Frannywanny

Ever since Yabu opened at the SM Megamall Atrium last year, Paul and I have been frequenting this place whenever the craving for good authentic Japanese katsu comes up. In Manila, Yabu tops our list as the best go-to place for katsudon and tonkatsu . Thus, when I got a pretty invite to visit Yabu a few week ago, I immediately said yes as I would love to check out the new product offerings from our favorite katsu place. Together with fellow blogger Richard , we were one of the first guests to arrive and while waiting for the rest, we shared their four appetizers available in the menu. We had the Wakame + Edamame -- I love these two as they make a good starter combination. The wakame salad stays crisp and refreshing while the edamame is somethign that I enjoy munching on. Open the boiled pod and sprinkle a little Japanese salt because eating the peas inside. We also had the Hiyayakko Tofu + Superior Egg and Potato Salad . I wasn't able to try the tofu as I'm trying...

*SPONSORED POST* As much as I enjoy eating out, there are just some days that I really appreciate a good home-cooked meal prepared by Mommy. I grew up having mostly Chinese food at home but my favorites include Mom’s Chicken and Pork Adobo , her signature Corned Beef Macaroni and of course, her delicious Curry Fried Rice . Not wanting to give out excuses but really, how can one stay slim with all these delicious food coming out from our kitchen? How I wish I got Mom’s talent in cooking (and her slim frame too! Haha) . I guess, for a while back she saw a glimmer of hope when I began taking cooking classes every summer and I would spend every weekend trying out various recipes from Yummy Magazine. Sure, I’d make a mess but I’m pretty proud of my edible creations to say the least. Weekends got pretty busy that I haven’t cooked anything in months! My Pasta Specialties: Italian Eggplant Lasagna Three Cheese Penne Fusilli alla Genovese ala Frannywanny Oh how I miss cooking! The s...

Recently, my best friend T and I had a fun R&R weekend in Tagaytay City . Believe it or not, it was our first time to go on a trip together despite being friends for more than two decades already! This is because a handful of plans have been postponed and cancelled again and again. Finally, after two decades of planning, we finally took the first step by having an all-girls bonding session that weekend! How I wish my two other best friends C and E can join us next time. Well, there was just one major thing that T and I did all weekend... that was to eat . We started by having lunch followed by grabbing some milk tea...then we headed to our hotel and after resting for a few minutes, we drove to Tagaytay Highlands to do a little walking to prepare ourselves for our much-awaited steak dinner at Highlands Steakhouse ! It was my first time to dine here and I was really excited about it. I'm glad that T made reservations as we got to the restaurant at 7PM sharp and it was alrea...

Growing up, when shopping malls were just a handful, I remember hanging out at hotels with my family . We love having our afternoon snack at the lobby and later on would continue to have dinner in one of the hotel's food establishments. We would frequent the ones in Ortigas simply because its really near our home. Once in a while though, we would venture further to Makati or Manila to check a new hotel out. One of which was the Diamond Hotel where I remember having buffet dinners at the Palm Court (now called Corniche ) and being prohibited from entering the Sky Bar because we were underage. Mommy and my A-I (ah-yi) loves the tempura at the hotel's Japanese restaurant and they have been telling us about it for more than a decade now. I wonder how come we never were able to try it out ourselves before. At last, the time has come that it was MY turn. Turning 30 , Paul and I celebrated my birthday with our friends from Diamond Hotel . Dinner was set to be at Yurakuen Japane...

For the past week, my nails have been sporting a new color. PURPLE! No, I'm not attending neither Barney nor Grimace's birthday party. It just came to a point wherein I wanted to deviate from my usual baby pink nail color which I've been sporting every so often for the past decade. CHANGE is good, after all. I've been so happy showing off my deep purple nails most especially as it has a good smooth and shiny finish. Good job Nail Tropics! ♥ A few days ago, my college best friend L celebrated her birthday and Paul and I dropped by our favorite bakeshop to buy her a box of Chocolate Revel Bars before heading to our dinner venue. I first heard about Purple Oven more than 5 years ago when I began obsessing over Starbucks Coffee's  Banoffee Pie . A friend pointed this place out to me and I've been a regular customer ever since. It's also a plus that it's located so close to where I work making it so convenient anytime I have to drop by to buy a cak...

