Lost at Pohnpei

Whenever I remind myself of an errand that I was supposed to do for the day, my mind is stuffed with the thought of it until I accomplished what I was supposed to do. Only then, would I be able to breathe in the air around me.

I woke up prepared to do two things for the day:

1. Go to the Immigration Office
2. Do my laundry

Cool! After the morning rounds I prepared my Alien Registration Form and filled out the data required. Jordan was still asleep, since it was just the two of us who needed to submit our papers, I had to wake him up from his deep slumber.

Done.

Then there was just one more thing we needed, a car.

We met Sue and I borrowed her car. I got the keys then ran to the parking for a trip to the Immigration office.

It was a short drive and the immigration office was hard to miss.

“Mensang mau (Good morning)!” I greeted the first uniformed guy I saw then I prepared my papers for the application.

These were the requirements needed:

1. Passport
2. Photocopy of the Entry permit
3. Pohnpei SSS number
4. Accomplished Alien Registration Form
5. Accomplished FSM-5004 form (FSM Immigration Service Arrival and Departure Record)

The duration of processing the Alien Registration Certification depended on the typing speed of the person who processed the papers. Mine took only a few minutes.

We bought $2.00 worth of gas ($3.91 per gallon), then returned the car to its rightful owner.

Doing the Laundry

The perks of having friends is that sometimes, they take care of you a lot. I am lucky to have such friends. I asked for their help in doing the laundry and they did just that.

Jordan and Cha had the day off, so I asked for their help.

Unfortunately I had to go back to work so I left them at the laundry. Hey, our clothes were mixed together so, everyone benefited from the common laundry carpool (sort of).

I knew I had to do something for them, so, when we were finally together, the five of us went to meet our pilot friend at his office. Bjron was a Swedish who tests helicopters here on the island.

When the sun was about to set, we went to Cupid’s Bar and Grill. The place was reminiscent of the place called “Overlooking” at Antipolo, Rizal (Philippines) minus the smog and traffic.

As soon as I got back to my room, I realized that I had a kilo of folding to do. My newly washed clothes needed some TLC and it almost took me forty minutes to accomplish that task. The luxury of having a maid wasn’t practical in this situation.