This blog entry is specially requested by Wei Sing.. hopefully i do a good job documenting our entire unpleasant experience in Copenhagen.
Before i start.. let me just say that this blog entry contains strong emotive language.. (censored coz under 16 yr olds read this blog) If you are disturbed by such things.. pls do not carry on reading. Besides telling u guys what happened.. this entry is also an avenue for her to bitch about the whole thing.. she's gonna vet this before it is published.. here goes..
Wei Sing's summary of the whole thing... "KNN, F**K the thief!"
On the fateful day of 20th March 2009, we landed at Copenhagen Airport, and after checking in to our hostel, we made our way to the Tourist Visitor Centre (VC) in the heart of the city. This is what we always do when we arrive at a new place, to get more maps, brochures and info of the place we're in. But of all places, this is also where her bag was stolen.
After speaking with a lady from the visitor centre, we sat down, opened our maps and discussed about our plans for the day. Wei Sing had her bag placed right beside her on the ground. Thinking that Scandinavia was safe, we totally let our guard down. When we were about to leave, she discovered the bag was missing. Ri Hao and I immediately went on a frantic 200 metre radius search around the VC hoping to find someone with her bag, but it was not to be.
Fed Up Point (FUP) #1:
The lady at the visitor centre (lets call her the crazy mascara lady cos she must have like 1 ton of mascara on her lashes) said she can't help us because there is no CCTV in the place, even though thefts have occurred before. She just shrugged and said: "all i can do i point you to the police station" -_-"
After a 15 min search, we decided that we should just report the loss and see what is the next course of action. And so we went towards the police station at the railway station. On the way there, we decided that it might be good to leave our contact details with the VC in case they recover the bag.
FUP #2
So i ran back to the VC and to crazy mascara lady.. this was when she told me: "excuse me do you have a queue number?" (i tried to explain y i was here...) "No No you need to take a queue number.. next pls!" I was like.. #%¤#?!?!?!!!!! .. so i took a deep breath and went to get a number.. before leaving her a note..
Wei Sing and Ri Hao were already filling forms and all at the Police Station.. served by the most crappiest policeman ever.. lets call him Baldie (need i explain?). After completing the procedures and all.. he printed out something for Wei Sing to sign. It was the proof of stolen passport.. but Wei Sing's name was spelled WIE. Obviously we told him that the name was spelled wrongly and told him to change.
FUP #3
But he refused! He gave us some crap explanation of how obviously it is a spelling mistake and that the insurance people will be ok with it.. When we tried to explain.. he added that it was ok.. and that there was the police station's number if anyone needed to check. (?!?!?!!) But the killer was this statement: "obviously it is a simple spelling error.. i'm sure no one has the same name(all wei sings pls stand up).. i'm sure even in Singapore there is no one with the same name" We were stunned and after a long argument decided to walk away.. Asshole
At this point, Wei Sing, who has been very strong up to this point, couldn't take it anymore and began to cry. We found a place to sit down to make some phone calls. We found that the Singapore Consulate was closed already and that for emergencies, we should contact the Singapore Embassy in Berlin, Germany. After several attempts, we heard a Singlish "Hello" over the phone.. a big thanks to Steven (spelling unsure) from the Singapore Embassy.. you make Singaporeans proud.. we feel safe having you to contact in times like this.
Wei Sing lost the following items:
Dorothy Perkins Bag
Ipod Nano
River Island Wallet
Credit Cards
ISIC card
Student Card
Samsung Omnia + 2 Sim Cards
Spectacles + Case + Contact lens case
Money (a lot)
Passport
€4+ Comb
Misc Stuff like lip balm, Fazer chocolate, her only pen (side note: who goes on exchange with ONE pen??)
I might have missed out some..
Many of these were gifts and she's really upset and sorry that they are no more.. these gifts mean so much more to her than the money..
To cut the long story short.. we had to wait till Monday before the Singapore consulate opens.. but our flight out was Monday afternoon! We had no choice but to wait.. so with 1/2 our minds on this matter we still decided to make the most out of the trip la..
I must also qualify that Copenhagen is quite a pretty city.. with nice waterways and all.. i'll blog about it again next time..
Before Monday, we still needed to obtain and print important documents such as copies of the IC, Passport and Residence Permit, as well as Acceptance Letter from the University.
Thanks to everyone whom we contacted, showed concern and offered helped!
And so we went around sightseeing and all.. trying to enjoy the trip as much as we possibly can.. Wei Sing you're really strong! =)
The next day, we decided to return to the Police Station because we felt that this name error thing was gonna come back and haunt us in the future especially with regards to identification and claims from the insurance company..
When we went in.. surprise surprise.. it was Baldie again! (permanent job as deskman.. understandably so)
We insisted that he change the name again.. saying that the embassy and insurance company needed accurate records.
