The BALIK- BAYAN BOX

I'm back as promised to tell you about Balikbayan boxes.


WHAT IS A BALIKBAYAN BOX?

It is a door-to-door shipping service offered by a carrier company licensed to ship items back to the Philippines.  These boxes are transported to the nearest seaport and loaded into cargo ships.  They take between 3-4 months to arrive to their destination.  It is always good to plan accordingly when sending something for Christmas, for example, in a balikbayan box as the weather also plays an important role in the process.

International shipping can be very expensive.  Shipping items to the Philippines using Balikbayan boxes is a cheap and inexpensive way to send anything to the Philippines.  I'm speaking for myself so if I say "anything" it means toiletries that I buy in bulk (i.e..toothpaste, bath soap, shampoo, toothbrush, etc., etc..), towels, clothes, purses, small appliances.  Nothing illegal or contraband :).  Think of things that family and friends back home would love to receive.  Most of the time I even throw in canned goods like spam, etc., chocolates (that's the first thing they ask).

These boxes will be delivered directly to the addressee without having to deal with Customs.  That is another reason why I'd rather ship some of our belongings in this mode rather than renting or buying a container then have to deal with the red tape that is so prevalent in the Philippines' Customs bureaucracy.  I just don't like the idea of having to shell out extra money to be able to claim my shipment once it gets to Philippine port.  That and the headache that comes with transacting with the customs guys do not appeal to me at all.

The Balikbayan boxes are heavy duty boxes and measures 25x24x17 with the carrier company name imprinted in them.

WHERE TO GET THESE BOXES:

Find out whether your favorite Asian store carries them.  Normally, Filipino and Asian stores are the drop off sites for these boxes and they are collected maybe once or twice a month by the carrier company.  Where I live, a box costs $5.00.  Once I filled it up, I either take it to the drop off site (where I bought the box) or if I ship more than two, the carrier company will come to my house and pick the boxes up.  It has no weight limit - that's the beauty of it so there are no surprises.  Depending on the region where you want it shipped, the cost varies.  It is cheaper to ship it to Manila and surrounding areas, a little more if you ship it up north in the Luzon Region.  I ship mine to Leyte which is in the Visayas Region and it costs me $90.00 per filled box.  The shipping cost to the Mindanao Region is higher than the Visayas Region.  The drop off site should be able to tell you how much it will cost you as prices vary depending where you live.  I imagine the West and East Coasts should be cheaper than the one from the Midwest.

PACKING AND SEALING TIPS:

When I pack liquid things like shampoo, for example, I seal the lid with tape and put the bottle inside a ziploc bag and individually wrap them in whether shirt, or towel before putting them all inside the box.  I pack everything in as tight as I can, leaving no space for the stuff to shift or move around while in transit.  I've shipped breakables as well and so far I haven't gotten one broken yet.  I just make sure that everything is wrapped/padded well. I go crazy with tape as well.  If you noticed my filled box is taped all around the whole box for two reasons: one, it is my way of waterproofing my box; and two, I want to be sure (because I packed the box to the brim) that it will never burst while in transit.  Have you seen a box burst because it is full of stuff?  Not a pretty sight, right?  So like I said I go crazy with packing tape.  Noticed my humongous roll of tape in the picture?  You can get those at U-Haul stores or at a shipping store.

SHIPPING THE BOXES:

When you drop your boxes off at the drop site, you are required to fill out a form for each boxes you are shipping.  In it there is a declaration part where you will need to list what is in the box.  You will also need to declare the dollar value of the stuff you are shipping. The agent should be able to assist you with this step.  Once you made your payment, your boxes should be on their way to the Philippines.

Hope you find this article helpful.  Thank you for following.  God bless. 

Visit the Philippines 2015

SOLD

Our agent came by before supper time last Sunday so we can sign the papers but he didn't really put the "SOLD" sign until the day the whole home inspection was in progress.  There's something about that sign that made my heart skip a beat.  So I just have to share it with you in this blog.

