Asher's Jungle Safari 1st Birthday Party Supplier Ratings.

A long overdue post and just a warning: a very loooong read. Due to busy sched, it actually took me more than a month to draft and post 4 installment entries on my main blog. Hopefully, this will be helpful to all Mommies (especially GTalker Moms) planning their kids' safari birthday parties. Anyway, here it is.

For the party pictures, check the details, the celebrant and the program and guests in my multiply album.

Theme: Jungle Safari
Date: March 1, 2009
Venue: Makati Park and Garden

**Venue: Makati Park and Garden (Artist Pavillion)
Location: JP Rizal Extension, West Rembo, Makati City
Contact Person (Reservation): Mr. Rolly Medina (Old City Hall Building)
Contact Number: 899-8915
Contact Person/Head Security (Makati Park): Mr. Maligaya
Contact Number: 881-7849
Rating: 9

We initially planned to have the party in a venue somewhere in Quezon City but decided to have it in Makati Park instead when we learned that it would cost us lesser to hold it there. We’ve attended a kiddie party in the same pavillion two years ago and we fell in love with the place. It is easy to locate (just near our home), it has an ample parking space, serene and well maintained park, spacious, uniquely shaped and air conditioned pavillion. The semi-indoor fountain and indoor plants in the middle were a plus and were so apt with Asher’s Jungle Safari Theme. Venue rental and peso power wise, I give it a 10. Rate is Php 5000 for Makati residents and Php 7000 if otherwise. Customer service wise of those persons in charge, never mind (that’s why I don’t give them a perfect 10). Since it’s a public park, reservation or permission must be sought from the City Hall which is about 15 minutes drive from the park. The OIC could hardly be reached and his female colleagues weren’t approachable (typical government office mood/setup..you know what I mean..no offense to the government office workers out there). The first time we went there at 2:30 PM, the OIC is on a lunch break still and no one (not even his assistant) knows what time will he be back. Nobody could entertain us so we decided to come back some other day. On the party day itself, the head security was difficult to talk with. Days before the party, I asked permission to set up as early as about 8-9 AM. They permitted that we can start with the setup early since there’s no booked morning event. When Jacque’s staff came at about 8 am, they prohibited them from starting to setup saying, initially, that there MIGHT be a baptism event at 11 am. Funny, noh? I asked them over the phone if there’s such a thing as an unconfirmed reservation on the day itself. They just retorted that we can only start at 11 AM sharp. After hearing the mass, we hurried to the venue at 10 AM and checked Jacque’s staff. I was able to talk with the head security himself, this time, he’s saying that they prohibited them from starting early because there might be a surprise audit by the COA. All the more that I was displeased with their reasoning inconsistency. At any rate, I didn’t argue with him anymore and I refused to get stressed that early. I just hope that they will be clear and true to their word next time.

**Venue Styling: Partyboosters
Site: http://www.partybooster.multiply.com
Contact Person: Jacque Tan
Contact Number: 0917-898-5227 / 0922-888-7739
Email: partyboosters.inquiry@gmail.com
Rating: 10++++

Ask the guests how they find the dressed up venue and they will answer in unison….it’s “bongga”!!! And I owe it all to a good friend, Jacque of Partyboosters. Jacque and I have been friends since our W@wie days (a wedding e-group). We were both December 2005 brides then and even after our weddings, we constantly exchanged e-group mails and regularly meet together along with our CWL barkada. And so when she ventured into this balloon business last year, we knew right then that the CWL babies need not to worry about their parties anymore. Friendship aside, I would give her a 10++ rating for the services she rendered for Asher’s party. I couldn’t think of the perfect superlative word that can best describe of how she turned the pavillion into a colorful, festive and jungle-lific party venue. She perfectly understood my OC-ness and kaartehan and she gladly infused my ideas and suggestions to hers. The guests keep on saying that the setup was “bongga” but actually, it’s not as expensive as they think. The kids loved the balloons especially the mylars, squiggles, tree pillars and shrubs, the centerpieces and those latex safari print balloons which Jacque pooled into big bunches. In fact, the guests, specifically the adults, started grabbing the balloons even if the party isn’t over yet. It’s just funny to see everyone going home with gigantic tree pillars in tow and friends texting me that their kids are sleeping that night with animal mylars on their side. True to their business name, thanks Partyboosters for “boosting up” Asher’s party with your brilliant setup.

