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Touched by the song "On Eagle's Wings"

2011-09-13T11:47:00.001-07:00

The song "On Eagle's Wings" was composed by a catholic priest named Michael Joncas in the year 1979. I have heard the song being played but did not pay any attention until that day when the choir sang it for the first time and I was there, complete with lyrics. I was hesitating at first since the song was not familiar to my ears. Then it just came to me like a song and felt it like it is within me. The melody came so smooth, it was easy to follow and sing with my heart, giving my all without hesitation. It was a beautiful contemplative song, reflecting on God's mercy and goodness.

This song was based on Psalm 91 and Isaiah 40:31, and is becoming popular hence the words are so felt by the heart. I can say without a doubt that I was touched by the song " On Eagle's Wings".

On Eagle's Wings Lyrics

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,

Who abide in His shadow for life,

Say to the Lord, "My Refuge,

My Rock in Whom I trust."

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,

Bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun,

And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

The snare of the fowler will never capture you,

And famine will bring you no fear;

Under His Wings your refuge,

His faithfulness your shield.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,

Bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun,

And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

You need not fear the terror of the night,

Nor the arrow that flies by day,

Though thousands fall about you,

Near you it shall not come.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,

Bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun,

And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

For to His angels He's given a command,

To guard you in all of your ways,

Upon their hands they will bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,

Bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun,

And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

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Family Canteen

Love Crisis

The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer The fruit of PRAYER is Faith The fruit of FAITH is Love The fruit of LOVE is Service The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

Funny Church Signs

2011-08-29T10:13:00.001-07:00

You may party in hell but you will be the Barbeque - Our Savior's Church Sign

Everyday above ground is a good one - Church of God of Prophecy Sign

What is missing from ch__ch, U R - River Falls Baptist Church Sign

How do we make holy water? We boil the hell out of it - The First Church of Awesome Works Sign

To be almost saved is to be totally lost - Anonymous Sign

Whoever is praying for SNOW, please stop! (snows everywhere) - South End Baptist Church Sign

Church parking - Trespassers will be baptized - Christian Fellowship Church Sign

Read the bible, it's user friendly plus we offer tech support here every Sunday at 10 - Anonymous

Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet Him. -Stonebridge Chuch of God Sign

There are some questions that can't be answered by Google - Claude Presbyterian Church Sign

Keep using my name in vain, I will make rush hour longer - First Reformed Church of Bethlehem Sign

Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake and the snake didn't have a leg to stand on - Anonymous

The HelpThe fruit of SILENCE is Prayer The fruit of PRAYER is Faith The fruit of FAITH is Love The fruit of LOVE is Service The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

The Amazing Cucumber

2011-07-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

I love cucumber. It is so good when pickled (maybe because I love pickles) and adds flavor to some dishes. I have tried cucumbers on my tired eyes and it does work wonders. Below are some ways to use the cucumber aside from eating it, pickled , fresh or cooked with your favorite add ons. Does it really work? I have not tried any of these but will in time. For now, it is best to share with you and see it yourself if it works. I will do an update when proven to be true.

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon? Put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror. It will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin, and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent which is undetectable to humans but drives garden pests crazy and makes them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes. The photo-chemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and were often used by European trappers, traders and explorers for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe; its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD-40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voilà, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water. The chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress in new mothers and in college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath. The phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean. Not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing. Also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer
The fruit of PRAYER is Faith
The fruit of FAITH is Love
The fruit of LOVE is Service
The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

2011-07-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Now this is very interesting! Car's manual says to roll down the windows to let out all the hot air before turning on the A/C. WHY ?
No wonder more folks are dying from cancer than ever before. We wonder where this stuff comes from but here is an example that explains a lot of the cancer causing incidents.

Many people are in their cars the first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night, 7 days a week.
As I read this, it makes me feel guilty and ill. Please pass this on to as many people as possible. Guess its not too late to make some changes

Car A/C (Air Conditioning) MUST READ!!!

