Europe’s Schengen visa expanded to 9 other countries

Europe’s Schengen visa expanded to 9 other countries

MANILA, Philippines -- Starting December 21, the coverage of Europe’s Schengen visa will expand to nine more countries -- the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- increasing the number of Schengen states to 24, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.

Ahhhhhh!!! And just when my trip to Poland was over! Prague! Budapest! Malta! Vilnius! the Baltics! (and not to mention France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries) :((

When (and how) can I go back???


on a side note: The Amazing Race 12's episode in Croatia made me really want to go to Dubrovnik. Now I only have to think of the easiest way to swindle money from rich people to have enough money for a plane ticket.

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Now playing: Muse - Stockholm Syndrome
via FoxyTunes

And you were the places that I wanted to go

I've been away from home for 8 weeks now, so I figure right about now would be the perfect time for me to wax poetic about how much I miss home, how homesick I am etc etc... But I can't, because I'm not. I've just been having such a great time here enjoying every second of this experience that I have no time to be homesick. Of course, there are some things in the Philippines that I'm dying to see again. But I figure, I'll only be here for 3 months... Why waste those three months on thinking about how much I miss what I'll be going back to for the rest of my life? You know what I mean?

Anyway having said that, I do miss my family and friends. That's a given. Even though I've met a lot of friendly people here in Poland, those people back home can't be replaced. (Naks!)

And I do miss Filipino food. Luckily, we met the Filipino Community here in Poland (yes, all 9 of them) who invited us to a gathering last All Saints' Day holiday, and where there's a Filipino community, there's sure to be Filipino food :D There was adobo, lechon manok, lumpia, Pinoy-style spaghetti, and my favorite, caldereta! So that really helped ease out the "I miss Filipino food" part (and anyway, if you see me now, you probably won't believe I'm missing any kind of food whatsoever, haha. I think I've gained more than 10 pounds since I got here. waaaah...)

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Right now, it's 0 degrees outside. And tomorrow (at least according to Yahoo weather), it will be snowing in Warsaw! That's gonna be a first for me (experiencing snow, I mean) and as much as that may seem exciting, I really really really was hoping it won't snow until we leave. Because snow would only mean it's gotten colder. And it's already too coooold for my tropical ass!

I saw some pictures of my Boracay trip from last year and from earlier this year, and it really really made me wish for the sun and the heat and the general tropical weather of the Philippines. The sun barely shines here, and if it does shine, it doesn't even sting the skin like it does in Manila at 12 in the afternoon. I wouldn't have thought I'd miss that, but there you go.

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Last weekend, we made our way to the town of Malbork and the city of Gdansk way up north by the Baltic coast. We went to Malbork to visit its castle, which is the largest Gothic castle in Europe, and the largest brick castle in the world. It was the seat of the Teutonic Order in the medieval times, and walking through its grounds and halls, you could really feel the grandness of it all. Gdansk is a port city on the Baltic Sea and has one of the most beautiful city squares in Poland, in my opinion. I'll post pictures and talk more about them on my next entry :D

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On a side note: The latest season of The Amazing Race is now on! WOOOOOHOOOOO!

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Now playing: Sigur Rós - Hoppipolla
via FoxyTunes

Non-Hong Kong-bound and 3,000 pesos poorer

I'm supposed to be two hours into my Hong Kong trip right now. But as luck would have it, I'm in my living room, flipping through channels finding out that there's nothing good to watch on the tv tonight.

Oh, and I also have my laptop right in front of me; I'm working. Most probably well into the night.

My scheduled four-day trip for HK didn't push through, wait, check that... The HK trip did push through... but without me. I couldn't make the trip because I don't have my passport with me yet. As I'm typing this, my passport is currently enjoying itself in Thailand (I wonder if it's been to the red light district yet.)

The good news is, the typhoon that recently sideswiped Manila is headed for Hong Kong, so not making the trip means I don't have to walk all over Causeway and Central while being drenched by the downpour.



I better get that Schengen Visa.



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Now playing: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
via FoxyTunes

oooh, and I missed it.

Two things that I regretfully missed last week:

Rockestra 2 (sniff) and the close view of Mt. Mayon's perfect cone spewing smoke and lava.

I couldn't find anyone to come with me and watch Rockestra, and I didn't really want to watch by myself (even though I knew some friends were also gonna watch, it still wasn't the same company, you know... being the third wheel kinda gets awkward in some cases. Hehe) So I just did what any centavo-pinching guy would do. I watched them through youtube :))

Which brings me to one point I've been wondering about in and out for a couple of months now... If the past tense of catch is caught, then why isn't the past tense of watch, waught? It's a catchy word, donchathink?

Hey, I waught Rockstar Supernova last week. Boy, for being a supposed "Rock Legend Super Group", their original song sure did suck! ... The last movie I waught was Pirates of the Carribean. How bout you, what was the last movie you waught? ...

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My parents went to Bicol last Saturday to check out how Mayon Volcano is doing. See, may parents are volcanologist/geologist/construction magnates here in Manila and they're trying to see if they could use the solidified lava to build a new mall in the middle of the Manila Bay that would rival that other big mall near the bay (the Uniwide Mall in Coastal Road, if you really have to ask.) Of course they couldn't get close enough to the volcano because some jerk decided that there "has to be" a six km off-limits danger zone around the volcano. Must be working for the Sy's, those people...

But you know what else sucks? The batt of the cam that they brought ran out on them. So no lava samples, and no pics as well. Damn...