Singapore Airlines International Cup 2015
Being a naturally spontaneous and outgoing person, I love trying new things and experiencing what life has to offer (that doesn't jeopardize my own life, of course). However, recently I've been feeling pretty jaded. Like my life is stagnating, that nothing much in Singapore surprises me anymore.Until I attended my first event at the Turf Club, that is.
Any reason to dress up. Yup.
Have you ever watched horses race? Not just any horse race but the ones held at the Singapore Turf Club!? It is truly an experience and if you can, try to catch one of the big races which are held a few times a year. Most people in the air-conditioned areas dress to the nines, decked in unusual fascinators (the things on their heads, no they're not hats), you'll see guys in suit and tie, oh and rooms with free flow of alcohol! If your schedule doesn't permit, normal races are on most Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. I wouldn't call myself a gambler or an addict who needs to bet often or all the time because that would take the novelty and fun away!
It's more entertaining to go with friends so bring as many as you can. It doesn't matter if you lost a bit, you are in great company! Pity there was no Eddie Peng Yuyan unlike Longines in November as eye candy but you never know haha!
The Singapore Airlines Cup 2015 was the first horse racing event I attended that started in the late afternoon and ended at night, which was a great excuse to wear a long gown. I took 3 hours to get ready and did my hair and makeup myself! It was a bit of a disaster initially because my hair curler ran out of battery mid-way and wouldn't switch on after. ANYWAY it's all good because it worked out in the end.
The Marquee
We were seated in the Marquee this time, which has a nice patio with an amazing view (and some people choose to smoke at lol). To get there, you'll take a shuttle bus near the taxi stand, feels like VIP service because you also get...
A BUFFET! Salad, meats, and... FREE FLOW of Beer, Red Wine, White Wine, Juices and some soft drinks!! The quality of the food is seriously pretty darn good. I was surprised. There are many Caucasians here and they take fascinators to a whole new level. Dress to impress!
The bread and butter pudding that I forgot to eat because my mains were that good :( Oh well at least I have a picture of it.
There are two betting stations in the Marquee, so the queue moves pretty fast! Imagine eating while watching the monitors to watch the horses for the next race, getting up, betting, going back to your seat for a bit, then getting up again to watch the actual race. Repeat at least x4 times lol. You'll lose track of how much you've already eaten!!
Shot with the Casio TR60, the best selfie camera right now in the market, Don't you think the quality is amazing?? Your skin looks flawless in every shot, and this wasn't even taken in any special mode! Side note, I am loving my hair colour done by Yoshi at Nine by Sweet Basil. Totally trust Yoshi with my hair lol, I told him to pick a colour for me.
Apologies, I digressed!! After our filling buffet dinner, we went over to the grand stand area to catch the official opening ceremony and performances. There were women in flouncy dresses with many balls on them, people literally walking INSIDE Zorb-balls, (still have no idea how they breathe in them), and of course these cool pyro dudes on stilts.
The sky became pretty smokey after that
To be honest, I wasn't really sure what was happening, but a bunch of pretty SIA girls were posing for photos with the jockeys in anticipation for the next race! Maybe they wanted the jockeys to size each other up or something.
Commemorative photo with SIA girls and Jockeys
Alright I'll answer everyone's burning question, yes they are real stewardesses! Did you know that only true stewardesses are allowed to don the kebaya?? I need to get my stewardess friends to teach me how they do their hair up like that. I know a lot of hair spray is involved though.
Parade Ring
If you're a hardcore gambler, you'll definitely want to check out the horses' mood on the day itself, and there's no better way than to observe them for yourself at the Parade Ring just before they step onto the field!
No joke all these uncles staring intently. Frankly I never bothered learning how to read the booklet which lists all the historical information the horse has etc. I go by my gut feeling. The owners and friends of that match are all in that circle in the middle!
Our hosts brought us all the way in front! Tried to selfie with the horses but I was also a little afraid they would bite my head off, or mistake my hair for grass etc. Lol!
PSST! I love my new back-hand accessory, got it from Forever21 just days before the race!
Anyway, it was my turn to bet! It's a good rule of thumb to set a maximum amout that you're willing to lose BEFORE YOU EVEN PLAY. It's a good self-control mechanism lol. Tell yourself that if you hit that amount you better stop betting. No you will not recoup your losses!
Minimum bets for Win or Place is $5, but if you bet on Trio's, Quadro's and some other combos, it's $2. To find out more about what bets you can make, click here.
Didn't know which horse was going to win, so I put in a few bets. Horse no 1 and 2 to win (obviously I would've lost one), Horse number 6 and 7 to place, and just for fun, I picked Horses 1, 2, 3 and 6 to come in as the top 4 horses, in any order, for $2 why not right lol.
After placing our bets, we went back to the main area to watch the biggest race of the day with the owner's, cheering together with everyone. (ie those colourful seats in the background of this picture below)
Oops sorry for the grainy pic, a pic of Yuki and I.
Races
HP also won some money in the big race :D We were both beaming together hahah!
Picture of well dressed ladies! Am pretty sure they are some of the jockey's girlfriends or wives...
That's basically how a day at the races during a big event goes. I really hope you'll get to try it out one day haha. Do I see myself getting sick of this anytime soon?
To that I say,
NO WAY.
All images with the SEED Image logos are used with permission from Derrick See (also the guy on the far right of the picture), he takes amazing photos!!