Please DO NOT turn on A/C as soon as you enter the car. Open the windows after you enter your car, and then turn ON the AC after a couple of minutes

Here's why: According to research, the car's dashboard, seats, a/c ducts in fact ALL of the plastic objects in your vehicle, emit Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin. A BIG CARCINOGEN. Take the time to observe the smell of heated plastic in your car, when you open it, and BEFORE you start it up.

In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia and increases the risk of some cancers. It can also cause miscarriages in pregnant females

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is: 50mg per sq.ft.

A car parked indoors, with windows closed, will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene.

If parked outdoors, under the sun, at a temperature above 60 degrees F.
the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level.

People who get into the car, keeping the windows closed, will inevitably inhale, in quick succession, excessive amounts of the BENZENE toxin

Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidneys and liver. What's worse, it is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff from your body

So friends, please open the windows and door of your car - give it some time for the interior to air out -(dispel the deadly stuff) - before you enter the vehicle

Thought: 'When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.'

This is what snopes.com says. It is not the air conditioning in the car but the Benzene producing agents that cause cancer.

This blog is solely for reading purposes, some are based on personal experience, emails sent by friends and some are from other sources. It is not the intention to confused the reader but to remember you are the decision maker of your thoughts and action. If you have doubts, please research thoroughly. Your comments and additional information is very much welcome. Thank you for your time.

The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer
The fruit of PRAYER is Faith
The fruit of FAITH is Love
The fruit of LOVE is Service
The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

Napolea Grande , Edible Cactus

2011-07-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

A friend introduced me this cactus plant that is edible, packed with nutrition and easy to grow cactus plant that can be seen around the neighborhood, mostly in Mexican homes. She gave me a plant so I can try it myself. She gave me two big pear shape leaf or paddle, thick, spiny and green to plant in my backyard. Since each have several paddles, broke them into more paddles to make an experiment and make sure it will grow, knowing cactus need little care. The two became 4, spread it around and wait for new leaf to grow and try it myself.

Freshly picked cactus in my garden

Harvesting and preparing the cactus is the challenging part, with it's fine hairy spine called glochids around it, if not careful could prick the skin and the green nubs that grow on the aeroles, a mole like swelling found on most cactus. Make sure to use a rubber gloves when harvesting and during the preparation. I use a knife to remove the spiny hair by slanted action, cutting each glochids one at a time or a green scrubbing pad will do the trick in removing the fine like spiny hair on the cactus while on a running water. They are slimy and boiling the cactus lessens the slime.

They are usually ready as young as they are, crunchy, tender and fresh. You can see the glossy green sheen poking out full of spine when they are very little, like 2-4 inches long, about 3/8 inch thin and eventually the spines gaps wider as cactus grows longer. Sometimes, I let them grow a little longer like 4-6 inches long or longer but not to the point where it becomes hard to eat because it is pithy. As the cactus grow bigger, you will notice that the color changes into a darker green and less sheen.

Cactus are low on carbohydrates, high on fiber and packed with vitamin C. The slimy stuff dripping off each leaf is called mucilage, may look gross, but it also may help manage the symptoms of diabetes and help lower cholesterol.

Use it whenever you like it, raw or a la carte. Barbecue it together with tri-tip, add to your omelet , make a salsa with it, of course, always sans spikes.

The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer The fruit of PRAYER is Faith The fruit of FAITH is Love The fruit of LOVE is Service The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

A Mouse in my House

2011-01-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

A day of surprise...

While sorting the clothes according to colors, before loading them in the washer, I heard the sound of a heavy fall! I was still holding this heavy denim jacket with my hands and look around to see if something fell on the floor and found nothing. Then I heard this tiny sound scurrying in the tub. A mouse jumps, trying to escape but failed. Oh no! A mouse in my house! My first thoughts were the words – hate, angry, and mad. I hate mouse, angry with mouse and mad with a cat. How can a mouse survive and exist in my house when we have two cats. I feel frustrated thinking it is the cats’ responsibility to keep mouse out of the house. Life is so full of surprises; I had an encounter with a raccoon too.

