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...

It's really amazing how one learns to time manage most especially in moments when we clearly do not have that much allotted free time to spend. I guess this is the classic case of "so little time, so much to do." Such is always..and I repeat, always the case whenever we fly back home. No matter how much time or days we've allocated for a certain visit back to Manila, we always end up feeling like we should have stayed longer. I guess, that's because time spent at home with our families will never ever be "long enough" . So, I was pretty amazed that Paul and I have managed to sneak in a quick overnight staycation at F1 Hotel at Bonifacio Global City. I guess it's because this was specially prepared by my fellow blogger J and dear friend T whom I can never ever say no to. :) F1 Hotel is the first hotel in Bonifacio Global City and I do remember having lunch there not so long ago . We're finally back at F1 Hotel , this time with my MIL and...

Given that I always have very limited time available whenever I visit Manila, I make it a point to fill up all meals with family gatherings or friends meet-up. For some of my close friends though, breakfast get-togethers have become a regular habit and we get more creative with it each time. Such was the case with my dear friends S and D. We normally would meet up for breakfast at a restaurant or coffee shop, this time though, S invited us to her lovely home for her to make us try her coffee creations. I loved the idea! Check out her beautiful Cafe Mocha, I hope S would someday open her cafe and I'll surely tell the world about it. Watching her in her kitchen is like watching a younger version of Julia Child working her magic around. I initially wanted to bring some Singaporean baked bread to our breakfast get-together but things just got too hectic before flying home that I wasn't able to find the time to visit my favorite bakery . Boo! Well, it was a good thing that w...

I told you about our first meal in Manila when we visited last June, now let me tell you about the last meal that we had before flying back to the Lion City. Don't worry as I will be telling you all about the meals that I had in between. :) Since our flight was at 8 in the evening, Mommy suggested that we go to SM Aura to have coffee and maybe some snack since we didn't avail of any in-flight meals. As soon as I heard "SM Aura", I took out my trusty Evernote as I checked my list of restaurants to help me make a choice on where to eat. Aha, I saw Mentore Coffee + Bar . Finally. I've been wanting to try this since late last year. Mentore Coffee + Bar is part of the UCC Coffee Group and this was just perfect as my family is a big big fan of UCC. Sitting was quite limited as there was just an outside al fresco sitting and an "outside-the-restaurant-sitting". We chose the latter which entailed a bit of a waiting time. It's a good thing that we ...

Touchdown Manila! Every time our plane finally lands at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway, I can't help but feel a surge of excitement inside. "We're home!"  I would often tell Paul while squeezing his hand at the same time. Being home means reuniting with our family and our closest friends. Technology has proven to be very helping in keeping us connected and updated with each other's lives but to see them up close and to spend more hours to catch up is still something we always look forward to every time we fly back to Manila. We caught a noon-time flight during our recent visit home so we obviously were feeling quite hungry upon landing. Of course, I was prepared. I made arrangements to have a late lunch / afternoon merienda with Paul and my parents at Main Street in McKinley Hills which is very near the airport. Call it hitting two birds with one stone -- I got an invite to visit Main Street last year and it was just perfect that my go...

Every time Paul and I are in Manila, we make sure to spend our time bonding with our families and catching up with our good friends. We're so blessed to have friends who would really take time out of their busy schedules to share a good meal with us. Take for example one of our favorite couple friends - Ro and Peter . We've known each other back in the day when Ro and I were pretty much newbies in the blogging world. Fast forward 4-5 years after and our friendship has grown from being mere blogging friends who would bump into each other casually in events to close life friends who would spend time catching up and talking about everything and anything under the sun.  So when Ro and Peter invited us to join them for lunch at ' Cue Modern Barbecue , we excitedly said YES! Incidentally, 'Cue recently launched a new line of dishes which is part of their Porch Menu . Our tasting lunch consists of 4 rounds with a pair of finger foods and their specially created cockt...

