Flying in Malaysia's evening tropical storms, resulted in a fairly turbulent flight. But hey, you have to take the rough with the smooth - the flight was cheap! We arrived late, so Amelia and I decided to stay in a hotel close to the airport, and then catch the train to KL the next morning.

The train station was about fifteen minutes away by taxi. It only cost the both of us 25 Ringgit (£5) to get to the central station in KL, which was about 30 minutes away on SEA's fastest train. The train was very modern and clean, a world apart from what we experienced in Northern Vietnam. We found our pre-booked accommodation, which was within a ten minute walk from the station.
The main reason for being in KL was to catch the cheapest flight we could possibly find to the Philippines. And because we were already in the south of Thailand it made sense.
Whilst looking for our cheap flight, I noticed that the F1 GP almost coincided! Amelia, being the amazing girlfriend she is, and knowing I'm a huge fan, offered to take me for an early birthday present!
Whilst in KL, we also needed to enquire and apply for an extended visa before entering the Philippines. Normally you're only allowed to stay 21 days, but to us, this doesn't seem long enough to explore the 2nd largest archipelago in the world. So off we went, using the city's monorail, in search of the Filipino embassy. It didn't take us long, but it turned out to be a waste of time. The lady there told us just to apply when arriving at the border. This contradicted what we'd read online, but she seemed to be very sure, so we didn't argue.
KL's iconic twin towers, the Petronas towers, were just a couple of minutes from the embassy. We took a stroll through the nearby park to reach them, stopping to take some pics as we approached.
Obviously wanting to show support for our boys, Jenson and Lewis, we went on the hunt around the numerous shopping malls in KL for a Union Jack flag. The flag was somewhat elusive though. We found Union Jack t-shirts, singlets, cups and magnets, but no flag. We must've spent at least three to four hours looking with no success. In the end we called it a day and went back to our room.
For dinner we went to KL's Chinatown, which according to a few sources was a great place to grab some good cheap street food. We took a local bus there and spent a while trying to find a cheap street food stand, eventually opting for some reasonably priced dishes which weren't that great. Not sure we agree with those sources.

The first transfer to the 'Sepang International Circuit' was at 8am. We got up and headed to the station, grabing breakfast on the way - a typical Malay breakfast (Nasi Lemak) of coconut rice, eggs, peanuts, cucumber and a choice of meat or fish, served with a tomato based sauce flavoured with chilli and to Amelia's dislike, anchovies.
The circuit was about half an hour by train, then another thirty minutes by coach, it all ran like clockwork, we were very impressed.
Friday's are used for practice sessions in F1. Generally a Friday doesn't draw in a huge crowd, even in European countries where F1 is more widely followed. So the good thing about this is that the whole place is 'open'. So no matter where your seat is for the Saturday and Sunday, you can float around and pick and choose where you would like to sit. For Amelia and I, we started on the main grandstand on the start/finish straight overlooking the pitlane. This way we could look into Lewis' and Jenson's garages! We also bumped into Clare and Phil, who had met up with a friend from back home.
Looking around the numerous overpriced merchandise stands for something to show our support, we managed to find some fairly reasonably priced flags to wave - Amelia got a Jenson flag, and for me, obviously a Lewis flag.
The rest of the day was spent hopping around different seats, and watching the cars tackle different parts of the circuit.
Once the final practice session ended, we made our way back towards the main grandstand for the 'pitlane walk'. Only 1,500 people were allowed in, and the only way of insuring a place, was to queue up in the blistering heat for over two hours! I'm grateful that Amelia stuck with it, I very much doubt she'd have done it without my pleading! But in the end we both thought it was worth it. We saw right in to all the garages, including Lewis' and Jenson's! And we even got speaking to a lady who worked for the Mercedes team. She approached us asking to take a picture of me outside Lewis' garage - maybe I'll appear on the fan page or something. In total we were in the pitlane for just under an hour. It was a really cool experience and after speaking to a few people (that've been to a few F1 GPs), we learnt we were quite privileged, as it's not the norm for us peasants (standard ticket holders) to see this part of the circuit!
Getting back to the city was just as easy, no problems whatsoever. During our train journey, Amelia overheard some guys talking about getting a Nandos at the central station mall. It's the first place in SEA we've heard of that has a Nandos. Amelia latched onto this idea and wouldn't let go - even though it meant going over our daily budget. Eventually she won me over - which didn't take too much as I love Nandos. The prices were actually quite reasonable, almost half the price of back home! Feeling exhausted from a long day but stomachs very much satisfied, we walked back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

