March Madness has been real, and combined with Mercury retrograde for most of the month, I’m somewhat glad I did it, survived it, and am now moving on from it. Hello peeps — here’s a summary of my March, which would probably make more sense as a Substack post, but I’m too lazy to move it there.
Highlights
📱 — The biggest highlight of this month was installing the Zen app on my iPhone to lock Instagram, and I saw the benefits almost immediately. Not using Instagram before midday has been surprisingly grounding. Paradoxically, when I do open Instagram, I go straight to the Anime Cottage account to see if they’ve posted anything new — that page has become a little pocket of comfort and self-care. It feels like a snippet of the Stardew Valley life I’ve always dreamed of.
🌙 — We celebrated Eid with K-BBQ, then hosted friends for biryani over the weekend. I got a pandan cake from an Indonesian baker because it’s green and perfectly fits the Eid theme, and Fafa ordered Haleem (a slow-cooked, thick stew of meat, lentils, wheat, and spices, traditionally eaten during Ramadan) so we all could try it for the first time. There was so much food, so much Egoshima whisky, and so much fun. We ought to repeat it again next year — though thankfully we don’t have to wait that long, because we’re off to a friend’s birthday tonight to do it all over again.
🐔 — I had big plans for the West Footscray Writers Festival, only to fall sick and end up cancelling half my bookings. But I did spend one morning playing with typewriters at the Chestnut Tree bookstore — typing letters to myself and to Jik. Then I went to Fiona, the chicken lady’s house, for an animal writing workshop. I loved the whole experience — her, her house, her chickens, everything. Afterwards, I returned to the library, bought some zines and postcards, and headed home to nurse my fever.
👫🏻 — We hosted my childhood bestie Pepeth and her partner over the Grand Prix weekend, and they arrived bearing an extraordinary haul of food souvenirs — rendang, rempeyek, and batagor, all made by them (they’re both restaurateurs), which sustained us for days without cooking. We spent the weekend chatting, gossiping, and catching up on everything from school memories to the Illuminati. I took them to Footscray Market — a must-see in Melbourne’s inner west. We had pho, feasted on hot pot, ordered Thai food, snacked on American doughnuts, and finished with -85 degree pistachio matcha. We said goodbye with a promise of doing Pulai Pari together next time.
🏊🏼♀️ — One of my 2026 bingo items was floating in a salt pool. I’m not sure whether a float room fully counts, but I’m so glad I pushed myself to try it. It felt incredible — I practically floated home afterwards, which suited the rainy evening perfectly, especially with a warm fishbowl poke bowl waiting for me. Another bingo square ticked off: I went to drag bingo with my neighbour after a light dinner at Hochi Mama. Such a fun night.
⚖️ — We went to a jury-duty themed play in St Kilda. Before that, we stopped along St Kilda Road (a place full of fond memories from my visit to Melbourne with my cousins about 13 years ago) for the iconic charcoal chicken at Yang Thai.
🧠 — I attended Michael Bunting’s leadership seminar at work, and it was really good. The red and green zone framework, especially, gave me a lot to think about personal life as well. The seminar was followed by dinner at the Pass/Port dinner, which was excellent — especially the tom yum prawn dumplings and beef tartare.
🧸 — I finally pulled the plug and got myself a Labubu (don’t @ me!!). I got the Cinnamoroll from the Hello Kitty blind box collection, and it now sits on my office desk, making me irrationally happy.
🎨 — Do you miss parts of life during lockdown? I do — especially the slowed-down parts. I’ve been trying to bring some of that back by revisiting things I picked up during that unprecedented time. I went to a fun watercolour session, sent a letter to Nilam with a Lunar New Year stamp, and re-did the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs quizzes. Also, when I had a free pocket in the middle of the day, I went to Paperback Bookshop (got a book that I ended up disliking almost immediately). But the day redeemed itself when I wandered into a wine bar afterwards and wrote a letter to my future self.
🌐 — Melbourne topped the list of the 50 best cities in the world in 2026. It makes me feel lucky and blessed to call this city home.
Foodie Guide-Y
🎂 — We celebrated Liz’s birthday at Gimlet, which was Gossip Girl-level fancy — the kind of place where everyone who’s anyone has been (meanwhile, I had never even heard of it until Liz invited me). The building is stunning, the food was exceptional (we had anchovy toast, raw tuna, rock flathead, Gippsland beef tenderloin with bone marrow, fig mille-feuille with muscat, and baked dark chocolate with crème fraîche. Also, the Gimlet cocktail was dangerously good — my favourite had Tanqueray gin), and the service was impeccable. But my favourite part, of course, was spending time with the absolutely radiant birthday girl.
🍽️ — We went to several Melbourne Food and Wine Festival events this year, and (energy/time/life willing) I’ll write more about each one, but here’s the gist: We had an Italian-Japanese fusion (my favourite kind of fusion) pasta omakase at Alt Pasta Bar (will absolutely be returning), and a tachinomi-style dinner party at Yugen (hesitant on returning — not our crowd). I was supposed to go to the Duck Duck Sip walk (starting at June, then Cookie, and ending at Magic Mountain Saloon) with Liz, but she couldn’t make it, so Fafa stepped in and somehow ended up befriending a fancy-ass couple. But my favourite event of the whole festival was unexpectedly the all-chicken dinner at Ian Potter — a booking I made purely because of Fafa and his love of chicken — and it ended up being such a delight. The most memorable dinner of the MFWF.
