Building the castle - the beginning

A few days ago, this arrived.

The port-a-loo.

So that means they're ready to get to work. The reality of us building our house has finally sunk in.

Today, the dig began.

The official start to the construction was scheduled to begin this week, but we were unsure about the day. Anyway, it has begun. A few people have asked why it is expected to take so long (finished by end of January), but I'm not sure whether that actually is a long time... is it?

One possible reason, if so, is that the typhoon season has begun and already had an impact on the process. Typhoon no.9 for the season just passed over last night and we are still copping the tail-end with showers and afternoon storms, like this photo shows.

This morning the workers were concentrating on the water pipe connection to the grid, and what looks like a trench around the outside of the layout for the foundations.

The photo above was taken after a pretty heavy downpour in the late afternoon.

Yesterday and the day before, we finalised a few of the interior options, like the toilets, bath, bathroom interior, kitchen benches and sinks. The makers (e,g, TOTO and Lixil) are so professional and have every sample imaginable for you to observe and test out in their showrooms. It wasn't our first time there, but each time has been very well organised.

Tomorrow, we are putting the final touches on our home loan, which was a little tricky securing. Basically, banks are rightfully a little hesitant to give a home loan to a foreign citizen (without permanent residency) and in most cases will not even consider your application. We could not use a local bank, so we were advised to apply for a loan at one of the mega banks - Mizuho, Mitsui/Sumitomo, or Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ. We were rejected from one of them, but finally accepted by another. Unfortunately the branch that deals with home loans is not nearby, but also not too far away. Tomorrow, we must do the final signing of papers and hanko / inkan (personalised stamp instead of a signature). Then, it is done. I will officially have a mortgage with a ridiculously low interest rate (coming from Australia remember).