Frannywanny

"How was your birthday ?" This was the question that I was asked most by friends and colleagues days after the 1st of June. Well, unlike the past years when it was admittedly more festive and loud, my birthday this year was much more private, more intimate yet I had the most important people of my life sending me the sweetest birthday greetings and wishes. What more can I ask for? Luckily, Paul didn't had to go to work on my birthday so he told me that he'd like to take me out for lunch. The best part was, I get to choose where we're eating! Yay! So days leading up to my birthday, I started shortlisting restaurants that I've been wanting to try. Should we go have steak? Perhaps indulge on pots after pots of Chinese steamboat? How about Japanese? Since I'm clearly not over my Tokyo hangover yet so sushi and sashimi was the final choice for my special day. So, off we went to Shin Minori  in UE Square  since I've been hearing so much good things a...

Two months ago, Paul and I had one of the best trips of our married life as we went to our dream destination -- Tokyo, Japan ! After months of planning and trying hard not to get so excited so as not to jinx it, the day finally came for us to head to the airport and to get on our Singapore Airlines flight that will take us to the Land of the Rising Sun. Since we wanted to maximize on our travel time, we opted to take the 11PM flight so we'll arrive in Japan at 8AM local time. Good idea, huh? As you all know, we love staying at airport lounges while waiting for our turn to board the plane. Since our plane is flying out of Changi Airport's Terminal 3 this time, we went to SATS Premier Lounge  to grab a meal since we didn't had time to have dinner at home and to relax before our long evening flight. I'm a fan of SATS Premier Lounges if you remember me talking about this in my previous entries , where I would frequent the one in Terminal 2 every time I fly home to Man...

Lately, I've been feeling very tired. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because I haven't been working out as often or I've been getting up early to prepare Paul's lunch. Whatever it is, I know I have to go back to the habit of working out more and sleeping earlier. So today is indeed TGIF for me! I can't wait for the weekend where I promise myself to sleep a little longer. (sorry hun, no work lunch for you tomorrow! heehee) Times like this, I wish I'm back in Manila where I can easily head to my favorite spa for a full body massage or to my suking nail salon for my monthly mani-pedi session. I realized that I sure did a lot of de-stressing and self-pampering when I was still based in the Philippines where admittedly, these types of services are so affordable! While there's a lot of salons and nail spas scattered around the Lion City, I just can't get myself to start the habit of prettifying myself on a bi-weekly cycle knowing that it costs twice...

I got a confession to make. One that took me years to realize and to fully accept.  Okay, here goes... I can't live without RICE . Wow! That felt so good to put it out there. Well, I'm Asian and I grew up in the Philippines. Naturally, rice has been one of our staple in almost every meal (breakfast included). For years, I never reallly thought that I love it THAT much but living abroad, I would find myself choosing rice over noodles, rice over bread, rice over salad, rice over pasta... well that's still an ongoing debate. Anyway, you get the point. I pretty much can't live without rice. So, when I chanced upon Grilllo at PasarBella in Suntec City and got to try some of their dishes during their opening day, I knew that this is one stall that I'll go back and visit regularly. What's there not to love? Grilllo  specializes in Pan-Asian classic rice bowls with a bit of modern twist here and there. Let me show you some of the rice bowls that Paul and...

Living abroad and away from family has its perks and of course, its disadvantages too. One thing is that with no helper around, we basically have to fend for ourselves 24/7. This means that if Paul and I have to work late, we still have to worry about where to get dinner and this doesn't exempt us from the dish-washing and house-cleaning chores after. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving our independent life but of course, there are moments when I wish I can just have dinner on our table with just a snap of a finger. Take last Friday for instance, I was rushing to finish something for work and has resigned to the fact that I will be heading home late on a Friday night. Then I thought that perhaps Paul will be able to get home before me and he'll take care of dinner. Then I received an SMS from him saying that he will have to stay a bit later too. Oh dear! I'm pretty sure that once he gets home, he'll be so hungry and I don't have the time to cook our meal. B...

