Basically, the past 2 years I have been talking mostly about the process we went through regarding our move here from idea, to research, to decision, to making the first step to actually living here. Right now, I can honestly say we are a bit more settled here and love our new place and of course we’re so blessed to see MrC’s IT outsourcing venture becoming very stable and slowly growing (11 people now and interviewing for 2 positions).

I also see this blog evolving from a journal or personal blog to some sort of magazine or information source for people thinking of coming back to the Philippines or even a networking site or support group for those that are already here and needing help/direction in resettling or in the case of first timers settling anew. My target reader would be an expat or an OFW or balikbayan. Those who have been accustomed to living elsewhere and trying to get to know the ins and outs of this country.

If you’re reading this and have suggestions do email me or post comments here. Thanks! - mixxy

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How has it been the past few days? We gave our staff a nice Christmas dinner treat at Harborview by the Bay after a toast in the office for a job well done the past few months. During the weekend, we were able to finally buy the curtains for my home office, the living room and entrance windows.  After a few days, we drove off to Baguio via Marcos Highway.  It is really so much easier now than decades ago thanks to the construction of the NLEX and SCTEX.  We bought a city map of Baguio and also a Luzon Atlas along the way at one of the rest stops.  My, these rest stop convenience stores at NLEX and SCTEX are really well stocked.  Almost everything you need is there!

We arrived before sundown in our hotel (weather was really cold for us now) and had our driver come home to his family by bus.  He will be back for us in a few days to drive us home.  Meanwhile , we spent our Christmas Dinner in the Other Hotel where we were supposed to stay but was fully booked (Manor) in decorated tents and an “ok” buffet with live orchestra playing next to us!  We were there together with our Dutch-Filipino business associates and their well behaved but very sleepy 6 kids.

The next few days was spent visiting our Dutch-Filipino business associate’s house on the West Side of Baguio and visiting places such as Mines View Park and also next to it (walking distance) was the Good Shepherd Convent where we bought the usual sweet pasalubong (goodies to take home) such as Peanut Brittle, Cashew Brittle for my father in law, Ube Jam and Strawberry Jam.  We also visited the ever so lively Burnham Park and ate afternoon “merienda” at the famous but unassuming Star Cafe which is actually a Chinese restaurant that dates back to 1976.  We also tried to find the  Silver Shop of St.Louis University but could not find it.  On Sunday, our driver arrived at around past 12 noon.  We then dropped by the Public Market to buy some vegetables.  We also stopped by a small store at Marcos Highway to buy brooms — both Tambo (indoor sweeper)  and the TingTing (for street sweeping).  Next time, I have to remind myself to just buy veggies from the stores along Marcos Highway instead of the Public Market.  It’s a lot less stressful to buy there.

There was aweful traffic from Rosario, Tarlac all the way to the exit of SCTEX so all in all it took as around 7 hours I think travel time.  Once we got to the first rest stop at NLEX I ran immediately to the ladies room.  After that we had our evening meal at Jollibee.  We arrived at around 9pm.

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Yellow Cab for Pizza

Almon Marina, Subway and Oliver’s has good sandwiches

Brother’s Burger for really good burgers

Cafe Breton for crepes

Spiral (Sofitel) for a good Buffet

There is a Belgian Fries stand at Greenhills (near the theater)

If you want to try local brands try Burger Machine (freshly cooked on the spot and really cheap) and Jollibee.  Forget about American chains — the quality is different here, you’ll probably get disappointed. I tried Wendy’s at Greenbelt last weekend and their most expensive burger was really pathetic – and I don’t usually criticize that much.

The French Baker sells pretty good fresh bread. We found great German bread at La Coeur de France and they usually have a have buy one take one offer.

Juri’s (Ermita) for Dutch food and Belgian Beer.

Earle’s Delicatessen for sausages, cold cuts, very slow service though.

Rustan’s Supermarket also has savory sausages in their grocery and I also found some more on display at their Cafe in Makati.

Santis has many branches across the city — it is a small but reliable deli.

Bakery at Shangri-La Hotel — someone told me about this but I haven’t really tried this yet.

Metro Manila has a branch of American chains such as Bubba Gump’s, Friday’s, Chili’s,  Krispy Kreme, Dairy Queen, California Pizza Kitchen and even Hooters (Mall of Asia) among others.

Miss Costco? Try S&R or Makro.

Gelati at Fior Gelato

Duo Restaurant at Serendra for European dishes and really good salad. Chefs Quarters also is just as good as Duo but you spend much less.

If you know anyone who sells fresh milk and a good Pasta restaurant, please let me know

Nevertheless I had a hint on where it was.  It is located in an “armpit” corner of Quezon Avenue and EDSA.  Yes it can be described that way because it is hidden in a narrow street parallel to Quezon Avenue.  We actually found the right direction accidentally when we thought we missed Quezon Avenue exit from EDSA. We instead ended up at North Avenue and found our way to Agham road and by instinct found that little street and turned right before reaching Quezon Avenue from Agham.

Basically, Manila Seedling is where clusters of garden and landscaping stores are found.  You can buy seedlings, fruit trees, potted herbs, flowers or flowering pots and all sorts of tools related to gardening.  We saw a couple of buildings owned by the Manila Seedling bank, however, one with the fruit trees didn’t have anyone available to help us. Also, the other building seemed unmanned as well.  We ended up in a bigger store next to it that offers Membership.  With this membership you get to avail of their promos and discounts.

