Tag: reviews

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Wedding Supplier Review: Suarez

The first shop I visited, when I started looking for an engagement ring was Suarez. I was impressed and they even come highly recommended by Edong. Somehow I ended up not doing business with them. But after a bit of a disappointment with the engagement ring, Michell and I thought we’d play it safe and go to Suarez for the wedding rings.

Almost the whole transaction was done online. I made an inquiry, showed them photos, discussed a bit via email and phone, and made my deposit at a bank.

After a month, the rings were ready for pick up at their branch of our choosing. And we were not disappointed. Heck, we were happy! The rings were just as I envisioned them to be: A band with channel-set 12-diamond accent for Michelle and a simple band for me. And both were excellently made and polished. Even the engraving was detailed and neat.

If we were to choose wedding rings all over again, we’d choose them. In fact, we’re planning to have them remount the engagement ring one of these days. Now that’s saying something.

Cost: Varies greatly with design so this won’t be helpful even if posted
Rating: 4/5

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Wedding Supplier Review: Matus

We first encountered Matus at a Wedding Fair at Mega Mall(?) while Michelle and I were shopping for an engagement ring (yes, it was a couple thing :P). They were nice and helpful, their products on display were good, they have good rep, and they had this small but very nice loose, i.e. unmounted, stone.

After checking out other suppliers and comparing with the other ones we’ve found, we decided on getting the engagement ring from them. So on the next wedding fair, we gave them a visit. We wanted the classic Tiffany solitaire setting but it’s not one of their standard designs. However, the assure us that can custom-make it for us.

And I guess that’s the problem. After several visits and discussions aided by sketches and photos, they still couldn’t get it right. You would expect jewelsmiths to at least know how to do the Tiffany solitaire setting no matter how cliché it is, right?

But no. Somehow, they just kept doing it wrong. Maybe it was a case of getting assigned to a novice jewelsmith. Whatever it was, we had to rework and even the final product still had shoddy workmanship.

Perhaps, I’m a tough customer, but I’m paying good money so I expect what I get to be good. What I got isn’t bad. But it isn’t that good either.

Cost: Varies greatly with design so this won’t be helpful even if posted
Rating: 2/5

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Discovery Country Suites, Tagaytay, Cavite

We stayed at the Discovery Country Suites in Tagaytay for the wedding. We decided on the hotel because it is very near Moon Garden, the reception venue.

The hotel has that nice and homey feel, especially if you have a posh and luxurious home. There are only a few rooms so you won’t encounter too much hustle and bustle. Each of the rooms had distinct design inspired by specific cultures, e.g. American, French, Japanese, Thai. Some of the rooms have a magnificent view of Taal or open to a nice garden that has.

The rooms were a bit expensive at P6.5k for the two rooms we got, Nara and Siam. There are less expensive rooms at P5.5k but we opted for the two because they are at the lower ground floor (less disturbance to the other guests) and between the rooms is a pretty big family area opening out to the garden (more room for family and relatives).

The staff was nice, friend, and were very accommodating. Upon request, they fixed up Nara for the photo shoot, then again after the wedding (although I was expecting them to have already done it while we were away). They even waived the additional charge for additional guests when some of my family decided to stay overnight at Siam. They even added more cookies when they served their complimentary milk and cookie night snacks.

Getting There: Getting there is a quite easy. From Metro Manila, you need to go through SLEX, exit towards Sta. Rosa, just follow the road till you reach the Tagaytay ridge road, turn right and watch out for Country Suites on your left.

Rooms: The rooms were great. Each has a theme, such as  Japanese for the Nara room and Thai for the Siam room. The rooms were spacious and well designed. Room rates are P5.5k, P6.5k, and P9.5k for the best room (Oxford). All rooms come with hot water, air conditioning, and wide-screen LCD TVs with cable. WiFi is available and but is not too strong in the rooms where we stayed.

Food and Beverage: The room is inclusive of breakfast for two. Food at Verbena, the in-house restaurant, is about P300 to P500 per order and drinks at less than P200 per drink. But you can always go out and the many Tagaytay restaurants along and near the ridge road.

Facilities: They have a jacuzzi, a garden, a library of books and DVDs.

Rating: 4/5

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Acuatico Beach Resort, Laiya, San Juan, Batangas

Just came back from a rather short honeymoon at Acuatico Beach Resort in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas. The resort wasn’t bad. The problem is we ended up with a room that was so cramped! I wasn’t able to snap a photo but the bathroom was like just the shower here, the bowl beside it, and then the washbasin beside it. The bedroom was similarly cramped. We stayed the night because we got there late already and we had no more time to look for alternate resorts.

But everything else was good. They got a really awesome infinity pool with a bar in the middle, good facilities, beach, and food. The resident manager and the staff were also nice and friendly. I didn’t see the other room-type but, even though expensive, it just might have ended up to be  better experience and worth it.

Getting There: Getting there is a long process (a detailed map is available here). From Metro Manila, you need to go through the full length of SLEX, exit towards Batangas, take the Star Tollway, exit towards Lipa, then to either Padre Garcia or Rosario, then to San Juan, and finally to Laiya and a long stretch of resorts accessible via a mixed gravel and concrete road. Cars can navigate the road but you’ll need to moderate your speed. Total travel time is around 3 to 4 hours.

Rooms: Room rates are P5.5k for the cramped room, and P7.5k for the bigger room. All rooms with hot water, air conditioning, and wide-screen LCD TVs with cable. WiFi is available and the signal is very strong in the room.

Food and Beverage: The room is inclusive of breakfast for two. Your choice American or Filipino breakfast. Food at the in-house restaurant is about P100 to P300 per and drinks at less than P100 per.

Facilities: They have an awesome infinity pool, a good beach,  kayaks (that you can row to nowhere really), and they can arrange for jet skis and snorkeling trips.

Rating: 3/5

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

transformersrevengeofthefallenI’ll have to say that I’ve been waiting for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I also have to say I’m a bit disappointed. But then what do you expect from sequels, right?

Story? Not much there. It’s not well thought out and things at times seemed pointless. Revenge of the Fallen, started off where the previous Transformers movie left off. Megatron and his robots have been destroyed but Decepticon incursions remain a part of daily life. Responsible for countering these attacks is a combined unit of  Autobots, old and new, and up-armed Earth special forces.

Apparently, the Decepticons were trying to locate a fragment of the “allspark” to be used to revive Megatron. The good guys , on the other hand, had to revive Optimus Prime, who was conveniently killed by the revived Megatron, and stop the Decepticons from activating a star-destroying superweapon.

All these happened in an overly long, LOUD, action-packed sequence that tended to be confusingly fast and yet managed to be dragging at the same time.

The titular The Fallen was totally unnecessary and was onscreen only a few minutes. He didn’t even last long in the final fight considering so much time allocated to battle scenes.

Rating: 3/5