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.

Belongingness

I often struggle to find a place where I belong. 

When I was in grade school, my sister asked me, “who is you best friend?”, and I could not even define the word. The truth is I don’t have any friend. As I get older, I get lucky to have few wonderful people around. Yet, most of the time I still feel alone.

Nobody cares about me. No one understands. I am rejected. I am ignored.

Maybe all of us, at a moment feel this way. After all, I am not totally alone. Well, where have you been all this time, you who feel as I do? Come and find me, let’s be alone together.

[re-post from my old blog]

I'm Not Attached

"Love. Purpose. Those are the things that you can't plan for. Those are the things that just happen. And what if they don't happen? Do you spend your whole life pining for them? Waiting to be happy?” 

I find this really boring at the beginning. But why do I keep reading it until the end? Well, isn’t that there are times in our lives that we find it so boring but we keep up anyway?

photo from somewhere in the internet

I am fond of reading the email exchanges between besties Beth and Jennifer because I am guilty about this and won’t mind if some IT guy is reading them. In this case Lincoln is that IT guy who should be reminding the Courier’s employees about using the company email for personal conversations. But like me, he gets to enjoy reading these girls’ emails, because he found them smart, entertaining and funny.

They talk about their boyfriend and husband, having not and wanting a baby, married life and wanting to get married, a favorite movie, what happened to their weekends, and of course Beth’s Cute Guy.

That cute guy is the nerdy Lincoln. Well, he’s not actually that nerdy. He had just been in a tragic break up with Sam. It made him study longer that it should be, until he decided to come back home to Nebraska and live with her mother. Even though he should be complete having a comfortable life with his mom and having a job, he felt empty most of the time (I am so Lincoln).

So this has been the story is about, the two girls chatting while working and an IT guy is reading their emails. But where or when does the story’s turning point?

For me, it’s when Lincoln learned that Beth had seen her and find him cute. From then, I get ask when will they meet in person and will Beth dump his boyfriend Chris for this cute guy?

In reading more to know what will happen, I get to know Lincoln more. He is a sad man, for some things that happened and is happening in his life. She loved Sam for all his life and she dumped him for another man. He hates reading emails for a job. He felt like he’s being paid to do nothing. But he tries and never gave up upon himself. His family and friends supported him well. Slowly, he transformed and get to immerse from his past.

Beth on the other hand, lives in a fantasy that Chris will marry him. But it didn’t came. One day she had awaken from this dream and turned out that Chris is nightmare who will never marry her, for a stupid reason. But she is a strong and smart woman and survived the chaos from this miserable break up.

Oh before I tell a lot more of the story and spoil it all, let me break it from here. What happened? The ending came quite fast. I mean the whole story was told very long, there are lots of scenes of past and present that has narrated and in a flash – boom, an ending! It’s a happy ending though, but it lost the cheesy mushy “kilig” feeling that was created in your mind in most parts where characters think about each other.

Overall, it’s readable, entertaining, somewhat engaging and feel-good. But it’s not some kind of love story that you would go to say “aaahhw”. It’s not even a very realistic, or maybe I just can’t find it like that. Reality is shown more in the character of Lincoln’s mother. She’s some kind of a very protective mom yet liberal in some ways. For me it lacks intimacy between Lincoln and Beth, it’s very light on that part. And I can’t imagine how it will be interpreted come there will be a movie adaptation. Most of the scenes are email reading. That’s something to think about.

Attachments\ Rainbow Rowell\ 323 pages\ April 2011

Hello Alone

I have not been social in a while. Well that isn’t surprising. Eighty five percent of my life is spent in isolation, ten percent in close relationships, and only five percent for socializing. It would not be me, if I will be a social person. I tried to change my style. Unfortunately, I only come up with that ten percent.

I think most of the time, I am anxious of the world’s acceptance of my thoughts. So most of time I don’t let it slip off my mouth. I also felt that I am often different – against the flow type. When everyone’s singing Taylor Swift, I am listening to Paramore (you might think, who the hell that is?).

It’s sad sometimes. I felt no one understands me. At times when I’m excited, I find it hard to share it because nobody appreciates what I saw. Well that’s the price of being different.

So would I change for the world’s requirements? Nah, I am no pretender. Someday, I want to prove that some life theories are wrong.

