• Authorization letter
  One of us has an Australian visa (let’s call him Aussie) while another has a US, making them exempts. They only needed to present a printout. Having said that, the remaining two of us decided to have Aussie process our applications in the hopes that filing as a group would increase our chances and simply because he’s the only one available on mornings. As it turned out, there wasn’t any need for such a letter at all.
• Visa application form
• Two recent 1.5″x2″ photos with white background (signed at the back)
• Passport valid for at least six months
  I included my old passport and photocopies of the bio page and all stamped pages of both passports but they were—you guessed that right—not deemed necessary.
• PSA (NSO) birth certificate
  Like the requirement for the Japan visa, it was stated that it should be a copy issued within the year. You can easily request one at e-Census. (Honestly, though, I didn’t find any indication on the copies that they were newly issued.)
• Bank certificate
  And it’s the dreaded show money. As a rule of thumb, the amount should be good enough to keep you going throughout your stay overseas. I’d say it doesn’t necessarily have to reach six digits.
• Certificate of employment
  I had my income (hourly rate, in my case) and purpose indicated on it.
• Payslips/invoices for the last six months
• BIR Form 2316
  Since I’m on a consultancy setup and not a “regular” employee, the forms I submitted were my 2307’s (Certificate of Creditable Tax Withheld at Source) for the last four quarters. I even included my 1901 (Application for Registration) and 2303 (Certificate of Registration) forms. All of them happily stayed in my brown envelope.
• Airline tickets
• Accommodation booking
  There are places you can book and cancel up to a particular date in Booking.com absolutely for free.
• Photocopy of company ID
• Proof of leave approval
  We don’t have any HRIS to log and track leaves at work so what I submitted was a simple e-mail approval.

All original documents have their corresponding photocopies but only that of the PSA birth certificate was received, making a total of nine requirements submitted. It may have been a bit of an overkill with the documents but screw it, I was too terrified of another rejection. After all, requirements can vary from one applicant to another and it never hurts to come with more than just your war paint.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines
41F, Tower 1, RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue, Makati City, 1200 Metro Manila
(02) 887-6688
Filing time: 08:45–11:45
Processing in 3 working days for the amount of 2,400 peyses (they also expedite for only a day)
Releasing time: 13:45–16:30

Updated on March 3, 2017: I have disabled commenting for this post as I have replicated it in Itinerant.

The post Excess Taiwan Visa Requirements for Filipinos appeared first on Beer & Skittles.

It was last year when I first heard of Fortune Island, and because I know for a fact that in this life I will probably never ever step foot in Greece and on this island are pillars which resemble those of The Parthenon, I immediately locked it as a target. Last month, while looking for beaches to go to, I read in the comments of a blog post about a trip to the island organized by #JJTours. I contacted two of my friends and in no time I was already at the bank paying for the down payment. What did just happen.

The day of the tour came, and we huddled at the McDonald’s by the MRT Buendia station. Red Chuca, the tour manager, arrived and told us that he actually forgot about us three as he was on the road when I told him about my deposit. If I didn’t make a follow-up the day before we would’ve been left out and I would’ve committed suicide using the five liters of water we brought with us.

We left in two vans at 03:30 and arrived in Nasugbu, Batangas two hours later. Breakfast was at Jollibee before we proceeded to Fortune Island Resort, which seems to be the gateway to the island. The island has no electricity, freshwater source, store where you can buy food, and most especially, restroom (well, they said there was a functional one but I really didn’t look for it). That means that if you’re staying overnight, the resort is the place to do your thing, mantra, or whatever it is that you need to do.

Looking at the island and its Grecian pillars from a distance. It was around 20 minutes past the hour of eight when we arrived in the island. Travel time was an hour but probably takes longer when the waves are feeling a bit treacherous. (Now that should be exciting.)

It’s stated in many blogs already but I’m still gonna say it anyway. Fortune Island used to be a luxury resort but was ravaged by a typhoon in the early 2000’s. For some reason it was no longer restored to its previous grandeur (I’m guessing this would have to do with typhoons visiting more often than not). It is owned by a former governor and is now being rented by Koreans. The structure above is what used to be the main building.

