From my inbox: A380 updates, Philippine passport renewal and Cebu Pacific’s latest promo

G’day! I’ve been a bit busy settling this past few days in Melbourne. I know, I know, I’ve been here before so I should know how things work. But I actually haven’t really gone out yet, except for that trip to the market and to the Collingwood Children’s Farm (Wooly sheep! Cows with spots!). My accountant brother-in-law has until October 26 to file their family’s GST and both my sister and I are helping him organize 3 years worth of files.

Anywhoo, until my next post (the Gorillapod review), I’ll share with you a couple of messages I got in my inbox today.

JustWandering reader BBBB shares that the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark will be having a viewing of the A380 when it lands on October 12:

Good news! DMIA will be holding a public viewing of the aircraft on Friday, October 12 from 12PM to 4PM.

So if you’re itching to see this superjumbo in action, head on to Clark, since I don’t think there will be a public viewing at the NAIA. Philtranco has a shuttle from SM Megamall to the Clark Airport. Click here to view the schedule.

Pilipinas Teleserv, the company handling the passport renewals in the Philippines sent an e-mail, advising travelers to renew their passports way ahead of their travel dates:

Last September 17, 2007, the Department of Foreign Affairs had started issuing machine-readable passports to all passport applicants. Under the new system, applicants have to personally appear at the DFA, sign and affix their thumbprints on their application form before a consular officer.

Due to the shift to the new system and the expected surge in the number of passport applicants, people are advised to apply or renew their passports way ahead of their expected travel time. However, with that expectation, the DFA in coordination with Pilipinas Teleserv Inc., the foremost Citizen Services provider in the country, initiated the 24-hour Passport Assistance Hotline 737-1000.

With the 24-hour Passport Assistance hotline, renewal applicants can now call and have their passports picked-up and pre-processed for them. After pre-processing, the applicant will be scheduled to appear before the DFA consular officer where they will affix their thumbmarks and signature. Teleserv’s personnel will be ready to escort and assist the client the moment they arrive at the DFA. With this faster passport processing procedure dubbed “Green Lane Passport Assistance”, on the average, the process will only take about 10 minutes of the applicant’s time, doing away with long and tedious steps encountered by ordinary passport applicants. The service also comes with a door-to-door delivery that covers the whole country from Batanes to Jolo.

Unlike the old passport version, where the name and other personal information is written down, the new passport is similar to foreign visas, where a sticker containing all these data is stuck on the first page. Under ultraviolet light, the information page reveals the security features that include the seal of the Republic of the Philippines. The picture itself contains the name of the holder and a ghost-picture. On the inner pages, images like the sampaguita flower, Rizal monument, Mayon volcano and others can also be seen under UV light.

I’ve seen the new passport, and it does look different from the old green and brown one. The latest passport is maroon, with bluish pages.

Lastly, Cebu Pacific announces their latest Piso promo:

Fly Cebu Pacific to Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Macau for just ONE PESO!

Book 3 days / 2 nights Fun Tour packages inclusive of round trip fare for as low as 4,788 PESOS to Macau or Xiamen OR 5,788 PESOS to Shanghai or Guangzhou. For more details, contact our call center at (02) 70-20-888.

Hurry! The China Seat Sale is from October 9 to 15, 2007 only, for travel from November 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008.

I hope you find at least one of these bits useful XD Anyway, I’m off to do some filing. Whoever said I was on vacation?