Tomorrow is Father's Day. While pessimists might just say that it's merely a marketer's gimmik, I still believe that it's a perfect day to honor the man of the house -- our Dads. After all, how often do we really get the chance to stop and say thank you for all that he has done for the family right? Papa and 10-year-old me at Haw Par Villa, Singapore Recently, Paul and I got the chance to sample the delicious Father's Day Menu  at Caffe B  in Marina Bay Sands but before I start talking about food, let me tell you more about the first love of my life, my Papa. Papa was turning 37 years old when I came into this world. Perhaps, a lot might say that that's just the right age to have a kid but for him, I'm pretty sure he was battling a whole bunch of emotions from happiness, excitement and the very inevitable anxiety. Just like Mommy, I'm quite certain that they had no clue how to raise a child and so I was luckily their guinea pig. They will never adm...

"Where shall we eat?" I think this is probably the most popular question that you can hear during lunch hour most especially at the Central Business District (CBD) area. Not that we're lacking in choices but, in fact, we have an abundance of dining options that make it even tougher to choose just one. Normally, I would resort to my go-to salad bar or the local hawker shops in case I need to quickly grab a bite or I just want something quick, simple and cheap. Then, there are days when you want to treat yourself to a good meal. On those days, I'm reminded of what Papa would always tell me. " Tsiak ka ho " which means "eat well" in Hokkien. My dad constantly reminds me that once in a while, it is okay to indulge and to treat yourself to a good meal. I bring that learning with me to this day. Located right at the middle of the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) complex, Crystal Jade Prestige is the newest addition to Crystal Jade's growing...

It's no secret how much we love to eat out most especially when our friends are there to join us. However, one thing that can really dampen our hungry spirits is having to queue up for a long, long, longggg time. Since patience is obviously not my strongest point, I make it a habit to do table reservations as often as I can. Back then, I would go through the trouble of calling the restaurants days before to do this. However, there are moments when we suddenly decided to eat out and knowing that I didn't had ample time to make the reservation, stress level would tend to rise. That was until Paul and I were invited to join a fun food trail one weeknight and this was hosted by the cool folks behind Quandoo Singapore . For those who haven't heard about this, it's actually a mobile app that will allow you to make a table reservation with just a few clicks and you can do it right on your mobile phone. Sounds awesome, right? One cool thing that I love about it is how i...

I know it has been a while since my last #FrannyCooks recipe and I'm really sorry about that! To say that this year has been busy and crazy is indeed an understatement. Actually our schedules just got so hectic starting the 2nd quarter of this year and it's just starting to ease off this month. There were just so many things happening all at the same time that at some point, both Paul and I felt like headless chickens running around as we're trying to get a lot of things done. The funny thing is, no matter how alike we can be, we apparently deal with stress very differently. He would resort to playing billiards or watching his favorite YouTube videos while I head to the kitchen to cook or I blog. Either way, we realized that we crave for some me-time to de-stress and we happily would give each other that much-needed space when needed. That, kids, is one of the secrets to a happy marriage. ;) During my recent visit home, I was so lucky to receive some bottles of Mega...

Just like that the 1st of June is over and I'm officially 34 years old. Yay? Definitely, another year hopefully filled with more blessings, more adventures and more happiness. So how did I celebrate my birthday? I'd say, I got what I wished for. I simply just wanted to relax all day and waking up past the normal waking hour on a weekday was definitely a good way to start my birthday. This was followed by a delicious Japanese lunch buffet with Paul and a trip to our happy place -- IKEA. After this, I pretty much stayed home and relaxed some more. As you all know, my birthday celebration doesn't end with just one day. I can't wait to celebrate this with my closest friends here in Singapore too! It was definitely a day filled with so much love. I have yet to reply to all 100++ messages that friends have sent to wish me a happy birthday and there were those surprises that made my day extra special. Like that yummy Cedele Carrot Cake that my best friends T and E sent ...