A Long Day

Oh just yesterday I went back to the Malaysian Embassy. Since I feel reluctant to pay for a taxi to get there and neither do I want to take the bus as I'd still need to walk a fair bit, I rode my bike there. So I think I got on the bike at about 10-ish and slowly peddled my way there. And mind you, it's been a long time since I've ridden on a bike. Or even done any exercise. So the journey was quite a demanding one for me. Well not really. Only at the parts where I had to climb. Crossing the roads was scary too. And driving beside cars... I thought of using the bike lane, but after seeing the cars going so near the bike lane, some even going on it, I opted the pedestrian lane. It was quite nice cycling there though... Got to take a pic. But wasn't really satisfied with it. Wanted to take more, but had to rush to the embassy...

On the way I saw 2 people in front of the People's Republic of China's Embassy protesting. Well I wouldn't say their protesting... They were just sitting there, meditating or praying or something... And they hung up pro Falun Gong banners and stuff... Later I found out that other people are protesting in other states as well from some dude from Melbourne's blog. Seems like the turnout was pretty good there, especially compared to the one here in Canberra, the capital of the nation. 2 people wey... Kinda sad don't you think? I actually thought of taking pics of them, but like stated above, I had to rush...

Anyway made my way there and got the number and sat down, a bit sweaty... My number said 11. So I thought, this won't take long, seeing as the man being served is number 8. Boy was I wrong. Number 9 belonged to this Aunty. See was most probably renewing her passports for, I'm guessing here, her 3 daughters and maybe her... Aiyoh she had to ask so many questions... Her second daughter couldn't renewed her passport cause she's 12 already so she needs to have her IC to renew the passport, but seeing as she turned 12 here in Australia and her passport is expiring, she can't go back to get her IC. Lolz... I don't know what's she suppose to do. In the end she can't have her passport renewed. So this aunty took like more than half and hour to get her business done. I think she didn't even fill in the forms prior to her turn. So that's a lot of time taken up. So with nothing to do, I had took the Financial Review that was provided at the embassy. You know how papers provided are like clamped by this papan like thing? So that the pages don't come out? It's like in hotel lobbys? Well it's clamped so I can't read properly as some parts of articles are covered. So was kinda annoyed. Gave up and just sat there. And I did what Kai did. Eavesdrop. Lolz... This guy suddenly turned around and talked to these 2 people. And since I'm bored, I shall tell you what I can remember.

The dude, he's from Malaysia and is 25 years old. Studied in Sydney and went back to Malaysia. Came back here when he was 20 and has been in Australia for 5 years already. He works in the IT department of Commonwealth Bank on George St in CBD Sydney. He came with his mom, who came to Australia to visit for 2 weeks. I think it was 2. She works at an insurance company in Malaysia. The dude has a sister who's coming to Australia next year and going to study MassCom. He and his mom rented a car and drove to Canberra from Sydney at 6.00am. She slept on the way and he had only the CD in the player to keep him company throughout the journey. He drove. They plan to drive around Canberra before picking their passports at 3.00pm.
The 2 ladies that were sitting behind him (in front of me) met at a speed dating event. They were both avoiding this crazy lady who was too perky, she could have been high on pot. The crazy lady's name was Bubbles. One of the ladies is from Malaysia. She went to NZ to study and later came to Australia. Her parents fly between NZ and Sabah( or was it Sarawak?) as her sister is currently studying in NZ. The other lady is an Aussie. She works at Zurich Insurance. She moved out of her place 6 months back as construction went on in front of her building and it was shaking her place and she didn't like the location anymore. She has a full drivers license but hasn't driven in 2 years already. Oh and both ladies had grapes. Well that's all I can remember on the top of my head.

Well finally the Aunty at the counter was done. Next was this guy. Not the guy mentioned above. Took barely 5 minutes. Just got the thumbprint on, signed his paper, handed his passport and the relevant forms and required photocopy of IC. So fast. Then next the guy mentioned above. Same procedure. After that, finally my turn. FINALLY. Then the guy at the counter said: "Eh? You should have just come to the counter and collected it. Don't need to wait." WTF? Lolz..

So now I got my passport that says:
Pejabat Pengeluar/ Issuing Office
HIGH COMMISSION OF MALAYSIA
CANBERRA
Canggih leh?

On the way back the bloody bike chain came off the gears. Had to get my hands dirty. So annoying. Really considering getting a fixie...

Made it back and had to start work again as I had an assignment due at 5.00pm. Handed it in at 4.55pm So last minute leh? Ran all the way to the office.

I can't believe you stayed till the end. You either have no life or too much time on your hands or unbelievable concentration.