Worst Plane Experience; PH to UAE

It has been a year already, since the last plane encounter I had. That of last 2016 was when we went to Boracay and stayed for a week. The first one was when I went to Europe for my fiance's brother's wedding. It was a nice visit I had and the country of the Netherlands had then a special place in my heart.

But let's not talk about the Netherlands, nor the wedding of my future brother-in-law. We can sum it up in another post, if you may. This one is to share with you the experience I had the first time I rode on a plane.

Etihad Airlines, one of the nicest Emirati national airlines. Since it is famous as how it is now, I will not give an intro. I will just tell you why it was the worst flight I had with them.

It was five in the afternoon when my family sent us to the airport. There were so many people that come and go, like everywhere. I was in awe, excited, stressed and everything else. We finished all with the document checking and so. Now, it's our time to board.

Just as a first timer, I was expecting of seating beside the window. Thought of the mandatory window shots all over the internet? Well, basically, I want to have that. But then, I was assigned to the aisle seat. How crazy coincidence is. Haha.

"That's fine", I told myself. A Beautiful scene will never be visible because it was night when we flew. Then it became okay with me. I calmed myself that time.



It was a rough 9 (nine) hours flight. And it was my very first time, so all of the emotions were mixing in.

We finally landed in Abu Dhabi. Another bad thing was, it was night, so I wasn't able to see Abu Dhabi (even the airport itself). But before going out the plane, we first needed to wait for the pilot's instructions. Together with my cousin, we waited patiently while preparing our hand-carry bags with us. As mentioned, I was seated in the aisle part of the plane. That's not just it. I was also sitting in the middle of people (like the third seat in the middle). On my right was my cousin and on my left was other two guys who were friends. (I knew they're friends based on how they communicate the first time they took the seats.)

The guy who's sitting beside me was sleeping so deep that he wasn't able to feel that the plane has already landed. His friend tried to wake him up for several times already but still, nothing happened. I can feel the tense happening around, plus my cousin teasing me that my seatmate had gone somewhere other than his seat like his mind was left maybe in the country of origin. I don't know. That friend started to startle and shook him harder several times. The crew saw him and tried to wake him up as well. She looked at me with a grinning face asking if I'm his friend. I disowned him of course because that's the truth. But I was so nervous thinking that he might fell asleep into death, and the whole time, I was sitting with a dead person.

If you were in my shoe, what will you feel? Sad right? And it will feel worse if it was true.

Happily, after 4 minutes, he finally woke up. It was such a deep sleep. Good thing, the crew stayed calm. And me, I was relieved. My heart pumped so hard as well that I palpitated though I didn't take caffeine (and I never want drinking coffee).

The story was not about the airlines, it was about what I felt inside the plane and not the flight itself. I was happy having them as my very first flight. I commend the crew for all the help and so.

How about you? Did you had some experience like mine?

How To Get a PSA (formerly NSO) Birth Certificate

Disclaimer: All procedures and requirements that I will share in this post are my own experience when I obtained my PSA Certificate. I am not, in any way, affiliated with PSA or any Census Serbilis Center.

There are three ways on how you can attain a PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) birth certificate. First is through walk-in or personal appearance at their office. There are several locations throughout the Philippines so you can choose one. Second is through an online application. And the last one is through an accredited PSA stores like SM Business Center.

In my case, I opted for the walk-in process. If you do not want to wait for 5 or more business days, then it is better to go directly to their office and get it yourself.

The nearest Census Serbilis Center I found was in Fiesta Mall, Lipa City. It was a 35-minute drive from home (still depends on traffic). From home, I've already prepared the requirements. I downloaded the form and fill them up.

You can download this form at https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/DownloadApplicationForms.aspx 

Others may or may not accept the form you downloaded, so it is something you need to take the risk. If ever they reject mine, they'll receive a complaint, for sure. But good thing, they accepted it. Just make sure that the only form that you will print is the birth certificate. Others like marriage certificate request form have their own color codes, in its case is pink.

Here are the requirements:
- Personal appearance
- Accomplished application form (they have forms from their office)
- Valid IDs / Government issued IDs (please bring at least 2)
- Fee (Php140)

Upon arriving at the PSA branch of your choice, take the line to the screening section. The teller will just check your form if it lacks information or if you have an authorization letter (if you are to get a certificate of someone). The screening takes only 20 seconds or less.



After that, you can proceed to the payment section. There are several windows but most of the time, only one or two are open, so you need to wait before it's finally your turn to pay. They move pretty fast so you don't need to worry that much. A PSA Birth Certificate costs Php140 (as of December 2017).

What you can do too is, you can have someone lining up on the payment section while you are still on the checking line. That is what I saw yesterday with a mom and her son. But if your conscience tells you that it is not fair, then you can just follow the process.

