Building the Kolokoy Home

Our house was finally turned over to us last February 14! This was what kept us busy while the entire country was going out on dates on Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, I fell ill the night before. My younger brother “brought in” the virus to our house. Boyet and Papa got ill on the first week of February, and then it was my turn the following week. (Ang lakas ng resistensiya ng nanay ko!) So imagine how depressed I was when I failed to go with my husband during the turnover ceremony. Okay fine, wala naman talagang turnover ceremony. Inabot lang ang susi sa kanya tapos may pinapirmahan! Hahahaha! But I still wanted to be there even if I had already seen the house countless of times before.

What we got was a very bare house. It’s relatively cheap compared with the other townhouse units in Manila. But if we are to compare it with the houses in the South, the price would have been good enough for a single detached house in Cavite or Laguna. Living in the South was our initial plan, but we could not let go of our careers here in Manila. Plus, we thought of the forever increasing prices of gas and toll fees. But God definitely had better plans because He opened another door for us. We discovered this housing project in Manila when we were supposed to make a down payment for a house in Cavite. I definitely believe that God led us to a better place because our new house is just a 5-minute walk from my parents’ house, and the developer of the house that we were supposed to buy in Cavite is facing a lot of controversies for creating substandard houses. I even know someone who decided to refund their down payment after learning about this. (Clue: Sikat sila, promise. Sa sobrang sikat nila, na-Imbestigador yata sila. Haha!)

I am not new to the place where our house was built. I grew up wondering what was behind the galvanized iron sheets in that part of the road. Papa told me that they grew up playing there. He told me that the lot is owned by a Chinese family. I also had some fond memories with it because part of the land used to be a store that sells novelty items. The Chinese lady who used to own it would always give us free candies each time we buy stationeries or school supplies from her. When F4 became famous, our generation would flock to her store to buy those Meteor Garden posters! But now, we are about to create new memories in it!!!

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Buying a house is financially draining. People close to me knows how frugal I am. My mother trained me to handle my finances well. During the past couple of years that we were paying for the down payment, I was feeling extremely proud of myself, and my husband, too! We made a lot of sacrifices just to make sure that our future kids need not to worry about having a roof on rainy days. Now that the house has been turned over to us, our expenses have skyrocketed big time! The construction of our house’s interiors is physically, mentally, emotionally and financially (definitely!) exhausting. My husband and I, along with my parents, would brainstorm on a lot of things related to our house’s construction. Now, I appreciate my parents more. They were generous enough to let us stay in their own house for more than three years. And now, they are still helping us in any way they can. Because Boyet and I need to go to work, Papa is the one who oversees the construction while Mama works as the treasurer. Haha! Papa would think of a lot of things that Boyet and I hadn’t considered before. Dapat pala ‘yung gripo ganito ang valve. Delikado pala ‘yung tiles namin sa stairs. Mas ok pala kung magpapalagay kami ng kisame. At kung anu-ano pa! But more importantly, I have learned to value how my parents raised me. During the three years that we stayed with them, Boyet and I would pay bulk of the house expenses. Of course he is not forgetting his responsibility to his side of the family. But despite of these, we have managed to survive getting our own house. I know that a lot of kids brag of being spoiled by or still getting financial help from their parents. Yes, there were days when my parents would offer help, but I would gladly decline. I was initially thinking that I was doing it out of pride. Niloloko ko pa si Mama by saying, “Duh! Marami kaya akong pera!” kahit gustong gusto ko ng kunin ‘yung tulong nila! But the past few days made me realize that I have been doing it in response to my parents’ generosity. They were generous enough to educate me. They sent me to school to equip me in life. They managed to train me to become financially independent. They were generous of their time. I grew up with Mama and Papa being physically present each time I need help in school, yet they managed to give the space that I needed to still become self-sufficient. They generously imparted all the skills and wisdom that I would be needing as I face life. These only prove that a parent’s generosity is not limited with how they provide. Some are proud that their parents bought them a house. I am proud that my parents taught me how to get my own house. =)

Aside from my parents, I have learned to trust my husband more. After recovering from flu, I faced another “hump” which prevented me from doing what I was supposed to do. My doctor banned me to go out of the house over the weekend. (Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.) And since weekends are the only chance that we have to oversee the construction of our house, my husband single-handedly did everything. He went to shop for tiles. This was a big deal for me because I have long been struggling with this - I am  too hands-on! ‘Yung feeling ko na kapag hindi ako gumawa, or wala ako during decision-making, feeling ko laging not good enough ang outcome! Ganun ako ka-brat, haha! But being married to Boyet for almost four years taught me that I need to delegate, that I need to stop worrying on the small stuff, and that I need to trust his taste. Haha!

I never imagined that building our own house would be like a roller coaster ride. We’ve been to the lowest of all lows. But now that we are finally near in realizing our dream, we’re definitely on a high! Minsan na-se-sepanx ako thinking that I would be “moving out” of the house that I’ve lived in for 31 years. But I am definitely excited!!! And I certainly didn’t know that buying a house can define someone’s character. Ang dami kong natutunan! Some may say, “Ang yabang naman neto!” Pero, kayabang-yabang naman siguro ‘tong achievement naming mag-asawa, ‘di ba? Dugo, pawis at luha ang pundasyon ng bahay namin! Hahahahahaha!

I can’t wait to create new memories in our own house. I’m still not sure if I have the talent in crafts and interior designing, but I vowed to make our house look more of a home! And I promise to share bits and pieces of it with you. I will try to blog as often as I can so I do hope that you stick around until we settle down with our new setup. =)

6 comments :

  1. Gandaaaa!!! Pavisit!! :) Staycation na yaaaan!!

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  2. Congrats ulit! Tunay namang nakaka-proud yan! Destiny talaga na dyan kayo nakakuha sa malapit lang sa parents mo. Biruin mo, may happy memories ka pa about sa lote na kinatitirikan ng new house nyo. Kami naman, between Laguna and Cavite, we chose the latter kasi naisip rin namin yung increasing gas prices and toll fees. Di hamak na mas mura sa Cavite.

    P.S. Excited na rin ako makita ang mga developments sa house nyo kaya tututok ako dito. At para makakuha rin ng tips and ideas if ever magkaroon kami home improvement projects in the future. :)

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  3. Congrats! Ang swerte nyo, nakahanap pa kayo ng house sa Manila. Karamihan nga nasa suburbs na e.

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  4. Nawala comment ko? :( Anyway congrats gurl!

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  5. Yun oh! :) Congrats at more blessings to you and your family. For sure, mas maraming happy memories :)

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