Frannywanny

It's been a while since I've shared with you one of my twins' favorite things as I've been too coped up with my yaya woes, had to prepare for our back to back staycation and family trip, dealt with each one of us (even the twins) falling sick, then there's work and everything else in between. Finally, I got a teeny bit of breathing time so let's do some mommy chat, shall we? During the 1st birthday of my twins, they were blessed to have received a lot (and I really meant..a LOT) of presents from their aunties, uncles and relatives. Of course, kids being kids, they were soooo happy to open all of their presents and I really had to find ways to manage this by allowing them to play with only one to two toys at a given period of time. You see, if you allow them to play with all the toys at the same time, chances are, they'd get tired of it quickly and you'd be left with nothing else to keep them busy and entertained. Thus, I've been spending all these ...

Among all the recipes that I can make, I think pasta is one of my favorite. Apart from the fact that I love to eat pasta, it's also so easy to make. All you need to do is to cook the noodles as per the instruction on the package, add in your choice of ingredients and tadah! You get a delicious plate of pasta that never fails to hit the right spot too. A few years back, I discovered the wonders of deli sausages. Since I always have a very short time frame to make dinner, I would normally pop by the nearest grocery and buy my choice of deli sausages be it Hungarian, Bratwurst or Kielbasa and I'd take these home, chop it into bite-size slices and add it into my pasta dish. The beauty about it is it's actually cooked so you don't have to grill or pan-fry it for a long period of time which as we know can make your pasta noodles soggy if you expose it to heat for long. 

Let's take a quick trip down memory lane. Well okay, it wasn't that long ago but it sure feels like it. This photo below was taken almost 2 years ago on-board Singapore Airlines  on our last flight out of Singapore heading to Manila when we decided to relocate back home for good. I was a little more than 3 months pregnant with my twins then but to be honest I just looked really bloated and chubs and my baby bump clearly showed itself about two months after that. View this post on Instagram Birthday surprise up in the air -- this is one of the many reasons why I love flying @singaporeair ✈️ aside from the comfy seats, the amazing entertainment library and good food, they have the best in-flight service too. Yesterday, our flight attendants surprised me with a birthday cake and a specially made card! Thanks to @maddawg_world for tipping them off too. It was one of the best flights of my life as we were moved to the front ro...

One thing that I noticed when I first relocated back home was the growing popularity of eat-all-you-can Korean BBQ restaurants and they're priced really affordable too! It seems like every mall would have long queues leading to these restaurants that offer a buffet of Korean bbq meats and cooked dishes for less than P500 only. Before I left the country, the buffet has been on a rise and it came to a point when hotel buffets and restaurant buffets are charging fees somewhat close to each other. Classy interiors, impressive buffet line-up, that was the food trend back in 2012. Filipino love to eat. There's no denying there and this is probably why buffets and eat-all-you-can promotion will always be well received by the eating public. Anyway, I remembered my first eat-all-you-can KBBQ experience. I was close to my delivery date then thus I was literally heavily pregnant with my twins and we entered this popular Korean restaurant where we were led to the second floor dining area...

I got to admit, I'm not really good in doing household chores. In fact, I really had to learn things that hard way when Paul and I relocated to the Lion City a few years ago. With no helper with us, we were pretty much left to do things on our own. It was hard at first. We've dealt with stressful days, mishaps, burnt food, ruined clothes and more. Eventually, we got the hang of things and learned some tricks here and there. By the time Paul and I decided to get our own condo unit, we got our designated household assignments down pat. He took care of the laundry -- washing, drying, ironing, the works! He became so good at it that he even have his own washing/ironing schedule done on a weekly basis. As for me, I took care of anything in the kitchen. Cooking, preparing Paul's breakfast and lunch to be brought to work, cleaning every single corner of the kitchen, doing the grocery and dishwashing . Given my very OCD nature, you can just imagine the things I'd do to ke...

Today marks the 12th day of being yaya-less. Well, Yaya M was scheduled to come back yesterday and we have agreed on that. Then suddenly, she could hardly be reached almost all day yesterday and just managed to call me late in the afternoon to tell me that she wasn't able to get a bus ticket because the ticketing office was already closed (well, duh..). I had to do multiple deep breaths to hold my peace and patience as my MIL even called to tell me to just take it easy and be patient with her. Don't get me wrong, I rarely get mad at any of our staff or helper but I really do value agreements and word of honor. I just don't get how some people can make promises which they'll eventually break later on. So. Not. Cool. Luckily, my twins are much bigger now and they can play on their own. They can also take simple instructions so we still can have a bit of breathing time here and there. Paul and I have also attempted to go to the mall without a single nanny and we have s...

Well, look at that! I can't believe we're now at the 5th month of the year and pretty much 59 days away from being halfway through 2019. I'm officially yaya-less too and so far, Paul and I are still okay and surviving. Thankfully, the twins are easier to care for now...that is if you don't count the hours spent running around the room/house/hallway/wherever in different directions and the times I've screamed "get down from there!", "don't climb up the chair" and many more. Anyway, enough yaya woes and on to the best news that has hit the food scene in Manila this month of May -- Shake Shack will finally open its doors on May 10 at the BGC Central Square ! I got to admit that it was my first time to try Shake Shack as Paul and I chose Luke's Lobster Roll (which I really regret doing so) over dining at Shake Shack when we were at Tokyo back in 2016. Also, Shake Shack is said to have this permanent waiting line in front of the restaur...