Awesome Boracay

Last weekend, I went to Boracay.  It's an island at the north of Aklan which is less than an hour by ferry.  From Cebu,  you can take a plane going to Caticlan or Kalibo.  Iloilo is also possible but you will need to have 5 hours of bus ride.  I went with friends so the word fun was part of the package.  This trip was new to me.  Not that I have not been to Boracay but with the people I spent this vacation with.  The trip was really tiring in itself to be honest but even if it was that really tiring, everything went well.  To say that I had a blast is not enough!

We pigged out!

We took some adventure rides!

We enjoyed the sunset!

We partied all night!

We drunk a lot!

We laughed a lot!

We had too much caffeine!

We slept late!

We woke up late!

We strolled a lot!

Most of all, we cam whored (wink2x) excessively!

The passing year ....

It's been a while that I've not blogged.  All I have might be lame excuses to justify that but here are the things which kept me so busy.

The company -  The company that I have started with friends is in a limbo right now. I wished it were with a soothing and exciting music but no.  Things got difficult to handle.  Aside from my day job, I have MBA.  Mamul was right, joggling beyond two interests will choke you.  That's a lesson learned.

People: friends and associates - I learned to know who are those that you need to waste time with and not feel guilty about it. To know those who are to have with good terms with you and to those you can just let pass by.  It's quite difficult to discern but experience with people makes you have that skill.  Oh well, enjoying the company with others is exciting but it's important we determine which matters, which gives us lessons to be had and inspire us to pursue more of our goals.  Now, family is different ;)

MBA - The first subject I took is one of the toughest.  Quantitative Analysis, is synonymous to business Mathematics.  I admit, the road was full of learning, bumps and humps - enjoyable!  MBA is one of those great decisions I have aside from the fact, that my new company is paying it for me.  I just need to get a grade of 85 and I need not repay the company and luckily,  I got a really good rating.  If I am not mistaken I got 90-95 range :) Anyway,  meeting new people and establishing relationships is one of the perks in studying MBA. Learning from their experiences will surely equip me for anything I'll venture out be in business or corporate career.  You see, I am planning to be really an awesome businessman so there, Ateneo de Manila University's MBA-Regis will be another ticket to more success.... Tagay !!!

Vacation - My last vacation was like ages ago. Hmmmm ... 6 months ago.  We are talking here of local destinations as my budget honestly do not permit me to go overseas.  Even if I'd like to go out of the country, as much as the yearning, I just can't at this moment.  Oh well, it's summer and I am having some great plans in my bag :D

Cars - I bought a second hand Mazda 2 with the help of my who works at Mazda.  I love my car, just like how I love our pet dog.  It's colored white and runs in gasoline.  Yeah, it's automatic.  Whenever I go to my day job or if I am leaving the office, I am so excited because I get to pass by the grand old bridge of Cebu - Marcelo Fernan bridge.  This bridge brings old memories with my mom, like when we go to the Lapu-Lapu Church. You'd also love the sunset, the mountains and the open sea which separates the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.  The towering buildings in Cebu is another sight to behold, as to how the island is progressing will surely captivate the onlookers.  Maybe next time, Id bring my Leica with me to point and shoot.  I should be doing this though with somebody else in front of the wheels :P

House - You've read and heard me at the back of your mind, yes I bought oh not like in cash but as a form of debt a new house and lot.  I have been paying for it this past few months and they'll be building the house after I paid some 10% of the total amount of the house. I am a bit worried though of my ballooning expenses but quite challenged and new happy for this new property.  This might be a good asset and investment in the future.

Investment - I am currently investing in the stock market.  I have learned a few tricks because of my MBA class.  It's fun to trade as I always and if you want to learn from my experience, just PM me and I'll be willing to help you out of your financial management. Though I cannot rule out you'll be successful with it, but I  promise you, it will give you enough confidence in handling your budget - putting your financial obligations and wants in order.

Project - There's a new start up that I am planning to build and that's one of the reasons I am not enrolling in Operations Management subject at AGSB.  Though I am not quite 100% sure of this to not enroll, but my personal calling of becoming a successful technopreneur is way on top of anything right now.  This self actualization has been bugging me and I believe the universe will help me out with this.  The Almighty will absolutely give me the fuel to drive me to my success and world domination :P

These are the things which made me busy...!

