visa and more visa

the days leading today was a bit stressful for me as i wait for my schengen visa to arrive. as i was discussing my dilemma to a friend of mine (who was denied a visa twice), it seems that there are really differences in how embassies handle visa applications. for me, the easiest, or should i say, more friendly and efficient applications was for the uk and australia. i would have also said japan but there were just too many papers to prepare, especially if you are visiting a friend.

let me summarize here my visa application experiences:

uk - my first time to apply for visa for the uk was when i was in university. i was sponsored and my visa was courtesy gratis. the second time was the same. for this last time, i am sponsoring myself so i had to go through the whole process (and they have a different application procedure now, unlike last time). i prepared my documents including the managers cheque made out to the embassy (Php5000+), applied online, set my appointment, appeared on the scheduled time at their visa center at pasong tamo and, here's where it's a bit unexpected, wait for a long while for my number to be called and have my documents reviewed and submitted, paid the fee. then i waited again for a couple more minutes for my biometrics to be taken. after that, i was able to get my visa in just less than five working days! how easy was that?

australia - had to go to australia for work purposes. i filled out the application form, prepared my documents including the managers cheque named to the embassy (i just don't remember for how much), went to the visa center at makati. i was told that a decision will be made after a week but as i was pressed for time, had to write on the spot a letter to the consul, asking humbly to expedite my application process. we were set to leave less than a week. the letter must have work because i received my visa via courier a few days before we were about to leave.

japan - booked our plane tickets to japan when there was a seat sale. lucky for us, a couple of friends live nearby so we were able to ask them to sponsor us. the application was just too "papery" for me for all the documents that we needed to prepare at our end, and for the documents we need to ask our friends to send to us. we also had to prepare an album to show that we are indeed acquainted. however, i do understand the need for these documents so we can't complain. my friends and i lodged our application in one of the accredited travel agencies located at dusit hotel and paid around Php2500. after a week, we were able to claim our visas at the agency. unfortunately, one of us didn't receive a visa.

schengen via spain - this must be the longest and stressful application that i had. it was also my first time to be really interviewed in the consulate. lodged my application through a well-known agent, told that i was to go to the embassy at a certain date and like during my uk application, had to wait for my turn at the window. i was asked a lot of questions regarding my purpose, finances, work, and family. there were questions that i expected and others that were not. it was only later that i realized that they were also important questions. when all the questions were asked, i paid the Php3760 fee and was asked to pick-up my passport at a certain date (12 days after the interview date). i wasn't told whether i'm getting a visa or not. however, i asked that it be sent to my office. the expected date came but there was no passport. i called the consulate and was told it was still being processed. maybe they just have massive applications lately because of the world youth day. it was only after another week (and a couple of days more) that i was able to receive my passport and visa.

what's next, you ask?

a us visa, perhaps? i dread the day that i will need to apply for one. i hear that theirs is one of the most difficult (and may i say, unforgiving?) visa application there is! when that time comes, i hope i will just breeze through it. like my friend said in her interview,

"i only saw your airport before! now, i want to see more of the US of A!!!"

LOL.

saved!

neil etheridge showing he's got what it takes

dearest azkals,

i was late last night. i was still in line outside when the whistle blew and i won't lie and say that i was hoping that there weren't any major things that happened while i wasn't at the bleachers yet. when we got pass the security, my friends and i ran to our designated places. from the roar of the people and the way they've been cheering, you were able to make quite impressive attempts on goal. i wasn't disappointed in how you played. you were great, you made me stand on my feet the entire time (okay, except during those times when the medics had to look over players who apparently injured themselves).

at the last minute of the first half, when stephan made that amazing goal, i just stood there, taking it all in, and then i started shouting, hugging all my friends, jumping up and down, rejoicing that wonderful goal. to stephan, thank you! it was one sweet goal, indeed! the kuwaiti players must have been shocked to have allowed that goal. even the kuwaitis who were seated near us were just too shocked and had stopped waving their flags. for us who were seated near that goal, it was like in the movies -- slow motion and then the speed of that one goal hitting the net.

