Frannywanny

I know it's kinda late to talk about the New Year as in fact we're just a week away from February. I guess this is what first time parenthood is all about. Your days will just roll by so quickly as you busily deal with endless changes of dirty diapers, frequent cries for milk and basically trying to keep your baby (or in our case, our babies) healthy, happy and simply alive every single day. However, as I watch my twins sleep soundly right now I can't help but feel an immense amount of gratitude and happiness. Just a year ago, I made a wish that hopefully on 2017, we will finally have the answer to our prayers. I prayed that we will be blessed with a baby...regardless if it's a boy or a girl, I promise to be the best Mom that I could possibly be and I'll bring him or her closer to God too. Just three months after, our prayers were answered and shortly after that, we found out that we were expecting not only one but two beautiful babies. More blessings and su...

2016 sure went by like a speeding bullet, don't you think? It was a pretty momentous year all over the world especially in the political-front. Back home, it's a special year with the grand arrival of my beautiful niece A. I can't wait to fly home and spend time with the family and most especially to finally meet our family's first darling baby (this is what my Mommy calls her and the variation gets longer each time with a new adjective adding on to it haha) . ♥ I'm truly in a very festive spirit so do expect a lot of Christmas and New Year highlights here the blog for the entire month of December. Let me start of with one from Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa . I have to say that this is, hands down, one of the prettiest hotels that I've visited in Singapore. From the moment you step in, you get a very relaxed vibe as it overlooks the sea and it covers a huge space -- 27 acre to be exact! It's the perfect place to be if you want a quick break ...

2015 is finally here and we're filled with so much optimism that this year will bring more luck, love, success and good health. Let me do a quick re-cap on the top 5 highlights of my 2014: 1) New friends, old friends As you may have noticed, Paul and I do love our friends dearly. We're blessed to have a handful who have stayed loyal and loving to us through all these years (some have been there for us for decades already!). Being away from home may have put our friendship to the test but it's such joy to be able to catch up with them every time and it's so easy for us to pick up where we left off making us realize the true friendship knows no distance . When it comes to new friends, we have the NKids whom we love and consider as our family in the Lion City. We're so lucky to have met them and to share a number of foodie adventures with them. C, I and O will forever be mainstays in this blog so do watch out for that. 2) Happy travels Finally, we're ba...

CHANGE.  Such a big word and it basically encapsulates how 2013 was for both Paul and I. We all recalled how the year began with an arrray of farewell dinners thrown by good friends and family as we prepared for our big move to the Lion City . Such a great leap it was that we were faced with new responsibilities, a new career, moving into a new home and the opportunity to build new relationships and friendships too. Months passed and we slowly made ourselves feel at home.  For us, Singapore has slowly became our second home. I guess we got these three people whom we consider our family in the Lion City to thank for. Meet I , O and C . Our three flatmates who have made our transition such a breeze. They're always ready to answer all our questions, to lend a helping hand and best of all, they're always game to join us on impromptu food trips too.  Unlike the past years, we were not able to travel anywhere beyond the frequent Singapore-Manila-Singapore tri...

I was initially planning to list my top eats for 2012 but decided otherwise. Thinking that it's the first day of the year, I thought of just spreading some good news by announcing the winners of my Holiday Giveaway ! Are you ready? Here they are:

December 31, 2012. Today is the last day of the year. I can't believe how time sped by sooooo fast this year! It's currently the Year of the Golden Dragon, said to be not a very good year for those born in the Year of the Dog like me. However, I felt pretty lucky this year. I guess it really is up to your own mindset and outlook in life, right? This year opened with so much love as Paul and I welcomed 2012 with our families around us. We're lucky to be blessed with such amazing parents and equally loving siblings and relatives. From them we get our strength as they've been showering us with their undying support. I got to admit that I prayed for one thing this year. That is for us to finally have our little bundle of joy . I guess the BIG Guy up there believes that we have to wait a little more and instead blessed us with a lot more other things. It's okay, we can wait and we're pretty sure our little bundle of joy will definitely be worth the wait.  I ...

