accelerates the impending failure of your phone, just as how manufacturers rate failure rate and the corresponding warranty period. So I guess it was a blessing in disguise to get it repaired now so it can last till it’s next possible service.

Now to reinstall all my S60 3rd ed programs, it’s quite a pain to get anything installed on a Symbian phone now, maybe I might switch back to Windows mobile for my next phone.

With the Formula One season coming up this Sunday. I have a treat for all your you. This photo was taken onboard the Singapore Flyer last week, overlooking the finished pits area for the big race coming. This photo is to be part of the Singapore Flyer review I am writing over the past week, covering all the various sights of the ride itself. I aim to get it finished by end of this week, so in the meantime I will release the photostitches and updated them on the photo stitch gallery. This particular paranoma is my first attempt of taking non-linear nucleated shots compiled using 6 photos shot in portrait, this 180 degree photo shot at the first quarter loop of flyer’s revolution showing a bird eye’s view of the Singapore Grand Prix Marina Bay Street circuit starting grid.

Taken from a Nokia N95 8GB with Carl zeiss optics in Landscape mode with no paranoma assist, forced non-flash. For more paranomas, check out my photo stitch gallery.

Check out this rather cool advertisement showing the change of time, over the new, fresh and modern over the dated and old- All in a rather interest video that is pure Audi, too bad we do not get such Commercials aired in Singapore (maybe Premium autos can take a hint of there) If you watch BBC’s topgear, I think Jeremy Clarkson really needs to rethink this remarks on Audi driver’s now, or maybe he is still too in the “stone-age” with this English Cottage house.

I like the part where the Mercedes C300 is swapped for the A4, it’s like so in-the-face for the Merc. Progress Is Beautiful, yea.

You can you view the full higher resolution video at the source on Audi America.

All the 28 capsule on the wheel are all glass encased, self-rotating, air-conditioned and climate-controlled gondolas with their own independent ventilators. There are plenty of standing space with 4 fiber glass benches facing each face of the capsule longitudinally. Though each capsules is capable of holding 28 passengers, seldom do this limit is reached when there are space to spare. My capsule of about 15 people is comfortably packed with space for everyone, any more and the ride might be too packed for comfort.

We are still just leaving the station!

The capsule is filled up with about 15 people

They even have nice compass maps with can double for Kacump Puteh snacks as well!

Seats are rather limited on the capsule and while most people will (particularly Singaporeans) will rush for them the moment they board the flyer. However given that, you can be rest assured that everybody will all be off the seats less than a quarter into the revolution- There is just too much see and they are all best enjoyed by the handlebars of the capsule itself. In fact thereafter everyone stayed on their feet throughout the rest of the flight, it’s simply a new sight at every turn.

For ride related information, each capsule spots 2 LCD TV which plays commentary. For those who can’t stand the looping video, informational brochures and leaflet are available which doubles also as a landmark finder and unfolds into a map compass. If you need to get your direction or bearings any time, there is a fixed compass on the roof of the capsule as well.

The wheel starts the revolution towards the the Singapore Grand Prix pit building, offering a bird eye’s view of the formula starting grid and paddock. Look at the other side of the gondolas towards the city bay area now and you will be greeted by a mass of steel and wire columns which obscures your view until you get to the other side of the revolution.

In the background of the F1 paddock are the outer reaches of the marina bay, where you can see the ECP highway on the Benjiamin sheares bridge snaking it’s way towards the east coast residential area. The kallang basin as well as the Singapore outdoor and indoor stadium are visible as well. Beyond the shoreline view is the open sea, dotted with several off shore container ships anchored offshore. A landmark to see here in particular is the marina barrage in sight which will form part of the “garden’s by the bay attraction with a large bay side amphitheater linked across the east coast highway to the Sands intergrated resort.

And that’s how it looks like on the back

The first highlight the Singapore GP Pit and starting Grid

And the sun is setting!

I generally get feedback from people not being able to ride on the flyer given their fear of heights. Though I do not suffer from and form of Acrophobia, personally I find the ride’s calm and steady nature non-invoking to any form of vertigo, particularly even to those I know who fear of heights. You are completely shielded from the elements within the capsule, so everything is completely safe. In my own opinion, the flyer is not your typical definition of an amusement park ride either and serves more to amaze and awe about than to scare. After all, you do not know what you will be missing, so that is not an excuse for missing this ride, unless those on the extreme cases where you start to panic uncontrollably or go nausea at the sight of heights, then maybe this ride is not for you.

