What a roller-coaster of a week I just had! It proves the statement that tourism can be stressful at times.
At the end of last week and the beginning of this past week, I spent time traveling to Phuket, Thailand. On Monday, I was supposed to travel back to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur, where I planned to spend almost a full day before flying back to Singapore later that night. The day before, I prepared all necessary documentation and checked in online for the flight, assuming everything was under control. However, when I arrived at the airport in Phuket early Monday morning, I received a notification on the airline app that I needed to go to the service desk for questioning. I went there, and the airline employee told me that I was unable to board the flight because my visa had been rejected! I was in a state of shock because I had applied for the e-visa and had been approved to enter the country. The explanation was that somehow I had selected the wrong country code in my application, and because of that, my application was rejected. Of course, I couldn’t understand why or how it could be rejected when it had been approved in the first place. They could do nothing except remove me from the flight and leave me stranded at the airport. I had mixed feelings of frustration and confusion inside me, but I managed to stay calm and didn’t show any emotions. Southeast Asian countries are well-known for showing zero empathy and being ruthless, even if there is a mistake on their part. Now, being removed from the flight (by the way, I received no refund!) and left to figure things out on my own, I had to decide on my next steps. First, I tried to book a flight back to Singapore, but the prices were unbelievably high (over $700). Then, I started looking for other options. Suddenly, I glanced at the flight information board and saw that there was a flight to Hong Kong later that day. I went to their website and saw that the ticket for that flight was only $20. Moreover, I saw there was a flight from Macao to Singapore two days later for a relatively affordable price, so I decided to go on a two-day trip to Hong Kong and Macao. In the meantime, I called and explained my situation to my boss, who allowed me to work remotely for those two days.
After spending almost a full day at the airport, I caught a flight to Hong Kong, where I arrived at 3 a.m. the next day. I went straight to the accommodation, where I rested before working and sightseeing later. My first impression of Hong Kong was that it is more vibrant and westernized than Singapore, even though Singapore is often promoted as a cultural and financial hub of the Western world in Southeast Asia. I saw more Western people in Hong Kong than in Singapore, and locals spoke better English than Singaporeans, even though Chinese/Mandarin is the first language there. Although Singapore is much cleaner and has a richer landscape, I find Hong Kong more attractive.
The next day, I caught a ferry early in the morning and went to Macao, located an hour away by ferry from Hong Kong. I spent the afternoon sightseeing at the Venetian Casino, the replica of the Eiffel Tower, and the Panda Pavilion. Interestingly, Macao was a Portuguese colony for over four centuries until 1999, and there is still a strong Portuguese cultural presence to this day, as Macau has its own version of the Mandarin language, known as Macanese Portuguese. What’s more, most of the locals do not speak English at all.
When I finally got back to Singapore on Wednesday, I spent the rest of the week working and enjoying some leisure time. Over the weekend, a few of my friends and I went to a mall nearby and watched the new popular fantasy comedy ‘A Minecraft Movie’. Last but not least, there was an organized cooking class for Bucknell students, where we went to the private property of a well-known Singaporean chef, where we learned how to prepare Nyonya Laksa, Singapore’s signature dish. The outcome was great – it was my first time cooking that dish, and it was delicious.
All things considered, this week proves that even unexpected issues can make a journey more adventurous and fun.
