Frannywanny

Lately, Paul and I have been busy . Busy meeting up with friends, busy attending despedida parties (more on this SOON) , busy visiting the mall to buy all necessary household items that we need for our new life that we will be starting in a month's time. For a couple who's not really into shopping, believe me, forcing ourselves to complete our shopping list can really be a test of our patience. Anyway, one incentive for going to the mall is the fact that we can eat out! Yay! During one of our recent shopping trip at the Podium Mall , we suddenly have a craving for ICE CREAM . Well, Paul thought about it first while I was initially thinking of just getting a cup of milk tea. We remembered that there's a Sebastian's kiosk at the 4th level of the mall and we quickly headed there to check the flavors out. We love Sebastian's for his unique yet very Pinoy flavors. Paul used to love Sebastian's Yakult flavored ice cream while I'm a fan of his Green Mango a...

Spontaneity . That's one thing that I've been trying my darnest to practice year after year. For someone who's incredibly OC, I tend to stick to routines and follow schedules to a T. Thus, when I texted a couple of friends to ask them out for lunch one weekday, they were pretty much surprised to receive such an impromptu invite from yours truly. Well, I was equally just as surprised myself that they were all game to meet up in less than two hours. We agreed to check out MadeCa as majority of us haven't tried it yet. I really haven't heard about this restaurant as I rarely get to visit the Podium Mall . Located at the 5th floor, this is a new Mexican - Filipino restaurant. A fusion restaurant. count with me!!! - Count Dracula (Count von Count, Sesame Street) To be honest, I'm not a big fan of fusion cuisines as normally it just doesn't work out that well. I still love restaurants that offer authentic cuisines be it Chinese, Filipino, Japanese or Ital...

Hello April! Time seems to be zooming by so fast this 2012! I can still remember how Paul and I welcomed the New Year with lots of sweet round fruits and a bowl of noodles with my in laws. Now we're a few months away from my birthday which means we're nearing the middle of the year! Hold on 2012, don't go by so fast as I'm definitely having a blast! Back when Paul and I were still university students, we look forward to the summer break as this means we can hang out more often than usual during the school year. Summer break means impromptu road trips, afternoon movie marathons complete with a bag of popcorn and soda, and quick trips to the mall. On days when we just want to laze around the house and eat, we would excitedly wait for the mid-afternoon where we would go around our neighborhood in search of some yummy street foods ! To be honest, I grew up never having a taste of street food. With my Dad who gives so much importance to hygiene, my sister and I were ...

To celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary , Paul treated me to dinner last Saturday. He asked me to choose where I want to eat and since we were already at the Podium Mall , my stomach and heart led me towards YakiMIX .. (that is after considering Cantinetta, House of Wagyu and other classy restaurants at the ground floor of the mall..kidding!) . Actually, Paul tried to throw a number of other restaurant suggestions my way even mentioning my favorite Arya but I was dead set about trying YakiMIX that evening. We got to YakiMIX at 6PM as we know that it can be pretty difficult to get a table knowing the popularity of this restaurant. I went with very little expectations as I've heard quite a lot of mix reviews from the terrible ones to those who truly had a great YakiMIX experience. Luckily, we didn't have to wait and were quickly ushered to our table nearest to the door. I loved the interiors as I was not actually expecting for it to look like a high-end Chinese restaura...

My sister and I live under the same roof yet in these past few weeks, I hardly had the chance to chat with her. She has been very busy with work that she would come home late at night while I've been feeling extremely tired lately that I was already in bed as early as 10PM (sign of early aging? I hope not!) . I guess she misses me so much already (haha!) that she sent me an SMS last Friday inviting me to an afternoon bonding session before heading home. I immediately said yes and I was so excited that I hardly could sit through all my meetings that day. Finally at around 530PM, I left the office to head to Podium for our much-awaited bonding session. We agreed to meet at Borough , a restaurant that I've been wanting to try out. I'm glad my sister was game enough to take that longer walk to Podium from her office instead of just hopping over to SM Megamall. See, she misses me THAT much! :) I bought a P495 coupon from Deal Grocer a month ago. It's a set consisting...

Four years. It has been four long years since college friends Daff, Anne, Tim, Len, Paul and yours truly shared a meal together. Call it falling out. We've had our own drama episodes in the past until little by little we've learned to pull down our pride and agreed to start on a clean slate. After all, that's what friendship is all about, right? Paul and I would regularly double date with soon-to-wed Len and Tim and last Wednesday night was no different. I sent Len an SMS to ask how she's doing and she invited me out to dinner. Only this time, she asked if I am game to invite Anne and Daff to join us. Without hesitation, I texted back, "sure, why not?!" I haven't seen them for a long time and it would really be nice to catch up with old friends..after all, we've known each other for more than a decade already. Looking back, they were all seated at the front row as they watched my love story with Paul unfold. We agreed to meet at Shi Lin a...

A perfect way to unwind after a crazy week at work is with the company of great friends and with lots of food! We have been awaiting the opening the Chelsea Market and Cafe at the Podium Mall for months! Finally, my friend K who has been monitoring the status of their store opening texted B and I that they're finally opening on April 30, Friday and invited us to have dinner there. Of course, we said yes . Despite the rain and the bad traffic all around the metro, the three of us met up and enjoyed a delicious dinner with me introducing a couple of my well-loved Chelsea dishes and trying out a couple of new ones too. K was the first to arrive and while waiting for us, she ordered the Risotto Balls (Php. 295) which we all agreed was a great choice. I love the cheezy risotto filling that's packed inside a crunchy deep-fried shell. This comes with cheezy Jalapeño sauce which you have to dip your Risotto Balls into before taking a bite. I also enjoyed the tiny deep-fried oli...

To be very honest, I am currently having a love-hate relationship with Eat-All-You-Can buffets. Being a food lover, dining in buffets is the perfect way to be able to try different menu items without over-ordering and spending a whole lot. However, after trying various eat-all-you-can buffets here and there, I've come to realized that it is also important to choose quality over quantity. Just yesterday, I accepted a long-standing invite from a friendly PR representative who once invited me to try an afternoon dimsum buffet. The said buffet is being hosted by Gloria Maris Podium . Unfortunately, I had to decline her first few invites as my work schedule was pretty hectic then. Finally, I told her that I'm free on the 21st if the schedule is still ok with her. She agreed and so my dimsum date was set. With two fellow bloggers in tow, I arrived at the mall a little past 230PM. We proceeded towards the restaurant and I immediately called my contact to inform her that we were alread...

I love nachos! I particularly like it with beef paired with either cheese or salsa or both. However, no matter how much i love this type of snack, i always believe that hygiene and other QA factors will always be at the top of my list (and i think this makes perfect sense). After shopping at Podium last saturday, my sister and I were both craving for nachos. Our initial plan was to dine at Fuzion and avail of their free nachos but sadly there were no available tables and it looks like there won't be any for the next 30 minutes or so. So we moved to plan b. We decided to try NYPD and to satisfy our craving, i'll buy nachos from the Nacho Fast stall nearby. On Nacho Fast Being a nacho fan, I can say i am a regular of Nacho Fast Rockwell where i would buy a bag of chips to take home with me. On other occasions, this is also where my friends and i would have lunch if we want something fast and yummy. Thus, I am not a newbie on this brand of nachos and i can say that they have one ...