that goal will forever be in my memories, together with chieffy's first goal in bacolod and phil's second goal during the home game against sri lanka.

during the second half, when the kuwaitis equalized, we were there with you, silent. i could see some of you, heads bowed, like in abject misery but i know that will not last. i know, you will stand up again and fight until you can't anymore. and that is just what you did. i can remember chieffy just running his way through several defenders just to make that goal, or phil, or angel. i can remember rob and ray holding off the attackers and aly clearing the ball with his headers and anton bringing the ball back down to the mid-field. manny, james, setting the ball. and who can forget neil's tremendous saves? you were all great last night.

yet we must accept (and we do) that kuwait is the better, faster and more experienced team. they deserve to win but you deserve much more because you showed heart, not only for the game but for honor for our country.

the kuwaiti's second goal, i wouldn't delve on much. the attacker was able to evade neil and hit the ball. from our angle, it was an easy goal. ray tried to save it but he must have slipped and the goal, which was about to hit the net, just changed trajectory. the crowd fell silent, you can feel it. yet one by one, your audience clapped, and cheered you on. acceptance. it happens to the best of them.

when the final whistle blew, all i could do was clap hard for you and the good game that you played. my friends and i waited for your walk around the oval. i clapped hard. my friends and i, cheered for you. for us, you were the best and we all know, you will be better in the coming years.

as for me, i will be here always to support you and i will always make "hatak" all my friends who wish to watch you play and to learn about the game. i will definitely try my hardest to get tickets to all your home games and if fate will make it so, i hope i will have the chance to watch your away games, too. hopefully, sooner than we expect, you will also be there in the World Cup games.

to you, azkals, thank you and i wish you all the best games that you can have (and no injuries, please).

piso

an online chat with a friend:

kulot: ceebee?
me: kulot?

pause.

kulot: may piso ka ba dyan?
me (confused, thinking of our one-peso-can-make-us-fall-in-love-all-over-again conversation a few months back): huh?

kulot: pwede bang pa-measure ng diameter?

pakshet, kulot! pang-scale mo lang pala ang piso. akala ko, low-eq ka na naman dahil sa love na yan!

:D

tickets!!!

i woke up early this morning, around 4 am, because of a phone call. i guess it was a blessing because i needed to wake up early so i could go to the mall and try my luck in getting tickets for the FIFA WC 2nd Round Qualifier game between the PH and Kuwait. when i arrived there, the mall was still closed and had to wait quite a long time for it to open. what i didn't expect was the volume of people who were already there waiting and i even heard some kids plan their strategy:

dapat pagkabukas at pagkapasok natin, takbo agad. siguro dito tayo daan, mas mabilis yun.
(once the mall opens and we're able to get in, we must run like hell. maybe we should pass this way so it will be faster).
 
obviously, he knows his way around the mall.

so when the mall opened, i went in and rode escalator to where the ticket booth is. while on the escalator, i decided to call the reservations hotline. i was so excited when the phone rang and someone answered:

hello! i would like to make reservations for the football game on the 28th.
ay, sorry, ma'am, but we're not open yet. it's not ten yet.
how can you not be open when it's already ten here!
ma'am, we still have seven minutes to go.
can i just wait for that seven minutes on the phone?
no, ma'am. we can't do calls that last that long.
okay, so i'll call again.

when i finished the call, i was already at the floor where the ticket booth is. some people where already there and the others who were just ahead of me either started running or walking very fast. i walked faster. when i fell in line, there were already maybe fifty people waiting for their turn at the counter. i looked at my phone and i still have two minutes for me to be able to call the reservations booth again. so i kept waiting.

two minutes was up. i called the hotline but the network was already busy. i kept calling and calling, hoping that at one point, i'd be able to connect and have my tickets reserved. after twenty minutes (and still no movement in the queue), i finally connected and requested for the central bleachers ticket. unfortunately, i was told that for the number of tickets i'm reserving, there's no availability anymore. i can only buy the 200 worth tickets at the blue and green section. i insisted on the row which i think had a great view (despite it being near the back of the goal post) but that wasn't available anymore, too! then the lady said that i can't stay long on the phone and she'll just reserve the best ticket there is for the minimum number of allowed tickets per person, which is ten. without knowing where we will be seated, i agreed and finalized my reservation. i didn't realize what a good move that would be following the next events that happened...

