Pasig Youth Development Center

If you're a frequent visitor of this blog, you would know that I am from the beautiful, clean and green city of Pasig.  I've lived here all my life, but I've studied in two other major cities near our place, am currently engaged to a wonderful fiance who hails from the southern outskirts of Metro Manila, and will get married in another new city within the Metropolis.  It's ironic that I don't know my city that well, and that's why I've decided to 'make up for it' by featuring this lovely place just beside that spot I call my own office. I know it is difficult to nail down one's wedding ceremony venue, much more a reception venue, so without further ado, here's the Pasig Youth Development Center (formerly known as Youth Training Center):

Side entrance to the YDC

The quiet lobby of the YDC.

The glass door to the left of the welcome counter is the office of the very accommodating and bubbly administrator, Ms. Isabelita de Leon.  The glass doors to the right is the library.

When you look to the left, you will see the first function room of the building.

It's the Sampaguita hall where can hold weddings for as many as one hundred and fifty persons.

Across from the Sampaguita hall is this flight of stairs leading to the 2nd floor where you'll see another function hall.  The stairs to the lower floor is where you'll find the amenities for youth programs (ie, Dance Studio, Music Room, Lecture Room, etc.); hence, the name Youth Development Center. The Mayor built this center to hone the talents and abilities of the city's youth ---- for free!

Another shot of the Sampaguita hall entrance

A quiet nook for those who want to visit the administrator

Another quiet nook across from the Sampaguita hall and near the staircase going up the 2nd floor.

This is a painting of the city's former Mayor, Soledad C. Eusebio.

The library.  Sorry, it was closed temporarily when I visited that's why the shot came out quite dark.

This is the interior of the Sampaguita hall.  It has a nice view of the gardens outside of the building.

This place is actually a stone's throw from the Rainforest Park, a water sports complex, garden / park, playground, events place, and zoo in one.  The park is a project of the Eusebio family.  Those who chose to hold their special events here at the YDC usually decide to have pictorials in the Rainforest Park because it has lots of lovely spots to serve as your background.  Click here for a sample from one of my favorite guys behind the lens, Noel Salazar.

It's a little dark in my pictures because I was too shy to ask for the lights to be turned on.  But even with this late afternoon sun, you get this very maaliwalas look, thanks to the many windows.  What more if you hire a lights and sounds supplier to brighten up this venue.  This hall, by the way, is airconditioned and has its own restrooms for both male and female.

Another shot by the door

The Sampaguita Hall also has its own kitchen --- perfect for your caterer!

That glass door leads to the restrooms.

Yes, they are labeled as GIRLS and BOYS, instead of FEMALE and MALE. Hahaha :-)  But they're pretty decent and clean, and this is very important when holding your events.  Icky restrooms can turn off guests.  YDC, thankfully, has a very nice and industrious set of staff.  They always clean up the place every so often.

When you climb the flight of stairs I was talking about earlier, it will land you to here.  This floor has the computer room (for out of school youth), another set of rest rooms, a dormitory, and a bigger function room or auditorium, the Narra hall.

These two aluminum doors lead to the two dormitories.  This shot is the spot where you'll be when you climb up to the 2nd place.

This is the Narra hall or the auditorium.  It can fit 300 people theater-style.  It's ideal for lectures, plays, and big group activities.  I heard they have done weddings here too.

This hall has a very high ceiling.  You can easily do drapings here with all the scaffolds.

They were organizing for an affair when I took the pictures, so pardon the mess and disarray.

The auditorium has a stage, a white screen for film showing, a dedicated high-powered LCD projector and professional sound system.  I asked the staff if I could try out the LCD projector, screen, sound system and aircon, and wow, I was so impressed!  The equipment were still brand new, so whoever will rent out these facilities will get 100% satisfaction from their quality.  The sounds and projector were so good, I felt like I was in a rock concert!  Too bad, I didn't think of shooting short videos of those.

The upper deck of this auditorium houses the control booths for the lights and sounds.

For those who wish to rent out either of the two function halls, you may call Ms. Isabelita De Leon of the Pasig Youth Development Center at 628-4291.  You may also drop her an email at litsdeleon@yahoo.com. The center is located at F. Legaspi Street, Rainforest Park, Maybunga, Pasig.  Landmarks nearby are the Stella Maris Church along Stella Maris Street, Maybunga Barangay Hall, Hampton Gardens Condominium, and C5.  Tiendesitas is also a mere five minute-ride away from the place.

