Frannywanny

My friend A and I have known each other since we were in 5th grade. That means, our friendship goes as far back when we were 10 and if you do the math, that means, we've been good friends for 23 years already! That's more than two decades it's really amazing how we continue to stay in touch all throughout these years. We've been there for each other through high school, university life, when we both started working, when I met Paul and she met D, when we both got engaged, when we got married, when she had a baby and even up until the present that Paul and I migrated out of the country. We may not get to talk on a daily basis but it's really the quality of those conversations that we've had where we can easily pick up from where we have left off. During our recent trip home, A and I agreed to go out on a double date with our hubbies. We haven't seen D for so long so it was a nice opportunity for all of us to catch up. A chose the place and she suggested Kar...

For the past few days, I find myself craving for ebi tempura . I know it's not the healthiest food on earth but come on, sometimes, you just have to give in to your heart's desire. Add to the fact that Paul and I are busy researching about our upcoming trip to Tokyo which in effect is giving us visions of fresh sushi rolls, perfectly grilled yakitoris, mouthwatering omurice and to-die-for ebi tempura! (By the way, should you have Tokyo food recommendations, please share them with me below! Thank you!) ♥ While dreaming about ebi tempura, I suddenly remembered the time when D and I met up with our former colleague, R. We decided to check out the then newly-opened Tendon Ginza Itsuki  which is owned by our favorite ramen chef, Kaisuke Takeda . He also owns Keisuke Tori King in 100AM, Tonkotsu King Four Seasons in Bugis and my other favorite, Gyoza King in Orchid Hotel. Just recently, he also opened Ramen Keisuke Lobster King  in Clarke Quay which I have yet to visit....

Through the years, I must say that I've been quite blessed to be able to try a myriad of cuisines from all over the world. Of course, we have the usual suspects -- Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Singaporean, Malay, Indian and Western. Then the more classy or exotic ones such as Italian, French, Greek, Persian, Thai, Indonesian and even South African .  It's interesting to note that my palate has pretty much traveled to more places than my feet have. Someday, my feet will catch up...someday. :) So, when Paul and I received an invite to try Peruvian food at Tiger's Milk , I got soooo excited! Neither of us have had Peruvian food in our lives so this was definitely a first for us. What makes it more interesting is that Tiger's Milk  is located right at the heart of the central business district so there's really no need to travel to the far end to have a taste of Peru. I got to the restaurant ahead of Paul and while waiting for my dinner date, I took the...

For those who have been following me on Instagram , you might have noticed that I would regularly use a certain hashtag called #frannymeday mostly on Saturdays. You see, Paul has work every Saturday which means I am all alone for most part of the day. Normally, I would just spend a couple of hours in the gym, grab a quick bite and run some errands while waiting for him to get off from work. I have to admit though that doing this for a couple of years now, it can get a bit lonely and the wait till his work ends can sometimes feel like forever. I'm lucky to have a couple of sweet girl friends here in Singapore who willingly offer to be my Saturday date to keep me company. Leading the #squad is my college friend T. She and her husband moved to the Lion City a few years before Paul and I did and we would go out for lunch dates once in a while since our offices are near each other. Lately, she has also been my favorite companion for weekend blog events or just whenever we feel the ...

For the past few trips back home, Paul and I would purposely leave our schedules open as we would like to allot most, if not all, of our time to family. You see, we normally stay for a week at most and given that we don't really get to fly home on a monthly basis, we would make it a point to bond with our family and bestest friends whenever we can. However, during our recent trip home, we actually found ourselves alone as both families had something planned for the evening. Well, an impromptu dinner date is always good. Since we were already in Quezon City as we spent the day bonding with my Kongkong, we decided to check out Highway Ribbery Grille  as it has been ranked as one of the top 15 restaurants in the Banawe area . Admittedly, I'm not a good navigator so I took a screenshot of the map and showed it to Paul. One look, that's all it took for him to quickly know where we're supposed to head to. My husband is amazing. ♥ For those who are not so good with dire...

Thanks to Singapore Airlines ' big drop in fares, Paul and I were able to snap up a couple of flights this year at such amazing rates. That said, we're levelling up on our travels this 2016 as it's about time to fly in both comfort and style. Alright! Every time I fly via Singapore Airlines to Manila (or anywhere else in the world), I can't help but get so excited! I really look forward to the in-flight entertainment and most of all, the food! As you can see in my past flights, I have always been so happy with the meal be it from the regular selections or the seafood meal that I would sometimes pre-order. I always believe that your vacation should start from the moment you step into the plane where you immediately get the sense of relaxation and comfort. Sadly, that's quite hard to achieve in budget airlines.  As for Singapore Airlines , you get to enjoy the comfort from the moment you check-in at the airport. Look at these Fast Check-In  counters that ...

