To all Philippine passport holders, are you by any chance planning to renew your passport and change your surname to your foreign husband's?

We have been married for almost 10 years and I have been using my maiden name the entire time in all of my local and international identification cards.  Since I won't be traveling outside the country very soon,  I found it the perfect time to do it.

Living abroad, there wasn't really any urgent need to change my name. Within the span of my expat life, I have changed my passport thrice and the thought of the long bureaucratic procedure made me cringe. Waiting for an online appointment schedule at my country's consulate in Dubai and the whole process of name changing deemed to be a nightmare. My then tight business trip schedules when I was working in the Middle East didn't have any window to accommodate this long wait. Additionally, I wanted to avoid my previous employers paying additional fees to renew my resident visas and to steer clear from all of the administrative hassles of name changing in all of my identification cards such as my driver's license, Emirates ID and etc. 

If I had a choice, I would still keep my maiden name.

As per the civil code, the woman can still continue using her legal name when she was single. It may not be mandatory to use my husband's surname in the Philippines, but in reality, the change makes everything a tad less complicated.   

Clang, an avid mountain climber and blogger behind Clangies Tower accepted my invitation when her hiking stories piqued my curiosity. Please welcome her as she shares her best tips for those who want to start climbing and exploring trails. 

This Filipino slang according to Urban Dictionary is someone who is trying hard to look cute and expects to be treated like a very important person.  Be prepared to slip, fall, slide, get wet, wounded, encounter mud, leeches, altitude sickness and mosquito bites. "Walang arte-arte," (Don't be fussy) Clang noted.

Do you know that you can convert your existing Driver's License abroad for less than Php 650? Yes it is possible and you can get your brand new Non-professional driver's license ID,  hot and fresh, the same day of your application.

I went to Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Paranaque, and I found out they were not doing conversions there.  The nearest one for me was the LTO Office along Domestic MIA Road in Pasay City.