#DestinationNippon: Docs to complete

Let me confess the biggest risk we took for our trip to Japan: it was buying plane tickets, AirBNB and hotel accommodations, and tour or package tickets even though we hadn’t applied yet for visas!

Yes, that’s what we did, and I do not honestly know whether I would recommend it. We did it because some said it would be a plus in having your visa application approved if you had tickets as one proof that you would really just be there for a few days. But there are others who said plane tickets were not required at all. Maybe both were right?

What slowed us down a bit was additional requirements for Kaye. First of all, she did not have a passport. C and I had our own – as a government employee, I was entitled to a courtesy lane where my husband, parents, or children could join me, no appointments needed. With this, C and I would always renew our passports together.

Kaye, however, was another story. She was not our own kid, so I could not bring her with me to the courtesy lane. But do you know what happened? The Passport-on-Wheels of the Department of Foreign Affairs came to our office, and I really thank the Lord and our HRD organizers for thinking of it. This was another sign that we would be going to Japan!

Prior to the DFA event, I applied for an appointment for Kaye and requested her mom to come to the office to accompany her on the date that the DFA would be coming. You see, a minor applying for a passport has to be accompanied by a parent – and there were less requirements if the accompanying parent was the mother rather than the father.

Another added requirement was that since, again, Kaye was a minor and not our kid, we needed travel clearance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Applying for one meant submitting authorization letters and letter of consent from the parents, their marriage contract, and our affidavit of support.

Finally, as working professionals, my husband C and I needed to submit approved applications for leave of absence. As a government employee, I also needed to secure a travel authority from our office.

To help out those of you who want quick links to requirements and downloadable forms, here they are:

1. Birth and marriage certificates on PSA Security Paper

I advise you to go to the nearest Serbilis Center (check out this site for their branches) because it’s cheaper and the certificates will be issued in less than an hour.

In case you don’t have time to go to a Serbilis Center, you can order for your copy online by clicking this link. Be warned, though, that you will shell out twice the amount to have your documents delivered to your doorstep (in as little as two days, depending on your address), and that you will have to leave an authorization letter in case you aren’t home at the expected time.  

You will need these for your visa and/or passport application. Note that the marriage certificate is usually only applicable for women (because of the name change). 

Certificates are usually required to be issued within a year. Tip: When requesting for multiple copies at the PSA, you can request separate receipts to be issued per copy so that the issue dates can be seen. When we applied for a visa, though, the receipt was actually not needed anymore. 

Don't forget to photocopy everything!

2. Passports

If you already have a passport, the general international rule is to make sure that it is valid for more than six months. This means that your passport should be valid at least six months after the final date of travel. So if your target travel date is from January 1 to 10, 2020, then your passport should be valid until at least June 10, 2020 and beyond.

Don't have a passport or need to renew it because of this validity rule? Then check out the links below:

1. Check out the DFA website on this page if you can avail of the courtesy lane and don't need to set up an appointment.

2.  If you're not entitled to the courtesy lane, you may need to set up an appointment here.

3.     For other requirements, check out the DFA website on this page for application for new passports, or you can go to this page for passport renewal.

Passports are usually delivered to your doorstep within a week. Sadly, passports are delivered (and paid for) individually. This meant my husband and I, even if we lived in the same house and applied for our passports together, had to pay for separate delivery fees with our passports arriving in separate pouches.

3. Visa application

Japan is one of those countries that require visas from Filipinos or those holding Philippine passports. Check out their website by clicking here for the requirements for whatever type of visa you're applying for, whether as a tourist, or to visit relatives or more, and the corresponding visa application form. 

Note that, with some exceptions, applying for a Japanese visa is not via walk-in unlike, say, applying for a US or Canadian visa. The Japanese Embassy has some accredited agencies where you can submit your application, and you can view their addresses and websites here.

Visa application usually takes about a week. In truth, temporary visitor visas are free, but the agencies charge varying (though non-refundable) rates for processing. Isn't that a relief? It's much easier than a US visa which is expensive and non-refundable.

Shout out, by the way, to Attic Tours where our applications were submitted and processed within the week. They also charged us with only P1,600+ processing fee.

4. Photos

You will need 2x2 photos with white background. You can easily print these out, or have your picture taken at a photo studio, just tell them "Japanese visa". We had ours done that way, where they asked us to choose the kind of outfit to wear. Well, they just took photos of us in our regular clothes, then edited the photos so it appeared like we were wearing coats! :-)

5. Letter of guarantee

We had this form filled out by my husband as guarantor that he would see to the expenses and other needs of Kaye during our trip. If we had not submitted a bank certificate of our joint account, I would probably have needed to submit a guarantee letter from my husband too. 

