Silkenhut's World

Ensemble E-Travel Experience

Allen Gurrea — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:56:33 +0000

Ensemble E-Travel Experience

Now that our Palawan trip c/o Ensemble E-Travel was over, I can now write a review of our experience with them.

Booking the trip

I contacted them via email and phone and it took a few follow-ups before we can get a reply. We were informed that instead of Asturias, we will be booked in Legends Hotel instead and we didn’t have no problems with that. We were also asked if we want to take the Underground River Tour or Honda Bay Optional Tours for PHP1500 each and we agreed. After doing a bank deposit for the tour, we emailed them the details and a few follow-ups later, we got their reply.

Ensemble E-Docket

The e-docket is your key for your trip. This contains your hotel booking information and itinerary. When they initially sent our e-docket, the dates were wrong! They were dated 2011 and we discovered this late. After panicking and doing a higher level of follow-ups, they sent us the revised e-docket and updated itinerary (tour included).

During the Tour

Upon our arrival at Puerto Princesa, the itinerary was being followed until we asked about the Underground River Tour. It was not booked and for this tour, advanced booking is required because necessary permits need to be acquired and they have limited slots per day. I tried calling Ensemble regarding this but either I’m getting a “subscriber cannot be reached” or no one was answering.

I’m really glad that Joy from Njoy Travel, Ensemble’s tour partner was very accommodating and she helped us avail of the tour on such a short notice.

Upon returning to Manila

I quickly emailed my complaint to Ensemble and I got a reply on the next day (I didn’t need to follow anymore?). They apologized for that miss. If we failed to get the tour, I’d demand more of an apology but I guess for now, it will suffice.

One thing I learned from this experience was to not rely or trust these agents completely. You will need to ensure, verify and confirm everything else they might commit mistakes and overlook details.

If you wish to contact Ensemble, please visit the Ensemble Contact Numbers Page. Trust me, you will really need those numbers even if a lot of them don’t work or is unattended.

Till next time,

Allen

PHGifts Online Gift Store

Allen Gurrea — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:43:00 +0000

PHGifts Online Gift Store

We have less than a week before Valentine’s so are you prepared? Well, in this post I’d like to make a review of an online gift shop, PHGifts.

If you look at the page (see pic above), you will see that they sell flowers, teddy bears, chocolates and many more (was surprised to see electronics there but they have none listed so it’s just a category for now).

Shopping here is easy. Just look for an item that you like then click “Add to Cart” so that it will be placed into your shopping cart. Your shopping cart will contain all the items that you will buy and once you have placed everything you want in your cart, you can proceed with Checkout.

The Checkout Process

Account – You will need to sign-in to your account or register for a new account. No guest buying which makes it more secure.
Address – You will need to input details here such as your billing address and shipping address
Payment / Shipping – You will need to pick how you would be paying for your purchases. they have lots of options available (e.g. credit cards, paypal, bank deposit to name a few). See separate section for shipping.
Review / Finalize – You will need to review your order and finalize it (it’s payment time).

The Shipping Process

They offer same day delivery as long as you order before noon. I suggest that you make reservations in advance especially for special occasions like Christmas, Valentine’s where the demand will be very high.

I played around with the interface and it was very easy to use. I didn’t go pass step 3 as I don’t want to make bogus purchases but I believe it will be as easy as the first two steps. I haven’t tried purchasing anything yet so I can’t write about it that experience (perhaps soon).

Till next time,

Allen

Candy Roses – Two in One Valentine’s Gift

Allen Gurrea — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:25:00 +0000

Candy Roses – Two in One Valentine’s Gift

When I wrote a post on Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas, the top two items in the list were flowers and chocolates. Giving someone flowers or chocolates would make them happy but what if you give them both? That’s expensive! So why not give them a combination of both? Yes, that’s right… a unique gift that you can give this Valentine’s day would be a bouquet of Candy Roses with or without a teddy bear (note that in my previous post, the teddy bear is just an add-on).

Now, you might ask, what are the advantages of giving candy roses compared to giving just flowers or chocolates.

