31

31, last year in the calendar as they say, if you know what i mean :D

anyway, the day started out like any other day. except for a birthday greeting on top of the "good morning". had crepe with nutella and mandarin for breakfast, nothing special, just that there were no other things available. including the whipped cream that had gone bad :(

after breakfast, we went to the cottage to pick up strawberries and have lunch. sad thing though, it rained so hard. so mama picked up the strawberries, we had quick lunch, and went back home.

dinner was supposed to be in a fancy restaurant, which turned out to be closed on weekends. sigh! so we tried the nice seafood restaurant near some lake. murphy's law decided that it would be too full of people of course. so let's just go to ikea for dinner and then look around afterwards.

that was my day... happy birthday!

murphy's law (not again!!!)

25 january 2006. NAIA airport.

CASE #1: mile long check-in queue + 13kg excess luggage + strict attendant = pissed-off passenger

action #1: beg - REJECTED
action #2: argue - REJECTED
action #3: hand carry an extra 3kg together with my 9kg baby and 6kg baby bag - REJECTED (9.5kg excess)
action #4: leave behind beloved roller blades + cry from frustration - ACCEPTED (6.5kg excess, free of charge)


CASE #2: delayed luggage

action #1: wait
action #2: file complaint
action #3: wait (again!) until the following day


CASE #3: lost video cam

action #1: frustration
action #2: file complaint - NO REPLY
action #3: nothing else to do but weep

murphy's law (2 days to go...)

at long last, i received my schengen visa from austrian embassy last tuesday. it's really amazing how murphy's law works (whoever the hell is murphy?!?). after the passport incident, we were really hoping against hope for the visa to be granted. we know we don't have any problem getting approved, but getting the visa on my passport was another matter.

the embassy lady was really mean. she stressed out that unless i have my permanent residency id when the visa arrives, i will not be able to get the visa. and that was really tricky since we don't know when the id will be available. with the help of my father-in-law and my husband, we got a tip to ask for help from the netherlands embassy since we will be transiting on amsterdam also. everything seemed to be working well until we went to apply for it.

the netherlands consul okayed the letter from the immigration police. they didn't need to see the physical id, so it was ok. but due to some technicalities (first border of entry is austria, by car), the consul denied it. but at least, they were humane and gave us hope. very much unlike the... well you know who. anyway, as we were about to leave the holland embassy, we got call from ERI saying the id has arrive. they had to pull some strings, we don't know what kind, but we were happy. it was a friday so we had to wait 3 more days to get it.

now murphy's law has started... the middle name on my id was still my mom's maiden name. the police said only the name and surname are important, but who knows right. again, we have to hope against hope. luckily, the austrain lady didn't mind that little thing at all (or maybe she just didn't notice. so i got my visa, but not without another of murphy's law. the transit visa starts 2 days after our departure! funny, ei?! well, we just waited a few more minutes to have it changed. so GOD is still good. now it's just 2 more days and we'll be on the plane to beloved philippines. or so i hope... hehehe! oops, i don't want to jinx it.

it's should be a happy ending. and i'm very happy. see you soon PH!!! :D

GOD is good

there has been many instances that i have proven this. you know those days in college... at the end of each semester i would feel desperate thinking i would fail at least one of my courses. but year after year for four years, some miracle will happen and things turn out really good for me. well except for my last semester, which was my fault. but that's another story.

anyway, the point of this is that at least once in you life you will feel helpless. you cannot do anything but to surrender and let fate decide. that's what i did when i lost my passport. when we realized it was missing, after four hours, we did the best we could. my hubby and i went back and searched every nook, corner, and even garbage cans, along the path we went through. but it was really gone. we even went to police to try and see if somebody has returned it. nothing...

i really didn't know what to feel... sad? angry? hopeless? so i just felt numb. i just hoped and prayed. it was really all up to HIM. but i wasn't really expecting anything anymore. i just surrendered everything. whatever will be, will be.

the following morning, by some miracle, my in-laws called my hubby and told him that police called. somebody (bless him, or her) just left my passport in some police station, several kilometers away from where we lost it. but that didn't matter. the most important thing is we got it back.

now, my application for transit visa is all in order. they said, they will process it. although, in case i get approved, we will not be able to claim the visa unless i have the permanent residency id. and that is a very big problem... we still don't have it. the immigration police says it takes 2-6 weeks. so there's nothing to do but wait and see, and hope that by the time the visa arrives, the id is ready.

again, i surrender... because i know GOD is good.

the saga of my beloved passport

i got my first passport when i started working for a multinational IT company in makati. it was one of the requirements. it was delayed though, due to some technicalities.

it's not a big deal, it's just that we found out i'm not properly registered to the civil registry. i was still recorded as Baby Girl Rada! hehehe, ok so it was a big deal. we have to go through the process of late registration and the rest is history.

my first passport took me to places until it was time to renew it. it was supposedly easier this time. no need for personal appearances and the likes. just hand your old passport to a travel agency and they can do it for you. or, it should have been like that.

i had to do it personally because i had to do it in a rush. luckily, leslie was with me. we were going to travel together and both our passports were about to expire. so we had to spend half a day in queues (submission of application, verification, payment, etc., etc...). after one week, it was ready and i will not have problems with it for the next five years of my life. unless....

i got married!!! moreso, to a foreigner. naturally, i had to go with my husband to his home country. so it was best to have my passport amended/renewed to reflect my new surname sooner than later.

as you might have guessed already, i needed more requirements. i had to take two MRT's, from end to end, walk through three malls (and not do shopping), pay PhP250.00 (twice!), attend to an NGO seminar for spouses/fiance of foreign nationals, and get some "precious" certificate. so afterwards, it will be five years of peace.

think again!

this morning, i had to wake up much earlier than usual to go to austrian embassy and apply for schengen visa so that i could fly out from vienna back to my beloved PH. take note, i already got the ticket and we have all the requirements. except, they needed my permanent residence id, which i don't have yet. we managed to get certification from immigration police and planned to go back on monday. two weeks after that, we are hoping that the pages of my new passport will be adorned by another visa sticker. that is, if we find it.

yes, my beloved passport has gone missing in action this morning.

so sad! :(