You know, this year will go down as one of the most incredible years of my entire life, something which will be pretty clear to see when I do my annual “In review”, when I go over the year as a whole. But it’s, honestly, undeniable. This year, amongst many other things, I got Married, marrying the beautiful Hannah, taking the biggest step forward in both our lives together. But, what’s next?

It’s fair to say my last blog, whilst absolutely astronomically huge in content, ended pretty subdued, added with a huge level of uncertainty. Well, there’s a good reason for that, it was true. Whilst I’m sure it was clear to feel the level of pure enthusiasm and excitement that came out of the events covered, it’s also pretty clear that what was still to come to make our future real, was, a lot. This journey is far from over, to get us there. When I ended the blog, I did so in the truthful reality where, I truly had no idea when I would be seeing Hannah again, no idea how long a wide-range of additional things would take, or, if I’m honest, if everything was going to even allow that to be. Fast forward many-months later and, well, quite a bit has happened.

Don’t worry, this won’t be another near-70,000 word blog coming up, you can relax 😁 But, there’s still quite a bit to get through so, let’s get to it.

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APPLYING FOR THE VISA

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An almost TB nightmare

It’s no secret that when it comes to applying to settle in any Country, there’s a list of requirements that are set in place that you have succumb to, and the UK is, obviously, no different. Obviously fees, blah-bla-blah, but, requirements that are hidden, requirements that are necessary and other that you can tell are just there to try and catch you out. One of those, however, is the requirement of a tuberculosis test performed at a Home Office approved test centre.

Call me naive, but, I was always under the impression that you could test for TB (tuberculosis) in hours, perhaps days at very busy times. But, no, apparently weeks are a thing, for some reason. No idea why. One thing that was really frustrating, which I’ll get more to later, is that when we did finally get the results, the period of time the testing was for was much less than the time it took to deliver them. It’s unclear whether that’s just slack people in the Philippines, or, UK processing involved, though from what I understand the testing centres are, whilst Home Office approved, fully independent to themselves so, it’ll be the first.

The main reason for the delay, however, was due to Hannah’s unfortunate history. If I, for example, was tested for TB, it would be a very quick decisive result. Why? I’ve never being exposed to tuberculosis, so there’d be no evidence of it whatsoever. This makes sense as, in the UK, at a very young age, everyone was vaccinated against TB. And, when I say vaccinated, I mean one shot and you’re done for life. You know, the old type of vaccines, the ones that work. None of that “new kind” that don’t work, never get tested, cause people terrible health side effects, but who cares ‘cos at least Big Pharma is happy 🙄… getting on a tangent, here. But yeah, Hannah, on the other hand, had been exposed to TB, after having it when she was young. This meant her lungs still had visual scars from the condition. Whilst she’d already recently had a TB test, on a routine level, and being found to be clear of any living form, as this was a test with much bigger attached consequences, it needed to be more thorough… oh the joys.

The huge, potential, consequences of the delay

This section of the blog contains a lot about the Political landscape of the UK Government. If that doesn't interest you, you can skip to the next bit, titled "She's negative"

At this point, the UK was run by the Conservatives and the, then, Home Secretary, James Cleverly, had just announced some big changes to legal migration into the United Kingdom. Whilst I actually think the changes to Student and Working Visas are actually welcome changes, one change made to Family Visas was quite frankly disgusting, involving how the UK was planning on increasing the Income requirements from the, at the time, £18,600 threshold. Now, don’t get me wrong, that amount was always too small, however, the proposed income was set to increase to £38,700, over double the amount! This is, not only, a huge wage to ask for a single individual to earn, but, outside of Northern London, isn’t even an achievable Wage for the majority of people, especially in Northern England. This was also expected to be introduced soon! This meant, not only did the tuberculosis results need to come back ASAP so we could be sure Hannah was clear, but, they also needed to come back with an actual time bomb as we’d never be able to apply with the new rates. Plus, also, they’d need to be negative, obviously.

A, somewhat, saving grace

In the end, criticism of the changes led to a compromise being put into place by the Conservatives. Instead of going straight to the £38,700, this would be instead done in phases. The proposed phases were planned, as follows;

• ✅ April 2024: £18,600 to £29,000
• ❌ “Later in 2024”: £29,000 to £34,500
• ❌ “Early 2025″: £34,500 to £38,700

So, whilst the change was still going to happen, we ended up having a bit of a leeway in to when this would be happening. This was a very big relief as we do meet the £29,000 threshold, which should be the one place by the time we can make the application. Now, as you may or may not know, since that point, during a surprising (and suspicious) General Election in the UK, the Conservatives are no longer in power and have been replaced by the opposition Labour Party. It’s fair to say they’ve buggered everything up since they got into power, but, one thing that the, now, Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, did was cap the Income Threshold at that same £29,000 it had changed to, by that point, whilst a MET review takes place to decided whether the planned £38,700 would be fair. Due to Civil Servants being lazy, this, for some reason, will take until May 2025. I don’t know why, either. But, this means it won’t just be capped, but, capped for quite some time.

However, it’s important to mention, the cap wasn’t something that was announced long after I’d already DONE everything involved in the application. So, the anxiety of the changes was still VERY MUCH prevalent throughout. I’m not sure if many things would have changed if I knew I had until May 2025. Perhaps, some things might have been done later to save up more, but, in the end, I was really missing Hannah.

She’s negative

Speaking of Hannah, after what felt like years, the confirmation was finally in. Although, oddly the receptionist was unable to tell Hannah her results, it had to come from a Doctor??? I mean, why? It’s binary, it’s yes or no. Regardless, she was in the clear and she had a Certificate to prove it; negative of tuberculosis. -sigh- That’s one requirement down.

It was during the wait for the tuberculosis results that I decided, alongside the Income threshold changes, that I was going to have to take the plunge and get some legal help and assistance to ensure that this application all went through correctly. So, I did.

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I’m gonna need a Lawyer

Applying for a long-term Visa isn’t a fun process, by design. It’s also not cheap, not easy, and has many steps along the way designed to catch you out. Obviously, if you’re just applying for just a Tourist Visa, for if you’re just visiting a Country to go on holiday, for example, it’s really easy. Why? Well, because you’re a benefit the Country, you’re nothing but a gain to the economy. The second you become a permanent, or long term, resident, you need to start proving yourself and earning your keep, so to speak. When me and Hannah arranged her Visitor Visa, it was pretty straight forward, got approved in the expected time and, looking back, we’d really nothing to be worried about. More importantly, though, it was pressure-free. If it didn’t work, somehow, we could just try again. With this Visa, though, with the change of Income Threshold in the loop, with the additional levels of requirements, we were in a situation where it was, no exaggeration, do or die. We had to get this right, first time! For this reason, I knew I had to get an Immigration Lawyer to assist with this one. But, first I’d have to find one.

The search for a Laywer

By this point, I’d been browsing all over YouTube, and beyond, looking at videos explaining the Application process, requirements, was watching a ton of videos by Migrate.org.uk to assist with what was needed (although, from what I know today, they missed a lot out), however I knew I needed more certainty, and, certainly some specifics in relation to me and Hannah.

Searching for a Lawyer did certainly expose one thing, they are not cheap (we’re talking, well over, £1,000+). It is important to point out there’s a difference between an Immigration Lawyer and a Solicitor, we do not want a Solicitor, even if they probably are cheaper, as it’s always best to get someone that doesn’t just have a checklist they look at, but, also, experience in the field. Eventually, I narrowed my search to about 3. Two were more expensive than the other, but, they had guarantees where if it was declined you’d get a refund, which, admittedly, that added insurance did make me think. However, the other one, was closer, so, I was able to arrange a free enquiry to see for myself, and, wow I’m so glad I did.

As I said earlier, I’m fully convinced that Governments design Visa applications to try and catch you out, which makes perfect sense once I’d heard from the Immigration lawyers the full list of requirements expected from a Visa application of this nature. Whilst, sure, the huge costings yeah, income threshold yeah, stuff I already knew. All of a sudden, though, there was quite a lot that weren’t mentioned elsewhere. This made this visit already invaluable as it would have meant if I’d of gone it alone, we’d of being guaranteed a decline! This isn’t supposed to be turning into a User Guide, trust me, so I’m not just going to state everything, get ya own Lawyer 😅. But, I will mention one that was rather surprising.

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Housing Report

Whilst I cycled through the requirements provided to me, for free, actually, by the free consultation, a few things certainly caught my eye. One of the big ones was the requirement for me to hire a Government certified Housing Consultant to do a full-blown property inspection of where me and Hannah were set to live in the UK. Whilst, yes, I was aware that you needed to detail the location of where she’d be staying, no video mentioned the requirement of getting, and paying for, a Surveyor to come around and solicitate an inspection. But, there we are. As I said, finding out these little details was just so key from that visit.

