Frannywanny

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 ...

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...

I ♥ the weekend! Oh how I value those two precious days where I get to stay in bed longer, go out for brunch or coffee with friends, watch a movie with Paul, run errands (pay our bills! ugh) and on certain weekends, go on a road trip. This is what makes the Philippines amazing. We have three big islands surrounded by various bodies of water (hello Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and a lot more) yet it is actually possible to go from north to south and back with just a car. Thanks to the RoRo , there has been a number of "cross-country" races that has been done to prove that this is indeed possible. Tiring and nerve-wracking but possible. One weekend, Paul and I joined our favorite eating and travel buddies -- the Co Family for a weekend staycation at The Bellevue Hotel in Alabang. Living at the center of Metro Manila, the farthest that most of us would frequent in the South would be Makati. Thus, upon accepting an invite to visit The Bellevue Hote l, it surely feels ...