Ladies, who among you can relate to this scenario: Frannywanny : Hun, what are we doing for Valentine's Day?  Paul : Hmm.. oh yeah, where do YOU want to go on Valentine's Day? Frannywanny : ...... So much for Valentine's Day surprises from my Mr. Romantiko. Anyway, for couples who are still thinking of where to go tomorrow, why don't you check out Caffe B at Marina Bay Sands? Paul and I recently discovered this place and it has instantly won our hearts with its delicious and beautifully plated specialties. For Valentine's Day, both Caffe B Restaurant and Caffe B Bar have set menus ready for you to enjoy. Let me start with Caffe B Restaurant : For amuse bouche , we had the Lover's Voyage  which is a very pretty assembly of king prawn with tangy mango salsa and served with homemade croustade and yuzu aoili. It's so pretty and I want more more more! The best way to enjoy this is to pop the entire thing into your mouth in one go. Not very ladylike ...

One fine day, Paul and I decided to head over to one of our favourite hotels here in the Lion City, Shangri-la Singapore , for a classy lunch. This came a few weeks after that relaxing weekend staycation that we had and since we failed to have breakfast at The Waterfall , we then make sure not to miss out on this opportunity to have lunch there instead. If you still remember, we had our 4th Anniversary dinner at The Waterfall where the Chef was sweet to create a special dinner menu just for us. We went there a few weeks before Christmas so they actually have a holiday-themed antipasti buffet set-up for lunch that day. Don't expect a very wide spread but I can assure you that you're in for a treat as everything was definitely of top quality and I was so impressed with the different combinations that the Chef was able to come up with. My top picks were mostly the seafood-based salads such as the Prawn Salad with a generous amount of chilled prawns and couscous, another ...

Our festive 4-day weekend has just ended but that doesn't mean it's the end of the Chinese New Year. In fact, it has just begun as Chinese New Year in Singapore runs up until the 15th day where we would get together again as a family and have bowls of tang yuan (sticky glutinous rice balls). This also means that you get to have more days to toss up for luck and prosperity with my ever-favorite Yu Sheng Salad ! One of my favorite Chinese seafood restaurants here in the Lion City, Red House Seafood , has prepared a delicious line-up of dishes to enjoy this festive season. Given that most of the celebrations are done at home, they have very thoughtfully put together a Reunion Takeaway Tiffin Set which comes with 3 dishes of your choice. I remember Mommy and my Kongkong using these tingkats back then whenever they would take home food from any of our favorite restaurants. Seeing it again today has immediately brought back some good childhood memories. Should you prefer to g...

I was already based abroad when SM Megamall opened a new wing called the Fashion Hall. Despite it's name, this area quickly became a favorite of fellow foodies as in here you can find a number of international restaurant franchises and some cool local ones. Since I can't just hop on a plane and fly home on a whim, I would continue to grow my list of restaurants in hopes that I'll be able to visit them when I'm in Manila. So, last October, Paul and I decided to have a really belated birthday celebration with my in-laws. While planning for the said meal, I referred to my list and zeroed in on Alqueria  which is a Spanish restaurant conveniently located in SM Megamall. I miss having Spanish food as I haven't really fond a good one in the Lion City which would match up to my favorites here. As SM Megamall is forever crowded, it was a challenge to park most especially on a Sunday. That said, we got to the restaurant past lunch hour and everyone was feeling hungr...

Crystal Jade Singapore  is celebrating its 25th year this 2016. Since I used to live in the Philippines, I've come to know about the brand barely 6 years ago. However, I will never forget how I immediately fell in love with their signature  Dan Dan La Mian and that's really a big surprise given that I used to have extremely low tolerance for spicy food. To this date, Crystal Jade will always be my go-to place whenever I'm craving for that mouthwatering spicy and peanut-y noodle soup. In a week's time, most parts of Asia will be welcoming the Year of the Red Monkey and we're already feeling the festive season here in Singapore. There are a few things I love about celebrating Chinese New Year here -- tossing our luck in the air with the traditional lo hei , enjoying all of the best ingredients in a pen cai , receiving some hongbao  (red envelopes with money) and lastly, having an abundant supply of mandarin oranges. Back in Manila, we would also eat all the tik...

I was feeling a bit bummed out that I wasn't able to fly home for Mommy's birthday last week. It has been 2 straight years of me missing her special day and yes, I was feeling sad and guilty about it. I promise to make it up to her and Pan, most especially, in the coming years. Luckily, I haven't missed any of Papa's birthday and more so now as I really have to be in Manila yearly every end of August for family reasons. This is really one of those moments when reality bites that I am so far away from home and I'm missing out on special occasions like these. To make up for my absence, I decided to do something productive on Mommy's birthday and thanks to the Entertainer App , I spent my afternoon "productively" eating around Tanjong Pagar with my fellow foodies and friends Ting and Ning (...so call me Fing hehe) . I've created a 1 minute video to share with you how my gastronomical afternoon went. If you're curious about the three establ...