In the end, during the interview, which I’ll cover in a second, there was a recommended contact to use to arrange for one to take place. I wasn’t that bothered about the additional cost when I realised it was just £50, tiny compared to the costs of the everything else going on. Whilst, frustratingly, he was on holiday on my first attempt to reach them, in the end I was able to arrange them to turn up whilst my Dad was home as… well, I was actually busy in my second consultation with the Lawyers themselves, at that time. So, in the end, I ended up leaving £50 for him to be paid, whilst I headed out.

I remember Hannah finding it pretty hilarious how all of this was dealt with over WhatsApp of all things. She, for some reason, thought this was very unprofessional, which I find rather hilarious considering there’s such thing as a WhatsApp Business service. I, personally, didn’t care how it was done, it got done and that’s the main thing. Once done, I had a PDF of the official document which I could provide for the application itself. That’s another checked off and done.

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The Lawyer Interview

I ended up, in the end, visiting the Lawyers, physically, twice. The first time, obviously, being the initial consultation. I’m not really sure what I was expecting from it, if I’m honest. I remember feeling very nervous going inside. I was allowed, for both occasions, to work from home and head there during the day, making back once done.

My interview started late, which, certainly didn’t help the nerves, but, in the end I just though, f*** it, I’m just gonna say everything I need to say, this isn’t a job interview this is for them to help us out… with money 😉.

Once ready I remember going up some stairs into what seemed like a really oversized office for the single individual there. For some reason, it was in the middle of cleaning … on both occasions, interestingly … when I turned up, so, briefly waited for them to be done, then, sat down.

An uneasy feeling of positivity, or, misguided ease?

One thing that immediately struck me about both occasions I went was the sheer level of, you’ll be fine, spread across the entire process. He asked what you’d expect, about me, if I meet the requirements without compromises, about Hannah, our relationship and situation. And, outside of the, still delayed at this point, TB results, he just seemed to shrug and go, “yeah, you’ll be fine”. I wasn’t sure if this was some form of reverse psychology to make me want to pay them for their assistance or to make me feel like I could go it alone, fail, then, think I should’ve just got their assistance. In the end, I decided to trust it.

The more the process was explained to me, all the requirements laid out in thick and thin, it was clear that … yeah, we really shouldn’t have a problem, right?

Ready to go?

Once Hannah had her negative TB results, this, coincided with some additional paper work I needed to do at work using their official internal-only letterhead, I was ready for the final in-person interview. This time I decided to take my Laptop, that way, I’d have literally everything required and saved for this application to just go through with him there.

I must admit, it was pretty satisfying to go through everything from the English test Hannah did before we were even Married, to what we’d just done, aaannndddd everything in between, all come together with a final; looks good to me. Had we done it? Was everything OK? He seemed to think so. I’ll admit, this just opened up a sea of doubt in my mind. Maybe, being a Yorkshireman, I’m just not used to positive people.

Then, it was time to go. Surprisingly, this would be the last time I would actually physically see them. Which, you could argue, is surprising considering, by this point, I’d not paid them or even gone through with it yet. But, guess what Hannah, just like with the Housing folks, they ran through WhatsApp too.

And… yep, it was time…

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Applying…

After checking and double checking through, honestly, over 15 separate section of requirements, before we knew it, it was time. Whilst, apparently, I had the option to visit them in person to do the Application. In the end, surprisingly, it all ended up being done over chat.

Don’t let Fish and Chips get in the way 😁

Because I was just not expecting to do the Application right away, admittedly, the first time I was… not exactly ready. By this point, we’d reached the stage of Friday Chippies and, I’m sorry, but, nothing gets in the way of Fish and Chips Friday. So, whilst they were all trying to get me going through all of the application process, I was trying to eat my collection of Fish and Chips. Plus, by this point, it got very close to 5PM, which, is when they shut. So, in the end, it was agreed that we’d do it Monday, instead.

Not without having to remember every-single time that me, or, Hannah, had travelled in the last 4 years. That took a bit of memory logging.

This time, for real.

As Fish and Chips were no longer a consuming factor of Monday, this was now, actually, the time, that I would be going through the application process. I’d made the decision by that point to say, yes, I would like the Lawyers themselves to do the Application for us. Why? Well, whilst it’s debatable whether it would of been fine doing it alone, I would still rather have that piece of mind that any little niggle along the way, any specific thing you’ve to say in a certain way, or layout in a certain fashion, was done by those who just know.

Plus, as I said earlier, by this point, we were still weeks before an expected further increase in the Income Threshold and other things potentially to change. When I was doing the application, Labour had only just been elected, so, no mention of any changes at all, by that point. Looking back, not that it would have mattered as, I think we all, by this point, were just ready to get this done!

One decision I decided to make, for this Application, the moment that it became clear this would be done over a WhatsApp chat, was use a Virtual Card. I’d already decided to do the payments via Monzo as, despite being a UK Visa Application, everything was somehow charged in US dollars… I don’t know why, either. So, to avoid any transaction fees, it was the obvious choice. But, I’d also be able to use a Virtual Card.

By using a Virtual Card, it would mean that I could basically share a full Card number and details used to make a full Payment to them over WhatsApp, but the details I will be sharing would not be my actual card numbers, just the details of this temporary Virtual Card. Plus, for added security, every payment I’d to say Yes to in the app, so, was very secure.

Bye bye Savings 😭

Then, before I knew it, it was all done. The Visa was all applied for. Paid the application fee, the VFS fee, the fee for the Lawyers and, of course, the NHS Surcharge fee. Because, yes, people on Visas have to pay for the NHS. So, before anyone starts blathering bullshit about how legal immigrants are a burden to the NHS, actually, they’re forced to pay more than most people who use it probably ever have in tax, yet. Trust me on that, cos, it’s a bluddy lot.

This wouldn’t even be the last of them, we’d have a renewal, then, of course, we’d be going down the final process of Citizenship. This is a long process, but, one only the truly dedicated will go through. Something we both qualify for.

To Expedite or not Expedite… that is the question

It was during the application I was asked whether I wanted to Expedite the Visa. What does this mean? Well, says it on the tin really. You can apply for the Visa, let everything do its thing and get the decision eventually, or, you can pay a bit more, typically works out around £500 – £1,000, varying on the Country, to speed up the decision process. In the end, I decided not to Expedite the Visa.

My thinking around not expediting the Visa was pretty straightforward really. It was a very huge cost to embrace, so, be good to have some time to recoup, plus, got a lot of preparations to do.

I was told, during the application, the following durations for a decision. Important to really remember these as we continue in this blog;

• Standard: Up to 6 months
• Expedite: 4 – 6 weeks

Obviously, if it’s based on a simple to complex application, will probably play a bigger factor in most things, but, those were the general timescales decided.

This would mean, it won’t be until around February – March 2025 until a decision will be made about the Visa Application. So, plans would need to be put in the place between that time. Me and Hannah were about to be faced with the prospect of not seeing each other for a year. That couldn’t happen. So, we agreed to make some plans around Christmas time to fill the gap.

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A decision already!!!

For context, we applied for the Visa on the 12th August. It was informed to us that this was going to be taking 6 months to get a decision. So, as I hinted at before, this would be bringing us to around February 2025. This meant, neither me or Hannah were expecting to hear anything for the rest of the year. If anything, this was the calm after the storm. There was nothing to think about, just getting through the remaining months of 2024, recouping costs and planning how we’d bridge that gap near the end of the year. Until…. wait…. 25th September!

The date on the email was actually 23rd of September, so, yeah, that would make it just 42 days. Now, why is that such an interesting amount of time to take. Well, how many days are in 6 weeks? 42. Yep, the Expedite payment which ranges from £500 to £1,000 guaranteed a decision in 4-6 weeks, yet we basically got that for free.

Successful

As I’d done the application alongside the Lawyers, I ended up getting the email. I have never been so nervous about opening up an email more than this one. I mean, think about it, you’ve just been told that you won’t get a decision until 2025, yet here we are less than 2 months later, with an email with decision in the Subject… it’s got to be bad news. Although, to be honest, the reason I ended up opening it was actually because I didn’t think they told you the decision anyway. Literally everyone, including still today, tell you that you will not be told a decision, and that you’ll only find out once the applicant get their Passport back but, no, there it was, a decision! Further proof, beyond what I said earlier, that you can’t really trust what you see online. Although, you knew that already, right?!

