Frannywanny

Finally, after so long I'm back blogging and I'm ready to share our latest travel adventure with all of you!  You all know how much Paul and I love to travel and it's been a bummer that we've been stuck at home for the past year and a half due to the pandemic so when restrictions finally eased up a bit, we thought long and hard and just decided to go with our gut feel as we took the #AngTwins on their first ever birthday beach trip.  Our destination: Pico de Loro  in Nasugbu, Batangas.  We've been there before, 9 years ago to be exact , but back then, we went without kids and so my perspective and point of view then were totally different. This time, I'm wearing my mommy hat and I'll share with you our experience traveling with toddlers during a pandemic . The first step was choosing our destination. It was quite a challenge to convince Paul as he was very cautious and slightly paranoid (can't blame him) about the virus. More so, when I brought up the i

Whenever I get to look back at my childhood, I can't help but feel that life was wayyy simpler back then. No cellphones, no internet, no cable TV.. sometimes I do wonder how we managed to survive but we did! We learned to play with our siblings, our neighbors, we find fun in reading the comic strips in the newspaper, we became creative and somewhat entrepreneurial at a young age, we had lots of fun.  Food was also more or on the simpler side back then. It need not to be Instagrammable but it's one that's legit delicious and truly comforting. Take cakes for example, I remember growing up enjoying the kind of chocolate cake that has a nice spongey chiffon texture, the frosting with just the right amount of sweetness and with that creamy caramel center to seal the deal. Nothing fancy, not even with those gold foils or molten centers. Don't get me wrong, innovation is always good and I'm so happy that we have a wider range of choices today but it still sure feels good t

Lately, I've been busy doing some spring cleaning on my laptop. Since I have to transfer my files from my old laptop to our new one, I realize that I have to free up some space on our external hard drive too. As I was going through my old files, I landed on this folder that's filled with photos from our travels long before our twins came along. Suddenly, all the good memories just came rushing in.  How I miss those days when Paul and I would go on a road trip or fly out for a weekend break to our chosen domestic location. Living in a country with more than 7,107 islands, this means that you have a lot of places to visit and to choose from. One of my favorite spots is Cebu . The land of delicious lechon, dried mangoes and an island filled with the warmest, most hospitable people. The idea of traveling to Cebu never fails to excite me as it's an island with a good mix of city and island life. Cebu City is every bit a busy cosmopolitan center with malls, IT hubs, buildings,

We're officially halfway through the year! I can't believe June flew by with just one blog post. My sincere apologies! My birthday month found me so busy with work that on nights when I have the time to relax and to blog, I would opt to just binge on Netflix to clear my mind before bedtime. Anyway, please don't forget to follow me on Instagram as I would regularly post my latest food discoveries there.  Let me share with you one of the highlights of my birthday celebration. As you know, this is the 2nd year that I celebrated my birthday at home as we are still battling the COVID19 virus but one good thing that happened before my birthday was that my parents and I got our full dose of vaccines and Paul just got his first dose recently so here's to getting all of us fully vaccinated in the coming weeks. Despite having to stay home for my birthday, I got to say that this year's celebration was made extra special as I was showered with lots of love and well wishes fro

Mother's Day was a month ago and in a week's time, we will be celebrating another special day -- Father's Day. As they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach so why not whipped up these easy dishes for the special men in your lives? It need not be fancy or complicated to make. What matters is it comes from the heart, right? Get your little ones involved too as they can help you out with the preparation:  Breakfast in Bed  There’s nothing like waking up to a delicious yet nutritious breakfast made with love. One easy yet impressive dish you can try is the classic banana pancakes. All you need is 20 minutes of prep time, and you’re good to go.  Ingredients:  ● 1 cup all-purpose flour  ● 1 tablespoon white sugar  ● 2 teaspoons baking powder  ● ¼ teaspoon salt   ● 1 egg, beaten  ● 1 cup milk  ● 2 tablespoons vegetable oil  ● 2 ripe bananas, mashed  Instructions:  1. Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, mil

You know the age-old saying that "you can't have your cake and eat it too?"  For me, it means you can't just have it all. That's true and very realistic as life is never perfect. However, to celebrate Mother's Day, the sweet folks of  Holiday Inn & Suites Makati  has the perfect solution to counter this saying with their DIY Cake Box !  It's a special DIY box filled with all the essential ingredients to make your very own cake! One that you can also enjoy come Mother's Day (or any other day even before that if you just can't wait any longer). For only P1350, the box comes with specially packed and measured cake flour, buttercream icing, rainbow sprinkles, an 8-inch springform pan, a set of silicone baking utensils, 2 adult aprons and some freebies from Jack n Jill and Nissin. This is a great deal as the baking pan alone can be use for a really long time and it can help bring out the Baking Star in you.  I got this over the weekend an