Since we were buying a lot of pots on discount we decided to apply for membership because the membership of 200 would already pay for itself with all the discounts we are getting from the pots.   In the end we bought pots of Lemon Grass, Lavender, two kinds of Basil, among others.  We also bought some vegetable seeds and gardening tools.

It is best to go there early morning on a weekend so it’s much cooler and less pollution.  However, MrC still felt the pollution stick to his skin, you know that grimy feeling.  Well, at least the Garden was there to at least to provide a bit of oxygen amidst the thick cloud of smoke of EDSA.   With all this, I still thought the whole visit was well worth it and it was nice to stroll around and look at and admire plants on an otherwise lazy Sunday morning.   I will be back there soon to pickup a Banana Tree.

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Here’s a month by month rundown of what happened to us.

December:  We arrived at the airport in the morning and was picked up by my Mom and uncle.  Since we had an apartment ready for us we were able to move in same day.   Later on, we got in touch again with the Dutch IT business guy we met last September.  We then met other Dutch expats on several occasions.  We spent some days also in a beach resort in La Union and attended his company’s Christmas party.  Christmas and New Year was just spent quietly at home with my Mom.

January:  Our stuff arrived and I took care of handling the government paperwork involved with tax and duty free exemption. We spent a weekend in Baguio and stayed at The Manor.

February: We started employing part time live out househelp.  Possible contract with Dutch client shows up in the horizon. We started scouting for office space and ended up renting one next to our apartment building.

March: The Manila Offshoring Office opens with 5 new people on the team!  Work commenced immediately after furniture and all pc’s arrived.  MrC’s Dad and business partner visits from the Netherlands and is there for the Office Blessing. MrC becomes a godfather (ninong) for the first time!  We also spent 4 days in Kyoto in celebration of both our birthdays this month.

April: Visited The Netherlands for 3 Weeks at the height of spring.  We stayed in a house near the Keukenhof.  It’s very beautiful out there but we realized driving back and forth to the place takes too much time! We were so happy to be back home — in the Philippines where it is warm, sunny and never boring!

May: Started looking for a .Net developer.  Interviewed several  good candidates but with no luck in hiring. Took a short but relaxing break in a resort in Subic.  After coming back from that trip, we bought a new car, (a gorgeous red SUV) after a few days and suffered from buyer’s remorse shortly after that (the remorseful feeling  lasted only a few minutes).

Life here has been quite good and we are thankful for our blessings.  We were also able to hire a driver through MrC’s Dutch local business associate.

June: I registered as a voter in Mandaluyong.  Then, we decided that it’s finally time to leave our “very convenient” but small and smoky nest near EDSA for a more spacious house a bit farther from the noise and pollution of the the CBD’s.  We started house hunting once again.  Another reason also is that the Office has had so many issues / problems that we could not anymore overlook.  We also realized that the Building Management is hard to work with.

July:  We continued looking for places but had no luck in finding one.  We kept ourselves positive in spite of the frustrations. MrC also had to go back to the Netherlands for a few weeks and I chose to stay here (bad idea for me).

August: Just as soon as we were almost giving up we found the house that we wanted finally! Also, our newly found .Net Developer started working for us. He was actually applying for Linux Admin position and we were just lucky to find out he is also a good .NET developer as well.  Indeed we are lucky! Or should we say it was all meant to be ;-)  Also, we started applying for MrC’s permanent residency.

September: We moved to our new place!  Later on, we endured days of storm and flood (Ondoy).  We are so thankful that our house was not flooded.  We were so glad we didn’t end up renting some of the houses we saw in Pasig which were all now flooded.  Our Pioneer office was damaged by this storm but this allowed us to discontinue our lease.  We then started looking for a new office (again!). Total number of people in our team is now 8 not including me and MrC.

October : Our ties at Pioneer is totally severed as I turned over the keys to our landlord and also moved all our office belongings to our new office in Ortigas.    We had another trip again out of the country but this time it was different for me.  I first went to Amsterdam and stayed for 5 days then took another flight to Newark and stayed there also for 5 days.  There I stayed at my old friends place in NJ and Pennsylvania.  I also went there primarily to keep my drivers license current.  After that I spent 7 happy days with my family in Canada.  I left Canada with tears in my eyes

November to present: I spent a few weeks away from the office also to recover from the trip and get myself back in the current time zone.  I spent the past few days being responsible for furnishing the house.  That involves a lot of painful visits to the mall, a hardship I tried to endure.  I also by the way, completed a SQLServer Analytical Services training course somewhere in Makati. In the next few days I hope to be busy with my usual IT Work again and have a more organized home before the New Year starts. Our house now has a beautiful Christmas Lantern which I bought near our place. It costs 900 pesos.

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I went to the Greenhills Night Market one weekend and watched their famous Christmas On Display. But anyway, it is a remake of the Christmas display found in good old COD Department store back when I was a kid. I remember it vaguely though. Well, if you have not been there yet. I totally recommend seeing this 15++ minute presentation of the birth of Christ. (I am posting this video as soon as I find that card reader or camera cable. I hope you do come back at a later time to see this).

It was really well done I would say! However, be prepared to stand for that amount of time as seats are really few.

