Please Don't Burst My Bubbles

I have a confession to make. I didn't mention this yesterday cos I didn't want my sister to worry. But I can't keep it any longer so I'm going to tell you what happened.

On Thursday, while I was going through our Australian Visa application on the web, I discovered that Alva's emergency travel document doesn't have a passport number. It's a valid travel document but it is not a real passport so she's not entitled for the Australian ETA. Don't ask me "Napa sekarang baru ko perasan?" cos I'm really not in the mood to defend myself. Banyak ba dlm kepala otak sia.  

After staring at the computer screen for half an hour and slapping myself silly, I decided to call the Australian Consulate General office. Someone on the other line told me that there was no way I could get Alva the Electronic Travel Authority via internet. The only way to do it was to send an application to the Australian embassy in Auckland. She told me that this process could take up to 10 working days. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-TEN! Technically, if it takes that long, we would get the visa by 24 July, which is a Saturday. That means, we'd probably get the passport on Monday the 26 - the day we fly to Melbourne. Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

I asked the lady if she could help me speed things up a little but she responded like a robot, telling me the same thing over and over again "..it takes 10 working days bla bla bla". So I hung up. First Mr W's shit, now this? The day couldn't get any worse.  

As I thought about the catastrophic situation, I got more and more worried. Beads of cold sweat started to trickle down my forehead and I could feel my heart pounding a little bit faster. I knew what I needed to do and that was to send the application via courier that very day. There wasn't a moment to lose! But before I could get myself to do that, I needed to talk about it  first. You got to understand something. I was down and emotional and worried and....well I was totally lost okay. I was driving myself crazy thinking about the worst case scenarios - What if the documents get lost in the mail? What if they reject our application? What if we never get the visa done? What if we never get home??? We're doomed!

My first impulse was to call hubby so we could both freak out in misery. So I called and told him the bad news. When I was done, he said "Oh...Jadi macam mana la tu?".  Not worried at all. What's wrong with him? I was expecting something more dramatic cos I was going crazy kan. So I added "mesti post pi Auckland oh!! Abislah!" and  then I emphasised the 10-day processing time so he could really see the magnitude of the problem. But all hubby said was "Ya ka?..Gila juga tu?" Still not worried. GEEEEEEZ!!! How can I make him see that this is serious???  I needed someone to share my frustration. My anxiety. My misery! I NEEDED him to panic like me. But it wasn't happening at all. I got more upset after talking about it so I decided to let  him off the hook.

I wanted to call my sister but it was 6 am in KK. Too early. Mom would start panicking and that would ruin everybody's day. So I decided to suck it and just do what's sensible. I needed to send the application asap. Forget about the 10-day period. The next hour was then spent running around  making calls, printing application forms, typing a cover letter and photocopying documents. After  I got those stuff done, I had to develop Vava's passport photo and get all the documents certified at the Malaysian consulate office. Finally, at 2.00 pm I managed to send the application via courier. Phew! It was a long day for me.

That night, I thought about the visa. There must be a way  we could get out of this mess! So I came up with these back-up plans.

1. We could stay at the transit lounge (in Melbourne) and spend the night there. Technically, we are on a 16-hour transit so we could just camp at the lounge with our sleeping bags! They won't even notice we're there and we won't be breaking any immigration laws. Brilliant idea huh?

2.  Fly to Auckland and do some follow up with whoever is in-charge of our application.

3.  Postpone the flight. We're talking about three flights here. Christchurch - Melbourne - KL - KK.  SOB SOB SOB.

4. Smuggle Vava?

I spent 2 sleepless nights thinking about this.


And then, something unexpected happened this morning. 

Knock knock.


Who's there?


It's the courier guy!


Who?


It's the courier guy with Alva's Transit Visa!!!

WHAT????????????????????????????

I opened the small courier bag and there it was, Alva's travel document and visa. Wow! That was fast!!! Yipeee!!!!!!!!!

I thanked the courier guy, closed the door, ran to the living room and jumped around like a madwoman. Hehehe.

This means, we don't have to sleep at the transit lounge and we don't need to smuggle Vava!

I'm so happy right now! Nothing could spoil my mood, not even silly karabaus with amnesia. We are coming home and that's all that matters!