Michi Photostory

This tradition is also celebrated in other Scandinavian countries like Norway and Denmark every March 25. This is also spread to other counties too and it became a worldwide sensation. India celebrates it in July and United States celebrates it in August. 

Every country makes and eats waffles in different ways, I love waffles and I like them with Nutella or Cream Cheese + Whipped Cream. Sometimes I add jam and a scoop of ice cream. I already have my own waffle maker but I like the heart-shaped waffle maker in Norway so I asked my mom to buy one for me and I got it this year. 

Little did I know that after several weeks, I would be flying to Norway again and be able to celebrate National Waffle Day. Typical Norwegians, eat waffles with sour cream, jam, brown cheese, and savory toppings. Honestly, we really did not plan it, it just so happened that my mom decided to make waffles because we have leftover kremfløte. She knew that we liked waffles with whipped cream. 

After eating our waffles, she found out that last Friday was National Waffle Day. Since eating waffles is common here in Norway, you can find recipes even on TINE milk cartons. 

Vaffel or Waffle Recipe 

4dl hvetemel (wheat flour) 

1 ts bakepulver (baking powder) 

1/2 ts natron (baking soda) 

1 dl sukker (sugar) 

1 ts vaniljesukker (vanilla sugar) 

1 ts malt kardemomme (cardamom) 

1/2 ts salt I dl TINE Helmelk (whole milk) 

3dl TINE Kulturmjølk (cultured milk) 

2dl TINE Lettrømme (light cream) 

2 egg 100g TINE Meierismør (dairy butter)

I am applying for a Visitors Visa because my mom lives in Norway so if you have family or relatives in Norway, this post might be helpful. 

A visitor's visa allows you to stay in Norway or other countries in the Schengen area for up to 90 days over a period of 180 days. 

Citizens of the Philippines must apply for a visitor’s visa. The Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok is responsible for processing applications from the Philippines. 

I downloaded the checklist here, this is the only checklist I used so I was shocked when I found this checklist while I’m writing this blog, I’m not sure if this is already available when I downloaded the checklist last January. Upon checking, I was not able to submit the C-Visa Questionaire, good thing that our visas are still approved. (Update: My brother informed me na yung first checklist ang tinatanggap ng VFS hindi yung may C-Visa Questionaire)

I’m a full-time mom so I submitted the following documents 

Original passport + printed copy of bio pages and used pages of passport

Passport photo 

Cover letter from the Application Portal Norway

Travel medical insurance 

Reservation of a round-trip flight ticket 

Proof of funds (UDI forms) 

Proof of ties (PSA Marriage Cert, Birth Certificate of my son, and Bank Certificate) 

Invitation Letter 

Proof of relationship (PSA Birth Certificate) 

Copy of the reference’s passport 

For my son who is still a student, I added 

Copies of both parents’ IDS with signature 

Legalized letter of parental consent (traveling without parents or one parent only) 

Certificate of Enrollment 

Copy of School ID 

My PSA Birth Certificate 

Go to UDI Application Portal to register and submit your application form. You can apply for individual or group applications. 

After submitting our visa form online, we can already book an appointment. There is no group appointment so we have to book individually but we can submit our application together. I did not check the appointments before because, from my past experiences, lagi may available slots. Unfortunately, last month, I waited for more than two weeks before we were able to submit our documents and because of that, nadelay din visa namin. 

Create an account and choose your schedule. 

Download and print the Letter of Appointment from your registered email. 

Pay your visa application online (Visa and Mastercard) 

80EURO - Visitor’s Visa for adults and children over 12 years old 

40EURO - Visitor’s visa for children between 6 and 12 years old 

NO FEE - Visitor’s visa for all children under the age of 6 

Download and print the receipt. 

I paid 160EURO or PHP9,642.97 

There are 2 Visa Application Centers for Norway, one in Makati and one in Cebu. Of course, I chose Makati. We arrived before 7AM, the office was still closed but the line was already long. From the time na tinawag kami, it took us more or less an hour sa pagsubmit ng documents and biometrics.

For my past applications, I only paid for VFS fee but now, ang dami na additional and the staff did not ask if for pick up or deliver, he just gave me LBC shipping form so I guess it is mandatory already because of COVID19. Pero Yung SMS, sinama pa rin niya sa babayaran ko, nakatotal na agad sa receipt. 

PHP1502 - VFS Service Fee 

PHP175 - Courier Fee (Bangkok) 

PHP140 - SMS 

PHP370 - LBC Courier 

Total is PHP4374 (2 persons) 

Visa processing is 15 calendar days starting from the time the embassy received the documents. 

For our previous two applications, we did not avail of the SMS but we received an email update that our visas are already approved and we can already pick up our passports. I can also track our visa application online.

On the day that we submitted our applications, we received an email stating “Your visa application ref no. 123 will be forwarded to the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok on the next working day from ___." But after that, I no longer receive any updates. I paid PHP140 x 2 for the SMS but I’m not getting real-time updates and the online tracking is useless too. 

After 10 days of no SMS update, I finally emailed VFS regarding the status of our visa and after few hours, sunud-sunod dumating yung email update. Ang weird lang kasi pare-pareho yung date, kung anong date ako nag-email. 

