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Showing posts from January, 2019

Franny Mommy Favorites : Beginnings Baby -- Start your baby right

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I have to admit that I was pretty OC prior to having my babies. I love it when things are organized and clean and I would stop at nothing to achieve this every single day. All my life, I am aware of my OC-ness and Paul never failed to complain verbalize this whenever he can. Perhaps from a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most OC, I'd probably be a 9. That's pretty high, don't you think? However, what I wasn't ready for was how this OC-ness would reach its peak from the moment my twins were born. I guess, it comes with the fact that they were NICU babies. They were smaller and more fragile than other full term babies thus I made sure that not a single dust would fall on them as I just wanted to protect them in the best way I can. Don't worry, I didn't turn into some crazy OC Mommy but I was just extra extra cautious as I just wanted to ensure that I've covered all bases when it comes to making their environment as clean as possible at least for the first 6 m

Ceviche -- A Peruvian Gastropub along Sto. Domingo, Quezon City

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Trivia: Did you know that Philippine passport holders can travel to Peru without the need of any visa provided you stay for only 183 days or roughly around 6 months. That's long enough for any average tourist and that means multiple visits to see the Machu Picchu and countless ceviches and more.  Anyway, I recently discovered how yummy Peruvian dishes are and since then, I've been on a hunt for the freshest ceviches and the tastiest, most tender lomo saltados available in town. For instance, a month ago, I got together with some of my favorite foodie friends as we checked out Ceviche . It's a cozy-looking gastropub located within a quiet residential area in Quezon City. I grew up in this neighborhood as Kongkong and Ama used to live here and back then, we would have to drive out to either Banawe or to Quezon Avenue in order to have a good restaurant meal. Today, you'd find interesting hole in a wall food spots in this area and it indeed is a good sign of the great,

Cheesy Goodness at Tori Chizu Philippines

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You know when you suddenly have a craving so bad that you just can't stop thinking about it for days? That's what happened to me recently when I started craving for anything cheezy and all I can think of were those delicious baked rice dishes at Tori Chizu . I can't believe it took me this long to actually write about it. I swear, the 1st year of motherhood just went by like a blur that I hardly had time to do anything but to take good care of my babies. No regrets though and here I am making up for lost time by telling you about my food discoveries. So anyway, back in July (I know!), Paul and I chanced upon Tori Chizu  at Eastwood City Walk. We used to frequent this part of town a long time ago and it was only when we agreed to meet up with some friends that we found ourselves in this familiar part of town turned not-so-familiar as there sure were a lot of changes from our last visit which was half a decade ago. Tori Chizu  is from the same company handling Bonchon C

Guangdong Zongzi 广东粽子 by Harmony Cantonese Kitchen

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In food, there's one thing that I strongly believe in. "You don't need to offer a long list of dishes but simply just highlight on that one or two items that you're extremely good at and you're sure to succeed." I guess this belief can easily be applied to any aspect in life but let's stick to food for now. Take for example, Harmony Cantonese Kitchen . It's a very new home food business that specializes on one thing -- their delicious glutinous Guangdong-style Zongzi . Here in Manila, this is more commonly known as machang . Steamed glutinous rice packed with an assortment of meat, nuts and spices and wrapped in bamboo/lotus leaves.

Franny Mommy : New Year, Clean House by Cleeneco (Mike Gamez)

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Call it timely that as 2019 rolled in, Netflex suddenly launched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo  and I swear, everyone I know -- even the major hoarders and my non-OC friends have been giving their closets major overhaul, giving out what doesn't "spark joy" and basically, cleaning up their homes. Being a big OC nut, I've been Konmari-ying my closet regularly all my life. Cleaning up is, after all, second nature to me. What I did differently though was to do a thorough clean of our room. It began when I noticed that my twins have been falling sick since their 1st birthday last October. I swear, we have been visiting their pedia pulmo every single month and we have been spending way more than we should on medicines. I also dread it whenever one or both of my twins fall sick as this spells sleepless nights and fussy days. I learned about Cleeneco by Mike Gamez from several fellow mommies like E and D. They couldn't stop raving at how clean Mike's team has tur

Chocolate Dream Cake from The Culinary Studio, San Juan

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Hello 2019!  I honestly can't believe 2018 just flew by so fast. Just like that, my twins are now 14 months old (wow!) and they've literally went from them being tiny, fragile newborns to active, super talkative toddlers. Over-all, 2018 was a good year for us. It's this year that we've learned so much as new parents, as freelance professionals and as start-up entrepreneurs. I got to admit that at first, it wasn't easy. I've been part of the corporate world for more than a decade and I'm someone who loves schedules, routines and specific job scopes. It took a while but I feel like I'm slowly getting there. For one thing, I do value the time that I get to spend with my twins. I know this is considered a luxury and I am forever grateful to have the opportunity to be at the front row as I watch them grow. I face the New Year with a lot of optimism. I hope that it will be a bigger year than what 2018 was to us. I pray for good health and safety for everyo