Frannywanny

"Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan." (He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination) - Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Filipino National Hero Today is the birthday of our country's national hero and if I must say, one of my personal favorite heroes in history too. I still remember reading the entire book on his life when I was in university much too quickly that I finished the entire book even before the semester began. It was such a joy learning about Rizal's life and his works. His death was pretty dramatic too. He was shot by firing squad at Bagumbayan (now known as Rizal Park / Luneta) at the young age of 35. That's exactly how old I am this year and for him, he has traveled the world, wrote a lot of captivating novels (I love Noli Me Tangere) and has tried his best to fight the government for the freedom of the Filipinos. Not a lot of 35 year old individuals can say that they...

It's no secret how much I love buffets! I guess every foodie does. It's the perfect way to dine with a big group of friends and everyone will somehow be able to find the dishes that they love. Also, it's the perfect opportunity to fill your tummy with the best and yummiest things in life. So, when Paul and I were invited to try J65 's themed buffet nights, I quickly gave a resounding YES! From now until the 25th of May 2017 , diners of J65 will be able to try a wide-variety of specialty dishes based on different themes assigned to a specific day: Sundays/Mondays: International Buffet Tuesdays: Colours of Asia (local specialties) Wednesdays: Lobster Rock n Roll Thursdays: Live Barbecue Fridays/Saturdays: Seafood Mania  We love seafood so we went on a Saturday to indulge. In true Hotel Jen 's fashion, one thing that I love about the buffet spread is how interactive most stations are. There are several local dishes where you can unleash your inner chef an...

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...

Question: What is much better that a weekend brunch?  Answer: One with free-flowing champagne and an abundant choices of food, of course!  One of the highlights of our relaxing staycation at the Garden Wing of Shangri-la Singapore was the Sunday Champagne Brunch at The Line . As you know, The Line is one of our favourite hotel buffet restaurants in the Lion City, so we couldn't resist not having brunch there before checking out. More so, we have been getting non-stop raves about the premium offerings that you can find in this buffet line-up so we knew that we just have to go for it. Let me walk you through the different selections that you can find in the buffet: First, you start with some fresh seafood . From three kinds of crabs (King Crab, Sri Lankan and Alaskan Snow Crab) to air-flown oysters to the most plump and juicy tiger prawns, be sure to fill your first place with all these! Paul went wild with his favourite tiger prawns with marinara sauce while I ...

If there's something that I find so amazing about the Indian cuisine, these must be its rich aroma, the creative combinations of herbs and spices and interesting stories that goes behind each dish. Needless to say, I've always been a fan of Indian food. Friends know all about my addiction towards papadum, paneer and mutton briyani to name a few. So, when I found out that one of my favourite hotel buffets in Singapore, MELT , is having its annual Flavours of India promotion, I knew that its something that I shouldn't miss out on. For our tasting dinner, we had a preview of some of the dishes that patrons can expect to enjoy during the 15-day period. To make it more special, they will have an exclusive wine-pairing dinner on 28 October 2015 for only S$98 . I've never had wine with Indian food before as I would always get my staple Mango Lassi so this one was really new to me. I got to MELT right on time and having had to walk quite a distance from the bus station, I ...

Annyeong Haseyo! Konichiwa! 你好 ! This just got to be one of the best culinary showdowns that has ever graced the kitchen stadium ! In corner we got the fiery hot, yet ever colorful Korean cuisine. On the other side, there's the fresh and always attractively-packaged Japanese masterpiece. Last but not the least, the comforting flavors from China which most of us grew up with. This was definitely one thing that I couldn't miss during my recent trip back home and I got my entire family to enjoy it with me. Running up until October 15, 2015, this buffet will entice your taste buds with the gastronomic flavors from the North Asian region. This is indeed the time when Bibimbap, Pajeon, Sushi and Dimsum takes center stage. You all know that Marriott Cafe is one of my favorite hotel buffets in Manila as I just love the wide selection of dishes available and it's presented in such as way that it doesn't overwhelmed you that you'll feel too full to really enjoy yo...