With regards to shopping, don’t expect a lot. There were fewer booths than expected but hey, across the street you could always continue your shopping escapade! The prices are pretty good though. They have like shirts for 100 pesos and toys for around 50 pesos. There’s also enough food booths for snacking and even a full dinner. That is, if you can find a good seat.

Later on I found out that this is only one of the many Night Markets all around the city.  There’s one also in Fort Bonifacio, another one called The Great Holiday Bazaar held on DEC 5-6 ,2009  (Saturday to Sunday) at the Rockwell Tent , Makati City, the Cubao Expo at Araneta Center Cubao Expo (formerly The Marikina Shoe Expo), Araneta Center, Cubao (it’s behind the old Rustan’s [which now houses the Automatic Supercenter as well as ACS Call Center], which is behind Shopwise, which is in front of the entrance of the Araneta Coliseum).  I am sure there will be at least one Night Market within a 10 kilometer range from where you live.

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At the end of the week, I came back with MrC and together we looked at all the furniture there again.  Even after looking back and forth between stores we still ended up buying from one furniture retailer.  The name of the retailer is Marc John Furniture and their factory is based in Pampanga.  They said all of the furniture will be delivered on Dec. 12, which is a Saturday.  We paid 30% downpayment and the rest will be Cash on Delivery.

Another nice thing this week is that we have contractors that started making our entertainment center in the living room and two book shelves.  We pay them daily and the rates are pretty good.  If you find a good and trustworthy carpenter I do recommend having custom made cabinets. You get exactly what you want for a lot less!

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The housing market and the underlying prices that go with it can be somewhat grouped into Expat and Local.  The Expats that come here are usually prepared and equipped to pay Western standard rent but also expect quality and amenities of Western-style housing.  Most are supported by their companies so money is almost not an issue to them.  Some expats are just people who are retiring (or snow-birds) here or here on business. Locals are usually professionals, usually upwardly mobile who are looking for places close to work.

The major tool I used of course is the internet.  Specifically I go to sites such as sulit.com.ph, craigslist, 88db, olx.com, adpost.com, buysell.ph.  Around 60% of listings here are from brokers or real estate agents.  As a rule of thumb, you should prefer listings that come from owners themselves.  Brokers charge one month rent so the rents will be much more inflated if you go with brokers.  Never forget that brokers act for the benefit of the landlords.  Because of this, we tried to look for agents that could help us look for places — and don’t work for landlords but in the end we couldn’t find one in our area.  If you find a trustworthy one, I am sure it’s all worth the fees you’d be paying.  First of all, the brokers that I mentioned earlier that work for landlords, even if you tell them your requirements, they almost always ignore it and push you to view the property anyways.  Some of them don’t even look at the property at all before listing them.   They show you so many properties that are in bad shape and not even in your price range!  They are a complete waste of time. 

However, if you are in such a hurry, you have no choice but to work with them at times.  Surely, they will be sending you listings often but they are not upfront or honest not to let you avoid properties that are not for you.  The secret here is to emphasize what you don’t like and if  that’s a dealbreaker and what you prefer just to be sure you don’t waste each other’s time.  We were lucky to find our house without a broker.

Houses in or near a certain CBD such as Makati, Ortigas, or Fort Bonifacio are the most expensive and the quality of the houses are not usually matching the price.  Also, most rentals are condominium units.  Before you go further you have to decide whether you want to live in a condo unit or a regular house or townhouse.   Among high-rise condominiums, there’s the older ones and newer ones.  The newer ones are usually from the 30sqm (studio) to 80 sqm range (2 bedrooms). If you go with older ones you can get bigger units from 50-100+ sqm.  Of course, if you are already in the 80k and above per month range you can find good ones near GreenBelt, Fort Bonifacio and Rockwell.  However in Fort Bonifacio, all are less than 5 years but most are really small.  However, I think in Serendra there are bigger units.  With this price range you could also get a 4-bedroom plus in exclusive gated communities like Valle Verde, Corinthian Gardens, White Plains, Forbes Park.  Below 80k, in these areas are usually rundown, musty and unloved/forsaken big houses with uncaring or uninvolved landlords.

In the 30k to 70k Range lies, middle level condominium units.  You need to ask whether Parking is included or not included because usually residential condominium parking is limited if you have a car or choose to have one later.  Also, ask if association dues are already included in the rent.  Ideally the rent should already include the dues and parking.  It’s less hassle that way. Try to observe security and staff.  Are they there 24 hours? Are they attentive or just playing poker most of the time? Are they strict about visitors?  Are elevators secured?  Finally, ask about the terms.  Usually, they require a one year lease but some might be flexible to give you 6 months.  Also, check for cleanliness of public areas and lighting.  You do not want to walk into dim-lit hallways with cockroaches jumping on you. Trust me, I’ve seen it.  If the unit is not in good condition forget it.  It is a sign that the landlord is not involved and you won’t be sure if you’ll get help if you have trouble with the unit.   In my experience, they would usually want to ask for a deposit and contract before they actually fix the unit.  Do yourself a favor and avoid them.

