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  1. #1
    Respected Member Rory's Avatar
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    21 little ducks all lined up

    21 ducks all lined up, i do not know who thought of this or made it up but it is very appropriate for my last trip to see my then fiancee or is she still now, read on......

    4 weeks in the Philippines consisting of jealousy, theft, anger, frustration, trauma, exhilaration, illness, expense and love. I had it all and an experience i will never forget.

    3 trips to see my fiancee in the last 12 months you would think was enough to organise a wedding but nothing ever goes smooth. I had double and triple checked that i had all the documents that i required and i packed then first before anything just to make sure i would not forget them. passport, birth cert, CNI and plenty of photocopies, all was well, i was happy i had covered everything. I had applied for my Cenomar online and got it sent to my fiancee apartment, all was well.

    DAY 1
    My first little duck got blown out of the water and i was watching them all blowing up in my mind as i sat at Heathrow because my plane was delayed. Why.... because the window wipers were not working on the plane. This was the first time i had travelled with Cathy Pacific and i was cursing then as the hours ticked by. I had already missed my connecting flight from Hong Kong to Cebu as i had just short of a 2 hour window from landing to taking off.
    I checked on the internet for flights from Hong kong to Cebu on the Cathy Pacific website, there was one a day!! I would miss this and the next day flight would get me in to Cebu 2 hours after my appointment i had made at the British Consulate to exchange my CNI, i was not a happy bunny but it was all out of my control.
    After a 3 hour delay my plane took off, i thought to myself that i was going to get married and if i was in the philippines for longer than i planed then so be it. For some reason i can not sleep on planes so i watched a few movies and tried to think positive.

    DAY 2
    Arrived in Hong Kong and was greeted by a very nice Cathy Pacific steward. Unlucky for her there was a lot of others that had missed there connecting flights, i stood back and watched her take a grilling from a lot of irate passengers, mostly it was the woman that were giving her a hard time and the men stood there nodding while holding their hand baggage. I was prepared to jump on any airline at this stage that was going to Cebu and pay for it out of my own pocket just to get my ducks lined back up.
    I had lined my ducks up with room for error just in case there was a few hiccups but this was a major hiccup.
    I spoke to the young lady from Cathy Pacific and my confidence was restored with the airline as i was told that i had booked in to the Park Lane Hotel with meals and travel to and from the airport all covered by Cathy Pacific and there was a flight with Cebu Pacific at 2.30am the next morning that they had me booked on and they was going to cover the cost of the other airline. So off to Hong Kong i went for a bit of shopping... bonus

    DAY 3
    This was the dat i was due to see the British Consulate, 10.30am and my flight was leaving Hong Kong at 2.30am, i had got some sleep in the hotel and i was refreshed. At the airport i had to check-in with Cebu Pacific with all my luggage and the flight was paid for my Cathy Pacific, all was well, i would see my ducks smiling.
    I touched-down at sometime after 4am in Cebu and applied for a 59 day visa at the airport and paid the fee, they never had any change for my 1000 peso notes so i had to let them keep the change, i was happy to be back on schedule and over the next few weeks i had to get used to the " have no change scenario "
    I arrived at my fiancee apartment and thought i might get a few hours sleep, that was a joke. Our wedding planner arrived 2 hours after me to take us to the British Consulate to exchange my CNI, we had 3 hours to get there and it was about a 40 minute drive, why was she so early?
    I soon found out, we had to fill out some question and answer sheets about marriage, this was so we could take the lector on the birds and the bees later on, where babies come from and now to keep your marriage alive, like we did not know.
    On the way to the Consulate i asked my fiancee if she had all the documents and i went thought them with her. She had forgotten her I.D, we turned round, now we were pushing time and the wedding planner was not to sure of the exact location of the British consulate. We finally arrived at the Consulate bang on time and all went well, we received my philippine version of the CNI and i was happy but getting tired, i fell asleep a few times in the afternoon while we were having counseling and marriage guidance session.
    All was well.


  2. #2
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    And....I take it you are on day 3 as you type?


  3. #3
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    We were very lucky as my 2nd trip to get married in Phils it all went smoothly despite some typhoon dodging on the way in. We didn't have so many ducks to play with as you.

    But I do recall nearly missing my first flight to Manila, first trip ever to meet my gf, when I misjudged the journey time form Gatwick to Heathrow - I did catch my plane but only just.....


  4. #4
    Respected Member Rory's Avatar
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    Just had a coffee,

    DAY 4
    Applying for the marriage license. The wedding planner cam e round early, we had to get to the health Centre in Cebu early to avoid being there all day. We finally got seen at midday. With my fiancee being under 25 years of age we got a her mother to write a letter giving her consent as her father was dead. This was not good enough and we had to have her mother present. She was 2 hours away in Argao on her farm. We had to get her to the Health Centre before the office closed at 5pm to get the license on the friday before the wedding, we had booked and paid for the wedding venue and the date was set for the 7th May. We also need the fathers death certificate which we did not have. We set off for Argao in the wedding planner cars, the roads in Cebu are bad enough nomally but we were driving quite erratic. We got to Argao in 90 minutes, 30 minutes to get her mother in the car and dresses-up. We got back at 4.30pm and got the paperwork signed off. We were missing the death certificate of her father but had to produce it when we came back in 10 days time.

