14th Oct 2006:
Very long and indefinite wait for my Passport and Visa came to an end on 14th of Oct. I woke up in the morning without knowing whether I will travel today or not. If my Visa was stamped I have to collect my passport from Delhi and then travel to Melbourne. Else relax for two more days and travel on Tuesday. I was praying for the second option as I was not prepared for the travel. I started early from home for doing my so called shopping. At 12:30 I got a call from office informing/confirming my travel at 4:30 PM. As the time was running out, I packed the things in hurry and informed others about my travel. Started from Chennai on time. I collected my passport in Delhi without any problem.
15th Oct 2006:
Petronas Tower
I reached Kuala Lumpur @ 7:00 AM. My connecting flight to Melbourne was @ 9:30 in the night. I was uncertain whether to take Transit Visa to visit some place in KL or just sit idle in the airport. I was At that time I saw a Desi guy standing in the queue for transit visa. He was from Delhi traveling to Sydney for a training. His connecting flight was @ 10.00 PM. We decided to have a look at the famous Twin towers of KL instead of sitting in the airport. It was a long journey from the airport to the City. I don't know why they build airports so far from the city.
View from Famous bridge connecting Twin Towers
Inside Petronas Tower
Delhi Guy - Dravid who joined me in "exploring" KL
Petronas tower was amazing to look at. Spent the whole day roaming around. Pictures are of very low clarity (Courtesy: My Mobile). Please bear with it. 16th Oct 2006:
Experience (Bad) @ Melbourne Airport:
On arriving to Melbourne I had fill the "Items to Declare" slip. In the "Food Items" section I ticked "Not carrying any food items" as I was afraid they will throw the Masala and the mixes I got all the way from India. I smelled something was about to go wrong when I saw Security Guards holding a dog and sniffing all the baggage near the Baggage belt. I thought everything was over when I escaped from guards and their Dog. When I saw a door I thought it was the exit. But I was shocked to find a baggage scanning room were they were scanning each and every baggage. One officer caught me for having food items and asked me to open my baggage. Fine of AUD 500/Deporting me from Australia - imaginations were running wild in my mind to increase my tension. After checking the items to my surprise officer told me it was fine (No AUD fine :) , its OK) as all the masala stuff was branded. He advised me to declare it "next time".
I stepped into Melbourne, Australia.......
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