The Royal Wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton

They say fairy-tales do not exist but just today I just witness something that seems to come out of a storybook.


It's a story of a pretty girl named Kate Middleton who's just like your average British girl. She had a normal childhood together with her siblings Pippa and James. She went to St. Andrew's for college and here, she met Prince William who's second-in-line to the throne, little did Kate know that on that fateful day when she was introduced to the Prince, she was actually facing the man who will soon be her beloved husband.


William is the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. He grew up trying to hide from the prying eyes of the media and his family has been very successful in doing so up until August 31, 1997 where his mother, Princess Diana died from a tragic car crash. From that point on, the paparazzi and the world suddenly took notice of Diana's elder son who's starting to look quite dashing with his tall stature and shy smile very similar to that of his mom's.

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan

As with every trip, we try to inject a bit of history in order for us to learn a bit more about the country that we're visiting. For example, we watched the amazing Siam Niramit show in Thailand which I felt was worth every penny because I have learned to appreciate the colorful Thai culture. In Malaysia, Paul and I visited the Petronas Twin Towers which stands as the icon of Kuala Lumpur.


Thus, in Taiwan, our trip began with a short visit to the Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall which was just a few MRT stops away from Caesar Park Hotel. I love how accessible going around Taipei is. Almost all tourist spots are adjacent to an MRT terminal making it easy for one to go around without getting lost in the process. Note that it may be difficult to get lost in Taiwan as majority of its population can't speak English that well. Thus, make sure to have a trusty map (make sure it's in English! My sister grabbed a map but it was in Mandarin..not very helpful at all :P) and orient yourselves with the MRT system of Taipei.

Mala Hotpot at Ximending, Taipei City

I initially wanted to share with you my Taipei experience in chronological order. However, as I try to recall the three amazing days spent in beautiful Taiwan, I can't stop drooling over our last lunch at Mala Hotpot. Therefore, I'm skipping forward and will begin my food adventure series in my new-found favorite restaurant in Taipei.

Months before our trip, my friends and I began fixing our itinerary. It's a good thing that we all wanted to shop and eat. Jeanny and Karl, having been to Taipei before, were tasked to take care of our last day. Initially the plan was to feast on Xiao Long Baos at Din Tai Fung for lunch and have a special eat-all-you-can hotpot dinner before heading to the airport.


However, we had to move our schedule around as Mala Hotpot cannot accomodate us for dinner and has only one slot for us that day -- 2PM to 4PM. Still, we were all determined to give Mala Hotpot a try after Jeanny told us that they have eat-all-you-can Haagen Dazs and Movenpick ice creams!

Caesar Park Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan

I'm finally back from my short vacation to Taipei, Taiwan where I spent 3 relaxing days with Paul, my sister Pan and our dearest friends. Finally, after almost 8 months of planning, our Taiwan trip was able to push through and we're all back home rejuvenated and our minds filled with more knowledge about a culture not quite different from ours.

Taiwan is located at the northern part of Asia. Slightly above the Philippines and below Japan and Korea. In fact, we were once told that you can actually pick up some Taiwanese radio stations when you're standing along the shores of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte. It's THAT close.

While Cebu Pacific offers the lowest rate for flights from Manila to Taipei (Taoyuan International Airport), the only drawback is your flight is at 1040PM and you arrive in Taiwan roughly two hours after. After going through immigration and customs, we waited for our shuttle service that will take us to our hotel -- Caesar Park Hotel.

Caesar Park Hotel was our home for the next three days and nights, this was recommended to us by fellow blogger Abet and after getting actual testimonials from Rowena and Peter, we immediately made our own booking for two big rooms for the 7 of us to share.

I love the modern-looking lobby of the hotel. We got there a little past 1 yet we were still warmly welcomed by the hotel staff who quickly processed our papers and handed us our room keys.


Entering the room, my sister and I liked the big space with sufficient storage areas and the fact that we have two big comfy-looking beds. Lucky Pan, she gets to have one big bed all to herself.

Off for the Holidays!

Exactly two months after I bid everyone goodbye for a two-week long vacation, we're off again for a short vacation this time to the land of milk teas, fishball soup and stinky tofu. It will be an amazing food trip for the next few days and boy I can't wait!


Summer is finally here and while my trusty weather app assures me that Taiwan will be slightly colder than Manila, I'm going prepared with bottles of Beach Hut Sunblock to protect my face and body. No way am I exposing myself to the nasty UV rays which might give me skin cancer in the future. No no no way!!!


