Frannywanny

Let's try again, shall we?

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 03:20:00 +0000

2026.

It's yet another year and sadly I have badly been so inconsistent in updating my blog. At some point, I wanted to just bid Frannywanny goodbye but a part of me still wanted to hold on.

This, after all, has been a big part of me for the past decade. It saw me grew up from being a college graduate to a corporate professional to a newlywed and for some parts, a new mom.

This year, I really want to slow down. To focus on the necessary and perhaps to take up a new hobby. Who knows, right? I have my family and work enough to keep me busy so I'll try my darnest not to add anything else more into the crazy mix. I want to be more present for my kids. Gosh, they're growing up so fast. I want to have more time to be more intentional with what I do at work. I miss dreaming big and to do great things instead of just ticking off to-dos in my never-ending list.

I can't believe we're nearing the end of January. It started off incredibly tough for me. Dealt with a bad cough since we got back from Japan and it's only now that I'm starting to feel like I'm back on track again. Let January be a test run and come February, let's start all over again, shall we?

Cool down with Melona Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 02:40:00 +0000

With all these K-Drama watching, I'm starting to think that I am turning Korean. From my growig love for korean food, desserts and drinks, I guess it shows as well in this blog as I realized that I sure have written a lot about Korean restaurants and cafes even as far back as two years ago.

Well, I guess it just can't be helped since Korean food and drinks are just soooo good! Take for example their ice cream called Melona. It's a simple ice popsicle but made so creamy and really refreshing. Unlike other ice popsies that's really icy and a bit hard to bite into, this has an ice cream consistency which is why my kids love love it! Our family's favorite is the strawberry followed by the classic melon. They now have more flavors to choose from -- melon, strawberry, taro, pistachio, mango and banana. The #AngTwins can't resist having Melona and can easily spot the bright colorful packaging from afar.

As the temperature continues to rise, the same goes for the need to cool down and enjoy something cold and refreshing. I just found out that Melona is having the Great Melona Sale where each popsicle goes for only P25 in Luzon and P35 in Vismin which is P10 off the regular price. Such a good deal!

Here's a special tip: look for the multi-packs of 8 pcs to get a much bigger discount!

This promo, as I was told, will not last long so HURRRYYY! Head to your favorite supermarket or convenience stores to grab these yummy ice popsies at such a good deal.

Oodles for Noodles with Nongshim Shin Toomba

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 11:02:00 +0000

...and I am back! I honestly thought that I was ready to hang my writing cap and end my blogging era but somehow, I really cannot get myself to stop writing and I do hope there's still someone out there reading this. :)

So how has life been? The #AngKids are growing up really fast and things are just so busy on all fronts. One thing stays the same though -- my love for kdrama. There are times though that I'd get so exhausted to watch through one episode but I still do love watching kdramas as a form to relax at the end of a busy day. Add to the fact that I normally end up craving for Korean food more often than not after watching the male or female lead enjoy cups after cups of ramyeon or as they would sink their teeth into a piece of juicy chimak.

I'm also always on a look out for new K-snacks to share with my chinggus and recently, I chanced upon this pack of new flavor from Nongshim called the Shin Toomba. It's inspired by a certain viral social media recipe that is spicy, creamy and so savory at the same time. We actually have tried a pasta that tastes similar to it from a neighborhood cafe which calls it Toowoomba Pasta and I think this might be it. It has a rose-like color and has a very comforting creamy texture with a mild spicy kick well mixed into the al dente pasta. The kids enjoyed it! J even asked us how to make it and we told him that he needs to keep on visiting the cafe to figure it out. Haha!

While watching Melo Movie and Lightshop Keeper (what are you watching right now?), Paul and I tried a new pack of Nongshim Shin Toomba and we loved it! I can note that it has a mix of garlic and parsley flavor and the spicy sauce has just the right amount of heat that gives it a more interesting taste profile -- Spicy Creamy Kick, I would say. I loved it so much that I also got my chingu Ria a pack to try. I'll soon also be sharing this with chingus Lara and Mela too!

The best way to enjoy this is to cook the noodles and drain out the water a bit thus retaining a small amount in the pan. Mix the garlic powder and the spicy sauce well and turn off the heat. Let the sauce thicken while coating the noodles evenly and... enjoy!

Nongshim Shin Toomba can be found in most Korean convenient store in town.

Premium Cafe Retro 525 : Korean-style Cafe in Angeles City

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Thu, 25 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

One thing that I love about k-dramas is when I get to have a glimpse of the food trends and scene in Korea. From local coffee shops to famous restaurants in and around Seoul, I can't help but wish that I can visit South Korea soon to fully experience the k-vibe and eat to my heart's delight. *Can I just teleport myself in just a snap of a finger?*

Thanks to my cousin-in-law B, who has always been my main source for food stops in Pampanga, as he recommended Premium Cafe Retro 525 which is just located along Friendship Highway. We went there for lunch with my university friends after we took our little ones to Dinosaur Island. Feeling famish and in the mood of anything cold as the weather was so warm, we were greeted by the beautiful and spacious interiors of Retro 525. I tell you, I don't think we have cafes this big here in Metro Manila. It has a center section with a wide array of breads on display. There's an ample amount of tables available at the ground floor but we decided to head up to the second floor where we pretty much got the entire place to ourselves.

I tell you, this place is HUGE! This is probably why it's also a popular choice to host birthday parties or any private gathering as you barely have to style the venue up. Every corner is just so Instagrammable and you all know how that's a big plus nowadays.

Like I mentioned, we were HANGRY so we wasted no time in ordering. Too hungry, I guess that we somehow ordered up a storm. Here are some of the things that I got and I'll tell you which ones I liked the most.

Nachos (Php. 290) -- my friend D laughed when this was served on our side of the table. I knew what she was thinking "very predictable of Fran" haha my friends know how much I loveee nachos that I never miss any chance to order this especially when we're dining out as a group. Laugh all they want though but I know that they love nachos too. :) Retro 525's version did not disappoint. Loaded with cheese, salsa, sour cream and ground beef. Nothing extraordinary but it was quite close to the classic.

All-Day Dining at Breezes in Nüwa at City of Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

If there's one distinct trait that the #AngTwins took after us, it would be our love for staycations. They really get so excited whenever we'd tell them that we're staying a night or two at a hotel. Well, I totally can understand why. Sometimes, it is just good to take a break and to have a change in environment, right?

A few months back, Paul's aunt L called us to ask us if we're willing to stay the weekend at Nüwa and of course, we told her YES! Even if we have no definitely plans lined up and would probably just stay in the hotel or go to the malls nearby, I know that the #AngTwins would be with this. We also love Nüwa because there's just a lot of food options available and parking is free. It's part of the entire City of Dreams compound too so it's connected to two other hotels namely -- Nobu Hotel and Hyatt Regency Manila.

For families staying in any of these hotels, I highly recommend that you check out Dreamplay. We took the twins there during our first staycation at Nüwa back in 2022 and they had so much fun. Let me tell you more about that next time. This is perfect if you have kids 5 and up. For the younger ones, I'm afraid there might not be enough activities for them and the ticket price is not cheap so better to wait till they get a bit older to make it more worth it.