Well, here we are waiting for the buyers' response to the home inspector's report done Thursday.  These guys are professionals at what they do.  From the sewer cam guy from a plumbing company here in town, the mechanical guy hired to look at our water heater, furnace and air conditioning unit to the whole house inspector, who by the way spent almost four hours "inspecting" the house, I'd say our realtor picked the best to get the job done.

Yesterday we received the 20-page report.  Yes, 20 pages long!  Mike asked me after dinner, whether we have to deal with home inspection in the Philippines.  I really don't know.  My father (with the help of his brothers and my grandpa) built the house I grew up in, we moved in when it was done and that was that.  We never moved except when it was time for me to go to college - then I had to move away.   Being away from my homeland for almost 28 years now, I really don't know anything about real estate regulations and such in the Philippines.  If any of you have knowledge about home buying and home inspections in the Philippines, I would appreciate your input.  Thank you.

We have about 7-8 weeks to go before we say our goodbyes to our family, church family, friends and acquaintances.  I know Mike and I will truly miss our Sunday school classmates and our Sunday school teacher, Tom Lewis.  Although with today's technology we can still connect and we intend to do that through the class' email prayer connection and social media.

Now I really need to get serious about getting rid of more stuff.  Luckily, we did really well on our first garage sale.  We got rid of a lot of "stuff" and we are determined to clear everything in two to three weeks.

Well, not everything exactly - - - I am also packing some "stuff" to ship to the Philippines in a Balikbayan box.  What is Balikbayan box you asked?  I'll post it in my next blog, so stay tuned - and thanks for the follow.

Applying for Immigrant Visa

Securing immigrant visas for my husband and our 6 year old son is the next step.  To do that we checked out the Philippine Consulate's website: www.chicagopcg.com/services.  Here you find information about things you need to do to acquire visa to travel to the Philippines.  We were also able download and print out the forms to start the process.  We zeroed in on the "non-quota immigrant" visa since I have dual citizenship.

For my husband we have to submit the following:

1. Valid US passport
2. Four (4) passport photographs (2X2)
3. F.A. Form No. 3 (this is your application for immigrant visa) to be accomplished in duplicate.
4. F.A. Form No. 11 (Medical form) to be accomplished in duplicate.
5.  Original Marriage Certificate AND 2 photocopies
6. My Philippine passport OR birth certificate (in this case I am submitting my birth certificate along with 2 copies of it).
7. Police Clearance Certificate from place of residence of the applicant (original and 1 copy)
8. Evidence of financial support, such as bank statement, etc..
9. Notarized Letter of Petition signed by me.  This letter can also be downloaded from the Consulate's website.

For our 6 year old we have to submit the following:

1. Valid US passport.
2. Four (4) passport photographs (2X2)
3. F.A. Form No. 3 to be accomplished in duplicate.
4. F.A. Form No. 11 (Medical form) to be accomplished in duplicate.
5. Original birth certificate of the child and two (2) photocopies thereof.
6. Philippine passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers of parents and two (2) copies thereof.  (In this case I submitted my and my husband's birth certificates and I brought along my naturalization papers just in case).
7. Evidence of financial support, such as bank statements, etc.. executed by parents and accomplished in duplicate.

Since our son is under 18 years old, he doesn't need to submit Police Clearance.

A word of advise:  bring or mail in all your originals.  They are pretty good at mailing them back to you so no need to worry about missing original documents.  They did that to me when I applied for Dual Citizenship.  Everything was returned to me when they mailed my certificate of Dual Citizenship.

So off to Chicago we went to submit the documentations.  This trip also serves as a long-awaited break for my dear hubby who worked long hours all the time.  I am so glad he could finally take a breather.

We stopped at the Illinois Welcome Center before plunging into the crazy Chicago traffic.

We explored the Millennium Park and Chicago's BP Pedestrian Bridge after we visited the Philippine Consulate Office on Michigan Ave.

Just chillaxing by the fountain off of Logan Avenue amidst the busy Farmer's Market.