At around price ranges below 30k are condominium units that are 1 bedroom and studios.  If you are young and single you can also save money by finding roommates and share a condo or apartment unit.  There are also boarding houses where you rent a small room or share a room with 4 other people.  The rents are in the below 10k range but amenities are very basic (bed, cabinet and electric fan).  This is ideal for someone coming from the Provinces and have a tight budget but don’t know anyone yet in the city.  If you’re a lady, of course it’s easy to find ladies dormitories all around the city.  Most of these dormitories prefer only ladies.  The landladies usually look after you.  Also, at 30k and below, are low-rise apartments (no elevators) and townhouses/rowhouses (outside of CBD, may or may not have good security). For example places like GA Tower (Mandaluyong), Cityland (Makati/Ortigas) and Palm Towers (Makati) offer more affordable rents suitable for young professionals.

You could also be offered houses “farther away” but nice places such as Alabang, Paranaque, and even Cavite or Laguna.  Only consider them if your daily commute is as far as Makati or Taguig.  Even then it will up to 45 minutes in total.  However, with prices of 20k you could get nicer houses already in these places.  Up North, you can go to Quezon City and see nicer and bigger houses too at around 20’s. Exception of course is Alabang where rents are as high as what you would pay for upscale gated communities like what I mentioned above.

Avoid the Flood prone areas. After Ondoy, everyone knows which places are really bad: Marikina, Cainta, and Pasig, some areas of San Juan  and Cavite are among the most flood prone in the area no matter how nice the houses are and how cheap the rent is.

Is Internet connection important to you? If so, ask immediately what kind of internet providers are available in that property.  If you’re lucky, SkyCable Broadband Cable is available in that area.  As far as I know this is the fastest available for residential internet.

Also, if you need airconditioning discuss early about this with the owner.  Also, try to avoid places next to major highways if pollution bothers you.

Lastly, try to ask neighbors about water situation, and security issues in the area if you can.   Do not rely on what the owner or the brokers tell you.  I guess that is quite obvious.

P.S.  Shameless plug: If you are looking for a Studio Apartment in San Antonio Village, Makati, I own one that is available by January of 2010.  It is 29 sqm and renting for 11,000 inclusive of Association Dues but without parking. Parking can be rented separately.

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It took us around 45 minutes from Cubao to reach that area called Maypajo.  We went all the way through EDSA past the Monumento (as told by our landlord) then looked for the left towards A. Mabini.  It turns out that it is the same way as going to Sangandaan.  This we learned from asking for directions.  After Sangandaan we crossed a big highway called the C3 and after that followed the street until we saw furniture stores.  The amount of furniture stores were significant to notice but it was less than I expected.  We were able to stop by one of the stores with a corner parking.  There we were happily welcomed by the staff of the store in the corner.  There was one sofa or sala set that we seriously considered.  It was made of solid wood and it includes a 3-4 person piece and 2 1 person seats and even a coffee table.  The cushions were not attached.  We could choose the thickness and fabric of the upholstery.  In the end, I still had some doubts if I really liked the style.  It was hard to judge because I didn’t see a finished version of what we wanted.  After that, we asked to be shown other kinds of sofa and tables.  We were then led to their little storage place a few steps away from their store.  Somehow, even though we were led into a dark, alley and the room was totally dark we were not so scared.  Maybe it’s because the saleslady seemed nice and non-threatening.  There wasn’t anything to show though and if there was, most of the furniture were dusty and it was way too dark to actually appreciate them.  After that we took the saleslady with us and drove off to another “house”.  It turned out that this was their factory.  Again it was dark and musty.  We saw what one would consider a “sweatshop” in several countries.  The second floor of the house was divided into two, one part was a makeshift storage space (messy), and the other part is where they do the assembly of furniture but again they could not find a good sample for me to see! It was pretty disorganized.  The entrance of the house is where they put up a makeshift kitchen sitting on the ground.  We kept an open mind about everything we saw, and we stayed out of curiosity.  However, they were not able to show us anything interesting to buy.

In the end, we decided to just hold off buying the wooden sala set.   Again, there was even heavier traffic going home.

© 2008 BacktothePhilippines.com All Rights Reserved

[Show as slideshow]

Day 1-5 : Spent each day visiting our friends. One couple with a small daughter in Haarlem, another new couple who just moved to a 2 floor apartment in the suburb of Almere and finally, another couple who just moved in to a nice spacious duplex house.  In between visits, we spent quality time with MrC’s family.  Of course one would not forget the typical sumptuous vegetarian dinners, and almost unlimited cups of tea with the “compulsory” cake or cookie.  We even went home with a “care package” bag composed of cheese  sandwiches, chocolate, and oranges. Thanks to MrC’s mom and his business partner! We stayed in our usual Best Western hotel which was very near MrC’s parents house — highly recommended by his Mom of course!

Day 6: I flew to Newark. I’m glad it was a direct flight. It only took around 9 hours +.  It wasn’t so easy carrying all the heavy stuff by myself though.   I was carrying a lot of winter clothes that I am going to leave to my mom and sister.  With a rented car and a GPS I was all set to see NJ and PA! Oh man, I just didn’t know how great the feeling was to be back again.  America did feel like home to me!  I stopped over a Ruby Tuesdays to have my first meal in the US of A.   I couldn’t help but grin after hearing this from the waitress: “Hi my Name is Janine (not her real name) and I am your server for today” .  Welcome to America!