Back in Cebu !!!

Last week, I arrived in Cebu with a heavy load :D  I had two luggage and a hand carry.  All of which weighed 50 kilos.  My check-in was okay but had to pay around 200 SGD.  My other stuff is still in sea freight, and will be arriving anytime sooner (I guess). Good thing my dad fetched me at the airport so it was a relief.

Dad and I arrived in our humble abode and our dog was the first to jump from the doorway.  It was good to seeing our pet? Hehehehe.  Anyway, I was tired and at the same time I caught some colds.  I immediately took some medication and chatted my friends online, buzzed some other friends and planned to go out with them. Another Cebuano friend of mine, who is based in Singapore, was inviting us (high school friends) to their mini party (they had a CNY vacation).  Well, I was tired so I decided to take a nap first.  Woke up after 2 hours of sleep and then prep up, and went to go.

There was some singing, booze and really tasty Cebuano Food.  I miss home cooked meals. Oh, I actually had some food at home because there was a baptism of my nephew and there were some food left (from the caterer).  Even if I was a bit full, I still devoured lots of food :)) We were feasting pigs and I guess I'll be overweight?  Anyway, we were a bit drank already at around 10PM. After some more karaoke, we decided to call it a night.  I was rather tipsy and not drank :))  We part ways going home you see, and Miggy oh Miggy, my friends kid is so fun to play anything with :) Thanks Tilay for such a warm and great friend.  Wish you all the best for your family.


Anyway, I arrived home quite late and went to wonderland. Zzzzzzzz.


The next day will be a great day to battle it out for my next adventure.  One is applying for a new job and the other is to setting up a company. I am still having this feeling of nostalgia for all the people and events I had had in Singapore. I somehow realized, that I am not the luckiest person but I am so happy that I am blessed and always be blessed and loved.  Thanks to God, family and friends :)   

Gardens by the Bay {feeling like a tourist}

This is probably the last part of me feeling like a tourist here in Singapore.  Yes, I am saying adieu to Singapore as I will be going back to Cebu.

I have already bought my tickets with silkair.  I have packaged my books and some outfits via LBC (freight).  So I am off to go.

Gardens by the bay was buil to create an artificial exposition of various flowers in a tropical setting within a controlled environment.  It was Mamul who suggested the place and since I have never been there, I agreed without any protestation.

Though thee place was man-made, its actually a nice place to visit.  I just do not have enough dollars to get inside though but the view outside is equally pleasurable.

Anyway, here are the last pics I took when I visited the Gardens by the Bay.  This man-made garden is actually just a stone throw away from Marina Bay Sands.  You just to alight from the Bayfront station and find your exit to the gardens.

A trip to Bintan Indonesia with Friends

Ofcourse, I was with my friends; obviously :)

We went to Bintan last weekend, so yeah my trips lately outside of Singapore has been hectic.  I had no major trips outside Singapore except when I had to go to Cebu, my hometown to visit my family.

Anyway, Bintan is really near to Singapore like it's a 45 minute-ferry ride.  Early dawn of Saturday, I received miss calls from Chritian as I have asked them to call me so I can wake up early as I did not trust my alarm (or perhaps myself).  Usually weekends for me is like holy when it comes to sleeping :)) I can wake up at noon.  That's how late I start my weekends.  Yup, to be on the ferry terminal at Tanah Merah early, I decided to take a cab.  I was planning to actually take the train but I felt I'll not be able to make it so I had to cough up 20 dollars for the cab.  I arrived at the terminal on time and my friends were already there, queuing for out tickets.  I met them in their queue and gave my passport after the small talk :)  I did not take my breakfast so I found this Killiney coffee house and there I ordered teh (tea with milk) and kaya toast (slice bread with kaya; a spread made of coconut).  My friends finished their checkin and stuff and we got our tickets. We queued to going to the immigration and all the security stuff and no later that 10 minutes, we found ourselves boarding the ferry and off we went to Bintan Indonesia :)

We had a villa for ourselves at Nirwana resorts.  It's a two storey house, with two big common rooms and a  master's bedroom.  It's somehow furnished. In fact one can cook their food there which was part of our plan.  When we arrived at the resort, it was actually about lunch time in the coming hour.  Since we had our packed lunch we just looked for a nice place to have lunch :)

At around 1PM we were able to check-in at our villa.

