Race your way to Sepang - 2015 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysia Grand Prix

The member of the winning team on the race track

Bengaluru 27 Febraury, 2015: The Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix™ is scheduled for 27-29 March 2015 at the Sepang Interantional Circuit (SIC). This will be the second stop in the F1 calendar after the Rolex Australian Grand Prix™. With plenty of movement of top drivers across teams and the return of Honda into the championship, the tone is set to be competitive for the title this year.

With India riding high on the racing popularity wave, Tourism Malaysia and the Sepang International Circuit is holding the ‘Race your way to Sepang’ challenge among corporates to promote the Malaysian leg of the F1 craze. At the event, a special Formula 1 Package with travel partner Yatra.com will also be launched.

“We have been promoting the Petronas Formula 1 event for a few years now and the response has been quite encouraging. For this year's promotions we have planned 2 corporate events in Mumbai and Bangalore where the participants will compete in Go Karting racing Challenges. The fastest team stands a chance to win an all expense paid trip to Malaysia to watch the race live,” said Mr Manoharan Periasamy, Director, Tourism Malaysia. The winning team will be hosted by Starwood Hotels and the Air tickets will be sponsored by Malaysia Airlines.

This year Malaysia celebrates Malaysia Year of Festivals (MyFEST) 2015. Themed "Endless Celebrations", the year-long calender is packed with festivities of every genre; for instance cultural festivals, shopping extravanganzas, international acclaimed events, eco-tourism events, arts, music showcases, food promotion and other themed events. Continuing the momentum and efforts to promote the destination, MyFEST 2015 is set to make Malaysia the top-of-the-mind tourist destination, encouraging tourists to stay longer in order to enjoy the festival offerings nationwide added Mr. Manoharan Periasamy.

The race this year is dubbed as the F1 carnival – the first of its kind at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), the 2015 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysia Grand Prix™ will have something for everyone. From go-karting at the Xtrack or just chilling at the Cool Zone complete with a water-course while waiting for the excitement to begin on track. And of course, what better way to end the exciting day than by enjoying a fantastic performance at the After Race Concert once the dust has settled on the track says Ms. Sharmila Nadarajah.

The Malaysian Grand Prix tickets are sold from as low as INR 1,640 for Hillstand seats. The Grandstand seats are sold from INR 5,720 for F stands and INR 13,470 for K1 stands, where fans will have a perfect view fronting the first turn of the circuit. The main grandstand starts from INR 6,940 to as high as INR 36,100 for the best view.

For those who like to enjoy the race in a more stylish way complete with fine dining, come over to the Club Suite and experience the race from inside Sepang International Circuit (SIC) luxury suites. Choose between a view fronting the pit or catch the entire action from the race on the Southern track. Price per person starts from INR 93,800. For Club Suite reservation, please email to enquiries@sepangcircuit.com


About us:

MALAYSIA TOURISM PROMOTION BOARD OR TOURISM MALAYSIA is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Malaysia. Tourism Malaysia focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia at all levels. Since its inception, Tourism Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds and it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene. In 2013, Malaysia registered 25.7 million tourist arrivals and RM 65.4 billion in receipts, making tourism its second largest foreign exchange earner and the sixth highest contributor to its Gross National Income (GNI).

Through the Tourism NKEA, collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, other Government agencies and the private sector have been enhanced to help secure Malaysia’s position as a leading tourist destination. The targets set under the Tourism NKEA will be achieved through the implementation of twelve Entry Point Projects (EPPs) clustered under five themes: Affordable Luxury; Nature Adventure; Family Fun; Events, Entertainment, Spa and Sports; and Business Tourism.



For any further query, please visit:

Website: www.tourism.gov.my

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A drive with S.O.U.L to Dudhsagar

Tata Motors have come up with an initiative called S.O.U.L which stands for Safari Owners United League, this group is formed by the company to show that its commitment towards its customers after sale . Firstly, Tata motors can understand the after sale needs of the customer, the company can also know from the customers the additional equipments required by them in the up coming vehicle, they can know the problems being faced by customer, etc. This is mostly a two way street where the drivers and the company is also benefited. The better part of these drive are that here the company is not only inviting its customers but their family members also.

