Something had to go wrong sooner or later…

I showed up to the Indian Embassy this morning, only to find out that they would not be able to produce a visa for me until Tuesday afternoon. I am flying out to Singapore on Tuesday morning, and the visa officer was intransigent. The website says 5 days maximum, which would be Monday, but Monday turns out to be Indian Independence Day, and the office is closed! Damn!

I figured the best way to think things over is to head for the “Best Dim Sum in Beijing”, again, as per my guidebook. I hopped in a cab and arrived at East Ocean Restaurant. The place was a lot fancier than I expected… 6 (yes, six) attendants are there to open the door and greet you. I was showed a huge table in a fantastically decorated dinning room, complete with aquariums and other subtle touches… There was an attendant standing by my table the entire meal, removing empty plates the second they touched the table, and making sure the plates were all parallel to each other. The service was overwhelming. I felt watched the entire time. Again, the dim sum in Montreal or Toronto is surprisingly authentic, so hats off to the Canadian Chinese community for serving their good stuff in the Great White North. I also reviewed my INSEAD documents, which starts in 3 weeks now!!! After the delicious meal, I decided to find the Air Canada office to see if I can change my bookings. Turns out they were in the building right behind the East Ocean. My luck ended right there, however, as they told me that changes were not possible on Aeroplan tickets once the trip has started. I explained the situation and asked her “So you’re telling me you can’t me help me in any way??” to which she responded bluntly “Yes”. If I don’t fly out on Tuesday, I lose my ticket to Singapore and the way back to Amsterdam. So it’s not an option, unfortunately.

I headed to Bar Blu, where I noticed a sign for free wireless internet, with the intent to email the Indian Embassy to plead them to produce my visa by Friday. I hit a closed door, but pulled out my laptop and found that their internet was working nevertheless. I sat down by their front door and started working at it. The owner of the bar showed up and invited me in, even the though the bar was technically closed. He gave me a Tsing Tao and let me sit inside on his posh couch. The business day is now over and I did not receive a response from the Embassy. I will wait for a response tomorrow and if I receive nothing, I will physically visit them on Thursday. If the visa is not ready on Friday, I will have to ask for my passport back, forfeit the $60 I paid for the visa, and potentially lose the $1000+ I paid for the Indian trip. That would suck big time. Damn Independence Day! I haven’t given up yet, however… Today was also a miserable day in terms of weather, and the forecast is not promising for the next few days… Great museum weather, I guess!