Not a Newsletter: Jun25 Edition

Dear Moon Watchers,

I’m starting this newsletter on the last day of the month—a Sunday afternoon—in my study.

The slow cooker is on. Pulled pork is in the making, with plenty of time still to go, but I can already catch a faint smell of it from here. That’s the thing with these old houses—the ventilation is a bit haywire, and sometimes you catch a whiff of yesterday’s curry from the front library.

But I’m not complaining. At least, not about that. Right now, I’m battling a particular kind of fatigue—the kind that comes from a rainy day and overeating Indonesian food just an hour ago.

I could push through and finish this today, or I could give in and take a nap.

Should I stay true to my Virgo-ness, or should I give slow living—a concept I’ve been enthralled by—a proper go?

You’ll know by the time this entry is posted. Or maybe you won’t, if I backdate it.

Highlights

♨️ ━ On the first weekend of June, we went to Tall Timber for our usual chorizo-laden shakshuka before starting our road trip. This time, we were off to the Mornington Peninsula for an overnight stay in a glamping tent, with private access to their adults-only retreat called the Spa Dreaming Centre. We soaked, drank, and enjoyed a delicious dinner before calling it a night.

🧘🏽‍♀️ ━ The next day, we had a fancy brekkie of Asian fried rice and poached salmon, then went to soak in the treetop hot springs. I also had a Kodo massage—an Aboriginal treatment that began with a smoking ceremony and used rejuvenating macadamia oil in rhythmic, circular movements inspired by trees and nature. After that, we did the full sauna infusion: washing in sulphur water, dry sauna, cold plunge, wet sauna while gently hitting myself with a she-oak birch branch, another cold plunge, and finishing with meditation in the wet sauna. Pure reset. I’m officially declaring one weekend in June a dedicated Wellness Weekend going forward. We’re creating traditions as we go.

🦪 ━ The weekend after, I flew to Hobart for Dark Mofo and a friendship moon with Liz. I came back refreshed, mentally and physically. I ate possum and wallaby for the first time, and I had all kinds of oysters and scallops. I also did a mini shopping haul at Red Parka; I got stickers, pins, earrings (for Jik), a matchy necklace for me, and postcards that I sent to my nieces. Red Parka is a must-visit if you are into stationery, accessories and anything in between. I am back with a well-rested brain that is overflowing with new ideas… I’ll be writing more about it throughout next month.

👭🏽 ━ Jik came for a midweek visit. We went to MAKAN and, as always, over-ordered. We had: Gohu Ikan, Opor Labu, Nasi Goreng Bebek, aneka sambal, acar, nasi uduk, Cendol Cocktail, and some very strong Pomelo Bliss cocktails. The food wasn’t quite as memorable as our earlier visits, but we had the absolute best time. We also called Sarie to wish her a very happy birthday before continuing our six-month worth of catch-up at Yarra Falls speakeasy, where I had three hot ciders and felt absolutely nothing.

🍄‍🟫 ━ The next day, we hung out at the State of Grace and shared a Mushroom Truffle Vol-au-Vent (my first ever—and definitely not my last). She also gifted me a book titled Fork or Chopstick?—a homage to my obsession with small-town Chinese restaurants. But her best parting gift? A Reddit rabbit hole about the worst bookstore in Sydney. Iconic.

📚 ━ I went to the Willy Lit Festival in Williamstown and attended a session called Food Writing with Feeling. Such a fantastic food panel. I learned so much—new ideas and terms like faux cultural cuisine, reclamation culture through cooking, and interracial cultural cuisine — Dumpling Bros (a mention from Besha) came up.

I scribbled down some food recommendations from the panellists, including Philhellene and Sambal Kampung, which used to be regulars for us when we first moved to WeFo during the pandemic.

🎲 ━ That same day, I went to a gathering at Jen’s where we had a plethora of cheese before moving on to a Mediterranean spread of couscous, lamb shank, and homemade dips. We ended the night playing a game called Priorities (I’m buying this for Diwali) while sipping on the most decadent chocolate drink Aina made for us. We eventually left close to midnight. A day very well spent.

📽️ ━ Another memorable night happened on a whim—I decided to attend Masak Masak x Legends, a dinner and theatre event. I wanted to check out Masak Masak after seeing the owner speak on the Willy Lit Festival panel. She was so humble and loving, I felt compelled to visit her restaurant. Legends have also been on my low-key radar forever, but I just never found anyone to go with. It ended up being perfect. The food at Masak Masak was so beautiful—completely unexpected—and the show was just delightful. I promised the event coordinator I’d always show up for Melbourne Theatre’s dinner-and-show nights from now on.

