LET me first declare: I finally have my own iPhone!
But not before having to queue for more than four hours.
I rushed down after work to arrive at SingTel's Comcentre at about 10.56pm. In just over an hour, SingTel was to launch Apple's iPhone 3G, making its official debut appearance here. There were already "hundreds" in the queue, which started to build at about 10pm, a SingTel spokeswoman told me.
Many in line were in bermudas and t-shirts, with a sporadic few still in office wear.
As I took my place in the queue - which began opposite the row of Kiliney shops - staff checked if I have the requisite documents - a notification and a registration slip. They also handed me a bottle of water and a fan - two greatly appreciated accessories on the warm and humid night.
Just as I settled down, 61-year-old Mdm Kaur, together with her daughter and son, and son's girlfriend, joined the line behind me.
I look around and decided that she had to be the oldest in the queue.
I turned and asked politely if she was just accompanying her children to get the iPhone.
"I'm getting one too," the bespectacled lady said and smiled as she watched for my reaction. The reason: The buttons on her current Sony Ericsson phone are too small and she was hoping the iPhone's touch-screen buttons would be much larger.
Having never held an iPhone before, it's something of a leap of faith for Madam Kaur. The queuing time proved a further test of patience as she is still recovering from cancer and tires easily.
Eight minutes prior to launch and staff reappear to hand out cans of coffee and snacks. Someone in the crowd joked that food is being dished to "keep us from rioting". Madam Kaur's son remarked that crowd is remarkably civil - a far cry from 2000's ugly Hello Kitty queues.
Taxis by the roadside also make a beeline.
The civility ensues even as the timer starts to countdown. 10, 9, 8.... I turned around only to observe an oddly muted crowd with their eyes fixed on the screen broadcasting pyrotechnics bursting from the main stage area. Nothing happened as the timer hit zero; no one leapt into the air; no one even made any exclamations.
The crowd watched as the first man in line, Joel Pan, emerged beaming and carrying two paper bags with an iPhone in each.
Just one-and-a-half hours later, I made it into the first queue "segment" - which held about 50 people. Inside the SingTel glass cube, which mimics Apple's 5th Avenue store in New York, 50 registration counters were busy processing and cashing in on the purchases.
Cash registers go "ka-ching" inside the two-storey glass cube as people fork out up to $800 for an iPhone 3G.
Photos: Derrick Ho
It's another 45 minutes - 2.23am - when I am finally ushered into the hallowed glass structure. I choose the 16GB black model and go for the iFlexi Value plan. 20 minutes of paper work later, the customer service officer hands the coveted property over. Like everybody else, I just smile quietly.
On the way out, I caught Madam Kaur sitting outside the glass cube. Her children were inside paying for the phones. Smiling weakly, she said: "My legs just can't take it anymore."
Still, she'd persevered to the last and, iPhone in hand, I saluted her.