    DAY 5,6 and 7 we went to Argao and stayed at her mother home, good to relax and recharge.

    The next 7 day while we waited for the license we had two prenuptial photo shoots, arranged and picked the cake, planned the flower arrangement, ate to much food and then got very ill. After the 10 day wait my fiancee had to go and pick up the license, i had not eaten in 2 days and could not get out of bed. It was 3 days before the scheduled wedding and i was starting to panic that i would not be able to make it.
    One other thing that was on my mind was the judge, we can priest. He kept saying he was busy and the only available time we had left was to see us was on the morning of the wedding!!!! I was thinking that he was going to charge an extortionate amount of cash as we would have to pay what ever we as asking, we had no choice.

    2 days before the wedding i was up and about, we went to the supermarket and got 3 dozen eggs and went to the church and gave then to the nuns. This is a tradition, so it should not rain on our wedding day. On the same day we bumped in to one of my fiancee's Auntie's in the Mall. This woman had a big chip on her shoulder and was not happy that one of the family was escaping the hardships of life in the Phillipines, she was always nice when i was around though for some reason.

    The morning of the wedding we saw the judge, 7000 peso was the cost, not that bad in the end. All was looking good. We had a few family member come round the apartment over the last few days before the wedding, they always came for an argument it seemed with other family members and my fiancee's brother and wife seemed to spend more time staying at the apartment then we did.
    Must be a philippine thing, they always stayed over and ate anything that moved without asking!!

    The wedding....

    My fiancee look beautiful and all looked like it was going smooth, we had the wedding rings tied to a pillow, this was the first time i had let the rings out of sight as there was a lot of guests walking around. We were all prepared and everything was ready. The wedding planner checked the rings on the pillow, one was missing it had been tied to the pillow, someone had taken the ring even before it was on my fiancee's finger and these were family and friends We waited 20 minutes for "someone" to find it but it never appeared and has not to this day. We used my fiancee's engagement ring that i gave her last October and we finally not married.




    The next day we flew to Boracay and had a week i will never forget.

    If you are going to get married in the Philippines then you have to be prepared for people to work at philippine speed, if we tell people the wedding starts at 5pm they will come at 5.15pm, this was the story with most people and there way of thinking so we arranged thing 30 minutes before they actually were.


  5. #5
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    Bad news about the wedding ring.....


  6. #6
    Respected Member Rory's Avatar
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    Someone made a fast buck out of it, even though it had my name, my wife's name and the date of our wedding engraved on the inside of the ring.


  7. #7
    Trusted Member Rosie1958's Avatar
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    Excellent write up Rory, sorry to hear it was so traumatic but glad you got there in the end! Congratulations to you and your lovely wife, you make a very handsome couple


  8. #8
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    Glad you got there in the end Rory, despite all the trauma, and thanks for the most interesting write-up

    Lovely wedding photo.

    I'll look out for you both in York.

    Quite right about 'Filipino time'.

    I had to dash off to the British Embassy halfway through my wedding because her name was spelled differently on a couple of docs.


  9. #9
    Respected Member bigmarco's Avatar
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    Nice post Rory and glad everything worked out in the end. Congratulations to you both


  10. #10
    Respected Member Rory's Avatar
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    Thank you for all your positive comments and congratulations. Only have the small matter of starting the visa process now.


  11. #11
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    Great write up Hope all goes well


  12. #12
    Trusted Member mickcant's Avatar
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    Very well written
    And a happy ending to the problems, all the best for your life together.
    Mick


  13. #13
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    Great post Rory

    Many congratulations to your both and here's wishing you a wonderful future together.

    Well done for getting through all the challenges and trials and emerging as the winner

    As the song goes "the winner takes it all"..............

    Nice pics too


  14. #14
    Respected Member jonnijon's Avatar
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    Just got mine to go through. Fly out on the 12th June never to return to the UK.
    I miss the chickens and the dogs and my woman, not in that order lol.


  15. #15
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    Good luck.

    Do drop in here now and again so we know where to seek you out for cheap lodgings in the Phils.


  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonnijon View Post
    Just got mine to go through. Fly out on the 12th June never to return to the UK.
    I miss the chickens and the dogs and my woman, not in that order lol.
    Yep good luck jonnijon.
    Hope you'll be able to post some updates on your progress. It'll certainly be helpful for me anyway.

    BTW did you go for your 13a here or are you following the Philippine route?


  17. #17
    Respected Member jonnijon's Avatar
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    Hi Terpe, Im taking the Philippine route. Getting married soon as we can, then my mahal will apply for my 13a visa.


  18. #18
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    Great story, and well done. Your wife looks beautiful. Congrats.


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