Good afternoon and welcome back to the channel! We are officially home in the Ginatilan mountains after our trip to the city, and if you thought the city was a bit of a rollercoaster, let me tell you—mountain life is a whole different ballgame.
I started my first morning back feeling a bit out of sorts. I don't even know what time it is! I was so exhausted that I just slept in, and even as I’m walking around filming, Jessa and Liam are still out cold. I’ve caught a bit of a cold myself, so I’m moving a bit slower than usual. To top it off, I have zero clean clothes. I actually had to "steal" some clothes from someone—I think they might belong to Jessa’s cousin Joey—just to have something to wear. I don't even have my slippers!
Walking around the house, it’s a bit of a shock to see what’s left after the typhoon and the subsequent move. Our windows are completely gone; they were basically destroyed, and we only have a few surviving ones. We’re going to need a new floor, obviously, but we’re making do for now. Jessa’s mom and dad have taken over the main part of the house, which was always the plan. We told them this is their home now.
The mountain property is as beautiful as ever, though. Darrel is already hard at work planting tomatoes right in front of where we plan to build our "big" house. It’s going to be a proper cemented house—two floors, with a balcony and plenty of space for my offices and storage. But for now, we have to pay off the "Baby Kia" first. I told Daryl he needs to grow a lot of tomatoes to help us pay for that car!
Speaking of the house, the "old" doghouse is just a memory now, and the temporary kitchen is a bit of a muddy mess. In the mountains, everyone uses wood for cooking, so we’ve got a temporary setup for Jessa’s parents. It’s not perfect, but it’s life. Since Jessa and I decided to live in the mountains permanently rather than just having a "cabin," we’re committed to making this work. We realized after my cancer scare that living in a condo in the city just isn't for us—too many rules and too many people. Here, we have our mayhem, but it’s our mayhem.
Jessa is slowly waking up and, in true "Dahl family" fashion, she’s already busy. She’s been up on the beams with a big knife trying to fix things and arrange a place to hang clothes. I’m always a bit skeptical when she handles sharp objects—I’ve seen her cut her fingers with much smaller knives than that! But she’s a tough mountain girl, so I just let her get on with it.
For lunch, we had a very simple mountain meal: eggs, sardines, and some of Darrel’s fresh tomatoes with rice. It’s healthy, it’s cheap, and it’s actually quite good. We’re on a strict budget for the next few months to clear our debt, so expect to see a lot more "dried fish and rice" meals in the upcoming vlogs.
The highlight of the day was seeing the new design for the house extension. Jessa’s dad is building a large kitchen and sitting area, about 65 square meters in total. It’s a work in progress—built by him rather than a professional carpenter—, but it’s a massive upgrade from where they used to live.
It’s starting to rain now, and I really need to find my toothbrush—I haven't brushed my teeth in a day and a half, and I don't feel very "fresh"!
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one!
