Style Archives -

Crazy Christmas is around the corner. A chat with new Dim Sum Dolly Denise Tan.

I have been a big fan of the Dim Sum Dollies since day one. I’ve known Selena and Pam for years and considered the late, incredibly talented Emma a friend. To date, I’ve been to all their shows. So I am extremely happy that the Dim Sum Dollies has reformed, with the affable, enthusiastic and super cool Denise Tan joining everyone’s favorite, local musical-theatre-cabaret-trio. Their new show, Crazy Christmas Ting Tong Belles, kicks off next week, on the 11th of December and runs through to the 22nd of the month. It is very much, for anyone who enjoys silliness, showtunes and Singaporeans making fun of themselves, a must-watch for the holiday season. You can buy tickets here. Continue Reading →

3 Italian sauces you should never buy at the supermarket….

….because you can make them quickly and easily at home, and oh so much better. I remember when I first started to cook and I used to doctor up jarred tomato sauce with herbs and such. I felt very clever about making it “better” – until my mother said, hey, basically you can use plain old tomatoes and make a REAL sauce doing very nearly the same steps. A mind blowing food moment for a teenager – cooking is… easy?!? Continue Reading →

Shopping at Shinola’s flagship in Detroit, Michigan

Coincidence is a funny thing. The day I walked into the Shinola flagship store in Detroit, Michigan, I was informed by the very cool sales guy helping me that that very night, they were opening a shop-in-shop, their first international outpost in fact, in Singapore. My thoughts raced from, “How cool!” to “What? And I came all the way here?” to “The prices better be better here in Detroit” to “How come neither I nor anyone I know knows about the Singapore store?”, and finally, “So, what product is only available here?” Continue Reading →

Jan Power’s Farmers Markets has a new jewel at the Albion Mill Village. Brisbane, Australia

Fifteen years ago Brisbanites could only dream of having the kind of access to farm fresh produce that much of Europe and Asia enjoyed for as long as anyone can remember. Roadside stalls with boxes of produce and an honesty box yielded you a hit and miss selection of whatever was in season if you were prepared to hit the hinterland on a weekend but other than that and what you could grow in your backyard, produce buying happened at the local fruiterer and increasingly, at the supermarket. Continue Reading →

Mini cheesecake cupcakes

Whenever Christmas comes round, it signals the start of mum’s American Cheesecake baking season. Her record was set in the early 2000s when 47 cheesecakes were made and sent out our doors over a period of 3 weeks leading up to Christmas. The whole house just smelled of cheesecake… constantly. So safe to say, everyone in the family is a sucker for the dessert. Continue Reading →

Modern departures from familiar flavours at Bacchanalia, Singapore

Singapore is currently enjoying quite the culinary renaissance. It feels like there are new restaurants and cafes opening weekly. And to be honest, I can’t even keep up with all these new places. Unfortunately, judging from my dining-out experiences over the past year, far too many newbies prize style over substance, i.e. while many of these new eateries look great and attract a growing pride of local hipsters, the reality is that their food is often both mediocre and very expensive. One restaurant that opened this past year, however, whose culinary program has continued to impress me is Bacchanalia, located (oddly enough) in the city’s Masonic Hall. Continue Reading →

Punch Detox – a juice cleanse

Over the years, I have often heard and read about the benefits of a juice cleanse. All this time, I’ve dismissed it as simply too mar fan (troublesome) – after all, I could just eat healthier or just have fruit and veggies directly for most of the day.

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5 things you should never buy at the supermarket…

…because you can make them better at home! No, really. I remember I was shocked when, some years back, I had just started to take cooking seriously and someone showed me how to make salad dressing. Really? That’s it? And it tastes better? Then I started to wonder…what else can we make at home? Continue Reading →

Baishinka Tea House by Higashiya, Tokyo, Japan

When I had told my wife S that I was taking her to Tokyo to celebrate our wedding anniversary, she pretty much left the planning to me. The only requests she made were a stop by her favorite designer’s boutique in Omotesando and a visit to Baishinka, the gorgeous new tea room opened by the folks behind Higashiya (which we’ve established in an earlier article that she’s quite obsessed with). Of course, I was happy to accommodate her requests. Continue Reading →

Diner en Blanc in Singapore this year!

I first heard about Diner en Blanc in an article from a magazine some years back, but by the time I realised the inaugural one in Singapore was going to take place, it was too late to even vaguely think about trying to get onto the guest list. This year, I was slightly better prepared, and was all excited about taking part in the much talked about gourmet flash mob in a secret location – coming up in October (next month!). Happily, I also managed to grab some time with organiser Clemen Chiang. Continue Reading →

The Porthole – My beautiful new cocktail infusion vessel

Please indulge me for the next few paragraphs as I show off my latest toy. The Porthole, the sexiest infusion vessel known to man, is one of those products that you absolutely have to get for no other reason than its general gorgeousness. I’m an absolute sucker for great design, and this piece of kitchen porn I got off Kickstarter was well worth the one year wait.
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