Frannywanny

[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...

Ever since the start of the quarantine, Paul and I have been finding ways on how to keep our twins busy. Of course keeping them busy is easy but we want to do it the right way and that is to allow them to also develop a new skill or to learn something new. Since they can't go to pre-school yet because of the current situation, we took it upon ourselves to be the first teachers of our kids in hopes that somehow, we are prepping them to be ready for formal schooling when the pandemic ends and it's safe for everyone to go out again. I'm usually super busy with work during the weekday so I rely on Paul and my mom to help teach the twins while I deal with calls and my daily workload. However, I try my best to make it up to them during the weekend by giving them my full, undivided attention. On one of the those weekends, I received a package from Zoeily Cookies   and I was so excited! They sent us a ready DIY cookie kit and I know this will get the twins super excited. ...

I remembered back when I was based in the Lion City, despite not having kids then, our day-to-day life still remained equally busy. For example, after a busy day at work, I would literally rush home at 6pm. Sometimes, I even have to squeeze in a quick trip to the grocery if I'm running low in ingredients and make sure that I get home by 7pm. As soon as I step into our empty apartment unit, I would be on auto-pilot. Cook the rice, chop, wash, mince, prepare the pan, saute, bake, boil, steam, check if the rice has been cooked, set the table, serve the dishes and wait for Paul. The goal is the moment Paul walks in the house, dinner will be ready for him. After dinner, I would then take on the role of dish washing while he takes care of other household chores like doing the laundry, folding the dry clothes and ironing. We would then take a quick shower by 10pm and while drying my hair, I'd be blogging or catching up on work. Our normal bedtime would still be past 12 every single ni...

Perhaps, 10 years ago, I'd never , in my wildest dreams, would ever take a challenge like this. I've always shy away from anything with a littlest hint of chili on my food so what was I thinking saying yes to Max's offer to take on the challenge to try the new Spicy Chicken ? Well, living in the Lion City has changed me. It has trained my palette so well that I can now take on spicy food with ease. Chili Padi? Laksa? Chili Crab? Pfft... easy peasy!  Kidding aside, I simply just miss having that spicy kick in my meal once in a while so when I heard about Max's coming out with a spicy version of their award-winning, daydream-inducing Fried Chicken, I was so game! Running up until the 15th of October , you can avail of the Spicy Chicken Platter for only Php.1399. This comes with 8 pcs of Chicken (all leg and thigh portion, mind you!), a generous serving of plain rice, soup of your choice and for dessert, you can have either the Caramel Bar Ice Cream or the Buko Pand...

*Sponsored Post* I must have mentioned a million times how technology has played a vital role in helping us cope with homesickness. Sure, we may live more than a thousand kilometers away from home but being able to get in touch with my family whenever I want to has helped ease the sadness whenever I miss them so much. s Sister Act: Me and Pan during one of our many Skype chats What's important is to have a good internet connection. The worst times are when the connection would hang and you'd be spending most of your time saying "hello? hello? can you hear me? hellooo?" rather than to update each other on how our respective days went. In today's age, technology has proven to help us make life easier. From assisting the kids in getting their home works done, to adults interacting with one another and coordinating their business too, it's not a big surprise to see home fully equipped with a broadband connection for everyone to stay connected. I have to...

- Sponsored Post - “So how does it feel living abroad?” If only I get a Thousand pesos every single time I get asked this question, I’d probably be a couple of thousand pesos richer now. It’s true, living abroad has its perks – independence, the chance to meet and be assimilated to more cultures and nationalities, discovering a new place…the list go on and on. However, I always say that no matter wherever one may be, you should always keep a solid connection back home. It’s one thing to set your wings and fly but it’s another to know that you have to still fly back home and stay grounded where you belong. We’re lucky that home for us is a quick 4-hour flight away. However, I’ve come to realized that keeping abreast to the latest news regardless if this concerns the nation or my family is not very easy. Well, at least there’s Facetime and Whatsapp for my Family and to be updated with our national and lifestyle news? I rely on The Philippine Star Pagesuite App which I’ve recently ...

