Monza and Singapore F1 GP with TK

[JessicaTam]

She did visit the snow on the weekend!


Sent from my iThing.
Why, because ICan.

 

[jneufeld]

TK is probably not quite there as a premium carrier based on their hard product, but their food and service was excellent (last flight notwithstanding). I would be more than happy to choose them again, and I would like to spend a few days in IST as well. Time did not quite allow me that pleasure this trip. I was in the older J seats so it is possible I am being a little unfair.

I recently flew J on TK HKG-IST deliberately as it was on their new 777-300ER. The new product more than makes up for the shortcomings in the older one, interestingly I didn't find the service to be outstanding but the food was some of the best in the sky. The seat on the other hand is fully flat with plenty of room (2-3-2 layout though I was in an aisle seat with no one next to me), the AVOD was fantastic with a great selection and there was free in-flight wifi. Next time I would suggest looking out for a 773!

 

[JessicaTam]

I recently flew J on TK HKG-IST deliberately as it was on their new 777-300ER. The new product more than makes up for the shortcomings in the older one, interestingly I didn't find the service to be outstanding but the food was some of the best in the sky. The seat on the other hand is fully flat with plenty of room (2-3-2 layout though I was in an aisle seat with no one next to me), the AVOD was fantastic with a great selection and there was free in-flight wifi. Next time I would suggest looking out for a 773!

Definately something to look forward to

 

[JessicaTam]

The Monza F1 Grand Prix

I caught the train from Milan each day to Monza. From there a free shuttle bus took me to the track. Well, to the track precinct as it was still a thirty minute walk to the gate. The sale people were out in force trying to convince me to buy overpriced water and ear plugs. I did buy a program for €10.

I found my seat in Right Lateral B. It was opposite the Williams pit garage and at about 13-14 on the starting grid. I was fairly high up in the stand so did not have a long left and right view. I had chosen this stand as it was covered and would keep me out of the sun, so I was more than happy, though. I put the zoom on my camera to good use as you will see.


View from my seat

The Friday practice session did not bring the crowds I was expecting. Many may just travel on the weekend within Europe, leaving the track to the real enthusiasts for the first day.

Saturday brought more people to the track and the train and shuttle busses were noticeably busier. I planned ahead this time and packed a couple of water bottles. Qualifying was interesting to see, although the screen across from me was not quite clear enough to read the detail regarding times. There is no local radio station with commentary at Monza, unlike Singapore as I was to discover in a couple of weeks. You could rent a small tv like device that is fed by a local wi-fi signal but I am not sure about the cost.

As I was commuting each day there were plenty of Brits and Aussies to chat to. The accents and flags sort of gave them (me) away.


Daniel Ricciardo's car

Race day and the crowd went up by an order of magnitude! Lots of people heading for the track any way they could. I am glad I started early. There were a few food vendors on the walk from the shuttle bus and the prices had snuck up a couple of euros. I grabbed a chicken roll regardless which I had freshly toasted. I had also bought a sandwich with me from the train which I would keep for later during the race. The bottled water for sale had gone up from €2 to €4 as well.


Mark Webber's car

There are food stalls scattered around the track selling all sorts of local foodstuffs. If you don't mind the slightly inflated prices you would be well catered for with the variety. A number of people carried cushions or pieces of foam as the chairs were firm plastic. I even spotted a Spotlight bag.

Daniel Ricciardo did well to be the only Red Bull/Torro Rosso to finish, which was good for him and his prospects next year, but not good for the Mark Webber fans who were hoping for better (myself included).

The trip home from the track was the reverse of the journey in. I watched the podium presentation as I was heading out of the stand, and then plodded for the bus. Each day there were lots of buses waiting and it was a very efficient process to travel in either direction. I was ahead of the worst of the crowds and did not have much of a queue to contend with for the bus. As soon as one bus was full the next was flagged forward. At the train station I chose the Garibaldi train instead of the Milan one that most headed for. Garibaldi also has a Metro service so was as convenient for me as the Centrale train.

The atmosphere at the track was amazing. I am not sure of the attendance figures, but everyone there put their voices to good use. The crowd was very passionate about their respective drivers and it is an experience I will remember for a very long time.

In short... Stupid good!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Great to hear you enjoyed F1 at Monza. I went to Hockenheim and loved it - although curiously, the food there wasn't inflated at all. Which made it great if one was peckish! I can't wait to go to more F1 races in different places - although, for some reason, Monza is not very high on my list. It is surprising to hear of how efficient some of the organisation was though - typical for F1 but not Italy !

About TK...food looked absolutely fabulous!

 

[JessicaTam]

Great to hear you enjoyed F1 at Monza. I went to Hockenheim and loved it - although curiously, the food there wasn't inflated at all. Which made it great if one was peckish! I can't wait to go to more F1 races in different places - although, for some reason, Monza is not very high on my list. It is surprising to hear of how efficient some of the organisation was though - typical for F1 but not Italy !

About TK...food looked absolutely fabulous!

Monza was pretty good efficiency wise, although Singapore was efficiency personified. TR to follow soon.

The TK food was great, and certainly beat QF J. I haven't travelled with other carriers forward of Y so don't have much else to compare to.

 

[jetlagger]

Once again, nice report & especially the trackside pics, nice atmosphere & the flag bearing racy ladies, some entertainment justice between the official event.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I haven't travelled with other carriers forward of Y so don't have much else to compare to.

I haven't done a lot but let me tell you it sure looks a hell of a lot nicer than what I was served in EK J! More of it too...then again, QF Y+ beat EK J

 

[JessicaTam]

I was quite happy to get to the track early and just watch the goings on. The only trouble with my view of the pits was the wall was low enough to see the pit garages but too high to see the cars driving along pit lane. I could certainly hear them though. Did I mention they were LOUD?

 

[jetlagger]

I haven't done a lot but let me tell you it sure looks a hell of a lot nicer than what I was served in EK J! More of it too...then again, QF Y+ beat EK J

IME: Guess it depends on which aircraft you travel on & some disparities in EK crew though..

 

[Must...Fly!]

I was quite happy to get to the track early and just watch the goings on. The only trouble with my view of the pits was the wall was low enough to see the pit garages but too high to see the cars driving along pit lane. I could certainly hear them though. Did I mention they were LOUD?

I take it that it was your first GP then?

I have an addiction to the sound...I spend a few laps just smiling at the sound whenever I go. Then the in-ear earphones go in to listen to commentary via Fanvision

 

[JessicaTam]

I had been to a couple in Adelaide, but that was obviously ages ago. I got to Singapore and headed to the Stamford to pick up my tickets. As I headed up the escalator from the MRT the GP2s were racing. The sound was enough to have me grinning like an idiot.

I didn't try Fanvision. The Singapore race had FM radio commentary which I plugged my NC headphones into and was very content. Incidentally, how much was it?

 

[Must...Fly!]

Ahh ok, I have been to 5 (2009-11 Melbourne, 2012 Hockenheim and 2009 in Nurburgring).

With fanvision it depends if you book early or not. It's 55EUR if you pre-order online, I think maybe 75EUR if you rent at the track but I'm not sure on that.

fanvision was good because you can access the BBC or Sky commentary, so full english, rather than inter-spersed languages, e.g. in Europe you have French, local language and Bob Constandouras chiming in in English. For 3 days I find the price acceptable - although perhaps unnecessary I do enjoy the added element of race information that you just can't get at home.