I've had a busy couple of days. I did not blog about it much as I was not ready to announce or talk about it.
I've been on leave from the office since Wednesday. I went to the Land Transportation Office and applied for another (my third!) student license. This time, it was clear to me that the license validity is only for one year and I can switch to a non-professional license in a month's time. Desperation made me do it as we won't have a driver for a month and my in-laws will be out of the country. I won't have someone who will drive me to the shuttle station every morning and fetch me from the station in the evening. Well, there's my husband but I don't have the heart to wake him up everyday at 7AM (he gets home past midnight) so he can drive for me.
I enrolled at A1 Driving School for a refresher course. I drove yesterday for 5 hours straight and my left knee and thigh are still hurting. I chose a manual car as the practical exam for the non-pro license requires us to drive a manual car (an owner-type jeep). I drove through EDSA AT RUSH HOUR!!! The gentle slopes that defined EDSA felt like mountains to me as my "hanging" was sorely tested. My parking still needs practice and my lane changing. According to my instructor, I have the tendency to jerk the wheel whenever I get nervous (e.g. when a bus or a truck drives alongside). So I need to calm my nerves and ensure I don't drink any coffee before I drive.
This morning, my husband and I had our interview at the US Embassy for our Non-Immigrant VISA and I'm happy to say that we were approved! After 21 years, I'm going back to the US of A! I can't wait to see my mom, my sister and her new baby on September (and my brother-in-law and other relatives, of course)!
The interview was relatively painless. She just asked us some questions--who are your immediate relatives in the US (me - my mom and my sister; leo - 3 sisters of my mom), what other countries have you been to other than the US (me - singapore and thailand; leo - singapore, thailand, and europe), how long have you been working for your company (me - 8 years; leo - 1 yr), how much do you earn (ay secret na yan. hehe) etc etc. I took out the documents that I painstakingly prepared and photocopied in case she asks for them but she did not ask for anything! The consul said that we're a good risk and gave us the yellow paper (it felt like American Idol. It's the Golden Ticket!) which indicated that our application/renewal was approved.
We were only inside the embassy for less than 2 hours. However, it tooks us half the day (we were there at 7AM and left 11AM) as the travel agency inadvertently gave us an expired application form (my husband's) wherein the payment was made January 2007! When the pre-screener discovered this, it was only 730AM. :( So we had to go out, wait for the bank to open and for our agency to pay for the application fee again. By the time we got back inside the embassy, it was already 930AM and we were at the tail-end of the crowd.
While waiting for our turn for the consul interview, we were listening to the other interviews (we couldn't help it. There were speakers outside each window so you could hear whatever the consul was saying). There was an interview where the appplicant was too honest:
CONSUL: Why are you going to the US
GIRL: To visit my boyfriend
CONSUL (with humor in her voice): To visit your boyfriend?
GIRL: Yes
CONSUL: Is he an American Citizen?
GIRL: Yes
CONSUL: Has he been here? How long?
GIRL: Yes ((can't hear how long. I think it was a month)
CONSUL: Who's going to pay for your ticket?
GIRL: Myself
CONSUL: How much do you earn?
GIRL: ((can't hear but it was either minimum or she doesn't have a job))
CONSUL: What other income documents do you have?
GIRL: ((can't hear what she exactly said but she can't seem to present anything))
CONSUL: You should've known about it when you paid for your visa application. How long will you stay there?
GIRL: A month or so.
CONSUL: How will I know you're coming back?
GIRL: I'll be coming back.
CONSUL: Yes, but how will I believe that you will be coming back? You might stay there for 6 months or so and you won't be coming back.
Anyway, I don't know how that interview ended as it was our turn already in another window. I have a feeling though that she was declined.
There was an old couple though who were granted visas and the old man was crying. The consul was consoling him. She was saying, "It's ok, Sir. It's ok." Maybe he will finally see his children who he hasn't seen in years.
Showing posts with label updates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label updates. Show all posts
Friday, April 25, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
January Weddings
This month is full of weddings--well relatively.
My hubby and I were invited to the wedding of a former boss. However, as the invitation arrived quite late, we made plans already and were unable to go. If I knew about it earlier, I would've gone. Instead, we had lunch at my father's house in Makati. We gave them our pasalubongs from Bangkok.
Yesterday, we attended the wedding of my one-down. He has been planning this wedding for less than a year and he's so excited over it. He obviously loves his girlfriend (now wife) very much. The wedding was held at Manila Cathedral with the reception at Ibarra's.
The beautiful bride was crying as she walked down the aisle. I remarked that I did not cry during my own walk. Actually, in our wedding, I was on the verge of crying while waiting outside the church. However, when the giant wooden doors of St. James opened and I saw all the flashing cameras and people looking at me, the tears just stopped. I just concentrated on smiling.
The reception was fun to watch--especially the garter and bouquet "tossing" tradition. One of our male officers (who happens to be gay), was roped into the garter ceremony. He got the garter and one of the female officers got the bouquet. It was hilarious watching his reactions to the whole thing.
At the end of the month will be the wedding of one of our friends in Mandaluyong. She has also been planning this wedding for a year. Good luck!
My hubby and I were invited to the wedding of a former boss. However, as the invitation arrived quite late, we made plans already and were unable to go. If I knew about it earlier, I would've gone. Instead, we had lunch at my father's house in Makati. We gave them our pasalubongs from Bangkok.
