R

I’ve been meaning to do this since last year. But several things got in the way.

There was a time when I had a debit card but not a credit card. While PayPal said a debit card is acceptable, I could not get it to work.

Then, there were country issues. Apparently, “Due to security reasons, PayPal only allows one country address per PayPal account. When moving from country to country, you must close your existing account and open a new account in the country where you are residing.” So I had to close the Finnish account I started to use to setup a Philippine one.

Now that I have a proper credit card, I have to verify my card. But, I could not access the credit card bill because I don’t have my cash advance PIN from the bank yet, which I need to use to do online banking. But hopefully, I get all these done by this week.

My passport will be expiring March 2010 but countries could be silly. Most, if not all, want your passport be valid not only for the duration of your visit, but also for three to six months after your entry or return from their country.

So, a passport renewal is due. The good thing is that, in the Philippines, there is now a service that makes this process relatively hassle-free: Pilipinas Teleserv.

Sure, you pay a bit more than you would if you do it directly with the Department of Foreign Affairs but it’d save you the time and effort it takes to queue.

Once you go to their site, you just need to follow links that would take you to the online form you need to fill up. There, you could also indicate the dates convenient for you for the requirements and payment pickup, the personal appearance at DFA and the delivery of your new passport. Then, you just need to prepare the requirements for passport renewal.

• my old passport
• photocopies of pages 1, 2 ,3 (amendment) inside and back cover
• the pages showing latest Bureau of Immigration departure and arrival stamps
• three colored photos following the specifications
• the processing payment

The guy from the courier service came this morning to pickup my requirements and get my signature. I’m scheduled for my personal appearance on Wednesday. Then, I need to wait ten working days before my new passport is delivered to my doorstep.

I realize that some countries have a simpler and faster process but well, when you live in the Philippines where things could get terribly bureaucratic, services such as this could be a blessing.

Things did go as planned.

I got my student permit, which was quick and painless, thank God. Then, there was the 2-hour orientation where the lecturer was so agitated. He screamed, “Clutch! Half-breaking! Half-breaking! Half-breaking! Half-breaking!” and hit the whiteboard when he got really excited. It wasn’t offensive at all, just hilarious.

And I had my first two hours of actual driving. The instructor was unfriendly, he didn’t even bother introducing himself. He sounded really bored, like he’s so sick and tired of teaching total newbies. But hey, he signed up for this job so it’s his problem.

All things considered, I think my first experience in driving wasn’t that bad. Learned how to start, shift from gear 1 to 2, turn left and right, make a U-turn, do a reverse maneuver and drive to a parking space inside a mall parking lot.

I still need a lot of improvement and confidence, and the proper coordination is something I’d definitely need to get used to but I have some 18 more hours with the instructor before I got out to the open road alone. Hope that’s enough.