So lahat ng yan, nangyari sa loob ng isang araw. I was happy that our passports arrived in Manila but I was disappointed because we paid for SMS update but there was no real-time update. Kung hindi pa ako nag-email, hindi ko malalaman status. 

After a few hours, VFS replied “Please be informed that as per VFS Norway Visa Application Centre, Your passport arrives today at VFS Global Center and is handover to LBC Express. Please visit the LBC website for tracking.” 

I started tracking our package pero nakatulog na lang ako wala pa rin status sa LBC but when I woke up, I was surprised na nasa area na namin yung package and I received our package within the day. 

For our past two applications, we usually received an email regarding the visa decision, so alam na namin kung approve or hindi but this time, nalaman ko na lang nung natanggap namin passport. We got an approved visa and we got a MULTIPLE SCHENGEN VISA but when I checked the date, multiple lang siya within our travel dates (3 Months). Toinks. Akala ko pa naman makakatipid na ko sa pag-apply ng Schengen Visa. 

Processing time is 15 days, we got our passport after 11 days while my cousin received her passport after 14 days. So matagal siya compared sa dati nung nasa Philippines pa yung embassy ng Norway. 

Two months ago, I started processing our Schengen Visa Application and one of the mandatory requirements is Schengen Travel Insurance but this time, the insurance must cover COVID-19. You must have valid travel insurance as below:   

• must cover necessary medical treatment and emergency hospital care 

• must cover repatriation because of illness, injury, or death 

• must cover at least EUR 30,000 

• must be valid throughout the Schengen area 

• must cover Covid-19 

• must be valid for the whole period you plan to stay in Norway or in the Schengen area. 

For our past travels, I’ve been purchasing our Schengen Travel Insurance at Malayan Insurance Company because I can buy it online. So in my mind, I won’t have any problem but when I checked Malayan website, there was a pop-up box stating. 

“Due to system improvements on our eCommerce site, the TravelMaster with Covid- 19 Coverage may be purchased from a Malayan Insurance branch near you. You may also get in touch with us through email at travelchannel@malayan.com or call us +639189457302 to apply.” 

And because of this, I started checking other insurance that I can buy online but I was informed that their travel insurance with COVID19 coverage is not available online too. Since I tried Malayan before, I want to try other insurance companies and among the 3 new travel insurances that I inquired about, I settled for Pacific Cross. Simply because they have the cheapest rate but it took me almost a week just to buy our Schengen travel insurance. Matagal kasi ang reply nila sa email, sometimes I need to text pa na nag-email ako. If mabilis reply nila, tapos siguro within the day. 

January 31 - contact Pacific Cross via an online form

February 2 - submitted our travel insurance application forms 

February 4 - paid for our travel insurance online. (They gave me an instruction and link where to pay). I emailed the proof of payment. After a few hours, I received our travel insurance. 

My documents were complete so I thought I could already submit our application last February 7 but I was surprised kasi last week na ng February yung available schedule. Waah! We were supposed to fly first week of March so I can attend my mom’s 60th birthday but it did not happen because of the delayed visa.

And because of this, I have to email Pacific Cross to Change my Travel Period (Subject to approval). 

March 4 - emailed Pacific Cross to change the date of our insurance. 

March 7 - submitted our OCC Cancellation/Refund Forms 

March 10 - I received our updated travel insurance. 

Good thing that I always have a printed copy of our travel insurance because, during our trip, the Immigration Officer asked for this document. This was the first time that IO asked for a copy of our insurance, most of the time return ticket ang tinatanung.

I mentioned before that we stayed at Cochs Pensjonat so we also saved money on food because we cooked our own food. So Asian Box is the only restaurant that we’ve tried in Oslo Norway. Asian Box started its business on April 15, 2016, it is the first Asian restaurant inspired by Asian street food. This restaurant serves Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Korean and other flavors from all over Asia with a crossover to French Cuisine. 

The restaurant has two floors with urban design and the second floor is perfect for small or large parties. We stayed at the first floor and upon seated, the staff gave us the menu. There are few choices so my husband ordered Tom Kha Ghai and the rest of us ordered Pork Belly and extra rice. 

Tom Kha Ghai is a “fresh Thai soup with chicken, park choi, galangal, mushroom, coconut milk, lemon and lime leaves”. 

Pork Belly is “braised thin ribs that have been marinated in 5 spice sand garlic for 3 days, then slow-cooked. Topped with coriander, spring onions and sauce. Served with stir-fried vegetables and rice”. 

They aimed to serve simple and balanced meal but at the same time aesthetic. And looking at the food and after eating our meal, I can definitely say that they have achieved that. After our lunch, we went back to our hotel to pack our things, end of our Scandinavian Trip.

Starting today until the end of March, Creative Fabrica will be launching amazing surprises from giveaways to special deals and free bundles! 

Starting the promo today with a spectacular giveaway:  One lucky winner gets the chance to win a Cricut Mug Press, a Cricut Explore 3 + vinyl, and tools kits! The giveaway will go on until March 7th, 2022.

Update: The crafting month is ending with a huge giveaway starting from March 28 to March 31, 2022.

Learn how to join this massive giveaway on Creative Fabrica’s Crafting Month Giveaway page. Below you can find a calendar overview highlighting the upcoming offers during this promo.