My husband and I went to Immigration Department at Wangsa Maju branch on Monday to renew our passport and we’re so happy that the process went smooth. Prior to applying, my husband was worried that his name was blacklisted. I told him if he’s not doing anything wrong with the Police or Income Tax Dept or PTPTN, he should be OK. Anyway, I searched the net on how to get information on blacklisted traveler and was happy to find out that we can check the status online.

I gather these tips to share with you:

1. Check your travel status

• You can now check whether you are blacklisted or not before applying for your passport: Travel Status Enquiry (SSPI)
  

2. Applying for new passport

• You need to bring 2 recent identical photographs taken in front of plain white or off-white background and you should wear dark coloured clothing covering shoulders and chest (as white is the background). Alternately, the immigration department offers photo service, you need not worry to much about photo. They have scarfs and jackets available there in the photobooth.
• You need to bring your MyKad.
• For children, adopted children, etc, please read full requirements here: Malaysia International Passport.

3. Renewing passport

• Only bring your MyKad  and passport. You do not have to make copies of these documents, and there is no need to take passport photos. Your passport photo will be taken at the counter when your number is called.

4. Lost Passport

• If it’s missing or lost, you have to lodge a police report and bring the report when applying for a new one. Don’t forget to make a copy for their record. Please take note that application for replacement of lost passport will be sent to Immigration Department Headquarters, Putrajaya Malaysia for decision/process which will take approximately 3-4 months.

5. Waiting hours

• Effective from 11 May 2010, Malaysia international passport applications will be processed within an hour after payment is made. Please bear in mind that, the waiting for your number to be called is about one hour also depending on the crowd. So, expect two hours.

6. Passport Fees

• Fees are as per below:
  RM200.00 for 5 years

• Special Fees
  RM100.00 for 5 years
  [Eligibility for special Fees: Children below 12 years old or student below 21 years old with proof to study abroad on the day submission and Haj pilgrims.]

• Exemption of payment
  Exemption of payment is given to the handicap or disable person on the condition that they produce a letter from the Welfare Department.

7. Passport validity

• Your passport must be valid for more than six months – or to be on the safe side – one year. I went to renew my passport after an Immigration officer told me that I cannot travel on a passport with only 6 months validity.

Note: I am just giving tips of what you need to apply, for other enquiries, please contact Immigration Department: 03-8000 8000 or visit their website: Immigration Malaysia

Yes, been around Malaysia from last Thursday (approximately at 9 pm). The original plan was to just send my mother to Kedah and then back to KL with at least a stop at Zoo Taiping and then straight to Johor to attend my sister-in-law’s engagement ceremony. But as we reached Kedah, we had a sudden change of plan. My husband suggested that we make a trip from northwest to east and then down to south just to enjoy the beauty of Malaysia. Funny thing was, I had been thinking of this in the back of my head but I was afraid that he was not up to it, so I just let it be a thought. When he suggested the idea, I did not think twice, I jumped and agreed right away!

Paddy field of Pendang, Kedah

We spent the night in Pendang, Kedah and after Friday’s prayer and lunch, we made our move. My husband made his homework beforehand about the routes to take so that we wouldn’t get lost. We traveled along K153 (from Sungai Tiang, Pendang, Kedah), K17, K10, K15, K154 up to Federal Route 67 (Sg. Petani to Baling, Kedah).

Views along the way

Baling Hill, Kedah

We continued to K171, K173 (Baling, Kedah to Grik, Perak) and finally Federal Route 4 (the West-East Highway connecting Grik, Jeli and Pasir Puteh).

Grik view. There are road signs of deers crossing the road; we wished for them to cross but we were unlucky. Snapping the picture of the signs were good enough though.

It was already 5pm and we decided to put up a night at Temenggor Lake. We found a hotel called Banding Lakeside Inn.There was only one room left, so we took it. We had a nice view overlooking Temenggor lake. We took the chance to go down a trail near the inn and have a look of the lake. We found elephant’s dung along the trail! We also found two giant millipedes which rolled itself into a ball when we touched them. We didn’t get a chance to really discover the lake as we had to rush to be in Johor on Sunday.

