Frannywanny

I can still remember my first Boracay trip. It was the summer of '07 the same year Frannywanny.com was born. Paul and I went with my big big group from work. Finally after many failed attempts, I excitedly sat through our 50-minute flight to Kalibo where we had to take an hour and a half car drive to Caticlan and endure another 10 minute boat ride to the sunny island of Boracay. "This should be worth the wait." I thought to myself. From the moment we got to our resort at Station 1, I held my breath at the beautiful crystal clear water and white powdery sand. This truly was paradise. Definitely worth the wait, dear readers. :) As soon as we dropped off our bags and changed into our beach clothes, off we went in search for a good place to have our very first lunch. Following the lead of my colleagues who have been to Boracay more than I could count with my fingers, we headed to D'Mall. They told us this was the central, go-to place for all Boracay visitors and...

Let's start the countdown!!! Indonesia's very own donut and coffee brand is finally opening its doors in Manila! I've been hearing about J. Co. Donuts and Coffee ever since our trip to Singapore and Malaysia almost two years ago and was once again intrigued by it after my sister's trip to Singapore where she was able to try their coffee and liked it very much! Admittedly, I do not have a sweet tooth and has one of the lowest sugar tolerance in the family but I was really excited when 3 huge yellow boxes were delivered to my office one afternoon a month ago. I opened each one of them and the smell of freshly baked donuts instantly made my tummy rumble. Since I was still swamped with work, I shared one box with my colleagues who all liked the ultra moist and fluffy-soft donuts. The boys gave their thumbs up while the girls immediately asked where J. Co. is located. I grinned and told them the good news... J. Co. will soon open their first branch at The Strip in SM ...

16 years. That's how long most of us have known each other. It all began on the 1st day of class in 1996 (yes kids..no loud gasp please..Auntie Franny is not THAT old) when we all went back to school after summer break. It was our first year in high school then. It's part of the system that we all get reshuffled right after 7th grade. I guess the reason behind this is to give us more chance to get to know one another more. Much to our dismay then, this system worked out pretty well as we graduated High School knowing almost everyone in our batch of 240++ students. High School really was FUN. It was the time where we were still so carefree, all filled with hope and optimism and we didn't have much to worry about day in and out. I enjoyed playing matchmakers to friends during our Prom and Ball seasons and everyday I look forward to just three things: Recess, Lunch and Dismissal (ok, fine, maybe I also love Cooking Class and Club days too) . It was during these years that...

*SPONSORED POST* A few days ago, I shared with you our Superwish for the New Year . This includes our great big plan to enrich our knowledge in cooking and to take it to a higher level by finally enrolling ourselves in professional classes this year. We're both extremely psyched for this! Oh, how we would talk non-stop on what we would like to learn and the dinners that we both will be able to host afterwards. No more relying on take outs, no more seeking the help of our talented Manang, my Mommy or Kongkong (while we still look up to them nonetheless) ... soon we'll be able to create delicious meals on our own! Working for the country's top-selling food magazin e is truly a blessing. Of course, I have my growing collection of magazines and cookbooks to inspire and to help us get started. We're no strangers to the kitchen, after all. Once in a while we'll try a recipe or two which luckily would always turn out pretty successful. Still, we know there's st...

Tonight, we bid the hopping Rabbit good bye and welcome the fiery Water Dragon at the struck of twelve midnight. While last year was a pretty happy and prosperous one for us, we are filled with more optimism and good wishes for the coming New Year!! :) For our family, we have scheduled our annual Chinese New Year celebration tomorrow as it is also my dear Mommy's birthday! My sister, Paul and I have been busy completing our lunch menu and we are just soooo excited for it! Truly a double lucky day for my Mom, don't you think? To make it extra lucky, our menu has 8 different variants : Cha Misua, Crunchy Calamares, Stuffed Chicken (Pat Po Kwe), Sauteed Prawns, Lengua with Mushroom, Spicy Eggplant Hot Pot, Dumplings (Jiao Zi) and my Kongkong's signature Pata Tim ! My mouth waters just at the thought of our lunch menu! It will be a mix of dishes prepared here at home, some to be prepared by Paul's talented Manang and others store-bought. :) It will be truly a busy m...

