Frannywanny

February is the shortest month of the year (despite this year being a leap year) and yet I always feel like my schedule is extra jam-packed this month as compared to the past months. Just this weekend alone, I became a ninang to an adorable baby boy and the next day we had a family gathering to celebrate the birthday of two of my nieces. They're tweens now and in my mind, I've always thought they're still little toddlers. Time is surely flying by so fast. We're also a few days away from Valentine's Day and regardless whoever you will be dating -- your special someone, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your crush, your best friend, your parents or even yourself (hey, remember -- #selflove), I thought of sharing some of my recent and not-so-recent food finds which I think are totally date place worthy. Let's start with MeatSumo  in Panay Avenue. This just opened two weeks ago and I can expect this place to be packed most especially for dinner and during the weekend...

For our first night in Taipei, Paul and I set a meet up with our friends Floyd and Nicey and their cutie son Matteo who coincidentally were also having a vacation in Taiwan. They're one of our closest friends in Singapore and M is actually just a few months older than the twins. Such an amazing long distance friendship these little toddlers have! I hope that we'll get to see them more often as they grow up. Anyway, it was super sweet of the de Santoses to travel all the way to Luzhou to meet up with us. If I'm not mistaken, they're staying somewhere in the city so we truly appreciated that they went totally out of their way to have dinner with us. By the way, my friend Floyd is an amazing vlogger so do check out his YouTube site and please subscribe and follow him too . He vlogs about his extensive rubber shoes collection, tech and their family trips too. Sadly, he wasn't vlogging yet when we had our Taipei meet up so no surprise appearance from the twins in his ...

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...

There's really something so calming about watching the sunset by the beach. It could be the relaxing sound of the waves crashing into the shore or feeling the sand on your feet or just watching the sky turn from blue to golden yellow to orange to pitch dark. It's just so magical. Growing up in a country that's pretty much surrounded by huge bodies of water, I've learned to love the beach life. It's that one thing that Paul and I would make it a point to do at least once a year. For us, heading out to the beach means taking a break from work, from city life and just allowing ourselves to relax. Sadly, it has been years since we've had our annual beach getaway but as they say... "you can take the girl out of the beach but you can't take the beach out of the girl." The sun, sand and sea will always find me and here in Singapore, I found it in Sentosa. For the past two weekends, Paul and I has been heading over to Sentosa to catch the sunset an...

The cold weather is really making me crave for soup, congee, noodles.. basically anything that's hot and comforting to match the rainy day. Unlike Paul, I'm not really a big soup fan but if I were to have soup, I would rather have it steamboat-style. I really enjoy being able to cook my own meal and filling my soup with the ingredients of my choice. Luckily, Singapore has a lot of steamboat options. From the traditional Chinese steamboat to the interesting Thai Mookata, then there's  GoroGoro  which specializes in Steamboat and Korean Buffet all in one. What sets GoroGoro  apart is that they have not one, not two but seven different soup bases which you can choose from! There's ginseng chicken, collagen, mala, tom yum, tomato, bah kut teh  and vegetarian . Normally, steamboat restaurants would allow you to choose two soup stocks but at GoroGoro you can have THREE different soup flavors to enjoy. After all, the more the merrier, right? 

"How was your birthday ?" This was the question that I was asked most by friends and colleagues days after the 1st of June. Well, unlike the past years when it was admittedly more festive and loud, my birthday this year was much more private, more intimate yet I had the most important people of my life sending me the sweetest birthday greetings and wishes. What more can I ask for? Luckily, Paul didn't had to go to work on my birthday so he told me that he'd like to take me out for lunch. The best part was, I get to choose where we're eating! Yay! So days leading up to my birthday, I started shortlisting restaurants that I've been wanting to try. Should we go have steak? Perhaps indulge on pots after pots of Chinese steamboat? How about Japanese? Since I'm clearly not over my Tokyo hangover yet so sushi and sashimi was the final choice for my special day. So, off we went to Shin Minori  in UE Square  since I've been hearing so much good things a...

Rise & Shine!  It's the start of a new week and while it may be hard to pull yourself up from bed today, I hope that these visions of delicious, mouthwatering food will be a good reason to greet this day with a big smile. One of the highlights of our last two visits to Manila were spent really early as we drove all the way to Roxas Boulevard to meet up with our fellow foodies for breakfast at Nobu Restaurant Manila . Since we were all so excited for this much-awaited breakfast meet-up. Of course, we didn't waste any time and decided to order practically everything on the menu. Let me share with you some of my top picks: Black Cod Tinapa Melt-in-your-mouth smoked black cod served on top of a bed of fluffy and fragrant garlic rice and a serving of runny scrambled egg. I'm glad though that Nobu's serving was just right for one to enjoy yet it's not too much allowing you to still have room to order more!