FUP # 4
He said some Fei Hua: " You came all the way back for this?... I can't believe that even in a place like Singapore (has he even left Denmark before?), something as small as this would be an issue.. i assure you, that in Denmark this will never be an issue" I wanted to say to him, "If we were in Singapore we won't be making this spelling mistake in the first place" He reluctantly stamped his name and signed after using a pen to cancel and change the spelling. Unbelievable..
Oh and when we were walking in town, we saw like a protest going on.. with flags and loudhailers and all.. and we also saw a group of policemen standing around in a circle on the street beside them.. drinking coffee.. I'm sorry but these guys seriously gave us a terrible impression of Copenhagen police
Police Station at the Railway Station
She's really good at pouting..We then decided to go back to the scene of the crime to talk to the people there and also to take pictures.. Wei Sing by then was emotionally more stable.. as you'll see in the photos to follow
The font size 16 warning at the visitor centre... they might as well put up a "thieves are welcomed" sign instead.. (anyway nice fringe)
We were sitting around this.. and the bag was where Wei Sing is standing
Where it all happened..
We were speculating if this place is a Hei Dian.. attracting tourists then stealing their stuff.. just kidding la.. but conceivable nonethelessSo the few days passed by rather quickly.. and we spent time visiting the city and the National Museum.
"if only i didn't let my guard down..."
Children's area in the museumSidenote: During this time of waiting, Wei Sing became understandably paranoid about leaving stuff behind or unattended...it was at one such time an exasperated Rihao said: "Whats there to look?...you have nothing to leave behind..." Wei Sing wasn't amused...
Free Lapdance for Hans Christian AndersonSidenote: Wei Sing had lost her beanie together with her bag and at the museum we saw this mummy that is wearing this beanie looking thing.. Rihao commented: "Even the mummy has a beanie"... not the brightest comment to make at the point in time...
The tallest man ever.. Guinness Book of Records.
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The photo machine was kinda screwed up.. there was no indication when the photos will be taken.. so Wei Sing had to take them twice.. but still all 8 photos came out weird! (She refused to allow me to post the photo.. sorry everyone..)
We then made our way towards the Singapore Consulate..
So happy to find it!
But when we went in.. we got a small shock.. The Consulate office was closed because Mrs Boyes (the lady running the show) was ill! She's like a local lady hired to run the Singapore Consulate.. there's no Singapore Embassy in Scandinavia.. We were stunned for a while.. before another lady came and offered to help us.. (lets call her Angel From Above)
Wei Sing managed to link up to Mrs Boyes.. but all she said was that no temporary passport or ID can be issued, and that she'll have to apply online and wait about 4 weeks. This would mean she can't fly back to Helsinki that day! Now Wei Sing was visibly worked up.. i believe she used the word "ridiculous" about 5 times in the conversation with Mrs Boyes.. (other words used cannot be published due to obvious reasons)
After the phone call.. she told us that what she wanted to say was a straightforward "F**k You! (oops) I'll ask Singapore to sack you!" I know she was angry and anxious at that particular point.. but looking back i felt it was quite a funny moment =)..
But Singapore's reputation for getting things done wasn't about to be smeared by Mrs Boyes.. Angel From Above stepped in to help us call Scandinavian Airlines.. after a tension filled 10 minutes, she finally emerged from her office.. and told us this: "Yes they agreed to let you fly without a passport.."
The expression on Wei Sing's face at that instant was priceless.. all the pent up emotions.. she just broke into tears and thanked Angel From Above like crazy..
Feels good to be a Singaporean
Majulah Singapura!After that Wei Sing was happy and treated the rest of us to delicious pastry and KFC.. Helsinki doesn't have KFC by the way.. =)
Arriving at the airport, we proceeded to check in at the Scandinavian Airlines Counter.. when the staff found out that Wei Sing was checking in using a photocopy of her passport, he began to flirt with her. Lets call him Mr Cheeky.
Mr CheekyWei Sing: "I don't like dogs!"
Mr Cheeky basically proposed to Wei Sing. But he was actually very nice, and actually apologized for the inconvenience caused to us.. He was just trying to make the situation less tense by being humorous. =)
Happy to be checked in
No hand luggage to carry on board..Boarding the plane is one thing.. but she now had to be worried whether she can enter Helsinki! Afterall she does not have her residence permit or any proof of identification apart from the photocopies. So we prayed hard.. took our time to collect our luggage.. walked towards the exit.. and ta dah! we were in the arrival hall! Turns out that since we were flying in from Copenhagen, we didn't need to go through customs..
Relieved to be back in HelsinkiNow that she's back.. she can go about the long arduous process of replacing the passport and the cards and what not.. but at least she's back =)
