my US visa experience

got my US visa today...well it got approved today.....the actual visa will be delivered in about a weeks time. it took me 4 hrs to do this(not counting the time i applied on line, paid for the application form in a bank and got an appointment from the US embassy call centre, total cost,
$100 for the application form and $12 for the phone call)....there were 7 stages to the process; stage one - security check and x-ray of your belongings ( you have to check-in your mobiles and anything electronic like mp3 players, PDAs laptops), stage 2 - you go to a screening area where you are divided alphabetically. your application forms a checked and you are asked to rectify it on the spot. stage 3 - you go to the pre-screening window were they look at your supporting documents ( this queue takes from about 2 mins to 45 mins per person depending on the person checking them. i unfortunately was lined up on the latter. its already 845am at that time and i had a 730am interview appointment). stage 4 - you go back to a waiting area where you wait to be finger printed. stage 5 - biometric finger scanning, you wait in line to have you left and right index fingers scanned and forever be part of the system. stage 6 - actual interview, this took an actual time of 10 mins. the waiting time to get to this point after finger printing was about 25 mins. stage 7 - you again pay (P135 for metro manila) for the delivery of your passport within a week.

the thing that intrigues me here is, what is their basis for approving or denying your visa application (this is my 2nd visa and i got approved both times). the 25 mins i was waiting for my turn, i was able to observe a this one particular interviewer who had a very high mortality rate. in that span of time she denied 90% of those assigned to her window. people would come
up to her window and in a matter of a few minutes they would be in a verbal tussle...prime indication of an applicant being denied. i would see the applicants come up to her window armed to the teeth with supporting documents only to be turned away - denied.

i guess i was lucky enough to be on my 4th passport as i have been travelling a lot since '96. my interviewer only asked to see my old passports and asked why i had several multi-year visas for Australia. to which i answered, "well mate, i used to work as a consultant in Australia"....and that was that.....he entered a few things on his computer and handed me my delivery slip for my passport.

i think if they see that you have no intention on of staying in the US and have reason enough to come back they will give you a visa....but then again who knows what they think.

all i know at the moment is i got mine....and in 2 weeks time, i will be on my way to the US and probably settling for good.....i would have loved to settle in Australia....specially in Queensland.....but who am i to complain. the US is not a bad place to stay.

cheers.

a start of a new beginning

its been a while since i posted something, been quite busy doing a lot of thinking.

when i was young i always imagined living in a different country from where i came from. i have always wanted to live in the US since i wanted to experience snow and all those extra large burger and fries, caned sodas and chocolates and all those wonderful toys.

it didn't take long that these things i wanted and dreamt of came to this country of mine, of course at a premium, but as time went on it was accessible almost everywhere. anything and everything American can be found here, from McDonald's to Hershey's, from coca-cola to Levi's, from Pepsi to Nike, from Westinghouse to Ford, ray ban's to xboxes, even Gap was here...but not snow.

so the american dream still lingers....except in '93 when i experienced the worst snow storm and extended winter the US mainland has ever experienced. enough snow to last me a lifetime. but that didn't faze me and still that dream lives on.

a few years passed, and that dream was put aside for something different, a totally different place....the land down under. for 3 ½ years i was in and out of that country...from the hottest city of Darwin in the northern territory, to the tropical state of Queensland, the resort like city of Cairns and the mining towne of Karlgoolie in Perth. it was such an experience that to this day, is till use their clichés and still write an spell the way they do. i reckon, when you encounter these blokes and sheilas, you will pick up a thing or two about their culture and definitely have a g'day mate.

so after that segue, i am back facing that dream and contemplating relocation. a good job awaits me courtesy of good friends. and at the east coast at that...i find the west coast most specially california too flaky for my taste.

in about a month's time i will know and have an answer, but honestly right here right now i know i have to do this, partially for my dreams fulfillment but mostly to secure my family's future. i will be leaving behind love ones, and good friends and will start anew with unforgettable memories.

i reckon, if you keep those memories and happy times will make transition a lot easier and make it feel that you are not that far away. I have to focus on the big picture and never forget why i am doing this,

so the start of a new beginning for me will soon be realised, it scares me but also excites me. i know i can make, that's my character and that will pull me through.....cheers mate.

realising the value

         To realize
      The value of a sister
      Ask someone
      Who doesn't have one.

