Anddddddd I'm back from Formula One 2011 :)

2 Days ago actually...

Been looking forward to this stint here since the last time I did it back in 2010.

First discovered it through a random website on the net and got through the interview.


The position I got in this SGP Entertainment Team is Transport Coordinator.

As you know, the other selling point about the Singapore Grand Prix is its lineup of artistes performing on the race nights itself.

Artistes ranging from random stilt walkers, to magicians, to A listers like Linkin Park these year are all flown into Singapore to perform for this big event.

So! Every event that flies in their performers will usually have to see to their transport arrangements, making sure they are picked up from the airport, get into their hotel, get to site for their performance, go back to the hotel to sleep, and leave the country. This is usually multi tasked by the liason officers (minders) for small events.

However for one of THIS scale. With 500 artistes being flown in and road security procedures being such an a**, a dedicated team of staff is needed for transport.

So yeah we make sure our artistes are

1) Picked up upon arrival
2) Sent safely to their hotel
3) On event days, reach their performance venues from the hotel, on time
4) On event days, reach the hotel after their performance, on time
5) Leave Singapore safely and happily at the end of everything.

Although it seems like quite an easy task.......

....Its NOT

It's not as simple as sending people to and fro on taxis or getting someone to be a personal driver for them.

We've got hundreds of artistes, and only a few permitted vehicles given by our outsourced transport company have the 'permission' to enter the sites. And the schedules have to be planned nicely and in sync in order to get our artistes to and fro on time, sometimes at unearthly hours.

Precisely because of that, the transport team is usually given hotel rooms! And we start very early wayyyy before the event so we get paid more as well :P:P

The other jobs are actually Artiste Minders and the Hospitality Team.

Artiste Minders are the liason officers for the artiste, they bring them around the site, help them get whatever they need and make sure they keep to their schedule. They also work closely with us to organise their artiste's transport arrangements.

I applied for this at the start actually, cos I was really into Customer Service and it's quite cool to be a foreign artiste's only point of contact. However I was put into Transport cos of my experience interning at Changi Airport (Not that it helped much actually)

While i still look forward to Minding an artiste, I realise you don't always get the nice ones and you can potentially be stuck with some snobbish ones that create hell for you throughout the event. PLUS. No hotel stay :P

Hospitality Team stays on site at the performance venue itself. I havent really seen much of these people cos I don't work with them often. They basically have to make the artistes comfortable when they reach their performance venue and see to all their needs and wants while they are getting ready to perform. (Like getting them water, or tidying up the hospitality area)

It's too bad I won't be able to work for the 2012 Formula One event cos of National Service.. but I hope it'll be extended longer and that the same awesome people are still working for it! I don't mind recommending my friends for interviews for any of the above positions so contact me nearer to August next year if you want to :)

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And SO! I was given the awesome chance again to start work on 20th September and end work on 27th September. 7 days 6 nights at the awesome Swissotel The Stamford. (Complete with Buffet Breakfast every morning) I'm practically a guest at the hotel.

Highlights of my stay here are obviously the A-list pick ups and random encounters with them! Was there at the G Dragon TOP and Seungri pick up from Terminal 3. Shocking that there wasn't a crowd actually. But just enough turned up when they landed around 1am. Star struck obviously. None of the staff joined the main artistes in their vehicles but followed behind in other vehicles. There were police outriders (Those on motorbikes escorting) as well so the whole journey to their hotels looked pretty much like a movie scene haha.

At the hotel all of them hung around the lobby to get their accreditation settled and that's where I really got close to the entire entourage. I had the SGP pass on and was helping out so I just introduced myself to them when I could. Had brief polite handshakes with GD and TOP and some other korean dancers with them.

Somehow it really felt like the Adam Lambert crew last year but only in Korean this time lol.

After that we realised in the midst of the hastened pick up, one of the members of the entourage accidentally brought back an extra luggage (Someone's else's) and we had to send the luggage back to the airport later on lol.

I also saw Rick Astley when he was about to go on site (Really cool guy) Saw Shaggy at breakfast, and saw Charice when she was arriving at the basement from site. (Shook her hand too)

Words cant describe how it's like being star struck haha. But through this event (just like last year), after having liased with these celebrities on a personal level, I've become a fan of some but lost interest in others...Lol dont think I can say why.

Other than that! Met some really awesome people at F1.

Many of the minders are really nice people, although only knew more abt them after the event ended. Got to know some of the performing artistes as well. All very nice people some of them from really humble backgrounds.

Even got to know some of the Police Officers and Security Guards, hopefully next time they won't catch me if I do something illegal HAHA.

This was the 3rd highlight of my holidays. And it has come to an end.

Just like that.

But it has been damn memorable. All the nights walking to the Floating Platform to hang out, talking to random people near the hotel and laughing at silly antics by colleagues.

Till next time, F1 :)

(Pictures are in my Facebook albums)