**Caterer (Adults): Queensland Catering
Number of Pax: 150
Site: http://www.queenslandcatering.com/
Contact Person: Micca Yee
Contact Number: 401-9955 / 820-7223
Rating: 10

I’ve pooled three well recommended caterers from fellow N@Wies and GirlTalkers as our choices but since they are all at par food quality wise, cost was the deciding factor and Queensland stood out to be the most economical. Another advantage is that they have a satellite office at nearby Glorietta 3 where I dealt with Micca, their courteous AE everything from booking, to food selection to payment. What I like about them is that they’re flexible in terms of menu selection; they don’t demand exclusivity or bill corkage fees. Micca was also proactive in advising the things that are exclusive of their package so we can allot for it: vegetable dish, softdrinks, water, plastic and styro disposables for left over foods, etc. I’ve read previous negative feedbacks about their waiters some not wearing uniforms so that’s what I emphasized with Micca. Their waiters were all presentable and courteous, especially the head waiter who took actions right away when I give out instructions or I request something. Queensland regularly caters at Makati Park so they already know where to setup everything, the restrictions and others. And of course the food, it was superb especially the Pork Spareribs in BBQ Sauce. I could’ve gone for a second round but since I, being the party host, need to attend to and entertain the guests, I just assured my tummy that I’ll devour the left over foods we’d take home. I had about 150 guests and truly, their buffer was more than what they said as we were still able to take home tons of them.

**Caterer (Kids): CCME Homemade Food Stuff
Number of Pax: 50
Site: http://www.homemadefoodstuff.com/
Rating: 10

I didn’t order the kiddie foods from Queensland because it was way beyond my budget and so I scoured for alternatives. I thought of ordering Jollibee meals but my calculator yielded a message that ordering from CCME would be more economical: more food at less cost. Ordering and dealing with them was fast, easy and hassle-free. I’ve tried and tasted their food before so I know they won’t disappoint me. Their group packages are inexpensive and flexible likewise. They also delivered on time. I also ordered Chopseuy from CCME since my chosen Queensland meal package didn’t have a vegetable dish for the adults. Queensland was generous enough to provide for free extra chaffing dish for the chopseuy.

**Host/Magician: Flooch
Booked through Partyboosters
Rating: 10++++

Flooch is one of the major reasons why the party was a HUGE success. He surely succeeded in entertaining (to the fullest) not only the kids but also those young at hearts. He is very articulate (English speaking), very spontaneous, very much skilled, absolutely no dull moment with his entertainment. The kids loved each second and every portion of his magic tricks and other antics. I wasn’t able to watch fully the program proper as I was busy entertaining and chitchatting with some friends and guests but nevertheless, everyone was all praises for him after the party that it got me so anxious to watch the video. Luckily, John sent the edited video yesterday and I was amazed with his tricks. Nakakatuwa talaga and I can’t help but laugh with his pranks and jokes. His games were also one of a kind and I love that he had every kid participated by holding games according to age bracket. Overall, I give him two thumbs up for his service. Days before the party he informed me (through Jacque) that he might arrive a little bit late because he has a booking before ours. He arrived about 15 minutes before the party call time but we still started on time. He was so swift and was able to setup his sound system and props quickly. We were also able to discuss the program flow but unfortunately I wasn’t able to emphasize that we’d have a thank you speech towards the end of the program. (I thought kasi standard na yun in every program.) Well anyway, I can’t blame him entirely kasi the crowd got a little bit unruly na at the end part at pinagkaguluhan ang mga balloons, decors and the cute cupcakes. Nevertheless, the program was a big success and kudos to Flooch for that.

