A House We Will Call Home!

Please don't kill me, lol! as I am really lagging behind on all my posts. But as I've mentioned previously, I am going to share updates on our house that we are buying in the Philippines.

It was actually a very tough challenge and a lot of difficulties for me lately one week after we arrived from the Philippines. Hubby caught the bug (definitely, not the swine flu), and passed it on to me. He had a flu shot last fall, and I didn't, so he recovered faster and there was the poor me struggling on the most terrible cough I've ever had for 2 weeks.  I was diagnosed with bronchitis and pharyngitis, and had to take antibiotics for 10 days! Ha! that wasn't as easy as it sounds because I have to swallow a tablet as big as a marble! LOL!

Anyway, I'm feeling much more than better now.

Back to the topic, here is the story. While in the Philippines, we had been visiting some houses in many of the housing subdivisions in Iloilo (my hometown). I was actually surprised to see many housing real estate companies in Iloilo this year which was a good thing for us to look for more options. We finally managed to choose one house that I and hubby thought will be a good one.

The house is a single attached 2-storey home with 3 bedrooms upstairs. We got this choice because of its unique house finishing that's unique from the rest. The house will be made with CPAC two-toned tawny brick, much more durable than the regular hollow blocks that they put for the wall and foundation.

Currently, we are now paying the installment plan without interest for 18 months. Since we put a downpayment of more than the required DP amount, we will be paying much more smaller for the remaining loan after 18 months. We had the option to pay the remaining loan for 5 years, but we are aiming to pay it in less than that, God willing :).

More or less the house would be finished late of 2010, or early of 2011. It gives me excitement to think about the house, and I was tasked by hubby to do the interior designs and getting the things needed inside. Sounds like a good yehey next time we visit Philippines and staying on ou new home instead of staying in a hotel for 3 weeks! Of course, planning a house warming would be exciting as well :).

So far so good. I will post updates from time to time.

Our RP Vacation Update

It's been a good feeling to get back to the blogging world! Haven't been around for a while. Although I have been in constant struggle to update my blog(s), many things are keeping me busy since I and hubby arrived Philippines on April 18, '09. I missed doing the posts, but that's just nothing compared to the quality and quantity of time you spend with your family, isn't it?

Weather: It's been a rainy weather since we arrived. From Iloilo to Manila, rain is just almost daily usually in the afternoon and late evenings. There's a good thing to that...hubby wasn't sweating too much, LOL!

Family: Meeting with my family is the best this year! Why? I saw and was with my siblings seeing us complete. It was one of those few ones where I consider it the most memorable! We had fun in the beach, at home, at the dinner table, good chats, some more outings, etc...We're looking forward to have one like this next year, God willing.

A place we call home: We reserved a house and lot last week in Iloilo. It was tough actually looking for a good one - nice neighborhood and flood free areas, the construction quality and good deals on the price. We have some plans now, but we kept praying for it. I am excited to share about the house, but I won't until we start our payment midweek of this month. This is a BIG investment on our savings since we are thinking of paying the downpayment half of the total price of the house. The total contract price: 2M Php...now you got the idea how much we'll be paying for the down. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :) It's a 3-bedroom house with a wide porch on top. ..just ideal for a couple. We can manage to accept visitors once in a while, hahaha! Oh, by the way, I got carried away, I already shared almost all about the house :)).

Meeting Friends: I guess, I am gaining more friends both internationally and locally, LOL! I can't imagine myself being invited at the Manila US Embassy for a visit! I am looking forward to meeting some of them on Thursday.  Hubby has some co workers assigned there and wanted to meet them as well. Hubby has been a good asset of the group in relation to his job. That has been a blessing ever since :).

Two more days, and we'll setting our feet off the Philippine grounds. It would be nice to be back home soon!

To all the mothers out there, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Hey mom! I hope you liked the card and the gift we gave you! We love you. Mwah!

