Frannywanny

With restrictions easing up and cases staying steadily low, we're starting to gain more confidence to go out and relive our lives once again. So what was my life before the pandemic? It was a mix of work during the weekdays, giving my undivided attention to my kids and family during the weekends and meeting up with friends somewhere in between. We sure have spent a lot of time dining out and that's one of the things that I missed the most for the past two years. Luckily, we were able to discover a number of home businesses that quickly became our favorites and we have also rekindled our love for cooking too.  As soon as our government lowered the restrictions, Paul and I met up with his cousin and later with some of my high school friends at Jones All Day . This is one of the newest restaurants by the Raintree Hospitality Group  and if you're wondering how come the name sounds so familiar, they're the management team behind some of the biggest names in the F&B indus...

After having dinner one Saturday night, Paul, our friend O and I decided to have some ice cream before heading home. I don't know what it is with having ice cream but I guess, with the forever warm temperature we have here in Singapore , enjoying a cone, bowl or even an entire tub of ice cream always seems to be a good idea. The same is true in Manila only I'd always go for a tall glass of halo-halo (with a scoop of ice cream) whenever I get the chance to. So, there we were walking along Orchard Road when we were greeted by a long queue in front of Cold Stone Creamery outside Orchard Central . I personally do not like queuing up and having to wait forever till I can finally eat. However, the boys were pretty keen on having their ice cream that evening and assured me that the wait won't be long. Okay, I give in! What makes Cold Stone Creamery different from the other ice cream parlor is that they mix in various dry ingredients into your choice of ice cream. I really l...

My first taste of Wee Nam Kee was during our honeymoon trip to Singapore where Paul and I met up with our Singapore-based friends for a post-wedding celebration . The restaurant wasn't hard to locate as we carefully followed the directions given to us -- take the train to Novena and cross the street to find Wee Nam Kee . I wrote about our wonderful experience here and to this day, I still daydream about the yummy cereal prawns and Hainanese Chicken that we had that evening. A few months after we got back from Singapore , we heard some juicy rumors that Wee Nam Kee is coming to Manila!  This was confirmed by a dear colleague who's very own brother is the man behind Manila's very own Wee Nam Kee . In other words, we now have a Hainanese Chicken savior. Hooray! Finally, good and authentic chicken rice is coming to our shores! Sadly, hectic schedule and a bad case of amoebiasis restrained me from trying Wee Nam Kee right on its opening month. I died with envy upon he...

A wise woman once told our group that our sugar level goes down as you do mental work therefore...always... I repeat... ALWAYS keep a stash of sweets in your work station. :) This is really the perfect excuse to have some candies or chocolates within reach! (left, from top to bottom: Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Raspberry Dulce de Leche, Coffee, Praline right, from top to bottom: Peanut Butter and Jelly, Mont Blanc, Yuzu and Matcha Opera, Salted Caramel, Lemon) It's a busy season for us at work that a number of us have been spending long hours in the office, some even working till the wee hours of the morning at home. It's planning season after all and this is the time of the year where we have to take a great deal of time away from our regular work demands and to do some serious thinking (chanelling The Thinker ). With a great amount of thinking brings an equally great need for sweets! It's perfect timing that T had a box of these yummy looking french eclairs from...

After having lunch at an Italian restaurant within the Bonifacio Global City , Paul together with our regular food buddies Richard and Irene trooped to Serendra simply to give in to my request to try Chez Karine out. It has been a month since I've heard about this new bakery that recently opened at the Serendra Mall called Chez Karine . Not long after, fellow bloggers have been writing about it making me more and more excited to give it a try myself. It's located beside my go-to cupcake place Sonja's and from the outside I already liked the pretty decors, the clean and bright feel perfectly accented with small cute decors. Inside I was mesmerized with the beautiful pastries! This reminds me of the cute bakeries the Paul and I love visiting in countries like Hong Kong and Taiwan . First off, I ordered a box of French Macarons (Php. 50/piece). They have a take-away box perfect for 7 pieces which allowed me to order one flavor each as Chez Karine exactly has sev...

On our first weekend back in Manila, Paul and I were busy dealing with terrible jet lag. We were up at exactly 6AM and was fast asleep by 9PM. Thus, evening social activities were totally out of the question yet the good side is we get to make the most of our mornings for almost a week and a half. Both wide awake at 6AM on a Sunday morning, we decided to head to Mercato Centrale to check out the weekend market scene. Mommy agreed to join us and off we went to the Bonifacio Global City ready to eat, eat and eat! It was a very warm Sunday morning and after quenching our thirst with Iced Barako Latte and filling our tummy with Angus Beef Tapsilog, Mommy wanted to continue our bonding session somewhere with air conditioning this time. So off we went to Serendra Piazza where we had an early lunch at Mary Grace Cafe . It's funny because I frequently buy from the Mary Grace kiosk in Greenhills but I've never dined in her Cafe. My mom, on the other hand, is a huge fan and she was...