Tonight, I left the office later the usual as I had to attend a work-related event. It's a Friday night and with no other plans for the evening, I invited Paul to join me for late dinner. There's a newly opened restaurant in the neighborhood called Toki Q and I've been excited to try it as I see it every day on my way to work. Finally, it's now open and ready to serve the public. Toki Q boasts of being the first restaurant in the Philippines using the Rotating BBQ griller. Contrary to traditional grillers, it takes one Yakitori stick 3-5 minutes to grill while others would take more than 10 minutes, give or take. This allows them to serve your order fresh and hot just the way a yakitori should be. I tried the Combo 2 with Miso soup and Drink (Php. 149). All orders except for the group platters come with Unlimited Rice. This is perfect for office workers looking for a good lunch option nearby. The rice was sticky and fragrant which I like. The Combo 2 comes wit...

The weather here in Manila continues to get more and more unpredictable. Extremely sunny and hot in the morning and later raining like there's no tomorrow in the evening. What's up with that Mr. Sun?! While we will soon bid goodbye to June and July will surely bring in more gloomy clouds, the cold wind and rains, it's nice to know that you can still enjoy a bit of summer right at the comforts of your favorite Starbucks Coffee store! Bringing a touch of Japanese in their drinks, the fun crew behind my favorite coffee store now introduces two new drinks that I truly loved and I'm sure you will too! Meet the Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino Blended Beverage (Php. 155/165/175). Hojicha is actually a type of Japanese roasted tea and this is perfect for all milk tea lovers as it is a mix of the Hojicha Tea, your choice of milk and Tazo Earl Grey tea-infused jelly! While I find the Hojicha a tad too sweet for me, I still enjoyed this sweet tea drink which makes a good al...

We love trying hotel buffets! Be it for breakfast , lunch or dinner I really enjoy going through the wide selection of fresh seafood, roasted meats, colorful line of sushi and sashimis..and the list goes on and on! There are even times when I have a hard time sleeping as I am just so excited for breakfast time to come! *giddy* So just imagine how happy I was when the group trooped down to the Market Cafe right after our dimsum brunch at Li Li . Both restaurants are part of Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila and I’m so happy to be able to get the chance to try them both of them all in one day! I’ve mentioned this before that the secret to buffet eating is to feast with your eyes first. Do a thorough survey around the buffet area and take note of the dishes that you would like to try. As you do this, you tend to prioritize your top choices and, while it may be really hard to do so, avoid wasteful-eating. Market Cafe , as the name suggests, presents their dishes similar to how y...

Moshi Moshi Anone, Anone, Anone! A few weeks ago, Paul and I joined The Food Club in yet another foodie get-together, this time at Moshi Moshi in Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City . The restaurant is located right across the Ateneo de Manila University so expect to see a lot of students dining and hanging out in almost all food establishments and coffee shops within the Katipunan strip. Paul and I are not Blue Eagles but since my sister graduated from ADMU school, we used to frequent this place whenever we would wait for her class to end. A lot of restaurants have opened since then. Though, I'm glad that a lot of our favorite s are still around. I really think we should go back and visit them again. Moshi Moshi is located at the 2nd level of the Regis Center , a new building that houses a big Gold's Gym, Bonchon Chicken , Saint's Alp Coffee Shop and a lot more. Basement parking is available but quite limited. It was a good thing that Paul and I were able to get a goo...

I love Chinese food!  Yes, you read that right. Despite the fact that we always have Chinese food at home and most, if not all, of our family gatherings are held in Chinese restaurants, I tend to choose a basket of dimsum over a slice of pizza anyday. It's then no surprise that I immediately said yes when my friend and fellow blogger Spanky invited me to have dimsum lunch with him at Hyatt Hotel's signature Chinese restaurant -- LiLi . It was actually not my first time to dine here. A couple of years ago, I had the privilege to accompany my former boss on one of his monthly restaurant reviews and it just so happen that he invited me to join him at LiLi ! I can't remember exactly which dishes we had but all I remembered was they were all delicious and I had a marvelous time admiring Lili's beautiful modern Chinese interiors. Our meal began with the traditional Gongfu tea ceremony . In China, this is being done to show guests how welcomed they are in a friend...

On June 17, 2012 -- the world celebrates Father's Day . Similar to Mother's Day, my family also makes it a point to go out on this day dedicated to my dad, kongkong and uncles. I've received a number of text messages and emails from friends asking for recommendations on where they can take their dads and husbands out on this special day. Here are some of my recommendations, majority of which are my Dad and Paul's personal favorites too: For Dads who take his MEAT seriously.... 1) Elbert's Steak Room   For me, Elbert's is truly the king of all steak places. Whenever someone would ask me where to have the best steak, I'd always say Elbert's in a heartbeat. I'll never forget the night when Paul and I shared a huge Ribeye steak complete with all the sidings, the delicious Fantan bread and desserts to cap our delicious meal off. Elbert's Steak Room is located at the 3/F Sagittarius Building III, 111 H. V. de la Costa Street, Salcedo Village...

