A tript to the Indonesian Consulate proved a waste of timeand by the look of the facility it is not what one would have expected of a consulate. It did not look like too many people were eager to go to Indonesia as it did when I visited the US Embassy in KL but this is just a consulate not the Embassy. I asked about being able to stay in Indon for a longer period of time instead of just a month as is allowed by the Immigration law. The man at the counter asked me if I have papers to say that I am off to do some study there and if not I am to go to KL and do it. I felt that I will not be making any progress in facing this Malaysian employee at the Indon consulate who looked like he would rather be off having a chendol, and so I gave up and left. If this is any indication of things to come I guese going to Indonesia is not going to be as smooth a ride as I might hope for.

Now I am about to make my final prep and that is to purchase my plane tickets. There are a few airlines that flies to Medan in Sumatra and the cheapest choice so far is Jentayu Air belonging to Indon. Most probably this will be my choice of transportation. I checked into taking the ferry from Penang to Medan and the cost is half that of the plane and it takes about four and half hours as opposed to the forty minutes by plane. Friends here adviced me to take the plane as the boat ride will be too much for me and the service at the airport would be much more better and faster than that at the ferry terminals. Oh they said, you can afford it. If they only knew, by right it should cost me next to nothing as I have a son who is a pilot and I am his benificiary for the fringe benifits that pilots get on of which is to fly cheap anywhere in the world.