While I prefer lathering on fragrance-free lotions as my nose is pretty sensitive to excessively strong scents, Beach Hut's floral scent is pretty ok for me. It's not sticky or greasy which is normally what I get with sunblocks with high SPF levels. Beach Hut's newest sunblock has SPF 100 that totally beats our old sunblock by 30 SPF levels. We're ready to walk under the sun as we visit various historical sights and enjoy their street markets too!

Feng Wei Wee at Wilson street, San Juan

In anticipation of our upcoming trip, Paul and I decided to have lunch at Feng Wei Wee which is our neighborhood's Taiwanese food stop. We've dined here before back when they used to have a different type of interiors and manner of service.

A year ago, you enter Feng Wei Wee and see a serving area where you basically have to point out the things you like and the server will gladly serve this to you. Thus, in Tagalog, it's called Turo-turo.


Today, Paul and I were surprised that there was no service area showing the dishes and they have a more cozy-looking interior design with a couch on one side and better looking seats around. It's just like any other restaurant where the server hands you the menu and you choose from there.

Torch Restaurant at Connecticut street, Greenhills

It's funny that while I've been blogging for years and has been trying to keep myself updated social networking-wise, it was only recently that I finally discovered the world of Twitter. I know that Twitter has been around even before Plurk did but I never thought it would be so much fun to be a part of it. Thus, just about a month ago, I created my very own Twitter account and has been tweeting non-stop with friends and fellow bloggers.

One thing that I love about Twitter is that I get to reconnect with my old high school friends. We get to be updated with each other's day-to-day activity and it's easier to plan a get-together given how fast the response rate of Twitter is. Needless to say, we get to communicate in real time without any cost.

While tweeting each other one weeknight, we decided to meet up for dinner. Me, being the official reunion organizer of the class, took charge of pulling everyone together for our first ever tweet-up. It has been a while since I've seen my classmates..more like 9 months ago exactly on my wedding day. I miss hanging out with them as we share stories while our husbands would just happily listen and insert funny comments here and there.


Dinner was set at Torch Restaurant in Greenhills where its most accessible for all of us. Torch has been on my list since Mommy told me about it a few months ago. Sadly, I heard it closed down due to the noise coming from this resto-bar that has been disturbing the village behind it. I'm glad though that they've re-opened and decided to drop the bar and just make it into a restaurant...or so I thought.

We all agreed to meet at 7PM to be able to have more time to hang out. However, work, mommy duties and traffic all brought us together at Torch a little past 730PM.

Deal Dozen Dinner at Robot Restaurant

Group buying coupons is really one of the IN thing right now as more and more sites would offer price-off deals on food, travel, beauty and a lot more. I've mentioned before how I would follow certain group buying sites as I enjoy availing of their packages majority on food. It really gives me more reason to try new restaurants without being afraid that it will cause a dent on my bank account.

Such was the case last night where we were invited to try a delicious 5-course degustation menu at Robot Restaurant. Degustation is a french term for a way of examining a dish by taking in tasting portions / smaller amounts to test its quality. Despite its small size, these dishes are normally bursting with flavor therefore delighting all senses. Thus, I arrived at Robot ready to be served with really small portions for this particular dinner.

We met the very friendly group behind the newest group buying site: Deal Dozen. Browsing their site, it reminds me of my current favorite groupon site with its clean white front page and its premium choice of establishments. This truly has potential!

The 5-Course dinner at Robot Restaurant is actually one of their deals being sold for only P1,150 instead of its original value of P1,800. It features the special creation of Robot's Head Chef Bruce Ricketts who trained in French Laundry, a restaurant in the US owned by Chef Tom Keller who also owns the classy Bouchon at Beverly Hills. After learning that Chef Bruce trained under the Michelin chef Tom Keller, I had extremely high expectations on our dinner that evening.


Dinner began with an Amuse Bouche of Salmon Tar Tar mixed with diced Apples, Celery and Curry Aioli encased in a small cucumber cup. It's like a sushi only there was no rice included and you can eat the entire cucumber cup in one go. The salmon tar tar tasted fresh and the curry gave more personality to this creation.

ChaTime at Pioneer Center, Mandaluyong City

I'm addicted once again.

After being witnessing my long running addiction to Serenitea, here I am again falling in love with another milk tea brand that has just recently opened its doors to the Philippine market.

I would like to introduce you to ChaTime. It's actually a big milk tea company that originated in Taiwan and has a number of branches in Malaysia, China, USA, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Australia, plus new stores opening soon in Korea, Japan and the Philippines! (source: ChaTime Philippines' FB Page)

I'm lucky because ChaTime's first official branch is located once again just a stone's throw away from my workplace. Just like Cab Cafe, I can easily go there via a short tricycle ride.