This is the second ride that is taken up by S.O.U.L, the first drive was towards Rasta on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The Dudhsagar ride was made from 24^th Jan to 26^th Jan of 2015, this was chosen on this long Republic Day weekend so that the customers do not affected by their daily routine. The agenda for day 1 was to ride from respective cities and reach Dudhsagar spa resort for the day with some fun activities like zip lining, yoga, etc within the resort and a temple visit outside the resort. Day 2 was a jam packed with drives, falls, water sports and beach. Day 3 was the day to drive back to the respective cities.

Day 1:

I was accompanied Rumana and Sree Nindi who are the fellow bloggers and the driver Balu in a Black Tata Safari Dicor. We left Bengaluru at 6 am in the morning and our car was accompanied by Mr and Mrs Raghu in a White Tata Safari Dicor, who is also a member of SUG which stand for Safari Users Group. We met on Tumkur road and started our destination to Dudhsagar Spa Resort. The average that was maintained on the roads was somewhere between 90 to 140 kilometers per hour. Somewhere around 10 am Sree Nindi took the wheel to feel the performance of the vehicle. Our first pit stop was at Kamat hotel for our breakfast around 11 am, we all mostly had light breakfast and we hit the road with in a span on half and hour of stopping there. Around 12.30 we stopped for tender coconut to cool us from the raging heat, we not only cooled ourselves but also posed a lot of pictures. The drive continued non stop to the Dudhsagar Spa resort and reached our destination around 3 pm, just in time for lunch. We were welcomed Daniel and allotted respective rooms for ourselves. We all freshened up and had lunch followed by some rest. I had non veg for lunch due to which I skipped the drive to the temple and went to take up zip lining, had fun time doing the zip lining after a long time. Then I hit the pool to have a relaxing swim. We gathered on the lawn around 7 pm for some barbeque and music played by Arambola. Arambola is a Goan band that played wonderful and relaxing music that had a different touch by its members due to the combination of musical instruments that they use. After a wonderful dinner we all hit the bed early so that we get up early for the next day.

Day 2:

We got up around early and had a healthy breakfast. Then we drove up close dudhsagar falls, where we were give life jackets and then we took the local taxi for about 8 kms inside the forest with a couple of on the water moments and the rugged mud road  to reach the parking lots, then we had a 10 mins hike that took us to the base of falls. This is a picture perfect place with beautiful site of nature with clear water. I can understand why this destination was taken by Rohit Shetty for his movie Chennai Express. The cold water did send shivers drown my body when I got inside but the clear water was just what the doctor ordered for the morning to refresh me and wake me up. The falls was on an average force but the current was still strong, it took me some efforts to reach the base of the falls but it took me more efforts just to stay there for a picture to be taken by my friends on the banks. Here I got to meet some Bengaluru members and interact with them for a short while. The place was still not that crowded as we reached early, so we a peaceful dip in the water for about more than half an hour. Do note that the place is filled with fishes, slippers rocks, wonderful place to take picture and a lifeguard incase something goes wrong during all times. After the dip we took loads of photos and we headed back to our respective cars and then drove back to the resort. We had our lunch and then rested for a few mins and headed to the beach.

We went to Serabatim Beach in a safari convoy of 16 cars and it turned heads on every road that we till we reached the beach, that was not that crowed compared to the other beaches. Here I had ride on the Jet Ski, whereas others also tried the banana ride, para sailing, etc but I had a peaceful dip in the sea waiting for the sun to set, as it is a sight to witness the sun going drown the horizon. Here I got to meet and interact with the S.O.U.L members for a longer time.

A couple people like me chose to stay back to enjoy the beach. I had good banana pancakes, Goan prawn curry, fried rice and seafood salad at a shack called AM’s Multi Cuisine. The dinner was complimented by the shadow of the moon in the sea with the sound of the waves and then we headed back to the resort.