“Your application for a United Kingdom (UK) visa (vignette) has been successful”

At the time of this email coming through, which was about 10PM, I was just doing next-to-nothing, watching random stuff, singing in my room, but, believe me, life just stood still when I read that. I couldn’t believe it. I ran around like a crazy idiot, told my Mum, and, basically, just waited for Hannah to come online. Which, oddly, she just appeared online the second I was about to send a message asking her to message me when she woke up.

Not exactly the reaction you want

I rung Hannah the second I could, she answered wondering what the heck I was on about, shared her the letter and, yeah, the disbelief just spread between us. But, what I certainly wasn’t expecting, definitely wasn’t hoping for, was a sense of disappointment alongside the decision as well. I will admit, I found this part rather disheartening and deflating, if I’m honest. A real “back to reality” moment. I’d just spent the last 15-25 minutes in pure elation about the fact that we now CAN spend our lives together, to, then, just, ohh.

To be clear, I don’t think it was necessary the decision that was the problem it was the impending ticking timer that had just begun. You see, when you get an approved Visa application like this, that Entry Clearance vignette that is printed on your Passport only grants you 90 days to enter the United Kingdom and collect your Biometrics, which is basically your ID, essential to apply for anything and do, quite literally, anything, in the country. The 90 day time has been put in place as, obviously, if you intend on living in that country, why wouldn’t you enter in 90 days? Well, Christmas is the answer. Yeahhh, with us both under the impression that February – March 2025 would be when we’d get a decision, the expectation was really set that we might as well just make plans, as would be typical, until 2025. Seems logical, I guess. Hannah was really hoping that we’d be able to spend one last Christmas in the Philippines together, like we did last year, but, once it was made pretty clear that would, not only be financially impossible, but, impossible based on how long was left on the 90 days, she was even further disappointed.

There was a sense of irony, at this point, as it was only days before this point that Hannah was saying the UK was bullshit because of how long it took to get a decision, yet, here we were having dilemmas due to a decision which came in many many months early. Be careful what you wish for.

Despite this, I was still celebrating. I was overjoyed that everything was successful. But, I was also perfectly aware that some degree of compromise would need to be found.

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A compromise is born

Now in a position where we could both spend the rest of our lives together, ironically, had created some issues along the way. As much as Hannah wanted to spend Christmas in the Philippines, that simply would not be possible as we were now under a 90 day countdown which would end before the end of the year. So, what to do. Well, compromise really.

Originally, the plan was that I would be travelling to the Philippines for a few days, effectively to pick up Hannah, then we’d both be flying to the UK together forever. Of course this would be requiring the budget of two. But, what about Christmas, that can’t happen over there, what about blah-bla-blah. Well, it can’t be done, can it. So, in comes the compromise.

I would not be traveling to the Philippines, at all. Then, to suit and fit through Hannah’s preferences, she would be able to spend Christmas and New Year in the Philippines, whilst also being able to come here before Christmas, to collect her Biometrics, register herself on to things here, to then go back home before a final trip back in January. Keeping up? Good. Whilst, this is certainly not the situation we had planned, and, will mean I’ll have to do one last goodbye to Hannah, before the time she’s here for good, it was always going to be the case that her wishes came first. It’s easy to forget just what a huge undertaking Hannah is about to begin, leaving the Country of her birth to live in another is a massive step. So, my priority was making sure that transition could be done in the best way that suits her needs. Which, I feel like, this is the best we could do, with what we have.

Understandably, it may seem like the two flight option is a bit of a waste of money, why not just get over it Hannah and just come here for good in the first one. Look, she wanted one last Christmas there, I completely get that, so, that’s why it’s something I’m making sure she can have. Plus, obviously, we don’t have much choice, in terms of the 90 day countdown.

So, when would Hannah be coming? Well, how about barely a few weeks after 😱. Ohhh yess. The second this plan was all put in place, I wanted to get her here as soon as possible. So, yep, Hannah will be coming at the close of October, leaving at the start of December, then, 2025 will be the year where things truly begin forever!

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End of APPLYING FOR THE VISA

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Telling the world and getting ready

Anyone that knows me knows that when it comes to things progressing in my relationship with Hannah, I’m about as excited as it gets. It’s such a change compared to the way I was before, almost ashamed of my uneventful life, I’m now someone who can’t help express how much is still to come and it’s great how people are right there with us. Not everyone, admittedly, and I hope to really, this time, make sure that changes in 2025 (you know who you are), so everyone is involved.

I told everyone at work to my delight that we’d made it there, whilst, also, making arrangements to be able to pick Hannah up once a flight had been booked. As I’d no holidays left, this would be resulting a few compromise weekend days, which, to be honest, could be worse. In the end, it turns out they weren’t that bad, actually making Mondays nice and quiet.

Getting rid of about a million things…

I don’t think anyone really enjoys tidying up, I certainly don’t think anyone enjoys sorting through stuff, and no one enjoys the everything else, either. But, one thing that was quite a trip down memory lane was clearing out the huge level of just unwanted, unneeded crap still in my possession. We’re taking VHS a plenty, DVDs, books, a whole range of just nothingness. Turns out by doing that, I realised I had, all of a sudden, shelves a plenty to fill with whatever.

Of course that wasn’t all, I had a huge collection of clothing that didn’t fit, either, to be rid of. Although, getting rid of stuff isn’t the easiest thing in the world when Hannah is the kind of person who refuses to let you get rid of things 😁. We tried, anyway.

All of this, of course, to prepare for Hannah’s eventual arrival permanently, where, I’m going to need to find space under the sun for her. The good news is that, where she lives, she’s a very small room, which means, logically, it should be very possible for her to find space for everything here really once the old stuff is out. We’ll soon find out, anyway.

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Preparing for the flight

Hannah was to be arriving in the UK on, literally, Halloween. Spooky. This would mean something pretty incredible, I would now be able to see Hannah in every single month, at least briefly, before the eventual January where she’d be here for real. Obviously, this is trip 1 of 2, meaning that Hannah will be bringing her “part 1” stuff in her Luggage, before the final haul in January. This was also one of the reasons why I was going to have to go to the Philippines to pick her up, although, this is also something that was also resolved by doing things this way, even if this means she is now gonna be flying alone, twice. I think we’re both fully aware this isn’t a perfect situation, but as we hinted earlier, it kind of is a perfect compromise.

CFO (Commission on Filipinos Overseas) = Philippine Red Tape

Before Hannah can travel to the UK, she will need to get herself a CFO. For some unknown reason, this is an addition required document of no reasonable value that you need to go through before you can go to any Country for longer than just a Tourist visit. Hannah had actually being scammed at the Airport for this, previously, in Mactan, by someone who forced her to pay a fine for not having a CFO when, in fact, she never needed one. But, that’s just something you expect in the lawless Philippines. But, something you also expect in Philippines is red tape. That’s right, not just with their Catholic Marriages, the Philippines will tie you up to worthless contractual rubbish even otherwise.

However, despite the fact this was made to seem quite bullish, it turns out it’s both cheap, one-time, and, was sorted in like a few hours, so, unclear why she was so hesitant about it now. 😅

Fees, fees, and … yep, some more.

Whether it’s roaming SIM cards, whether it’s Taxi money to get to the Airport, whether it’s …ohh yeah, more unnecessary reasons to give the Philippines Government more money before you leave, that’s just the way that life is in the Philippines. Just adds to the many reasons why I’m glad this isn’t role reversal.

Don’t get me wrong, I would be very happy to emigrate to another Country, outside of the UK, but, definitely couldn’t be the Philippines. Or, any Arab county, or, any left-wing Western Country or… OK, there’s not many options now, but, in time, who knows 😁.

The last time Hannah travelled to the UK, I paid for her to get Roaming data on her Globe SIM in the Philippines and … it didn’t work. First time, that was because her Android phone didn’t support the GSM bands in Europe and beyond, second time, it was because she’d not enabled Roaming. So, this time, we’re hopeful it will work. That way, Hannah can message when she’s landed, got through Immigration and is near ready to leave. Key factors for when I’m going to pick her up.

But, with all that set up, all that’s left now is the moment she comes, I, honestly just cannot wait 🥰

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Hannah lands in the UK, straight to work

After what had been, at this point, over 6 months, finally, it was time for me and Hannah to be reunited in person. Obviously, during the huge range of challenges we’ve just covered, we’d spend over half a year in the old days of LDR. Whilst, I suspect, Hannah would probably been happier to experience that for longer … no, really, she probably would, it was finally time for that to end, as we both began time together, once again.

