We had just passed one Officer who asked us point blank what kind of food we had in our bags. Wracking my brain for a mental picture of what I packed into the bag three weeks before, I rattled off a list from the top of my head. Dry instant noodles, ready-to-eat instant soup, biscuits, crackers, chips, sweet treats. The Officer wrote them all, one by one on my declaration form. And I thought that was that.
It was not so. At the end of our queue, another Customs Officer was opening bags and looking through them thoroughly. I suddenly had this sinking feeling that I was in trouble! My heart started beating fast. My mind raced. What if I missed something? What will they do to us if we brought something we did not declare? Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best, I breathed a prayer up. My memory can NOT fail me. NOT now. Pleeeaase.
The Officer rummaged through the bag carrying our food and pulled out a bar of cheese. Oh my Eden cheese! I should have listened to MY man. It wouldn't have taken that much trouble to open the bag and check if we forgot something. But I didn't want to do it. Hardheaded me. Now what?!
The Officer looked through the list on his hand, looked us in the eye, and asked, “WHAT is this?” Why is this cheese not in the list?”
"Officer, I'm sorry. I forgot that I packed cheese into the bag."
Sounded so lame I regretted saying it. But what else can I say? That I had so many things in my mind all this time, got caught up with all the wedding preparations, and the wedding itself, that I forgot I had packed a small bar of cheese in one of the bags?
Guilty. That's what I was. I had no excuse. They gave me plenty of time to think. The Customs form was given to me in the plane a good hour before landing. Sure, it did not specifically spell out c-h-e-e-s-e, but it did say “dairy” products. What’s more, from the moment we stepped into
What?! You say? Bring cheese to cheese country? Like bringing chilli into Thailand? I know it sounds absurd. But you see, MY man and I were on our honeymoon, and we were supposed to drive out to the countryside, away from civilization, and we wanted to make sure the food situation would be taken care of. I had tossed that cheese in without much thought and I had completely forgotten all about it! It was one of those stuff from home that my parents brought over when they came for the wedding, and I missed eating that particular brand of cheese. Never imagined it would bring us THIS much trouble. Nice way to start our honeymoon eh?
A grim-looking Officer walked us to his office, sat us down, and very patiently explained why it was important for us to obey their laws. This is the first time I'm apprehended for breaking the law. I felt like a criminal. If only my chair could swallow me up. I apologized to the Officer, admitted our wrongdoing, and asked if it was possible for him to excuse the offense. Sir, can you like just throw the cheese away and we promise we will not do this again?
Yeah right. Commit an offense and not take the punishment? Well, I had to ask! Hoping for grace, I appealed to the Officer to 'forgive' our mistake. But he was no God and a fine is a fine. We have broken the law and we have to bear the punishment. All he could assure us was that it would not appear in our records.
With a heavy heart, I counted out two hundred NZ dollars. The price of a twenty-peso cheese sneaked into their country. A lesson on responsibility and accountability slammed down my throat to swallow. Quite an expensive lesson to learn but you bet it was well-learned!
Next time I go to cheese country, I bring no cheese ;D
6 comments:
Wow! Isn't that too much? Ganun ba kahigpit sa New Zealand? Mahigpit magpasok ng kahit ano dito sa saudi pero pag ayaw nila yung dala mo deretso lang garbage can.
Hi Ann! Yeah, they're really strict because they have to protect their products and sources of livelihood too. Akala ko nga pwedeng pakiusapan eh, tapon lang nila, pero di talaga pwede.
thanks for stopping by to visit my blog. for a moment i thought perhaps you were from new zealand, and then kept reading and realized you had been visiting. i actually lived in nz for a summer one year...a beautiful country. just don't take their cheese, apparently! :)
Hi Amanda! I had a pleasant time reading your blog! Thanks for dropping by here too!
Oh yes, NZ is a very beautiful country! You are very lucky to have lived there even just for a short while.
Nope, I didn't take any of their cheese ;D My bad was I brought my cheese into their country without telling them about it.
baw subong lang ko ko naka tiempo basa sini. and i enjoyed all throughout!! you are such a very creative writer *hats off* very entertaining and brilliant. haha favorite brand of cheeze ko pa na bala hehe.
Anne, thank you, thank you! For me, no cheese is as good as Eden cheese for my sandwiches. :D
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