Tourist Visa Application for China

                 Beijing has been an integral part of China’s history for  centuries. It is renowned for its historical palaces, temples, parks and its walls. I'm sure a lot of people who love to travel have Beijing on their list of must-visits but a lot of them keep on putting their plans off whenever they learn about the visa requirement. It's quite a hassle when you have to gather all those documents.Some of them have to be requested first  . One of the documents that I had to request was the bank certificate.It wasn't clear though how much they require to be in the applicant's account but I had read somewhere that one just needs to prove that he has enough money to fund his trip. Aside from the bank certificate I had to do something about my SSS ID. My first name is misspelled on my ID.I have a very long name,unfortunately SSS’ system could only accommodate 15 characters in the first line intended for the first name and another 15 characters in the second line for the last name so the last letter of my first name was dropped. That's according to SSS because I went there to complain.It’s just one of the things I had to take care of.
             For applicants I suggest that you check the requirements for the citizens of your country and submit them ahead of time so you'll have a chance to fix things just in case.
             On the day of the application I was already lining up outside of  the Consular Office of the Peoples Republic of China in the Philippines at 6:30 AM. It is located at 2nd & 3rd Floor, The World Center, 330 Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue, Makati City ( across Mapua Institute Of Technology). Some of those who also lined up early were representatives from travel agencies and some were sent by their bosses. The Consular office doesn't require personal appearance to apply for a visa and to claim a visa .At 8 AM we were told to go up to the 2nd floor. Upon entering the hall we were asked if we're applying for visa or claiming a visa then we were given our numbers and form for those who were applicants. I was number 25. Transactions didn't start until 9 AM so I filled out the form and waited. When it was my turn I just handed out all the requirements to the officer ( or whatever you call them). I was assigned to the lady at window 3 ( I had heard some stories about a certain lady at a certain window but I'm not sure which window. A lot of applicants try to avoid her as much as they could). The person who assisted me didn't ask me a single question. I noticed that she just went through my papers hastily except when it came to my passport, NBI clearance and bank certificate.She compared all the information on my NBI clearance with the ones on my passport. I'd heard that if you're given a pink form it's a good sign and that it's most likely to get approved. I noticed though that the lady was writing something on a small white piece of paper. Oh NO! I panicked. It turned out that the white paper was their copy of the claim stub and underneath it was the coveted "pink form". Yehey! I just opted for the 3-working-day-processing. I was done at 9:40 AM.

How to get to Consular Office of the Peoples Republic of China :
If you are coming from EDSA you can either take the MRT and alight at the Buendia station and take the jeep ( You can find the jeepneys in front of the SM hypermarket ) or you can take the bus.

Requirements for Tourist Visa Application ( for Philippine Passport Holders) :
1. Applicant's passport with blank pages and at least 6 months validity left before expiration.
2. A truly and completely filled Visa Application Form (Form V2011A) affixed with one passport-size or 2x2 colored photo, with white background, full-face front view, and no hat. Photo must be glued on the application form. Stapled pictures will not be accepted. Scanned photos will also not be accepted. U.S. passport holders must submit two application forms with two photos.
3. A copy of the round-trip plane ticket
4. Hotel reservation / invitation letter with a copy of the inviter's valid Chinese residence visa and passport information page of inviter's or Chinese national identity card.
5. Previously used China visa in old or new passport (Only visa stickers will be accepted. Those with stamped visas must submit additional documents for first time China visa applicants. Please refer to the list below.)
6. For first time applicants to China (Philippine passport holders, 18 years old and above), they are required to provide the following:
a) original NBI clearance valid for travel abroad
b) original bank certificate with receipt or original passbook, updated within the month that you are applying or....
- If a company will sponsor the trip, provide the company's bank certificate, sponsorship letter from the company and the company's business registration.
- If an individual will sponsor the trip, provide his bank certificate, sponsorship and invitation letter, copy of sponsor's valid residence visa and passport information page or Chinese national ID.
c) for employed persons, also provide an employment certificate, company ID, SSS ID and contributions, TIN ID and latest ITR
d) for students, provide school ID
e) for businessmen, provide business registration of company, TIN ID and latest ITR
f) Personal appearance is required for those who are 16-21 years old.
7. The emergency contact information page in the applicant's passport should be filled out and photocopied.
8. Other documents required by the visa officers if necessary.

I suggest though that you check again the requirements from the Consular Office of the Peoples Republic of China in the Philippines around the time that you are applying for a visa because they might update it from time to time.