Photo and Video: John Aguas Photography
Contact Person: John Aguas
Website: http://www.johnaguas.com
Contact Details: johnaguas@yahoo.com / 0920-983-2364 / 0922-257-3469 / 994-0345
Rating: 10

John isn’t obviously any of these subjects since he’s the one behind the lens and captured these candid moments which are his forte.

If you followed my party preps entries, you would remember that John wasn’t my first choice. I first inquired from a popular and very demanded photographer among my fellow n@wies but I was dismayed with how this supplier corresponded to me via email. John, on the other hand, was otherwise. He was very prompt and courteous either email or text. And because of that, I was inclined to get him since mabagal nga yung isa magreply. Later, fate has it that we’d get John talaga kasi Photog A was booked. We were pleased with John’s output: both the pictures and the video. He was able to take shots of everything although I should have emphasized earlier to get plenty close up shots of the party details. Nevertheless, okay lang since my reliable all-SLRed-twitter buddy guests-turned-back up photographers were able to capture more photos (especially Jojo and Alpha..the next Karl and Mimi tandem). They arrived in the venue early and were able to capture each guests as they came. If I saw and remember correctly, his team consists of 2 back-up photographers and of course the videoman. Initially, I only booked his photography (labor only) services as we didn’t allot a budget for the video. But later on, we realized that having a video of the party is a must to document this once in a lifetime event fully. One week before the party, we contracted his video services as well. I so loved the editing of the video. We received it yesterday and I had fun reminiscing the party. Nice music selection (jungle-themed kiddie intro song as well) and for the rate we have paid, it’s all worth it.

Cake: Sugarbox
Contact Person: Emily Uy
Contact Details: 4952065 / emilyu@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.ilovesugarbox.com
Rating: 10+++++

The birthday cake is one of my least concerns during the party preps because I knew then that I’m covered. I didn’t have any other supplier in mind other than my ever reliable cake maker, Emily Uy. She made our wedding cake in 2005 and she also did Asher’s baptismal cake last year. Suki na kumbaga…tried and tested. I knew that I wouldn’t have a hard time booking and availing her services. So the moment I saw the Jungle Mania cake in her gallery, I emailed and texted her right away for a quotation and booked her consequently. The cake has all the exact details I have in mind…the bright jungle colors, the animal concept, the satellite/tiered style..everything. It’s perfect period. The rate she gave me is also way below I expected the cake to cost, much to the “manager’s”/husband delight. The cake consists of 100 pieces of cupcakes, each with gumpaste animal toppers, plus a round one that served as the main “topper” of the satellite cake. As always, Emily was easy to deal with and I’m so glad that she accommodated my order as I’ve heard she’s busy and overbooked as ever. She also gladly obliged to my request that we just settle the balance on the day, when normally it should be fully paid a week before the event. Her uniformed crew also arrived early and so they had ample time to setup the cake. I don’t know if they stayed or just came back towards the end of the party as there were two of them who assisted in repacking each cupcake for distribution to the guests. Even before Flooch was able to wrap the program up, they were already stormed by the over eager crowd each asking for cupcakes. The cupcakes were chocolate flavored and the guests’ verdict: yummo! I wasn’t able to taste the cupcakes since there were nothing left for us. What we have though is the bigger round cake which is the yummiest butter flavored cake I’ve ever tasted. I also love the green frosted icing she made into grasses and tree leaves…it was not too sweet but just right. Buti na lang, I have a skinny figure so I can load up sweets as much as I want to without any diet pressure or worries. ‘Til the next birthday cake, Emily.