True enough, for this weekend we spent most of our time resting in our hotel room and the twins enjoying the pool. As they swam, Paul and I would hang out at Breezes which is an all-day restaurant that's by the poolside of Nüwa. We love that they have two different menus available -- breakfast and for the rest of the day so we never really ran out of things to try. The service was superb and so far, everything that we have tried were delicious and the portion was quite generous too.

Here are some of the dishes that we were able to try during our stay:

Wave Breakfast (Php. 620) -- Wave is a restaurant very similar to Breezes but is located at the pool deck of neighboring hotel Nobu. I'm guessing that they share the same kitchen and perhaps Wave has been around for a longer time so this is one of their many specialties. This is a hearty breakfast plate with two eggs done any style, honey cured bacon, kielbasa sausage, roasted mushrooms, hash brown and toast. It reminds me of my sister and brother in law E who would tell us about the traditional English breakfast. I'd imagine this to be close to that with the absence of beans. Paul enjoyed this very much and I was happy to dig into the mushrooms and hash browns too. Yum!

Noriter Chicken and Beer, Ortigas Center

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000

The past 3 years were filled with lots of life-changing experiences. From experiencing the first ever (and hopefully the last) pandemic in my life to being on lockdown for a really long time, to learning to accept the change and adapting to it and to finding new hobbies and interests while confined within the four walls of our home.

It was in 2020 when I discovered the Kdrama Crash Landing on You and luckily, I had my dongsaeng (lilttle sister) J at work who shares the same interest for kdrama (or in her case, all things Korean) with me. I'm not new to watching kdrama, in fact, I have watched the likes of Full House and Winter Sonata many years back. Life just got so busy that I never got around to watching more plus it was harder back then as you had to either patiently download it on the internet or buy a DVD to watch it. Thankfully, we have Netflix now taking all our kdrama watching to a whole new level.

The show Crash Landing on You (CLOY) took the entire nation by storm, I would have to say. Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin became household names and hundreds found ways to watch the show during this time. As for me, I began craving for real good and authentic Chicken and Beer because it's what the characters love to eat all throughout the show. Imagine ha, they went from North Korea to South Korea and with all the drama in between, but the Chicken and Beer scenes stayed consistent all throughout -- totally drool-worthy!

That's when J and I made a pact. Since we were both on the same team at work and we had targets to hit, we agreed that if we managed to hit our targets that year, we will soon go out and celebrate with Chicken and Beer. Well, 2020 was indeed one of the best years for our company as we were not only able to hit our targets but this grew the business exponentially. Sadly, the current lockdown state hindered J and I to go out and meet.

Fast forward to a few months back, finally, J and I agreed to go get that much-awaited Chicken and Beer dinner and after doing a quick search on Google, we found out that Noriter Chicken and Beer is one of the highly recommended ones that's accessible for the both of us. It's located along Ortigas Avenue corner Meralco Avenue and is within the Caltex station compound so there are parking slots available.

The menu was quite extensive with not only Korean fried chicken but with a lot of traditional Korean dishes. We also noticed that there were a lot of Korean guests thus it's safe to assume that they may be serving pretty authentic dishes.

We got the Noriter Special which is a great package! For only P1,000, you get 2 half-sized chicken (choose from fried chicken, seasoned chicken, soy garlic chicken), half order of Baconion and half order of Bacontato.

Initially, I found the Bacontato so weird but wow, this was the highlight of my dinner! I coudn't stop going for more. They were out of onions that evening so we got a full order of Bacontato instead. No complaints there. It's similar to Chicken Cordon Bleu only you have the thin strips of chicken fillet wrapped around creamy mashed potatoes. Served with crispy potato chips, it's a bit of a potato-overloaded dish but the bacontato was really amazing. Truly 맛있어요 (massiseoyo)

Before we dug into our baskets of Chicken, we got a gigantic mug of draft beer each. I haven't really drank much with my former colleagues but it sure was so fun unwinding and relaxing over good food and drinks with J. No wonder chicken and beer is so big in Korea! These two totally goes so well together just like peanut butter and jelly, toyo and calamansi.. you get the drift.

The Soy Garlic Chicken was an easy favorite! I love the crunchy outer coating with a bit of caramelized texture and taste which contrasted with the tender and juicy chicken meat inside. This didn't need any dipping sauce as it's super flavorful on its own.

The Seasoned Chicken was spicy and may not be for the faint hearted. I like it though as I do enjoyed the spicy kick but you can feel your tongue slightly burning as you go for more fried chicken. This is served with some fresh cabbage salad which I highly recommend that you try with the seasoned chicken.

I enjoyed my first Noriter visit so much that a week after my Chicken and Beer dinner with J, I went back with my current colleagues and mentors, C and S. S saw my gigantic beer post and was curious to give Noriter a try! Well, any chance that I can go back to Noriter to try more dishes, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

For my second visit, we had the Sunsal Padak which is a plate of boneless fried chicken with onion leeks and honey mustard soy sauce. It's different, definitely not spicy but goes well with our beer as well. This is a perfect option for those who wants to do away with having to work on the bones.

We also had a piping hot bowl of Dakgejang Kalguksu. This is Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup which is perfect as we came from a mini hiking trip to our newest development and I truly enjoyed this soup which was super comforting. The spicy level was just right and the noodles had a good bite. I was also excited to try kalguksu which translate to knife-cut noodles. This is a popular type of noodles in Korea and is regularly mentioned in food shows and documentaries.

I have several favorite Korean dishes such as chap chae, kimbap, woo galbi, jalbi jjim and korean fish cakes. When I saw that Noriter had Nembi Eomooktang, I requested that we give it a try. So, it came as a soup as well but with a clear broth and done shabu-shabu style, It had several sticks of fish cakes in the mini pot and meat and seafood balls too. I liked it! I'll definitely order this again. I love the soup and the fish cake was delicious plus it balanced the fried chicken out. Thumbs up for this!

Noriter still has a looooooong list of menu items to try, looks like it will take me a long time to try most of them but I'm glad to have discovered this delicious and authentic Chicken and Beer place within the Ortigas area.

Fun fact : If there's one thing that I hope Noriter and the entire Caltex station admin can work on is to improve on their sanitation. It's not found inside the restaurant but for two consecutive visits, I got a live, free and rather unwanted entertainment from the ratatouilles running around the station. Yikes! 🐀

Noriter Chicken and Beer is located at the Caltex Station, Meralco Avenue corner Ortigas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

DIY Mommy : Narwhals and Mermaid -- the #AngTwins turned FIVE

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 01:00:00 +0000

Time flies super fast! As I was going through my old blog posts where I documented the birthday parties of my twins, I realized that I have yet to share about their 5th birthday celebration and here we are, just half a year away from them celebrating their 6th! Ackkk..teka lang!

