So About the New House

Here is the deal with our new home. We are building in New Manila, Quezon City which is pretty central to everywhere we go. We are in a subdivision which are HUGE here. Way bigger deal than the gated communities in the states. Some are very swanky. Ours just means we pay PHP500 a month to have three or four security guards salute us when we pass through the gate.


We are building a two story home with an attic room. There are a total of four bedrooms (plus the attic which could be used as a guest room as there is a full bath). Lest this sound too big for two of us, one of the rooms is for my mother-in-law who will have a permanent room in our home. Secondly, if I have kids, they need space. Plus all my family is in the states and they need a place to stay or they won't come visit me (not entirely true--my youngest sister is planning a trip and she is down to stay anywhere). In addition, there are eight bathrooms (including maid & driver bathrooms). Yeah, too many. This is cut down from the psycho 11 we originally had. I have never lived in a house with more than one shower. I am very excited to see what showering is like without someone else in there at the same time brushing teeth/peeing/etc. Maybe I will be lonely.

The house is Mediterranean/Filipino. We wanted something that used classical architecture (many of the new homes here are very, very, very modern) with lots of windows, arches, balconies, and open space. The mission is to have a comfortable house with little to no use of aircon. We are installing ceiling fans in just about every room--as well as aircon. I am not too confident about our mission.

In the back we will have a pool--a small pool. 9m x 3m, although I think I will see how much wider we can make it while still leaving space to walk. I also am looking at local plants here as I want a garden. Not into the cement....looking at Vigan bricks, and terra cotta tiles with accents, etc. Very natural looking.

Oh yeah, found out they will rush to try to get it done by C H R I S T M A S. Damn......so long still. At least it will give us time to save for the furniture because home loans are not very common here. We are paying cash and lets just say after this, we will not have a lot of cash.