do's and don'ts in renewing your visa

Here are my top five do's and don'ts if you have to wait especially at popular places like the Embassy of the United States.
1. Don't bring electronic equipment inside and this means telephone, calculator, camera including any spray items like perfume, cologne, alcogel, throat spray. In case you have no driver to call to pick up the prohibited items and you parked far far away, don't fret. There is a coop business thriving where some kind of hawker peddles their time to guard your items for P200.
2. Don't assume. Read instructions properly. The required photo is against a white background. I guess I got confused because recently, the Department of Foreign Affairs changed the required passport shots to be against a blue background. In case you missed this, don't panic, there is a photo booth inside the pavilion which costs P70 for six mug shots. Well, you get what you pay for!
3. Do fill out all the items in the application form - both the DCS176 and the bank form. Don't leave any item blank. Just put 'none' if there is none. I discovered that this was the cause of the long wait at the queue. Applicants who did not fill out the form properly were asked to go to the side counter and complete the missing items. They would then go back where they left off, right at the top of the line. Duh!
4. Dress for hot conditions. The crowded pavilion was stewing at 30 degrees. I completely forgot about my visa appointment and was wearing of all things a knit top!
5. Do expect to wait 3-4 hours and even longer. Since this is Manila, I was not surprised when the brownout occurred. I was shocked though that it took the Embassy some minutes to get the power back on and appalled that the finger scan machine conked out! Bring a good book as a distraction to all these unpleasant conditions.
When I left at 4pm, the number being called out was 3,800 so i guess they must be processing at least 2-3,000 applications per day? At 100 dollars visa fee, hmmmm... do the math.

Dive in Maldives now.. before it vanishes

our dive boat behind

I don't want to sound like an alarmist but experts warn that climate change and rising sea levels are of great concern to this group of 1200 islands which according to nationenclycopedia.com is slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.

Maldives is only 8 feet above sea level at its highest point and as the North Pole's icebergs melt and sea levels rise, it's entire existence is in danger. In fact, the disputed Bengal Bay island (by India and Pakistan) which is 6 feet above sea level has already vanished and displaced its population.

I'm glad that i got pulled by Marge, Esq. and piqued by Atom's query to dive in Maldives this Easter holiday.

Somehow Maldives was never in my diving radar and regard it more as a luxe honeymoon destination. It never got to my must-dive bucket list lke Cocos Island for hammerheads, Palau for grey reefs, Bali for sunfish, Sardine run and great whites in South Africa, etc.

Ricky and Marge enjoying the view on the deck

I was surprised to discover that Maldives has reasonable rates and the diving excellent. The initial quotes that we got for resort-based diving went as high as USD4,000 per person excluding the dives which was another USD50 to 100 per dive for a week's stay. So I'm happy that we found the dive safari run by Bas van der Mee.

Bas' mantra during our trip was safety first. He would wake us up at 5:30 and yell "coffee, tea, dive briefing." He conducted detailed dive briefings with maps and all before each dive and made sure that everyone had a dive computer, mirror, safety balloon since the currents can be pretty strong and "its 2400 km to Africa" as he always said at the end. He was fairly strict and limited the dives to one hour underwater and three per day (total of 17 dives) since most dives were rather deep and we would sometimes go on deco mode.

Bas briefing us on our next dive

We saw everything - grey reefs, white tips, schools of dog tooth tunas and jacks, squadron of eagle rays and even dolphins underwater-- you name it we saw it, except sadly, the mantas and whale sharks that Maldives is famous for. We went to the usual haunts in South Male' and South Ari. Alas, nada! The construction of the new airport must've scared them away which prompted Bas to change the route of the group after us and headed to North Ari to Rashdoo where they spotted lots! Note that Atom who stayed in the W with his family said he saw seven mantas in one dive.

Heading back

Oh well, there will definitely be a next time. Bas runs two seasons Spring (March & April) and Autumn (October & November). Ricky SB is already planning a diving trip for this Autumn. Hmm… maybe plan a reunion dive with all the Belge/Dutch/Dane on the boat?

Tour of Hope - Clark to Luisita leg

Woohoo! I survived the 107-km from Angeles City to Cory-hometown in Luisita, Tarlac. I joined the second leg of the annual GSK Tour of Hope which is a five-day 500-km ride to raise awareness and to support the prevention of cervical cancer in the Philippines. This year, the ride kicked off in Makati and ended in Baguio City.

