A day that has run like the weather - the embassy

Oh man, I had an up and down day when I went to sort out my visa to the People’s Republic of China. It’s my second visit to the efficient, perfunctory but super busy China Embassy on Tanglin Road. Everyone says to go early so I arrived before opening time to see the line up moving through the entry-vestibule that’s the same size as a walk-in wardrobe.
I guess it’s for security purposes to limit access, but it makes for a very crowded and potentially ineffective security area. Everyone who enters passes through a metal detector, which subsequently then beeps for everyone because there’s been no prior warning to remove metal from your bag or person. The poor security guard has to check everybody and by doing so, checks nothing in any detail at all. I opened my laptop bag but he didn’t blink at the mass of wires and papers popping out the top.
Once in, the lines snake to the numbered desks,
1 for payments,
2 for collections and
lines 3 to a million for visa applications.

The line up this morning for me to pay for my visa was 50m long and the second line for me to collect my visa was also 50m long. That was at 9am, bang on opening time. I mean, there’s a lot of people already in China, let alone the people wanting to visit!

A half hour later, I reach the ticket counter, thinking that I just have enough cash to cover the $75 fee (cash only, again, cash counts! There’s no getting into China on credit!), only to find to my embarrassment and loss of face that I was $2 short.

So straight back out front I find it puking with rain, no taxis and I didn’t have my umbrella. Not good.
I called Lady to come and help bail me out. Not a good start to the day then for either of us. While reading the paper and catching up on news, I see my team got “bundled out of Europe”, by the Germans. So, my morning is waning, the chances of silverware to associate myself with are gone and I’m listlessly passing time standing in the tiny, wet China Embassy entry-way, eaking out the tiniest article in the Today freepaper which as you would expect is 50% advertisements.

I find to my distain (literally, a stain) that newspaper printers in Singapore have not discovered the benefits of ink that doesn’t transfer to one’s hands. My fingers are now filthy with today’s lacklustre news.

Anyway, my wonderful Lady rides in on the back of a triumphant taxi to my rescue and resume queuing, cashed up, for another attempt, but by this time, it’s 10:15 and the lines are noticeably shorter, there are fewer people here and the atmosphere is much more agreeable.

My advice to the world trying to get China visas in Singapore is not to go early; this just exacerbates the problem, but to go later in the window. By that time, all the rabble, very much showing the trait of kiasu (not wanting to lose out), have lined up and gone. So my guidance is to go late, lah, and miss the queues.
Shovel