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Avoiding ‘hunted’ houses

Almost all my weekends this July have been spent on trippings to various villages selling houses and lots in Rizal. I’ve been to Binangonan twice, Angono then to Morong. These towns comprise the eastern part of the once pristine Laguna de Bay. Commuting from Ortigas to these places would take you roughly two hours, traffic jams included.

I haven’t bought a house. But I almost did when we spotted this particular place near SM Taytay. I went to the PAGIBIG office only to find that I was 5th in line. It wasn’t meant to be mine.

Now you ask me, what did I learn from these extensive real estate trips? Let me share my top 3.

1. Choose your developer well.

If you’re going the route of buying a brand new house and lot, you’d better do a background check on the developer. Study their portfolio. Ask around. Buyers are often times lured by budget packages only to discover later on that their wallets are about to be slashed some more. Houses were poorly built, facilities were not ready, and the property sits on a landslide prone area. I’ve checked several public forums that had became sounding boards for disgruntled homeowners. But high praises were given to Avida, DMCI, Filinvest and Megaworld.

Always remember that you are investing a fortune here, 100 times the price of an insurance for ipads. So spend your money wisely on properties that won’t be a headache later on. Ask for warranties.

2. Use your PAGIBIG

Minimum interest is currently at 6% per annum. Not bad. If you’re a member, why not use the benefit? All you need is to go to PAGIBIG office in Makati and attend a housing seminar before scouting for a property. They also sell foreclosed properties, but be careful if they are still being occupied by the previous owner. It won’t be easy. The responsibility of driving them out falls squarely on your shoulders. So better find an unoccupied territory.

3. To see is to believe

Go on a real estate field trip! Don’t believe what the photos tell you. They have been whitewashed. See the place for yourself and have a mental checklist of the following – basic utilities, accessibility, transportation, land safety, security, etc. Try visiting the place at night or when it’s rainy. There you’d see what the property looks like in real life. It can be tad ugly.

It’s national cheesecake day!

Well, ain’t that one lovely delicious holiday?

July 30 is celebrated annually as the National Cheesecake Day in the United States. Like any other food holidays, there are quite a number of stories behind the cheesy celebration. It was said that anthropologists discovered molds dated back in 2000 BC, an indication that people then had been making cheese.

I actually gorged down a whole pie of strawberry cheesecake before.

The cheesecake was believed to have originated from Greece, as part of the athletes’ diet during the first Olympics in 770 B.C. The Romans spread the dessert across the continent. Centuries later, European immigrants brought it to the United States giving birth to two world-famous cheesecake varieties – New York and Philadelphia cheesecakes. But no president has endorsed it the way they did the hotdog eating contest every 4th of July.

I’m a cheesecake fan. Well, almost everyone is a cheesecake fanatic, unless you are barred from eating one. While everyone is still reeling high from their cheesy cholesterol intake, grab the chance to check out restaurants for a slice. Every dessert hub in the US seemed to have been slashing their cheesecake prices down. Who knows you get to take away something too. Like personalized basketballs, shirts, gift certificates or a whole year supply of NY cheesecakes.

Bon appetit!

House arrest

Fox’s medical drama series “House M.D.” is my latest discovery after rummaging through piles of must-see DVD series somewhere you-know-where. (Clue: Behind that modern furniture shop in St. Francis.) I know I came in a little bit late on this, like 5-6 years behind since House first went on air sometime in November 2004. Nevertheless, I’m happy to have found a gem that resonated with my perpetual need for interesting brand of humor. It changed the way I see blood these days.

Apart from the Sherlock Holmes-inspired storyline, what made “House MD” interesting? Well, one is having a talent like Hugh Laurie play the pain-reliever dependent and unconventional genius named Dr. Gregory House together with his three equally-devoted staff namely Cameron, Chase and Foreman. But here’s the best part – House conversations that could awake the dead in you.

House: “People choose the paths that grant them the greatest rewards for the least amount of effort.”

House: “See that, they all assume I’m a patient because of the cane.”
Wilson: “Then why don’t you put on a white coat like the rest of us?”
House: “Then they’ll think I’m a doctor.”

***

Cameron: “You hired me to get into my pants?!”
House: “I can’t believe that that would shock you. It’s also not what I said. No, I hired you because you look good; it’s like having a nice piece of art in the lobby.”

***

House: “No, there is not a thin line between love and hate. There is, in fact, a Great Wall of China with armed sentries posted every twenty feet between love and hate.”

***

House: “Hello, sick people and their loved ones! In the interest of saving time and avoiding a lot of boring chitchat later, I’m Doctor Gregory House; you can call me “Greg”. I’m one of three doctors staffing this clinic this morning.”
Cuddy: “Short, sweet, grab a file.”
House: “This ray of sunshine is Doctor Lisa Cuddy. Doctor Cuddy runs this whole hospital, so unfortunately she’s much too busy to deal with you. I am a board … certified diagnostician with a double specialty of infectious disease and nephrology. I am also the only doctor currently employed at this hospital who is forced to be here against his will.
That is true, isn’t it? (to Cuddy)
But not to worry, because for most of you, this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Speaking of which, if you’re particularly annoying, you may see me reach for this: this is Vicodin. It’s mine! You can’t have any! And no, I do not have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem … but who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m too stoned to tell. So, who wants me? ”

***

Cameron: “Sex could kill you. Do you know what the human body goes through when you have sex? Pupils dilate, arteries constrict, core temperature rises, heart races, blood pressure skyrockets, respiration becomes rapid and shallow, the brain fires bursts of electrical impulses from nowhere to nowhere, and secretions spit out of every gland, and the muscles tense and spasm like you’re lifting three times your body weight. It’s violent, it’s ugly and it’s messy, and if God hadn’t made it unbelievably fun, the human race would have died out eons ago.”

***

House: “You mentioned two obscure diseases to Dr. Chase. How’d you know about them?”
Patient: “I read about them on the internet.”
House: “So, what’d you search for? Diseases from Asia that don’t match my son’s symptoms.”

***

Cuddy: “Just enlarged hylar lymph nodes.”
House: “Tiny unicorns goring his bronchial tubes would be cooler.”

***

Chase: “How would you feel if I interfered in your personal life?”
House: “I’d hate it. That’s why I cleverly have no personal life. “

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