Breakfast for Dinner

Wouldn't you just love to have breakfast for dinner?  I mean, pancakes and all those deliciously oily stuff for an evening meal.  I know its not healthy, but you don't get to do that everyday.  Well, I guess not everybody anyway.

On one of our spontaneous road trips, we found ourselves craving for a good hearty breakfast.  You know, the kind of meal where everything is fried and a guarantee that will have your blood pressure shooting out of proportions.  Unfortunately that was already 6 pm, something fried and oily from fast food chains just don't make the cut.  And then we found the restaurant of all restaurants for big time breakfast meals - IHOP.

I was so happy to finally have pancake for dinner.  We usually don't get to do that.  Knowing Filipinos, rice is the common denominator in every meal.  As my husband always say, a meal is not a meal without rice served on the plate.  Anyway, since we were in breakfast land, I was able to muscle him to order pancakes and breakfast meals and skip the side of rice.

It took us some time to choose what to order.  The menu just goes on and on.  And we can't seem to decide which one to pick.  My husband ordered the breakfast sampler, two bacon, two sausages, two turkey hams, two eggs, a hash brown and two fluffy pancakes.  While I ordered the Pick-a-pancake combo - two eggs, two bacon, hash brown and two fluffy pancakes.  I'm not a huge fan of pancakes with flavors so I went with the buttermilk.  There were four syrups on the table, might as well try each of it and it goes well with the basic pancake recipe.  The winner is butter pecan.  It was just so perfect with the pancake. I'm a bit disappointed with the pancake, maybe because I wanted it to absorb the syrup but not dissolve with it.  Maybe I'm just comparing it with Mcdonald's pancakes or even my pancakes.  I prefer my pancakes fluffly and yummy but don't crumble.

Pick-a-Pancake combo

Breakfast Sampler

The Syrups! Old Fashioned, Blueberry, Butter Pecan and Strawberry

We would have ordered more, but we have already reached our quota for sinful goodies for one week.  I guess, we just have to visit IHOP again to try out more of what's in their menu.

Sad to say, IHOP is only in Dubai, I do hope they would open one soon in Abu Dhabi.

For the menu of IHOP click here. 

Abu Dhabi Visa for Philippine Passport Holder

I have been pretty up to my neck for a couple of weeks and haven't got the time to post something relevant.  And since I'm not really in the mood to work right now, might as well pour it all out where no one gets hurt.

I think I have already posted similar topic on this blog or on the other blog.  Anyway, this is a fresh take on how to apply for visit visa for Philippine passport holder.

With the recent move of the Philippine government, spearheaded by Vice President Binay, changes in Ninoy Aquino International Airport is being implemented.  Actually this is long overdue.  Immigration officers or even airline staffs connived to make this subtle robbery of Filipinos who want to try their luck abroad. It is shameful, I don't want to start with what the people I personally know have gone thru just to make it outside the country.

Hopefully this overhaul of manpower will be beneficial to everyone planning to to go over the greener side of the fence.

Back on the process, rules and procedures often change here in Abu Dhabi.  Especially with applying for visit visa and tourist visa.  My parents are coming over (because they miss me!) as well as my brother.  While asking around on what to do and how to apply for their visa I learned the difference between visit visa and tourist visa.  I was planning to apply for tourist visa for my parents and brother since they will be coming in as tourists.

So we went to the typing center right next to Abu Dhabi Naturalization & Residence Directorate (ADNRD) to apply.  What you need to bring:
      - Passport copy of the person you wish to sponsor
      - Passport size ID picture of the person to be sponsored
      - Your passport copy
      - Salary certificate in Arabic
      - Employment Contract
      - Residence visa copy
      - Residence Contract copy

Turned out, we can apply visa just for my parents.  For my parents we can sponsor them under visit visa.  As for my brother we have to apply for a tourist visa.  Per UAE ruling, only parents, wife and children can be sponsored by any expatriate with a basic salary more than AED 4,000.00.  We spent AED 570.00 for the visit visa per parent.  Plus a deposit of AED1,000.00 and health insurance of AED 40.00.  This deposit will be returned once the visitor, in my case my parents, leave the country.  Thr tourist visa we just visited one travel agency and applied for a tourist visa at a cost of AED 800.00 without deposit.  Alhtough some travel agents will require a deposit ranging from AED 5000-7000.  Also, refundable once the tourist leaves the coutrny.  Visa application will only take 3-5 days.  This visa should be used within 60 days after issuance and holder is allowed to stay in the country for 30 days.

Also, to avoid any problems for relatives or friends visiting UAE, they should have an affidavit of support sent by the person who they will be visiting here in UAE.  This document can be taken from the Philippine Embassy.  You have to fill up a form and attach your passport copy, passport copy of the sponsored person.  Since, its my husband who sponsored my parents we also included our red ribbon-marriage certificate and my passport copy.  The affidavit will take one week to process and will cost AED 100 per person.  Once we got the documents, we sent it to the Philippines through FedEx (Shameless plugging).

Next on my list of things to do is just plan their stay here.