Redemption of Mabuhay Miles for our Beijing trip

Around the end of May 2009, I received an email from Mabuhay Miles promoting their 50% Great Miles Getaway Promo. I thought wow, now is the best time to redeem our remaining mileage that is due to expire in a few months! Considering that we have only earned a few miles (since most of our recent trips have not earned mileage anymore), we can actually be able to fly because of this promo.

I computed the total miles that Rene and I have and we reached about 21,000 which means we have enough to redeem for an international flight! I narrowed down our choices from among the available options requiring 10,000 each for a roundtrip ticket. I also considered the best miles-to-dollar value (meaning those that are usually expensive in airfares). My choices were Japanese cities (Fukuoka, Osaka or Nagoya), Beijing (Shanghai and Xiamen are also available in Cebu Pacific so I excluded these) and also possibly Guam. I excluded ASEAN cities as there are a lot of available cheap airfares for these. The same goes for Hongkong, Macau and Taipei.

I made a lot of mock booking at the PAL website to check for airfare / taxes and flight dates and times. Since the travel period for the promo is July 1 - Nov 30, I had to select the best time to take a long vacation. My plan is to have a 5D4N trip and my choices were from Aug 19-23 (since Aug 21 is a holiday, and 19 is a holiday for those working in QC like Rene) and Nov 26-30 (Nov 27 and 30 were already announced by GMA as non-working holidays). My 1st choice was in August but Rene preferred the Nov date (which I thought was too far along and I can't wait) ;).

Trying to get through the PAL hotline was such a pain. Expect to wait at least 15 mins to get through and another 15 mins to be on hold. That is the minimum. Most of the time you won't even get through at all, it's usually just a busy tone. As a last resort, I tried to email the Mabuhay Miles contact email and fortunately, they did reply immediately!

We got reserved for the Nagoya trip. All we had to do was go to the nearest PAL office to transfer miles first to my husband by filling out a form and then book that flight. It wasn't as easy as it sounded.

When I went to the PAL ticket office and finally got to the counter, I paid the ~5k mileage transfer fee. I was told that the mileage will only be updated in about 2-3 working days! The promo deadline was approaching and I was afraid our reservation will get forfeited (as it is only valid for I think 3 days). I was advised to call PAL to confirm if the mileage transfer has been reflected before going back. I had to take a leave from work a few days later to go back to the PAL ticket office and complete the booking.

The final trip we booked was Beijing on Nov 26-30. Turns out on the day I was about to book the Nagoya trip, the PAL lady asked me if I already have a visa and I said No. She said she could not book me without a visa (wtf?!). I wanted to yell at her and ask why no one ever bothered mentioning that during reservation and even before I transferred miles to my husband! But I started thinking fast and remembered my other options, I then asked her if it is also a requirement when booking for Beijing. She said that it is not and I was relieved and immediately she checked if there are still open slots for the same date for Beijing. Fortunately there was and I booked it right away. We paid about ~7k each for the taxes (inclusive of the Php1620 travel tax, the terminal fee of Php750 is still to be paid at the airport). 

So based on my experience, these are my tips if you're planning to redeem Mabuhay Miles with PAL:

1. Do a lot of mock booking of your intended award flight at the PAL website - create a list of flights that you want as there are normally limited award tickets per flight. Create a list of options by cities, dates and priorities. Note the amount of taxes as well as it varies by city. When you have made a list, do step 2.

2. Call or email PAL for available award flights - inquire if there is an available award flight from your list of choices, and if there is, reserve it immediately. You will be given a booking reference code. Also inquire if there are any specific requirements upon booking, say you need to show your visa or passport.

3. Check that you have enough mileage for redemption - This is a given. However, if you're planning on buying / topping-up or transferring miles, you better do this ahead of time as this is still being processed manually. Aside from having to personally go to the ticket office to fill out a form and pay the fee, you have to wait for a few days to confirm if it has been updated and then you will return again to the ticket office to book the award flight.

4. If you need to do step 3, you will need to call PAL again to extend your booking reservation as this is only valid for at most 3 days. 