When my SIL told me that we will be having our family lunch at COCA which is a Thai restaurant at SM Aura, images of Pad Thai, Thai Iced Tea, Takoh and Catfish Salad starts coming into my mind. I was really excited as I'm a fan of Thai cuisine. We got there just in time for our reservation and I was surprised that the restaurant was empty on a holiday. How odd... Where did all the people go? Well, SM Aura was fairly new when we went so maybe the foot traffic is still quite low. Scanning the menu, both my SIL and I were quite confused as it doesn't have any of our Thai favorites. Asking the server, we found out that COCA is apparently a Thai-Chinese restaurant and there seems to be more Chinese dishes than Thai. No problem then, we were hungry and were pretty much agreeable to anything edible. Thankfully our server was very helpful as he gave us a couple of recommendations. First on the list was the Suki Steamboat Platter which was COCA's signature dish -- Each tabl...

It's no secret that my family and I are such big fans of Chef Cecille Chang's Thai Bistro in Robinson Magnolia. I think there was even a time that every single Sunday lunch was spent there as well as our birthdays and even our despedida party last year. It's funny though that we would order almost the same dishes during every visit and still leave the restaurant constantly raving about it as if we just tasted it for the first time. Thus, when Paul and I were to have lunch at Chef Cecille's newest restaurant called Silk Road , we immediately said YES! Stepping inside Silk Road , we immediately knew that this caters to a higher market. I love the pretty, well-lit and very modern interiors which I honestly prefer over the rather dark ambiance of Thai Bistro. Of course, we didn't just settle for a dish or two. What we had was a spread good for about 8 people to enjoy but we were able to finish most of it anyway. Ooops! Lunch began with a bowl of Tom Yum Kung (...

If there's one mantra that my parents live by, it would be this: "The family that eats together, stays together." Given our busy schedules, we all make it a point to at least have dinner together. At home, dinner time would last for more than 2 hours as we would take this opportuntiy to update everyone how our day went and basically what's going on with our lives. I have to say that having these moments allowed us to stay very close as a family. I guess, this is the reason why I miss my family so much now that I'm miles and miles away. I think of them every single day and most especially during dinner time. A few months ago, I availed the Casa Marcos coupon from Deal Grocer . For only Php. 799 (from Php. 1,500++), we got a paella of our choice and a caraffe of sangria too! We all love paella so this dinner was definitely highly anticipated by everyone. When I told my parents that we made dinner reservations at Casa Marcos , Mommy got so excited as she reme...

This year, my friends and I are turning 31! I'm still in major denial that I'm no longer in my 20s and I'm getting inch by inch closer to the big 4-0! Oh nooooo?!?! Well, age is indeed just a number and what matters is you are still young at heart. Agree? Last January, we celebrated Estee's birthday by having an intimate dinner just us girls. We had it at the newly opened Beso Cucina Vinoteka at the Bonifacio Highstreet Central . Aside from ramen, more and more Spanish restaurants are opening left and right. I'm not complaining though as I loveeee good paella and a wide array of tapas. Estee's birthday celebration began with a carafe of Red Sangria to toast for a fun and fab year ahead for my dear friend. I'm no drinker but I liked the sweet and mild taste of the sangria. To go with our drink, we had a couple of tapas to get our meal started. Estee ordered the Gambas (Php. 380) and I have to say that this had to be the biggest gambas shrimp that I...

Quietly tucked in one of the hidden corners of Bonifacio Global City is a bright and inviting Italian restaurant called Tuscano . Upon receiving an invite to have lunch there with fellow foodies Richard and Irene , Paul and I found the restaurant after a wrong turn and a phone call to Richard for more verifications. The restaurant is located at the ground floor of The Fort Residences thus parking is pretty limited. We truly welcomed the Valet Parking service that the restaurant offers allowing us to just hand over our keys to the valet and he'll do the rest. I love Italian food mainly because I love pasta! Luckily, Manila is booming with more and more restaurants that would save you the plane ticket to Italy and still you'll be able to enjoy a good plate of pasta or some freshly baked thin-crusted pizza anytime you want! Still, I wish that Paul and I will one day be able to visit Europe and eat all the pizza, bread, pasta and cheeses to our hearts delight. Someday...someda...

Introducing Project Surprise. I admit, I was the accomplice. The goal was to bring happiness through the form of a surprise visit. The target? My fellow food blogger friends. I must admit I'm not good at planning surprises. More often than not, my excitement will reveal what I have been cooking up in my mind. Thus, it took me a while to invite The Food Club out for what looked like a simple dinner at Stella . After all, we, members of The Food Club do not say no to the chance of trying a new restaurant out. Paul and I got to Stella ahead of the others. After a quick hi-hello with the "mastermind", we entered the restaurant with innocent looks on our faces as we waited for the others to arrive. Stella is one of the many new restaurants that opened at the booming new wing of Bonifacio Highstreet . It's right beside its sister restaurant bar called Rocket Room , Stella has a cozy vibe quite similar to another sister restaurant -- Chelsea Market and Cafe . W...

