Nothing Else Comes Close - Part 2

When it was announced back in November of 2007 that Singapore was to host a Formula One race through the streets of Marina Bay, then logically given our big event of the year was / is a street race, then it'd be something of a no-brainer that GPA would offer it.  However.......

Such an impressive sight

Whilst not a pessimistic soul by nature, I've seen so many F1 events announced, only for them to never come to fruition, that I decided not to bother with it in the 1st year for fear that it wouldn't go ahead, or that they'd run into some catastrophe or another.  Neither of these eventualities befell the event, and the race went ahead, billed as the 1st ever night time race.  It had an immediate impact on me as a lifelong F1 nut, the images being beamed to my telly-box at home of the race cars literally shimmering below the remarkable custom made lighting that surrounds the 5.0km track and then there's THAT back-drop.  I remember watching for the 1st time and texting Dave; "with our without customers, I'll be there next year."

So it was in 2009, on the way home from my 40th birthday celebrations in Australia/Malaysia that I'd

Pete, Di, Vas & Andrea

visit Singapore for the 1st time to see what, as a business GPA could offer for this event.  There was a lot of 'behind the scenes' stuff that I won't bore you with, then I sided on offering a 16th floor balcony overlooking almost 40% of the track and off we went to market with it.  In year one, in the main due to the economic recession that was now taking a strong grip of people's spending habits, we struggled with only 4 guests going, these same 4 would return to every single Singapore Grand Prix since then, one couple from Brisbane who'd traveled with me to Monaco before, and one couple from Port Hedland in Western Australia who'd never been to an event with me.  They've now done 7 Singapore's, a Monza and two Silverstone's! This year (2015) was the 1st Singapore GP without either of them, and whilst you'd expect me to say this as an exercise in PR, they were missed.

Melben with the locals

The event itself if ran at night, which effectively means you have the whole day to yourself. I always go out the weekend before as it takes me some time to adjust to the time zone, I believe there is evidence to support flying East is a lot tougher on you than going West.  I don't know, I'd normally fly out and spend a week or so with Dave "acclimatising".  That's what we called it anyhoos.  Dave
was now established with his marshaling crew, and they'd have a 'local' night out before the race weekend got underway, and via my friendship with Dave, I'd blag an invite to these dinners, getting to know many locals in the process.  And what a great bunch they are too, some ex Pats, some Ozzies, some locals and from all walks of life, but all brought together by their love of F1.  These same marshals and I are still friends today, we've taken the time to remember Dave at each Singapore GP since his passing.

The GPA guests typically arrive on Wednesday to the main hotel we use, and from that point onwards it becomes the most social event we do.  Everyone has the daytime to themselves to

Pitlane shenanigans 

chill/shop/sightsee then in the evening we have a get together in the lounge and head off for a track-walk.  Over the GP weekend, nothing really happens until 17:00 onwards, and then it continues until the wee small hours, this year I excelled myself not getting back to my room until 08:30......I've genuinely still no idea how that happened other than to say we were in a basement nightclub with no windows, I actually shit myself when I emerged to bright daylight and was more than a little confused as to how on earth I'd managed to lose an entire night - it felt as though I'd only been out for a couple of hours.  In fact, we were out in Club 1 from 12:00 to 04:00, then club 2 till 06:00 then club 3 till daylight.  Suffice it to say, the following day I was not a well man.  (When I say following day, I mean 15:00 same day)

The race itself isn't always a 'cracker', it can be a little staid but does indeed have its moments.  For me, going to an F1 event has to be about more than simply witnessing a 'great race', because if one is honest, the best place to watch a 'great race' is at home where you see all the action, you are abreast of what is happening and you can immerse yourself in the racing action.  Singapore is an event, it is a destination, it is as much about what happens off track as happens on track. Is it because of the late

Singapore GP

start? Is it because of the fun atmosphere? Is it that spectacular back-drop, is it the cars looking at their glorious best below those 2000 watt lamps which straddle the track or is it merely that everyone is in their "carefree-happy-holiday-mood" - I cannot tell you definitively as it ticks all of the aforementioned boxes for me and every single year without fail I sit on board my plane with a glass of fizz in hand thinking that it won't be as good this time as it was last time, and every single year, for a variety of reasons I have the best time.....at an event where I am working.....the other GP I offer don't offer the same levels of enjoyment if you combined them all, so I find myself compelled to agree with those marketing types from the Singapore Grand Prix: "Nothing Else Comes Close".

Nothing else comes close (Part 1)

I've been thinking about what it is that makes Singapore such a great event, and have to break it down to component parts. There will be 2 types of people reading this; those who have been to Singapore, and those who should!  What I reveal with these writings are my own thoughts based on what I have experienced in my 8 visits to the island.

