The housing problem is eating us alive. I know some Filipino lawyers and bankers who commute to HK every week—leave Manila by early Monday and leave HK by Friday evening to be with their families during the weekend. Because housing in HK is family-unfriendly. How can you stuff you family of five in a small 2-bedroom flat in HK when you own your spacious house in Manila? Cathy Yang, when she was with Bloomberg TV in HK, told me she used to do this as well and her “school bus-mates” were these Filipino lawyers/bankers working for global law firms/investment banks with offices in HK. It doesn’t make sense to sacrifice the quality of life of your family and fit them in a shoebox just because of a job that can be lost anytime management feels like firing you/retrenching people.
What Cathy has done gave me confidence that I can do this as well. It’s not easy. I miss so many news/things/leads in Singapore and I always have to deal with the hellish NAIA. But what can I do when I see this:
The rate quoted by ULI is around SGD 3,500, which no longer exists since the data is already a year old. I read an article somewhere—I forgot to clip it—that SGD 4,500-per-month apartments have already disappeared as rents jumped 70% this year.
So yes, commuting by plane with hotel for a week every month is much cheaper.
And how can I exchange this relaxed life now in the province for a financially stressful one in SG or HK?
After I left my car at the autoshop (for aircon cleaning, freon reloading and the oil leak fix), I did a quick veggie shop and went to buy muffins from our favorite bakery and pastry shop.
I walked back home for some exercise but it was already too hot to do a longer lap.
I even had time to linger and admire the flowers that have started to come alive after the rainshowers we had the past few days. These were from my mom’s garden. When I finally have the time, I would also have these, too, in my garden.
I took advantage of the sunny day today to air/sun-dry my carpets that I have had power-washed over the weekend.
After a thorough vaccuming, I now have the bigger carpet under my computer chair to keep it from further destroying the lovely wooden floors in my room. I’m still looking for a home for the smaller one. I think I will give it to my sister because I bet her computer chair is also destroying the wooden floors in their office area.
Tomorrow I must wake up earlier to do my brisk walking before the sun fries me.
I’m finally settling into a rhythm.