Saturday, 23 July 2011

Microtel Boracay, my take

Posted by clapalisoc | Saturday, 23 July 2011 | Category: , , , , | 0 comments

 Early this year, I was lucky to spot a seat sale for Kalibo, Aklan going to Boracay via Zest Air. I consulted my hubby about it and when things had been decided, I bought our round trip plane tickets for the month of July, just right after the peak season, since we have some activities lined up for the summer and we wanted to appreciate the island's beauty minus the huge crowd. A month before our trip, I checked for hotels or inns where we can stay for 4D3N. We considered some factors before deciding.



- Location should be in Station 1 to shy away from possible crowd
- Should be beach front
- Should have a swimming pool
- Should serve free breakfast
- Free WiFi availability
- Clean facilities
-  Spacious rooms
-  Big enough and tidy T&B
-  And within budget


I was able to search for several hotels, inns and suites and got myself confused. I asked my husband and he decided to give Microtel a try.


We arrived in Microtel Boracay at around 12pm. Though our ETA was still at 2pm, they did not bother giving us the room already without any early check in fee. Once we got in the reception area, they gave us drinks and necklaces as their welcome greeting. 


Microtel Boracay


The Lounge: Surveying the place, you'll see that every corner is clean. Even if they are a beach front hotel, they manage to keep the lounge area sand free by checking and cleaning every now and then. The lounge is huge with two parts - the one that is next to the reception area that can be closed if you want the AC to be turned on and the bigger part which is open facing the pool and the beach. Both have comfortable sofas, tables and chairs. You can also have unlimited coffee and tea in the lounge which is self service. WiFi is for free! Another plus factor here, if you have kids with you, is that they have toys and books for kids. They even have a playground just beside the lounge.


Microtel Boracay Lounge - This is the area with AC
Large space where you can have some coffee or tea
Microtel Boracay Playground




for the kids and kids at heart
The Pool Area: The pool is a little small but enough if you just want to take a dip after soaking in the sea. The water is clean and is being treated every morning. They are not so strict with the swimming attire but they would require you to take a shower before diving in. The pool side is lined up with beach chairs that can be used for sun bathing. They also have some umbrella stands in case you want some shade. They also provide beach towels that you can just leave on the pool side once you're done using them. 


Microtel Boracay - facing the beach
Pool Area


The Room: Since they only have few rooms and most were already occupied, we were left with the Deluxe Room. Keyholes were not present since they use swipe cards that digitally log your entries and another one to activate the electricity inside. It has 2 queen size beds that are Chiropractic with three super soft and fluffy pillows each. Another thing I liked about this room is that it has this sofa like seat by the window which can serve as an extra bed space. The room is spacious and clean with very warm lighting in every corner. Though the TV is not flat screen, it has cable broadcast. The cabinet is simple but it has a light inside that is automatically turned on once you open the cabinet door.  The bathroom is spacious as well as clean. It has a rain shower, which I personally like, and has cold and hot water. Another plus here is the hair dryer found in the sink area. It's a very useful tool and I think every hotel or inn should provide one.


The Chiropractic beds
Warm lighting
That's my favorite spot :D the window
The entire room - taken near the bathroom area
Had them all in my bag!
T & B


The Staff and Crew: Every single staff member in Microtel is friendly and accommodating. They attend to your requests right away. They are easy to talk to. Like for example, when you ask them to pick you up from 'D Mall to the hotel (Microtel provides shuttle service to and from 'D Mall for free - you just have to reserve - and they have schedules every 20 minutes) you can ask them to bring your stuff back to the hotel for you. You can also ask them to drop you off or pick you up somewhere else other than 'D Mall. Also, they never fail to greet their guests. When we were to leave Boracay, we availed of their shuttle service for some extra amount. They took us to the port and surprisingly, there was a friendly staff there waiting for us who assisted us until we reached Caticlan for our ride to Kalibo. 


The Complimentary Breakfast: They serve complimentary breakfast at around 7am-10am in their in-house resto bar - Mama's Fish House. Everyday, they have a different set of breakfast. They usually have two options for the viand with garlic rice or pancake in some days, two eggs cooked in anyway you like, fruit for then day and beverage (you can choose from coffee, tea or juice). Nothing really special. 


