Frannywanny

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by fellow blogger E for a nice dinner tasting at Bridge . The direction to the restaurant was pretty simple -- it's along Seah street, behind Raffles Hotel. That was easy! As much as I love hole in the wall cafes in far-flung a.k.a. unexpected places, I do appreciate those that are strategically located right in the city. This area is accessible by foot whether you're coming from the City Hall district, Bugis or if you just love to walk... even from Clarke Quay. This is one reason why I thought the restaurant's name meant that it was the " bridge " in between the North Bridge Road and the South Bridge Road. Oh silly me! Apparently, Bridge is a restaurant that bridges the gap between fine-dining and the bistro scene. Now that makes a lot of sense! It's known for its extensive brunch and for our dinner that evening, we had a preview of the delicious dinner repertoire that they offer as well. Dinner began with a pla...

Over lunch one day, my colleagues AH and IW suddenly asked me what are my favorite restaurants here in Singapore . I haven't been here long enough to try a lot of restaurants but this question somehow left me stumped me for a minute or so. As I was putting together my usual bowl of salad, I made use of the extra minute to think. Then I began telling them about my usual go-to places such as Poulet for good casual French food, Keisuke Ramen , Kamal's for the best Fried Chicken Briyani in town and Din Tai Fung whenever I'd crave for xiao long bao. Now, it was my turn to ask. AH quickly named a couple of her favorites which were a mix of local and Chinese food spots and IW followed suit naming her go-to places as well. They have their own unique choices but I noticed that both of them named Swee Choon Tim Sum as their #1 favorite restaurant in Singapore. Add to the fact that D also went there recently and came back with non-stop raves about how yummy and affordable the ...

Every weekend, Paul and I have been trying to expand our radius by travelling farther than the usual towards the different areas in Singapore . One weekend, we went North West to visit a friend in Punggol, another time we went up north in Ang Mo Kio and a few weeks back we went back to the West in Boon Lay. Since Singapore's subway and bus systems, I can say, are pretty much the best in the region, it's really easy to go from one point to another all over the country. So anyway, one evening we found ourselves at Jurong Point , a mall adjacent to the bus terminal and MRT station in Boon Lay. It was for an impromptu dinner meet-up with friends N, T and O. Luckily, N and T are such foodies too so they took care of deciding where to eat. After a couple of blog hops, our dinner venue was at Yaki Yaki Bo Teppanyaki which was part of the mall's Japanese Food Street. Operated by the same group who owns Ichiban Sushi and Ichiban Boshi , Yaki Yaki Bo offers reasonably priced Ja...

It has always been a winning solution. This is the reason why I've been dying to get away . I was right.  A trip can take all the gloomy days away and bring back some ray of sunshine back into my life. I'm so happy and even if I obviously have gained a few pounds from all that (lechon) eating, I don't care. Frannywanny is finally BACK and I have Cebu to thank for it. *big grin* I've always been so in love with Cebu that despite being there a number of times, every trip still brings a lot of new discoveries and adventure that I always come home happy, rejuvenated and wishing that I can go back soon. Well, I will but not in a few months so the countdown starts now. that's my colleague Dottie!! :) Anyway, for this trip, Summit Circle Hotel was our home for three whole days. It is adjacent to Robinsons Place Fuente and is located right at the heart of Fuente Circle . This is a good hotel option should you want to watch the Sinulog Festival in Cebu ...

Today, I, together with the YES! Magazine team launched the 100 Most Beautiful Stars 2012 book! It was my first big event for YES! Magazine and I'm so happy that it was a BIG success! Of course, just like Yummy Eats 2012 , I had my dream team who worked so hard to make everything happen. It surely was a celebrity-filled day and I, myself, got star-strucked as I saw them all. Thus, here I am resting before heading to bed as I can now feel the exhaustion pouring in after all the excitement and adrenaline rush that happened today. The book will be out in a couple of days so please do grab a copy! :) I promise it'll be a fun read. During work days, I live a very busy life. Juggling in between meetings, preparing reports and presentations, it really takes a great amount of good time management to make everything work. This is also the reason why I love going out for lunch once in a while as it works as a good breather where I can refresh my mind and treat myself to a good me...

