Frannywanny

*SPONSORED POST* If there's one thing I love about social media is that it keeps me in touch with Paul, my family and my closest friends with just a few clicks here and there. More so that we have a good mobile data plan (hooray for Singtel!) here in the Lion City that I can say that I'm online, all the time. On days when I'm feeling a bit homesick, I'd send a simple message to my high school friends to ask how they're doing. My sister and I would update one another with our daily schedules down to even sharing what we each had for lunch and/or dinner. Over at WeChat , we would continue with our exchange of stickers as we really find them very cute! Speaking of stickers, I like this one called Elise . It shows a set of animated icons of a cute blond girl singing, saying I Love You, cooking, crying, eating a cookie and even sleeping! Well, here's a trivia for you all: did you know that local celebrity and newlywed Iya Villania channels the persona o...

Burgers and Brewskies. By just hearing the name, thoughts of fun bonding sessions with friends come to my mind. It was just perfect that my first visit at Burgers & Brewskies a.k.a. B&B would be with my fellow food bloggers. Paul and I were so excited to go as it will surely be a crazy and happy lunch with these funny, food-loving bunch! B&B is a newly opened restaurant in Burgos Circle and as mentioned in its name, it specializes in burgers, beer and one more B -- buffalo wings! As we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by the familiar happy chatter of our friends coming from the second floor. The restaurant is quite small so I'm pretty sure it can be crowded on a busy day. It has a very laid back feel reminding me of one of my favorite burger places here in Singapore. It's definitely the place to go after a busy day at work and you're in the mood for good food, a bottle of beer and the right company to unwind with. The menu was pretty extensive...

"Tsia Ka Ho." This is one thing that my dad always reminds me to do every since I gained a little bit of independence and a wee bit higher allowance during my university years. In English, it means "Eat Better/Well". I guess my overprotective Papa feels that without this reminder I might be munching on pizza, burgers, fries or worst chips all day long. He doesn't mind the fact that I somehow lived in the Starbucks Coffee shop across our school but he keeps on telling me that I can't live on sandwiches and frappuccinos all throughout my 5 years in college. So, with his constant reminder, I would go to treat myself to a really good meal once in a while. Luckily, there were a couple of choices available near school so on some days I'll head to this really nice restaurant and have some Prawns Thermidor or I'll spend some me-time at a Japanese restaurant with a bowl of Seafood Chahan and a plate of Gyoza. To my 18-year-old self those were considered qui...

One of the most common question that I would get from people who knows that I'm a food blogger is: " What's your favorite restaurant? " I tell you, this always leaves me quiet for a while as I ponder hard on how to best answer this simple yet also difficult question. Let me explain why, it's no secret that I love to eat out most especially whenever I'm back home in Manila or when I'm traveling. It just so happen that Paul and I are trying to live a more domesticated life here in the Lion City that our eating out frequency has been lessened drastically from what used to be an every other day routine in Manila down to a weekend habit. So, if you do the math, we eat out 2-4 times a week assuming we have both lunch and dinner outside. That would be at a minimum 8 restaurants a month and 416 in a year! This doesn't include the occasional lunch out that I have with friends and colleagues. Normally, we don't repeat restaurants except if these are really...

Planning to visit Batam, Indonesia for a quick weekend getaway? Well, here's an easy guide to help you plan your itinerary: 1) Know how to get there. Visitors from Singapore will find it a breeze as all you have to do is to hop onto one of the many fastcraft boats that will take you straight to Batam Centre for just an hour-long ride. Visitors from other countries may opt to fly in and land in Batam International Airport or to fly to Singapore and have a side trip to Batam. 2) Choose a hotel. We enjoyed our stay at Novotel Batam Hote l and do highly recommend this to you as well. There are also a number of resorts present in the island. 3) Where to eat?!  The most important question, if you ask me. Well, I do agree that a visit to Batam won't be complete without having the following: - SEAFOOD! Try Harbour Bay Seafood Restauran t or Wey Wey which was also recommended to us by the hotel's front desk officer. - Authentic Indonesian dishes: There are plenty...

