Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.

SINGAPORE–Six months and 13 grand prix races separate this island-state from its inaugural Formula One hosting duties, and preparations are in full swing as Singapore expects to finish its first-ever city circuit by June.

From September 26 to 28, Singapore will play host country to the Formula One Singtel Singapore Grand Prix, the first fully lit night race in FIA Formula One World Championship history. Thus, heavy construction must be done in order to accommodate the needs of the participating constructors, drivers and spectators.

The main challenge Singapore faces is illuminating the night race on a street circuit. The lighting system needs to be powerful enough to simulate daytime conditions and for drivers to see the road clearly. At the same time, good lighting is needed by the spectators and cameras.

According to the race organizers, an Italian lighting expert by the name of Valerio Maioli, aided them in devising a state-of-the-art lighting system capable of delivering optimal visibility with brightness equal to almost four times that of a typical stadium. This system will also enable both the racecar drivers and spectators to witness a spectacular backdrop of the city’s famous skyline since all the buildings will be lit.

The Singapore GP will take place counter-clockwise on public roads around the Marina Bay area. INQUIRER.net was given an exclusive guided tour of the circuit which was being prepared at that time.

The circuit is 5.067 kilometers long, and referring to the circuit map, it was indicated that there would be 24 turns. A lap should ideally take a minute and 30 seconds to complete, with drivers speeding upwards of 300 kilometers per hour. The drivers will race for 61 laps for a total race distance of 309.087 kilometers.

There are many long stretches in the circuit where drivers can have the opportunity to overtake each other but one of the most difficult parts of the circuit would be the Anderson Bridge.

The Anderson Bridge, a 70-meter-long vehicular bridge that crosses the Singapore river overlooking the Fullerton Hotel, is the narrowest part of the circuit, but since it is almost as wide as the widest sections of the circuit in Monaco, road width on the circuit in Singapore would not be an issue.

Singapore is preparing for 90,000 spectators for the inaugural 2008 Formula One Singtel Singapore Grand Prix. As of March 19, 180 corporate hospitality suites accommodating 50 people each have been released, including 3,000 paddock club passes and a total of 80,000 three-day grandstand and walkabout passes. These were all given in two phases: 70,000 on February 14, Valentine’s Day; and 10,000 on March 10.

Construction work on the Pit Building, roads and other parts of the circuit was started last year and is scheduled to be completed by the end of June. Singapore is only the second country in Southeast Asia to host an F1 race, next only to Malaysia which has the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang on March 23. The Sepang GP is the second race of the season, after the inaugural Australian GP held in Melbourne on March 16. The Singapore GP will be the 15th race of the season, preceding the October 12 Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway, the only other Asian race in the championship aside from the ones in Singapore and Malaysia.

So, how will the Filipino hero fare this time around? Will he dismantle yet another proud Mexican fighter in his rematch with World Boxing Council superfeatherweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez?

Whatever happens, we’ve got it covered. Keep visiting The Pacquiao Files for the latest updates, and for our coverage of Pacquiao-Marquez II as it unfolds this Sunday.

To whet your appetite, check out the Sports channel of INQUIRER.net VDO for our Pacquiao clips — including all 12 rounds of last year’s epic encounter between Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. And be sure to keep checking INQUIRER.net VDO this Sunday

Check out this video of Manny Pacquiao sparring in a San Francisco gym, taken by our US Director of Sales Esther Chavez, assisted by Raffy Lacap.

For more videos, visit INQUIRER.net VDO.

WE note with regret the announcement that some players will boycott the pool events that Raya Sports is organizing this year and will continue to organize in keeping with its mission for the advancement of Filipino pool. This development will hamper in no way our plans for the year and beyond.

1. Whenever Raya organizes a tournament, we announce who are the players eligible and can apply for entry. We do not issue invitations. We do not force anyone to join. But our experience is that our tournaments — the national championships and the world pool championships — have usually overflowed with participants. If there are some players who don’t want to join these events, that will therefore be their loss, not ours.

The tactic of boycotting events to enforce a demand is a familiar one of Mr. Aristeo Puyat, so we are not surprised. He employed it against the BSCP in many campaigns at the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games over the last 20 years, without much success. He is trying to use it now against Raya Sports, with the collusion of a couple of other managers. Obviously, he is envious of our success in staging major international events, whereas his tournaments, like the Negros Open immediately after the 2007 WPC, have been small, poorly organized and criticized by foreign players.

2. Raya’s events are staged in cooperation with other top organizations, notably Star Billiards for quality tables and ESPN-Star Sports, ABS-CBN, ABC and Solar Sports for TV coverage. We pay top prizes to the winners, and players get their money within a week of the event, not months as they do with rival promotions. We stage our events in quality venues; we do not run from one billiard parlor to another like some promoters. We take no commissions from players’ winnings. And we pay taxes.

