Frannywanny

I love Japanese food! Next to Chinese, it's one cuisine that I don't think I'll ever get tired of eating. I guess as lot of you will agree with me especially when we're talking about the freshest cuts of sashimi, beef yakiniku and sukiyaki that melts-in-your-mouth and the most heart-tugging bowl of ramen too. Japanese do take their food seriously and this is one reason why they have created a fifth sense called umami where all delicious flavors come together as one. Someday, I wish to visit Japan and to have a week-long gastronomical adventure where I can stuff myself silly with all the sushi and unagi (eel) that my tummy can handle. Thus, when I received an invitation to try the newly opened Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant at the New Glorietta mall, I immediately replied with a big and happy YES! YES! YES! Just a side note, on our way to the restaurant, Paul and I were amazed at how pretty the new Glorietta mall was. I know we've just been away for a mont...

Summer is here! I can't believe it's already March which means we're almost done with the 1st quarter of 2013. Time is running on high speed, don't you think? Anyway, with the heat getting to be more intense outside, all the more I crave for cold desserts. Ice cream, yogurt and our ever-popular halo-halo. Just the thought of it is making me miss Manila more and more. *sigh* Aside from my dessert bar staples such as creme brulee and a scoop of ice cream, I am also a big fan of crepes. I tell you, I can have crepes at anytime of the day. The savory ones for breakfast, lunch or dinner and the sweet fruity ones in between. This is also why my family and I frequent our neighborhood creperie a whole lot ever since it opened its doors to the public. Let's just say, that's our way of giving our all out support in hopes that it'll be there to serve us forever and ever. During one of our not-so-frequent trips to the SM Mall of Asia , Paul, Joan (a.k.a. Mrs. Fo...

I've heard about Hooters , a popular American resto bar, that opened in Manila a few years back. Of course, I heard this from Paul who has been planning to check out their local branch since then. I really didn't get the fuss over it as I initially thought it was pretty much similar to our favorite Chili's or TGI Friday's. It was after reading reviews about it that I found out the little extra USP (unique selling proposition) that this restaurant has -- it's very sexy and overly voluptuous lady servers making this a go-to place for all men out there. Aha! No wonder... tsk tsk tsk. Unfortunately, Hooters hasn't expanded since it opened at the San Miguel by the Bay area near the SM Mall of Asia and since we rarely frequent that place, my dear husband hasn't been to Hooters Manila till this day. Well, imagine his shock when I came home one evening and told him that I had lunch at Hooters with a couple of girl colleagues as we had a presentation nearby...

Finally I was able to cross out another restaurant from my growing list of restaurants to try for the year!! We have barely 4 months to go before 2013 rolls in and I am barely half way there! *pant pant* So little time, so many restaurants to try! After visiting an expo at the SMX Convention Center , Paul and I agreed to have dinner at Tajimaya Yakiniku Restaurant . I've been hearing about this restaurant from my cousin in law L who loves this restaurant and has been raving about their yummy grilled beef since last year! In fact, I still owe her a Tajimaya pig-out date together with ML . We mentioned our dinner plans to The Food Club and our initial table reservation for two was magically turned into a private room for 8 as they wanted to try it out too! Well, as they say...the more, the merrier! They have an Eat-All-You-Can promo where for only Php. 420 you get unlimited refills of beef, chicken, sausage, fish balls and pork. Add Php. 60 and make it Php. 520 then yo...

It has been a while since Paul and I had our much-longed-for R&R. Our last was during our 1st wedding anniversary where we stayed a night at Discovery Suites . We were, in fact, really looking forward to our trip to Bacolod which sadly got canceled due to a massive strike conducted by ex-PAL employees. "Just one night." I always pray to HIM. We've both been so stressed out that I think a mini-break will really do wonders for us. HE heard my prayers so last Saturday I got an email from the Ariel 3D Deep Clean event organizers telling me that they actually booked a room for us at Microtel Mall of Asia . The thing is, this will be from Monday to Tuesday. We've never had a mini-vacation on a work night so this is really something new to us. Still, we tried to be spontaneous and openly accepted the invitation. So there we were, right after work checking in at Microtel Mall of Asia . There were plenty of parking spots and the attendant were very helpful too. I...