Now on to the smaller knick knacks of the party:

Chocolate Fountain: c/o Asher’s Ninang Paula
Rating: 10+++++++

Just as the song goes, the best things in life are free. And definitely, this gift of Ninang Paula to Asher was heaven. A week before the party, I received a text message from my dear friend informing me that she’ll sponsor the chocolate fountain and it will be her gift for his beloved inaanak. Of course, I was ecstatic because I didn’t avail any regular party food booths so this would do, I figured. She owns this 4-layered machine and she gladly lent it for the party. She together with his fiance Joseph, were the ones who set up and prepared everything from the choco melting/diluting, dippers slicing and fruit coating (check out the choco coated apple picture) and up to packing up. There were a lot of guests who came in early so even before the party started, the chocolate was drained up to the last drop. The husband and I didn’t even get to taste it. It was a hit that my twitter buddies are now craving and wanting for a chocolate fountain party for our next meet up. But ironically, they’re also stashing some weight loss pills now.

Facepainter: c/o Partyboosters
Website: http://www.partyboosters.multiply.com
Rating: 10++++

Another knick knack that was a hit for the kids. A lot of the kids had their faces and arms painted, even little Asher managed to have one in his arm. Actually, itinakas ng brother ko from me. The program’s through already and yet, there still was a queue of kids waiting. Poor face painter he wasn’t able to eat so I just gave him a take home meal plus a tip, of course.

Back-up Photographers: My Twitter Friends
Rating: 10+++++++++++++++++

The friendship and bonding with my Twitter buddies (whom I get to chat with everyday) is one of the nicest things that I’m most thankful for in my online world. Not only we get to read each others’ blogs, chat, share and listen to rants and raves, exchange mommy and wifey thoughts, enjoy our common interests in moolah earning blog entries, digiscrapping, online shopping and photography everyday in the Twitter World, we are also one in our miseries and triumphant for every success and celebrations we jubilate. Haba ng intro…haha! Well, they aren’t actually our suppliers because I didn’t book them in the first place (because I want them to come and enjoy the party as guests). Even without me asking, automatic yan they are equipped with the SLRs so just imagine how everyone was busy uploading, commenting and waiting for each uploaded pic in our Flickr galleries right after the party. Photography and Digiscrapping are two of the things that bind us..after all, it is in our Bebot digiscrapping forum where we started and met. So what do you expect, artistic silang lahat and they all have the eye for photography especially the husband and wife tandem of Alpha and Jojo. As mentioned previously, John took a few snapshots of the party details but Alpha, Jojo and the rest of the gang compensated it with magnificent shots. Even John Aguas was amazed and delighted to see a group of (sexy) moms each busily focusing and clicking their SLRs. By the way, Alpha and Jojo are planning to take photography to a higher level so should you wish to get them as back up photographers for your parties, do get them.

Ice Cream Cart: Pagsinohin Ice Cream
Rating: 10++++

We’re so lucky to spot Mang Junior a few days before the party. He’s the ice cream vendor who regularly rounds our village in the afternoon and just lives nearby. When I inquired and learned that his services are less expensive than those of the party planners, I immediately booked him. I paid Php 300 DP and we exchanged contact numbers. Since he has another morning event on the party date ( ha daming bookings din ni kuya), he sent his son to serve and man their ice cream cart. They arrived one and half hour before the party, super aga. Hehe! Aside from the chocolate fountain, the ice cream was a big hit too to the kids and older ones.

Giveaways for the Adults: Personalized Chocolate from Choclittalk
Website: http://choclittalk.com/
Contact Person: Rico
Contact Details: choclittalk@yahoo.com.ph / (632) 744 3223 / 0910 9106243
Rating: 10+++++

