I have arrived!

Though my spirits weren't that high hours ago. The waiting time at customs is always horrendously long. I touched down at 10.10am. One hour later, I am still in line. Just as I was 10 persons down to my turn, they moved a bunch of us to the next line which was longer. But the officers seemed more efficient so line did move a bit faster. When it was my turn, the officer asked the usual questions.

Officer (O): What is the purpose of your visit?
Me (M): On holiday.
O: How long?
M: Till 24 Feb.
O: Who is staying at the address you stated? Friend, family, co-worker?
M: Co-worker.
O: What do you do in Singapore?
M: I am in Marketing.
O: They give you that much vacation time? When was your last visit?
M: March this year.
O: You were working then?
M: I had left my company.
O: Which company is that?
M: xxx company based in US.
O: Hmmm.. please turn to the left.

Officer signals to a female officer to follow me. I didn't sleep before boarding plus I had a serious bout of cold so I was feeling really tired and all I wanted was to lie down on a bed. Yet for some reason, I had to go through 'Secondary Inspection' . I took a seat while the female officer ran checks on my passport and itinerary. There was one other guy in the room. But soon, another guy and lady joined us.

They called the first guy and we all heard them asking a bunch of questions about what he was doing here, what his fiancee's name was, what she does here, were they planning to get married ... eventually they allowed him to leave. Then they called the other guy, asked him a couple questions and he left.

Finally it was my turn. They shot me a bunch of questions while searching my wallet.
When was the last time you were here?
What was that for?
You were here in 2006?
Where did you work?
Are you working now?
How do you intend to support yourself when you are here?
Is this your boyfriend?
How did you meet him?
What is he working as?
When was the last time he went to Singapore?
He was also there in 2007?
Do you intend to get married?
When do you intend to come back?

I was asked to accompany another officer to have my bag searched. Even the photos in my camera were looked through. I was a bit worried cos I took some aerial shots while the plane was touching down. They found nothing of note and I got my bag back. Phew! By this time, I was the only one in the room. The room looked out to the main customs area and nobody was there either. So I am the only one who is not an officer in the whole place!

The lady officer was conversing with the guy next to her and kept saying 'It's mismatched.' I was thinking to myself "WHAT can be mismatched??' Then I was called for round no.3 of questions.
You are here for 2 weeks and you only have $200?
How can you draw money?
You have a bank account here?
You have a driver's licence here?
How long are you staying?

After waiting for a while, the male officer called me and gave me leave. It's been more than 2 hours now. I walked down the long empty aisle past a group of officers. There was no one at baggage claim and again, I was the only person at the bag check line. This time, I got through fast. The only thing on my mind was to get out quickly. I didn't want them to call me back.

Kelly was waiting for me outside with a bunch of flowers and camera. He saw my face and asked what happened. All I could say was "Let's get out of here first." After we got to the car, I poured out the whole incident to Kelly. At that point, I was just frustrated, upset, relieved, tired.. a whole bunch of emotions that a holiday shouldn't start with.

The officers were not rude or harsh thankfully or I might just have burst into tears. Right now, I have second thoughts about coming back again. The course of love never did run smooth. Sigh.