At around 6:00pm I arrived safely at my friend’s place.  This is where I would be staying 3 days out of the 5 days I stayed in the US.  The rest of the 2 days was spent in my other old friend’s big house in Pennsylvania.

I’ve read somewhere that most of the time if a Filipino-expat mixed couple moves back to the Philippines it’s usually the Filipino spouse that has a hard time.  I think in a way this applies to me.  When I was abroad I missed things Filipino but somehow part of me has also embraced the American way of life, otherwise I wouldn’t have applied for naturalization.  I am proud to be both Filipino and American but now after going back there I feel as if I am slightly a bit more “at home” in the US.  Not all people are the same.   My friend still subscribes to ABS CBN and GMA channels and watches Filipino shows more than ever.  On the other hand, I was secretly indulging in all the American shows that I missed watching most of my free time. Thanks to having a really high speed Internet  connection (40mpbs) I can watch them there on-demand.  AAhh! I miss 40MBPS!  Right here back at home, my “high speed” Bayantel goes up to only 1MBPS (cry).

As part of my intended re-immersion into American culture here are the things I did: (1) watched friend’s kid’s school Halloween Parade (2) Visited and shopped in a factory outlet (3) Ate Chicken Wings while watching championship baseball match in a a sports bar (4) Ate Philly Cheesesteaks in a small pizza joint in South Philly (Italian Market) while listening local folks banter about the last baseball game. (5) Drive in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpike for at least 1.5 hours!  Seeing the old places, and quaint autumn vistas along the hilly suburbs West of Philadelphia, I can’t really find any more words to describe my feelings but it felt like meeting an old flame, and was uncontrollably smitten.  Enough said.

In Canada, I saw my sister’s family (husband, 3 kids) and mom.  I haven’t seen them for at least a year!  I missed them a lot.  I spent a whole week attending Hockey practices and matches, sending off nephews to their school bus, helping out at my sister’s Kumon business, being interviewed by a 4 year old “Oprah style”, having breakfast in a Canadian diner, attending church with family, having a birthday dinner with family, going to the mall (of course) and eating at the Chinese food court (yummy and cheap).  And having a relaxing time overall.  When I was leaving the airport, my family gave me a group hug. I was touched.  I held off my tears until it was time to board the plane (that long hehe!).

I went back to Amsterdam filled with fond memories, a renewed drivers license and a balikbayan box to boot which I filled up in New Jersey and will be sent via LBC thanks to my dear friend!

The next morning MrC and I took the next flight back to the Philippines.

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Later today, when everyone was already settled in their respective desks we went out to do some errands, we went to the bank then to Anson’s to look for a new vacuum cleaner for the office.   While at the escalator, I had a little bit of surprise: there sitting in one of the sofas looking at a big screen TV and talking to a salesguy was no other than .. Kris Aquino herself! Ok, ok, I checked again and I even heard her talk and it sounded like she was interviewing the salesguy ala “The Buzz”.

Later during dinner time,  I was a bit awed while walking along F. Ortigas Avenue how things have changed since I was a Makati office girl decades ago.  I can’t find the right words. It’s just a different feeling from our old Pioneer office or even my old suburb offices back in the US.  There’s just that certain classy, vibrant, exciting feeling when one walks there.  I know maybe it’s just me?

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Now that the smoke (storms and floods ) has cleared, and I am a bit relaxed with my computer in my “climate controlled” 25 Celsius bedroom overlooking our charming front yard I can share what has happened the past few days.
We finally moved most of our belongings mid-September right before Ondoy hit Metro Manila.  We have paid for an extension in the condo up to beginning of October so we don’t get stressed out so much. This proved to be a good idea since furniture deliveries and utility connections were not as fast as we would like them.

Internet Providers

However, our DSL was an exception. I decided to get two different Internet Service Providers this time. First, I ordered the 999 basic broadband cable package from Destiny / Solid Broadband, then after that I also talked to Bayantel to install a 1600 something plan. Solid Broadband came first, however, they did not have an active line so they had to schedule us for maintenance which came after some days.  Bayantel’s phone guys came within 2 days and the DSL the day after and all.    As of now, I would say we are happier with our Bayantel DSL than with this crappy Destiny cable “Broadband” internet.  Destiny’s cable is so slow I can’t even watch streaming videos without a pause every 2 seconds.  Bayantel’s DSL is pretty good, at first I didn’t get the 1.2Mbps but after calling customer service they were able to quickly correct it.  I was almost “scammed” though by their technician who offered me an under the table deal to get a faster connection at a lower price using a user ID he provides for a certain fee. Nevertheless, I did not let myself fall into his scheming ways by trying to make a phone call immediately to rectify the situation.  He asked me not to tell anyone though about this.  Well sorry but I just had a little case of slip of the tongue. ;P

We bought several stuff from SM and Ace Hardware: appliances, futon and whatnot.  Everytime we get asked “do you have an Advantage card Ma’am?”.   Oh well, looking back I should have just paid 150 pesos for this card after having spent so much money at SM stores since December last year.  Well now it’s too late so sorry — I don’t want an Advantage Card and please could you please not ask me one more time if I have it?