2020 was supposed to be a special year for Paul and I. It's the year of our 10th wedding anniversary and we had BIG plans. Plans such as taking the twins to Hong Kong to visit Disneyland for the first time, plans for a week-long beach getaway to celebrate our anniversary, plans to eat out and to celebrate this special occasion. Well, I guess life is indeed unpredictable. Who would have thought that the entire world will be hit by the biggest pandemic known today and we're still battling it as we speak. It's been a year and a month since our first lockdown and the fight is far from over.  Sure, it was a bummer that all our plans had to be put on hold but if you're going to ask me now, it's okay. My only wish since 2020 is for all of us to stay healthy and safe. Travelling can wait, eating out can happen once the pandemic is over and yes, that beach trip will have to be rescheduled to a much later date.  However, Paul and I didn't let our special day go by with

It was a rainy evening and I have just completed one of the hardest course in my GM Bootcamp so I took a short break from studying and spent last night going through my blog files. Oh, there are just so many photos and stories that I have yet to tell and I hope that I'll be able to blog about them one by one soon. Let me start with one of my favorites last year.  Since the country went on lock down, I gotta give props to restaurants who were so quick on their feet and innovated their products to give foodies and their loyal patrons the chance to "dine out" within the safe confines of our own home. A few months ago, I received a brown box from Your Local  and upon opening it I was so happy to see cleanly packaged ingredients that will help me recreate their signature Chili Crab Buns  for me and my family to enjoy.  Everything was prepared so well! The crabmeat in chili sauce, the mantou buns and the veggies. Looking at this, I was so excited to give it a try and see if I

Experts often say that the secret to losing weight is to remember the 80/20 rule. Well, okay, there are several variations to this -- 90/10, 75/25 and it goes on and on. However, it all points to the same principle -- losing weight is a mix of 80% diet and 20% exercise . I learned this the hard way and I am still learning about this now. No amount of slaving on the treadmill will ever be enough without a healthy and balanced diet. That doesn't say though that you shouldn't exercise. Exercise improves your blood circulation, it burns off all the unwanted fat and it makes you feel young and happy. We're all for eternal youth and happiness so yes, do not forget to exercise.  Okay, now we talk about DIET . This is something that has been quite a challenge especially for food bloggers and lovers like me who believes that the secret to happiness is to eat like there's no tomorrow. Okay, that's an exaggeration but a quick browse through my social feed will tell you that

"The great gift of Easter is hope." – Basil Hume Happy Easter, everyone! Time is zooming by so fast and as the number of COVID19 cases continue to rise, my only wish is that we get to end this fight against the virus soon. Let's all do our part, shall we? Stay home, practice social distancing, sanitize sanitize sanitize and go and get the vaccine when you can .  I'd also like to add one more tip too -- let's continue to support local businesses as believe me, our economy has been hit so badly and it is just too painful to see one restaurant/retail outlet/business close down after the other. Along with its closure means people losing money, jobs and a livelihood.  With that, allow me to share with you one of my favorite home food business whom I have been supporting since late last year -- Salmon HQ . I first tried their fresh salmon sashimi and sushi bake sometime in December when I prepared my sister's going-away lunch. I know that they will most probabl

Yesterday was a happy day for our family. After a year of staying at home and trying our hardest to adjust our lifestyles to adhere to the safety protocols to avoid getting and spreading the virus, my parents got their 1st dose of the vaccine! I think a lot are curious how it all happened so allow me to tell you all about it from registration down to immunization .  We first got wind of the registration sometime in February and while I know that my family's still undecided whether or not we're getting the vaccine, I decided to just register to secure us a slot. Yes, I am kiasu that way but I figured out that it's better that we have a slot and that we are given the chance to choose than not getting any slot later on. I assured my parents that this will give us time to slowly decide by doing our own research and getting first hand information from others who will be immunized before us.  Cut to last weekend, I found out that the form that I have filled up back in February