P.S. Here are clips from the song by Anberlin - Hello Alone, enjoy! :)

Depression is the unholy ghost
In the coastal towns of ahead
Though I know a thousand names
I see my only friend
I've got the gun
All I need is ten cents for the bullet
I feel helpless, sleeping at best, waiting for your return
Are you ever coming home?

Is anybody out there?
Hello! Hello!
Broken hearts like promises are left for lesser knowns
Is anybody out there?
Alone! Alone!
Cause the coldest winters thrive on broken homes
Broken homes

My 5 Marathon Training Checklist

When someone gets to know that I am a full marathoner, they automatically give an impression of amazement. I hear comments like “Wow, ang galing mo naman!”, “Di nga ako makatakbo ng isang kilometro, eh.”, “Puro takbo yan, pwede bang maglakad?”,”Hindi ko yan kaya.”,  and so on.

These comments make me ask myself “Paano ko nga ba yun nagagawa?”. It also amazes and surprises me that I am actually great. Well, I do not really know how. Maybe it is my gift.

So here I list down the things that I do to prepare for a marathon. Maybe this will  help you as well in your marathon training. Just be reminded that I am no professional coach and these are based on my experiences and my body type and ability.

(1)  Eye for a Race. Anticipate race schedules in the country like Milo Marathon Manila Eliminations which is usually during the last weekend of July. This gives me time to prepare for it and ensure that I will successfully register.

(2) Plot a Training Plan in Your Calendar. Like any planning of your schedules, this will give you time to arrange and prioritize things. Training period will take months and it is unavoidable that you need to engage your time for your school, work, friends and family. Planning your training will ensure that you meet your mileage requirements for the week without sacrificing your social life.

(3) The Physical Training Itself. There is that ideal training for marathoners. But this may be altered depending on your level as a runner (beginner or experienced) and the time you can commit to training. As for me, I have very limited time for training so I only stick with these basics – run scheduling and progressive mileage.

(a)  Stick with the Schedule. Basic schedules are weekday maintenance run and weekend long run. Weekday Maintenance Run is running in shorter distance and time. This should ideally be done 2-3 times alternate days in a week. This enables the body to remember about the physical potential effects of running. While Weekend Long Run is running longer in distance and time. These depend on how far you are from the race day (if it is months or just weeks). This is the core of the training that is for endurance, so this one should not be missed. In summary, it is important to have regular runs weekly than no training at all. Also remember that a run is a run. I believe that it cannot be compensated with other exercises, when it comes to preparation for a marathon.

(b)  Progressive Mileage. This describes more of the weekend long runs. Months away from the race I start with shorter distance and time, usually 8-10km. And then gradually increase by 2-3km every week until it reached 32-34km, three weeks before the race. After which is the tapering period, where I run shorter distance in reverse progressive until the race day.

(4)  Meal Plan. I do not have a very strict diet per se, and also not slimming down. What I eat up are those necessary for my workout. Again basics!

(a)  I eat at least 2 hours before a workout. Give your body something to burn or you’ll burnout and faint.

(b) For main meal, I focus more on eating protein like soya, eggs, fish chicken and beef, because I need more muscles. I eat less of rice, pork, oily, too sweet and salty foods. For snacks are camote, banana, fruits, veggies, and fiber-rich foods like oatmeal and whole wheat bread. And of course, pasta my favorite during carbo-loading days. I believe these foods enhanced my nutrition level. But like any human, I also have my cheat days.

(c)   At least, a day before the race it is a must to carbo-load to have sufficient energy. You will be losing at least 3,000 calories in a full marathon. I eat as much of complex carbohydrates 10-12 hours before the race and light meals every 3 hours thereafter. The same goes with hydration. I drink as much water with electrolyte. But do not over-hydrate. Everything that is in excess is bad.

(d)  Lastly, take care of your immune system. I take food supplements to boost my immune system. You will not like sickness to ruin everything. It is always better to take precautions.

(5) Look for Running Buddies. A full marathon is no joke. Running buddies will make your race more successful as you have a company during training and actual race. These people will be your support group as you share the same goal in running. So every time you think about quitting, you may feel ashamed of yourself when your friends are waiting for you at 3 AM on a Sunday LSD morning, and re-assess your life choices.

With all these things in mind, there is one thing that should be not be absent – always love and enjoy running unconditionally. Without it, there is no chance you will get up in an unholy hour to practice. This is what makes the discipline special. Running is more of a mental game. If you think you cannot do it, then most likely you can never really do it.