0 Lets Celebrate!

May 20, 2013 marks the day that I got to cross out another item on my 30 before 30 list! Yay! 5 out of 30! 25 to go :)

I got to visit Ilocos Norte and I got to say it was an experience I will never forget. ^__^

Keep the good vibes rolling! :)

0 The 2000php Baler Challenge

Last March 23-24, me and my office mates decided to go to Baler for the weekend. One of them initiated this challenge- to spend only 1500Php in Baler all in all. Me having gone there once, (and know more or less what we will do, budget and all, *wink* ), opted for the 2000Php challenge.

Baler has a special place in my heart so I know I will always go back there. twice in less than 6 months! imagine! :)

Will write a more detailed blog post about baler but for now, here is a detailed breakdown of our expenses:

GROUP INDIVIDUAL Fare from Cubao to Cabanatuan (Aircon)  -------   185.00 Php Fare from Cabanatuan to Baler (Non-AC)  -------   176.00 Php Brunch in stopover 278.00 Php 69.50 Php Tryke from Bus station to  Resort 45.00 Php 11.25 Php Room good for 4 persons 2000.00 Php 500.00 Php Baler tour 800.00 Php 200.00 Php Dinner     325.00 Php 65.00 Php Socials after dinner   210.00 Php 52.50 Php  Bfast at Bays Inn - Buffet 150.00 Php Lunch   300.00 Php 75.00 Php Fare from Baler to Cabanatuan (Aircon)  -------   247.00 Php Fare from Cabanatuan to Shaw Blvd  -------   196.00 Php TOTAL: 1927.25 Php
Verdict: I WON THE CHALLENGE :)

2 30 before 30

Early this year, I chanced upon this travel blog from the sole sisters and ever since then, I was inspired to travel more and see the world. They also inspired me to make a 30 before 30 list. This list,similar to a bucket list, contains 30 things that you want to achieve or places you want to go to before reaching 30 years old. (I'm currently 23 so I still have 7 years to complete! ) Most of the items on the list are related to traveling as this is my current passion today. Some items are things I want to achieve or skills I want to learn before hitting 30. Hopefully I will be able to finish this list before leaving the line of 20s :)

1. set foot at white beach puerto galera
2. Climb on top of a mountain
3. See the Aurora Borealis
4. See masterpieces personally at louve museum
5. See paris on top of the eifel tower
6. Walk on the great wall of china
7. Cuddle a baby panda.
8. See and take a picture with the statue of Hachiko at shibuya
9. See coron, el nido, puerto princesa palawan
10. Find a job at the beach and stay there for two months
11. Go to hong kong disney land
12. Go on an impromptu road trip w/o a destination
13. Go on a vigan, pagudpod, laoag tour (05-20-2013)

14. Go on a cebu-bohol tour
15. learn and be good at martial arts - taekwondo, karate
16. Be fluent in japanese language
17. win a photography contest / get a photo published in a travel magazine
18. Have a kiddie birthday party again
19. Learn how to drive and own my first car
20. go on a month-long vacation
21. Travel solo locally and abroad
22. Go on a carribean cruise
23. see baby turtles/pawikans hatch from egg and crawl to the ocean.
24. Go to at least 5 fiestas in the philippines
25. Visit tokyo tower and see sakura blossoms at its finest
26. Tour around osaka and kyoto to see the conservative side of japan
27. See the pyramids at Giza
28. quit my dayjob and start my own business
29. celebrate a white christmas
30. go on a eurotrip/ see at least 5 cities in europe.

0 How to get a Passport in the Philippines

This post is a week late. Sorry for that.. :) Remember my post about my very strong urge to go to ye old Nippon(Japan)? (if you haven't read it, here is a link for you) Well, I took the first step to achieve it! (clap! clap! Pat on the back.) 

Last August 24, I went to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to apply for a passport. The whole process took about 2 hours at most because there are many people also applying for their passports. (Random thought: Do my fellowmen really want to leave our country that much?) Take note though that before the said date, I went to the DFA website to get an appointment. You cant walk-in on DFA without an appointment. Here is a step by step guide on how I got my passport.

BEFORE APPOINTMENT DATE

1. Set up an appointment

DFA will not accept applicant without a valid appointment. You need to set your appointment via their website here. The site contains a step-by-step process that is easy to follow. 

2. Gather your Requirements

Aside from your form, you also need to submit some requirements needed to process your passport. Personally, I prepared the ff.

         a. Original NSO birth certificate.

         b. Company ID (original and photocopy)

         c. Voter's ID (original and photocopy)

for more information about passport requirements, please refer to this site.

3. Print your form

After setting an appointment with DFA, click the confirmation link they will send you on the email that you have provided. Print the PDF form that will appear after clicking the link. Do note that the form's format is for a letter size bond paper (8.5"x13"). On the first page, it will contain your appointment date and time plus reminders from DFA. You need to show this form to be able to enter DFA premises.

ON APPOINTMENT DATE

DONT BE LATE!

