Frannywanny

Every year, Paul and I would make it a point to celebrate our wedding anniversary. On some years we went out for a nice dinner date but more often than not, we'd take the weekend off for a nice R&R at a hotel of our choice. This year, we decided to check out Marco Polo Ortigas Manila  for one full weekend of non-stop eating and relaxation. After all, this will be the last wedding anniversary where it's just the two of us. Next year, we will be joined by our beautiful twins so looks like it will be a family getaway from then on. Marco Polo Ortigas Manila opened just a few years ago when we were already in Singapore making us even more excited to check this hotel out. Personally, I'm a fan of the Marco Polo group as my family and I used to frequent their hotel in Hong Kong many many years ago. One thing that I'll always remember about Marco Polo is its spacious room. The one in Hong Kong is also adjacent to one of our favorite malls -- Harbour City, making it so co...

One of my favorite hotel buffet restaurants in Singapore has just gotten a makeover and we were all so excited about it! I love it so much that I think I've blogged about it multiple times before, yet I always look forward to any opportunity to go back and have a meal at  Melt Cafe in Mandarin Oriental Singapore. I can never have enough of its wide-variety of dishes and I feel that they have one of the best, top-quality Indian selections among most hotel buffets. So, when we found out that they did a bit of "re-formatting", I initially asked "Why?!" You see, I always believe in the saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"  and to me, there's definitely nothing "broke" about Melt Cafe . Then again, it's always good to do a bit of refreshing once in a while, right? So, a month ago, I visited the new Melt Cafe with fellow bloggers and we feasted on their newest menu line-up. Instead of writing lengthily about it, let me take...

I can read minds. Yes, I really can! Don't believe me? Hmmm... I can read what's on most of your minds right now. Ready? "How I wish the long weekend can last forever!" Am I right? Am I right? :) Kidding aside, I'm pretty sure most of you share the same sentiments as I do right this very minute. After all, being able to take some time off work and our daily responsibilities is something we all welcome with open arms. Agree? So, a few months back, Paul and I took a weekend off to spend a nice R&R at Marina Mandarin Singapore . We love staycations and we would make sure to have one especially on special occasions. That would mean -- Valentine's Day, our wedding anniversary and if we have a bit more budget and time, our birthdays too. Knowing the Marina Mandarin is one of the most sought after hotels in the city, we made our Valentine's Day staycation booking as early as December and since this day was so close to the Chinese New Year period, I...

Among all the 7,107 islands or rather the 81 provinces in the Philippines, Cebu holds a special place in my heart. It's the place where I had so much fun dolphin watching when I was a kid, eating to my heart's content every single time and the Cebuanos are just so hospitable and warm. I've visited numerous times but I still get excited whenever the opportunity comes for me to go back again. So, last December, Paul and I took 4 days out of our 2 weeks long holiday visit to the Philippines to relax and spend some quality time in Cebu . It was Paul's first time so I was really excited to show him around and hopefully he'd fall in love with Cebu just the way I did before. After booking our flights, the next step was for me to do a full research on where to stay . The choice was either to stay in Cebu City where we can visit the malls and a number of the famous touristy spots or to enjoy and chill out at the beach in Mactan. We went for the first option and I relied ...

During our quick weekend getaway in Kuala Lumpur, my sister offered to make use of her accumulated miles to fully pay for our 2 nights hotel accommodation at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel . Thank goodness for jet-setting little sisters who got a substantial amount of miles that needed to be redeemed soon! The best part about this is that the choices available were really nice. It was pretty much choosing from a number of 5-star hotels in the city. What a good problem to have! Sheraton Imperial Hotel  is one of the premier hotels in Kuala Lumpur. It's located along the busy Jalan Sultan Ismail where the nearest monorel station (Medan Tuanku) is just right beside the hotel's entrance. It's quite convenient to go to the busy shopping area (Bukit Bintang) or to have some late night snack at Jalan Alor. Sadly, the KLCC area is a bit out of the way as it's too near to take a cab to but a bit too far to walk. The hotel is also beside a street called  Heritage Walk , it's...

