Rai and Marc

Posts Tagged ‘program’

Lok Kawi Wildlife Park

After breakfast, we strolled the city of Kota Kinabalu to see how it looks like in early morning. The streets are quiet and we noticed that even if it was Monday morning, the usual city rush is non-existent. KK is not totally a city yet, but not a rural place either. It the perfect blend of both worlds.

We revisited the Atkinson Tower and had few shots before we left. It is sad to say that a historical landmark such as this is endangered because the local government plans to build a mall (if I am not mistaken) on the same lot where the tower stands. It is such a waste to remove a piece of the city’s history in exchange for a mall, but on the other hand, the tower is such in a degraded state that a visitor like us would wonder why the tourist brochures promote an unattractive structure to the visitors. The local government needs to revisit their priorities because Kota Kinabalu haven’t got many historical places worth visiting.

Bom and the Atkinson Tower

The tower's story

After having our stroll, we took a cab going to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. It was a 30-minute drive from the hotel and we arrived at around 10AM, just in time for the first tram ride that will take us around the park. I am so glad we decided to take the tram since it spared our feet from further walking around the park.

Bom and some animal's skeleton

The Tram. And Bom.

The Lady and the Tram

First stop. The Javan Deer.

We took a lot of good pictures and the animal show was fun. For the first time in my life, I managed to touch a snake. It was cold but not slimy at all. The host of the animal show also reminded me of Kuya Kim Atienza, a TV personality famous for his nature trivia.

That is how amazing the park map is.

A local flower.

A cat. He's not caged, he's just wondering around the park.

Orangutan Poster

Proboscis Monkeys

Proboscis Monkeys

The park's animal show

This is the first time I touched a snake

At the park entrance

For this trip we spent RM100 for the two-way cab ride, RM 20 for the park entrance, and RM 2.50 for the tram ride.

Home Bound

We went back to the hotel at around 1PM and since we were already in a hurry, we took our lunch to-go and ate it in the hotel. After resting for a bit, we head out to the Filipino Market to grab some pasalubong then off we go to the airport (RM 35). After one last minute shopping at the airport grocery and souvenir shop, we were home bound to Manila.

At the Kota Kinabalu Airport

We arrived at around 9PM and good thing my brother agreed to pick us up at the airport, and I tell you, he rarely does that. Maybe the ‘may pasalubong ako sa ‘yo’ trick worked. Hmm… I should do that more often.

View our travel itinerary here

Total cost for the whole trip:
NAIA Travel Tax = PHP 1620 x 2
NAIA Terminal Fee = PHP 750 x 2
Cebu Pacific Travel Pouch = PHP 350
Cab Fare from Airport to King Park Hotel = RM 35
KFC Dinner = RM 17
Scuba Diving Package for 1 Day (All-in) = RM 340 x 2
Jothy’s Fish Head Curry Dinner = RM 26
McDonald’s Lunch = RM 18
Seaside dinner = RM 35
OTC medicine and ionized water = RM 5
Lobster Dinner and 2 cans of Tiger beer = RM 55
Cab fare from hotel to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park = RM 100
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park Entrance Fee + Tram ride = RM 22.50 x 2
Snacks in Lok Kawi Park = RM 10
Lok Kawi Souvenir Shirt = RM 35
KFC Lunch = RM 15
Pasalubong = RM 200
Cab Fare from Hotel to Airport = RM 35
King Park Hotel = RM 515
TOTAL = ( RM 1823 x 14 ) + PHP 5090 = PHP 30,612

Other places of Interest:
Atmosphere Restaurant
The Green Connection

Wedding Coordinator: Gen Lee Events

Package Deal: On-the-Day Coordination + Emcee
Package Price: Php14,250 + Php3,500 for the emcee

The Good

A little side story first. Most soon-to-wed couples are unsure whether they should book coordinators for their wedding. For one, that will depend on you and your husband-to-be’s current situation. Are you both working locally or abroad? Do one of you belong in a large family where you can ask relatives to help you? Do you plan to be a hands-on bride or more of a easy-going type? Do you plan to do a lot of DIY’s? These are just a few of the questions that you should ask yourself if you are unsure whether to get a coordinator or not.

For us, we chose to get a coordinator but we chose to book a On-the-Day coordination only. This means that we will have to book all of our suppliers and do all of our DIY’s. The coordinators will assist in coordinating stuff during the wedding day only.