THE PLACE 

So, Singapore is at the bottom of Malaysia, around 12 to 15 hours on a plane depending on where you fly from and is very close to the equatorial line. Those, for me, are the downsides, the flying, the time zone difference which catches a lot of people off guard, and the lunatic humidity. I rarely moan about the cold, when it is cold you simply put on more layers of clothes, hats, gloves etc but to some degree (see what I did there?) you can control your body temperature. In the tropical heat of Singapore, whenever you are outside, it is hot. 24 hours of every single day. I can survive around 20 minutes max and then start whining about everything and seek refuge in somewhere air con. The intensity of it, the discomfort and how the lack of air zaps you of all energy is relentless, truly! So, I tend to seek out places that benefit from air con, and must be one of three people who's been to the Singapore GP 7 times but watched almost every lap on the TV from our air conditioned hospitality suite. 

Raffles Hotel

It isn't a big place geographically, but does have 5.5 million population, the same as Scotland as it goes, but this population is shoe-horned into a land mass of 275 square miles.  Their population is made up of Chinese, Malay, Indian and a considerable influx of ex-pats from he UK, US and Canada. It was part of the Commonwealth for many years and the Colonial British influences are everywhere. From their City Hall to the incredible Raffles Hotel, Anderson Bridge, war memorials, there is a significant British influence to be seen in all of their historic buildings. Standing alongside these pretty, well maintained, white-washed olde worlde buildings stands some of the most incredible architecture, almost like the government has challenged developers and architects to "build something different, build something memorable".  Quite unlike most conservitve local authorities in the UK, Singapore has built the most futuristic / movie set-type sky-scapes, most impressive. From the Neon stripped Star Wars esq landscape sat alongside the charming buildings with different views every time you look, and from each part of the city the vista takes on a different, but still remarkable outlook. I've been fortunate to visit New York and Hong

City Hall 

Kong, both world famous for their Skylines, I'd have to say that as massively impressive as those two are, for my money, and to my own aesthetical pleasure, Singapore's skyline has no equal. 

As a developed nation, Singapore benefits from all the trappings of Western society.  Name a Michelin Star chef, you can be sure he has a place in Singapore. The hotel chains too all fight for your custom with ever more elaborate hotels and refurbishments. Sentosa island has become their theme park home with Universal Studios having their more recent park there. It can only be testament to Singapore that whilst I've spent holiday after holiday in Orlando at theme parks, I've yet to visit the one in Singapore, I'm either too busy or far too hungover. (and I'd just whine about the heat anyway!)

Shopping galore

It is also sometime of a shopping Mecca, again all major and designer brands have a presence here, all of them.  Again, this place can rival 5th Avenue, Dubai, Regents Street, if there's a brand you are after, Singapore will have it. Crime?  Whilst not invisible, irregular - vandalism is rare, people don't cross the road until the green man says so, and there is an orderly way of life.  The liberal bleating hearts who wish for criminals and scumbags to still maintain their 'civil rights', I'm sure could point out that Singapore also has something of a severe law making government, they don't tolerate crime quite as we do and there's a tiered society. And whist all that is true, all that I have seen, and I mean ALL I have seen tells me that this place works, it just does.

Then, the nightlife. So, I should preface this by saying that I go to all these other GP, but the whole after party thing does little for me. But, because of that crazy time zone, in Singapore I badly over-indulge in partying. Badly. And I think I've peaked in my badness this year.....for my health I might

New Asia 

need to ban Scottish people from coming on these trips as they are a very bad influence! Because the race in Singapore happens at night, you have all day to recover from the night before's over indulgence.  And best of all, there is so little trouble when you're out and about that you can relax and let your hair down (what little of it might remain) and simply enjoy dancing like you used to 20+ years ago. You can book "VIP" tables with nothing more than a promise to buy some bottles of booze, and they do actually make you feel like you are special.

And I guess it is this final point about Singapore, as a nation, that I enjoy most of all.  People in Singapore who choose to work in the service industry do their very best to actually serve you.  Now, I

Joel Rubochon's gaff

know that's an all but alien concept to most "western" societies where you've chosen a job in the service industry because "there's nothing else", or because you're hawking for a gratuitous tip.  Singapore has one of the best service industries I've had the pleasure to enjoy, be it a fancy restaurant, a nightclub, or merely a street hawker selling a $5.00 bowl of local produce, their service puts ours to shame.  And they don't really have a tipping culture either.  Having ventured a little further around Asia, I can tell you that their service industry is alive and well.  Their cabs won't take you on a 15 mile journey when you only needed to go 5, their shop assistants won't be all over you like a bad smell the instant you go into a store, the wait staff serve you with an interest in ensuring you come back to their place, and if you should have an issue, they'll do all they can to make it right.

Without wishing to make this an advert for going to Singapore, I guess the easiest thing I can say is that with my business I've now taken hundreds of people to this little island south of Malaysia and I know that to a man / woman, they've all left with nothing but positive feelings of the experience, and almost all vowed to return!  If you have the chance to spend some time there, even if all you are doing is flying through on the way to Oz, do yourself a favour and have 2 or 3 days here, you won't regret it.

The F1 weekend next.......

Round and Round

Niki and James 

What it is, which brings me to Singapore in the first instance is my passion for Formula One.  The movie Rush which was out recently tells the story of James Hunts 1976 title campaign, it would be this dramatic showdown in Japan that would whet my 7-year-old appetite for racing cars.