*SPONSORED POST* How did you celebrate the New Year? Watching the news, I can’t help but get teary-eyed as CNN featured the live New Year’s countdown at Times Square in New York City. From the looks of the crowd, it seems to be a very cold winter night yet this didn’t stop thousands of Americans to go out to the street to be part of this festive celebration. As soon as the clock struck twelve, everyone began hugging, cheering, some couples started kissing and kids began jumping and dancing all around. What a happy sight! This scene is not far from what we had here in Manila 16 hours earlier than what happened in New York. In various part of the country, big parties were held, beautiful fireworks lit up the sky and in my in-law’s cozy home, we greeted one another and sat around the table to enjoy on our New Year’s Media Noche. As we enjoyed our bowls of misua soup, sticky rice cakes and fruits, we opened two bottles of Tropicana Twister in two different flavors – Apple Lemon and...

*SPONSORED POST* Over and over again, Paul and I have been claiming that 2012 will be OUR year. This will be the year that hopefully we’ll be able to achieve financial growth and stability and at our young age, we aim to finally have the luxury to have our own car, to plan for our future home and to prepare for our little bundle of joy. I know it’s not enough to just blog about it thus we have been taking baby steps…small but well-thought out plans to reach our goals. I’m lucky though that Paul is a very frugal man. He’s a simple guy who would rather save his money than to throw it all away over clothes, gadgets or toys (for the Big Boys) . In fact, his being frugal allowed him to pay for our entire wedding expenses and he made sure to give me my dream team of suppliers and as a whole, made his bride’s dream come true. This is something quite unusual for typical Chinese families where the parents of the groom would normally be the ones who would foot the bill but being responsibl...

Don't you just love breakfast food? This is one thing that would motivate me to wake up early be it at home or when on a trip. I always look forward to my favorite breakfast staples : garlic rice , egg (preferably scrambled and creamy), my choice of meats -- hotdogs, tocino, boneless bangus and a glass of cold fruit juice ! I'll never forget spending a week at the Swissotel Stamford Hotel in Singapore for our Honeymoon and enjoying their wide breakfast buffet spread every single day! It was pure bliss! I also loved that bowl of Abalone Congee with a stick of Yeow Tiao and Rice Noodle Roll in Hong Kong . Back home, one of the best breakfasts that I've had recently was with The Food Club when we spent the weekend in Punta Fuego and we were able to have lots of Mrs. Tales from the Tummy's homemade beef tapa ! (Yes, my dear friend Irene is truly a kitchen star! She bakes the best Queso de Bola Cheesecake in town and makes the yummiest bacon and beef tapa too! I...

This 2012 marks my 7th year of being part of the corporate world. It all began last July 1, 2005 – exactly 15 days after my college graduation where I entered my very first office in Libis. I was a very new, and pretty young Marketing Services Officer for an international hardware brand (yes, I’m talking power tools, paints and woodworks) then. I can still remember how tiny my salary was back then that I would still rely on my parents to pay for my basic necessities. Thank God for giving me extremely generous parents. :) With my low salary, I could hardly budget nor save for the rainy days. It really felt like me getting my school allowance only it comes twice a month not weekly. When I moved on to my second job, it was then that I was able to enjoy more luxury and at the same time learned how to budget my money wisely. Believe it or not, it was only then that I had my very first bank account. It was then that I learned the value of money and the importance of it. Now that I’m m...

In a week's time, we will be bidding the Year of the Rabbit good bye and will gladly welcome the arrival of the Water Dragon. Coincidentally, this year's Chinese New Year is also the day of my dear Mommy's birthday!! Thus, my sister and I have been planning on where to host her birthday lunch with our extended family for days now. Since January 23 was also declared a holiday, we know we are running out of time as we expect that a lot of people will surely be out celebrating the Chinese New Year making almost all Chinese restaurants in town to be fully booked. I've been doing a number of research and luckily have been invited by some to have a preview of their Chinese New Year offering. Allow me to share them all with you in the coming days. Let me start with the Chinese New Year menu of F Restauran t of the Best Western Premier F1 Hotel . This is the first hotel to open at the Bonifacio Global City and is located right in front of Starbucks Coffee and is just wi...