Not fully pictured above is what used to be the pool of the resort. It now contains just rubbish.

This shipwreck is actually not a shipwreck but are remnants of the resort’s restaurant after it was obliterated by another (yes, you guessed that right) typhoon only recently. You can see pictures of how it used to look like in other blogs.

We set up camp right beshinde (a word here which is supposed to be a sort of portmanteau of “behind” and “beside”) the main building where there was a good deal of shade provided by some trees.

In no time I found meself and me mates exploring the (pronounced as “thee” and not “tha” because the next word starts with a vowel) island. The pillars can be reached by stairs which go straight to the top, leading you to the other side of the island where the real fun happens.

Atop the hill are not only the pillars but also some statues. Now that makes me wonder, I should’ve tried making out with the woman who seemed so damn lonely looking into the distant horizon. Come here, baby…

Because it would be dull to just stand with the pillars and maybe even look like one of them, I tried becoming Spidey for a change. (My left arm was actually trembling so hard when the photo above was taken that I could’ve egg rolled down the hill and met my end.) Also, never, as in NEVER, try standing on the busted pillars. I tried it and attempted to go to a higher level. If I went on and without caution, I would’ve been sent egg rolling down for sure. What’s with all these egg rolls, anyway.

And this is what where we just came from looks like from above. At first I was dumbfounded as to why people would opt to pitch tents under the ridiculously blazing sun but when night fell I understood why. On the right side is where you can cliff jump noob style. (Did I just sound cocky there?)

At some point I got annoyed by the heat that I decided to break one of the statues to show Zeus and his kin who’s boss.

This, my friends, is the other side of the island as seen from above.

Steep stairs lead to the other side, where you can jump off the cliffs to your heart’s content.

Look at me swim like a tadpole and act like I just conquered the island. Hilas!

The lowest point where one could jump would be at the foot of the stairs. People who don’t know how to swim can just take it from here and have a life vest ready. Also, there’s a rope where one can hold on for dear life. I wanted to try a front flip here but I sort of got dizzy after jumping twice from the high point so I tried diving instead, as I just couldn’t do it from high points just yet.

When it was almost 12:00 we retreated to our camp for lunch and immediately right after went back to the cliffs with the rest of the gang.

From the picture above, there are two high points, one on each side, where you can jump off. The one on the left, although comfortable because of the presence of a platform (if Mother Nature created that one I’m gonna marry her in my 30’s) where one can reflect about decisions in life (yes), is more difficult, as you will have to swim your way back to the stairs. The one on the right has no platform, but it’s very near to the rope (and stairs) that will save your life.

Here’s a video of Matze, a German guy who was with the group, me, and Norry, battling our way into the sea. I was delighted making it. I just launched my video-editing software and everything simply came pouring in. Hola, Avicii!

[vimeo width=”550″ height=”367″]https://vimeo.com/130093722[/vimeo]

About half of our group took the plunge, and in between us there was this group from Baguio which captured everyone’s attention as all of their girls actually did it. There were a number of bloopers, though, which included denim shorts becoming a skirt after the jump (“Yung shorts ko naging skirt!”) and a guy declaring that he’s okay being gay so long as he doesn’t have to jump (“Di na. Bakla nalang ako.”). Hahaha! In the end he still leapt. Kudos!

When everyone already had their fair share of risking lives, we went back to the other side to take a dip. Some continued cliff jumping, from the noob style spot I was arrogantly referring to earlier. At three o’clock we headed to the left side of the horizon towards the end of the beach in an attempt to sight sharks.

This part of the beach is ideal should you want to answer calls of nature by nighttime. Dunno if it’s always the case, but during our stay it was free from camping tourists.

A scene reminiscent of bayanihan, the Filipino term which means communal effort to achieve a goal, best exampled by people literally lifting a house on their shoulders in order to move it to a new location. And yes, those are live shells!

Reaching the end of the line, where the shade and peace and quiet made it a perfect spot for everyone’s siesta.

