How lucky!!!

It’s done! I can’t believe it’s done: Sofia’s passport renewal.

Honestly until we finished the appointment I wasn’t sure we can have it done. During the entire trip I was anticipating something going wrong. But actually everything went as planned if not better.

First getting to the airport took us 10 min, no traffic. In Manila, always be thankful of no traffic. Then we got into security check in directly without going through the airline counter. Nobody checked my vaccine nor Sofia’s PCR test. Me few years ago I would have said to myself: see? Only you take these things so seriously. But now I’m just grateful for a smooth process even if it requires extra preparation. Better to be cautious than sorry.

We waited probably an hour before boarding. We had home packed lunch. It was my long run day (11 miles) that went very well AGAIN, will share my thoughts after two more long runs of what is working. So I had to fuel properly. I packed vegan chicken nugget (protein source), baked potato (carb), broccoli (veggies). Sofia packed her own lunch, a salami-cheese-sandwich. We also got cinnamon sticks because it smelled so inviting!

I SHOULD START PACKING MY FOOD WHILE TRAVELING!!! It is so much better than airport food.

then we read. I started Deacon King Kong, Sofia wonder.

We took off just few minutes late as scheduled . Then we got to the hotel 30 min later with the booked hotel transfer. Again we could have just taken a taxi and would cost us a fraction of the cost, but I was glad we had it arranged so I was not stressed out to find a safe transport.

Our hotel is probably one of the oldest in Cebu city but the lobby looks quite nice.

The room was basic but good enough for one night. The convenience of not having the go anywhere the next day to the consulate is priceless. Sofia and I settled in and went out to buy water. I get anxious when I don’t have access to unlimited supply of water. We got back to room with 3 big bottles, I was happy 🙂 Sofia did kumon while I ordered dinner, FaceTime with Lizzy who is fully recovered but misses me terribly. She didn’t say it but i can tell. I miss her too. I also chatted with mom and hubby for a while before dinner came. Sofia ordered club sandwich with fries, and I ordered what’s called healthy breakfast set.

It came with watermelon juice, toast with butter and jam, egg white olerte, tiny serving of vegetables and pan sealed salmon. Good enough for my dinner.

We both read before light went out at 8am. I secretly prayed that the appointment we got is for real.

I woke up 5am, Sofia 6:30am. After quick breakfast in the room (peanut butter sandwich we brought from home), we went to find the consulate. It took us 5 min to find and we were 30 min earlier than our appointment time.

The guard was super nice and called our names 8:10am. First good sign. The appointment is for real!!! The consulate is very small. Only two officials, 10 appointments per day. We were number 5. We gave the documents, paid, and waited. It took a long time for the Officer to call us back for the interview. So many things going through my mind, afraid that I missed a document, or I can’t get that document. After like forever the Officer called us. He was kind, asked us few questions and asked me to make copy of a document and that was it. He was surprised that we came all the way from manila. I told him that we got this appointment on Thursday because Manila was fully booked. He said you must be very lucky because we only opened 2 spots after someone cancelled and those spots were gone within 2 hours. WHAT? What in the world is the chance for me to click in exactly at that moment for the first time and found the spot! I can’t believe how lucky we are!!!

Relieved from the stress I was holding since Thursday. We checked out around noon and went to a near by mall for lunch. Simple Chinese lunch. All I wanted was vegetables and rice and it hit the spot.

Then as dessert we shared diary queen. 🙂

then we spent an hour at a coffee shop. Sofia did kumon and started a new book (already finished wonder the night before), while I did online errands.

We got to the airport 2 hrs before departure time. Our flight got delayed 40 min but at that point I didn’t care anymore. ALL is done! Hubby and Lizzy came to pick up. We got home 8:30pm, Sofia and Lizzy went to sleep, I ate some dinner and went to bed.

RELIEVED and GRATEFUL for our unusual luck.