On my first visit, it was after doing overtime work at the office as Paul and I made it to ChaTime at 9PM. Despite being a few days old, there was already a long line inside the store. I like the clean and brightly-lit interiors.


They also have a second floor to be able to accommodate more guests in, something my dear S is weak at as most of their stores are tiny and can only accommodate a handful of guests at a time. A plus is that Wi-Fi internet is also available thus making it a perfect venue for meetings and meet-ups.

Cab Cafe in Bo. Kapitolyo, Pasig

I love being able to go out for lunch, its a rare opportunity as I would normally just eat at the office to be able to resume my work right after. However, whenever friends would invite me out to lunch and if my schedule will permit, I never hesitate to grab the chance to spend an hour away from the office and to try a new restaurant within the area.

I'm lucky that my office neighborhood has a number of hidden gems waiting to be discovered. For the past three years, I enjoy trying each new food spots while it has been a series of hits and misses, I never gave up knowing that someday I'll find more good things that I like than those I'd rather avoid forever.


A few days ago, Paul and I were invited to have lunch at the new restaurant along Baranggay Kapitolyo. It's literally just a stone's throw away from my office that I can actually take a trike to head to Kapitolyo if I need to. The name is Cab Cafe and I found out that it's the Metro Manila branch of the famous Bob's Cafe in Bacolod. Even their servers are all from Bacolod and they have almost the same menu at that at Bob's. Interesting!

The moment I learned that this came from Bacolod, images of delicious cakes and desserts entered my mind. Sadly, my sister and I were not able to try the real Bob's Cafe when we spent an entire day in Bacolod two years ago, I'll make a mental note to check it out on my next visit there.

Snack Time: Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

I love citrusy desserts! In fact, I love it more than sweet chocolates that makes my teeth ache when taken in excess. I love the light, airy type that doesn't make you feel that you're adding in a significant amount of calories in every bite.


I'm so happy to received a box of Lemon Cream Cheese Bars (Php. 190/box of 15) from The Cookie Jar. It's Rae's newest product and I got to applaud her for creating a delicious dessert. I had it after every meal for three consecutive days!

I love the soft cream cheese filling topped with a lemon-y layer to give you that sweet-sour blend. I love how it was lightly dusted with powdered sugar. It's not too sweet nor was it too tart.

My mom even reminded me about my disastrous lemon squares wherein I forgot to add sugar and ended up with a very sour lemon bar that not even by coating it with white powdered sugar could do the trick. *sigh* I guess baking is not really just for me. I'm glad though that a box of Lemon Cream Cheese Bars is just a call away. No more baking disasters for me! I'd rather just give Rae a call and patiently wait for the arrival of my citrus-y treat.

Call The Cookie Jar at 964-3947 / 09178301965. Free delivery within Loyola Heights, La Vista and LGV. However you can meet Rae at SM Marikina, Eastwood, SM Megamall, Gateway Mall and Glorietta.

Ilustrado Restaurant in Intramuros, Manila

Lately, everyone has been crazy about Groupons which is actually a new term for group buying coupons. More and more groupon sites have been sprouting here and there offering various price-off packages for food, travel, beauty and more. Of course, being the food lovers that we are, Richard and I are always on the look out for food groupons.

One latest deal that we availed of was the Timeless 4-Course Dinner for 2 at Ilustrado Restaurant from Deal Grocer. The package is said to be worth P2,500 but we only got it for Php. 1,250 or exactly 50% less than the normal rate.

We arrived at Ilustrado Restaurant in Intramuros a little past 7 last Saturday. The place was packed as there was a wedding reception being held there that evening but it was a good thing we've made reservations thus we have a table waiting for us the moment we arrived. I love the olden Filipino feel of the restaurant with wooden capiz windows and vintage trinkets adorning the ceiling and surroundings of the restaurant. Richard and Irene even shared that this was were they had their own wedding reception. Romantic ♥!

After leading us to our table, we immediately informed our server that we are availing of the Deal Grocer package. They gave us a small cardboard menu to show us our menu line-up for the evening.

While waiting for our first course to arrived, we were informed that we will be served with bread and butter + their signature pate. The bread took forever to arrive as well as our water glasses to be filled. Service was quite slow and we immediately concluded that it must be because of the wedding reception happening upstairs. Still, they could have allocated more manpower knowing that a lot will be busy with the special function right?


Finally, our bread arrived and we happily enjoyed the delicious pate and butter. We asked for our pate saucers to be refilled to which they oblige but once again it took them forever to come back. Irene actually still had half of her bread on standby by the time our soup was served.