There were no sightings even after an hour so we went back and went for another swim. Red had this Tribord snorkeling gear and I can only tell you how awesome it was. If a typical snorkel allows you to breathe through your mouth, this one allows through the nose as well. Truly badass. Unfortunately, the price is also badass and it’s not available in the Philippines yet. I have no underwater camera so I couldn’t show any evidence, but take it from me (and my broken heart) that the scenery underwater is superb. Probably among the best I’ve seen so far.

The final activity of the day was the sunset watching, set at 17:30. It was lovely. The sun almost made me believe in forever as it seemed to take all the time in the world setting.

While the sun continued teasing all its spectators, I backed away to the farthest part of the cliff in order to take a panoramic view of the island.

When the sun was finally succumbing to its last emotional moments, I had it eaten by one of the lions just because. (Up to this point in time I honestly don’t know where the use of “just because” to end a sentence originated but for the sake of it please spare me.) Of course, one last shot as the sun started crossing the horizon was also obligatory.

We rinsed ourselves with whatever means possible and then had dinner, which was as scrumptious as the other meals. We then moved our tents so that we can feel some wind, as for some reason there was none at our original spot at all. Socials commenced a little after everyone settled at their new locations. Before that, our group was already setting off with a simple concoction of GSM Mojito and Sprite. Haha.

I would say a lot happened during the socials, and there was enough booze to knock everyone out ’til the end. Hahaha. I particularly liked that game of words in which you have to say a word that is related to the one the person before you mentioned. The tricky part was the disallowance of the following:

• Words that start with “s” (damn this)
• Proper names
• Numbers
• Repeated words (per round only)
• Words not related to the previous word (obviously)

For every error and no word spoken within three seconds the person has to take a shot. I had a lot of blunders and WTF moments like starting the round and giving an s-word already. As the mechanics wouldn’t be able to fill everyone up, a different shot glass was “rotated”. We also played Categories, where some really interesting categories were brought up. It was a night of absolute frolicking and thankfully none of the other campers told us off.

Come morning over breakfast, everyone was laughing over what happened during the socials, how it suddenly rained, and all those whatnots. Not that I really love drinking, but for me socials usually work better over a few drinks, especially if it’s to cap off a very long day. We had breakfast, gathered our shit things together, and started crossing back to the mainland minutes past ten o’clock, where we were finally able to do some proper rinsing. Before we boarded the boat someone was calling everyone about a forgotten underwear and when I saw it I was, like, “Jesus Christ, that’s my underwear, stop raising it above everyone’s head!”

From left to right (photo courtesy of Sir Jun): Red, Erwin, Faty, Alona, Alfred, Dolly, Basil, Matze, Denisse, Rod, Eike, Norry, me, Bianca, Jeremy, and Dana

We had bulalo for lunch in Tagaytay before finally parting ways at our meet-up place around four in the afternoon. It was my first time participating in such a tour, and it was fulfilling having survived it with mostly strangers in the beginning, in an island where scarcity is of great abundance.

If you intend to visit Fortune Island, here are my two cents (or three?):

• Everyone’s not kidding about the absence of freshwater there. If you’re the type who really needs to take a bath at the end of the day, bring water for that purpose. I survived with just two glasses just to kick the itchiness away.
• Wet tissues can be very great alternatives for the item above.
• Bring booze just because! Alam mo ‘yan!
• I haven’t taken pictures of them, but garbage is all over the place, so don’t be surprised. It would be great if regular cleanups could be done, because I would say that the Greek architectures are the primary reason of tourists in going to the island. If they’re taken away by some typhoon, how will the island compete against way cleaner islands?
• Because of the garbage, pesky flies can be all over the place! So bring candles if you can! Or bombs! Really!
• If you got a snorkeling gear, definitely bring it. I would go back to the island just for its underwater scenery. You will even see something down there that will make you think how it got there.
• If you find it hard to find people to go with and you’re on-the-go to meet new people, you can watch out for another trip organized by #JJTours. Their price is reasonable and the food, cooked right before your eyes, is great.

Lastly, Denisse and Sir Jun also blogged about the trip. CLICK! 🙂

• Finally, Fortune Island!
• Return to Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Batangas

Updated on April 23, 2017: I have disabled commenting for this post as I have replicated it in Itinerant. For further enquiries, you may comment there instead.

