Frannywanny

"Change is always good." This is what my Mom would always tell stubborn little me as I used to be really resistant to change when I was much younger. I guess it's the OC-side in me that I just like things done in a routine and in a definite process that a little change in that can really throw me off-track. Little by little, I learned to adapt, to bend, to be more flexible. Not physically but emotionally and mentally. I've learned to embrace the change and see that sometime's even when one thing is not broken, there are still more ways to improve. Such is the case for our well-loved Gloria Maris Seafood Restaurant . This restaurant has been a permanent fixture in the Greenhills Shopping Center and has played a huge role in my life growing up in this area. It's the place where we would go for our Mother-Daughter dim sum date, the place where my in laws would go for their hotpot , the place where my sister held her beautiful wedding reception and engagemen...

This year flew by at record speed (and I feel that I've been saying this every single year) but seriously, with all the things that's been keeping us super busy in our lives, I can't believe that we're nearing the end of 2019 and we're less than a month away to welcome the new year. The holiday feasting and partying have surely began two weeks ago for me when I met up with my bestest friends. We've been best of friends since we were in high school so that means we've been friends for more than 2 decades already. Back when we were young (and silly), our group went by several names -- 4 Musketeers, Phantombunnies, The Mosquito Gang (don't ask me about this one haha) and many more. It shows how crazy we were but despite that, it shows how we just wanted a name that would bind the four of us together..forever. If you really think about it, we're four women with very different personalities. One is the analytical thinker, the smartest girl in our bark...

Milk teas...Nai Chai... Bobba Tea... Called in various ways all over the world but it's pretty much the same. A cold, refreshing drink made out of brewed tea with milk and with a generous amount of sago / pearls or whatever sinkers at the bottom of the cup. You all know how much I love my milk tea from the time I discovered this back in 2010. Such perfect (or I would say, bad) timing that I just had to get so addicted months before our BIG day that my dreams of walking down the aisle in a slimmer frame went kapoof!  Anyway, I'm just glad that Paul loves me in all my chubbiness glory. Seriously though, I really have to get in shape. Gained so much after I've stopped breastfeeding the twins. *sigh*  Any tips out there? Recently, I discovered a new milk tea brand in Greenhills called Xing Fu Tang . I guess, it's because this place targets a lot of Filipino-Chinese students, families and even senior citizens that we sure have an abundant amount of milk tea brands all ...

Rise and Shine, Manila! I've been meaning to write this entry all throughout Holy Week but the farthest I've went was to edit and upload the photos. We've also been taking the twins out for quick trips to the supermarket, to my Kongkong's place, to the playground..anywhere just to spend more time with our little twin stars before Mommy and Daddy goes back to work. True enough, as soon as Monday rolled in, we've both been so busy catching up with all the backlogs and meeting endless deadlines. What do you know?! It's Friday already and I'm honestly not looking forward to the next two weeks as Yaya M will be gone for her holiday and it means we will be yaya-less for 10 whole days. Don't get me wrong. My twins are adorable and they're so much easier to manage now but when you have a full time job and a million things needed to be done, it's really hard to find time to juggle mommyhood, your career and everything else in between. So, if I suddenl...

If there's one thing that I dread experiencing whenever I'm back in Manila then that would have to be the crazy traffic jam! It must be the never-ending road works or the growing number of cars on the road but the traffic condition continues to worsen year after year. Take our recent trip for example. We were very lucky that our  Philippine Airlines  flight arrived earlier than scheduled giving us more time to quickly see our family and head to San Juan for dinner. We got to NAIA 2 at 6pm and believe it or not, we reached San Juan at 830pm. That's 2 and half hours on the road with Waze giving us various routes to help us get home as quickly as possible. Oh my goodness! Papa, Pan and E were at home waiting for us and after we quickly dropped off our luggages, we headed to the nearest restaurant for our late dinner. I suggested Hai Chix & Steaks  as it has been on my list for the past months. I wasn't sure if it was any good but I guess, we'll never know if ...

I have this group of friends since high school whom I hang out with regularly. Well, I don't get to see them as often as I used to do when Paul and I were still based in Manila but I'm happy to be able to keep in close touch with them whenever we're back home. Given all our busy schedules, we would meet up during breakfast and with that, the "Breakfast Club" was born.  For our most recent get-together, we had breakfast/brunch at our favorite go-to place -- Torch Restaurant in Greenhills . We all live within the same vicinity so Greenhills has been our usual choice whenever we choose where to eat out. Luckily, Torch Restaurant  serves good breakfast and our friend M loves their coffee too.  The choices are quite interesting. It's your typical Filipino -silog (sinangag and itlog) but with a modern twist. Take for example Paul's U.S. Angus Beef Tapa . This showcases Torch's interesting take on the traditional tapsilog wherein they made use of t...