🥖 — Also, as part of MFWF, I learned to make Japanese breakfast at Cibi (I got Nagatanien Igamono Egg Baker from there, but idk how to use it yet), onigiri at Ima Asa Yoru, and focaccia at Windsor Wine Room. Aside from the delicious food and learning new things, I love meeting new people at the festival. I befriended a yoga instructor in the midst of uprooting her life to Tassie, who also suggested I try Colombian hot chocolate with cheese as a comforting winter drink. I also made friends with the group at my table after we learned to make salami and sausage together at Bar Idda.
📖 — Another one of my favourite things about cooking classes is seeing people carry recipe books and food journals, jotting down notes and sketching recipes. It feels so endearing and inspiring. These food workshops have given me more than recipes — they’ve given me little glimpses into how people build rituals around food, learning, and memory.
🇮🇩 — My Indo food highlights were Nasi Pedas Melbourne, where I went on a full snack haul (rempeyek, Superman, kerupuk), and the newly opened Ayam Penyet Ria, where all the main dishes are delicious, and my go-to is the ayam bakar set meal with soto soup on the side.
☕ — I made a mini resolution to journal at a new-to-me café each month — #CaffeinatedInk with my Il Papiro passport-sized journal. This month, Fafa took me to Tone Café for a Tiger Bomb and a reading-slash-journaling date.
🍳 — I can only remember making rassam on repeat this month, but I feel like I cooked more than just that. Meanwhile, Fishbowl has been on Uber Eats repeat lately (Fafa, here’s the cheat code for you): Build Your Own Bowl — regular, sushi rice, red onion, edamame, radish, shallots, green chilli, extra green chilli, red hot chilli, extra dressing, roasted tofu, crispy shallots, double tobiko, and Japanese chilli flakes.
🍪 — I didn’t tick off an Aussie food bucket list item this month, boohoo, but because our team at work has this tradition of bringing back snacks from places they travel to (omiyage in Japanese or oleh-oleh in Indonesian), I got to try Ma’amoul from Oman. It’s a shortbread biscuit, usually served at celebrations such as weddings and Eid in the Middle East.
🍜 — My udon craving has been satiated by everything udon at Chiki Chiki on Elizabeth Street, where my colleagues and I went for a long lunch one day.
✨ — Other memorable eating moments this month: Fafa and I had an impromptu Thursday date at Villas and ate squid curry — so good. My manager and I had our year-end one-on-one over Matcha Kult at Lab Café. There was also dinner with my neighbour at Disuko, a supposedly hip, trendy place that, in my opinion, offers nothing new — though I did have a cherry blossom cocktail that was inexplicably yellow.
Read, Watched & Browsed
🍷 — I have a new tradition of taking myself on a solo date for wine, anchovies, and a dozen oysters at Wine at Barkly, with my book club book in hand right before book club. This is the third month I’ve done it, and I cherish this short window. I usually do a quick summary of the book, reread the passages I underlined, and revisit what I wrote in the margins to organise my thoughts before the actual discussion. Speaking of which…
📚 — I absolutely loved our book club book this month, Heart the Lover by Lily King. I read it in one sitting, and most of us gave it a 6 (out of 7, our book club rates books from 1 to 7 with no halves), myself included. The only reason I didn’t give it a 7 was that I was saving that for what I imagined would be my best book of the year. But now I wonder why I can’t be more generous with my ratings — why can’t I give more than one 7 in a year? That’s it, I’m changing Heart the Lover to a resounding 7.
📺 — Fafa managed to find Karuvanam, an Indian-Singaporean horror series, available on YouTube. We were hooked within one episode and ended up having continuous movie dates for 12 straight days this month. The ending was epic (and supposedly set in Indonesia), and I loved it so much I’m not embarrassed to say I have Karuvanam and Singapore withdrawal. Singapore media, I am ready for another one, please.
👻 — I watched The Keeper. This movie is… different. It’s from the director of Longlegs, which I also didn’t quite get, and while I can see why some people would find it cool, it wasn’t for me. I also watched Body Cam and Now I Will Never Leave You Alone on Shudder. I revisited the Indonesian version of the cult classic horror Shutter (I’ve watched both the original Japanese and English versions of the same story), and now I wonder if one day I’ll find an Indian adaptation too.
🎬 — I watched Scarpetta with Nicole Kidman and finished the whole season, because I will watch anything starring Nicole Kidman. But what even is this show?
🎙️ — The podcast indulgence of the month is Culinary Archive Podcast, and it is oh-so enjoyable. I am now deep in food-related podcasts and will come back with more recs next month.