The rental fee for the Sampaguita hall is around Php 10,000 inclusive of five hours use of the venue, airconditioning system, chairs, LCD projector and screen and sound system.  The rental fee for the Narra hall is around Php 15,000 for the same amenities.  The price is still negotiable, but please make sure to personally visit the administrator.  Ingress and egress for your affairs are also flexible and will not be charged separately from your account, as long as this is done within working hours.

To read about other possible Pasig reception venues from this blog, click here and here.

Happy venue hunting!

More reception venues in Pasig City

If you've read my previous post about four possible reception venues in Pasig City but still haven't felt the 'it' factor, then let me add some more options within the same city.

Since 2008, we've been holding our Commencement Exercises at the Tanghalang Pasigueño.  I think two seasons ago, Pilipinas Got Talent of ABS-CBN Channel 2 also shot one of its semi-final rounds here. The place is pretty new and well-kept. The ambience is really inviting, and the sound system was perfect.  For Valentine's Day 2009, I brought my mom here to watch Richard Poon sing. 

Tanghalang Pasigueño is a huge events place with a 1,500-seater auditorium named Asemblea Magna.  Thanks to our Mayor Robert 'Bobby' C. Eusebio, who together with his wife Mrs. Maribel Andaya-Eusebio personally designed some areas of the building and conceptualized the furniture and lighting fixtures of the place, we in Pasig now have a venue for big events such as graduations and seminars / conventions. But unknown to many people, this classic and regal structure has many smaller venues within the same building.  It has a 70-seater and a 150-seater airconditioned venues too, depending on the number of your guests.  The lobby itself was also recently transformed to become a wedding reception area, and caterers like Madel's Cuisine have been regulars there.

Here are some magnificent pictures taken at the Tanghalang Pasigueño:

Olivia's Debut

Photo Source:  V Studio

 At the balcony....

 At the balcony again...

 Climbing up the stairs....

 In one of the nooks at the 2nd floor of the building....

 The majestic facade

A different angle at the stairs again...

Wedding Reception at the lobby of Tanghalang Pasigueño 

Catering by Madel's Cuisine

Photo Source:  Madel's Cuisine Multiply Site

 Couple's table

 A view of the guests' tables

 Tables for the principal sponsors

 Another angle

 Actual set-up and event

A view near the couple's table

I asked for a brochure of the Tanghalang Pasigueño rental rates, and have them scanned.  Click the pics to see how much each venue costs.  For as low as Php 4,000 for a 60-pax guest list, to Php 10,000 for 300 guests, Tanghalang Pasigueño just might be the venue for your wedding reception.

For more information, please call 628-0778 or 628-0379.  Look for the very accomodating administrator, Ms. Baby Quillopo.

Up next on my blog:

Pasig Youth Development Center and the Rainforest Park

Reception venue DIY decors

WARNING:  This post will be loaded with lots of pictures.

If money were not an issue, how would you want your reception decors to look like?

Now at 10 months before our planned wedding date, M and I still haven't finalized where our reception will be. All we know is that we want it on the 30th day of August next year, which is also the third and final year of us being boyfriend/girlfriend.  Right now I can only tell you that we want to get married at the Evangelical Church inside the Fort Bonifacio Army Camp.  For the reception, we're considering the nearby Army Officers' Clubhouse which is about 5 minutes away from our church.  Or may be the lovely Atrium of the Enderun Colleges which has garnered quite a number of good reviews for food, venue and service.  If these don't work out, plan B is to do both the ceremony and reception at Light of Love Events Place in Quezon City.  The ceremony will be held at the Integrity or Love function room, then have the reception at the Atrium.  Ah, the options!  And because we haven't finalized the venues yet, I still do not know what to do for my big day as of now.  But thanks to some pictures of our past Junior-Senior promenades, I have some bit of inspirations as the decorations we used for those events were purely DIY projects of the decoration committee.

Here are some snippets:

2008 Juniors' Night @ The Valle Verde Country Clubhouse 

The Valle Verde Country Clubhouse is a bit of an old structure.  But it's really beautiful and elegant.  It's surprisingly affordable too.  When we had our Juniors'Night there in 2008, we paid for set meals at around Php 200 per head.  That rate already includes a generous serving of 3 courses including pasta, rice, dessert, bottomless iced tea and coffee.  They have an in-house caterer so everything was smooth and easy.

