IF ONLY....

While in Switzerland, I learned a few things that reminded me of a valuable lesson in life...

-Switzerland is a small country but they are one of the richest and most economically stable counrties in the world for the past 100 years.

-A third of their land is made up of mountain ranges which is filled with snow about two thirds of the year, and greatly reduces their farming land by a lot. Yet they took great care of these mountains and their landscape. Eventually, these same mountains are now bringing them money by drawing in tourists and keeping their cows happy and healthy, producing high quality milk for excellent cheese and dairy. They also tapped into the melting snow from the mountains and kept their lakes and rivers clean. Everywhere in the Switzerland, you will find potable water in water fountains. Many people live near the lake and rivers but they have designed their sewage system to not polute the bodies of water next to them. Today, their lakes and rivers are some of the cleanest in the world.

-No cacao or coffee grows on their land but they are one of the worlds top produces of excellent quality chocolate and coffee. They strengthened their trade to import cacao and coffee, created some of the world's most exquisite Chocolates mixed with their high quality milk; and produced the first powdered coffee by Nescafe, now one the world's leading food distributor.

-They have no gold, silver or other precious metals, yet they produce the most reliable watches, jewelries and Swiss knives in the world. They imported these precious metals and employed the best engineers and architects and created excellent and reliable products which they, in turn, marketed to the world.

We all have been there. We have all said "If only I had these resources...." "If only I have finished school.." "If only I passed that board exam..." "If only I had a better vehicle..." "If only I had a bigger house..."

If only, if only, if only.... We are always filled with "If-onlies" and fantasize about what would have happened "If only" we had this or that. We stay dreaming and waiting for the right opportunity or the perfect job or the perfect situation before we act on bettering ourselves. So we never progress. But the Swiss people said, "This is what we have... how can we make the most of these?" and the rest is history.

What are your "IF-ONLIES" today? How can you turn those "If-onlies" into "How can I make the most of these?"

TRANSPORTATION AND HOTEL IN AMSTERDAM

If you’re planning to use the public transportation in Amsterdam, this pass is a great money-saver! See the symbols at the bottom of this poster? Those are the tree main modes of transpo: GVB (metro), Connexxion (buses) and train (express).

WHERE TO PURCHASE IT FROM: You can purchase these at the airport transportation office (far left if you are facing the airport main entrance/exit on your way out) or the main transportation office in front of the central station. You can find all the route brochures on a swivel brochure holder on the far right side of the office when you are facing the counters.

HOW TO USE IT: You need to scan your card with chip everytime you GET ON the bus/tram/train and everytime you GET OFF. If you get caught with your unscanned card, you will get fined.

HOTELS: The closer you are to the stations or main attractions, the more expensive it gets. But the advantage is you have great access to a lot of things. Ibis is a good hotel chain. They also have sister hotels in the area. If you’re only staying there overnight, the airport hotels are cheaper and great if your flight is early. But if you are staying for three nights, airport hotels are a pain in the rear to get to and from because some don’t have shuttles or have limited shuttles that go back and forth.

From the airport to the main central, take the Train. It's about 15-20mins. If you hop from bus to tram, it will take you 45mins to an hour, depending on the wait in between the two modes of transpo.

On a side note, make sure you eat at the Pancake Bakery. Their pancakes are very different from ours. Their savory ones are just as good as the sweet ones. Mmmm- mmm good!

KEEP CALM... I JUST LOST MY PASSPORT! YIKES!

We lost our passports during our trip to Belgium/Amsterdam in April 2015. I won't go into detail as to how or where or why. But I would like to share our experience so you can learn from it and be prepared.

First of all, I will let you know ahead of time that the moment you realize your passports are missing or have been stolen, it will be hypocritical to say not to panic. In my mind, I wanted to slap the living daylights out of the lady who told me to not panic. Although I wasn't hysterical or rude about it, I have the right to feel what I felt because my passport is an extension of my identity. So this I will say, allow yourself a few minutes, shoot! Even an hour to panic! lol. Afterall,  it is one of our body's natural response to trouble. But do work your way towards clarity and tranquility. BREATHE. You are still alive. Gather your thoughts and look through your belongings. Then when you've calmed down, here are the things you can do to obtain an Emergency Passport and speed up the process.

1. POLICE REPORT. File a police report ASAP! WHERE? If you are close to an international airport or train station, most, if not all, will have some sort of police station where you can file a report. Go to the central information desk and they will point you to where the police station is. If not, find the city tourism office or information booth. They will point you the right way. The police will ask you for identification at the least and your passport numbers if available.

