All's Well That Ends Well



I just got my E-passport in September 2010 from meticulous and long processing in DFA Manila and with barely a year of seldom use, the cover has already come off. As you can see on the photo above, the rest of the passport pages - which are intact by paper sewing - was already detached from the hard cover. It's the second case that Philippine Embassy in Beijing has faced. So when I went to the embassy, they weren't surprised with its condition and immediately offered for us to renew the passport ASAP so that I won't face any problems should I need to use it.

But there's a bit of a conflict. Our current visa is only until the end of October and soon, the hotel will be asking for our passport for visa extension. Yes, we are extended here until the end of the year. So if I had my passport renewed, I will have to wait 6 weeks for my new passport and only then, I can apply for a visa extension. So I need to have the new passport back 2-3 weeks before my visa expires.

I even contacted Ambassador Romy Ong, whom I have met in Kuala Lumpur few years ago and would always come to the lobby lounge of Shangri-La KL to watch us, and relayed my problem to him. We have always been in constant contact since then, he would always check on my health as I was always sickly in the past and he has become a good friend of mine. My husband and I even had lunch with him and his son in Makati few years ago.

Anyway, he told me to contact certain people in the embassy here, as he used to be the Philippine Ambassador to China. He can't promise that he can expedite the processing but at least, I get to talk to the right people. So when I went back to the embassy, they told me that although they cannot promise if I'll have it in a month's time, they said that  I wouldn't need to pay for it. How nice is that?!!! They're replacing my e-passport for FREE!!! They took my photo, my signature, and thumb marks and VOILA! No more waking up early and long queues like in DFA Manila. :-)

Now all I have to do is enjoy work, relax and wait for my new passport. Hope it won't take too long. :)

Chillaxing in Tianjin

Faye, Ronnie, Mar, Sarita, Elaine, Grace & Sam at Wei Ha Pub
It has been almost two months since we got back in Beijing but we haven't done our Sunday trips yet. Besides, we have loads of stuff to do even during our offdays. Okay, I'm just a bit exaggerrating. :-)

Our friends Sam, Faye, and Ronnie from Tianjin have already visited us in Beijing couple of times during the past few weeks. So I called our other friends Grace & Elaine and we made a plan to visit them in Tianjin instead.

A TOILET HUMOR
They have a new procedure in booking train tickets. They now need our passports so I wasn't able to buy a ticket for my friend Grace. She had to take a 2-hour bus trip to Tianjin while Marl and I took the bullet train to Tanggu, a municipality in TEDA, which is not in the main part of Tianjin City. 

We were supposed to meet Elaine in the train upon its stop at Tianjin. She was already in the queue but needed to pee so she went to the toilet. While she was doing her business in the toilet, she didn't know that the train had already arrived for its quick stop. When she got back to the queue, she didn't know she was already queuing for the next train. Needless to say, she was actually left by our train! LOL! So all her effort of waking up early to secure a ticket for the fast train and waiting for 2 hours in the station were all wasted. Well, not really. Because we now have some real 'toilet humor' to remember and laugh about. Thanks, Elaine! Hahahahaha!

RELAXING DAY BY THE BEACH
Faye and Sam picked us up from the station and Elaine just took the hard and more expensive way --- a 100-yuan taxi all the way from Tianjin downtown to where we would be spending a relaxing afternoon... Tianjin's man-made beach! As for us, we had to pay 100 yuan for the taxi from Tanggu train station to the beach. It's THAT far. 

We had to pay another 50 yuan each person to get into the man-made beach. The beach was kept clean and the fine golden sand, which was imported all the way from Australia (!) felt great against our bare feet. I find it really ripping expensive but it didn't matter at that time because all we wanted was to spend time with each other - under the sun. I wasn't even expecting to swim, didn't even bring a swimsuit. But what the heck, we already paid entrance fees! So Sam and I just bought cheap swimming shorts so we can take a dip in the water and just had sooooo much fun like kids wading in the beach! LOL! Marl, Elaine, and Faye just chitchatted while sitting in the sand and watching us playing in the water.

