Sawadeekup

Hello! I am writing this post while waiting for my room at a hotel lobby in Bangkok but before you think "Wah!! The two of them are on a vacation so soon?!?!?!", think again. I am here on a business trip and for the record I rather not be here and leave the Mrs alone at home handling the twins. I am sitting here worrying how is she going to handle the two of them in the middle of the night. Instructions have been given to Ani to stay alert for these 2 nights once Isaac is asleep.

Actually I am only needed here for a meeting tomorrow but as it will take the whole day hence I am required to fly in a day earlier. So by right the Mrs only needs to handle the twins alone for one night but my bro, Mike needs to come and give thanks to the Buddha hence we timed it so that we can have a boys' day out on Saturday and as a result the Mrs has to take on an extra night. Very kind of her I know and I am grateful.

The Mrs and the 3 kids sent me to the airport this morning and I have to admit it was hard leaving Isaac. This is especially so when his eyes turned all red and teary when I got off the car and said "bye bye" to him. The closest I have felt like this was when the Mrs and I had to go on our holiday before we had Isaac and we had to leave Dino at the pet hotel. The way he looked at us while we walked away was so hard to bear.

Anyway kids being kids, with a little distraction Isaac was fine once again before the Mrs drove off. He was happy waving "bye bye" to me and busy giving me his flying kisses complete with the mmmmm.....uah......... sound! See below video for an example of how he does it.

An example of his "flying kiss"

Last night the Mrs discovered that it has been more than 1.5 years since I last travelled. I guess being parents will do that to one. Anyway because I had not travelled for so long, I almost did not make it this trip. Last night while packing I realised that my passport has less than 6 months before expiring.

What is the deal about this 6 months period anyway? I know it is an international regulation but why 6 months and not 3 or for that matter 1 month? Why is it that airlines will not accept you if your passport has less than 6 months before expiring?

So I was busy last night and this morning calling everyone I can think of, i.e. the ICA, Immigration at the Changi Airport, the airline office as well as their operations representative at the airport.

Read on only if foresee yourself being in the same predicament and you want to learn how we can overcome this situation.

Basically the local immigration told me that they have no problem with me leaving the country and as far as they know countries such as Thailand and Malaysia are pretty lenient with us. The reservation office of the airline said that since I have a confirmed return flight then it should also not be a problem. However the Operations Representative gave me a flat ‘NO!’ He said that the airline could be fined so they will not risk it.

My only option was to have my passport extended since I could not apply for a new passport and expect to collect it within 2 hours. A quick check on the internet states that passport extension is only possible for people under 17.5 years. So I did the smart thing and called ICA directly. The lady on the other line simply advised me to hurry my ass down to ICA with my travel documents and my photos and their officers will see if they could help me.

So to cut a long story short, there were basically 3 stages that I have to clear and all within an hour if I were to have any hope of making the flight. ICA is able to issue me a Document of Identity and the 1st stage was the toughest as I had to be interviewed by an officer and listen to her telling me off for not checking before booking my flight. I had to jump queue here (all 8 numbers) by walking around to see who was next and then approached her with my sob story.

2nd stage was pretty fast as it was only submitting my photos and making the payment of $15. Although I did not jump queue I had to walk up to the counter and rush the officer when the number before mine drew no response after 10 seconds. She was kind enough to buzz my number and then attended to me.

3rd stage was merely collection and I ensured the lady whom I handed the document over knew exactly how small a window I had. So after rushing everyone and jumping queue I finally made it out of there within an hour.

While waiting at ICA I suddenly remembered that I had not withdrawn any money and changed it to Thai Baht so depending on what time I got to the airport it may be another mad rush.

Thank goodness I managed to sort everything out within 2 hours if not I would have missed this important meeting with a principal who came all the way from Denmark and just as importantly disappointed my bro who must have been looking forward to this *legen……. wait for it …….. dary trip!

*Note: You will understand if you are a fan of the hit sitcom, How I Met Your Mother.

My next trip will be to Hong Kong with the Mrs and you can rest assured that this madness will not happen again for I am so applying for a passport renewal when I am back.

Now we are just considering if we can bring Isaac along provided he is no longer a bad boy and stop shouting.

Who is the bad boy?

Hear him SHOUT........!