Mid 70's, for reasons I cannot qualify, I was somewhat obsessed with cars. You know, cars.....I had an Addis bin full to the top with Matchbox / Corgi and all brands of car, I'd more or less spend all my time vrooming the around the living room carpet to occasional "shut up Kenneth the news is on" from my dad in between puffs of his rolly-up.  Undeterred, I'd whizz them aboot beeps and revving. I could tell you every single model of toy car that I owned and could easily name each and every car

My container for cars

on the road, be it a Cavalier, a Cortina or a Zenith, I knew cars inside and out. Back in those flared trooser days, mum would buy the Sun in the Morning and The Tully at nights. One of my "jobs" was to go to the Whitfield Shops to RS McColls to get the papers. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the news of the day, but for some reason, this dude James Hunt, a blonde haired, hard drinking, heaving smoking posh bloke was all over the news and the papers.  I don't know if this was *the* first sportsman to be glamourised in such a fashion but not far off it.  Maybe George Best was a little before James, but a sportsman making front page news, back then, was quite a big deal.

F1 back then was confined to a half hour highlights show on BBC2, I'd love to say that there was a specific race I remember watching for the 1st time, but I don't. As a 7 year old I remember James Hunt, that Austrian bloke with the gammy ear and the JPS Lotus cars which were, and to my mind still are, the coolest cars in the world - ever! Even better than my coveted green Matchbox Corvette

Corvette 

Stingray with silver side pipes.

So, James goes on to win that 1976 title, due in no small part to Niki's decision to not race on those atrocious conditions and I've kinda now had a modest bite of this F1 lark -  so now, if I remember I put it on of a Sunday evening but quite often, it was on WAY past my bedtime, and to be honest, I didn't really understand the whole thing and the commentary guy who spoke at 500 miles an hour.

It would be some 8 years later when my interest in the sport would become something of an obsession, Nigel Ernest James Mansell would be leading the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, his name appeared on my TV with a little Union Jack beside it and I was hooked. He was in THAT JPS Lotus and was in a position to win the Monaco Grand Prix, which by now I knew was the big race of the year. Of course, he didn't, he thumped into the barriers at Massanet in the pourung rain, Nigel being Nigel was able to deflect the blame from himself of course citing that it was the paint on the road which was why he spun out.....ahhh good ole Nige. From that point onward,

Ooor Nige rounding Rascasse in Monaco

whenever there was a race on live, I'd watch it. I'd get myself more knowledge of the events, the teams, the cars and how the points system worked. I'd *tried* getting into football with my mates from school, both on telly and at the ground -  it bored me shitless. I'd been selected for the school rugby team and as a hormonal 15 year old laddie thoroughly enjoyed playing with my odd shaped balls, rugby was good too!

In my time of viewing F1, I've seen champions come and go, teams come and go, circuits come and go, sponsors come and go - but I've always remained loyal to the competition of it all. As a wee scroat from a socially and economically deprived area of Scotland, the glamour and mystique attracted me too, almost as much as the competition itself.  For sheer escapism, watching these flying machines go wheel to wheel from Brazil, South Africa, Monte Carlo, Detroit, San Marino....even the drivers names were exotic! Nelson Piquet, Rene Arnoux, Elio de Angelis, Gerhard Berger....the blokes I knew were called Angus, Jim, John, Boab.....and then of course, the stars of the show, those fag-branded flying machines. By now, at 15, I'd become something of an accomplished smoker - which brand did I smoke??

My tabs of choice 

 It is easy for those who don't follow the sport to state; "it's only cars going round and round" - fair enough, but if one applies the same logic, breaking it down to component parts, football is 22 blokes changing a ball!

I'd have to say, that not even 1% of me from back then would have foreseen where this passion for F1 would take me.  The people I would meet, the places I would visit and ultimately now, how I put food on my table and pay my bills! In truth, mainly thanks to a moustachioed moaning faced Brummie with balls the size of watermelons who spiked my interest in the sport.  Nigel would go on to race for Williams, narrowly missing out on a couple of titles, he'd have a stint with Ferrari for a couple of years alongside Berger and Prost, back to Williams where he'd win the 1992 World Championship and then off to America to conquer IndyCar, he was a massively talented driver who had no idea how to play the media game, so quite often came across a a right whinging old bugger, but in fairness to him, once he strapped himself into a race car, you knew there'd be something exciting to watch.  His main rival would be Ayrton Senna, who was kinda the 'baddie' of the day, but I always had a bit of a liking for him as this cheeky never-say-die racer, in the

Das Wunderkids 

same way I'd later admire Schumacher and today, Sebastian Vettel.  I'd love to be able to root on a Brit....but well.....if only Lewis could just race and not be a pop star/media daring/rapper/LA wannabe/Stevenage Gangsta (HA!) then he too would be easy to like as his driving is sensational....alas.....just not for me.

I've now made great friends through my love of this sport, and those friends by-and-large are all pretty big 'petrol heads' too, in that they enjoy F1 motor-racing and share my love of cars! You know, cars....those things that get you around and the fast ones which go round and round....we don't care whether you support Driver A over Driver B for the most part, it is just like-minded enthusiasts who enjoy a shared passion.  So, Singapore, from the ones I've done (almost all of them) I proffer as my favourite of all, I'm finishing this chapter off a couple of days since arriving in Singapore, and well......so far so excellent, this place is just the most incredible and vibrant country.......  What is it makes this one so amazing? That'll have to wait until the next bit of down time.

