Our first two days together here in Japan were quite hectic. But a fruitful one at that, though.
We finally found the perfect apartment for us, at the moment. Situated in Gumyoji, with a nearby convenience store and a neighbor park with a swing. We’ll have a library room, our bedroom, a Japanese-themed living room and a kitchen and dining room which are separated with a counter.
Charming, that’s the word I can describe for our new house. =)
Will hope to post pictures real soon.
The moment I received the agent’s text, telling me my passport is ready for pickup and that I was granted a 30-day tourist visa, my mind was echoing “yey!!” over and over again. I was in the bus at that time so of course I can’t scream my happiness so I just emailed H2B Atsushi about the good news and informed Kat & Rey that I need to go pick up my passport hence we need to change our meeting venue (we planned to watch Despicable Me which was really funny!). Aside from “yey” though, “thank you” was also prevalent in my mind and I so sent my thanks to the heavens above.
It seemed like a pretty long three weeks for us. Atsushi and I are quite new with processing government documents, and with no assistance (immigration lawyer and the like) we solely relied on the internet for guidance. Also, it was the first time for Reli Tours Southmall (the agency who assisted us in our application – all Japan visa applications, except for those government related ones, are now coursed through select agencies) to handle an application for tourist visa for the purpose of marriage. Hence, when we submitted our papers, we just based it on what was posted on the Embassy website and based on Reli Tour’s checklist which includes the following:
Of course, prior to application, I had to inquire in the embassy if it was legal to use tourist visa for the purpose of getting married. We received a positive reply that it was indeed legal – a happy thing.
After submitting to the Embassy though, the Embassy required for additional documents which included:
11. my CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage or Certificate of Singleness)
12. Atsushi’s Koseki Tohon (Family Register)
13. Further proof of our relationship (I printed more emails, hotel vouchers in Vietnam, flight itineraries, more pictures. I even printed out our Skype conversations)
14. Invitation letter from Atsushi’s dad including his Certificate of Seal (Inkan Shomei)
15. a letter recounting our love story which had to include when, where and how Atsushi and I met; our love story from the time we met up to now; when, where and time of proposal.
16. a copy of Atsushi’s passport including pages showing his departure and arrival stamp here in Philippines (as additional document, we showed the stamps in Vietnam as well).
Obtaining the documents required a lot of effort and time. Plus, Atsushi has to send the documents to me from Japan. There was also a time when we had to wait for the documents from Oto-san to arrive. Hence, waiting was quite a challenge. But truly, seeing my sakura-themed visa and thinking of imminent reunion with Atsushi, all the work and effort are all worth it.
This is just the first step as we still have a number of steps to comply before being legible to a spouse visa. But, one step at a time, and with prayers and God’s grace, we can make it through.
As Atsushi and I were munching our sumptuous breakfast in the beautiful Ancient House Resort in Hoian, we talked about our motif in our formal ceremony. I initially wanted it to be Spring colors – pink and brown. But after some discussion, we finally settled on Atsushi’s favorite color – Orange , which is to be combined with both our favorite color Green.
The combination of above colors is symbolic as well actually. It represents the transition from Summer (green) to Autumn (orange) which is around the month that we plan to have our civil wedding; the time of the year when we hope to be joined, civilly, as a couple – granting the powers that be will let us be….
PS (almost 2 months after I published this post):
I came across our wedding colors on Brides magazine (July/August 2009 issue) and I was thrilled even more with how lovely our colors looked!
The moment I knew of Mokume Gane rings, I fell in love with them already…
http://www.mokumeganeya.com/e/weddingband.html
And i’m so happy H2B (husband-to-be Atsushi) agreed! =D
Hopefully we’ll visit their place in Motomachi on September 12. Hopefully hopefully! =)
Having Mokune Gane art for our wedding rings is symbolic as well actually. Simply put, Mokume Gane is the art of melding and laminating different metals together, creating a pattern that resembles a wood. Having come from different countries with different cultures, our union as a married couple is also like a melding and forging of two different cultures and personalities into one couple. Hence, Mokume Gane ring is just perfect for us. I hope though, when we get to visit our choice jeweller, they’d be affordable as well. =D
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wow, Mokume Gane is impressive. They even have a research institute!!
We changed the blog title as Chocolate Hill since I was impressed with the shape of Chocolate Hills in Philipine. Someday, we want to go to chocolate hills. Ops, I have to get the documents required!!
Had my first foodtasting with one of Fernbrooks accredited caterers – Juan Carlo. Well, of course it was held in Fernbrooks. I was so thankful that Jane and Jonathan accompanied me. Otherwise, I would have looked pathetic foodtasting alone – other couples brought their friends and family with them. Funny thing though is that, since Jane and Jonathan were a couple, naturally the caterer contact and Fernbrooks agent talked to them first and not to me. I had to assert myself and say that I was the one getting married and that my groom is out of the country.
Now the food. Soup was the first one of course. It tasted like an instant soup. They presented two sets for us to taste and I think half of the food I should forget about and in fairness, half of it I liked ie:
– Pork with prunes and walnut
– Salmon with Tequilla (a teeeny weeny pinch of salt would make it heavenly)
– Chicken with Peri-Peri sauce
– Blue marlin in Lemon and butter
– Assorted pastries, one shaped in swan
Altogether, it was a great experience.