The Beach Area: If there is one thing that I did not like about Microtel, it is the beach area. Every beach front resort should take ownership of the beach area that they occupy. Though it's the same clear and lovely Boracay water and powdery white sand, the beach area in Microtel is dirty with sea weeds, leaves and wood pieces everywhere. They do clean up the area in the morning but I think it's not enough. Also, you will notice bits and pieces of plastic wrappers swimming in the sea which is very disappointing. I think that their management should exert some more effort in making sure that the beach is clean enough for guests to be able to swim and enjoy the sand. It is also notable that the sand there is mixed with pebbles unlike the quality of sand that you'll find around the stretch of station 3 to 1 before reaching the Microtel area. 


Microtel Boracay Beach Front
Not so clean beach area :(


I would definitely go back to Boracay with my family, but next time, I would actually think twice if I would stay in Microtel. Unless they commit in keeping their beach area clean and free of pebbles, I would not go back even if the whole hotel experience is great. I believe that the cleanliness of the beach area speaks more of the commitment of the management to their guests. 

Sunday, 10 July 2011

Cherienne's 2nd Birthday: Party giveaways, game prizes and loot bags

Posted by clapalisoc | Sunday, 10 July 2011 | Category: , , , , , , , , , , | 0 comments

After we were able to book the party venue and decided on the food to be served, it was time for me to think  about the other party details. Since we will be having a children's party, I want to have a lot of giveaways and game prizes. I want every child and child at heart to enjoy and take home some stuff that are not only good to look at but could be useful as well.



Weeks before the party, we went to Market Market to scan the place for some party giveaways. We have a theme in mind and we decided to stick to it - Barnyard. First stop: Gift Market. Here we were able to find this store that sells huggable pillows that are so soft - Blue Spirit. We bought five little ones with different designs - cat, mouse and pig. We used these as prizes for the games.

Blue Spirit pillows - small : 50php each

Then we saw this huge store selling all sorts of party items and toys for kids. We were able to find some pencil and ballpen holders with cute animal designs. Good thing about these holders is that the material wrapped around the tin cans is rubber which makes them more durable. The designs were molded out of clay. We got six of these and decided to use them as prizes as well. The pink one with cow as the design was the cutest of them all!

Holders for 100php each

We were also able to find this set which is very useful for children since it has pencils, ruler, notepad and a pair of small scissors all tucked into a holder with a sleeping dog as the design.

Pencil holder set - 60php each

In the same store, we were able to find the perfect party giveaways. We had two sets. First were these ballpens wrapped in a rubber material with very cute animal designs that were made from clay. We got several designs and my favorite were the ones with adorable piggy. We also bought some cellphone bling blings which were actually very small stuffed toys with straps. They can also be tied to your wallet, purse or bag.

Cute pens - 25php each
Ducks and Bears - 25php each
Sheep, rat, rabbit and pony - 25php each
Frogs and pigs - 25 php each
All wrapped up! Cellphone bling blings packed in small bags for only 5-10php each

After several hours of walking around Gift Market, we got all exhausted and decided to call it a day. The following weekend, we went back to market market to have some invitations printed out and we were so lucky to spot a sale of books and stuffed toys. We checked out the selection and found some barnyard animal stuffed toys. What's even better was that most of those that we bought were beanie babies. I added these into the list of my prizes for the games.

Regular stuffed toys : pinky piggy and cutesy bunny - 60 php each
Beanie Babies : beefy, froggy, duckling and hippy - 70php each

That day, we also dropped by RACKS to get some of the stuff that I ordered. Since I did not avail of their kiddie package for 130php each (minimum of 30 sets) which included name tags, balloons, loot bags and other RACKS giveaways, I ordered some of their items and decided to do things my way. I bought some loot bags that I filled with sweet goodies, coloring books, stickers, sticker books, game boards and notepads. The loot bags were actually made of paper which I did not really like.

