Well this is it- the SSRV application form! SSRV stands for Special Resident Retirees Visa and it is issued by the PRA ( Philippine Retirement Authority) for people like me who want to retire to the Philippines. I first filled it in back in August 2021 and sent it for Pre evaluation and the PRA sent me a load of corrections I needed to make. However I lost the soft copy of that email, and they could not trace it , so I was only able to find the hard copy in a file I had left in storage in Bahrain. In the meantime I checked with the PRA from Dubai what they required now the borders were open to get into the Philippines. First they needed me to have a medical with a variety of tests and x-rays which I had done by the lovely people at Awali hospital between 16 and 21 February.
My medical form and tests/ x-ray and report- nearly 200 bd worth!
Next on the list of requirements from PRA was an updated Good Behaviour Certificate from MOI ( I had one done in Feb 2021 when I left Bapco but it expired in May 2021 so I have to get another)
This proved slightly harder to get as I need a letter from Bapco Security and a form from MOI and neither have responded to several emails requesting them. Then I have to book an appointment with the MOI on the skiplino app ( which took several days last year to get) and then turn up with 1 bd, my passport, CPR and copies of each and a passport style photo). I will chase this up again in the coming week and make my appointment by Mid February inshallah.
The next mystery with the MOI is that I have to get all my documents apostilled by a Ali Saleh Abdullah at the Legalisation office of the Ministry of Interior ( MOI) here in Bahrain. I emailed him in August 2021 to arrange this but the automated reply said he did not exist. I emailed the PRA, MOI and Bapco Security to see who I should contact but had no reply. I will try and resolve this when I go to the MOI for the GBC.
Corleen packing my Balikbayan Box
The one thing I have managed to do is send all the items I have acquired in the last years delay here in Bahrain to Palawan in a Babikayan box- thanks to Corleen for his assistance in this. So now there is just me and one suitcase to go!
Special thanks to Miss A for paying for afternoon tea for my friends and I at The Orangery
Another little problem was that I spent all the money that the nice people at Bapco gave we after I left in Feb 2021. Yes, £80,000 gone in one year. New prescription glasses , sunglasses, Cannon camera, AUS laptop, four months vacation in Dubai, 1 month vacation in Oman and 7 months living expenses in Bahrain. I also had to pay 700 bd for my flexi visa and pay for storage of my belongings in Palawan and house rental there for a month. My scholars and friends in Palawan have also had 5,440 BD ( 742,796 Peso). That includes their Christmas presents , 2 x 21st Birthday presents, plus gifts for my Inaanak, my friends marriage, a Christmas night out at Microtel Puerto Princessa and living expenses. Then the Blog and vlog costs money to run ( 1500 bd / 205, 000 Philippine peso in 2021/2) and I sent 200 bd to help repair rooves damaged by Typhoon Odette in December) . So now I have had to contact my brother in the UK , who manages all my finances, to see if I can release one of my pensions earlier than planned so I have money to live on. That has involved numerous emails, spreadsheets, revised cashflows for the Philippines and Bahrain and sadly cutting my expenditure on Chester and my anaks for the rest of the year. I have also had to write to the Tax office in the UK ( HMRC) as my Compass pension ( my first income from the UK in 12 years) will be liable to tax, although the UK tax threshold.
The financial crisis, caused by my overspending and the value of my investments falling due to the war in Ukraine, meant that I had to forgo my planed trips to the Formula one Grand prix, and the Kings of Leon and Eric Clapton concerts ! Hopefully one of my friends with Wasta ( Reem and Ali please note) will get me some free tickets! I even got invited to a free afternoon tea with Coco and Corleen at The Orangery at the Palace hotel by our dear friend , Miss Andrea, who gave us all beautiful belated Christmas presents.
Not sure why everyone buys me food and then complain I am too fat!
Sadly the Dubai days of eating at the top restaurants like Indego by Vineet , Rhodes Twenty 10, Bijou, The Nine, XVA, Arabian tea rooms and Arabian Courtyard are long gone and I am back to cooking in my apartment in Hidd. The good news is I got a reduction on the price of my apartment and my car hire when I returned! With the reduction in money for vlogs I replaced my recipe vlogs with recipe blogs:
TJ loved the sausage recipe and asked me to cook it for her when I arrived in Palawan - my pleasure po, just as soon as I get the paperwork from Bapco security and the MOI!
My slow cooked Sausage casserole
Grecil is also looking forward to me being there for her 21st Birthday celebrations at Nacpan in April. It is these little messages of hope that keep me going through these difficult boring days.
So how do I spend my time while I wait for the paperwork I need to leave Bahrain? Writing blogs, catching up with my friends in real life and online, and cooking mainly. I started intermittent fasting in Dubai at the suggestion of my Fitness instructor, Bazz, and so usually have breakfast at 930 am, Lunch at 11. 30 pm and then dinner around 4 pm and then fast from 5 pm to 9 am. They call this 16/8 as we eat for 16 hours and fast for 8 hours. The tracker on my mobile phone ( called Fasting tracker , as people keep asking) lets me know how long it is until my fast ends, and shows how many hours I fasted each day so far.
One of the summary pages from the fasting app
I then have another app called Sweatcoin that records how many steps I do each day and my target is 5000 steps a day. At first I recorded Vlogs as I went , but due to the financial crisis I am now turning my walks into Blogs. Special thanks to Neil G who has been providing walking routes to keeping me from getting bored and MK for setting up the apps for me and giving me daily encouragement via WhatsApp form Dubai!
As you can see I need to catch up on my walking !
Here are 2 of the Vlogs I recorded on my longer walks and one of the blogs in case you missed them!
TBK tries- walking at Sitra Causeway - The British Kabayan- Blog
City walk, Al Najma to Coral Bay, part 1 - Vlog
City walk , Al Najma to Coral Bay, part 2 - Vlog
"So is this fasting and exercise having any impact?" I hear you ask.
Yes it is- 10 kg lost since 3.1.22! My next target from Baz is to get to 102 and then on to 92kg. This is having a positive impact on my Body Mass Index ( BMI- as shown on my BMI tracker!)
But still a long way to go to my target BMI when I weigh 80kg-
The important thing is that my weight is at last back on a downward trend and thanks to the staff at Awali hospital for weighing me each week, to Bazz in Dubai who motivated me to get fit again and to MK and Chester for all the trackers/ apps and spreadsheets!
As well as getting fit and loosing weight all this activity keeps my mind off the delays in getting to the Philippines and lets me say a last ( I hope) farewell to all my favourite places in Bahrain!
Until then, Ingat Palagi and Kita kits Palawan
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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