Frannywanny

My recent trip to Beijing, China was business-related so I wasn't really expecting to be able to visit much of the touristy sites or have as much free time to roam around and to have food trips on my own. It was pretty good actually as it was my first time to travel alone thus I don't feel very comfortable go around such a HUGE province on my own. I happily tagged along with the group wherever our host takes us. That set-up worked perfectly fine for me. At least, the next time I get to go back with Paul , I'll have a better idea on where to go! Out of the four days that we were there, our gracious host took the afternoon off on our 3rd day to take us to the Palace Museum , otherwise known as the Forbidden City . This is located right at the center of Beijing and as we were told, everything surrounds the Forbidden City . We entered through the North Gate where the ticket counter was located. Believe me, the Forbidden City is HUGE! It actually reminds me of the Gyeong...

This is it! All our bags are packed and in less than 10 hours, we are ready to go! Frannywanny is taking a week-long break in Korea ! I'm so excited to enjoy the cold weather wrapped in my winter outfits and to see lots of cherry blossoms too! Our itinerary is set and together with some members of The Food Club , we are taking Korea by storm through our tummies! We're ready to eat, eat and to eat some more! While we were lucky to be able to grab a good seat sale deal thanks to Cebu Pacific , we all know that preparing for our trip doesn't end there. Entry to Korea requires a travel visa and luckily, the process was pretty simple. Actually the simplest that I've had compared to preparing for my US or China visas. Follow these simple step to apply for a Korean tourist visa for all Philippine passport holders : 1) Download the visa application form and fill all spaces up.  Refer to the second page of the file for a step-by-step guide on how to fill the ...

I must admit that although I do have very strong Chinese lineage, I grew up at the other side of town thereby depriving me from living the Oriental life where horse-drawn carriages would go around and around town, where majority would speak the Chinese language (or at least, the more popular dialect called Hokkien ), where I can stuff myself with the best tasting dimsums, noodles and a lot more. Needless to say, I'm trying to make up for the loss as I would frequently visit Manila's very own Chinatown otherwise known as Binondo . Thanks to the talent and expertise of Ivan ManDy who conducts fun walking tour around Binondo as he shares his knowledge about his side of town as well as the secret food stops that makes Binondo a must-go place for not only the tourists but for locals as well. Notice we're all in Red ? :) Like Ivan, I take pride in showing a bit of my Oriental lineage to my friends. Such was the case when I accompanied three of my dear colleagues to Ivan's B...

Our second day in Singapore began really early. It's a good thing that Paul and I took the time out to drop by the convenience store that was located at the ground floor of our hotel to buy a couple of instant noodles the night before. Since call time was at 8 in the morning, eating breakfast inside the room is the most sensible thing to do to save us more snooze time. After quickly getting dress, our group met up again at the hotel lobby to wait for the organizers of our tour. At exactly 9AM we rode our assigned bus and our Uniquely Singapore tour was just about to begin! 1st stop: Clarke Quay and the Royal Selangor Museum Located just a couple of minutes away from our hotel, we quickly got to our first stop. Clarke Quay is located along the Singapore River and is a popular night destination among the locals. During the day, we enjoyed watching the peaceful clean river as colorful ferry boats goes up and down bringing passengers through the entire stretch of the river. Too bad w...