As you know, we have been resorting to full DIY house celebrations since 2020 since we can't go out and meet our families to physically celebrate with them. We're blessed to have such supportive relatives though who were all game enough to always join us as we do a virtual candle blowing for the past 2 years. Last year, as they celebrated their 5th birthday and as restrictions were starting to ease up, we were lucky to be able to go on a trip to make it extra special for them.

Since I was in between career shifts, we took the opportunity of me being on a one-month work break to fly to our favorite city in the world -- SINGAPORE! Make sense, right? The place where we will always feel right at home, where no major navigational skills are required because we know the city by heart and where we have family and friends whom we miss so much.

As early as July, I have been asking the twins what theme do they want for their birthday and it seems like they were still hooked on Octonauts given that they had so much fun during their 4th birthday that they wanted to do it again. As much as I try to give in to their requests, I proposed that we tweaked it a little so as to have some sort of change. Thus, we agreed on having Narwhals and Mermaids -- J and L's favorite underwater creatures respectively.

I'm lucky to have N and my brother in law A of Printooza PH who were always so game to get creative with us! From their personalized shirts, to their class loot bags and to their cake toppers, we were all so in theme and this made the birthday celebrants very happy.

Farmer's Table in Nurture Wellness Village, Tagaytay

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Whenever I think of visiting Tagaytay, this place immediately equates to relaxation, comfort and good food. I guess, my parents feel the same way that's why we have been frequenting Tagaytay so much since I was in high school and every long breaks would be spent here. A lot of changes have took place since those days as Tagaytay is now filled with rows after rows of establishments thus giving every visitor endless options on where to stay to where to eat. Unlike before where we would quickly pack our bags and head up to Tagaytay during a long break, this time, we would try to avoid heading there on a holiday unless we plan to spend most of our time on the road.

However, this has never stopped us from having Tagaytay as one of our top destinations whenever we just want a quick and relaxing family break. During one of our weekend trips in Tagaytay, we decided to check out Farmer's Table which is part of the Raintree Group of Restaurants. Others may not know this nor would they care as much but for me, I have been a fan of the Raintree brand such as Jones all Day, Chotto Matte, Saboten and back then, they had MoMo, Mr. Jones and Chelsea. They always have the yummiest comfort dishes and they also always give good service all the time.

Farmers Table is located within the same compound as Nurture Spa so it's perfect if you want to stay the night or go for that much-deserved massage. I highly recommend that you make a reservation prior to visiting as despite the size of the restaurant, it can easily be filled up especially during peak seasons.

At the entrance, you can check out various local products that they have on sale. From plants to accessories and even freshly baked breads and spreads that you can bring home with you. I decided to skip shopping though and headed straight to our table as I was starving!

Back at Cibo : Trying Something "New"

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Happy Easter!

I hope that you were all able to have a good and peaceful Holy Week. After all, it was the perfect time to reflect, to repent and to have hope for He has risen again. As for me, I spent it with my family and gave my kids my undivided attention.

Given that the past week was all about family, let me share with you one of my family's favorite restaurants. With all our varying tastes, it honestly is difficult to agree on a restaurant because what may be good for me, may not be something my parents would be keen on trying or returning to and so on. Cibo is a place where we're all happy to dine in and it's simply for these 3 reasons:

#1 Quality is always top notch. We can always expect their pasta noodles to be al dente and tasty, their pizza perfected baked and they have a good selection of hot and cold beverages too.

#2 Service is always consistent. No matter which Cibo branch we go to, we are always well taken cared of by their staff.

#3 They have a wide menu to choose from.

Well, as you know that I have been getting Farfalle alla Genovese for more than a decade and recently, I took upon the challenge to "try something new." It's been months since that challenge was accepted and I am happy to report that I have tried several dishes apart from my ultimate favorite.

Here's actually a compilation of the different dishes that I was able to try and enjoyed.

First was their Beef and Pork Ragu. Spaghettini alla Bolognese -- This is a safe dish that was well received by my parents and the #AngTwins. It had a good portion of minced beef and pork, the spaghettini was just perfect. Not too thin nor too thick and as always, cooked al dente. It's a no-frills type of pasta that doesn't need much introduction.

Second was Rigatoni All'Alfonso -- When I posted on social media that I want to try something new from Cibo, I got a lottt as in a LOT of messages telling me to give this a try. How can I not try it when it's highly recommended by a lot of people, right? Indeed, it was good! I love how the shrimps were perfectly cooked, the noodles made it so fun to eat and the tomato-based sauce was just light enough that it didn't drown out the pasta.

Chillin like a boss with Bebang Halo Halo

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 02:00:00 +0000

As we welcomed 2023 with close to unbelievably cool weather, the summer heat is truly here and it's making itself felt for sure. We've been hydrating ourselves round the clock and the thought of enjoying some icy cold desserts is one that we look forward to on a daily basis.

When Paul told me about this new brand of halo halo that went viral on TikTok last year, we searched for it and discovered Bebang Halo Halo along Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City. Luckily, Mandaluyong is not that far away and one can just place their orders online anytime. Rumor has it that the waiting time in their restaurant can go for hours so it’s best to have your halo halo delivered straight to your doorstep while you go about your busy day.

We got 6 flavors and wow, I don’t even know which one to try first! Before I talk about each flavor in detail, one thing that we noticed with Bebang Halo Halo is that you get a thick slice of leche flan in every cup of halo halo. Unlike others where the leche flan is a small piece on top of the tall glass which we normally would consume on the first 2 scoops, with Bebang Halo Halo you get leche flan and all other ingredients in every spoonful. Talk about getting so much value for your money. This is not your traditional halo halo brand as they have a lot of creative mixes which we got to enjoy as well.

First was the Royal Halo Halo which, I would say, is the crème de la crème of all halo halo combinations out there. Not only is it loaded with all the ingredients one could possibly find in a halo halo, it’s topped with a layer of marshmallow fluff that’s covered with gold foil. Below it is more than a dozen ingredients such as — strawberry, blueberry, cashew, sago, panda jelly, leche flan and many many more! Mix the marshmallow fluff into the halo halo to make it extra creamy.

Next we tried the Banana Cinnamon which is a unique take of the traditional saba con hielo, I love the addition of cinnamon flavor and it has creamy banana, vanilla jelly, leche flan, rice crispies and caramel syrup on top. So good! This is perfect for those who wants it less sweet and wants their dessert simple.

We also tried the Mango Graham which is my personal favorite. I’m normally wary about having mangoes if it’s not in season but guess what, Bebang managed to still serve us really sweet mangoes! This one comes with pandan jelly, caramel syrup, fresh mangoes, graham powder and frozen milk. It’s similar to a mango float cake only enjoyed in a cup and possibly on the go.

The Halokay Ube would be the perfect choice for all purple yam (ube) fans out there. They surely were very generous with the amount of ube in this cup. You get ube halaya, corn, nata, banana cinnamon, nata, jackfruit (langka), macapuno, rice crisps and ube flavored milk. Ube(be) I love your way, everyday. 🎶

If you just want to go the traditional route then the Special Halo Halo would be your best bet. It’s Bebang’s no-nonsense halo halo flavor with all the good stuff such as leche flan, pandan jelly, sago, corn, nata de coco, banana cinnamon, ube halaya and rice crispies on top. Going simple doesn’t mean you can’t satisfy your halo halo craving. This is still loaded with the good ol’ halo halo ingredients made extra creamy with Bebang’s signature frozen milk.

