MY FIRST MALAYSIAN

http://www.business-standard.com/newsimgthumb/thao_airasia.jpg

Just this year, Malaysian airlines Air Asia joined the fray of the already stiff local flight competition. It is a budget carrier just like Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines that targets passengers who are willing to give up flight conveniences (e.g. extra baggage, insurance, on-board meals, etc.) for a surprisingly low airfare. Being the natural stingy that I am, I booked my Davao vacation in Air Asia. Guess how much I paid for a roundtrip ticket.

P1,500!

It is a far cry from PAL’s ~P10,000. While in college, Mama always booked me a PAL ticket despite the dizzying price tag because she wants her unico hijo to come home safely and conveniently. And now that I’m working and I pay for my tickets, I never looked back at PAL.

Kimchilandia Chronicles: DAY 1 (ANNEX) - SNOWBOARDING 101

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure.

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SNOWBOARDING 101 for LONEWULF, SHORTSTRIDE, and ARIGATO 

Jisan Forest Ski Resort, Yongin, Gyeonggi, South Korea

10 March 2012

Lonewulf, Shortstride, and Arigato

The Slopes

Lovin' the cold

To complement a previous entry about our Day 1 in Korea, I am posting these pictures of our snowboarding adventure in Jisan Forest Ski Resort. Please have a journey through the pictures below. By the way, note that it is our first time (ever) to try this sport so be easy on the "fallen" shots. :)

Happiness - We'll definitely come back next winter

Read on.

W.O.C.D.T - HELMET DIVING

 

Finally, I was able to find some time to post this. The last installment of the W.O.C.D.T. series. :)

To complete our Bora activities, we allowed ourselves to be submerged was that 15? feet below sea-level, and had a one-of-a-kind experience of playing with some fish.

THANK YOU STARBUCKS! AND FATE

Normally, my office breakfast would consist of 4 pan de sals, 2 packs of retail mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee purchased from a coffee dispenser in our pantry. A couple of days back though, I had a change in routine.

I had these for breakfast!

Starbucks' Christmas Blend - Peppermint Mocha

FOR FREE!
How?

bagel with cream cheese

WHAT ONE CAN DO THERE

 

Once upon a time, there was a handsome little boy who fell in love with a very beautiful...

ADVENTURESOME 2: ZIP IT!

To complete my Davao Extreme Adventure Weekend (ching!), I and my friends Jed, Sybil, Lesele, and Luningning went to Diversion Road to zipline! We chose Outland Adventure over Zipcity because we heard that Outland has a longer trail. Also, they have a double trail, plus you may opt to zip the line by doing a “Superman position”, i.e. prone position (lying face down) with arms spread sideways or at the front as if mimicking a flying Superman.

Me <-- all geared up for the zip

MY SECRET FOR A DECENT YET INEXPENSIVE BEACH OUTFIT

Being the cheapskate that I am, I always opt... Wait, I am no cheapskate! I just don't have a lot of money, that is.

So anyway, I grew up with just enough money to get by plus perhaps a little extra for the "wants". Thus, here I am now, a person who more often than not opts for middle goodies, i.e. average-priced with average quality.

With this, I would like to share how I got my summer beach look for less than 700 bucks.

First, you need to go to a place where you can get the garments that you pictured in mind. In my case, Market! Market! I went straight ahead to the supermarket and saw a lot of choices right away. Since it's Summer, more than half of the display are beach outfits.

First up, board shorts. Lucky me, I found a nice pair at the Maui & Sons. (Read) On Sale!
Tip: Even when you're out of budget, do not skip the pricey lane, as they might have items on sale.

350 pesos

Next is the top. There was an endless array of options actually, but when I saw this one from a brand called Nautilus, I grabbed it right away.

120 pesos

Last is the flops. Normally, I would have opted for Banana Peel, rightly priced luxury. However, I bought from a brand called Reva. The rubber is less comfy but the extra bucks I was able to conserve was worth the reduced comfort.

120 pesos (?)

There. I just bought me-self a nice set of beach garments. Wheeepeee!


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And since I had spare cash to spend, I bought a set of undergarments as well.

 

 

Truth is, for the past weeks I had been shuffling only two briefs. They're all I have left. Thus I really need to purchase these. 3 + 1 at Walker. Comfortable to wear, good quality, inexpensive. Priced at P199 to P229 apiece. Ergo, ~P600 for the quadruple. Neat, eh?

HOW TO GET NBI CLEARANCE - For DOST Scholars

This was my Part 3 of my journey last Friday. I went to National Bureau of Investigation to have my name cleared from their systems. Their new office is located near LRT Monumento station.

