Frannywanny

Another year, another chapter. Yesterday, I celebrated my 33rd birthday. Gosh, I can't believe I'm this old! For a moment there, I had a quick flashback of that one time my 7-year-old self was telling Mommy that I wanted to grow up faster. Oh why did I ever said that?! *sigh* Well, my birthday was simpler this year. A bit more quiet than usual but still one for the books. It began with our traditional birthday salubong with the NKids. They play an important role in my life now and I purposely flew back to Singapore to celebrate my birthday with them. I'm so touched that Paul took charge of buying the cake and of course, he made sure it was yummy one! We're missing I  who's out of the country for work right now but my birthday celebration shall continue once she's back! Of course, we're family and no one gets left behind (or forgotten). Ohana ♥

As soon as May rolled in, this also signaled the start of a whole new batch of birthday celebrations with the NKids. For the past 3 years, we have been eating out to celebrate all of our birthdays and there's that traditional birthday salubong  where we would wish the celebrant Happy Birthday, watch him/her blow out the candles and enjoy a slice (or two) of the birthday cake! Regardless if our birthday falls on a weekday and we all have work the next day, this is one tradition I don't think we ever will miss. This is just one of those things that make the NKids feel like family, don't you agree? So, last week, we celebrated O's 30-something birthday! The celebration began the weekend before his actually birthday where he treated all of us to a yummy dinner at Spruce . I think I was the most excited about this as Spruce has been part of my list since last year. Finally, we're able to try it! Yay! The restaurant is located along the very quiet and exclusive ...

If there's a popular term called "ladies who lunch", I think the Normanton Kids will start a new trend of "Friends who Brunch" . I've mentioned a number of times here how much I love going out for brunch. It's just the perfect meal where you don't really have to wake up so early to eat nor do you have to wait so long for lunch hour to arrive. Well, okay maybe for this particular time, we actually got to the restaurant a bit late but luckily, brunch here in Singapore runs till 3pm! Indeed, I'm living in a country who takes brunch pretty seriously. Once again, we checked out another Entertainer App merchant called The Beast  in the Bugis district. This restaurant specializes in Southern American cuisine so think of rich bbq-tasting dishes, a great use of corn and fried chicken! It's a nice two-storey resto-bar where you can enjoy a mix of Southern-inspired dishes with their signature drinks too. For one thing, they boasts of having the w...

Five individuals with very different personalities living under one roof. Sounds like a perfect plot for a TV sitcom right? That's life with the Normanton Kids . Each one has his/her own quirks, mood swings and ideals yet we still manage to get along quite well. I guess, at the end of the day, we all know that have each other for support, love and acceptance. For Paul and I, we see the NKids as our family here in Singapore. We can really say that they've been there through our ups and downs and they've made living in a foreign land still feel like home. So, just like any family, we went out on Easter Sunday to hear mass and to have a good meal. Paul and I have been abstaining from meat for most parts of Lent while my friend I was on a strict healthy (read: fruits and veggies) diet the entire week. Finally, we're saying yes to meat when Easter Sunday came! Hooray! Browsing through the Entertainer App , we chanced upon RV Burger which was just within walking dis...

I really like it when our friend A is in town. This is because it gives the NKids a perfect reason to go out on a weeknight to try a new place for dinner. It was also perfect timing that it was  I 's birthday not so long ago so a post celebration was in order. We had it at one of her favorite restaurants here in the Lion City -- Brewerkz , a microbrewery and a restaurant bar all in one! A quick check on my Entertainer App and I realized that I got 1-for-1 vouchers for all main dishes too! I'm truly loving my Entertainer App as it allows me to try the different restaurants in Singapore for half the price. Since we all wanted meat, we decided to get two orders of the 3 Big Pigs (S$84) platter. It's a HUGE sharing platter that consists of Pork Knuckles , BBQ Kielbasa Sausages and BBQ Pork Ribs . It came with a scoop of creamy mashed potato and an array for sauces that best complements the three meats. Among the three, I enjoyed the ribs the most. It's because it w...

One thing why I love traveling with the NKids is because we all love to EAT! No kidding. During our trip to Cambodia , our bags were all filled with chips, snacks, drinks and even chocolates to ensure that no one goes hungry at any point in time. We try to make the most of each meal by researching well on the different restaurants to try both in Phnom Penh and in Siem Reap . I will be sharing with you where we went to eat during our trip but let me jump to our very last meal in Phnom Penh . Since we took the late afternoon flight, we had the chance to leisurely have a good lunch before heading to the airport. Our hotel is surrounded by a number of interesting cafes and restaurants that the challenge actually was to choose only two from close to ten options. Since we've been having local Khmer food for the past days, we decided to deviate from it for our last meal. The choice was to try Cocina Cartel , said to be one of the best Mexican restaurants not only in Cambodia but in A...

Over lunch one day, my colleagues AH and IW suddenly asked me what are my favorite restaurants here in Singapore . I haven't been here long enough to try a lot of restaurants but this question somehow left me stumped me for a minute or so. As I was putting together my usual bowl of salad, I made use of the extra minute to think. Then I began telling them about my usual go-to places such as Poulet for good casual French food, Keisuke Ramen , Kamal's for the best Fried Chicken Briyani in town and Din Tai Fung whenever I'd crave for xiao long bao. Now, it was my turn to ask. AH quickly named a couple of her favorites which were a mix of local and Chinese food spots and IW followed suit naming her go-to places as well. They have their own unique choices but I noticed that both of them named Swee Choon Tim Sum as their #1 favorite restaurant in Singapore. Add to the fact that D also went there recently and came back with non-stop raves about how yummy and affordable the ...

If there's one thing the Normanton Kids (NKids) have in common, it's definitely our love for good food. In fact, most of our weekends would basically have us food tripping or enjoying a good home cooked meal while watching a movie. So, when I invited the NKids out for a fun night at Morganfield's on a Monday evening, it was no surprise that I immediately got their YESes within minutes. They're definitely a fun bunch to eat out with! Morganfield's recently opened their second branch in Suntec City and we were all ready to enjoy slabs after slabs of ribs, fries and more! Being fans of western food, this is something that we rarely get to indulge in here in the Lion City. After all, Morganfield's is known to be the home of the Sticky Bones . Watch out for my Morganfield's blog giveaway below!!! You know that you're in for a good meal when it begins with some Homemade Cinnamon Candied Bacon  (S$8.90). Well, this is one thing that bacon fan...

The day when Aloha meets Konichiwa.  Last Sunday, the NKids went out again for another food adventure and this time, our tummies brought us to the Bukit Timah area. The fastest way to get here is to take the MRT to Botanic Garden and as you go up from the station you'll see a number of interesting-looking restaurants perfect for a nice Sunday brunch. So far, we've tried to restaurants in this area and both were good and worth the trip . For this particular food trip, we went to try Little Hiro which is a relatively new burger restaurant owned by the same group who runs Island Creamery -- a local ice cream parlor serving Singaporean flavors. Condiment Party! Little Hiro has been on my list since the start of the year so I was just so happy when C suggested that we have lunch there. I love the very chic, beach-happy look of the restaurant's exterior. For some reason, I was reminded of the movie 50 First Dates. Mahalo! I have to say that the menu was extensi...