Schengen Visa and Travel Information

I just need to keep this on my blog for future use. As I have mentioned previously on my blog, when my colleagues and your truly met up and dine at Wild Ginger, they both gave a lot of information that got me inspired to expand my horizon and pursue my dream of traveling a lot of countries in the future! Of course, this will not happen overtime but at least having to set your goal make you want to look forward to the future.

I already heard of Schengen visa but didn't really look deeper into it, even mistakenly pronounce the term everytime I say it, but now that I was able to read more about it, I understand what it really meant.

The Schengen Visa has made traveling between its 15 European member countries much easier and less bureaucratic. Traveling on a Schengen Visa means that the visa holder can travel to any (or all) member countries using one single visa, thus avoiding the hassle and expense of obtaining individual visas for each country. This is particularly beneficial for persons who wish to visit several European countries on the same trip. The Schengen visa is a “visitor visa”. It is issued to citizens of countries who are required to obtain a visa before entering Europe.

The purpose of the visit must be leisure, tourism, or business. Upon the issuance of the visa, the visa holder is allowed to enter all member countries and travel freely throughout the Schengen area. It is strongly recommended to plan your journey within the timeframe of the Schengen Visa as extensions can be very difficult to obtain, thus forcing you to leave to stay in compliance with the Schengen rules and regulations. A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel freely within the Schengen countries for a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a 6 month period.  

• Austria
• Germany
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Iceland
• Italy
• Luxemburg
• Norway
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• The Netherlands

According to my read, all Schengen countries are in Europe. However, it should not be confused with the EU (European Union). Schengen and European Union are two different agreements between European countries. A total of 30 countries, including all European Union countries (except Ireland and United Kingdom) and three non-EU members (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland) have signed the Schengen agreement. However, only 15 countries have implemented the common border control and visa provisions.

Important: The Schengen Visa holders are not allowed to live permanently or work in Europe. - Source

Aside from this information, I also learned that you should not to go to Jeruzalem, if you still plan to return to United Arab Emirates, Dubai in particular, where I am currently residing and working. Sad that I learned about this because I want to treat my mom to a Jeruzalem travel, so we need to avoid this country for the meantime.

And I was informed that Brazil and Morocco doesn't require Visa to visit the place. Do you think Sao Paolo is a good place to visit in the future?

And to top it all, I am now a member of Skywards! Its a start. Hahaha!

Dream to travel. Let's!

Wild Ginger: The Wild Side of Asia

Former colleagues and your truly had a chance to get together and reminisce our happy past work with Sari-Sari. Yes, Sari-Sari the boutique? All of the stores are gone now but once a upon a time, it was one of the famous clothes shop in Manila and some provinces, they even ventured in the US. It was indeed a memorable experience. Anyway, its good to meet up and shared each other's life after each one of us went our separate ways from the company.

We decided to see each other in City Centre Deira and try Wild Ginger, a pan Asian experience. The restaurant is located inside Iconic store.

I love there placemats and tables made of wood.

They also have this long dining table. I remembered seeing the same ones in Wagamama.

The servers were very accommodating, we asked their recommendation on the foods since it was our first time to dine here.

For our drinks, Siegh got to taste there Lemon Mojito (Dhs 16). It has a mild taste of tea.

Sir Jerome tasted Pinacolada (Dhs 16), its fresh pineapple juice with coconut milk. Its a thirst quenching drink

and your truly chose Lemon and Mint (Dhs 15). Its a mix of lemon juice and mint. Hahaha, so much mint in it but its good.

Can you call sushi rolls as starters? I requested these from Sir Jerome, as he will be the one paying for our dinner. Hehehe!

California maki (Dhs 23). Nori wrapped Japanese rice with avocado shrimp and crabstick topped with sesame seeds or tobiko.

and Viking Maki (Dhs 25). Nori wrapped Japanese rice with crabstick, sweet egg, and topped with fresh Salmon.

For our main course. Siegh and your truly ordered from the sizzling stir fry. All their sizzlers come with a choice of sauce and served with steamed rice (Oyster, Schezwan, Black beans, Garlic, and sweet and Sour)

This is Beef Oyster (Dhs 36). I love the tender beef and the oyster sauce. But it was not what I chose.

