Frannywanny

A couple of months ago, I was lucky to be chosen to win a romantic dinner date at Restaurant 101 by Pond's . Time went by so fast that Paul and I realized that the certificate was expiring next month and so we have decided to use it right away. It was just timely that we celebrated our last monthsary before our BIG day last Saturday. Overlooking the sentence that says to call 72 hours in advance, I just took the chance and tried to book a reservation barely 6 hours before dinner time. With our fingers crossed, we waited for the confirmation from Restaurant 101 . Luck must have been by our side that I immediately got a reply saying that we may proceed with our reservation for that evening. Yay! Arriving at Restaurant 101 , I was at awe with the grand interiors and the exterior reminds me of old western architecture with huge beams and high ceilings. Entering the restaurant, we were ushered by a nice Korean girl who happens to be a student of Enderun College , the culinary sc...

Following the success of the first Networking Night early this year, we are bringing you the 2nd leg this time putting together 3 experts from the Franchising industry! Plus, get a chance to build your contacts by meeting your fellow aspiring and current entrepreneurs! See you all on July 13, 2010 (Tuesday), 6PM at the Amber Lounge (Fort Strip, Taguig City). Just present a copy of the July issue of Entrepreneur Philippines to enter. Register at http://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/netnight and get a chance to get the 67 Success Stories book for FREE! See you all there!!!

It has been years since I've been back at Little Tokyo along Pasong Tamo in Makati City and Paul has actually never been there. For almost two years, this place has been a permanent fixture in my list of places to visit with Paul, I'm glad that last Saturday, we were finally able to tick this off the list. After setting an appointment with our BIG day officiant, we took a short drive from the church to Pasong Tamo making it just in time for lunch. While Paul was parking, I quickly headed to Izakaya Kikufuji to reserve us a table. I've been warned : this place can easily be jam-packed during lunch time . Luckily, a table for two was being cleared up and we were immediately ushered to our seats. Inside, a number of Japanese diners were present. I love dining in places with their "locals" present as it speaks a lot about the quality and authenticity of the food being served.  It took us a while browsing through their menu, everything sounded so delicious! Th...

Remember the time when I finally got myself to eat beef again ? This was after a long hiatus following the mad cow scare. Since then, I never looked back...from burgers to steaks and a lot more, I treat myself to a slab of melt-in-your-mouth premium beef once in a while. Of course, I enjoy a good piece of burger when the craving calls for it. Note though that I can be pretty picky with my burger. I realized this when I joined an afternoon burger taste test with my colleagues wherein we had to blindly taste three different burgers not so long ago. There, I was able to distinguished one from the other from the quality of the bun, the tenderness of the meat and a lot more. I like my burger patty to be really juicy, the type that will make me go "mmmmm" after my first bite. I love the bun soft yet not the type that I have to pull and struggle with. Lastly, I love a good amount of toppings..something savory and that will perfectly complement my burger patty. A burger like this ...

Don't you sometimes wish you can be anywhere in the world with just a blink of an eye? How about with just a couple of slurps and a few clicks? Before you think I might be going crazy, I came across this interesting photo contest brought by KFC where you may submit your most creative photo of you and your friends posing anywhere in the Philippines that resembles that one place that you would like to go to. Perhaps a certain mall would resemble that of the Grand Palace of Bangkok or the Esplanade of Singapore, take a couple of wacky shots together with a cup of KFC's Krusher and upload this photo in the official KFC Krushers Chill Zone Website . You have up until July 30, 2010 to submit your entries. The good news is that there's no limit to the number of entries that you can submit. The contest will have two stages: 1) You photos will be shortlisted by the KFC officials and after which... 2) Online viewers will be asked to vote for their favorite photo! (so alert...

This week was very stressful...both at work and for my personal life. With so many pending tasks calling out my name all at the same time, I just wish I can just close my eyes and everything will just move around in a snap. However, if there's one moment this week when I hope time would just stand still and things would go in slow mo, it would be during my lunch last Wednesday with my sister. We felt like one of the girls of Sex and the City enjoying their lunch out in a lovely restaurant with the best tasting food. Yes, I felt like I was in heaven for two hours away from the office. Well, I just had the most delicious crepe I've ever tasted in my life and I enjoyed this with a glass of bubbly too! Crespella with Tartufo Sauce Crepe stuffed with ham and cheese and covered with rich, creamy truffle sauce...need I say more? Definitely found heaven on my plate.  Let me tell you more about this particular lunch in the following days. Meanwhile, enjoy the weekend ever...

