Signed Blooms

Is that a rabbit hole, I see? Yes, it is! Welcome to Wonderland...I mean Alice On Wednesday. With the exterior that pretty, it's probably the cutest shop I've ever been.

Alice on Wednesday (Osaka)

We dropped by this little store during my trip to Osaka last January. It was located near the America Village (Amerika-mura) where streets were crammed with cafes, miscellaneous good shops, clothing stores, fashion malls and more.

The store is divided into two areas, the Red Queen's room which comes right behind the rabbit hole and the more brighter White Queen's Room where the cashier is located.

Red Queen's Room (left) and White Queen's Room (right)

The Red Queen's features a long table of Alice in Wonderland charms on checkered flooring. From all kinds of jewelries to bags to hair accessories to key chains to stationery, they have it all!


I did try my best to take decent photos but it was really dark inside the Red Queen's room and I don't want to ruin the mood with flash photography.

The White Queen's room, on the other hand, is like a mini pastry shop for your tea party fixes. It has various kinds of cookies and candies. The Drink Me bottles (although I read that they taste like cough medicine) and the Eat Me cookies are just so adorable. No wonder Alice was tempted to try them.

White Room Goodies

Drink Me Bottles

Eat Me Cookies in a Book

Fortune Cookies

Look at all these Wonderland goodies I got myself, vintage pocket watch, White Rabbit charm and Eat Me cookies in a book! The little Alice on me is rejoicing!

Alice on Wednesday Hauls

Will definitely drop by this shop again when I got to come back to Japan, maybe the Tokyo branch next time. ^o^

Ever since I've came to know such thing exists, I been always wanting to fly a sky lantern. Tangled makes the experience seems really pretty and magical. The idea of writing your wish on a paper lantern, lighting it up and letting it go so it can fly high above is just so dreamy. Even this scene from the popular Kdrama, Love in the Moonlight makes me want to attend a sky lantern festival so badly.

Love in the Moonlight (Photo Credits to BEAB)

That dream realized when I attended last year's Yi Peng festival in Chiang Mai, a province situated at the north of Thailand.

Yi Peng also known as Lanna (northern Thai) festival is celebrated on the evening of the full moon of the second month according to Lanna lunar calendar (usually November). Thousands of sky lanterns (khom loi) are launched into the air where they resemble large shoals of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating through the sky.^[ref]

Yi Peng 2016

Yi Peng coicides with Loi Krathong, another festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand, Laos, as well as parts of Malaysia, Myanmar and China. The name literally means "to float a basket", and comes from the tradition of making krathong or buoyant, decorated baskets, which are then floated on a river.^[ref]

Lit Krathong Floating in the River

Having thousands of lanterns floating up above the sky and at the same time, baskets of flowers with lit candles floating through the river, really made the night glow.

Yi Peng and Loi Krathong Celebration at  Nawarat Bridge, Chiang Mai, Thailand (2016)

Last year's celebration was actually toned down as the Thai people were still mourning the death of their former King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Colored lanterns were banned and fireworks display was cancelled. But this doesn't make the event less fun. Everything that night was still so fascinating.

I just got to cross out an item on my bucket list! Fly a sky lantern: ✓

Web services like Google Maps, Navigation, etc. make travelling a hundred fold easier than before, the time when internet and GPS weren't still a thing. Also, being connected while you travel abroad means being able to get in touch with your family and loved ones at home. For me, as I hate unnecessary phone calls and messages, that would mean updating my IG so they would know I'm still alive, kicking and having fun.

There are several ways to stay connected while you travel abroad:

Data Roaming

I won't really suggest this one 'cause it's really pricey. Globe, for example charges a flat rate of PHP 599 per day. That's just crazy. -_-

Buy a Local SIM

Buying a local SIM card, loading it with credits and subscribing it to a surfing promo is one of the cheapest ways to have internet access abroad. I did it when I was in Thailand. I bought a SIM card at a shopping mall and had the saleslady register it for one week unlimited internet access. I don't really remember how much did it cost me, but it was a lot cheaper than renting out a portable WiFi or buying what they promoted as a Traveler SIM at the airport. 

However, not all countries allow anyone to buy a prepaid SIM that easily. In countries like Japan, you need to be a local resident to be eligible to buy one. (Although now, they have a prepaid SIM for visitors to be used for data service only).

Rent a Phone

Yes, in some countries, you could also rent a mobile phone with SIM. I never consider this as an option but I guess it could help if you need a more reliable smart phone, equipped with a better camera that would be handy for all IG junkies.

Rent a Portable WiFi

If buying a local SIM card is not an option, I would definitely go by this one. You can either rent a portable WiFi at the airport or have it booked online and claim it once you arrived.

If your country of destination is on their list, I would suggest to just rent a router at flytpack. Have your device before you leave and get connected the moment you arrived! It's cheap and reliable. You have to pay a deposit fee of PHP 2,800 but no worries, you'll get this back once you return the router.

There are several ways to stay connected while traveling abroad. Options vary on different countries. Make sure you research well so you can get the most out of your money.

Have fun in your next trip!

 As a requirement for a Japanese tourist visa, I needed to get a bank certificate from BDO. To request for one is pretty easy.

