I came to know about these group buying sites last year when I first stumbled upon Ensogo. At that time, the group-buying industry has yet to boom and people were excited to get the latest deals. Who wouldn’t be when you can grab whopping discounts for 50% up to 80% for anything from cutting tools to the latest beauty treatment?

A year forward and we’ve witnessed the mushrooming of group-buying sites and of course, the tons of horror stories from customers who were shortchanged or who did not get to use their vouchers altogether. I’ve then decided to do a mini-review of my own purchases from the group-buying sites that littered the internet. Please be reminded that my opinion is based on my personal account when I claimed/used my deal vouchers, hence my experience may be different with yours or your friends’. Thanks!

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ENSOGO

Probably the first of its kind in Manila and one of the biggest. For over a year, it has been faced with a lot of complaints from dissatisfied customers. So far, I’ve had 6 transactions with them but I haven’t had any problems with them so far. I always get my vouchers at once after paying for them probably because I usually pay via Paypal or Credit Card so it’s more automated on their part, but, I’ve also had my fair share of problems with the deals I purchased from them in the past.

Good Deal #1

The Merchant: LEGEND OF INDIA

The Deal: Pay PHP200 for PHP500 worth of food

Vouchers Bought: 2

Claimed/Used: February 2011

My boyfriend and I went to have dinner at Legend of India a few days after Valentines’ Day. I did not have any problems making a reservation. When we got there, we were greeted by polite and friendly food servers. The place was not packed and we were actually the only customers that night until another group came. The food was okay (I especially loved the Manchow Soup. It was spicy but good!) The price was also fair. We exceeded the PHP1,000 limit of the vouchers we had so we had to pay the excess. For my first deal from Ensogo, it wasn’t such a bad experience.

 

Good Deal #2

The Merchant: FruiQuet

The Deal: Pay PHP325 for a Sunny Tropics fruit bouquet worth PHP650

Vouchers Bought: 1

Claimed/Used: March 2011

Bought this voucher specifically for my mom’s birthday. I thought that a fruit bouquet delivered right at her office will be a pleasant birthday surprise. Guess what? I was right. I used the voucher when I placed my order online though I had to spend for the delivery fee and the add-ons such as a picture message card and a small jar of chocolate fondue (which was okay because it was explicitly stated that delivery fee is not included in the promo). Imagine the look at my mom’s face when the delivery man arrived. Not only was she pleased to see a bouquet for her, but she was even more thrilled to receive a unique kind of bouquet. I was happy with the outcome of this deal. But my mom was even happier.

 

Good Deal #3

The Merchant: Kartini Spa

The Deal: PHP 1,500 for a Complete Mother’s Day Package which includes a 90-minute Body Scrub with Massage and 30-minute foot spa, plus a 45-minute Special Facial with Collagen Mask Treatment.

Vouchers Bought: 1

Claimed/Used: August 2011

Bought this for mom for Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, we were both out-of-town on Mother’s Day and she had a function to attend to the week after. It was pushed back until it became my Pre-boards Thank You gift to my mom in August! LOL. Anyway, booking for my mom’s treat was not a hassle and my mom was pampered and treated to a nice scrub, body massage and facial. She said the whole experience was nice. I don’t know if I got a really good deal for just 1,500 but if it made my mom happy, then I probably did.

 

Good Deal #4

The Merchant: Chocolat Deep Dark Chocolate Cakes

The Deal: Only PHP320 for a 9” Round Whole Death by Tablea Chocolate Cake worth PHP640.

Vouchers Bought: 1

Claimed/Used: August 2011

We were supposed to use this as a Mother’s Day present for my beau’s mom but because we were both out-of-town on Mother’s Day, we were not able to claim the voucher at once. I ended up claiming the cake a few days short before it was to expire. The voucher took a few days before it arrived in my account as we paid via Banco De Oro deposit. Aside from that, confirming my pick-up and getting it at their Mall of Asia branch was not a hassle. My mom and brothers loved it. I am not a big fan of dark chocolate so I didn’t enjoy it much. Hehe. It was a good deal nonetheless.

To be continued…

Davao Day 3! It’s our last day in Davao and we had the whole day devoted to sight-seeing and exploring what the city has to offer. Still part of our Davao Adventour Package, we went to visit the Davao Crocodile Park, Butterfly Farm, Tribu K’ Mindanawan Cultural Village and Zip City.