There were so many things to do.  After we have settled ourselves, our first activity was the ATV. Unfortunately, it was not available and they that it's going to be on the next day that they'll resume operations :(  So we just decided to bathe into beach.  Hmmm there was actually a Meta Man - it's a triathlon actually and to my surprise, Sen. Pia Cayetano; senator of the upper house of the Philippines, was joining the event.  Anyway, the afternoon was the start of the swimming competition which made our stay there different.  For most of us, it was our first time watching a live triathlon.  There were jelly fishes in their beach so it was not that fun actually and their sand is a bit muddy so it did not feel good because when you splash and swim it would turn a bit murky.  Anyway, we explored their beach on the other side and the view is nice but not as good as we had in the Philippines - sorry if I am comparing....  Anyway, I told my friends that I'd go to the pool :)  I spent like an hour or two at the pool just enjoying the scenery and cheering the triathletes.  They were in the marathon competition already and they happen to pass by near the infinity pool.  To my surprise, Sen. Pia Cayetano was there and so I can't help but cheer.  At around 4PM my friends joined me at the pool.  My friends wanted to go back to the villa and prepare for dinner but then I asked them to cheer for Sen. Cayetano and at around 5PM she had the 2nd round already and when she was near the pool side we were shouting, "Go Ms. Pia" - she did smile at us but I think she find it so strange :D

Well,  it was getting dark already and we had to go back to our villa so we can prepare for dinner.  I think I made a mistake in my timing simply because I was using the Singapore time.  Indonesia is 1 hour advance :P

After everyone was ready, we were headed to The Kelong restaurant.  We waited for the hotel service for a few minutes then off we went to the restaurant.  To our surprise we saw Senator Pia again and so we did cheer and blurted, "Go Ms. Pia! Mabuhay!".   Anyway, we arrived at the restaurant a bit hungry and the good thing was, the place was not crowded.  Getting our orders was fast and the guy serving our table was friendly and it felt we were not too rushed unlike in Singapore restaurants where the service is a bit rushed :))  The food was good and the service was quite good so after our heavy dinner, we tipped the guy 10 Singapore dollars.  There was nothing to do actually so we just decided to go back to our villa and had our karaoke.  My friends brought their portable karaoke :) As usual, it' fun singing with friends =))

We decided to check the beats from outside and it was actually the Meta Man challenge finish line.  I think the organizers party.  The triathletes has been active for the last 16 hours as shown in the finish line clock.  I was so amazed at how sporty these people are.  I even saw some athletes at their late forties as you can see in their whitish hair :D  It left an impression on me to be a bit sporty as well or simply put I have to be fit :P I stopped going to the gym actually and I have not been jogging and not even doing the dance exercise in our Xbox Kinect.   It was getting dark so we decided to go back to our hotel to sleep already;)

Early morning, my friends were already cooking for breakfast.  Since there's a free breakfast for two because we had two extra beds, Christian and I took the free meal.  Mamul asked us to bring back some butter for the bread.   The breakfast served at Nirwana was quite good so I was full again. We took some butter and strawberry spreads. Then off we went back to our villa.  My friends were still eating and the German sausage I brought was really nice to look at so I had my hands on them.  They also prepared some spam so yeah I also devoured some.  After our breakfast, the first order of business was to go for an ATV ride.  Then the unexpected happened.  We were like being passed from one counter to the other just to get to their ATV and everyone was already exasperated because of the long walks.  For the last time, we demanded to the hotel staff to bring us to the correct place already. So they decided to give us a free ride going to the ATV venue.  Good thing we pushed through for the ATV for it was so fun.  The trails was really nice and a bit challenging.  Too bad, we only had few minutes left because we need to go back to Singapore early. With that, we only had 30 minutes ATV. But the whole thirty minutes was really fun.  I think I am going for an ATV adventure in Bintan in the near future.

After the ride, we went back to our villa.  We still have some few hours to prepare so some of us went to dip at the pool and some had the elephant and horse back riding activities. Me ? I went to the pool :D

One hour has passed and it was time to pack up.  It was rather fast to pack and we need to checkout from the resort at 1PM.  We waited for some few minutes to take the free bus ride going to the ferry terminal.

