pag-ibig

My house when it was still being built – August 2010

Today is Mon and I’s 4th year and 4th month together! =D We did not go out yesterday (as we normally go out on a Saturday) because we had a better and more important agenda today. We have agreed to visit the house I’ve been paying for the past two years. I last visited my house in December 18, 2010 and these were some photos we’ve taken:

I’ve put off visiting the house for two years because I had no intention moving to the place and I did not want to feel pressured. But following the New Year and submitting another set of PDCs to PAG-IBIG last Friday, I hope to finally move in before the year ends. This means that I will have to be more mindful of my expenses and be more smart over the things that I will buy — it is, hopefully, a powerful deterrent against impluse buying. =D Time to think of the future!

Anyway, it took us an hour to travel and our friends, Rio and Dang, were already waiting for us. They have been living in their own townhouse in the village, or exactly five units from mine, for almost two years already and they have agreed to ‘host’ our visit. As my unit was one of the first ones in the block, I Immediately noticed that my house looked peculiar from the outside and needed closer inspection. But we went straight to Rio and Dang’s place to rest and eat lunch. We felt extremely grateful that they have even prepared a special lunch for us: seafood paella. It was the first time that they have cooked one and Dang was most especially hear our verdict over its taste. It was superb!

After eating lunch, we headed back to my house and inspected it. I was slightly horrified because I did not expect things to be, well, different. It needed a lot of repairs and my two years of neglect have finally caught up. Well, Rio and Dang said that some of the parts, like kitchen sink, cabinet handles, shower heads, faucets, etc., should be removed because they might get stolen. But I did not expect the windows and doors to be in a messy state. I now plan to contact the developer to declare my intent to move in, provided they repair what must be repaired. It must also be noted that my neighbor, directly to the right, has decided to make my living room as the garage of their kidie bike. =/

Anyway, I shouldn’t be surprised because I have admittedly neglected it. I assumed that it was enough for me to just pay my monthly mortgages, without any intention of keeping a close eye on the property. I have the whole week ahead to amend things and hopefully, the house will be ready within a few months.

Overall, it was a nice day. Mon and I also got to visit Antipolo church before heading back to the ‘lowlands’ to eat dinner and watch a movie. ‘Sisterakas‘ was a funny movie but I personally preferred ‘Sosy Problems‘ more. The old tricks of Ai-Ai and Vice no longer amazed me and the few saving moments were that staircase-incident re-enactment and the showdown of commercial endorsements of the three.

Last November, I intended to obtain a copy of my Transcript of Records from the University Registrar. However, I had a peculiar situation because even if I technically graduated last semeseter, I had to wait for the Board of Regents’ meeting to make my graduation official. As a result, I could not request any documents until the meeting last December and the processing of my transcript would proceed not after my student clearance was finished.

Anyway, I decided yesterday to fix all of my credentials, certifications, records and all because I just found out that the submission of requirements for the exam I intend to take will be on the 31st of January. I must admit, I lost interest in this particular examination last November because I thought that I’d have no chance to fix and get my requirements on time but I saw a ray of hope.

Then to OUR I went! Since I arrived at around 9:30 AM, I only had 2.5 hours to apply and pay for all the papers I needed: Student Clearance, Transcript of Record, Certification of Graduation, Course Description, True Copy of Grades from CSSP and CAL, and Certified True Copy of my undergraduate diploma. It was not easy because I had to walk from OUR, to Faculty Center, to AS and go to ISSI for the Cashier and back to the same buildings again for the receipts.

I only needed my TOR but it would take a longer time to process (14 days for updating) and if I were to consider the time for my clearance to finish, I will get my records by February 2 or two days past the deadline. I had no choice but apply for True Copy of Grades and hoped that the person whom I inquired was correct in saying that I can submit them in lieu of my TOR.

While I was doing all of this, I was able to pass by lots of kitties in Faculty Center. Last June 2012, I posted pictures of these kitties and I was happy to see more earlier. The first one was the small kitten above, sitting near the entrance of FC. I thought that she was hungry so I bought some bread from one of the stores near the road and when I got back, there were already more of them.

At exactly 12:00 noon, I was finally finished in submitting everything and had no choice but to wait and pray that the processing would be fast. I was most anxious over the student clearance because my request for TOR won’t be processed if I don’t have it ready. Resting for only 10 minutes, I began traveling to Shaw to visit the head office of PAG-IBIG. I had originally decided to go directly to work but Mon pushed me to finish everything I needed to finish so that I won’t have to go to Shaw the week after.

Honestly, I was worried on how my visit would be because it has been a year since I last went there. I had to visit their head office to supply 12 more PDCs for the payment of my mortgage and I even asked around on what to write on them. Then one of my friends specifically mentioned that the checks should be addressed to “HOME DEVELOPMENT MUTUAL FUND”. Duh. I also then realized that I have been paying for two years already and it seemed only yesterday when I found it difficult and tasking to allocate money for the mortgage. =D

When I reached PAG-IBIG, I went straight away to the second floor and was made to queue in the counters directly next to the entrance. After waiting for my final billing to finish, I was then directed to the section where I would be submitting the PDCs. I thuoght it would be fast but I was made to complete the information at the back, following the standardized dorsal format. I think that by the fifth check, my hand was already cursing me.

Within an hour, I was already done with everything and then I went straight to work. I thought that everything would be fine but I was wrong. We just got word that a previous officemate and friend of ours passed away yesterday. It was so shocking that it took me about three hours to finally react and I was silently crying in my post. He was just 29 years old — so young. What transpired within the past few hours changed my perspective over the transcience of life.

Now, I feel more determined to prepare for the upcoming examination but hopefully, I get my Transcript of Records first.

Visiting my house in the ‘uplands’

Grown up things