there were these two guys behind us (my friend's sister has arrived to wait it out with me) and one of them keep going to the counter to see what was happening because the line wasn't moving at all. when he came back, he told his friend (and those who could hear him), that there was this one family who bought thirty tickets, one ten-ticket set for each one of the three family member. we couldn't really believe it. and then we saw this disabled lady in a wheelchair who just recently came from the counter and we saw her holding a suspiciously thick stack of tickets. come on, we don't have any problems with disabled and senior citizens being given special priority, but please, can't you impose the ticket limits?! it was definitely unfair.

while these were all happening, i was still calling the reservations hotline because we still needed five more tickets for our friends. after thirty minutes (it's like one call per thirty minutes), i got connected again. it was just quite sad because by then, the only tickets available were those single tickets, meaning you can't be sitted together. i decided then not to reserve any more seats because i doubt my friends will take the tickets anyway, especially when they'd be without anybody they know in the stands. i wanted to help my fellow ticket-buyers (the guys behind us) so i let them use the connection to have their tickets reserved. i just don't understand though why they were so picky with the seats that when they couldn't get what they want, decided not to reserve any. if i knew that they would be that picky, i would have reserved the kid in front of me the two tickets he wanted since it will be his first time to watch the game! such precious call time was wasted on those guys! *sigh*

after a couple of minutes, a little commotion happened at the counter and then a few more seconds and someone kept on saying, "bleachers seats are sold out already!" this was not even 11 o'clock. disappointed, some just left without even confirming it; others started going to the counter, leaving their places behind. we stayed because we had our reserved tickets. others were already complaining why there were only a few center bleachers seats open for selling. however, lucky really for us, we were able to get our ten tickets.

thank God for that phone call that woke me up super early!!! and thank you for reminding me to make the call. or else, we wouldn't have any tickets for the game.

for those who say that it's unfair for the ticket booth to sell tickets through phone reservations, i'm sorry, but some of us who were able to buy our tickets that way, we also made our share of waiting - by the queue and by the hotline. i guess we were just lucky today. so please don't generalize and assume that we are all scalpers.

to the scalpers, kapal ng mukha niyo! nawala na talaga sa bokabularyo niyo ang serbisyo. pera na lang ang alam niyo. nakakalungkot.

pinoy kakanin sa holy week

in preparation for the long holy week break, i asked my mom to send me a gelatinous rice flour pack. i was craving for traditional filipino food that i enjoyed when i was a kid -- those that my mom cooked when we had a long break, or during merienda times in the afternoon.

so last holy week, i decided to make two filipino desserts: palitaw and tsikalang, or what is known in manila as pilipit.

palitaw in tagalog means 'to float.' this way of cooking is simply that, letting the rice dough float in boiling water. when it floats, it means that it is already cooked and ready to be served.

ingredients:
1/4 cup baking flour
3/4 cup gelatinous rice flour
water

mix ingredients until it forms a dough. shape into flat circles then drop in boiling water. wait for it to float then scoop it out.

for the "garnishing"

ingredients:
grated coconut and sugar

put in hot pan the grated coconut and sugar. mix well until color of mixture is light brown. serve mixed or separate from the palitaw.

tsikalang as we call it in zamboanga is also known in manila as pilipit. although of different shapes, they have the same style of cooking.

 

ingredients are the same as that of the dough mixture of palitaw. shape it in braid-style or strudel-shape. once ready, fry in hot pan. remove from the pan when brown. then in another pan, caramelize brown sugar with water (some uses oil with the sugar). once it is a bit sticky, pour in the fried tsikalang and coat it with the sugar. once coated, remove from pan and serve.

remember thought that the sugar mixture must not be too thick so that when it is coated onto the bread, it will not dry thickly on the bread when cold.