The House

We are very very lucky to have chosen this house.  On the 26th of September, as we all know a LOT of rain fell in Metro Manila which brought devastation through flooding in many places.  We are so happy to find out that our house is flood-proof!  The whole street was also flood proof.  Our landlady, who happens to live in the US arrived last week and is now personally supervising renovation of the backyard.  When we rented it, the backyard was a “ditch” for lack of a better word.  Now it’s being cemented and landscaped.  She also accepted our requests among other things like higher gate, and a covered carport.  There are also minor repairs indoors which would hopefully be done in a few days.  We couldn’t ask for more now.  We even have a little kitten now which was found by our driver’s kid.  MrC fed the kitten until now with milk and it’s much much stronger now than when we first found it.   The cat is now indoors in the sunroom but later on it will have to get used to living outdoors.

Household help

Our driver’s family has moved in with us.  They have a toddler and I guess some of the quirks of having a child around the house goes with the package.  The wife of the driver does our household stuff and occasionally cooks for us.  We have initially told them the first month is a trial for both of us.   Let’s see how it goes. However, last week their shack back in Pasig was flooded severely and is still submerged.  In order to get to their house they had to hire a boat so you get the picture.  I guess they don’t miss their house at all.  Back here, they have a safe and dry place with their own CR, good running water, Cable TV, fan, and refrigerator.  I heard news that they still have family stuck there who can’t go to work because of the flood and needing food.  I am thankful I was able to send some goods to them last Sunday through our driver.

The Office

The condo is gone.  I have turned in the keys on the 2nd of October.  The Office is still there though, but in bad condition.  During the storm, a lot of the ceiling dripped and eventually fell apart!  we took a lot of pictures and showed it to the landlord.  Because of this we were able to strengthen our case and was able to get back our checks and break the lease.  We have been looking for a new place the past few days.  There’s a new one under negotiations and it’s a nice bigger place at the heart of Ortigas Center.  We plan to move there as soon as possible!

We had one more guy that started working for us just last week and another one signed up too and will start working soon.  So now all in all there’s 9 of them!

Everything is happening so fast these days I can’t anymore cope up with the stories.   I hope to be able find ways to relax so I can write.  You know, not unlike MrC I can’t just sit and write without some mental conditioning.  Ok, ok, maybe I am just lazy.  Sorry for this - I hope people are still reading this blog.

Oh and another good news is that MrC got his Permanent Residency approved and passport stamped last week!

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Next week two new programmers are starting and another one next month. Also, we will be moving to “The House” on Tuesday. Probably this weekend we will shop for furniture. The driver and his family are staying there with us on a trial basis. So we still have to see how things evolve there.
MrC and I are both looking forward to relaxing weekends in the porch and doing some gardening. Finally we will be able to start our very own vegetable garden.

On the office front, the airconditioner’s compressor was broken today and had to be fixed by our own technician. The owner of the office we are renting will be sending his technician tomorrow. It has been very unreliable the past few months. Hopefully, this would be resolved soon. On the other hand, the programmers are also getting a memory and video card upgrade on their PC’s plus an extra large monitor!

Earlier, I was planning on a trip to the US and Europe but it looks like we have to postpone this as September to October is a very busy month — also to my family abroad. We are submitting MrC’s Philippine permanent residency application this week.

The house was inside an established neighborhood with a village in its suffix.  However, we did not see any 24-hour guard and gates which bothered us first but after seeing the house we were willing to set it aside.   At the back of the house, we could see a giant Buddhist Temple and it was breezy and full of mature trees around it.  There were plenty of spaces for gardening which is a great plus for us.  It also had an enclosed or screened sun room or verandah with doors that you could lock.  Everything was in great condition and lovingly cared for so to speak.  Only thing is that it was not airconditioner ready but it was a house made to be well ventilated.

And so, we called the owner and told her that we were interested in renting the house and told her about our requests regarding installation of airconditioning units, extending the height of the gates among others.  All of our communication was done via e-mail.   We filled up a whole application form that looks like a job application form.   We had to fill in our incomes, employer information (current and past) and even had to provide 2 personal reference letters and 1 from our bank!  Geez we’re not even buying the house yet.  And then then we didn’t hear from her for a couple of days.  We got a bit worried so I gave her a call.  She told me that she is still working on the documents and her power-of-attorney to be given to her friend who lives here.  So in the end, we agreed on a September 1 target move-in which would be reflected in the contract.

Another issue that we still had to settle was the live-in caretakers.  We were given the choice of hiring them. If we do not hire them, then they obviously have to find a new place to live.  Eventually, we could see ourselves hiring household help primarily to have someone watch over the house while we’re not there and also for the additional work and maintenance involved in having a house with a garden.  We decided to visit the house again and interview the caretaker couple living there.  They seemed quite a nice and industrious couple.  However, as it turned out, she was already 4 months pregnant!  OK, that is a deal breaker indeed.  With this in mind, we thought it might be better to offer the place to our current driver and his wife who is also our all-around cleaner who comes everyday to clean the office and our condo.  They have been working for us since March and we are very impressed with their attitude and the quality of their job.  Only thing is that they have a toddler ;-).   But that issue can be solved with a little organization and some house rules I think.  I hope they accept our offer.

Meanwhile, at work, a new developer was hired for doing .NET work but we were lucky to find out he was also good in Linux he was able to setup and configure our internet well in the office.  We are currently interviewing more Junior to Medior PHP programmers.