After you have already booked an award ticket, make sure to check from time to time if your flight is still on schedule. For our case, I did some mock booking at least once a month in case the time changes. What happened was when I checked our flight schedule by the end of Sept, there was no return flight on Nov30! 

I again attempted to call PAL. However, the lady I spoke to had no idea why it happened (she did say they are in the process of rescheduling flights but no explanation why) and she assured me that we were rebooked on Dec 1 instead. I requested her to email the final booking details however she refused. She said that our eticket is sufficient enough. However, I could not believe why she would not resend an eticket when our original eticket is already void (I am afraid that when we leave Beijing showing a Nov 30 return flight on Dec 1, it might cause confusion).

Again, I had to email PAL Mabuhay Miles to confirm if our flight was still on schedule. The reply 2 days later was a simple greeting informing me that we were rescheduled on Dec 1 and there was no apology! If I had not bothered checking our flight, I wouldn't have known that our original return flight was cancelled!

Now I guess they really did not bother informing us since we were practically on a free ticket. And if we wanted to complain they can just refund the taxes we paid.

After these experiences, I really wouldn't bother earning Mabuhay Miles anymore. But for those who still have miles to redeem, keep in mind the tips I advised if you're planning to redeem yours in the future.

NBI clearance for travel abroad

As a requirement for our Chinese tourist visa application, we had to secure an NBI clearance valid for travel abroad. Since in the past we already had a criminal namesake, we went straight to the NBI clearance renewal center in Carriedo. We brought our most recent NBI clearances and paid the P20 building entrance fee then went through steps 1-7 (skipping step 5). As usual we cannot claim the clearance within the day. We were told to claim the clearance personally 3 days later (claiming through an authorized representative is not allowed if travel abroad purpose).

Noted the following fees posted: Change of name is P165 while clearance / renewal is only P115. I'll probably renew with my married name some other time (since my passport is still in my maiden name and I didn't want to have to submit documents with different names for the visa application).

We were there from around 10:30-12:30. Ate lunch late at the nearby Chowking.

Went back to NBI for claiming a week later. Arrived in NBI Carriedo around 8:30am and went straight to the top floor for step 7 - releasing (no need to pay for the building fee again, just show the claiming receipt to the "guard"). After getting the printout, we checked if there was an indication that it is valid for travel abroad. Aside from the note, it should be printed on green paper instead of the usual peach. We also had to line up for thumb printing. An optional P2 for the wet towelette is available there. We finished by around 9am.

China tourist visa application

When we booked a trip to China a few months ago, I thought the visa requirements were quite basic and easy to get. However, sometime in early September, the visa issuance got strict and had listed more requirements as it had during the Olympics last year. All in all we visited the China embassy 3x to get a tourist visa!

Day 1 (3 Nov 2009)

Arrived in World Centre Building in Gil Puyat Ave. a few minutes before 10am and we got #010. The visa counter was servicing #836 if i recall correctly.

A lot of reminders were posted at the window and I read all the requirements posted carefully. Unfortunately, we are first-time travellers to China and we have more requirements to produce than usual.

We already had the basic requirements such as:
- Roundtrip plane tickets
- Hotel reservation (not sure if an email confirmation would suffice but to be sure we printed a formal document which we requested from the hostel indicating details of the reservation and contact information of the hostel since emails are quite informal)
- Application form with passport size photo (colored with white background and glued on the form not stapled)
- Passport with at least 6 months validity after duration of travel and enough blank pages for the visa

Turns out the additional requirements for first-time travellers are:
- NBI clearance valid for travel abroad (original copy)
- SSS ID and summary of contributions
- ITR / TIN ID
- Certificate of employment
- Company ID
- Bank certificate

Lacking a lot of these new requirements, we immediately left for NBI in Carriedo to apply for clearance valid for travel abroad.

Day 2 (10 Nov 2009)

After claiming our NBI clearance valid for travel abroad personally, we went to the China embassy again. Taxi from Gil Puyat LRT station to World centre cost us about P70-80. Arrived there around 9:45am.