Móet time.
KMc.

The glamour of it all.......

"Getting your head down sweetie?"

In a bygone time, allegedly, air travel was a glamorous affair, remember those Cinzano adverts with Joan Collins!? In my youth, I used to wonder about travel and how to be involved in it. I remember one night chatting over drinks with pals about my ideal job, at the time I was a truck driver for Robert Wiseman dairies and my considered view was that i should be an international man of mystery jetting all over the gaff at someone else's expense. The discussion moved to how boring and repetitive that would be but I just wasn't so sure, I reckoned the thrill of traveling and seeing new places would be fantastic! And right up my street too.....

The old truckin' days 

Air travel now is more or less like a bus service, especially short haul. I loathe the entire process, check in, security goons, herded on, miserable cabin crew, people with an inflated sense of their importance bellowing into their phones for all to hear, people half my size sat next to me taking up double my space (quite the achievement too!) - "carry on" cases the size of a removals truck to avoid that £10.00 stowage fee, the race to be the 1st off the plane like there's a solid gold trophy at the arrivals hall with American Football tactics as these athletes shoulder charge up the aisle with their heads up their arses to be then be ceremoniously herded off with a disingenuous "thank you" from the overly made up stewardess (and flamboyant steward). You get my gist right? Im not a fan of flying now.....The whole game has changed now with the LowCo's and

BA EDI - LHR

without counting, I'd guestimate I've done over 2000 short hauls during both my sales career and now with GPA, the last 1500 or so I've not enjoyed. At all.  Amen.  (I've been told 10 million times not to exaggerate!)

For long haul, and because I am built for comfort, but mainly due to my experiences as outlined above, I more or less always fly up the front of the plane in business class. I've done almost all major airlines up front and I have to say, much to my surprise, whilst the fare is at the high end, quite often the service is not.  The same overly made up and flamboyant crew serve you as though you are somehow in the way of *their* operation, the food is ok (ish), the self-important mobile phone twats do proliferate the cabin, but at least the chairs are comfy allowing me some sleep thereby negating some of the jetlag when I get to my destination when I am actually working! (Some of you might find the concept of my working whilst being at a GP event a misnomer, but there is actual work needs done before, during and after.....!)  If you time it right, these flights are not always ridiculously expensive. So, a few years back, on this very same route (Glasgow -> Dubai -> Singapore) I'd booked business class with Emirates for the Singapore Grand Prix.

I'd flown EK business class before, and I'd rate them as one of the better airlines, so I had a reasonable expectation for what is almost 15 hours in the sky with a couple of hours in the lounge at

Emirates business class

Dubai to connect.  When I arrived at Glasgow airport, even though I had a reasonably generous luggage allowance, I was significantly over as I take lots of branded GPA merchandise with me to give to the guests, this particular year we had quite a large number of guests and consequently I had to bring loads of material.  They wanted almost £450 in baggage fees.....but, the very helpful Weegie lass at check in suggested that I'd be almost as cheap upgrading to 1st class on the way out (I'd explained I wouldn't have the additional weight on the way back) as 1st class came with 50KG allowance.  We did the sums and all in all, the net cost to me was £200.00 more but that meant I got to sample 1st............the downside to this was that at that time, the Glasgow -> Dubai leg plane didn't have a first class, it was only my Dubai to Singapore flight.  So, without any further ado, I spent another £600 odd quid, got my extra baggage allowance and stoated onto the Glasgow-Dubai flight. Nice comfy chair, decent in-flight entertainment and moderately cheery crew looked after me on the 7+ hour flight, I enjoyed a considerable amount of vino, as you do, and arrived in Dubai for leg 2.

I had no expectation as such, I'd not really looked a great deal at 1st class on any of the airlines as it is simply too expensive...well...it is difficult to justify let's put it that way.  So, I stoat (some would say I ponced) down the air bridge to board my Dubai to Singapore flight turning left on the airbridge to go to 1st via the separate jetty to avoid the riff raff.  I board the flight and the bloke knows my name! "Good evening Mr McLeod, welcome aboard might I show you to your seat"? I'm straight away thinking, "Shit! He knows I shouldn't really be here and is making sure I don't steal anything or rob the other passengers....I've been rumbled as the blagger that I am"....but no! He just showed me where to sit.  As I stoated (ponced) up the aisle, I was genuinely awe struck.

