Frannywanny

Whatever I may be during my past life, I'm pretty definite about one thing: I was still an Asian then. Growing up, I've always been fascinated about my immediate surroundings, while kids would dream of flying off to the USA to see Mickey and Minnie, I look forward to saving up to see Hello Kitty in Japan. While many would think that Europe is their ultimate travel destination, I found mine in Singapore and in a bit of Hongkong. My stomach totally loves anything Asian. I love the fusion of herbs and even at a young age, it wasn't difficult for my parents to introduced strong, aromatic smelling spices to tickle my taste buds. Growing up, I content myself with a warm steaming bowl of soba or pho. I love drinking tea more than coffee and could probably eat dimsum and spring rolls forever. Needless to say, I'm definitely an asian through and through. Then an invite came, an celebrity chef from Vietnam is coming to town. Too bad my cable package do not have the channel that ...

Since I had to leave the office to do a couple of (supposedly) quick errands over lunch, I knew I would have barely an hour left to eat. After visiting the bank and buying a couple of things needed at home, I walked around SM Megamall in search of a good place that can serve my order in less than 30 minutes. Should I go for Japanese? Thai? American Fastfood? Or perhaps Italian? I was becoming more confused and undecided as I pass through a row of food outlets at the Ground Floor of Bldg A. Suddenly, I heard a greeting.... Ann-young Haseyo!! Welcome to Kaya ! My attention shifted to the jolly looking man holding out a big menu towards my direction. I slowly walked over to him and scanned the menu. Now, I'm suddenly craving for Korean. He led me to a nice table by the door and handed my the menu. He asked for my choice of drink and excused himself for a while to give me time to decide on my order. Hmm...I need something quick and yummy. Good thing, Kaya now offers 5 lunch bowls at ...

Right now, I wish to feel the soft powdery sand on my feet, while basking under the sun with a tall cool glass of Choco Banana Shake from my favorite stall in Boracay. The holiday season is just around the corner and that means one thing! It another chance to take a couple of days off from work and to fly to any of our country's 7,107 islands for a short but memorable trip! However, budget may be a lil bit tighter around this time of the year as we have to spend more on gifts for our friends and loved ones and of course, who can ever forget that Jamon and wine for our Noche Buena dinner? SEAIR just has the perfect gift for everyone as they are giving all readers and friends of frannywanny.com a 15% discount on every airline ticket purchase! Booking is very simple! Simply log on to www.flyseair.com , fill up your desired flight details and input this code to avail of the discount: fwfh88ee Just some friendly reminders: * Promo is valid from October 20 to December 15, 2008 * Trave...

I've always wondered how it feels like to be one of those kids invited to visit Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Admittedly, I am not really a big chocoholic though I do appreciate a bite or two once in a while. However, growing up with a dad and a sister who are certified choco lovers and a boyfriend who makes it a point to have his regular dose of cocoa, it is then inevitable for me to be familiar with the different types of chocolates available in the market. From the smooth, sophisticated Lindt from Switzerland to the more upscale and precious Leonidas of Belgium, you name it, we've tried it. However, I've always dreamt of being a chocolatier someday. I wish to be able to build cute, artistic structures made out of chocolates. Heaven must have heard my prayers when an invite was sent my way. A chance to know more about the world of Chocolates and to make one too! Why not?! The event was set on a quiet Saturday afternoon, located along Roces Avenue just around the c...

The past four days would have probably been the worst nightmare that my family had experienced in our entire existence. It was also a perfect eye opener how important life is. It's just as if everything was going our way then someone just pulled the rug under the feet and everything just went dark. I'm so thankful of some many things...so much that I don't even know who or what to be thankful for first. One thing is for sure though, I'm thankful that we were given another chance to take good care of each other and to shower one another with love and support. I'm thankful that Papa's back and though it will be a long winding road towards full recovery, I know we'll get there someday. After all, amidst all the hardships and trials that gets thrown your way... Life will always go on ...

If there's one local event that I always make it a point to go to, it would be to see this Philippine International Hot-Air Balloon Festival 13 Feb 2009 - 15 Feb 2009 No matter how early we have to be up to make it to the Clark Aviation Field. No matter how traffic it can get. It's all worth it the moment we see these breathtaking flying wonders get blown up and start flying up up and away! This will definitely be a yearly tradition. A great way to start another travel year! See you all there!

Not so long ago, my sister and I started a small business. We stumbled upon this opportunity when a good friend offered us to sell her bags and just told us to give it a try. We took her offer and with no expectations, we posted our homemade photos online. Guess what?! Those wonderful bags sold like pancakes! In fact, we ended up seeing our friend/supplier on a daily basis to replenish our stock. Thus, on that fateful day -- April 19, 2004, MiXeD uP was born. From bags, we added our line up with accessories, clothes and shoes! Running MiXeD uP has taught my sister and I a couple of valuable lessons that I doubt we'll ever learn in school. What I love most about the business was having the privilege to meet a number of wonderful buyers turned friends. We loved our business so much that it was hard to let it go for a while to give way to bigger priorities (school for her, work for me). Nonetheless, we never said goodbye to MiXeD uP and vowed that someday it will be back. and we kep...