We decided to book Gen Lee because we felt at ease when talking to her and she gave a nice price because we booked during bridal fair. The price she gave fits easily on our budget and it seems that she knows what she’s doing. That’s a good sign.

Anyway, the good thing about her is she is organized and makes sure that she lists everything. I knew because they kept calling my brothers (who were late to arrive at the church) before the bridal march. Unfortunately, the bridal march still continued without my brothers but can’t blame her because like she iterated to me again and again, whether the entourage is complete or not, the wedding will start on time. Oh well.

I can also see that she has a strong background in organizing weddings and she does not mind the early wedding. I also liked it when she agreed to receive the flowers from Dylan that was delivered to her home at 1:30 in the morning, the day of the wedding. Big plus for Gen.

I also like KD and Dawn, who kept spoiling me on our wedding day. Dawn was so kind to help me with my gown when I had to pee and mind you, it was difficult with all that petticoat. I also mentioned to them that I just had my teeth bleached so I can’t eat anything with color and so Dawn brought my mayo sandwich from the preps venue to the chuch then to the reception. And KD. KD should have her own parlor because she fixed my hair in an instant during the reception. She kept saying that she is bothered by those loose strands of hair so she removed all the pins and tied my hair neatly in a bun. Amazing!

Their team also helped me with the rice and petal shower stuff because I forgot to cut the paper cone the night before (read the Rosemont Garden horror story here). I really appreciate that gesture. Plus, Macy took care of Liane during the reception. She brought a piece of the styro so Liane can have her water and lunch too. Really sweet girl.

The Bad

I can’t figure out how to put this, but I was kind of disappointed with the emcee, Macy. Don’t get me wrong – I love Macy because we share the same passion with dogs. I am not exactly sure what happened to her but she keeps on stammering. Nervous? I don’t know.

Somehow, when we arrived at the reception, I was expecting that they will encourage the guests to keep clapping their hands while we’re making our way in. No one was clapping, everyone just stared at us while we were doing our grand entrance. It. Felt. Awkward. I just wished that she asked the guests for a round of applause during our march. Oh well.

I also noticed that there are time that Gen tends to reply late – sometimes not at all – to my texts. And I am not the only one who noticed that. Maybe Gen could be a little attentive to her brides, even if they are makulit sa text.

The Ugly

When the guests started leaving during the reception (yes, during), I was hoping that their team could talk to the guests and ask them if they can stay a little longer, just enough to finish the program. Alam nyo naman sa kultura ng mga Pinoy, pag may isang gumawa, lahat gagaya. Then tables after tables of guests started standing up and leaving. How I wished that they could have done something about it. I literally have to leave the stage and approach the leaving guests to stay a bit longer kasi the games are not yet over, and some of the participants are already leaving. Sayang naman di ba? In a few minutes, the program will be over naman kasi the games are at the last part of the program, so sana inawat man lang nila yung mga guests. I’m not blaming them, I just hoped na sana they did something about the guests leaving kasi konti na lang tapos na yung program. Di tuloy narinig ng ibang guests yung thank you message namin.

Warning! Out of Topic Rant: Sana, mabago sa kultura ng mga Pilipino yung ugali when it comes to attending events like weddings and birthday parties – yung tipong kakain lang tapos aalis na kahit di pa tapos yung program. It is not polite and it will never be.

One more thing: Two days after the wedding, I texted Gen because there is something that I need to know that happened during the reception. Didn’t get a reply. Maybe because the communication ended together with the contract. After all, we are just in a vendor-customer relationship and nothing more.

Heart Ratings

Service: (8/10)

Product (Hosting): (6.5/10)

Bang for the Buck: (8/10)

Overall Satisfaction: (7/10)

Rai and Marc’s recommendation: We recommend Gen Lee if you are on a tight budget because her services are affordable.

It’s been a very busy week and with the pre-nups and stuff, we have to stop slacking off and get some work done!

One last requirement (aside from the payment) that we need to get approved is the misalette that will be used during the ceremony. As per Caleruega contact person, Ms. Jackie, we can choose the readings, responsorial psalms and Gospel, subject for the priest’s approval. The thing I hate most about this is scanning the pages, apparently, even the text scan feature of my HP 3-in-1 is not so intelligent at all. I have to proof-read and make sure that i’s don’t become 1 or O’s become a. Argh!

I hope I can get this done ASAP.