🌃 ━ One evening, a neighbour sent a photo of the Aurora Australis captured right from our own backyard in the group chat. Ever since, I’ve been low-key checking the sky before bed—just in case. One day — soon.

🦥 ━ I also had an unplanned slow-as self-care Friday recently—and it was so good. Would love to copy-paste that vibe at least once a month.

Culture Chat

🌺 ━ I learned the Hawaiian Ho’oponopono from watching The Pit. I loved it so much that I memorised it. I love u, Thank You, I Forgive You, and Please Forgive me.

🎶 ━ My heart breaks and breaks and breaks every time I remember that Wala Wala is closing down. I really ought to make one last trip—bow down to Shirlyn, whose voice practically raised me circa 2007–08—before they’re gone forever.

🍳 ━ Cookbooks are a fun way to learn about different cultures, especially if you enjoy cooking and culture. Get them, share them, stock up — let this become your newest guilt-free pleasure.

👺 ━ During our Hobart trip, Liz told me the “alien stories” behind the discoveries at China’s Sanxingdui Ruins, and after we deposited our fears inside the Ogoh-Ogoh, she told me about a very specific wish-granting temple in Beijing.

🐟 ━ I’m equally fascinated by Chef Thi Lee and her Project: Fish Sauce.

🍠 ━ Filipino Cookbooks Don’t Sell “Filipino food hasn’t suddenly appeared; it has always existed, a symbol of Filipino perseverance, resistance and pride, now proudly stepping forward and claiming its rightful place at the global table.“

Foodie Guide-Y

🥡 ━ One night, I came to bed hungry and told Fafa about it. To my surprise, he suggested we have the leftover takeaway pickled chicken Biryani—close to midnight. I was so happy about this spontaneous, home-based foodie excursion. It’s topping my foodie chart this month.

🦀 ━ Another favourite memory was when Fafa took me out to celebrate my passing an exam at the Ministry of Crab. We had the Crab Pate, Crab Kad Prao, Garlic Chilli Crab, garlic bread, Chilli Cocktail, and Coconut Crème Brûlée. 10/10.

🧄 ━ June was the month of garlic—and I’m not complaining. I made Liz Indomie mie goreng with generous amounts of Tasmanian purple garlic, which I also smuggled back to Melbourne. I also made garlic Buldak on the Winter Solstice. Throughout the month, I snacked on an entire bag of Indo garlic crackers, made garlicky steak for Fafa, spent way too much time researching Italian garlic, and finally bought a garlic pod to store my precious white gold.

🍸 ━ I had a long-overdue girls’ night with Sonal. We started with unnamed cocktails at Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets, then walked over to Smith and Daughters for their vegan feed me menu—ticking off my new food experience for the month. The food was okay, but as I reported back to the only vegan friend I know, it wasn’t half as good as his cooking. The next day, Sonal sent me a fascinating article titled Where Have All the Vegans Gone.

🍣 ━ I took Fafa out for a fancy date at Matsu, but we started the night with a warm-up at Little Foot for some mulled wine. I love that the West finally has a fancy restaurant. Here’s to more prosperity on the west side!

🥪 ━ At the writing club, someone read a piece about a couple wanting to murder each other—and an egg sandwich. He wrote and spoke so much about egg sandwiches that I’ve been craving Japanese egg sandwiches ever since.

🐌 ━ I went to WeFo Slow Food Market and had the biggest empanada of my life.

🤌🏻 ━ I’ve always been cannoli-loyal to Toni Calvano & Sons, but when Fafa suggested we check out the fat ricotta-stuffed cannoli from Got Cannoli in Carlton, I couldn’t resist. It was so good, I could feel my loyalty bone shaking.

🥐 ━ Other snacky moments include cashing in my period Martabak token and getting Fafa to order via Uber Eats. He also brought me Korean bread, which was unexpectedly delicious.

🍙 ━ Another thing Fafa got me was PappaRich’s Nasi Lemak Bungkus, a traditional Malaysian breakfast with coconut rice and anchovy sambal. It instantly reminded me of nasi kucing and intrigued my colleagues when I brought it to work for lunch the next day.

🍫 ━ For a brief moment, I fell back in love with Tam Tam and overate Apolo chocolate because it reminded me of my childhood treat, Wafer Superman. Our neighbours introduced us to Vietnamese flan, and I stood firmly in support of Snoop Dogg wine.

🥘 ━ I also cooked a few times: Andhra Chicken Curry, Ayam Kalasan, Sambal Dabu Dabu, and Lemon Rice all made their way into our meals.

🥗 ━ Some more memorable food-centric moments this month included taking a photobooth pic just before diving into a delicious Korean BBQ at Bornga. I remain a loyal Chef Pak fan and can’t wait for season two of Culinary Wars. I had Char Kway Teow at Roti Road with Fafa and did a full-on Indonesian snacks haul at Laguna. We also visited Sambal Special Warung twice in one weekend—both times we overate, and both times it was completely worth it.

