My embarrassing story

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So, the world traveller has an embarrassing travel story!!
It's better to get it out though right? So here goes....

First, you gotta know... when I was going from Singapore to Malaysia, we got to the border and had to get out just with our passports at this special "Woodlands Checkpoint" just before the first Malaysian train station - Johor Bahru - on the border.

They asked if I had anything to declare way before I got on the train at a small customsy thing at the station - remember that little story I told about that funny weird conversation I had with that guy?

So we just went through immigration, and there was no one at the actual customs area there with the scanners and everything and we got back on the train. There was a 'lock in', so no bags could be tampered with or the people mixed up, which had and hadn't "entered" Malaysia yet.

It's a quick, easy process, that I thought was fantastic.

Well, today, I was going from Malaysia, back to Singapore on the same train line and everything. We had some guys go through the train at that last Malaysian stop, Johor Bahru, and take our Malaysian Departure Card that we got when we came in, and just wrote something on our passport about leaving.

I thought that was it, but then we had to enter Singapore as well. (So we were nowhere for about 20 minutes there!) So we stopped and it was the place we went to on the way up - the "Woodlands" place.

So I just got the valuables (i.e. I was carrying a wallet, camera, passport and box of tissues for the toilet in there that doesn't have toilet paper. I don't get caught twice!!) and went through immigration.

But then we got to customs and there were people there!! So they were actually monitoring bags and everything. I should have figured. As if Singapore wouldn't check bags, even though Malaysia didn't.

So I hoped for the best and just went through and waited nervously. No one said anything about me travelling so 'light'. In fact, some people commute that way and some people go for shopping and stuff, so lots of people just had a handbag or briefcase actually.

Then, over the loudspeaker, we heard "Anyone that has left any baggage on the train must go out and collect it."

How embarrassing!! I mean, I had to slink away from the group of people at the "lock in" doors... People were almost all through both immigration and customs by now, and we (at least it wasn't just me, there was at least one other lady) had to go back through customs and immigration, to where our bags had been put on the platform. Then, take them through customs.

Mind you, by then the people had left customs. There was just one guy, who asked if I had anything dangerous, I said no and he waved me through. All that and they didn't even look!!

Luckily we were really fast, so didn't hold up the train much at all, if any. How embarrassing though!! Can you imagine? I don't know who saw me without bags, slinking away from the group, racing back through the gates, getting my bags from the station where people could probably see through the doors, or racing back through customs, etc. I slinked back into the group, trying to think of something else ....

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Comments

[Leanne]

LOL
Love the story Rach.

[pink]

Thank goodness they didn't send in the bomb squad! what with all the terror scares :P