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Since then, we have visited this place about two to three times already.  Most of the time with our Dutch business partner.  He likes this place a lot.  I couldn’t agree more.  For one, according to them, and also I agree with this that the Bitterballen (beef filled crunchy balls) they serve here is much better than the ones we have eaten in the Netherlands.  They serve exotic beers from countries like Belgium, and Germany.  Last time we went there, we gave our Team a treat.  Our business partner ordered the Duvel beer for each of them and gave a small lesson on good European beers.  I ordered a girly beer called Kriek, it’s a pink beer and it’s cherry flavoured I think.  Then they also tried a darker beer which is called Leffe Bruin.  Later, the owner served us Jägermeister, pronounced /YAY-gur-MAIST-ur on the house.  It was a strong German alcoholic drink.  Tasted like a very strong cough syrup.  But I think it was a mixture of exotic herbs.

When you enter the cafe it feels like you are really back in Amsterdam.  It has the typical look which is characterized by cozy ambience, dark wood surroundings and old world furnishing. Service is pretty good but at that time we were the only once in there.  The Cafe is in Ermita.  I hope they would stay in business for a long long time.

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We are now in the middle of a big househunt.  We are still looking for a new place to rent.  We are not yet in that stage that we can buy a house but we are also not satisfied with living in a condo apartment right next to the big old EDSA.

Last week, we almost signed up on a lease.  We found a nice and spacious house with a nice view of Eastwood and Antipolo and is on a high elevation, about 15 minutes by car from our office.  It is located inside a well-secured and  relatively posh subdivision.   We thought we were getting a good deal but one day before signing up, the deal went off.  We kind of chickened out! Here’s why:

• we didn’t like the landlady, she was extremely arrogant and sometimes way too defensive to say the least and we felt kind of pressured to sign the lease quickly because she claimed that there was another family willing to pay 10,000 more than what she’s offering us.  Of course, she says she likes us because we were just a couple compared to the other one which is a big family complete with elderly inlaws.
• we showed the contract to a friend and we felt that 3 months deposit is just too much.  The normal was only 2 months advance / 2 months deposit.  To say the least, we were not comfortable with the whole agreement.
• my cousin made us realize we are a bit crazy to consider the idea of living in a 6 bedroom house with just the two of us.  it’s just not that simple! reality hit us and we saw the light.  And she said, there are a lot of choices around the area and it is not a good idea to do this hastily.  Also, on a lighter note, she warned us to check if someone recently died in that house or is known to be haunted.. hehe you’ll never know if the house comes with someone from the “other side” watching  it day and night. Brrr!
• we became a bit suspicious that she’s hiding something from us that’s why she’s in a hurry

We already saw a lot of houses.  We are quite surprised at the variety of ugly, old, dingy houses at the price range we are in.  Some houses did not even look livable but they said that someone just left it a week ago and it was even a Doctor.   Maybe it was Dr. Frankenstein that lived there who knows.  It’s really really sad what tenants do to houses they don’t own and is equally sad how the owners don’t even care to clean up the mess, and touch it up before showing it to prospective renters.  There was even a townhouse where dead bugs were scattered all over the place!  One of the landlords wanted someone to signup and put up a deposit before they fix the house. I say, forget it!

Not all houses were bad.  However, only about 2 out of 10 seems to be in acceptable condition.  There were brand new ones where we would be the first renters.  The monthly rent, of course was on the higher end of our budget.

This afternoon, it’s househunting time again.  I have a big list of houses to visit and hopefully I won’t mess up the appointments

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With regards to the work, MrC’s team is on a crunch time now. They even had to do overtime last weekend. So, it’s really quite sad that while everyone had to work a little extra hard these days.. the facilities are not working so well.

It’s hard to deny that the pollution is bothering us a bit. We have put a 3M filter and it turns black after one week. We also have an ionizer/air purifier that also turns black after a couple of days. It seems that our patience is running out also with regards to our apartment. We need a bit of order and breathing room and looks like the place just isn’t something we see ourselves staying for more than 6 months.

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I went to the City Hall and ask around where I could register as a voter.  The Comelec office was right at the back of the older building which was in front of the new and shiny Municipal building.  I was hoping that I could just reactivate or transfer my registration but after failing to retrieve my records from their computer he just decided that I start with a new application.  He gave me 3 pages of application form which was actually 1 with 2 copies.  While filling up the form outside in a makeshift covered booth I saw that there were some information that I needed and I didn’t have it at that time (I needed the certificate number of my dual citizenship and the date reacquired).   I decided to just continue filling up the application at home.

The next day, I went back and submitted my form.   The officer told me to sign the form and give it to the second table.  After a few minutes, my name was called and I was asked to take my seat on what I would now call the high-tech zone.   I was impressed to see that now they have the new high-tech way of capturing fingerprints.  They now have biometric capturing devices and the form I filled up was re-entered by the other officer into their registration database.  It was all organized.  There were clear instructions posted: they had made labels for each fingers so that if the officer said 1,2,3  you know which fingers to press into the biometric reader.  After that I sat in front of him and he took a picture of me with a digital camera and they also captured my signature electronically.    After this, I was asked to photocopy my drivers license and include it with my application form submitted to the officer on the last table..  Overall, I spent around 30 minutes there.  I would have been totally impressed by now had he not said that my voters id will be available “anytime before the May 2010 elections”.  Huh!?