The post Frolicking in Fortune Island appeared first on Beer & Skittles.

We took the 11PM JAC Liner trip on a Friday from Buendia heading straight to Dalahican port. If it isn’t available, you can just take one heading to Lucena and from there you can get a ride to the port. Travel time was three hours.

Currently there seems to be only two shipping lines from Lucena to Marinduque: Starhorse and Montenegro. I had no idea of the schedule at all, but thankfully the latter has a 4AM trip. Next one to it is in the morning already! Much time would’ve been wasted.

I must say I missed traveling by sea. I used to do it a lot in college with SuperFerry and Negros Navigation, when traveling by air wasn’t favored for me. Anyway, a jacket would greatly help as it can be freezing by daybreak. And yes, those benches will be your beds.

Travel time to Balanacan port in Marinduque was another three hours. Public transportation is readily available upon arrival. We took a jeepney for an hour ride to Sta. Cruz, which, surprisingly for me, is a first class municipality. We had breakfast at Rico’s Inn where the tricycle driver who spotted us the moment we got off the jeepney didn’t stop bugging us. I had tapsilog and lomi. Perfecto.

We gave in to the nuisance of the driver and allowed him to take us to the grocery and wet market. When everything was already in place, we headed to Buyabod port, which is roughly 15 minutes away. He asked us P200 for all those rides. Fuckin’ son of a bitch. If there’s one thing that I always do when traveling, I always ask the fee for a ride before taking it. I was simply caught off guard this time. :devil:

The weather was totally gloomy and rainy yet the water was calm. In 30 minutes we were already on the island, looking forward to what lies ahead.

Apparently the port in Maniwaya was damaged by a typhoon a few years ago. From there, motorcycles can take you to the resort you’ll be staying in.

Upon arrival, we were immediately welcomed by Mr. Warlito Constantino, the resort owner. Unlike my companions, I was glad there was another group in the resort. They had the room next to ours and also had three tents set up.

And here’s the first taste of the beach. The sand is actually pretty fine, but the amount of stones sort of conceal its quality.

I find the place similar to Anawangin in Zambales, with coconuts around instead of trees. You can see the tents I was talking about earlier. Pitching one costs P300. There are seven huts, which can be rented for P500. There also happens to be a karaoke machine for P1,000.

The kitchen can be used for P35. There’s a stove, cookware, cooking and eating utensils, and water, so if some in your group will be cooking all you have to bring are the ingredients and condiments and probably some drinking water if you want it that way.

The cottages, I think, are all of the same size, and can even probably accommodate up to five people given the size of the foam on the floor. Of course that would also mean that everyone should at least be a little slim. :suspicious:

The “sand” up close.

The rain ditched us like an almost-lover in the afternoon but there was still no sun. The scenery was positively blue.

A glimpse of the sun and all the hues of blue led me to doing one of my allegedly signature poses. :laugh: As envious as he was, my friend in a bottle also posed. Ugh.

The following day the sun outshone its shyness, and we had a game of stone skipping. What can I say? I sucked at it. Should be a good start, though, as I don’t remember any instance of me ever doing it.

We explored the left side of the shore and found a good spot for taking photos. Timer, set, go! We must’ve looked stupid from afar.

This part of the beach also happens to have less seagrasses.

Leaving the island was my primary concern as the only trip going back to Sta. Cruz is at 7AM. However, as you can see from the pictures, we didn’t leave that early. Apparently you have two more options for going back to Manila. The island is a stopover for boats from Marinduque heading to General Luna in Quezon and vice versa. The former stops by at 10AM while the latter is at noontime. We were told there were no passengers heading to General Luna so we got on the second one.