A little upgrade will give you the Presidential Halo Halo which has everything found in the Special Halo Halo plus macapuno and jackfruit (langka). For just P30 more, you get this upgrade making it such a good deal, right?

Speaking of deals, most of Bebang Halo Halo items does not beyond P168 except for the Royal Halo Halo that’s priced at P498 but it’s so big it can be shared by 2!

It’s so good to be able to discover a new halo halo brand and this is definitely one that really goes all out with the amount of ingredients found in each cup. It’s the kind that you’d gladly kick back, relax and enjoy after a long day.

Check out Bebang Halo Halo on Facebook and Instagram.

Hello Again, Singapore!

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:26:00 +0000

Last October 2022 was a memorable month. Apart from the fact that it's the birth month of my adorable twins, it was also the month when I bid my close-to-four-year-long stint at theAsianparent goodbye and took a 3 week long break to recharge before I joined my current company -- Profriends. I embraced this break with glee as this doesn't come often. Not wanting to waste time, Paul and I decided to take the twins on their first out of the country trip since 2020. They've travelled to Taiwan and to Singapore before but since the pandemic, they've been stuck at home for 3 whole years. We didn't want to tire ourselves out as well with planning and navigating around an unfamiliar land so Singapore just made perfect sense as it's our second home. We went there with the most flexible itinerary that I've ever created. Basically, our objectives were simple: Meet our friends/family, EAT, check out the theme parks in JB and in Sentosa, EAT, relax and revisit our favorite spots, EAT, EAT, EAT.

Using the travel miles that we have accumulated (and will soon expire) throughout the years of not travelling, we went for Singapore Airlines as our airline of choice for this trip. You also all know that Paul and I just love travelling via SQ too. We love the wide legroom and seating area, the superb service, the delicious meals, the impressive entertainment collection and more. It always feels like the start of your vacation as you step into the aircraft. I'll dedicate one entire blog post to tell you more about our flight via SQ and the meals that we enjoyed as well.

It sure feels so good to be back. We can't help but reminisce about the time that we used to live in Singapore and we didn't had kids then. Life was so fast paced, we were always on the go -- rushing to do a million and one things. Somehow, travelling with kids has forced us to take it easy. Never fill your itinerary up as believe it or not, you'll probably only be able to accomplish half of it. This time, I just had one main location per day and everything else was really free and easy. We agreed that this trip was 101% for J&L and we want them to enjoy and see the beauty of Singapore too.

Pre-travel requirements

You may be wondering what were the things that we had to prepare for prior to flying to Singapore. To be honest, it was a breeze preparing for the trip as the restrictions have eased up and so back in October, I just had to make sure that we just have our travel insurance, plane ticket and that's it! No need to do any COVID19 testing prior to the trip. I brought our vaxcard just for extra precaution but it wasn't really required nor were we asked to present it.

While Singapore no longer requires for one to have a travel insurance, this is something that Paul and I make sure that we have especially when we travel with the kids. You will never know what will happen during the trip and it can be such a pain having to worry about your medical expenses without an insurance. Most travel insurance are also very affordable so I highly recommend that you still get regardless if it's required or not.

Now that you're ready to fly to Singapore, don't forget to fill up the SG Arrival Card and the e-health declaration which immigration will ask you to present.

It's December and here are some Random Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 16:00:00 +0000

🎶 It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas! 🎶

I can't believe that December is here and this means that we're about to bid 2022 good bye. I have to say that this year was definitely much better than the last. It's the year where we felt more normalcy as compared to the past 2 years. We were finally able to go on several trips and while we managed to dodge COVID19 for the past 2 years, the virus finally entered our home a few weeks ago. I still have to say that I did not enjoy falling sick at all and the worst part was having to be isolated from the world for more than two weeks. Well, I just hope that the only good thing we got out of this was some temporary antibodies that will keep us safe for a few more months.

Apart from being able to travel, 2022 was also the year when I closed a chapter in my career life and opened a new one. I recently bid theAsianparent good bye and my life as the General Manager to the most awesome team ever. It was time to go back to my first love -- Marketing -- and to explore the real estate world while doing so. I'm definitely still learning the ropes but it really does feel right doing what is indeed second nature to me.

The year flew by so fast, there were lots of ups and downs and surprises in between. I'm not sure what 2023 will bring but I hope and pray that it will be a year filled with happiness, good health and love for all of us. It'll be the year when my twins will graduate from pre-school and will move on to their respective big schools. I know I will be shedding a few tears as I can't believe that they're growing up at record speed.

I'll also try to blog more starting 2023 and to give more focus to my health. I know that this has been on my list every.single.year. so I hope that I can finally make it real this time. Wish me luck!

To you who still reads my blog, THANK YOU. It's been 15 years since I first opened Frannywanny.com and this blog has seen me through my life as a fresh grad who started her climb up the corporate ladder later on as a bride to be and eventually a newlywed wife. It has also been there when Paul and I moved to Singapore and back to Manila. This blog been at the forefront as we welcomed the arrival of our beautiful twins up and as we enjoy our lives as a family of 4 until this very day. It's been a long journey but I'm thankful to have this blog as an avenue for me to pen my thoughts and to share our stories too. I'm not sure who still reads this but if there's still anyone out there.. know that I am forever grateful. ♥

Crystal Dragon at Nuwa, City of Dreams Manila

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 09:09:00 +0000

Gone are the days when we can list off all the best and authentic Chinese restaurants available in town. Lately, it seems like they have dwindled in number and what's left are really just a handful of the tried and tested, best of the best, true blue authentic Chinese restaurants. It could probably be due to the pandemic where most Cantonese chefs decided to head home or it can also be the affected F&B industry where we saw a number of really good restaurants bade us goodbye.

Therefore, should you come across a really good restaurant, let's give our all-out support and dine there as often as we can. A few months ago, we discovered Crystal Dragon upon an invite from my cousin-in-law M. He's such a certified foodie whose recommendations I fully trust. He has been frequenting Crystal Dragon at Nuwa Hotel and after enjoying our first meal there, I instantly knew why M loves it so much.

First of all, the service is top notch. Servers were so attentive and they're very friendly too. They give you the privacy that you need but are quick to come to attend to your requests at any given point in time. The menu is quite lengthly but don't just stop there, the kitchen can even customize a dish or two for you. This is a fine dining Chinese restaurant so expect to shell out a bit more but I can assure you that you will feel that it's worth every penny after enjoying your meal.

