Burnham Lake

Boracay (again)

It's nice to be in Boracay (again) for a 4-day vacation!

At last I have my new passport!

I usually renew my passport in October every 5 years.  This year, I thought of having my passport renewed earlier. Maybe in time for something in October? *wink* -- I am saving this for another post. I must wait until things are certain. :)

Anyway, I applied for the renewal of my passport last June 4. I was told to be at DFA-Baguio (located at SM City Baguio) as early as possible.  Some said I should be there at 8AM, others said 5AM, while someone said I should be there as early as 2AM (of course, I thought this was OA).  Okay, so Jason my love, arrived in the area earlier (5AM) than I did (545AM). He did so for me to get into the queue ahead of the others.  After more than 3 hours of queuing, numbers were distributed at 9AM.  These numbers indicate what time the applicants must be back for the processing of their papers.  My processing time was between 12 noon to 1 pm.  That means that we have 3 hours to wait. Jason and I took advantage of that time to have extra copies of my documents and have lunch.

And so at around 12 noon, I was already back at SM.  This time, I went straight to their office.  Jason had to leave for work and so I texted my sister, Ria to come see me.

It took about 65 minutes for the entire process - from lodging of the documents to the last stage which includes encoding of data, picture taking, thumbmarking, and affixing of signature. I was told that I can pick up my passport July 18. Last July 16, I have received a message that said:

 

I waited for their text message but I thought, I might not get one at all. So Jason and I decided to drop by DFA yesterday to check if my passport was already available.  In less than 10 minutes, I got my new passport!

Eating at Charlie's Grind and Grill

My aunt (a cousin of my Pop) is one great food-finder!  Because her family loves to eat in the greatest places on earth, she practically knows all the best restos in the world!

Theo and I frequent Metro Manila but we never have tried this restaurant that my aunt described to have the Best Angus Burger in Town - Charlie's Grind and Grill. At that time, we didn't know where exactly it was located in Pasig City and so, just like what we usually do, we walked and walked and walked. And there it was! Just like how my aunt described it - "You won't see it immediately because it's just like a garage. There's a carwash station there." While reading the sign and the tagline "Handcrafted Burgers", I thought that it was a very unique way of describing burgers.  Then I thought, it might be just like a normal burger joint with fancy names and mediocre-tasting grub.  Well... that WAS what I thought...

Once there, I pretended to survey the overhead menu though I already knew in my heart what I wanted.  Theo and I ordered the Black Angus Burger with French Fries. While eating, we looked around to observe.  The place is full of customers even if it was already a little late - it was around 11PM! 

The cooler on the left is
where the sauces are!

We saw how people come and go. We saw how people enjoyed their food with all those FREE sauces and condiments which you can just get from their cooler and enjoy.  You just have to be patient because even with the number of sauces they have, and with all the customers they have at a given time, you'd probably end up waiting for your turn to indulge in their yummy sauces! The have great burger sauces: Horsey Wasabi, American, Russion, and Aioli.

Black Angus Burger
with Fries

Finally, our order was served.  We were in awe to even start eating.  Portion-wise, the burger was HUGE! The burger was perfectly done and is sinfully succulent that extra sauce was not necessary!  Diet??  Well, anyone would be a fool not to break their diet upon taking a bite of this burger!  Aside from the burgers we used to eat at Camp John Hay's 19th Tee years ago, nothing really comes close to the taste of this delicious burger! It took us a while to chomp on our food because of its size. Even Theo who had a great appetite had a difficulty consuming his burger.  However, he was already planning what to get the next time we visit Charlie's again.  He wanted to get the Buffalo Wings which we actually ordered on the next visit (of course with my favorite, the Black Angus Burger)! 

Buffalo Wings

Charlie's Grind & Grill
16 East Capitol Drive, Bo. Kapitolyo, Pasig City 
Now Charlie's Grind and Grill has opened a new branch in accessible Greenhills

Beware of this Establishment if You Visit Baguio City!

I have been a business teacher for more than 10 years already. In some of the subjects I teach, I lecture on the basics of Consumer Rights. And as such, I am aware of the Consumer Act of the Philippines.

This is intended to share my experience at the Camp John Hay Factory Outlet Store. This is one store we visit at least once a month and I never fail to buy whatever I am interested in. But this will be HISTORY!

Let me share my bad experience which I hope won't be experienced by others. They had some items

displayed and marked “50% on selected items.” They had this rack where one side had some tube blouses where the prices on the tags were crossed out with red ink which gave me the idea that they were on sale.

There was this pink tube blouse that caught my attention and since it was the only one of its

color among several blacks and browns, I thought that it was a good buy. I checked the price tag, it WAS Php 525.00 and saw that red ink across the price. However, since the CURRENT selling price was not indicated, I checked the black and brown ones and saw they had the SAME code: MX09077 and that Php 262.50 written in red ink and the price of Php 525.00 was also crossed out with red ink.

So I brought the item to the cashier and was ready to pay for it. However, when she entered the

code on the POS machine, the price Php 525.00 is registered. Then the cashier asked me, “Kinuha niyo ba ito sa may 50%?” ("Did you get this from the items marked 50%?) and I answered “Yes.” The sales lady behind me whom I assume to be the one in-charge of that area where I got the item called out and said “Oo, 50% yan. Naka-sale yan.” ("Yes, that is 50%. That is on sale") The cashier again tried to enter the code on the machine and it still registered Php 525.00. Then she asked me (which really irked me), “Sigurado ba kayo na doon niyo kinuha? Kasi baka naihalo lang eh.” ("Are you sure you got it from there? Because it might just got mixed up.") Again, the other sales lady told her colleague, “Oo, naka 50% yan.” ("Yes, that is on 50%") The cashier then proceeded by telling me that the item was NOT on sale. And I told her that I can report them for price deception because the price tags proved otherwise.

They called their supervisor and the supervisor told me the same – that the item was NOT on sale. She instructed another employee to get another blouse perhaps so that they could check the price. While they were at it, I decided to go back to the rack to take a picture of the price tag on the black and brown tube blouses which I thought I could use as an evidence just in case. To my surprise, the black and brown tube blouses were no longer on the rack! Yes, each and every piece of them! I looked around and found it somewhere else away from the rack. I was given the impression that they had an intention of keeping the merchandise because of what happened. The supervisor kept explaining that the item PROBABLY was not included in the discounted items otherwise, it would have been read by their POS system. HELLO??!! The pink, brown, and black tube dresses had the SAME code!

Articles 82 and 83 of RA#7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines) states that “Price tags, labels or markings must be written clearly, indicating the price of the consumer product per unit in pesos and centavos and that there shall be no erasures or alterations of any sort of price tags, labels or markings.”

Sure, they said SORRY but did not have any clear explanation of the issue at hand. I ended up not buying the item because I was not so happy with what happened. Even my companions ended up not buying the items they wanted to purchase.

Concerned offices and agencies should do something about this!

To the concerned establishment (and others out there who are doing the same) remember, getting new customers would cost much more than maintaining ones already doing business with you!