The Unthinkable Drama Unveiled

What followed immediately after I reported (more like asking for help!) my loss to one of the flight attendant on hand was a 200+m dash to the terminal building since I told him that I might have dropped it during the bag-scan process (Mistake #1: Never like to zip in my handbag. So there’s the possibility that the handbag turned sideway during the short trip on the conveyor belt & thus it was dropped behind). It took too long to wait for the buggy ride. I had to carry my backpack with me, and wore sandals with heels too. Use your imagination. BTW, he already asked me to check inside my backpack.

Once we reached the terminal building (a quick scan of the boarding area showed nothing) & rushed off to the scan area & quickly asked around, there’s nothing over there. The officers in-charge told us that if anything was left behind, they must have noticed it immediately, using the x-ray machine. By that time, I wasn’t so sure of anything anymore. Was it possible that it was stolen/pickpocketed? But the handbag was always in front of my body, within my eyesight.

The flight attendant was really worried too & asked me lots of question, “Are you travelling alone Ma’am? All of your money are inside the wallet? Credit cards too?!!” (Mistake #2: Never put all your money in one place. But really, I did think of putting some money inside my jeans but…)

All these while, please remember that the flight was ready to take off (after boarding & refuelling) so I do not have much time to think. If I were to make a police report (plus to cancel the cards etc., assuming it was lost), then I have to go out & miss the flight (unthinkable as I’ve committed myself to be present!). “Yes, you have to make the police report outside. Do you have your passport with you?” That was the deciding factor for me. Another mad dash to the waiting plane & I finally secured a seat. But not before I asked the Indo guy (who just talked to me earlier while waiting for boarding), “Pak, could you please lend me some money? Do you have enough pesos?”

Once he reassured me that yes, he had the money, I settled down for the 4-hours flight by tracing my steps back to the last time I saw the wallet.

Since it wasn’t dropped during the the scanning, not stolen or pickpocketed, when was the last time did I hold my wallet?

(The wallet is actually brand new, a couple of weeks ago. B gave it to me since she saw my money just laying around everywhere inside my handbag/pockets – too enticing to be seen. I do owned a (black market) Chanel (in case you think Im too stingy or tangkai jering! hehehe..) purse but never feel comfortable using it since I’m lefthanded & it feels kinda awkward taking or putting money inside. I’ve been forever using a simple coin purse for my shillings & card holders for credit cards & such. The night before the journey, I got organized, rearranged everything (took the above pix) & planning to take only the wallet with me; containing only the credit cards, USD, pesos & ringgits. I thought of putting some money inside my jeans once I’m already dressed up. Awg (who had been there before) already advised me on this & I did think of wearing a chemise with an inside pocket (like the one for hajj/umrah & I did use it for the Beijing trip last time. Alas, with my nomad lifestyle (bajus lost here & there) – it’s nowhere to be found.)

A-ha! That must be it – when I paid for the toll charge!
It must have slipped away from getting into the handbag on my lap & I didn’t check or see anything @5am. We still didn’t take off so I surreptitiously send a sms to my driver: If wallet inside car, pls pas to Dr. (more on this later)

But I remember that somewhere after the toll, she (my chauffeur for the day) slowed down a bit & asked me to re-open & close the passenger door on my side due to some noise – door not closed properly. OMG!! What if the wallet was on my lap during that time? It should have easily dropped on the road with the momentum of the moving car.

Oh!!

That was when (up in the sky) I decided to let go, pasrah, redha with whatever happened so long as I reached my final destination. Hilang duit pun hilanglah….

Maybe I’m not a bad person after all coz Allah sent down His help in the form of that Indo guy (My Saviour - next installment). Alhamdulillah & MasyaAllah.