*SPONSORED POST* How did you celebrate the New Year? Watching the news, I can’t help but get teary-eyed as CNN featured the live New Year’s countdown at Times Square in New York City. From the looks of the crowd, it seems to be a very cold winter night yet this didn’t stop thousands of Americans to go out to the street to be part of this festive celebration. As soon as the clock struck twelve, everyone began hugging, cheering, some couples started kissing and kids began jumping and dancing all around. What a happy sight! This scene is not far from what we had here in Manila 16 hours earlier than what happened in New York. In various part of the country, big parties were held, beautiful fireworks lit up the sky and in my in-law’s cozy home, we greeted one another and sat around the table to enjoy on our New Year’s Media Noche. As we enjoyed our bowls of misua soup, sticky rice cakes and fruits, we opened two bottles of Tropicana Twister in two different flavors – Apple Lemon and...

As soon as the clock strucked 12 last night, I stood up and instinctively jumped three times. My sister-in-law laughed as she reminded me of the sad truth... I won't get any taller by doing that anymore . :P Still, I love the juggling sound of the coins that Paul told me to put in my polka dot pink shorts. If I can't get any taller, then I hope to be rich! It was my first time to celebrate New Year's Eve at my in-laws and I enjoyed heading down to the dining table where the entire table was filled with all sorts of round fruits, cakes, roasted chesnuts and bowls of misua soup for each one of us. A few minutes after that, my cousin-in-law came by to wish us a Happy New Year! Too bad my other sister-in-law couldn't join us or it would have been fun to have the kids running around screaming "Happy New Year" too! My phone rang and it was my mom and sister wishing us a Happy New Year as they just had our traditional wine drinking at home. For a while there, I...

I woke up at exactly 8:45AM this morning and initially I wanted to sleep some more...only I realized that it's December 31 , the last day of the year and I am definitely not wasting precious time in bed when I can jump start my action-packed day with this blog entry. My annual year-ender special where in the past I've listed off my 8 blessings in 2008 , 5 amazing moments in 2009 and Top 10 Food Spots in 2010 ! This year, I won't deviate from the usual practice as I present to you my 11 Memorable Moments in 2011 !!! (p.s. in no particular order) 1) Hello USA! It was like a dream come true. To be honest, I'd never thought I'd travel to the US...this soon and best of all, Paul was with me! :) Memorable food stops includes the mouthwatering ribs of Lucille's , the to-die-for bucket of seafood from Boiling Crab and the incredibly delicious Red Velvet Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory . We had a great time reuniting with friends and family all throughout o...

I got a feeling that next year's gonna be a good good year!!! I can't believe that 2009 is finally coming to a close. This has been a year where we have witness major natural disasters, a number of great losses and a couple more sad news. However, trying to stay positive, there are also a lot of things that I am personally thankful for this year and I'd like to share these with you: 1) Travel Nothing relaxes me more than planning for an exciting trip! 2009 found me in four amazing spots namely: China , Hong Kong , Singapore and the Visayas region ! Next year will be another big traveling year that includes that much-awaited two weeks honeymoon to certain countries in Asia. Boy, I can't wait! 2) Frannywanny.com This blog has been my pride and joy for the past 2 years. Here I eagerly share with everyone my latest food finds, my travel notes and a lot more. Before starting on this entry, I even had to go through every single blog post that I've made this year to remin...

Presenting the Jan/Feb issues of my two magazines.... This 2009 presents a lot of new sections , a great new cover look and new surprises for our dear readers! I'm so proud of my two talented editors-in-chief and their team! I can't help but show off our lovely covers to the world! Grab your copies NOW!!!

I can't believe we're nearing the end of another year! I can still remember the time when I was composing my Year-Ender entry for 2007 . Unlike last year when I focused mainly on the travel destinations that I've been to; this time, I'd like to think deeper and talk about the 8 greatest lessons that 2008 has taught me. #1. Make new friends... If there's one thing I love about being a blogger is the group of friends that I have gained. Attending blog events and product launches has been so much fun thanks to these talented individuals. I would also like to thank my dear friend Sophie for her wonderful tips and encouragement for me to keep on blogging. #2. ....and do not forget to keep the old ones Just like wine, friendship gets better through time. I'm lucky that no matter how crazy life can be, I know I can count on these girls at any time. They have seen me through my ups and downs, they were with me as we grew up together and SOON, they will be part of...