So… here we go again…?

Okay okay. I know I promised I’d be updating a lot more buuuuut life got in the way. Herp. :v

Anyway as the accompanying image might suggest… I WENT AND DID IT AGAIN. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. >___<;;;

I swear people need to stop leaving me alone in the middle of the night with a credit card.

Basically ONCE AGAIN, I’ve painted myself into a corner by booking flight tickets to Tokyo without first securing a visa. I also haven’t filed my work leaves yet ahahahaha HELP.

And yes, after booking the flight, I AGAIN immediately booked an AirBnB because MIGHT AS WELL, I GUESS???

So yes, I’ll be updating the counter on this site, as I spend another number of months freaking out and panicking as I try go through the visa application process again.

Wish me luck. T__T;;

How to Get a Tourist Visa for Japan (if you’re from the Philippines and have NO ITR!)

Okay, first of all, I am still OVER THE MOON about the fact that this trip is finally happening. We haven’t quite ironed out the exact details involving train passes and transpo, and show tickets, etc, but we figured we can probably wing some of those.

As far as we’re concerned, the hardest part is over. I finally got my Japanese visa! YAY! ❤ This is a big thing for me because I had all of these working AGAINST me:

• I have a weak-ass Filipino passport and it is normally notoriously hard to get into Japan for us Filipinos.
• I have no Income Tax Return (ITR).
• I am a freelancer /  telecommuter / work from home / “no real job” lol.
• I am NOT well-traveled prior to applying for a visa. My passport was EMPTY.
• I am not a millionaire. I am as middle class as they come.

I have so many other thoughts about this, but I’ll save that for another post. This blog post will simply be me telling you exactly what I did when I applied for my visa.

IF YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE SAME STEPS, PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS ONLY A GUIDELINE. I DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL ALSO WORK FOR YOU AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. PLEASE CONSULT WITH A TRAVEL AGENCY FOR PROPER VISA ADVICE AND FOR AN UPDATED LIST OF VISA REQUIREMENTS.

With that out of the way, here’s what I did. (Long read ahead!!)

IT’S HAPPENING, GUYS. D:

OMFG I AM STILL IN THIS DELIGHTED, SHOCKED STATE.

Somehow, after three/four months of anxiety, I got my Tourist Japanese Visa today. And with 36 days to spare!

THANK YOU, UNIVERSE!!!! ❤

There’s just overwhelming relief right now, and I’m still trying to breathe.

Will write a full entry on the process I went through to get my visa, so watch out for that soon!

JAPAN, HERE WE COME! ❤

T minus 3 months to go to get my Japanese visa…

Holy fuck, I just realized that the counter here on my blog has ticked down. I’m freaking out again.

So my friend James has referred me to a travel agency he always goes to whenever he needs to get a visa anywhere. According to the agency’s site, I need to submit the following requirements:

Third World Passport Woes and Anime Dreams

Our upcoming trip to Japan is still a good four months away *points to countdown timer in the sidebar* but if you’re an ordinary Philippine citizen, you’re never really sure if that’s enough time.

Well I’m an ordinary Philippine citizen, and the fear that four months still won’t be enough to get a Japanese visa is too real.

I was talking with my friend James today. He and his boyfriend will apparently also be in Tokyo during our first week there, so we discussed plans on meeting up so that they could at least show us around and guide us on how things work over there.

He also reminded me that I need to get my documents in order, and this is where I realize that I may be a teeny bit overwhelmed right now.

We’re going to Ita–… We’re going to Japan!

Okay, so… we were originally supposed to go to Italy later this year to visit my husband’s parents. I mean, we haven’t seen them face to face since our wedding, and that was two years ago, and we miss them.

I was already pulling up checklists and getting ready to face the mountain of paperwork and flaming hoops I’d have to go through in order to get a Schengen visa, but it looks like we’re changing plans lol.