Get a Korean Visa Without Sweat

This is my first time to apply for a visa and as a freshman, overacting in preparation is normal. There are people who I asked about their experiences and their stories sound like getting a visa needs so much effort. Personally, in any visa application, I think there is no specific logic on which applications will be approved or rejected. So it should be good to prepare with best effort and honesty.

To share our experience, here’s what we have done when we applied for a tourist Visa:

      

1) Research on how to’s. In this instant era, we are lucky to get information easily. Google alone can help you. But asking real people give a better feel of reliability. Ask friends who have done it or contact the embassy itself.

      2) Get requirements. In our experience, we submitted the following:

• Visa Application Form – download from website
• 1 Passport Size photo with white background – latest of at least 6 months and to be attached in the Application Form
• Original Passport – latest at least 6 months valid prior to travel
• Photocopy of Bio-page of your passport
• Certificate of Employment
• Personal Bank Statement
• Copy of latest ITR

Side note: Now from here, the common question that I get is - “how much balance should your bank account have?”. My answer will be, like most of the blogs that you would probably read. It is dependent on how long you will stay there. Make an estimate through research and by asking people who had been there. Because most likely, people will not be comfortable to disclose their treasures (who would want to?).

3) Go to the embassy and submit your documents. At this date, the Korean Embassy is located at 122 Upper McKinley Town Center, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City 1634 Philippines. You may take a cab from any entry point going to BGC or from Guadalupe MRT station, ride a jeep FTI/C-5 bound. Ask the driver to drop you off there. Popular nearby landmark is SM Aura which is about 100 meters away from the embassy.

The embassy is open at 8:30 am and process tourist visa applications from Mon-Thurs from 9-11 am only,while release of visa is scheduled in the afternoon, from 2-4pm.

At the gate, the reception will ask for an ID and will give you a temporary one. You will also need to sign up in their log book. Inside, somebody will verify your documents and if all are okay, he will give you a number to be called when a person from the window 1 is ready to serve you.

If you come in a group, only one is required to submit it through the window. But I’m not sure if this is an absolute assumption. Based on our observation, it looks like physical appearance is not really required. This may be something that can be verified when you contact the embassy.

And that’s it! If there will be few people at the time you will come there, submission may be done in less than 30 minutes.

     4) Get your visa. After submission of documents, we were given a piece of paper with a schedule of release on it, which is 1 week after. Though, visa may still be claimed within 30 days from that scheduled date.

Release of visa is as easy as submission. There was no interview or anything. Just show that piece of paper and wait to be called. The distribution of approved visas is like getting a soda from a vendo machine.

Eat, Run, and Get Lost in Lipa City

Feeling Good at Getting Lost

Usually, I am not the itinerary maker of any trip I’d been with friends. “Taga-sama, lang ako at kaladkarin.” But for this, I tried to consult Google and top search results are food, ancestral houses, museum, and churches.  Reading blogs get me the impression that the places can be easily found by asking the locals. So we just agreed and come up with a list of places we wanted to see. But it turned-out into an annoying and funny trike ride.

Trike will be the most convenient way to transport around the city. It’s like a taxi, not just in being convenient but also in the minimum flag down rate in Manila. So if you are not very familiar with commuting and knowing where the common places are, prepare some bills. Traveling around may be expensive.

Looking for popular spots come easy. But sometimes, blogs can be confusing. I read about some places which did not exist anymore. So make sure that what you are referring to is something updated.

Food!!!

In general, what to do in Lipa is mostly food tripping. We tried Lipa Grill, located across Mt Carmel Church, which offers a variety of Filipino food.  The taste of Liempo and Pancit that we ordered is not much of a surprise and did not leave me with an impression that I would like to taste it again or want to try another dish. But one good thing is that they serve bigger than usual. So it still good for someone with a big appetite.

What else to expect from a town famous of its Kapeng Barako? Of course we hunt for a coffee shop. We landed at Candlelight Café, located at KM 77 JP Laurel Hi-way, Barangay Maraouy, Lipa City.  What’s obvious about this coffee shop is its different art displays, which are mostly paintings. On one couch there were teenagers drawing patterns of something. On the other table there was a woman teaching her student how to draw the orange, considering its dimensions.

