Aug 10 2008, 12:10 AM, updated 18y ago
Together we made it (you see we did it niggas)
We made it even though we had our backs
Up against the wall (come on)
Forever we waited (ah hah)
And they told us we were never gonna get it
But we took it on the road (To the riches)
on the road (To the ghetto)
on the road (In the projects, to this bangin' instrumental)
on the road (Rise with me)
on the road (Come and get it)
on the road
We made it even though we had our backs
Up against the wall (come on)
Forever we waited (ah hah)
And they told us we were never gonna get it
But we took it on the road (To the riches)
on the road (To the ghetto)
on the road (In the projects, to this bangin' instrumental)
on the road (Rise with me)
on the road (Come and get it)
on the road
WE MADE IT! Even though we had our backs up against the wall,...and they told us we were never gonna get it all....
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Welcome to another edition of the never-ending saga of the NZ iPhones. I just got back from Auckland, after all the cloack-and-dagger and smokescreen being put out(read my last sig), to sway the "malicious parties" from further spoiling the already compromised Tumpang thread. The mission is a partial success, I shall come to that later.
Let's start from the beginning. After the disastrous start, thanks to the "jealous and malicious forces", mainly associated with this 2-million-dollar-sales arsehole, and the resultant removal of the Tumpang thread, relegated by the ever-so-"hardworking" Powers-That-Be here, the Tumpang effort were mainly circulated among PMs in here, as well as phone calls and SMSes and IM message exchanges. Just to reiterate, I have done 2 previous Tumpangs, one from NYC and another from Osaka, with no disturbance, nor a peep from the Powers-That-Be around here, including the very same iPhone-related Tumpang from NYC. Why this NZ Tumpang drew the jealousy from the sellers here and biased judgment from the "governing body" around here, God only knows, but I can venture a guess. My Tumpang was probably either undercutting these cutthroat folks with their cutthroat prices, so much that it jeopardizes their cutthroat sales of their own iPhone 3Gs. How much more cutthroat , you ask? RM2,780 against RM4,200 and up to RM5,500 even! Now it is not so weird to see why it happened eh? As for the moderators and the governing body around here, to keep things short, I am already branded a villain by you lot, even before a single post was typed in here, thanks to the nature of these folks only listening to select fews and not wanting to approach the affect parties to get a more balanced view, in this case, the general populace's perspective of me. It also didnt help that those that I have loudly criticised around here are also those who later grew up into holding the moderator status, hence spreading the already skewed view of me, and that view and word, is taken as Gospel. How do I gather these intels? Safe to say that, even in a corrupted body of governance, there are those who chose to remain partial and dont hold the same views as these already "biased" people of power. Sad really, since as a common forum member, we all hold these people as the shining beacon of hope and an exemplary of balanced governance, and unbiased discretions. Anyone see the analogy here, with what's going on in the country right now? Let your eyes be open of this, and let the words of Guy Fawkes be spoken loudly in this case, in which he utters:-
QUOTE
People should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of the people.
I leave it to you to ponder those words and draw the analogy from which, of who I refer for "people" and "government" here.
That said, let's move on to the Tumpang efforts. The date was set on 7th of August, the destination Auckland, New Zealand. Why NZ iPhones? Because they are fully unlocked.Upon arrival into Auckland International and to the Citylife Hotel, I was met with the ever-so-helpful Psyeo, and we went head-first with our mission. Beforehand, I have made phonecalls once I arrived into Auckland to check on the stock levels, and they are not encouraging. From previous efforts, I could still rely on non-Vodafone stores like First Mobile to get my stocks, but now looks like the game have changes. Thanks to a slip-up by an employee at First Mobile, this reported by Cocklea, a sum of SIX iPhone 3G was sold outright to a Mainland Chinese buyer. This of course triggers bells and alarms inside Vodafone NZ and investigations by them have shown unusual amount of foreign interest in their iPhones particularly from foreign buyers. The end result? First Mobile, and even most probably other Vodafone Retail partners have tightened up the rules of purchase, and restricted them to ONE per customer, for iPhones bought outright without contract! My mission just got from hard to Mission: Impossible!