Kids nowadays sure have no idea how much fun and simple life back then was. Yes, we may not have iPads or the latest gadgets and toys for us meant... TOYS . Barbie dolls, plastic houses, a full doctor/teacher/fireman/police set, jackstones, boxes of jigsaw puzzles, board games and battery-operated cars/helicopter/trucks/pet and more! It may not make a sound or give you magical points, nor could a robotic voice tell you a story or sing you a lullaby but toys back then allowed us to hone our imaginations. I remember spending our summer break playing house, teacher-teacher or fulfilling my childhood dream as a supermarket cashier with my plastic cash register that goes "ting!" every time I open the cash drawer. In contrast to today's age of gourmet eating, the 90s was the fast food era. Oh how we spent those years munching on fries, chomping down burgers, slurping cones of ice cream and cups of milkshake. I tell you, it was bliss and while most of us have to pay for it tod...

For our last night in Batam, Paul and I wanted to try the local fare. There were a lot of choices so after walking around Nagoya Hill Mall, we decided to dine at Warung Cobain . There was some bit of a discussion how to pronounce the second word. Paul said it should be ko-ba-in  while I read it as co-bayne  similar to Nirvana's singer Kurt Cobain. Anyway, the restaurant was packed so we had to make do with the tiny table for two by the kitchen. Where was a slightly foul smell coming from I-don't-know-where but we just ignored it and ordered away. First on our list was the ever famous Ayam Goreng (Rp. 11,818) or more popularly known as the Ayam Penyet. This is Indonesia's signature dish which is basically a smashed fried chicken. This is also widely available in all Indonesian hawker stalls, food courts and restaurants here in Singapore. How this dish is prepared is still a mystery to us but we love the juicy chicken meat and Paul enjoyed munching on the crunchy ski...

What to do in Batam? --  This is what I've been typing in Google two days prior to our trip to Batam. I used to be so ready -- preparing itineraries months before a trip. However, I wasn't able to do so for our weekend getaway for two reasons: a) work was t-o-x-i-c b) the trip was basically a spur of the moment, "let's get out of Singapore" kind of thing. I was telling my sister Pan about it and she just told me to be a bit more spontaneous for once in my life. Well, I tried...I really did till 2 days before the trip I woke up panicking that we might be wasting time with no idea where to go and what to do. Then finally, I caved and starting researching like mad. Of course, I had to create a list of restaurants to try bearing in mind that we only have 2 full days in Batam = 4 full meals (not counting breakfast as we planned to sleep longer everyday). After researching through countless of blogs and even TripAdvisor, I happily went to Batam with a short list...

If there's one thing that both Paul and I are quite nit-picky about whenever we travel, it would definitely be our choice of accommodation. Yes, we can definitely save on the plane ticket or would rather pack light to avoid paying extra for checked-in luggages and saying no to ordering meals on board but when it comes to choosing what would be our home away from home , then rarely do we put on our Mr. and Mrs. Scrooge McDuck hats for this. Why? The reason is simple. Yes, it's true we would go shopping or exploring the city for most parts of the day. If you really think about it, we spend no more than 10 hours per day in the hotel. However, we just love the idea of being able to retire back to our room after a fun yet physically tiring day outside. Nothing beats being able to comfortably shower and to peacefully sleep without having to deal with bugs, mites, weird noises and terrible service. That's basically why Paul and I give so much regard to our travel accommodation...

