Gateway Platinum Cinema (Cineplex 10): Is It Worth It?

  Gateway Platinum Cinema (Cineplex 10): Is It Worth It?

The Difference Between a Regular Cinema and Gateway Platinum Cinema

Ticket Price:

The regular cinema ticket price is P180-P200.

Gateway platinum cinema ticket price is P351, which includes a medium size plain popcorn and a 16 oz. drink.

Private Lounge

If you arrive early for the show, you can stay at this private lounge and read newspapers. 
The entrance of the cinema is the door at the left of this photo.

Popcorn and Drink included

When you enter the lounge, the usherette  will ask you  what drink you prefer and if you want flavored popcorn.  Medium size plain popcorn is included. But if you want flavored popcorn, you pay the usherette an additional 10 pesos

Your choice of drinks are regular Coke, Coke zero, Sprite, Iced tea or bottled mineral water.

Your medium size plain popcorn and 16 oz. drink is served when you take your seat.

The usher distributing popcorn and drinks after we took our seats

Seats

La-Z-Boy leather seats you can fully recline into a flat bed (well, almost). 

Seat Configuration: 5 rows, 8 seats per row, for a total of 40 seats 

Screen view from Row E, the best row

Screen view from my seat at Row C, Seat 7

Les Miserables

Anne Hathaway playing Fantine singing "I Dreamed a Dream"

Private Toilet

IS IT WORTH THE ADDITIONAL COST?

Yes, it is. 

A regular cinema ticket cost from 180-200 pesos. If you add 59 pesos for a medium size plain popcorn and 35 pesos for a 16 oz drink bought at the Snaxx counter (you can only bring in food and drinks bought from the Snaxx counter), your total cost will be around 294 pesos. 

Compare it with the 351 pesos price of a Gateway Platinum Cinema ticket. The difference is only around 57 pesos. In effect, you pay only an additional 57 pesos for the amenities I mentioned above. 

Of course, it will be a different matter if you don't buy popcorn and drinks when you go to the movies.

MORE TIPS:

Check my post: How to Get the Best Seats    

Where to find Gateway Platinum Cinema

At Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao

View Larger Map

At the 5th level of Gateway Mall

My tip: The nearest entrance to Gateway Platinum Cinema is through General Roxas Ave, side of Krispy Creme or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Use the escalator or elevator to get to the fifth level. 

Gateway Platinum Cinema (Cineplex 10): How to get the best seats

Gateway Platinum Cinema (Cineplex 10): 

How to get the best seats 

Gateway Platinum Cinema is one of the Top Ten Best Cinemas in Metro Manila. It's a bit expensive compared to regular cinemas in Metro Manila so it's important to get the best seat in the house with the best viewing experience. These are my tips on how to get the best seats.

There are two ways to make reservations: 

1. Online at Ticketnet.

You get the email below after reserving online:

Dear Ma’am, Good day! Here are the details of your reservation: 

Movie	Les Miserables
Cinema	Gateway Platinum Cinema
Screening Date & Time	JAN. 26 / 2:00 PM
Row/Seat Number	ROW C / SEATS 3-8
Number of Tickets	6
Booking Number	71849
Amount (additional P10 per ticket is included for the handling charge)	PHP 2106.00

 Reminders:
 1.      Please note your booking number.2.      You may claim your ticket/s at Counter 6 ,two (2) hours before the screening time.3.      Please mention your booking number to the Cinema’s Cashier.  Enjoy the movie!  Dimple CalicdanGateway Cineplex Customer Service Center911-5555

Advantage of booking online: You can make reservations even before the cinema ticketing counter opens at 10:00 AM.

Disadvantages:

1. The seats are chosen for you by the system.

2. You must be at the cinema ticketing counter, AT THE LATEST, two (2) hours before the screening time. Otherwise, your reservation will be cancelled.

2. By calling Ticketnet at 911-5555.

Advantage of calling Ticketnet: When you make a reservation through a Ticketnet's customer service agent, you can choose your seats.

Disadvantages:
1. You can make reservations only when the Ticketnet office opens at 10:00 AM.
2. You must be at the cinema ticketing counter, AT THE LATEST, two (2) hours before the screening time. Otherwise, your reservation will be cancelled.

