As most of you all know, we’ve been renting an apartment since we started our family. It was only in 2013 that we decided to purchase our own house. We moved to our house just last year, imagine we’ve been renting an apartment for 10 years! It’s not that easy to buy a house here in the Philippines. And it’s not easy to look for the perfect place/ community to grow a family. We even considered going abroad and see if we can start anew.

Out of all the places, we fell in love in Australia. Melbourne is ranked as most liveable city! The city is filled with parks, perfect for big family like ours. It’s also considered as UNESCO City of Literature, so many books to fill my kids’ curious minds! And of course, the houses!

We both wanted a house and not a condominium. It’s a big factor that we’re both raised in rural communities and not urban communities. The houses are lovely! Even the house and land for sale in Victoria, Australia were lovely and we can also imagine living in that area.
If only we can have a house there! But our house search though was limited to the places near us. We started our search in communities near the place we were renting. And while looking for house, we’ve learned that there are different types of houses and each one is priced differently. There’s duplex, single attached, and detached.

Duplex type of house are the kind of houses that shares a common wall usually on both side of the property. Its facade sometimes can be confused as one house but it’s actually 2 houses built but shares the same wall. Based from the houses we’ve seen, most duplex have their own parking area. We found this kind of house not suitable for us.

Single attached type of houses are the kind of houses that also shares a common wall but only on one side of the property. This was the kind of house that was offered to us. It seems very ideal for our family since it has parking space and a small space for kids to run.

We decided on buying a detached house as what we always prefer since we’ve seen those fabulous detached houses for sale in Melbourne. As the name implies, this kind of house is a stand-alone. It does not share a common wall in any side of the property, in fact it has its own fence. It also has its own parking and an ample space for gardening or whatever suits the house owner.

The house that we bought is not RFO or ready for occupancy. We paid the equity first and they started building the house when we’re done with the half of the equity. If you’re planning to have your own house, you’ll face the same question as we had before, RFO or build your own house?

From our experience, RFO (or like our arrangement) can be more expensive than building your own house but it is less stressful. We just need to take care of the payments as the house is done and ready to be occupied. The only disadvantage we’ve experienced so far is that we have no say on the style of the house or where things should be. It was minor in our case. I think, it would have been more difficult for us to build our house from scratch.

If buying a house for the first time, knowing the type of houses as your first step is very important. This will give you a glimpse of what kind of house is best for you and your family.

It’s mommy’s time to ask something from our Santa… I want plants! Cypress tree.. succulents.. orchids.. bamboo.. more flowering plants and more plants!

Last weekend, since weekend birthday ni Mother Earth, naglibot kame sa may Tabang Guguinto to look for plants for my garden. Si Mother Earth talaga ang mahilig sa plants.. green hand sya, hindi lang basta green thumb. Kahit ano pa yan, kahit itapon lang nya, tumutubo. Nagtapon sya ng buto ng mangga doon sa dati namin tinitirhan, ayun malapit na mamunga!

If you have been to that side of Bulacan, you’d know that after Tabang exit (dun sa bayaran part ha), kabi- kabila na ang mga tindahan ng halaman. You can buy gardening and landscaping supplies there. Landscaped trees, bonsai plants, flowering plants, pebbles and all kinds of grass (bermuda grass, frog grass, korean grass). Pero may secret pala ang Bulacan.. behind those stores along the highway is a subdivision where you can buy cheaper landscaping supplies and plants. Almost all houses inside that village have their own gardening business.

Finding that “secret garden” is easy.. Here’s a map!

CLUE: Look for Puregold Guiguinto and before Puregold, turn right and voila!

Our first stop was RG Plant Nursery. Sila lang may orchids eh. My mom insist on buying orchids for my living room. We’re looking for butterfly orchids. Unfortunately, they only have dendrobium that time and most are not flowering. Gusto nga ni Mother Earth mapuno ng bulaklak ang bahay ko eh. Dendrodium was only 80 Pesos per pot.

Dendrobium Orchids from Tabang, Guiguinto, Bulacan for only 80 Pesos per pot

Anthurium all year round flower for only 350 Pesos per pot

We opted for anthurium which cost a bit higer (350 Pesos each!). It never stops blooming naman daw.. sooo sulit na din! Now, I have a supply of fresh flowers everyday!

I also want to buy money tree but it is so expensive (300 Pesos per pot)!! Specially the one that comes from Thailand (2000 Pesos per pot!).

Since I really want some cypress trees, we asked around and found a supplier, 1500 per plant (5-6 feet). Pag iipunan ko yan! This one naman is cheaper, around 300-400 yata:

And we found a supplier for Bamboo Poles. Eh di ba I want some bamboo poles around my house. Each pot is 300 Pesos with 2 poles each. According to the gardener, I will need 2-3 pots per meter. The height of the bamboo pole is 7-8 feet (just my estimate). Planting of the bamboos are free if you’ll buy from them buuut delivery is around 2000 to 3000 Pesos. Pag- iipunan ko din to!

Our last stop was the nursery beside the church. Sa kanila lang ako nakita ng Poinsettia and other flowering plants.

Poinsettia from Tabang, Guguinto, Bulacan Gardens for only 100 Pesos per pot

Succulents for 35 Pesos

Citronella for 35 Pesos each pot

Ang dami kong gustong bilhin doon but since our car space is limited, uunahin ko na bumili ng Hilux..jooooke laaaang!

Definitely, babalik kame dito to buy more plants.. I want Poinsettia!!

Shout out to Filipina Explorer for her blog post which leads us to this gardening haven and to her directions on how to go there! Muaaaah! Thanks so much!!

But not just because of the Lamborghini nooo. You nuts!

I asked the husband why the shift? It’s because of the Euro4. Petron already offers Euro4 fuel unlike Shell.

As for me, “Dad let’s change to Petron so we can get a Petron Card. It gives 10 Pesos discount when you order Gasul from them. Also, Shell won’t be issuing any more Lego eh.”

Here’s how I learned about the Petron Card:

We just moved here di ba. And so we’re struggling in all aspect of daily living.. walang tindahang malapit, walang kapitbahay na kakilala (although sa kabilang bundok talaga ang kapitbahay namin haha), at higit sa lahat, walang kilalang Gasul delivery!

O sya, LPG store.. sorry naman. We’ve been using Gasul LPG since time immemorial. Parang sa diaper lang yan eh, pag sinabing diapers, Pampers lang.. ganun din sa LPG, Gasul lang. I know there are other brands of LPG pero nasanay na talaga kame sa Petron Gasul eh.. which leads me back to my kwento.

So since we don’t know any LPG stores near us na mapagkakatiwalaan, I learned that I can order Petron Gasul through their hotline:

Spell HASSLE FREE! All caps dahil intense!!! Obviously, I am very happy with their hotline service. They have partner stores pala or accredited stores, they look for the one nearest me and that store took care of my delivery.

Ang tanong: Mura ba?

I really have no idea with the price difference.. I am just after the thought na since it is a partner store, garantisadong safe ang dadalhin sa aking Gasul (at husto sa timbang).

And yeah, during the time I was ordering, I was asked if I have a Petron Gasul.. may discount daw na 10 Pesos if I have one. SAYANG!

If you’re after naman sa Lamborghini, here’s the Mechanics from Petron Website:

Bilisan at hanggang December 15 nalang pala ito. Bilisan ang pag ubos ng gas ha hindi ang pagpapatakbo ng kotse.