One good thing about this time, was, when Hannah landed in the UK, going through Immigration was never going to be hard, as she had a very clear “Entrance Clearance”, in her Passport. So, for the first time, I wasn’t really worried about that side of things, but, we did have a lot to get through whilst she was here. Why? Well, because she wasn’t going to be here permanently, for now, which, I’ll get to later on.

Stttttrraaaighhhttt… to the Post Office 😅

It’s only natural reaction, once you see someone after such a long period of time you NATURALLY go to the Post Office… OK, not really. Once Hannah had arrived in the UK, she had until the 31st December 2024, to collect her BRP (Biometric Residents Permit). Whilst, normally, there wouldn’t be that expiration, the UK is switching over to electronic Visas next year, so, it gave us a much sooner time to sort things out.

Ironically, the Post Office the Government sent her Biometrics to has some pretty awful reviews, citing how everyone is the usual moody but acceptable selves, UNLESS you get the infamous “woman” in the Store. Apparently she’s rude and awful. Although, ironically that WAS who we got served by and… she was fine 🤷‍♂️. I mean, I wasn’t disappointed, things went quickly and smoothly, but, further proof that you can’t trust everyone who just moan rubbish online.

But, that’s all sorted, got Hannah a quick bite to eat at Gregg’s, she’s ironically slowly starting to enjoy some of their Foods now. We’re getting there. After a quick bite to eat, it was time to head home.

Signing Hannah up to the United Kingdom

Now Hannah has her BRP, she’s now, affectively, able to do anything in the UK. She can get a paid job, she can use the NHS, she can, obviously, get a UK Bank card, get direct debits here, literally, everything. The only thing she can’t do, yet, is vote. That would matter if we didn’t have such useless samey Politicians in the UK, at the moment. But hey. We’ve a dreadful authoritarian Labour Party in power, and a lack of opposition, so, pretty low politically here right now, all part of the agenda eh 🙄. Moving on.

Once Hannah arrived home, after a brief, let’s just get a bit of rest, it was time to finally get Hannah signed up for everything. Literally, everything from a Clubcard to a Bank account, it was awesome to see Hannah here ready and waiting for everything to begin. We did most of the things required during the first night, to be honest, but, some things were a bit more complicated, whilst others you just needed to wait for the like the NI number. But, the one thing that was heavily infuriating was setting up the eVisa. I feel like that is deliberate, but, eventually, got it sorted. She’s now in a position where, if she remembers all the awkwardness of it, she should be OK once she re-enters the UK.

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Back home, on a Thursday

One thing that was slightly unusual about this time Hannah arrived in the UK was the day she landed. One thing that has always been annoying about Flights, is how they change in price based on just the day you choose. Literally, we’re talking, in some cases, £500 difference by just picking a Wednesday, or a Saturday, for example. You could argue, it’s obvious, as it’s due to demand, but, it’s still bullshit really. As a result of this, obviously, I needed to arrange a couple days off from work. Days which I… didn’t have left. So, in the end, I ended up working a couple of Sundays, to make up for it. They weren’t that bad, in the end, but I’m really glad we did it.

The original plan was that Hannah would land on Thursday, and we’d use Friday to collect the BRP and sign her up to everything. In reality, we did everything on Thursday, so, ended up having a nice additional day to just collect ourselves. It was still so surreal to have Hannah back and it was certainly a good job I cleared up the room, as Hannah had brought quite a lot. But, despite all of this, we still had space for everything with quite a number of additions too. Obviously, with Hannah, it wouldn’t likely take long for additions to arrive, but, for now, we’re good.

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A chill Friday, and weekend, with cats.

As we’d essentially done everything we expected to do in two days, in the one, this meant that the Friday was a well needed day of chill; for me, as who doesn’t want a chill day, and, for Hannah, whilst she adjusted to the UK time again. Obviously Fridays are mandatorily Fish and Chips Friday, so, that was naturally to come. But, not before a quick trip out or two.

On Friday, as we were, kinda, stuck at what to do, we made the decision to go to my Sisters and meet the cats. Following the unfortunate news I covered before of Cinders death, she now had two new Cats. A white cat, and a tabby. One cat was pretty chill and Hannah found her boring, the other, as shown, was a lot more active and fun. This led to a rather picturesque moment with Hannah, as you can see above. After the trip out, a quiet night followed on top before a quick shopping trip the day after to stock up on a billion grains of rice.

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Back, but, only temporary. Why?

After such a huge level of preparations, stress, spending of fees, and general waiting, Hannah finally was in the UK with the ability to do everything we wanted to truly begin our future. So, why she’s back home? Surely that’s a bit of a huge waste, in terms of cost, increases the awkwardness and only holds up things from being able to truly start.. right? Well, yeah, 100%. I can’t deny that. This certainly wasn’t my decision and I agree it would’ve been much better, made much more sense, for Hannah to arrive and never go back. If she never went back, she’d of probably being able to get a job here over the Christmas period, we could have spent our first Christmas together, following last year spending New Year together … but, that wasn’t to be. So, why?

Well, despite spending 25 previous ones, Hannah still wanted to spend one last Christmas in the Philippines with her family there. She also wanted to go to the Sinulog Festival in the Philippines, which takes place on January 19th. I can’t deny that the choice to choose these over saving a ton of money in flights, savings, creating a much more awkward convoluted situation, is quite selfish of her to do. Very, in fact. Her argument that I could just, drop everything, and go the Philippines, to enjoy that last Christmas there, or, be there with her, was also very selfish. Some things just simply cannot be done. My work have given me a lot more favours when it comes to me and Hannah, and it would be pushing it VERY far to expect another from something so optional. Last times were required, this, not so much.

I can, slightly, understand, from Hannah’s side of things, why she wants this “one last” in the Philippines. She is, after all, moving her entire life to a completely different Country. Despite this, though, she always knew this was going to happen. Yes, the Visa got accepted sooner than we expected, we were expecting it to still be in waiting as I post this blog, but, that doesn’t change the fact that this was a commitment we started years ago, so, it should really be time to put all that in to action now, as soon as possible. What this led to, instead, was; sure, a very happy time to have Hannah with me again, but, what it also led to, was this awkward, not tourist visit, not permanent visit, can work but can’t apply. It was more frustrating, if I’m honest. Yes, this is temporary, yes when she’s back next year, that is the beginning. But, it would’ve just been better, I think, not just financially, but, generally, if it just started now. Her going back home has created some stress and frustrations between us that could’ve been prevented as well. So, yes, whilst her coming here this time, so she could spend a Christmas with her family, was me and my families little treat and favour for her, I just hope she can finally start to appreciate how much has been done for her, and now begin to return that with action when she’s back.

I didn’t want to get quite negative in this blog, and, trust me, I’ll be moving away from that now as we speak about her time here, but, it just had to be said.

Hannah will be coming back in January, that will be the time when there’s no holding back, and she can truly begin the foundations for our future together. That’s the moment, we need to strive for and, despite those frustrations, I do believe we’re both totally ready for it!

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Christmas come early 🎄

As Hannah wouldn’t be experiencing a Christmas in the UK until next year, it was only right that a bit of Christmas came to Hannah early. We’re all adults at this point, it’s no secret that Santa isn’t the one that gets you your presents, sorry kids but it’s not 😅. So, it was a pretty nice experience for her to have some Christmas gifts from me and my family to enjoy.

I got Hannah some of her own uniquely engraved AirPods Pro 2 with our BEHANN engraved over them. Despite this, miraculously, she still managed to mistake mine with them. But, how??. I got these for Hannah pretty early in to her stay here and naturally she was able to enjoy them throughout her stay, journey home and, likely, whilst she’s there too.

My parents, well, my Mum mostly, got her a new Dressing gown. She was already trying to borrow my Mums old dressing gowns to stay warm during the night, so, it made complete sense to get her one of her own. And, yes, she was wearing it for the entire duration of her stay. Despite being the smallest Adult size, it still falls down when she walks up steps, but, otherwise it’s a good fit.

Whilst we were out for one of the two Christmas shopping trips, my older sister was contacting us asking whether Hannah liked this dress, liked this top. In the end, Hannah settled on a purple outfit which she really likes, as well.

My Grandma also got some gifts for Christmas, which led to Hannah feeling very awkward whilst she was looking through them with everyone watching on. You won’t know this Hannah, but, that’s pretty much what we all go through on Christmas Day. Everyone opens their presents, whilst being under the pressure to always look appreciative of anything you get, whether it’s good or not. For the record, though, Hannah did appreciate everything.

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Hannah’s gifts for everyone!