Every time we fly home, Paul and I would go over our growing list of restaurants to try in Manila. I tell you, it has really been a challenge to keep up as there's just too many new restaurants and only a couple of visiting days available. As much as we love trying new restaurants, we also take this opportunity to re-visit our favorites. I'd say we get better in planning our itinerary through time. Take this recent visit for example, this is finally the only trip where we got to spend a lot of time with both families. Spending lunches with my in laws and dinners with my side, we took a break from our crazy back-to-back schedule to have quiet meals at home, long hours catching up or dining at our favorite places. So, for our first dinner in Manila, Mommy suggested that we go to Lugang Cafe . This has been one of my family's favorite restaurants as we are all fans of xiao long bao (steamed soupy dumplings) and Lugang Cafe makes one of the best in town. I'm so happy t...

Do you believe in giving second chances?  Well before you answer that, let me tell you a little story. *puts on her lola glasses and sits on the rocking chair* *ahem ahem* Once upon a time, there was this girl whom we shall call FW. She went out with her best buds one evening for some delicious sushi and wagyu beef. Over their favorite Japanese choices, girly chit-chats and stories were exchanged back and forth. Dinner came to an end and not wanting to call it a night, FW suggested that they go get some ice cream. Feeling all grown up, the three girls decided to have some gelato instead. Off they went to Cafe Publico which was just a few steps away from their original place. It was raining hard that evening and they found a certain calmness inside the store. The rustic Italian garden interiors felt old yet comforting. The chess table in one corner looked really interesting. The place boasts of serving good gelato and so the girls made their choice. FW went for a sco...

November is finally here and for the past weeks, Mommy has been bugging us to organize a Thanksgiving Dinner for the family. Note that we've never celebrated Thanksgiving before and the only times I've had turkey was at Dad's Eat All You Can Buffet, the US Potato Board's Annual Thanksgiving Dinners and at Disneyland Anaheim where Paul and I shared a turkey leg. After all, it really would take a good chef to be able to impress me with turkey as I normally find it bland and dry. Thus, I really do not know why Mommy suddenly wants to celebrate Thanksgiving but I have a strong feeling a major craving for turkey has something to do with it. *wink* When Paul and I got an invite to celebrate Thanksgiving last August, we excitedly headed to Damaso Residencia which was the private residence of our dinner host, Chef Bambi Sy Gobio . Chef Bambi is also the talented lady behind the restaurant Restaurante Pia Y Damaso in Greenbelt 5. No thanks to color coding, we were the l...

Finally the wait is over! Since last year, we have been awaiting for the opening of the newest commercial building in the Greenhills Shopping Center . This is the one right beside Krispy Kreme and Promenade. As regular visitors of Greenhills, we would closely monitor the progress of the building and were lucky to quickly receive the news that the first two (I hope they’re not the only two) restaurants are now open – Gloria Maris and Wafu . Gloria Maris is no stranger to the Greenhills/San Juan community as most of our birthdays, engagements, weddings were celebrated there. I have yet to visit this new branch as I miss their shabu-shabu very much. Meanwhile, our attention gravitated towards the newbie – Wafu . It’s a Japanese restaurant and while others may quickly deduce that it’s there to rival the decades-old Sugi or Kimpura, peering into Wafu’s interior will tell you that this one gives a more modern Japanese vibe whereas the other two will always offer you the traditional fa...

16 years. That's how long most of us have known each other. It all began on the 1st day of class in 1996 (yes kids..no loud gasp please..Auntie Franny is not THAT old) when we all went back to school after summer break. It was our first year in high school then. It's part of the system that we all get reshuffled right after 7th grade. I guess the reason behind this is to give us more chance to get to know one another more. Much to our dismay then, this system worked out pretty well as we graduated High School knowing almost everyone in our batch of 240++ students. High School really was FUN. It was the time where we were still so carefree, all filled with hope and optimism and we didn't have much to worry about day in and out. I enjoyed playing matchmakers to friends during our Prom and Ball seasons and everyday I look forward to just three things: Recess, Lunch and Dismissal (ok, fine, maybe I also love Cooking Class and Club days too) . It was during these years that...

During one of my seminars at work, I was asked this question: If you were to be stranded in an island, what would be the three things that you'd bring? Without thinking, I jotted these three items down in my paper: Laptop - Camera - Broadband Stick Yes, I truly am a blogger at heart and no matter where I'll be, I want to be able to document every minute of it. It was only when I was given more time to think that my practical self kicked in and took over making me change my answers to: Lighter - Water - Food . In reality though, I can't live without my camera. Imagine not being able to capture all those memorable moments or that mouthwatering dish that you want to keep as a remembrance forever? I'm lucky that I'm married to such a talented photographer who's works you see in most of my blog entries. Paul also knows his way around a camera thus I normally just rely on him to configure my camera to the right settings making it easy for me to just point and sho...

I'm typing this entry with Take That's Back for Good playing in the background. Yes, I'm a 90's kid at heart and I just love songs from old school boy bands like Take That, Boyzone and my one and only Backstreet Boys. ♥ It's perfect timing too that I am about to share with you some good news! After a few years of innovating and changing the menu line-up, Flapjacks is finally bringing back some of their well-loved favorites and just like the Take That song..I do hope they'll be back for good . A few weeks ago, The Food Club scheduled to have dinner at Flapjacks Theater Mall as Richard , Jane and I were able to receive some gift certificates from Flapjacks . Dinner was scheduled earlier than usual as we have a bowling game to catch right after. (Yes, The Food Club is now turning into a Bowling Club as well haha) Paul and I used to frequent Flapjacks as we both love having breakfast meals at any given time of the day. My favorites include their fluff...

I love to snack. In fact, I always find snacking exciting as the choices are pretty much endless! What I snack on basically depends on my mood. At times, I am happy with a bowl of yogurt with some sliced almonds and crushed graham while on another day I want something heavier say, a bowl of mac and cheese. It's Snack Time! : A Four-Part Series I open this week with a four-part series on four different snack items that I highly recommend that you try soon. These were the ones that I snacked on this weekend and I was pretty please with all of them. Now, I know some of you might wonder how can I have four snacks in a two-day weekend...well...that's the Frannywanny power! *sly grin* Let me start with my newest yummy discovery, after running some errands and before heading to Unimart to do our grocery shopping, I saw a new store that has just opened at the V-Mall Garden (near the chapel) in Greenhills . I quickly pulled Paul to check the store out and as I get closer I fel...

Before our fun bonding session over delicious icy dessert at Cold Layers , I met up with K and B for dinner at Yumemiya Japanese Cafe . Side story: I heard learned about the restaurant on its opening day. This is because a couple of us were invited to the restaurant to celebrate their grand opening and to try the food until we were told that the event got canceled the morning of the event day due to them running out of food. We never heard from the PR guy ever since. *sigh* Anyway, I found myself finally dining at Yumemiya Japanese Cafe a couple of months after. I purposely waited a while as I wanted to get feedback from friends regarding the restaurant. I heard a few, some raved about it, some had very neutral comments. Thus, I went with an open mind and a tummy ready to feast on Japanese food. Since I arrived quite early, I had the chance to read through the menu over and over again. I noticed that unlike other Japanese restaurants/cafes, they have a very short line-up. No su...

I can't believe it has been almost a year since Paul and I flew to Singapore then to Malaysia for our 2-week long Honeymoon. I remembered being welcomed by our friend HK who took us on a fun food trip around the Tekka Market where I had the best tasting Lamb Briyani and later we dined at a Nonya Restaurant where it was my first time to try this type of cuisine. I knew from that point on that our honeymoon will truly be a gastronomical trip. As we get closer to celebrating our first wedding anniversary, Paul and I were invited to a food tasting at Shiok where we relived the fun eating moments that we both had during our Honeymoon. We met Chefs Nicco and Denny who are both owners of the restaurant. They first opened a branch at the Fort Bonifacio and lucky for us Greenhills loyal visitors, they now have their second branch at the food court of Greenhills Promenade . Initially, I thought Shiok means "cheap" as directly translated in Hokkien. It was only after meetin...

I love buffalo wings! It's funny that while I do not like spicy food, this is one dish that I can't pass up on when given the opportunity. I also love coating my spicy chicken wings with bleu cheese and munching on it until the bones are sparkling clean! Through the years, I've had the privilege to try a number of buffalo wings and while some have failed to meet our expectations , others were quite fantastic that it gets me craving for more every so often . I was able to first taste and experience Sunrise Buckets at my nephew's birthday party two years ago. I loved it that they gave us plastic gloves to use so as not to get our hands all dirty and oily while enjoying their chicken wings. Even my dear Kongkong (grandfather) enjoyed his own bucket of wings that he wouldn't even want to share with my auntie (teehee) ! It was pretty good, not too spicy and the wings had just the right amount of meat too. Fast forward to last Saturday, I woke up right before ...

For those who may not have noticed, Angel's Kitchen was my first entry in this blog . In fact, I was inspired to go back to blogging and to bring Frannywanny to life after my dinner at this restaurant. I love the homey feel and the fact that they serve really good food. Not known to many, Angel's Kitchen is owned by five ICA mommies who eventually became really good friends as they all share an immense love for food and cooking. Prior to the restaurant, they would spearhead cooking demos and they have even created an amazing cookbook that I'm sure is present in most kitchens owned by an ICAn. You might be wondering what on earth ICA is. It's my alma mater and I'm very much proud of it. ICA stands for Immaculate Conception Academy which is located in San Juan. Back then, no one knew what ICA was or probably that it exists thus we have to say "it's the girls school beside Xavier" that's when people would suddenly go "ahhh..." At pr...

I guess our love for food truly runs in the family... I strongly believe in this as every member in the family loves everything and anything about food. From cooking to trying out new dishes, from visiting new restaurants to actually writing about them , we can just talk about food for hours and which actually makes a very interesting dinner topic. However, my cousin took a step further and opened his very own deli. That, in itself, is a true testament about how passionate he is about food and that he would love to share this with his customers. Meet the Deliboys . The brainchild of Wilcon Syjuico and Perry Choi , this cozy looking deli located at the 3rd floor of the newly constructed Northeast Square is your go-to place of delicious cheese, cold cuts and steak. The best part is, these are sold at very reasonable prices making you want to go back for more. One afternoon, wanting to unwind so badly, I was invited by my mom to have a light afternoon snack at my cousin's deli...

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 si...