This is Sea Food Schezwan. (Dhs 38). Its kindda spicy so I may have to go for beef Oyster as I am not so fond of spicy food, nevertheless, its still good.

This is Sir Jerome's Nasi Goreng (Dhs 32). I super love the rice, so yummy! Chicken and barbeque are also tasty. You should try this, highly recommended but be sure to eat it while it is still hot.

Did you know that wild ginger is giving away coupons on your next visit to them. A whooping 25% discount on a minimum spend of Dhs 40! I may come back and dine in here again.

Thanks Sir Jerome for sponsoring our dinner. Nice seeing you both. Our conversation was fun, informative and definitely worth repeating in the future! Very inspiring.

The Cakes and other tribute to the Royal Wedding

I have to take time out for my own blog and make way for the Wedding of the Year.  I may not be close to see the actual event but reading her posts makes me feel a part of it already. For those of you who is not familiar with her, she is behind the famous The Bag Hag Diaries blog who I have been following eversince I started with my own one. She has a lot to share about bags and more. I really love her site and for those of you who are bag lover herself, you may find her site interesting. And since many of us are going Gaga over the Royal Wedding, I want to share with you her site to have a glimpse of the Royal Wedding where she is experiencing the event in flesh.  This post really caught my eyes and can't help but spread the word to all of you. The Cakes and other tribute to the Royal Wedding...Read more from the The Bag Hag Diaries.

Coco's Restaurant

So little time so much to do! I got inspired and really aspire to travel. Did you know the first I have to travel our of the country is to work in Dubai already? Did not even hear the place until the time that I was informed that I will be working in Dubai. I did not know a single soul from UAE. First passport, first ride in the airplane, first time to be far from my family, friends and Far-ouT. It was hard to survive, but I did not have a choice then even if I cry myself to sleep. I was here already, no turning back. Well, now I am ok. At least being alone made me stronger.

I've been thinking of travelling...like a lot lately. The plan was to travel one country every year. This year, Far-ouT, Mame, Bella and yours truly scheduled to visit London in September! Yey! Hep! I dont want to go into details but I want to keep my fingers crossed and hope that it will happen as planned.

Also, Bella will be reunited with Nanay and Tatay soon...again, I don't want to go into details. Please stop me!!!

Ok, just to ignore the tingling excitement in my bones, I will share with you our latets foodie trip.

Have you been to Coco's Restaurant? Im sure a lot of you already have as you can find the place anywhere. I have too, more than twice actually but hadn't had the chance to talk about them. Good thing that Far-ouT and Yours truly decided to dine in again at Coco's. In my opinion, you will never go wrong with their menus. I consider it as one of the safest place for me to eat on several occasions.

I was amused with the coconut tree planted in the middle of the place. I wonder if its real or not. It doesn't really matter, the ambiance has this nice summer touch, with minimal lighting that added to its overall laid back appeal. Its a good combination, right? I feel at home.

Most of the servers are Filipinos, as we are known for being hospitable, friendly, warmth, not to mention, being conscious with our personal hygiene.

The complimentary bread were served hot and fresh.

For our soup, we ordered Cream of Broccoli soup in a bread bowl. (Dhs 27).

The soup was rich, creamy and served piping hot, in a sourdough bread bowl.

We had Chicken and Peach salad (Dhs 49). These are shredded boneless honey roasted chicken tossed with crispy bacon, sliced peaches, crumbled blue cheese, crunchy croutons, diced tomatoes, honey glazed walnuts on a bed of crisp greens.

Our salad was served Italian dressing. You may also opt for honey-dressing on the side.

Far-ouT and yours truly both ordered Lemon Mint (Dhs 15)

Love the tasted of mint on lemon.

My hunger was appeased already with the starters, so instead of ordering more, we decided to share our main course. Grilled Shrimp Peri-Peri (Dhs 76). Marinated shrimps grilled perfectly and tossed with peri-peri sauce, served with rice and vegetables.

There you go, Coco's is safe place to dine and definitely, worth it.