Got #571 ticket and counter is servicing #4xx? While waiting, I photocopied most of the documents I will be submitting. The nearest photocopier is 2 bldgs away. To get there, exit from the back of the building and turn left. After the building past Starbucks, is where I was able to xerox some documents. Cost is P1.50 per short, and P2 for long. By 11am, it was already at #500. We decided to eat lunch 1st as we may still wait for another hour. We did not see much choices except the Jolli jeep and Starbucks so we decided to eat snacks at Starbucks (Later found out there is a nearby Jollibee if exiting from the back of the World Centre building and then turning right).

Went back to the embassy a few minutes past 11:30, it was still at #517! We were finally called around 12:30pm. The guy at the counter scanned the documents we submitted, and no questions were asked. Received immediately a pink slip to claim it on Fri. Whew the submission was fast. Initially feared that we might undergo an interview since it's our first time to go to China. And there were a lot of people lined up at the interview room that morning. I guess it was not necessary since we submitted sufficient supporting documents.

In addition to the requirements I had listed above, I also provided a marriage certificate. Our joint ITR was sufficient for both of us (I had provided 2 copies for me and my husband's application but they returned the extra copy). They also did not request SSS ID or contributions from my husband (he did not have one) but I provided mine. In case they would ask, I would mention that he is a government employee (the SSS equivalent is GSIS). But he has no GSIS ID yet and the agency has not provided any proof of contributions yet. As a backup, I did brought original copies of our payslips (photocopies should also be ready just in case) to show proof of contributions.

For the bank certificate we were not sure what is the safe amount to show, but I did read from other blogs or sites that it would be safe to show at least P50k in your account or have P5k / day of your intended stay in China plus extra to prove that you can finance your travel without going bankrupt. Note that banks will charge a certain amount of fee for every bank certificate request. At BPI it was P150, while from RCBC it was P250 (quite expensive for me).

We opted for the regular processing which is 4 working days. The pink slip indicated we can come back for our visa on 13 Nov. So the working day count already includes the day you submitted the application.

Day 3 (16 Nov 2009)

Since we had a deadline at work on Nov 13, I decided to come back for the visa on a Monday, 16 Nov. Instead of taking a taxi as we did previously, I commuted all the way to the China Embassy. I took an MRT to get off at Buendia Station. Then took a jeep (I think the sign board was Washington) to get to World Centre Building just across Mapua.

Arrived at the China Embassy a little before 10am. Got a number at the entrance for claiming (this is actually just for the payment at the cashier). I was seated only for about 5 minutes when my number was called. I paid the visa processing fee of P1400 each (regular 4 working days processing). Now that was fast. Went immediately afterwards to the adjacent counter for claiming where I was about 4th in line.

Suddenly got a tap on the shoulder from a man who informed me that the end of the line for claiming was actually going halfway around the Embassy waiting area! Oh my God!

So the long lines were for the claiming and there is no number being called, it was a traditional pila. Despite having a lot of vacant seats, I did not want to take the risk of getting bumped by not being in line and so I stood at the end of the line for the next hour. I am extremely irritated at this inconvenience. I haven't eaten breakfast yet but I did brought a sandwich with me. So I ate my sandwich while standing in line. I was not really sure if eating was prohibited there but I did not care anymore as I was so hungry already. Afterwards, I played some Sudoku to pass the time.

I think for this case what the embassy should have done is have everyone claiming a visa to line up at the cashier instead. Then after payment, give a number to the payee to wait for his visa to be issued since this is the one taking longer. If I just lined up standing for 5 mins at the cashier then seated for 1 hr to wait for my number to claim the visa, then it would not have been much of an inconvenience. Didn't they notice that the line for visa claiming is already going around the embassy premises already, while the cashier is vacant most of the time?

After an hour of waiting, finally received our passports with visas. I made sure to check the visa if all the details are correct before leaving.

Transferring RDO

Since I transferred to my new work in Makati almost a year ago, I have not updated my registered RDO address. Previously, this was being done by the HR/Finance departments of where you work. I was surprised when I was giving my 2316 form (certificate of tax withheld) from my previous employer to my new HR and was informed that they no longer do this on behalf of employees. BIR transactions are to be done by employees themselves.

I thought the only thing I would have to worry about is the payment and filing of income tax return annually. This would be easy as I can just pay through any authorized agent bank. I already did this last April.

