Random Ramblings of David ♥ Gladys: 06/01/2008

OK. Maybe most people are not as excited as I am. Probably only those hardcore Apple fans will share the kind of excitement (though I must admit that I'm not really a hardcore Apple fan, BUT when I have the money, I will probably be an Apple customer of many of their products). But hey! It's really quite exciting when you're in the group man. And the atmosphere they created. Really good.

I arrived at the Apple Store at about 3:15pm, hoping that there won't be too many people there (not like if it were in Singapore, for 2,500 pieces? You'll probably have to start queueing at 12pm latest). It didn't look half as bad as I thought:

A turn at the corner though, proved that the first impression was deceiving. They had "sections" of queues, fenced in. Following the queue down to the next street, and taking another turn, I saw yet another long section.

I asked one of the security guards where's the end of the queue and he told me further down, gotta cross the street. So I went down to the traffic light, and there was another section across the street! Luckily, there were just a few people in that section, and so I've reached the end of the queue!

That's my view from the end of the queue in the section:

And the view across the road to the other section:

Me taking a photo of myself in the queue. Two people have joined the queue behind me...

And turning around:

A closer look at where the turning point after the section. For those of you who might recognise this road, it's York Street, one street away from George Street, where the Apple Store is at. Basically, the Apple store is at the corner of George Street and King Street. So the queue went around the corner along King Street down to this corner of King Street and York Street, went down a bit till the traffic light, and continued across the traffic light (which was where I started in the queue).

I actually thought there must have been almost 700 to 800 people queueing up already, but I overheard people saying that the point I was at was about 400. So I was actually in the first 500.

After some time, more people joined the queue and that's what the back looked like from my position.

At about 4pm, there was this mobile cafe van that stopped near us and gave out some free coffee. A guy in my section jumped out and helped us got some coffee. He went a few rounds, and I also got one!

Yup, the security guard is friendly enough to help distribute coffee:

Oh! And the Melbourne guy was telling people that the first few people in the queue are actually Californians! He actually went to ask them. The people here are just much more friendly, and can just talk to each other in the queue. In fact, the security guards were joking with us.

At about 4:30pm, the employees started coming out and ran down the queue, shouting, hi-five-ing people, bringing up the atmosphere.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of people taking photos. Haha :

At about 4:45pm, the line started moving!

The new view from the new position. Haha. But it was only for a short while. Then we had to wait, and move on, and wait, and move on.

After some time, some people from Nudies (a drink company, people...) started giving out free Nudies! According to Gladys, it's really expensive. About 3+ a bottle? It's pure juice, with no additives or preservatives. Of course, I got a bottle!

At about 5:10pm, we finally reached the turning point at York Street:

Before we know it, the corner of the store!! Woohoo!!!

There were a lot of people in the store already, just looking down at us.

A group of employees formed the welcome party at the entrance, high-five-ing people, cheering, and giving out the T-shirts.

Looking at the poor people outside...

A view of the first storey, where it's all the iMacs, Macbooks etc.

Trying to take a pic of myself

Going up the stairs to the second floor. As can be seen, ladies, please do not wear skirts to Apple Retail Store in Sydney (guys shouldn't too).

The second storey which houses iPod stuff!

Me again, under the Apple logo. An Apple employee offered to help me take the photo.

The Apple logo viewed from inside the store. Reverse Apple?

View of the entrance from the second storey. People are still making their way in. In fact,

This is a rather new product that I haven't seen before in real life, only heard about it, until today, the Apple TV. Seeing it in "action" is rather cool. It's sort of a streaming media server to play photos, movies, videos etc on the TV.

Level 3 hosts the Genius Bar, where people can get help from the employees, and where workshops etc are held.

A look at how slim the new iPod Touch is! I'm so tempted to get one, but of course, my wallet tells me that I can't. Haha. Anyone wants to give me one for my birthday?

That was just some of the photos I took, and I even took some videos. So if anyone of you are interested to see more photos etc, let me know when I'm back in Singapore and I'll show you slowly, telling you more. Haha.

And to end off this post, I MUST show the kind of extreme some people will go to show their love for Apple, or maybe just to attract attention.

According to Gladys, that's a Mankini he's wearing...

The Apple Retail Store in Sydney is going to open on 19th June, 5pm Sydney time (3pm Singapore time), and it's quite a big thing here because it's the first Apple retail store in the Southern hemisphere, and it's quite a big outlet. I'm going for the opening! And hopefully get their limited edition T-shirt (for the first 2,500 people only). Today I went past the retail store, and got a preview of the store! Previously, they covered everything up, but seems to have unveiled it today. There were people in the store checking this and that, probably preparing for the big day this Thursday.

And to make you guys jealous... Here's a preview! I must be the first few people to post such photos. Hehe. Quite a number of people stopped by and awed at the store, took photos etc too.