Frannywanny

It's been a while since our last visit to Lung Hin but I can still vividly remembered how delicious everything was and the ambiance also added to the over-all wonderful dining experience that we had. It just made perfect sense to go back to Lung Hin during our anniversary weekend stay at Marco Polo Ortigas Manila . I know it's more customary to go for a nice romantic steak dinner to celebrate an anniversary but hey, who ever said you can't have Chinese food on a dinner date too? Our dinner began with our personal choice of soup. Spinach Seafood Soup  (Php. 330) for me and Hot and Sour Seafood Soup  (Php. 295) for Paul. We love starting our meal with a bowl of soup to warm our tummies and prepare it for the feast ahead. My Spinach Seafood Soup  was so packed with a lot of ingredients! Minced seafood, tofu and what I suspect could be egg white. It was so filling and yummy!

It's no secret how Paul and I love to travel. However, given that we have very limited leave dates at work and more than half of those are spent in Manila for Christmas, Chinese New Year and for family birthdays, we barely had any days left to really go on a vacation. That said, this is one reason why we love taking staycations every now and then. You see, we both love taking some time off from work to unwind and recharge. We both lead very hectic work lives so this is the only chance that we get to spend one entire weekend clearing our minds and catching up on sleep. Not to mention that we get each other's undivided attention as we don't have to worry about household chores or running errands too. During one of our visits to Manila, we spent the night at Edsa Shangri-la Hotel . As you may have read in my past entries, this hotel holds a special place in my heart as I've spent a lot of weekends with my family here. I love how it's located right at the center of ...

For those who have been following me on Instagram , you may have noticed the continuous photos that I've been sharing during my recent visit to Manila. We spent 6 amazing days eating, spending a lot of time with family and catching up with our closest friends too. One of the biggest highlight of our trip (and reason for our flight home, in fact) happened a week ago when my one and only sister Pan tied the knot with my new brother-in-law E.  It was such a joyous occasion for both families and everything went perfectly as planned. Of course, we got my sister's dream team to thank for too. The most crucial time was the night before and the day of the wedding. This was where a lot of last minute preparations took place and the endless pouring in of suppliers come the wedding day. So, when my sister was scouting around for that perfect bridal suite for her on-the-day preparations, we unanimously agreed that Discovery Suites  in Ortigas was definitely the best choice. Of cou...

During our staycation at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria , Paul and I decided to have dinner at Seven Corners . It has been a while since we've had a buffet dinner and what would make our visit home more enjoyable than to allow ourselves to indulge, right? Having had the privilege to try a number of hotel buffets in the Metro, Paul and I have grown to love a number of hotel buffets for one or two of its specialties. For instance, we love one hotel buffet for their to-die-for Caprese Salad , another one would be for their abundant seafood choices , another one would be for their impressive Japanese selections ...and the list goes on and on. While I wasn't my usual self that evening that I just tried a few dishes and quickly waved the white flag, I happily watched my husband enjoy the buffet selections of Seven Corners . I got to admit, Seven Corners have quite limited choices but we all know that quantity doesn't always equate to quality right? We began our dinner wi...

There's really something about staycations that excites me. To others, it may just be an overnight stay. However, for us, a staycation is the perfect excuse to "eject" ourselves out from our daily routine and to just relax, relax and relax some more. During our recent visit home, Paul and I stayed the night at Crowne Plaza Manila . As I've probably mentioned a hundred times already (apologies for that), I was down with viral high fever that would go down in the morning and would shoot up again come night time almost all throughout the week that I was home. Our stay was no exception. I was okay in the morning but just as soon as I stepped inside our beautiful Premiere Suite , my temperature shot up to 39 degrees alarming Paul who told me to just stay in bed and rest till I feel better. It was a good thing that our room was really comfortable that I just snuggled under the sheets to keep myself from having chills and to lower my temperature too. Anyway, let me giv...

When I first met Paul 9 years ago, all I remembered was that he's the guy in a blue shirt and who was wearing a gray cap. He barely spoke a word the entire evening and just sat quietly beside his friend N who invited him to our group's dinner that day. I was busy catching up with my girl friends and was obviously oblivious to the fact that there, at one corner of the room, the same quiet guy was staring at me...or so he claims he was. *blush* Fast forward months after that, we began exchanging messages online and via SMS. Later on, as we found out that we live so close to each other, we began meeting up for afternoon merienda or after dinner coffee chats once in a while. One of the first things that I liked about Paul was the fact that he makes a great eating partner. Having met guys who have a million and one conditions when it comes to food (read: no veggies, no spicy food, no exotic dishes, etc etc etc) , I was elated to find out that Paul was really game to try anything a...

Don't you just love going out for lunch? Taking a short breather away from the office and having a really good and filling meal? That's what I did a couple of days ago. I was invited by my friends over at Discovery Suites to try their lunch buffet at Restaurant 5 and luckily, I was there on the day that they were highlighting a couple of Spanish dishes. Spell P-A-E-L-L-A !! My love affair with that orange, baked rice will go on for a lifetime! I love the flavorful Arborio rice cooked with the juiciest meats and the finest catch from the sea. The best part of course lies at the bottom of the pan. Socarrat , as they call it is the thin burnt layer that is so crunchy and good.

To achieve perfection, I always believe that everything relies on the details. Big or small, adding the right detail can simply turn an ordinary hotel overnight stay into a memorable one that will last forever. Exactly a year ago, Paul and I spent our first night as husband and wife at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas. I remembered how surprised we were upon entering our 1-bedroom suite to see a bottle of wine on our table and as we walked towards our bathroom, the entire floor and bath tub was filled with red rose petals. We were speechless yet our hearts were screaming words of gratitude towards the very thoughtful staff of Discovery Suites . Today, we celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary and instead of flying out of the country or taking a long drive out of town, we decided to book a night once again at Discovery Suites , thanks to the amazing deal that we got from Deal Grocer . I got the 2nd to the last coupon for a 1-bedroom suite stay with breakfast for 2 for only half the ...