The consequences of disorganization.

After shooting for 3 days straight I got up in the morning of my flight to go to the Chinese Embassy to apply for my same day service Visa. When I got to the counter the lady said with no sympathy that my photo wasn’t on photographic paper- due to the fact that the printer I printed it off wouldn’t accept the photo paper I gave it, I didn’t have a hardcopy of my reservation booking and I didn’t have a hardcopy of my Hotel reservation. Beads of sweat had formed from the vacuum I suddenly found myself in. I had less than 45mins to sort those out to rush my Visa and I couldn’t do it. I didn’t even have the hotel booking details let alone have the means to print them. My flight to Beijing was in 7 days and I was leaving to Hong Kong the same day. Quick thinking led me to call two friends in Hong Kong and ask if I could apply for the visa in Hong Kong and quick the service was. It seemed fine… Then called my friend in Beijing to see if she could fax email the details of my booking so I could print them when I got home.

So I printed my flight details, the hotel booking details and photo- this time on some sort of photo paper- all ready to go for when I got to Hong Kong. By this point, I still hadn’t sorted out my insurance for my camera kit, drawn up the drainage plans for the extension, burnt the DVD of a gig I shot or fully packed. I had about 3 hours. Including lunch, I managed to do it all plus a few other things.

Heathrow Terminal 3.
I arrived in reasonable time and while I checked in, I asked about if they knew anything about visa applications in Hong Kong. A nice old man at Cathay told me I should go to the China Travel agency in Sheung Wan to do it. Sheung Wan from where I was staying is about 45 mins away. He said he had been in a similar situation. Now I was one step closer to getting my visa…

The plane journey was the quickest I have experienced. Partly because they had moved my from my ‘unsafe’ seat to a front one with masses of leg room, but mostly because I met a nice young woman who just graduated from London Fashion School. Don’t tend to chat much on planes but this was one of those rare occasions. It was the first time I didn’t sit through an entire in flight movie. Not that we talked a lot, just that the movies were bad. Didn’t get much sleep at all.

Hong Kong International Airport.
I was through immigration in less than 1 minute from queue to exit. Thank god for Hong Kong ID cards. My luggage came soon after and from plane to arrival hall I was 40 mins. What hit me was the heat. The air got thick and if one wasn’t used to the humidity in Hong Kong summer, you’d think you were hyperventilating. It was 32 C out.

It had been 6 months since I was here and it seems like one never left. But the past 6months have been quite full and half the year has gone by.

I got to Tai Po and after dumping my stuff off in the spare room I went to have some food and then to buy a pair of light walking trainers. I finally found a pair I liked from the only shop I went to but they didn’t have my size. The shop owner said she would, ‘make them bigger’.
‘You can do that?’ I asked.
‘Sure’, She replied.

Sure enough, 5 mins later she came back with a pair of shoes that fit and if there was anything wrong with them I could come back. I paid £15 for that pair of shoes.

I proceeded to the bar next to Tai Po hotel to have a bottle of Tsing Dao. I was so tired and was falling asleep reading my Rough Guide to Beijing. I spoke to a friend who told be I did not need a Visa for Taiwan. Then spoke to another friend who said China Travel agency had a Tai Po office. Great. The barmen told me it was around the corner.

Sure enough it was. Except I thought it was up a set of stairs.

I barely slept that night. Having to awake at 6am, the aircon machine I turned off halfway through the night. After a shower I went to have some egg noodles and then got to the agency at 7am. The place had a store front that I had missed the night before and had a plaque displaying the opening times of 9AM. So I went home, around the corner, to search for software to unlock my iPhone.

Back at China Travel at 9 I got seen first as I was the only person applying for a single entry visa. Firstly, they had to check if they could do it by Saturday. As this weekend is, of course, Mid Autumn Festival. After some deliberation and a phone call, it was said it was possible by Saturday if I went to TST (Tsim Tsar Tsui) to collect it. The woman behind the counter said I needed a proper hotel receipt with my docs. After a few missed calls I finally got in touch with Dong Hong, my frined in Beijing. She was out and said she would try to sort it out. When I hung up, I thought, ‘why don’t we just call the hotel directly?’. So we did. But they said they don’t provide receipts. How strange. The agency said they would try to sort it out. I paid my $1100- (£85-90), which was enough to get me a 2 year multiple entry visa if I applied early in the UK.

I went to get some rice noodles and fish balls around the corner and then went back home. I returned a missed call from my Beijing friend and she said if she helped me pay a deposit and faxed them my passport, they would give me a receipt…

So I went back to the agency. They photocopied my passport then said they didn’t have a fax machine to do international calls… So… I went to the local stationary shop to fax it with my friend at the hotel in Beijing waiting for it.

Went back to the agency to await their fax. It didn’t come. My friend text me saying she just got a hardcopy and was on her way, back to her coffee shop to fax it. A few minutes later, it was there and I went back home to shower.

Sorting out my unlocking software, the agency calls and said they need my business card or the company I work for. ‘Freelancers’ isn’t on the visa application form- they wanted your company name.

Guess where I went next… So I gave them one of my business cards and went back home.

After not really sorting out my iPhone, I went to take a nap for 2 hours before heading out into town to meet a friend for dinner. I had more noodle for dinner. Some Ramen this time…

This morning we went to sign some papers for a few hours. I was supposed to deposit the cheque I received after in my dad’s account except I wiped my iPhone. So I am now restoring settings in hope that my notes pop up.

Tomorrow I go get my visa. Hopefully… but now, I'm going to take another nap...

- J