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Dinners...quaint. Parties...nice. But on Sunday, a few from Alive Not Dead needed a little pick me up. Something to remind us that we need to be open to try new things, to take a few risks and to always wear a seat belt. So some of the crew headed out to the Beijing Goldenport International Circuit (motto: non-Olympic sports venues get the financial shaft) to watch the Porsche Carrera Cup. This was no small feat considering that almost no one in Beijing, including taxi drivers, know the race track even exists. That's why I went out early on the bus with the team.

Meet Yuey Tan, probably the fastest man on AnD.



At least when he's behind the wheel of his Winmobilize McElrea Racing Team Porsche Carrera.





With 28 teams in 28 Carreras, there was bound to be plenty to photography around the track. Not to mention the latest Porsche models and a museum worth of cars on site too. The track facilities may not be that great (understated), but Porsche went all out to spruce up the joint with beautiful cars.






Old school


New school




The look on this guy's face was priceless, but what was he admiring.


Of course, what's a race without some lovely ladies?





Yuey is essentially wearing a shirt that runs cold water through it during the first four laps. After that, it's hot like everything else in the car, but he assured me that it made a big difference to be cool those first few laps out of the 25 total.


Yuey suited up with friend and rival, Rodolfo Avila of Team Jebsen




Ola tried to show him a few wushu moves.


Widening the track


Go time






At the end of the morning race, team StarChase was in the lead.


Back to the garage to prep for the afternoon race.


Evaluating the performance with Big Andy, the team manager.


Meanwhile, Ola found the podium and felt right at home.


During the break, these two guys did some insane stuff on their bikes. I wonder if they could have out raced the Porsches? Note the dilapidated state of the sign, a fair indicator for the entire place.


After lunch, it was race time again.


Cars getting into position for the warm up lap.




Meanwhile, I discovered the largely unused portable Porsche toilets which were much nicer than the permanent ones, though farther away from the stands.


A pee with a view of the race track. Go figure.


Christian Menzel of Team StarChase kept his lead to the end of the second race. He's in Class A while our man Yuey races in Class B. Yuey got squeezed out of third place in his class on the last lap. Not bad considering he was suffering from the flu.


The press and fans capturing the moment, or the models behind the race drivers.


The race was over, but the adrenalin was just getting started. These lucky few were going on the taxi rides of their lives.


We all decided to go with the ninja look. No one pulled it off better than this. I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful mouth fully covered before.


First up, with no trepidation. Okay, almost no trepidation.


Chillin'


How to hitch a ride with a race driver




The anticipation was eating him.


Admiring the helmet artwork.


Patrick gives in to his shirt and decides to go for two laps with Yuey.





It was a hot day at the races, but we all had a blast. Everyone enjoyed the ride but I personally do not feel the need to ever climb into one of those cars again. I'll stick with the street models, thank you very much. Although, I hear they run the race at night in Singapore, so that must be cool to experience. Maybe I'll have to get down there in September.
 
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After arriving home hot, tired and hungry, I collapsed on the sofa. With a twinkle in her eye, Reina found my ninja race hood. Uh oh.

Here's a few pics from the Alive Not Dead 3rd Anniversary Party, Saturday night in Beijing. By the time we showed up, Vics was already full and more people kept on arriving. Here's what the scene was like on the outside.




Part of the Beijing Gang!



Inside, Wudi was in his element. As for me, the place was so loud that I couldn't hear myself think, let alone anyone standing next to me. More importantly, the next day I had an early morning shoot to get to, so, as usual, I was the first to leave the party that reportedly went on until 6 the next morning. But duty called.


Things that make you go vroooooom!

It was not the ordinary way I expected to find a venue for an Alive Not Dead dinner party in Beijing. The directions were clear enough, but could there really be a restaurant down these menacing alleyways? I checked the date, it was not April Fools' Day.


"Hey kid, ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" Creepy


Still creepy


Could this be the place?



And there was Loan Trinh. Whew, at least I knew I would be safe while we waited. Her wushu skills are much better than mine. Of course, anyone who has practiced one day has better wushu skills than I do. Meanwhile, everyone else was late.


Little by little, the gang showed up.





Even the ones from Hong Kong who had a flight delay.



All in all, it was a nice way to get the AND anniversary celebrations started. Stay tuned....