3. Raya Sports is an official member of the World Pool-Billiard Association. It has official international status equal to Matchroom Sport and other promoters.

4. Mr. Yen Makabenta, the president of Raya Sports, is a licensed promoter by the Games and Amusement Board of the Philippines, a respected member of the international pool fraternity and known to players and pool officials worldwide. He was named Man of the Year last year by Billiards Digest, the biggest pool magazine in the world. He is currently a regular columnist for AZBilliards, the top international website of pool. He was instrumental in bringing the prestigious World Pool Championship to Manila in 2006 and 2007. And he has secured for the Philippines the five-year franchise for the World Ten Ball Championship starting this year.

5. The authority of sending Filipino players to international tournaments rests with the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines. The BSCP is part of the WPA system, being officially a member of the Asian Pocket Billiards Union. Tournaments like the world championships and the Guinness Pool Tour course their request for billiard players through the BSCP.

6. As for the players’ supposed grievances against Raya, we cannot comprehend them. We don’t owe any players any money. We were scrupulously fair to players in our tournaments. And we always gave them excellent TV exposure.

7. Those who have declared a boycott are only a fraction of our Filipino pool community. The great majority of our players do not support the BMPAP’s agenda of envy and negativism. They have expressed their full support for Raya and the BSCP and will play in our events. Pool honors are not won by saying you will not play. They are won by competing in tournaments that are fair, well organized, and recognized by international sports bodies.

– JP Fenix, managing director, Raya Sports

TOBEY MAGUIRE looked so hot as Spidey, not so much because of that tight black suit wrapped around his toned bod, but because he swiftly pranced from building to building, ever so gracefully swinging from the tallest skyscraper to the next, seemingly without any concern for his own safety. There’s something fascinating, or maybe even attractive, seeing someone willingly put themselves in so much physiological danger yet survive it. And survive it elegantly at that.

Luckily for the female population who, like me, have entertained the idea of spending the rest of her young adult life with someone like Tobey or Spidey for the very reason I have stated, I am pleased to tell you that I have found a solution. I didn’t exactly find a Spidey costume or a Tobey lookalike, but I did find members of Parkour Philippines who could jump far and high, and, hear this: they don’t need a tight spandex suit tighter than your tights to show you their skills.

Here’s a video I took for INQUIRER.net VDO.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Adapted from Parkour pioneer David Belle’s philosophy or discipline of getting to point A to point B as efficiently as possible using only the strength of the human body, the members of Parkour Philippines have gathered to train their minds and bodies to achieve the same goal. Seeing some of their YouTube videos, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about this art form and actually participate. After an exchange of quite an amount of SMS messages, a jamming session was scheduled and posted online for the benefit of other traceurs (Parkour practitioners) and first-timers who also wanted to give it a go.

I must admit I was scared, only because I woke up late and got lost on the way to the meeting place. Because of such distractions, I had forgotten to feel anything re: Parkour lessons. In fact, I was actually zoning out while warming up and conditioning, just blankly following because it was too early to be touching your toes and jumping around for something I honestly was half-hearted about. In other words, I came as a reporter and not as a student; plus, I knew I couldn’t do what they do in a day — firstly because it takes time and training and secondly, they wouldn’t let me anyway — so my mind was fogged with many things.

So there I was, admittedly just rolling with the punches, more excited to see and film them do their thing than doing the “easy stuff” myself. After warming up, we separated and transferred to Rizal Park. I took my own vehicle and as I was looking for the Datu Lapu-Lapu statue, I see two guys with Parkour shirts on, walking aimlessly in the bright sun, like myself. I thought they must know where that Datu statue was and true enough, they did know but got tired of waiting since they’ve been waiting for a while and even came from out of town just for this jamming session. Damn.

Finally, we got to that Datu statue and everything was just a blur. Dudes would just walk walls, jump over rails randomly and I felt so out of place and remember thinking, “WTF is going on???” Imagine a guys in a huddle just suddenly dispersing and heading toward different directions doing everything but walking, yelling “C’mon Erika!” as they start rolling around in the concrete. LOL. Awwkkkwaaard!

I trailed behind them, by foot of course, and they taught me so many moves that I would forget that I was there primarily to film. Suddenly, I was having so much fun crawling on rails and jumping off rails because of that rush you get as you are doing it.

This is me trying it.

Believe it or not, but most of it is actually instinctive and after repetition, it becomes beautifully instinctive. Like when you’re being chased, and you’re forced to jump to the next building, you just do it because you’ll get caught and die and while doing it, you don’t worry about look inggood. That’s also how I feel about Parkour: you learn to take charge of this instinctive nature and efficiently and beautifully express it whenever you feel like it.

What I loved most about it was that it forced you to just do it. No holding back. No hesitation. The moment doubt creeps into your head, you’re done for. Believe you can, picture what you want to achieve, go for it, and just hope for the best.

Just like life.

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