Unknown to many, I am a neat freak . I spend most of my free time (and in between busy schedules) organizing, cleaning, sorting, color-coordinating and a lot more. This is also the case when it comes to my clothes. I hate having a lot of unused clothes stored in my closet just gathering dust. This is the reason why I regularly go through every single piece of clothing and I quickly discard the old, worn-out ones to give space for the new ones. I love keeping my clothes tidy and clean. However, as we go out, especially when we travel and dine out, it's inevitable that we perspire and we leave stains and bacteria in our clothes. While eating, we sometimes accidentally have sauce dripping on our jeans and oil stains on our long sleeves. These are really hard to remove and not even the most powerful stain remover can sometimes do the trick. Luckily, I was invited to the launch of one of the country's leading brand in fabric care Ariel as they launched a new product called th...

It just seems like yesterday when a number of frozen yogurt brands took the nation by storm. What used to be an ice-cream loving country now as a new breed of yogurt fanatics who are on a lookout for this healthy dessert alternative that can clean your digestive system too. Then there were talks about culturing kefir and having this to help fight the meaner bacteria not only in the digestive system but up until the colon too. I first heard about kefir from my fellow blogger and dear neighbor Jane who makes her own kefir and was generous and kind enough to share a bottle with me when I was sick. Researching about it, I learned that kefir is a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with good micro-organisms. To be honest though, it has quite an acquired taste and surely not everyone would be too keen on trying this. It's a good thing that Swirls Frozen Kefir is here as they have made this into a soft-serve dessert and added in lots of topping options for the consumers to enjoy. So...

This is what I've been munching on for the past few days... Chicago Popcorn Shops Definitely one yummy Christmas gift that you can give to your friends and loved ones. I like this particular flavor called the Chicago Mix® . This is their best-seller and I can definitely see why. It's your perfect sweet-salty snack item that is a combination of cheese and caramel popcorn. Stored in a handy tin container, it keeps the popcorn crunchy even after a couple of days. Chicago Popcorn Shops has branches located at Mall of Asia and Shangri-la Mall.

It was a hot summer day when Paul and I took a short drive to the Mall of Asia after checking out the Martha Stewart Bridal Fair at the World Trade Center . After grabbing a quick lunch, we strolled around the largest mall in the country since we rarely get to visit this mall. While Paul was busy checking out the sporting goods stores, I wandered around in search dessert. I was about to give up after passing by half a dozen more retail stores when I saw this store that sells my favorite dessert as of the moment -- Frozen Yogurt ! What made it extra special was the fact that I've been hearing a lot of raves about this particular store and after multiple attempts to drive all the way to Mall of Asia to try this, finally, this was it! Being a certified Yogurt-fanatic, it took me less than three minutes to place my order. I played safe and got myself a regular yogurt (Php. 85) with slices of kiwi and mango (Php. 35)! For a warm day like this, a cup of yogurt and fresh fruits makes i...

Remember the time when Jurassic Park was the biggest blockbuster film in Hollywood? When Steven Spielberg became a household name? That was also when Dinosaurs began to rule our world of imagination. Fast forward 15 years after, dinosaurs will soon walk back to land and set foot in the Philippines...well for a month and a half that is via the Dinos Alive World Tour . Imagine walking through a theme park surrounded with 30 life size robotic dinosaurs complete with a 30 foot T-Rex! Aside from this jaw-dropping display, adults and kids will have a great time as everyone can enjoy in fossil hunting, rock climbing and participating in games and a lot more! This is a perfect family destination this Christmas season! See you there! RAWR! The ‘Dinos Alive World Tour - Manila will be set up next to the SM Mall of Asia from 28th November to 11th January , 10am-10pm on weekends and 12pm-10pm on weekdays. Tickets are available for purchase from TicketWorld by calling 891-9999 or online at www....

The countdown begins! In less than 3 days, Krispy Kreme will open its 8th store in SM Mall of Asia!!! Now citizens from Pasay and nearby cities can have their fill of Krispy Kreme's mouth-watering Original Glazed doughnuts anytime, anyday! What's special about this store is that it will be the first drive thru store in a mall ! Yesterday, Paul and I were lucky enough to be a part of an exclusive party that the people behind this mouthwatering doughnut brand prepared for the media. Thanks also to Shar and Becky who extended the invite to yours truly. Ü Arriving 30 minutes before the time mentioned in the invite, we already saw a crowd forming in front of the store. Bongga! (Exceptional) was my initial comment. MTV was a major sponsor and they really went all out with a beautiful photo backdrop, tall cocktail tables, a buffet set-up by Albergus, a small stage, roving lights and lots of Krispy Kreme representatives ready to answer to your needs. After registering our names, we ...