Glagla shoes: Reprinted by Daphne Osena

The coolest shoes on earth? I want! I want! Read more from Daphne Osena's blog.
 

Aldo Accessories: Oh my Starfish!

Everytime Far-ouT and yours truly went to the mall. I always check the latest accessories from Aldo. Although, I couldn't really decide what to buy, I just kept on checking from time to time.  Usually, I went home still empty handed, but not this time as I saw the cutest ring and can't help but rave about it.

I just wished t'was silver but its not, unfortunately. So I asked the lady how to take care of it since it has a tendency to discolor, she admitted that too, she said to avoid getting it wet with water and perfume. I also hope the cute shining shimering stones will not leave its places otherwise, it will just be a piece of junk as every stone counts. It wasn't cheap at all for a price of Dhs 70, that's almost Php 700-800. Let's see if Aldo accessories are good when it comes to these thingies.

Pinoy Grill

I'll be quick with my post. Its not something that requires my full attention. Fa-ouT and yours truly enjoyed watching Catch me I'm in love. Gerard was just WOW! and Sarah played her part naturally. The story was a typical one, but the loveteam was good that makes the movie more appealing.

Anyway, while the movie was great the food that we had was not.

This is their Bulalo steak (Dhs 33). It was good tasting but the parts that were given to us was not ideal.

Molo soup (Dhs 9.00) was bland.

Paella (Dhs 29.00) was nothing but disappointment.

Typical Pinoy interior was ok though.

Sorry, but this place needs a major improvement.

Located near Al Ghurair Mall.

The Blogs that I Follow

Rest assured that I am still following my favorite blogs. You may not see yourself on my blog but I actually just move you to my dashboard to free some space on my page. I just felt that its too crowded already. I, as a blog reader myself doesn't want to be confuse with alot of clickable items on the page that I am reading. So I minimize what on it. Simplicity.

I am still in the process of thinking how to improve my blog and my grammar. I must admit, I am not that good in the English language, and sometimes there are correction that I overlooked but I try to improve them though Its just the way it is. As what the old saying goes, its the thought that counts.

I am still not up to making another food blog right now, but I'll make a new one at the soonest.

Good night for now.

Cuts for Tots for Bella's first hair cut

We planned for the longest time on when to schedule Bella's first hair cut. It was postponed several times for the reason that we just don't want her hair cut as yet. Since Bella will be travelling to Dubai soon, we don't want her to be stuck with long locks so today, 17th April marks bella's first hair cut. Before I left for Dubai, I already told my mom where to have Bella's haircut. Its cuts for Tots located in Megamall, very near the chapel. They have these cute little cars serves as the chairs and play toys while kids are having their hair cut. Bella was enjoying all toys at first and was oblivious on what she'll go through in a while.

And then they were already starting the cutting of her hair and when she realized what was happening, And so the struggle combined with tears and scream are the scene inside the salon

I wasn't actually expecting Bella to cry her heart out for her first hair cut.  She is a brave kid, just laughing off even an injection. I guess, she doesn't want anyone touching her hair.

Everybody was holding my bella as she struggle and try to get away with the scissors.

I was concerned that she might be traumatized by the experience, so I requested my mom not to proceed with it anymore and just schedule it for another day.  Good thing the hair cutter was very patient with kids and careful with his scissors.

And once its done, you can't see even see any trace of all the commotion that just happened. Bella is wearing one of her cute hair accessories from Sassy Hairsies.

That's my girl. My Sweet Bella.

Gerard Patisserie

A walking distance from our office is Gerard Patisserie, where we had our few moments of bonding time. Three of us where officemates from our previous company in Dubai. One by one, we left the company and went our separate ways. But what do you know, history repeat itself as we are again reunited in another company.

We get to enjoy different drinks

Roanne had her Xtreme Mocha (Dhs 18.00)

Chat chose Hot chocolate (Dhs 17.00)

And yours truly got to have Iced Tea instead of coffee as I"m determined to sleep and avoid too much caffeine in the evening.

But my tummy was making noise already so I added carb to my drink, Chicken Mayonnaise.

Noticed the burnt portion? Ah! Never to order sandwich again.

Nevertheless, T'was still a night to remember the good ol' times.