Well, hello there!

The first half of 2018 has been rather eventful to say the least, despite the lack of blog entries to back it up.

My life in a GIF since the start of 2018

I expect the rest of the year to pick up pace (and hopefully in a fantastic way).

For now, I’ll keep the golden plan under wraps and enjoy the journey while it lasts.

Speaking of journeys, I have an epic one coming up, and the only downside is that every other adventure will pale in comparison to this one.

Suffice it to say that this much-awaited trip will kick off in late October, with far better weather conditions than the initial April plan.

I received the final itinerary a few weeks ago via email.

The October flight meant I had to renew my passport already (which won’t expire until February 2019).

I quickly registered in the Philippine Consulate General of Dubai’s passport renewal portal and hit a dead end.

No available appointment slots for the rest of the year.

Insanity is an understatement

I logged in every day for the rest of the week until the new appointment slots were opened… for September.

With the average passport processing time of 6-8 weeks, I wouldn’t get my new passport in time for my trip.

Undeterred, I ran a Google search on how to apply for an urgent passport renewal in Dubai, and all results pointed to emailing [email protected].

At that point, I began to despair.

What were the odds of getting a positive response when I was up against “real” emergencies like health complications and (gulp) deaths in the family?

Still, I chugged down a particularly strong cup of coffee and composed an honest-to-goodness email.

I had nothing to back up my claim other than the PDF of the itinerary — no flight booking, no hotel confirmation.

Just a plan, or a dream really.

One I had inherited from my late grandmother who dreamed of going on this very trip on her death bed.

That was more than 10 years ago and sentiments aside, I doubt my real-life sob story would have improved my chances —

— Not that I needed it because a few hours later, I received a reply saying I would be accommodated that very Sunday, 27 May.

I could hardly believe it myself!

I arrived 15 minutes before my schedule and showed my email confirmation to the security guard (who barely glanced at it).

I proceeded to the passport renewal cabin where a lady cross-checked my appointment slot with a list of that day’s other appointments.

Once I “passed the test,” she asked for my original passport, copies of my passport data page and visa page and filled-in application form.

She checked all these before handing them back to me with a payment slip.

At this point, I just want to emphasize that ever since the consulate implemented its no walk-in policy last month, your chances of sashaying and smooth talking those ladies behind the window are pretty slim, so it’s best to secure an appointment beforehand.

Yikes

Getting from the passport renewal cabin to the cashier cabin is kind of tricky for first-timers.

Thankfully, I’d been to the consulate enough times to make sense of the maze-like layout, so I didn’t need to ask directions from 10 different people along the way.

I paid 240 dirhams in cash (they don’t accept credit cards) and was directed to the room next door for the passport processing.

But before that, I had to register as a voter, something I would never have done without being told.

Finally, they gave me the green light for the actual processing a.k.a. new passport photo.

I was on queue for about 30 minutes with some 10 or 15 people ahead of me.

The officer scanned my fingerprints and took my new passport photo (which will hopefully come out far better than the last one taken during my senior college year).

All in all, I took less than an hour for the whole process, and I am expecting my new passport (now with 10 years’ validity) to be released by late July.

Moral of the story: Renew your passport as early as possible.