Business trips can be tiring as I'm obviously there for work and not much for play. Still, the positive side of me always finds a reason to be excited for a business trip be it the fact that I'll be visiting a new place or I'll be able to try the local food or I get to check out a hotel. I'm lucky that in most of my business trips abroad, I get to stay in really nice hotels. Remember the one where I stayed at in Beijing, China ? During my recent 24hour visit to Hong Kong , my colleague S and I stayed at the Harbour Grand Hong Kong Hotel in Fortress Hill. S has stayed at this hotel twice already so I just let her be our navigator in searching for the nearest convenience store, Starbucks Coffee outlet and even a Sasa beauty shop. The neighborhood was relatively quiet as automotive and hardware shops surround the hotel so you can take a peaceful walk at night without much noise around. I tell you, it was love at first sight from the moment I stepped into the lobby. T...

If there's one personal belief that I hold dearest to my heart, this is that vacations and staycations are always good for you . Even the famous chocolate bar Kitkat would agree with me that once in a while, we really have to kick off our shoes and to have a break .  As much as it may be nice to live a fast-paced, highly productive life, we always have to bare in mind that our brains, spirit and body need to slow down every so often and after that break, you'll see how much life and energy you'll have again to get into the daily grind. Well, that's what Paul and I did this weekend. For the past months, we both have been extremely busy adjusting to our new life here. Every weekend is normally spent fixing up our new room, refilling our kitchen pantry cabinet and familiarizing ourselves with our new surroundings. Thus, I was so happy when I received an invite from Shangri-la Hotel,   Singapore inviting me to have a weekend staycation which is the best excuse to le...

Summer is here and you know what I'm wishing I can do at the moment? To wake up to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, to be able to comb my feet over meters after meters of powdery white sand and to indulge and have all the seafood that my tummy can take. That would be one great vacation and while I'm miles away from home at the moment, all I can do now is to daydream about it. Nuninuninu.... We all know that an oyster is a famous aphrodisiac. It has been linked with l-o-v-e from way back that's why most Valentine's Day dinners would normallly have oysters as part of their menu line-up. However, did you know that oysters are also considered brain food as they can boost your mental ability and it can balance your mood too. Personally, it was only lately when I found the guts to eat oysters. Having a very sensitive tummy, I take extra caution when having shellfish and I only eat them in places that I trust. Thus, when I received an invite from Circl...

I hope you're all up for a cheezy love story. A story that I never thought I'd be able to tell. It all began on that fateful evening when I entered the restaurant with no expectations whatsoever. I kept my mind open but somehow deep inside me, I was a bit excited. Not really sure of what or who I was supposed to see but all I knew was I couldn't wait for this evening to come and when it finally did, I was just in a happy and giddy disposition. Carefully but slowly, I walked around Spectrum , Fairmont Makati's new all-day dining restaurant. The posh and sexy decor by the entrance immediately caught my attention. Clean and classy, just the way I love it. As they say, first impressions last . This one will surely do. But I went there with a mission. I was there on a search and so I moved on. Trying to stay focused on the impressive buffet spread. As I went about checking each station out, I was determined to continue on before finally grabbing a plate to start the ...

♪ It's time to party!!! ♪ As soon as January rolled in, my schedule has been jam-packed with dinners and parties that we have to attend left and right. You see, Paul and I are temporarily relocating to the Lion City very soon so friends and family have been so kind enough to throw us despedida parties in our honor. Honestly, words are not enough to convey how touched we both are with the time and effort that everyone are willing to give just to spend some time with us. Indeed, we're thankful to have the best set of friends and two loving families too! Last week, our dear friend Spanky (who also is Paul's fellow Cabalen) and Loni of Raffles & Fairmont Makati invited us to have some drinks at the very posh Raffles Makati and this was followed by a gastronomical buffet dinner at the adjacent Fairmont Makati Hotel . Raffles Hotel originated in Singapore and they're known for their signature drink called the Singapore Sling . Similar to its Singapore count...

Warning: Lots of photos ahead! :) The past few weeks have been fun for us corporate folks. We had a back-to-back long weekend giving us 4-days and 3-days workweeks one after the other. I know that the after effect of this led to spending more hours at work to catch up with the pending tasks but still, a break is a break and I truly enjoyed mine to the fullest. While half of Metro Manila were out of town or out of the country, Paul and I drove about 5km away from home to stay the night at the beautiful Manila Marriott Hotel . We have reached our travel quota for the year so we decided to just stay in town and to have that much needed R&R. As I arrived at the lobby of the hotel, I was warmly greeted by the doorman and a couple of security staff. Seeing that I was trying my best to balance Paul's heavy camera bag plus our overnight luggage on one hand and my shoulder bag and laptop bag on the other, he quickly offered to hold on to our bags while I checked in. The reception d...