Frannywanny

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...

"Can we have dinner tomorrow at Momma Kong's? I made reservations already." This was the message I got from my friend C when he and his family visited the Lion City a couple of weeks ago. I'm ashamed to admit this but I wasn't sure where and what exactly is Momma Kong's . It sounded like a little hole-in-a-wall home-cooking eatery to me. However, I trust my friend C though for having really good taste in food so even without any research I happily replied back, "ok! see you then!"

Years ago, I never thought that I'd be able to travel to the United States of America ...this soon. Sure, it has been part of our list, even planned to go there for our Honeymoon but after agreeing that we will discover Asia first; we never thought I'll see the amazing West anytime in the next few years after tying the knot. Well, I guess Lady Luck must have been on our side all these time as I got an invite from a business counterpart to meet them in California late 2010 (that was just around 5 months of being married!) . The agreed schedule was on February 2011 and we got even luckier that both Paul and I were given US travel visas right away. It truly was a fun-filled two weeks spent with our relatives and friends based in California, USA. I really enjoyed bonding with my Ahia Jeff whom I haven't seen for a long time. The same goes for Paul who was able to spend some quality time with his aunt and cousin Jun too. It truly was time well-spent as we tried a couple of a...

I love to travel and when I travel, the one thing that I look forward to is to eat the local dishes found in the country where I'm visiting. Nothing beats enjoying something authentic. While I've never been to Vietnam, this has been part of my list since last year after seeing photos taken by my friend L. She spent three fun days in Vietnam and enjoyed authentic Vietnamese coffee and fresh spring rolls with plump shrimps inside. Oh my mouth waters as I view her photos. An invitation to Aquaknox brought The Foodie Club together one Sunday lunch. Since we were a big group, we didn't arrive at the restaurant at the same time. Therefore, to while away time for the early birds, we were given a basket of Prawn Crackers to munch on. Delicious prawn crackers very similar to those that you can buy from the grocery and fry at home. I love dipping this in vinegar. When more than half of The Foodie Club have arrived, the kitchen began to serve our meal. First came the Goi Cuon...

“I can’t believe we’re having crabs for merienda (afternoon snack)!”, my sister exclaimed. She was actually saying this while happily pulling out the juicy crabmeat from the plump crab claw on her hand. Yes, wanting to unwind and relax with Paul and my sister, I invited them to what was supposed to be a late lunch turned into our afternoon snack at Red Crab Café at the Gateway Mall . We were warmly welcomed by the restaurant supervisor and after telling him that we would like to try their Raymund’s Salt and Pepper Crab Set by Chef Jeff Diesmos, he then asked us for our drinks and told us what to expect for this meal. First was a bowl of Caesar Salad . Unlike the usual creamy salad that we have grown accustomed to, this one has a sweet note to it. We think it comes from the dressing. The serving was pretty generous that it was good enough for our party of three. The salad was pretty straight-forward which would be good for those who are not very adventurous when it comes...

The email came as a surprise. I received a message from the PR firm handling Banana Leaf Asian Cafe that after reading my entry on my latest visit to their Robinsons Midtown branch , that they would like to invite me for lunch as their way of saying thank you for writing about my experience. It was a holiday when I scheduled that lunch to meet with them. I went with my mom and sister as we had plans of going shopping right after. Arriving at their Podium branch a little after 12, we arrived at the restaurant and were warmly welcomed by three of their PR representatives. We were then presented with their drinks menu. I followed my mom who got the Pandan Iced Tea . I liked how refreshing this drink was which was perfect since it was a very warm day. It was not too sweet which was one of the things that I do not like when drinking Iced Tea as some are just loaded with thick syrup. We took turns in choosing our lunch menu and finally came up with these: Pomelo Salad Thai Style (P...

In less than 130 days, Paul and I will finally take that much-wanted and much-needed vacation that the both of us have been looking forward to since late last year. While planning for this trip, it was actually a choice between going up north and getting in touch with our roots or to go back to Singapore and to visit Malaysia for the first time. It seems like the 3 days that we spent in Singapore were not enough for the both of us that we decided to go back and to spend more days to explore the island and later on to hop over to Malaysia to continue our Southeast Asian adventure! Of course, no trip would be complete without enjoying the local cuisines and this is one thing that I am truly looking forward to. Chatting with fellow bloggers and food experts, majority assured me that I will surely enjoy Malaysian food as it is said to be even better than Singapore. Hearing this brought visions of Char Kuay Teow, Roti Canai with curry sauce, Chili or Creamy Crabs and a lot more! Since t...