Birthday Perks

For the first time in maybe a really long time, I actually got to use many birthday perks provided by my loyalty and rewards programs.

Dinner at East in Rustan's Makati

I got a few of them from my Rustan's FSP membership. I'm kinda glad I finally sorted out my FSP membership recently. I used to have a card and when they discontinued providing physical cards and moved the program fully to an app, I couldn't sort it out because of some problem with my account. So one afternoon, when I was in Rustan's, I decided to head to customer service to get their help. The FSP customer service staff was able to address whatever the issue was and I was finally able to set up my account on the app. Cool! And just in time too because I got quite a few perks from FSP. First, I got a free lave cake from East, the restaurant located on the 2nd floor of Rustan's Makati.

Free lava cake from East

I actually ended having dinner there before enjoying my free cake. I ordered pad thai (which I forgot to take a photo of) and the East Starter Platter. As its name suggests, East offers different Asian dishes on its menu, although I do think that chocolate lava cake isn't exactly Asian hehe.

East Starter Platter

My FSP membership also gave me 30% off on Banana Republic. Months ago, I saw this really nice burgundy or rust-colored Banana Republic shirt that I really liked but the last piece they had of that shirt had just been purchased by someone else. I was hoping that on my latest visit, they might have new stock of that shirt but they didn't. Too bad. I instead got a very pale lilac shirt since I don't have that color in my wardrobe.

My new lilac Banana Republic shirt

The last FSP birthday perk I got to use was getting 10x points credit for my purchase of Samsonite luggage. I had been meaning to buy more luggage for a while now because in the last couple of years, I would always borrow luggage from my friends and when I traveled to Kenya last year, one of the bags I borrowed was a bit damaged. I felt like I didn't want to borrow luggage anymore since I didn't want to ruin other people's bags again. I got a soft case Samsonite that I felt was quite affordable considering it was Samsonite and because of my birthday perk, the FSP points I got from that purchase were multiplied by 10. Wow! Because of that, I now have a sizeable e-purse that I can use for a future purchase.

I bought the Samsonite bag on the left

I also had some perks from My SSI Life. I recently installed this app when I bought some shoes that I wanted from Kenneth Cole because the saleslady said I could get 30% off of my purchase as long as I had that app. That discount wasn't my birthday perk yet.

My new Kenneth Cole shoes at 30% off

The actual My SSI Life birthday perk was 30% off any regular priced item in Tommy Hilfiger. I visited the Tommy Hilfiger section of Rustan's to take a look at some shirts and I spotted this really nice red t-shirt which turned out to be on sale (so my discount wouldn't apply). I tried that shirt on and it fit quite well. I really like how it looked and its shade of red so I decided to get it haha.

Red Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt at 40% off

But that meant I still had my 30% birthday discount. I then spotted this sort of brown, sort of mustard colored polo shirt and I really liked it (Officially, the color is called is Country Brown.) I don't have any other shirt like it so I tried it on. It fit well and the fabric was really comfortable. So it's not surprising that I decided to get it haha. I now have two Tommy Hilfiger shirts!

Country brown Tommy Hilfiger shirt aat 30% off

I also got a free Waffle Pancake duo from Pancake House, courtesy of Globe One. I think this might be the first time I got to use a freebie from my Globe One app. I need to pay attention to it a bit more and check it out more frequently.

Waffle Pancake duo from Pancake House

Finally, my BFF membership also granted me a special birthday discount: a P1,000 voucher that I could use for a minimum spend of P2000. Wow! I decided to treat my friend Alma to dinner at Secret Recipe - she hadn't eaten there previously - and we ordered quite a few items, including dessert. (I still really do love the ice cream-shaped bowl that Secret Recipe uses for ice cream orders.) And yes, we exceeded P2,000 so I was able to use my voucher. Cool!

Our desserts from Secret Recipe

If I learned anything from this experience, it's that I need to pay attention to my rewards and loyalty programs just a bit more.