It wasn’t just us that were gifting Hannah. As always, Hannah felt it upon herself to give everyone something, too. You could argue, unnecessarily. These weren’t Christmas presents, these were just Hannah’s decision to get everyone something. This did lead to Hannah failing, once again, at getting the correct size of Shirt for my Dad. Forever, she keeps trying to get my Dad a t-shirt and, once again, the size was way too small. But, she tried 😅

The highlight of all the presents, though, was, undoubtedly, what Hannah got for my Grandma. There’s always been this special connection between Hannah and my Grandma. This was highlighted more so by my Grandma giving her a gold necklace last time she was here, which certainly took her by surprise. So, she felt the need to do something extra special for her in return.

I’ll never forget the moment Hannah was asking me, and, apparently, Louise, for pictures of my Grandma and my late Grandad. The reason why, very unclear, Hannah was keeping it very secret. In the end, it was all so she could get her a very unique present. Utilising an old picture of my Grandma and Grandad from their youth, laser printed onto a glass canvas which lights up the picture elements. It looks amazing. For obvious reasons, I’m not sharing picture of them, but, trust me it looks awesome.

For me, she got me some biscuits, they’re nice, though, so that’s all I need 😁

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The many trips out, but, the Coats were never white enough 😁

Spending time with Hannah is always an incredible experience, but, one thing that always arises when I’m with Hannah is the forever reasons to go out Shopping for something. Last time it was all about the Beret, this time it was the search for a White coat. But, did she find one … no. No, really, never did. This isn’t one of those situations where you’re like; did they, will they, surely they did 😁 No, really couldn’t find one. I think in reality, white coats are just a bad colour as they show up all the dirt so you can only get those slightly very white bright grey ones.

So, yes we tried, a lot, but, no, white coat she never got.

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Trip out to Shibden Hall and Park

When Hannah came to the UK, it was clear this wasn’t going to be the typical, let’s just go everywhere, tourism blah blah blah. However, that didn’t mean we couldn’t find somewhere to go. I think, in reality, we all wished we could of gone to more placed, but, let’s be fair, it’s near-on Winter, so, there’s no point doing too much.

I know Hannah loved woodland places, and historic locations, so, it was time for somewhere new, we ended up visiting Shibden Hall and Park. Though, it wasn’t without its frustrations, that’s for sure. But, we’ll get to them.

Originally, me and Hannah had decided to visit quite a few places surrounding the Halifax area, but, once we visited Shibden, it ended up taking a lot more time out than otherwise, plus, there’s always time to do more another time. As is typical of any day out with Hannah, it started later than would be ideal, but, we were able to get there, in relatively good time.

One problem I always have whenever I end up going somewhere I’ve never been before, is finding how the heck I get there and more. I remember getting off at the Bus stop close to where the Hall was and both me and Hannah going… right, which way do I go. We ended up climbing some stairs reminiscent of some horror movie, but, thankfully, it did lead in the right direction and we ended up reaching the entrance to the Hall and getting inside. Well, kinda.

Is it even open??

One of the most annoying things about visiting Shibden Hall was the fact that despite the fact you could reserve a ticket inside the Hall, it wasn’t even open!!! This was so infuriating. Whilst, as you can see from our huge array of Photos, taken from the very vast Park area which filled all of the Shibden Hall area, the actual reason we went initially was to see the historical museum location itself. But, when we got there, there was a notable absence of any way of getting inside. Yep, it was closed. Closed, yet, oddly the Gift shop and Café was open, huh??

The only thing I’m thankful for is that we still had a great day despite this. That’s one thing about spending a day out with Hannah, no matter what rubbish can throw itself at you, if we’ve got each other I’m guaranteed to have a good day out!

This was, of course, a huge day of photography with Hannah as is always the case. I have to say the Park area is very huge and vast. It makes you feel like there’s probably more you can do in the Summer, similar to my first visit to Peasholm Park, so, who knows maybe we’ll be back if they guarantee the bluddy Hall is even open.

Café exposes Hannah’s love for Animals 😁

As with any trip to a location like this, it always ends with a very average and disappointing Café at the end, and this was of course no exception. It was rather amusing to see just how many things in the Café weren’t exactly legal. Is it important, no, but, when you buy something in multipacks here it says quite clearly, “this should not be sold separately”, and EVERYTHING, from Cans of drink to more, all said they were multipacks. So, you could, if you were that way inclined, report the place and they’d get quite a hefty fine. I would do that for lying about the damn Hall being open, but, more important things to worry about.

One thing included in that multipack scenario were Chocolate Animals. Hannah had no idea what these were when I got one, just for a little snack before we headed home for her very expected Chinese Food tea, as per all Saturdays. But, put it this way, if you’re wondering if she liked them, the night that followed, resulted in us going to Tesco for her to get her own multipack of them, so, yeah, she’s a fan. Something to add to our usual snack collection, here.

Let’s just get a cab

The only problem with traveling to places you’ve never been to before, sometimes, isn’t just the finding the way there, but, finding the way out and home. This was certainly a problem I had when we got out. Thankfully, I had a 50% discount on my Uber, so that made the decision to get home, much more easier.

Though this wasn’t until a rather strange moment occurred, upon leaving the Park, after the Café. There was this Car that went passed us, on the way out, with the people inside giving us a very noticeable stare, almost a creepy glance, non the less. Now, this wouldn’t be much if it was just the one time, but, this was literally 3 (maybe more) times. Was weird as F. Thankfully, by the time another could be done, we were long gone. Maybe we’ve got fans we never knew we didn’t want. Regardless, before you knew it, we were out.

Once we left, we ended up at a Main road, I noticed a Petrol station convenient as a pick up point for the Taxi, so, ordered it, it finally arrived, not before the Driver filled up the Petrol first, like, then, we were off and the day was over.

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Chocolate Cake 2nd attempt: Success!

This is far from the first time me and Hannah have attempted to make a Cake, but, the most successful, but, not successful, was our first Chocolate Cake. So, it was only right that we made a new attempt. This time, I didn’t add too much water to the icing, so, it didn’t look constantly drenched, and, Hannah took to being artistic with her own touches. BEHANN etched on, with what I think is snow (more on that later), who knows, but it was tasty, and Hannah enjoyed it too!

I still prefer Victoria Sponge, but, Hannah’s more a Chocolate cake person, but we had quite a lot of positive feedback. I think when she’s back she wants to do another Cake, the Lemon Drizzle Cake. Whilst this certainly isn’t a Cake I’m particularly looking forward to tasting, she’s far more keen to do something a bit different.

Hannah was initially wanting to do a Mango Float, however, I don’t think anyone really likes Mango. It was also rather frustrating how Hannah kept denying that Mangos were Mangos when we saw them in Supermarkets just as they look slightly different in the West 😅, always the stubborn one. But, we’ll see how she gets on with the Float, if she ever does it here. Trouble really, will be, she’d be on her own at consuming it. But, Chocolate Cake, very successful.

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Hannah brings Philippines Snacks to my Work, kinda 🇵🇭

One of the strangest things that came from Hannah’s stay this time around wasn’t the fact that she was here, wasn’t the fact that life, of course, had to go on as normal, but, it was the fact that she had a bag, a huge bag, full of random Philippines snacks intended for my work to enjoy. Yeah, I don’t quite know why either. It certainly created a lot of conversation starters, and, even led to more interactions with people I don’t normally do. Was certainly quite a moment.

Obviously, we’re far into the dawn of work from home, so, it was never quite easy to pick a day where the majority of people would be in, but, decided to for mid-week. So, there I was, trolling in a Bag full of what can only be described as, random, selection of things from the Philippines. Many things went down well, such as Nips, which are just M&Ms really. Many things didn’t go down well, such as the extraordinary amount of Dragon Sid we had, which no one was even going to attempt. It was nice for this to be an opportunity to have interactions with some from other teams, especially Jean who is actually from the Philippines herself. She was, essentially, shouted, by my team, to explain what the heck most of the things actually were.

At the end of the day, there was a few things remaining, some never even got one taken, as we explained with the Dragon Sid. Once it was made very clear that anyone can, honestly, take anything as much as you like, Jean took to that occasion and was all at the Crisps and more. Many took some souvenirs, though, they clearly aren’t of the best quality as Kim’s broke in two days of use 😅. That’s Philippines. But, seriously, the innuendo opportunities were just plentiful;

Whilst at work, people had the opportunity to taste my Nips, my Happy Nuts, my Ding Dong … you get the idea, it made for quite a few oo-la-laa moments to behold. Once they’d all been consumed, Hannah, naturally, took the left overs back home when it was time, and was a nice distraction through the day. Some people, notably, my Manager, didn’t get to try some, due to not coming in those days, but, all the same, was nice for everyone to get involved. Now, it’s all back to normal there.

