IT'S JUST after 9am and there are already people waiting patiently outside the PC Show.
The show, held at Suntec Convention Center, only opens at noon, nearly three hours after this picture was taken.
Waiting for the best deals at the Singapore PC Show.
PICTURE: Chua Hian Hou
While this is clearly overkill, it does bring up a good point: When is the best time to go to Singapore's four annual tech bazaars, if you want to actually shop rather than shove or get shoved by sweaty geeks?
On Thursdays and Fridays, typically the first two days for such shows, the showfloor is noticeably less quieter if you go between two, when the office crowd return to their cubicles, and before five thirty, the time early birds clock out.
On weekends, there is really no good time, period.
Expect crowds from the opening bell until the "show will be closing" announcements.
For weekends, it might actually be good to go during lunch, in the hope that some of the crowd might actually feel physical hunger pangs over the more primal new-toy-must-buy urges.
If you know it's going to be bad, some advance preparation can help.
The layout of the showfloor is usually available, and if you can narrow down the shops you want to hit, it can pay to plan out your route in advance, to avoid backtracking in a six-deep crowd.
This has worked for me in the past, although I must admit that I've avoided going to such events on weekends.
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