Bangkok Safari World : An Ultimate Zoo Experience

                 After five days of long bus rides, visiting temples, haggling at markets, a day trip to the beach and playing charades with the Thai people, we were not done yet. On the sixth day of our Thailand- Cambodia vacation we had to get up early again for a trip to a zoo,the Bangkok Safari World. The main reason why I wanted to visit Bangkok Safari World was to see giraffes as they have dozens of them.It's my childhood dream to see a giraffe, In fact, when I first set foot in Manila one of the first places I visited was the Manila Zoo. Sadly, I was told that the giraffe at the Manila Zoo had died.         

Opening of the Elephant Show

                                       
                   Bangkok Safari World is also highly recommended because of its Open Safari Tour which makes visitors feel like they're in a real African Safari. We took the skytrain and alighted at the Victory monument station. We hurriedly looked for the bus going to Bangkok Safari World (the zoo is located at 99 Panyaintra Road, Samwatawantok, Klongsamwa, Bangkok ).I had written down the address on my notebook and I kept on shoving it to the faces of the locals whenever we asked for directions. We already asked several people and no one knew which bus could take us to the zoo. It seemed like they had not heard about Bangkok Safari World . It was perplexing that none of the locals we asked had heard of the place when it's a hit among foreigners . Though I was aware that most Thai doesn't speak English I didn't realize that they could not read our writing either. That explained the look on their faces accompanied with the head -scratching -thing every time I would show them the address on my notebook (sometimes to the point of almost slapping them with it out of utter frustration that they could not understand it).
                  Finally it rang a bell to someone and he pointed us to the right bus.The bus doesn't actually stop at the gate of the zoo, we had to take a taxi from the bus stop to the zoo entrance. It was like a 10 minute ride through a nice and exclusive neighborhood. After buying our zoo pass which cost 830 baht each. They gave us a zoo map and the schedule of the shows they had. We're late for the Orangutan show as it was already 11am so we briefly stopped at the dolphin show instead. We stayed only for a few minutes  since we had already seen the same type of show in Hong Kong Ocean Park.

                             
                 Our next stop was the elephant show. It took a while for us to find the venue of the elephant show because the zoo was really huge and there were so many trees and man- made bodies of water within the sprawling property that it felt like we're in a forest. When we found the venue of the elephant show which was another amphiteather , we settled at the top. Most of the spectators was comprised of grade school students .Shortly after we could already hear the kids screaming as the elephants paraded in front of us. Some were carrying hoola hoops with their trunk and the less flirty ones carried poom pooms.They all looked cute.The cheers and screams from the audience got louder when the elephants lined up and raised their forelimbs and put them on the back of their fellow performer in front of them, but that's it,they stopped there and just held that position for a few seconds. I thought they were gonna do something to multiply.The beast also showcased other talents like painting while holding the paintbrush with their trunk.             
               


                Finally it was time for me to meet the giraffes so we proceeded to the Safari terrace. In that section we were face to face with the giraffes literally as we were on a platform as tall as them. Tourists get to feed them bananas for a fee of 40 baht. We didn't waste money , we just helped the kids who were scared to feed the bananas to the giraffes. Those creatures have very long tongue and if you get too close you run the risk of getting licked. I overheard a tourist who commented that the giraffe she fed was "la chica mal" or a bad girl, I wondered how she'd figured that out. 

Feeding the giraffes costs 40 baht, talking to them is free

                           

                  There was also another section of the zoo called the White World as its residents were albino creatures. We saw white deers, white tigers and a polar bear?I felt sorry for the bear because the zoo environment in a tropical country like Thailand is the exact opposite of the conditions that they are used to. 

                           

polar bear in the tropics?

                           

 

                  Next stop was the main attraction of the zoo , the Open Safari tour. It's like being in a mini safari where visitors can see the animals roaming freely. I call it "mini" because even though its a vast area, it's still nothing compared to a real African Safari. When the tour started around 2 pm we found ourselves on a bus among Indian tourists , good thing I wasn't suffering from a "last song syndrome" like what happened in Hong Kong Ocean Park where I'd burst into singing Jai Ho every five minutes while queing up for the rides with Indian tourists.We drove slowly as we passed by the animals. There were few camels,rhinos,zebras,buffaloos ,black asian bears, a lot of deers , my favorite giraffes,long legged birds and peacocks .What about the lions and the tigers? They were actually occupying a separate section of the open safari which is like a maximum security section of a prison. The lions and tigers had to be separated from everyone else for obvious reasons.
                           