Your room for the night

Emirates 1st class product is like a mini hotel room in the sky. As I walk past the other "rooms" I am excited - even though I'm now fairly well oiled given their hospitality in the lounges and on board flight #1, I marvel at where I am. I sit in my massive comfy chair and immediately the stewardess is over with a glass of vintage Dom Perigon. "That'll dae" I'm thinking.  To my right there's an actual mini bar, dead ahead a HUGE screen tv, a controller thing to my right with all the controls, a set of PJ's is delivered, slippers, wash bag with Bulgari smelly stuff, and an "eat on demand" menu.  As you look up (it's now almost 03:00 in the morning) the roof of the plane is decorated with minute LED's that twinkle like a clear winters night sky full of stars, it is, by any standards a massively impressive cabin.  I have to say, I'm somewhat astonished, to the point of near speechlessness that this is how people fly! Where has THIS been all my life!??  We take off and I'm quaffing away on my Dom, movie on....and whilst I've been told, twice, to press the button if I want anything, years of being scowled at from hostesses when doing so makes me reluctant. I run out of fizz, standard, and as soon as the seatbelt

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

signs go off the hostesses up refilling, again telling me to press for *anything*.  I'm fairly tired but am determined to stay awake ensuring I get my £600 worth (my Dad would be so proud) but  after eating something, inhaling loads more vino and the adrenaline wearing off, I more or less passed out. Hostess makes up my bed, closes the doors and I'm out like the proverbial light!

I've never - ever slept so well, be in a grape endured coma or not, I was awakened as we approached Singapore to be offered proper coffee, breakfast and all with a smile!

I get to Singapore and am relaying this story to all and sundry, it was just the most amazing experience! On the way back, I tried everything I could to upgrade, alas the flight was full so I had to slum it in business!! I've since booked and recommended loads of people to Emirates and their 1st class, in fact I have a couple coming this year from Manchester doing it, they're seasoned travelers but haven't tried Emirates yet, they're in for a treat.

So, now when I do Singapore I book these flights when EK's sale is on, it isn't cheap, but it isn't outrageously expensive either. I've typed all of this on my iPad in the back of a Mercedes which picked me up today, I added the pictures from the lounge, I'll get a car in Singapore to take me to the hotel, all included in the price of the 1st ticket. So, as a justification, I save £300 or so on fuel, parking, chauffeur drive at destination, but mostly, I get to marvel at what is, in my opinion, one of the few remaining glamorous travelling experiences. A journey of almost 24 hours should fill you with dread, but not with this product, not with this service, it forms a part of the Adventure.....so for now I bid you a fond adieu ..I'm off to press thon magic button for a Cinzano on the rocks....any time /any place / anywhere.........**wheels up**

Cheers!
KMc

A Scottish Yarn - from 2013

With the kind permission of the Fraser family.

All of you reading this know what it is I do for a living, in case any of you don't, here is the short version of a long-story. I take people to enjoy the Monaco Grand Prix.

As time has passed, I (for "I" read GPA) have taken a lot of people to this wonderful event as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Many 40th birthdays, some anniversary's, a honeymoon (no kidding...where do you find wives like that??) and even a 70th birthday.  The one I am writing about today was from 2011, a nice Scottish family who, in spite of never having met half of them stick out in my memory banks more than most.

The Visor still in my possession!

In 2006 at The Autosport Show at the NEC, I met David Coulthard at a backstage event.  For 'met' read 'doorstepped'.  I was only in the VIP area as Autosport magazine were keen to sell me more advertising pages to promote Grand Prix Adventures, and as DC fingered the sausage rolls I bounded up to him resplendent in my best suit, shirt & tie and extended my hand....DC's automatic reply was: "You're no gonna try and sell me something are you?"  I explained that I was not trying to sell anything but that in fact, I wanted him to make an appearance for my company in Monaco and how would I go about securing his services.  He gave me the name and the number of who to speak to, and then later in the day he auctioned off a visor which he wore at the 2000 Montreal GP - as I was keen to make an impression, I made sure I was the winner of said auction in front of a fairly large crowd at the Autosport Stage, from memory it ended up being some £600.00 or so, it would have been a lot cheaper but for the half-wit who kept bidding against me....how very dare he!

2009  Fairmont Hotel

Whether it was my door-stepping technique, my visor-winning escapades or simply my broad Scottish accent, somehow or another every year since 2006, David has taken time out of his schedule, which at Monaco is as bonkers as you would imagine, to say hello to the assembled GPA customers.  We always make it a Thursday as this is the best day to work with DC's schedule, bearing in mind that for the first couple of years DC was in fact out on circuit pedalling his Red Bull - even once his "Superman" Red Bull - remember that cape?  Very funny!  A couple of things I've learned about DC from our modest interactions:

2008 Columbus Hotel

1. He is one of the biggest fans of F1 that I have met, and in my line of work I've met a lot of people who know an awful lot about the sport.
2. He really knows his stuff, I suspect he knows a lot more about the sport as a sport than just about any other driver, and this goes well before his TV days.
3.  In spite of his considerable success, wealth and fame, he appears very much like a regular guy who is happy to spend time, chat, pose for photos, sign stuff and generally be an all-round decent sort.

