Frannywanny

When I was planning for my upcoming business trip to Beijing , I was told that I will be staying at the Marriott City Wall Hotel . With that in mind, I planned my itinerary around the hotel knowing that there's a subway station nearby making it accessible for me to sneak in some quick shopping trips in between our official visits and meetings. I've been growing through the Marriott City Wall website a lot of times that I knew the look of the hotel by heart. Thus, when the luxurious black Mercedez Benz (a.k.a. my ride from the airport) made a left turn into a small road and stopped in front of an unfamiliar looking hotel, that got me really confused. I was already too confused with the non-stop Chinese conversations thrown my way as I tried to answer back with my very rusty broken Mandarin and now, I began to question myself if this was really the Marriott Hotel and not as what was I saw in their website. My confusion immediately disappeared as my Chinese counterpart explai...

Look what greeted me the moment I stepped into our house the morning that I arrived from Beijing, China ! It was a six-foot tall box that simply has the phrase "O, Wow!" in front. Our helpers were so excited as they have been wondering for days what was inside. As you open the tiny square hole, this apparently is the magical access to close to a hundred of Oishi assorted snacks! From my favorite Kirei to Pillows; to what most 80s kids love munching on, the Prawn Crackers, to the new Baked Potato Fries and a lot more! Everyone in the house excitedly sorted out the bags of chips as Paul and I packed them into tiny plastics to share with my in laws (especially the two kids) , my grandparents and of course to my ever reliable helpers, driver and our beloved Manang. This truly placed everyone in a happy mood as they all exclaimed "o(h), wow!" as they got their bags of Oishi goodies!

I'm finally back! After recovering from such a tiring travel for a day, here I am back at the daily grind yet totally excited for the upcoming weekend. My trip to Beijing was short but nonetheless very interesting and inspiring. It was for work and what I love about being able to join work-related functions wherein I get to meet our fellow counterparts is the fact that I get to learn a lot from them. It always gives me that drive to do more for my brands..it keeps me inspired and motivated. That's always a good thing, right? Well, as mentioned in my earlier post, this was the first time that I traveled on my own. I'm happy to report that I came back in one piece. Though, I sadly caught a bad case of cough and colds from the change in temperature and probably from those white cotton-like particles that were flying around Beijing all four days but I'll be okay hopefully in a few more days. Loading up on Vitamin C and H2O!! One thing that I look forward to when tra...

Off I go again! For the next four days, I'll take another break as I go incommunicado to a not-so-far-away-land for a short business trip. Here,  I look forward to enjoying the majestic structures that has been standing for centuries, to indulge in the richest and yummiest food and to somehow reconnect with my roots. Yes, I'm flying off to Beijing, China and believe it or not, it will actually be my first trip abroad that I'll be on my own. No Paul, no family, no friends or colleagues to be with me. I'll surely miss Paul as he would automatically hold my hand as the plane takes off and lands on the ground. How he would take care of packing our bags and carry all of them while leaving the lightest baggage for me to pull around. How I wish he'll be there to experience Beijing with me. Without him, all the more I'll strive harder (and save more) for us to be able to visit China soon. ♥ Click here to learn how to apply for a Chinese Visa.   Don't you ...

In every country, there is a particular district that I have grown fond of. There's Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong and Raffles City in Singapore. As a result, I would tend to book hotels within these areas as I find myself most comfortable and at ease when staying in these places. Both districts are considered highly commercial areas as they are filled with lots of shops and restaurants making it so convenient for Paul and I to eat, shop and walk around at any given time of the day. After all, being in a foreign land, it's important to still feel safe to be able to fully enjoy and maximize the trip. As we got to our hotel in Korea , I immediately fell in love with Myeongdong . I love the fact that the entire place is filled with retail shops, food establishments and a lot more. There are a number of malls present such as the Lotte Young Plaza , Migliore and the huge high-end department store called Shinsegae . Just around our hotel, there are a lot of beauty shops which wer...

After arriving at Korea and making our way via the Airport Limousine Bus , we arrived at our hotel -- Hotel Skypark 1 -- located right at the heart of busy shopper's haven, Myeongdong . Since we got to the hotel a little past 10AM, we were told that our rooms were still not ready and we sadly had to go back at 2PM to check in. Not really a big problem for us as our hotel was strategically located beside retail outlets like Uniqlo, Mango, Gap, Skin Food and several food establishments like Lotteria (more on this later) , Smoothie King and a lot more. Not quite satisfied with our airport meal, we decided to head out to search for a place to have coffee and some snacks. Koreans must really love coffee as you'll see a lot of pretty coffee shops everywhere! The more popular ones being Cafe Pascucci , Starbucks Coffee , Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Caffe Bene .We chose Cafe Pascucci which is located a few blocks away from our hotel. Paul and I shared this cup of Strawberr...

Annyeong haseyo! I'm back from my week-long break in chilly Seoul, Korea ! With the temperature ranging from 5-12 degrees celsius, I spent most of my stay wrapped in my comfy fluffy jacket, gloves and thermal wear to keep me warm.  My friends Richard and Irene were right..thermal eventually becomes your best friend as the temperature drops and as the icy cold wind hits your face. Armed with my daily dose of vitamin C and a new pair of comfy rubber shoes, I joined The Food Club as we visited the various sites around Seoul and ate to our hearts content! Oh I just love Korean barbeque, Bibimbap and Kimbap! I had them almost every single day! The highlight of our stay was that we were able to catch the full bloom of the cherry blossom trees. So pretty and breath-taking indeed. Before I go on and on about our trip, I'd like to open this Korea travel series with some basis Korea 101 ! The Food Club was able to grab a good deal with Cebu Pacific when it had its sea...