This is also required for those who were invited to Japan. Click here to download the form.

6. DSWD Travel Clearance for Minor

This document is required for minors who are travelling without their parents. Good news! The application is also available online, and you can view the requirements and download the form here. You have to apply for this at least two weeks before your travel, but got the clearance within three working days.

For this, we needed also the affidavit of consent from both parents, and original and photocopies of IDs (with photo and signature) and marriage certificates. Plus, a letter of authorization for us to be able to submit the documents in their stead. 

I was briefly interviewed by a social worker when I submitted this. The questions included details of our family and work backgrounds.

7. Other documents

The other documents that we prepared were the following:

• Bank balance certificate, requested from the bank
• Travel authority - a document needed by government employees authorizing them to leave the country, whether on a personal or official basis
• Approved leave of absence - Also required for the travel authority
• Employment certificate and income tax return as further proof of financial capability
• Tour itinerary - can be as general or as specific as can be. It kind of tells the Japanese embassy what your plans are - like places to visit or stay in - during your trip.

Let me remind you all, though, that these documents where what we needed as tourists going to Japan on our own - that is, not as part of a group or sponsored tour. I think that there are some documents necessary for those who are joining such.

Well, I hope I was of help. Till next blog!

#DestinationNippon: We were [almost not] off to Japan!

I’m actually embarrassed to say that I own a blog, but I hadn’t actually updated it for the longest time!!! In fact, when I opened this, I saw that my last post was after my mom had died in 2015. Since then, I’ve always said, “I’ll write about this,” but quite couldn’t muster up enough energy to do so even if I always had an idea of what to write about.

This time, though, I was determined to write a series of articles about our trip to Japan. Why? Because I 💓💓💓 our Japan trip, and I would like my memories to be etched not only in photos but in my blog where I can write more about things we saw, felt, tasted… This can also serve as a sort of reference for anyone who wants to go on a tour, or just as simple reading material for anyone who wants to know about what we did and experienced in the Land of the Rising Sun.

First off, let me tell you that we almost didn’t make it to Japan. We were really and originally aiming to go to Tokyo Disneyland in December, because we wanted to experience cold weather. It didn’t matter if there was snow or not, as long as it was colder than in the Philippines. Disneyland sounded fun too for someone like me who grew up watching Disney, although I haven’t really grown in height and I keep watching Disney movies … My husband C also wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday abroad, as well as the 12th birthday of my niece Kaye, whom we've been raising as our own. 

So we started planning early enough, around June (if I remember right)… But when I started scouting for how much Disneyland would cost, and the schedule, I always kept running across articles that said December would be the peak of the peak seasons and that schedules were full.

Disheartened, we thought of Hongkong Disneyland… But we didn’t know how long the violence in the streets would last and feared for our safety, so we turned our sights to Singapore’s Universal Studios. I got in touch with a former colleague who is now SG-based and asked for an itinerary.

At one of the kiosks
during the Klook event

Suddenly my husband said we would be going to Japan. Someone had told him that I might have seen such articles or full bookings because it was too early, and that I should try at a closer date, say three months ahead. So I got in touch with my high school classmate’s travel agency and asked if it was possible, and I was told yes!

We also decided to go to Universal Studios in Osaka for our plan B. And then, lo and behold, our original plan of a three- to four-day vacation turned out to be seven days, and we decided to do both Osaka and Tokyo.

We got excited with this!

This got me moving on the planning. I asked the travel agency for an itinerary in Osaka, and then Tokyo. But then we decided to attend a Klook Travel Fest at the World Trade Center. We went on a Saturday and looked at the countries with packages, asked a few questions, and grabbed some brochures. Upon returning home I looked some more through the brochures and website for Japan and marked a few, then convinced my husband to return the next day to book personally so that I could ask questions first.

On Sunday, we did return to the World Trade Center. While I was asking some questions about booking, the assistant said they would be having a big sale at around noontime but with limited slots. So we decided to stick around. We carefully finalized the selections of the packages I was considering and added them to my cart. With credit card details ready and typed in, I waited for the sale time – and when it came, all I had to do was click buy and – voila! The big discount (more than P12,000) was effected.

Hooray! This was our first sign that yes – we would finally be going to Japan! 

And our tour would be DIY. What a learning, adventurous experience it would turn out to be!