Fire up the grill!  Those four words are music to my ears. I just love BBQs as it's really simple to cook and even to prepare yet the rewards of enjoying freshly-grilled cuts of meats is truly heavenly. Not to mention the aroma that hits your nose while it's cooking. There's also no hard and fast rules when it comes to BBQ-ing. Basically, you can grill any type of meat, have any kind of rub that you prefer and just make sure it doesn't turn out toasted or charred. This is the perfect way to get cooking especially for amateur cooks. If you ask me, I love BBQ'd seafood and beef. Give me a slice of tender steak and a mountain of grilled scallops, prawns, fish and squid and I'm one happy camper. So, when Paul and I were invited to be part of the Asian BBQ dinner at Grand Park City Hall , we immediately said YES! Similar to the Afternoon Tunch , there are a couple of similar local dishes such as the Kueh Pai Ti, Satay, the Laksa, an assortment of hand-rolled m...

From the moment I blew out my 30th candle, I began creating my bucket list. From the major life-changing ones to the simple, easy-to-achieve wishes, crossing out every item on my list gives me a reason to celebration big and small life victories. Don't laugh but one item on my list reads "try the new Spiral at Sofitel Manila." Yes, I'm a true blue foodie, alright. After all, Spiral is one of the best hotel buffet outlets in the country and after hearing raves from friends who have dined here after it opened again to the public after 13 months of renovation, I knew I just have to give it a try myself. Paul and I have shared a number of good dining memories at the old Spiral. Luck must have been on my side when I got an invite to visit Spiral during my recent visit to Manila. Of course, despite my crazy and busy schedule, I said YES! So there we were on our last day in Manila, ready to have a gastronomical lunch at Spiral. The location was the same and there'...

"Are you turning into the ambassador of the Philippines in Singapore?" This was the SMS that I got from my sister after I shared a photo of myself and an old friend whom I met up with tonight. You see, the past weeks have been quite busy for me as I've been meeting up with visiting friends and relatives over lunch/dinner/breakfast/coffee/etc! While there's no denying how much I miss Manila, having people from home over makes homesickness more bearable for me and Paul. During our first few months here, we were so happy to have friends who really took the time out to drop by to check on us. They really didn't have to but they chose to do so. Aren't we so lucky to have friends like them? Two of them are our dear friends and newlywed couple E and S. They decided to do a stopover here in Singapore before heading to their honeymoon destination so when we got the invite from E to have dinner in Bukit Timah, we cleared our evening schedule to be able to spend s...

I'm a big fan of breakfast. If given a chance, I'd love to have breakfast food all day long! Thus, I'm always excited to check out the breakfast buffets and offerings whenever we're on a vacation/staycation. This recent staycation, was no different. As much as our comfy bed made it feel so good to just sleep up until noon, we resistated the temptation just to be able to check The Line out. This is Shangri-la Hotel 's in-house all-day dining restaurant. It's the counterpart of our local Circles or Heat from Makati Shangri-la and EDSA Shangri-la Hotels respectively. Since it's Shangri-la , we expected just the best spread. We got to the restaurant at 9AM and it was already bustling with families, couples and big groups of guests having their breakfast. Luckily, getting a table for two is normally easy. Even before we settled into our table, we were told to check the buffet area out and to begin helping ourselves with the wide variety of dishes available....

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...

It's summer in Manila and if I can make one wish that the travel genie can grant then it would be to transport me back to the Philippines where I can have a week-long vacation at the beach where I can swim to my heart's content and to eat all the seafood that I want. Anyway, during our brief visit back home, Paul and I were not able to visit the beach as we barely had enough weekends available.Still we made sure to fill our tummies with the best catch of the sea as we had a fun dinner with friends at the Diamond Hotel . It was perfect timing that they recently launched their Friday Lobster Buffet and upon receiving an invite to check it out, I immediately said yes! After all, as my friend Leslie would put it, how can you say NO to lobster?  Dinner was at Corniche and I always look forward to dining here. I love the spread and my favorite sections are the cheese and cold cuts, the salad, the Japanese station and lastly, the dessert. Thus, we always make it a point to ...