Airbnb

The first house I stayed in was a good one. The house is in a small brand new village with an electronic gate which gives me a feeling of security. The divorced male owner sold his condo and used the $100,000 proceeds as down payment for this $250,000 1800 square feet house in November of 2016. It’s a two story three bedroom two and a half baths. It’s perfect business scenario for the owner. He occupies the masters bedroom with TB and he rents out the two extra rooms.

The day I checked in, I came from the airport. I arrived at around 6 pm and the house was empty. I called the owner to ask where the key was. He was in the gym working out and he left the key under the door mat. Who leaves house keys under the doormat nowadays? He still does.

I was apprehensive to enter his house. Baka merong bulaga. I felt relieved when I saw my bedroom and I determined that this house is brand new. Wala pang ipis at butiki. My family was relieved when I reported that I was perfectly comfortable there, and that the house is brand new. After I sent photos of the neighborhood and the house, my husband approved.

My first week was perfectly fine. I thought, hmmm I can live with this. I shared a bathroom with the young fellow occupying the other room but I rarely saw him. He is from San Jose, California and is enrolled at the University of Las Vegas taking up a masters degree. Classes started in September and he is staying at this Airbnb temporarily while he looks for his own apartment.

The house is always empty. I should feel like it’s my own but I didn’t feel that way. That is a stranger’s house although I;ve made friends with the owner but still, living in someone else’s house makes me conscious about not dirtying it, leaving my tsinelas at the doorstep, not making any noise. I just locked myself up in the room.

Shared bath

The owner called my attention thrice. Ooops, violations. I always lowered the aircon temperature which made him get up at 3 am to adjust the temperature. And he said, the aircon vent in the other guest bedroom is located directly above the bed so it’s going to be too cold in the other room. As a compromise, I opened the window to let the cold breeze at night enter my room. But still, it’s not as comfortable as having an aircon.

The second time he called my attention was when I was watching UK Got talent on You Tube. I increased the volume but in my opinion, it was not that loud. But since the house is small and the rooms are small, and the walls are made of drywall only, I guess, the whole neighborhood could hear it.

The third time was, aircon again. He asked me why I always feel warm, for lack of anything better to say, I just said I am having menopause. You know, hot flashes?

He was nice to me and he even offered to let me stay in his room while he sleeps in the living room. I didn’t want to. Those four nights I didn’t book in advance. He already had guests so I moved out and stayed in another house. By the way, I am staying in an Airbnb because of the proximity to where I go everyday.

The next house I stayed at is huge. What I did that day was to finish all my activities for the day before I went to this house. I checked in at 8 pm. The house was so dark. They didn’t even leave one bulb on as a courtesy to their guest. The Uber driver asked me “are you sure you’re going in there?” He wanted to wait till I get inside the house but I didn’t want to bother him, you know, another stranger.

There was a padlock where the house key was kept.

Since it was very dark, even with my cellphone light on, I still couldn’t open the lock. It took me a few minutes. I was already prepared to leave and just check in in a hotel at the Strip. After some buntung-hininga, bumukas rin. When I was about to open the double door, I felt like I was starring in a horror movie. I would be entering a huge house, kadilim-dilim, I didn’t know what to expect. Baka merong vampira dun sagpangin na lang ako bigla. I took a deep breath, merong halong dasal, plus I was ready to defend my life and purity in case there’s a guy waiting behind the door to molest me.

Hellow, hello, hell, hel, he, ay walang tao.

The huge house has no furniture in the formal dining room and living room.
They have this in the family room.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I entered the room. It’s certainly larger than the first room I stayed at, but this one is nowhere near American style. Para akong nasa probinsya. Yung hindi marunong mag-ayos ng bahay. The owner of the house put-in all cheap furnishings here. There’s only one mattress kaya masyadong mababa. The beddings are parang galing sa Divisoria.

The owner arrived at 9 pm. She helped me set up the wifi. She told me I am rach. She meant rich. Rich daw ako kasi I am able to travel to Las Vegas from the Philippines. She is from Taiwan. She said her husband bought this house four years ago very cheap. Eh ngayon the property prices have gone up and are still going up, not a lot but they are no longer a bargain.