Had to stop by Chicago's Chinatown to enjoy authentic Asian food.  I've been to Asian stores every city we've been to but I have to admit the stores here are original and, shall I say awesome?


Well, back to the topic on immigrant visa.  Additional requirements that need to be submitted are:

1.  Visa fee of $150.00 per application in cash, bank draft or money order payable to the Philippine   Consulate General.  NO PERSONAL CHECKS ARE ACCEPTED.

2.  Chest X-ray negative in CD. 

3.  Medical results in detail must accompany the medical certificate form. The office does not accept the letter from your doctor stating "the results are negative" from your lab works.  They want the actual print-out of the lab results.  You can easily print this out from your medical chart which you can access by logging on to your account.

If you plan to mail all these documentations you also need to enclose a self-addressed, stamped  Priority/Certified/Express mail envelope or $30.00 for Express mail to cover mailing expenses.

No metered stamps are accepted.

REGARDING THE MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF VISA APPLICANT FORM

Our PCP didn't think my husband needed the chest X-ray so he scribbled a note in the form that said so.  When we submitted everything we were told he had to have one and that it should be in CD form.  So he has to go back to his PCP to get one.

What I'm trying to share here is: just accomplish everything that is required in the form even if your doctor doesn't think it's needed.

We were told as soon as the documents are complete it will only take about a week for the visa to be issued.  They will return everything (original copies and the visa) in the pre-paid envelope.

And oh, before I forget - the medical exams are good for only 6 months if it's more than 6 months you will have to get another medical examination.

I hope you keep following my post and be a part of this journey.  I believe it's going to be an exciting one!

The weather is cooperating so far and we have a nice flow of people coming to our first garage sale.  Can't complain at all.  This is our first attempt at getting rid of stuff that, in our opinion, clutters and drags us down.
My husband hates to see his family's John Deere tractor go but we need to pare down.  His grandpa bought the tractor brand new in 1964 and it is still used to clear snow and mow our yards.  We will say goodbye to a trusty John Deere tractor this time.

Where I came from life was slow and easy and good.  Never mind that we didn't have much.  I really didn't know I was "poor" until I came to America. I thought my family was rich even without the gadgets, etc.,etc.. Hey we had running water, where our neighbors come to get some for drinking and washing and all that, a battery powered transistor radio, wohoo, where our neighbors flocked to our front porch after supper to listen to a favorite radio drama every night, except on Sunday nights. You see my family was one of the two households in the community who had those when I was growing up.  Do you understand now why I thought we were rich?

Fast forward to the present.  Honestly, I am overwhelmed with stuff we have in our house, in the garage, in the basement and even in the shed in the backyard.  And don't forget the attic. Who needs a big house where you cannot enjoy living there because your life consists of work, work, and more work to keep up?  I noticed, not only on my part but on others as well, that people in America love to fill their houses with junk.  We stuff our closets with clothes (that were never worn or worse, we didn't even know we have), shoes, purses, stuff, stuff and more stuff.  You know how I know?  Every Spring I go to garage sales and I too, hold garage sales myself.  People's basements and garages are filled with "stuff" and some even rent storage units to fill it with more stuff.  Have you noticed the storage facilities are popping up everywhere?  Although I am guilty to some degree, no I have never rented a storage unit to fill it up with stuff.

Okay, enough said.  Let's move on to the constant running here and there....non-stop.  The moment you wake up in the morning you hit the floor running and this goes on and on into the night.  Then it repeats the next morning.  You hardly have time to slow down.  Wait a minute - is this living?  You are probably imagining me shaking my head - and you are right.

I could go on and on about life here but I will stop.  I don't want to bore you about my whining.  Anyway, here we are (my husband and I) finally decided this madness have to end.  And we will start our journey back to the slow, take-it-easy, simple life I once knew.

FIRST STEP:  We are selling our house and everything in it.  Yup, it's on the market and we just got an offer today.  We submitted a counter-offer.  Tomorrow, Wednesday (even with a not-so-nice forecast) I am having a garage sale.  Wish me luck.