Day 11 at Yas Island

16 NOVEMBER 2011

Day 11 was basically the last day and the time for us to say goodbye to all my Formula 1 friends. We were not sure whether we’ll see each other again next year, because the group composition changes every year. Some who were with us during the first year didn’t make it on the second year. And some who were in the second F1 last year didn’t make it this year. I was lucky enough to be part of the 3 Formula 1s. I am glad to be part of this yearly event and I look forward to coming back next year.

But although it’s a welcome idea to be called again here next year, the truth is, if ever I ain’t get selected to come to Yas Island again, I won’t feel bad. I had my time for the last three years and I think other nurses can also have this rare opportunity to experience working in Yas.

But of course, to be selected as part of the Formula 1 medical team is not in my hands. The authorities there are the ones who choose, and if I get chosen again next year, that’s destiny 🙂

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We checked out of the hotel by noon time and we were home by afternoon.

And before I end my Yas adventure story, I’ll leave you with some more pictures from around the island.

VIEWS FROM UP HERE

These were taken from my hotel window.

 Back of Staybridge Suites

A golf course.

I am so intrigued by this building. I am not sure what it is, but the architecture is quite unique.

THE HOTELS AROUND 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: FAMILY (Day 10 at Yas Island)

I was so glad when I found out that this week’s WordPress photo challenge is about “FAMILY.” I was about to post the sequel to the series of my Yas Island adventure, and Day 10 was really about “family.”

I invited my wife and son to come over and join me here in Yas Island. Since I arrived here, I had been wishing they were here with me enjoying the sights, the food. And since my work here as a paramedic for Formula 1 has been completed, I decided to bring them over to let them experience Yas Island too.

They left home around 9am and reached Yas Island by around 1pm.

With Mom and Inigo at the hotel lobby.

Lunch @ Jing Asia

 Mommy having a hard time at the desserts bar.

POOL TIME!!!

 Mom’s Pisces. Inigo and I are Crabs. The three of us are water people.

I like the effect of the fountain on this shot 🙂

YAS VISCEROY HOTEL and YAS MARINA CIRCUIT

Behind us is the Yas Visceroy Hotel and the blue race track is part of the Yas Marina Circuit. Yas Visceroy Hotel is a 5-star hotel with a unique design that was set half on land and half on water. It is the only hotel in the world located inside a Formula 1 circuit, with the racetrack passing through under the structure.

My son couldn’t believe that Formula 1 race cars are for real. They only have them as toys. It’s his first time to see them in real action.

 FERRARI WORLD!

Ferrari World is the world’s largest indoor themepark. It is also the home of the “Formula Rossa” , the world’s fastest roller coaster.

“Can we bring this home, Dad?”

The boys drooling over Ferrari cars.

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 After Ferrari World, we visited the newly opened IKEA shop here in Yas Island. After that was a nice dinner at Jing Asia, and a relaxing evening stay at Crowne Plaza Hotel. And there goes my FAMILY day. I hope you enjoyed the pics. Watch out for the sequel (Day 11 at Yas Island).

Thanks for your time!

Day 10 at Yas Island: The Sights Around

15 NOVEMBER 2011

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL

Here’s an unpaid advertisement for Crowne Plaza. My way of saying ‘thank you’ for the nice accomodation provided to us during our brief stay.

Welcome to Crowne Plaza Hotel Yas Island Abu Dhabi

The front side of the hotel

Guests are welcomed by these unique-looking seats by the entrance.

 A cool lounge on the ground floor.

The hallways.

The drinking area of a bar.

Blogging by the pool.

  The most relaxing part of the hotel.

 Breakfast with friends at Jing Asia Restaurant (Ground Level).

Day 9 at Yas Island: Closing Time

14 NOVEMBER 2011

There are no more special events happening in the Yas Island today, so we expected a cooler day at the Field Hospital. On our way to work in the morning, we saw people starting to check out from the hotels, and most cars were headed out of the island. Possible patients would come from this situation only, and maybe a few from island workers.

We still got busy though. We started packing up our equipments and consumables, leaving a few behind just in case patients still come in.

We were allowed to finish our shift in the afternoon, instead of evening, as the night shifts staff were requested to come in to work early.

An 8pm staff meeting was postponed till late evening, so my friends and I decided to have a quick visit at the nearby IKEA.

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skyscraperlist.com

IKEA SHOP at YAS ISLAND

One of my favorite furniture shop is IKEA, and I have visited two in my lifetime – one in Riyadh and another in Dubai. This IKEA in Yas Island Abu Dhabi is my third.

This particular shop just opened this year, around March if I’m not mistaken, after closing the one located at Marina Mall at the city center. This is the biggest in the Mena region.

I had a nice time going around, and enjoyed most of the displays. The only thing I didn’t like was that there were less cabs outside the shop which made us difficult to go back to the hotel. I couldn’t blame the cab drivers because there were very less people in the island now so they wouldn’t be waiting outside a mall with few customers.

Ciao!

Day 8 at Yas Island: The Big Day

13 NOVEMBER 2011

Today was the biggest day of the year for Yas Island. The finals race of the 3rd Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix was held today, and a major concert was held at the Yas Arena.

By lunch time, we were informed that there were like 40,000 people inside Yas Marina Circuit. We were made to be on stand by. The number of spectators were expected to rise as the races haven’t officially started yet that time.

The final race started at 5pm and ended around 7pm. We were made to be on red alert. Some patients came in, but thanks God that nothing major happened – before, during and after the race. The spectators peacefully moved to the next venue, which was the Yas Arena for Paul McCartney’s concert.

Luckily, my shift had ended by 7:30pm so after my work, my friends and I ate dinner  at the hotel quickly, changed our scrubs and ran to the concert venue.

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PAUL MCCARTNEY (still) ROCKS!