(Next: Requirements to complete)

Glad for the borrowed time

My mom and me, circa 1972-73
at Luneta Park

I originally posted this in my inspire.com account, which I had registered for after my mom had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer early in November 2014. I joined this online support community while searching for ways to help Mama - and us - cope with her disease and the side effects of Tarceva, that wonder target-therapy drug for lung cancer patients.

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My mom and dad during
their wedding (obviously)

My mom had been on the 4th month of Tarceva treatment. Her last x-ray showed an improvement, a "slight clearing" of the lungs. Her oncologist - and of course, us - were optimistic. Tarceva seemed to be effective; the sky-high price seemed to be worth it. She had been getting back her appetite, usually going for second, third servings and we would tease her about it. She was gaining back her weight. The oncologist even said there was a chance of reducing the Tarceva dosage so that her kidneys would not be affected too much.

Suddenly, pneumonia struck. She had a slight cough again, then had trouble breathing, and when we asked her if it was the same as when she was first diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer (November 2014) when they conducted a biopsy on the fluid in her lungs, she replied yes. So we rushed her to the hospital at 1AM on March 19. They found fluid in her lungs again, but this time there was less -- in November, she had more than a liter in her right lung, while this time she had 200ml in her right and 100ml in her left. 

They put her on diuretics while waiting for the doc to do the thoracentesis. The pulmonologist said she was having trouble breathing because the fluid was in patches, where before her lung seemed like a bag slowly filling with water. (They bided their time because her BP would drop during the thoracentesis procedure.) She had the procedure done March 20, in the late afternoon, where they extracted 400ml in her LEFT lung. The right, meanwhile, had less than 100ml so they did not pierce it this time and continued with the diuretics.

Sadly, she was not able to recover. They added a little dopamine to her IV so her BP would raise a bit... But despite the oxygen canula or mask she was still having trouble breathing. She was so restless through the night, repeatedly complaining, "It's too hot" even if I was already shivering because of the temp of the air conditioning. On March 21, they brought her to the ICU for better management... Around 3 that afternoon they asked permission to intubate her because her oxygen levels had not increased. They also put a urinary catheter on her to help her body get rid of the fluids flowing thru her IV. Her BP levels were low, her pulse almost non-existent, but her heart seemed okay.

At past 7 that same evening, her heart suddenly gave way. We were talking with other relatives in the waiting area when we heard the overhead PA bark out, "Code Red, ICU" and saw the nurses rushing, the defibrillator being wheeled in. We instantly jumped to our feet because we realized that she was the only patient in the ICU. Barred from getting in, we desperately peeked through the blinds to watch. We cried at the painful sight of nurses gathering around her, trying to shock her heart to life.

At some point, I jumped to my feet and rushed up the stairs to the chapel on the third floor. There, I knelt in surrender. Over and over, I tearfully said, "Lord, Your will be done," and a strange feeling of peace washed over me. I rushed back to the ICU.

They tried to revive her for several long minutes until the doctor approached us and we said, "No more." We knew they could not go on forever reviving her, and we knew that even if she was revived, a good quality of life would not be guaranteed. It was a decision that would always pain us, but we prayed first before giving it, and we had said our goodbyes because we knew she was leaving us. 

Septic shock, renal failure, high-risk pneumonia due to a compromised immune system. Underlying cause: stage 4, lung cancer. People were shocked - they did not know she had stage 4 lung CA; they said she didn't look like someone with cancer; and they felt it was so fast -- we brought her to the hospital on Thursday and she left two days later.

No matter how sad we are, we are still grateful to have been able to buy some time for her and for ourselves, that we could prepare ourselves for her leaving us because we knew her illness was terminal, and we did everything in our power to give her what she wanted in her last months with us.

As for me, I will always cherish one of the last things she said to me when she woke up that last morning at around 2am (I was her only companion that time). I was resting on a chair beside the bed because the previous times, I had barely gone to sleep in the cot when she would call out to me and ask me to crank up the air con. I was catching up on my sleep, my head resting on my arms on the bed beside her, when I felt her grab my hand. For someone weak, I noticed that it was an uncharacteristically strong grip. I came closer, asking her what was wrong and if she needed anything. She hugged me, telling me that she was tired. I said, "It's okay you can rest now." I was crying then, because I knew I was letting her go. She told me, "Don't cry. You were the one who did everything you could." To this day, I always cry (or at the very least, hyperventilate) when I remember that moment.

We knew we were living on borrowed time, but then, don't we all do?