To date, we've been there 3 times and each visit just leaves us so satisfied and happy. M always takes care of ordering and every dish that we get to try is another addition to my list of must-tries. So here are some of the stellar dishes that you should NOT miss when dining at Crystal Dragon:

Deep-Fried Prawn Ball with Aged Parmesan and Mozzarella Cheese

This was immediately a hit and mind you, we didn't had any kids in tow. Adults loved it and and so will the little ones too. These are giant-sized prawn balls filled with cheese inside. It's so good and makes for a good starter to your meal. It's sad that my little J is allergic to shrimps/prawns so we won't be able to let the twins try this but there are still a lot more dishes for him to enjoy.

Cold Herbal Chicken Roll with Ginger and Scallion Sauce

I love Chinese cold cuts but I've never had cold chicken before. First of all, let me assure you that it's thoroughly cooked so you don't have to worry there. The chicken was so juicy and tender. Since it's served cold, the skin somehow has this gelatinous texture. Not a huge fan of chicken skin but I love how the ginger/scallion sauce complemented the chicken so well. This can pass as the long lost cousin of the famous Hainanese Chicken.

Roasted Farm Peking Duck

On our first visit, M got the Peking Duck made two ways. This was how the first way was served -- thinly sliced duck skin on warm Chinese pancakes and served with fresh scallions and hoisin sauce.

Tomo Japanese Dining and Verse Cafe in San Juan City

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 17:27:00 +0000

It's no big secret how much I love Japanese food. I just can't live without my sashimi and sushi. In fact, I dined and celebrated my 40th birthday at a Japanese restaurant TWICE this year. I think, it's one of those cuisines that I'll never get tired off. Well, the choices are endless as there are just a lot of ways to enjoy your Japanese food. You can have it done in various ways -- teppanyaki, yakitori, teriyaki, deep-fried, raw, with broth, mixed into your noodles or rice and the list goes on and on.

One of our family's favorite Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood is Tomo Japanese Dining. We love this restaurant so much for it's extensive menu options and they also have a coffee shop called Verse Cafe that's adjacent to it that serves superb coffee and tea drinks. Here's actually a compilation of dishes that we have enjoyed throughout the multiple visits that we have made to these two establishments. The good thing is, you can order from Tomo even if you're seated at Verse Cafe so that's like getting the best of both "worlds" in one go. I'm not sure though if you can do so vice versa.

One of the visits that we had was to celebrate my A-I's (ayi) birthday. She's Mommy's only sister and growing up, A-I has always been like our second mom. She and my Ama would stay with us whenever my parents would go on business trips. A-I, just like Mommy, has been our confidante. In fact, she's the less strict, less worrywart version of Mommy so often times, we would tell her things we would normally not immediately disclose to our parents (heehee). I bet you though that she tells my mom everything but anyways... She loves Japanese food and so it was an easy decision to take her to Tomo Japanese Dining to celebrate her special day. She lovesss ebi tempura and chawan mushi so those were immediately added into our order.

Service has always been good at either Tomo or Verse Cafe. The restaurant is always packed though so be ready to wait a while for your orders to arrive. Only on one occasion that our server mistakenly served my friend's order to another table so that dish never made its way to its rightful owner. Haha! They were very apologetic nonetheless so all ended well. Even my kids love Tomo so much that J would ask to order "crunchy octopus" whenever we're there. Sadly, they do not have octopus in the menu so it was deep-fried calamari for my little boy which he loves.

Here are some of the dishes that are must-tries in these two restaurants:

Futo Maki

I always remember Kongkong whenever I order this. It's his favorite hand-rolled maki and no visit to any Japanese restaurant would be complete without having Futo Maki. It somehow became a habit for us even if he's no longer physically with us. For as long as we're dining out as a family, there will always be Futo Maki on the table. Tomo makes really good and authentic Futo Maki or at least one that's similar to what we have been enjoying through the years. It's filled with kani, tamago, Japanese pickle, wakame and my personal favorite, the pink sakura denbu which is ground codfish.

California Maki

Tomo Japanese Dining has a wide variety of sushi and hand-rolled maki and a lot are even very creative. However, we stuck to the classic and just like the Futo Maki, the California Maki is one that everyone loves. Can never go wrong with this.

Thai SELECT : Mango Tree Manila in Bonifacio Global City

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 09:01:00 +0000

During my early days of blogging, I used to keep a running list of restaurants that I wanted to try. In fact, it was a dream of mine to dine in all of the new restaurants in town. It sounded possible then albeit rather idealistic but I kept that list for more than decade or so. I even have a Singapore version of the same list when we relocated to the Lion City almost 10 years ago. Was I able to cross off all the restaurants in my list? Almost. It was an expensive activity but Paul and I had fun discovering new restaurants and treating our taste buds to a wide variety of flavors. Majority of these restaurants you can read about in this blog.

Now that I'm now a mom though, not only am I not able to go out as much anymore, my priorities have began to shift. Our family's budget focuses more on our needs vs. our wants and the things that would be for the kids vs. ours. Dining out or ordering food is still something that we love to do but we would focus more on family-friendly establishments or at least those with food items that my kids can enjoy. Sometimes though, Paul and I would still treat ourselves to a good "adult-friendly" meal during our occasional dates.

A few weeks ago, we got an invite to dine at Mango Tree in Bonifacio Highstreet. This restaurant has been around for ages and I can't believe it's only now that we got around to visiting this. It was also perfect timing as I really miss Bangkok and authentic Thai food. While we are planning to take the kids out on their first ever post-pandemic trip abroad, the plans to visit Thailand might have to wait awhile. Nothing to worry though as the Royal Embassy of Thailand here in Manila has identified a couple of restaurants that are authentically Thai for all those who are craving for the yummiest Pad Thai, Tom Yum Soup and more. These restaurants are chosen as part of the Thai SELECT program and the qualifications include having a Thai chef and making use of authentic Thai ingredients. Indeed, Mango Tree has passed this test with flying colors and so you are assured of getting not only the yummiest but truly authentic Thai food in every visit.

As we entered the restaurant, we were surprised that it was jam-packed for lunch. Almost all tables were filled and the servers were just so busy attending to everyone's needs. It was such a beautiful sight coming from two years of home quarantines and major social distancing. Finally, normalcy can felt once again. We started our meal with my favorite Chicken Satay (Php. 420) -- I love satay so much most especially because of the peanut sauce that comes with it. The chicken was so tender and the peanut sauce has this delicious sweet hint that perks up the smokey flavor of the meat. They also serve this with vinegar dipping sauce but it's peanut sauce all the way for me. I love this so much that I even ordered more the following Saturday for my in-laws to enjoy as well.

Authentically Filipino at Tatatito in Legazpi Village, Makati

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 16:00:00 +0000

With a number of restaurants offering fusion cuisine or those that aims to inject more creativity into their dishes, rarely do we get to find one nowadays that offers dishes that stay as true and authentic as possible to the original version. After a tearful check out from Somerset Millennium Makati, we decided to still stay in the area for lunch and that's how we got to discover Tatatito.

You may wonder why were there tears upon checking out. Well, the twins enjoyed their overnight staycation at Somerset Millennium Makati so much that they refused to check out and bid the hotel goodbye. We then had to lure them that we're not heading home yet and we will be checking a new restaurant out in the area instead. That somehow stopped the tears from falling. Oh my staycation-loving babies.

