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Homeschooling in the Philippines: how we read children’s ebooks online for free

20 February 2020 2 Comments

This post is part of my series on homeschooling. Click here to read more.

BABYBUG (March 2015) by Cricket Media — Screenshot of a spread from an issue of BABYBUG children’s magazine

My husband and I read picture books to our toddler everyday. It’s an enjoyable bonding activity, and many studies have shown the numerous benefits of reading aloud to children.

When our child was around 9 months old, my husband bought around three dozen used board books from Half Price Books and shipped them from the US in a balikbayan box, along with other baby stuff. We also ordered around a dozen board books in Filipino online from Adarna House and Pumplepie Books & Happiness. We thought these were plenty enough, but eventually we found it monotonous to read the same books over and over again. We’ve practically memorized all of her board books, which include classics like Goodnight Moon.

Now, it would be quite expensive to buy a new picture book every day, even if from a local used bookstore like Booksale. Besides, we find their board book selection for preschoolers to be quite meager — most of Booksale’s children’s books are for school-age kids.

I enviously look back at the time when I visited my cousin in the US years ago, and we went to her local public library. She borrowed tons of children’s books — as much as she could fill her large tote bag — for my young nephew, all for free.

Unfortunately, libraries here in the Philippines aren’t as impressive. Luckily, my husband’s US library card is still active. Searching his local library’s catalog online, I found that they have many picture books available as ebooks. They also have digital subscriptions to magazines tailored for toddlers like BABYBUG and Hello. We borrowed some issues on our iPad mini with their app, and we’re loving it so far. I was afraid the text would be too small on an iPad mini, but they’re quite legible.

Hello (March 2020) by Highlights for Children — Screenshot of a spread from an issue of Hello children’s magazine

Obviously, the tactile experience of reading on a tablet isn’t the same as holding an actual board book, but the price of zero can’t be beat. After rereading the same picture books for months, my husband and I can’t help but be excited at the prospect of reading a new story every day.

We are not one of those #ZeroGadget parents. We believe mobile devices are helpful if used wisely. We only read together up to about 45 minutes on the iPad. I will write more about our screen time policies in another post.

If you have close friends and family in the US (or other countries with good public libraries that have extensive digital catalogs), do ask them if they could share their library card with you.

How to apply for a Russian visa at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of the Philippines

18 June 2019 Leave a Comment

Russia visa issued by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of the Philippines

This guide is based on M.’s application for a tourist visa three months ago, and may not apply to other types of visas.

1. Prepare the requirements

Passport. Passport must be valid for at least 6 months after your date of exit from Russia.
Photograph. Passport-size picture must be taken within the last 6 months. Click here for specifications.
Voucher and confirmation from authorized Russian travel agency. You can purchase these online from iVisa for 3,000 Russian rubles (around USD 47). Upon payment via credit card or PayPal, the voucher and confirmation are delivered instantly to your email address.

iVisa_Confirmation_Tourist_Voucher

Tickets. The dates must match those on the voucher and confirmation.
Accommodation. iVisa requires that you provide them with your confirmed reservation(s). The dates must match those on the voucher and confirmation. I recommend booking online at Booking.com.
Travel insurance (optional). This is not required, but in the application form you will be asked if you have ‘health insurance that is valid in Russia’, and it’s better to answer ‘yes’. You can easily buy travel insurance online from World Nomads.
Application form. Form must be completed online at visa.kdmid.ru and printed on A4 or Letter paper. A few tips:
- Paste your picture on the space provided in the form. Do not staple.
- Dates of entry into and exit from Russia must match those on your tickets, voucher, and confirmation.
- You will be asked about the ‘host organisation you intend to visit’. Enter the details of the Russian agency which supplied your voucher and confirmation. If you got these from iVisa, enter the following information:
  - Company name: Visa Service LLC
  - Reference No: 015681
  - Address: Saint-Petersburg, Leninsky Avenue, 153 A, Office 706, 196247

2. Go to the embassy

The embassy has two locations in Makati: the main chancery in Dasmariñas Village and the consular office in Legazpi Village. Go to the latter. The exact address is: 4th Floor, RCI Building, 105 Rada Street, Makati City. You can apply as early as 3 months before your date of entry into Russia. For inquiries, you may contact the consular office at +63 (2) 810-9581 or philippines@bk.ru.

You may not get entertained the first time you visit the consular office, because:

Their office hours are limited. They are open only from 10 am to 12 nn on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
They have no appointment system. Applicants are entertained on a first-come, first-served basis.
They don’t accept applications by mail. Your application must be submitted by an actual person (either yourself, a representative, or a travel agent).
Only one consul works the consular window. There are two windows and several consular officers, so perhaps they will assign someone to work the other window in the future.
There are travel agents applying for multiple people. They take up the most time, as some of them are submitting the applications of 10, even 20+ (!) people in their group tours.

If you don’t want to have to come back on the next business day, here’s a tip: go to the consular office as early as 6 am. While the office may still be closed, their security guard is already on duty at that time. Have your name listed in his logbook. The earlier the better, so you can get ahead of all the travel agents. There are cafes and parks nearby where you can hang out until the office opens.