Finding a way out

At that moment, watching the mouse trying to escape was a learning lesson to me. The mouse see me eye to eye, must be wondering what a giant I was in size, but did not lose faith to escape. He sees the enemy in me and went around the tub to check if there is a way out. He stays still a few times, trying to think, to escape or to fight? He jumps as many times as he can and a few times landed on one arm rest of the tub, halfway the tub, jumps again for escape but ended up back on the bottom of the tub. Had the mouse jump from the higher end of the arm rest, he would have escaped!

My heart feels for the mouse

The mouse got my attention and felt sympathy. Maybe the mouse would be a good surprise to my daughter. The mouse changed my thoughts from anger to hmmm… might be a good idea to do something with the mouse, instead of spoiling my day because of a mouse. So, I went to look for a container to trap the mouse in. It took me a few minutes to capture the mouse. The last thing I would do is to let the mouse crawl on me and escape through me. Besides, I do not like the feel of a mouse crawling on me.

Capturing the mouse

I got this plastic container, 12 inch deep and 6 inch wide container and uncover it. Holding the container upside down, aimed for the mouse with the opening pointing down and trap the mouse, holding the container with one hand next to the bottom of the tub. I had a hard thick paper twice the size of the opening to slide it under the opening for temporary cover. What a perfect plan! I missed the first time and got out of the tub immediately for fear of the mouse. A giant fears a mouse? But is true! The mouse was smart too! So desperate to escape, he ended up hiding, squeezed into the jets! I needed a stick to poke him out but instead cling tightly. I have to change my plan and the second time, I aimed it with focus onto the jets, poke him with a stick and got him in, slide the thick paper under subsequently pick up the lid to cover the container tightly. I recorded a video to see what a mouse would do when caught. It was a desperate cry for escape.

Somebody got a surprise

Anyway, when my daughter came home, she was eager to see what the surprise of the day is, closes her eyes and waited patiently. The moment she opened her eyes, she was jumping with joy for she had been wishing to have a pet mouse. Ask her why, they are so cute is her answer. She named the mouse Brownie. We fed the mouse a spider and was happy to finish it all. However, the container turned blurry the next day and we decided to let the mouse go. The mouse was cute but needs to be in the right place. She had a full day of fun with Brownie and it was another day in the life of a mouse in my house.

Watch the video!

An encounter with a Raccoon

2010-09-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

It was first day of fall, morning cold and quiet but not promising a fall weather this week as it will be warm on Friday from the weather forecast. I just got off my car from school, walk a few steps leading to the front porch, busy searching for my keys inside purse when something caught my eye.

Underneath the orange tree

It was so still and quiet as my senses alerted to what is in front of me. My eyes focused on a spot, a rhythmic movement, up and down, like heavy breathing and wonder what is going on. The sun shining through the orange tree leaves made it somewhat normal, nothing unusual to the surroundings as I see it everyday walking the same path before entering the house. When my eye caught something, camouflage with the grass and dirt underneath the orange tree, a raccoon lying down as if sleeping.

That is what I thought at first, a raccoon taking a break from whatever reason. This is the first time in my whole life, so close to this creature and it was exciting at the same time fear came to my mind. What if it sensed my presence and attack me? I have not much knowledge with raccoons as I am a city person.

Quietly, I took a few steps to check if the raccoon was sleeping. It sure does look like sleeping, eyes closed but the heavy breathing was somewhat unusual. I may sleep and breath heavily but never really see myself doing that because I was asleep. Just a funny thought to make myself relaxed.

Raccoon In action

Then it moved its head around as if she sensed me, opened her mouth and showed teeth like an inch length and half inch thick on the top part attached to the gums. Those were big teeth! Her eyes were soft and droopy, design with a black fur around the eyes which contrasts sharply with the surrounding white face coloring. While staring at the raccoon, it seems like raccoons wear a bandit's mask, making the animal gain a reputation of mischievous one. The slightly rounded ears are also bordered by white fur. It has short legs compared to their torso and it's bushy tail with rings around, the alternate shades of black and gray line for camouflage purposes maybe. That was the reason why it was hard to spot the raccoon right away as I walk in, my reasoning in my mind...

