25. House Hunting in Baguio

Hi Everyone,

Although we've returned home to Rochester, New York, on Sunday, March 7th, there are still a few more adventures to talk about. These include (1) House Hunting in Baguio, (2) The parade of floats at the end of the Flower Festival in Baguio and (3) Our visit to Corregidor Island (which was like stepping back into an old World War II movie). First, house hunting in Baguio ...





One day we found these guys digging a hole at the end of our driveway. We don't know who authorized this. We think it had something to do with an obstruction that wouldn't let the sewage flow properly under our driveway. Maybe they lost a basketball or something. The good thing is that it keeps the taxis from parking in our driveway. The bad thing is that WE can't use our driveway either. Anyway, it would be nice if we lived somewhere else where we have more control of our circumstances. This could be a catalyst for a little house-hunting. The whole idea is that if we had enough money to purchase a house, it could be a house where Denzil, Marilyn and the eight children could live, take care of the house and have it ready for us when we visit the Philippines. The problem with this idea is that we barely have enough money to take care of ourselves in the United States. Nevertheless, it is a nice dream that could be a financial reality if our monetary situation changed for the better.






We looked at three houses. This is the first. Here's Felix, the caretaker, greeting us as we enter this house. This house costs about 7 million pesos, or about $150,000.

Here's the owner of the house giving me her sales pitch. According to her, she's lonely, poor, has to go to the United States to be with her son, and thus has to sell her three houses. How can you be poor and own three houses like this?







Felix, the caretaker, tells us that this house is a bad deal and we would be "ripped off" if we bought it. The infrastructure, being old and wood, is bad. The termites love it. He has some ideas of other places we should look at. So, I'll hold back showing you more pictures of this house. Besides, it has so much "memorabilia" in it, that there's hardly room for people.






So off we go-- Heide, Marilyn, Bren, Beth and me on the "Strawberry Wine" jeepney to explore other houses. Felix takes us to "Shangri-La".

The previous picture shows all of us except Beth. Beth is a representative from a bank who is Marilyn's friend. She knows the details on these places.






So, here in the "Shangri-La" housing complex, we cross the Himalayas and enter Tibet.






Our second house is an all-concrete house which costs about 10 million pesos, or about $200,000. It's a really cool design-- three stories with lot of curves in it.






Here's a view of the living room from the second floor.





Nice light coming into the main bedroom. The nice thing about this house is that all the furniture and furnishings remain with the house. The owners actually own a furniture store.





Leaving the house, as you walk up the hill towards the main road, you see this graffiti-marked flat side of the house. Why did they ever build the house with this flat side? Were they intending that another house be built flush against this side of it? Weird!





Notice Heide and Felix walking up the hill away from the house. That is some steep hill!!!! That's why I'm lagging behind! No wonder when you reach the top they say you crossed the Himalayas! When we get older, how are Heide and I, in our wheelchairs, going to push each other up this hill? All the public transportation is at the top of this hill. That means that we have to have a car just to get to the top of this hill. As I said before, I'm not driving in Baguio with all the crazy drivers, so I'd have to park my car at the top of the hill and take public transportation from there.

By the way, the big yellow building at the top is an old shopping center that failed. It is now rented as a school to teach English to Koreans.






Ok. Back on the road again.





Now here's an interesting house. Again it is all concrete. The "wooden pillars" are really concrete painted to look like wood.






Like the last house, this house costs 10 million pesos or around $200,000. It has eight bedrooms and eight baths. The lower level and the basement are apartments that can be rented out. The lower level is currently rented out to Koreans for $300 a month. It also has servants' quarters.






Here's Beth along with occupants of the house heading towards the entrance. More fake wood pillars that are really concrete.






The main living space has a huge cathedral ceiling. Yes the wood inside is real wood, attached to the concrete. The kid watching TV is real too, but he doesn't come with the house. He and this two brothers are responsible for scratching up the wood parquet floor, which the owner promises to replace. So, when the new wood parquet floor comes in, he goes. Actually the kid looks like a character in Alice in Wonderland. He should eat some magic cake and grow big real fast. Right now he looks dwarfed by the size of the living space.

Every time I look at a house like this, I think "what a fortune to heat a place like this!" However, in Baguio, you don't heat houses. Still, I wonder "how will I ever change the light bulbs on the ceiling?" Maybe the kid bounced too much on the wood parquet floor trying to change the light bulbs. That's how it got so messed up. The owner phones every day to find out if the kids have destroyed her house yet. She even called when we were there.






The dining area gives a great view. The house and it's neighbor are at a "cul de sac" and you can see down into the richly forested valley.






Up on the second floor, there are bedrooms to the right. Walking up to the railing, you can look down into the living room.






Here's the view from the railing. Maybe if you stacked up some of those pillows and blankets right under me, I could jump on them from the railing and bounce high enough to change the light bulbs. Just a thought. I won't try it until the new wood parquet floor gets put in, of course.

This house is at the top of a hill, and as we leave it, public transportation in the form of jeepneys and taxis are right outside the door.

Well, that's enough house hunting for us. I found it exhausting. We don't have any money anyway. By the way, property tax is dirt cheap in the Philippines, as is car insurance-- which confuses me. With all the crazy driving, you would think it would be sky high. Also, I was surprised to see no sales tax either.




Duane and Heide.