If you have mold/mould at home, have you tried running a dehumidifier? I lived in China (Tianjin and Guangzhou) for four years and Hong Kong for a bunch, and my experience was a dehumidifier is the best way to prevent clothes, leather goods, etc. from becoming moldy/mouldy. Tianjin is very dry, but Guangzhou and Hong Kong are very, very humid 10 months of the year.

As for mold at work, I don't recall it being much of a problem in Guangzhou (the most likely place I would have experienced it), and our offices (not a school) were very shoddily constructed. Tianjin was too dry and Hong Kong was high quality construction.

First, let me say CONGRATULATIONS! I lived and worked Manila for quite a few years, but not as a teacher, and love the Philippines. That being said, it can be a rather frustrating place, but I guess most overseas postings can be that way.

I know of four "international" English-medium schools in "Manila" that I'm aware of, and their locations will lead to quite different experiences.

Both International School Manila (the American school) and the British School Manila are located across the street from each other in Fort Bonafacio, Taguig, also called Bonifacio Global City. The school buildings are quite new, both having opened in the last 10 years. Prior to that they were located in other areas. Bonifacio is a business/residential area that's been developed on the grounds of a military base over the last 20 years. Its all new and shiny, and things work pretty well. There are good restaurants and fast food in the area, and I'm sure there is night time entertainment, my wife used to go to a club that played techno (not my scene) there. Anything you cannot find there you can certainly find next door in Makati, even more restaurants and lots of night spots.

Bonifacio has one large supermarket and one specialty supermarket (selling really good meat and wine, but at a price).

As for transport, taxis are cheap, and I believe Bonifacio has their own internal transport system. Bonifacio attempts to be better organized than the rest of Manila. Jeepneys, ubiquitous elsewhere, are not allowed inside the boundaries of Bonifacio, which improves traffic flow.

There is also a light rail, but it doesn't service Bonifacio directly, and lots and lots of buses, but those can be very crowded. I've only taken long distance buses, which are actually OK, the local buses I've never taken.

The C-5 highway runs along eastern boundary of Bonifacio, and is convenient for heading out of town (given its not rush hour, when it can be a parking lot). South of Manila there are places to go for the weekend, and now there is a toll road that runs all the way to Batangas City, south of Manila, which is convenient for going to either Anilao or Puerto Galera (PG requires an hour boat ride) for scuba diving.

The Australian International School is sort of in the same general area as ISM and BS, but not inside Bonifacio, its close to the South Luzon Expressway. Until I just looked, I didn't even realize it was there, it used to be somewhere else. I can't tell you much about ALS, except based on its location its probably rather congested around it, and my guess is you'll have to go to either Makati or Bonifacio to do much. If this is your school, I can contact some friends and try to find out more about the area, I don't know anyone that has kids there.

Brent School Manila (there are also two other Brent schools on Luzon) is located south of Manila along the South Luzon Expressway (aka South Super Highway), which is part of the toll system I mentioned that runs all the way to Batangas City and scuba diving. Its in a building that was opened in the last 15 years, and is well away from the smog and congestion of Manila. Life there would be different I imagine, though I've never been to the school, but have passed it many times. My guess is the teachers there drive back north to Alabang for shopping, restaurants, etc. which is 10m/16km from Brent. I doubt there is much to do right around the school.

I used to know quite a few teachers at Brent and the Brit School as they were frequent visitors to the same dive operation in Puerto Galera I used (and worked at briefly), but that was quite a few years ago, pretty sure no one I know is still there.

Hope this help, please feel free to ask other questions.