Party Venue : Unilab's Bayanihan Center

It's our first time to attend a party at Bayanihan Center at United Laboratories' compound. In fact, the first time I heard of the place was when I got the party invites for the twins of our good friends Ning and Edison. I think the venue is more popular for corporate events rather than children's parties or weddings.

I am so pleased that I was able to learn about this 'reasonably-priced' and elegant venue that is very accessible for commuting guests and also offers free parking for those bringing their own vehicles. I would love to hold one of my children's parties here someday.

Lovely entrance to Hall A. It's a Fairy Princesses party for the twins!

 

Look at this beautiful ballroom/function room! This is Hall A which can accommodate 160 to 250 pax. It's only a portion of the huge venue that is Bayanihan Center. For large events and/or conventions, the whole events hall (Hall A and B) can easily accommodate up to 400 people.

Nails and hooks are not allowed so you have to tell you venue decorator or balloon artist to use floating balloons or to improvise a way to put in your balloons, swags, drapes and other décor materials.

This explains why the balloon artist used flying balloon tied to each table centerpiece to form an arc. Very clever and creative idea!

Bayanihan Center can be your party venue at an affordable price as follows:

Hall A (160-250 guests) - Php22,000
Hall B (140-220 guests) - Php20,000
Hall A and B (300-400 guests) - Php40,000

The fee is for 4 hours use but does not include the ingress and egress pegged at Php1500 per hour.

BAYANIHAN CENTER

8008 Pioneer Street, Unilab Compound, Kapitolyo, Pasig City                                                      

Phone: +63(2)8581978

Party Venue : Park Place Swimming Pool

If your child's birthday falls on April or May, it's likely that you want to do a swimming party. The question is where do you hold an exclusive swimming party without paying an arm and a leg? Good news for residents of Cainta, Taytay or Pasig, there is a swimming pool tucked neatly in Park Place Executive Homes that could cater to a wade and splash party or just a simple family gathering.

I am recommending the place based on my personal experience. I had my son's birthday party blocked from 12 noon until 6 o'clock in the evening and I say that time is just enough for kids and adults alike to wade in the pool, bond with your guests through good food and drinks and even sing 'til your lose your voice with their karaoke for rent (a measly price of Php400!) 

 

The swimming pool is huge, clean and well-maintained. There is a separate section for kids which is perfect for wading.

For a fee of Php5000 (for daytime use), you can rent the whole swimming pool plus the covered dining hall for 6 whole hours. That's half a day of water fun already for the little ones!

The dining hall has about 6 ceiling and wall fans which should be enough to cool down the place in the merry months of December to February, but come summer time, it could still be hellish hot! Bring extra fans if you must!

 

There are also Nipa cottages for rent inside the pool vicinity and outside (rental fees on top of the reservation for the pool).

Below are more details (lifted from their FB account):

Php. 5,000.00 ( day time )
Php. 7,000.00 ( night time )
6 hrs only (time allotment for reservation)
50 persons allowed per reservation
400.00 videoke rental
50.00/ head non-swimmers
300.00 cottages (inside the pool )
(NO FOODS AND DRINKS ALLOWED inside the pool)
500.00 cottages ( outside the pool )

Interested? Here are the contact details:

Park Place Executive Homes Swimming Pool
(Boardwalk Street)
Tel. No. 212-5459
Email: ppevhaipool@ymail.com

Party Venue : One San Miguel Avenue Building Penthouse (49th Floor)

Perhaps unknown to many, there is a lovely function room on top of this very tall building in Ortigas. The function room is managed by Baby Nathan's Kitchen, the sole food concessionaire at One San Miguel Avenue Bldg (OSMA). Baby Nathan's is part of the CateringTrio group that manages the function rooms at Prestige Tower at Emerald Avenue and Deh-Tah Restaurant at Camp Crame.

Anyway, the roofdeck function room at OSMA can accommodate 140 guests but you have to lay out the tables wisely as the room is not square but rather a long rectangle with huge pillars.

Baby Nathan's allows clients for a food tasting meeting after you have chosen your menu. Grab that opportunity so you know exactly how your food will fare with your guests. You can also comment if the dish is too salty, bland etc.

As to the food presentation, I will give them 2 thumbs up. They use elegant chaffing dishes that are usually used in hotels. The buffet setup is made better by their individual spot lights for each dish although they don't have any buffet centerpiece.



Rental for the function room is FREE for four (4) hours provided you reach a food order of Php25,000 plus service charge.

Interested? Here's what I think are the points to consider when renting this party venue:

Pros:

1. The huge annoying pillars were covered with full length mirrors to compensate, thus giving an illusion of extra space (and elegance).

2. Baby Nathan provides the stage, sound system, screen if you are using an LCD projector all FREE of charge.

3. There's no corkage fee if clients bring in 3 dishes (including lechon) and they will even provide you with the chaffing dishes for the outside food. They will even provide (setup nicely) the lechon table and chop it - without corkage!