One of Asher’s party suppliers who were easiest to deal with. With the help of my Twitter friend, Caryl who I consulted as I initially planned of designing, printing and wrapping the chocos myself, we stumbled upon this custom made chocolate supplier a month before the party. Rico was polite, flexible, prompt and very patient with my inquiries. Actually, their site, as is, is already very informative and helpful but Rico’s customer service all the more made them a commendable supplier. I’ve collected a number of personalized chocolate local suppliers but Choclittalk stood the cheapest. Since I was an OC party host, I was the one who made the design (including the nutrition facts) to concur and harmonize with the other DIYed stuffs like invites, tarpaulin backdrop, etc. I just sent the layout via email and Rico was the one who fitted it to their template for printing. They also did the chocolate themselves…it’s home made. The printing and packaging was superb. Payment and shipping arrangements are flexible. Nice colors, wrapper quality, packaging..all in all it was superb. And the taste? Of course it was heaven (premium brown flavor)! I ordered two variants: premium brown and cookies n’ cream. Too bad, I didn’t get to taste cookies n’ cream, I heard it’s the best. I knew that it would be gone in an instant so I hid a few for myself even before I distributed them. And oh, Asher’s name was also imprinted on the chocolate bar itself. Cool!

Guest Sheets: c/o my Bebot and Twitter Buddies ate JennyL and Diane
Rating: 10++++

Asher is truly blessed because I have artistic friends who volunteered to scrap his party guest sheets. I would have done them myself but my hands were already full of the party preps so I was glad that ate Jen and Diane came to the rescue. Ate Jen created 3 layouts while Diane was so inspired that she made 8. Unfortunately, the shipping from Artscow for Diane’s layouts didn’t make it on time at Kathy’s place (who ordered it for me at Artscow). If you like their designs and should you wish to hire their services, just let me know and I’ll forward their contact details.

My DIY projects:
Rating: 10++++
1. Jungle Safari Themed Invitation
Digital Kit: Sweet Safari Kit by Misty Cato (from Sweet Shoppe Designs)
Software used: Photoshop CS2
Invite Photo Printer: Artscow

I have to be biased and give it a perfect 10 because it was me who conceptualized and designed the invitation and the husband who drew the jungle-lific map. Aside from the remarkable savings that we got from this party detail. It’s been a while (as in months due to busy mommy schedule and online works) since I last touched my digi kits but glad that my creative juices came up with such a simple yet cute invite. May personal touch kumbaga. Thanks to Aggie for the kit referral. I was able to use this kit in all of my DIY projects for uniformity. It has the perfect soft blue and brown colors that I exactly wanted for the invites, guest sheets, thank you sticker, name tags, chocolate bar wrapper, table name labels and tarpaulin - the things that I DIY’ed. Cost wise, this is one of the details where we saved a lot since I availed the monthly promo of free 50 pcs 5R printing at Artscow so it was just the shipping cost of $7.99 (roughly about Php 384 or Php 7.68 each copy) that I paid for. Yes, a lot cheaper compared to that of Digiprint’s or Kodak’s. I think their 5R prints cost Php 13 each. The husband drew the map with jungle landmarks on a parchment paper and burned the sides a bit for an added effect. We sealed the envelopes (bought at National Bookstore) using the animal stickers which comes in pads (at Php 8/pad) that were bought at Divisoria.

**Regarding Artscow, be sure to sign up now to avail 1200 free prints credits, 3 pcs of 8″x8″ photo books & other great photo gifts credits. Yes free, so it’s just the shipping fee that you’re going to pay for. Artscow’s lab is based in Hong Kong but yes they do ship internationally. They accept credit card and paypal payments. Depending on your postal office, the parcels are sometimes delivered straight to your house but in my case, I always get mine from Makati Central Post Office upon receipt of a parcel notice from them. Parcel fee costs Php 35/package and since these are just photo prints and won’t be for commercial use, there no more customs taxes and duties will be further collected.

2. Thank You Card

- printed on a paper sticker with 2″x2″ dimension

3. Tarpaulin
Printer: Arkigrafix
Address: Quezon Ave (in front of National Bookstore-Crossings), QC
Tel No: 3765693

I initially wanted a styro backdrop but decided to digiscrap my own tarp when I came to know about the whopping rental price of a styro one. I made a layout with a dimension of 84 in x 144 in at 100 dpi to come up proportionately with a 7 ft x 12 ft printed tarpaulin. The printing costs Php 25/sq ft and the tarp was ready for pick up after 2 business days. For the welcome banner on the other hand, I had it printed at 1.5 ft x 3 ft. The tarp material and printing quality are nice and worth the price.