We had to checkout early from the hotel and just left our baggages at the concierge. We were then dropped off at the Davao Crocodile Park and we were on our own from there since the trip back to the hotel and to the airport was no longer covered by Crown Regency. We took time taking loads of pictures of the animals at the park before we headed to the cultural village where there’s not much to see and to the Butterfly Farm which was a long walk from where these two places were. The Davao Crocodile Park is rather small and aside from the numerous crocs and a number of colorful birds, nothing’s too exciting at the park in the morning. We decided to just return in the afternoon for the shows after we have had lunch and had our turn at the zipline. As I said earlier, there’s nothing much to see at the cultural village save for the tribal houses which were in not-so-good condition anyway. There was also a cultural dance show in the afternoon but we decided to skip it since we were supposed to be at the airport early ‘coz we don’t want to miss our flight. The butterfly farm is a sight because of the numerous butterflies hovering around your head. Back in Cebu, Bryan and I went to visit this unenclosed butterfly farm which showcases butterflies from the mountains which the keeper managed to naturally attract by growing a variety of flowers to which these colorful insects are attracted to. This butterfly farm in Davao is just like any other butterfly farms where the insects are kept inside with a net. I forgot to wear perfume at that time so I wasn’t swarmed by butterflies unlike in Cebu where a number of butterflies clung unto me because of the perfume I had worn that day. What I liked most about Davao City is that the city is tourist-friendly. In all tourist spots within the city, there’s a list of phone numbers of taxi companies if you need to be picked up. We ended up hiring a taxi who waited for us while we had lunch at Dencio’s Hilltop to bring us to Zip City and back to Davao Crocodile Park in time for the afternoon shows. After lunch, despite being so full, we headed to Zip City which was a stone’s throw away from Dencio’s. It was a fun ride as always. Compared to the zipline experience at Ugong Rock in Palawan, this was harmless. =) We also met again our rafting photographer and another raft guide from the previous day who were manning the zip line on our third day. Afterwhich, we headed back to the Davao Crocodile Park for the animal shows. If you’re going to visit the park, make sure you don’t miss the animal shows which showcases crocodiles, the friendly chimpanzee Carlo and the colorful trained birds who’ll showcase a trick or two. They also feature a tightrope walker who’ll breathlessly cross a crocodile pen filled with wild crocodiles! Alas, we were not able to appreciate the tightrope act because we were too far away to see clearly what was going on and we didn’t have ncstar binoculars on hand. After the shows, it started to rain and we then rushed to call a taxi before the rain starts to pour harder. We then headed to the airport and tearfully left Davao to face the realities in Manila. =P

All in all, I realized that the promo package was worth it. The white water rafting alone already costs 2,000 per head and the villa we stayed in was beyond my expectations. We might have saved a lot more if only we were able to get discounted flights to Davao beforehand but hey. The experience wasn’t too bad for a last-minute out-of-town trip. I really can’t wait to go back soon to explore the beaches in Samal Island. Next year perhaps? =D

The Day 2 of our Davao Adventour was the day we’d be dealing with the rapids. I honestly didn’t have a clue on what was to go on but I had this image of a raft bravely going with the flow of a raging river with the passengers hanging on for their dear life in any case the raft capsizes. Just to illustrate how unprepared we were for our white water rafting adventure, I came dressed in a spaghetti-strapped blouse, a pair of shorts and my Havaianas. Oh yes. I wore Havaianas to do white water rafting in Davao! Bee and my brothers didn’t have a clue as well. Bee even brought a bag with him, which, luckily was small enough to fit inside the locker they lent us. Our rafting trip was courtesy of Davao Wild Water Adventures who had the most amusing lineup of guides/lifeguards. We were dropped off at the Davao Crocodile Park by the hotel and I thought there was some misunderstanding until I realized that the Davao Wild Water Adventure office was located inside the park. Silly me! Anyway, we were then asked to sign this waiver (to protect themselves from a harassing Texas Business Lawyers!) and were led to pick our gadgets: a life vest and a helmet for protection. I didn’t realize until later on that the helmet I got was that for a child! Haha! Looks like I still am a child after all. =P Then, a short briefing followed before we embarked on an hour ride to the river. The place was absolutely beautiful and picture-perfect. Too bad, we didn’t have our own camera at that time. When we got at the drop-off point, a second briefing followed on how to properly wear the life jacket and the helmet, then, we were ushered to our respective rafts.

There were four groups of rafts on this trip and we had the least number of passengers in our raft: me, Bee and my two brothers plus our boatman Loloy. We were then taught on how to paddle properly and were instructed on how to do defensive swimming (orient yourself and make sure you’re riding down the river flow and not against it, lean back, hold your paddle against your chest and go with the flow ). When it was my turn to jump off the raft for simulation/practice, I inadvertently swallowed some water and got a real scare. Gah. If I almost panicked during a staged capsizing of the raft, what more if it was the real thing?!?!?! It was then that I started silently praying that our boat would not capsize.

