I'm excited, we're going to London tomorrow!

We're not going for a holiday but for us to renew our Philippine Passport. I was so stressed the past months about how I'm going to renew our passport as it's going to expire in June this year. There's no appointment slot available in London. There's no renewal centre here in Belfast.

The thing is we have our plans of going to Thailand for Songkran (New Year) in April and from there I'm going home to the Philippines to renew our passport. It's me and Jigz. But that's not possible as I have to have at least 6 months validity in my passport. So I have to renew it here.

It's just that the flights, the train and the passport renewal cost a fortune if I'm going to London but I have no choice. I think the train will be dearer than our flights. Then The Philippine Embassy in London announced that they are having an outreach program here in Belfast and so I'm so happy. Answered prayer! But they opened the portal for booking a slot the day I was at work and when I check it that afternoon it's already fully booked. I emailed them to if they can accommodate walk-in applicants. No reply.

I checked again the Philippines Embassy in London website and was luckily able to book a slot for me and Jigz. And I'm so happy. I booked a flight right away. After booking a flight then I received an email from them that there will be a Passport Renewal Centre that is going to open in Belfast very soon. I feel devastated as I already booked our flights to London that day.

I used to be concerned if we're going to receive our passports for our Thailand trip in time because others said it took 3 months to receive theirs. I'm less worried now because we are not going anywhere if we have to do quarantine. That's a waste of time and money. We just going to stay at home. And that's the case in Thailand and most of the country anyway.

So what matters now is for me to be able to renew our passports and be able to go anywhere whenever we can. Whenever travelling is favourable. It's not gonna be whenever it's safe because we accept the fact that it's not gonna be safe with this virus still around.

I missed my family and hopefully, I can see them this year. I haven't seen my new super cute niece. And my handsome nephews are growing up too fast now. I missed them all so much!

Were flying to London Gatwick Airport and my appointment is at 2 pm. And we have some time to spare to visit famous landmarks like Trafalgar Square, Paddington Station, Tower Bridge, Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and many more before we leave.

Oh, I'm excited! Most especially to eat in Jollibee, a Filipino fast-food chain. Finally, after 3 years, I can have Jolly Spaghetti and burger steak! I have something to share with you hopefully when I come back. 😊

Thank you for reading.