We didn't set off quite as early as the day before, because the start time for P3 (last practice) and qualifying was later, so there was no need. For breakfast, or should I say brunch, we went to an Indian food stall down the road from our hotel. I had a chicken curry with rice. Amelia had beef curry with roti. During our travels we've become accustomed to eating rice (in some form) with meat for breakfast. In Malaysia it just seems there is a heavy Indian presence and influence in their cuisine. So curry for 'brunch' wasn't unusual.
It was busier at the circuit (compared with the day before), but not as busy as I was expecting. Which was good, as it meant we had extra seats either side of us. The downside was there wasn't as much atmosphere as we were hoping. So between the last practice session and qualifying, I thought it would be a good idea to hunt down an air horn or something similar. That something similar turned out to be a vuvuzela. After testing out some huge vuvuzelas, that would barely be heard over a whisper, I got my mitts on a small but very loud fluorescent green vuvuzela that would surely liven up our grandstand!
As soon as qualifying commenced I blew the vuvuzela very loudly! It made the poor bloke in front of me almost jump out of his seat, but it did the trick, the whole crowd started clapping and whistling!
During qualifying, some very dark clouds loomed behind the grandstand we were seated in, and it wasn't long before we were experiencing a full blown tropical storm! It swept its way through our covered grandstand and soaked the majority of us! Luckily there were a few free seats ahead of us that stayed dry, so we quickly hopped over a few rows to reach them, tearing a big hole in the crotch of my shorts in the process! It was a very exhilarating qualifying session, made all the more better with Lewis grabbing pole position!
The journey back to the city took us twice as long as the the previous day! Mainly due to bad organisation at the circuit, it almost felt like they'd never held the F1 before.
Dinner was at a food stall just down the road from our hotel. Amelia wasn't a fan of the noodle dishes we chose because of the fairly strong taste of anchovies in the sauce. Good for me though, as I basically got two dinners!

An early start to get to the circuit and in yet another long queue, all to get a scribble on a bit of paper. We waited in the queue with Phil, Clare and there friend Dom for just over an hour, listening to a man work up the crowd and preach to us all about no pushing or queue jumping. Most of which went in one ear and out the other for most of the Asians (who don't know the meaning of a queue) and an ignorant Scottish family who pushed in just behind us, and then acted deaf when we confronted them. There was supposed to be three groups. We were in the second, to see the Mercedes, Williams and Red Bull drivers. Perfect we thought, we should get Lewis' autograph! But in the end the whole situation was a complete shambles! People pushed, shoved and queue jumped like crazed lunatics. In the end, those that had queued, like us, lost out. The lack of organisation was infuriating. But it was good to see most of the drivers up close and we even shook hands with the Marussia drivers (Will Stevens and Roberto Mehi).
The race was absolutely brilliant (just a shame Lewis didn't win)! Like with most sports, actually being there at the GP, up close and personal, soaking up the atmosphere, hearing the engines singing and tyres screeching, smelling the fuel burning and tyres smouldering, is much better than watching from a TV screen.
Once the race finished we saw people storming the track, some even scaling huge metal fences! Not knowing if this was allowed or not, we threw caution to the wind and joined them! By the time we reached the start/finish straight (where the podium is situated), the ceremonies and interviews had pretty much finished, but we still got to see Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg up there.
Whilst looking around, enjoying the ambience and taking pictures of various parts of the track, we caught a glimpse of the BBC crew (Suzie Perry, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan). It looked like they were having the post race analysis - if you look closely I'm sure you will see us waving, shouting and 'vuvuzelaring' - it felt like I was the only one at the race with one!
The after race concert was supposed to headline Lenny Kravitz. Unfortunately he cancelled, so we ended up seeing Asia's version of One Direction and a very popular cheesy Girl Band. Needless to say we didn't stay long!
As we had spent a short time at the concert (mainly to avoid the mad rush back to the train), getting back was relatively painless.

Back on the train the following morning, but this time to KL airport to catch a plane to the Philippines....