***IMPORTANT: Obtain an original copy of the police report, ask for an extra authentic copy if possible. This will be needed to apply for an emergency passport at the US Consulate/Embassy. Also, Airlines may require you to show this police report when you check-in to your flight back to your home. Some countries may require that your passport is at least 3 months old so they will need proof that you obtained a weird, two-paged passport because you lost your original one.

2. NECESSARY FORMS. You will need to print 2 types of forms, DS-11 and DS 64. One for each passport missing. Make an effort to FILL these out completely before heading to the Embassy. Once you are inside, it is hard to come out to make phone calls  or check emails. It's cumbersome to go through their security.

***WHERE TO PRINT OUT FORMS. If your hotel doesn't have a business lounge, or you are far from the city to get to an internet cafe, there's another way. Usually, fancy business hotels adjacent to the airport like Sheraton or Hilton will have a lounge with a computer and printer for their guests to use to check-in to their flights and print out boarding pass. But if they have a bistro or a computer lounge, ask if they will allow you to use the computer while having a snack or breakfast. We ordered a smoothie, a cookie and a coffee (granted it was a bit pricier than usual) but they gave us the code which allowed us to use their internet and printer. Just ask the cashier or the receptionist and explain your situation.

3. PASSPORT PHOTOS. You will also need passport photos, one per peson. If your airport has a shopping center, see if the store that sells electronics has this service offered. If not, ask the information desk if there's one nearby.

4. PASSPORT FEES. Have money or credit card ready. It is just like applying for a new passport. It will cost you a few hundred bucks.

***IMPORTANT : KEEP your receipt and the paper instruction that comes with the passport. You will need that when you apply for a replacement passport. Otherwise, you will pay another the same amount again.

5. EMBASSY/CONSULATE'S HOURS OF OPERATION AND LOCATION.  Depending on where you are in the country, you maybe lucky if there's a US Consulate close by or if the US Embassy is in the same city. If not, you may need to travel an hour or two by train or by bus . Most US Consulate overseas have open hours for emergency passports in the morning only and some have limited days of the week. Find out from their website before you head there so you don't waste time. If you can call ahead and speak with someone, that's even better.

6. MY MOM'S HEADACHE-SAVING ADVISE. Very helpful tip: My Mom always hounded me to leave her a photocopy of my credentials/identification (DL, passport, SSN, even a medical authority for her to take my daughter to the hospital if emergency arises until custody has been established) anytime I have to travel and leave home for a few days. So I will extend that same advise to you because, seriously, it has saved us a huge headache! Moms know best!!!  Today, I store an encrypted copy of it in my emails so I can access it anytime I need them.

7. FOR THE YOUNGINS. Include a copy of your child's/children's social security # (unless you have these memorized) and birth certificate. Bring a copy with you (separate it from your passport) and give a copy to a friend/relative that you can trust and can call in the wee hours of dawn and can give you information or scan the birth certificate and email it to you. Having these information will speed up the process. If your passport numbers are readily available, the US Embassy can put a flag on them in case someone tries to use them.

***NOTE:  The US Consulate/Embassy overseas will most likely accept a photocopy/scanned copy of your child's birth certificate for emergency passport purposes (granted this child already has an existing passport that was lost). If you don't have a photocopy on hand, ask for the consulate's email address so you can tell your Mom/Friend whoever is holding your child's birth certificate to email the scanned file to the consulate/embassy's email address. They will print it out for you.

8. ABOUT DIGITAL COPIES stored in your iCloud or email. This is fine and all. However, be aware that any electronic devices are forbidden inside the embassy. You will need to leave them at the security. So make sure you obtain/print all of the necessary docs you need before heading there.

9. ABOVE ALL, don't let this hiccup ruin your trip.  Keep your cool and strive to enjoy every minute of the remainder of your stay. After all, you already spent that much money; might as well get something out of it. Stay positive. You will be alright.

Thankfully for us, the US Consulate in Amsterdam was next to the museums and a park where they had booths selling food and drinks.  We were able to visit the Van Gogh Museum and Rijk Museum in between our wait for our passport and get something to eat.  We had to be intentional in making the most out of our trip inspite of the hiccup we were facing at the moment.  Otherwise, we would have wasted our hard-earned money and missed the opportunity to show our daughter that life is full of hiccups and surprises which are out of our control. But our response to it measures our maturity.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -Winston Churchill