They will last for more than a week unlike flowers that tend to die after a week.
They look more presentable and more classy unlike a box of chocolates.
No maintenance needed. You don’t need to cut off their steam and replace their water tubes every now and then. You don’t need to put them in the refrigerator else they would melt. Just don’t let ants or rats get to them as they are still considered as food.
Your partner can hold both in one hand so that means the other hand is free to be held by your hands.
It is unique.

Now, where can we buy this? Well, I’m happy to say that there’s a reliable and secured online gift shop that has these items in their inventory. Actually, for now, they are the only shop (for Philippine Market) that has these items for sale. The shop’s name is PHGifts and you can order your valentine’s candy roses from them.

Candy Roses Prices

w/ Teddy Bear – PHP 1799.00 to 2399.00
w/out Teddy Bear – PHP 1299.00 – 1399.00

The prices vary because of the bouquet presentation, number of bears and the color of the candy roses. So if you are interested, visit PHGifts.com ok?

Till next time,

Allen

PHGifts Affiliate Program

Allen Gurrea — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:08:00 +0000

PHGifts Affiliate Program

One of the perks I’m looking for when I check out e-commerce websites would be the presence of an affiliate program. But first, what is an affiliate program?

An affiliate program allows regular people to be a reseller of a product. The usual scenario would be…

Merchant sells to customer

However, if we add the affiliate program, then we can get this scenario.

affiliate refers customer to merchant. Merchant sells to customer. Affiliate earns commission.

For the merchant and the customer, nothing gets changed as the merchant still gets a sale and the customer gets to buy something. However, the affiliate in between gets to earn or get something for linking both of them together. If you join an affiliate program, then you will become an affiliate of that merchant.

So what do we usually get for being an affiliate?

Commission – we can earn a percentage from the price (Amazon) or we can a fixed amount (e.g. Hostgator)
Special Perks and Discounts – sometimes, when the merchant is very happy he can give you this as a bonus

Let me show you an e-commerce website that has an affiliate program, PHGifts, an online gifts & flower shop. For their affiliate program, they offer the following.

15% Commission on every sale that came from your affiliate link or;
convert that into points where you can use it for your own purchases at the site.

That would be your reward and to help you get more sales, you will be able to get banners, images, and products information you can use to advertise to potential customers. All you have to do is to promote your affiliate link (special link that can be traced back to you as the affiliate) and when people buy something after clicking your affiliate link, you earn commission.

Hope you learned something about affiliate programs. This is just at the tip of the iceberg of affiliate marketing.

Till next time,

Allen

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Allen Gurrea — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:50:00 +0000

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Perhaps you are wondering, what do I give to that special someone on Valentine’s day? Well, don’t worry as I will try to provide you suggestions for that.

Let us start with….

Flowers – The most common and easiest gift you can give. Prepare for super jacked up prices though… As an additional read, visit a separate post on rose color meanings to have an idea what you should give.

Chocolates – Another item that would make your special someone happy. Bonus points if she loves chocolate and you manage to buy her favorite one shaped like a heart.

Teddy Bears – They are usually an add-on to flowers and chocolates but they can be good on their own. Make sure they are cute and cuddly.

Jewelry – They love shiny things right? This requires knowledge of her tastes and favorites.

Comestics/Perfume – This requires knowledge of her tastes and favorites.

Romantic Dinner for Two – This gift requires a lot of preparation as you will need to pick a nice place, make reservations in advance, a fight against traffic, and everything! You might get stressed on the preparations but it will be worth it.

Serenade – If you are able to play a musical instrument then practice and play before her. Bonus again if you can play her favorite song! Else, pay someone else to do it or just sing acapella. It’s the thought that counts and at least you tried.

Massage/Spa – Maybe she is stressed or she is working even on Valentine’s day (especially since Valentine’s usually falls on a weekday). What would be a better way than to give her a self-pamper package so she can relax, unwind and recharge her batteries.

Lingerie – Oh my! If you are that sure, I dare you!

What else? Well, I’m sure you can think up of more gifts ideas with your own way but you can treat these as a starting point. For most of the items here, you can either buy on shops or order valentine’s gifts online!

Till next time,

Allen

PS: I forgot to mention but a valentine’s card or a personalized letter can go a long way.