....and I'm back! Did you all missed me? :)  Just kidding, I know I was just away for the weekend. To celebrate this year's Valentine's Day, which was also to make up for our non-existent one last year, Paul and I decided to go on a quick weekend getaway to Batam in Indonesia . Prior to living in Singapore, I have to admit that I never have heard of Batam and have always associated Indonesia with either Bali or Jakarta. Thanks to a number of ferry services operating between Singapore and Indonesia, we were able to get to Batam in less than an hour via Wavemaster Ferry . How silly of me to think that we will be taking a small boat going to Batam similar to one that goes down the Singapore River. Of course, Paul pointed this macho-looking ferry boat which is also known as a fastcraft . Take a look inside, the seats are surprisingly very comfy. Unfortunately, our ride going to Batam was incredibly bumpy making me seasick. I was way much better during the ride bac...

*SPONSORED POST* It has been said over and over again how the internet has been successful in connecting lives and building relationships. We've seen how it has been so beneficial for people like us who lives thousand of miles away from home. It allows us to keep in touch with our family to the point of making them just a short message or a voice call away. I get to be updated with every thing that is happening at home down to where my parents went for dinner. Take for example the 35th wedding anniversary of my parents which they celebrated two months ago. While I wasn't there with them physically, I saw the dishes that they enjoyed that evening and got real time photos of them blowing their anniversary cake too. At times when Mommy can't get hold of me, she would just leave a short voice message telling me about her day and reminding me to take good care of myself. With technology, the fact of having the South China Sea in between me and my loved ones can easily be negl...

While most of our peers would fly off to Hong Kong or some even to the US for weeks of endless shopping during our school summer break, my family and I would frequent Singapore to visit the not-so-endless variety of touristy places available given that this was in the late 80s, earlly 90s. Every year, we would visit the zoo, the Science Centre, to my horror -- the Jurong Birds Park and eat in some of the well-known hawker places in town. You see, Singapore holds a special place in the hearts of every family member. After all, it's the only place on earth that Papa considers to be really safe that he would allow me and Pan to go around on our own.Mommy grew up frequenting Singapore too and loves sharing her childhood memories with us. On of her childhood favorites is the Bak Kut Teh. I remember having this for breakfast and it was love at first sip. Unlike most kids who shy away from herbal-tasting soups, I love them very much! Having it the traditional way, we would have our bo...

11 February 2014 marks our 1st year anniversary here in the Lion City! I can't believe it has been a year since I posted this update on Facebook. I still remember it clearly, we were on our way to the airport when I wrote this post. With emotions filled with uncertainty, excitement, anticipation and a bit of hesitation (as I didn't want to live more than a thousand miles away from my family), Paul and I opened a new chapter in our lives in a foreign land with just a handful of friends around us.  Look at us now. 365 days after, we are able to smoothly adjust into our new home called Singapore. Slowly but surely, we've mastered the long walks, the public commute and was able to gain new friends too. It was surely a fun year and I have to say, it's simply because we went through this journey together.  Looking back, February has always been an eventful month in our relationship. It may be the shortest month in the year but it's one that brings so...

It's no secret that my family and I are such big fans of Chef Cecille Chang's Thai Bistro in Robinson Magnolia. I think there was even a time that every single Sunday lunch was spent there as well as our birthdays and even our despedida party last year. It's funny though that we would order almost the same dishes during every visit and still leave the restaurant constantly raving about it as if we just tasted it for the first time. Thus, when Paul and I were to have lunch at Chef Cecille's newest restaurant called Silk Road , we immediately said YES! Stepping inside Silk Road , we immediately knew that this caters to a higher market. I love the pretty, well-lit and very modern interiors which I honestly prefer over the rather dark ambiance of Thai Bistro. Of course, we didn't just settle for a dish or two. What we had was a spread good for about 8 people to enjoy but we were able to finish most of it anyway. Ooops! Lunch began with a bowl of Tom Yum Kung (...

