The Raya Rush

Keen to renew my passport before Raya so that I could celebrate in Singapore, I headed to the Subang Immigration office at 7.15 this morning. Arriving at 7.35, there was already a long queue waiting.

It was pretty well organised, with separate queues for people who needed the form, submission (form completed with documents) and collection only. I joined the queue for forms and booted the laptop while waiting for the office to open at 8.00 a.m.

Once I got the form, I filled it up, perhaps I should have just gone into the queue straight away because once I did at 8.15, it was already very long!! It moved very, very slowly, and I did not have time to get cash or photostat my IC beforehand. As we inched forward, I found that it was not only to get the number, I was supposed to hand in everything on the spot. My kind “beratur mates” gave me permission to go and get cash from the ATM in Terminal 3 and photostat my IC at the counter inside and to get back in line when I’m done. Whew! Nice to know that Malaysians are still the understanding people I’m used to. Kiasu-ness is sooo off-putting.

While waiting in the photostat queue, I spotted Na, an old schoolmate from TKC. She came over with her youngest “hero” – she has 3 kids, all boys… goodness!! Managed to chat for a bit, catching up with news.

Back in the old, crawling line, I booted up the machine and proceeded to work. Again, the kind people allowed me to sit quietly at the side without following the progressing line. I could simply reclaim my spot any time I wanted. So nice of them :-)

By the time I reached the counter, it was already 10.55 a.m. and I was told to come back at 2.00 p.m. Alamak!! But I needed to go to MATRADE in KL…! Decided to just go and come back as soon as I’m done in KL.

Luckily, the business in KL didn’t take long and utilizing the highway from Jalan Duta, I managed to get there in 20 minutes, well before 2.00. Woo hoo! Record, sieh… Good thing too, because I was 6th in line. If I missed my turn, I might not have had the chance to settle the renewal process.

Everything went well and I was done by 3.00 p.m. It took longer than I expected, but thanks to the lappie, the 4 hours wasn’t totally wasted. Am looking forward to picking up my passport tomorrow and Raya with the Singapore clan again. And of course, spending the first 2 days with the KL gang :-)

*Oh God, something smells delicious from next door. Darn. I have to start cooking too.