Ayesha Nair gets a ringside view of the prestigious Volvo Ocean Race

I did not know what to expect of Singapore. Those who had been there gave me a list of places and things I just had to do, others purely envied me. So on D-day, I wrapped up stories and lugged my bag to the airport with a tiny butterfly-wing-flutter of excitement.u00a0



Stuff I told myself before boarding:
Singaporean dollars are cheaper than American dollars but thou shall not shop till drop.
Thou shall try and not lose passport and immigration card.

The race
In a bid to move away from its image as a family destination and project itself as a premium holiday spot, Singapore is playing host to a number of top brass events. A few months ago it hosted the first ever night Grand Prix and this January it is one of the stopovers for the Volvo Ocean Race a sailing competition between six teams over 9 months and 37,000 nautical miles and it's the longest segment in the entire race.
In between gaping at the sport and sampling this tiny island nation, there was serious kickback time. We stayed at Rasa Sentosa Resort on the Sentosa Island to do it. The resort is one the best places to stay at in Singapore and when I settled into the swankiest bathtub on my 11th floor sea facing room, I realised why. At home, the view outside my window was wet towels left to dry. Here, it was a never ending ocean and a pink horizon.
Leaving the confines of the room we headed out to the race village. Slowly, team members of the six racing teams trickled in with their t-shirts proudly proclaiming team names. And if I thought the view from the hotel room was great, the sight of bulky sailors in shorts made the ocean view pale in compassion.
The in-port race, the highlight and the sole purpose of my trip was bumpy as we tried to keep close to the action in our media boat. The view, though, of the drawn out sails and boats titling almost parallel to the water is something I will never forget. The atmosphere was charged with testosterone and sportsmanship as boats jostled for numero uno position. For those who care, Ericsson 4 won the in-port race. As one local journalist put it "My cab driver did not even know this event was taking place. People would much rather fish."
FYI: The changing station built specifically for the night Grand Prix is not being used. It's just standing there. Sad.
Loved: The gorgeous views and this time I am actually referring to the view.
Hated: Major case of motion sickness.