Eco's Within and Without

I am a history teacher! Yes, history is the first subject I taught in high school back in 2006. Since then, I have always been teaching history even if Literature and English language are my major subjects taught in the past 5 years. Besides, those subjects are not contradictory but complementary. I would always use history to give background to the literary text we are studying or use the words in Greeks and Latin to explain the meaning of a word in the English language. My exposure to historical topics and readings in history and background in philosophy and classical studies gave me enough fascination and appreciation of the value of artifacts and stuff of historical value. Many of those artifacts are credited from The British Museum. This is the reason why, when I was in England, I made sure that I visit the museum. And everything came alive when I saw those artifacts on display concretely in front of my eyes. The British Museum is located in located in the Bl...

The years 2017 and 2018 are the years full of travels. The travels are both work-related and for leisure. But the travels in the UK and Europe are dedicated only for family and friend visits and leisure. My stay in the UK was from 10 December 2017 to 10 January 2018. The plane itinerary was arranged by Gifto Travels Limited. The trip is from Manila International Airport Terminal 1 in the Philippines to Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar to Heathrow International Airport in London, England, and back. The round-trip itinerary was 647.67 GBP. Sandwiched within my stay in the UK is also a trip to Europe from 14 to 18 December 2017. I visited the cities of Paris, Brussels, and Ghent. My plane itinerary, Schengen travel insurance, and tour package were arranged by Trip Hub Travel Services – a travel agency based in Quezon City, Philippines. The insurance, which is a requirement for travel to any Schengen country, was 52 EUROS under the Pacific Cross Insurance, Inc. The air...

English breakfast The UK is an acronym of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Geographically, like the Philippines, it looks like an archipelago separated from the rest of mainland European countries. If the Philippines has the sobriquet, the Pearl of the Orient Seas , the UK seems to be a Pearl of the Occident Seas as it lies surrounded by waters and off the coast of European nations. It is also a nation that virtually influences many states on Earth because of its past commercial and colonial powers. It has left its hegemony over the nations that it commercially governed through the British East India Company during the time of colonization and over the states created by its former citizens. It is the origin of the English language which is widely learned by many people around the world today.  It is also known as England, but this is a misnomer because the UK includes other states and kingdoms such as Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Snow f...

Personal encounters never match vicarial knowledge of people and places.  This is a recount of my first long-haul flight. It was from Manila to London via Doha. Alighting the airplane in Qatar I left the Philippines from my house in Cavite on 10 December 2017. Two of my cousins accompanied me to the airport. As a backpacker with a limited budget, I always prefer to use public transport. I am also a minimalist when it comes to bringing baggage but I made it sure that I have some pasalubong for loved ones waiting for me in England. I had only my medium-sized luggage and a backpack containing my laptop and valuables in it. I took Qatar Airways for this journey. The first leg of the flight is from MIA to Hamad International Airport (HIA), Doha Qatar. The first flight lasted for 10 hours and 5 minutes. Thoughts of foreboding preoccupied me as I cannot imagine how it is to stay on air that long. If I remember my flight from Kuala Lumpur or Singapore back to t...

The famous Belgian waffle. Treat from Ganda. Hi, dear GoSolo traveler! This complements my blog about my adventures to the UK. I received my passport with approved visit visa more than two months before my departure to the UK. While waiting for my travel date, a “what if” question suddenly came to mind, “What if, I will make a side trip to Europe while in England?” After much consideration, my GoSolo mindset 'unanimously' answered, YES!  Filipino passport holders still need to apply for a separate visa to Europe even if they have a visa to the UK.  What I did first is to search the internet for blogs about traveling to Europe. There are many of them out there and this blog adds to their number. I hope the information here can complement the existing ones and help you prepare for your Schengen visa application. The following are the steps I did: 1. Choose a country in EU where you want to enter and apply for a visa there. Although it is in that speci...