My Life in the Philippines – Continuing House Hunt

My Life in the Philippines, February 9, 2016

So, it’s 7 PM here in the Philippines, and I am kicking back on the futon in our little office writing this entry up.  Cuz somewhere along the line, someone mentioned that the whole idea of a blog is actually writing up blog entries.

I sometimes forget that.

Michell is visting her family in Mindano until later this week, so life is pretty dull  – later, I will probably shave my head and watch some of the latest UFC fights.  Ah, the bachelor life in the Philippines….

Mystery Science Theater 3000 is on right now.  It’s the season 1, episode 2 full-on lampoon of “The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy.”  If you haven’t ever seen MST 3K (it was popular in the mid 90’s), you’re missing out.  Basically, it’s three comedians making fun of old black and white movies, mostly science fiction and old monster flicks.  It’s pretty frikken hilarious and is one of those shows that makes you wish you could still smoke weed….

The theme song is pretty catchy as well.

House Hunt
The search for the “perfect” Philippines rental continues.  I just got back from the Robinson’s Mall Globe office, and they are going to send out a team to “survey” the Junob apartment to see if they can install internet available. (Unfortunealey, our 16 MB Sky Broadband is not available in Junob.)  Like all things in the Philippines, to find out if a certain residence has internet availability, you have to actually go down to the ISP office and ask.  They usually won’t know the answer, so they will have to “dispatch” a technician out to check the address.  Actually, “address” is a bit of a misnomer seeing most parts of the Philippines generally don’t have numbered street addresses.  So, in lieu of that, you will typically be asked to make a “sketch” of where you live – basically a map.  And hopefully your artistic skills are up to snuff, because if they can’t find where you live, you’re pretty much sheet out of luck.

Cool Living
I like the 12,500 pesos apartment in Junob for a few reasons.  First off, the apartment is on the first floor of a three story, 9 unit complex.  With two floors of thermal mass above us and no direct sunlight, the apartment won’t suffer from the metal-roof-with-no-ventilation that makes pink house barely habitable at times.  The sun is VICIOUS in the Philippines, and once those metal roofs transfer the heat down into the house’s concrete frame, it never really cools off in the hotter months – it will still be about 85 degrees Fahrenheit at 3 o’clock in the morning.  And seeing as how the “hotter” months in the Philippines run 9 months of the year, having a cool, first floor unit pretty nice. The location of the complex is also good:  The apartment is about halfway up the road to Valencia and is a lot less congested than where we live now.   

Less Dogs and Smogs
The second reason I like this apartment is that it there is very little to no burning of trash, barking dogs or verbally posturing roosters letting every other rooster know where it is 24 hours a day.  The burning trash in Bunao is really bad, and it seems like every time I head out there are so many trash fires going that it appears as if the whole barangay is aflame.  The neighborhood dogs in our present neighborhood are also getting more abrasive with every additional generation that the bitches spit out.  And after being here for about a year and a half, there’s been about three generations added to the local pack.  I love dogs, but when you have a dozen of them barking and howling when you are trying to sleep, one tends to start fantasizing about varmit rifles and poison….

Mongo Need Aircon!
Finally, the apartment has actual tinted sliding windows that make for a lot more efficient and economical air conditioning.  My biggest complaint about living in the Philippines has been the heat and sometimes air conditioning is the only thing that can bring on some relief.  And since we only have aircon in the two small “Filipino-sized” bedrooms, it’s kind of limits how much we can use the living room and dining area.  I know I shouldn’t be complaining about aircon given the fact that most Filipinos can’t afford it, but it was getting a bit claustrophobic in the bedroom this past summer; to the point where I was starting to feel like a cave man.  With the layout of the apartment in Junob, we can easily add a split type aircon to cool off the main living area.  I am even thinking that we can put a single one in the bedroom that can cool both the bedroom and the other main room with the door left open.  Either way – and even if we can’t get this particular apartment – the next place we get is going to have an aircon system that can cool more of the house.

Expat Exclusive
For some reason, the apartment is filled with only foreigners, an eclectic mix of family guys, foreign contract employees and students.  It might sound kind of messed up to admit, but in speaking with two of the guys that are living there now, this is actually a good thing.  All of the residents there are quiet and respectful of the other residents – in short, there’s no loud music or late-night karaoke and no Filipino dog owners that are immune to their own mutt’s incessant howling. 

So, there it is.  Globe said it would take 5-7 business days to see if the apartment can get halfway decent internet, and in that time there is always a chance that the apartment will get rented out.  If that happens, it’s not the end of the world.  I would actually prefer to have one of the second floor units (better views and breezes), so if the first floor unit goes, we can always put in a reserve on the next one that opens.  I am open to either first or second floor units but not ones on the top floor – being right under the roof and with heat from the lower apartments rising, those three units are just too hot.

We are not under a lease right now, so our options (and prospects) are good for eventually finding the “perfect” place.

So, keep yer fingers crossed!!