If you're not familiar with DOST, you might be wondering why I am undergoing this. When I went to college, I signed a scholarship contract with DOST (Department of Science and Technology). We wouldn't be able to afford my college tuition anyway, so I had no choice. Once you sign the contract, you become part of the DFA, BI, and NBI watchlist. You will not be allowed to leave the country until you have served the country for the same number of years that they sent you to school.

For my case, I was only a scholar for two and a half years (am discounting all my Pisay years.. *grin*). So now that I have worked for almost three years, I was able to get a clearance from DOST, which will consequently allow me to be cleared from the DFA/BI/NBI watchlists. Hence my 4th of March journey. :)

Now, this is the part where I should be explaining how to get an NBI clearance. however, I wouldn't really be able to tell as when I arrived, I was sent straight away to an office that processes special cases. What I needed was to have my name cleared from NBI systems. however, the official there old me that I won't need to since my papers were approved in the DFA that morning. It meant that the DFA recognized that my name has already been cleared in the NBI. So that means, I won't be needing a new NBI clearance (this time for travel abroad).

I was not utterly convinced, and I would've liked to process a new clearance just in case the DFA turns on me later, however, my really bad cough told me to go home and rest instead.


Final destination. NBI.
Status. Cleared??
Duration. Around 8 minutes.

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Me went straight home with fingers crossed.

HOW TO GET CLEARANCE FROM BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION - For DOST Scholars

Now I shall post Part 2 of my journey on the 4th of March. I hope this will serve as a guide for other DOST scholars like me who wants to clear their names.

First thing, you need to have a clearance from DOST. If you don't have this yet, then you would need to process this at the DOST-SEI Head Office at Bicutan. But that's another story.

The Bureau of Immigration is located at Magallanes Street, Intramuros, Manila. If you don't know how to get there, here are the routes you may take:

Route A - Take a bus/FX/jeepney going to Lawton
Route B - Take the LRT and get off at Central Station
Route C - (I'm not too faimliar with this) take a ferry ride on the Pasig river and get off at Intramuros

Route 1 - take the underpass and walk straight to Intramuros exit, take a tricycle ("padyak") going to Bureau of Immigration, approx. Php20-Php30
Route 2 - take a jeepney going to Pier, and drop off at Bureau of Immigration

As for me, I took Route A-1.



I recognized the building from afar, as per confirmation from a staff the day before, their building is painted white and green. Also, when I got in, I noticed right away that the demographics is that 40-50% of the population (including staff) were foreigners.

As all DOST scholars should, I headed straight to Window #17. When the attending staff saw my DOST clearance he pointed me straight to Window #12. I read that to be cleared in Window#17 you have to:

1 - go to Window #12 to get a derogatory printout
2 - Have a photocopy of the printout letter
3 - go back to Window # 17

Here are what I exactly did:

STEP 1 - Presented to Window #12 my original letter of clearance from DOST, addressed to the Head of the Bureau of Immigration.
STEP 2 - Waited.
STEP 3 - Waited some more.
STEP 4 - Received the letter that is now stamped -- "NO DEROGATORY RECORDS".
STEP 5 - Went back to Window #17 where the guy just looked at the stamped document and gloriously sang, "You've been cleared. This is the end of the process."

Okay, so he really didn't sing. But due to my disbelief of my sudden clearance from BI, and since I was bugging him endless on why the document is enough and whether I should be paying for anything first, he pointed me to a room in the 4th floor where I could confirm these. The guy there told me that the document should be enough. I could prepare copies of it and bring one with me everytime I travel abroad. Also, he said that I could get an actual document certifying my BI clearance but that would cost me something and it would be really unnecessary.

Bureau of Immigration. Completed.
Duration. Around 30 to 40 minutes.
Next Stop. NBI.

*smirk*

HOW TO APPLY FOR A PHILIPPINE PASSPORT - Plus For DOST Scholars

(Documentation of my personal experience in Passport Application)

4^th of March. First destination, Department of Foreign Affairs. For those who didn’t know, the new office of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is now located at Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard corner Bradco Street, Pasay City. And before going for the interview, make sure you have with you your complete set of requirements, and of course, you must have already set an appointment earlier. You haven’t yet? Here are the steps:

Preliminaries: Setting an Appointment

You have two options in setting up an appointment: (a) Via online application. Visit the DFA Passport Appointment System and follow instructions indicated; or (b) call (02) 737-1000, and a friendly service agent will gladly assist you. Be sure to set your appointment as soon as you can, even if you still lack the requirements, as the next open schedule might not be in the next one to two months.