Did you know that every eight-min a woman dies of cervical cancer ? said a representative from the Cervical Cancer Prevention Network Alliance (CECAP) during the dinner before the Tarlac leg. The program included lectures on cancer prevention and vaccination conducted by CECAP doctors.

The ride was very organized thanks to Joyette Jopson and GSK's Vernon. The problem was the sweltering H-E-A-T. We had three pit stops every 30-km. The purpose of the stop was to re-group the bikers as well as to rest and re-charge. I am so glad that David Charlton, his wife and his Team David Salon bikers were there. There were two support vans following and his wife was in a van with a gigantic cooler filled with ice, gatorade, water, sponges plus muffins, bananas and sandwiches. I drenched myself with ice cold sponges in each stop. It was so hot that at the last lap (around noon) I was pouring water from my plastic water bottle on my head, nape, and legs.

Good thing we brought coach Ernan Ajena (previously with the national team and now teaches Physical Education to special children in Cupertino) who helped us along the ride. I was left cruising with my now favorite bike crew - the CLARK boys! The boys were teaching me how to draft and taught me how to speed at one point to 40-42kph.

Downside of the trip: Pia Cayetano campaigning. I could still hear the Pia-Pia-Ca-ye-tano rap jingle blaring in my head.

Upside: burned 4,788 calories!!! Here's the map of our ride:

World Champ Nonito Donaire

"Oh my! That's ano, ano... Nonito Donaire!!" exclaimed a fan infront of me during lunch at Fiji Restaurant in Plantation Bay in Mactan, Cebu. When I turned to look, he didn't resemble the mean fighter last February who knocked out his opponent Manuel Vargas in the third round. In fact, he looked more like the boy next door, wholesome, pleasant and always smiling. One fan who shook his hand exclaimed that his hand was softer and smoother than hers!

27-year old Nonito a.k.a. The Filipino Flash is currently the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim World Super Flyweight champion and is rated by The Ring magazine, as the #6 pound-for-pound best boxer in the world (Note: fellow pinoy boxer Manny Pacquiao is rated #1). His boxing record is impressive - 23 wins out of 24, 15 of which are KOs.

Taking a weekend break from his training under the Penalosa brothers, he was with his wife Rachel Marcial and her father Gerry and his Cebu-based cousins. Without any posse, he was surprisingly easy going and was taking time out to pose, talk to fans and even sing! Yup, he sings! After the Brazilian night dinner show, he was called onstage and I was actually rolling my eyes. Well, after the Jimmy Kimmel bout last November, I was not too sure. Surprise, surprises! He sang My Girl by Temptations well and his rendition of his wife's favorite song I'm Yours by Jason Marz was quite good. I found out later that he performed a shadow boxing dance in the lobby that afternoon while the pianist played Eye of the Tiger.

I asked him about the next fight of Pacquaio against Clottey. He said that in boxing you'll never know what will happen and added that he and Rachel will fly to Dallas to watch the fight but will be back in Manila to train. His next fight is this May against Mexico's Fernando Montiel for the WBO bantamweight crown.

When asked if Filipino boxers are respected abroad. He said "not until boxers reach a certain level. Boxing is still considered a poor man's sport in this country and fortunately, not quite so in the States." He is happy that he is representing the country of his birth, the Philippines.

Unfortunately, according to his father-in-law, this is not true for his daughter who is a USA National Collegiate and Military Taekwondo champion. He said "She has not been considered by the Philippine Sport Association to represent the Philippines despite beating USA's taekwondo Olympic contender." As a side note, funny that Jofer Velez is experiencing the same problem with his 19-year old daughter, Karyn Velez's status in badminton. She is now training in Florida and doing well in the international circuit. He said "this is the first time for a pinay (well now, american) to score olympic points in BWF/IBF international competition."

After meeting and talking to Nonito and Rachel, I must say I am a certified fan of both. I can't wait to watch his next fight and I do wish that Rachel gets to represent the Philippines in taekwondo! I am now pondering on the politiking involved and the poor state of the athletes in this country that I may just give, despite the hullabaloo on the Party-List representation, "Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta" my vote!

Nonito onstage: