Frannywanny

This was indeed a big big surprise. It started when I was chatting with my cousin and he casually mentioned Vito's BBQ  as we were talking about Chicken Rice dishes. I didn't thought much about it until I went online and saw a couple of friends from my high school posting about the same thing. "Hmm.. what is this  Vito's BBQ ?", I thought to myself. I was definitely so curious now and I quickly went to their Instagram page to check them out. Oh my! I'll warn you now. Do NOT go to their page at the middle of the night or you'll surely end up hungry and craving for Chicken BBQ. Trust me, I learned this the hard, hungry way.  Apparently, Vito's BBQ is named after the owners' 4 year old and he's so adorable! They started in Libis and recently, they opened their pick-up station in... *drumroll* Ronac Art Center along Ortigas Avenue and is even closer to home! Yahoooo!  Anyway, we celebrated Grandparent's Day last last week and I decided that...

Earlier this month, we celebrated the birthday of one of our househelps, B. My twins would point to her as "Yaya B" which makes her very happy. She's been with us even before I gave birth to my twins and in this day and age where long-lasting househelps are a rarity, she's definitely winning the loyalty award so to speak. I do value birthdays and it has been a tradition for us to celebrate the birthdays of everyone in the house thus including our loyal helpers and even Kuya M, my Mom's driver of close to a decade. Nothing grand but rather we would prepare a simple but meaningful meal for them. After all, they have made the sacrifice to be away from their own families to be able to stay and to work for us so in return, we make it a point to make them feel like they're part of the family. I've been away from my own family to work abroad for 4 years and I know how it feels when it's your birthday and you're not with your loved ones. I am very lucky ...

There's a new kid in town and I'm pretty sure you'll like "him" very much. After all... who says no to Lechon ? Aside from the ever popular Adobo which is probably the dish that's synonymous to Filipino cooking, Lechon remains to be one that never fails to make every Filipino and non-Filipino's heart skip a beat. From the shiny, mouth-watering crunchy skin down to its fragrant and tender meat, I remember making several visits with my local colleagues and friends to this famous Cebu Lechon stall in Paya Lebar in Singapore whenever they'd ask me to take them to try a Filipino dish. In fact, there are several versions of lechon all over the country. Some would serve it with sarsa (sauce), others would stuff it with aromatic tanglad (lemongrass) , my talented friend D has her classy Lechon with Truffle Rice inside and well in Cebu, it's serve just as it is. The meat has a hint of salt and the skin slightly thick with a layer of fat underneath a...

Recently, I was invited to a birthday party. Not mine but that of two ladies who are very known on TV. In fact, Yaya D subtly gasped when she found out where I was heading to that one afternoon in SM Megamall. It was to celebrate the birthdays of Yassi Pressman and Bela Padilla , two very prominent personalities on local TV today. Yaya D adores Bela Padilla who stars in her favorite TV series Ang Probinsyano . Trust me, ask her one thing and she can go on and on and on about that show. Haha! This party was hosted by Greenwich Pizza and just like any birthday party, we were in for a yummy treat! While waiting for the celebrants, we feasted on a buffet of party dishes such as tea sandwiches, nachos with dips...

My twins recently turned 6 months. To be really honest, I think celebrating their monthly milestone is really more for me and Paul rather than for the kids at the moment. Perhaps, for them, they get to discover that they can do something new each day and most especially for this particular month, they finally got their first taste of solids. However, for us, their parents it's all feeling triumphant over surviving twin parenthood for 6 whole months (and still counting). It's all about still not having 8 hours of sleep since the twins were born, it's about double the number of diapers that were worn and thrown away, it's all about cheering and doing happy dances every time we witness a new milestone, it's all about gaining that extra arm muscle that we never thought existed as our twins are really gaining more weight. I can't help but look at their photos back when they were a day old up until the photos that I took of them today. They've grown so much and ...

Do you still remember the time when I attended my first ever Mommy blogger event with Mothers Who Brunch  for Mustela ? The event began with us standing up to introduce ourselves and to share with the group one of our guilty pleasures. I was halfway through my pregnancy with the twins then and I remembered that I shared that carbs  and chips  were definitely my guilty pleasure. One thing that I also remembered is that a number of moms mentioned that online shopping  is their guilty pleasure and while I chuckled together with the group, I couldn't relate with them then. Yes. I wrote that in the past tense and it's simply because things have changed greatly since my twins were born. Being a new mom entails a lot of work, that's a given but with that temporarily goes your freedom. Forget being able to leave the house as that won't be possible for at least their first two months of life.  Then comes bidding adieu to 8 hours of sleep. Now, we're talking about short...

Here's the sad reality -- good help is hard to find here in Manila. Unlike probably 10 years ago when most of us would have the privilege to have long-staying helpers who would take our worries about running the household away. Today, I've been hearing friends and family constantly asking around for recommendations for helpers and more often than not, we're always faced with the dilemma of helpers staying for a few months and leaving right away. Given that, most smaller families would resort to not having helpers anymore. So how do we deal with preparing for our meals on a daily basis? Since I got back from the Lion City, my parents (who are down to just one helper), have been ordering food on a daily basis. We call it "tiap tsai"  in Hokkien which, if I'm not mistaken, means food subscription in English. Apparently, there's a growing number of companies and individuals running this tiap tsai  business and What's for Dinner  is one of those. The dr...

On days when Paul had to work late, I would normally try to make it home earlier than usual to be able to prepare our dinner. So far, I've mastered the art of cooking rice and reheating a wide-array of viands too. When I'm feeling a bit more creative, I would cook a new dish and would surprise not only Paul but myself as well with the (thankfully) positive outcome. I have to admit though that we do most of the cooking during weekends where we have the luxury of time. Weeknights are normally meant for reheating our food as we basically have an hour to prepare everything to have dinner right away. One night, I went home late after paying a quick visit to the gym. Worried that we will end up eating really really late, I told Paul that I'll do something about it. As soon as he said "okay",  I quickly opened the ever reliable Food Panda app. The steps are really simple. First, I keyed in our postal code to be able to generate a list of restaurants that can ser...

I always believe that the internet helps connect lives and build relationships. When used properly, strong and real friendships can be made. While I've been pretty much invisible in the local blogging scene since the start of 2013, I'm lucky to still keep in touch with a few of my fellow food blogger friends who would drop in a message via any social media platform to say hi and to check on us from time to time. They would also update me on the newest must-try restaurants in the metro which I would make sure to try whenever I get to go home for a visit. As Christmas is the must-awaited season for partying and lots of eating, we joined the K.T.G . for their 1st ever Christmas Party! While a number were old friends, we were also able to finally meet the faces behind the blogs that we've been following for months now. Boy, were they a fun and happy bunch! Of course, what's a KTG Party without yummy food, right? Let me share with you some of the dishes that we were ab...

Last weekend was probably one of the most relaxing that I've had here in Singapore so far. After all, it was my first time to experience a 4-day weekend thanks to the back-to-back Hari Raya Festival and the National Day celebration. Instead of joining the shopping crowd outside, Paul and I opted to just spend most of our time at home, catching up on our movie list and doing our household chores. Finally, I was also able to catch up on sleep -- one that I've been wanting to do for almost a month now. During one of those days, we woke up at exactly noon and realized one thing: we haven't prepared anything for lunch . *gasp* With all of our meats and seafood still in the freezer and our canned goods inventory running low, we decided to just call for delivery. It was perfect timing also that I got a S$50 voucher from Food Panda Singapore . This is an international food delivery system that caters to more than 25 countries worldwide. Here, you get to order from a number ...

Don't you just love long weekends? Yesterday, I woke up thinking that it was already Sunday. While I know I still have a full day to relax, I somehow felt glum over the thought that I'm heading back to reality work the next day. Good thing I realized that it was just Saturday and there's still one more day left to enjoy! Weeeee!! ♥ I'm really cherishing all opportunities to just stay longer in bed and to hang out at home with no agenda lined up. The holiday season is here and I brace myself for the busy months ahead! Last Sunday, I woke up to hear my parents and sister debating. The topic? Whether to eat out or not. It was already 11AM and no one has still made a decision. Pan has been looking forward to eating out while Papa was feeling extra lazy and wasn't up to leaving the house that day. Mommy and Paul were just game to go with whatever we finally decide in doing. Getting out of my sleepy state, I suggested that we just order in. Spotted: Frannywanny ment...