Frannywanny

I've mentioned that Yaya M has left us already and if there's one big challenge that majority of the households are currently facing is the lack of good, reliable help. When a helper leaves, it's harder now to hire a new one simply because you have to take all the precautionary measures before she actually starts work and that means having to do the recommended 2 weeks quarantine, swab test and all the checks. The worst thing is after going through all that, you then realize that the helper falls short of your expectations or worst, she would come up with whatever excuse to leave right away *sigh*. We are lucky though that despite the countless number of undesirable ones who have given all the excuses in lies in the books, we have found good reliable ones who are truly blessings in our household.  I remembered when Yaya M first left us and we had R with us here at home. We would help out to make the workload lighter for her. For instance, we would take care of cooking to al...

[PR] Who can ever forget 2020? The year that brought about a volcanic eruption, super-typhoons, and a global pandemic which caused everyone to rethink how they should live their lives. Set aside some silver linings, 2020 brought about a lot of unprecedented moments and everyone was just ready to say good bye to it. But before that, we had the opportunity to let out all our emotions and say our final words about 2020, no holds barred. Last December 29, Kenny Rogers Roasters Philippines took on a bold and crazy move by literally roasting 2020—skewering meat shaped like 2020 and setting it on fire—and documenting it on Facebook Live. Everyone figuratively and freely roasted 2020 through the comments. Well, there's no better way than roasting  such a challenging year and we gotta do it the yummy way.  “2020 was an extreme year, and we each have our own opinions on how it impacted our lives. We were locked down for months, and most of our plans had changed. Roasting 2020 w...

Every time I look at my growing list of restaurants to try in Manila, I can't help but sigh. The list is just so long and mind you, this includes carefully chosen a.k.a. curated restaurants brought about by my daily blog hopping that I think I have to go home at least once a month to be able to have the time and appetite to try them all. This is why I'm thankful for friends who are always so game to try any of these restaurants with us. I swear, I just love the thrill of being able to cross something off my list. #OCDproblems Take for example three of our favorite people in Manila -- Didi , Rowena and Peter . We've been friends from the early days of blogging and somehow, our friendship has slowly moved on from being mere "blog friends" and "eating buddies" to real, genuine friends whom Paul and I know will be there for us no matter what. After all, we've all had our fair share of being victimized by pseudo friends who were just there to take adv...

Taking a break from our usual rice toppings / packed lunch / healthy salads and sandwiches options, our team decided to head a little further out for lunch one Friday. Our choice that day -- The Rotisserie along Telok Ayer street. We have been passing by this restaurant for some time now and noticed that it's always packed during lunch hour. Given that people here are such foodies, having a long queue or a jam-packed restaurant is definitely a clear sign that the food must be good. The system here is a bit different from a normal restaurant. You have to queue for the cashier first, place your order, pay for it then head over to the counter to get your food. It was quite a challenge for me as I really like choosing my food slowly as I see it before finally making my decision. Well I guess I just have to be a little bit more flexible at times right?

11 July 2013 -- Exactly two months ago today, Paul and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We both can't believe how time has flew by so fast! It really just felt like yesterday when we were still busy planning for our BIG day. We can still remember every single detail and moment of that wonderful day. For the past two years, Paul and I would go on a weekend staycation to celebrate our anniversary. This year, we decided to do it differently. Since we're in a new place and there are hundreds (maybe even thousands) of restaurants out there, we agreed to meet up for dinner in one of the highly recommended restaurants along the famous Yong Siak street in Tiong Bahru . Our choice for that evening was Open Door Policy (ODP). Days leading up to our anniversary, we were told by our friend I to make a reservation because the place easily gets filled up. I wasted no time in doing so as ODP luckily has an online reservation system which I find so efficient! How I wish res...

While having lunch with our friend HK during our first day in Singapore , we asked him where's the best place to have Chicken Rice and he immediately answered " Wee Nam Kee" . Hainanese Chicken Rice is a staple and is probably one of those dishes that made Singapore very popular in the foodie world. Visit any hawker center can you'll definitely see a stall selling Hainanese Chicken Rice. My sister and I also grew up loving Hainanese Chicken Rice. I love the oily ginger sauce and my Chicken Rice will never be complete without it. My sister, on the other hand, adds a touch of chili sauce before enjoying her piece of chicken. We planned to meet up with our Singapore-based friends and I wanted to make sure that we'll be able to feast over good food as this will be our continuous wedding celebration with them. Following HK's recommendation, I left them all a message to meet up with us at Wee Nam Kee, boy was I excited! It was not difficult to locate Wee Na...

Yesterday, I was invited by my fellow publisher Mello to join her and her editors to visit the Center for Culinary Arts in Eastwood to ignite our inner passion. Despite being so busy, I immediately said yes even without reading the email. It was only that morning when I found out what exactly we will be doing and how long it will take. I've always dreamed to be a chef. Nothing makes me happier than bringing out my creativity on a plate. I love food and food loves me. 'Nuff said. During the introductions made, we found out that the Kitchen Discovery Class is a pre-requisite for all aspiring culinary students of the CCA. Here, the students will be evaluated based on their kitchen readiness and as they will be given the chance to get a better glimpse of what to expect for the two-year diploma course. That afternoon, we just had our session for two-hours but man, it has really ignited my love for the kitchen.I love the kitchen auditorium! It's fully-equipped with all...