I must have disturbed the rest time of this raccoon, it stood up and steady itself before taking a step, wobbly and limping. As it stood, it has the height of a cat, even a bit taller than a cat. The middle part which is the stomach seems to be less bulgy but the claws were far more bigger and stronger than a cat's claw. It started walking away from me, not looking back, just keep going looking for a new place to hide and maybe die. The raccoon must have been hurting and starved for days by the look of it. I wonder if it came by the orange tree a few days ago and just never noticed it was there.

The raccoon that came by the orange tree, I never saw again. It must have went somewhere the bamboo trees to hide, away from me. It chose to wait, alone and hold on till it is time to go.

I decided to ask my friends about raccoons and gathered some ideas about this cute furry animals that came by one day and here is what I have come up with.

Raccoons as food, pet and fur

Raccoons maybe a pest to some but is edible for eating. There are a few recipes that calls for raccoon but barbecuing might be the best way to eat it. Barbecue is always a good way to try something different. Although, I have never tried a raccoon myself.

Some even want a raccoon as exotic pets. Raccoons are cute, furry and endearing. But raccoons have rabies that is a lethal disease caused by an agent infecting nerve cells, carried in the saliva and transmitted by bites. This is something to consider when planning to domesticate a raccoon as exotic pets.

The fur of raccoons is used for clothing, coats and caps especially during winter season when it is extremely cold. The tail is also use as an ornament and they can be expensive. Just think about how many raccoons killed for one coat?

Stinky Smell lingering around

A few days later, everybody in the house complains of a stinky smell, like something following each one of us and no way to escape from it. It was so strong by the front porch, where I last saw the raccoon. It is time to sleuth for the reason of such stinky smell. There, the raccoon lay just a few steps from the front porch, hidden under the bushy bamboo, covered with white chunky looking worm, squirming busily. There was nothing left on the raccoon's bony leg. His suffering ends...

Dodge Durango 98, frustrating wago

2010-08-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

It is so frustrating when school starts but not your car. You get stressed and mad, not knowing what to do to get to school.

Started driving Dodge Durango 98 Model in the year 2006. It is a used one from first owner and I'm the second one. It exploded the first time we took it to a 20 minute drive since we bought the car. That was scary!!!

Dodge Durango 98 has many problems. One repair shop owner even said it is junk. Ouch! Made me feel like idiot buying a Dodge.

Year 2009, while heading to San Francisco Airport to pick a friend, the car started smoking like having barbecue. Something was wrong with it and have to turn back to home and get the other car. My friend waited for more than 2 hours and was fine.

After that, we brought the car to car shop, have it checked and radiator needs change. Well, it turned out that aside from the radiator, other parts need to be replaced as well and total bill was $1700. Ok. I am happy to get my life back, ops, my car back I mean. Days after the expensive repair, the car sensor malfunctioned and all lights are on in front of me. ABS, Brake, and all turns on all the time. Speedometer no longer work. That was a little scary to see the lights on while driving, thinking at all times there is something wrong with the car and ( cross my finger) will leave me stuck in the middle of the road when I do not know. Sure it did a few times cause me to wait for help because the car just won't turn over. It will try but die in a few seconds.

When it was time for DMV renewal, smog did not pass because sensor was not working. This is another car shop time. I found out that there are so many sensor in this car, which if it fails, cause so many problems just because the sensor failed. That doesn't mean something is wrong with the car but nobody can really tell, even the mechanic who is using high tech computers. I wonder if car makers are making it complicated to understand cars? I thought computers are supposed to help speed things up by diagnosing the problem. It doesn't seem to help at all.

Year 2010, the transmission failed? I do not know. This is what happens when the driver is not equipped with knowledge on cars. It makes me helpless and dependent to those who can understand cars. When I turn it on, it turns over but will keep at a low speed. If I try to speed up, the odometer works so hard that it almost gets to the red lines which scares me. This time, we decided to rebuilt the transmission for a total of $2900 including the sensor replaced with a 10,000 mile warranty and all lights in the front no longer stays on. Two weeks later, car won't start. Well, actually it tries to start and just die like the sound of someone dying. This time the tow truck has to come and tow it to the car shop, am hoping they can fix it with no more money to pay. It is a pain to keep paying for this car.

