When traveling, the part i dread most is the waiting time @ the airport and queuing at immigration counter. Other than browsing aimlessly @ those duty-free shops or hanging out @ starbucks, i've also picked up some notes on the peculiarity in each different destination airport. Maybe i'm reading into things too much... Sometimes, you can sense that there's some degree of discrimination from the immigration officers. Your dressing, your body language, and of course the color of your passport really influences what kind of treatment you get @ the Immigration Counter.Heathrow Airport: The most detailed 'interrogation'. I was only a tourist, why ask so many Qns on how much monies i brought in? and what's my travel itinerary? I remember i had to walk a very l-o-n-g distance to reach the immigration counter after disembarkment. The place was so damn crowded, and i learnt my lesson that i really need to be at the airport at least 2 hrs before departure time. The l-o-n-g queue was moving at such snail pace that i thot i was gonna miss my flight home!
Manila: The security seems very tight @ the Arrival Hall. Have been warned by David not to hang around to wait for the rest when I've cleared the immigration. Just proceed straight to the luggage carousel which seems to take forever to deliver our luggage. Alison is upset and concluded that they don't like her Red suitcase. It's always the last piece for the entire flight. One perculiar thing here is that the officers scrutinize @ the luggage tag and the sticker on the back of your airticket to confirm that you are holding the correct piece of luggage and not someone else's. The Departure Hall also has many security check points... but the officers were not actually thorough in their checks. Similar attitude as the security guards at the shopping malls in makati. Conclusion: Govt trying to create employment opportunities for the locals... ?
Rome: Dunno why, but the officer didn't even look @ our passports. We just flashed our red passport, and he waved us through. Hehe... didn't know our passport so 'powerful'. :P We merrily travelled all the way thru' Switzerland, France, Germany via train with no issues. Until we were departing from Frankfurt Airport. The officer was perplexed that he couldn't find any stamp on our passport that indicated the date of arrival to Europe. Hmmm... isn't it very easy for a criminal to hide within the EU without being caught?
HCMC: The officers' uniforms looked v. Communist. Silly me, of course they should since it's a communist country! And they were v. stern and they scrutinized at my passport damn l-o-n-g. Already double checked with travel agent that citizens from ASEAN countries don't need visa to enter Vietnam. But was still jittery when the stern lady officer asked if I have applied visa permit.
Auckland: The queue for foreign passport holders is always ultra slow. The officers also ask quite a lot of Qns. Then after clearing the immigration, still hafta wait at the conveyor belt for the luggage. And then hafta go thru' another scan on the luggage... And we thot having nothing to declare would cut short the time taken to clear the immigration... *bleah*
Bangkok: Fly to BKK frequent enough to know my way around the airport. Am impressed with the way they scan your temperature @ the immigration counter. They've come a long way since the SARS period in 2003. : ) Heard the new airport terminal will be ready by end of the year.
Melbourne: The officers also ask very thorough Qns. Have been warned that Australia is also well know to be ultra stringent on food items. So, I volunteered to declare the chocolates and expensive manuka honey. Thank goodness, the officers attending to me were chirpy and frenly towards me. : )
Kuala Lumpur: I lost my way in the new KLIA airport! Took me quite a while to figure out the 'skytrain' and the different terminals. The limo service guy picking me up must've thot that i was a 'suaku' 1st time traveller. :P Can't blame me, as it was really my 1st flight from SIN-KUL. Usually, it's only a 3.5hr drive from Home to KL. Cheaper than flights. The KLIA has some interesting shops, but i ended up hanging out @ starbucks typing out my notes of the meeting.
Abu Dhabi: This was long before 911 time. It really looked scary with the soldiers patrolling around the halls with their machine guns. We never have this back home then. And I didn't realize that I've commited a serious TABOO Twice Over until i was on my return trip and hafta transit again. I was wearing a Sleeveless Blouse!!! No wonder the people were staring at me when i was wandering around the duty free shop!! ... So, I hung around near the caucasians in the transit lounge so that I was not too conspicuous. *phew*
HongKong: The immigration officers, work in typical HKG efficiency rate. Love the seamless concept, and i can reach the city centre with the train (which is v. CLEAN), and catch a cab @ Central. Only complaint: Can shift Starbucks to a location that's more accessible? I know it sounds bimbotic... it took me quite a while to figure out how to get to Starbucks. :P The busy busy airport makes Changi pale in comparison, and looks relatively quiet.
I usually don't have a problem with HKG immigration... except once when we were returning from Guangzhou to HKG. Probably coz both of us were dressed in v. casual clothes, and lugging our shopping goods from GZ (i.e. those 'A-่ดง'). We were requested to open our bags for thorough checks... :/
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