Nevertheless, we never let that fact disheartened us, and soldiered on. The fist two units are already secured from Cocklea, but down from EIGHT to just TWO, all thanks to that previous fiasco with that Mainland Chinese vendor. The Vodafone store at the entrance of the hotel had SIX units, all 16GB White. I managed to drag myself, Psyeo and my fellow colleague(co-pilot, not the Captains) to each get one, therefore totalling THREE. Psyeo offered help by asking his younger brother, also in the same University he's studying, to get another unit, but that only will happen at 1330, once his class finishes. While waiting, me and Psyeo catched up on the current events, and our plan of attack. 1330 rolled by and together with Psyeo's brother (bless his heart for helping me!), we went to the Vodafone store at Citylife Hotel to get another unit. Guess what? SOLD OUT!
Time to explore other possiblities. Luck was finally on our side, when I managed to get hold of Vodafone in Lynnmall, New Lynn. Remember, all other First Mobiles, our other options, are either pressured to push contracts on us before they agree to sell one, or had long waiting lists, like the one in the same store Psyeo went to get his own iPhone and mine. Vodafone Lynnmall have SIX units, all BLACK!
Without thinking further, we rushed to Lynnmall. If you care to look at the map in Vodafone.co.nz, you'd see how far this mall is from Vodafone Queen Street, which is basically where I stayed at. Taxicab ride results in cabfare of equivalent to RM100 alone, but we had to do it because of fear of stocks being raided by others before we get there. It is a race against time here , people!
Arriving to Lynnmall and founding the store, we managed to grab all SIX of the units, but not without further sleuthing and more hurdles in our way. The first employee there, a Maori, refuses to sell more than ONE per person, and there are three of us, which makes it possible to get all SIX. After deliberation with another employer there, we managed to get TWO each, coming to a grand total of SIX, and SELLING OUT the store itself!
By this time, it is already 1530, and stores in Auckland would be closed by 1700. Not wanting to give up, I managed to get through to Miselle of First Mobile in Westgate, the same First Mobile branch that I get my own iPhone 3G from (with help of a colleague and Psyeo). I called earlier and were told that possible new stocks would be arriving on this day but after 1500. Being an eternal hopeful myself, I gave Miselle a call. Hope turns to despair as Miselle came back to me with the news that new stock refresh will only happen on Monday.
Dejected, we called off out search for the other iPhones. I was already dead tired, from not getting my rest, and already feeling bad for dragging poor Psyeo and his brother around, his brother not even had his lunch! We then convened to the food court there and grabbed the bus ride back to my hotel.
Done the maths yet? 11 iPhones , folks......all 16GB. I am really sorry for folks in my Tumpang list waiting for the 8GB, especially for friends who would be coming down from Sungai Petani, Kedah empty-handed. I am sorry bro, it is out of my hands.
To those with the 16GB in my list, feel free to contact me to arrange pickup of your "baby". Neekun and Zaakath have already picked their when they met me at the KLIA today, and I salute Harmeet15 for being there as well, I'm sorry Harmeet15 bro, I cant get a unit for you.
The journey was arduous, filled with many hurdles, barriers and sinister plans to thwart the outcome of this Tumpang. I was lucky I was not held by the customs in KLIA, in fact there were'nt any customs at all on the crew lane!
I end this first post to this new thread, with two things.
1. I would like to wish a big "fcuk you" to those who were thwarting the success of this Tumpang thread, particular the arsehole-with-two-million-sales who reported it. I flip "the middle finger" too to the moderators for their lack of vision, and discretion, and their eager willingness to hear only the bad about people, and not wanting to even give a chance for good things like this to happen. I still stand by my principle that my Tumpangs are not a sale, a bulk or a trade f any kind, it is just an avenue , a hand extended to help those who need my help to get items unavailable locally or at a reasonable rate. My passion to help was further rekindled by the fact that iPhone 3G sellers here are without regard or remorse to their fellow Malaysians, slaughter them with their ridiculous prices. May you rot in hell for your greedy ways!
2. I leave you with this analogy of a story akin to the movie Dogma. I leave all of you to your thoughts to intepret what I'm trying to convey here, no matter if you agree with me or not. Here it is:-
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
To the guys with their new iPhone 3Gs, I hope you enjoy it, and make full use of it. Please post your findings impressions, and discoveries here. To those waiting to pick up your "baby", please post when you are free here, for date/time and venue as well. To those wanting to still get the 8GB, I have a proposition for you. I can either refund you back your funds in its entirety, or you could still trust me with it, and I will try my best to get them myself either next week,if I get called out of my standby to do another Auckland flight, or next month, should I get another Auckland again. I leave it up to you, it is your choice.
Peace, out. I need to get some rest.........
This post has been edited by stringfellow: Aug 12 2008, 01:06 PM
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I understand how tired it could be..... although I couldn't get it on this trip, but will 
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