                We were about to leave the zoo when we saw a woman mounted on top of an elephant. Yehey ! We found out that they offer quick elephant rides for 40 baht only. It was a great deal because it only cost 40baht compared to the  fee of riding an elephant in Siem Reap which costs $15. The trainer instructed the elephant to kneel down so I could climb on its back. I was amazed at how quickly it obeyed the trainer. When I was on top I held on to the rope tied around the elephants neck preparing for the acrobatic maneuvers it was about to do. My favorite part was when it raised its forelimbs and just stood on its hindlegs just like what horses would do when in battles. While mounted on the elephant I caressed its hairy skin then I noticed the bleeding wound on its neck.WTF! No wonder they were so obedient. Anna told me that the trainer would hit the elephant with a gad or a stick with pointed metallic object on one end everytime he commanded them to do something.Poor creature. I felt guilty afterwards.There I was having a blast while the elephant was suffering.

40 baht -elephant ride with a twist

                                       
                I'm aware that a lot of people are against putting animals in a zoo. They say it's a cruel environment. I agree that its not right that you pluck them out from their natural environment and separate them from their brood or parents but I believe that zoos can also help educate people about the nature of different animals  especially those that we don't see in our locality. I ,personally went there to learn more about the animals I only read about from my text books.Seeing them may help us understand their behavior and their needs which could be useful in conservation and protection of these animals.But  why did I  let myself  enjoy watching the whole show when I knew that the stars of the show  were suffering. Was I really learning or just trying to justify this cruelty towards animals? 

siesta time for the tigers

Koh Samet : White Sand Beach Near Bangkok

                   We had heard of nice beaches in Thailand so we wanted to visit one during our trip. Our problem was time constraint. The famous beaches are far from Bangkok and we only allotted a daytrip for the beach. Phuket and its neighboring islands were out of the question as it’s impossible to do a day trip to those islands being 8-12 hours away by bus or car from Bangkok and even flight schedules if one chooses to travel by air won’t allow a day trip either. One day, when I checked my facebook account, I came across photos of a really nice white-sand -beach in the island of Koh samet.I researched about it online so I could find out how to get to Koh Samet from Bangkok( a lot of islands and beaches that popped up had the word "Koh" on their names. It turned out that “Koh” means island in Thai).

               Koh Samet is an island in Rayong Province, Thailand. In 1981 it was declared as a National Park. Being a National Park means it’s protected so there’s limited development as far as the construction of resorts and commercial establishments is concerned. The transit point for every visitor to Koh Samet is Ban Phe, Rayong province. The cheapest way to get to Ban Phe from Bangkok is by bus from the Eastern Bus terminal also known as Ekemai Bus Station . Once in Ban Phe visitors can take a boat to the island of Koh Samet.

          We left  at around 5:00 AM. I forgot the bus number that takes tourists from Khao San area to Ekemai. Since we’re trying to make it to the first trip to Ban Phe we hailed a cab instead. There was a miscommunication as the driver didn’t use the meter when I told him to use it. Instead he charged us 140baht which I haggled down to 120 baht. The bus ticket to Ban Phe cost 157 baht (round trip)which came with bottled water and a cupcake. Sweet .The bus didn’t leave until 6:30 AM. It was the only bus that we took during our stay in Thailand that didn’t leave on time as buses in Thailand were usually on the dot. It was kind’a sad on the bus because there were  only 5 of us including the driver and the conductor. The sights were again familiar but what’s interesting was the fact that we were already an hour away from Bangkok and were still driving through an elevated highway.


                                  



                   It took three and a half hours to reach Ban Phe. From the Bus Terminal we just crossed the street to get to the port. The ticket for the boat ride to Koh Samet cost  100 baht . After buying our tickets we ate at a restaurant and waited for two hours because the boat wouldn’t leave until there were at least ten passengers. We left around twelve noon and the sunny weather turned gloomy and then it rained. The boat ride took 25 minutes. I somehow lost interest because of the weather. When we arrived at the pier in Koh Samet we hopped into a pick up truck that took us to Hat Sai Kaew beach (the ride was included in  the 100  baht that we paid for the boat ride) . Hat Sai Kaew beach is the closest beach to Nadan pier and its also the most popular . It was still drizzling when the driver dropped us off. We walked through a small alley lined with souvenir shops then a white sand beach and blue water welcomed us. We were surprised. It was indeed beautiful. Fine white sand was something that I was looking for. It’s the quality of the sand that I use to gauge the quality of a beach since I spend my time just strolling (because poor me can’t swim).




                   Even with an overcast skies the sand still looked pristinely white and it was also very fine that I couldn’t help playing with it by burying my hands . There are also restaurants in the area and a lot of affordable guesthouses.While strolling on the beach I noticed that it was littered with plastic and foil wrappers .It’s a shame that the people there didn’t mind throwing their garbage everywhere. If we had more time I would have picked up all those plastic bottles and wrappers.             

                                 

                                  
                   Despite what I saw I continued walking and I enjoyed the feeling of the powdery sand under my feet.The good thing about the island is that it's not crowded so it is perfect for those who need some quiet place to relax while on vacation.