Frannywanny

Last week was definitely the busiest week for us publishers. It was the time for our annual strategic planning presentation and it is when we were required to present our ideas for 2012. Before this, we spent nights in the office working on our presentation, days thinking of ideas and hours before the presentation praying that everything will turn out okay. Thus, a celebration was truly in order. As much as I wanted to scream and do cartwheels for surviving the presentation, I felt a tiny ache in my heart as it was also the day when I will finally say goodbye to that one person who has stood by me for the past 3 years, he was the one who taught me everything that I needed to know in order to do a better job ...he was my boss and last Friday was his last day.  We decided to throw him a simple farewell lunch at Nav , a newly-opened Thai restaurant near our office. Passing by the restaurant, I noticed that the place was quite small thus I was surprised that when I called to make a...

It was a rainy Friday evening and my parents are on their way out to attend a party. The initial plan was for the three of us (Paul, my sister and yours truly) to either order pizza and camp out in our room while watching TV or to head out to Greenhills for dinner. We haven't finalized the plan yet since all of us have been busy that day. Just what could probably be a sign from above, the doorbell rang and our helper who answered the door, later entered the house with boxes and containers of food. It was a delivery from the guys of Angels Pizza Pasta Combo (thank you very much!) and they sent us a huge box of pizza, three boxes of the pasta on a dough (Carbonara, Bolognese and my favorite Tuna Pesto) and three bowls that became the highlight of our late Friday night dinner. Needless to say, we had a relaxing dinner at comforts of our home despite the rainy weather. Let me tell you more about the three bowls that were delivered to us. Peering into the clear cover, we saw a ...

One thing is for sure... blogging with an empty stomach can be hazardous to your health. I'm typing this before having breakfast and I can literally hear my stomach growling like a mad lion. To torture me even further, I am about to share with you something so delicious that the thought of it can really make my mouth water (and my stomach rumble louder). Yes, I'm such a sadist. *sigh* Last Monday, Paul and I were invited by my former colleagues of Starbucks Coffee to try a couple of new lunch sandwiches that they will be launching soon. I was so excited as knowing my talented friend C, who takes care of R&D for our local Starbucks food items, these sandwich are sure to be delicious! I remember back when I was still working for the Green Siren and C was working on those breakfast sandwiches , oh how I enjoyed hanging out with her at the training room as I watch her heat up samples after samples of sandwiches and she would generously share them with me. Now you know...

Before our fun bonding session over delicious icy dessert at Cold Layers , I met up with K and B for dinner at Yumemiya Japanese Cafe . Side story: I heard learned about the restaurant on its opening day. This is because a couple of us were invited to the restaurant to celebrate their grand opening and to try the food until we were told that the event got canceled the morning of the event day due to them running out of food. We never heard from the PR guy ever since. *sigh* Anyway, I found myself finally dining at Yumemiya Japanese Cafe a couple of months after. I purposely waited a while as I wanted to get feedback from friends regarding the restaurant. I heard a few, some raved about it, some had very neutral comments. Thus, I went with an open mind and a tummy ready to feast on Japanese food. Since I arrived quite early, I had the chance to read through the menu over and over again. I noticed that unlike other Japanese restaurants/cafes, they have a very short line-up. No su...

AFC's Next Celebrity Chef Do you love to cook? Do you have what it takes to be a celebrity chef? Well, here's your chance to stand out and be discovered as the Asian Food Channel is looking for the last man/woman standing who can withstand all the kitchen challenges thown his/her way! This is actually a first in Asia as AFC will conduct a region-wide search consisting of 5 countries -- Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Auditions will run from August 3 - August 16, 2011 in the five participating countries. The prize is an exclusive one-year contract as an AFC Celebrity Chef with the Asian Food Channel. In addition to that, the winner will be awarded the opportunity of a year-long employment contract with the E&O Group, taking on the mantle of Creative Director and Head of R&D for the E&O Gourmet Group. Sounds amazing huh? For more information, log on to: http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/nextafcchef . Who knows, you might just...

We're on a roll!! After celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary with an eat-all-you-can dinner at YakiMIX , I found myself on the way to Eastwood City with Paul and my sister last Saturday night to try another popular yakiniku grill-all-you-can place -- Sambo Kojin . My friends who have tried both, have been telling me that is the BEST yakiniku grill-all-you-can place in town and I believe them. This time, I also did my research. I read up on blogs and website who did reviews on the restaurant and even bump into an old friend that morning who assured me that I won't be disappointed. Needless to say, I arrived at Sambo Kojin with really high expectations. The place was packed and luckily we had a reservation. The friendly receptionist led us to our table and we were greeted by Jeffrey John , our server for the evening. On our table were two small platters filled with some Korean appetizers. We settled down and began by trying the kimchi, bean sprouts, potatoes, dilis...

Last night, I met up with my friends B and K. I met them while working for the Green Siren and coincidentally we have all moved on and have pursued other careers: I went to publishing, B is now the Marketing Head / Trade Head / CEO (hehe) of a premium beauty brand and K is handling research for one of the country's biggest food empire. I love the fact that we still manage to keep in touch even if we don't get to see each other on a daily basis anymore. Definitely, food will keep us together ♥. We agreed to have dinner at Northeast Square in Greenhills. This is really sweet of B and K to agree to meet up in San Juan since B lives in Makati and K is from Manila. I definitely love these girls! Dinner was at the new Japanese restaurant Yumemiya , which I will tell you more about in my next entry. As we were going through the menu, B mentioned that there's a dessert place called Cold Layers located at the 2nd level of the same commercial complex and that her friend has b...