Personally, I have this tendency to always be late. Being late is a big no no if you don't want your schedule to be moved to another date. Especially if you have your job and filed for a vacation leave. I almost missed my schedule so be there on time! give at least 30 minutes allowance aside from your usual travel time to DFA. Also, you will be advised to be 30 minutes early from your scheduled appointment time so stick to that time allowance. For new applications, you need to go to the new DFA which is just a couple of minutes away from SM Mall of Asia.

upon arrival, you will need to give your printed form to the station near the gate. He will sign on the form and scan the bar code of your application form.

Step 1: Processing and Document Evaluation 

On this step, the staff will validate your requirements if they complete and valid. Once validated, the will give you a passport slip like the image below. It will contain the amount that you need to pay when you go to step 2. Here, you may chose between regular processing( 950PHP), which will take 15 working days, or rush processing(1200PHP) which will take about 7 working days. Since I dont have any immediate travel plans, I chose the regular processing. You may now proceed to step 2. Step 2 is located on the second floor.

Step 2: Payment

Together with your receipt, proceed to the cashier and pay the amount indicated in your passport slip. 

Step 3: Encoding

This process took up most of my time. Took more than an hour because of the number of people also applying. After paying, get your queue number like the one on the picture below.

A screen will be flashing the current number being served as well as the booth number you will go to. Once your number is flashed, proceed to the booth and have your picture, signature specimen and finger prints taken. The actual process of encoding took about 5 - 10 minutes at most.

Step 4: Additional step

 for those who want their passports delivered at home or at the office, you need to pay 120 for the shipping fee then chose the courier you want. I chose 2GO because the encoder there work fast compared with the others (particularly LBC, where I lined up first). 

This is the last process that you need to do. You just have to wait for your passport to arrive. Good luck!

0 Travel bug strikes again!

Hi, I'm Yza, and I love pandas. As in suuupeerr love pandas! (one of my dreams is to be able to hug a baby panda. :)) So imagine my delight when one of my dearest friends who is now residing in Japan tagged me these photos: 

A pandabus! I wanna ride this!  

Panda stuffies! Yay!

More panda merchandise! I soo wanna go to Ueno,Tokyo right now :/

Because of these photos, the sleeping traveler/adventurer inside me began to stir again. Its decided! I'm going to Japan next year! I don't care what it takes! bwahahaha! *evil laugh* Actually, being an anime fan, I have dreamed of going to Japan since I was little. The panda pictures just hardened my resolution. ;) I'm fascinated with the Japanese culture: f how they can be modern and conservative at the same time.

Things to do before Japan trip:

1. Get a passport. 

You need to have a passport if you want to go anywhere outside your country. This applies to everyone. no exceptions.

2. Get a travel visa.

You cant go to japan without a visa.  In my case a travel visa. I still need to apply for a travel visa. Information about getting Japan visa can be found here. This is applicable for all unless you are an American, European or Australian (who are allowed visa-free entry to Japan for 90 days)

3. Save money.

Hopefully I get to save enough dough for this trip. My travel fund is nearing rock bottom and based from what I have researched from the net so far, for 15 days in Japan, you need to have at LEAST 100,000 PHP or roughly about 2,365.26 USD . *sigh* Fortunately, I still have a year to save and hopefully that will be enough. Worse comes to worst, i'll sell my kidney. (kidding!)

4. Plan itenerary.

I have many places that I want to go once I'm in Japan. Kyoto, Akihabara, Tokyo, Osaka etc. hopefully i get to squeeze as many destinations as I can in my 15 days (maximum number of days to stay in Japan for travel visa) stay there and of course, bond with my friend who is generous enough to ask me to stay in their place. God bless them :) Thank God for wonderful friends! I love you Phoebe! :)

5. Buy plane ticket.

how do I get to Japan from the Philippines(my beloved country)? Best option is to fly by plane. :) I'll be on the lookout for promo fares to Japan being the cheapskate that i am :) Best option is Cebu Pacific Air because they are the cheapest and they occasionally give seat sales. You can go to Japan for 7-9k all-in roundtrip ticket during seat sales compared to the regular ticket which will cost you about 20-30k. One of the drawbacks though is Cebu Pacific only flies to Osaka (Kansai). You still need to ride a bus or the shinkansen to go to other major cities.

6. Earn enough leave credits and file for a leave

I don't know about other companies but in our company, we get to have 15 leave credits per fiscal year. I need to budget my leaves so that I can earn enough leaves good for at least two weeks. (less travel trips for me. boo! :( )

7. Learn basic conversational Japanese

If I were to travel alone, I need to stock on my Japanese vocabulary so that I wont get lost before finding my friend. especially since I will arrive in osaka (if i were to push thru with my plan to ride on cebu pacific air). My friend is located at Niiza-shi, Saitama, roughly 2 - 3 hrs away via shinkansen from osaka. I still have plenty of time to get lost. lol.


I think that's all I need to do. For now. :)

-=KASUCHAN=-