Not a Newsletter: May 26 Edition

Writing the draft of this post from a capsule hotel I unknowingly booked on my last day in Singapore. My cousins already left this morning, and I have the whole day to eat, explore, and shop in Singapore, but first, May…

Highlights

🧑🏻‍🐰‍🧑🏽 — Vi was here at the beginning of May. We did a road trip to Mornington Peninsula and had lunch at Barmah Park Restaurant & Cellar Door — food was good, not great, but the day itself was wonderful. We had cheese, chit-chatted about life, took Instax photos, and talked until late. We have the kind of friendship where no time ever feels like it has passed. Another weekend, we went to Hopper Joint so she could have her first ever Sri Lankan food — she loved it, and we took pictures with me showing off the bracelet the girls got me for the wedding. We also went to Dumbo for a hearty brekkie and a deep catch-up. We spent the rest of her visit eating, watching TV (Apex – who else bookmarked her Adventure Waterproof Backpack?), and going down a cave-diving disaster video rabbit hole together — a morbid fascination we discovered we shared. I cooked chicken curry, French onion salad and mushroom rendang buns while she filled me in on life updates. She liked all the artwork in the house (except my painting in Fafa’s room, which she laughed at), wrote a scone recipe in my recipe book, left me a card in the guest book, and cleaned the room far too well before she left. We said goodbye at 10 PM and hugged for a long time. She also went to the Dandenong Ranges on a complete whim — just decided to go, and went — and I am so inspired by that energy. Having her here brought back so many happy memories.

🍷 — We had a belated Galentines’ Day — three months later than planned, and six months later than the original plan of Nikki’s birthday. We chit-chatted, drank wine, and talked about unhinged things not worth repeating here. Christina mentioned that her family has an heirloom recipe book — a collection of her grandmother’s recipes, with a copy for everyone in the family. I found that so beautiful.

📸 — I went to the Fujifilm Creator’s Summit, which was so far outside my comfort zone and also completely worth it. I got a sturdy black tote bag with a zipper as a goodie bag (law of attraction, honestly), printed 10 Instax photos for free on the spot, and had the most delicious mushroom empanada of my life. I listened to incredibly inspiring talks — first by an Australian photographer who lives in Indonesia, then “The Sliding Door” by an Australian firefighter-photographer. Michael Boyle also spoke, and I was so moved that I bought his photography book on the spot. I came home feeling awed, inspired, and deeply motivated to get better at taking notice.

🌟 — I went to my first Reiki session and felt so, so good afterwards. I chose violet light, used the May I Renewed essential oil, and pulled two Oracle cards from the Women’s Moon Deck: Masculine Lunar God, and then New Beginnings. I felt nourished enough to order a Guzman burrito bowl on the Uber home, shower, put on layers of loungewear, and eat slowly and mindfully in front of a low-key New Zealand detective drama on Netflix. Intentional self-care is real, and it works. I also did another Float session this month, followed by a very necessary HSP takeaway.

🎨 — Sonal and I met at Papelon for cassava chips and fat empanadas before heading to Footscray Pride bar for Sketchy Behaviour, a live drawing class by Roxane. I drew a woman named Cayley, someone in the crowd drew me, and the whole energy of the room was joyful, friendly, and accepting. I had a Spicy Margarita and a Pornstar Martini. A good night.

💟 One day, I walked into Bookbinder looking for a short-trip traveller’s notebook and left with a completely unplanned stationery haul — a balm to my heart, genuinely. Followed by spicy pork udon from Ilza, Le Yellow Haw strawberry cake, and a matcha walk with a colleague. A perfect accidental afternoon.

🛕— I am supposed to write about Chiang Mai and Singapore, but both trips just happened, and I am technically still on the final leg — so I will park them for next month.

Foodie Guide-Y

📖 — Cookbook Book Club was a dream come true. It is almost like living my Come Dine With Me fantasy, but in some ways better. The first book was Linger by Hetty McKinnon. Everyone brought such delicious dishes, and I made a Za’atar Potato Salad — taste-tested and packed at the very last minute with help from Fafa and Vi. I was anxious about it being overdressed (as usual), but everyone seemed to enjoy it. The host was warm and thoughtful — she came prepared with questions and prompts, and I love that the Linger cookbook includes a playlist. The gathering was absolutely fab, and I cannot wait for the next round. Oh, and I came home to a clean kitchen, because Vi had tidied up while I was away. Gold star for my bestie.

🍪 — A new-to-me Aussie food: Neenish tart. A classic Australian treat (made with a pastry base and a filling of gelatine cream and icing sugar, in brown, white, or pink), I had somehow never tried.