When I predicted that 2012 will be a busy year, I wasn't expecting for it to be THIS busy. I've been buzzing around like a busy bee ever since I returned back to work on the 2nd day of the year. Meetings conducted one after the other, reports growing by the number and a lot more! Don't get me wrong, I entered the year with an optimistic heart and I'm just so happy doing what I'm doing right now. In other words -- I. Love. My. Job. Still, after a hectic work week, what makes my heart flutter is the thought that the weekend is here! This is the only time when I can stay in bed longer, catch up on my favorite TV shows and go out and eat, eat, eat to my hearts content! Aside from Chinese and Japanese cuisines, I love Filipino food. How can I ever say no to that mouthwatering Lechon or that heart-stopping, oil-dripping Garlic Pork Adobo that goes perfectly well with steamed white rice? Oh the thought of it always puts a smile on my face. There are a lot of Filipi...

A few months ago, Paul and I met up with long time friends Sophie , Jean and Karl for our much-awaited dinner. This plan has been pushed back so many times that we were all so excited that the day has finally come that we will be able to catch up and see each other again. The venue was set at Quezon City and going through my Restaurant List, I suggested that we try Pino Resto Bar which shares the same building with its healthier vegan version, Pipino Vegetarian Restaurant . I was able to try Pipino's Mac and Cheese during the Yummy Eats event last May. In fact, it was the only thing I ate after running around the venue, making sure everything goes as planned all day. I wasn't really planning to eat had it not been for Paul who pulled me to stop and firmly told me to eat after 10 attempts or so. When I had my first bite of Pipino's Mac and Cheese, I was hooked! It was delicious, no signs of it being a purely vegan dish and it was very addicting in fact. Too addicting...

One thing that Paul and I love about Christmas and about being married is that ever since we tied the knot, we finally can celebrate the holiday season together! You see, for the past 7 years when we were dating, Christmas for Paul means driving to his hometown in Pampanga to celebrate the holidays with his extended family. Whereas for me, I spend Christmas Eve with my mom's side and Christmas Day at home with my immediate family of 4. Not wanting to join the holiday rush and to just waste precious time in traffic, we decided to postpone our annual Holi-date to the day after Christmas where almost everyone is back at work and the roads are free of cars and the malls not that filled with frantic shoppers. So there we were at 11AM right in front of Seryna Japanese Restaurant , our Holi-date venue for the year. What we failed to take note was that the restaurant opens at 11:30 which means we have to wait for half an hour more before we can finally have lunch. Drat! I'm star...

I've tried a number of Philly Cheese Steaks in the past but I never really got around to learning about its history. It was until that fateful evening when Paul and I got an invite to have dinner at the Cheese Steak Shop in Makati where we were told of the Philly Cheese Steak story and how it finally found its way here in Manila, Philippines. Given the name, this sandwich originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by a couple who began serving thinly sliced steaks and cheese in a long sandwich bun. Very similar to a hotdog sandwich, the craze about this meaty sandwich spread like wildfire and soon Philly Cheese Steaks are not only available in Philadelphia but in other states all around the USA as well. Take Cheese Steak Shop for instance. It originated in San Francisco 29 years ago (yes, same age as me!) and makes use of authentic ingredients such as their Amoroso rolls and Tastykakes which are shipped all the way from Philadelphia. Here in Manila, we have owner Mai Uy to...

As soon as the clock strucked 12 last night, I stood up and instinctively jumped three times. My sister-in-law laughed as she reminded me of the sad truth... I won't get any taller by doing that anymore . :P Still, I love the juggling sound of the coins that Paul told me to put in my polka dot pink shorts. If I can't get any taller, then I hope to be rich! It was my first time to celebrate New Year's Eve at my in-laws and I enjoyed heading down to the dining table where the entire table was filled with all sorts of round fruits, cakes, roasted chesnuts and bowls of misua soup for each one of us. A few minutes after that, my cousin-in-law came by to wish us a Happy New Year! Too bad my other sister-in-law couldn't join us or it would have been fun to have the kids running around screaming "Happy New Year" too! My phone rang and it was my mom and sister wishing us a Happy New Year as they just had our traditional wine drinking at home. For a while there, I...