CALIFORNIA Thread (LA,San Francisco,San Diego, Sacramento..Anywhere in CA)

[jazzlawyer]

thanks but we changed our mind about CA! A relative kasi who works as a real estate agent is selling us a home in Vegas! And my gash:) , yung majestic home sa Vegas is worth lang ng garage ata sa Bay Area. Mura lang naman ang kuryente sa America so AC na lang kung gusto ng malamig, plus the shopping and entertainemnt options in Vegas is to die for. We are buying a 200k mala-mansion na with pool! kaloka. we are so eggcited:) we are flying to the US end of August!

mura nga real estate sa vegas. may friend husband ko less than 200k nila nabili house nila...and ang ganda ng village. i forgot the name though. 5 bedrooms with a pool.  they bought it during recession nung bagsak real estate.

isang friend naman namin naka bili ng 5 bedroom (cul de sac) house with big lawn. 195k... sa riverside LA.. bandang Hemet. prob lang don its 2 hours drive away from LA... its either meron kang work na malapit don dapat. otherwise, talo ka sa biyahe. he works in Temecula... 40 mins drive sa house niya.

Pangarap ko din magha house sa US. im still convinving my hubby to try other places... kasi sa Bay ARea, malabo kami makabili ng Bahay.

[mooncake and leaves]

^ ok na nga yung mga $200k range tapos ganyan kalaki. our friends din bought a 5bd house w/saltwater pool sa lake elsinore. pero around $300k na. they bought it this year lang so kaya medyo mas mahal. jusko, sa around burbank or glendale, $200k studio pa lang or 1bd.

but you're right. if you buy a house in those areas, preferably, you don't work in la. though i think eventually nakakasanayan din. i see a lot of commuters from riverside to la. combination ng driving + rail + bus, each way.

[Romina]

My dad bought a house in Pinole Valley for only $350k. 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bath plus over an acre backyard. If you look real hard, you'll find something within that price range.

[Kristalle]

^^yes, sobrang excited namin and we're not buying it in cash as we don't have that much lol. mortgaged sya ng 15 years with 20% DP. It's in the affluent Summerlin suburb of Las Vegas near the Downtown Summerlin na new mall casino resort.. I only plan to be there of course ng 6 months every year as I only have a tourist visa:). It's under my sister's name who is a greencard holder and she works in LA pero she is looking na sa Vegas whenever she has a free time. Talagang they take the bus back and forth to LA almost everytime. She is a PT. The money came from when we sold some land in the province. Detalyado talagang kwento ko haha..

[chelsee]

^^You can also try agencies for placement yun lang you pay up a certain amount but you can get better leads with them too and once set wiggle out  of the contract.

ano kayang marrecommend mo sis na mga agenc y? medyo mahirap din mghanap pala ng work dito

[jtansanco]

^ I suggest you upload your resume in sites like careerbuild, monster, and etc. using "US format" and/or contact companies online. But if you don't have any local experience, chances are, you'll start in retail sales position. I know people who only found work after 6 months in the US. I got lucky as I got work after 1 month.

[shopaholic18]

^^you can try indeed.com too, i was able to get a job in retail fast but then when i passed my board exam here and i'm in the process of getting my license, it gave me a chance to practice my profession here kaya suggestion ko lang is you can start anywhere as long as di ka lang mamimili at first maraming trabaho dito and you have the option to do what you want to do too like practice your profession or go back to school and find a job that you really really love eventually. i'm not familiar with agencies here though, maybe haven't explored too much yet but you can just make a resume then submit it online and that's it. hope this helps and you can find a job soon.

[mooncake and leaves]

^^^ check out glassdoor too.

i don't like agencies. maybe other people have better experiences but my cousin got his job thru an agency--they take out like $3-4/hr from his pay and pretty much your only way to get out is if the company hires you as a regular employee. and no, they only hire when someone leaves. he's been in this setup for 5 years and nada.

[andee_gurl]

Hi! I have an 9-hour layover in LAX airport. I have a US visa, and i was thinking of going around muna while waiting for my flight. Meron ba na malapit lang na attractions or malls sa LAX airport? TIA!

[CentrumSilver]

^^ 9 hour lay over. Universal Studios and Disneyland are close by. Were are you going to stage your luggage? There are malls that are less than an hour away.

[andee_gurl]

One of my colleagues said na meron daw sa airport where you can leave your luggage for $20. Di ko lang alam how long you can leave your things there.

Is traffic not bad?

[Kristalle]

Hi! I have an 9-hour layover in LAX airport. I have a US visa, and i was thinking of going around muna while waiting for my flight. Meron ba na malapit lang na attractions or malls sa LAX airport? TIA!

where you heading? You can go downtown/central and hang around the The Grove or the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd., Staples Center area, City Hall, WeHo, and even to Beverly Hills if that's your thing..you can also go to the Griffith observatory and the Hollywood sign photo op..Universal Studios and Disneyland are way too far out for a 9hour layover..remember this is El Lay lol...Traffic is monstrous too...plus those theme parks could be crowded and expect a long queue if ever you decide on that. If you're a nature lover/beach bum, try Sta. Monica/Venice Beach too..

[andee_gurl]

^Going back to Manila from Guatemala. Hollywood and the beach would be nice. Are there also malls nearby those places? THANKS!

[mooncake and leaves]

LAX is closer to the beaches. You can go to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Or Long Beach. But around LAX itself, not much to see/do.

How will you get around though? And is LA your POE in the US? I'm thinking that 9 hrs may actually not be enough. 3-4 out of those hours will be spent just exiting & returning to the airport and commute. But maybe that's just me.

[jacqdingle]

when i was still living in manila, ang puti ko... now that im based in CA, ang itim ko na. 

is it also true for you guys?

same here....nangitim ako dito sa US lol!

[CentrumSilver]

^ I'm tanned. I'm pretty much in the pool 5 days a week. I'll loose my tan this winter 

[shopaholic18]

^^baliktad sakin, dito pumuti ako without lotion lotion, bihira ko magpa araw eh. medyo nangitim lang ako nung summer nung nag beach kami, living in SD, di mawawala beach pero now that it's fall then winter bumabalik naman kulay ko without any whitening product

[CentrumSilver]

^ I go to Coronado after work. Good place to workout 

[shopaholic18]

^you live in SD too? only been in Coronado island once when we did the fun run, walk over the coronado bridge from downtown to coronado island. its fun to go biking there.

[CentrumSilver]

Yup SD resident. Driving Silver Strand in the afternoon with the sunset is a relaxing way to go home