Frannywanny

Finally I was able to cross out another restaurant from my growing list of restaurants to try for the year!! We have barely 4 months to go before 2013 rolls in and I am barely half way there! *pant pant* So little time, so many restaurants to try! After visiting an expo at the SMX Convention Center , Paul and I agreed to have dinner at Tajimaya Yakiniku Restaurant . I've been hearing about this restaurant from my cousin in law L who loves this restaurant and has been raving about their yummy grilled beef since last year! In fact, I still owe her a Tajimaya pig-out date together with ML . We mentioned our dinner plans to The Food Club and our initial table reservation for two was magically turned into a private room for 8 as they wanted to try it out too! Well, as they say...the more, the merrier! They have an Eat-All-You-Can promo where for only Php. 420 you get unlimited refills of beef, chicken, sausage, fish balls and pork. Add Php. 60 and make it Php. 520 then yo...

Introducing Project Surprise. I admit, I was the accomplice. The goal was to bring happiness through the form of a surprise visit. The target? My fellow food blogger friends. I must admit I'm not good at planning surprises. More often than not, my excitement will reveal what I have been cooking up in my mind. Thus, it took me a while to invite The Food Club out for what looked like a simple dinner at Stella . After all, we, members of The Food Club do not say no to the chance of trying a new restaurant out. Paul and I got to Stella ahead of the others. After a quick hi-hello with the "mastermind", we entered the restaurant with innocent looks on our faces as we waited for the others to arrive. Stella is one of the many new restaurants that opened at the booming new wing of Bonifacio Highstreet . It's right beside its sister restaurant bar called Rocket Room , Stella has a cozy vibe quite similar to another sister restaurant -- Chelsea Market and Cafe . W...

I woke up at exactly 8:45AM this morning and initially I wanted to sleep some more...only I realized that it's December 31 , the last day of the year and I am definitely not wasting precious time in bed when I can jump start my action-packed day with this blog entry. My annual year-ender special where in the past I've listed off my 8 blessings in 2008 , 5 amazing moments in 2009 and Top 10 Food Spots in 2010 ! This year, I won't deviate from the usual practice as I present to you my 11 Memorable Moments in 2011 !!! (p.s. in no particular order) 1) Hello USA! It was like a dream come true. To be honest, I'd never thought I'd travel to the US...this soon and best of all, Paul was with me! :) Memorable food stops includes the mouthwatering ribs of Lucille's , the to-die-for bucket of seafood from Boiling Crab and the incredibly delicious Red Velvet Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory . We had a great time reuniting with friends and family all throughout o...

I'm backkkkkkkkkkkkk!! How was your long weekend? Mine was FUN!!! This was because I spent the long weekend with The Food Club as we went up north to enjoy the cool and laid back atmosphere of Baguio . In true Food Club fashion, we had a three-day long food trip complete with a late-night pizza party, Ube and Strawberry jam shopping and a lot more! This is basically the reason why every night I thank God for blessing Paul and I with friends who not only share our love for eating and traveling but who are truly amazing in their own way. ♥ While I never seem to get tired of Baguio , I always find myself exhausted after the long drive to and from. Waking up this morning was really a challenge. I could hardly pull my tired body up and more than anything I just want a really good massage. This made me reminisce about the time when I visited Toccare Spa at the Antel Spa Suites in Makati. It was upon an invitation by fellow Food Club member Abet who arranged a relaxing eveni...

The Food Club went on another out of town trip and this time we all headed to Paul's hometown in Angeles, Pampanga ; where we stayed the night in Fontana Leisure Park . ( Read Rowena's blog entry about it here ) We got there around 11 in the morning and The Club decided to go Duty Free shopping first. After which, lunch was next on the itinerary and being the ones who frequent Pampanga a lot, I asked the group if they're game to have ribs for lunch. After all, I had my favorite restaurant in mind. I first encountered AC Rumpa a few years ago when Paul and I first watched the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark. As always, I went prepared ready with a list of restaurants to try after doing my research online and AC Rumpa got the most number of votes from our Hot Air Balloon group. AC Rumpa stands for Angeles City Retired US Military Personnel Association. I'm not really sure if the owner is an American or a Filipino but one thing I'm really sure of is that they ...

There are times that we find ourselves too lazy to cook. This is especially when our ever-dependable househelp goes on a day-off and we are just so tired of ordering from our neighborhood restaurants. Thank God for City Delivery where I can order from restaurants as far as Makati or Quezon City. However, whenever the entire family comes to visit, ordering this way just doesn't work that well. We normally would either have it potluck or get someone to cater for us. Another challenge when getting a catering service is that I have a very small family. My immediate family consists of just 5 people -- Papa, Mommy, Pan, Paul and myself. If you add our extended family, we would just be around 20. More often than not, we either end up with a lot of food for everyone to take home and in effect spending more than we should. The foodie world is fast evolving. From one-number-delivery services, we also see the emergence of talented personal chefs who can prepare a good meal even for a sma...

...and the snacking continues! The Food Club celebrates Paul's 30th birthday!!! My husband Paul blew out his 30 birthday candles yesterday! He officially said goodbye to his twenties and gladly welcome the BIG 3-0! Aside from my non-stop teasing; I, together with his family, organized an intimate dinner to celebrate his birthday with our loved ones (his side and mine) and our dear friends a.k.a. The Food Club last Saturday. Despite the short notice, we are really blessed that almost everyone was able to make it. Thanks guys!! ♥ For his birthday, Richard, Irene and Lauren gave Paul a box of Homemade Treasures Ensaymada . It looks really pretty and premium as it's encased in a light brown box and tied with a golden ribbon. Paul normally skips breakfast as he would rather sleep till lunch especially during the weekends. I was surprised when we woke me up early on Sunday and invited me to have breakfast with him. I really wanted to sleep some more but when I remembere...

Back in high school, I had a very nasty teacher who made the class believe that I do nothing but daydream. She would continue to torment me making her 60-minute Algebra class feel like the longest hour of my high school life. Boy, I'm so glad I only had her for a year and we never crossed path since. *phew* Even how often I look back, I know in my heart that I wasn't daydreaming, dozing off maybe but not daydreaming. I think the only time one gets to daydream are during times when we have experienced something truly amazing, agree? I daydream about shopping in Hong Kong, enjoying the waters of Boracay, getting a massage, sinking my teeth in my friend Irene's Quezo de Bola cheesecake and the list goes on and on. Now tell me, why on earth would I daydream during an Algebra class? Yesterday, Paul and I met up with half of The Foodie Club for lunch. I was extra excited for this as we headed to Ukkokei Ramen Ron along Pasay Road in Makati which has been on my list for a ...

We all had a very busy summer. Some flew in and out of the country, others got busy at work while I..created a BIG event . Thus this trip was very much awaited by every member of The Food Club namely: Jane and Chris , Richard and Irene , Abet and Joan , Ro and Peter , Carlos , Trixie , Paul and yours truly . After all, I was already day-dreaming about lounging by the pool while bonding with my dear friends. We all stuck by our proposed time schedule to be able to make the most of our trip and to be able to have more time to bond with one another. We all agreed to meet up at 830AM to load our groceries and drinks and to begin the not-so-long drive up to Tagaytay where we all agreed to stop for lunch before heading to Punta Fuego where we will stay for the night. While thinking of where to eat, Jane and I decided to try Amoroma as I've heard a number of raves from my boss. He told me they serve "real slices of black truffles" and that was in fact the magic word...