Culture
🍨 — I went to Musings & Merienda: Filipino Tea & Culture at Halaya to watch a panel of accomplished Filipinas in the food industry. I was so, so, so inspired by these women. Each of them brought her own individuality and achievements, and spoke with such eloquence. They were deeply passionate about their heritage, food, and culture, while also being confident, entrepreneurial, and entirely themselves.
🍜 — This “ugly food tour” of Singapore spotlights the gritty side of one of Asia’s shiniest cities.
🍵 — What I learnt from my “tea a day” project.
🍳 — The out-of-print Australian cookbook featured on The Bear: “Of course, Carmy has a copy!”
🍜 — World Indomie Day.
🍛 — Indonesia is ranked 10th among the world’s best cuisines.
Meanwhile, on Kulture Kween:
This month, I started the #30DaysofJapan series: My Matcha Pilgrimage to Uji Japan’s Matcha Capital 🖋️ Not So Essential Japan Travel Tips for First Time and Returning Visitors 🖋️ Shibuya Ramen Crawl Worth the Food Coma 🖋️ Onsen Tips from Someone Slightly Obsessed with Onsening 🖋️ The Simple Joy of Sharing Kinosaki Onsen Tamago in the Morning 🖋️ Experiencing Fukuoka Yatai Culture on New Year’s Eve 🖋️ Hanko Stamp Is A Non Boring Souvenir to Bring Back from Japan 🖋️ Nyoirinji Temple Fukuoka A Temple Where Frogs Bring Good Luck 🖋️ Caffeinated Morning Adventure at Lonich Coffee Omakase Fukuoka 🖋️ Ine Funaya Kyoto: The Most Beautiful Seaside Village in Japan 🖋️ Snow, Hot Milk, and Chair Lifts in Amanohashidate Japan 🖋️ Making Matching Rings in glanta Kyoto Ring Making Workshop 🖋️ Discovering Kappo Cuisine on a Romantic Night in Kyoto 🖋️ A Slow Winter Wander Through the Onsen Town of Yufuin 🖋️ Inside a Tiny Tachinomi Bar on a Rainy Tokyo Night
Tiny Joys
❤️ A colleague treated us to coffee ❤️ Catching up with Jacqui over three watermelon spritzes ❤️ Cozy weather ❤️ Another colleague testing her baking recipes on us by bringing different cupcakes every day ❤️ Dogs Day at work ❤️ Earrings from Fiji from Nikki ❤️ Fafa getting me red tulips ❤️ Float theraphy ❤️ Lunch and Learn at work with lunch provided ❤️ Meeting my book club friend at the market and being treated by her to organic yellow watermelon ❤️ One more working day before our trip ❤️ Organic yellow watermelon ❤️ Poke bowl ❤️ Rainy days ❤️ Rainy nights ❤️ Replenishing plants ❤️ Tipsy singing in the car❤️ Using Visa for Myki ❤️ Burgertory ten-dollar deal ❤️ Ube Matcha ❤️ Celebrating World Happiness Day -❤️ Southern Hemisphere Fall Equinox ❤️ fall folliage ❤️ Pet chicken ❤️ Blooming peace lily ❤️ Start of the weekend ❤️ Drunken notes ❤️ Photobooth ❤️ Love messages from cousins ❤️ New journal ❤️ Great book ❤️ Nourishing workshop ❤️ Hello Kitty Labubu ❤️ Fun named cocktails ❤️ Photo printers ❤️ Tahiti Lime sparking water ❤️ Finding my 10 years old tiny umbrella which I thought I have lost ❤️ Customized wax seal ❤️ Endless supply of figs at work ❤️ Tulips from market ❤️ Using stickers in my journal ❤️ Amma’s voice ❤️ Reading in the bus ❤️
Time Machine
🌴 ━ The happenings of this time last year and last decade.
Thank You, Next!
🃏 — I pulled The Empress, depicted as Kyoto in the travel tarot deck, for the month of April. May April be a month of nourishment, and may I find pockets where I can slow down and smell the roses — or rather, notice the autumn foliage this month.
🍸 — Somehow, I wonder whether The Empress could also relate to us having Super Vi at our home at the end of the month. She is one of my dearest friends, whom I haven’t seen since our wedding party in Bali, and I am beyond thrilled to see her again. It has been far too long. So far, we haven’t made concrete plans aside from a winery trip, but I’m already delighted.
🏡 — We’re off to Jakarta for Easter weekend to celebrate double birthdays in the family. We have a packed, back-to-back schedule, which seems crazy to squeeze into less than a week, especially with month-end and audit work waiting for me back in Melbourne. But that’s a future-me problem — first, Jakarta!
🥟 — I’ve signed myself and Fafa up for a Momo festival at Footscray Park on a weekend in April. Here’s hoping I can drag him along for it… all for the momos.
🎨 — The Melbourne Comedy Festival is yet another thing I’ve booked back-to-back. Starting with Sashi Perera tonight, followed by Brown Women Comedy with my own brown women gang. Then there’s a couple’s comedy pub crawl, closing out with Crazy Funny Asians stand-up.
Happy autumn foliage from this side of the world. 🍂
Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.
That all-chicken dinner at Ian Potter was sooo good. And thanks for the cheat code on the bowl 😉