It’s Saturday morning, and I’m writing to you from bed. I’ve just cancelled all my appointments to laze around the house until Fafa gets back from his weekend routine, so we can have a movie date tonight. I’m treating today as a mini reset. But first things first: Happy Lunar New Year! Happy Pongal, Happy Thaipusam, and happy first full moon in Leo!
Highlights
🍷 — My Valentine’s weekend started with drinks at Gracie’s before dinner at Yan’s Smoke House (my faves were Olive Rice, Duck Cigar,and the three flights of Sake). The next day, I had Galentine’s marked with bottomless brunch, cheese fondue, and a photobooth at Champagne Problems. By Sunday, we will have both Australian native flowers and a bunch of white roses decorating the home.
🍲 — Quality Time with Liz. We had a pre–Lunar New Year hot pot dinner at her place with her family, including beautiful baby L, and Fafa. The following weekend, I took the new train line to Anzac (I’m still in awe of how cool these new stations are), then hopped on a tram to Prahran Market. We returned to our usual spot at Abacus for brunch, accompanied by a Tiramisu latte and a mango matcha, before slipping into endless conversation—parents, cousins, friends, everything and nothing all at once. It had been a while. She also surprised me with a beautiful bouquet. I know—I’m spoiled.
🧧 — I realised (a little late) that Lunar New Year, alongside the start of Eid and Lent, overlaps. it feel like a powerful, almost cosmic reset. The actual day was marked by a mini LNY dinner at Oriental Teahouse with my NZ teammates (the company-wide LNY lunch followed the week after; it featured DIY Bhan Mi, and I contributed Indonesian nasi goreng), printing out our Chinese zodiacs, and laughing as we dissected each other’s traits and discussed what 2026 might hold as we enter the Year of the Fire Horse. The next day, I picked up my Lunar New Year stamps from the post office. It’s my third year collecting them now—practically a tradition.
💌 — A package from Jik arrived around the same time: Kisah Kisah di Dapur and a heartfelt letter. I took my time replying—weeks, but it sparked something in me. Eventually, I found myself writing a letter to my future self. Not in the most romantic setting (Bad Writers Club class, of all places), but inspiration rarely arrives on schedule, and I’ve learned to take it as it comes.
🍽️ — I visited Order Up: A City Fed by Many Cultures, an exhibition made up of thousands of handwritten, food-stained dockets from iconic Melbourne restaurants.
🎯 — I went to a Levantine cuisine cooking class, ticking off the first box of my 2026 bingo card. 1 done, 24 to go.
Foodie Guide-Y
🌙 — QVM hosted its first-ever Ramadan Night Market, and I went to honour, celebrate, and support the community. We had Batagor (savoury fried dumplings) and Mie Ayam (chicken noodles). We also picked up muscat resin from there, which I’ve been burning to bless the home with.
🍳 — This month, I cooked Bihun (stir-fried glass noodles), which I was originally meant to bring for the LNY lunch at work. However, when the person who was supposed to bring rice dropped out, I switched to Indonesian Nasi Goreng, which I’m much more confident with than my soggy attempt at Bihun (I don’t know why—it wasn’t even half as good as Amma’s, even though I followed her recipe exactly). Another semi-failed attempt was Chongqing Chicken—I missed a few key ingredients and steps, and it turned out a bit off. That said, I did successfully make Thai Coconut Fish Curry, easy-ass Green Egg Fried Rice for the first time, as well as rice paper avocado.
🥞 — Jen, Baby L, and I had brunch at Humble Rays in Carlton. I loved every single menu item and had a hard time choosing between the duck congee, crab scrambled eggs, and (what I eventually picked) the Spicy Mentaiko Salmon Udon, satiating my current fixation with Udon. I’ll definitely be back.
🥡 — The old finance gang caught up for lunch, which was so lovely. We ended up eating in the building’s foyer with the takeaway we got from the healthy hole-in-the-wall place, Pocket. I tried their tofu steak for the first time and loved it.
🍛 — Delicious feast at our neighbours’, from the best scallop curry I have ever tried in my life to a new for me indian food: Kolhapuri Goat, the spicy goat curry from the Kolhapur region of Maharashtra, India.