4. Table Name Labels

To add some more jungle safari effect on the party, I scoured the internet for 15 safari and african related words for the table name labels. I came up with: Mt Kilimanjaro, Lion’s Den, Leopard’s Lair, Savannah, Elephant Rock, Samburu Tribe, Boran Tribe (got it from Survivor Africa), Watering Hole, Zambezi River, Hippo Pool, Fox’s Burrow, Jungle Lagoon, Grassland, Wildlife Preserve and Native Guides. These were printed on a special paper (sorry forgot the gsm) and Jacque just stuck them on the balloon centerpieces.

5. Chocolate Bar Wrapper

Choclittalk could actually design the wrapper but again since I prefer that there should be consistency on the print works, I designed the cover and even the nutrition facts myself. Forwarded it to Rico and the rest (formatting on their template for printing and packaging) were done by them.

Giveaways, Loot Bags and Prizes
Bought from the following:
Oriental Trading (animal party bags, safari visors, animal masks, animal stamps, safari print fans, animal notepads with googly eyes, jungle print pencils)
Toy Kingdom (animal foam capsules)
SM Baby Company (bath toys, face towels, animal ring teethers)
Goodwill Bookstore (animal books and workbooks, crayons)
Mercury Drugstore (cotton buds, baby oil)
Divisoria Mall (animal stickers, safari sunglasses, animal keychains, tiger skate sharpener, various animal plushes, coasters, tin cans, etc)

I purchased almost all of the stuffs from Divisoria - the party supplies haven in the metro. But since I couldn’t find some more jungle-themed stuffs, I bought some more from Oriental Trading (OT). Since OT doesn’t ship internationally, I asked a US-based friend (thanks Chris) to shop for me and ship my ordered stuffs to me through LBC. I bet you would likewise agree with me that OT has the best, cutest and unique themed party supplies and stuffs. The fact that the pricing isn’t that costly is also a plus. Chris also added some tootsie roll candies for the loot bags to maximize the LBC shipping box allowable weight.

Other Decors:
Safari Print Balloons - Oriental Trading
Monkey and Frog Plushes - Divisoria Mall (at Php 35/plush)
Animal Mylar Balloons - c/o Jacque

Thanks to Glo for ordering the safari print balloons at Oriental Trading for me. I would have ordered these from a local multiply seller but upon the computation of cost with shipping and all, ordering 50 pcs of these from OT turned out to be cheaper still. These balloons were nicely made by Partyboosters into topiary balls and were one of those that were rowdily snagged by the guests even before the program came to the last part. The croaking frog and monkey plushes were bought from Divisoria Mall. I ordered a few animal mylar balloons from Ebay but unfortunately, they arrived late. Days before the party, I ordered a few from Jacque to make up for the undelivered ones. So if you or if you know someone who’ll be having a jungle safari themed party, I still have with me the unused animal mylar balloons that were bought from Ebay and I’m selling them at a much lower price just so they will be disposed already. Please let me know if you are interested. (Edited: All mylar balloons are sold already.)

(30 inch LION, 30 inch ZEBRA, 30 inch ELEPHANT, 26 INCH MONKEY - all double sided, self sealing re-usable mylar balloons) - -- SOLD

Jungle Safari Costume
Asher’s hunter costume: Spin and Florsheim
Mommy’s Safari Dress: from Ebay
Daddy’s cargo pants: SM
Mommy and Daddy’s Hunter Hats: Divisoria

Asher was gifted with a khaki polo and shorts for the party and he dressed up ala-Kuya Kim Atienza or hunter style. He also has a khaki hat but he refused to wear it. For the shoes, we bought a pair of brown sneakers from Florsheim which I love to bits because it’s soft, comfy and easy to wear on him.

Again, thanks to everyone (guests, families, friends and suppliers) who made Asher’s first birthday a very special and memorable one. We hope that you enjoyed the party as much as we (Paul, Asher and I) did.