19-year-old Singaporean polytechnic student Ervin Liyu was the first in line at the opening of the Apple Marina Bay Sands store. However, he said that he was “too embarrassed” to call himself Singapore’s most loyal Apple fan.
According to Today Online, it was a sleepless night for Liyu before he left his Bukit Gombak home before daybreak on the day of the Apple store’s opening. He proceeded to wait outside the store from 6am—four hours before it was set to open.
Apple Marina Bay Sands is Singapore’s third Apple store. It’s also a one-of-a-kind orb “entirely surrounded by water”. Going inside the orb will give you a 360 degree panoramic view of Singapore, as well as the skyline.
Liyu—besides having bragging rights about being the first customer at the new store—visited the newly opened store to buy a sports band for his Apple Watch. He said that the new orb in water is “the most beautiful thing” he’s ever seen.
“Apple has always been at the head of the class in all aspects of design… The MBS store is an architectural marvel and the idea is truly brilliant,” said Liyu.
The student also the first customer at Apple’s Jewel Changi Airport shop when it opened in July last year. But when asked if he saw himself as Singapore’s most loyal Apple fan, Liyu said: “I am too embarrassed to call myself that.”
Apple’s new store launch last Thursday only let people in if they have appointments. They declined to reveal the number of customers who made appointments, but their website showed that all the time slots were taken for the day.
At 10am on the day, more than a dozen Apple employees performed a cheer before welcoming the waiting patrons in batches. A staff member accompanied each group. Visitors were told to confine their visit to about 15 minutes, but reporters did not see anyone being asked to leave the store for staying beyond the recommended period.
If you’re in Singapore and you’re interested in visiting the pretty orb, you won’t need to make appointments in advance anymore. There will be capacity limits to enable safe distancing, and opening hours are from noon to 8pm.
[ SOURCE, 2, IMAGE SOURCE ]
