I thought it would be over in less than an hour

I like how the title rhymes.

There you go.

I did mention before that I applied for renewal of my passport. This is my second time to renew. This last passport I had was never used outside the country.

My original appointment was supposedly October 31 but then it was declared a holiday so I was given the option to either go on November 11 or November 2. If November 2 will be declared a holiday again, then I would have to stick for November 11. This is usually the case because November 1 is a holiday and people are just coming back from vacation so naturally the next day is supposedly a rest day still to recuperate before going back to work.

Thankfully or not, November 2 was not declared a holiday, which is today.

My scheduled appointment was for the slot of 12:00-13:00. The day indicated in the email was wrong for it said Friday instead of Wednesday but I still went today.

I started preparing an hour early because I was thinking of walking some within and around the mall for my blog.

The DFA was located inside the mall so it was convenient.

I arrived at the mall a few minutes after 11 and headed straight to the floor where I thought there was a computer shop.

I got there and lo and behold, nothing. There was an information booth nearby and I inquired if there were still computer shops in the mall and I was informed there were none.

My guess was due to pandemic and also it is no longer a lucrative business since almost everyone is already connected online through their devices.

The worrier that I am, I frantically went out the mall in search for a shop to have some papers printed. I am supposed to print my application form and e-receipt because I already paid it online. Everything is done online these days.

The shops around the mall's area were also gone. To save time, I went to the area near the universities and I was in luck for I found one shop that prints.

It's pretty convenient too for they have wifi available. I was about to load so I could have data to connect to the web. Clients will just have to connect to their wifi and send to the shop's email what you want to print. Quick and easy.

I checked my phone for the time and it was already 12:00 p.m. I underestimated the time. I quickly walked back to the mall and straight to the DFA where I then processed my passport.

When I got there, we were required to photocopy our old passport. Good thing there was a photocopy area within the agency.

From checking of application to processing, it was faster than I was expecting. It was on the last part where one had to be photographed and fingerprinted that there was a delay. It was there that my time was consumed the most.

When it was my turn, during the fingerprinting process, I had to be asked by the officer to wipe my hands off because it was wet lol!

When taking the photograph, you are shown how you look like whether you want to change the photo or not. What I noticed was that guys don't give a damn lol! Hair awry, shiny/oily face - don't care. It seems we have waited too long enough that we just want to get out of there. Even the officer was in a rush too so they can accommodate as many people as possible. What's important is that the information in your passport is accurate and correct.

This photo was taken at a bank below the mall. I took this photo while waiting for my turn on the atm. Our rent is due so I have to withdraw some cash. There was a short line but I didn't mind. It was the last thing I needed to do anyway. I didn't go for a walk anymore because I was hungry and I have not eaten anything yet.

I arrived home past 2:00 p.m. What I thought was a process that would take about an hour took about three hours but all is well that ends well. My new passport will be available for pick up on the 22nd. I hope I won't encounter any mishap with that.

The lead image was taken from this post. Check it out to find out.