perjantai 4. marraskuuta 2016

DAY OF MY LIFE: VISA "RUN" TO SINGAPORE

Like many of you probably know I had some issues with my visa as that freaking stamp in my passport stated that I should have left Indonesia on 17th of Oct but because of my accident I was overstaying. So I booked flights to Singapore and back. Nice early wake up at 5am so I have time to do my morning routines and have time to go to ATM before airport. Oh yea I dunno why but I just couldn't sleep so I had solid 1,5h sleep night before. Felt so energized!

I arrived to the airport and I was treated nicely. Staff directed me to the red carpet (VIP) check-in line and took my documents to do my check in and I could just sit and wait. After check-in it was time for immigration checkpoint which I knew was going to be painful. I was being polite and told to the officer I know I have overstayed before he even opened my passport.

"Ok, please follow my sir", and we walked to the immigration office.

"Sir you have overstayed 15 days. We have a fine of 300 000 rp per day making it total 4,5M rupiah"

I make my puppy face and explain the situation but with no luck. Officer handed me a piece of paper with contact details where I could try to write some kind of letter of mercy :D

After stacking the huge 2cm high pile of 100 000rp notes to the table and signing my fine I get the stamp on my passport. Free to go! I asked about this from my insurance company and they said they are not going to cover my fine. I asked why. Still after 3 days they haven't replied >:( Annoying!

Immigration shit handled and after setting of all the possible alarms at security check points it's time to rest somewhere. I saw a chinese restaurant with comfy looking sofas. I sat down and lifted my leg to relax. Like a hawk one of the staff members came and told me this is not public area you need to go. The menu looked so expensive that I decided not to even order a cup of tea and sloowly made my way elsewhere. Luckily I found this quite nice restaurant which had 4 TV screens on the wall showing Melbourne Cup, surfing, skiing even red bull rampage at some point and other extreme sports. I tried my luck and just raised my legs and closed my eyes. No one disturbed me yeah!

After walking to my gate which felt like walking a marathon I discovered that the flight is delayd. It was already delayed by one hour and now two more hours. Huoh.. Back to the extreme sport bar.

Having a rest on my way back to the sport bar

While I had my rest over there I got news update. The flight was delayed again by two more hours and new time for departure was 2:15pm. AAARGH! I was hoping to spend time at Singapore but now it seemed like a far away dream only. My luck is just unbelievable...

Rest of the trip went pretty normally except one thing. We were about to land to Singapore and you know all the air brakes on and one could actually see the airport already when suddenly the captain makes a maneuver and pulls the aircraft back to the sky. It felt like being in a rollercoaster. Engines roaring and ears popping. Everyone were sitting silently and waiting for information. Few minutes later we got the announcement: "This is your captain Sum Tin Went Wong. Sorry about the previous one but we had another plane in front of us" OH WOW :O :D After a short round trip we landed safely.

So because of the delay I didn't have the time to go explore the city of Singapore. Instead I booked my flight to Yangon Myanmar and had a little snack while talking to this middle aged dutch couple who were on their way to Sydney and were marveling at the Australian visitor entry form. I shared my expertise on that.

Flight to Bali went normally and my trusted taxi driver Suka was waiting for me at the airport to give me a lift back to my hostel. Because the official Blue Bird company have no access to the arrival terminal Suka just picked me up with his personal car on his own free time. Pretty cool!

After this long day I finally got my new visa stamp and another 4wks in Indonesia. Hopefully my leg will be in good condition and I can take my flight to Myanmar with a smile on my face!

PS. The next post will be about the Rinjani trek.