Loot bags, for 30 php each, filled with sweet goodies: candies, chocolates, biscuits, cookies & jellies
RACKS items: sticker book for 10 php each, stickers for 5php each, notepads for 12 php each, activity book for 20 php each, crayons for 10 php each, game board with dice for 20 php each

Since I am keen with details, I made sure to tie a ribbon in each item with a little thank you note with Cherienne's picture. I used think pink ribbon for the pillows, holders and stuffed toys and used white and pink thin satin ribbon for the giveaways and RACKS items. 

The whole gang - all Barnyard!
Pillows, stuffed toys, loot bags
Loot bags and giveaways
RACKS items and pencil holders

Even if everything seemed all set, I still have one more thing missing in my list - something edible (other than the loot bag goodies). I originally wanted to order cupcakes to give to each guest but since I already bought a cake with cupcake tower, I would have to think of something else. While having breakfast in Mercato Centrale one morning, we came across these lollipop cookies with various designs. I thought it will be great to have some Barnyard themed lollipop cookies. I asked if they can customize but all of the stalls there were not flexible enough. Once we got home, I searched the internet for someone who will be willing to customize cookies for me. Luckily, I found this online store that accepted my request. I made a blog of the cookies I ordered here.

35php each (discounted price of 30php each if you'll oder 50 and above pieces) + handling fee  of 90php


I loved all the giveaways and prizes for the games! Our guests loved each item too! It was worth all the effort and penny in the end.

Friday, 8 July 2011

A Gift of Habits

Posted by clapalisoc | Friday, 8 July 2011 | Category: , | 0 comments

Year after year, hundreds of self help books are being published. There are those that did not make it big and there are a couple that have been in the market for quite sometime--- still selling. One book that I find really interesting is entitled “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”




I was introduced to this book back when I was in my first BPO Company. My manager then, was a big fan of employee development and would give us lectures, trainings and informal talks, all in the welfare of us being groomed into someone she can be proud of one day. I did not really pay much attention to it before because I was just starting as a QA and there were so many things to learn starting from the basics. One year after, I got married, my husband paid attention to the book. He had a PDF copy and had been it reading day in and day out. He would share bits and pieces about the book and I would normally pay very minimal attention. My husband got a job involving instructional design of modules for employee development recently, and got himself seriously involved with 7 Habits. The timing was just perfect that season, as I coincidentally got the liberty to attend development training at the company I am engaged with at the moment and the core of the majority of the development sessions were derived from the same book.



My interest in finishing the book and internalizing what it has to offer grew each time I attended a session. I told my husband about it. The best art of it was that he needed another person to read the book from one chapter to the next so he can have someone to consult with, compare notes and gain more insights while engineering his modules. He decided to get me my own book. Since he knew that I am the type that would really murder a book (by carelessly highlighting or underlining sentences or phrases that got my attention and by writing how I understood things), he knew that there will be another view of each topic in case he missed out on some major things as I have my own to read.

So, I just started reading the book and know that this is not the answer for success in life but it somehow gives us this window to try to look at and do things differently. After all, if this is not effective given that most of the principles were diligently practiced, companies would not incorporate its content into their employee development programs and would not set up sessions dedicated to the 7 Habits. So I guess it’s up to the reader on how to go about what has been read and apply it. It’s not really the responsibility of the book to bring about change – this is definitely the reader’s ball.

As I go about each chapter, I will try my best to write about what I have read and learned – as long as time would allow me too. Let’s hope for the best :p

Tuesday, 5 July 2011

One Shot Life

Posted by clapalisoc | Tuesday, 5 July 2011 | Category: , , | 0 comments

It's true when they say that you only have one shot to do things in your lifetime. Yes, you can always try again but the first time will always be the one that will leave a mark and will be with you forever.


So, if you only have one shot in this life, how would you want to live your life? Will you be cautious and wise each step of the way? Will you just go for whatever is present and let the future build it's path? Will you plan everything and work hard to complete your checklist?


No matter how you do it, I think that the most important thing is that at the end of the day, you can sit back, relax and say that you are truly happy. The methodology is important but it is just secondary to the journey itself. In the end, you ultimately get what you deserve. 


Think about it. One life, one shot. How do you want to proceed?

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