When we enter the shop, it’s so quiet that we tend to talk in a whispering voice. This is something that I often prefer in a dining place. Which probably make the brewed coffee that I ordered tastes good, though the cookie is ordinary.

Lastly we tried the famous Batangas Lomi at a local Lomi house (which name did not register in my brain) suggested by kuyang trike driver as the nearest from SM Lipa. It was past 7pm already and Lomi King may be too far. I was not very satisfied with it, but again the serving is big. It made me so full, which is good for carbo-loading for next day’s race.

The 38th Milo Lipa Leg

People who know about my running may be wondering what's with joining another race of the same event and race category. Well, at the least it's a different place. It's actually my first thought as well. But I guess every race is different from one another.

Milo races are known for its strict cut-off times. For 21km category, it's 2 hours and 30 mins. I don't usually aim for this, but somehow I am challenged. I get scared thinking about it. I have not achieved this time ever. And for some reason, I do not know why I choose the category when I have not trained very well for speed. I just trusted my guts - "malay mo", "kaya yan".

As I said, every race different. Today the challenge is not just running fast but also keeping up with the weather, it was raining all throughout the race. It can either be good or bad for my run. There's threat of heavier shoes and clothes, cold temperature and blisters.

One more challenge is the route. It's close to zero visibility. It was too dark at around 5AM, "walang pa-ilaw si Rio". I just rely on the runners ahead of me few meters away. Just seeing the small reflectorizers from the Milo singlet, hearing some of them talking, their footsteps on the wet ground, guided me of the route. Some had head lamps, but most of them also run in the dark. 

And of course the route difficulty - when it's uphill, it's a very long uphill.

While running this, I had mixed feelings of confidence and doubt in achieving the target time. In the first 5km I experimented shifting to 2/30 at faster pace than the traditional 3/1. But I feel exhausted, because I am not used to this pace. So I changed again and forget about monitoring the time. I run and walk whenever I can and want to.

I get fast times at 4km (25mins), 8km (52mins), and 10km (1:05). I know then that I can achieve the goal, but I also know that I could get slower on the second half because I will get tired and going back means the route will be uphill. I lost focus, but when I saw the 14km tarp at around1:28, I got hopes until I reach 16km, then 18km (2:09).

I thought I can achieve this! When I run in a treadmill, I can do 3km in 20 mins. But this is real road and I doubt I can run that fast. So I just keep running as I could and stopped looking at my watch. I still stop at some points catching my breath. At the last km, I surrendered and not hoping to get a medal. Though I keep on running at slower pace.

Until I arrived probably last 100 strides. Someone from the crowd give me signs to hustle, then I saw the clock at 2:30:++. The seconds are running and a tarp is being put on the finish line, like a gate closing. So I hurried. It's like a miracle, my legs become strong again for that few seconds. It ran faster, it almost got cramps. And Andrew Neri (I think it's him), allowed me to cross the finish line, and be the last one to get the precious medal. I finished with my new PR at 2:31.

The feeling was overwhelming, getting something that you least expect. The pictures of the future flashed in my mind fast. I think about training, joining races, setting faster goals. This happening get me the idea that I can still get better as a runner. I get into a conclusion that my running career is far from over.

Liham Pang-unawa

Huwag ka sana magalit kung hindi kita binati sa kaarawan mo. Sana ay hindi ka magtampo nang hindi kita nginitian nang magkasalubong tayo. Hindi ako nagkwento tungkol sa mga nangyari sa akin sa nagdaang Sabado, kahit nasa tabi lang kita.

Hindi ako galit sa iyo, o kung anupaman.

Malungkot ako. Nais kong manahimik at mapag-isa. Wala akong nais sabihin. Walang laman na mga salita ang aking isipan.

Hindi ko nakalimutan ang lahat ng mga bagay na ating pinagsaluhan.

Patawad sa aking pagkukulang. Sana ay maunawaan mo. Magtiwala ka, pinipilit ko maging masaya. Ganunpaman, hindi ako umaasa. Hindi na maibabalik ang dating samahan.