RENAISSANCE TIME
We went back to the hotel to rest while Sam, Faye, and Ronnie had to prepare for work since they had to sing on Sunday night. I had a satisfying nap while Marl, Elaine, and Grace went out to look for something to eat. I was just so so so tired. 

I got up at 9PM and took a shower and went down to the lobby to meet up with the rest of the pack and to watch my friends perform. I also took some of their performance videos. They finished very early - at 10:45PM!

SHOOT, POOL, PASTA, PIZZA & ICE CREAM
After their show, we went to Wei Ha Pub to grab some dinner. Marl have this photography project that he wanted to do with Sam as the model - or should I say, models? :) Click HERE to see their "Multiplicity" project. After their brief shoot, we all enjoyed talking over dinner of pasta and pizza. Oh, Sam and I played pool. I really miss playing pool!!!

Upon walking back to the hotel, we passed by at a concenience store and bought something to eat and drink - non-alcoholic ones of course. We all bought ice cream and enjoyed it while walking back to the hotel. Really fun bonding time with my friends!

CHUBBY BUNNY, DR. KWAK KWAK, ETC.
First thing we did when we got back in the hotel was make use of the marshmallows Sam bought. We did the very famous game 'Chubby Bunny' - where we would stuff in as much mallows in our mouths while saying "Chubby Bunny" in between. It was so funny and all had a great laugh about it!

We then started talking AGAIN about different stuff like our fear of cockroaches, gecko, rats, snakes, and experiences with those creatures. We also talked about how lucky kids are nowadays. Then we reminisced all our childhood memories in playing different games like piko, patintero, tex, tagu-taguan, Chinese garter, jumping rope, luksong tinik, luksong baka, etc! Then it got really interesting when Lola Ronnie reminisced the different exhibitions in the Jack-Stones game and Chinese Jack-Stones. We were laughing so hard and just had lots of fun sharing stories. Someone mentioned Doctor Kwak Kwak and Grace doesn't have an idea what that game was. So at 4AM, we played Doctor Kwak Kwak to show her how the game is. We really had a great laugh!

THE SECRET
Just before we all went to bed, I suggested all of us to watch The Secret, because couple of our friends haven't watched it. It just feels great spending a day of fun with friends. Just purely bonding and just plainly having fun. I already miss them! :-(

Watch out for our videos and more photos coming out soon! :-)
Fun at the beach with Mar, Sam, Elaine & Faye
Sam, Faye, Elaine & Me
Ice cream time with the special children LOL! :)

The Secret

Some of you might have read the book, and others might have seen the documentary movie. I've done both. And I'm quite happy that during the past week, hubby Marl and I have helped few of our friends in opening up their minds to what The Secret really is.

I first saw the movie 3-4 years ago, during the time when my life was in turmoil and I was feeling helpless and miserable about everything. But after seeing the movie and started to "shift" my thoughts and emotions, I have seen dramatic changes in my life. Blessings have been pouring from every direction. Up until now. Because I know how The Secret works

I haven't seen the movie for more than a year. But when some of our friends slept over in our hotel, I just tried to dig in my archive to share the movie with them.

Then I just started sharing it again to people who need it, recently to my former schoolmate, actress Francine Prieto on Twitter. Goodluck on having The Secret in your life, girl! :-)

Posted by ShoZu

Happy Birthday to Mar Silverio

One of photos in his 90s album. It's me & him. Believe it or not. LOL!
Yup, it's another year of celebration for my hubby Marl as he turns -ty one today (let's leave his age just like that! LOL). And to celebrate it, I posted a very special album on Facebook that's dedicated to him. It's an album of his glory days on TV when he used be a member of That's Entertainment. It includes photos of some famous celebrities then and now. It's a never-seen-before album for most of our friends.

And guess what? It was such a hit on Facebook as friends exchange funny comments on the photos. We really enjoyed reading the comments especially those that came from our funny friend Angelo Bautista, a photographer who we have worked with before, and Rocky Gathercole, a famous Filipino fashion designer known in the Middle East. We haven't met Mr. Rocky yet, but since we've been 'friends' on Facebook for quite sometime now, his funny comments on the photos were most welcomed. :) Click on the photo above to be taken to the album.