Business permit and everything

Okay, so last May, I finally decided to get a business permit for my events organizing and marketing consultancy business, Chimes Concepts. I figured if I want to cater to corporate accounts, who would need an official receipt, I would have to go get a business permit. It all started with the business name registration. Dealng with DTI would be the easy part. My business name was registrered in no time, though, I didn’t get to attend an orientation because it was unavailable. DTI said the semnar room was being renovated or something.

The business permit all started with CEMCDO, then barangay clearance then off you go to city hall for all the pitstops. I think the whole process was made difficult with going to and from the different departments. Some are just in the compound. Some are way out of the area like City Health Office. There was always a couple minutes of interrogation when they see my line or nature of business. Hmm… they haven’t seem to have heard about event management. Really? Yup, really.

The BIR part was tedious because it required birth certificates and marriage certificates in my case being a sole proprietor. I had to go to NSO for all the certificates which was not pretty. The place was stuffy, the waiting is tiring. BIR also is not as business-friendly or applicant-friendly unlike business permit. You see, the business permit had a guide or list of things to do, in proper order, to get to the finish line. BIR had a list but it was not a guide. Parang application pa lang, pinahihirapan ka na. Paano na lang sa filing ng returns? If you look stupid, they might make it hard for you. (So I try not to look stupid.)

So bottomline, if you want to get a business permit, go get it in January where they have a one-stop shop in the oval plaza. I am sure it will be much, much easier. Please also come prepared with cedula, change, multiple copies of your documents and all the other things they require.

Check out this motorcycle with a mini-store

I ws lucky to get on this tricycle a couple of weeks ago.

As you can see, the front part of the motorcyce has a candy and snacks rack. Very enterprising! I think this tricycle has been featured on TV Patrol Socsksargen also. Too bad my trip was just really short. Otherwise I could have bought from his store on wheels.

Why are flights and hotels in Gensan expensive?

Being active in the tourism industry in Gensan, hotels have been asked why there are not a lot of cheap hotels in Gensan. Well, there are cheap-cheap inns but what I think the question was referring to are decent hotels that don’t charge say more than 1,000 pesos.

Until Cebu Pacific came in, the airline ticket for Gensan to Manila and vice-versa was horrendous! It was about 10,000 for a round-trip ticket. It was more expensive than a round-trip ticket to Hongkong! But, lo and behold, when another airline came in, ticket prices were reduced substantially that it was almost a third of the previous rates. Well, I don’t blame Philippine Airlines for charging that much. It was the only airline who cared enough to put a flight to Gensan. If you come to think about it, we should even be thankful for the lone flight. But it was still expensive then. A lot of people were saying, we were fooled for a long time. *smile*

Now, the hunt for cheap tickets is not really hard. If you want the low fares, get on the not-so-busy days. But compared to other cities, our ticket prices are still a notch more expensive. As to the reason why, my theory is that its the frequency of the flight and the load factor. Since Gensan’s load factor says it can only sustain one flight per airline, then they just put one flight. If you only have one flight, it’s like a precious thing that the airline companies can charge what they want.

As to the hotels, it’s because a lot of the things that we need for the hotels are not made in the city and have yet to be bought from other cities like cleaning materials and linen. The hotel-booking market in Gensan also does not really provide the volume that can make hotel owners lower their rates. Therefore, it is a must to cook up some touristic activity in the city. Otherwise, things will pretty much stay as they currently are.

Veranda Cafe

Veranda Cafe on Tandem Center, National highway, is one of the newest restaurants in the city (I think they opened last year). I have been there twice but it was only on my second visit that I got to see their rooftop.

I honestly liked the place and sad that they didn’t really get a lot of guests that night. I do plan to go back there another time at around 4 or 5pm to catch the sunset. It is probably the only place you canget a good view of the sunset in the downtown area.

Here’s a photo of the cafe’s interior dining area.

On the two visits I have had, there were not a lot of guests. Too bad. The menu is neither astounding nor too simple. They coffee blends, pasta and all the assortment of dishes but nothing that differentiates them from other restaurants.

I cannot say a lot about the food because I have only tried an order of cold cafe mocha and cheese sticks. The cheese sticks were good but the dip dould have been different. The cafe mocha was sadly served in a lousy takeout cup that drips from the lid. The taste was good though.

On the question of will I be going back, yes, I will because I do want to try out their food and to catch the sunset again.

Reusing Plastic Bags

I watched a TV show last week where they featured a town where market and grocery shoppers were encouraged to use baskets and bring their own plastic bags. The stores are actually giving a discount off those who would bring their own bags!

I honestly wish that the same could be implemented here in Gensan too. I would say that most of us would go grocery shopping around once a week or every other week. For an average family, you probably buy two or three bags’ worth of items at a time. Add to that the other plastic bags you accumulate from bakeshops, drugstores, school supplies store and department stores. That’s a whole lot of plastic bags! At home, we do get to use the plastic bags for the trash but that’s using a bag for about two days. We actually have a big plastic bag full of plastic bags.