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Terry’s Chocolate Orange at 95p 😅

Whenever Hannah comes to the UK now, it’s always something whenever she sees Terry’s Chocolate Oranges. For some reason, they’ve become a staple to what she must purchase for the Gifts at home. So, you can imagine the great surprise when Tesco dared to price the originals at 95p. A very dangerous opportunity emerged.

Most people who purchase these will get maybe some, no, Hannah got the entire box of them, and, not just the one. She left that Tesco with over 20 Chocolate Oranges. And, she wasn’t done. There were other flavours that, unfortunately for Hannah, were not part of the offer, but, still needed to be included. So, that would be one of the things that would be included in our trip out to Huddersfield coming up over that particular weekend. So, Mint, the new Milk Chocolate flavour, and more, would also be included.

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Trip to Huddersfield, with a VERY Christmas ending!

Is it the most exciting place to visit in the world, absolutely not, but, that doesn’t stop Hannah making a day out of anywhere we go. Yep, we were back in Huddersfield. This time, though, unlike the last time, with a bit more success on getting some Scones at their Tesco which was very gratifying. Well, it was for me anyway.

Other than that, the trip consisted of what it always does, Hannah looking an absolute picture, and generally just shopping around. Hannah’s obsession with the good ol’ Charity Shop has unfortunately not gone away, trust me, I’m cutting out a lot of the many visits to ones in Cleck and beyond here, and, yes, this trip included them too. Although, there was no £1 brand new looking Shoes this time around. This time it was very much going for the sake of going, I guess, but, we did get quite a bit of stuff sorted for Christmas and Hannah, of course, naturally, got more Terry’s.

This was also an opportunity for Hannah to get some specialities that had been requested from her family as well. Although, I will say, it didn’t take us that long to realise that, not only had the day gone past a lot quicker than we realised, but, we were also kinda bored, so, we ended up gearing up to leave by the time we got to 3. One thing Huddersfield certainly DOES NOT do for Hannah is supply her with what she’d rather eat. It’s very much not a Filipina locale area. So, it was time to head out. But, I had something to do whilst there;

A very disappointing freebie

I’d been given a free pack of Biscuits by Mcvities. I know, you weren’t expecting this as part of this visit, I know, I like to throw in the odd surprise. Well, let me just make this very quick and clear, they’re awful. Don’t buy them. But, this isn’t the only discovery of disappointing biscuits that was found in the Huddersfield trip, ohh no. After visiting B&M, a risk was taken to try the Biscoff dip thing, those are awful too. Tastes like eating paper covered in dips of … I don’t even know what it’s supposed to taste like, but, it ain’t good. So, two not recommended added to the list here.

Consumer advise over, it was time to head back.

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Cleckheaton Christmas Lights Switch On, then, for Hannah 🍜🍚

This wasn’t, initially, planned to be something we’d go out for, but yes, reminiscent of 2022, here was Hannah experiencing the Cleckheaton Christmas Lights Switch On once again. But, Ben, didn’t you say that was mostly a disappointment, yes I did … and, yes, it kind of was, but, it was pretty much in our faces when we got back, so, why not, eh?

Yeah, fresh from the bus back from Huddersfield, it was pretty, unavoidable. My Mum was already there with the girls, so, it made sense to send her a message (thank god for Apple Watch, cos she’d of never heard her phone, otherwise) and meet up. Although, when we did meet up with my Mum, it turns out, she wasn’t with the girls and they’d made the whole trip for my Mum a waste of time by having a paddy and going. So, it ended up being just me, my Mum and Hannah. Can’t say I’m complaining about that, if anything, made it a bit more special, to me.

As always, there was a range of stalls, over-priced Food and rides, kind of what you’d expect really from any switch on. And, yes, a very disappointing collection of Lights, in the end. Ahhh, I remember the days when we actually had quite the array of lights back in the day, used to be rather good, looking back, even if I wasn’t really the kind of kid who’d appreciate it. But, you can thank all the Net Zero buffoons for ruining the world’s economy over the lie of Climate Change, for all this decline.

The evening itself was actually rather good, wasn’t too cold, the three of us had quite a lot of laughs, so we decided to stick around for the big switch on … OK, just, the switch on. But, I think, once the lights did come on, once I’d found them, we all agreed, time to go now. So, we did. As Hannah was starving, my Mum was too, it was only natural to walk straight in to a Takeaway, on the way home, get Hannah some Noodles and Rice, ready for a nice chilled night in. I, personally, had those Scones I was very gratified for getting 😁.

But, the Weekend was not done with surprises for Hannah.

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Trip to Specsavers for some new Specs

Yep, the one thing Hannah had been waiting for the most, waiting to experience the most in person, the one thing she was hoping would happen with everything the way it was, finally happened; I got some new Glasses … ohhh wait, no, wrong intro 😁. What Hannah actually was feeling that way about, is coming very soon.

It’s true, though, I did go to Specsavers, finally utilising my Discount vouchers on some Glasses that still cost more than any I’ve had previously. Plus, to make matters worse, they’re awful, so, that was money well spent 😏. I’ve literally gone back about 8 times, trying to get them to fit my face, they still don’t. So, I must say the whole “shoulda gone to Specsavers” line, I heartedly disagree on.

OK, fine, I’ll get to what that intro really was for

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It snowed, slightly, in the UK! 🌨️❄️

Hannah has previously experience what can only be described as the smallest flurry in the world, whilst in the UK before, but, this was the first time she got to experience a more significant amount of snow. This was predicted, all weekend, so, it was expected to come, but when it did, it was … forget whatever we’re watching, I don’t care if you’ve work tomorrow, Ben, and it’s late, GETT OUTTSIDDEEE 😁

So, we did.

It would be fair to say that the inclusion of snow to the night certainly transformed Hannah from being this rather tired person, after the trip to Huddersfield, the Christmas lights switch on in Cleck, so, adding Snow to the weekend, certainly lifted up her spirits! I was, kinda, wanting to get some sleep, if I’m honest, as it was work the day after, but, Hannah was clearly very excited so I let her enjoy that moment.

It wasn’t the most Snow we’ve had, and, admittedly, it was, pretty much, gone by afternoon of the day after, but it was pretty infectious to see just how much joy it brought to Hannah. My Mum found it particularly amusing. I blame my Dad for us going down as early as we did, though. At the time we were watching a Movie, I’d already noticed the Snow, and was thinking, look, let’s just finish the Film, then go out. But, no, he had to knock on the door to make her notice before 🙄.

Many videos and photos later, I finally insisted to Hannah that I need to get some sleep. So, she finally stopped experiencing the snow. I did say, look, you can stay out if you like, then, she remembered it was cold, so, came in with me. This wouldn’t be the last time she’d experience snow here, but, certainly was the last time it had any noticeable impact, for sure.

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Snow, yes. Slush, no

Yeah, if you can believe it, just a few days later we did get a little bit more snow, but, this was certainly far less of something of note. But, it did give Hannah an opportunity to experience why snow isn’t always that much fun, slush. On this day, in particular, we’d both booked to watch a Movie in the Cinema, but, it wasn’t until later, plus, it had snowed, so, let’s head out and start the day in town at … ohhh, you didn’t mention Charity Shops 😭.

What this did do, however, was allow her to experience slush, which, it’s fair to say, she’s not a fan of. It’s just solid rain, gets all in your Shoes, your socks, it’s slippery and makes walking more effort, ughhh, so, she was very happy when it had cleared up afterwards.

The start of the day itself, though, actually was rather productive. I had been looking for a new mirror for my room for the longest time, found one, Hannah bought more unnecessary things she didn’t need, then, before we knew it was time to head for the main part of the day, so, let’s get to that.

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Trip to the Cinema

One of the notable additions to my Monzo Perks recently was 2-for-1 Cinema Tickets, so, it just kinda made sense, being the Movie obsessed Hannah is, to take advantage of it and watch a Movie together. So, once we were done in Town, the Slush had finally being noted as annoying, we headed to Leeds to watch a Movie.

Was rather old school when we got to Leeds, in the end. We made it a lot earlier than we needed to, so, Hannah went to get some Noodles at a Thai place, she always used to go to, opposite a Gregg’s. Always rather amusing going there as they have these boxes in multiple sizes and you’ll see all the Brits go in asking for Large and XL boxes, eating them all in one go. Then, comes in Hannah, asking for Small, which is literally too much for her to eat. Although, I will say, she now always eats the entire Chinky we have on Saturdays in one go, unlike before, and the Currys on Thursdays. Once that was consumed, and, once I found a Greggs actually with anything in stock…ughh, we were set for the Cinema.