Unfortunately, I was told that I still have to process an RDO transfer, from my previous employer's registered RDO in Cavite to the new employer in Makati. What do I have to do? Very simple, just fill out a 1905 form (at least 2 copies), go to your previous RDO in Cavite, have it stamped and you're done! Well it would have been more convenient if I can just fax it and then have it stamped and let them fax it back to me. I really think this is feasible but whoever I ask from the BIR will simply say just go to your previous RDO.

I asked our HR officer if it was really the only option (do it in person) and said yes that is the only option that the BIR officer told her. I also emailed the BIR Contact center and they gave me the same answer, even mentioning the Memorandum order about the process. Well I was pleasantly surprised that they even bothered answering (2 months later) but at least it's better late than never.

So that meant I will have to waste a whole day travelling back and forth to Cavite just to get a stamp (very efficient and cost-effective, tsk tsk). Arrived at RDO 54 around 12:30 PM which is a bad time coz it's lunch break. Worse, the transaction for RDO transfer is at another office at the left side of the BIR bldg (not at the main entrance) which is locked from 12-1pm. So we were all just waiting outside under the scorching sun! Even if you're staying under the shade the heat will get to you. I feel like cursing when this happens because I feel we don't deserve this as taxpayers. They finally opened the door a few minutes before 1pm (which is a good thing, I was actually preparing myself to think they might open it around 1:30pm instead).

There was a receiving area inside and the office is fully airconditioned (good thing). I just deduced that they did not want to be bothered when sleeping during lunch that is why they lock it out. They should not even be allowed to sleep in my opinion. I rarely do this at work unless I am not feeling well. We do not even see private businesses such as banks shut out people just because it is lunch break.

The BIR should do something about this problem if they want people to voluntarily pay taxes. As a service-oriented government agency, they should be the one adjusting and not the other way around. Why don't they shift people's lunch break, some taking it 11-12am and others 12-1pm so that the people are still being entertained at any time?

They don't even realize that some of us have travelled for hours to process these transactions that ideally should have been done by BIR employees themselves. The mere fact that it is obvious where my income tax payments are going is already an indication that I have changed employers.

I never run out of things to complain about the government. I hate complaining but sometimes you cannot help it when you have to deal with their inefficiencies all the time.

Anyway, finally we're in and I immediately looked for a queueing number. The 1st one was around 90 and I got 95 (not bad). The queue was for the "officer of the day". There was another line (traditional pila) for another lady who is taking LTO? transactions (not really sure what that is). After quite some time, I noticed that no number is still being called yet. I was seated at the front and a woman was asking so many questions to the "officer of the day" and she was not even #90 (in fact she had #105, wtf?!). A guy beside me was getting furious and already started to shout what's the point of the number system if it is not being followed? The "officer of the day" then finished her conversation with #105 and started to call #90.

Thirty minutes later it was still #92 or 93. I noticed the lines for "LTO" were dwindling and she was fast, she had probably entertained already about 20 people compared to "officer of the day" who has only entertained about 2 or 3. Tried my luck with "LTO" lady since all I needed was a stamp. Told her it's just for RDO transfer, she took my forms, asked several other people for their transactions, went to the computer to check records, stamped my forms and got it in probably less than 5 mins. She actually accommodated about 3-5 people within that 5 mins. Now that is what I call efficient. For "officer of the day" I just returned my number. Should not have bothered with her in the 1st place.

Guess what? I even overheard LTO lady tell a guy (whose previous RDO was in Davao) to just fax the RDO for his transfer form. Pwede naman pala e! She even provided the tel/fax numbers of his RDO to him. She's really accommodating and fast and I commend her for that. Too bad I did not see her name.

My hunch is that BIR only processes RDO transfer through fax for extreme cases. But given that they are all already computerized, they should actually allow transactions to be done at any RDO no matter where you are registered.

I had to spend the next half of my day in a bus on my way back home to QC. A whole day's pay just to transfer my RDO. Now all I need to do next is update my marital status and last name. That would be for another day at my new RDO in Makati. I'll have to do that after at least 5 working days when the transfer would take effect.

