Frannywanny

This year's Christmas was a bit different for my family. Our dear Kongkong was confined in the hospital so we had to call off our annual Christmas Eve dinner outside and opted to just spend it quietly at the hospital. The holiday season is all about family and loved ones coming together, after all, so no matter where you may be, you can still feel the warmth of the holiday with the presence of family and friends around you. Luckily, Kongkong has been discharged so the fun continues! We still have the New Year to celebrate and we're planning to do it at home to give Kongkong more space to rest and the kids to walk/run/crawl around. Oh how I dream to just turn into beautiful Giada de Laurentiis or talented Ina Garten and be able to not only cook up a storm for my family but turn these dishes into beautiful masterpieces too. Perhaps if I get a little help from my favorite bee. If my kids love the big red happy Bee , their momma adores this small, helpful yellow Bee called Ho...

I'd say that when you look at the F&B industry, one of the easiest yet toughest cuisine to specialize on is Filipino. It's simply because every household has its own version of most of the local dishes from the adobo to pochero to sopas to sisig and to all types of pancit (noodles). I can boldly say that there's probably millions of adobo versions all over the country given that our population is now 104.9 Million strong (thank you Google!). That said, it would really take a lot for you to beat what one may have considered their best adobo/pochero/sisig. But hey, as the saying goes.. "if you got it, flaunt it. " Recently, Paul and I stumbled upon Ombu Kusina  near Timog Avenue. It's at the Ground Floor of Sequoia Hotel as the restaurant also operates as the F&B arm of the hotel. We were invited to try their newest menu items and luckily, some of their best-selling ones too. I've heard of Ombu Kusina  from fellow bloggers when it opened a few ye...

Before anything else, let me wish you and your family a Merry Merry Christmas ! I remember that I would always do this Christmas blog post every single year. Except for last year where my days were just so mixed up with my nights and I began to lost track of time, of the day while trying to catch up on sleep, juggling all our tasks as new parents and basically adjusting to motherhood. Things are much better now. Much, much better, actually. We get to sleep more, routines are now in place, my twins are definitely much bigger and their personalities are more defined. I'm not gonna lie. I do miss the scent of newborn babies but I love each day spent playing with them even more. Trying to decipher their baby languages, laughing at their latest antics and a lot lot more. This is our life now. We are now parents of 1-year-old growing babies. Before we know it, they'll turn into full-fledge toddlers, then will transition to school age kids, teenagers and *gulp* move on to adu...

When you say Christmas in the Philippines, a number of things come to mind... Parol  (lanterns), Bibingka (rice cake with salted egg), Lechon  (roasted pig) , Noche Buena  (Christmas feast) and Queso de Bola.   Actually, I think I can name a lot more but that will definitely make this blog entry so so so long. Let me focus on Queso de Bola . Recently, I wondered how come this round cheese that's traditionally coated in red wax cover became so popular especially during Christmas. Well, a quick research showed that back in the day, edam cheese or queso de bola is one of the staple items during Noche Buena. I'd also credit this to brilliant marketing work of whoever is behind the brand who sold the first ever Queso de Bola. Imagine, while having cheese with crackers, nuts or fruits is something very European yet this was successfully adapted into our Noche Buena spread together with Jamon, Fruit Salad, Bibingka and Puto Bumbong.

I'm a huge fan of mille crepes. There's really something about that dainty looking cake that's made out of thin layers (and by layers I mean a LOT of it) of crepes sandwiched in between a delicate cream filling and usually topped with fruits. I would remember how Paul and I would always end our weekend dates at Singapore's Lady M which has been our go-to cake place when we need some sugar rush. Which reminds me, I have yet to talk about that in this blog. *sigh* Now, can you guys imagine my bloglag? We're talking years delay here! Anyway, since we got back, we've been searching for a good cake place similar to our beloved Lady M . Then, we discovered Paper Moon . It's funny how things have a way of making itself known to you if it's meant to be. Like I've mentioned, Paul and I love mille crepes but this is one thing that we never really told anyone in the family. It was pure coincidence that my MIL gave us a huge box of Mango Mille Crepe for our...

I first heard about Tenya back in 2016 from my good friend D as she was helping me put together my Tokyo itinerary. My friends in Singapore love going to Japan that I can probably name 10 friends who knows Tokyo so well that they can give the best recommendations even with their eyes closed. Thanks to them, Paul and I had spent one marvelous week eating our way around Japan and mind you, we managed to dine at some of the best hole in the wall places thanks to the tips that we got from these friends. I have yet to share with you stories from that trip and I promise to do it really soon. Meanwhile, back in Manila, Paul and I stumbled upon Tenya as we were going around the Bonifacio Global City one evening looking for a place to grab a quick early dinner before heading home. A quick search on our phone led us to Tenya  at the BGC Stopover complex. Okay, I have to admit that I never knew this place existed and boy was I impressed. We're talking about 3 storeys filled with a good mi...

I was busy on my laptop while my Dad was watching the news last night and while I was pretty much passively listening to what was being talked about on TV, one thing that made me stop what I was doing was when the announcer said that we got "15 days to go before Christmas Day." WHAT?! That was my immediate reaction. I'm not ready for Christmas yet and judging on the non-progress made on our gift list, it looks like I will be getting into a shopping frenzy in the coming weeks...that is if I don't do anything about it NOW! It doesn't help too that Yaya M1 will soon be going on her month long Christmas vacation back in her province which means I will be extra busy helping Yaya M2 watch over my twins who are starting to enjoy half-walking/half-running around the room. I can't believe I'm saying this but as a busy Mom, I am so grateful for technology and online shopping. I've lost count of the number of times when technology and the ease of orderin...

December is finally here!  All throughout this month, I will be sharing with you great finds that you can bring to your upcoming Christmas parties and gifts for your loved ones too. I think the best way to jump start this festive month is to tell you about one of the best lunches that I've had this year. It was an invitation to dine at the lovely home of Ms. Bambi Javelosa  with some of my favorite foodie friends namely  Mr and Mrs. Our Awesome Planet , M of Eatsplorations and G of Dude for Food . I love dining with small groups as we get to catch up and have meaningful conversations while enjoying good food. That and simply because I am (seriously) an introvert too and big groups can really drain the life out of me. Our lunch began with Miso Marinated Salmon with Shiitake and Bokchoy  which was so good! I love salmon and while this may look simple, it's totally bursting with so much flavor. It has a nice savory sweet flavor that goes well with anything..a...