Customs Officers

I mean do they scare the hell out of you? Sometimes I really wonder... do the immigration department in each country choose the ugliest and fiercest looking persons to be a Customs Officer.

"Hey you over there! Yeah you with the face like a Bull Dog. You are appointed as the Customs Officer!"

Most of the time when I had to pass through the customs gate, my heart rate increases to a supersonic pace, my palms get sweaty and yes, I get tongue-tied when I'm standing there at the booth.. coming face to face with a guy that seems ready to bite my head off if I answered his question of why on earth I'm stepping foot into his precious homeland.

I know these dedicated individuals are trained to sniff the drugs out of those criminals or make those illegal immigrants turn around and catch the next flight home. But hey.. I'm a lone female traveller who had just alighted from a 12-hour flight.. can you at least squeeze a smile for me? Oh.. wait a minute. I prefer you not to smile. Just try to speak in a gentler voice. Ok ok.. just keep that rifle away from my direction. Thanks a lot. *whimper* *whimper*

I have heard of a few frightening tales involving Customs Officer in a certain Latin American country. He was picking on a friend's aunt (a Singaporean) who was travelling with her British (white) husband.. well just because the Singapore passport is RED. Something wrong with that you asked? Not that I know of.. but if she did pass any remarks, she might get retained for ..erm.. being rude?

Recently I've changed my old Singapore passport to Biometric passport (in accordance with US standards??). And oh, you should see the faces of puzzled Customs Officers who were trying to figure out what on earth was in my passport!

Why on earth am I picking on Customs Officers of other countries? Want to know why? Try approaching a Singaporean customs officer. A simple "Welcome home!" and "Enjoy your stay!" make a whole lot of difference to the start of every journey.

Flights, flights, flights Part 2

As promised, this is the overdue Part 2. Now let me start by saying... what is the event that you look forward to the most during a long haul flight? The take-off? The landing? Or the screening of another movie?

For me, MEAL time! Yeah.. half the time I complain about the meals on board. I'm one of those passengers who will feel extremely miserable if the portions are too small or the food is bad (I mean tastes bad). I'm always really hungry once the plane takes off from the runway. I look forward to every single thing that is served up to me. A pack of peanuts, a cup of orange juice or (HOORAY!!!) the plate of plane food.

I usually start to doze off during the take-off. But my super sensory skills will alert me that a meal will be served soon once I hear the sound of the Meal Cart (or whatever you call it). I will start to straighten my seat or grumble under my breath when the passenger in front of me has his seat leaned towards my direction. Prepare the nice little tablette and wait for my portion of food. I guess I must be real easy to please! Yes and I gobble up all the food at lightning pace too!

The other strange phenomenon on board a flight occurs right after meal time and the trays of waste are collected from each seat. You will see a sudden wave of people getting up from their seats and charging towards the toilet. Erm.. 4 cubicles to an entire plane of passengers... you can imagine the queue.... gosh. I wonder if everyone has suddenly developed the habit to rinse their mouth or brush their teeth after every meal??? Good dental habits there eh?

Next complaint on the list... the in flight entertainment. I'm appalled how big a difference this makes to my entire journey. A couple of times I've chosen to take a cheaper airline and was stuck with some crap seat controls for that don't work (so I had to endure the entire flight without any sort of entertainment). And what I took for granted, the individual LCD monitor instead of the shared 3 TV screens for the entire flight. Help! I don't want to see the passenger's head while watching the movie.

So what's your complaint list?

Flights, flights, flights Part 1

Been over a year since I took a long haul flight. Well..it is one of the most dreaded part of the journey. Those more than 12 hours of lonesomeness spent with another complete stranger that you could only share the simplest conversations of "Hi!", "Can I pass?", or slightly more complicated "Where are you heading?" or the even more complex "Hey! Stop pushing the seat!" can prove to heighten one's stress level.. on top of the terrible lack of sleep.

Seriously, I don't think there are many lucky ones out there who get to travel first class, so it's the Economy Class for most of us. Pray tell.. how did you manage to sleep on a seat with absolutely no head support. And whenever you doze off a little, your head does the repeated nodding action till you finally wake yourself up with a jerk?

Hm.. frankly, does tilting the seat all the way.. that is only 45 degrees maximum.. help to make our seating any more comfortable? I am definitely one who hates those that decide to recline their seat towards my direction. You will see me swear under my breath each time the 100kg mister in front of me leans back.

Guess I'm not exactly the friendliest person to share a flight with. And well.. I'm the Aisle seat person. I do not wish to hold my bladder till the fella next to me decides to stir in his sleep and let my pass. No way. I rather be seated at the Aisle and the unfortunate traveller next to me is at my mercy. Read my facial expression: I will let you pass if I choose to. Do not attempt to poke me for any attention!

More long haul flight complaints coming up. Do come back for more or drop a comment if you share my sentiments. Else just sit back, relax and enjoy the flight!

Just a little Krk Island tour!

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted in here. So here I am with our latest Krk Island tour. For those who do not know Krk island or Otok Krk as it is known in Croatian is the largest island in the Kvarner Bay. At a whooping size of 409,9 square kilometres, it is more than half the size of Singapore island. You can find my earlier post about the island here.

There are many small towns and villages on this island. So I will introduce another sweet little town Njivice. The statue pictured above is the symbol of the once Fishing town which has become one of the most popular tourist destinations on the island. Located in the bay of Beli Kamik, it has a beautiful seaview, with crystal clear water and lots of nice places to sit down for a cup of Macchiatto. For more information about this little town, be sure to visit the website.

If you are into Folk Dancing, be sure to hit Njivice town sometime between June to August. Check out the event schedule listed on the site!

As it's off tourist season, we only see a couple of Germans and Italians lazing on the beaches of this town. It was one of those rare Autumn afternoons when the waters are warm enough for swimming. In the distance standing on the pier, we spotted two men fishing. Perhaps some locals passing time or simply enjoying the sunshine which is usually shining on this island.

It is not hard to find this town from the main road that leads from the Krk bridge (there is a road toll for entering this island) as the towns are clearly labelled. However, it is quite a long drive to get to the centre of Njivice which is one of the minus points of this town. There are too many houses along the road. Apartments of sorts before you make a left turn to go straight down to the town centre where all the restaurants are located.

So I'll leave you with a few little pictures of this town and hope you'll pop by next summer!