Passports
After an unprecedented amount of unbelievable procrastination, we finally did it. Our passports had expired right in the middle of lockdown, and we simply had no reason — nor any means — to renew them.
When borders reopened, Malaysia went through an intense passport renewal frenzy. With social distancing still in place and new contactless procedures being introduced, the Immigration Department was overwhelmed. Wait times stretched into months. Since we had no real desire to travel abroad then, we decided to wait.
Three and a half years after our passports expired, we finally applied for renewal online. The process was fairly easy, but we ran into a snag with the photographs we submitted. We chose the Shaftsbury Putrajaya Immigration office — a quiet, out of the way branch — for collection. To make things easier, we also booked a homestay in the same building.
With our appointment scheduled for the next morning, we left home at noon and arrived in Putrajaya after a leisurely hour’s drive. We had lunch at Woodfire, a gourmet burger joint, before heading to our homestay. The host requested anonymity, which we respected.
We checked in and spent the rest of the day indoors, hiding from the blazing heat. That’s when I realised I had forgotten something important: the batik shirt I bought in Serikin, Sarawak — the very shirt I intended to wear for the passport photo.
We had no choice but to make a 70 kilometre round trip back home to retrieve it. Once that was sorted, we drove to Tapak Urban Street Dining in Cyberjaya for dinner, then returned to the homestay to retire for the night. With an early appointment ahead, a good night’s sleep was essential… especially for the eyebags.
The Big Day
We woke up at 6:30am and got ready. Ironically, we didn’t sleep well at all — we couldn’t figure out how to switch off the wardrobe light. It was probably a blessing that we weren’t reviewing this homestay, because the comments would not have been flattering. I was also mildly perturbed when the lady we dealt with, who was six years younger than me, insisted I call her Kak.
We reached the Immigration office at 8:15am, and in just over an hour, we walked out with our newly minted passports. We returned to the homestay, packed up, checked out, and by 11:00am, we were back at our condo.
Armed with our passports, we can now plan our next trip abroad in earnest — but not before fulfilling our promise to feature every state in Malaysia on our channel.
Stay tuned!
(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)
📍 Location:
Havironia Music - https://goo.gl/maps/swtNfVmjFK4FgRsf8
Woodfire Putrajaya - https://maps.app.goo.gl/t4SmPNjCi71AxNKo9
Shaftsbury Putrajaya - https://maps.app.goo.gl/2r5g397dT8mLFjEH9
Tapak Urban Street Dining @Cyberjaya
Malaysia Immigration Department (Shaftbury Putrajaya)
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