Also avoid going to the consular office on Russian holidays, as they will be closed. Their official holidays are as follows:

1-10 January – New Year Holidays
7 January – Christmas, Russian Orthodox
23 February – Defender of Motherland Day
8 March – International Women’s Day
1 May – Spring and Labor Day
9 May – Victory Day (Over German Nazism in the WW2)
12 June – Day of Russia
4 November – Day of the National Unity

3. Pay the visa fee

Upon approval of your application, you may choose between regular (2 weeks) or rush (1 week) processing. As of March 2019, a regular single-entry visa costs PHP 3,920 while rush costs PHP 7,840. The consul will hand you a claim slip to be presented at the nearest branch of United Coconut Planters Bank, namely UCPB Herrera, where you will pay the visa fee. The bank is just a short walk away.

After paying at the bank, return to the embassy and give the claim and deposit slips to the consul. The claim slip will be given back to you.

4. Claim your passport

You may personally claim your passport anytime during office hours on or after the date on the claim slip. Another person can claim your passport as long as they present the claim slip; no authorization letter is required.

How to build a cheap DIY playpen

29 August 2018 Leave a Comment

When family and friends learned that my husband and I were expecting our firstborn, many gave us their old baby gear, for which we are truly grateful. One of these hand-me-downs is a standard-size playard (aka play yard, playpen, or “baby jail”) from my cousin.

The playard (which sometimes doubled as a crib) truly served us well during the first several months, but now that our baby is starting to crawl, it was beginning to feel small. We wanted a bigger play area where our child can safely move around and do solitary play, as it’s important for us that our baby learns self-distraction. We’d still be watching, but from a close distance outside our child’s own space.

Searching online for something that’s available here in the Philippines, the closest to what we had in mind is the ENO baby fence, a modular playpen made in Korea. However, it’s quite expensive at around PHP 9,000 for a ten-panel enclosure.

And so we decided to just build our own playpen using PVC pipes and fittings, which are commonly used in plumbing. Now, there are websites saying that PVC is “bad for babies”, but I figured if it truly is toxic, many in this country would be dead by now, as PVC pipes are commonly used in our water supply.

For the playpen dimensions, we settled on 6 ft x 4 ft x 2 ft, with each side divided into 2-ft sections for more stability and support. As for the pipe size, we initially planned to use the cheaper 1/2-in pipes, but eventually decided to use the heavier 1-in ones for more sturdiness.

We already had a hacksaw, so we skipped buying a plastic pipe cutter. It is quite intuitive to assemble the frame; no instructions needed. Anyone can easily do it as long as the sections are cut properly and equally.

DIY playpen constructed using PVC pipes and fittings — Connecting the pipes

What about the sides and bottom, you ask? We thought of using polyester netting and a puzzle mat made of interlocking EVA foam, but we opted for fabric as we had some old blankets and comforters lying around. We secured the fabric on the frame using nylon rope. We’re quite satisfied with our finished product:

One thing we missed to install was padding on the pipes, as our child might bang hard against them. We plan to wrap the pipes with foam from an old mattress come laundry day, when we remove all the fabric for washing.

All in all, we spent less than 2,000 pesos on the frame. All the materials we used are easily available at any hardware store.

Quantity	Item	Price	Amount
8	1-inch PVC pipes (3 meters)	105	840
8	1-inch PVC elbows (90 degrees)	18	144
28	1-inch PVC tees (equal)	19	532
1	Nylon rope (50 meters)	250	250
		Total (PHP)	1,766

It’s been a week since we installed the playpen, and our baby can now crawl from one end to the other. Later we plan to add a DIY pull-up bar inside so our child can practice pulling up to stand.

Trying out adlai, a local alternative to rice for Filipinos

12 August 2018 1 Comment

In the Philippines, no meal is complete without rice, our main source of carbohydrates. Filipinos are so addicted to rice — white rice in particular — that most of us treat dishes of other carb sources, such as pasta or ramen, as just “snacks”. Some even pair other carbs like pancit as the ulam to their rice!

I’ve long been wanting to reduce my white rice consumption, as research has shown that too much intake of white rice, with its high glycemic index, is “associated with a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in Asian…populations” (Hu et al, 2012). I once tried to quit rice cold turkey, but obviously that didn’t last long (lol). I tried substituting with potato, but it still felt kulang. Same with corn. One alternative I tried that felt as filling as rice was quinoa, a pseudocereal native to South America, but it’s an outrageously expensive imported product (PHP 800+ for just a 26-oz pack at Healthy Options).

So when I heard about a supposedly healthier rice substitute that is grown locally called adlai, my interest was piqued. Adlai — also known as adlay, Chinese pearl barley, coix seed, hatomugi, or Job’s Tears — is a gluten-free “heirloom” grain that belongs to the same family as rice and corn. Although it’s only just starting to become widely known in the country, apparently the Subanen tribe of Zamboanga has long been cultivating adlai as their staple food.