Have this really bad experience with Dodge Durango which the mechanic always tells me, Durango is a junk car. Ouch! What a mistake picking this car...

Garage Sale on the Main Street

2010-08-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Just hitting the road to get home when I spotted a garage sale on the main street with so many frames on display. It might be a good thing to check since I have been looking for frames for some pictures to display.

Outside their fence lined up big and small picture frames, different designs, shapes and sizes. First frame that attracted me was the real wood, oval shaped frame with a picture of painted flowers in a pink matte. It looked use but for $10.00, it will be a good buy. On the other side of the fence, clustered 3 pieces, 1 medium size and 2 small frames in metallic paint and also cost $10.00 for all. These are those common print for display mostly seen in houses. Well, I can change the print when tired of it, my thought. Then a frame with the last supper print is standing next with a Hecho en Mexico mark on back of frame is what I have been looking for a while, even thought of painting it myself but with nothing to copy with, it will take me years to paint one myself. I was grinning at myself at the moment because I was being ambitious, dreaming of becoming a famous painter one day. Or maybe I'll be famous painting houses someday, who knows??? Hah! It will probably take me years to do that...or maybe when I'm dead as most painters becomes famous when they are already dead.

Anyway, as I was loading all the frames, remembered that my husband was looking for a big frame for his motorcycle print and even went to the gallery to inquire how much it would cost him to frame that cheap print days ago. When I heard about it, told him to wait a little longer and I'll find him a frame in one of those garage sale and here it is, Perfect size for his motorcycle print.
For all the frames, I paid $39.00, seems high to me but better than buying at a gallery which might cost me 4 or five times more.

You've got Checks! $3995.25 Check from Modern USA Insurance Co

2010-04-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

You got Checks! $3995.25 Check from Modern USA Insurance Co

A week ago, I was surprised to opened a mail with an enclosed check amounting to $3995.25. The check is from Modern USA Insurance Co, with address 7785 66th Street North Pinellas Park, FL 33781 and issued from Sun Trust Bank with the address 300 1st Ave South St., Petersburg , FL 33701. No clue.

With the check is another sheet with all the information regarding the check. The front page include section A - Customer Service Evaluation Tool, and section B - Transfer the sum of $3,200.00 to only one of the mystery shoppers below: Clarnita Leonard. The back page is a breakdown of how the enclosed check is to be disbursed.

Looking at the check, the amount shows $3,995.25 and wonder why they send me extra and have to send a check to someone else. Why not just send two separate checks to both of us? So, I googled Modern USA and wants to know if a company exists and found none. Hmmm...something fishy here.

Out of curiosity, I called a friend and told her about it. She has a different version. She advertised in craiglists offering piano lessons for $25.00 a month , one hour per session. That sounds good. Two days later, she got an email of someone interested to sign up his little boy for piano lessons. She emailed back and they exchange phone number and talk to each other. My friend however suggested that she wanted to meet the boy before starting the piano lessons so she can prepare better. No answer. The next day, she received a parcel from UPS from a certain "Greg" with an out of state address mailed to her. Out of curiosity, she opened it and found a check of $900.00 with instruction that she deduct the amount of 3 months piano lessons and the remaining balance to send to someone else. Boy, she was confused! Why would anyone send a check worth more than the piano lesson fees. She went to the bank and inquire about it. They can't help her because the bank can't really tell if the check has money until it's cleared. She end up reporting it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Another friend has another story to tell. She received an email offering a part time job with an easy work and good pay. All she needs to do is receive the checks coming and deposit them on her account. She gets 10% of the amount. According to the "company", they need a liaison here in the U.S. to receive their foreign checks because the "company" is based in China. OK. That sounds an easy part time job. 2 days later, she received a mail with $97,000.00 check in it pay to the order of her name of course. Along with it is to call a person to inform the checks arrived and a phone number to call. It happens that she is a chinese, so she thought it will be easy to talk to a chinese person like her. Well, the person who answered the phone has a chinese name but can't even speak a chinese word. Ha! That sounds funny...The "person" on the other line instructed her to deposit the money in her account and to wait for instructions. Few days later, she received an email instructing her to send a check to a certain company in Canada for some freight charges the "company" needs to pay. Now my friend is getting suspicious. She emailed back and ask for receipts, just for security measures. It took a long time for them to email back with a receipt with a U.S. address with the items bamboo living room set for $97,000.00. You think a bamboo dining sent would cost that much?