Taking the Entrepreneurial Path at Mercato Centrale

Here's what's been keeping Paul and I extremely busy these past few weeks...

We finally took the plunge and opened our very own booth at Mercato Centrale!


It has been a dream of ours to finally have our own business and finally things are starting to fall in place.

It has been a tiring yet truly fulfilling three weeks for us and we would like to thank our dear friends and relatives who has been visiting us to show their support!

Check out who dropped by and made our selling day brighter:

Snack Time: California Crunch Cassava Chips

I love munching on chips and that's a fact.

The funny thing though, I am not a big fan of potato chips except for Pringles. Rather, I'd go for corn, tortilla, cheese, cassava and all other unique types of chips there is in the market. Most of the time, my luggage is filled with packs of different types of chips as I fly back home. I love those that you can only find in that particular country and luckily, I always end up with the pretty yummy ones that even my family and friends love.

Chips + Frannywanny = TRUE LOVE ♥

I'm a pretty lucky girl to meet a man who shares my love for snacking on chips. However, Paul is a hard-core potato and cassava chips guy who prefers this over basically most of the types of chips that I'd normally go for. Still, we click.

I remember how we would regularly drop by Matahari Indonesian Deli to get our own bags of cassava chips! It used to just be one bag where we would sweetly share while walking around the mall but since we both wanted to satisfy our growing craving for chips, we now would have our own bags as we go window shopping or to watch a movie.


Imagine our glee when a bag full of California Crunch Cassava Chips (Php. 44.50) was delivered right to our doorstep. Thenks to Rowena and our dear neighbor Jane, we happily enjoyed these bags of chips for several nights after dinner.

Myron's Place at the Powerplant Mall, Rockwell Center

I've been a blogger for almost ten years already. While this blog was just created four years ago, I have been busy documenting my everyday college life in my first ever personal blog which unfortunately has been kept hidden to the public eye since Frannywanny.com was born. For ten years now, blogging has been my best stress reliever. I enjoy jotting down my thoughts and sharing my experiences to the world.

Aside from writing and maintaining my blog, I also enjoy visiting sites of fellow bloggers most especially that of food bloggers. The links you see in my sidebar are some of my favorite blogs which I frequent on a daily basis. Yes, like you I get excited whenever I learn about a new restaurant discovery or a new grocery item that I would also like to try.

I'm thankful that majority of the owners of these blogs that I follow have eventually became really good friends of mine. I always look forward to dining out with them as we get to experience a new restaurant together.

Last night, I excitedly drove to the Powerplant Mall to meet up with two of my favorite food bloggers at Myron's Place. We have been planning this dinner for weeks and finally the day has come when I will finally be able to meet Leslie of Shoot First Eat Later and bond more with Jin of Jin Loves to Eat. I was very excited...very excited about meeting them and the fact that we're having steak!


From the moment I arrived, we didn't stop talking. Stories were shared back and forth that Leslie had to remind Jin and I to order our food already. I just stared at the menu...I wasn't sure whether to get steak, pasta or seafood. I'm glad that Jin asked me if I wanted to share and suggested that we get the President's Steak (Php. 2,010). Woweee! I happily agreed. I want that huge piece of steak and I ordered a plate of creamed spinach to go with it.

Hawaiian Bar-B-Que in Boracay, Philippines

To find out what hot in Boracay, just follow the throngs of crowd outside or around a particular establishment. Take Hawaiian Bar-B-Que for example. During my first trip to Boracay a few years ago, Paul and I attempted to dine there but eventually gave up due to the long waiting time given to us as there were just a lot of people waiting to be given a table too.


As mentioned earlier, Boracay is the perfect place to enjoy seafood, fruit shakes and barbecued meats and Hawaiian Bar-B-Que seems to be the place to go for a slab of juicy ribs and meaty beef. Luckily, on our next visit, we didn't have to wait as we made sure to get there early. Thus, our party of 7 were immediately given a long table inside the restaurant away from the scorching heat.

My sister's friends took care of ordering our meal as some of them have already dined at Hawaiian Barbecue before. We were just happy to sit back and patiently wait for our food to be served. Thank you C, Y, K and R!

Our Meaty Feast!

Mañana Mexican Cuisine in Boracay, Philippines

Mexican in Boracay? I know it may sound weird to eat Mexican food in the beach as what normally comes to mind are platters of fresh seafood, fruit shakes and perhaps some grilled meats..but we're in Boracay and the choices are endless in this amazing island!

