I CHECKED-IN AT SOUTHERN CROSS HOTEL LAST NIGHT AT 7PM AND HAD MY DINNER AT ROBINSON'S CHOWKING. I SAID MY WEDNESDAY NOVENA INSIDE MY ROOM COZ ERMITA SHRINE IS FULL OF CHURCHGOERS EVEN AT THE CHURCHYARD. I SET MY ALARM AT 3:30 BUT I WAS AHEAD AT 2:30 .SINCE THEN I COULDN'T GET BACK TO SLEEP ANYMORE UNTIL I DECIDED TO TAKE A BATH AND GOT READY FOR THE INTERVIEW.
YES DURING THE PRELIMINARY ROUTINES ( lining up for ticket, etc..) I NEVER KNEW WHAT'S REALLY IN STORE FOR ME ( btw i was with mayeth and marissa fellow vjers ) NOT UNTIL MARISSA WAS CALLED FIRST ( she was 7059, mine is 7058 and mayeth 7057 ) TO WINDOW 24 FOR PRE-SCREENING, AND THERE WE LEARNED HOW THE PROCESS WILL GO ON.
1. it really pays off to follow some tips posted in here: i felt bad that right at the entrance, the first violator of bringing electronic gadget was the accompanying fiance who brought with him a camera, i-pod, cellphone ( only to find out later that his fiancee is incomplete of forms and doesn't have visa pics at hand ), and some of the ladies behind us were still accomplishing some of their forms had not the guard announced to get ready for ds forms to get a queueng ticket at the booth.
2. 9:30> i was the last one to be called from among the three of us ( calling of ticket numbers is randomized and does not strictly follow the order of the queueng ticket ) WINDOW 22: the lady pre-screener was so nice - she first asked for my original love letters ( HUH
3. while submitting all the documents she asked me, she started asking my complete name, age, my work: fiancee's name, age, what is she doing in the US and does she still lives with her mom? and what interested her most was how Michelle and I met, since when do I know her, how we communicated for such a long time, etc etc etc.. SHE WAS IN AWE AFTER LISTENING TO MY REVELATIONS!!!
4. after that friendly pre-screening she told to go back to my seat and wait for my name to be flashed again so she could get my fingerprints and not to line up at window 33, i did it after 5 minutes....
5. In about 10 minutes, my number is flashed again and oh my God!! window 30
6. I waited for about a minute and was able to say APOSTLE'S CREED exactly when the applicant went out of the cubicle. As I was entering the cubicle, the kind consul greeted me and welcomed me to the US embassy and told me to sit down and relax.. after a while he told me to raise my right hand and I swore for the truthfulness of anything i would say and declare to him. I don't know if it's just a coincidence coz he had the same set of questions and again got really interested with how Michelle and I started our relationship as that with the lady in WINDOW 22. And i easily responded to all his questions. He did npot even bother to ask me additional documents that I had although I was showing all to him what I have. he was too busy working on his computer while talking to me and whispering to himself that he got all the info he needed. Then to finalize his interview with me, he verified my finger print using my left thumb ... and that's it!!! 3 minutes is done!!!
7. I was waiting for him to say something if I am approved or not and as he rose up to his seat, he just said "Congrats and we'll see you at the next window !!! and walked away from his seat...... tsk tsk tsk.. i had no opportunity to present my request letter to pick up.... twa's already 10:25 a.m.
8. I went to back to my seat and Marissa was already there, after 3 minutes Mayeth followed. We waited again for our names to be called... i don't know but the two ladies were the first one to be called at window 38. they got their claim stub and all the documents submitted earlier. After 3 more minutes my name was called and I tried to present my request letter there to the Filipino rep but she turned me down and asked her if I could still go back to the consul but she said I can't. And so I settled for DELROS DELIVERY...
9. God, please help me once again to have my visa and passport before my flight on the 15th!!! AMEN.
10. The three of us treated ourselves with a lunch at Chowking - with my ultimate LOMI!!! SARAP!!!
That's my experience for the day and after the lunch upon chacking-out at the hotel i called on Michelle to tell the good news as I was signing to YM on the internet shop beside the hotel.