When we go to the market, we bring our own plastic bags so that we don’t have to buy bags in the market anymore. Besides, grocery bags are a lot better in carrying the weight of vegetables than the thin bags they sell in the market.

Going back to my wish, I do wish that supermarkets would encourage shoppers to bring their own bags. I don’t mind not being given some centavos off. Besides the stores would be saving on costs for new plastic bags, we will be doing our battered environment a favor.

Father’s Day Promotions

Check out these special treats for all fathers out there and the whole family on Father’s day. Some of you might not have been giving much attention to this day but, hey, it’s not too late to start a good family tradition.

AT SIX’ BLINGS OSTRICH RESTO

Celebrate Father’s Day at Six’ Blings on June 15 with a 10% discount on food orders. Also, try their ICE-COLD BEER guaranteed below-zero at San Mig Sports Bar. Order five buckets of beer and get one plastic bucket with bottle opener and ostrich sisig pulutan for free. Call 5538808 or 3021961 for inquiries.

AT ORANGE BISTRO

Come and celebrate Father’s Day on June 15, 2008 at Orange Bistro. Enjoy our ala carte menu and a complimentary glass of wine for all dads! For reservations call 301 5555.

A Visit to Gen. Paulino Santos Museum

I have mentioned in a previous blog how some Generals haven’t even been tourists or visitors to Gensan’s, or Socsksaregen’s, tourist destination. So on this blog, I am going to give you a glimpse of Gen. Paulino Santos Museum located in NDDU. From what I’ve read, the items from Gen. Santos’ life were turned over to the museum in February 2007.

The museum is organized in a way that you see the majority of the place upon entering. There is a P 5 entrance fee or donation to see the museum. (Please give more if you can!) It is small for all the other possible things it can contain. Majority of the display are of Gen. Santos’ life. Most of artifacts from the General’s personal things are still in good shape. It was fascinating to look at his wardrobe, his tailor’s patterns for his clothes and documents.

There are also a few artifacts of South Cotabato and from Manny Pacquiao.

The coin collection of Bro. Lubrico was also on display.

I am not blown away from what I saw BUT for me, it is a good start anyway. There was not a lot to see and there could be more people visiting the museum. So please do try and visit the museum. The money from your visit, I am sure, can help the museum management.

Booking for Gensan hotels online

Searching and booking for hotels located here in Gensan was hard in previous years. It is only in recent years when major hotels decided to finally get their own websites. Even travel websites do not have any hotel for Gensan unlike Manila hotels.

Not surprising, though, because, in the first place, and no offense meant to the Generals and local tourism offices, Gensan was not and still is not a tourist destination like say, London Hotels. These has changed, though, and now, if you search for gensan hotels, there are a lot of entries already for hotels in General Santos.

There are several problems though. One, the travel websites do not actually have contracted rates with the hotels in gensan. Meaning, either their rates are not right for the hotel they are selling or, if you do book, the chance that the booking will progress is far-fetched. Second, the hotel’s own websites do not rank well in search engines. I honestly think that that should be a consideration when putting up your own website. They do have websites but are miles away from the first page to be of any value. Three, even hotels’ email addresses used for reservations or indicated in their websites are not monitored on a daily basis for inquiries. The possibility of a booking being lost because of lack of diligence in checking mails is very high. Sometimes, you don’t get a reply at all! I know because I have tried sending inquiries to their email addresses. If you ever try searching and booking for say, Bangkok hotels, you will know the difference! It is also another issue altogether that hotel rates for gensan hotels are not as travel agent-friendly as you’d wish them to be.

Bottomline is hotels have to decide whether they want bookings or not. They have to realize now that they cannot depend for local bookings entirely and that there are potential sources of bookings if only they will open their eyes.

A Night of Music and Laughter

You are all invited to the special event happening at Family Country Hotel on June 14, 2008.

“A Night of Music and Laughter”

with Willie Nepumoceno

the great impersonator and comedian

Enjoy a sumptuous buffet dinner for a cause. Proceeds will be for the completion of the Phil National Red Cross building.

Date: JUne.14,2008 at the Family Country Hotel & Convention Centre.

Tickets solds @ P1,000.00 & P500.00 with dinner and other special privileges from Family Country Hotel.

For inquiries & reservation please call (083) 552-8896.

Jill’s Specialty Shop

Check out the newly-opened Jill’s Specialty Shop located in the STI Building, J. Catolico. It’s a boutique selling high-quality clothes, shoes, perfume, accessories and kids’ clothes AT VERY GOOD PRICES! I checked it out last week and the choices are to my approval. The ladies’ clothes are elegant, the design I like actually, the fabrics used are not ordinary and the prices, it’s not expensive.

Too bad the shop is small because I would really love to see more choices. The staff manning the shop are very courteous and they do know how to sell. Not makulit and not lazy to attend to you either.

So if you’re looking for another place to buy your kikay stuff from, go visit Jill’s Specialty Shop now!