Frannywanny

As the saying goes: "When it rains, it pours!" The week that went by was quite hectic but it is truly one that I'll never forget. After all, how often will I ever have the opportunity to travel to 2 different countries in the span of a week? That's right! Right before I flew off to Cambodia for that much-awaited trip with the Normanton Kids (NKids), I suddenly had to fly to Hong Kong for an important business meeting and since it was a last minute thing, I only had 24 hours to spend in one of my favorite cities in the world. *sigh* Well, 24 hours is better than nothing, right? I have to admit though that despite having to go to Hong Kong for work, I was really excited about this impromptu trip. For one thing, I flew via Singapore Airlines which means 4 hours of non-stop in-flight entertainment and a yummy meal! 1st Leg: Singapore to Hong Kong From the moment I got to my seat which was at the 2nd row of the Economy Class section, I was greeted with my favor...

As a man of few words, Paul is truly the kind of guy who can keep a secret and a surprise really really well.  Take for example our recent 4th wedding anniversary celebration , who would have thought that he has been planning and saving up for a nice dinner date at Rise in Marina Bay Sands for months leading up to that special day. No amount of hinting or bugging from my end would make him spill the beans. The only hint he gave me was "to eat light for lunch"  on that day. I did was told by just having a bowl of soup and a couple of pork siomais to go with it. At exactly 630PM I sprung out of my office chair and forced myself to close my laptop and to get ready for my dinner date. Work can wait but my date won't be very happy if I kept him waiting. :P We headed to Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands and quickly headed towards the hotel where Paul has made reservations at Rise . Ohhhh I was so excited! After watching an episode of Mega Food in Nat Geo on Marina Bay Sands we'...

Here's another Singapore hawker find!  Lately, I've been challenging myself to eat more green! From pesto pasta to salads, even green bottled water (haha!) and if possible green tea or a whole kiwi after every meal too. On some days, I think I went overboard with my green lunch but that's alright.  Anyway, I stumbled upon this stall while checking out the Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market and Food Centre --my new go-to hawker centre since we moved to our new office recently. It's a stall called Traditional Hakka Rice and it serves one main thing: Thunder Tea Rice . 

Look what I found! While driving along J. Abad Santos on our way to grab some milk tea, Paul and I chanced upon this new specialty shop that took the former location of Ristras . Seeing that they got jars of cookie butter and other interesting looking spread, we decided to check it out first before satisfying our milk tea craving. Welcome to Spice Island Trader . A nice catchy name, I must say.  Inside, you can see a mix of imported and local food finds that will surely make every foodie squeal with happiness. Well, it had that effect on me! Paul literally had to pull me out of the store as I just want to stay there all afternoon and to go through each and every product.  Here are some of my finds:

No matter how many days our visit to Manila may be, we always fly back feeling that it was too short! As they say, time flies when you're having fun and our recent 5 day trip zoomed by so fast that I couldn't believed it when it was time to us to say goodbye to Manila once again. I have to say that among all the other visits that we've had so fast, this was the BEST. Why? Well, it's simple because we were able to see the people whom we wanted to see. Just our closest and dearest friends and family. Take for example my friends B and K, it has been a year since I last saw them and I really made it a point that no matter what happen, our planned lunch should push through. After all, the next time I'll see them, B will be a mommy while K will be a blushing bride. Oh, I'm so excited for them! Since I told them that I was to try a new restaurant this visit, we decided to check out Roots Market Bistro located at the new Greenhills Promenade. Outside, they're...

I told you about our first meal in Manila when we visited last June, now let me tell you about the last meal that we had before flying back to the Lion City. Don't worry as I will be telling you all about the meals that I had in between. :) Since our flight was at 8 in the evening, Mommy suggested that we go to SM Aura to have coffee and maybe some snack since we didn't avail of any in-flight meals. As soon as I heard "SM Aura", I took out my trusty Evernote as I checked my list of restaurants to help me make a choice on where to eat. Aha, I saw Mentore Coffee + Bar . Finally. I've been wanting to try this since late last year. Mentore Coffee + Bar is part of the UCC Coffee Group and this was just perfect as my family is a big big fan of UCC. Sitting was quite limited as there was just an outside al fresco sitting and an "outside-the-restaurant-sitting". We chose the latter which entailed a bit of a waiting time. It's a good thing that we ...

