Celebrity Spotting

Monaco.. a Celebrity hang-out..

Are you like the thousands of us out there who hope to catch a glimpse of some famous people while on vacation in a foreign land?
Of course being an avid traveller, I've done my fair share of celebrity spotting. Though I never got the chance to spot someone really famous. How do you know where to go to get a slice of star actions? Here are a few suggestions:

• Hit the latest Film Festival.

It is a place where you'll have to squeeze to thousands of others. And I had my own horrible experience of being molested in the crowd but it was great excitement to experience how sardines feel like in a can! Usually the areas where the celebrities will step foot on the red carpet is cordoned off and the security is really tight. But not only do you get to see celebrities dressed up and looking glamourous, you will catch loads of good looking people around too. Most of these pretty faces loiter around film fests hoping to be spotted and be the next BIG thing!
I have found a useful site that list some of the film festivals online. Here it is!

• Visit famous cities

Well.. don't you know the few cities that celebrities are bound to visit or even live in? Paris, New York, Los Angeles, London, Monte Carlo.. You can ask your tour guide for some advice on which cafe or restaurant do most celebrities dine at. Or simply google on the net for information! But be prepared, you have to pay celebrity prices for your coffee too!

• Queue to get your book signed

This can be really boring unless you are a friend of the author or Harry Potter is your hero. Long hours of queueing in line just to say Hi to JK Rowling for a split second. But hey, at least you get to come really close to her. Maybe even snap her picture too. Who says celebrity spotting is easy?

All right have your fun trying to be star dazzled!

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

Why would I pay GBP10,000 to crew on a sailing boat? Many times, when I was asked this question, I lied, so that I don't have to explain myself. Hopefully none of my future bosses read this because I'm going to lie again at the job interviews in the future. 'Expand my horizons', I might say.

For me, it's because I had been thinking about my life, I was ready to change. I'm bored. Simple as that. I might be a little crazy too. And I get to shout at fellow crew who may be company directors, high fliers and so on. I get a secret 'feel-good' rush when the company director type screws up the directions given by the skipper. Life on a racing sailboat is a great leveller.

It is also without many creature comforts. There's no seat on the toilet because too many people had messed it up without cleaning up after themselves. So the skipper threw out the seat. The fun is in feeling the power of the wind and waves. Too little power and the boat slows to a crawl. Too much power and the boat lurches over precariously while we hang on for our lives. The boat and crew are at nature's mercy. Life becomes a simple routine. Every skipper runs his boat differently, but mostly, the crew would be broken up into teams called watches. Each watch works for 4 hours, rests for 4 hours. The system runs 24 by 7. There are no weekends or public holidays. You wake, you eat, you shit and hope that it's not raining when your watch comes on.

Life is uncomplicated. Life is good.

Guest Author: Miao Chuin Boo, part of the Uniquely Singapore crew in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Want to know more about the Race, check out this link. For the Race main site, click here.