This is a very delayed reaction since the movie came out months ago but it was just this weekend that I finally found time to watch the movie and ... I.LOVE.IT.!.!.!. It's a story of a young bride-to-be Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who discovers that any one of three men could be her father. She invites all three to her wedding while keeping this a secret from her mother Donna (Meryl Streep). The plot thickens as all three men suddenly showed up later realizing why they were invited in the first place and are all ready to walk Sophie down the aisle. What happens in the wedding? Who'll end up with who? Will Sophie ever get married? These are the things you'll have to find out as you watch the movie. I love how the ABBA songs were perfectly incorporated in the story and I can't help but fall in love with Greece. It's simply breathtaking. Oh, One more thing I love about the movie? Pierce Bosnan is CUTE !!!

The rumors are true! As confirmed by MTV and Ticketworld , 2008 is definitely a great year for all music lovers in the Philippines! It began with the hottest alternative group Maroon 5, then came Incubus and just recently we turned mellow and sentimental with Alicia Keys. Just when you thought that was about it for the year, then comes a BIG surprise! So BIG that Paul and I are praying hard to be able to score some tickets to join in the FUN! As seen in Ticketworld's site: YEP!! R&B fans are definitely rejoicing with this wonderful news! I hope they'll start to sell tickets already. Will keep everyone posted on more updates! Sources: Just Another Game and Music Picks **UPDATES**UPDATES**UPDATES** Tickets are now for sale at the Ticketworld website . Contrary to the initial news, the concert will be at the Bonifacio Global City Open Field and it will be a strictly S tanding R oom O nly set-up. This means regardless of the amount of your ticket, there won't be any seat...

OPA! I love the sound of this traditional Greek expression that is always heard in celebrations and happy occasions! Today, I had a lot of reasons to say OPA! This began with the mouth-watering Traditional Greek Salad that was served in a rectangular platter. It is a combination of sliced tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, a generous serving of feta cheese, a kalamata olive, capers and the crowning glory of the entire dish -- a juicy seared king scallop. What I did was to slowly cut up the vegetables and cheese and make sure that each bite has a teeny, tiny piece of cucumber, olive, tomato, cheese and scallop. Mmmm.. I love how the scallop meat just glides and melts in my mouth. I love this salad which is a big surprise considering that I am not really a big fan of olive and tomatoes. Another Opa moment came up when we were presented with the 2nd course of our meal. It came in a huge square white platter this time. The chef calls it the Greek Mezze Platter which means appetizer in Greek. Peer...

After the success of the 1st series of Dialogues at Starbucks last June, the CSR department of Starbucks Coffee is back to tickle our minds and to allow us to stop and ponder on various social issues and learn from the experts themselves. The Dialogues at Starbucks is a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative that encourages participants to engage in lively conversations on CSR issues that is highly relevant to our community. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to listen to Illac Diaz who is a social entrepreneur. Aside from the fact that he's very cute (hehehe) I was simply at awe on how committed he is in helping to fight poverty. As he showed us various videos of his works and most especially that from the Millenium Schools Design Contest which is an international design competition that aims to build more disaster-resistant school buildings located in developing countries. All I can say was WOW . It's not too late to catch the other two Dialogues at Starbucks sessions! Wat...

My friend and fellow blogger Phoebe once mentioned to me that she loves the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar from Starbucks Coffee. Sadly, I can't agree with her just yet simply because I haven't tried it myself. Luckily, while attending the first of the 2nd batch of Dialogues at Starbucks event earlier, I was able to have a taste of this newest addition to the chocolate food line up of my favorite coffee shop. I took a close look at the small square pastry given to me. It has two layers where the top portion is a peanut butter square resting above a brownie-looking base. It's topped with the most rich and and gooey-looking chocolate fudge icing that wasn't too sweet nor was it bitter at all. I can imagine enjoying this while drinking my favorite hazelnut latte. Yum!

The dramatic fusion of East meets West comes alive in this booming corner restaurant at the 6th floor of the Shangri-la Plaza Mall. The name is Sumo Sam , the first name symbolizes a competitive contact sport in Japan and the second name stands for the main icon of the United States. Here in the Philippines, the unification of these two names stands for a funky dining place that serves unique dishes that blends both cultures in. Wanting to catch up on each other's lives and to satisfy our Japanese cuisine cravings brought myself and three good friends to Sumo Sam one Friday evening. With our stomaches growling loudly, we poured over their big heavy menu and quickly pointed out our individual orders. One wanted something with unagi (eel) and so we got the Dragon Roll (chopped unagi sushi topped with fresh mangoes and crunchy ebiko) . Another friend requested for the Spicy Tuna Salad which we all nodded in approval, another friend wanted something simpler and chose the Squid Karaag...

Being fans of theater and the arts have led both Paul and I to watch a number of stage productions that ranges from serious dramatic plays to fun and lively musicals. From Avenue Q to the West Side Story and to smaller school productions, we are blessed to be given a little piece of upgrade in our play-watching experience as we were invited by a dear friend and fellow blogger last night to catch the first technical rehearsal of the much-awaited Opera entitled La Bohème . Tagged as The Greatest Love Story Ever Sung , I was so intrigued and excited to watch the play myself. Thankfully, the weather cooperated with us making our drive to CCP short and pleasant. Too bad, due to some minor time mixed up, we arrived just as Act III was about to begin. Nonetheless, I was instantly enthralled by the powerful voices of the actors. I realized that one way to fully appreciate an opera especially one that makes use of a different language is to read up . Although Floy Quintos' version of La...