🦀 — We revisited a new Indian restaurant we recently discovered, MMS, for their curry virundhu (a celebratory feast), and it was delightful. The crab polimass (my first time trying it) was my favourite.
☕ — I made a mini resolution to journal at a new-to-me café each month – #CaffeinatedInk. This time, I had the viral (for a good reason) -85°C Coffee at Regulars.
🍪 — I ticked off my Aussie food bucket list this month by finally trying an Iced VoVo biscuit. I also had New Zealand Whittaker’s Banana chocolate, which is apparently a highly sought-after limited edition. For dessert (not new, but always good), Sebastian Kakigori with pistachio and vanilla milk. I tried dried pineapple from Borneo. Lastly, I also tried Aomori garlic coffee… which I genuinely could not drink. Well, I guess that’s where I drew the line with garlic.
🌮 — I had a Coral Trout Tostada and a fancy Wagyu Sando from two different stalls at the newly refreshed Prahran Market—both were delicious, but a bit too expensive.
✨ — Other memorable eating moments this month: celebrating a work milestone with Bufallo Momos at at Chilli Everest; eating Ema Datshi, the national dish of Bhutan of of chili and cheese stew and Prawn Maru; cakes from LeTAO (tiramisu, green grape, and cheesecake); lychee Aperol; discovering a new use for chilli oil—eating onigiri with it; baby back ribs at Waterhouse Hotel; stress-eating five cannolis in one workday; and snacking on Yan Yan for comfort and prickly pear for health.
Read, Watched & Browsed
📚 — I read Petty Lies by Sulmi Bak and Cuckoo by Callie Kazumi and loved both. I also read Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte for the book club. This one was… a lot. The themes were heavy and uncomfortable (prompted me to Google Ahegao and regret it immediately), and at times genuinely difficult to sit with, so I had to pace myself between chapters. It’s not an easy read, but I’m glad I committed to it. I gave it a 5/7.
📚 — I impulsively bought a secondhand copy of Recipes & Refuge by Chris Nguyen from one of my favourite bookstores in Melbourne, Books for Cooks, after spotting it at the Immigration Museum — the kind of purchase that feels less like a decision and more like a quiet calling. I’m looking forward to reading it slowly, the way books like this are meant to be read.
👯♀️ — On the TV front, I watched and loved Bridgerton S4. I also immediately googled how much 18k pounds is worth in today’s money, and it’s 2.5 million AUD. yep. It’s a lot. like a mansion in a South Yarra lot.
🏒 — Another unexpected favourite was Heated Rivalry, recommended by a colleague. It was intense and addictive in the best way—kind of like Bridgerton, but with sports as the backdrop instead of the ton. My different girl gangs and I watched, loved, and discussed it. There’s something about collectively obsessing over a show that makes it even better. I even went down a mini rabbit hole reading about why women are obsessed with it—and yes, I agree with it all.
🎬 — Speaking of woman-centric stories, Fafa and I watched The Housemaid on a date night. I loved it — and it oddly made me feel better about the fact that I’ve been meaning to read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden for ages but never quite got around to it.
👻 — Horror had its moment this month. I watched and loved Bloat, paid to watch It Feeds (mediocre at best), and also watched Witchboard alongside a spiral of horror movie reviews — which, IMO, is part of the experience.
🎭 — The bigger disappointment, though, was Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (also paid, unfortunately). That said, Rosamund Pike absolutely delivered as the villain. I realised (again) that I have a soft spot for ice-queen energy — think Rosamund Pike and Nicole Kidman — cold, controlled, and slightly terrifying.
👽 — I also went on a short Alien saga: Alien (solid), Aliens (not for me), Alien 3 (dislike), and Prometheus (loved). A chaotic journey, but a journey nonetheless.
📺 — In between everything, I enjoyed High Potential Season 2 and rewatched The Strain. I also semi-watched a cozy New Zealand detective show alongside the very not-cozy Son of Prodigal — a bit of tonal whiplash, but we move.
🎧 — The most intriguing listen this month was The Woman Who Wasn’t There by RedHanded — unsettling, fascinating, and the kind of story that lingers.