After some immigration stuff and some waiting, we boarded and off we went back to Singapore :)

I then realized I miss the wifi connection I had in Singapore.  Wireless internet at Nirwana is 30 Singapore dollars - quite expensive as most hotels nowadays are offering free wifi.  It was a fun experience but I think KL is more affordable and exciting if you want to have a vacation without the beach thing.  I think the beach part at Bintan is not that good as well so I think going to KL is more enjoyable.

Good night everyone and enjoy the weekdays?

Universal Studios Singapore with friends :)

Sunday morning, and MJ was calling out my name. Yeah she just finished her morning ritual while I was still slumbering in my bed with a snore ? 

My friends had to be at Vivo city around 9 to get the first tickets for USS and the metro will take us there at approximately 30 minutes.  I was a bit hungry so I ate my breakfast.  Ating was already waiting for us actually....

We arrived just on time and people were like going to the toilet and others were actually late too from the agreed time.  Some of us went hungry so we ate at Food Republic.  At around 10:15 maybe, everyone was at Food Republic and after some few minutes we started our journey to USS.  For most of us, it was our first time, so it made the whole adventure fun and exciting.

We rode the express train going to USS and when we got there, it was not that crowded.  The tickets were at 70 Singapore dollars but I used my Mastercard for our booking so we got a discount.  We even had this free admission tickets for the Maritime museum.

Our first challenge was to take the most heart-pounding ride which is the Cylon.  I have always been very scared of roller coasters and god the Cylon ride will my first and it's the toughest in USS.  I honestly felt numb and I know I had to be excited or worse scared but nada, I felt nothing....  MJ and Jason who were with me in the ride were all excited :)  Okay, the queue was not that long in fact when we arrived we just had to wait for a couple of minutes.  It is in fact a 90-second ride.  Then came our turn and yeah we were seated together hahaha and I began to feel uneasy.  I asked them that I be seated at the middle. Actually there were four seats per row.  When the clock ticked and the ride started everyone was like already laughing with no reason at all. The began an uphill climb of some few meters then a huge plunge.  All we could do was just shout.  Then came the 360 degrees flips and turns which sent our adrenaline to space then came the loudest screams as if it was our last minute on earth.  As I've said, it was 90 seconds right? Yet it felt the longest ride I had ever done.  After we finished the ride, we could have taken a second round but decided not to because there so many other attractions which we wanted to try. 

Our next ride was the Human, a less challenging roller coaster ride than that of the Cylon :D  Anyway, we enjoyed those two rides.  Marlyn, Rowena, Femilyn and Razel did not join us on that ride but our next one was a not scary one so they decided to join except for Razel - hehehehe :) 

There we found ourselves in the Mummy ride :) It is the Egyptian pyramid kind of replica and inside is the mini train ride.  It was quite interesting because it was like so dark and there were some surprises and the fire was real and you can really feel the heat blowing in our faces.  I got scared at the part where a mummy suddenly appeared on our sides with all the frightening sound.  The rest where just made excited by the twist and rapid turns of the ride.  It was quite interesting actually.  The next ride we took was the Transformers as in the movie.  Razel still could not join us but then the rest went into the Transformer ....  It was a 3D augment reality ride so it was so fascinating and interesting at the same time.  It's like you were in the middle of a battle field and you were riding in car being chased furiously by the Deceptecons; the villains in the movie.  The ride I should say was the most interesting of all and I like very much.... It's just that we wanted to try other things so we decided not to do our second round with Transformers. Anyway we were hungry so we ordered lunch and the meal was like 20Singapore dollars which is really expensive for a meal.  I think you will be wasting at least 100dollars in USS but if you shop just prepare more cash :)

After lunch, we decided to try the Jurassic/Dinosaur ride.  It was not that challenging but definitely you'll get out wet.  Your friends can even pay for a water gun and shoot you for 50 cents.  After that, we tried the castle ala Shrek themed movie house which was also in 3D.  Well you will just be watching Shrek and Fiona in a movie in a very interactive manner because you will be sprayed and the benches will shake from time to time and when spiders come out, there will be some fun surprises....  quite interesting actually but if you want more adrenaline stuff, this does not suit you then.  After that, we went to ride the dragon roller coaster designed for kids so yeah it was not that challenging.  We even invited Rowena, whose also scared of roller coaster and we were shocked when there were scary parts - Rowena's definition of roller coaster scare. All we could say was we were behind her in her shouts for moral support.