From Sta. Cruz we took an hour-long jeepney ride to Boac, the province’s capital. It was so reminiscent of Vigan with its old structures. We didn’t bother rushing ourselves as there are ferry trips in the evening. We just had lunch, relaxed, and killed time in Kusina sa Plaza. I think the food was a bit pricy. :suspicious:

Their café was a different story, though. The food was heavenly; the Mixed Berries and Kusina’s Special were, for lack of a better word, uhm! 😆

Around 4PM we found ourselves in a port-bound jeepney. Much to my delight, it departed even if there were only three of us. After an hour we were back at the port and as we were way too early we ate lomi at a nearby carinderia. The vessel that we boarded this time had an air-conditioned area, and we managed to secure a row for ourselves. Aside from the movie Wild Card, there was this annoying guy who was ranting on how Filipinos are so disrespectful, slouching and not sharing seats. Really, he was such a pain in the head and was probably just pissed there were four of them in their row. He’s also Filipino, by the way, which makes him disrespectful as well. Yes, just like me. :devil:

Like in Balanacan, transportation heading directly to Metro Manila is readily available in Dalahican. Yes. :cheerful:

If your love for the beach (and summer) is like mine and intend to visit the island or resort, here are a few things which might be helpful:

• The SMART and GLOBE signal strengths are good enough to ease the itchy hands of those who are always on Facebook, Twitter, and especially Instagram. Hashtag, anyone? #antisocial
• We haven’t been there ’cause it would’ve cost only the three of us a fortune, but there’s a sandbar you can go to (a reason for me to go back, actually).
• The sea floor (yes, the term) in front of the resort has a considerable amount of seagrass so if you find your feet uncomfortable you can simply move to the left side (when facing the horizon).
• If you want a little taste of luxury or most of your companions prefer it, there’s Marikit-Na Beach Resort for that. I didn’t catch a glimpse of it, but based on what I’ve read, it seems perfect for a big group.
• Sir Warlito of Wawie’s Beach is way beyond accommodating. The kitchen was spacious enough for three, but when he saw us eating lunch like we were rubbing elbows, he insisted that we use a hut for free! Of course we didn’t take a bite. If you have any concern, just tell him. Rice, booze, fresh fish… Name it.

Finally, let’s talk about money, money, and money. The list below is exclusive of food, and you and I both know why.

• 219.50 – Bus ride from Manila to Dalahican port (Lucena)
• 260 – Ferry ride from Dalahican to Balanacan port (Marinduque)
• 30 – Terminal fee
• 80 – Balanacan to Sta. Cruz
• ~67 – Tricycle ride to Buyabod port (this should only be 20)
• 70 – Boat ride from Buyabod to Maniwaya port
• 20 – Motorcycle ride to Wawie’s Beach
• 400 – Accommodation
• 50 – Entrance fee
• 35 – Use of kitchen
• 70 – Boat ride from Maniwaya to Buyabod
• 20 – Tricycle ride from Buyabod to Sta. Cruz
• 49 – Jeepney ride from Sta. Cruz to Boac
• 50 – Jeepney ride from Boac to Balanacan
• 208 – Montenegro ferry ride from Balanacan to Dalahican (promo)
• 16 – Terminal fee
• 219.50 – Bus ride from Dalahican to Manila

Updated on April 23, 2017: I have disabled commenting for this post as I have replicated it in Itinerant. For further enquiries, you may comment there instead.

The post Maniwaya Island, Marinduque appeared first on Beer & Skittles.

Guimaras Island is a just a 15-minute ride from Iloilo. Fare from Ortiz to Jordan is only 14 pesos. Yes, you heard it right.

From the port is about an hour of land travel to Guisi, where the resort is located. The engine overheated so we managed to take this shot while the driver was fetching water. We had the ride exclusively to ourselves, by the way.

Kenyama is built on the side of a mountain. Welcoming you is a terrace overlooking the beach. It’s a wonderful sight.

And here’s what I’m talkin’ about. Don’t you think those blues are simply lovable? :cheerful:

The reception area is where the dining tables are. It also has a pool table, which we, despite one of our girls being a bilyaran tambay, didn’t exploit.

Our room (which has an inner room) originally costs 3,500 pesos with a capacity of 9 persons. Since there were 12 of us, an additional 300 pesos was rendered, plus 360 for corkage. The room works best for a big group; not air-conditioned but has its own bathroom.

Just outside the room is this. I will speak no more.

Your friendly neighborhood Spidey also happens to be around. Naturally, he goes berserk all of a sudden from time to time. I was once attacked by a monkey and all I can say is that they’re really strong. Born to be wild, that is!

