No one gave a morning call. Surprise surprise.
Usually, someone would make a call to check if we have woken up or not. Well, not today, for one reason or another.
But we woke up on time anyway!
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Present day:
Mother: What is "Apple"?
Child: It is a fruit.
In future:
Mother: What is "Apple"?
Child: It is an American multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing consumer electronics and closely related software products.
Mother: ...Wow~
I supposed the above would have given readers clues to say today is "Apple Inc. Visiting Day"!
We are having a trip down to Apple Inc.'s world corporate headquarter, located in the middle of Silicon Valley, at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. We reached our destination earlier than what we had expected- there were a few more minutes left to 10am.
While waiting, Benjamin, who would be giving us a presentation about Apple Inc., unfortunately got into a little accident and he called to say he would be 45 minutes late. To make full use of the time, there was a minor change in plan. We decided to head towards the Apple Retail Store for some products and accessories. For Apple fans, that would have been much of a paradise. Apple products everywhere, from pencils to mugs to shirts to softwares to iPod to... There are just too many things to look at and just too many things that would make an Apple user's heart beat with excitement. Even for non-Apple users, they were awed by the cool technologies and accessories that they ended up getting some products from the shop itself. (Oh, you should look at their happy faces when they did their purchase. The feel of satisfaction! The products are worth the amount they paid for! Time to show off the cool Apple products to friends! Woohoo!)
After which, we attend the presentation.
Benjamin, a Singaporean working for Apple Inc., gave us a brief, and informal, insight about Apple Inc.. "Create innovation in the 21st century" is Apple Inc.'s policy. We learnt that they are trying to nurture leadership in info-technology. Also, they are trying to have the "1-to-1" which means each student having one computer/laptop in their journey of education. This is to allow students to have the chance to use technology. At the same time, it is to allow the teachers to think about how they can use technology in their class to bring across more enjoyable lessons. ("Teach how to analysis rather than just teaching it.") Then, Benjamin shared with us some of his past experiences about his jobs and about the products. Before the presentation, Benjamin could not start up the projector, which we had to view his slides in a little cinematic iMac screen. When the projector was finally working, Benjamin had already gone through most of the slides. It was really funny. Talk about "It's better to be late than never". The presentation was really interesting- hearing stories from someone who works for Apple and coincidentally, is a Singaporean . Anyone motivated to work for Apple in future? Anyone?
(And the super comfy office chairs we sat on added bonus to the presentation.)
We were late!!! A stop at the fastfood provide us with a quick lunch!
Some people ate at Subway's. Some ate at In-n-Out Burger. For us, we went to In-n-Out Burger. (We can find Subway in Singapore. Let's try others.) I got a Double Double, which is just a double cheeseburger. It was delicious. The patty was juicy! And there was a lot of cheese. Yummy~ I didn't have the chance to take a picture of the burger for my hunger consumed the fact that a picture should be taken to show the yummy-ness of the burger. (Licks lips)
Next stop, Plug and Play Tech Centre! Plug and Play is a company that has over 150 startups working closely with one another and build great companies from ideas and dreams. They also provide value added service that help turn people's dream into reality by helping them start up new companies in relationship to other companies that are overseas. In summary, the company provides funding, provides university programs and services, has international relationships and hold events and also strategic partnerships. Jub,the cool guy, and Berlinda,the pretty lady, told us more about the company on what they do, what they have done, and what they are planning to do while they bring us on a tour around the company. A small area in the office with a door marks a "company". It definitely gave new companies a chance to have their own workspace/office to do their work until they can be independent. We saw flags and banners with the name of the company hanging around the area. We also saw two masks: "Hmmm, we are thinking about something big..." Then, we met a Singaporean who works in a company named Kiyari, who is being helped by Plug and Play. He told us that there are actually a number of Singaporeans who approached Plug and Play before to help them with their new company. How cool! I wish to have a company of my own too!
Visiting to the company is over. Time for sightseeing! (Cheers) We went up the Twin Peak in the coach.
The air in the bus started getting colder as we went up the mountain. After that, we see fog outside the window panels. FOG! It is not often that we get to see thick, white fog in Singapore. But we get to see it now. It is definitely unique sight to us. Nearing the top, we had to get off the bus. The air was C-O-L-D. It could be compared to the cold environment we experienced at the Golden Gate Bridge. Hugging our jackets, we looked down the hill. What we saw took our breath away! The view was just too beautiful to describe in words. We get to see the whole town, the sea, the hills at the other side of the town, the fog, the blue sky and the wild birds gliding through the air. It just looked as if we were staring at a piece of painting. To get a better view, and to get to the really top of the hill, we had to climb some stairs. It was no easy job. The wind blew hard at us, tempting us to get back to the bus instead of going to the top. However, we carried on. The effort did paid off, for we got a even better view! And we could felt even colder air! And there was this sense of satisfaction! And... It was time to get back down. Back to the bus for some warmer air! And did I mention, Mr. Patrice did not bring his jacket out today? But he climbed to the top in his polo shirt and this fact is worth mentioning! (Of course, he dashed down and back to the bus soon after.
On our way to Lombard Street, we passed by a town named Castro where some people have rainbow flags hanging outside their house. This is to tell others that either the couple staying in the house is homosexual, or that the household supports love between homosexual. Curiosity got the better of us as we looked out of the window and we so happened to see two men holding hands and walking on the street. A pair of homosexual couple. Let's just give them our blessings for they have found their love.
We were told that in the past, many tourists visits Lombard Street and the residents did not like the ruckus made by the vehicles and coaches. Hence, there is a ban to say that coaches can only bring tourists to the foot of the hill and that for the rest of the street, they had to carry on on foot. We had no exceptions and we too, left the bus and walked up the very steep road. It felt as though I am climbing Bt. Timah Hill, but a lot more chillier. As we walked upwards, we see houses that look so cute and beautiful houses. The air smelt clean and the flowers, blue, purple and white, were in bloom. Upon reaching near the end, most people would stop to have a picture taken. Of cos, so did we!
We had to walk down the hill to get to our bus for the next destination. It was so much easier walking down as we are walking towards gravity. Physics rule applies.
Since we are near to the Cheesecake Factory, we decided to drop by the place to get some really delicious cheesecakes. There were so many types of cheesecakes to make our mouths water. (Drools) We had to queue for the cakes. Therefore, one can imagine the number of customers there.
We went to Powell Hyde to take the cable car. Unlike the cable cars we see moving in the air, the cable cars here refers to miniature trains that works on cables, carrying people from one place to another. We paid USD$5 to get a ride on it. It was fun! We went up and down the hills while seeing the "driver" pull the handle to activate the cable car or stop it. We saw cars that are parked on the steep slope and that made me wonder if that is dangerous or not. Anyway, some of us had more fun by standing outside the car and holding on tightly to the bars while the cold wind blow straight at us. How exciting! The ride ended at Fisherman Wharf.
We took a short bus ride to the Fisherman Wharf and some of us went to the souvenirs stores. The shop keeper gave us 10% discount. How sweet of him. Mr. Patrice went in and bought a nice jacket. It was quite cheap and lovely and it is reversible.
Last stop, at a Chinese restaurant. They served the food really quickly and the food was really good. The standard could be compared to what we had yesterday. With a full stomach, we had to make our way back to the Motel. Have to pack our luggage, for tomorrow, we are checking out.
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Regards,
Jacqueline Chai,
Ngee Ann Polytechnic
