ITINERARY:
Day 1: Singapore - Malacca - Sepang
Day 2: Sepang
Day 3: Sepang - Singapore
DAY 1 (23 October 2009, Friday)
I collected the rented Benni from Euroauto Leasing Pte Ltd around noon and headed up north via Tuas second link at 1530hrs where traffic jam at the Singapore-Malaysia customs is minimal. Having a full gas tank refill at Gelang Patah station, I hit straight to Ayer Keroh exit, and into Malacca town for early dinner/ late lunch.
I had wanted to go to the 'original chicken riceball' stall in Malacca, but unfortunately it was closed by the time I arrived. Had to settle for Afamosa Chicken Riceball stall nearby in Jonker Street.
Jonker Street was beginning to get busy with the roadside stalls setting up their stalls for the weekly night bazaar.
Classic Volkswagon at Jonker Street
With few shopping bags of clothes and pineapple tarts, I left Malacca and headed up Sepang, straight to Tunes hotel in KLIA, near the LCCT. Reason for choosing this hotel is its proximity to the Sepang International Circuit - only 7km.
The Tunes hotel is a no-frills hotel, where you need to pay for every single add-ons. Eg. Room rates for 2 nights is RM236, admin fee is RM19.81, aircon (24hr credit) is RM20, WIFI (24hr credit) is RM12, 15% taxes at RM38.57, and hairdryer at RM1.
The hotel used an electronic keycard access to the room, and the keycard is also used to 'store' aircon and hairdryer credit. Remaining aircon credit is being displayed on the LCD screen. Hairdryer is wired to the wall in the bathroom, and you only get electric if you had paid for it.
This is where the frustration begins. When I first inserted my card on the control panel, it shows 12hr aircon credit instead of the 24hr aircon credit which I have paid for. Where a phone is non-existant in the room, I had to go down to the reception to tell them to change the aircon credit to 24hrs.
Next, I realise that after restoring the aircon credit to 24hrs, the hairdryer credit has 'vanished'. Had to go down again to tell them to resore that hairdryer credit.
After a clean hot shower under the rainshower bathroom, I wanted to charge my handphone and camera battery. I realsed that both the powerpoints in the room are faulty. For the third time, I had to go down to the reception to 'complain' about it. As the technicians are off for the day, they sent the security guard to my room to check out the powerpoint. And these guys knows nuts about it, and even insist that my charger is faulty!!
I had to go down to the reception for the 4th time to request for a room change. Eventually they allocated me a new room, and gave me a new keycard. Having packed everything and move to the new room with the keycard, I realised that the aircon credit given was again 12hrs!!! It's dammm frustrating that I need to go down to the reception again for the 5th time to have the credit checked and restored!!!
When things finally got sorted out, I managed to go to the cafe downstairs for a round of beer and surf net for a while prior to sleeping.
DAY 2 (24 October 2009, Saturday)
After a hearty breakfast at the cafe downstairs, I drove 3mins to Sepang International Circuit for the rider's autograph session, where I got to see the world champions in person, like Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Gabor Talmacsi, Jorge Lorenzo, Marco Melandri, etc.
Marco Melandri - 250cc world champion in 2002
Jorge Lorenzo - 250cc world champion in 2006 & 2007
James Toseland - 2007 world superbike champion
Valentino Rossi - MotoGP world champion 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 250cc world champion 1999, 125cc world champion 1997
Casey Stoner - MotoGP world champion 2007
Mika Kallio - 2009 Rookie of the year
Gabor Talmacsi - 125cc world champion 2007
Nicky Hayden - MotoGP world champion 2006
What is a bike race without race queens? Here are some to share!
Soon qualifying for the 125cc session began - Luca Marconi
James Toseland coming out of the pit for qualifying session
Andrea Dovizioso
Mika Kallio
Jorge Lorenzo
Toni Elias
Gabor Talmacsi
Valentino Rossi wheelies after qualifying on a record-breaking pole position
Jorge Lorenzo speaking to reporters after qualifying on second position to challenge Rossi for the 2009 championship
And finally the day ended with the 250cc Qualifying session. Here's Hiroshi Aoyama.