As if I was being played with, just a few minutes after we started paddling down the river, we watched in horror (this is an exaggeration haha), how one of the rafts capsized after they rode down a huge wave. When it was already our turn, we luckily survived the first stop: “kiss the wall”, so named because rafts literally kiss the wall of the river when they ride the raging waters. After surviving our second, third and a number of wild waters, I had become more comfortable riding the waves. The trip down the river totaled four hours of paddling and praying. =P There was a stop in the middle of the trip where the gang had our packed lunch also courtesy of the rafting company. Around this time, the rain started to pour so all of us had to endure paddling against a now more swollen and more raging river. About three stops after, our raft unexpectedly capsized and everyone was thrown off. I found the raft right on top of my head as soon as had my first gasp of fresh air so I panicked. I was already holding on to the rope attached on the side of the raft but I knew I had to let go and find my way out of the raft. If you think the boatman will immediately grab you, think again. YOU’RE NOT THE FIRST PRIORITY OF THE BOATMAN. I repeat. You’re not the priority and it’s for a good reason. You see, the boatman has to turn the raft right side up and climb on top of it before he starts plucking the rest of the gang from the water. I dunno how long I was in the water but it was perhaps the longest one or two minutes of my life. For a moment, I felt like I was being dragged deeper into the river bottom despite the life jacket. I was almost about to cry when I felt a tug on my hand. It was Bee and he was floating right beside me!!!! It was a movie-worthy moment. There he was, my knight-in-shining-armor, holding on to me lest the river sweeps me farther away. We were the first two passengers to be rescued. One of my brothers ended up being “saved” by another raft while we tried hard to catch up with my other brother to save him. After that horrifying moment, we were just all laughing and sharing stories on that moment. Loloy even shared that he didn’t expect our raft to capsize at that moment especially since that area wasn’t notorious for capsizing rafts. But then, a large rock and a huge wave aren’t exactly the best combination so we ended up losing our raft. =P Luckily for us, we didn’t capsize during the rest of the trip. After four long hours, we finally reached our destination. My brothers sustained minor bruises from scratching against rocks while they were submerged in the water but nevertheless, we survived the rapids in one piece. Unfortunately, my eyeglasses didn’t survive the trip. I lost one of the lens when it suddenly snapped out of place. I’m sure by this time it’s somewhere at the bottom of the ocean already. =( We were all asleep on our journey back to Davao Crocodile Park. That night we shared a sumptuous dinner at Ahfat Seafood Plaza and had a wonderful massage at the hotel before retiring to another good day in Davao. =)

If you’re in Samal Island and have no means of transportation, the best way to tour the island is via a habal-habal. But be warned though that the rate you initially discussed with the driver may not be the rate you’ll eventually pay for after the trip like what happened to us. I know. Life in the Philippines sometimes sucks. =S

Since we did not enjoy the Maxima Aqua Fun tour bundled with the package, we decided to tour Samal Island on our own in a habal-habal. The initial rate was 400 pesos for one motorcycle for a trip to the Montfort Bat Cave and Haguimit Falls plus the ride back to Maxima Aqua Fun. I am not a fan of riding motorcycles, plus the fact that we might encounter virtually any accident along the road and not survive it had me thinking twice but I had no choice. We had to ride down the roughs and the cemented road to the Montfort Bat Cave which houses the largest colony of fruit-eating bats in the world, now approximately 2.5 million in number. We were the only tourists who visited the cave at that time. Not much to see except watch the millions of bats do their thing (ie. sleep, fly to another side of the very densely-populated cave, flirt with another bat) and enjoy the smell of their poop. =D There’s also a hall with a number of boards displaying fast facts and some pictures of the bats. Not far away and in plain view from the Montfort Bat Cave area is a strip of white sand beach and clear-blue waters they called “Vanishing Island”. The sight is picture-perfect, like one out of those holiday cards. Vanishing Island is accessible via a short pump-boat ride which costs 800 pesos. We were not able to go to the island due to time constraints but promised to go back there in the future. We were told though that there are no accommodations in that island (of course, Mnel! The island vanishes during high tide. Hehe). We then went our way to Haguimit Falls which is nearer Maxima Aqua Fun. Entrance fee is pretty cheap and when you get there, you’ll be greeted by a number of “resorts” offering tables for daytrippers to small cabanas and rooms for those who’ll be sleeping over. The water was cool and clean and we frolicked a bit before realizing it was already almost 4:30 pm. If only we weren’t held back by the poor food service at Maxima, we would have gone to Haguimit Falls sooner and enjoyed the cool waters longer. =S

Our first day was perhaps the most expensive day of our trip! We spent almost 1,000 plus each because the habal-habal rate suddenly inflated after we have finished our trip from 400 pesos per motorcycle to 750 pesos! Grabe! If we only knew. We capped the day with a dinner at the Famous Fifties restaurant at Crowne Regency. Food was okay and reasonably priced, not really superb but enough to fill four hungry stomachs tired from touring Samal Island. =)

Prologue: On our Day 1 of the Davao Adventour courtesy of Crowne Regency Davao, the itinerary was changed from park tours to a tour at Maxima Aqua Fun.

