This post should have came earlier on Thursday, but since it was such an eventful Thursday that I was in too much high.
If fate is anything to be believed, then the past 3 days have shown that I am very fated with my past, thus, the past had relentlessly pursued me to trigger the nostalgia in me.
More of that later.
I need to get this and many more things out of the way!
***
The Wednesday on the 21st October was one we managed to pull through with bated breath. It was an event that the team did a majorly magnificent job, and received quite a bit of positive feedback (depends who you are, really).
We reached early that day to help with the set-up and mall deployment, and as the time drew near, we kept our fingers crossed at all times, unaware what was the response gonna be.
And of course, doing things like sorting out the queue sequence cards, and making sure everything was in order.
After briefing and all, we took our positions.
Brandon (my frequent life-saver), Jess and me!
We squealed excitedly when we saw the queue was forming around the mall early in the evening:
It certainly calmed the nerves by a huge degree.
The queue was served with coffee, and the crowd was patient, ruly, and participative.
And they were mostly nice and kind! That made the job easier 
I received a call earlier from Eileen that Wendy and Adrian were there queueing at number 21, which means they were there at almost 5+pm.
But the cute duo had mistook the timing to be 7pm, and didn’t know it was a long way. They were tempted to leave but with the queue behind and since they had boarded the “pirate ship” they hung on ALL the way till midnight!
Way to go man
The patient wife could go around picking up bargain, and it was a shame they didn’t manage to get the notebook they had wanted during the auction.
Mr Poh also dropped by to give moral support, and it was nice to see him since he had moved on to start out on his own.
The press was amazing to turn up at close to midnight just to attend the media launch. All in all, we had the best help, and best support.
Not to mention the best team, and a very competent Dawn, an impressive Ian Tan, and a team-wower – Hanson Yap.
And various people who were involved to get things in order.
Mr Hanson Yap, we will miss you!
Windows 7 had garnered record sales in the 1st 3 days of launch, outselling the Vista when it was first launch, almost 7 to one (as reported in the papers), and the momentum was followed through with the immense PR effort, and the team’s fabulous event. Of course, it wouldn’t have happened if not for itself being a much stronger, consumer-friendly, quality product that had gathered pretty much decent fan-fare.
The journey to midnight was a long one, and going by the time differences and all, it could well be that we were the world’s first to launch Windows 7.
By then, it was so tiring that, Hanson was all drained, draping over the chair, dripping with exhaustion.
I was still whoring my products.
Yes, Apple is my friend, too
The big moment finally arrived, and our first customers were received by blinding flashes and plenty of attention beyond belief.
You probably seen them gracing the front pages of broadsheets, on major news and soon, they will be gracing some of our homes as we were all given one framed article of the launch as a memento for the success.
The back of the queue had to wait further for the transactions, and some of them only finally got their copy after 1am.
I wanna thank all their incredible patience.
And we have a sleeping baby who did not fuss, a heavily pregnant lady who was eventually given priority and an elderly Caucasian in the queue.
Ian and I met the elderly Caucasian as we were carrying some boxes, and a small conversation was struck up.
I like that man. He walked with a hunch and a slow gait that will naturally make you feel for him, and he was dressed in pants, shirt and a formal jacket that made him seemingly out of place together with his age.
When he was in the queue, I was pretty much worried about him and if he could take the wait. He was occupied by a book in hand, and thankfully, was not at the back of the queue, so he didn’t have to wait for another hour or so.
He mentioned in his visible fatigue how his children had wanted to get a copy for him anyway, but since he was in the area, he might as well drop by. It is just queueing and waiting, and no big deal. He casually said this would also show his children how to be frugal.
The man left a very deep impression on me as he spoke. He went off saying matter-of-factly how the team did a great job, and it was a good event.
The man wasn’t overly friendly, and yet there was just some warmth in his voice, that… well, I have no description for that.
***
Tsk! I wish I could get a copy at $77 too!
And now I am kicking myself for not getting the external harddrive 320GB at $77!
Finally, it was time to pack up head for supper with the rest.
And Mr Ian Tan gave a show of public indecency as he changed out of his shirt.
Weet-u-weet!
