Studio-hunting: Put Up or Shut Up?

So. I've been trying to move out of the parents' house since I got back from my year in Japan this April, and after a long and exhaustive search for a decent studio, I finally found one early this month. It's been a long and arduous process, bogged down by endless negotiations, reneging on supposedly "final" negotiations, and my having to threaten to leave before we finally settled on the original terms.

I thought I'd finally put this all behind me when the broker faxed over the revised contract a couple of days ago, but apparently my troubles have yet to end. The building the unit is in is a bit on the posh side, and apparently their list of requirements is a bit more stringent than most. I already have 90% of the documents they requested, but the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) clearance was a bit of a doozy. Not even *jobs* require NBI clearance-- or at least, not in the Advertising industry.

So I did research, found out that due to their ultra-new sophisticated satellite technology, getting clearance was lightning fast. I tell the broker to delay the signing a day, go off to Quezon City Hall, and find myself here:


I believe that the quality of the graphic design of an establishment defines the quality of the establishment itself, and... words fail me.

Still, the entire process was relatively speedy since it took only an accumulated 40 minutes of standing in four different lines. I thought I was going to get out of the process unscathed, since if you have no namesakes you get your clearance after a couple minutes waiting time.

To be honest, since my full name was concocted by fairly hippy parents, I wasn't worried. After all, how many Mei-li Liezl Ang Buenaventuras in the Philippines can there be? And out of that handful, how many could have *possibly* been convicted of a crime by the NBI?

The answer to that question, ladies and gentlemen, is One. So I have a HIT, and was told to come back on October 8th to pick up my clearance (after they've proved that I'm not whoever they think I am).

The only problem with this is that I was supposed to move in to the new place by October 1. :|

My frustration knows no bounds right now.