(I took a hiatus August-Sept. to help care for my mother in Virginia, so will resume the blog where I left off)
July 16-19, 2023
There have been “horror” stories over the last 2 years about how long it is taking to get a passport renewed. In addition to current travels, we will be embarking on an around-the-world cruise starting in December. Although his passport wouldn’t expire until 2027, John had 9 pages left in his passport – we will need at least 16-20 for the cruise. In May, I had looked up getting a passport renewal at an Embassy. ALL the information stated you needed to turn in your current passport to get the renewal. John was sure that was not the case. When he went to the Embassy in Kuala Lumpur in May, it turned out John was right. He went in without an appointment (not recommended, by the way), got the information needed, filled out a form, went to a nearby shop to get his passport photos taken, returned, paid the fee, the Embassy agent took a photo of his current passport and he was told the new one would be ready in 2-3 weeks. We traveled on to Indonesia.
Eight days later, he got the email stating that his passport was ready.
A month after our first visit, we returned to Malaysia. Our AirBNB apartment was about a ½ mile from the prior one (Ceylonz) – but even closer to the tourist area with rows of bars and restaurants and massage places. We arrived on a Sunday, and John went to pick up his passport on Monday. Wednesday was the Islamic New Year, and all government offices would be closed. – he needed to get the arrival visa redone because he now had a different passport than the one received on arrival. We were flying out on Thursday, so his only opportunity was Tuesday. The Immigration office John needed to go to was about ½ way to the airport – about 20 miles out of the city. The US Embassy told him that he would need to pay for the visa using an electronic debit card or credit card from a Malaysian bank, the immigration office would not take cash. He went to a bank first – but since he did not have an account, they would not let him buy a pre-paid debit card. Frustrated, he went to the immigration office and waited, sent to one desk then another. Got to the correct desk, and waited, and waited. And waited. At 3:45 he checked with the clerk since the office closed at 4. He was told he would be seen. At 4:20, his number was finally called and 10 minutes later he had his Malaysian visa – no charge. In the meantime, I had a wonderfully “chill” day at the apartment, going to the nearby mall to pick up some snacks, playing music, and generally relaxing.
Since Wednesday was intermittently drizzly, we decided to do the old Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour of the city since there were a lot of attractions we missed the last time. We could have gotten off at the bird park (it was open this time), but it was raining and we weren’t in the mood to get wet. The bus did provide a good overview for 60 ringits/pp (about $13). The downside of the live guide was that she was hard to hear, and when you did her accent was hard to understand.
Flights are cheap to Phuket from Kuala Lumpur, so we decided to spend a few weeks on the largest island in Thailand.