Years ago, I never thought that I'd be able to travel to the United States of America ...this soon. Sure, it has been part of our list, even planned to go there for our Honeymoon but after agreeing that we will discover Asia first; we never thought I'll see the amazing West anytime in the next few years after tying the knot. Well, I guess Lady Luck must have been on our side all these time as I got an invite from a business counterpart to meet them in California late 2010 (that was just around 5 months of being married!) . The agreed schedule was on February 2011 and we got even luckier that both Paul and I were given US travel visas right away. It truly was a fun-filled two weeks spent with our relatives and friends based in California, USA. I really enjoyed bonding with my Ahia Jeff whom I haven't seen for a long time. The same goes for Paul who was able to spend some quality time with his aunt and cousin Jun too. It truly was time well-spent as we tried a couple of a...

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...

This continues my Bonifacio Highstreet Central food review. I really love hanging out at this new wing of the Bonifacio Highstreet complex. What's there not to love about this place? With at least 80% of its tenants being restaurants, I'm just halfway through and I love how a new restaurants pop out whenever I pay a visit. Last week, at the height of my intense preparation for Yummy Eats 2012 , I said yes to a dinner invitation after getting non-stop raves not only from my blogger friends but from a certain colleague as well. As I've mentioned before , my friend T really has great taste in food and after hearing her talk about this new restaurant called 'Cue and their delicious pork chop, I knew I have to put that on the list and schedule a visit ASAP. Paul and I got there a few minutes before our agreed meeting time and we were quickly ushered to our reserved table. 'Cue stands for barbe cue as this restaurant features a lot of really good meat dishes. Defi...

My friend T has been raving about this delectable Salted Caramel Macaron that was so good it has made her cheat on her diet as she couldn't resist a piece...or two...or maybe three. T has really good taste in food so I figured that those macarons must really be THAT GOOD. So one Sunday, my in-laws decided to have lunch at Burgos Circle and right after, I convinced Paul to cross the street and visit Bar Dolci , a dessert place where my friend T got her favorite macarons from. Actually, I just remembered that I wanted to try Bar Dolci and totally forgot about the macarons at first. As we entered the busy store, I was immediately drawn towards the gelato freezer matched with the glass panels filled with names of Bar Dolci 's gelato fans. The rule is they will put a point beside your name for every purchase of their gelato and after x number of cups, you get a prize. I tried a few such as the Salted Caramel , Ferrero (which was yummy, by the way) and the almost sold out V...

As I entered the corporate world, I got to realize how much my mom and I tend to be so alike. The way we think, how we push ourselves to do our best, how we strive to achieve perfection...thus it's no secret that she has been my idol despite the many times we tend to argue and disagree. Someday I dream to be just like her. A successful and well-loved professional in her continuously growing career and a doting mom who has always been there for us 24/7. What a super woman, huh? Despite my mom's hectic schedule, she still makes time to bond with us once in a while. Take last week for example, while waiting for my sister to get off work, Mommy invited me to have merienda with her at Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill . I was excited because there's actually a couple more restaurants there that I've been wanting to check out and this includes Sweet Pea . I've seen photos from fellow bloggers about the cute country-like interiors and knowing that this is the brainchild...

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...

I've always been a fan of MUJI , a Japanese retail store that carries a wide (and I really mean, WIDE) array of items from house wares to apparels, from bathroom accessories to office and school supplies. As a kid, my dad would bring my sister and I to Sogo in Hong Kong and allow us to choose our new set of school supplies from their beautiful brown notebooks to a set of colorful pens. I guess this was where my love for paper and pen began. Muji Central World, Bangkok Since then, we would make it a point to visit a Muji branch whenever we go out of the country. From Bangkok to Singapore, we enjoyed joining through the different trinkets and food products that I love to bring home with me. Last year, Muji finally opened its door in Manila! Located at the Bonifacio High Street , Muji is located at the 2nd level of Gap. Paul and I wasted no time and off we went to check Muji Manila out. It was perfect timing that we were fixing up our new rooms and we surely have a lot o...