Frannywanny

It's been a year since we bid beautiful Singapura farewell . I got to say that I really do miss our life back in Singapore where everything is simply so efficient and definitely so so so safe. Back then, I've envisioned a life where Paul and I would be raising our baby in Singapore. Take note, baby. Singular. Guess, He has a different plan for us when He blessed us not only with one but two beautiful babies which also means me temporarily bidding the corporate world good bye and us, relocating back home to be closer to family. Aside from the over-all peace and security, I do miss the food and people in Singapore. Luckily though, one of my favorites has opened already two branches here in Manila! Hello Paradise Dynasty . Away from Mommy and Daddy duties  To celebrate the birthday of our Pareng A , we took a break from our Mommy and Daddy duties to have dinner with our foodie friends. ( side story: L wasn't very happy about this and ended up crying her heart out...

What?! Just when I thought we're over the salted egg phase, a big basket filled with bright yellow bags of potato chips suddenly arrived on my door step. I was seriously so surprised to received this as I didn't know a delivery was to be made and I've never seen this specific chip variant ever before. It's the new Oishi Gourmet Picks Potato Chips in ... *dan dan dan dannnn* ...Salted Egg Flavor ! If you remember back when I was still residing in the Lion City, I got into this major salted egg craze starting from that memorable dinner at Irvin's Live Seafood House . Yes, that popular salted egg chips that got the entire region hoarding actually had a full service restaurant before and that's where those chips were born. Two years after that visit, the entire Lion City went Salted Egg crazy! From the traditional liu sha bao (salted egg custard bun) to all sorts of creative salted egg infused dishes from Chicken Cordon Bleu stuffed with Salted Egg, Salted Egg...

Lately I've been craving for fried chicken. Deep-fried, crispy chicken with rice! It doesn't matter if it's the kind that comes in a bucket or the one that's served on a plate, de-boned and ready to eat. The worst thing about it is my cravings come at the middle of the night keeping me wide awake as I nurse my growling tummy. Gah! Then, I suddenly I remembered that dinner that we had at Wisma Atria's Food Republic where Paul and I got to try RedRing Treasures . It was upon an invitation from Roy and his father David to try their specialty -- deep-fried chicken cutlet served with your choice of noodles or rice. If there's one thing that everyone should know about food courts, be prepared to stumble upon great and yummy things in there. Roy is based in the US as he's finishing his studies there, so we got to sit down and chat with Mr. David who told us the story of how RedRing Treasures  came to be. Apparently, they started in Holland Drive where Mr Davi...

When it comes to answering the question " where is the best chili crab in Singapore? " Rest assured that you'll only be able to get the answer after surviving a long debate. With hundreds of zi char outlets all over the island and long time restaurants with histories spanning for decades, this question will never ever have a singular answer. Taste is subjective, after all so while some might like their chili crab burning hot with spice, I like mine with a hint of tangy notes and a bit of creamy texture coating the meaty crab. Whenever we have guests over, Paul and I would make it a point to take them to either a new, unique restaurant, or perhaps to one of our favorite foodie places or to Mellben Signature  to feast on some local favorites. There are actually two zi char places that we frequent but since Mellben Signature  is located just in Tanjong Pagar, this is the best choice in terms of accessibility. Recently, we had my first ever friend (I kid you not) A, as we...

It's no secret how much I love chips and savory snacks. It's that one thing that I don't think I can ever say no to...ever. Between chocolates or chips, I'd choose munching on a bag of chips to cheer me up or to at least calm my nerves on a stressful day. Well, I also love munching on chips after a meal or while doing our Netflix marathon at home. When I got hold of this pretty black bag of Eat my Spuds   White Truffle Chips  (Php. 325) from my good friend D a few weeks ago, I was so excited to open it up and munch away! Sadly, I was down with a three-week-long cough so I had to patiently wait for that awful virus to go away and as soon as I was done with my antibiotics, the first thing I did was to open the bag of chips. Haha! Call it a reward for all that uncontrollable coughing for 21 days straight. The first thing I notice was how thin the potato chips were! I love thinly sliced potato chips and in my opinion, it gives a really premium bite to it. Somehow it ...

I got a confession to make. One that took me years to realize and to fully accept.  Okay, here goes... I can't live without RICE . Wow! That felt so good to put it out there. Well, I'm Asian and I grew up in the Philippines. Naturally, rice has been one of our staple in almost every meal (breakfast included). For years, I never reallly thought that I love it THAT much but living abroad, I would find myself choosing rice over noodles, rice over bread, rice over salad, rice over pasta... well that's still an ongoing debate. Anyway, you get the point. I pretty much can't live without rice. So, when I chanced upon Grilllo at PasarBella in Suntec City and got to try some of their dishes during their opening day, I knew that this is one stall that I'll go back and visit regularly. What's there not to love? Grilllo  specializes in Pan-Asian classic rice bowls with a bit of modern twist here and there. Let me show you some of the rice bowls that Paul and...

"Oh to be young and free!"  That was really the first thing that entered my mind when Paul and I visited Kokomama Market Place  a few weeks back. The set-up is like a school cafeteria but instead of having to queue up to get your food, you can simply order and wait for it to get served to your table.  Can't decide what to eat? The menu is so diverse that it can perfectly answer the BIG question : "What to order?" One look at their menu line-up and you can choose from a couple of Italian pasta dishes, Korean baked rice and ramen, Japanese rice bowls, Singaporean soup bread bowls and the ever-popular Bingsu! They also got a wide selection of bread and pastries which you can quickly grab when you're in a rush.  Since everyone just love anything and everything with salted egg , Kokomama has created a couple of salted egg infused dishes in order to satisfy that craving be it if you want it for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner!  Start your m...

For friends and family who would come to Singapore to visit, part of their list is to "eat chili crab and cereal prawns."  Well, let me tell you one thing -- there's more to Singapore than Chili Crab and Cereal Prawns . True, you should have crabs and prawns while you're here but there are actually other crab options especially if you have a low tolerance for spicy food like me. I remember when we just moved here, we would hear our friends saying that there's this really good seafood restaurant called Irvin's Live Seafood House in Ang Mo Kio, up north and really far away from where we live. It has been on my list for more than a year and finally we got around to checking it out thanks to our friend A who came to visit and was craving for salted egg seafood. The group got together and despite the distance, we all made the journey to Ang Mo Kio after work one Friday night. Irvin's is known for their Salted Egg Sauce so much so that they have dedicated...