Full disclosure: I used to live in Unit 8H-B in Kingswood Condominium here in Makati. The unit’s caretakers were Julius Villareal and a woman named Icy, possibly his girlfriend. Right now, I’m hoping they’ll suffer from diarrhea for the rest of their lives. And I’m being very nice here.
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Here’s what happened:
I came home from work on Feb. 24 and found two of my flatmates/unitmates in the living room. One said, “There’s a new development!” There’s always a new development, with Julius and Icy as caretakers – the ref breaks down, the kitchen sink floods the floor, cable TV gets disconnected, and they don’t answer your calls. Such an efficient couple, Julius and Icy.
But this new development, as it turned out, was crazy. Like, you-can’t-make-this-shit-up crazy. Julius and Icy, according to one of the guards of the condo (bless him for warning us), have not been paying the unit’s utility bills and condo dues for three months now, and so Admin, possibly as ordered by the unit owners, had began padlocking the units they were handling. One group renting one of the units came home from work one night and just found their unit padlocked. Their stuff were inside. Luckily the unit owner lives in the building, so they were able to talk to the guy, have the door opened, and collect their things. But if the owner was not in the building, and you didn’t know the owner’s contact details, where will you go?
We decided to confront Icy. We knew she and Julius lived in the building, 12D-A, and I was just looking forward to screaming at her. We asked the guard, and oh yes, their unit had been padlocked. They don’t live in the building anymore. We couldn’t contact their phones.
The plan: Talk to the unit owner. We didn’t know his number so I had to go to Marketing the next day and try to contact him from there.
Of course we panicked. I couldn’t sleep that night. The next morning, one of my flatmates was able to contact the caretaker of a unit which had a room good for four, had an AC, and had its own bathroom. We viewed it that morning. Turned out the caretaker knew all the shenanigans Julius and Icy had been doing. Those fuckers. The guards downstairs were already cautioning us to at least have our stuff moved to another unit, if we had a friend in the building. We wouldn’t be issued gate passes, so we couldn’t move appliances out of the building, even if we owned them. Including laptops.
It is safe to say that the stress level by then was extremely high.
We decided to rent the room and move in that day.
So I hauled ass, you know. I was able to move everything except my collages on my wall. My collages! I used crazy-sticky tape because I thought – well, I thought I’d be staying in that room for a long time.
Of course I had to do the security deposit + advance thing all over again, but it’s okay. Julius and Icy I think owes me a month’s worth of deposit, unless they’ve deducted all the excess bills, which I’m sure they have. I feel bad for my flatmates who paid them for the month of February. Seriously, do Julius and Icy gamble? Are they addicted to meth or something? Where do they take our money?
But at least we were able to find a place we could stay in for the next six months. (This time we have direct contact to the unit owner; we also know his bank accounts and his address.) I used to rent a room of my own, but right now I can’t be choosy. The room’s nice anyway. And clean. Right now it looks like a college dorm room. Peeling wall paint, towels and bras on the racks, small cabinets and compartments, instant noodles and other food packets in see-through containers, my books on the bottom of my mattress.
The first morning I was there I moved so slowly, as if I were lethargic, not knowing where everything was. Now where did I put my bags? Where did I put a copy of my contract? Where are my DVDs? Where’s my coffee?
But I’m good, I’ll get by.
I still want Julius and Icy to pay us back, though.
And I want my collages back. Hmp.
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Anywho my final February weekend was great. Spent most of the time eating chicken teriyaki with the boyfriend, who, bless him, knows how to cook.
Also watched my first Dungeons & Dragons game. :) Being the eternal backseat player and annoying game-watcher (ask my brothers), I can never play this game, or any game really, but I had fun. :D Mike’s Addie brought excellent cookies!
Last photo was taken by Jme. Thanks!
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The Demons of the New Year cover (it’s a horror e-anthology, and I’m gonna be in it yay) has also been unveiled. I love it!
Eliza Victoria 