Frannywanny

I've always wanted to have a little girl. I guess it's because I grew up without a brother and even my extended family has more females than males. Perhaps, it's because I've always dreamt of dressing my little girl up, going twinning with her and someday, we would go shopping and have our mani/pedi sessions together. My prayers were indeed answered as L was given to me along with her twin brother J. I'm truly grateful. ♥ From the time my twins were born, I really enjoy dressing them up. Making them go matchy matchy regardless if it's the same design or even with the color of their onesies. L, in particular has shown so much happiness and appreciation for all things beautiful. She's the type of baby who enjoys dressing up and when we would take her ribbon or headband out, she'd start to complain. So, when I got a surprise package from Little Bondi  one rainy afternooon, I excitedly brought it up for L to see. As expected, her big round eyes bri...

There's a new kid in town and I'm pretty sure you'll like "him" very much. After all... who says no to Lechon ? Aside from the ever popular Adobo which is probably the dish that's synonymous to Filipino cooking, Lechon remains to be one that never fails to make every Filipino and non-Filipino's heart skip a beat. From the shiny, mouth-watering crunchy skin down to its fragrant and tender meat, I remember making several visits with my local colleagues and friends to this famous Cebu Lechon stall in Paya Lebar in Singapore whenever they'd ask me to take them to try a Filipino dish. In fact, there are several versions of lechon all over the country. Some would serve it with sarsa (sauce), others would stuff it with aromatic tanglad (lemongrass) , my talented friend D has her classy Lechon with Truffle Rice inside and well in Cebu, it's serve just as it is. The meat has a hint of salt and the skin slightly thick with a layer of fat underneath a...

My twins turns 9 months today. WOW . I've been a proud Mommy for 9 full months already! If you put things into perspective, 9 months is how long it takes for a baby to form inside a Mother's womb. It still feels like yesterday when I was wheeled into the delivery room and I heard the cries of J and L for the first time. I can still remember how small and fragile they were. How we would carry them so carefully to support their necks. Today, both are talking, crawling, rolling over, attempting to climb, eating solids kind of toddlers already. They're no longer considered newborns but they still do smell like one so I'm totally fine with that. Aside from this, this also means that I've been breastfeeding them for 9 full months already. It was no easy feat so please allow me to beam a little and give myself a small pat at the back for going this far. I'm not going to lie though, I came this far because I got help . Help from close friends who offered to share ...

"Oops, (Chef) Him did it again."  (To the tune of Britney Spears' popular hit) Chef Him Uy de Baron has been one of my favorite Chef friends here in Manila. I first met him back in 2008 when I got him to cater for one of my first book launches with Real Living Magazine . We corresponded all via email and the first time I met him personally was during the event itself. It was pure trust, I tell you. However, he not only stuck to what we have agreed upon but he went over and beyond by blowing us away with his delicious food and the presentation was just so beautiful. Truly fitting for one of the country's best shelter magazine. Needless to say, he was my go-to caterer for all succeeding events. Not only that, Paul and I loved his cooking so much that we're big fans of his restaurants. From Nomama Ramen back then to Cocina Peruvia  at present.  Styled by ML of What Mary Loves Cocina Peruvia actually has three branches already in the metro -- BGC, Vert...

Did you know that more than 500 restaurants opened in Metro Manila in the first 6 months of 2018? From the smallest yet coziest hole in the wall to the biggest restaurant establishments, our choice for food is simply endless. Anyway, The Choice is back once again as it has been awarding a number of Manila's favorite restaurants, bakeries, fast food chain and cafes for the past 4 years. This is not an award for the Best  as we all know that taste is very very subjective so instead, we vote for our Favorites . So, you know the drill. Please share your favorite restaurants with us and who knows, they might bag an award come August 4, 2018 at SMX Mall of Asia. Vote now and see you there! Click on this link to vote: https://awesm.pl/TheChoice2018 Related post: The Choice 2017

Pasta is one of the dishes that I am most comfortable in preparing. It's one that I can easily whip up when pressed for time or when I'm just craving for some comfort food. Normally though, it would take me at least 30 minutes to an hour to prepare a pasta dish as I have to cook the pasta noodles till al dente, prepare the sauce, incorporate both together, plate it, sprinkle with garnish and set it on the table. This doesn't also take into account the time spent in preparing each ingredient such as chopping the garlic, pulling out all sauces and sometimes, cleaning the seafood too. A month ago, I received one of the best things that has ever graced my kitchen counter -- the Instant Pot. I have yet to tell you more about it but basically it's one powerful kitchen appliance that can cook rice, make porridge/congee, saute, cook even the hardest and toughest meat under high pressure, delay cooking and make yogurt. I have yet to explore all the functions but so far I'v...

A couple of weeks ago, I got a message from one of my readers (hello to you!)  asking me for recommendations on the best brunch buffets in town. I had to stop a while and recall in order to give her my best recommendations as I didn't want to let her down. Eventually, I answered: "Personally, I love Mireio at Raffles Hotel, very good selections."  To my reader, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. :) Anyway, let me tell you more about my Sunday Brunch experience and why I think it was one of the best there is in town. First of all, the venue. Who doesn't love the luxurious feel of the Raffles Hotel in Makati. It may have a more corporate vibe as opposed to its Singapore counterpart which gives off a more garden feel but well, it's located right at the heart of Makati's busy district so it perfectly suits the vibe there. From the moment I arrived at the entrance of the hotel up until we were ushered up to the 9th floor where we were led towards the resta...

