Frannywanny

Every year, Paul and I would make it a point to celebrate our wedding anniversary. On some years we went out for a nice dinner date but more often than not, we'd take the weekend off for a nice R&R at a hotel of our choice. This year, we decided to check out Marco Polo Ortigas Manila  for one full weekend of non-stop eating and relaxation. After all, this will be the last wedding anniversary where it's just the two of us. Next year, we will be joined by our beautiful twins so looks like it will be a family getaway from then on. Marco Polo Ortigas Manila opened just a few years ago when we were already in Singapore making us even more excited to check this hotel out. Personally, I'm a fan of the Marco Polo group as my family and I used to frequent their hotel in Hong Kong many many years ago. One thing that I'll always remember about Marco Polo is its spacious room. The one in Hong Kong is also adjacent to one of our favorite malls -- Harbour City, making it so co...

Among all the 7,107 islands or rather the 81 provinces in the Philippines, Cebu holds a special place in my heart. It's the place where I had so much fun dolphin watching when I was a kid, eating to my heart's content every single time and the Cebuanos are just so hospitable and warm. I've visited numerous times but I still get excited whenever the opportunity comes for me to go back again. So, last December, Paul and I took 4 days out of our 2 weeks long holiday visit to the Philippines to relax and spend some quality time in Cebu . It was Paul's first time so I was really excited to show him around and hopefully he'd fall in love with Cebu just the way I did before. After booking our flights, the next step was for me to do a full research on where to stay . The choice was either to stay in Cebu City where we can visit the malls and a number of the famous touristy spots or to enjoy and chill out at the beach in Mactan. We went for the first option and I relied ...

As soon as our plane safely landed at the Macau International Airport , Paul and I took a cab to head directly to the jetty port as we will be spending the first leg of our trip in Hong Kong . I initially wanted to take the CotaiJet as I read that it sails smoothly than its competitor Turbojet . Sadly, we got to Macau quite late and only Turbojet was issuing tickets then. Popping a tablet of Bonamin (anti-nausea), I prayed that the waves would be kind to me. Contrary to write-ups, I did enjoyed the ride. It was a quick one and I didn't feel dizzy at all It must have helped that we were seated at the middle of the boat so I couldn't feel the movement of the waves that much. We got a one way ticket in hopes that we will be able to try CotaiJet on our way back to Macau. Click here to see the schedules and boat fares for Turbojet. So let me talk about our Macau trip first as this was actually the highlight given that it was both our first time in this city. Macau , as we all k...

If there's one personal belief that I hold dearest to my heart, this is that vacations and staycations are always good for you . Even the famous chocolate bar Kitkat would agree with me that once in a while, we really have to kick off our shoes and to have a break .  As much as it may be nice to live a fast-paced, highly productive life, we always have to bare in mind that our brains, spirit and body need to slow down every so often and after that break, you'll see how much life and energy you'll have again to get into the daily grind. Well, that's what Paul and I did this weekend. For the past months, we both have been extremely busy adjusting to our new life here. Every weekend is normally spent fixing up our new room, refilling our kitchen pantry cabinet and familiarizing ourselves with our new surroundings. Thus, I was so happy when I received an invite from Shangri-la Hotel,   Singapore inviting me to have a weekend staycation which is the best excuse to le...

I hope you're all up for a cheezy love story. A story that I never thought I'd be able to tell. It all began on that fateful evening when I entered the restaurant with no expectations whatsoever. I kept my mind open but somehow deep inside me, I was a bit excited. Not really sure of what or who I was supposed to see but all I knew was I couldn't wait for this evening to come and when it finally did, I was just in a happy and giddy disposition. Carefully but slowly, I walked around Spectrum , Fairmont Makati's new all-day dining restaurant. The posh and sexy decor by the entrance immediately caught my attention. Clean and classy, just the way I love it. As they say, first impressions last . This one will surely do. But I went there with a mission. I was there on a search and so I moved on. Trying to stay focused on the impressive buffet spread. As I went about checking each station out, I was determined to continue on before finally grabbing a plate to start the ...

A few months back, after my full day Pasta Class at Global Academy , Paul and I headed down South for yet another weekend staycation. I don't know why but I always get excited whenever the chance to visit Alabang comes around. I guess, it's because of the numerous restaurants that I've been wanting to try and my list keeps getting longer as I only get to visit Alabang at least once a year. So excited was I that I immediately sent fellow Jane an email to ask for her foodie recommendations. She was so nice that she sent me a very comprehensive one making me all the more excited for that particular weekend. The beauty of staycations is that you get to unwind and relax without killing yourself with a long car/boat/plane ride. Acacia Hotel is a homegrown five star luxury hotel situated right at the heart of busy Alabang . It is indeed strategically located making it so accessible to nearby malls, a weekend market and a number of restaurants and coffee shop. We got to the ...

Warning: Lots of photos ahead! :) The past few weeks have been fun for us corporate folks. We had a back-to-back long weekend giving us 4-days and 3-days workweeks one after the other. I know that the after effect of this led to spending more hours at work to catch up with the pending tasks but still, a break is a break and I truly enjoyed mine to the fullest. While half of Metro Manila were out of town or out of the country, Paul and I drove about 5km away from home to stay the night at the beautiful Manila Marriott Hotel . We have reached our travel quota for the year so we decided to just stay in town and to have that much needed R&R. As I arrived at the lobby of the hotel, I was warmly greeted by the doorman and a couple of security staff. Seeing that I was trying my best to balance Paul's heavy camera bag plus our overnight luggage on one hand and my shoulder bag and laptop bag on the other, he quickly offered to hold on to our bags while I checked in. The reception d...

I love Chinese food!  Yes, you read that right. Despite the fact that we always have Chinese food at home and most, if not all, of our family gatherings are held in Chinese restaurants, I tend to choose a basket of dimsum over a slice of pizza anyday. It's then no surprise that I immediately said yes when my friend and fellow blogger Spanky invited me to have dimsum lunch with him at Hyatt Hotel's signature Chinese restaurant -- LiLi . It was actually not my first time to dine here. A couple of years ago, I had the privilege to accompany my former boss on one of his monthly restaurant reviews and it just so happen that he invited me to join him at LiLi ! I can't remember exactly which dishes we had but all I remembered was they were all delicious and I had a marvelous time admiring Lili's beautiful modern Chinese interiors. Our meal began with the traditional Gongfu tea ceremony . In China, this is being done to show guests how welcomed they are in a friend...