We got a new look! :)

Everytime I go to the Philippines for a vacation, I make sure I've got to cut my hair shorter than the way it is here in the US. I love my long hair here as it is always a good warm protector during cooler times. But having my long hair in the Philippines would be a disaster for me! My hair seems to be highly reactive to warmer climate so whenever it is exposed to a tropical temperature, it becomes so nasty...I couldn't imagine having hair as thick as a rough grass LOL!

So, here are some good news...I (and hubby) are finally done with our hair appointment last Saturday with Daisy (my friend-hairstylist). And once again, I finally was able to convince hubby to color his hair as well :). We both had been growing a "salt and pepper" hair color and many say it's a good color for a natural hair. It was a good complement, but we wanted to have a slight change, and so it ended up a BIG change for me, LOL!

I usually have a trim for my hair (at least 2-3 inches), but this time, I told Daisy to cut my hair half. I was surprised that half was really long and hubby was really surprised with big eyes and suddenly asked me why that long! Hubby always loves my hair long, but I told him my hair grows fast. By the time we'll be back home, it's gonna be long again...whew! at last he accepted my reason. Besides, it would be hot there, and he knows I hate having long hair in a hot climate.

Another good news, my hair that was cut will be going into a good cause. It will be donated to a goodwill agency (forgot its name). So, not bad, right? I'm now a hair donor! LOL!

4 days more to go and we'll be stepping the Philippine soil once again. It's always been an excitement seeing our family first and foremost and seeing friends as well :). As always, we are requesting you to pray for our safe trip going there and back.

Happy Resurrection Day! God is alive and always be!

I'm Now a Lawful Permanent US Resident! :).

First and foremost is my big thanks to Him up there who continues to answers our prayers and constantly gives us more than enough blessings with our lives daily. Thank you Lord!

When I came here in the US to finally join my husband, I was granted a conditional permanent residence for 2 years. Of course, we still consider paper works as hassles since we keep on submitting the same documents, forms, etc...and yet the payments continue to increase! Plus, we can't just imagine long months of waits before we could finally get a result...well, in this case where you don't have any choice but to follow the law is a tough hurdle. But in the end of each final step of struggle, it is all worth it.

Dealing with the US immigration involves a lot of paperworks, not to mention some interviews...I consider this as a battle - just like fighting for my marriage and relationship with my husband, which is really the focus, anyway.

It took me 9 months to wait before I received a letter of approval last week (March 11) from the USCIS congratulating me about being a permanent US resident, and will be a green card holder for 10 years! But on the other hand, the wait is not yet over until I have the 10-yrs green card in hand. (letter says I have to wait within 60 days).

Of course, the approval is as well an automatic eligibility to take the US citizenship or Naturalization test. So, in this case, one more final step to get that test and I'm done. This means, it's one more step of doing the same routines..fingerprinting, submitting paperworks and forms, etc..., wait another several months, before getting the final result! {{sigh}}....it's one more FINAL step of long waits but I wouldn't be minding it since it would be the final hurdle with USCIS! :).

By the way, I will be eligible for citizenship on August 30, 2009 onwards :). Isn't that cool?  (Yay).

Philippine Domestic Airlines Online?....My Goodness Gracious!!!

Thank God, after spending so many hours trying to book 5 people online, I finally managed to get our domestic airline tickets late last night (e-tickets). My special thanks for my husband's coming in to the rescue so these could all be done!

I hate name dropping, but this time, I thought it might be of good help to some who would be thinking of purchasing their tickets online from either of the Philippine domestic airlines online.  No offense meant to the airlines I would be mentioning, but I am just sharing an experience.

Since we will be travelling during the peak season, I and hubby just decided to get our domestic air tickets earlier, so we decided checking the airlines' air fares, schedules, etc. We were glad it says on their websites we can book and pay online, so that's super cool...much more convenient for us.

