Being 30 and How I Finally Embraced It

I just turned 30 earlier this month. And truth be told, I fucking dreaded it! I was so pressured with the fact that I had nothing to show for despite living three decades in this world already! I try not to compare myself with my peers as it would be quite unfair, mostly to me. Hahaha

But I guess it was inevitable especially since social media has taken over and I wasn't even very active in the cybersphere, until now that is. 😂

Oh, Hello there!

"It's been a while" is quite an understatement. I am personally appalled when I saw just how looooong ago, I actually wrote and posted something.

I won't be making any excuses, but let me fill you in of how things have been since my last post, June 2018.

How to Renew Your NBI Clearance

It was in 2007 when I applied for my first NBI clearance. I remember having my mother accompany me in Carriedo and having to deal with the long queue and dizzying process. It was the very first time I had to do it, so despite my sore feet and queasy stomach, I had to suck it up, I needed that clearance for my summer job.

Moving forward, in 2012, my friend needed to pass her NBI clearance as her pending requirement for her work so she asked if I could come along. It was timely, since my NBI clearance had long been expired and since I had nothing better to do then. This time around, it was in Galleria. It was around 5 in the morning when my friend and I left our house since we anticipated the long line and we were told that only the first 100 or so were entertained. The line was still disheartening, (just imagine if we got there a bit later and we were no longer given any number, yikes!) but the process itself was simpler and the security personnel were accomodating.

Now six years later, the need to renew my NBI clearance came up. And since I had no idea on the renewal process anymore, I asked some people and was told that I just needed to go online, as easy as that! Talk about falling behind, way behind , lol.

As such, I wrote this post in an attempt to walk you through the renewal process based on my own experience in doing so, hope this helps you out :)

How to Renew Your Philippine Passport

By the latter part of 2017, my passport expired. Months prior to this, I contemplated whether or not I should renew it, considering the 10-year validity of the Philippine passport was still being talked about. But I kinda knew it would be detrimental not to renew it, given how there could be "unplanned trips" ahead. It would be SO sad if I can't go just because I didn't renew my passport when I had the chance.

I listed down the pros and cons, and yes the pros outweighed the other. Hence, despite the 10-year validity taking effect in just a few months, I jumped the gun and renewed my passport before 2017 wrapped up.

How to Upgrade Your PayMaya Account

I was on my way to Ortigas one rainy morning when I happened to see a billboard adverstising PayMaya. I nudged my companion then and asked if she knew what it was about. To cut to the chase, she told me that it was app that I should definitely download since it was something new and useful.

Intrigued, I looked it up and learned that there were various things I could do with it. Shopping online using a virtual VISA or MasterCard, booking flights, buying mobile load and paying bills were just a few of its perks. But what made me really interested in it was that it was prepaid and I could just load it up whenever I need it and through facilities that were easily accessible like 7/11, Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan Pawnshop, ECPay, Bayad Centers or through mobile banking.

Later, I found out that there were more perks if the account was upgraded, such as being able to withdraw money (through the physical card) from Bancnet ATMs, sending money to another PayMaya user and having the monthly load limit from Php 50,000 to Php 100,000!

Ergo, the reason for this post ;)