Day 3:

The Bengaluru S.O.U.L member wanted to go in a convoy at 6 am in the morning. We also agreed and went along with them. I chose to come in Perez’s Safari Storme to know the difference between a Safari Dicor and Safari Storme. The convoy was lead by Srihari and swept by Perez or Mahesh and this convoy also turned head on the highway. We stopped our convoy to take a wonderful picture of nature and our convoy. Then we stop at Hotel Brindavan in Sangli for wonderful Dosa accompanied by a few more yummy dishes. After a five minutes break the drived continued till we reached Kamat near Sira. Here we had our lunch and then took a group photo along with the cars and members. Here I shifted back to our car and bid bye to others and we drove back to Bengaluru and we reached back around 6 pm. It was worth the extra time taken so that we stay in a convoy and enjoy the drive as one.

Tata Safari has been a favorite to a lot of people I know for its performance, feel, etc but when we travel as one you realize the true aspect of a drive and this was made possible by the Tata Safari members and members of 70 EMG that planned and executed the drive to an era of new beginning for more drives to come a head.

SOUL owners with their families

I did learn that S.O.U.L has been taken up in the northern regions of India also and that was also a success, I wish to see the S.O.U.L of the north and south drive together as one, I think that will also happen soon. In these three days I learnt more about cars and the meet a lot of new people from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, etc. I thank tata motors and blogadda for giving me this opportunity for being a part of this drive and I hope to be given more such opportunity in the future.

Bloggers

Seafood Festival at Barbeque Nation

Barbeque Nation has come with “Seafood Festival - Treasures of the Sea” from Jan 23^rd to Feb 8^th. It is an exquisite spread if seafood that you will not be able to resist getting into your tummy. It is a combination of richest platter that you can imagine, that awaits you here till Feb 8^th. So grab a couple of you friends to Barbeque nation and indulge yourselves to the buffet and live counter. I being a seafood person, I was just waiting for the starters to be served on the table.

Drinks:

I have the chocolate monk, which was good but it is heavy drink. This looked more like a drink milkshake but it taste better than any smoothie I have had until now. Since I wanted some room in my tummy I did not repeat the order as I needed loads of space to eat all the food.

I took a lime soda salted to help me eat more but the drink contained too much lime for me, this did clean my pallet in ever sip I had but lime was too evident half way through my drink.

 

Starters:

Let me write about Jamaican Jerk Chicken before I move to anything else because this is my favorite dish every time I come here. I just can resist starter and I always make sure that I have this more than one.

Crispy Fried Anchovy is to be had with Tarmint sauce but I enjoyed the dish with Curried Mayonnaise also. This love the crispy batter and this was a great dish to start my visit here.

Mai Thai Prawns was also a very good but it required chilly and lemon glazing for me. This is not the way I liked to have my prawns always as the actually taste disappears in the glazing

Basa Peri Peri was yum with the green chutney. If you’re a beer drinker then just glaze this dish with some chilly and just chow down.

Mutton Galawati was well cooked, which went well with green chutney and Aioli dip

Maryland Card cake was just what the pirate order under the sea. I personally loved this but it is on the heavier side, due to which I could have only one.

The Crumb Fried Squid is personally not my favorite, it did tasted well with the recommended Aioli dip.

From the Live counter

 

From the Live counter

Soup:

Seafood Laksa was indeed what a very tasty soup that actually got me cleared my pallet with the delicacies of the sea. I love the taste and the way all the ingredients bended with each other.

Main course:

Prawn Biriyani tasted better with the Managalorean Carb Curry and I choose to have only this much for my main course, as I had already set my eyes on the desserts.

Dessert:

The small round Gulab Jamoon was well prepared with the right amount of sweet, I love the combination of vanilla ice cream with jamoon but this time I tried it with fig n honey ice cream, this combination was a different taste to encounter once in a while.

We all raised our glasses of Tender Coconut Payasam to the starting of the desserts.

 The death by chocolate pastry and blue sea cheesecake stole my taste bugs in the dessert section.

We also had the chocolate strawberry tart, mango mousse and come water melon from Fruit basket.

We then had the famous pan masala kulfi to end the perfect filling dinner.

I thank Barbeque Nation for inviting me to enjoy 'Treasures of Sea' festival.