Well, I have come back to my senses and realized this check is not worth anything but a piece of paper from some people who want to make money the easy way. Actually, there is a name who to call and a phone number. Julie Philips or David Anderson at 1-514-638-8128 and you can also fax to 1-404-745-0740.

I am sure there are a lot of stories like this especially with the economy's turndown. Your gut will tell you the truth and always ask when it involves money in your account.

Difference between a Passport and a Visa

2010-04-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

A passport is required for everybody who plan to travel from one country / nation to another country / nation. Everybody means everybody, no exceptions, young and old, professional, military personnel, athletes, business people, students, workers, entertainers, children, parents and anybody who has a plan to travel.

A passport is an identification of your nationality and states what country you are from.

A Passport bears your picture, your name, date of birth, sex, place of birth, where the passport was issued, issue date and expiration date of the passport. Different countries / nations have different rules on passport.

The holder of a passport will be allowed to travel internationally with or without a visa depending on the country of entry or port of entry. It is best to apply a new passport if your passport is expiring within 6 months before you travel as some countries / nations might deny you entry.

Passports can be confusing to new applicants as there are different kinds of passport issued by each country. Some of the types are - Non-citizen, Citizen of the said nation / country, diplomatic, travel document and other passport type. Passports are issued by the government of the country that you are a citizen of or if you are given a special privilege in that country to hold a passport through marriage, employment or residency reasons to name a few. The holder of a passport will be allowed to travel internationally with or without a visa depending on the country of entry or port of entry. Always keep your passport safe as it can be a hassle to apply a passport while away from your country of origin.

A visa is a documentation for you to be able to enter a certain country in a specific time. Visas are issued by the country you are planning to visit. Before planning a travel, it is best to inquire from the country of entry whether a visa is needed or unnecessary for your type of passport. Visas are sometimes attached to your passport, stamped, glued or a separate piece of documentation with the same information as your passport. Most important is to take note of the given dates on the visa document - time to travel, expiration and length of time allowed to stay. Doing so will save you trouble, you don't pay any penalty if you stayed too long and keep your visa safe. Visas varies and will be good for a number of days, months and years that allows a traveler to travel within the given date.

Some countries do not require visa for some passport holder depending on what type of passport you are holding. However, a few countries still requires a visa for any traveler to enter their country.

Few travel examples:

a.) U.S. passport holder can travel to mostly anywhere in the world but requires a visa to enter China.

b.) Philippine Passport holder do not need a visa to enter Hong Kong

c.) Taiwan passport holder need a visa to get in Hong Kong, Brazil, Autralia, U.S.

d.) Taiwan Passport holder do not need a visa to get in Singapore

e.)U.S. Passport holder do not need a visa to get in Philippines with allowed 21 days maximum stay.

f.) U.S. Passport holder do not need a visa to enter New Zealand and Australia.

Some countries do not require a visa if you are staying for a few days only - 14 days or less. This all depends on what country of entry, what passport you are holding and the relationship between the two countries - departing country / nation and arriving country / nation.

Visas also come in different forms from tourist visa, immigration visas, business visa, work visa, student visa and each type of visa has its own application process and different fees to pay.

It is also possible to apply for visas while in a foreign country. Let's say a Taiwan passport holder who travels to Australia and stayed for a few months to enjoy the beautiful Australia can apply a visa to be able to travel to Brazil. What is interesting in this situation is that you don't have to go back to your country of residence in order to travel to your next destination which is Brazil and it is a long way to go. It is like going around the globe in a matter of days. Lastly, remember to bring enough money to spend while visiting different places.