During our stay in Aberdeen, my son booked British Airways domestic flight to London for us. We did not check in any luggage, like Air Asia, we need to pay for check in bags. So having a cabin bag will do, 7kg for a ten days stay is enough for each of us. Before going to the airport, my son cautioned us to put our toiletries in a transparent plastic zipper bag for customs inspection. For males, no problem but us two ladies, we took the smallest cleanser, moisturizer and whatever cream we need for the face, all as small as we could get, all below 100ml. We felt most confident that nothing could go wrong.... until.....
We passed the screening bag machine, my girl and my boy had no problem with their bags and plastics but I was the one being "detained".... One lady officer asked me whether that bag belonged to me together with the plastic zipper and I said Yes. Then she told me to go one side and again she asked me the same question. Meanwhile my son and daughter were standing nearby, wondering what had happened. Then I was told that there was an alarm when my plastic zipper went through, two times in fact and they had no choice but to call in the police. WOW! So Serious geh???
I was asked to open my bag which I did and she used a gadget to check through very thoroughly. Then she told me to wait ten minutes, the police is on the way....not to worry, it is their procedure, if any alarm goes off twice, they have to call in the police to assist them. While waiting anxiously, we were wondering... "What triggered the alarm??" OH dear, thank God still got time before our flight arrived.... (Another tip: don't check in last minute, always go as early as possible to avoid delayed like this case)
True enough, One big Sized Policeman arrived, he talked to the custom officer for some moments and then with a pen and paper in hand, he walked over to me smilingly. Feeling more at ease, I asked him what happened actually.... He told me that there was some chemical reaction taking place in the zipper bag when it was being scanned. He suspected it was Peroxide which has spilled from the container into the contents in the zipper bag and it triggered off the alarm. Haiyah........ In the end, the zipper bag was confiscated...Bye Bye creams!
This was what triggered off the alarm...
Moral of the Story: Don't ever soak contact lens while boarding a Flight, it gives us the Fright, alright!
Wah...terkejut betul if like that. Lucky u went early
ReplyDeleteYeah, memang terkejut.. tak pernah mengalami..
DeleteAiyo..I thought you kena tangkap! That contact lens case looks like the one I used to use with AoSept hydrogen peroxide disinfectant.
ReplyDeleteYes, anything peroxide will trigger alarm..
DeleteScary! Once I was arrested in Kuching for suspected drug trafficking, the dogs identified a box...not mine, smelly shoes and socks inside - my coursemate in KL, his box, we were going home after 1 year in KL...but he wrote his wife's name on the box, Wong...and no Wong on the passenger list, only Wee, me... Such a nuisance!!! And very frightening too.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness they believe you and release you.
DeleteAiyoh.. that is high risk...good that your surname is Wee, uncommon one.. so what happened to your fren?
DeleteNothing. It was a false alarm. They searched and they searched and found nothing. So sial!!!
DeleteThanks you for warning us about this. So scary!
ReplyDeleteWe were thinking what on earth happened...
DeleteWahaha! What an experience.
ReplyDeleteI used to use that contact len cases in the past. In fact, my very first contact lenses cases when I started wearing lenses.
Aiyoh. Sayang all the stuff in zipper bag gone. Indeed when fly international, one needs to be careful when hand carry the luggage. No problem for check in luggages.
Yeah, I thought we were very careful already.. nothing above 100ml... didnt know the contact lens was the culprit..
DeleteHahahha... poor thing. Last year when I went to china , I forgot to took out my water gel in my hand-carried bag. The Chinese officer search my entire bag including checking my gadgets before he asked if he could confiscate my gel. I was nervous during the search as the Chinese are very strict.
ReplyDeleteYeah, once alarmed, they have to search in details..
Deletewhat an experience....so far I never encounter such in any airports (choi choi....touchwood!) but good that u share this experience to us..
ReplyDeletehahahaa... just be more careful with the liquids..
DeleteThere's a time, when i went travel, i put a water bottle inside my luggage, and the alarm trigger during the check in, was question what's inside, reply water bottle, lucky they didn't ask to open the luggage and throw away the water bottle...
ReplyDeleteoh, I thought water also cannot be allowed... but empty bottle sure can..
DeleteNext time you better use pro essay writer website.
ReplyDeleteGood grief, Claire!! This is a flight you will never forget! At least the big policeman was nice and smiled.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he is a big policeman alright, I think he encounters this type of cases before, very common among us who wear contact lens...
DeleteWah, never thought this would happened ler!! Scary!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Claire!!
You are welcome, Hayley! I also dint know till kena..
DeleteHad it happened in a non-Western country, things could get hairy. There again, liquids in bottles/cans may not be 'reflected' on their radar in some airports.
ReplyDeleteWe had a heart stopping experience as well. My girl got a pepper spray in her handbag by mistake at Changi Airport. And the police were called and she received a warning letter.
ReplyDelete