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Second Google find was a website called Car-Navi.ph I still have to verify if this site is not a hoax.  All they say is that it is now available but I couldn’t find any information on how I could order.  The device also do not have a model or brand name.

The third and last find was someone mentioning that Garmin sold in V-mall had already Philippine map in it.  We went to V-mall last Sunday and only found one store called Infomax but they didn’t have a car navigation device.  They couldn’t say at all if and ever they would have one in stock at all.  So, I am still not sure now if I would still pursue the Garmin device.  I hope someone could give me any info on where I could buy this here in the Philippines.   I could still wait for a few months though and just buy it in the US when I visit in October but I think we can’t wait that long.

So for now, it looks like we’ll have to wait and see.  The search continues.

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We arrived on the first week of December last year and moved in directly to our two bedroom apartment in Mandaluyong my mom found for us.  We reconnected with the people we met during our first trip.  We visited my relatives over in Cebu and attended a wedding and also my relatives in Quezon City.  We were also invited to a company Christmas party by the beach by the Dutch businessman we met in September who eventually provided us with a lot of hospitality during our stay here.  Later on, our personal effects arrived here but we had to wrestle and play phone tag with the customs brokers to get it all done.  In the end, we spent a great deal of money and trips to North harbor just get it delivered right into our apartment.  We got them all now.

We started getting Globe broadband internet at home after one week of waiting.  Meanwhile, I was still unsure of what I am supposed to do here.  It was a confusing time for me.  My feelings about our move here were still mixed.  I explored various options.  At the same time I also considered it my Sabbatical.

In January, we visited Baguio.  The weather was perfect.  I explored the city a bit was impressed by the amount of parks that are still there and well maintained.  However, the city somehow lost its “charm” and “magic” that I had in my childhood memories of summer visits with my family.  Maybe part of it is the worsening air pollution and the scent of pine was not anymore there.   The pine trees are definitely much much less now than 25 years ago.

For my birthday, we also visited Kyoto for a long weekend.

A few more days .. and then next thing you know, we were at the brink of a major business deal with MrC’s clients.  And in a few days, we spent time, looking for office spaces and finalizing our deal with the Dutch businessman who would later provide us with our first team here of programmers.  We had our official office blessing in March and MrC’s father and business partner came all the way from Amsterdam to visit us.  I am glad that during this time, my role in the company is now more clearly defined.

I spent a great deal of time with MrC’s father showing him various places here in Metro Manila.  We also had a big adventure right at the crater of Taal volcano.  That was indeed something we wouldn’t forget.  We also went to Subic and drove through the scenic SCTEX highway.  I tell you, that 30 minute stretch of highway westward to Subic has beautiful scenery both sides of the highway that would rival any scenic highway in the world.  I am not exaggerating.  I am very much convinced that the Philippines is really BEAUTIFUL and BLESSED with natural wonders.  There are many places that one still has to discover.  And also, that Philippines IS NOT MANILA.  Many people outright judge our country by what they see in Manila but Manila is just its major city and but a speck compared to many other places in the Philippines.   Our decision to stay in Manila is really mostly driven by business alone ;-).

For example when I was  in Santorini, Greece in 2006,  I thought  .. hmm.. why do I have this feeling that I have seen this before. Think Taal volcano.  Also, Subic or SBMA is also quite nice, it is somewhat like “Little America”.  I think this is worthy of its own blog entry.

In April, we traveled back to Amsterdam.  According to MrC, it was just a business trip.  He was right.  We were never relaxed and rested there.  We had to go and see people, and in between work.  At least I was able to spend few days in London by myself!  But during this whole 3 week stay my feelings about the Philippines have been more clear.  I want to be back here, in the Philippines and life in the Netherlands is certainly over for both of us.  MrC shared the same sentiment.  I also realize how nice and easy our life here now compared to there.  Ok, we admit, we got spoiled here.  We have someone coming over here once a week to cook delicious food for us and on other days we have someone come over and do housecleaning.  Our laundry is also picked up and delivered to us.   All for much much less than what we pay our cleaning lady in Amsterdam who comes 3x a week (combined).   We go out and have dinner or lunch as much as we want but we still prefer our homecooked meals most of the time anyways.  The amount we pay for an Indonesian or Chinese takeout in Amsterdam will buy both of us a meal at a fine dining restaurant here.  A 5 star hotel buffet costs the same or less as a Wok buffet in Hoofddorp.  A movie theater ticket costs 2 Euros.  And I haven’t told you yet about the pirated DVD’s … hehe.. that’s a secret!

I’ve been working almost daily now since we came back. We work Dutch time which means between 2pm to 11pm.  It wasn’t hard after coming back from Amsterdam due to the jet lag.

And by the way, we had a nice dinner with our team a few weeks ago and we commend them for their outstanding work.  Our clients are very happy and pleasantly surprised at how we are pro-actively dealing with their issues.  Business is good then.   MrC is working really hard and it’s getting to be too much for him — I could see it.  It’s time that we take a break so we stayed in a nice resort in Subic by the bay just doing NOTHING.  However, going back  It’s kind of getting hard again for me to work late nights.

This week, we finally gave in and purchased a brand new car.  We also hired a driver, who was referred by our business partner.  We know the guy already coz he also drove us before using our Dutch business partner’s car.  He’s probably starting next week. Geez.. if this is a dream I don’t wanna wake up

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