Consulates and working abroad

Renewing government/official documents are normally a time consuming process. Throw in the limited embassy/consulate office hours and you can get a frustrating experience while working abroad. But surprisingly my passport renewal wasn't so bad. I managed to get my passport renewed after two trips out to the Canadian Consulate General in Quarry Bay.

The first trip out there was on a Saturday, which was great that the dropbox at their office is opened after hours. All I had to do was complete the simplified renewal form and submit it along with the require documents and fee. A couple of days later I received in the mail a notice confirming my application was received. Unfortunately they don't mail back the passports and you have to pick it up in person. 

The tricky thing about picking up the passports is that they have about a two hour window for passport pickups during the weekday (Mon.-Thurs.). Also, they really only let family members pick it up for you. Luckily I had some help from CharK :)

CharK also picked up poppies for the two of us from the Consulate: 

It's been awhile since I've seen a poppy in HK. So it was a nice to see the Consulate here is taking donations for Remembrance Day.