I was scared stiff when it was past 2am in the morning when my boss gave me a lift to the west. Because he had threatened me with an one-on-one meeting session when our brains were hardly working.
Relieving-ly, it was just a bad joke. -Gulp-
***
The Wednesday that just passed was one that was hilarious.
I went for a free trial class for pole-dancing, and had asked Jiali to join me to spare me the embarrassment.
Before you start to think way off the tracks, let me assure you that it is nothing glamourous, nor dirtttyyy.
When I reached there, the girls were all prim and proper, and a mum even brought her 2 young kids (a boy and a girl) along.
Before our class commenced, there were a group of 10, with majority of them being guys, and a chap was even wearing corporate shirt and pants (like, seriously?!).
Apparently a company was having some team bonding thingy and I am quite sure it was a female’s idea. But the chaps had some real fun and it would be something I would suggest for team building to ANYONE next time round. Everyone being silly and have a good laugh, now, that WAS something!
Ming was really cool and a pretty good coach, though it was just too many people at the trial for anyone to have a good grasp of it.
In the short 45 minutes, there were 3 rounds of rotations for warm ups and for individuals to try their hands on 2 spins.
And to illustrate how it wasn’t that difficult, almost everyone could do the spins at the end of it.
The funniest part was when I tried to wrap my legs around the pole, and I kneed it instead.
I have this massive bruise on the knee, and you thought that was it.
It was more of an uphill task for me cos my sweaty palm was giving me quite a bit of problems.
When I did a slide, it was too wet, and I literally slid from the pole like those cartoon character slipping off the tree after they had ran into it.
And I landed on my knee.
Talk about real grace. Hahahaha!
Then, when the sweat dried up, it was too sticky!
There was this part when I spin, I ended up being in that position like stuck on the pole, instead of a graceful, gradual, sexy slide down the pole.
Jiali was late, so she only managed to see the ending where I also kicked the pole which caused a big swollen bruise on the ankle.
Besides me, I think everyone walked away pretty unscathed.
I think I needed a companion which was probably the wisest choice cos it was only when Jiali was here that I could be less sheepish and go all out and had fun.
There was this girl there who is beautiful, and incredibly graceful.
Jiali was pretty excited after seeing the fun we had and how Ming had spun without using hands or legs, sometimes, and she said, “let’s do it!“.
I laughed at the spontaneity and gamely set myself up for more aches and bruises to come!
***
Jiali and I caught up at Millenia’s Walk Bakerzin after the class, and it was a long, long catch up session since we hadn’t seen each other in months.
Dinner was good and topic was good, as we reminisced the past 12 years and the common people we know.
It was the same Bakerzin I saw Quanbin and Yaocheng last night.
Somehow my phone will go into twilight zone at some places in the area, like Suntec’s Coffee Bean which me and my colleague experienced the same thing, and Millenia Walk’s Bakerzin.
If I get out of the zones by walking a few steps away, the phone will return to its normalcy, and stop its act of shutting down and restarting, which totally crippled its usability.
Strange.
We extended the chat even till way after the eatery’s closing, and she disclosed her desire to further her studies, perhaps in the States.
We both left when it was 11 plus, and on the journey home, an ambulance was seen just at the junction before turning to my place.
A badly mangled Honda RVF was lying on the ground, and a bus was stopped after the junction, with the driver standing there taking pictures of the barely damaged right front of the bus 157.
The injured rider (I would assume he was injured since the bike was so badly smashed) was nowhere to be seen, and I remember tweeting about it and hoping the rider would be alright.
Saw the board appealing for witnesses for the accident yesterday, and it says “Fatal accident”, and a sinking feeling was in the heart, cos I believe that would mean the rider had not make it.
Apparently, he had died on the spot. 
He was 21 and he had a pillion with him, who was his campmate, who is now seriously injured.
They were rushing back to camp and eye witness accounted that he was rolling towards the red light, and accelerated when the light went green, and the bus which was turning right, hit him.
Shubin was 21 too when he left. It was one junction down from where this had happened, and it is just devastating to another young life lost just like this.
Condolences to the family of the boy, and hopefully his friend will pull through this.