A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 4 - March 10, 2009)

Today is our last day in Kaohsiung. We did not plan a lot of activities today as we had to pack and check out this afternoon. We just decided to hit the mall and see the famous Hello Kitty ferris wheel in Dream Mall.

As usual, we headed to the R9 Central Park MRT station and took pics again. The building in the background is the Tuntex Sky Tower, the tallest building in the city. Beside it at the right is Talee Star Place, a building that has different glowing colors at night. I tried to take pics of these at night but could not capture them well.

Who would have thought we would chance by some news event on the way? There seem to be a protest on Tibet that day right in front of the R9 station entrance. It was not alarming or scary anyway as it looked like a peaceful protest. There were even kids around about to have a field trip that day.

To get to Dream Mall, the nearest MRT station is R6 Kaisyuan station. From the map though, it looks like it is still quite a long walk from there. Upon exiting through Exit 3, we saw a small coaster bus waiting outside and a guy calling for people to take a ride. Fortunately for us, we learned it was a free shuttle to Dream Mall! 

Upon arrival, you'll notice the place is surrounded by trees and mini-parks. Neat! Dream Mall reminded me of the Greenbelt Mall in Makati. 

The mall is not very wide as Megamall or Mall of Asia in the Philippines, but it is high. It has a total of 11 floors. Inside they have outdoor cafes which are open-air at the center. At the top, particularly the rooftop, there is a mini-amusement park where the Hello Kitty ferris wheel is located.

On our way to the lower floors to get to the food court, we saw this circle that seemed like a small pool from the top. Am not sure if it was supposed to be a fountain.

For lunch, there are a variety of cuisine to choose from. I ordered a large serving of noodle soup with spicy dumplings for NT$99 while Rene ordered a breaded pork chop meal also for around NT$100. I liked my order but Rene's order did not seem very good.

  

Inside the mall, we chanced by another establishment that means another thing in the Philippines. I don't know what Utong means in Taiwan or maybe it's a name but in Filipino that word refers to the nipples.

We then went to the top floor by taking an elevator (I think it's not accessible by escalator). There were very few people around and most were just families with kids. It was not too sunny but it was still difficult to look up at the high Hello Kitty Ferris wheel. After sitting for awhile and taking pics around, we decided to call it a day and went back to the apartment to pack up and leave for the airport.

  

After checking out and locking the apartment, we passed by the Kaohsiung 202 lobby to drop off the key. Before leaving, a young Canadian guy was talking to Rene whom he met a week earlier and we learned he was looking for work there. He was planning to stay there for a month and he already rented a scooter which he said can be rented weekly, monthly depending on you. Well too late for that, we were already about to leave. That would be a good option if you're planning to go around a lot as we did. It would be more economical and convenient. I forgot though the price he quoted.

Going to the airport, we just took the MRT since the exit (exit 6) directly leads to the airport departure area. Upon arrival, a Filipino immediately approached us if we can accommodate their additional baggage for checkin with us. It looks like this is a common occurrence already as I also experienced this on my way here. We were ok with it and later she treated us a drink while waiting for our plane to arrive.

Again the plane was quite spacious. And my husband and I had our row to ourselves around the front. Upon arrival in NAIA3, we took a taxi outside (which are cheaper) not at the arrival area (as the airport taxis are expensive).

Related posts:

A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 3 - March 9, 2009)
A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 2 - March 8, 2009)
A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 1 - March 7, 2009)
A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Preparation)

A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 3 - March 9, 2009)

As usual, we woke up late again. My feet are tired from all the walking and today is going to be another day of walking. We were afraid of taking the bus since most of the writings are in Chinese and not a lot of people understand English. That is why we have been stuck to walking and taking the MRT. Anyway it is a good exercise and it does not hinder me from seeing the sights and going around a new place. 

By now, we have been going in and out of the Central Park MRT station but there are still a lot of spots there to take pictures of. We also tried a different route from our apartment which is actually a shorter walking distance than where we have been used to walking. 

 

  

From R9 station we went to R16 Zuoying station, the nearest station to the man-made Lotus Lake. Going out of the station, we felt a little lost as there were very few people around (like it was in a ghost town) and we literally cannot find any sign leading to Lotus Lake. We saw the Train station though which is a separate railway from the MRT but is just right beside it. From there we walked for quite a bit and saw some signs leading to the Confucius Temple. This is good news, as I know this is just around the vicinity of the lake. After around 15-30 minutes of walking, we finally saw the huge lake. 