In BDO, you need to get the certificate from the branch where you open your account. I know this is quite a hassle. Maybe that's why when you open an account, they require your home or office address to be near. The good thing is BDO has a separate line for this kind of transactions. I didn't even have to wait before I got assistance.

For BPI account holders, you can get a bank certificate in any of their branches. They don't have separate counters for this kind of requests though. You have to go to the normal queue which can be quite long especially during payout dates.

Just present your ID and pay for the processing fee. You also need to fill up the request form (asking for the purpose of the request, the addressee, etc.). Both BDO and BPI charge PHP 100.00 for processing a bank certificate. You can get the certificate straight from the printer on the same day.

Tips:

• List down the addressee details before you go to the bank. I was not aware that they will request for it. I thought it will just be the general and classic "To whom it may concern". I even had to google the address of the Japanese Embassy. Thankfully, I have data connection that time.
• Only transactions made the (banking) day before you requested for the bank certificate will reflect on your account balance. Be sure to make your deposit ahead of time.

In preparation for my 2017 trip to Osaka and Kyoto, I applied for a Japanese visa last December.

I already laid out my itinerary, booked the plane tickets and even bought a couple of winter coats few months back. If the Japanese embassy didn't approve my application, it would definitely be a waste of money and effort. I just thought then that why wouldn't they approve when I am surely going there as a tourist.

As of time of writing, applying for a tourist visa requires the following:

• Philippine passport (must have at least two blank pages)
• Visa application form
• Remember to put N/A to fields that are not applicable for you.
• Photo (must be pasted in the application form)
• must have a white background
• size: 2" x 2" or 4.5 cm x 4.5 cm
• Birth Certificate (must be issued within one year by NSO)
• Marriage Certificate (if married, must also be issued within one year)
• Daily Schedule in Japan
• Bank Certificate
• You don't have to worry too much about your transactions, only the total amount of your account(s) will be shown in the bank certificate.
• Don't know how to request for one? You may check this handy guide.
• Income Tax Return/BIR Form 2316 (original and photocopy)
• The agency just needs to see the original copy but they will return it back to you. It won't be forwarded to the embassy.

You need to submit the complete requirements to any travel agency accredited by the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines (complete list here). As of July 30, 2007 submitting an application directly to the embassy is no longer an option. I guess it's because verifying if the applicant has the complete requirements saves them a great deal of time (especially for other types of visa that requires a lot of supporting documents).

The visa itself is free but you have to pay a processing fee to the agency where you decided to submit your application. We chose Reli Tours & Travel Agency, because it offers the cheapest processing fee of PHP 950.00 for tourist visa. We applied to their branch located in Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati. They're agents there aren't the nicest though.

We submitted the requirements early on a Tuesday morning. We were told that they'll just gonna contact us if our passport our ready for pickup but we'll only know the result once we have it on hand. The next Friday, I received the text advisory. That afternoon, we went back to the agency and got our passport with approved visa!

Tips:

• If you're gonna submit your application to Reli Tours & Travel Agency, Dusit Thani branch, be there early. We picked up our passports in the afternoon and we're surprised by the long queue. Thankfully, those who are just there for pickup don't have to fall in line.
• As an addition to the requirements above, I think it'd be better to include your booking details as well. Of course, that is if you already booked your flight. I forgot to include mine but I think it would help.
• I read that the Japanese embassy usually process visa applications on a Wednesday. If that is true, you may want to submit your application on a Monday/Tuesday if you want to get your passport back within the week.

Good luck and have fun during your trip!

Paper Towns is the second John Green authored book that I’ve read. Well, I’m not really into his works anyway. I just read those that appealed to me.

This novel is pretty nice, well suited for teens. I just find it somehow disappointing as the story mainly revolves in the quest of finding Margo. Maybe I expected more than that. But still, it’s a good book. You’ll surely find your teen age self as one of the characters or maybe a combination of two.

It’s like a shout as to how young minds think and how those thoughts reflect the audacious but blinding reality.

I believe the reason this book is popular is because we all have these tiny voices inside of us wanting to be heard to let our own Margo-ness out.

The milk tea craze in Manila started a few years ago. Until now, it really is a very popular drink/dessert in the metro, especially for young people like me who are not that much fond of coffee.

From the tea-est to the milkiest, here are some of the popular milk tea fixes that have branches all over Manila.

Happy Lemon

Happy Lemon's might not be that of a big hit now compare to its earlier days but seriously who tasted a drink from their Rock Salt and Cheese series and wasn't delighted by it? A sip to that heavenly cheese cream always made my day. I just can't get enough of it that I always ask for extra.

Happy Lemon's Cocoa Rock Salt and Cheese with Black Pearl Sago and Bubble Waffle

The photo was way back last February when I got the pearl for free as part of their Valentine's promo. It was also the time when they just introduced the bubble waffle (inspired by the popular egg waffle in Hing Kong) on their menu.

If milk is not your thing, their Special Lemon Cooler (with QQ Jelly) is a must try too!

Dakasi

Dakasi offers sweeter milk tea versions in large portions. My sister is a fan but it's a bit too sweet for me. Their drinks are more on the milky side which I think is deliberately done to target the millenials.

Gong Cha

Chatime

Moon Leaf

Tokyo Bubble Milk Tea