Frannywanny

For the past 3 years here in Singapore , Paul and I found ourselves a "family" who has been our biggest support unit when we were adjusting to our new lives here. You may have noticed that I would mentioned them once in a while under the initials -- C , I and O . From day 1 they warmly welcomed us to our shared flat and they would generously offer tips and advices on just about anything and everything about the Lion City. From sharing their go-to places for brunch to helping us determine which credit card to go for and how to use it wisely. We quickly hit it off so well that 3 years pretty much flew by so fast. As with anything in life, change in inevitable. Life has to continuously progress and for Paul and I, we felt that it was time to say good bye to our comfort zone and to take another step up. We decided to move out. As much as we love being in the company of C, I and O , we knew that it was high time for us to seriously gain more independence and to acquire more re...

Through the years, I must say that I've been quite blessed to be able to try a myriad of cuisines from all over the world. Of course, we have the usual suspects -- Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Singaporean, Malay, Indian and Western. Then the more classy or exotic ones such as Italian, French, Greek, Persian, Thai, Indonesian and even South African .  It's interesting to note that my palate has pretty much traveled to more places than my feet have. Someday, my feet will catch up...someday. :) So, when Paul and I received an invite to try Peruvian food at Tiger's Milk , I got soooo excited! Neither of us have had Peruvian food in our lives so this was definitely a first for us. What makes it more interesting is that Tiger's Milk  is located right at the heart of the central business district so there's really no need to travel to the far end to have a taste of Peru. I got to the restaurant ahead of Paul and while waiting for my dinner date, I took the...

There are times that we find ourselves too lazy to cook. This is especially when our ever-dependable househelp goes on a day-off and we are just so tired of ordering from our neighborhood restaurants. Thank God for City Delivery where I can order from restaurants as far as Makati or Quezon City. However, whenever the entire family comes to visit, ordering this way just doesn't work that well. We normally would either have it potluck or get someone to cater for us. Another challenge when getting a catering service is that I have a very small family. My immediate family consists of just 5 people -- Papa, Mommy, Pan, Paul and myself. If you add our extended family, we would just be around 20. More often than not, we either end up with a lot of food for everyone to take home and in effect spending more than we should. The foodie world is fast evolving. From one-number-delivery services, we also see the emergence of talented personal chefs who can prepare a good meal even for a sma...

I love to travel and when I travel, the one thing that I look forward to is to eat the local dishes found in the country where I'm visiting. Nothing beats enjoying something authentic. While I've never been to Vietnam, this has been part of my list since last year after seeing photos taken by my friend L. She spent three fun days in Vietnam and enjoyed authentic Vietnamese coffee and fresh spring rolls with plump shrimps inside. Oh my mouth waters as I view her photos. An invitation to Aquaknox brought The Foodie Club together one Sunday lunch. Since we were a big group, we didn't arrive at the restaurant at the same time. Therefore, to while away time for the early birds, we were given a basket of Prawn Crackers to munch on. Delicious prawn crackers very similar to those that you can buy from the grocery and fry at home. I love dipping this in vinegar. When more than half of The Foodie Club have arrived, the kitchen began to serve our meal. First came the Goi Cuon...

For those following this blog, you would know that I am not a BIG burger fan. In fact, it was only a few years ago when I started eating beef again after a 5-year long hiatus . Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike burgers in fact I've had the privilege of trying some of the best tasting ones these past few years but it's not something I would crave for on a regular basis. Paul would tease me that I am such a picky burger eater. While he loves burgers and was so happy especially during our trip to the US where it was definitely heaven for all burger lovers like himself, I limited my burger intake to two all throughout our two weeks stay and for me, that was enough. Incidentally, two weeks ago, The Foodie Club received an invite from our friend Alvin to dine at his restaurant along Xavierville Avenue . The name is Boulevard Diner and I was expecting all out diner food like burgers, fries, milkshakes and a lot more. Well Alvin did not disappoint as he trea...

We all had a very busy summer. Some flew in and out of the country, others got busy at work while I..created a BIG event . Thus this trip was very much awaited by every member of The Food Club namely: Jane and Chris , Richard and Irene , Abet and Joan , Ro and Peter , Carlos , Trixie , Paul and yours truly . After all, I was already day-dreaming about lounging by the pool while bonding with my dear friends. We all stuck by our proposed time schedule to be able to make the most of our trip and to be able to have more time to bond with one another. We all agreed to meet up at 830AM to load our groceries and drinks and to begin the not-so-long drive up to Tagaytay where we all agreed to stop for lunch before heading to Punta Fuego where we will stay for the night. While thinking of where to eat, Jane and I decided to try Amoroma as I've heard a number of raves from my boss. He told me they serve "real slices of black truffles" and that was in fact the magic word...

I love to cook and I love to eat, put it together and for sure, I'll have a great time during a shabu-shabu dinner! However, more often than not, it's my husband Paul who takes the center stage in the cooking arena. Take Amah's (grandmother) birthday two week ago for example where my family decided to head to Green Maris for an intimate shabu-shabu (hotpot) dinner. While most would probably expect the ladies in the family to stand up and cook all evening, it was in fact the men namely Kongkong, Aku, Kuku and Paul who made sure that all ingredients made it to the pot and they also were the ones putting all sorts of meat and seafood into our respective bowls. Such gentlemen we have in the family. :) Fast forward a week after, Paul and I joined half of the Club at King One Rotary Hot Pot in Macapagal Avenue where we went prepared with an empty stomach ready to enjoy an assortment of meat, seafood and more! I'm glad that Richard and Irene , who have dined at King One m...

To welcome Jane back from her Hong Kong trip and also as a send-off for Richard, Irene , Grace and Lauren who flew to Cebu the next day, we agreed to have dinner at Hermanos Taco Shop along Granada street one busy Friday evening. This was from a recommendation given by my sister's friend who told me that their burrito and tacos are better than Ristras . Since I'm a fan of Ristras, this I have to see for myself. The shop is located within a gasoline station so parking is pretty ample. There are two doors leading to the shop, one leads to the dining area and another to the counter. Quite funny, don't you think? We were one of the last to arrive as traffic was horrible that Friday night. Still the Club warmly welcomed us and advised us to go and order as they were already happily enjoying their Mexican dinner. I was craving for meat, meat and more meat so we got the Carne Asada Chips (Php. 320) and shared on a BBQ Beef Burrito (Php. 285) with extra Sour Cream. T...