Ever since we moved office, I've always been excited to go in work and also to have lunch. This is probably because I'm really enjoying exploring our new neighborhood and so far every discovery I make have been a good one. A couple of weeks ago, D and I chanced upon a newly opened stall in 100AM, our very cool mall that's located across our new office. Named after Japan's high speed train, Shinkansen serves salad and a couple of hand-rolled sushi and sashimi too. The drill is to choose what "size" would you like to get:  Transit  (S$7.50) comes with 1 Base + 5 Toppings + Sauce Station  (S$10) comes with 1 Base + 5 Toppings + Sauce + 2 Add-Ons Terminal  (S$12) comes with 1 Base + 5 Toppings + Sauce + 2 Add-Ones + 1 Meat Quite simple isn't it? After you choose how you want your Shinkansen bowl to be, you move on to choosing your base -- do you want to have Sushi Rice, Brown Rice, Soba Noodles or Mixed Greens...

Here's the third and final installment for our amazing weekend staycation at Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore . Throughout our 3 days, 2 nights stay, Paul and I actually decided to just stay in the hotel and to make the most of the amenities and dining establishments found inside instead of joining the busy weekend shopping crowd of Orchard Road. Well, that's what staycation are for anyway. We really enjoyed every moment of it and for once, I even didn't bother checking my watch so I was totally clueless of the time. For those who needs to go to Orchard Road, the hotel actually has an hourly shuttle service that can take you to various drop-off points: Traders Hotel, Orchard MRT Station and Takashimaya Shopping Centre to name a few. This is available everyday including weekends. For the business travelers though who's coming to Singapore and will be having a couple of meetings in the CBD area for instance, Shangri-la also has a weekday morning shuttle that will take gue...

After checking in and enjoying a slice of cake in our room , Paul and I then proceeded to get ready for dinner at The Waterfall which is located near the pool area between the Garden and Tower Wing. It was drizzling a bit but we didn't worry as all three wings are connected either via a covered walkway or through the main lobby. It's amazing though that despite how they are adjacent to one another you get to feel like you enter a different world as you go through the Garden, Tower and the Valley Wings. We were ushered to our table by the corner where it was quiet and very private. I was so touched to see a piece of long-stemmed rose on my side of the table too. Of course, Paul took the opportunity to pick it up and handed it to me as if it was his idea all along. Haha! That's fine Hun, it was indeed the thought that counts. ♥  First things first, a glass of bubbly each to celebrate another milestone in our (love) life. I think this is one of the best celebrations ...

"He was enjoying that pleasant mingling of physical ease  and mental alertness which seemed to him, of all sensations,  the most truly civilised.  So far, the appointments of Shangri-La  had been all that he could have wished -- certainly more than he could ever have expected."   - from the book The Lost Horizon To celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary , Paul and I were treated to a really nice weekend staycation at Shangri-la Hotel's Valley Wing here in Singapore. We're truly so thankful to our sweet friends from Shangri-la who made our anniversary weekend nothing less than PERFECT. It was indeed a very relaxing weekend as we didn't even bother going out of the hotel throughout our stay. There was really no reason to as everything we wanted can be found right within reach and our goal is to relax  and to indulge  through and through. From the moment we stepped inside the very exclusive and posh lobby of the Valley Wing , we both knew that this wi...

Almost a month ago, Paul and I went to the National Design Centre one Sunday afternoon to check out The Big Ohm Theory . Remember my blog announcement about it before? It's a weekend wellness fair where a number of concessionaires came together to present their products which are mostly organic and in line with wellness and yoga. Despite the handful number of products to check out, Paul and I really had a great time as it was just timely that we're starting to become more serious about our over-all well being and most of all, we're trying really hard to eat healthy. Let me share with your some of the great finds that I came across with during this event : Eastern Granola : Oh this just got the be one of the yummiest find that day. We met this pretty lady who sells homemade granola that comes in several flavors. I was able to try the 5C which has a hint of curry, chocolate and with bits of coconut, cashew and chili. A fantastic creation that perfectly suit...

Being married has surely taught us a lot of things. Mommy is right, despite being boyfriend-girlfriend for 7 years before tying the knot, she was 101% certain that there'll be a million other things that Paul and I will discover about each other the moment we start living under the same roof 24/7. It's really true when they say that mothers are always  right (and so are wives!). It has been one amazing roller coaster ride. Sure there were some unexpected turns, some twists, turns and slight bumps but I'm glad that as we go along, Paul and I are still there, holding hands and ready to go for more rounds. To Paul : Thank you for loving me and for sometime spoiling me crazy. I know I've been telling you this a million times but seriously, I really can't imagine living life without having you by my side. You've been my rock and my pillar. Thank you for being so supportive of my dreams and whims. I know that we got a bright and exciting future ahead and what ...