Today was indeed a lazzzyyyyyy Sunday! Waking up later than usual and really wanting to stay longer in bed but knowing that we have to get up already. Paul and I moved rather in slower motion today. Naturally, we both opted to just stay home and to leisurely enjoy our home-cooked meal instead of heading out to the mall and joining the busy shopping crowd. A few months ago, we had just the same lazy Sunday and we decided to cook Pork Sinigang Soup ! Being novices in the kitchen arena, we would usually just have pasta, stir-fry veggies, a variety of egg dishes or baked or grilled meats for dinner. It's funny that the both of us have very little experience cooking Filipino dishes -- a confession that would generate great disbelief from friends whenever they hear this. The idea to try making Pork Sinigang Soup came about when I received a big hamper from Maggi! The bag was filled with packs of Maggi Magic Sarap, a product I know so well after years handling a food magazine and...

Huat Ah!* In the spirit of the Chinese New Year (yes, the celebration never ends!) , let me continue my story-telling on how my family and I celebrated this special occasion back in Manila. After tossing our Yu Sheng salad to bring in all the good fortunes, happiness and luck, we headed out for a family dinner at Huat Pot , a newly-opened hotpot restaurant in San Juan . Stepping inside Huat Pot , we were led towards our table that the far corner of the restaurant which was quite cramped and definitely could not comfortably sit 5 people. Oh dear! Sadly, the entire restaurant was filled to the brim so we had to make do with a little adjustments here and there. As soon as we were all seated, Paul, Pan and I were tasked by our parents to take care of getting the food. The set-up reminds me of our favorite hotpot restaurant in Taiwan where all the meats and veggies were neatly stored in a huge chiller and there were a lot of drink options and the best part of all -- free ice cream!...

From the moment I blew out my 30th candle, I began creating my bucket list. From the major life-changing ones to the simple, easy-to-achieve wishes, crossing out every item on my list gives me a reason to celebration big and small life victories. Don't laugh but one item on my list reads "try the new Spiral at Sofitel Manila." Yes, I'm a true blue foodie, alright. After all, Spiral is one of the best hotel buffet outlets in the country and after hearing raves from friends who have dined here after it opened again to the public after 13 months of renovation, I knew I just have to give it a try myself. Paul and I have shared a number of good dining memories at the old Spiral. Luck must have been on my side when I got an invite to visit Spiral during my recent visit to Manila. Of course, despite my crazy and busy schedule, I said YES! So there we were on our last day in Manila, ready to have a gastronomical lunch at Spiral. The location was the same and there'...

The celebration continues! For the past years, celebrating the Chinese New Year for me means wearing red on that auspicious day, sharing a delicious meal with my family and receiving ang paos (red money packets) from the elders. I have to say that living in Manila, the celebration normally just lasts for two days max. After that, life pretty much goes back to normal.  When Paul and I moved to the Lion City a year ago. We arrived exactly right after the Chinese New Year and one thing we noticed was that the celebration seems to last longer than what we were accustomed to. We would still hear the dragon/lion dance trucks in almost every corner, office buildings would have those huge kiatkiat plants, people would be in red and restaurants are still busy hosting CNY lunches/dinners. I had my first taste of what CNY was like here in Singapore during my company lunch wherein I had my first Lo Hei.  "What's a Lo Hei?" I still remember asking my colleague K about ...

Before anything, let me greet you and your family, 恭喜發財!!! I can't believe that January is over and we have officially entered the L♥ve Month. I've been away for more than a week and I apologize for not being able to update my blog during the said period. But..but I got a really good reason. I was back in Manila to spend time with my families and friends as we celebrated a couple of birthdays, a fun wedding and the much awaited entrance of the Year of the Wooden Horse. Forecasts say that this will be a good year for both Paul and I so... we're keeping our fingers (and toes) crossed as we do hope luck, happiness and a certain stork are on their way to our doorstep SOON! I do hope 2014 will be a prosperous and lucky year for all of you too! I'm back and I got a lot of stories to share. Let's begin, shall we? One reason why I went home was to celebrate the birthday of my dearest Mommy . Of course, how can I ever miss out on not celebrating the special day of that...