Frannywanny

Another year has passed and here we are again celebrating Valentine's Day . For the past seven years, I would excitedly wait for this day wondering what Paul has in store for me. Every year, he would pick me up and surprise (yes, even after 7 years I'd still get surprised) with a bouquet of roses . Paul would bring me to a really nice restaurant, somewhere new to the both of us and we'd enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner. It's a simple gesture but I know it's one that was well-thought of by my ever sweetest husband. This year, we'll be celebrating our first Valentine's Day as a married couple out of town with half of the club as we watch more than a dozen colorful Hot Air Balloons fly up, up and away across the Pampanga sky. A week after that, we will continue our Happy Hearts Day celebration halfway across the globe as we visit friends and relatives and say hello to my dear Mickey and Minnie , this time the non-Cantonese speaking type. For those wh...

I love to cook and I love to eat, put it together and for sure, I'll have a great time during a shabu-shabu dinner! However, more often than not, it's my husband Paul who takes the center stage in the cooking arena. Take Amah's (grandmother) birthday two week ago for example where my family decided to head to Green Maris for an intimate shabu-shabu (hotpot) dinner. While most would probably expect the ladies in the family to stand up and cook all evening, it was in fact the men namely Kongkong, Aku, Kuku and Paul who made sure that all ingredients made it to the pot and they also were the ones putting all sorts of meat and seafood into our respective bowls. Such gentlemen we have in the family. :) Fast forward a week after, Paul and I joined half of the Club at King One Rotary Hot Pot in Macapagal Avenue where we went prepared with an empty stomach ready to enjoy an assortment of meat, seafood and more! I'm glad that Richard and Irene , who have dined at King One m...

Do you have a collection? I do. I love collecting all things pink! My fascination for the color pink is quite evident in this blog and with the items inside my bag and on my work desk. My pink post-its, my pink pencil sharpener, pink pencils and pens, pink magnets and a lot more! Even my wardrobe cabinet has gone pink-ified with more than half of my clothes in shades of pink, fuchsia and red. Back when I was a child, I would collect all sorts of things from stickers to stationaries, from rubber stamps to button pins, I even have a growing collection of all Hello Kitty and Donald Duck items! People may not understand why I love collecting these items but I guess it just brightens my day being able to discover a new button to take home or a Donald Duck item to admire. The Real Thing's Cinnamon Snifter -- one of their many Coca-Cola concoctions! Then I met KV Golamco who is a HUGE Coca-Cola collector. I've known quite a number of people who loves to drink Coke, but to...

We were really just planning to sleep the entire day to catch up for the hours missed as we both had a very busy week. This is also to remove those pesky dark circles growing under my eye. However, I woke up this morning suddenly feeling nervous that I am not ready for my upcoming trip. For one thing, I don't have enough clothes for the cold weather and this is already counting the coats and jacket that my dear mommy-in-law will lent me. I don't have a pair of close shoes in my shoe rack as I live on strappy sandals, flats and flipflops. Thankfully, Paul was game enough to cut our weekend sleeping plan short and to go to Shangri-la Plaza with me. Since July last year, I learned that one of America's biggest shoe store is finally opening in Manila. I haven't checked it out since as Payless in SM Megamall opened during my wedding month and my schedule was filled to the brim leaving me no time to shop. I've heard raves about shopping in Payless -- how organized it...

It’s so cute, and you can eat it! This was what’s on my mind the entire time Paul and I were enjoying our late lunch at Crystal Lotus . Located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel , we were treated to a special six-course lunch set by our wonderful hosts. Scanning the menu, the items sounded pretty normal but what we didn’t know was that this meal was not only a treat for our taste buds but truly a feast for our eyes too. It all began with the Roasted Suckling Pig with Cucumber and Sweetened Paste in Steamed Piggy Mask Buns . We were each given a rectangular white plate with a mini steam basket and two slices of suckling pig. I clapped in glee as I saw the two adorable looking piggy buns. How can I eat something as cute as this? Yet, the mouthwatering suckling pig skin was just too delicious to ignore and so with one eye open, I place the suckling pig skin and meat into one piggy bun and popped the entire thing into my mouth. I love how crunchy the skin was and the meat was trul...

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!!! (angpao tue lai!) :) As we celebrate the Chinese New Year, let me continue my wonderful food adventures in cosmopolitan Hong Kong. Let me start with these two food outlets that you should not miss when visiting Hong Kong Disneyland . After all the fun that you’ll surely experience inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort , it’s time to focus on the different dining options that you can avail of in and around the Park. Just like any theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has a lot of food kiosks in almost every corner. Here you can enjoy Mickey Mouse waffles, sausages and huge turkey legs. Since we were pressed for time, we made sure that dinner was memorable and so we headed to Plaza Inn an hour before the fireworks was scheduled to start to avail of our dinner that was prepared for us by our gracious hosts. This will give us ample time to enjoy our dinner and later on, head out to Cinderella’s castle to enjoy the evening display of fireworks. The organi...

There's a different feel the moment you step into the big wooden doors of Manila Hotel . The historical nostalgia that gives you a sense of the old yet with a touch of the new. I remember hanging out at the lobby with my family as we enjoy our tall glasses of Halo-halo on a warm summer day. I love walking into their big wooden bathroom doors and the fact that they're the only hotel back then that had a dispenser for disposable toilet covers. It's amazing how Manila Hotel continues to keep up with time. I've witnessed this during my lunch at Cafe Ilang-Ilang a few days ago. While there are more and more hotels offering irresistible buffet choices, I believe that Cafe Ilang-Ilang is one hotel buffet that you should consider and here are some reasons why: They have 9 (yes counted them all!) stations to choose from. From kimchi, bulgogi and chap chae...You'd be transported to Seoul without having to ride an airplane. I love their Chinese station where I couldn...