What are the best cinema seats

The best cinema seats are in Row E, seats numbers 3-6
The next best seats are in Row D, 3-6

Row A is nearest the screen

How to get the best seats

1. Book online as early as early as you can. Why? The online booking system is open 24 hours unlike the Ticketnet call center, which opens only at 10:00 AM. You cannot book your ticket the day before the show so you need to wait until the Ticketnet site opens reservations for the current day's show. The Ticketnet online reservation opens earlier than the Ticketnet call center.

In my case, I booked my reservation online at 8:30 AM, and I got row C already. Apparently, 2 people were able to book earlier than I and they got the middle seats of row D and row E.

2. The online booking system assigns seats from the best to the worst. So if you're the first to book, the system will assign you row E. The system also considers row E the best seat.

Best Cinema Seats in Metro Manila Cinemas

Best Cinema Seats in Metro Manila Cinemas

My list of best cinema seats is not exhaustive and will be constantly updated. But in the meantime, I'd like to share with you what I have gathered so far.  

We do not watch movies in cinemas often but when we do I prefer to get advanced tickets and have the choice of best seats that I can reserve in advance. So, I usually choose the cinemas that allow me to buy tickets in advance and choose my seats, all preferably done online. So far, the cinemas that allow me to do the same are SM cinemas (www.smcinema.com) or Ayala cinemas (www.sureseats.com). 

After a movie, my kids give me feedback on their viewing experience with my choice of seats so this list resulted from that feedback. Simply said, these are the seats our family likes.

SM CINEMA

SM NORTH EDSA IMAX: ROW P (Seat 13-22)

As a rule, I usually choose the 2nd to the last row in Imax theaters, because of the size of the screen. So this choice also applies to other Imax theaters. As you may notice, there are green-shaded photos below. Those are house seats that you cannot book online. From my experience, I found that rows near (meaning above or below) the house seats are seats with the best viewing experience. Of course, always choose the middle.

SM MARIKINA CINEMA 1: ROW P (Seats 7-16)

The first time we watched at this cinema, I chose Row J, thinking it's a good middle row. Since the cinema is small, Row J turned out to be very near the screen. We had a difficult time watching the movie so the next time we watched, we chose a farther row. Row P turned out to be the best choice. As you may notice, it's again the row above the house seats, which the cinema management considers the best seats in the house. Of course, if you can get the house seats, then so much the better.

SM MARIKINA CINEMA 2: ROW P (Seats 7-16)

TRINOMA CINEMA

CINEMA 1: Row M (Seats 12-17)

CINEMA 7: Row L (Seats 14-23)

GATEWAY CINEMA

CINEPLEX 1: Row H (Seat 10-19)

CINEPLEX 3: Row H, J (Seat 13-21)

CINEPLEX 5: Row P (Seats 15-24)


CINEPLEX 6: Row H (Seats 10-16)

PLATINUM CINEMA / CINEMA 10: Row E (Seats 10-15)

For more details on Gateway Platinum Cinema: check out the ff: posts:
Gateway Platinum Cinema (Cineplex 10): How to get the best seats

NOTE: The higlighted row in the photo is not my best seat.
The best cinema seats are in Row E, seats numbers 3-6.
The next best seats are in Row D, 3-6.

ROBINSONS ANTIPOLO CINEMA

CINEMA 3: Row K (Seats 10-17) 

Philippine Azkals Match Schedule at the ASEAN Football Federation Championship Cup Suzuki Cup 2012

Philippine Azkals Match Schedule 

at the ASEAN Football Federation Championship Cup

Suzuki Cup 2012

Congratulations to the Azkals for Thursday night's second win against Singapore in it's last tune-up game before their first match at the AFF Suzuki Cup! Thursday night's performance show their winning form before the Championship games, thus bringing more excitement and more reason for Filipinos to watch the Championship games. Even FIFA (or International Federation of Football Associations), the international governing body of world football, has taken note of their outstanding performance in the past few months and features an article on its website detailing their achievements the past few months. Check out yesterday's FIFA article: Ambitious Azkals target regional glory. 

Watch the games and support the Azkals! These are their match schedule. The games are televised at Philippine local AKTV Channel 13.

