Friday, April 06, 2007

Balloon Moon and Absurd Checkpoint Conversation

Tonight’s moon… unusually large and rather yellowish. Low-lying and it looks like an advertising balloon.

Third trip to JB since the end of the CNY holiday. A short conversation with an immigration official on the Singapore side was absurd because I presume that all people working at the checkpoint are somehow suspicious of me.

“How many days you stay in Singapore?”
(Hmmm? Until I found a job and also thereafter. Or is he asking me how many days I have stayed so far?)
“I’m seeking a position… A job.”
“Yeah? Then how many days?”
(Maximum 14 days, right? Or is he giving me more days if I ask for it, as it has happened once before?)
“14 days.”
He scribbles “14” on the immigration card.
“Where you stay in Japan?”
(What a question… Does he mean “Singapore”?)
“Kim Tian Place.”
“Where you stay in Japan?”
“Oh, I’m from Kyoto.”

With his hair and thin beard all white, this man was nice though.

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