We came from MingTan Road (cannot recall anymore how we finally got there) which is just behind the Confucius temple. There were a lot of photo opportunities around the area. The place looked really serene and peaceful. Very few people were around. Unfortunately, the temple is closed. Probably because it is a Monday. I noticed from reading on the internet, that a lot of establishments in Kaohsiung (not sure if it applies for the whole of Taiwan) are closed on Mondays.

A view at the back of the Confucius Temple

 

My husband pretending to climb the Confucius temple gate

After taking some shots near the Confucius temple entrance, we walked around the path of the Lotus Lake. We sat for awhile in one of the benches to rest and again took some pictures of the nice view from that area.

Walking further south of the lake, we saw this huge Taoist god statue (called The Emperor of the Dark Heaven) and went to have a closer look. According to Taoist myth, he defeated the demon king and serves as a reminder that good always defeats evil.

  

We also saw this small lotus pond near the Taoist god statue pavillion entrance. It would look nice for a wallpaper.

 

A bit further south is the Tiger and Dragon pagodas. As they say for good luck, one must enter the Dragon and exit through the Tiger mouth. Rene is tempted to do otherwise, but I convinced him to do the safe way. We don't want to play with fire you know.

 

The walls have nice colorful paintings but we did not check closely if there was some story into it. I did read somewhere that it tells about China's 24 obedient sons and some scenes of heaven and hell.

 

Exiting the Tiger trail, we gave a little donation at the counter and we were given some nice postcards of the place. Afterwards we went up to one of the pagodas which reached up to 6th floor. The way up was all worth it when we saw the view from the top!

  

More views of the pagodas around Lotus Lake 

  

The Tiger and Dragon pagodas, a temple across the street from the pagodas, and some carved artwork on the zigzag bridge

 

The walls of the bridge have some carvings probably telling a story; Above another streetsign that Rene thought was funny 

Before leaving the area, we decided to check out the Old Fongshan wall as well. We sat by one of the benches first to take some rest.

The Old Fongshan wall is just about a block away from the southern edge of the Lotus Lake. I was a bit disappointed though. I was expecting it to be like the old walled city of Intramuros in Manila (which looked an old city by itself) but instead it was just literally a well-preserved wall. We still took some nice pictures though. You can still see the Dragon and Tiger pagodas from afar.

 

On our way to R15 MRT station, we took a late lunch in one of the sidewalk eateries, which was good. Each of us ordered a meal for NT$60 that already consisted of a chicken dish (Fried Salt and Pepper Chicken or Peking Duck), rice, 3 side dishes and an iced tea drink. It was delicious and very filling.

We went back to our apartment to rest for awhile so that we still have the strength to go to the Liouhe Night Market later. On our way back, we took a pic of these contrasting establishments. They are not located beside each other though, in case you were wondering.

A Toys of Lovers store and a nice Catholic cathedral in Kaohsiung city

The night was cold and windy as usual when we headed for the Liouhe Night Market. We went there around 8pm. Tonight we were not planning to shop a lot. Instead, we were planning to to a do lot of eating.

The place was colorful and alive. Although we found the place a bit small compared to other night markets we've been to such as those we found in Bangkok. It looked like it was just one street block so that when we reached the end of the road, we were quite disappointed that this was it. Nevertheless, we found a tasty looking seafood congee at the end of the street and decided to try it out. It is a bit expensive though at NT$90 each. After the congee, we also tried what looked like a lumpia / spring roll at NT$40. We also could not resist trying the strawberry topped strawberry ice cream costing NT$80. I guess we were not quite adventurous enough with the food we tried. Mostly because we cannot converse and read in Chinese.

 

Before going home, Rene also tried out the Taiwan beer which we bought at a nearby convenience store. That capped our 3rd day of touring around Kaohsiung.

Related posts:

A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 4 - March 10, 2009)
A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 2 - March 8, 2009)
A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Day 1 - March 7, 2009)
A few days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Preparation)