Most of the time, I would bring lunch to work. This is mainly due to three reasons : #1 I am very lazy to go down and look for food... #2 It doesn't hurt to save a few bucks to give me more reason to splurge during the weekends and... #3 I find bringing my own lunch to work healthier as my mom makes sure we eat well everyday. Once in a while, I would request that I will just have a sandwich for lunch. It's when I want to cut back on my fat and calorie intake and when I know I have a busy day ahead. The only problem I get though is that our new cook is no gourmet chef and her sandwiches pretty much consist of bread + filling. At times, I find myself very hungry and all I got was a piece of tasty with a thin slice of ham. No dressings, no greens, nothing. I almost wanted to cry out of hunger. Oh how I miss our old cook M, who would create superb sandwiches that would truly make my day. No matter how hard my mom would teach her to be more creative, we'd still end up get...

In this day and age, it is more common to meet up for dinner given our busy work schedule. Somehow, this also gives having a relaxing lunch out a different and special meaning since it's something that everyone looks forward to and truly treasure when given the opportunity to have one. Such is the case one fine Saturday noon when my sister and I found ourselves with no specific plans for the day. Waking up early, we agreed to go out for lunch with mommy to just bond for the day. It's about time for our regular mother-daughters bonding session! While Pan and I have been really tired and stressed out from work, Mommy's stress level probably triples that of ours combined since she takes care not only of our family but that of her own team at work as well. In fact, I still owe her a massage session this coming holiday break. salmon tartare Our lunch date was set at Chelsea Market and Cafe , I had such a wonderful experience here on all three occasions that I dined here while pr...

"Welcome to Cuillere" , the cheerful server greeted us as we entered the cozy yet formal looking restaurant on lazy sunday afternoon. I had to ask her to slowly repeat the name of the restaurant in order to get the right pronounciation. "It's kwee-yer , Maam, with the silent Ls" , she explained. " Kwee-yer " repeating after her...sounds great! As we sat down, I glanced at the paper place mat in front of me and there it was. The pronounciation guide and the definition of the restaurant's name: Cuillere [kwee-yer] n. b. 2007 1. French word for spoon. 2. Choice utensil for Filipinos 3. A perfect bite: a spoonful One thing I love about dining out is being able to know more about the different cultures and appreciate the beauty of it. I've been receiving a number of raves about Cuillere and most of it were about its famous carabao milkshake. Sadly, I'm lactose intolerant thus I have to skip this one but nonetheless enjoyed my visit by trying ...

Food will always be a subjective topic for as long as its taste quality is concerned. Each one of us has a different palate and preference that while a certain dish may be too salty or sweet for my taste, it may come out to be superbly delicious for others. I'll always be thankful for being able to have the privilege to visit new and unique food spots and to try their specialty dishes as well. However, the joys of eating also poses a bigger challenge for me, which is to thoroughly understand the story behind the restaurant, the chef and of the dish being served as well. I realized that fully appreciating food per se is not as easy as opening your mouth wide enough and chewing it well. It goes as far as slowly savoring the flavor, identifying what makes it very distinct and perhaps creating a vision on how I would like to remember it by. Quite similar to the Disney movie Ratatouille , I get excited whenever I encounter a dish that immediately strikes a memory from the past. It may b...

Back in December 2006, I remembered how excited I was to visit Serendra after reading a lot of positive reviews about it. Our first stop was at Polu Kai Grill as it was one of the few restaurants who opened way ahead before the rest did. I remembered ordering two dishes which were simply forgettable. The meat was dry and tasteless, the squid (or was it fish) was nothing extraordinary. Perhaps they were just trying things out at that time but I never got around to going back and giving it another try since then. Good thing the company was great or it would have been a terrible experience as a whole. Similar to my Haiku experience , I was surprised to see Polu Kai Grill on my list to visit during the Spot.ph Blogger's Tour . Needless to say, I was a bit hesitant being well aware of their dishes based on my previous visit. Then again, I entered the restaurant with an open mind thinking that it has been more than a year since and things might have changed. Good thing I did or I would...

This is a delayed blog entry as I took a short break after finishing off the Trinoma Spot Pass edition . During this time, I was able to re-organize my thoughts, digest some more and prepare my fingers and mind to share with you another set of interesting stories, this time from the 2nd and last leg of Spot.ph's Blogger's Meet at Bonifacio HighStreet and Serendra in Makati. What felt like a major challenge when we were given the chance to visit 18 restaurants during the first run, turns out to look just like an appetizer as we had to visit *make a wildddd guess!* 24 food and non-food establishments all around the newest hang-out place in that part of town. With only four hours to complete the tour, we began at Krispy Kreme and slowly made our way around Bonifacio Highstreet before proceeding to Serendra. How I wish though we had more time because I literally find myself rushing through the last few stores just to get my card signed. Unfortunately, compromising the experie...