About 10 minutes and we are 1/3 into the revolution

Here we are at the top of the revolution

Photogenic moment of the transforming marina bay

One interesting thing to note that like the London eye, and unlike conventional ferries wheels, all the gondolas are mounted on the external circumference of the wheel. The added benefit of this setup allows a completely unobstructed view when the capsule reaches the top of the flyer’s loop. The photostitch panorama image below shows what you can expect at the top most part of the revolution, shot at the center of the capsule as shown below:

The glass windows of the flyer are made with photography in mind, from my experience they are anti-glare tempered glass which do not offer any much visual artifacts or reflections in your images when shot through them. It also pays to get your shooting angle and background lighting minimal to reduce reflections as well. Nevertheless, expect to get rather good shots from the observation wheel itself. The speed of the flyer is slow enough of not having the basic need to induce speed shutter on your camera for the risk of blurred images, though the shaky hands of the photographer will tend to be more of an issue here. For multi-shot panoramas, do be quick when shooting them or your first and last image may appear out of perspective when the capsule differences in height between each of your successful shots. This defect however, will be more prominent on the 3 and 9 o’clock of the revolution than doing so at the top (12 o’clock).

Coming down from the top, the next phase of the ride’s revolution will offer breathtaking views of the city area, particularly the Suntec, Millena walk areas on the right, the floating platform (or soccer field on the center stage) with the skyline of the central business district in the background. The Las Vegas sands integrated resort and the gardens by the bay will finish up the picture the left side of the picture as shown in the panorama above.

Lighting up
Going into the evening, the flyer decorative lights, situated on the inner circumference of the wheel itself will automatically come on, presumably timed with the street lights around the area. Here, the light strips mounted on the wheel itself are set to slowly fade into constituent soft colours of magenta, cyan and so on. Despite all these lighting, the insides of the capsules are all kept dimly lit, with the compass on the roof of the gondola cooly lit by LEDs. These ensures that your night vision won’t be hindered as well as reducing the reflection on the glass caused by these by ambient lights.

Ending the revolution
The ride of 30 minutes is timed perfectly right, not too short yet not too much of a long boring ride as well. The ride ends with a descent back into the boarding platform, only this time the doors on the other side are opened by a staff for your exit. The other door, which is the entrance will be opened for guests on the other end of the platform for boarding thereafter when your capsule is emptied.

A shot of the Skyline with The Sheares bridge lit

The place looks rather spacey-porty at night

The post-ride gift shop

The flyer and terminal building does looks rather spectacular and modern at night, with the overhanging windows and cool lighting, it paints a brief impression of a space port, well so as sci-fi fans may see it. Thereafter, you will be led down the exit, crossing the other exit aerobridge back into the flyer building where you will be greeted by the flyer gift shop. The store well, stocks any flyer related gift and souvenirs, from swarovski crystal laden depictions of the wheel to photos and apparel you name it.

The gift store is also where you can make purchased of your “GR8 Moment”, namely the photos you’ve taken before boarding your flight on the green screen. To order one or to view yours, simply pass the counter the identification chip the staff given you pre-flight where the id will be scanned and rendered photo displayed. These photos cost about $20 and the price varies depending on the photo sizes as well as the choice of packaging and photo frame which comes with it. Well personally speaking, I guess the post cards at a dollar each makes a better buy than the on-ride photo. After all you might get one free from the staff on your exit out of the store as well.

When you are done, it’s time to leave the store down to the 2nd floor, here is where you will pass by the hospitality and VIP suites situated along the walkway. Another exit escalator will bring you right to the ticketing booth on the ground floor.

The flyer experience was quite an eye opener for me and a rather pleasant visit as well. I guess the flyer company did a rather good job in the organization and coordination of the whole experience, the staff too are rather professional in my own opinion.

Being the tallest observation wheel in the world for now, I believe the flyer in Singapore will be here to stay, despite the fact that it will be overtaken in the neat future by both the Beijing Great Wheel at 208m tall and the Great Berlin Wheel at 185m meters tall (both also managed by great wheel corporation) putting the flyer as the third tallest in the world thereafter.

The thing to come to gripes however, and which strikes me the most is that the flyer will still largely cater much to first time riders or the tourist market, which I believe what it was conceived for. Being a local, I find it difficult picturing myself coming here for a second flight too soon, let be maybe one in the near future with friends and such. I believe the steep price is one of the main determinant factors as a ride for a family of 4 in my case will set you back roughly $120, which is indeed expensive given it’s opportunity costs.

