Frannywanny

It's no secret how Paul and I love to travel. However, given that we have very limited leave dates at work and more than half of those are spent in Manila for Christmas, Chinese New Year and for family birthdays, we barely had any days left to really go on a vacation. That said, this is one reason why we love taking staycations every now and then. You see, we both love taking some time off from work to unwind and recharge. We both lead very hectic work lives so this is the only chance that we get to spend one entire weekend clearing our minds and catching up on sleep. Not to mention that we get each other's undivided attention as we don't have to worry about household chores or running errands too. During one of our visits to Manila, we spent the night at Edsa Shangri-la Hotel . As you may have read in my past entries, this hotel holds a special place in my heart as I've spent a lot of weekends with my family here. I love how it's located right at the center of ...

There's really something about staycations that excites me. To others, it may just be an overnight stay. However, for us, a staycation is the perfect excuse to "eject" ourselves out from our daily routine and to just relax, relax and relax some more. During our recent visit home, Paul and I stayed the night at Crowne Plaza Manila . As I've probably mentioned a hundred times already (apologies for that), I was down with viral high fever that would go down in the morning and would shoot up again come night time almost all throughout the week that I was home. Our stay was no exception. I was okay in the morning but just as soon as I stepped inside our beautiful Premiere Suite , my temperature shot up to 39 degrees alarming Paul who told me to just stay in bed and rest till I feel better. It was a good thing that our room was really comfortable that I just snuggled under the sheets to keep myself from having chills and to lower my temperature too. Anyway, let me giv...

I'm feeling very exhausted lately. True, I just had one of the most relaxing trips ever but here I am back in the daily grind leaving me physically and mentally drained day in and out. Not even the two day weekend is enough to rejuvenate me. Does this mean it's time for another vacation soon? Hmm.. A few months ago, The Food Club was invited to have a quick weekend break at the new Ramada Manila Central Hotel located right at the heart of Binondo, Manila . While we're used to taking a weekend getaway outside of Metro Manila , Paul and I welcomed the thought of just staying in town but still being able to have some R&R away from home. Up until this day, I really get excited every time I have the chance to visit Binondo a.k.a. Chinatown. It reminds me of the time I would go on food trips with friends as we would enjoy the various snacks and treats found in every nook and cranny of this place. I also have spent a good amount of time here when I was preparing for my...

It has been a while since Paul and I had our much-longed-for R&R. Our last was during our 1st wedding anniversary where we stayed a night at Discovery Suites . We were, in fact, really looking forward to our trip to Bacolod which sadly got canceled due to a massive strike conducted by ex-PAL employees. "Just one night." I always pray to HIM. We've both been so stressed out that I think a mini-break will really do wonders for us. HE heard my prayers so last Saturday I got an email from the Ariel 3D Deep Clean event organizers telling me that they actually booked a room for us at Microtel Mall of Asia . The thing is, this will be from Monday to Tuesday. We've never had a mini-vacation on a work night so this is really something new to us. Still, we tried to be spontaneous and openly accepted the invitation. So there we were, right after work checking in at Microtel Mall of Asia . There were plenty of parking spots and the attendant were very helpful too. I...

When I first heard that Manila will soon have a 6-star hotel, my initial impression was "who can actually afford to stay there?" Months passed and after the opening of the very impressive Marriott Hotel followed by the Newport Mall, the doors of the 6-star hotel named Maxims Tower formally opened to the public. Who would have thought that Paul and I would get invited to have a private dinner at Impressions and to check out the rooms in this all-suites hotel? Thanking our lucky stars, we headed to Maxims Tower one evening excited for the dinner and tour ahead. I will tell you more about the dinner in my next entry but let me give you a brief tour around the new Maxims Tower first. First and foremost, what makes Maxims Tower different from all the high-end hotels in Manila is that it's the only one that gives you your personal butler at any given time of the day. Yes, that's personalized butler service 24/7! Next, it's the only all-suites hotel in tow...

To achieve perfection, I always believe that everything relies on the details. Big or small, adding the right detail can simply turn an ordinary hotel overnight stay into a memorable one that will last forever. Exactly a year ago, Paul and I spent our first night as husband and wife at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas. I remembered how surprised we were upon entering our 1-bedroom suite to see a bottle of wine on our table and as we walked towards our bathroom, the entire floor and bath tub was filled with red rose petals. We were speechless yet our hearts were screaming words of gratitude towards the very thoughtful staff of Discovery Suites . Today, we celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary and instead of flying out of the country or taking a long drive out of town, we decided to book a night once again at Discovery Suites , thanks to the amazing deal that we got from Deal Grocer . I got the 2nd to the last coupon for a 1-bedroom suite stay with breakfast for 2 for only half the ...