On the day of the interview, make sure to be there 30 minutes earlier, and bring EVERYTHING. If you don't know how to get there, just go to Pasay Rotonda, take a bus heading to MIA-611, and get off right in front of DFA.

As for the requirements, double-check everything, and make sure to have a photocopy of them. Requirements vary from person to person. Mine were:

- printout of Application Form from online appointment

- Original Birth certificate from NSO

- Valid ID (my laminated BIR ID = trash; my old university ID = good)

- Supporting documents (I brought my TOR with dry seal, NBI clearance, and BIR Form 2316)

- NSO-certified Marriage Certificate of my parents <-- required since my family name is foreign sounding
- DOST Letter of Clearance <-- necessary to clear me from the "watchlist"

- Passport Fee: Php950

And so my journey began:

8:26AM. Just the right arrival for my 9:00AM appointment. Before you can go inside the building, you will have to present your application form at the Verification Counter right by the entrance. This part makes sure that you indeed have an appointment and other forms of verification.

STEP 1. CHECKING OF DOCUMENTS FOR PROCESSING

They have (I think) more than twenty windows that serve applicants simultaneously, but still I spent almost an hour here as the queue was really long. At this part, you could check your documents for the nth time like what I did, or bring out your novel/magazine/crossword/sudoku/etc. If you don't have any, the overhead monitors showing Just For Laughs: Gags (and the full trailer of the final Harry Potter movie... Neat!) will surely alleviate your boredom. And don't worry, you'll be seated while in the queue.

And then my turn came. Window # 19. Before the serviceman could actually process my documents, he had to send me to the Director's Office for clearing of my DOST status. (NOTE: Only DOST Scholars who have not cleared their status yet will undergo this stage. I would assume that anyone whose name is being watchlisted for whatever purposes would have to undergo this step).

STEP 1.5 (not applicable to all). INTERVIEW / INVESTIGATION UNIT at the DIRECTOR'S OFFICE

I was sent from Window #19 to the Director's Office to have my name cleared. In the D.O., they took my documents and had me wait as they cross-checked my records. some of us were called in cubicles for interview. In my case, they just gave me back my documents, with my application form now stamped with something that says I have no obligations in the DOST anymore.

STEP 1. (Continued)

I went back to Window #19 for processing of my documents. They took most of it and returned some. I'm sorry, everything happened relatively fast and I wasn't able to keep track of which documents were left on my hand. Anyhow, the serviceman said my records and requirements are good. So now I have to proceed to the Cashier for Payment.

STEP 2. CASHIER / PAYMENT

The Cashier was located at the second floor, as well as the other remaining steps. The queue was short, and the whole process was quick. You will be given a queue number that you will use in the next and final step.

STEP 3. ENCODING / ENROLMENT

Here, you will see a network of micro-cubicles, each servicing the last step of the whole application process. Once your number is flashed in the monitor, you will have to go to the corresponding counter assigned to you. The staff will scan your documents, have you verify the details they encoded, get your digital thumbmark, get your digital signature, and Voila! You're done.

YOU'RE DONE!

Passport Delivery/Courier Service

You have the option to come back for your passport once ready, or have them delivered to you. While waiting in Step 3, I saw girls roaming around, issuing receipts for those who want to avail the courier service. You will have to go to their stations (right beside the Step 3 stations) and have them encode your mailing address. You can do this step before or after Step 3.

10:20AM. I had the whole process COMPLETED.


DFA Passport Application. Check.
Duration. Two hours.
Next stop. Bureau of Immigration.

*grin*

ONE DAY, FOUR CITIES

So I climbed at the top of the cliff, raised my right fist to the high heavens, and shouted:
"Tomorrow! I will embark on a journey that no other man has taken!" Then I scurried to my dump of documents and re-checked the completeness of the requirements including all necessary photocopies. *grin*.. I will attempt to process three documents in one day: Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) passport application at Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay; Bureau of Immigration (BI) clearance at Intramuros, Manila; and NBI clearance at Monumento.

Okay so that was last night. I woke up (unusually) early this morning and (unusually) had my rice breakfast. I had to summon all my strength because I know that it will be a long day full of endless queues, counters, window transfers, etc. It's like UP registration all over again! *grin* Not to mention, I knew Manila streets so well, strolling there will be like looking at the back of my hands (NOT). So I already expected that I'll get lost somewhere at least once today.

To cut the long story short, I made it!! Or at least that's how it appears. I think I will know within 6 weeks if I really did make it. Also, I will create separate posts on my individual journeys today. I want it to look like "how to" entries. And that's because online "how to" pages helped me a lot in my tasks today. So I want to thank them by paying it forward. *genuine smile*

Gotta scoot for now. I'm late for training.