Tatatito was just located a stone's throw away from the hotel. Since we went to dine on a Monday, parking was a bit challenging since the streets were all lined with cars parked by those working in Legazpi Village. It was just too warm to walk else we could have easily just walked from the hotel instead.

Anyway, the restaurant is right beside Gringo -- its sister restaurant, we later found out. I truly love the interiors of the restaurant. It has a very modern vibe and was well lit with tall glass windows and a split-level dining area. We were seated closest to the counter so it was easy for us to call the attention of our server. The perks of having kids in tow!

Here are some of the dishes that we were able to try that day:

Tatatito Crispy Grilled Sisig (Php. 310) -- while ordering, I remembered seeing Tatatito on the feed of our foodie friend Spanky so I quickly sent him a message to ask what we should order. He replied back to say "sisig!" Just one word and we obviously obliged. I would normally hesitate and would get a bit nervous in ordering sisig as this is one of Paul's favorite dishes and having strong Kapampangan roots, his standards for good sisig is so high up there that normally the ones I'd order for him here in Manila barely made it enough to impress him. Well, from one Kapampangan to another, Spanky's recommendation was indeed very good! Paul liked it while I loveeed it! I love the mix of texture from the soft and chewy pig's ears to the crunchy chicharon-like bits. It wasn't overly greasy or salty too so even Mommy said it was pretty good.

Adobong Baby Pusit (Php. 385) -- This was the highlight of our lunch though. I love squid and the way Tatatito prepared this made it so addicting and would really entice you to have more rice. I love the roasted garlic which I enjoyed mashing onto my garlic rice making it even more garlicky and umami. Even J loved it too and I'm glad as my little boy is allergic to almost all seafood except for fish and squid so I'm happy to see him enjoy this that he asked for more garlic rice as well. That's my boy!

Abuela's in Somerset Millennium Makati

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 23:00:00 +0000

We have this habit of making the most out of our staycation so instead of dining out while having our staycation at a hotel, we normally try to check out the restaurants inside the hotel. This is staycation tip #1 when travelling with toddlers. We just wanted to do away from any logistical nightmare of having to travel far, waiting in line and ending up with two restless and super hangry kids. The best way is to make a reservation at any of the hotel's food establishments and you can just go down just in time for your meal. Our recent stay at Somerset Millennium Makati was no different. We had our dinner at Abuela's the only restaurant establishment available in the hotel but while it may be the only in-house dining option, we had no idea that we were in for a delightful FEAST!

Come to think of it, there's a bar available in the hotel but for families like us, you will most likely focus more on Abuela's. Don't be fooled by the name. I initially thought it was a Filipino-Spanish restaurant so imagine my surprise when I saw Japanese dishes available in the menu as well. So the story behind this as I was told was that, a few years ago, there was actually a Japanese bar at the ground floor of Somerset Millennium Makati that serves really good Japanese dishes that Japanese executives and locals would go and dine there. As the bar has closed, they have decided to bring these well-loved dishes to Abuela's to ensure that their Japanese patrons will still be able to enjoy their sashimi, donburis and more. Yay for us then!

As expected, our little madame and monsieur were feeling hungry as soon as we arrived at Abuela's and luckily they have their best-selling Abuela's Chips (Php. 150) to keep these two happy and satisfied while we wait for their meal to come out. I love the thin, hand-cut potatoes and the garlic aioli dip was so good! The serving was very generous too. Really good starter indeed!

The Suite Life of the #AngTwins : Somerset Millennium Makati

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 16:00:00 +0000

"When are we going to the hotel?"

This is a common statement heard from our two little kulits here at home. At such a young age, they sure love going on staycations and well I don't blame them. A quick weekend R&R is one that we all need once in a while, right? A month ago, we celebrated Labor Day at Somerset Millennium Makati. It was perfect that we decided to check in on a Sunday so we were able to check out the Legazpi Sunday Market and were reunited with some of our favorite market finds.

The hotel is located along Aguirre street which is part of Makati's busy business district during weekdays. Weekends, you get a different way chill vibe that I love. I grew up walking around this area as my parents' office was just around the corner and a lot of things have changed since then. I love that some restaurants allow al fresco dining during the weekends making it the perfect place to hang out, having a drink or two and enjoy a good catch up with friends and family.

We got a 2 bedroom suite this time and I love how spacious the room was! The first thing that greeted me upon entering the suite was a nice living area with a comfy looking couch. They were so thoughtful to even leave some board games on the table for us to play with.

Since this is a full-functioning business suite, they also have a dining area which can fit 4-6 pax. This is perfect for small families like us. We made use of this area for lunch as we decided to just order from the Legazpi Sunday Market and we brought all our food finds back to the hotel. This made the twins so comfy as they enjoyed their gyoza and chicken rice while Paul and I devoured our Kofta Sandwich and Paella respectively. It was so warm outside so we gave ourselves a pat at the back for making the decision to just dine in the room and enjoy the air-conditioning.

Birthday Post: Turning 40 and a look back at my 30s #frannyat40

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 31 May 2022 16:16:00 +0000

Today I celebrate a milestone. Turning 40.

It seems like my 30s was so eventful and packed with so much changes and adventures that somehow it flew by so fast. I still remember celebrating my 30th birthday with family and my bestest friends. It was at a nice cozy restaurant in Quezon City and I even had lechon flown in from Davao! How cool was that?! Who would have thought that months after that, Paul and I would be packing our bags and bidding our lives in Manila temporarily goodbye as we relocated to Singapore. We spent the next 4 years of our 30s living abroad and would just fly in and out of Manila for quick weekend trips to see the family. My 30s was also when I have experienced my two biggest heartbreaks -- the death of my Ama and Kongkong who both have played very important roles in my life. Somehow, not having them around feels like missing two very important puzzle pieces that I'll never ever be able to have back.

As they say though, at the end of a thunderstorm or rain comes a beautiful rainbow and right smack at the middle of my 30s, I was blessed with the arrival of my beautiful twins, L & J. Before they came along, I thought I had it all -- a loving husband, a supportive family, a growing career and a good circle of life friends whom I can trust with all my heart. I thought life was pretty neat and complete. This was until I became a mom to my twins and I realized that life can even be better and today, I can never imagine my life without them in it. My world literally revolves around them and all I pray everyday is to be able to live longer to be there for them. Being a mom has gave so much meaning and purpose to my life. Gone are the days when I would worry about the most petty things. I've also learned so much about friendship, trust and building meaningful relationships.

As I enter the 40s club, I have no idea what lies ahead. I know for a fact that I will definitely be at the forefront watching my twins grow up. I hope they won't grow up that fast though, I still want to be able to have more cuddle time, more chance to play hide and seek with them, to watch them laugh and giggle at the silliest things and to beam with pride as we witness each and every developmental milestones as a family of four. I want to take more trips and build more memories with each and every member of my family too. If there's one thing that I've learned about dealing with a pandemic for the past two years is to take each day at a time and to make the most of every moment with your loved ones. Seize the day, they say.