🥩 — Double date at Bornga Korean Restaurant with Shiv and partner. We talked about exercise, their half-marathon, our Bali dream, work, family, and the books we’re all currently reading. Don always asks really good follow-up questions, and I always appreciate that. I had a full bottle of soju to myself, then we went to Goldilocks afterwards for mulled wine — my first of the year. I finished the evening with a Picolina coffee ice cream: coffee on the bottom, stracciatella on top.

🍲 — Another night out, this time with Shobs and partner. We started with drinks at Goldilocks — I had a Mama Bear, she had a Too Cold — then walked to 朱光玉火锅馆 near QVM for hot pot. Triple broth: yak soup (a highland Tibetan and Yunnan specialty built on rich, umami-packed yak bone broth — new to me, ticked), mushroom soup, and buttery mala, plus fortune fried rice. All good, but we are spoiled by Hai Di Lao’s princess treatment, and a regular hot pot experience just doesn’t quite hit the same. I don’t think I’ll return, though Fafa thinks we should give it another try.

☕ — Earlier this year at MFWF, I made friends with a Colombian yoga teacher who told me I absolutely had to try the Colombian hot chocolate experience: cheese dropped into hot chocolate, eaten with bread. I finally tried it at Truffles Latin American Restaurant in Balaclava. Heaven!

🍗 — Cooking highlights this month: crab masala made from fresh crab from QVM, chicken curry (leftover-worthy, evidently), rassam, ikan teri sambal, egg kalaki, shakshuka, Indo nasi goreng with chorizo and chicken nuggets, pancetta aglio olio, and chilli con carne with improvised ingredients — I should have stuck with the original recipe. Other memorable food moments: Nikki made us shepherd’s pie — my first ever, and it was so good. Fancy bánh mì, Teishoku lunch with Asmi, Hopper Joint with Vi and Fa, Geprek for an early lunch, and Ilza’s spicy pork udon.

Read, Watched & Browsed

📚 — I attended two author talks as part of Melbourne Writers Festival 2026: Stephanie Alexander of The Cook’s Companion and Meiko Kawakami of Breasts and Eggs. I’ll be honest — I was too hungry at first, too sleepy at the second, and skipped the third entirely.

☕ — I have started Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, but haven’t made much progress. Partly because books with food as a subtheme always pull me in and distract me. Which is also just worth acknowledging again: how much of my life revolves around food.

👻 — A few horror films this month. Strange Frequencies, a Filipino indie, is really good and a worthy spiritual successor to Gonjam Hospital. Creator 2026 — worth it. Procolivitas — almost worth it. Grave Encounters, rewatched for approximately the ten-thousandth time. Freddy 2 on the plane to Singapore — terrible. And then, in a tragic case of misreading the title, I accidentally paid for and watched Scream 7, thinking it was Scary Movie 6. It was horrendous.

🎧 — I found Things That Don’t Suck Substack through another Substack interview. It is touching, profound, and personal. I keep rereading it.

Tiny Joys

❤️ A beautiful, fluffy grey neighbourhood cat ❤️ Big sleepy tea ❤️ Appa keeping my photo in his wallet ❤️ Coffee walks ❤️ Cosmetics haul at W Cosmetics ❤️ Donating to Dignity ❤️ Facial with hot peel — felt so good I fell asleep afterwards ❤️ Getting a K lift to my office floor ❤️ Getting my nails done — No. 26, pink-purple cat eye, matching with my cousins ❤️ Having my thickest coat on the coldest day in May ❤️ Joking with my colleagues ❤️ Keeping a transport notification from a Netherlands train station in my inbox because it makes me happy and I’m manifesting a life there someday ❤️ LED mask + meditation combination ❤️ Morning tea ❤️ Natta Jain tarot class ❤️ Nikki got us brekkie ❤️ Payday ❤️ Photobooth ❤️ Pumpkin Seed Munch Me ❤️ Qantas lounge invitations ❤️ Seeing a rainbow 🌈 and knowing the day was going to be good ❤️ Supermoon ❤️ Telling Fafa my “we are on the boat” stories ❤️ The Tirsha + Vijay drama during his election ❤️ Upgraded luggage ❤️ Yoga ❤️

Time Machine

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

Thank You, Next!

🃏 — Tarot of the month is Page of Cups, it’s asking me to lead with feeling over logic this month (haha!). It wanders, notices beauty, and follows whatever sparks curiosity or tenderness. And the guided message was El Camino’s deck’s Fig Tree (I’m missing the booklet, so message translation is TBU).

🎮 — King’s Birthday weekend is coming up. Usually it’s a girls’ trip for me, but having already had a big one earlier this month, I opted for a staycation instead. Fafa kindly obliged, so we booked a yurt for glamping somewhere in the Dandenong Ranges.

There must be other things I have planned for June, but I can’t think of them right now. Alas — see you again from Singapore.

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