I first worked with Cebu Pacific (which has a good price by the way) for a Manila-Iloilo flight. The first attempt to book and pay failed because our credit card was declined. Here comes hubby to the rescue, called our credit card bank, which gave him an answer that the anti-fraud unit is now authorizing the transaction. I tried booking again 4 times, still failed 4 times, hubby called bank again 4 times, with 4 different answers...and hubby's face was turning red!!oh-oh..I said this is not good! There were bad argues on the phone and hubby was so pissed off, so that he decided to just give up using the card and close the account...(sorry Chase).
Second option....I tried calling on Cebu Pacific's phone (call center) so we could just book and pay via phone, and I was on stand by for more than an hour!!!where all I could hear are commercial ads of Smart and Globe played gazillion times! Where in the world are those people at? Sleeping? They just lost another sale of at least more than $200 for that...why? we gave up and decided to go for another airline.

This is our second story: I and hubby decided to just then shift to Air Philippines, another domestic airline. We remembered buying our tickets online last 2007 from them, and it was okay. Just a bit more expensive than Cebu Pacific, but if we could just buy tickets without any problems, we won't mind about the price.
So, I then started booking 2 round trip tickets (I and hubby) using credit card, (byt the way, this time we are using another credit card, not Chase!) and it was okay. The hassles came in when I started booking 3 one-way tickets for Iloilo when the fillable form asked that any of the 3 passengers should be one of the credit card holders which obviously would be impossible because these 3 passengers are my family and I am buying the tickets for them. Anyway, since I couldn't reach any live person on their phone, (as usual...in the Philippines, a hotline number NEVER works!) I put one of their names on the credit card so that the tickets could go through the booking system. They went through indeed and were confirmed! I know the consequences of what I did, so I asked for hubby's rescue again, LOL!

First, hubby had to call the credit card bank and explained to them that a transaction with a different name on it might appear on the billing, and the bank said it would be okay since hubby had called them earlier to notify them about this international transaction. Furthermore, at that time, the lady said they haven't receive the transaction yet, but we won't be worrying about it anymore since they were informed about it.

Second, we called the reservations of Air Philippines. Hubby volunteered to do the call and he was on standby for 30 minutes! Thank God, we had this earphone that you can just stick it into the phone so you could be hands-free! :). Finally, the operator answered. Of course we had to tell him about what happened on the credit card with the different name on it. The guy told hubby he still has to check about this with his superior and so hubby was put on hold for another 20 minutes. The guy returned, and this time I got the chance to speak to him:

Operator: Hi mam are you Mrs. ____?
Me: Yes.
Operator: How are you related to Mrs..Ms. and Mr?____?
Me:They are my family, and I am the credit card holder. I am buying the tickets for them.
Operator: Well, mam, putting one of your family's name on your credit card is not allowed since she is not a card holder.
Me: I know it wasn't. But since I can't reach anyone on the phone, and your website is not equipped with an option of  ordering tickets for people that are not card holders, I had to do that. Sorry for doing it, but I will be travelling together with them, so I'll be carrying my card with me just in case you wanna check. Are there any advices and recommendations you can give?
Operator: Mam, we should not be allowing it, but we would allow this case only for this time. But mam, pls. don't do it again? Then, you have to make a certification letter explaining that you are the credit card holder, to be presented on your check-in...blah,blah,blah!
Me: Thank You. I appreciate you giving me the information and warning. Thanks for the time and answering our queries. Bye.

Whew! Our phone transaction, including the stand by hours was 1 hour 20 minutes.

After more than an hour, I received the e-tickets on my email.

End of our ordeal! :)

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Chapped Lips!

This is just one of things I hate about winter! Why? My lips become dry and scaly, so that I couldn't even put a lipstick on them because they just look worst! I got a lot of lip gloss and moisturizers in hand, and I even have a medicated balm, but they just don't work. They can relieve and just give a temporary protection for a few minutes.

I spend most of the time facing the mirror and pulling off the scales from time to time. I think I overdid it one time and my lips were bleeding. There are times that I am not aware, it's already bleeding!

Gosh, it feels so uncomfortable having it. I hope winter can just be gone in a few seconds from now, and skip to summer LOL!

Winter, winter go away, come again after another decade! :)).