Allie & Susan Fraser

Shirley Fraser (aunt of Allie) called me early in 2011 to enquire about meeting with David Coulthard, she had seen from our website some of the imagery of DC and she explained that this was for their nephew who had been diagnosed with Non Hodgkin Lymphona.  Shirley & Duncan (aunty & uncle) lived at that time in Tain, Invernesshire and whilst I should be impartial to customers from all nations, it is always nice to have a Scottish accent on the other end of the phone as it means I don't have to put my 'proper-posh-phone' voice on.  "Oh lah-de-dah" is much more "Och-Aye-The-Noo".  Initially she explained that our packages would normally be out-with their reach, but that as F1 was such a big part of Allie's life, and that DC in particular had impacted positively on Allie, they were willing to 'push-the-boat-out' to give Allie the literal trip of a lifetime.  This was to be a surprise booking for Allie and we concluded negotiations early in 2011 for our Gold Adventure staying in Nice.  Given the unusual circumstances, and Allie's liking for 13-time-GP-Wining DC, I figured we should organise a one-on-one with DC & Allie for 5 minutes or so before David would come in and meet with the other guests.  And so it was that the booking was firmed up and we'd ask DC to have a wee side-bar with Allie.

Due to the nature of Allie's illness and the uncertainty, whilst the booking was confirmed well in advance of the May date, it was in fact a challenge that Allie would even be able to travel.  Between us, we worked out a plan ensuring that none of us would be left high-and-dry and all of us kept everything crossed that Allie would be strong enough to enjoy this event.

January 12th I was sent the below email from Duncan:

Allie chuffed with his champers

"Following our conversation, myself and Shirley discussed the matter and decided to tell Allie about the trip and his meeting D.C. You would not believe his reaction, as it turned out (unknown to us) he had had to go back into hospital today due to complications and he thought I was taking the mickey out of him. It took some time to convince him otherwise. Since then he hasn't been off the phone telling all the family. It would appear it is having the desired effect already!!"


As the 'surprise' was out the bag, (was it ever even *in* the bag?), and whilst I knew Allie would be in no position to enjoy the contents, I did wonder if a bottle of champagne signed by DC would be a welcome wee gift to send out, and promptly cleared it with Duncan & Shirley, I was greeted a couple of days later with this image in my inbox:

Correspondence flowed between us all until Allie & Susan would arrive on Wednesday the 25th of May.  To their hotel they'd go and look forward to the Thursday meet & greet with DC.  To give you some idea of how excited Allie was, I was told, more than once, by almost everyone in the Fraser family that whilst he looked forward to being in Monaco, watching F1 cars from Café de Paris and from Loews Hairpin and whilst he was glad of a wee bit of sunshine (a very rare commodity in Scotland!), most of all he just wanted to meet with David Coulthard.  And so onto the Thursday of the Monaco GP weekend which is as we all know, practice day.  Luckily for us DC had hung up his racing gloves and has no BBC commitments so we arrange a loose time for him to be with us, and it falls around lunchtime.  Drill is that he'll call as he leaves Fontville (where his hotel and hoose are) and I go meet him at the roadside to 'escort' him to the premises.  I don't know what use I am to be honest, as my wee short legs struggle to keep up with his uber-fit gazelle strides, but as he has the courtesy to come visit with us I do the courtesy of going and meeting with him acting as his short-overweight-unfit bouncer.  To convey my toughness I always wear my mirror-sunglasses and speak into my sleeve as though I'm a federal agent charged with protecting the President.

Allie and Susan enjoy their lunch at Café de Paris

I had already explained to David's PA that we're taking 5-minutes out to meet with Allie, but as DC is a bit of a workaholic, I remind him of this.  "Oh, what's up with him?" he asks, and I relay most of the tale whilst puffing and half-jogging to keep up with him.  All the while we hear screams of "David David" requesting he stop for a photo/autograph, I use my tough-as-nails stare to frighten off the would-be autograph hunters which doesn't really have a lot of impact - which I put down to the mirrored sunglasses. We get to the venue and head up in the lift as I catch my breath, I've text'd my team and told them to have Allie ready in a little side-room at the front of Le Café de Paris.  Sure enough, in we go and Allie & Susan are waiting and I can see for myself just how anxious Allie is!  DC being the pro he is starts chatting to Allie as though he'd known him for donkeys years, asking him about F1, was it his first time in Monaco, what did he think of the season so far and a few other things besides.  Allie, God love him became a little quiet perhaps star-struck, who knows, but I joined in chatting and we had a brief but happy wee chin-wag in our broad-Scots-dialect.  Interestingly, in Scotland there are no 2 counties with the same accent, DC is from the very bottom of Scotland and Allie from the North, I'm somewhere in the middle - yet with our 100MPH speed-speech we all understand each other with great ease.....

Allie & Susan's big moment!

David would then come and chat with the rest of the assembled guests from the stage relaying tales from the paddock, and from his own wins around Monaco.  His insight is both educational and more than once, as this is an informal meeting, his insights are hilarious about what drivers get up to when there aren't any team-bosses or sponsors around.  And with that the DC part of Allie's Adventure is gone and I can only hope it has lived up to his expectations.

I have a chat with Allie and Susan afterwards, and indeed, they are both quietly buzzing from the encounter, I get the impression even though Allie didn't say so, that they were 'pinching' themselves from the meeting.  Something which I can relate to, at the exact same venue some 8-years earlier I recall standing with a group of friends watching the F1 practice (DC at that time would be in the McLaren and we somehow ended up at a party of theirs in his Columbus Hotel) and thinking: "Am I really here?"  It is something of a surreal moment in itself to be stood in the heart of Monaco's Casino Square watching F1 cars scream by at outrageous speeds, no doubt for Allie factoring in that he'd just met his hero of many years that he was in double-awe!