Temenggor Lake

Glomeris marginata, the pill millipede

Nevertheless, we had a good dinner and sleep. The next morning, we drove along the West-East Highway. The highway was constructed to shorten the journey by about several hundred kilometers from northwestern to northeastern towns. The highway includes Lake Temenggor Bridge which crosses Temenggor Lake, a hydroelectric dam and cut across the Titiwangsa Main Range. Along the highway, there are places where road signs are put up to warn motorists of elephants crossing the road. There is one semi tunnel on the highway, probably the only one of its type in Malaysia.

Picture of the elephant sign was blurry as I had to snap it from inside the car. It was raining, you can see blurry spots from the tunnel picture.

There are three rest and service areas along the highway; Pulau Banding R&R, Air Banun R&R and Titiwangsa R&R. I was experiencing the pressure in my ears when we stopped at the latter R&R, so I asked my husband what was the altitude like. He took out and checked his GPS; the altitude was 985m (at Titiwangsa R&R) above sea level. Although it was drizzling, we managed to capture the view.

Titiwangsa Main Range

Husband, Yassin and Big P posing amidst the breathtaking view of the Main Range

We continued driving to Jeli until Pasir Puteh, Kelantan the end of Federal Route 4.

We later took Federal Route 3 and diverted to Federal Route 84 to take a look of fishermen village in Kuala Besut, Terengganu.

fishermen of Kuala Besut, Terengganu

We continued to Route T3, the main reason was because the route was along the coastal line of Terengganu and we plan to stop at any nice beach to let Yassin have a dip in the water.  Unfortunately it had been raining non-stop since we left Temenggor.  Still hoping for the rain to ease down, we proceeded southward passing Setiu down to Kuala Terengganu. We took Federal Route 3 to Marang and lucky enough, the rain stopped! We simply took a turn down an alley we first saw that we reckoned will lead us to the beach.  And voila! We found a very nice secluded beach! The wave was quite high (up to 2 – 3 meters) and we dare not let Yassin take a dip. Yassin just had to make do with the sand and once in awhile playing catch with the water. We spent a good an hour play at the beach before the rain started to fall again.

Marang beach

We continued our journey along Route 3 passing through Dungun, Paka and Kerteh, Terengganu.

Not too sure whether this plant is in Kerteh or Kemasik

It was almost 9pm and we really had to stop somewhere. We decided to drive a bit down and finally put up a night at Cherating, Pahang. We spent the night at Legend Hotel and left early the next morning for Johor. From Cherating, we took E8 (Pantai Timur Highway) until Gambang. We traveled along Route 12 passing by Muadzam Shah, Felda Keratong and entering Johor to reach Segamat. We later drove to Tangkak passing by Gunung Ledang.

Jalan Segamat -Tangkak, seen at the background is Mount Ophir or better known as Gunung Ledang

We finally reached Tangkak, our intentional destination, to attend my sister-in-law’s engagement ceremony.

Tangkak was supposed to be our last destination for the holiday before heading back to KL but we felt that Yassin was not really enjoying himself. He was all bored sitting on the rear seat doing nothing but sleeping all the way. So, while driving back to KL via North-South Highway, we simply took the exit to Melaka; Tanjung Bidara or Pengkalan Balak in particular to spend a night there. We stayed at Ismah Beach Resort, a very clean resort with a nice view of beach and sunset. Yassin really had a great time!

At last! He finally got his wish!

We planned to stay for a night but we overheard that a very important event would be taking place at the resort. We wouldn’t want to miss it for the world, so we extended our stay for one more day.

So what was the event? Stay tune for my next special post on the event and more photos of Yassin having fun!

P/s I am writing this from our room at Ismah Beach Resort. Took me more than 3 hours to complete this post, my mobile broadband was quite slow. Will be back in KL in the afternoon. ~Emila, 4.19am, Melaka.