I have been spared the long queue and red tape when I applied for my first passport. My mother had the travel agent do it for us.

Several years afterwards, the Department of Foreign Affairs required a personal appearance of all new passport applicants. Luckily for me and for many others, they don’t require this of applicants for renewals.

Four years ago, my friend lined up at DFA for her passport at 4 o’clock in the morning. My other friend who went there at 11 o’clock, was told to come back the following day, because they’ve already reached the quota. When he went back the following day at 8 am, he finished at 3 pm.

I accompanied my sister and her three kids to get their passports this afternoon. She inquired at DFA, and they told her there isn’t any quotas anymore, so we went there at 3 in the afternoon. There were hardly any people left, and the service went pretty fast. We were out of the building by 3:40 pm. Wow.

Of course they’d have to come back again after a week for their passports to be released, but 40 minutes inside a government office is pretty impressive.

Another impressive thing is the dirty ice cream right outside the DFA exit gate. There’s a manong sorbetero with the Reyes ice cream cart that sells the best dirty ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

Related posts:

1. Going beyond Mamang Sorbetero
2. Encounters of the Insurance kind
3. Netopia
4. Crepes and Cream!
5. The walls of Intramuros