Thus, right after we landed and rode the ferry to the port, took the trike to Station 1, checked into our resort, settled down and admired our rooms, we then attended to our growling tummies and headed straight to Mañana Mexican Cuisine for lunch.

It was my sister's first time in Boracay last July and I was determined to make sure she enjoys. We're both huge fans of Mexican cuisine thus the endless supply of tortilla chips and salsa at home. It was a good thing that Mañana is located just a few steps away from Astoria Boracay, our home for the next three days in Boracay.

It was way past lunch hour yet the place was packed. That's how life is in Boracay, people becomes less time-bound and they eat, party and enjoy at any given time of the day.


Good thing we were still able to get a table immediately. Before browsing through the menu, I ordered a plate of Totopos (Php 125) for the three of us to share. I'm sure both Paul and Pan will enjoy this one as I love the homemade tortilla chips that comes with five types of dips to suit each ones taste.

The Original Jonah's Fruit Shake in Boracay

If there's one thing you should not miss when visiting Boracay is to look for the best fruit shake in the island. Sure, almost all restaurants have their own versions of fruit shakes but only one remains to be the BEST and for me, that's Jonah's Fruit Shake.


During my first visit, I fell in-love with Jonah's Choco Banana Fruit Shake, true it's loaded with sugar and calories but I didn't care..my day in Boracay is not complete without a glass of Jonah's thick chocolate-banana shake. Each sip was just so rich and creamy, I just want to lie under the sun and daydream while sipping on my fruit shake.

Lemoni Cafe in Boracay, Philippines

It was our last day in the island and it has always been a tradition that we eat well and splurge a little for our last meal. Thus, together with my sister and her friends, we headed to Lemoni Cafe inside the busy D'Mall.


Since we were there on a non-peak season, getting a table was pretty easy. I've read up on all the must-eat and must-visit places in Boracay and for Lemoni Cafe, there's only one thing that I've seriously made a mental note of -- to try their Tiger Prawns with Spinach and Coconut Risotto (Php. 495)

Real Coffee and Tea Cafe in Boracay, Philippines

It was the shortest trip that I've ever had to the island of Boracay. We arrived at 1AM due to a delayed flight and a minor car accident on our way from Kalibo to Caticlan. We got to the resort at 1 and was only able to sleep after satisfying our stomach with some light snacks. Still, we were up as early as 8AM to make it to breakfast and to be able to maximize our one and only day in Boracay as we were scheduled to fly back to Manila first thing the next day. *phew* Hectic schedule, I know.

Breakfast at the resort was pretty forgettable that my sister and I decided not to torture our stomach with food that barely met our expectations and to just head straight to the island to grab a good breakfast in the island!

We're lucky that fellow bloggers Melo, Bong and Ryan decided to join us and with Melo, being the Boracay experts we knew we were in good hands. Melo's an experienced traveler (you should hear his stories!), a chef and a talented photographer and he suggested that we grab coffee and continue our breakfast at Real Coffee and Tea Cafe.

So off to Real Coffee we go!

My sister and I have been to Real Coffee in different occassions before. While we found our meals pretty ok, it was nothing like how Melo would describe it to us. He even told us the story of how the owner Lee opened Real Coffee and that we should not miss out on their famous Calamansi Muffin which runs out pretty quickly in the day.

10 things you can do in Boracay

It's April and summer is finally here! With the fast rising temperature outside, more and more city folks are heading out to the beach!

Speaking of beach getaways -- I was pretty blessed to be able to go to the coolest summer destination in the country last year -- this is the beautiful island of BORACAY. Not only was I able to visit it once for my honeymoon, I returned for a brief stay a few days before we bit 2010 goodbye. The vibe and weather was different when I first went there in July and returned in December.

For one thing, the island was more quiet during July with windbreakers lining up the shoreline. It somehow ruins the beauty of the island. I also noticed that there were a lot of algae during my first visit which I do not like the sight and feel of whereas none was seen last December. However, it was way more crowded and harder to grab a table last December as it seems like half of the Metro Manila population all decided to spend their holiday in Boracay too. Each has its good and bad points but whatever your preference may be, rest assured Boracay has a lot to offer to its visitors.

Let me share with you TEN amazing things you should not miss when in Boracay:

1) Get sporty!!!

There are a lot of water sports that you can do and you surely won't miss it as a lot of manongs will come up to you offering to take you on an island hopping tour or down to the ocean floor for some reef walking.


It was my first time to ride a jet ski and boy was a terrified but the experience after left me speechless. It was amazing! My sister, the pro, took care of maneuvering the jet ski and we went around faster and farther compared to when I tried driving once.