AS a part of family holiday, we went to Bali, Indonesia this year. Our daughter was sick when we went to KL, Malaysia last year and we took extra care this year not to repeat. Unfortunately, I was sick on the eve-day of departure. As air ticket and hotel are already booked, we went ahead thought I am not feeling well. It was really tiresome trip. We started to feel annoyed as soon as we arrive to Bali's international airport. I thought of better airport building to be greeted. It was a simple building with outdated structure. Compare to Singapore's Changi, Bali airport building look much inferior.
As my friend told me that there is a counter for ASEAN citizen, I am looking forward that counter for the ease of troublesome by long snake queue. As indoor directory signage are poor, I need to ask several time to apparent locals and officers. I asked my family to wait for me return and looking around to find ASEAN counter which I never found. The closest sign pertaining ASEAN is for Apec delegates and diplomatic holders. After realizing I couldn't find it, I started to queue in the line of foreigners just beside local lane.
When we are queuing up, I see some people shouting "express, express" and approaching queuing visitors. I gave attention to them and understood that they're insiders/ agents who is linked to immigration counters. When fellow passengers asked how much they charge for their service, one said, "50,000 Rupee per head". I saw some western couple agreed with them in order to save time. As we are group of 5, I can't afford to pay and no choice but long queue until our turn. I noticed that there is only one counter taking care of visitors that make thing more difficult and jump. I am seeing other passengers from next plane joining us. A female officer from a single counter is also speaking at her mobile and making her duty further delay. I think of my country's immigration officer and realized why Indonesia is known for its corruption. The first lesson I learn from Bali make me really sweat.
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