She called my attention, ooppps violation na naman. I was wearing my slippers inside the room kasi I was afraid to walk on their carpet. Baka kako merong scorpion or gagamba or baka dirty.

The next morning, I felt relieved buhay pa ako at buo pa ang aking dangal.
Maganda rin pala itong neighborhood and the houses are considerably bigger. Doble sa laki nung una kong natirahan. Or two and a half times bigger.

On my last day, I was working at 9 am she banged my door. She asked for the garbage. Then at exactly 10 am, she knocked and told me I have to leave. I said 11 am. She said no, because she was leaving. I said half hour she agreed. When I went out, the door was wide open. Feeling ko ipinagtatabuyan ako. Para akong pulubi na walang matirahan.

Ay inipit nya yung tsinelas ko. Walang pakundangan.

Medyo kulang sa ethics or social graces.

After four nights in that large house, I was back in the smaller but brand new house. The two houses are only a few blocks away from each other.

I didn’t see my neighbors, they just came and went. Many times I didn’t even know that there were people in the other room. They would check in at past midnight and leave early morning. One day, I was informed by the owner that there’s a couple from Columbia staying for two days. When I went to the bathroom to take a shower, I saw the female guest’s belongings. She forgot that this was a shared bathroom. I didn’t want her to lose her fancy jewelries, not that I would care to steal them. I was worried her trinkets might slide down the drain and I was the only other person that used the bathroom. Baka mapagbintangan pa ako pag nawala mga borloloys nya.

She also forgot that this ring is for hand towels. baka mapagkamalan pa itong panty nya na pamahiran. Hah, meron rin ako nyan. Mga gumamela na malalaki ang print, a la Dolce and Gabbana.

Other than these two episodes, I thought that was it till one afternoon, I arrived at 5 pm finding the front door wide open. I was afraid to go in, baka merong mag-nanakaw. Baka kinuha laptop ko at daster. I entered the door with caution. Hello. wah tao. I was too scared to go to my room, baka merong senior citizen molester. I stood there near the front door, ready to scamper away at the slightest sign of movement. Wala, ang tahimik, so I went up to my room. Okay naman my maleta was still intact.

The owner arrived at 7 pm. I told him that i found the door wide open when I came home. He said his cousin came to pick up something and he probably left the door open because he didn’t care. He promised to call him.

Ah okay, at least hindi magnanakaw or rapist.

I woke up at 1 am when someone suddenly opened my room door. Naalimpungatan ako and I really got pissed. I knew I locked it. It was an Indian guy, probably in his late 20s and he was with a Indian girl probably his wife or girlfriend. When he realized someone was in the room, parang nagulat and he profusely apologized. I sat up and pulled my daster down. Nakalilis ang palda ko, naka exposed ang aking tumbong. My God, I was so mad. I asked him where he got the key? I was fuming mad. I couldn’t sleep anymore until 5 am. Inis na inis ako. I messaged the owner and told him my butt was exposed. He replied LOL. When I told my husband about what happened he laughed at me. I was expecting some compassion from him but he just laughed.

The owner told me he was going to LA for one night and if I wanted to stay in his room while he’s gone. I politely said no. I didn’t know that he also accepted a booking for his masters bedroom. Ano yan, maximizing income potential. So in that weekend, all three rooms were occupied. I could hear people coming and going, dragging their luggage in the hallway. I just stayed in my room. It was harder because more people were using the bathroom. Unlike when only one person was occupying the other room, ngayon apat or lima sila. Eh I am a frequent user pa naman. Ang hirap tyumempo, every time I would open my door, the toilet is occupied. Ala una, alas dos, alas tres, alas kuwatro. Alas singko ng umaga meron ng nagsa-shower? Mahirap may ka share sa banyo, lalo na sa tulad ko na matanda na. Dapat meron akong arinola.

Awang-awa ako sa sarili ko. Hindi na pwedeng umabot pa ng alas sais.
Improvise. Improvise. Nissin’s Ramen empty styro helped.