Okay kids, listen closely. When it comes to choosing the right man for you, make sure..he spoils you like crazy! Hehehehe :)  Kidding aside, I do believe that the right man should only have two queens in his life -- his mom and you. That's it. In fact, how a guy treats his mom is actually a good indication of how he will be treating you. Luckily, Paul loves and adores my MIL unconditionally so that pretty much mirrors how he has been showering me with the same amount of love and affection too. :) So, on my birthday, Paul took me out on a special date. This may sound cheesy but even after being together for 12 (!) happy years, I still get that giddy, "kilig" feeling whenever we go out on a date. What made this date extra special was the fact that Paul took charge of choosing the restaurant and making a reservation too! It has been a while since we've had Korean bbq so he chose K.Cook Korean BBQ Buffet to be our lunch date venue that day. Boy, was I excited!

After checking in at F1 Hotel Manila for a quick overnight staycation, Paul and I, together with my MIL and FIL headed down to the 3rd level for lunch! I love that the restaurant is named F All Day Dining  as you all know that F  is my favorite letter! :) It's the hotel's main restaurant that offers all-day buffet from breakfast to dinner. They also have a little spread during afternoon tea! How cool is that? Anyway, the theme during the time that we went was Chinese New Year so the buffet has predominantly Asian/Chinese dishes to celebrate the occasion. Our lunch also fell on a Friday which means all meatless dishes for me. Normally, this is the only day in the week where I'd avoid eating out much less going for a buffet. Well, I trust that F will have a good variety to still make my lunch satisfying.  Let's go through the different stations and dishes that caught my eye: Of seafood, sushi rolls and sashimis!

Paul and I got to try the new  Vikings  at the SM Megamall Fashion Hall a couple of months ago to celebrate the birthdays of Ahia J, Achi M and our cutie nephew and godson, Jairus. We started planning for this dinner months in advance as you know, early notification is necessary for the *ahem* OFW members of the family as our schedule is always crazy hectic and given that, we somehow managed to still arrive half an hour late and almost everyone were on their 3rd 4th 5th plates already! Even my favorite (she's my one and only) niece, Julia was busy enjoying her plate of marshmallows and chocolate too! Let us go on a quick tour around Vikings : Start your meal with some of these bite-sized appetizers Salad corner with a selection of hard cheeses

For locals here in Singapore, Crystal Jade has been a household name since 1991. Today, it's the leading Chinese dining concept with more than 120 outlets all over the world. In fact, my first taste of Crystal Jade was in Manila when it opened a couple of years ago. I could still remember the long queue that would form almost all throughout the day in the V-Mall branch. That's also where my love for Dan Dan Mian began. Often times, I would say that dimsum is one of my top 3 favorite food in the world and having steamboat or what we commonly call hotpot / shabu-shabu  for dinner is always something that I look forward to. Never mind that my kitchen diva skills are not Master Chef level yet but at least, I get the opportunity to cook even if it means tossing everything into the boiling pot with the confidence that everything will still be so delicious. So, when Paul and I were invited to have dinner at Crystal Jade Steamboat Kitchen in Plaza Singapura, this was one of th...

As a man of few words, Paul is truly the kind of guy who can keep a secret and a surprise really really well.  Take for example our recent 4th wedding anniversary celebration , who would have thought that he has been planning and saving up for a nice dinner date at Rise in Marina Bay Sands for months leading up to that special day. No amount of hinting or bugging from my end would make him spill the beans. The only hint he gave me was "to eat light for lunch"  on that day. I did was told by just having a bowl of soup and a couple of pork siomais to go with it. At exactly 630PM I sprung out of my office chair and forced myself to close my laptop and to get ready for my dinner date. Work can wait but my date won't be very happy if I kept him waiting. :P We headed to Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands and quickly headed towards the hotel where Paul has made reservations at Rise . Ohhhh I was so excited! After watching an episode of Mega Food in Nat Geo on Marina Bay Sands we'...

Lunch Break! Normally, lunch for me would consist of two slices of wholewheat bread and my choice of veggies or meat that I would tabao  from my favorite soup restaurant beside my office. On other days, I would bring some home-cooked packed lunch or if I want to go healthy, it would be a huge container of salad. Given that I tend to work as I eat, lunch has always been something light and quick for me. It has indeed been sometime when I was able to sit down, enjoy a real good meal and to chitchat a little longer. Well, after a series of stressful workdays, the kind genie (a.k.a. my friend WT) must have heard my plea and he granted me one wish -- to join him for lunch at Melt - The World Cafe in Mandarin Oriental . What makes it event better? The fact that Melt recently launched a 10-day long Filipino Buffet promotion highlighting a wide-array of classic dishes that I miss so much. This got me really excited that I've been looking forward to this lunch since Monday. ...

I'd say, living in Manila, we were spoilt with a wide array of choices when it comes to Hong Kong / Cantonese - influenced dishes. Dimsum, for one, is abundant and almost all Chinese restaurants offers this. In fact, we can get siopao and siomai even from our neighborhood convenience store! With all these choices, then comes the inevitable questions -- where's the best dimsum in Manila ? Once again, I'll start by saying that taste is subjective so for Frannywanny, it just got to be Shang Palace at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel .  I love it so much that every visit I make always should include having lunch at Shang Palace just to enjoy their dimsum! We've been here so many times and yet there's no sign of us getting tired of it soon..maybe not ever in this lifetime! Luckily, our family loves it too making it such a breeze to round up the gang for some dimsum feast. It makes it so much better whenever we're given the function room allowing us more priv...

