When travelling, check your passport!

Here i thought i had it down to a pat - work was done and handed over, we had the first scene for the easter play scrubbed. I was good to go for Phuket.

But no. 8.30am in the morning, I dumbfoundedly answered my dad as he confidently asked me if I had 6 months to the date my passport expires, "April 2008, 3 months away". We all started screaming at once (okay, so i exaggerate).

That was 8.30am and i was due to fly off at 12.45pm, 4 hours 15 min before my flight. What do we do? Called the AirAs!a helpline, "no ma'am, it has to be 6 months validity". Erk!

Our faithful cab driver drove us to the immigration dept. at the old Subang airport, it was packed, and I mean packed with people.

The following series of events happened:

Person at the pick-up counter: "please proceed to counter 1"

Person at counter 1 is busy

Person at counter 2: "kenapa selalu macam ini ah? susah sangat you orang, saya tak tahu boleh tolong atau tidak - pegi jumpa officer dalam tu"

Officer-in-charge: *face is stoic, expressionless*

I was praying all the way in the taxi, but at this point, i was praying so hard you could probably hear my mind churning - dad and i must've held our breaths as we waited for what he'd say.

Then came the reply....

He looks at me and says, "Have you taken your photo yet? Filled out a form?"

I blink hard as i look at him and slowly shake my head, disbelieving. He says, "Go and do that, I'll help you with this."

Needless to say, my heart leaps for joy as dad and I dash of separately to fill in the renewal form, take my photo, make copies of my IC and make a payment.

9.50am, person at payment counter says, "Come back at 10.30am to pick up your passport, it should be done by then".

AirAs!a counters close 45min before flight time, which means we have to check in by 12noon, we'd need at least an hour travel time, which means I have to leave at 11.00am to get there. Should be enough time.

We collect my passport at 10.20am and reach the airport at 11.15am, with ample time to check-in, have a nice meal and slowly make our way to the departure hall to board our plane. Thank God!

This is an adventure I'm never going to forget plus it makes a good story :) But not one I'm wanting to relive ever again.

One thing I must say though, that I have renewed faith in Malaysians, amidst all the talk that we're an unfriendly bunch, this little incident really showed me that there's still compassion left in us, just a simple word "please" opens a door for a hand to reach out and "help". Malaysia Boleh!

My parents were so obviously wonderful and very supportive as always, already making alternative plans to travel back to our hometown in case we didn't make the flight, but i was not willing to go down without a fight, thank God for answered prayers. Amen.

All in all, it was a pretty adventurous departure, even before the actual trip began.

And so, we made it.

The beautiful island of Phuket (i still can't believe it!)

Mental note to self: When travelling overseas, check your passport, must have 6 months validity to date of expiry, otherwise - renew!