We also watched the Monster rock, where some scary characters in movies will do some play kind of thing with music so it was really like a rock musical with mixed up story telling. We had fun watching the Phantom of the Opera character well because of the way the actor played the role :)  The next attraction we had was the replica of hollywood movie set.  It was really amazing how movies are made :)  Just imagine were like a live audience in a movie in the making.  We saw some thunderstorm and fire and also some boats slamming into the pier - where we actually observed in a standing position.  I really liked this part of the tour because it felt so real :D

It was getting dark. But we continued to explore the universal studios.  Ate something from here to there and did some shopping.  We also had some cam whoring =))

We got so tired and it was for real really dark, so we decided to go to Food Republic @ vivo to have our dinner :)

Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the Universal Studios Singapore which was what that mattered on that day.  I would recommend this theme park for would be tourists together with friends and family ;)

Cooking up in Singapore

I will always be with you my baby :)) I mean this blog.

Abandoning is not the right term, maybe a cool off.... But I am the weaker being or maybe the one who has lesser pride for coming back.

The past months have been really dragging :(  Yeah, it felt suffocating a bit.  But yeah I just had to find time to enjoy and thank God's angels for surrounding me with really really nice friends.

Anyway, I joined the Singapore Alumni Association of CIT.  Spent a couple of gatherings with the alumni and had fun - specially the food.  I think I am having a bulging belly and I needed to exercise and for that, I regularly join my friends hiking Macritchie reservoir.  And I've got two very interesting encounters in those treks :)  One was I took out the m&m's from my handy bag since I noticed that there were no monkeys - Macritchie is a not so dense forest in Singapore which has a huge population of monkeys I suppose.  Yeah, I nibble a couple of almond coated chocs and suddenly a middle sized monkey jumped in front of me and to my surprise I threw the nips unto the monkey's face and put the other nips back into my bag.  I guess the monkey was also surprised of my hoarse voice as this monkey was not able to show its fangs.  The other incident was when I had a trek and was like so care free drinking my plus energy drink and as I took the bottle down on my left side there was this monkey suddenly jumped from behind grabbing the plus bottle and I was so horrified because it showed its fangs and next thing I knew was I shouted and threw away the bottle which actually worked because that monkey did not attack me.  It was horrible and my heart was beating to a chase... .  But don't get me wrong, I do not hate them :)) I guess next time I have to be very careful - part of which was my fault so it was all on me :P

Last Thursday, which was the Singapore National Day (Happy birthday Singapore, my 4th time... .) went out on a hiking session with my friends, I met some new friends I guess and they're pretty nice :)  I am a bit silent at first but I think I'll get noisy after I'll get to know them all... .

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I went to another friends' hide out to celebrate their first child's birth month wahahha I do not know what it's called :P  Yeah there was some singing and of course feasting some home cooked stuff :) All of the food we had were delicious and I got bloated and had a sudden urge to take comfort at the loo =))  for over eating .

For my next vacation, I'll be going back to Cebu (again) this coming October. This vacation will be all about birthdays :)  my brother's, my dad's and my cutie Theia, I hope she will not be scared of me anymore but yeah she's still a kid so I guess I'm an Ogre =))  I am also meeting my friend to push through with our planned charity organization helping some poor kids in our city - hopefully this works :D

Oh this coming September, MJ is visiting me in Singapore and we will surely have some fun!  I am uber excited I can puke =))

I have bought one of the greatest RPG - Diablo 3!

And I still get bored ... .

Cebu and Palawan :D

Well the longest vacation for the year was in Cebu and 5 days trip to Palawan.

I went to Cebu for my brother's university graduation :)  At last, he will be able to sustain himself and create some of his own adventures!

After some few days in Cebu, I went to Palawan with some of my closest friends from my university - Ate Mars and Jayka.

I was happy when I was in Cebu and I was amazed at how beautiful Palawan is.  The rock formations at El Nido were grand comparable beauty to that of Phuket.  Palawan is more pristine though :)

After Palawan, I spent some few days in Cebu and enjoyed the company of my family and friends.  Never mind the finances involved as the experience was priceless :D

This is quite long overdue same as other travel blog entries I had.  I am actually not sure of how to go through already about this blog.  At some point it felt boring, honestly... .  At some point I missed writing some personal accounts, great or utterly lame.   Maybe because of a lot of things that's going on inside my head right now, that I lost track of some of the things I want to do.  Anyway, this blog is not exclusive of the travels I made but rather those experiences I enjoyed and had managed to put a smile on my face ...