4. You and your guest can enjoy the beautiful view of Metro Manila at night from the rooftop!

Cons:

1. The huge pillars positioned almost near the center of the room make lay outing challenging especially if you are bringing in food carts and you have an elaborate program.

2. Stage can be setup only in the middle, facing the main entrance which would mean the guests are watching from the side.

3. The function room is exclusive only for Baby Nathan's Kitchen. No outside catering service is allowed.

Interested to have a party here? Contact the following:

Baby Nathan's Kitchen

9th Floor, One San Miguel Ave. Bldg

San Miguel Ave., cor Shaw Boulevard

Pasig City

Tel. No:

Look for Sheng or Annie

You may also check their website for more details on their menu.

Shakey's Kiddie Party - Not a Typical Fast Food Party

Fast Food chains are slowly becoming a popular choice for kiddie parties especially by parents who doesn't have the luxury of time to plan and the bulk of a moolah to pay for an extravagant birthday bash.

Now that we have 3 kids, I sort of consider myself very well versed in party planning so I thought I wouldn't spend so much now on by youngest child's birthday but still give her an unforgettable, fun and 'hindi mukhang tinipid' kiddie party especially that it's her first birthday.

We've attended dozens of kiddie parties in fast food chains like Jollibee, McDonalds, Burger King etc but the party at Shakey's stands out to me as good choice for a 1st birthday. First, my daughter is still too young to appreciate Jollibee and there's McDo at almost every corner of Metro Manila. I also read in another blog that Shakey's can serve the party food buffet style.

 

I checked various blogs before proceeding to a Shakey's branch so I already know that the buffet food is actually their Monster Meal Deal which they will serve buffet style. And why not, MMD is good for 10-12 people and contains all party food (pasta, garlic bread, chicken, mojos, pizza and drinks). It's a great deal for Php2079 (SC not included) per set.

I chose a branch with a Fun Zone area. Fun Zone is a small arcade where kids can buy tokens and play. As of this posting there are only 4 branches with Fun Zone - E.Rodriguez,  Katipunan, Quezon Avenue and Marcos Hi-way. We're from Rizal so Marcos Hiway was our branch of choice. It has a huge party area that can accommodate up to 120 guests. There's also ample free parking spaces around the branch.

The party themes available are Barney and Justice League, both of which did not appeal to me so I requested be allowed to create my own theme. This would mean I would drop their party amenities which includes game prizes and party give aways. Luckily, the agreed and wasn't charged a dime.

The money I saved for not getting the party amenities, I of course used to purchase our own game prizes, loot bags and other kiddie party ornaments bearing our own theme which is Tinkerbell. The staff still happily arranged them on a dressed table for the party and helped me with the setup.

 

 

They also provided the party host free of charge even though we did not avail the party amenities. The party host did a great job with the kids especially with the games. She basically ran the whole program.

 

I was also allowed to put my candy/dessert buffet to complement the Chocolate Fountain service that I booked (a partner of Shakey's). The dessert buffet and chocolate fountain were actually one of the best ideas I put for this party as it served as finger food for the guests, kids especially, while waiting for the meals to be served.

It's a bit tedious putting the candy buffet together and manage it while I host the party, but then that's the price I have to pay for wanting to have it DIY :) hehe. (Tips on how to setup your own Candy Buffet to follow).

So for those mommies out there who is considering Shakey's, allow me to enumerate what I think are the pros and cons of having your party there:


Pros

1. Just like other fast food chain kiddie parties, a Shakey's party is only for 2 hours. Best to plan the program neatly to maximize the time. If the store allows it, try to haggle for an extra hour especially if they don't have a booking after your party. You will be charged an extension fee of course (Php1000 at Marcos Hiway).

 

2. Unlike other fast food chain parties, Shakey's allowed us to serve the cake to our guests. In other words, di masyadong maarte. I heard other branches would ask for a waiver to be signed, but luckily for us at Marcos Hiway, this was never asked.

 

3. Fun Zone tokens are being sold at only Php10 each and can be used as prizes for games to those arcade addicts enthusiastic kids.

 

4. The food is good! The chicken parts are huge and crispy. The pasta are filling and you have 2 choices pa. Best of all, they now allow you to choose your pizza (because before they have only Pepperoni and Manager's Choice).

 

5. They are not too strict (at least at Marcos Hiway) and tried to accommodate all my requests, including additional balloons, additional dressed tables, party hour extension (must be made WEEKS before the party and not on the spot), photobooth service from a non accredited provider and many more!

Cons

1. The party themes at Shakey's are limited and lame. Justice League and Barney? Seriously? Haha. If only they can come up with better themes then I am sure clients would be availing more.

2. The Fun Zone can be both a blessing and a curse. From our experience, I felt the downside of the Fun Zone when the kids became very hard to coax to come into the party area and join the program. They are more interested in the arcade!

