During the National Day (Aug 9) long weekend, many Singaporeans flocked across the Causeway for a short getaway.
But for Sabrina Sim, her day trip to Johor Bahru turned into a nightmare.
Taking to TikTok with the hashtag #trappedinjb, the 22-year-old influencer said she and her friends had driven up to Johor Bahru at 1am for “a quick massage and a Hai Di Lao meal”.
Sabrina and her friends had stashed their passports in the glove compartment before heading to the hotpot restaurant.
Upon their return at about 5am, they realised that two of the five passports were missing, though one was found to have slipped to the back of the glovebox
“Swear we searched for a good three hours because it was 8am [when I took this video,” said Sabrina.
The group then made their way to a police station to make a report though Sabrina quickly realised that she was at a dead end of sorts.
“I can’t go to the embassy now because yesterday was Singapore’s National Day, so the embassy is closed,” she said.
She further shared that “embassies don’t open on weekends and Monday was a holiday in Malaysia”.
August 12 was Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, a public holiday in Malaysia.
This meant that Sabrina had no choice but to stay in Johor Bahru as she would only be able to visit the embassy on Tuesday.
“The worst feeling from this is that it’s an urgent matter but yet I have to do nothing about it but wait?” she ranted.
As Sabrina didn’t plan to spend a night in Malaysia, she didn’t pack any necessities for her extended stay. However, she had her boyfriend for company.
“As you can see from this video, I didn’t even bring a bag with me,” she said.
So she had to go marketing for necessities and also learn how to use the washing machine at a friend’s place.
In the meantime, she also visited KSL City Mall and the Sea Life Aquarium at Legoland Malaysia.
Tuesday finally arrived and the couple woke up early to head to the Consulate General of the Republic of Singapore in City Square and managed to get the required documents quickly.
She shared that the cost of replacing a passport should it go missing was $70 for the application fee and $50 for the replacement passport.
According to Sabrina, there was a dress code at her next stop which was the Setia Tropika Immigration office, and so she needed to shop for pants and covered shoes.
At this point, don’t you think it feels like she is participating in an episode of The Amazing Race?
Though Sabrina was in no way ready for any challenges and shared, “This kind of feels like a war I’m not ready for because I know that if they tell me I can’t go home today, I’m going to lose my mind.”
Well, that nearly happened as a staffer said there was no way she could leave the country and might have to stay in Malaysia till November.
Yes, November.
At this point, Sabrina said she “literally had the worst meltdown of my life” though she later pleaded her case to them.
“I can’t stay three to four months in Malaysia because I dont’ have anything here and I have a life back in Singapore!” she begged the officer.
We wonder if the staffer was pulling a fast one because Sabrina shared that he later empathised with her and generated a special pass allowing her to return to Singapore.
“The moment I put my hand on the special pass, I was literally feeling so relieved cause it means my trapped in JB era is finally over!” she said before booking a Grab to head back to Singapore.
Sabrina described the experience as unreal and said she was glad to be home.
“Moral of the story, whichever country you go to, please don’t lose your passport!” she said before thanking everyone who showed concern for her throughout the past five days.