Huat Ah!* In the spirit of the Chinese New Year (yes, the celebration never ends!) , let me continue my story-telling on how my family and I celebrated this special occasion back in Manila. After tossing our Yu Sheng salad to bring in all the good fortunes, happiness and luck, we headed out for a family dinner at Huat Pot , a newly-opened hotpot restaurant in San Juan . Stepping inside Huat Pot , we were led towards our table that the far corner of the restaurant which was quite cramped and definitely could not comfortably sit 5 people. Oh dear! Sadly, the entire restaurant was filled to the brim so we had to make do with a little adjustments here and there. As soon as we were all seated, Paul, Pan and I were tasked by our parents to take care of getting the food. The set-up reminds me of our favorite hotpot restaurant in Taiwan where all the meats and veggies were neatly stored in a huge chiller and there were a lot of drink options and the best part of all -- free ice cream!...

From the moment I blew out my 30th candle, I began creating my bucket list. From the major life-changing ones to the simple, easy-to-achieve wishes, crossing out every item on my list gives me a reason to celebration big and small life victories. Don't laugh but one item on my list reads "try the new Spiral at Sofitel Manila." Yes, I'm a true blue foodie, alright. After all, Spiral is one of the best hotel buffet outlets in the country and after hearing raves from friends who have dined here after it opened again to the public after 13 months of renovation, I knew I just have to give it a try myself. Paul and I have shared a number of good dining memories at the old Spiral. Luck must have been on my side when I got an invite to visit Spiral during my recent visit to Manila. Of course, despite my crazy and busy schedule, I said YES! So there we were on our last day in Manila, ready to have a gastronomical lunch at Spiral. The location was the same and there'...

"Are you turning into the ambassador of the Philippines in Singapore?" This was the SMS that I got from my sister after I shared a photo of myself and an old friend whom I met up with tonight. You see, the past weeks have been quite busy for me as I've been meeting up with visiting friends and relatives over lunch/dinner/breakfast/coffee/etc! While there's no denying how much I miss Manila, having people from home over makes homesickness more bearable for me and Paul. During our first few months here, we were so happy to have friends who really took the time out to drop by to check on us. They really didn't have to but they chose to do so. Aren't we so lucky to have friends like them? Two of them are our dear friends and newlywed couple E and S. They decided to do a stopover here in Singapore before heading to their honeymoon destination so when we got the invite from E to have dinner in Bukit Timah, we cleared our evening schedule to be able to spend s...

June was a fun month for me. It began with a bang where in I celebrated my birthday for the first time here in the Lion City. This was followed by a quick visit by my friend Leslie  and finally the week that I've long been waiting for has arrived. My family came over to visit too! I tell you, it was the happiest week of my life! I didn't mind that I get to go home later than usual and Paul and I would normally end up sleeping past midnight. We'd also be really exhausted from all that walking and commuting too. I also didn't mind that we had to do all those touristy stuff and get all sweaty and sticky due to the Singapore heat. In other words, I was just too happy to mind. I couldn't be home for Father's Day but I made it a point to celebrate this with my dear Papa a few days in advance. It was a no-brainer on where to take my dad out for dinner. He loves steak so I began researching on where are the good yet affordable steak places in town.  Then c...

I've been visiting Singapore so frequently since I was a kid that at some point I would consider this my second home. Would you believe that I've never  had a taste of chili crab yet? Well, for one thing, I have a very low threshold for spicy food and the name of this dish itself screams SPICY SPICY SPICY! I think it's the only local dish that I haven't tasted then. Well, that all changed one fateful evening at Ah Hoi's Kitchen in Traders Hotel . Ah Hoi's Kitchen currently has an ongoing a la carte buffet promotion where you can choose from more than 40 menu items for only S$38+ (adult) / S$19+ per head. This is a great deal most especially if you're dining with a big group because you can order more and have a taste of it all. Each serving is actually good for one so when ordering, do indicate how many orders would you like for them to adjust the size accordingly. We began our dinner with Braised Fish Maw with Crab Meat Soup . Normally, this soup ...

For a few hours last night, it felt like Paul and I rode on a magical jet that transported us to Thailand for dinner and back to Singapore right after. In reality, we just had another visit back to Shangri-la Hotel Singapore to join a couple of online writers and bloggers for their media preview of the upcoming Spicy Thai Festival happening at The Line from May 17 (Friday) to 26 (Sunday) , 2013 . If you remember, a month ago, Paul and I were lucky enough to be given the chance to have a fun weekend staycation at the Shangri-la Hotel Singapore . During this time, we were also able to have a hearty Sunday brunch at The Line , the hotel's interactive international buffet restaurant. This time we're back to experience the new dishes that resident Thai Chef Ratree has in store for all The Line dinner customers from Friday onwards.   Let me share with you the dishes that we were able to try during our 6 course dinner last night:  Our dinner began with a ver...