old and rundown

this was where i spent my childhood years. the house wasn't ours. we rented it until we were forced out when the landlord decided to sell the land where this house stood. if my memory serves me, we were the second to the last family to vacate the place [or where we the last??]as the house owned by my other's aunt was still occupied by another renter. see, it took a while for 'nay lilia's [+] tenant to find another place to move to and my mother [i think, at my 'nay lilia's insistence]didn't want to be separated from good 'ole punta princesa [she's lived here since she was 15!] and aunt, who provided food and shelter for her when she left her hometown of balamban. thus, we had to wait for the tenant before we could transfer to my mother's aunt's house.

the above picture was taken right after typhoon ruping ravished cebu. incidentally, this was a few days after my younger brother celebrated his 7th birthday [see the balloon?].

although the structure looked decrepit, this house had squeaky clean and shiny bamboo floors. one could have a grand time sleeping on them. i think this was the only redeeming quality of the structure. the house only had one sleeping quarter, so all four of us [my parents, my brother and i] sleep next to each other while my sister bunked at the living room. the house didn't have it's own bathroom. the area where there's a clothesline, that's where we used to take a bath in full view of people passing by the house [although, there wasn't many of them as all the tenants' been forced to vacate.]and if we want to relieve ourselves, we'd to walk a few meters from the house, and thus, bathroom time was always done in the morning. one wouldn't dare venture or go to the bathroom at night. as for its roof, my mother would have to climb the walls just to insert empty cigarette cartons in between the nipa slats to keep rainwater from dripping. lastly, this house didn't come with its own water facility [No MCWD for us - we had MC water a few years after i graduated from college in 2000 - haha, it was a very pleasant surprise that greeted me after i return from my trip to cdo and davao back in 2003]. we'd to go to a neighbor's house to fetch water from their artesian well.

anyway, the house we've moved into wasn't any better. it was way smaller than this one. at this time, it was me who slept at the tiny living room while the four of them crammed into the equally tiny bedroom. thus, the idea of having a room of my own was a really foreign idea to me. when asked about what decorations could be found in my bedroom, i could only keep my mouth shut as i never had one. thus, the thought of having my own place started way back then. haha, it wasn't until i was 27 that i took concrete actions towards getting myself a house. as i have never lived in any other house, not even at relatives, it took me another 2 years to truly move out, live independently, and have my very own bedroom with a bed![hehe, naanad sa kawayan ug folding bed!!!]

august 16, 2009. last sunday marked my first year of solo-living at my pethouse. interestingly, a year after i've lived there, it was only this sunday that i've set foot and actually talked with the neighbor. the woman of the house in front of me was celebrating her birthday and thought of having me take lunch at their place as she prepared some food for a little celebration. well, the whole experience was remarkably awkward, haha!!