But in the limelight, I believe the experience itself, coupled with the very friendly staff around makes this flight not only worthwide but a truly special one which simply paints uniquely Singapore.

First impressions- entering the compound
Upon arrival at the center, the visitor center building do look alot bigger in person than what I initially know of during visits when it was under construction. Thick strong industrial guiders “guywires” can be seen arching the wheel super structure on each of it surrounding 4 corners. Each mated to a large embedded concrete block into the ground.

Situated near the bay area, any visitor who wanders out of the perimeter will be greeted by a magnificent sea view of the windy bay area. This area is flanked by outdoor dining areas lining the sea side broadwalk from the restaurants from the building tenants themselves. There is an outdoor open amphitheater allowing concerts and events to be held by the bayside, overlook the Sand resort over the Marina bay.

The wheel maintains largely an open concept design, with large open retail areas spanning the 1st and second floors. There are about 25 retail and F&B outlets in the flyer terminal itself. At the front of the terminal entrance, you will be greeted by Popeye Chicken & Biscuits/Robert’s Coffee fast food restaurant, which take a setting very similar to the typical American fast food joint. The first floor is mostly occupied by F&B outlets offering food ranging from western, Japanese to Chinese seafood as well. Boutique and gift stores such as Sunglass Hut and NANKAI line the 2nd floor retails spaces.

The ticketing center is situated on the ground floor, with escalators lined by the sides leading to the boarding entrances of the flyer on the 2nd floor. The center of the ring-like terminal building is where the flyer wheel physically sits, large and moving silently like a gentle giant, but otherwise a large looming presence to behold within the terminal building itself.

View of the flyer capsules

The 1st floor ticketing booths

The Yakult garden, from the 2nd floor entrance

Directly below the wheel is Yakult garden. It’s simply just a small man made park with water features and catered for kids to run around with playgrounds around. Nevertheless this small little park is quite a pleasant walk through, with rather nice coloured lighting at night.

Boarding the wheel
The entrance of the flyer starts on the 2nd floor where most will access by the escalators from the ground level ticketing booth, it takes approximately 20 minutes to go through the series of waiting areas before finally boarding your flight, so it pays to make plans and arrive early to make way for these. You will eventually make you way to the final boarding area on the third floor. Lifts are available for disabled or wheelchair bound guests. Likewise, you will be briefed about what to expect by the staff at the front waiting area after verifying your tickets or boarding passes. Every visitor is then screened and security checked through scanners and personal belongings, through X-rays before entering the next waiting area. Cameras and video cameras are of course allowed on board.a complete rotation of the wheel takes approximately 30 minutes. Initially rotating in a counter-clockwise direction when viewed from Marina Centre, its direction was changed on 4 August 2008 under the advice of Feng shui masters[4].

Standard security checks before entering

scan your card to enter the holding area

Some of the long stretches to the queue area

There are a total of about 3 waiting areas in all, one the gathering area for security screening and the ticket scanning area, the on board ride photo area and eventually the segmentation holding area into capsule-sized groups of 20 for the final boarding. Generally the wait for each part won’t go beyond 5 minutes and is rather smooth flowing even on weekends on my visit. Between each waiting areas are usually long but otherwise clear connecting walkways leading you ahead. Well marked signs and marshals always point the way ahead, so it’s hard getting lost here.

Nice view of the flyer from the waiting area

You get to enter the wheel only by “aero bridge” which give it a cool “isolated feel”

The 2nd of the waiting areas for umm. pre-ride photos

Like it or not, even before any visitor who get a ride on the actual flyer gets to go on a ride on a virtual one first. Cheesingly called “GR8 Moments”, it’s simply a prop capsule of the flyer where you can get your group photo taken behind a green screen where a consistent background of the Singapore skyline will be superimposed and printed with your cutout- Just like a roller coaster on ride photo, only that it’s somewhat not taken on the actual ride itself. You can purchase this “on-ride” photo at the gift shop after your flight.

In you go for your Gr8 Moment!

Act like you are on the flyer!

The last of the waiting areas where groups are dispatched in capsule groups

After all that, you will finally make your way to the uppermost floor of the terminal building, where you can finally see the unobstructed views of the flyer in it’s glory. The wheel maintains a floating boarding concept, where guests can only enter the wheel after crossing a linking bridge from the terminal building to the wheel superstructure at the center of the building. Just like an aero bridge linking aircraft to building, you will be greeted by the rush of warm air after leaving the air-conditioned comfort of the terminal building, here the area is relatively open, but otherwise still sheltered from the elements such as rain.