Read, Watched, And Browsed

📚 ━ During book club, we discussed the trauma plot. I love my book club group and Chestnut Tree Bookstore for hosting it. I try my best to stop by every so often for books, stickers, pins, or even just a cup of chai. My last purchase? A Melbourne tram figurine. If you have a neighbourhood bookshop—or a favourite one in your city (hello Paperback)—consider supporting them. More and more small cultural spots and independent shops are disappearing in lieu of giant corporations (not unlike Joja Mart in Stardew Valley). Let’s do our part to keep them going as long as we do and we can.

👻 ━ Horror binge list: Don’t Hang Up (really good), Raw File (good), Hell Motel series (so far so good), Mine Games (a rewatch—an all-time fave), Lexi (bad), A House in Willow Street (not as bad), and Apparition (really bad).

📺 ━ Non-horror binge: Companion (made me realise I’ve always been into sci-fi), Better Sisters (can’t finish), True Detective S1 (also can’t finish), Widow’s Game, The Pit, Criminal Minds.

📖 ━ A treasure chest of journaling as a lifestyle. A well-written how-to travel journal article, also a fun Substack account to follow.

🍯 ━ I’m currently deep in a Le Tran Lam—Sydney-based food journalist—Linktree rabbit hole. I feel so validated by her Why you should share your stories about food article.

🔖 ━ A new-to-me blog I’ve been stalking: Something I Like to Cook.

Found and Love

🦉━ I still don’t get the Labubu craze (I want to, but I haven’t), but I’ve always had a soft spot for Jellycat. The first Jellycat I got was a pineapple for Jik, which I bought in London. Last year, I wanted a lobster Jellycat I spotted in KaDeWe, but it was gone the next day when we went back to get it—once I had convinced myself that my carry-on still had space for a lobster alongside seven journals.

I finally got one (well, I got Fafa to get it for me) recently.

His name is 0-fu (read: Ofu). Full name: 0-Shiro-Fukurowzie. He’s going through an identity crisis, convinced he’s snow white when he’s actually grey. He’s a morning owl, loves watching TV, is scared of horror movies, does the pinky swear with his sleep mask and doesn’t like the smell of Vicks. He goes to work once a week and sleeps most of the time—despite that, he insists he’s sleep-deprived. Here is an article to justify my unnecessary obsession.

💮 ━ I randomly came across Bark Painting of Arnhem Land stamps when I went to the post office to send off A Seat at My Table—a cookbook—for a chef friend, and was so thrilled to find them. Honestly, my best impulse purchase in a while.

🖊️ ━ I topped up my stash of G7 Pilot Pens: a dozen black ones and a single red pen, for when I need to channel my crone energy.

🌺 ━ One way I’m combating the winter blues? Australian flower essences. I know—it sounds a bit too woo-woo, even for me—but I remember it really helped during a rough depressive patch the year after I moved to Australia. For $19.95, I’m happy to give it another go. It’s one of many things I’m trying, along with a SAD lamp, mat Pilates, a generous dash of furikake on warm sushi rice, and Vitamin D—all of which seem to be helping.

☕ ━ Winter is the season for warm liquids. I’ve been researching soup recipes and stocking up on chai—both candle and tea—from Chai Walli. I also picked up apple-spiced tea, pulled pork rubs, and a garlic pod holder from an artisan spice store in Carlton.

🫒 ━ I also spent part of a day learning about EVOO and the difference between Italian and Greek olive oils. Now I just need to convince Fafa that buying an award-winning EVOO at ten times the price of the one we usually get at Woolworths is totally reasonable.

🍝 ━ Another artisan store I splurged at was Cristina Toscano Everything Food in South Yarra. Fueled by my obsession with the noodle/pasta bowl Liz got me for Christmas, I bought myself a larger version (which I immediately used to serve Mala Crab pasta—because obviously, I needed an excuse to use the bowl). I also got Jik a lemon tree plate to remind her of the lemon tree in her current place—something sweet to bring to her forever home.

If you’re in the market for some fun niche magazines or unique gift ideas, check out Colournary, Never Too Small and Tart.

Meanwhile, on Kulture Kween:

This month, I wrote about ticking a bucket list item, soaking in Blue Lagoon, savouring Japanese Kaiseki In The West, and having a hazy memory of Hobart, Tassie.

