16th April 2014, it is finally the day, the day of my move to the United Kingdom after a long visa process of almost a year. Neither do I feel anxious, excited nor sad during the departure, but everything seems to be so abnormally calm. Perhaps I knew deep down that this is the road I have chosen and I have to follow the path no matter how challenging it might be.
This long visa process which started since mid-2013 includes:
- Certificate of Sponsorship Application by the company
- IELTS Examination
- TB Test at the appointed hospital
- Biometric Appointment at the visa centre
- Online Visa Form Application and Payment
- Documents submission to the British Embassy in Manila
- Final Entry Clearance & Visa Approval
Thanks to few of my best mates who sent me off at the airport as well as those who wished they could have made it there for me. I appreciate the wishes, gifts and red packets from all my dearest friends and colleagues. Your warm wishes are well received and remembered with me to this far away land.
With 2 medium + 1 small luggage bags and my hand-carries, I arrived at the Heathrow Airport at 5.50am. This move is indeed not as easy as one might think it could be, whereby this is a totally new life for me to be all alone by myself in an alienated country. Upon my arrival at the Heathrow airport, I am still as calm as I shouldn’t be while waiting for my boss to fetch me. It might be due to the long journey which took me 13 hours and 10 minutes and I am still half-awake from my dream.
Being surrounded by a totally unfamiliar culture and environment, I needed to explore everything by my own. Without internet access or a laptop, my life could be so miserable knowing not what to do sitting alone in the apartment. I have thus taken a decision to travel to a nearby town- Staines to get myself a mobile sim package, because the town that I am staying was rather small and was not well equipped with all basics even though the street that I am staying was considered the centre of the town. This pre-rented one room apartment was just nice for me, having a supermarket few steps away which is very convenient and it was only a 5 minutes walking distance from the train station and office.
My first try on Pay-As-You-Go Lebara sim offers 500MB of internet at £5, but 500MB was so little that I finished them just in few days. Again I went to Staines but this time with more researches done and decided to go with the monthly Pay-As-You-Go Three sim at £15 with unlimited data.
I am absolutely grateful with my life for being surrounded by angel/angels whenever I am in predicament. They are beautifully described as angel because they are unconditionally supporting me in facing the different challenges in life.