So, Happy Birthday to me and thank you for being there to witness my life unfold through all these years. Cheers!

Authentic Fujian Cuisine at Putien, The Podium Mall

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Tue, 24 May 2022 16:07:00 +0000

Trivia Time! Did you know that majority of the Filipino-Chinese in the Philippines all came from just one province in China called Fujian. This is found at the southern part of China that's closest to Taiwan and since it is located near a big body of water, a lot of traders lived here. Eventually, people in Fujian migrated to neighboring countries such as Taiwan, the Philippines and Singapore to name a few. Interesting though that Hokkien, the dialect spoken in Fujian, has several versions/intonations depending on the person's current location. Case in point, I have a very different sounding Hokkien accent vs. my cousin who has a similar Hokkien lineage residing in Taiwan.

Anyway, let's talk about Hokkien/Fujian cuisine! Since Fujian is near the water, majority of the famous Hokkien food consists of seafood. One of the most popular Fujian specialties is the soup called Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (putiaojiu), it's a very premium soup that's filled with all of the best and expensive ingredients such as sharks fin, bamboo shoots, abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, chicken, pork and many more! Commonly available in high-end Chinese restaurant, this soup is normally serve in single serving bowls instead of in a big bowl for sharing. In addition to this, Fujian is also known for having really good tea such as oolong tea which is widely served all over the world.

What's funny though is that while majority of the Fil-Chis have Hokkien lineage, it's rare for one to find a restaurant that offers Hokkien-style dishes. We were so happy that Putien finally opened here in the Philippines. I've known about Putien back when I was residing in Singapore. They have a branch in our neighborhood and I've been hearing raves about their famous Fried Bee Hoon. It was only just a few months ago when I accompanied my in laws for their eye check-up that we decided to have dinner at Putien. We loved it so much that Paul and I decided to go back there with the twins and Mommy not long after.

Putien is located at the 5th Level of The Podium Mall and is right beside their sister restaurant -- Niu by Vikings. Unfortunately, the restaurant was barely filled when we went. Perhaps not a lot of people are dining out even as restrictions have been lifted. We were led to our table which thankful had a couch which allowed the twins to have more space to move around during the meal.

What's on the table?

Putien Lor Mee -- One of the best and yummiest dishes that we've tried at Putien. It comes in two sizes depending on the size of your group. We initially got the small bowl during our first visit but since there were more of us the second time around, I went for the medium-sized bowl. It came with a burner so your noodle soup stays warm all throughout. I love the al dente noodles and how it's filled with an assortment of seafood. The soup broth was so good and comforting.

ZIG in Greenhills Promenade, San Juan City

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 23 May 2022 16:00:00 +0000

This is the story of when healthy food can be happy food too! It's been a while since we're visited the Greenhills Shopping Center. Yes, despite it's proximity to home, we rarely get to go out during the pandemic so after two years, while I took the chance to run some errands at Greenhills, I was so surprise to see that what used to be just a steel parking building now has F&B outlets at the ground floor already. Cool!

The first store that caught my eye was Koomi. I was so happy I've been wanting to try Koomi after hearing raves from friends that it's the best yogurt drink in town. Beside Koomi are two very new names that I'm not familiar with -- ZIG and Oh My Greek. These are all from the same company so today, let me tell you more about ZIG.

The concept of ZIG is simple -- they specialize in healthy dishes using the freshest ingredients. This is perfect for those who are watching their weight, their health and basically their food intake. Gone are the days when healthy food is limited to sad looking salads or flat, dry bread. Today, there are a lot of options that gives you less calories, improves your cardiovascular well-being and the best thing is, they're so yummy you won't feel sad about eating healthy at all.

Together with some of my foodie friends, we had our first ever face-to-face dinner and we were able to try some of ZIG's specialties. So what's on the table?

Tuna and Avocado Tartare (Php. 390) -- I love tartare especially one with the freshest seafood and when you pair this with one of my most favorite fruits in the world, this immediately tells me that I'm in for a real good meal. I love the fresh chopped tuna mixed with creamy avocado cubes and micro greens. It's drizzled with sesame oil thus bringing out its flavor and served with fried wonton chips.

Celebrating Mother's Day to the Max : Max's Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Thu, 05 May 2022 16:00:00 +0000

I often joke that the most used word in the house is "Mommy." I tell you, whenever I'm home and within sight, my twins would be calling out for me at 10 to 15 minutes interval. "Mommy, I'm hungry", "Mommy I need to go potty", "Mommy where's my (fill in with missing toy)", "Mommy?? Mommy??? Mommy!!!"

Don't get me wrong though, I treasure moments like this because I know that in a few years, these calls for Mommy won't be as often and random anymore. If only time can slow down a bit in order for me to savor each moment with them.

I'm also lucky because we live with my parents and that means being able to see Mommy and Papa on a daily basis. Just as how my twins would call for me, I am thankful that I can easily go to my Mom for anything. She's here to always give me the best advice whenever I need to make an important decision. She is also one of the first to know about our family's milestones and achievements. She's there to remind me to take a break from work and to take good care of my health. Lastly, she's one of the twin's biggest spoilers but at the same time, I'm thankful that they're growing up with Gwammy and Kongkong who helps us in teaching them the right values.

For Mother's Day, my mom got a special treat from one of her favorite restaurants -- Max's Restaurant. No joke. There are about hundreds of thousands of restaurants in the country but anytime you ask her where would she like to celebrate her birthday or go for lunch, I can bet you that Max's Restaurant will always be part of her top 3. For her, Max's Restaurant brings back a lot of good childhood memories and given that she's quite picky with her food intake, she likes that the dishes at Max's remains very consistent through the year. Imagine, the restaurant has been around since 1945! That's 77 years!

It's a good thing that Max's Mother's Day Bundle consists of all of our family's favorites -- 1 whole Fried Chicken, Lechon Kawali Kare-Kare, Lumpiang Shanghai, Plain Rice (Large), and a Mini Caramel Cake (5-inch) by Max’s Corner Bakery. All for only Php. 1,849! What a great deal.

Mommy really enjoyed the fried chicken a lot especially when you dip it in their signature Banana Ketchup. She's really OC and would rarely eat with her hands but she just can't resist doing so with Max's Fried Chicken. She said that what she loves about it is that it's not very greasy and the flavor was spot on. While she doesn't have the biggest appetite but for Max's Fried Chicken, she'd gladly go for seconds

If Mommy is having a trip down memory lane with Max's Fried Chicken, mine would be with the Lumpia Shanghai. I remember enjoying this ever since I was a kid. My parents would often take home food from Max's and it would always be their Fried Chicken, Lumpia Shanghai and Camaron Rebosado. Nothing has changed. I love the sweet meat filling and the sweet and sour sauce that comes with it. My twins had a taste of Max's lumpia shanghai and they enjoyed it very much too.