Once I’d found it. For some reason, I completely forgot where the Vue in Leeds was. I thought it was in one of the Shopping Centres, but, turns out it was nowhere near where I’d predicted. BOTH Apple Maps and Google Maps were wrong about its location. Thankfully, using your eyes led me to the right place. Once there, was time to get to our Screen and, I guess, a bite to eat. Though, in reality, we probably shouldn’t have.

Speaking of Food and Drink, My Perks also came with a 10% discount on Food and Drink, although, at a Cinema even an 80% discount would still result in overpriced Food and Drink, but hey. What we got was Popcorn bigger than Hannah, a drink bigger than her entire stomach and a Movie itself which was very… not that great, either. So, what did we watch and what did we think. Well, I had NO interest in putting myself through the pain and suffering that is Wicked. And, Moana 2, based on its trailer, look waaaaaay too babyish. So, another choice, please?

If there was one thing that ruined the whole Movie experience it was the absolute asshole that sat next to us during the Film. I hate people like that. We specifically pre-booked our seats based on where we wanted to sit, and got the seats we wanted. They adjusted back as well, which was kind of nice. Everything was going fine, until this woman came in with her daughter. Was so annoying. Every second pestering us about moving forward, moving this direction 🙄. In the end, I was pressured to move to a crap seat at the end with a broken mechanism that didn’t even move. Ruined the whole experience. You just know she probably never even paid for her Seats cos that’s the scrounging stereotype she was giving off. So, no, I didn’t enjoy it, she ruined the entire Movie experience for me.

By the time it was time to get home, Hannah was, as she always is, pretty tired, so, we headed home in the closest bus. But, Hannah wasn’t going to let all that Popcorn go to waste, ohh no, so she oddly decided to bring it home. This was a wasted effort, however, as no one wanted any, and, she couldn’t stomach anymore, so, didn’t really work out in the end. As I said before, and will likely be the case next time, won’t bother with Food and Drink.

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From seeing Lee, to taming Larry

Obviously, with life continuing as normal for me, around Hannah being here, and with that added restriction of her having to back before everything can begin, it certainly led to quite a lot of days being very much the same. This wasn’t really my fault, in the end, but, it certainly was a shame. However, some days, delivered more than others. So, after what was a rather standard Tuesday, of all days, came a moment where Hannah got to enjoy the company of the myth, the legend, the one and only … yeah, its Lee.

It would be an absolute lie to suggest that Hannah enjoys going to Spoons, but, sometimes it’s not really about where you’re going, but who you’re there with. As much as we can all joke about Lee, in reality he’s always a laugh and I’m forever grateful for him for visiting the Philippines and being our Best Man. This time, though, was standard affair. With the obvious exception of the day. Typically, or, at least, previously, it was always Wednesdays or weekends, yet here we were on Tuesday … controversial.

Hannah got herself some Chicken and Rice, explored the range of sauces available to try and make her own cocktail of ways to make it taste good … until she went to the Toilet, where the Staff took her food thinking it was finished with 🤦‍♂️. They’re a pretty dumb bunch. I risked, and regretted, my usual purchase of Chips, with Lee already eaten before we arrived. Then, after a few hours, we all went our separate ways.

Once the visit at Spoons had finished, Hannah decided to set Larry straight. My Mum had, by this point, purchased, no joke, 3 beds for him. Larry would explore and sit on them for an occasion or two, then, never use them again. Most recently, at this time, he had become very fond of my Work bag. Until, Hannah took things in to her own hands and tamed the beast… so to speak, not literally, as Larry is a bit of a wuss.

For some reason, exclusively, when Hannah is around, he will happily sit on a bed, close to where we both sit, as shown in the right picture. Whilst you could argue this is just coincidental, quite literally, he never did it after this point, until she was there again. And, on top of that, he will not sit there, since she’s gone home. He only does as per her wishes.

Although, Larry has always had a bad judge of character. He tried his charms on my Dad that wishes he didn’t exist, and, is now trying his charms with Hannah who prefers her own cat Ben-Ben, so, he’s always been very misguided.

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Brighouse Christmas Market, ruined by misconception

The last big hurrah that me and Hannah did whilst she was here, was going to Brighouse for what was promoted as the Big Christmas Light switch on. Yes, a second Christmas lights thing. Trouble is, what we didn’t know, the lights were already on … so, was a bit disappointing for that reason. So, in the end, it ended up more being a trip to Brighouse to explore the Town and the Christmas market. So, not all bad, I guess.

Well, something that certainly contributes to the fact I’ve no pictures from this entire day, is what made this day a bit… you know. Hannah has a tendency, one that I’m really hoping doesn’t become more of a regular thing, to completely take things out of proportion, make assumptions that are rarely, to, never, true, and then ruin an entire day, due to them. This, was the result, of one of those things. Being the stubborn person that Hannah is, if she’s wrong, she won’t drop it, if she’s right, she won’t drop it. This led to, honestly, a potentially fairly decent day, becoming very sour.

Brighouse itself, is rather nice. It’s got a few big Supermarkets to take advantage of, whilst we’re there. With the changes to the Bus services it’s now easier than ever to get to, then, on top of that, it’s a nice quiet little Town, with added addition of some Christmas Markets … even if all of them were crap. We’d gone previously, but, very briefly, just to get to the Train station, or, more platform, but, this was the first time the Town was truly explored. My Mum also used this opportunity to get some Christmas presents, as well, especially as she had a Cashback offer for Sainsbury’s, so could save a wee bit more.

She finally got over it… woo

It took Hannah, an entire night, this, almost, entire day, to finally get over herself. In the middle of a Supermarket, when I pointed out where the Macrons were, which she wanted to get to bring home, she finally decided to stop being an absolute idiot. Whilst this, of course, did bring the day back to a glimmer of what the entire one could’ve been, that doesn’t change the fact that, once again, her own misguided judgement, her own pathetic mind, had decisively ruined our last full day together. And, for that, I don’t forgive her. And it’s, honestly, just, so disappointing that Hannah is still doing these things. Even after this day, she’s tried the same thing, since she’d come home. It’s getting boring now, and it really needs to stop, for good.

I said earlier, in the blog, I didn’t want to add negativity. But, if there’s one thing this blog has never been, it’s never been specifically about high points, whilst avoiding low, it’s about being honest. Without honesty, without covering highs and lows, it becomes pointless to me. Who cares about a false positive sense of the world of reality when we all know that doesn’t exist. That day was ruined by Hannah, so, it would be a lie for me to paint it as anything, otherwise. What caused all of this? Anything major… no, just Hannah rummaging through messages from years ago, randomly, and misunderstanding a whole context of a private conversation she was never meant to be a part of 🤦‍♂️. One thing I won’t do, is go deeper in to worse examples of this, just know, it’s been discussed, it’s been covered, and, BELIEVE ME, it’s gonna stop!

More scones ✅, Strawberries … ❌

One thing that’s really useful about being able to get to Brighouse easily, is that an actually useful Tesco is there, other than the rather lacking one in Town. This meant that it wasn’t hard to get Scones without crappy Sultanas in them. However, one thing that was forgotten was Strawberries. This probably wouldn’t have been forgotten if things were OK with us, before we went in, but, blah blah blah.

Once we’d arrived home, this was realised. Everyone had something to eat, and Hannah needed to focus on packing. I went upstairs to see how she was doing, to which she apologised for being how she’d been and ruining the day. Whilst I was very glad she was able to realise that, properly apologise without being provoked to, it doesn’t change how much the day was ruined, unnecessarily.

It did lead to, however, another pop out. I thought, as we were looking for Strawberries, I’d check the Tesco app which said, literally, in the specific Cleck store we were going to, they HAD plenty in Stock. This made going to Tesco to find they had ZERO, quite frustrating, to say the least. But, I think that just perfectly defined the day, really.

End the day, with a Movie

To try and reset the mind, we both settled in to our final night, doing what we’d been doing almost every night, cuddling up and watching a Movie. We ended up watching something rather short in length, Tim Burton movie which Hannah always loves, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Whilst it does share, very noticeable similarities with other stuff he’s made, it was nice and short enough to enjoy the full Film without thinking ohhh look at the time. This was also a perfect opportunity, to put me and Hannah back to our good selves again, ending a garbage day, in a very positive way indeed 😊.

All that remained now, was, one sleep before it was time to go. But, in light of the mood being rather subdued, let’s lift it a bit first;

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What we watched, and, what Hannah now likes to watch!