Tiny Joys

Colleague being so excited about going on a Father’s Day date with her dad ❤ New person in writing class who’s obsessed with Eclipse ❤ Non-busy work week ❤ Warmish winter ❤ Amma’s soft hand ❤ Being called “darling” by female hospitality workers ❤ Bus drivers who wave back ❤ Candles ❤ Coffee as currency ❤ Eating loose sushi from the supermarket with chili oil ❤ Excel ❤ Fafa cutting me fruit/feeding me leftover chicken curry/ fixing my jeans/getting me stickers ❤ Feeling mentally refreshed ❤ Finding the perfect greeting card to convey a feeling ❤ Frank Green bottle from Asmi ❤ Free food at work ❤ Friends ticking off life goals and reaching new milestones ❤ Handwritten notes ❤ Hearing Amma’s voice ❤ Heavy rain hitting the office window while I’m working and being safe inside ❤ Scooping honey in a small jar ❤ Speakeasies and hidden bars ❤ Knowing how to do my job ❤ Leftover dinner for work lunch ❤ Liz’s pasta bowl ❤ Messaging cousins to say I’m grateful for them ❤ Colleagues getting me coffee whenever I have morning meetings ❤ Office birthday celebrations ❤ Peeling off the outer layer of sticker sheets ❤ Pho ❤ Reading cookbooks for the stories ❤ Self-care Mondays ❤ Slow cooking ❤ Slow living ❤ Soaking in the bathtub ❤ Stationery and sticker haul ❤ naps ❤ The many hues of the sky ❤ Traveller’s notebook journaling ❤ Wafer Superman memories—and how my other immigrant friends have similar versions from their childhood ❤ Watching Shudder for free ❤ WFH ❤ Work friends ❤ Worn-out sleepwear ❤

Time Machine

🌴 ━ The happenings of this time last year and last decade.

Things In My Mind

🍚 ━ As you might know, I am obsessed with white rice, and lately, I’ve been fixated on the types of white rice I’ve eaten throughout my life. So far, I’ve learned quite a bit, including that my Amma is paying one-third of what I am paying for a kilo of fancy rice.

🐺 ━ Now that I have tried possum and wallaby, I am intrigued to try other feral foods. Where do I put a stop to this weird obsession???

⁉️ ━ In the Writing Club, I shared my difficulty in writing emotions and feelings in depth, which was aptly coined “emotional constipation” by a doctor-slash-writer in the group. Another person—not the doctor—suggested I try stream-of-consciousness writing without punctuation as a way to work through it. I have been practising it on my morning pages ever since, and seeing the result.

🗿━ I recently proposed a business idea to Fafa: a nose blanket for winter—a tiny cover to keep your nose warm in bed. He shrugged it off, but I want this on record for when someone steals my brilliant idea (Big Magic way), runs with it, and becomes a billionaire. Years from now, I want him to remember that he could have been the husband of a billionaire if only he had been more supportive.

🤍 ━ Savouring moments crystallise them into memories.

Thank You, Next!

🍄‍🟫 ━ As you might have picked up from the first paragraph of this newsletter—though I failed to carry the sentiment through the rest—I’m trying to embrace slower living, slower days, this winter. So far, I’m envisioning chai (both the candle and the brown-dusted liquid), journaling in coffee shops, reducing my reading stack, informal interviews with inspiring people, and all kinds of soups and mushrooms (July is going to be the month of mushrooms).

🍓 ━ This month’s tarot card is the Ace of Cups – Strawberries (I’m still loyal to the Magic Pantry deck). Aside from Japan’s fancy winter harvest, strawberries are typically a spring fruit. It might be a reminder that the darkest day of the year has passed. Maybe it’s nudging me to notice the tiny joys around me—a handy tool for keeping the winter blues at bay. Also, every time I draw the Ace of Cups, I take it as a sign to fill my own cup first—with tiny joys—and I’m looking forward to July as a time to do just that.

💐 ━ Looking inward aside, my July calendar is definitely filling up. The weekends are packed: niece’s birthday party, a baby shower, a sake tasting, and a ghost club. Last July weekend, I’m hosting a no pets, no kids—just some semi-dying houseplants, brown gals, horror movie night and takeaway dinner gathering at mine.

🙏🏽 ━ When we’re in Singapore, Fafa and I have a standing Wednesday date I call “Wedatesday” in my journals—though I’m too embarrassed to say it out loud to him (at least at the time—now, something like Wedatesday is the least embarrassing thing I’ve told him this year alone). Anyway, we’re continuing the tradition in July. This coming Wednesday, I’ve booked Wrong Gods at the Melbourne Arts Centre. A couple of weeks later, we have a double date with our neighbours at the taco food truck in the neighbourhood. The following Wednesday, I’m taking him to Pipi Hut. That leaves two more Wednesdays to fill—I’ll let the man take charge of those.

With that, I hope the first half of the year has been treating you well, with more beautiful memories to create and more for you to discover in the second half.

Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.