MOVIN' ON UP!

Allow me to relate to you the harrowing tale of "Movin' on Up!" As I mentioned previously, one of the places I looked at, the only one I really liked, was a high rise condo which allows rentals like any apartment. It was closer to Ayala than the hotel where I was staying and the view from the room was astonishing. It was also quite expensive by local standards, though cheaper than the pension house I was in for two months, and in typical apartment fashion, they required a deposit equal to one month's rent and two months advance rent. Add to that the fact that it came unfurnished, meaning I had to put stuff in it, and just getting into the place becomes an ordeal. Luckily I had Alona to help me navigate these rough waters. It didn't help, though, that I just didn't have the money.

So last week I decided, of all the places I looked at, that the high rise was the one. I just didn't know how I was going to pull it off. Originally they wanted a deposit equal to two month's rent and they wanted two month's rent in advance as well. No amount of juggling I could do was going to make that happen. Alona called our very helpful agent Angelo (Ahn-Hay-Low) and somehow got him to talk the owner of the place into only one month deposit. That was a start. I still didn't have the money though. Upon further discussion it seemed like it would be possible to pay only the deposit up front, and pay the two months advance rent when I moved in. That I could do. It wasn't going to be easy though.

Note: As I write this, some place appears to be burning up somewhere behind the big church in the picture. Maybe I'll have more on that later.



So I began the juggling. The goal was to get enough money in one place so that I could pull it out of an ATM machine and pay cash to move in on September 1st. Since I work online, money can exist in a number of different places and some of it is not exactly "real" yet. But I starting moving it. Me and Alona, then, went to the high rise to make the deal. We found out, though, that things didn't happen at the location of the property. We had to go to some office deep downtown where a, not so nice, secretary of the owner awaited. She didn't seem aware any agreement to only do one month deposit and pay the two months advance later. After much back and forth, though, everyone came to an understanding and I payed the deposit and signed the papers. I really didn't like this place, and I certainly didn't like being deep downtown carrying a lot of money. Anyway, everything was taken care of. I made them aware that I was waiting for some funds to transfer and the rest would go down on Monday. It was time for a drink.

Monday, September 1st rolled around and I waited and waited for my transfer. I got calls from Angelo, our helpful agent, saying the secretary at the downtown office, was getting very impatient. I knew there was a time zone difference to consider. I expected that by 3:00 PM here, it would be midnight in America and transfers would start moving. So while waiting, me and Alona decided to go to Metro Gaisano, a huge mall downtown, which I wrote about in the previous post, in the thick of city action, to start looking at things with which to furnish the place. We reserved a bed frame, mattress and dining table, saying we would return later that evening to pick them up. Unfortunately I was wrong. Monday was Labor Day. Nothing happened.

Tuesday, September 2nd rolled around and I was sweating. Still no money. We had to call everyone and say that things were pushed back a day. Alona didn't want to make those calls, so I had to do it. As the day rolled on, it started to look like it was all going to happen again. I started searching to see if there was anything I missed. Did I do the transfers wrong? As 4:00 PM rolled around, and I was still searching, I noticed suddenly that the funds were there! I think I should have hit the refresh button! Just being there wasn't enough though. I now had to be able to pull it from a machine without trouble.

Went went to the nearby bank where I usually get cash. You have to go inside to use the ATM and there's plenty of security around. Surprisingly, every machine was either out of order or only had small bills. Even if it had enough I would have had boxes of cash. Where do I go now? I knew there were other banks around and plenty of street machines, but I do I dare pull large amounts from some machine in the street? Alona suggested we go to Ayala, where there are plenty of machines and they are all inside. Once in Ayala I went to my favorite machine, one I call "The Hidden Machine" because it is placed strangely under an escalator. I knew I had to make multiple withdrawals because the machines limit what you can take in one go. The question was whether or not I would be able to get enough.

Two withdrawals from my favorite machine went off without a hitch. On the third attempt, the machine froze. I waited. Did it capture my card? What's it doing. Without explanation, after a long wait, it said the transaction was cancelled, "Except for transfer.." What the hell does that mean? Did it pull the money from my account and then not dispense the bills?! Yes it actually did! I wouldn't find out until later that the machine was at least nice enough to put it back. Still I was standing there without enough to pay for this room! I had no choice but to try another machine. I went to the next machine and made another successful withdrawal. I really wanted to do another, but I didn't want to push my luck. With what I had in my luggage in the room, I knew it would be enough. We went back to the hotel.

We called Angelo and rushed to the evil downtown office, where the secretary said that if we're not there by 5:00, she's gone. We didn't get there by five. Luckily, there was someone there to accept the payment. I handed over the money and got my official receipt. I was in, but it was far from over. Remember that we had pushed everything back one day, and that included the bed and dining table we reserved. Me, Alona and Angelo went to Metro Gaisano to take care of that. It was a good thing too, since only Angelo knew the address where it would all have to be delivered. Still it was not to be. In order to get it delivered that day, it would have been 9:00 PM. We already held Angelo up enough, so we opted for delivery the next morning. No time, however, was given. Still, with everything pretty much in the can, we all decided to go to Lemon Grass, my favorite Thai food place in Ayala, to eat. The food was great as always, but something didn't sit quite right. Alona started to feel sick and even I awoke at 3:00 AM with my stomach kind of bubbling.

Wednesday, September 3rd rolled around. Me and Alona had only to wait. We were watching some strange Tarzan movie made in the Philippines. It was an old movie and was done as something of a comedy. We didn't know when Angelo would call to say the delivery folks were there. Eventually, though, he did call and we went to the room. The delivery guys were already there building the table and bed. They didn't take long and soon everything was ready. Now we had to go and get everything else, especially the essentials, set top gas burner, rice cooker, water dispenser, fan, table cloth, towels, soap, bath tissue, you name it.

We came back to start setting up, but all was not right yet. Even though they said the water was turned on, Alona discovered that we had no pressure in the kitchen and the toilet would not flush. We had to wait for the plumber to come and fix this. He toyed wit things for a while and then called two other guys. What seemed like it should be simple, ended up taking hours. Alona was still not feeling well, yet she setup most everything else while they worked. Then she slept as they continued on. It was almost evening by the time everything was working. We still had a few more items to get. This time we went to Ayala to get, among other things, groceries. I don't have a fridge yet, so I am limited in what I can get for a while. There's still a long way to go. It was time for my first night in a new place. Sleeping was rough. Every sound was something to be checked out. Eventually, though, I dozed off.

Thursday, September 4th rolls around and Alona is home sick, with her mother. Here I am in this new place getting adjusted. This is where the real trial begins. My money is now dangerously low. I have one potential gig in the queue, which should tide me for a while, but it's time to seek out and find more online work and fast. I guess I should be glad I payed 2 months advance rent. Still, there's no telling what's going to happen from here. I will say this, though, it beats "working for the man" any day! On top of that, if it was easy and I knew everything that came next, it wouldn't be an adventure!