Compared to before, we are coming along. I am in love with the neighborhood. Our village (subdivisions are huge here) is very quiet and the neighbors we have met are great. There are tons of trees and nice streets. We are two minutes to a very busy street with the wet market, drugstore, 7-11, every fast food know to man (is it sad that I am excited about the Taco Bell?), and St Lukes Hospital which is apparently the place to be if you get sick or injured.
About five minutes away is a street with tons and tons of restaurants. Everything from a food stand to a nice sit-down place with linen and fancy waiters. You could probably eat at a different restaurant every night for a good six months and not hit the same one twice. We are 15-30 minutes drive (depending on traffic) to two huge malls (Greenhills and Gateway) and S&R (Philippines answer to Costco. I love it.). A good friend of ours from the states lives five minutes away.
We have two architects, one for the rough-in and one for the finishing. The one for the rough-in is an old family architect that leaves much to be desired. She is slow, her quotes are way, way, way, way off and we can't get a straight answer about anything.
Our finisher on the other hand is awesome. Although she is a million times more expensive, she was upfront about her costs and all of her projects have taken our breath away. She is finishing the house in a Mediterranean/Filipino style that we both love. Looks very classic and old which is what we like.
We have decided that since our architect (rough in) sucks so much we are shopping for our own materials as we (new to Manila) can find better prices than them. I am so not impressed. Perfect example is the driveway. All we need is it left in a raw form. They want us to pay PHP30,000 (about $600) to lay the cement. I told them today not to touch it. For $600 I can have it laid as well as have it finished (i.e., brick detail, etc). Mind you, this $600 they quoted does not include the materials. This is a driveway that is maybe three meters long. Tops. What can you do?
1 comment:
Looks great Steph! I can't wait to come and see it. When will it be done? Keep up with the pictures as the house develops. I'm sorry you have a lame-ish architect. (Ya gotta hook up the fam friends, but they should hook you up in return.)
Kisses
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