*SPONSORED POST* Do you believe in zodiac signs and how people under certain signs share a common trait or personality? Well I do. Being fascinated with the stars, astrology and the zodiac since I was really young, I have gotten around to even memorizing them chronologically and up to which date one sign begins and ends. I swear, at some point, my mom had this frightening thought that I might turn out to be a fortune teller. Anyway, when it comes to building relationships, I do believe that people that falls under a specific sign do get along more with another sign over the others. It really has something to do with how their personalities would match harmoniously perhaps due to a complementing trait or a similar one that's why they get along well. The same goes for whenever we would strike up a conversation. People born under the Gemini sign, like yours truly, are said to be natural communicators. Now you know why I just can go on and on with my stories and I promise you, I d...

*SPONSORED POST* If there's one thing I love about social media is that it keeps me in touch with Paul, my family and my closest friends with just a few clicks here and there. More so that we have a good mobile data plan (hooray for Singtel!) here in the Lion City that I can say that I'm online, all the time. On days when I'm feeling a bit homesick, I'd send a simple message to my high school friends to ask how they're doing. My sister and I would update one another with our daily schedules down to even sharing what we each had for lunch and/or dinner. Over at WeChat , we would continue with our exchange of stickers as we really find them very cute! Speaking of stickers, I like this one called Elise . It shows a set of animated icons of a cute blond girl singing, saying I Love You, cooking, crying, eating a cookie and even sleeping! Well, here's a trivia for you all: did you know that local celebrity and newlywed Iya Villania channels the persona o...

*SPONSORED POST* It has been said over and over again how the internet has been successful in connecting lives and building relationships. We've seen how it has been so beneficial for people like us who lives thousand of miles away from home. It allows us to keep in touch with our family to the point of making them just a short message or a voice call away. I get to be updated with every thing that is happening at home down to where my parents went for dinner. Take for example the 35th wedding anniversary of my parents which they celebrated two months ago. While I wasn't there with them physically, I saw the dishes that they enjoyed that evening and got real time photos of them blowing their anniversary cake too. At times when Mommy can't get hold of me, she would just leave a short voice message telling me about her day and reminding me to take good care of myself. With technology, the fact of having the South China Sea in between me and my loved ones can easily be negl...

*SPONSORED POST* Here are just some of the perks of being the first born: 1) Having the entire family (and this includes the extended members too) in the hospital hours before you came into this world and the same set of people rejoicing the moment the doctor has announced that you have...arrived! 2) Getting everyone’s undivided attention to your every move and to every word you say. 3) Being able to build a relationship with everyone in the family for a longer period of time. Needless to say, from the moment I was born, I’m lucky to be loved not only by my parents but even by my aunts, uncles and most especially my grandparents. For my maternal grandparents whom I lovingly call my Kongkong (Grandfather) and Amah (Grandmother), I was their first grandchild and I would remember spending every summer breaks with them. Unlike other kids, both Pan and I loved every moment with our grandparents. Who wouldn't? As Kongkong would spoil us by cooking all the yummy dishes that ...

*SPONSORED POST* Let me tell you why I love talking about food. Putting aside the fact that it nourishes people and it gives us the energy to keep us on the go, I always see eating as a very positive and happy activity. Like what I mentioned before, people eat to celebrate or whenever there’s an occasion. When we’re feeling down, more often than not, we rely on food to uplift our spirits. There’s no right or wrong answers when it comes to food. Food and taste is very subjective. You can’t say that someone is wrong before he or she doesn’t have the same judgement as you do on a certain dish. What may be ultimately delicious for you may not sit well with the person beside you. Nonetheless, there’s no reason to debate over it as our taste buds are all different from one another. Thus, when the conversation for the best pizza comes around, I stand by my long time favourite – Shakey’s Thin Crust Pizza . What are my favourite flavours? Definitely Hawaiian and Friday’s Special . My ...