I love strolling in the mall and if only I have money to burn, I prefer shopping a lot more. I usually go to the children’s department first, look around for dresses and toys for Shaynna and add it on my wish list. I then go to the ladies’ section, browse over clothes and try on shoes. My last stop would be the home and office furniture section. I love dreaming putting on good furniture in my dream home. I have not visited any Ikea branch yet and I am pretty sure I would love it there.
Just a quick update. Last Tuesday, I bid sayonara to my home of almost 3 years. I am no longer in Japan. Sad but it’s a reality I have to face. However, what lies ahead of me is something better. I will post detailed updates soon. Thank you for dropping by.
I have mentioned a thousand times that I prefer winter over summer. Better yet, autumn! But there is one thing that I don’t like in cold temperature: static shock. I love wearing knitted clothes but wearing them means more static electricity for me. It constantly happens to me that I wish plastic knobs are used instead of the metal ones. But due to the recent changes that is happening, it seems that I won’t concern myself with static electricity anymore.
Let me give you a short recap. Valentine’s Day here in Japan is a lucky day for the guys. They receive chocolates from the ladies, some of which are just “obligatory” chocolates, some are expressions of love. “Obligatory” chocolates are just those generic chocolates and are usually given without special wrapper. Whereas expression-of-love-chocolates are the expensive or handmade ones. Usually, the guys give something back onWhite Day, March 15th. May it be obligatory ones, or the expression of the same romantic feelings to the girl who gave him chocolates.
On my first Valentine’s Day here, I distributed obligatory chocolates to both men and women teammates. In return, I received cookies during the White Day. Last year, I gave nothing, I received nothing. This year, I didn’t bother, but at my current office, the guys gave all of us ladies “obligatory” sweets. There are only six people in the office. Two are Japanese guys, so Kay and I only received these two packs of “obligatory” sweets:
I often watch TV Patrol news programme to know what is going on in the country. But as I have always anticipated, all I could hear are political and graft and corruption issues. There’s also the issue with a pre-need plan company. It has been going on for months and the blame has been passed from one person to the other. But there is not enough steps done to help out those who bought such plans from that company. This sometimes make me wonder if it is really safe to entrust you future to pre-need plan companies? But then we need to invest for our future. We need security. There are still a number of good insurance companies out there. All we have to do is to thoroughly compare term life insurance quotes and see if the company is really trustworthy.
Can’t get this song out of my head because I heard it live a while ago! Yes, Journey had a concert here in Osaka! A very good friend paid for my ticket so I had the chance to see Arnel Pineda and Journey in action. Too bad cameras (even phone cameras) are not allowed inside. How was it? It was great and I completely enjoyed it! I like many Journey songs but I had never considered myself a fan. During the concert, I became a new fan.
The original band members were awesome and so was Arnel Pineda. As a Filipino, it warmed my heart to see the Japanese accepting him as the new lead singer, with open arms. I was even more surprised to see the Japanese getting up their seats and clapping and dancing to the music until the end of the concert. I thought that they would act as their usual reserved selves. An added bonus was this teenage boy (perhaps an American). He was seated right in front of us but even if I could only see his back, it was so evident that he was star-struck. He even stole a picture! A die-hard fan, indeed.
Anyway, watching that concert was a bonus for me. Early this day, I received a very good news and I’m just waiting for something before I write everything here. I’m going to embark on a new journey, soon. And let’s take it from the band Journey, don’t stop believing.
I visited the US Bureau of Consular Affairs’ website, and I was surprised to see that Filipinos who wish to apply for a tourist visa in the US don’t have to pay for anything! Yes, the nonimmigrant visa is free! So if you have plans to visit Las Vegas or get one of those Orlando vacations, then now is the best time to do it! Tourism has also slowed down due to recession so you could get very cheap accomodations everywhere. But then people are also wary of spending on unnecessary things, worse, people (like me) don’t have anything to spend.
I have no idea when this waiving of nonimmigrant visa fees was implemented, but the reason is: “reciprocity”. Taken from the US Bureau of Consular Affairs: Nonimmigrant visa fees are based on “reciprocity,” (what another country charges a United States citizen for a similar-type of visa). The United States strives to eliminate visa issuance fees whenever possible; however, when a foreign government imposes such fees on U.S. citizens for certain types of visas, the United States will impose a “reciprocal” fee to nationals of that country for similar-type of visas.
Update: I have asked a friend who has applied for a US tourist visa. The visa is free, but the “processing fee” is not. So sorry for jumping into conclusion. The processing fee costs US$131.
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