If there's one thing that I miss about living abroad and having our own place is how we would host dinners and invite friends to come over. One of the best dinners that I've had was probably when my friends came over to celebrate my birthday. Paul prepared his signature BBQ Ribs and Steak while I made Baked Salmon ala Conti's and I even had the time to put together a cheese board. I guess when the kids are much older, we can go back to hosting dinners or organizing potlucks too. Luckily, here in Manila in case you're too busy to cook or prepare your own dish, you can easily order and have the dishes delivered straight to your doorstep (or to wherever you're having your party to ensure it gets there hot). One that I highly recommend is Ley's Kitchen . I recently got to try some of their specialties and all 4 dishes were so good. Not the mediocre type of good ha, I'm talking about the kind that's out of this world good...the kind that will make you go...

McDonald's will forever be one of my favorite fastfood chains. I just love how they continue to innovate and add new and interesting items on the menu. I'm pretty sure it's fun to be part of their R&D team. Imagine, in just a span of 3 months, they've introduced a number of new menu items and they've made improvements to an old favorite. First off, the new BBQ Mayo Crispy Chicken Sandwich  (Php. 49) Yes, it is actually possible to dine at McDonald's for only Php. 100 or less. We tried this for merienda today and I actually liked it! You get one whole chicken fillet that's topped with a generous amount of tangy mayonnaise and smokey BBQ sauce. The bun was rather on the thin side similar to the ones they use for the Burger Mcdo but it was all alright. I like how the barbecue sauce complemented the mayonnaise and it definitely went so well with the fried chicken fillet. Have it with fries and soda and you got yourself a complete meal .

Before I start this post, let me tell you that I am no breastfeeding advocate. Yes, I do recognize and believe in the benefits that it bring but I promise that this won't be the type of post that will lecture you on and on that breastfeeding is the only  way to go. I still do believe that fed is best . That said, I do respect whichever way a Mom feeds her kid. Breastfed, bottle fed, formula, pureed solids, baby-led weaning... for as long as the baby is properly nourished and fed, I am all for that. What I would like to share is my personal experience as a breastfeeding mommy to my twins for the past 8 months (and still counting..whew!). It was actually silly of me to think that I won't have milk to breastfeed. Well, I do have some basis. Looking at my genetic line, neither my Mom nor my Ama breastfed and my sister actually didn't had much so I saw how she struggled and persevered to be able to feed my niece A up until she reaches a year old. Pan totally won the determinat...

It's no secret that I am a big foodie traveler. This is also one of the reasons why Frannywanny.com came about. For the past decade, I've been sharing with you my travel adventures which leans mostly on the restaurants and food hops that Paul and I would come across in whatever destination we'd be in. I also got to admit that I am also a luxury traveler. By that, I mean I tend to be very picky when it comes to my choice of airline, hotel and mode of transportation. Comfort is always my top priority. After all, we travel to recharge and feel rejuvenated right? Singapore Airlines has been my top choice of airlines since I used to shuttle back and forth Singapore and Manila for four years. I realized that the cost of flying via Singapore Airlines is not that far from our local budget airline and if this means getting an extra legroom, bigger seats, a hot delicious meal and a wide selection of in-flight entertainment as I fly to and from Singapore, then I'm totally fo...

Summer is definitely over and in comes the rain. Lots and lots of rain! I won't lie, I was really glad that we're no longer experiencing the warm weather and somehow, I do welcome this bed weather. The kind what makes you want to curl up in bed and sleep all day. Well, if you're a twin mom... "sleep all day" may not happen anytime soon but still, one can always dream. This is also the perfect weather for soups and warm congee. I recently started experimenting with a number of soup recipes which I will soon introduce to my twins as they seriously need to level up on their solid intake. Speaking of soups, I suddenly have this craving for ramen. It's really funny as back in 2015, I think I had way too much ramen and I somehow stopped having ramen since then. I think the last bowl of ramen that I had was during our trip to Tokyo sometime in 2016. I suddenly remembered my favorite ramen in Singapore -- Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu Four Seasons . I loved it so much tha...

This year, I got to play queen for two special occasions -- my birthday and Mother's Day . I swear, I was so thrilled by all the surprise gifts that came my way. Delimondo , one of my favorite corned beef brand, made Mother's Day extra memorable for me with their special delivery. Back when I was residing in Singapore, Paul and I would make it a point to fill at least 20% of our luggage with cans of Delimondo Garlic and Chili Corned Beef . It's the yummiest and easiest thing to have when we're in a rush and we don't have time to prepare our baon or dinner. I normally would even cook this with more garlic to make it more aromatic. Of course, it's either I have it with macaroni as how Mommy taught me or a piping hot bowl of rice. This time, we got their newest variants -- Delimondo Caldereta Corned Beef and their Sweet and Spicy Luncheon Meat . I got to admit that this is me taking a step outside my comfort zone as I'm just so used to their original flav...

"Oh my dhal -ling Paul, you really turn me naan . For 15 years, only you holds the ghee to my heart. One things for sure, there's never a dhal moment with you." Excuse the cheese but that, my friends, was my winning entry to Booky's recent Instagram contest . I chanced upon the contest while I was browsing through Facebook and it was for a restaurant in Kapitolyo called Little Bear Diner  which recently revamped its menu and now serves interesting Kerala-style dishes. I've been craving for good Indian food as it's been a year since we came home from Singapura so I was so motivated to join. I got to admit that the other entries were so witty that I never thought I'd stand a chance. Well, a week ago, I got a message telling me that I won the contest. Yay! Guess the judges appreciated my cheeziness. So, after spotting an opportunity to have a quick lunch date while the twins were with their grandparents, Paul and I made a reservation via Booky for o...