Crossing the “Aero” bridge over the Yakult moat

the central boarding “hording” area

Boarding of the capsule

There, you will be greeted and guided by the friendly staff to your capsule. Long continuous rubber flooring line the boarding area, ensuring good footing even when wet. The wheel rotates continuously without stopping, so you have to board the capsule while it’s moving. Do not worry about not getting on- the doors are wide and the capsule move at about an approximate lateral speed of 2-3 seconds per meter, your capsule group of 20 people would have completed boarding even before the capsule traveled half of the available boarding area. If need be, the staff there will provide any special assistance if you have any problems boarding your flight.

The wheel do not stop

Mitsubishi heavy duty torque motors (12 of them to be exact)

The door can only be operated from outside

Do not worry of falling off the platform, though trapeze nets are lined throughout the bottom of the platform beckons to be bounced on. It takes a keen eye to notice the myriad of details on the boarding platform, this area is also where the wheel control area is decked out, lined with server racks and computer monitors monitoring the feed from each every capsule. Silently humming at the top of the platform are 12 mounted heavy duty high torque motors from Mitsubishi – Takenaka Consortium, though only 2 are required to keep the wheel spinning continuously, talking about redundancy backup!

Once all on board, the staff will close the capsule doors, which can only be opened and unlocked from the outside. So once you are in, there is no turning back for the next 30 minutes till the end of the flight. There are no emergency supplies the least and only an intercom button if you need to contact the staff in-flight if any problem arise.

We are onboard the wheel now, lets check out the sights!

The Singapore flyer is currently the world’s largest observation wheel as of 2008, standing at an impressive 165m in height (42 stories) and sitting on the southeast tip of the Singapore Marina Centre reclaimed land. The wheel faces the entrance of the marina bay and is a sight to behold from any part of the bay area- either when you are just at the bay area or passing by on the ECP highway on Benjamin Sheares bridge you can’t miss this landmark.

Background
The idea of the Singapore Flyer was first conceived around early 2000, before formal planning commenced in 2002 by Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd, which was formed by Melchers Project Management (a German company) and Orient & Pacific management (O&P), each holding 75% and 25% of the company’s stake respectively. It was not until 27 June 2003 when the project was formally announced and endorsed by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the developer and STB with regards to the land-acquisition process to Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd from STB under a 30 year lease from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).

Construction
To aid and facilitate the building of the flyer, the land was made rent-free during the construction phase of the project. Mitsubishi and Takenaka were selected as the main contractors, and Arup as the structural engineer and Jones Lang LaSalle was appointed as the real estate adviser. Despite all these in place, construction however, did not begin due to the lack of funding for the project.

It was not until September 2005, where the project details are finalized and project was revived when funds were successfully sourced from two German banks. Delbrueck Bethmann Maffei (a subsidiary of ABN AMRO, explaining only ABN automated tellers are only present on the flyer site now and none from any other banks), will provide equity to a maximum of S$100 million, with a further S$140 million coming from Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank. This S$240 million injection is the largest single foreign investment in the Singaporean entertainment industry to date.

The wheel began construction by November 2005. The last of the 28 capsules were installed on October 2007 and the wheel started spinning early 2008 with it’s official opening day on 15th April 2008. The wheel operates under the Singapore-founded company Great Wheel Corporation.

Getting there
Despite it’s remote and isolated location by the bay front, there are a variety of options to get you there.

Driving there
The Singapore Flyer is located just at the fringe of town. If you are driving, it takes you about 5 minutes to get there from the Central Business District (CBD), 10 minutes from Orchard Road and 20 minutes from Changi Airport. There is a sheltered car park with 280 lots linked to the main building via a sheltered aero bridge. For those commuting, there are bus services to the area as well, not to mention regular free Shuttle Bus from City Hall MRT. This carkpark will also serve a future underground link to the Promenade MRT Station which is slated to be opened by 2010.

Commuting and shuttle services
Walking can be an option for those commuting, the nearest MRT (city hall) is about a 15 minute walk away along the roadside by Raffles Avenue. Otherwise, you can hop onto a free shuttle, simply cross over Coleman Street to the bus stop next to St. Andrew’s Cathedral (bus stop between St. Andrew’s Cathedral and The Adelphi).

The schedule is as follows:

You can’t miss the open top (non air-conditioned) fun city sightseeing buses used to transport visitors to and out of the flyer premises. In addition to the external shuttle route, the shuttles goes at 20 minutes intervals 7.30pm – 11pm daily between City Hall MRT and the flyer itself.

Next I will cover the sights at the flyer itself.