Last week, I bought a pack of adlai online from The Hineleban Store. So how does it stack up?

Hineleban Adlai

Cost. Adlai is more expensive than local black rice, but definitely more affordable than quinoa.
Health. Adlai has a lower glycemic index than brown rice (Lin et al, 2010).
Nutrition. According to the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), adlai contains more carbs, fat, and protein and provides more energy (calories) than rice or corn. (There are some lifestyle blogs that claim adlai is low-carb and low-cal compared to rice, but I’m more inclined to believe BAR than them.)
Taste and Satiety. These are subjective, but I like the taste of adlai better than quinoa. Its texture also felt close to rice, unlike corn or potato. It also felt more filling than rice; I consumed only around 1/3 cup of adlai per meal.

Cooked adlai I’ve been eating adlai instead of rice for a week now, and so far haven’t experienced any rice withdrawal symptoms (lol). I can definitely see adlai as a viable alternative to rice for Pinoys; the barrier is its hefty price tag because of low supply. There was a push by the Department of Agriculture for more adlai cultivation by local farmers, but it seems to have petered out. Here’s hoping they actively promote adlai farming again so its price would go down.

Review: The Hineleban Store (hinelebanstore.com)

4 August 2018 1 Comment

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about a healthier rice alternative that is grown locally here in the Philippines called adlai (also known as adlay, Chinese pearl barley, coix seed, hatomugi, or Job’s Tears). Eager to try it out, I searched for adlai online and found only a few specialty stores that carry it.

One of these shops is The Hineleban Store, which sells adlai farmed by indigenous communities in Bukidnon. At first I was hesitant to buy from the site because it’s not even secure:

For an online store in this day and age, not using HTTPS is just plain lazy. Still, I went ahead and made an account (using an alternate email address) because among the few local online shops that carry adlai, The Hineleban Store sells it the cheapest at PHP 250 for a 1-kg pack. All the other shops are selling it at PHP 300+ per kilo. They also accept cash on delivery, which is good — there was no way I was entering sensitive credit card information on an insecure site.

So I placed an order, got a confirmation email, and logged out of the site. After a week of no order updates, I tried to log in to the site again. Lo and behold, I couldn’t. I tried to reset my password, but it didn’t work in Chrome or Firefox. Finally it worked in Safari, but upon logging in I found that the order is still “Processing”.

At this point I simply gave up. So I was surprised when the adlai arrived nearly two weeks later, as I had nearly forgotten about it.

TL;DR: The site is insecure and very buggy, but it’s legit. You will eventually receive your order. Points for improvement:

Get an SSL certificate. Seriously, plain HTTP doesn’t cut it for an e-commerce site. Even this site, which is just a blog, uses HTTPS.
Hire a better WooCommerce developer, or just switch to Shopify. Buggy password reset, no shipping confirmation, no tracking number — right now it’s just not up to par. Even after the order arrived, it’s still marked “Processing” on the site.

How to apply for a Social Security number (SSN) for an infant at the US Embassy in the Philippines

15 July 2018 4 Comments

In my previous post, I wrote about our successful application for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) and US passport at the US Embassy in Manila for our infant child. With CRBA and passport in hand, my husband and I then applied for our child’s Social Security number (SSN).

The process was quick and easy, because unlike in some other countries, the US Embassy in the Philippines has a Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) onsite that provides Social Security services. Personal appearance is also not required for children under 12 years old.

This guide is based on our infant child’s application; additional documents and personal appearance are required for children who are 12 years of age or older.

1. Prepare the requirements

Present the original documents. There is no need to photocopy them; the FBU personnel will make the copies themselves.

Child’s Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
Child’s unexpired US passport
Unexpired passport of the parent who will sign the application
Application for a Social Security Card. There are two forms available; fill up and sign only one. Both are fillable PDF files, so type in your answers before printing your preferred form on US Letter (8.5″ x 11″) paper. There is no need to print out the first few pages of instructions; just the last page (the actual form) will do.
- Form SS-5 (for US address) – card will be delivered to US address within two weeks
- Form SS-5-FS (for non-US address) – card will be delivered to Philippine address within five months

2. Go to the embassy

The FBU is open on weekdays (except during US and Philippine holidays) from 8 am to 3 pm. There is no need for an appointment. A few tips:

Arrive before 1 pm. The FBU staff can only access the system until 1 pm. If you arrive well before that, they can process your application immediately and have the SSN ready the next business day. If you arrive after 1 pm, they will still accept your application, but will process it the next business day.
Leave electronic devices behind. Cellphones and the like are not allowed inside the embassy.

3. Wait for the card to arrive

A week after we submitted our application, the Social Security card arrived in the mail in the US. If you choose to have it delivered to the Philippines, don’t fret — although you may have to wait for up to five months for the physical card, the actual number will be available within two business days.

If you want to know the SSN right away, provide the FBU staff with your local mobile number. They cannot divulge it over the phone for privacy and security reasons, but they will call to inform you if the SSN is already available. The parent who signed the application form can simply present his/her valid passport and the child’s valid US passport to the FBU to get the SSN.