3. They have a mascot which nobody knows or even remember. I haven't met a kid who is aware of Shakey's mascot. Haha.

Party Venue: Village East Clubhouse

For Cainta residents looking for a great venue for weddings, debuts or birthday parties, the clubhouse of Village East Executive Homes offers 3 venues.

The cafe area (open air hall) at the ground floor can perfectly fit 80 to 100 guests and is great for semi formal and evening gatherings. It's comfortable even with just only the ceiling fans especially during late afternoon 'til evening.

the entrance

 

left side of the hall from entrance

  

center

right side of the hall from entrance...that door after the bar are the comfort rooms/toilets

corner area, view is the swimming pool

 

For larger parties, the Function Room at the 2nd floor can easily accommodate up to 200 people. It is fitted with enough air-conditioning units to keep the guests cool throughout the event. The room is also L-shaped which suits parties that need a separate area for photo booths, kiddie salon, and other whatnot.

For summer parties, the swimming pool area including the covered hall and tables can be reserved for 4 hours.

Best of all for this venue is that the staff at the Admin office are very accommodating and easy to talk to. Look for Nonet if interested.

Details here:

their flier is from March 2009 but these are the same rates when we had our party in December 2012.

 

Shakey's Kiddie Party Package

It is very seldom that I am invited to a Shakey's kiddie party. If my memory serves me right, I've only attended 2 parties in Shakey's. The first one was my cousin's 1st birthday and the second was a birthday of a godson.

 

So yes, this was the 3rd time and a lot have changed in their party package since.

There are 2 themes to choose from: Barney and Justice League. Not much choice especially for girls who are more particular with parties.

On positive note, the giveaways/lootbag and game prizes are of good quality (not cheap-looking) and useful compared to the lootbag at Jollibee or McDonald which contain mostly small toys.
 

cupcakes are NOT from Shakey's, hehe

 

I love the Superman capes if you choose to have the Justice League theme. It's fun watching the kids excitedly wear their capes and join the games. Speaking of games, maybe due to the fact that hosting kiddie parties is not one of the key competencies of Shakey's, the party host is not that entertaining. She could further improve with training...maybe she needs to attend Jollibee parties.

 

 

 

For the food, below are the packages, but I also learned you can have food served buffet style. Just check with the branch for more details.

 

 

 

If I could give an unsolicited suggestion to Shakey's, I'd say they should give ample space for their party areas. The space was too limited (at Retiro Branch but I've also been to other branches) for the parlor games and other party activities.

 

For more party info based on personal experience on Shakey's, please click here.

Party Venue : Palladium Clubhouse

Accessible party venues are hard to find. Normally, clubhouses are located in the middle of a village and guests either need to go by taxi or tricycle.

Thankfully, that's not a problem with Palladium Clubhouse as it is within a short walking distance from the entrance of Palladium. Guests who will take public transportation going to your event can alight at the gate along Shaw Boulevard and walk to your party.

There are actually 2 options for rental: The function room and the poolside.

We've rented the function room twice already and I'd say we were happy with the venue. The room can accommodate up to 100 guests or maximum of 120 if the buffet table is setup outside.

The only downside that didnt go well with me is they prohibit sticking of decors on their walls and ceilings. It's a nightmare for mommies who love elaborate decors for their parties.

I had to content with floating balloons to address this decor challenge just so my son's baptism reception would not look dull and lacking. I also instructed our caterer to use tall and elaborate table centerpieces to augment the decorations.

As for the poolside area, it is spacious and clean and can approximately hold 150 guests. Swimming is not allowed though as well as floating decors on the pool.

Pros:

1. Convenient location - guests can take public transportation going to your event without difficulty.

2. Easy to find - no need for maps or detailed directions as Palladium is along Shaw Boulevard and very easy to locate.

3. Budget-friendly - considering the location, accessibility and the appearance of the function room, the rental fee is reasonable.

Cons:

1. Decorating challenge - sticking anything on the walls and ceiling is strictly prohibited. Only the glass windows and glass panels are allowed to be used for sticking decorative materials. So say goodbye to ceiling swags and hanging balloons (unless your decorator can do magic).

2. A security bond of Php8000 needs to be paid beforehand and is refundable (subject to deductions for breakage, damages, time extension, electrical fees etc if applicable) a week after the event.

Notes:

1. There is a minimal electricity charge of Php300 for any electric-powered equipment brought in.

2. Spot cooking is not allowed.

3. List of guest names and suppliers need to submitted to the Clubhouse admin prior to the event.

Rates (as of February 2013) for 4 hours use:

Weekend booking (Sat-Sun):

Function Room - Php10800

Poolside (swimming not included) - Php14000

Weekday booking (Mon-Fri)

Function Room - Php9000

Poolside (swimming not included) - Php12000  

Palladium Clubhouse

The Palladium (Village)

Shaw Boulevard, Brgy. Wack Wack

Mandaluyong  City

Tel No. 533-3048, look for Margie