📝 — One of the guys in our BWC class is currently writing a novel, and every month he shares a snippet. It follows a couple on the run, and somehow, each piece manages to pull us right back into their world. We’re all quietly invested now, always waiting for the next chapter to unfold.
🤖 — I am utterly fascinated by the rising AI boyfriend phenomenon, which shares some similarities with the “prison boyfriend” phenomenon—though the latter is, dare I say, perhaps the safer of the two.
🌐 — In one of my late-night internet wanderings, I stumbled upon the Sippity Sup blog 🔖 World’s Oldest Rock Art (67,800 Years Old) Discovered in Indonesia 🔖 How Draco Malfoy Became The Face Of Lunar New Year 🔖 ‘What’s up with all these monkeys’: Djungelskog the orangutan comforted Punch – but can the Ikea toy help me? 🔖 Snoopy is everywhere right now — from jewellery to pimple patches. Why? 🔖 Sichuan Pepper Coffee: How China’s Coffee Boom Sparked a New Kind of Tingle (reminded me of the Winter Latte we had in the Blue Bottle Cafe, which was garnished with cracked pink peppercorn) 🔖 Coffee, Sichuan Peppercorn & Chocolate Pots de Crème are Mocha Magic – SippitySup 🔖
Meanwhile, on Kulture Kween:
This month, I wrote about Jakarta to Bandung on Whoosh—There Before I Know It 🖋️ A Spiritual Visit to Jakarta Murugan Temple with Amma 🖋️ Ramadan Night Market at Queen Victoria Market Melbourne.
Tiny Joys
❤️ Blooming roses ❤️ Cozy journaling session ❤️ Good company culture ❤️ Appa complimenting my bihun pictures ❤️ Booking tickets ❤️ Haigh’s LNY milk chocolate ❤️ Contagious laughter and joy-titude ❤️ Cleaned house ❤️ Compliments ❤️ Cousin group chats ❤️ Fafa coming home with stickers and onigiri ❤️ Fafa dropping off cof cof for me at my running track ❤️ Fafa picking me up ❤️ Lisa buying me a Cadbury almond chocolate ❤️ Muscat frankincense resin ❤️ Chrisye and coffee in the library-room ❤️ Leaving work minutes before 5 PM ❤️ Not doing much ❤️ Reading on the bus ❤️ People smelling nice ❤️ Someone journaling in the park, accompanied by a stack of printed photos ❤️ The girls getting me iced coffee because I had morning meetings ❤️ WeFo community ❤️ Tipsy naps ❤️ TYPO ❤️ Upcoming trips — the planning and anticipation ❤️ Waking up peacefully without an alarm ❤️ Waking up feeling too lazy to go to yoga or run, choosing to chill and journal at home instead, and be okay with it ❤️ Waking up to Fafa laughing ❤️ Record player Friday ❤️ Kupi the Kuda Api (a red horse soft toy that a colleague gave each of us to commemorate the Year of the Fire Horse) ❤️ Honey cake from Migrant Coffee.
Time Machine
🌴 ━ The happenings of this time last year and last decade.
Thank You, Next!
🏡 — We’re hosting my high school best friend, Pepeth, and her partner next week. I’m excited to relive those long hours of talking and laughing about all the things we call “memen” — a word we invented for anything interestingly weird.
🎨 — One of the hobbies I picked up during COVID was watercolour. I remember spending hours painting and feeling so much joy. It’s one of the few things I actually miss about that time, which is why I’ve booked myself into a food painting class.
🍸 — We’re celebrating Liz’s birthday at Gimlet — famously hard to get into, but apparently not at 3:30 PM. 😄
🃏 — I pulled The Hermit for March from the newest deck in my collection, Travel Tarot. It’s depicted by Saas-Fee, Switzerland (I’ve never been, but it’s now on my list). In tarot, The Hermit represents introspection, quiet wisdom, and reflective journeys — which is slightly ironic, because March in Melbourne for me looks more like full-blown March Madness: AFL games, the Holi Festival, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, and the Footscray Writers Festival.
While I brace myself for Mercury retrograde and March madness, a colleague’s comment about how everyone looks a little dead in the eyes lately is echoing in my mind.
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Looks like a wonderful month was had. I appreciate the walk through memory lane.