For our school's first prom, the decor committee hung drapes in the ceiling, and used sinamay as flower pots and invitations.

It was a bit dark when I took this pic as we my cam is a bit lowtech.  But the lighting effect on the drapes was nice.  The lights and sounds supplier did well too, especially during the dancing part.

Blue and yellow gold touches for the cocktail set-ups

Sinamay decors for the names of the guests, invitations and flower pots.

We just asked the caterers of VVCC to use blue cloths for the tables.

DIY table numbers, invitations and flower pots for guest / students' tables

Nice lights

Another angle

For the backdrop of the stage, the decor committe bought balloons and had them placed on the floor.  They also cut out a silvery material bought from National Bookstore for the lettering of Juniors' Night.  The yellow logo was a cut-out based on their design, while the flowers were styled by one of the decor committee members.

Lobby area of VVCC

2009 JS Prom @ The Glass Garden

The Glass Garden is a popular events venue in Santolan, Pasig.  It really lives up to its name.  From top to bottom it is enclosed in glass.  But you get the garden feel too, minus the worries about rain.  The strengths of this venue are: beauty of the place, ample parking, super cool airconditioning, and nice staff.  What I just didn't like is the price.  It charges a hefty Php 80,000 for 5 hours of use.  Additional Php 5,000 will charged to your account for every hour extended.

Because we had such a humongous venue, the decor committee had to work double time to beautify the place.  Here's how it turned out:

White / silvery drapes for the ceiling

White Japanese lanterns bought at Divisoria....

The gold circles were DIY.  The teachers cut out big circles, then covered them in gold glitters.

All flower arrangements were DIY.  The teachers sprayed blue food colors and paints on white mums, that's why we had blue flowers for that night.  Amazing!

DIY flower styling and drapes on the tables

See the blue-green flowers on the stairs? They were just sprayed on.  Blue fabric on stairs were DIY too.

Beautiful!

I just can't get enough of the ceiling decors!

Nice ceiling decors!  I love them!

Close up shot of the flowers that were styled and colored/sprayed with blue and green food colors by the teachers.

2010 JS Prom @ The Pasig Sports Arena

In 2010, we held our JS Prom at the basketball court right beside our City Hall.  Yes, you read it right:  a big. big basketball court.  We just covered the basketball rings with bronze and gold fabrics, then laid out carpets on the floors.  With simple but carefully-planned designs, it was like being transported to the function hall of a hotel.  Thanks to our decor team, the event was memorable because the students and even teachers were taking photos of the venue.  I myself couldn't resist taking shots!  Here they are:

Stage as styled by the teachers.  The balls on the floor were made by sinamay.  Gold and white / cream fabrics from Divisoria.  Tarpaulin for the backdrop. 

Bronze and light gold fabrics on the walls.....who would even think this was a basketball court?

Sinamay balls for the ceiling decors.  Remember them from last year?

A different shot of one of the walls of the place....

Lighting effect on the sinamay balls....

Stage

Loose twigs from Divisoria

2011 JS Prom @ Silver City

Silver City is a few steps away from Tiendesitas.  It's actually a strip of a building (is it a mall?), and is located at the corner of Julia Vargas and C5.  It's a huge, huge place, but because there are curtains all over, you have no view of what's outside.  It costs Php 80,000 to rent it for 5 hours, but it's also negotiable.  What we did to cut costs is to source out everything else.  For the 2011 prom, we had a Hollywood theme.  The stairs leading to the Silver City hall were decked with stars bearing the teachers' names!  The decor team did a great job copying what the original ones looked like in California.  Too bad, I didn't get to take a photo of that one.  But here are some snippets:

Mock table set-up by the caterer

Black and gold color scheme for a movie star / Hollywood-themed party

Film reels and stars, including letterings, were DIY from paper, cardboards and other materials from Divisoria and National Bookstore

Actual set up

White Japanese lanterns at the ceiling....

Tarpaulin backdrop

Table set up again

Close up shot

Students' table set-up

A view from my table

The lobby --- which served as a nook for the 'photobooth'

Hay.

I wonder how my own reception party venue will look like  :-)