Everyone is a chocoholic, in one way or another. For instance, my family loves deep dark chocolates while I prefer the smooth milky white ones. Nonetheless, we have that sudden craving for that bitter-sweet bar of chocolate that promises to take your stress away. We were fortunate to be invited to Xocolat , a lovely chocolate cafe tucked within the residential part of Katipunan in Quezon City. From the outside, it looks just like any of the houses beside it however, one step inside and you will be transported to relaxing chocolate haven. While scanning the menu, we chatted with Xocolat's marketing manager Tricia who also suggested a couple of items that we should try. For starters, we got the Churros con Xocolat (Php. 95), we love having churros as a snack and it's our first time to have this as an appetizer. I love how thin and crunchy Xocolat's churros are. The chocolate syrup won Paul's heart as he literally scraped the saucer clean. I love how it has a hint...

Father's Day is coming this Sunday and Bizu Patisserie and Bistro was able to come up with this amazing gift idea that you can surprise your dad with. Check out these Sugarless Chocolate Cigars (Php. 1895) that comes in 5 yummy flavors! When my friend Audrey offered to send a box over for my dad, I cautiously asked her if these are real cigars as my dad does not smoke. She assured me that there is no need to light it up instead a couple of bites and munches is needed to enjoy. We tried the first cigar last night -- Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut Feulletine and everyone agreed that it was delicious! We're excited to enjoy the other for cigars in the coming days! What I also love about it is that it comes in a pretty hard case! Here's a great way to impress dad on his day! :) Plus get a pair of men's socks from Goldtoe for ever purchase of these yummy chocolate cigars! Bizu Patisserie and Bistro is located at the ground floor of the Promenade Mall, Green...

Paul and I have been extremely busy lately, aside from preparing for the every single detail of our BIG day, we also have to fix up our two future rooms. Back then, I thought renovating a small room is just as easy as waving your magic wand and tadah! you get a pretty, fully furnished room that perfectly matches your taste. What I didn't know that the smaller the space available, the harder it actually is to make everything fit. Given that we only have a room (or make that two) to work with, we sat down and brainstormed on the color scheme, the feel and all the decors that we would like to have in our room. Of course, there's the issue on making everything fit our small budget. Call it lucky or simply perfect timing, Real Living Magazine in partnership with SM Homeworld is proud to launch the 5th book in their Real Home Ideas series called Small Space Solutions . This book shows various small space living options from condominium units to simple townhouses with 101 tips ...

In our family, one's birthday celebration does not begin and end on our respective birth dates itself rather it starts a couple of days (even a week) before and ends one to two weeks after. However, what remains constant is that intimate birthday dinner that we always look forward to with just the 5 of us. This year, my mom, sensing my craving for Uni Sushi decided to celebrate my birthday at Yuujin Japanese Restaurant along Wilson street. We're a family who loves Japanese food and we love sashimi and sushi with loads of wasabi! Yuujin reminded me of my favorite Sugi Restaurant that my family used to frequent on a weekly basis. With the wooden furnitures and brown/white color scheme they should have added some tatami rooms to add more authenticity to the entire feel. I allowed myself to fully enjoy our dinner that I almost forgot to take photo had it not been for Paul who reminded me before I almost dove for the sushi platter. My apologies also for not getting the ex...

Every year, I find it a good challenge to pick out a restaurant on where I will treat my extended family to for my birthday. Early this year, I knew I wanted to throw a special lechon/paella dinner however after dining in more than a hundred new restaurants for the past two years, I have found a couple of good ones that I'd love to let my family enjoy for themselves. Such is the case of HK Choi , it was during one shopping date that I had with Mommy that we came across this promising Chinese restaurant in SM Megamall . We just shared on their Xiao Long Pao and Fish Brisket Hot Pot and HK Choi has successfully won us over. A week before my birthday, I invited my grandparents, aunts, uncle and cousin over at HK Choi . It's good that it's located in a mall making it pretty accessible for everyone. I went over and over their menu making sure I will be able to order a good mix. Of course, I also got suggestions from my grandpa and mom who are both expert foodies in the fa...