And for that, three weeks ago, I had my first dragon boat experience.  It was super fun and but then I had to be a bit disabled from the body aches I got :)  I was also following the Spartacus series - really gory which makes me sick but after a while I got used to all the blood and spilling organs.  I met old friends from Cebu here in Singapore.  Also visited my friend's house for some catching up - we played mah jong! lols :P

This week would have been another vacation for me.  I was booked to go to South Korea to visit Seoul, Jeju and Sorak mountain but then I had to cancel for some personal reasons - Mamul and Epoy enjoy your trip!

Lastly, I am actually in a dilemma of quitting or not from my job. Or maybe going back to the Philippines :(  Or going for an MBA?  This has bothered me for quite sometime already.  All I am asking for is God's guidance and blessing or wisdom... .  But yeah, I still have lots of financial obligations so, that will be a major factor in this decision which I'll be making. 

According to Francois Bacon, "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." Well the question right now, if I am that man he points out if not then I will first have to strive harder to be that wise folk :))  Just kidding!

I think I just need to stop over thinking and just believe in the Almighty that things will come at the right time and place.

Have a happy Saturday guys!

Valentine's day is ordinary

I did not celebrate the heart's day as they call it but then I can also say I did. Well, for another celebration, that is. Yes, I had a very bellytiful lunch with Mamul :) She told me that it was her gift for my birthday. I was so touched to be honest. She booked a buffet lunch at Mandarin Orchard.

Thanks Mamul for treating me in advance for my birthday! And because of that, I'll pray very hard for the approval of your vacation leave for South Korea :P

Here are the food we shared. And by the way, she's a very private person so I cannot show you her pic :D





She knows I like Japanese food ;) Arigat0 ....

Schengen visa, how to get one ?

Schengen visa is your ultimate ticket to the EU member countries. But how to get one? What are the hassles and yeah how to be prepared?

In Singapore where I am currently based, all EU member countries has their embassies. For us, we got our luck at the Spanish embassy. Well, to be honest, we had a bad luck at the Italian as well as the German embassies. It felt that they were not just compatible with what we had planned for. Simply put that our initial plan was to stay the longest at Germany but then our point of entry was Spain. At first we filed at the Italian embassy but then the officer noted that technically we are staying longer in Germany because of the number of nights aka sleeps we will be making. So our first try was a bust. Then we applied at the German embassy and it proved useless as the officer told us that we should apply at the first point of entry which was Spain and for that we were not served - poop busted again. We actually called up the Spanish embassy and made clear that our first of entry is Spain but then we will be staying longer in Germany so where do we have to apply? And the Spanish officer over the phone told us that it has to be Germany. But then we had no choice right? We have been there (hello German embassy) and we got a refusal from our application simply because of the first country of entry. Anyway, we have booked everything and it's frustrating on our part to back out. What we did was we rescheduled our hotel and train bookings and made Spain our still first point of entry and now the country where we will be staying long. Good thing we we were rather early filing for the visa because the approval or rejection will take 3-4 weeks if you are from the countries like the Philippines and Thailand. We went to the Spanish embassy and we were able to submit our application and we have to wait for 3-4 weeks to get our visa.

For those who are interested to know the requirements, here are the list:
1.) Schengen visa application form which you can download from the embassy's website or alternately here : http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/IMG/pdf/visagb.pdf
2.) Photo attached to the application form
3.) Passport - original and photocopy.
4.) Singapore Identification (for foreign professional/permanent resident)
5.) Flight reservation or booking which has to be roundtrip.
6.) Medical insurance worth 60K Euro
7.) Employment certificate which states the status, salary, position etc. your HR should know what to write.
8.) Financial guarantee - at least two bank accounts which showed transactions for the last three months
9.) Hotel reservation from all the countries which you will be visiting

That's it, if you have some clarification or specific inquiries then you are free to call the respective embassies :)

As a final advise, try to file a month earlier so you will have more time to prepare and they very key is proper planning. Take note that the French embassy has this website where you can reserve for an appointment and usually it's almost always filled all the time.

Good luck to would be travelers to Europe ;)