Frannywanny

Today is the last day of February and in just a few minutes March will come running in. Time flies really fast!! I'm really excited for March because of four big happenings -- my best friend T's big birthday bash, the wedding of my dear cousin, the Good Housekeeping Family Fun Run (with dogs!), and lastly, the grand opening of J. Co Donuts and Coffee ! A month ago, I received boxes of J. Co Donuts that I happily shared with my colleagues. Once again, the generous people behind J. Co Donuts and Coffee Philippines sent another batch of donuts and this time they came in mini, bite-size versions. I find them so cute! As a result, my sister and I quickly transferred some J. Pops , as they're called, to a clean plate and off it went to the microwave oven as we love biting into warm, soft donuts.

Around September last year, Paul and I learned about the arrival of the first ever food truck called Guactruck from fellow food blogger Anton . According to his blog entry, food lovers will be able to see and try Guactruck's specialties at Mercato Centrale. Since then, Guactruck has been around, mostly within the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) area. We've been so excited to check this out due to our failed attempt at spotting a single food truck while vacationing in the US last year. I'm not giving up and I'm so glad that I don't have to book a plane ticket to see one up close. While strolling around BGC last week, my sister pointed out the brightly-lit food truck that was parked right in front of the Fort Legend building and Tully's Coffee. I totally forgot about Guactruck being in BGC and I was so happy that we finally spotted it! After having coffee, I dragged my family to check the food truck out. It was quite dark already however the bright LED lig...

Forgive me dear readers as I'm still in truffle heaven. I woke up this morning with a smile on my face as I thought of that delicious plate of pasta that I had last night. Indeed, this just got to be one of the best hangovers that I've ever had and here I am daydreaming about it again as I type this entry. Finally, after months of planning, Paul and I met up with a couple of his cousins for dinner at Lusso . This is to bid goodbye to two cousins who will be traveling soon and to also celebrate ML's birthday at the same time. What a fun celebration! We initially had a hard time looking for the restaurant as there was no huge signage which you will commonly see in most restaurants but rather all they have is an engraved signage spelling out LUSSO at the handle of the restaurant door. Very subtle yet so elegant. Reservations were made and our party of 12 was comfortably seated inside. The menu came in the form of a small lengthwise piece of paper with back-to-back print...

Sun Life Financial ,the pioneer insurance company in the country, has always been a part of our lives for as long as I can remember. It's simply because my mom has been a Sun Life Financial advisor since I was one. That's how loyal and successful Mommy has been with the company. In fact, I always like to say that Sun Life Financial has helped my parents in being able to bring us to the best schools in town starting from grade school up until our university years. It also has helped made our lives really comfortable and of course, this is all with the extreme hard work that both my parents have exerted to make everything possible. Needless to say, the Sun Life community is like family to us . My mom's colleagues have seen my sister and I grow up. In fact, some of them have been my mom's kumares making us closer not only to their kids but to the entire family as well. There's also a really fun part about being a Sun Life advisor! You get to TRAVEL ! Through th...

For Catholics all over the world, Lent began last Wednesday. This is the time when we try to make a sacrifice by either giving up something we really like doing or eating, practicing more good deeds and a lot more. For me, I abstain from meat . I do this for every Fridays of Lent beginning Ash Wednesday and this goes on until Easter Sunday. Of course, temptation is out there. It’s really hard to say no to that juicy piece of lechon meat or to have a cheese steak sandwich especially when it’s right there sitting happily in front of you. Still, I stick to my sacrifice and for years I’m proud to say that I’ve been pretty much successful at carrying it out all throughout the 40+ days of Lent. What make this sacrifice extra challenging is when we eat out. At times, it's just so hard to find a place that serves really good seafood options that's also friendly on the budget. Imagine my glee when I found out that Jollibee's Tuna Pie is BACK! Hooray!

While eating is a fun experience on its own, I personally find greater excitement when I get to cook and eat at the same time. This is the reason why I'm such a fan of shabu-shabu (hotpot) restaurants or those that have table-top grills where we can cook our choice meats to perfection. To be honest though, Paul is a greater cook than I am. So, more often than not, I leave the cooking to him while I happily chew away. He's such a natural with a spatula on one hand and a pair chopsticks on the other. One evening while trying a new restaurant called Taza Mix with some members of The Food Club , I was so lucky to be seated beside Paul and Irene , two of the more talented cooks of T he Food Club (this special category also includes fellow bloggers Carlos , Jane and Joan -- you should really try their kitchen specialties!) . Just imagine how Richard and I were enjoying having our plates filled with delicious shabu shabu balls, strips of lamb and chicken, kani sticks, veggi...

It’s BACKKKKKKK!! A year ago, my food-loving colleague excitedly told me about S M Megamall having a 3-day Food Sale . Imagine having at least a hundred food establishments offering discounts, free dishes and a lot more! It truly felt like a food lover’s holiday! I wasn’t sure what happened last year but sadly, I missed the fun weekend. Well, I’m not going to let that happen again this year. In fact, as early as last weekend, Paul and I headed to SM Megamall to check out the participating establishments already and took mental notes on which ones we will definitely visit this coming weekend. We mean business which means, we need a surefire strategy. This is WAR! Food War! :)