Jones All Day at Serendra, Bonifacio Global City

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 16:00:00 +0000

With restrictions easing up and cases staying steadily low, we're starting to gain more confidence to go out and relive our lives once again. So what was my life before the pandemic? It was a mix of work during the weekdays, giving my undivided attention to my kids and family during the weekends and meeting up with friends somewhere in between. We sure have spent a lot of time dining out and that's one of the things that I missed the most for the past two years. Luckily, we were able to discover a number of home businesses that quickly became our favorites and we have also rekindled our love for cooking too.

As soon as our government lowered the restrictions, Paul and I met up with his cousin and later with some of my high school friends at Jones All Day. This is one of the newest restaurants by the Raintree Hospitality Group and if you're wondering how come the name sounds so familiar, they're the management team behind some of the biggest names in the F&B industry -- Saboten, Friends and Family, Chotto Matte and Farmer's Table to name a few.

During the earlier days of my food blogging, they were also the ones who have created Chelsea, MoMo, Mr Jones and Stella. All of which, Paul and I are huge fans of.

This is why we wasted no time and safely made our way to Serendra to try Jones All Day! This restaurant is headed by Chef Kalel Chan who also used to handle Mr Jones. I knew right away that we'll be in for a delicious treat as I've always been a fan of how he always manages to elevate your comfort food into something so satisfyingly good.

As of this writing, I have dined at Jones All Day three times already so here's a compilation of the different dishes and drinks that we were able to try and truly enjoyed:

Jones Seafood Tower (Php. 1395) -- if you're dining with a group, trust me when I say that this makes a good starter to any meal. For one thing, it truly is a showstopper with fresh oysters and seafood filling up the double-tier icy tower. It has a mix of fresh oysters (so fresh that we literally saw this being delivered and served to our table within minutes), mussels, salmon, tuna and uni sashimi slices, spicy tuna dynamite, shrimp cocktails (Paul's favorite!), fresh lato as decor which I ate anyway, corn tortillas and wonton crackers to go with the seafood. It was so good that the only thing missing is the relaxing sound of the waves crashing against the shore and powdery sand on your feet.

Misto at Seda Vertis North

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 23:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday!

I'm not going to lie, Friday is one of my favorite days because it means, we're just a day away from the weekend! Who doesn't love the weekend, right? This is the day when I give my twins my uninterrupted attention. We would start the day with any breakfast of their choice (normally waffles for J, pancakes or peanut butter sandwich for L) followed by an hour of doing their homework and in the afternoon, we head out for their swim class! Sunday is more laid back as we would stay home and just laze around the house otherwise, we would go and visit my in laws and spend the day there.

Speaking of the weekend, I suddenly remembered one of the best weekends that we've had this year so far. This was when we had our staycation at Seda Vertis North and the twins truly enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, they love our comfy and very spacious Corner Suite with an adjacent Deluxe Room as well as checking out the hotel's amenities and the Vertis North mall next door. Another thing that we all enjoyed about that staycation was the FOOD. This was our 3rd time to stay at Seda Hotel and really, you don't have to go out to eat as the dishes in all of their establishments are truly must-tries!

Misto is the hotel's all-day cafe. You can find a Misto in all Seda Hotels all over the country if I'm not mistaken. It's their signature restaurant and the place where all hotel guests should dine in at least once for breakfast. For us though, once is NOT enough so we dined at Misto three times! First was upon check-in where we got to try their Flavors of Thailand buffet lunch, followed by their Breakfast Buffet the next morning and before we bid Seda Vertis North goodbye, we just had to try their Sunday Seafood Buffet. Therefore, this blog entry will showcase dishes from the 3 visits that we had during our stay.

When I think of Thai food, I immediately would think of Pad Thai, Tom Yum Soup and Curry. Majority would have shrimps or crabs and I was initially worried that there won't be anything for J to eat. As you know, my little boy is allergic to nuts and crustaceans. Luckily, there's nothing to be worried about as Misto would always ensure to include some of their signature dishes into the line up regardless of the theme. This means that in every meal, there will always be their Herb Roasted Chicken and Roast Beef, they will also have some grilled meats and seafood as well as their impressive display of freshly baked bread. When trying their bread, do ask for the laugen bread. It's this pretzel-looking dark roll that's soooo good. Have them warm it up for you and enjoy it with a thin spread of butter. The twins and I loved this so much together with the dinner rolls.

This was also the first time that Paul and I went for a buffet since the start of the pandemic. Of course, we're very cautious about catching the virus and would really stay away from any form of possible exposure. What boosted our confidence while dining at Misto's buffet is seeing thick acrylic dividers across the food display counter. No one touches the serving utensils except for the chefs behind these partitions. All you have to do is to ask for the dish that you'd like to try and the chefs will carefully plate it for you. There are also bottles of hand sanitizers found all around the restaurant and they practice social distancing by not fully filling up the entire restaurant. I appreciate that a lot as this gives me more assurance that my kids are in a safe place.

The Suite Life of the #AngTwins : Staycation at Seda Vertis North

noreply@blogger.com (Frances Ang) — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 16:30:00 +0000

Move aside Zack and Cody! There's a new pair of twins in town who just loveeeeee having hotel staycations. Meet the #AngTwins, J & L!

My two very opinionated twins who would bug us on a weekly basis if they can go to the hotel. They just love the comfy and spacious bed, being able to swim to their hearts content, lazing at the bath tub and acting like fishies while their Daddy feeds them some snacks and just enjoying the outside world after being stuck at home for two long years.

Recently, we checked out Seda Vertis North as they have a new Staycation Package that's perfect for the family! This was not our first stay at Seda though, the twins have been to this hotel back in 2019 and that was probably the staycation that made them fall in love with hotels. At age 2 then, they swam, enjoyed the delicious buffet spread at Misto and gleefully checked out the Vertis North mall next door. We stayed at the Premier Room then, so we got access to their Club Lounge as well.

They have grown so much since then and today, they really can remember everything that we've done! We stayed at the Corner Suite this time and we also got an adjacent Deluxe Room which became the kiddie room! The twins has been sleeping with Paul and I since Day 1 so we were not sure how ready they were to sleep on their own.

As soon as we entered the room, they ran to the Deluxe Room and onto their respective beds with a Teddy Bear called Seddy Bear (so cute!) on top of each pillow. They quickly declared that that was their room and they told us to sleep at the other room instead. Oh my babies are growing up so fast! I think it was I who couldn't accept the fact that they are ready to sleep independently. Huhu!

Let's take a step back and look around the room. The first room that will greet you will be the living room. This is why I love staying in suites because I like having a separate living area from the bedroom. This is where we can leave our things and food items and not worry about messing up the bedroom. The living area was so spacious and it overlooks the Quezon City circle. It also has a small kitchen area with a refrigerator and microwave oven. It's rare to find a microwave oven in hotels!

The Seda team just made our stay extra memorable with all these Easter treats on our living room table. The twins zeroed in on the giant easter eggs but I told them to keep that and enjoy them at home. Aside from the Giant Easter Eggs, we also got pretty chocolate truffles in boxes too as well as fresh fruits which L was so happy about.