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When I learned that Maxima Aqua Fun was at Samal Island, the imagery of pristine white sand beaches flashed on my mind ‘coz that was exactly what this island has become famous for. I was asleep most of the duration of the trip to Maxima Aqua Fun so when I woke up, I was dismayed with what I saw. No. There were no white-sand beaches or cottages to rent. The place looked deserted but it was also the middle of the week so that wasn’t really surprising. I was hoping I could lounge around under the shade of a beach umbrella, but how can you expect umbrellas when there aren’t even any beachy shoreline in sight. Instead, there were two giant slides made of tarpaulin leading you to the great abyss underwater. Before you start squirming, swimmers and non-swimmers alike are mandated to wear life jackets before they even think of staying anywhere near the water. And even if perhaps you’re one of the world’s greatest swimmers, I’m sure you’ll feel obliged to wear one after seeing the water’s depth.

We were starving when we arrived Maxima Aqua Fun but the boatman told us that there was a canteen where we could order food from. Much to our (additional) dismay, they didn’t have anything on the menu except grilled bangus and a few pieces of longganisa which were of course, overpriced. I was surprised when she showed me the bill which she manually wrote and added (no barcode scanner in sight). We weren’t the only people in the place. There were about three/four other groups who chose to spend their Wednesday lunchtime at Maxima Aqua Fun but we were (along with another group of Metrodeal guests) the only ones who didn’t bring any baon . Everyone except us, knew that Maxima Aqua Fun is more of a family picnic place. I should have known better. =S

We ended up waiting almost 2 hours for the grilled bangus and two pieces of longganisa. My group was famished and tired from being up all night for our very early morning flight. Imagine that! The other Metrodeal guests decided to just go back to the hotel when the ferry left at lunch. We decided to give the place a chance. Before our trip, I had a number of private message exchanges with another Metrodeal customer “Tabularasa08″ from Girltalk forums who was in Davao a week back before us. She told me that instead of staying at Maxima Aqua Fun, her group just decided to explore the island on a habal-habal. (For the uninitiated, riding a habal-habal means hitching a ride on a motorcycle which is a famous mode of transportation in the provinces.) We decided to do the same.

(To be continued)

Before I finally marched for the 7th time for a graduation rite, I hopped on the plane with Bee and my two brothers in tow for a Davao adventure. Actually, this Davao trip was unplanned and if not for the Metrodeal discount offer that I stumbled upon last April, we wouldn’t have even thought of going to Davao. All four of us were Davao first-timers and this was actually our first trip together as a group – minus the parents. I didn’t really know what to expect.

I bought the vouchers last April and minutes after I bought them, I immediately called up Crowne Regency to book a trip. I initially booked for two standard rooms but I had to request for an “upgrade” a week before the trip since my mom wasn’t coming with us anyway. From a two standard room accommodation, we upgraded to a family villa. (Crowne Regency is actually offering the deal at their website. 7,499 for 2 people in a standard room accomodation or 14,998 for a group of 4 in a family villa. Same inclusions for both deals.) Also a week before the trip, I received a call from Crowne Regency informing me of the changes in the itinerary. Instead of a day tour at Crocodile Farm, Butterfly House, Tribu K’ Mindanawan and Zip City on the first day, we were scheduled to visit Samal Island and Maxima Aqua Fun instead. We took the first flight to Davao c/o Cebu Pacific and took the cab to Crowne Regency when we arrived at the airport (airport transfers are not included in the package). The trip to Crowne Regency cost us 120 pesos. Although the real check-in time was 2 pm, we were lucky that our room was available as early as 6 am so we were able to take a nap before going to Samal Island. As soon as we were ushered to our villa, I was pleasantly surprised to see a two-floor unit complete with a living room, kitchen and a comfort room on the first floor and two large rooms with a common bathroom on the second floor. The larger room had a queen-sized bed and the other room had two single beds with fine, crisp linens (sferra linens?). We also had a small veranda and a TV set was placed inside the bigger room (no tv downstairs!). At 8 am, we waited at the lobby for the van that will take us to the wharf. We met four other tourists who also availed of the Metrodeal offer (a couple and the girl’s mother and father). Apparently it was their second day in Davao. When we got to the wharf, a little confusion ensued when we were told by the locales that there was no boat ride to Maxima Aqua Fun on a Wednesday! We had to call up the hotel to confirm and we were instructed to just wait for the boat. A few minutes later, a large pumpboat docked at the wharf. The trip to Samal Island approximately lasted 30-45 minutes (?) and when we got to Maxima Aqua Fun, I was dismayed.

(To be continued)