When we arrived at the venue, I couldn’t help but compare this concert to the first two concerts I watched the previous nights. This one was really jam-packed! Last night’s concert by The Cult and Incubus didn’t even fill half of the venue. Britney’s concert was full of people, but there were still some spaces at the back. Double that amount of people for Paul McCartney’s concert.

Paul sang most of the Beatles’ hits such as Hey Jude and Let it Be. The concert venue became a huge videoke arena as people sang along to most of the familiar songs. They also danced the night away with the more danceable 70-80s hits. People kept asking for more until the end.

The highlight was a spectacular fireworks display during one danceable number. The stage had huge flames and the sky was filled with exploding colors. The sky was lit with beautiful fireworks, like it was New Year’s Eve in the Philippines.

I had a really nice time! What a way to cap the week! Paul McCartney still rocks!

    

Weekly Photo Challenge: BREAKFAST

Breakfasts at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Yas Island.

Day 7 at Yas Island

Day 7 is the second day of the three major days here in Yas Island. Today, practice races and qualifying races were held at Yas Marina Circuit. And this evening, two bands will be performing in a concert at Yas Arena.

Patients came and go today. I think yesterday was busier though. My apologies that I couldn’t discuss much about the cases that we were having in the field hospital for patient confidentiality reasons.

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Performing tonight is THE CULT and INCUBUS. I actually just arrived now in the hotel from my work and is contemplating whether I should go to the concert or not. First, their genre is not my taste. Second, I don’t have tickets. (There are people selling tickets outside though, or I can stay behind the gates and still watch though the big screen).

But just now, a friend called me to tell that the concert gates are now open – FOR FREE!!!! And so what am i waiting for….

I have to go now… bye guys! Story later!

*******************watching the concert at this time********************

And here I am back to share some pics from the concert. DSLR cameras are not allowed at the venue, so forgive my screen shots 🙂

Day 6 at Yas Island

Today was busier at the Field Hospital. There were more patients than the previous days. That’s because this day was the start of the 3-day big events here at Yas Island. Earlier this afternoon, the practice races and qualifying races were held at Yas Marina Circuit. And this evening, the first after-race concert was held and starred Britney Spears.

There are basically thousands of people here at Yas Island now. The usually deserted roads has bumper-to-bumper traffic now.

And that means more patients.

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FEMME FATALE

I had to transfer one patient to another hospital using our ambulance this afternoon. It was a bit late, and so I thought, if I wouldn’t be able to come back to the field hospital early, I would most probably miss Britney Spears’ concert.

But God is good. The patient was endorsed to the hospital fast and safely, and we came back fast. When we reached the field hospital, I jumped out of the ambulance and took the ride back to the hotel. (My day shift colleagues have left, and the night shift has moved in).

At the hotel, I quickly changed my scrubs into jeans, ate dinner quickle, and then walked fast going to the concert venue. The concert had started, and yup I was late. I didn’t catch the opening part 😦

But I enjoyed the last parts anyways. The ending was spectacular. Britney flew with silver wings to the air as finale.

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I actually just arrived from watching Britney Spears’ concert at the Yas Arena.

Britney was still able to make the crowd sing and dance. The skimpy outfits were still there.

I enjoyed the energetic atmosphere with the crowd, the familiar songs and most of all, because I all got these for free.

Thanks to the free entrance ticket 🙂

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Hey, today’s 11/11/11. A lucky day indeed 🙂

Day 5 at Yas Island

SEEING THE GAP

Being in Yas Island has made me see so many things that I don’t usually see in my city. The island is so beautiful. There are stunning buildings, golf courses and race tracks. But my stay here also made me see something not readily seen by the eye – the “gap” between the very rich and the poor.

Yas island is known for being a luxury island, as it houses some of the most expensive golf courses, race tracks and luxurious hotels. Big concerts are also being held here. I can therefore say that people who come here, especially those who stay more days are those in the wealthy side. They are the ones who have the extra money to spend for these leisure activities.

However, there are also people who come here in Yas island TO WORK. They are those who earns a living by serving those people who come here for luxury. I have met some of them – the waiters and waitresses, the bell boys, the housekeeping members, the simple drivers. They are those who wouldn’t spend their money on luxury, but would rather send them to their families.

And then I remembered the last typhoon that hit my province in the Philippines a couple of weeks ago. The floods were so high that the people were forced to evacuate their homes and found shelters in evacuation centers. And during those times, as reported on tv, there was lack of almost everything – people were hungry, there were not much food and water, and no decent place to clean or wash themselves.

Having seen both worlds, sometimes, I ask myself why life has to be so unfair at times. There are people in this world who have excesses, and there are people who lacks in a lot of things. I couldn’t readily answer this question, but I guess we just have to face the reality that life is simply like this.

I just have this wish – that I hope someday, there will come a time where the opportunities will be equal to everyone else in the world – that anybody can play golf if they choose this sport for a past time, that anybody can just come to a 4 or 5-star hotel and live luxuriously, and eat whatever he wants, that anybody can choose to be a Formula 1 race car driver if he wanted to.

It’s just a wishful thinking, I know. But who knows. Remember, the world is round.

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CONCERT PERFORMERS AT YAS ISLAND

This is the schedule of concerts for the next 3 nights here at Yas island.

Nov 11. BRITNEY SPEARS

Nov 12. THE CULT

Nov 12. INCUBUS

And lastly,

Nov 13. PAUL MC CARTNEY!

It’s going to be a lucky week :)))))))

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pic credits: mi9.com, sweetslyrics.com, 100xr.com, askmen.com

Day 4 at Yas Island

 

The Field Hospital on a sunset.

The ambulances outside are all ready for some action.

In scrubs.

I have the power 😀

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Thanks Gerry for the pics.