That instant, I decided to buy the entire island. I just couldn’t let the opportunity slip away. Hi’m the king of Foursquare the world! 😆

Going down to the beach, I noticed that most of the guests around were Japanese. That’s when I realized and knew that the owner is Japanese. The name of the resort itself is one. “Kenyama” could translate as “Ken Mountain.” From that point, my tongue was itching to talk to at least one of them in Nihongo. Too bad, I really didn’t have the chance.

To the left of the horizon is this contour. Braving it was just the perfect thing to do before officially hitting the waters.

That white building is the resort. I’m not sure if during this time the tide’s going high or low. The experience was already too overwhelming that such detail didn’t seem to matter anymore.

One more stretch! Oops!

When we reached the point of no return, I mean, the point where we can no longer go beyond, we just rested and made the most of the picture-taking. Here’s a classic no-smile family picture. Wait, I think one is smiling. Traitor! :no: Doing a jump shot here would be nice, but dangerously challenging. Directly above this spot are lighthouses we failed to visit.

They say the sand is not as white as other beaches like Boracay. I couldn’t tell the difference at all. Let’s just say that as long as it’s not grey, then it’s already white. For me. :suspicious:

Finally, it was time to splash some seawater. To the right of the horizon are rocks which are good for diving. However, as much as I would love to dive, I don’t know how to do the stunt. (None of us does, actually.) Presenting the seven brave souls!

Before calling it a day, we had these lovely shots in front of the setting sun. Thinking about it now, it would’ve been cooler if we were jumping into the water. But for every unappealing shot, a retake would require tremendous effort.

Dinner was catered by the local store nearest the resort because we didn’t have the budget for the food available inside. :faint: Since it was already a bit late and our stomachs were already grumbling wildly, we were left with corned beef, sardines, eggs, and fish alone. When the food arrived, it just showed how fine of a dining it was. Two and a half kilograms of rice was nothing! :laugh: Over drinks, I became the laughing stock (even in Twitter!) when I posted about the local name of the fish as “tabaghak” instead of “tabagak.” The resort has Wi-Fi. :devil:

After breakfast we immediately had our arses on board for the island hopping. Unfortunately, the guides claimed that the waves weren’t friendly so we can’t go and visit some caves. We only stopped on two islands that it turned out more like an island sightseeing instead. The views were wonderful, nonetheless.

During our first stop we witnessed extravagant sequels of infamous action-packed movies. Feel free to think of the title that first comes to mind. 😎

Splurging ourselves in the crystal waters of the island. Those different shades of blue look very enticing if you ask me.

Since we no longer had a particular destination after a U-turn, we asked for a stopover in the middle of the ocean. There were life vests, but those who were incapable of kicking the water from below still didn’t take a dip. When I tried to reach the bottom I felt my ear exploding. 😯 My classmate succeeded.

We went for a few more rounds of cliff jumping under the bright sun. The clear sky made the view even more admirable. I reached this spot by swimming all the way behind a bigger rock on the left. Man, was that tiring (and risky). My feet must’ve been very tired from treading that I found it hard to stand on the rock beneath the visible one above; sustained my fourth and biggest cut, on the left foot this time.

To the right is a way higher rock with stairs leading to its top. It can’t be reached by foot so one really has to swim to it. Only three of us dared to jump off it. Of course, one surveyed the depth of the water below it first, else we could’ve ended up committing suicide. “Cowabunga!”

It’s quite strange how there were no lookouts for people like us who would do such feat. Perhaps ’cause the resort’s still new? It’s both bad and good, and people should just be responsible enough for their own actions. If you’re curious about our itinenarny (yes, I like it that way), well, it was just a few pesos over 800 per head. Feel free to ask if the Excel sheet’s puzzling. 🙂 Credits to Glo, Lairy, Marianne, and Peace for the pictures!

Prior to our trip the weather was all gloomy. I couldn’t be more thankful that it eventually turned out sunny. This post proves how much I had fun. I have never blogged about traveling before. Travel while young! (I know, the line’s overused.)

Website: Kenyama Beach Resort

Updated on April 23, 2017: I have disabled commenting for this post as I have replicated it in Itinerant. For further enquiries, you may comment there instead.

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