The other week, I flew back to my provincial childhood home to spend some quality time with my family. I bought my tickets on Thursday, flew the next day, and stayed for a week. This time, I went by myself and had no particular plans other than to simply be with my family. It was…
Category: OFW
Twenty-Five Years in Japan: Then and Now
Twenty-five years ago today, I had just graduated from university and found myself boarding a plane for the first time in my life. I was with other trainees, and we were flying from Manila to Nagoya in central Japan, where we would begin our training as software engineers. I didn’t know it at the time,…
Joanna of Vienna
We Filipinos are very good in recognizing other Filipinos wherever we are in the world. We know it immediately even without saying or hearing a word. We can tell by the way we smile, or the way we make eye contact. We just know. And once we make a positive identification, a simple “kumusta po?”…
Philippine Elections 2016 on Google Trends
I did a quick search on Google Trends with regard to our five presidential candidates and the result I got is interesting, but not at all surprising. If the Philippine Elections were a contest on who generates the most online buzz, i.e. “trending”, there seems to be one clear winner — Rodrigo Duterte. It’s not even close. Of…
Filipinos Applying For Schengen Visa from Japan
My wife and I just received our Schengen Visas today, and to help other Filipinos who would also like to visit the Schengen Area, let me share our experience getting it. We were planning to visit Austria and Germany in May so we figured two months before our planned trip would be a good time…
Watching Pacquiao vs Bradley Match In Japan
On April 10th 11 AM Japan time (10 AM Philippine time). Pacquiao will fight his final match as a professional boxer. His opponent would be a familiar face, Timothy Bradley, with whom he has a 1 win 1 loss record. The question in the mind of most Filipinos in Tokyo would be where to watch…
Visit From A Policeman
The other morning while I was home alone, I heard the apartment doorbell ringing and when I checked the security camera, I saw a policeman waiting outside the building. Normally, I do not answer the doorbell if I’m not expecting a visitor or a delivery, but seeing he was a policeman, I answered and let…
Cannot Connect to bmonline.ph
Last time I went to the Philippine embassy to get my OEC, I was given this sheet containing a link to “www.bmonline.ph“. The lady advised me to start using this website as the embassy will soon stop processing manual applications and everything will be done online. Problem is, it seems I cannot connect to the…
Yellow Tokyo
The other day, I took a day off from work to run some errands, getting my OEC from the Philippine embassy, and renewing my Japanese International Driver’s License, both in preparation for my visit to the Philippines. The weather was amazing with clear blue skies, so I decided to bring my trusty camera with me…
OEC, Privacy and MTEC
Today, I went to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo to get the OEC for my wife and myself. This process is straightforward, and is much much preferred than getting my OEC while in the Philippines, as any OFW can confirm. Getting the OEC I arrived there at 9:50 AM, signed my name and phone number at…
When foreigners associate Filipinos with domestic helpers
When foreigners associate Filipinos with domestic helpers, the immediate reaction of many Filipinos, is to feel insulted. This is something I’ve given some thought, and I am sharing my thoughts on this. I believe there is no reason to feel insulted, because feeling insulted, is in itself, an insult to the many Filipino domestic helpers….
Knowing Your Market
Like most of Tokyo’s workforce, Rico takes the train to work. He gets on the 7:00 train. He sees there are no seats available. He decided to stand in front of the person he thought would be getting off next. In front of him, there was this poster containing this sentence that inspired him for…
Enrico in Tokyo 