My sister just got back from her trip and she brought home goodies not for only me but also for one lucky reader here in Frannywanny.com ! YES! She thought of you guys when she was in the Land of the Rising Sun and decided to sponsor my much-awaited Birthday Giveaway !  Let's all give Pan a big big HUG! Speaking of the Land of the Rising Sun , I really can't wait for DRUM TAO to come to Manila ! They're coming in a month's time and I'm so excited! Here's a piece of good news, all readers of Frannywanny.com immediately gets 20% off for every ticket purchase done online. Simply click on this link and type in the magic word GRANDIOSO on the box provided for the Promotional Code . This discount is valid until July 11, 2012 (our 2nd wedding anniversary ♥) only. Here are some important links to know more about DRUM TAO :  Official DRUM TAO website Must Watch : Drum Tao in Manila this July 2012! CONTEST ALERT!  Now let's head on to the fun pa...

For years, UCC Coffee has always been my go-to place for all-girls bonding sessions with my high school friends. My top picks include their Unagi Rice Casserole, French Toast and their delicious House Blend Coffee. Be it for brunch, lunch or dinner, I always enjoy my meal at UCC Coffee . Recently, The Food Club was invited to try UCC Coffee 's newest products. This includes some savory dishes such as the Char Siu Curry Soup Spaghetti (Php. 389) that Paul enjoyed very much. Imagine having thinly slice char siu simmered in rich Japanese curry soup and served with al dente spaghetti noodles. It was so good that we actually forgot to take a photo of it. Ooops! I, on the other hand, had the Lengua Omurice (Php. 389) which was a very heavy meal. I had to share this with Paul as the omelette was tightly packed with Japanese fried rice and they were very generous with the lengua slices too. I think I just found a new favorite which I can alternate with the Unagi Rice Casserole. ...

Chicken lovers all over town rejoiced when Bonchon Chicken finally landed in Manila 4th quarter of 2010. I still remember missing out on The Food Club's first visit to their Ayala Triangle branch as I was bedridden with a nasty and traumatic case of amoebiasis (believe me, a food blogger's worst nightmare) . It took me a couple more months before I finally was able to give it a try and as expected... I liked it! Since then, Bonchon Chicken has been my go-to place whenever I'm craving for some Korean Fried Chicken and most especially some Kimchi Coleslaw when in the mall. With 19 branches all over Metro Manila, it makes it so accessible to dine in whenever the craving arises. However, there are just times that I would prefer a seafood dish over a meaty one. Luckily, Bonchon Chicken now has the answer to that as they recently introduced a line of seafood options for the non-meat eaters. A month ago, I was able to try their Fish & Chips Box (Php. 145) that come...

I can still remember the day I had my first cup of milk tea . It was a Friday, the evening after my monthly publishers meeting and after learning about this new milk tea place from no other than my boss, Paul and I thought of having our after-dinner drinks there. I met J, the owner of the said milk tea place and on my first sip of Hokkaido Milk Tea ...I got to say, my life was never the same. I got truly addicted. A cup was enough to calm my nerves as I went through intense preparation for our BIG day. It was my happy pill as I would always drop by to get my favorite drink on my way home from work. I couldn't stop talking about it offline..online...to the point that I've spread the milk tea love bug everywhere. In fact, the Food Club's first dinner out ended with us having some milk tea. The milk tea fad spread far and wide. A lot have opened in almost every mall, in every corner of town. Some brought in foreign franchises, others took the plunge with their own creat...

I had the time of my life last night. Just the perfect way to cap my birthday weekend off that is to spend a fun evening watching my favorite band perform on stage. The only band that I spent my teenage years obsessing over to the point that I have kept every single magazine article, centerfold pull-outs, a card signed by all five of them and countless CDs and singles that I bought using my school allowance. My love affair with the Backstreet Boys began on the school year of 1996 and it goes on till this day. To Nick, Howie, AJ, Brian and Kevin (who no longer joins the group), you got a loyal fan in me! :) So when news broke out that the Backstreet Boys are teaming up with the New Kids on the Block , a popular boyband in the 80s -- expect to see the newly-constructed SM Mall of Asia Arena filled with eager fans majority of which are screaming ladies in their 20s/30s. To be honest, I had second thoughts about watching this particular concert due to the high ticket rates and ...