Group Matches:

November 24, Saturday, 9 pm Philippine time: Philippines v Thailand

November 27, Tuesday, 6 pm, Philippine time: Philippines v Vietnam

November 30, Friday, 9 pm, Philippine time: Philippines v Myanmar

In case the Azkals make it to the ff. rounds, here are the dates:

Semi-Final Round

December 8/9

December 12/13

Final Round:

December 19

December 22

Checkout the Complete AFF match schedule

Pacquiao-Marquez 4 Skycable Pay-Per-View at 500 PESOS

Pacquiao-Marquez 4 Skycable Pay-Per-View 
at 500 PESOS

HOW TO AVAIL:

1. This is promo is available to new and existing Skycable POSTPAID subscribers.

2. If you are already a postpaid Skycable subscriber, call 381 000 to find out if your area is a serviceable location.

3. Make a letter request  for pay-per-view activation via email by NOVEMBER 18, 2012.

4. Address the email to telesales@skycable.com. Indicate the ff in your letter request:

Account Name:

Account Number:

Contact Number: 

Digibox Number:

• the digibox number can be found in the bar code area at the back of the digibox. 

5. After sending the email, call customer service again at 381 000 to inform them that you sent the letter request. Customer service will ask you to do the following:

a. Give the account name, account number and verify the identity of the person on the line. In my case, the subscription is under my husband's name so I need to inform them that I'm the spouse.

b. Open the TV where the specified digibox is installed.

c. Open Channel 135. At first the screen will show "No right to access scrambled program."

d. When  the customer service agent has activated your pay-per-view, the screen will show advertisements. That's when the customer service agent will confirm pay-per-view activation.

6. Watch the fight as early as 8am at Skycable channel 135 (Season Pass HD).


Take note of the following details:
1. The 500 pesos rate is applicable only if you subscribe to the pay-per-view service by November 18, 2012.
2. The 500 pesos rate is for standard definition feed only. If you have a full hd subscription, you pay 1000 pesos.
3. The 500 pesos rate is applicable per digibox. If you have more than one digibox under your account, you have to indicate the digibox number where you want the pay-per-view show to appear.
4. The 500 pesos fee will be charged to your account in the next billing statement.

The Matinloc Island at El Nido

The Matinloc Island at El Nido

Why see the Matinloc Island at El Nido

From the highest point you can climb at Matinloc Island, you see the most breathtaking view of the sea, the islands and the blue sky. Check out the photos below.

What to expect when you arrive at the Matinloc Shrine

Docking at Matinloc Island

Climb these steps at the right side of the entrance of this island to see the breathtaking view I was talking about earlier. As you can see, my children were able to climb these steps to see the view. It's definitely worth the climb.

They made it!

THE VIEW AT THE TOP OF THE STEPS

Let the photos speak for themselves!

 

Be careful walking down

The Matinloc Shrine

Inside Matinloc Shrine

Underneath the shrine is a small "museum" narrating the story of why a shrine was built there.

THE STORY OF MATINLOC SHRINE

Guadalupe Yabes, a religious visionary, had a vision of the Blessed Virgin who instructed her to search for a heart-shaped island and build a "Shrine of the New Jerusalem"

The heart-shaped island turned out to be Matinloc Island

The Shrine of the New Jerusalem was eventually built.

The Hidden Lagoon at El Nido

The Hidden Lagoon at El Nido

Why see the Hidden Lagoon at El Nido

It's another exotic place in El Nido that's hard to describe on print. The combination of blue skies, the crystal clear waters, the rock formations both underneath the water and above it, and the fact that it's hidden and can be accessed only through a small hole that's sometimes totally submerged when in high tide, makes it a place that pleasures the senses. It's just simply beautiful.

What to expect when you arrive at the Hidden Lagoon

Warning: You need to swim through a hole to access the hidden lagoon.

The kids immediately jumped off the boat to swim through the hole right behind them, which is the entrance to the Hidden Lagoon.

The hole we need to enter to access the Hidden Lagoon.

After swimming through the hole, we encounter this rocky shallow part of the Hidden Lagoon, where we could stand and walk to further enter the Hidden Lagoon.

We walk inside the Hidden Lagoon

More snorkelling

The right side of the Hidden Lagoon

You can see the rocks underneath the crystal clear waters

The left side of the Hidden Lagoon

Getting ready to swim through the hole and leave the Hidden Lagoon.

Leaving the Hidden Lagoon....

....To board the boat waiting outside.

Our boatman showing us the giant jellyfish
he found near our boat.

A close up of the giant jellyfish.