Welcome to Tagaytay! And more things I didn't expect in country living

Who says that moving to the countryside will make your stressful environment go away? Don't get me wrong, it's indeed totally a bliss when we moved here a few months ago (hence we are still new citizen of Tagaytay), and I will not go back to city living. So what makes it another love and hate country living? Here are some things I didn't know when I made my decisions to shift the high life to zen life. 


The major factor that made me to break away from city life was the endless consumerism (yes, you have to buy all the time! Shopping malls at your front door) and the pollution (air pollution, noise pollution, humans.. LOL)  A change of scenery with greens and a little bit of fresh air and coolness of Tagaytay will definitely lead me to Zen (I'm almost...right). There are a little bit of adjustments from the convenience of the city to easy going countryside. I was baffled with the things I learned when we first moved in. Here are the things you need to consider if you really want to settle down in Tagaytay. 

Number 1 misconception: "I will save money from condo living to having a house with a garden in Tagaytay" - wrong. The upkeep and maintenance of the house is twice expensive than we were spending in the city. The lawns and a huge garden that we have to trim and water all the time. A household of one to 3 humans in the city can consume a minimum. Now I moved here with a helper, two humans is twice and sometimes thrice expensive. I used to had PHP 300 in the condo and now my bill went up to PHP 1,000 to PHP 2,000 depends if it's summer time too. 

Number 2 misconception: "You'll figure it out"  Aside from learning where the switches are, the sockets, the power unit, the water meter, everything is plug and play - wrong. I got my first electricity and water bill and I was shocked how it turned out. I thought I was consuming more but common sense tells me that it's impossible to have more than PHP 1,000 water bill for 2 humans. If you are living in a condo, you have maintenance guys that you can call whatever your problem is and they will fix it for you. Living in a house means, you have to know what needs to get done. It was a trial and error and called two plumber guys to fix my problem but none of them were able to figured it out (wasted money paying for the guys) until later I found out it was my toilet flush. 

Number 3 misconception: "There will be no bumps on the road"  The first thing that I plugged when we got settled in was my water filter. A lot of pulling and pushing of furniture equals exhausted and thirsty. The drinking water didn't turn out clear, shocking...I forgot that the water in the community is run through a huge tank! I immediately searched for the water station to call for my drinking water. I guess I will leave my water filter for now until the tank clears. 

Electricity and water interruption!! I will add the internet too. They come unannounced. I was in the middle of my work (I'm working from home) and the power's out. So far it only happened during summer time and it last for 2 to 3 hours maximum, same with the water interruption. As for the internet, I have no complains about it being slow or lagging but it's in and out especially on rush hour from 5pm to 6pm. 

Number 4 misconception: "It's peaceful here". My neighbors are so far away from me and it's such a peaceful place but wait... There are occasions they will never pass. These occasions require karaoke marathon. The community has a curfew until 10pm or 12 midnight the latest for these sounds. Of course, you can't avoid those who likes to gossip as their hobbies. When I was new, - I have no neighbors near me, it's like the whole town knows that someone moved in. They are like bees humming to a newly blossomed flower. That's why I hate neighbors - the intrusive ones, the ones who knows no boundaries.

Waste Disposal. This is a big one for me.

I didn't even ask about where they throw their rubbish. The community - the barangays has trash collection once a week only. No wonder these people didn't know how to dispose their trash properly.  Most of the residents burn their trash or composed it themselves. You can see a lot of rubbish everywhere. Who says Tagaytay is cleaner? 






Let there be lights!  Do you feel safe walking at night? The answer is NO. Why? Street lights are not present in the residential areas. Yes you can see streetlights in the highway (it's all for the show!) but once you go to inner suburbs, you will be left alone walking in the dark. It's up to the residents how they will fix it themselves. I'm a huge taxpayer, I want my money's worth!! Calling the city officials of Tagaytay. 

Number 4 misconception: "People are friendlier and helpful"  Not most of them. There are wonderful people in Tagaytay but maybe not in the place where I live. Let me point out some details. One, the barangay officials who are supposed to be friendly and helpful are the ones arrogant and boastful but not really doing at all to keep the place clean and safe. No one is checking the streets at night when they should be on patrol. This community has more teenagers, kids going to school versus working adults like me. People sleep early as 8pm and no one dares to go out in the middle of the night except us, walking with my dogs as late as 10pm. It's so dark in here! Again, I want my money's worth. I'm paying taxes here. 

There's so much I have to say about the people and the community here. Until my next post. 

Ciao!