Enjoying the view from the Fairmont

As Friday is a busy day for the GPA team with arrivals, pit-lane tours and planning coach runs for the weekend, it would be Saturday morning before I'd see them again.  That year I think we had just shy of 200 guests with us, and not only Allie who was suffering from an illness, we had another lady who'd been through an awful lot too, and it is always a balance between 'going-the-extra-mile' and appearing somewhat disingenuous.  So, I tried my hardest to simply treat Allie and Susan as just "two more guests", not referring to the illness or even the DC meet but simply now focussed on qualifying and the Formula One Race.  As I always do I'd take shots all weekend thinking I am David Bailley so I'd be in and out of all the nooks and crannies getting photos to both give to customers, and to put onto the GPA website.  Quietly, I'd make sure that Allie looked to be enjoying himself and from the body language and facial expressions he certainly seemed to be having a ball.

Choosing his yacht over lunch at L'Argentin

His suite overlooking Loews Hairpin, he took it ALL in

Top left box, below the word "Carlo" - see Allie?  A lot of empty boxes but he wanted to soak it all in

The weekend would draw to a close with a Webber win and a lot of hilarity from the Australian's I had in the group, a group of them reverted to type and 'indefinately procured' an Australian flag that I borrowed from the hotel's side entrance. To this day, the GM of the hotel asks me "Kenneth, have you brought us another Australia flag?" On Monday after the race weekend my duties are in Monaco so I bid Allie and Susan a fond farewell on Sunday evening and then get back home to Scotland from an exhausting couple of weeks in the South of France.

Not long home when I receive a delivery from CityLink and I'm wondering what it is, fairly bulky, moderately heavy and not expected as I hadn't ordered anything.  I open the parcel to find a lovely thank you letter from Duncan & Shirley to tell me that Allie won't (or can't) stop going on about meeting DC and the time he had in Monaco, and with the thank you letter are two cracking gift boxes of Scotland's finest malt whisky, one for me and one for David.

This box is displayed in my house, and very much as I suspect the bottle of DC signed champagne which I sent to Allie, the contents will not be consumed as it was such a wonderful gift to receive.   I emailed Duncan and Shirley to thank them for the gift I am told Allie & Susan have won a trip to Silverstone and they are working hard so that he will be well enough to get a weekend pass from the hospital to go!  I had hoped to see him there but our paths never crossed, I had a cunning plan to use my 'other' Scottish F1 connection to get him into the pits, however,due to the treatment Allie was receiving at that time he couldn't make it down until Saturday, and I only had pit access on Friday given the demands on British drivers at the British Grand Prix.

As is the way of life, things move on and I get my head down to focus on Singapore, Abu Dhabi and indeed, begin planning and selling for the 2012 Monaco GP and of course, booking new customers for their 40th birthday's, for that once-in-a-lifetime trip and for those wishing to enjoy the most remarkable race on the F1 calendar.

Only a couple of days before I am set to leave for Abu Dhabi to host some guests at The Yas Hotel, I received the below email from Duncan & Shirley:

Hi. Just a very quick e-mail to let you know Allie passed away late last night and as you can imagine we are all a bit distraught just now. 
Anyway I was just writing to thank you again for making his dream come true in being able to meet David Coulthard at Monaco. He was still talking of same up until very recently. Both myself and Shirley and Allie's parents will be eternally grateful for that.

Allie died on the 1st of November aged 30-years-old.

Author Allie Fraser!

Today, the 6th of March 2013 I received another parcel from the Fraser's thanking me for the GPA Christmas card and newsletter I had sent to them, inside the parcel was a book entitled "Hospital Musings", written by no less a man than Allie Fraser!  The book is a collection of his blogs detailing his time in treatment and living with Lymphoma.  I've not had a chance to read over the whole thing yet but have scanned some of the entries, from what I've read it truly is remarkable he was able to make the trip to Monaco and it is testament to the human spirit, it is testament to Allie's spirit that he made it and that he enjoyed every single second of it.

Allie and his family embody everything that is excellent about the people/fans who enjoy Formula One motor-racing.  Through our shared passion (I only do what I do because of my love of F1) Allie was able to meet his hero, he was able to attend one of the biggest sporting events in the world and he was able to take those memories back to Scotland to give his family some much needed respite from the progression of his illness.  He enjoyed Mark Webber winning, he enjoyed the chat with DC and he took everything in - every sight, sound, smell and touch.  From subsequent correspondence with the Fraser family, they kindly explained to me that he kept all of that passion with him until the end and for that I am genuinely touched to have been able to play my modest part in the process.

I note only today that Allie and I share the same birthday, March 29th, in actual fact only a couple of days after DC who celebrates on March 27th.  I shall be on the Isle of Skye on the 29th of March this year for my birthday weekend where I will raise a glass of Glenmorangie to Allie Fraser and remember a Fine F1 Friend, and as the 2013 F1 season opener is only a couple of weeks away, I chose to write this blog as testament to his love of the sport of Formula One and how that passion and enthusiasm kept his optimism high during his, and the Fraser family's difficult times.