      To realize
      The value of ten years:
      Ask a newly
      Divorced couple.

      To realize
      The value of four years:
      Ask a graduate.

      To realize
      The value of one year:
      Ask a student who
      Has failed a final exam.

      To realize
      The value of nine months:
      Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

      To realize
      The value of one month:
      Ask a mother
      who has given birth to
      A premature baby.

      To realize
      The value of one week:
      Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

      To realize
      The value of one minute:
      Ask a person
      Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

      To realize
      The value of one-second:
      Ask a person
      Who has survived an accident.

      Time waits for no one.

      Treasure every moment you have.

      You will treasure it even more when
      you can share it with someone special.

      To realize the value of a friend or family member:
      LOSE ONE.

      Hold on tight to the ones you love!

**** the author or originator of this email is unknown, well to me at least. it was forwarded to me as it has been doing its rounds in the internet email community. it has a good message that is why i decided to post it. my thanks to the original author.

 

why haven't they thought of this yet

countries worldwide are pulling their resources to help the people in Africa...by putting up concerts and pledging donations
but why haven't they thought about;

• bringing Chinese farmers to help till the land and make it useful
• bringing the Japanese genetic engineers to make genetically enhanced food crops
• asking the Germans to make better farm equipment and irrigation systems
• getting the Singaporeans and people in Hongkong to help them build housing projects
• asking the Australians to help in the mining of their best natural resources
• getting help from the British to market what natural resources they have to the rest of the world
• asking the French to teach them how to cook nutritionally balanced meals.
• bringing in the Filipino teachers for their education
• asking the Americans about building business
• asking the UN to form one Africa to be run like a single country
• asking the World Bank and the IMF to fund all of these solutions
• bringing all those warring armies across Africa to the UN and hunt down the Al Queida
• asking the Indians for computer technology so they can be in touch with the rest of the world

there are a lot of things that can be done if you put politics aside. there is a difference between pledging things to help
and actually helping.

the rain

what is it about the rain...water from heaven...blessing from the sky....or
as my mate from down under would say...liquid sunshine.
its the life force of plants which give us those nice and delicious
produce. the element to sustain the rainforest and those ricefields and
orchards. so what about the rain. do you remember the first rain of
summer...when you had to run outside and play in the rain. those were fond
memories....or the number of times you wished it would rain when you were
walking with your loved one and had only one umbrella.

but there are those times that you wished it didn't rain...like during
those outdoor picnics and barbecues or that big softball or soccer game or
that long trip out of town specially when you just washed the car.

now a days, it makes me melancholy when it rains, it makes me miss a lot of
things...things i couldn't do anymore or things that i used to do with
people that are not here anymore.

things i like to do when it rains.....stay inside and watch a
movie......read a book......catch up on sleep.....cook some hot soup.

what i don't like about rain......traffic.....makes my car
dirty......having to commute.....traffic.

presently, it has been raining for the last five days.....i just hope it
stops......its making me sad.

unseating a philippine president

can the most powerful person of a country be asked to resign by mob rule...well it has happened twice before. not by a coup d 'etat but by prayers and civil disobedience, by the shifting of political and military alliances and support. a president cannot govern without its military and the business community.

so how come it has not happened yet....is it because no one really controls the military? the church is saying one thing, the business community has retracked on what they said and is now following the church, the labour and militant school organisations are shouting resign while the military is sitting on a neutral stance.

so how come it has not happened yet....is it because the opposition themselves are divided and that they have no concrete platform of government.or that they themselves are jockeying for position to take the chance to run the country.

so how come it has not happened yet....is there a different group other than the opposition trying to manuever itself into position.

so who started all of this? is it really the opposition or a totally different group all together.

witnesses have come forward saying they personally gave illegal gambling money to government officials some of whom are the president's immediate family. they also claim that the money was used to rig the last elections. wire tapped conversations of the president and other political figures are coming out of the woodwork and those exposing them are all saying that what they have are the original ones.

so how come it has not happened yet.....plain and simple, the current president has the backing of the military and the former president who really controls the military and the US....plain and simple.