Getting A Passport - Why Is It So Hard?!

Ok, you would think that getting a passport is as easy as abc. In many western countries probably yes. Here in the sunny side up Philippines, well think again!

Yesterday, hubby and I went to the proper authorities to get his passport. So we went on our way at 6am to get on the bus. It is a 4 hour journey so starting early means we will get there early. We forgot that buses are very busy this time of year because everyone is going back to schools and their work after the Easter holidays. After much ado (and an hour or waiting around in the terminal, we finally got seated on a van!

We were told that applications for it are electronically done so we thought, yeay! It would only take a click of a mouse and voila, here's your passport. Boy, we were such suckers. This is what greeted us;

and this;

You really can't tell from the image how terrible the experience was sitting in this waiting area. It was very hot in Tuguegarao City but it was three times worse in that open waiting shed! That aqua-colored roof is like the ones you use for greenhouses and it was like a human oven! Even with 2 huge electric fans it was terrible. We got there at 9:30 am and by the time we finished with the "processing" it was 4:30 pm! and with the "rush" processing, hubby's passport will be release after 35 days! YEP, you are reading right. 35 days is the expedite process! Just when everything is supposed to be electronically processed, it now appears that it takes twice as long for the passport releases. SHEEEESH!

This is Mr. T. thinking "why are we doing this?" LOL!

Because we need to go through it (hey, we have no choice. It's not like we can get a passport from anywhere else that doesn't have the same process) we gritted our teeth, wiped our sweat and counted the hours until his name got called to go inside the building and waited again for another 2 hours for the validation process!

We are glad we went yesterday though because we were told that starting the next day, processing will be for 55 days, no more rush passports. Atleast we won't have to go through that again for another 5 years or when his passport expires! Hopefully by then it wouldn't be so bad. (fingers crossed!)

So that was my exciting Monday. Glad we got home ok and that is behind us. for now...

An Introduction To My Head

So I have finally gone ahead and done it! A blog that is personal, not blogging pretending it to be a mini-website, not blogging trying to make my first million but blogging because I want to finally put into words whatever it is I am thinking about! I've come to terms with my fear of rejection (what am I so scared about? if people want to read this then they will, if not, so what? right?)

I suppose I want to document what is happening right now in my life and look back at it and see if I've grown (not that I will physically but you know what I mean!) I want to look back someday and be reminded that I am a lucky person to have a beautiful life from the beginning.

So here goes my journey. Thanks for coming along for the ride!