Once you're done paying, it is then the waiting game. It states in the posts there that it will take two hours before the releasing of your certificate.

To prevent boredom from striking, you can download a movie on your gadget. I actually started the movie since I was in the bus going to Lipa and just continued watching after I'm done with the payment.



After few minutes, my name was called. My PSA birth certificate was ready to be claimed. All in all, I only spent an hour doing the processes and waiting for my papers.

I find that this is the fastest way to get a PSA certificate. Though extra effort and time are needed, you can have that document in not even an hour.

Here's a VLOG I made when I went to the Census Sibilis Office to get mine. Enjoy!

2018 Short Prom Dresses Trends - Best Designer Party, Homecoming, Cocktail Dress At MillyBridal

There's always a place of pretty dresses in our hearts. That is true, isn't it? So why not have your dream prom dress for an affordable price from MillyBridal. Want to see their designs? Watch the video and tell me what you think.

How Does It Feels Like Having a Long-Distance Relationship?

I am happy that we had a very good conversation with our trusted elders in the congregation. It was a long talk but I appreciate the time they spend to help us with the preparations. I never regret going to them and telling them our concerns. They're always there to help, even if they have some stuff to attend. I felt we are loved by them. And it is one of the factors that keeps me and GJ even stronger. They were mediums, and we love being loved.



"Cause I'm leaving on a jetplane."

This line keeps on playing on my head since last night, until when I woke up this morning. I know it will be a tough end of the year for me and I need to face it, all of what it takes, alone. Though I have my ever supportive family, and close friends around, it will still be different if my GJ is here. All of the stress about the wedding planning will be made through internet conversations and with a time difference. That is what I hate about a long-distance relationship, which honestly speaking, I wasn't able to experience that much, except for few months (like 2 or so) of being apart.

It is also a reassuring that after this, after three long years (which feels like as if it was just three days), we are finally going to close the distance. It was a roller coaster ride but we both believe in the threefold cord priority, through thick or thin, it should be always our main goal. We should never let our focus be shifted to other things but only in the work where both of us will be of use in the future, just as what we promised in our dedication.

Medical Check Up Done

GJ and I just had our medical examination yesterday. Though we are not sick, it is always good to know one's health condition so he can always make a preventive action. We also took MRI test and found out the things we need to work on. Because being healthy outside doesn't mean you're really healthy inside.


After three days, we finally had our results. GJ and I were so happy to know that we are both healthy. There's not that much problem with our blood sugar, cholesterol, lungs and heart and others. Though the doctor told me to look after my regular intake since I lapsed the border for my cholesterol.

We both agreed that we will really do sports and have a regular workout routine. It is always important to have a proper food intake with nutritious food and enough fluids.

So that's it. I'm happy, GJ's happy, we are all happy. :)

Dating a Dutch Guy; Common Things Dutch People Do

For today’s post, I will highlight some of the things I noticed with the Dutch people. It might be very common with them but for me, I find them strange.

Here it goes.

Having their windows open

Most of the houses that we visited, their windows are wide open like they don’t really care if people can see what’s inside the house and what they do. I am not comfortable with that actually. I always want to keep my personal space private. Well, my fiance doesn't want his crib to be
Seen either, so, I don’t know. It’s just, commonly on house, they have their window open (the curtain).

They love weird tasting candies

The very first time I’ve tried their candy called drop, I spat it out. I don’t know what they made it that strong which only Dutch people can only appreciate. To test, I asked other people to try it and they were shook by the taste of it. Weird. But then when they introduced me to other drop candies (and they are relatively the same but differs in strength), I came to like it little by little. And now, I can even finish a piece without smirking.

Dear Future Husband; An Open Letter

Dear Future Husband,

It's been nine days since I picked you up at the airport (had a visit to Canada for my cousin's wedding) and you'll just stay few weeks before you fly again to the Netherlands.

Such a sad thing to know because I was so stressed not having you by my side. This might sound too much but hey, that's how I feel.

We've been so busy with the preparation for our wedding. We ran here and we drove there for our papers, the reception and until now, we haven't thought of a date yet. Though it is the most important detail, we are confident enough that we will be able to finalize it later after everything is settled.

Frustrated With Papers

Let's just get to the point here. But the problem is, there is no point at all.

GJ and I went to the City Hall this morning to ask for the required papers for our wedding next year. We did not expect that we will need just two important certificates from both ends. It was a Legal Capacity and Birth Certificate for him. It was actually very cloudy. We do not have any idea if we are to get what for the reason of what.

Anyways, at least it is clear that documents that we will get will be valid for half a year, so we have time to obtain and secure everything.

I also created a timeline document where I put all the important details of this process. It is not as easy as it is when marrying a fellow Filipino, so I hope that the timeline will be a bit help for a Filipino Citizen to marry a Dutch Citizen. I will be posting about it sometime next year, of course, after the wedding.