Ever since my birth up until high school, our family lived in a small neighborhood within an alleyway. That alley had lots of nostalgic moments as well as problems encountered within almost 15 years of stay.

My uncle owned the house that we lived in and they bought it many years ago. As the larger house in front of our home was sold by the previous owner, my uncle bought it and transferred there. Then they decided to use the previous house as a rental home.

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My parents got married and decided to move in

As mom and dad married in 1995, they lived first in another rental house just across the street adjacent to our alleyway. They lived there for four years while working, and as I was born in 1999, we moved into the rental home of my uncle.

That home was helpful to my parents at that time because many of our relatives are also living nearby. If any problems or help was needed by us, everyone is close enough and has someone to talk to. My uncle's family lived just in front of our home 2 meters apart, and they have another rental unit upstairs where my mom's cousin lives. In the street outside of the alley, two aunts live in a much larger rental home owned by another landlord.

The Memorable Days

This house is tiny, being a studio-sized two-story home. On the 1st floor, we have our kitchen and sala (living room) while upstairs is an expansive bedroom. Even with this small size, we can comfortably move and can even accommodate some of our relatives and guests. There was a time when two of my cousins lived in us as they were studying for a university near our place.

This humble home can accommodate every celebration such as Christmas, New Year, birthdays, and random visits from other family members. Even the farther relatives from provinces stay in for days or weeks. They liked staying in our place because my sister and I were the youngest at that time in the whole extended family, and we were the source of entertainment. Well, my mom and her sisters always had a good time when they talk, like every hour, you'll hear their laughs within the dark and cramped alleyway!

As relatives were close nearby, almost every afternoon daily, the children will play while adults will have their talks about any topic. It's also a common practice and tradition to exchange our food every lunch or snack in the afternoon. As a kid who likes to go into different places, I often go outside to play with other kids on the street outside, or go into any of my nearby relatives houses. Some of our neighbors are close friends of our family too, so I tend to visit them as well. Then I tend to ask for food and snacks haha!

During grade school days, my older cousins often assist me in different subjects as they're just a shout away from the other side of the alley lols. As I call them for help, they become available in the afternoon then give me free tutorial sessions. After the study time, it's time for play, TV, and entertainment between us. My mom often prepares drinks and snacks for these playful kiddos. It's making me feel nostalgic remembering those times, and I wanted to see my cousins again.

The Terrible Days

The bad and worst experiences happen not because of our family and relatives but because of the weird, unruly neighbors. We had a neighbor just beside us who are irresponsible and unhygienic. A middle-aged man named Mang Eddie had several batches of chicken, cats, and dogs that lived in their side of the alleyway.

The problems involve having these animals poop in there, sometimes even in front of our window. The revolting smell is bothersome, and it even lasts for days. Sometimes their dog barks loudly non-stop for minutes, and every morning their chicken's wake-up call is resonating loudly through the cramped area. We tried to ask them to clean up their mess and avoid having pets that they can't take care of well. These poor animals don't receive the proper space, environment, and food, sometimes we step in to give some of their needs.

Another issue that we have from them is that their carelessness has nearly caused the neighborhood to go in flames. There was an instance that they were cooking noodles on an electric stove that they left for hours. It came to the point that the device overheated and the whole thing was smoking, about to catch fire in the next few minutes.

My aunt from the next house noticed the burning smell and immediately called the attention of Mang Eddie. She was so upset that she called the police to investigate the matter. They got their first warning, and there's even more that my aunt wanted to report.

Another thing that these terrible neighbors did was tap their connection to a line in a post to get free electricity. And they have their water line secretly connected to my aunt's line, which she noticed as their water pressure decreased while their bills got high. They got reported, and their connections were cut with police intervention. Their family is involved in many illegal activities and mishaps that could spell doom for the alleyway neighborhood.

Moving on to a better place

After 15 years of memorable and terrible experiences from this small, humble home in an alley, my aunt and our family moved into different locations down south in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Both of us were happy to have found a new home that is significantly larger, better neighborhood, and has accessibility to different places. The areas are also peaceful and allowed us to own pets and even plants.

I couldn't find any old photos or albums of our house before or any of the surroundings. If there's any that I would find, I would update and gladly share it here. Next time, I would be happy to share our move into this new house and other details, with some pictures hopefully.

Until next time, peace!

*Lead image from Pixabay