I got up at 4 and
wake up the rest of the team. There was a couple who served in our church that
participated in our trip. The trip become complicated as I had to charter a 7-seater
rather than a sedan. I managed to get an Innova from Hawk and surprisingly the
drive was smooth with acceptable pick-up. We arrived at KLIA in time and there
was a 30 minutes window for us to have breakfast at the mamak store around the
gate.
The flight was
smooth and I grabbed a good nap on the flight. I had pre-informed GSW about my
plan of getting passport renewal at Kuching.
GSW is my
classmate in medical school. He is a Sarawakian who completed his housemanship
in Kuching and proceeded to Sri Aman for his medical officer service. He had
later opened his own practice in Sri Aman. His wife is a dentist and they
shared the same building for their private practice. I had met him during our graduation
anniversary and he had invited all of us to pay him a visit at the calm town of
peace. I however decided to be the first to do so….Frankly said, I had never
been to Sarawak. It was a good time to do so as GSW promised to give me a good
tour.
In the past, the
west Malaysian would need a passport to enter Sarawak and nowadays, you just
need the IC. However, I was curious when I saw many passengers queuing in front
of me at the immigration that taken out their passport. I got my answer when
the immigration officer took my IC and started to fill up a form. Those who
shown their passport had a more express entry; the officer just scanned it and
let them passed. It was like 10 secs vs 3 minutes….
GSW and a serving
brother were waiting for us at the exit. He had borrowed a 13-seater minibus from
the church to take us around the city. After a quick lunch at the local food
shop. We were taken to the local UTC for the passport renewal.
The process was
really fast and we got our passport in 40 minutes (not from the time that we
paid up, but from the time we entered). Grace from the great one….We proceeded
to Sarawak Museum and small city tour before dinner.
We had dinner at a
local steak house and enjoyed a good time with some local church members (most
of them were GSW relative…).
I had booked a 3-room
service apartment at Imperial Hotel. It was a good bargain (those who are
interested can search for A-10 Imperial Apartment) for a group of 6. It is well
furnished and maintained with 3 room + 3 bathroom. It even had a washing
machine.
Everyone was worn off after the 2 days intensive
trip. It was a relief for me as I had settled the passport issue. The rest of
trip was planned and I don’t ha
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