One thing that always is the case with Hannah, is if we’re going to watch something, it’s typically either categorised, or, if there’s a producer she likes, we need to watch THEM ALL! This was true with Studio Ghibli, for example, where we ended up watching the entire Movie collection. This time the focus was very much on both Harry Potter, as well as Tim Burton.

Harry Potter was slightly interrupted, during, I think the Phoenix one, by the snow you may remember, and Tim Burton was interrupted, or, at least not enjoyed by Hannah, during A Corpse Bride where Hannah just fell asleep. She was awake when he “died”, and woke up at the ending Wedding. So, didn’t really see any of the sub-plot. Although, is there a plot at all, not really, it’s just nice and weird atmosphere that he always goes with for his direction.

It was also time for some big introductions for Hannah, as it was finally time to show off some things that I have always enjoyed watching, and, with Christmas around the corner, two Movies, kind of for one of them, was introduced to Hannah for the first time, as well.

Mary Poppins (not the awful new one)

Mary Poppins, a true classic that just didn’t connect with Hannah, unfortunately. Maybe she’s the kind of person that would prefer the dreadful sequel they made. Who knows. But, it wasn’t the only classic that we watched.

The Full Monty was a bit of a rollercoaster for Hannah as 9/10 she’d no idea what the heck they were on about. But, that did create some amusing discussion and it’s not that bad of a Film. It’s not my cup of tea, but it was the first of Mums suggestions. We also, thanks to my Mum, watched Beaches, which Hannah enjoyed a lot more, it is a girl-focused Film that instead being a chick-flick that aims to make the audience cry. The Full Monty, not so much.

You can’t beat The Snowman, it’s short, it’s sweet, but it’s a true classic and thankfully Hannah was won over by this one. But, this wasn’t my favourite thing that Hannah got into, ohh no.

Not a Movie, but, there’s certainly a large collection of TV shows that I’ve been trying to find excuses to introduce Hannah to. Some, which I’m unsure whether she’d appreciate or enjoy, being brought up Catholic, like Father Ted, but just a huge range of shows for her to experience. However, if you’d of told me, she’d enjoy this one, I’d of never believed you, but here we are.

Yep, it’s the infamous Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em. I remember Lee, of all people, getting me the full DVD boxset of every episode of these. As much as I hate the BBC the way it is today, fully left-wing politicised and creepily obsessed with Trans ideology disgustingly on programmes children watch, there was a time when it produced world class Comedy. So, there’s plenty more to explore. Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em, though, was certainly alternative. I think Hannah really enjoyed just the absolute absurdity of it. She wasn’t convinced when we told her Michael Crawford (who plays Frank) did his own stunts in the Comedy, but, didn’t stop the laughs all the same. We started going through Series 1, and, will likely check them all out, at some point.

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Time to go, once again

Whilst, I still remain a bit disappointed, that Hannah was going home, that time had indeed arrived. Hannah arrived in the UK at the close of October, was here throughout November, to, then, leave at the beginning of December, and, will be back in January. So, technically, we won’t be a month apart, but, it’s a gap I’d of happily not had apart. By this point, the next Flight was already booked, so, for the first time ever, we also knew exactly when we’d be seeing each other again. This made things kind of strange, and, I guess, slightly, less impactful when she did go. It was less of a, see you in a long while, more, I’ll be back soon.

That was something which hadn’t fallen on deaf ears when Hannah initially arrived, joking how she wouldn’t even care when she went as, who cares, I’ll be back before you know it, so I won’t miss you, how could I miss you 😂. She’s so bad. Here I am, someone who misses her if it’s even just whilst I’m at work, to her who’s happily experiencing life without me now. Regardless, though, it was that time to head to the Airport, and head back to the last of this “apart” reality.

The slowest queue ever!!!

One thing that was surprising, and, annoying, about this time around, was that, for some reason, it was the most slowest and busiest I’ve ever experienced the Emirates queue at Manchester Airport. Getting to the Airport, we made good time, so, the expectation was that we’d quickly get Hannah checked in, and have some time to chill, but ohhh no.

Look, I expect UK Airports to be slack, trust me, it’s something that becomes crystal clear if you ever fly outside of Europe, how terrible we are here, but, this was a whole new level. To make matters, almost, worse, the people in front of us were touring Fighters from Korea, who had over 20+ Luggage. Thankfully, they got served separately once the snotty Business Class lot were done. Seriously, though, it just felt like there was one desk operating for hundreds of separate Customers, then, each Customer had done nothing correct so each person took like a billion hours.

Eventually, it was Hannah’s turn, luggage down, checked in, we were done. But, not without compromise. It was, at this point, now barely 25 minutes, until she really needed to get through Departures, so, we certainly didn’t have the time I’d of hoped. She got a quick bite to eat, whilst my Parents had a Coffee, then, it was that time. Headed upstairs, said our goodbyes, then, she was gone.

Pre-booked Parking… didn’t work

One thing that I’d done for both Hannah’s arrival and, this Departure, was pre-booking the Parking at the Airport online. It’s really rather simple. Plus, I had a discount, I wasn’t aware off, from Work, so, took advantage of that and saved money. Then, ironically, when Hannah was leaving, I could take advantage of a Black Friday discount, so, win-win right. Well, whilst the first one went to plan, car at the Gates, that then automatically open. The second time, not so much.

This was a rather amusing moment of time where your Yorkshire comes out. It tends to do that if something is overpriced, you know you’re being scammed, or, something doesn’t work. So, when it tried charging us for something we’d already paid for, I rung the office, and in the broadest of accents; “I’ve paid for me ticket online but it won’t let us ahhhttt” 😁. Thankfully, a quick read of the Registration, confirmed it was booked, and she opened the Gate for us, allowing us to leave.

Then, before I knew it, back home. Unlike previously, though, there’s a lot more evidence of Hannah in my room now. In fact, a very lot of it. And, as rightfully explained, this is far from the same as the last time, it will be weeks until I see her again, not over half a year, that could’ve been longer. In fact, the next time I’ll see Hannah is still sooner than we were told to expect a Visa decision. So, that’s certainly something to hold on to.

Larry now misses her 😅

One thing that was immediately apparent from the first evening, Larry who was now Hannah’s fan, misses her and no longer sleeps in the bed she arranged. The theory was indeed, true.

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Back to old-school, for the last time

I have to say, it’s sure weird being back to, essentially, LDR, this time around. Whilst every other visit has always had that sense of Tourism about it, this time just didn’t. It was obvious, previously, that these were just visits to explore new sights, or, packed periods of time to do this before heading home. This, just, didn’t have that, so, it feels very disconnected, like life is on Pause, until the upcoming Resume can be pushed. But, life goes on, until that late January time she’s back.

Whilst last Christmas was very strange, as it was immediately abruptly interrupted by me heading out to the Philippines for New Year, this time that won’t be the case, so, it will be a Christmas and New Year (being Hannah’s birthday) apart. It’s no doubt that this new time apart from each other hasn’t being the most positive thing in the world, which is weird as that’s how we’ve spent most of the time in our relationship. But, I think the difference now is, life is set up here now for us, so, that separation just adds fuel to any fire. There’s many aspects of the future I’m very nervous about, especially Hannah’s true adjustment to things here when I’m no longer there, essentially, hand-holding her, not just the impact of her being with me full time all the time. But, this is what we both signed up for, so, I’m also very excited to let that journey truly begin.

Christmas presents are all wrapped up and done, as well. Including something I thought I’d add, these Peeps glasses cleaners. I tried one out, to see if it wasn’t just a pile of rubbish, and, honestly, they’re great. So, I ended up ordering another 5. They’re not the cheapest things ever, should in reality be about half its price, but, I thought I’d throw one in with everyone who wears glasses’ Christmas present.

Buying things just because they appear in online adverts doesn’t always work out, though. … Wow, you don’t say, I hear you cry 😂. I thought I’d finally take the plunge and ordered the Journey Wireless Charging Desk Mat and was very intrigued to try it out, to discover it doesn’t come with an AC Plug, which is a jerk move, and… doesn’t fit. But, when I tried returning it, they offered it for free, so… OK, fair enough.

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So, what’s next?

Well, put simply, the 2024 in Review will be next as far as content on BEHANN, and, what a huge year to run through. But, in terms of what’s next in reality, getting through Christmas and New Year, really.

I’m admittedly a bit nervous about Hannah coming in terms of the eVisa process. A lot of people have been complaining about it, with some delays already announced for new applicants as things “aren’t working as they should”, ohh joy. But, mostly, what’s next is getting Hannah back here where she belongs where we’re now set to begin what, truly is, what our lives have been leading up to, our future together.

So, for the moment, that’s you all caught up, shorter than my last blog, to the relief of the quickly bored, and, see you in 2025.