From the name itself -- Caviar Pie -- immediately brings forth the feeling of being part of the higher social class where women and men would gather (pre-pandemic, of course) to socialize over expensive wine and cocktails and enjoy hors d'oeuvres served in small containers or on top of the daintiest crackers or crostinis. If we go back in time, it's giving me images of being one of the ladies of the Bridgerton  families as they would be waiting in their sitting room and would lady-likely spread just the right amount of Caviar Pie on top a piece of crackers. Forgive me as I was obviously Netflix bingeing all year thus the multiple reference to some of Netflix' biggest shows. If you haven't watched Bridgerton, well then, I highly recommend for you to do so.  Okay, going back to Caviar Pie . This is probably one of my favorite snack to have. It's simple to make but what makes it special are the premium ingredients found inside. In fact, it's like the classier, ver

Are you #TeamNamDoSan or #TeamGoodBoy? To know what I'm talking about, you have to watch the Kdrama called "Start Up". One reason why I love watching Korean dramas is because they somehow manage to incorporate a specific Korean food into the storyline. From Chicken and Beer in Crash Landing On You to Corn Dogs in Start Up, I always end up craving for whatever is being repeatedly enjoyed in every episode. I haven't gotten around to watching a new Kdrama so I'm still hooked to Start Up and halmoni 's corndogs.  Given that, I decided to try making Corn Dog Muffins  using a pack of Mekeni Picnic Hotdogs.  I've been hearing about the brand Mekeni for years! It started when I began dating Paul almost two decades ago and heard that Mekeni is a household brand in Pampanga. Finally, I got around to trying it out and I was surprised at the wide array of products available! They have hot dogs, bacon, beef tapa, tocino and even longganisa.  I had so much fun trying

I've mentioned that Yaya M has left us already and if there's one big challenge that majority of the households are currently facing is the lack of good, reliable help. When a helper leaves, it's harder now to hire a new one simply because you have to take all the precautionary measures before she actually starts work and that means having to do the recommended 2 weeks quarantine, swab test and all the checks. The worst thing is after going through all that, you then realize that the helper falls short of your expectations or worst, she would come up with whatever excuse to leave right away *sigh*. We are lucky though that despite the countless number of undesirable ones who have given all the excuses in lies in the books, we have found good reliable ones who are truly blessings in our household.  I remembered when Yaya M first left us and we had R with us here at home. We would help out to make the workload lighter for her. For instance, we would take care of cooking to al

 Annyeong! It's been a while since my last blog post and boy this year is zooming by oh so fast!  So, how has everyone been?  As for me, I've been extra busy with work as I recently took on a new role that's equally exciting and challenging but really, I love theAsiaparent and I love my team and I am so excited to grow with everyone this year. On the domestic side, Yaya M has left us (again and for good this time) and we wish her luck in finding her one true love.  Meanwhile, my twins have started pre-school this year so Paul and I have also took on our new roles as Teacher Mommy and Teacher Daddy. I'm still sad that my twins will most likely not experience nursery life such as meeting new friends, being part of school programs, gaining independence and more. Pre-school life was so much fun for me and it breaks my heart knowing that by the time the pandemic is over, they might have to enter big school already. *sigh*  I'm glad that we enrolled them in Kindermusik ea

[PR] Who can ever forget 2020? The year that brought about a volcanic eruption, super-typhoons, and a global pandemic which caused everyone to rethink how they should live their lives. Set aside some silver linings, 2020 brought about a lot of unprecedented moments and everyone was just ready to say good bye to it. But before that, we had the opportunity to let out all our emotions and say our final words about 2020, no holds barred. Last December 29, Kenny Rogers Roasters Philippines took on a bold and crazy move by literally roasting 2020—skewering meat shaped like 2020 and setting it on fire—and documenting it on Facebook Live. Everyone figuratively and freely roasted 2020 through the comments. Well, there's no better way than roasting  such a challenging year and we gotta do it the yummy way.  “2020 was an extreme year, and we each have our own opinions on how it impacted our lives. We were locked down for months, and most of our plans had changed. Roasting 2020 was a platf

 "Nothing can dim the light that shines from within." - Maya Angelou 2021's entrance was probably one of the most quiet that I've ever encountered in my 39 years of existence. With the absence of massive fireworks and social distancing protocols are still being observed, we gladly bid 2020 adieu and hope that this year will be much better. If you asked me what I was doing as we counted down to the end of 2020, I'd tell you that I was quietly in my study area, working on my laptop. With my twins and my parents sleeping soundly and Paul sitting right beside me, it may not sound very happening but to be, I got everyone who mattered around me and that's just what I needed. Of course, we had a nice family dinner with my sister and her family on video call. I guess this is really the digital age where technology makes being apart physically makes it feel less painful and lonely.  So what do I hope for this new year. I just hope for the pandemic to end. For famili