Yesterday, we attended the wedding of my one-down. He has been planning this wedding for less than a year and he's so excited over it. He obviously loves his girlfriend (now wife) very much. The wedding was held at Manila Cathedral with the reception at Ibarra's.
The beautiful bride was crying as she walked down the aisle. I remarked that I did not cry during my own walk. Actually, in our wedding, I was on the verge of crying while waiting outside the church. However, when the giant wooden doors of St. James opened and I saw all the flashing cameras and people looking at me, the tears just stopped. I just concentrated on smiling.
The reception was fun to watch--especially the garter and bouquet "tossing" tradition. One of our male officers (who happens to be gay), was roped into the garter ceremony. He got the garter and one of the female officers got the bouquet. It was hilarious watching his reactions to the whole thing.
At the end of the month will be the wedding of one of our friends in Mandaluyong. She has also been planning this wedding for a year. Good luck!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
What Now?
Before I moved in with Leo, I swore that I will blog everyday due to the ready internet access. However, that was not the case as you can see.
I get home almost 10pm everyday and it only leaves me enough time to take a shower and get ready for bed. If I have to be coherent the next day, I have to be asleep before 12 midnight.
Anyway, a lot of people have been asking me how's married life. Maybe I should start with that.
Well, I will give the answer that I give to everyone--it's ok. We're still not yet done tying some lose ends with regards to our wedding (photo album and wedding video) and fixing our rooms (our other room is full of our stuff. It's absolutely horrible to look at), but we're happy.
So what's next? A baby would be nice to make our family complete but it's not something that we REALLY REALLY want right now. If I get pregnant this year, then that's great! I feel that getting pregnant and having a baby would take all our time and effort and we haven't really given much with regards to that aspect. Maybe when we're done with our to-do list. But for sure, we would really want to have a baby.
Other than that, work has been keeping me busy. I still work 12 hour days and it's taxing me and because of that, I tend to eat more. I think I gained the weight Leo has lost these past two months. I should join him in his exercise and diet but I feel at it's going to kill me. I'm an emotional eater and I don't know how I will cope with the work-related stress that I'm exposed to right now.
On another note, Leo's going to march on Saturday and he will officially be an MBA graduate. Buti pa siya. I hope to return to school by January but next year will be another challenge at work. The department that I'm handling right now will be split into two with the big half going to another division--and I've been asked to go and lead that big half. This arrangement will be effective January 1, 2008. The thing is, my one-down will be getting married next year and he'll be gone for 3 weeks. Heading the department will take all my strength and wits so I don't know if I can go back to school. And I'm 200% sure that business will want to exceed their targets this year.
That is why I REALLY need to get my non-pro driver's license ASAP. I don't want to be held hostage by shuttle schedules and I can leave and go anytime I want. Shuttles are very convenient, yeah, but I don't like the waiting time--especially at night. There are times I would wait for 30-40 minutes for a shuttle to be full before it can leave. That's almost my whole travel time!
Leo picked me up from work today and miracles of miracles, he let me take the wheel when we entered the village. I really love automatics. Feels like I'm driving a bump car. Unfortunately, I think manual clutch is used for the driving test. I'll manage.
I get home almost 10pm everyday and it only leaves me enough time to take a shower and get ready for bed. If I have to be coherent the next day, I have to be asleep before 12 midnight.
Anyway, a lot of people have been asking me how's married life. Maybe I should start with that.
Well, I will give the answer that I give to everyone--it's ok. We're still not yet done tying some lose ends with regards to our wedding (photo album and wedding video) and fixing our rooms (our other room is full of our stuff. It's absolutely horrible to look at), but we're happy.
So what's next? A baby would be nice to make our family complete but it's not something that we REALLY REALLY want right now. If I get pregnant this year, then that's great! I feel that getting pregnant and having a baby would take all our time and effort and we haven't really given much with regards to that aspect. Maybe when we're done with our to-do list. But for sure, we would really want to have a baby.
Other than that, work has been keeping me busy. I still work 12 hour days and it's taxing me and because of that, I tend to eat more. I think I gained the weight Leo has lost these past two months. I should join him in his exercise and diet but I feel at it's going to kill me. I'm an emotional eater and I don't know how I will cope with the work-related stress that I'm exposed to right now.
On another note, Leo's going to march on Saturday and he will officially be an MBA graduate. Buti pa siya. I hope to return to school by January but next year will be another challenge at work. The department that I'm handling right now will be split into two with the big half going to another division--and I've been asked to go and lead that big half. This arrangement will be effective January 1, 2008. The thing is, my one-down will be getting married next year and he'll be gone for 3 weeks. Heading the department will take all my strength and wits so I don't know if I can go back to school. And I'm 200% sure that business will want to exceed their targets this year.
That is why I REALLY need to get my non-pro driver's license ASAP. I don't want to be held hostage by shuttle schedules and I can leave and go anytime I want. Shuttles are very convenient, yeah, but I don't like the waiting time--especially at night. There are times I would wait for 30-40 minutes for a shuttle to be full before it can leave. That's almost my whole travel time!
Leo picked me up from work today and miracles of miracles, he let me take the wheel when we entered the village. I really love automatics. Feels like I'm driving a bump car. Unfortunately, I think manual clutch is used for the driving test. I'll manage.
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