A few months ago, Paul and I had one of our impromptu lunch dates again and this time we had it at the Shangri-la Mall . Going around the mall while thinking of where to eat, we were faced with a big dilemma as there were quite a lot of options to choose from. The best way was to do it through the process of elimination. Since we both don't eat beef then all steak and burger places were immediately removed from the list. Paul wasn't in the mood to splurge so there goes the high-priced restaurants as well. However, I was feeling hungry (a.k.a. I want rice) so we skipped all sandwich bars and cafes in the mall. Finally, as we got to the 5th level and I spotted an old favorite -- Recipes by Cafe Metro . I first tried this more than 5 years ago and it has been my go-to place for comfort food done the Filipino way. Believe me, you'll never go wrong with their Gising Gising, Crispy Tilapia and their famous General's Chicken. We got there earlier than the lunch crowd thus ...

It has been a while since Paul and I had our much-longed-for R&R. Our last was during our 1st wedding anniversary where we stayed a night at Discovery Suites . We were, in fact, really looking forward to our trip to Bacolod which sadly got canceled due to a massive strike conducted by ex-PAL employees. "Just one night." I always pray to HIM. We've both been so stressed out that I think a mini-break will really do wonders for us. HE heard my prayers so last Saturday I got an email from the Ariel 3D Deep Clean event organizers telling me that they actually booked a room for us at Microtel Mall of Asia . The thing is, this will be from Monday to Tuesday. We've never had a mini-vacation on a work night so this is really something new to us. Still, we tried to be spontaneous and openly accepted the invitation. So there we were, right after work checking in at Microtel Mall of Asia . There were plenty of parking spots and the attendant were very helpful too. I...

Here's a case when I chose not to blog on the my first restaurant visit...neither on my second but just decided to wait and go back for a third round before I finally give my full review. I first heard about Hainanese Delights from my colleague ML who is a certified foodie and a budding food blogger. It was during one of our work-related events in Robinsons Galleria when she pointed out this fast food-like restaurant with a bright pink signage to me. I made a mental note to check it out but since I rarely get to visit the mall, it took me more than a month before I finally had the chance to try Hainanese Delights for the first time. My first visit was ok, nothing amazing as I was only able to try one dish and a can of Coke. Nothing more. My second visit came shortly after when Hainanese Delights opened at Robinsons Pioneer , a mall that's just within walking distance from my office. ML and I were invited to a lunch meeting there and we were able to sample more dishes ...

Here's one interesting story to tell... Back in 1941, a mother of 5 named Rosa Francisco opened a small panciteria in Pasig. She named it Three Sisters' after (make a wild guess!) a talcum product that she just heard over the radio. On her first day, church-goers flocked to her panciteria and continued to go back from that day on. Sadly, World War II broke out and the family was forced to head to Antipolo to seek for safety and shelter. After the war, Rosa went back and found that her panciteria has been burned down. Still, with much determination, she rebuilt and re-opened her panciteria to the public. Soon, she has regained her loyal patrons and have acquired new ones. People would visit Three Sisters' Refreshment Parlor for their halo-halo and noodle dishes. Fast forward to 1970, Rosa Francisco decided to relocate her panciteria to its present site in Kapitolyo, Pasig . This time she has renamed it: Three Sisters' Restaurant of Pasig . Given the bigger space, m...

*SPONSORED POST* Ok, after all that dining out and food shopping, let us talk about MONEY . Not wanting to sound like Scrooge McDuck otherwise known as Uncle Scrooge to Donald Duck’s nephews, but let’s face it. Money is important and it indeed makes the world go ‘round. When I was younger, I thought money can easily be accessed from a wall where you just press a few digits and out comes cold hard cash. That was after watching my mom withdraw from the ATM. However, my parents did an amazing job at educating us about the value of money and it’s not as easy as pressing a few numbers to access money at any given time. At age 8, I learned how to budget my money. It was during our first out of the country trip when my dad gave me a small allowance. I can buy anything I want provided I have to keep it within budget. As impulsive a shopper that I may want to be, I had to think twice, thrice, a million times before finally picking up that Forever Friends stuffed toy from the shelf and stra...