April came with two very distinct vibes. The first half was soundtracked by Doechii’s Anxiety (yes, the song), while the second half was scented with Le Labo’s Labdanum 18 (no, not a song). Emotionally, it’s been the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in 2025. I’m honestly glad it’s over—but also deeply grateful for all the beautiful memories.
Highlights
🎂 ━ We celebrated Fafa’s birthday with LeTAO’s chocolate cheesecake and dinner at Matilda, where I had the most delicious duck I’ve ever eaten in my life. Happy birthday month, Fafa sayang. Ilu.
👰🏻 ━ We flew to the Netherlands for my cousin’s wedding—the second youngest in the family and most likely the last wedding of our generation. It was beautiful, glorious, and heartwarming. I cried and drank in equal measure. Since we were already in Europe, we made a quick decision to hop over to Iceland. As usual, I’ll write a separate post about that trip (spoiler: it involved a lot of lagoon-ing).
Read, Watched, And Browsed
📚 ━ On the long flight, I devoured Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop. It’s a cozy, feel-good read—perfect if you’re a stationery addict, Japanophile, and sardined in economy for 14 hours straight.
📣 ━ If you’re into gadgets and speak Indonesian, check out YouTube Cousin’s channel: K2G for all things tech.
📺 ━ I watched YOU Season 5—it’s the best season ever! I also watched Pulse and rewatched The Ghost Whisperer just because it was there. And I spent way too many hours playing YouTube commentary videos in the background this month, which helped me destress. I now know everything I don’t need to know about Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber’s non-existent drama. At one point, I was so stressed that I found myself Googling the most random things—like Tiger Woods’ latest partner. Was that my rock bottom? Gwad, I hope so.
🍲 ━ In an effort to unwind, I tried growing my virtual hot pot business, Joy Pot. Currently stuck at Level 3 Silver due to a lack of training books for staff upgrades. Such is (virtual) life.
Foodie Guide-Y
🍪 ━ I think I’ve had a hot cross bun before, but never toasted with lots of butter— glorious. Another Aussie first: the Yo-Yo biscuit. Courtesy of my colleague’s mom, who baked them and shared them with the team. Stranger kindness truly melts my dark stone heart.
🍞 ━ On the flip side, an Aussie food I hate: that horrendous, wet, brick-like sourdough. I forgot how hard and bad it is until I had a normal sourdough outside the country.
🍝 ━ Fafa went to South Yarra and got Lobster Tagliolini from Baby—just because it was my pre-exam tradition. 🥹
🌯 ━ Yesterday, I got a Middle Eastern brekkie called manoush (which means pastries) from Olive Tree for Fafa and colleagues. My favourite was the hot salami roll.
🍛 ━ Forgot my house key yesterday and ended up on a solo dinner date of Achari Chicken and Garlic Naan in Aangan while waiting for Fafa to get home. I rarely do solo meals anymore (marriage! friends!), so it felt a little poetic. Also, the food was 10/10.
🥘 ━ The first thing I cooked after we got back—just a few hours post a 28-hour trip—was Rassam and Ikan Teri Sambal. I’d love to say home-cooked food hit the spot after surviving on frozen meals most of the month… but that’s not entirely true. Perima’s delicious Chicken Curry at my cousin’s place in Zuid the week before had already done that.
🦪 ━ I spotted geoduck on a food menu in a Chinese restaurant recently and immediately went down a rabbit hole to figure out what the heck it is (I don’t think I’ve eaten it, but I am keen to).
🍜 ━ Someone made a ramen font and it’s pure perfection.
🍅 ━ Also, this month, I tried persimmon fruit for the first time.
Kulture Kween
This month, I wrote about Chicken Coop is My Australian Dream 🖋️ 17 Europe Train Travel Tips 🖋️ Getting A Viking Boat Tattoo in Copenhagen Meatpacking District 🖋️ My Non-Bucket List for Iceland 🖋️ My Ever-Growing Netherlands Travel List 🖋️ Ravintola Bali Best Indonesian Meal in Scandi Region 🖋️
Tiny Joys
Cousins ❤ Winter skyline ❤ Discovering new things ❤ A fun song stuck in my head ❤ Booking in regular self-care and glow up activities ❤ Coming home on a work day to no errands, no overtime, no study obligation ❤ Stranger’s kindness ❤ Mala flavoured Pringles my colleague got from South Korea
Time Machine
🌴 ━ The happenings of this time last year.
Thank You, Next!
😶🌫️ ━ Four of Cups is the card of May. This card sits somewhere between ignorance-is-bliss and contemplation. I 100% welcome that energy. I’m leaning all the way into rest, recovery, and low-effort vibes.
🛌🏽 ━ This upcoming weekend, I plan to do nothing—and I mean nothing. Just walking around in my Oodie all day, sleeping early, maybe sipping something nice, and hopefully restarting my journaling habit, which April fully derailed.
🧈 ━ We have an author conversation event with Asako Yuzuki, author of Butter, the weekend after. ( haven’t read it yet—and to be honest, I’m not planning to before the event. Maybe later, if I end up enjoying the talk.
🥃 ━ The following weekend, we’ve got a Robata Wagyu and Whiskey date, followed by Indo food hosting weekends, and a hot spring staycation lined up. I’m genuinely looking forward to these low-key nourishing plans after a hectic AF first quarter (that’s an accountant’s lingo for you).
❄️ ━ Winter is coming—and I’m not thrilled. Especially when half of my IG feed is full of summer prep. If you’re reading this from the southern hemisphere, hi, hello, may easy May be with you.
Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.