A lot of happy changes in both my personal and professional lives happened as soon as the 2nd half of 2014 rolled in and it has just been 10 days since. Call it good feng shui but I'd like to think that all these blessings have something to do with our moving to a new office. True, saying goodbye is never easy but I am the kind who try my darnest to welcome change with open arms. So, on our first week at the new office, we began exploring for new food finds. Our first stop was over at 100AM where we found  Ramen Keisuke Tori King . We're all no strangers to the Keisuke line of ramen shops. I've mentioned a number of times how much I love the Ramen Kaisuke Four Seasons in Bugis and when my colleague R mentioned that Chef Keisuke Takeda has opened a chicken broth ramen that's just a stone's throw away from our new office, our lunch group gamely went to try it out. I got to admit though that as we were standing outside and waiting for our table to be ready, I ...

Even if we try to avoid it, Paul and I always end up with really jam-packed schedules whenever we fly home to Manila. *sigh* I guess it's just so hard to packed everything that we want to do which includes shopping, running our errands and meeting people within 3 or 4 or 5 days. Take for example that one day that Paul and I went to SM Megamall with my sister Pan. In between shopping for our Diner en Blanc outfits, we found the need to just sit down, bond and have a nice cup of coffee. I was so happy to be able to finally check out the newest wing called the SM Mega Fashion Hall . While there are still a couple of shops about to open soon (eg: St Marc's Cafe, H&M, etc), the wing is already 80% complete! This was where we also found Lucca Bakery at the top most floor near the Ice Skating Rink and the IMAX theatre. I first read about Lucca Bakery from my friend Leslie's blog . She was raving about the Hazelnut Snail and the Banana Walnut Sticky Bun. However, I wasn...

Touchdown Manila! Every time our plane finally lands at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway, I can't help but feel a surge of excitement inside. "We're home!"  I would often tell Paul while squeezing his hand at the same time. Being home means reuniting with our family and our closest friends. Technology has proven to be very helping in keeping us connected and updated with each other's lives but to see them up close and to spend more hours to catch up is still something we always look forward to every time we fly back to Manila. We caught a noon-time flight during our recent visit home so we obviously were feeling quite hungry upon landing. Of course, I was prepared. I made arrangements to have a late lunch / afternoon merienda with Paul and my parents at Main Street in McKinley Hills which is very near the airport. Call it hitting two birds with one stone -- I got an invite to visit Main Street last year and it was just perfect that my go...

26 years ago in Paris, France, a man named François Pasquier invited a couple of his friends to an exclusive picnic party at the park. In order to find each other, all guests were requested to come in white. This gathering became so successful that eventually more and more friends would join. Today, Diner en Blanc is currently conducted in over 40 cities all over the world and Singapore is one of them. Lucky me! I have been following the Diner en Blanc Singapore pag e for a while now and when I chanced upon an announcement saying that they're looking for volunteers, I immediately sent my application in with zero idea of what the job will entail and what are the things to expect. It was a spur of the moment act and to this day, I seriously had no regrets of doing so. As one of the bus leaders, I was tasked to be the point person for my group of 44 diners ensuring the they all follow the guidelines, arrive at the designated time and bring all the things needed. I got to admi...

My recent visit home to Manila was short but it was truly one of the best. I'm just so happy that I was able to try a number of new restaurants and those meals were shared with the people who matters the most to me. As they say, quality over quantity . Aside from my closest friends and family, I also took the time out to treat that special one that continues to bring so much joy to our family -- meet our lovable doggie named Scottie ! One morning, Pan and I decided to take Scottie out for a ride and for a quick snack somewhere in the neighborhood. Pan discovered Whole Pet Kitchen  where she and Mommy brought Scottie to have some lasagna a couple of weeks back. It's a small pet specialty cafe that offers hot meals and pastries for the dogs and their owners alike. I believe it's the 1st one in the country and I'm so glad that it's not so far from home as Scottie can get so restless in the car. I love how cozy the whole place was however I wish the floor tiles were...

So what's a normal Sunday for Paul and I?  Waking up later than usual, slowly moving around the house as we do our weekend chores, cooking and enjoying a nice home-cooked meal, further lazing by the pool and heading out later in the afternoon to hear mass. Basically, Sunday mornings are non-existent in our lives as we'd use these precious hours catching up on lost sleep incurred during the weekday. While we love this relaxing routine, we also do love to do things spontaneously once in a while. This is perhaps the reason why getting an invite to have a nice Sunday brunch got us up and out of the house right before noon. After all, a good and delicious weekend brunch is indeed a perfect motivation for us to wake up early and to head out just to satisfy our growling tummies. This was what happened when we visited District 10 Bar & Restaurant at Star Vista  one Sunday. I've heard of District 10 but I didn't know that they're open for brunch as most of my...