I felt compelled to write this and if you've enjoyed the read, or the images or both and you'd like to donate in remembrance of a Fine-F1-Friend, Allie supports the below charity or please do purchase his book "Hospital Musings", or view it online here: http://hospitalmusings.wordpress.com/

http://www.balmoral-group.com/foa/
The Aberdeen and North Centre for Haematology, Oncology and Radiotherapy (ANCHOR) unit brings together experts and specialist nursing support to coordinate care of patients with all forms of cancer, leukaemia and benign blood disorders such as haemophilia.

OR

Scottish Liver Transplant Unit
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
EH16 4SA
Telephone: 0131 242 1171

Singapore and More......

A brief history lesson

Merlion 

A few days to go until I depart these shores for what is my favourite F1 event of the year.  Well, let me be more clear, this event used to rise head-and-shoulders above the other F1 events I've been fortunate to attend over the years, which is in the main due to my dearly departed buddy, Dave Parker.

Fairmont bar

 There will, with the passing of more time, come a day when I'm able to write about Dave and our fun times together, but that time isn't now.  He died, aged 37 in March of 2014 from cancer, he had battled against cancer having an eye removed some 5 years before he passed, his final 5 years he lived life to the full, and I was a lucky beneficiary to be part of that.  He and I had traveled to some 16 F1 events together, almost always for 10 - 14 days at at a time, and 6 of those events were in Singapore which had kinda become our own F1 playground.  As the race is ran through the streets, and in no small part thanks to Dave's elevated status as a sector marshal, we found ourselves in all sorts of places that we simply should not have been.....one of Dave's claims to fame was that he enjoyed a "double flusher" in the McLaren garage....a fact he would have made me remove from this blog - I can hear him now telling me how gay this all sounds.....but the up and down and top and short of it all is that Dave and I had become the best of friends, a friendship formed over several shared passions:

Marina Bay Sands - Goose 

1. Formula One
2. Travel
3.  Beer, wine, Grey Goose, beer and beer 
4.  "Blagging" at every F1 event we'd go to

Sometimes we'd not see each other from one Singapore to the next, always in communication with FB chat, iMessage, F1 races watched on TV where he and I would have a running commentary about the unfolding events, yet even with 12 months of not physically seeing each other, we'd arrive at Fairmont executive lounge at a pre-ordained time and basically pick up from where we left off like we'd only seen each other the day before.  Right about now we'd have a time arranged to meet at the Fairmont lounge, we'd chill over a couple of bottles of Moet and move onto a restaurant, bit of night-life then repeat for 10 days or so, Dave marshaling through the day, me doing my GPA thing at night, but all the while having more fun than you should have when you are "working".

The Monaco 03 group - still friends now (mostly!)

Ah, work!  My work since 2004 has been to run a Formula One travel company.  The aforementioned Dave and I went to the Monaco Grand Prix in 2003 with a group of friends, 9 of us in total, and we were delivered
a fairly shoddy service from one of the vendors we used.  In light of this, I uttered these immortal words; "Feck me, I can do this better meeself with a hand tied behind my back and a blindfold on".  And so it was, that on January 15th of 2004, I formed Grand Prix Adventures.  The initial aim was to simply sell one balcony in Monaco, make a wee bit of money as a side-line, keep my day-job (which I was actually doing ok at!) and get a free trip to Monaco every year.  No brainer right?  So, everything needed was in place and then GPA went live - it took off a lot quicker than I'd imagined leaving me no choice other than to give up the day job and give 100% of my focus and energy to my fledgling business.  Initially focused on Monaco, and believe it or not, built a very successful business on the back of that one event, in our glory days we'd take around 400 people to the Principality in the Cote D'Azur, put simply we'd hit the market at the right time with the right product, alas, the whole economic downturn had a huge impact on our numbers, and so we diversified to other Grand Prix - which was a simple ploy to stay afloat, my dreams of being the Richard Branson of the F1 travel business no longer apply!  So, in the here and now GPA

sells reasonably high-end packages to; Monaco, Silverstone, Monza, Singapore, Austin and Abu Dhabi.  Later this year, in Abu Dhabi, I will click onto my 50th live Grand Prix event and have now personally visited all but two of the F1 races, the two I have not been to being China and Russia - China is centre of my radar, but I am less inclined to get to Russia - in the main because it is full of Russians.  Oh, Mexico too, which only came back on the calendar this year, and one I would be going to if my Paraguayan friend Ade wasn't such an under-the-thumb-wimp-bag.

So, for those who don't know, that's the background/backdrop to this blog, the truth of the matter is I do not actually know whether Singapore is the best as I cannot be objective about it.  I have such a great time because I meet my buddy there and we behave badly for a couple of weeks, and last year I wasn't in any right mind to give an honest evaluation of whether this is or is not the race event I purport it to be, this year will be my 7th Singapore GP, but my first with a reasonable amount of down time, so, considering what to do to pass the time I'm going to blog through the event giving an insight to the whole event.  If you fancy a read, then stay tuned - I type fast, so these will undoubtedly not be short reads but should let you have a wee sneak peek at what makes Singapore so awesome.

KMc.