Marco Simoncelli
Alvaro Bautista
Ratthapark Wilairot
Hiroshi Aoyama grabbed pole position for Sunday's race
Races aside, bike stunts definately entertained the crowd!
After the warm and long day at Sepang, all I wanted was a nice clean shower back at the hotel. However, the keycard was 'expired' when I arrived back in the room. I had to approach the reception to have it 'renewed'. Then again, back in the room, its still not working. I then demanded that he comes up to the room and have it sorted out for me instead of me running up and down like an idiot. He agreed and went up to my room with a new keycard. Once again, the aircon was showing only 12hr credit when I should still have 14hrs credit after a night's usage. I demanded that he have this resolve for me while I waited in the room. When everything was resolved, the total number of times I had to go down to complain stood at 7!!!
After a cool shower, I backed up the photos, charged the batteries, and went to Nilai for a great dinner at a popular cooked food stall at a very reasonable price. There's nothing much in Nilai other than few massage shops, GIANT supermart, some textile shops, and a Mac Donalds.
DAY 3 (25 October 2009, Sunday)
After check out, I arrived in Sepang International Circuit early to avoid the traffic jam and to prevent unnecessary delays in entering the circuit.
Few race queens to begin the day with
Randy De Puniet, during an autograph session for his fans.
Race day kicked off with the 125cc race, followed by the podium ceremony won by Julian Simon, the newly crowned 2009 125cc world champion. The runner up was Bradley Smith, followed by Pol Espargaro.
250cc's Raffaelle De Rosa
Alex Debon
Imre Toth
Mike Di Meglio after crashing out on Turn 15
Hector Barbera
Matthia Pasini
And eventual winner Hiroshi Aoyama
Hiroshi Aoyama and Shuhei Aoyama fan coming from Japan to cheer on the brothers!
The podium featuring 250cc winner Hiroshi Aoyama, as well as respective second and third place Hector Barbera and Marco Simoncelli.
And finally, the MotoGP race where everyone is waiting for, after it was delayed for 35mins due to wet weather conditions.
Valentino Rossi on the grid
Casey Stoner on the grid
Valentino Rossi
Jorge Lorenzo - Chasing Rossi's shadow throughout the race, having qualified on second but started on the last of the grid as pitlane was closed when he wanted to come out for the second sighting lap prior to the warmup lap.
The race features mainly Rossi and Lorenzo as its the first match point of the season where Rossi can clinch the World Championship here in Sepang
Colin Edwards
Randy De Puniet
Nicky Hayden
Casey Stoner
Chris Vermeulen
Marco Melandri
Dani Pedrosa
Valentino Rossi eventually finished third in the race to clinch the 2009 World Championship.
The podium stood Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi.
“The t-shirt and the celebration is called the ‘Gallina Vecchia!’ In Italian we say that the old chicken makes good soup, but it's no use for laying eggs. I am old now, 30, but this old hen has made another egg today and now we have nine! As usual I thought it up at home in Tavullia, together with my fan club, and we had great fun designing the t-shirt and the helmet.” - Valentino Rossi 2009
Next year, MotoGP will be more exciting with the inclusion of young riders Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista, Hiroshi Aoyama, Hector Barbera, and Ben Spies. See you in Sepang next year!!!
MORE PHOTOS
Malacca
Sepang
FAST FACTS
Car Rental: S$75
Petrol: S$43
Toll: S$26
Carpark: S$3
Accomodation: S$68
MotoGP Entrance tickets: $35
Shopping: S$20
Food & beverages & miscellaneous: S$41
TOTAL EXPENDITURE: S$311
EXCHANGE RATE
S$1.00 = Rm2.42
TRAVEL GUIDES / NEWS / MAGAZINES
Sepang International Circuit
http://www.malaysiangp.com.my/
Tunes Hotel KLIA
http://www.tunehotels.com/LCCTTransit_KualaLumpur_Malaysia.aspx
MAPS
http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Sepang_International_Circuit
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