We just came back from our 8 days “Amazing Race: Couples edition” version trip to Japan. Our trip was from Nov. 21-28. I thought of blogging about the whole 9 yards, so I can give back to our blogging community as well as to help DIY travelers like me who rely and get helpful tips from travel blogs, too.I will divide them in portions though, lest I want to bore you with a lengthy read.
Beautiful autumn colors at the path leading to Osaka Castle.
One part of traveling that can be cumbersome for others is the preparation. This post will take you through the whole ordeal (but so worth it!) I took for our Japan trip.
I’m from a travel-crazy family, so guess who loves to travel. I’ve been fortunate to have gone to places some people have not seen yet or still dream of seeing. I plan to Ā blog about those past trips, but for now let’s focus on our Japan adventure.
Plane tickets. This is best bought in advance and during seat sales. I am always on the look out for these. Make Cebu Pacific, Air Asia and all the low cost airline websites part of your browser’s bookmarks. These will be your bestfriends and will be the start of your budget travel. I used to be really cost conscious that i don’t purchase seat reservations and baggage allowance but since seeing benefits from getting it (being able to choose your seat, no longer hoping to get a window instead an aisle seat, and not worrying about going over the limit of 7 kilos for hand-carry), I avail them every time I book. I bought our Manila-Kansai, Japan – Manila tickets from Cebu Pacific online last June 2015 and was worth Php 10,933 for 2 persons. What is good in this day and age, you can purchase plane tickets online and even use different payment options aside from a credit card. I availed of the reserved seats with my usual seat numbers, and got the 20 kilos baggage allowance. Tip: when traveling during winter season of your destination, choose a bigger baggage allowance. Since your jackets, coats and other winter items will eat up most of your luggage space. After booking the tickets, I took note of the travel details in my Evernote on my mobile phone for easy access when you start looking for accomodation, etc.
Japan visa application. Now this is the part when it starts to be challenging. I think it was around August or September when I began working on the requirements needed. When I am about to go somewhere, may it be with a visa or none, local or international I check out blogs to get tips on creating itineraries, budgets, and visa application. I don’t have a particular blog I frequent but just keep searching and reading entries and get what’s useful for me. I bookmark them for future reference. It is important to still always check the embassy’s site for the latest list of requirements and any updates on the process. Here is the official website of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines and the list of requirments for tourist visa application:
I have heard of horror stories before on how hard it is to get approved for a visa to Japan, how there’s a lot of requirements to submit, how you need to have a big amount in your bank account for “show money”, etc. Which in my opinion makes others have second thoughts in trying to apply. At first it got me worried, but when I clicked on the Submit Payment button in Cebpac I knew I have to brave the storm. Win or lose. Manalo matalo. The embassy doesn’t accept walk-in application. Thought the visa fee for tourists is Gratis (Free), you have to get it processed for you by their accredited travel agencies. They have a list of these in their website, too. I chose 1 of the top 3 and chose the one located near our office so it would be easier to go there after our graveyard shift. I picked Reli Tours (Hello and thank you, Reli Tours!) in Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City. This is their main office, that in some sense assured me that I am in good hands (Call me weird, I know). I checked their website and saw their procesing fee of Php 950 for each Japan tourist visa, which made my stingy self cringe a bit. Forgive me, but this happens most of the time with me since I know I could have saved that amount if I were to process it myself. Anyway that’s the rule, so I do as what they say. Ā I called them when I had questions and they were helpful enough.
I started requesting for the usual documents, I won’t get into the detail for each but will focus on 1 requirement that really gave me a hard time. My late registered birth certificate (cue Twilight Zone music). Though it was an NSO (now PSA) copy already, I needed to provide additional supporting documents: certified true copy of Baptismal certificate and school record (form 137). These documents must be issued from the last 3 months for it to be valid. I asked the travel agent I spoke to why it has to be a high school record, not a college school record. But rules are rules. You see since I got married I live in Cainta and my high school is in Multinational Village, ParaƱaque City. So I stayed overnight at my sister’s place in the south and first thing in the morning went to my high school to get my school record. Good thing my school is so organized that it just took them less than 30 minutes to find my record and provide me with certified true copies for 4 pesos each page. Then I figured out how I will get my baptismal certificate. Enter challenge # 2. I was born in Lucena City, Quezon Province which was 3-4 hours travel by car. I was baptized in Candelaria, Quezon Province which was the city before Lucena. So at least 2.5-3 hours travel from Manila. I asked my dad who works in Batangas if he could go there for me but it was out of the way for him. So I planned on taking a bus after shift Saturday morning going there. After my dad heard my plans and since I am the favorite child, he has convinced my brother to drive for me instead on the same day. So yay! All I have to worry of is paying gas and toll fees. This is by the way on a work week, so I have work in the evening. So we took off around 9am, I slept almost the whole trip to catch on sleep for the shift in the evening. My brother drove fast and took the diversion which avoided the city propers making it a quicker trip. We got there around 1130am which was a relief since I was afraid that we might get their on their lunch break. I didn’t want to lose more time than we were supposed to. I paid for Php 100 for 1 true copy of my baptismal record. Soon as I got it, we travelled back already. We arrived in ParaƱaque around 2pm and I stil had to travel going to Cainta. So you could just imagine how I was feeling at work in the evening. Anyway, I am just so happy that I got that accomplished.
We then went to Reli Tours after completing all requirements, submitted them and got our pick-up slip with the date for the week after. Please note that if you are submitting docs for someone else, make sure to bring an authorization letter to authorize you to submit on his behalf.
Prayers help a lot so on the day of pick-up I was just so happy to see that we were approved for a visa! Yay! Japan! Japan!
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