MOONBERRY

04/06/2024

Savoring every bite of these succulent lobster noodles and other yummy seafood dishes with fam. 🦞🍜💕

25/05/2024

On the table: Thai Son-in-Law Eggs (deep-fried hardboiled eggs with caramelized tamarind sauce) 🍳🍳🍳

The name cracks me up. Please google for the story behind it!

20/05/2024

Who said being a 学霸 was easy? If you need me, I'll be buried under my textbooks.

18/05/2024

Join me on a nostalgic journey as I retire my collection of vintage cameras and lenses. 📷 Wait, is 2004 considered “vintage” already?!?!?

Canon Singapore Samsung

14/05/2024

On the table: Kimchi-stuffed Baby Calamari, ft. Matcha Soba 🦑

I often don't feel like filming anything as it's quite a chore to plan, record, and edit. But when I look back, I'm really grateful these moments can be digitally backed-up and savored again.

12/05/2024

When work is play and play is work. 😁

#宅女日常 #집순이그램

09/05/2024

I've been noticing that the twins' kitty breath is becoming... somewhat overpowering. 🙊 Especially when they plop next to me in bed and yawn like nobody's bizniz. So I consulted a vet who told me that they are suitable candidates for dental cleaning. BUT THE COSTTT AH!!!!! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ *hands trembling*

18/04/2024

Not gatekeeping this. Pho-get pho. THIS is the beef noodle soup that my parents and I enjoyed during our trip to HCM. It felt like a fancier version yet at the same time, it's a modest creation that's imbued with tradition and creativity in flavors. The location isn't in city centre and even the car ride driver marvelled that we were trekking to this district for food.

The family recipe for this beef noodle has been passed down for generations and it came as no surprise that there are imitations. According to my friend who regretfully tried the imitation, the difference was straggering. The original is truly a hidden gem. Obvs trying to replicate a 91-yr old family recipe is no easy feat. I am totally bookmarking for a return visit next time!

16/04/2024

I brought my parents on a whirlwind eating trip to Ho Chi Minh last week and boy, we had an awesome time noshing on yummy local eats. Some of them were repeat visits for me, but the first time for my parents to experience new dishes (not the usual ole' pho and banh mi). We are no strangers to Vietnamese food but I have never seen my dad and mom enjoyed Vietnamese food *this* much. On our flight back, my dad even commented that out of the 7 or so times that he'd been to Vietnam, this trip definitely topped them all. 🤩

Personally I appreciate Vietnamese food tremendously because of the mountain of raw herbs that's served with almost every meal. But TBH it's not easy to navigate the city due to language barrier and some random tech hiccups even in this day and age of being able to look up information online prior. Our trip wouldn't have been the same without some generous local assistance. I am grateful that my parents enjoyed this trip and I had a great time too.

07/04/2024

On the table: Seafood Mac & Cheese 🧀🧀🧀

The creamiest and cheesiest mac 'n cheese I've ever made, with a *SECRET* ingredient. 😉 Care to guess before watching the reveal inside the video? Hint: it's crispy and packed with umami.

05/04/2024

Can you believe this video was made 10 YEARS AGO?!?

The other day in class I was sharing with my students about the early days of my social media pursuits, and how the first food video which I ever posted on IG was a short video clip of my homemade Lavender Creme Brulee.

I couldn't remember how long ago that was so I looked it up in my digital archives. Holy moly, I can't believe I did this a decade earlier back in April 2014!!! 😳😳😳 This was the video which then launched countless of food videos I created afterwards. Too bad the original 15-sec version on IG is no longer around, but thankfully I still have the longer version published on my blog.

Objectively speaking, I don't think my food video style has changed very much... What do you think?

🎞️ Video: https://vimeo.com/117570641
💻 Blog post: https://blog.moonberry.com/recipe-lavender-creme-brulee/

http://blog.moonberry.com/recipe-lavender-creme-brulee/ Lavender Creme Brulee 200ml Heavy Cream 100ml Skimmed Milk 3 Egg Yolks 1/3 cup Sugar 1 Tbs Lavender…

31/03/2024

Trekked to CBD coz the only female therapist at my previous physio place left so I have to start going to another branch. But the building elevator though.... inception, lol. 🤪🤪🤪

23/03/2024

My table story: Homemade Yam Cake 💜

So touched that my long time pal surprised me and shared some of the homemade yam cake that his wife made. He said it was for my birthday. Awww~ 🥰🥰🥰 This homemade yam cake is so delicious, packed with umami! Enjoyed with lotsa gratitude, thank you so very much. 🙏🏻

22/03/2024

Geekery time! Tinkered around and created an AI Chat Agent for testing purposes. For a limited time only, who is keen to try interacting with her too? 😎😎😎 Please comment so I can share the info.

Anyhoo, my chat agent is pretty cool eh? There are just way too many tools and options out there, with various pros and cons. My advice to anyone who's interested is: take the time to do ample homework first before committing coz all this fancy tech -WILL- burn a deep hole in your pockets. Super servers cost money, yo!

16/03/2024

As a loner, this year I opted to spend my birthday quietly and even accepted a work assignment when I was supposed to be idling at home and contemplating life. 😜 I had a nice time hanging out with family and tho. Received heartfelt birthday wishes from numerous friends and students too, which truly brightened my day. 💖💖💖

11/03/2024

Geekery time.🤓 Finally got around to tinkering around with generative AI images and exploring some tools, checking out features and process. I need to take more snapshots of the twins to generate from! ✨🐈🐈✨

10/03/2024

Riddance of year-old bleached hair (well, as much as I could handle it) at a Korean hair salon which has earned a viral reputation on Lemon8. Tho there are a couple of neg reviews, which may or may not hv coincided with the hectic LNY period, I went to try anyway. Thankfully GST included; getting hair done in SG is so costly! Pleased with shorter hair coz less time washing + drying. 👍🏻 When it grows longer I'm gonna cut off more pesky bleached ends, wheee~

08/03/2024

On the table: Cucumber Wakame Salad

Quick companion to a main dish (posting video soon). Careful when using dried wakame seaweed, a little bit will expand to quite a sizeable mass after being rehydrated.

05/03/2024

My me-time is precious and I guard it fiercely because I get all achy and mentally drained after every course I conduct. I spend more time recovering than the time I spend to deliver training. 😅😅😅 Still on the gratitude train tho! Giving thanks to a nice colleague and a very kind student who respectively gifted me with loads of Chinese Tea from their hometowns a while back. There are so many to choose from but I finally brewed a pot and it's soothing. 泡一杯好茶舒缓心情独自疗愈一下～ 🍵💛

05/03/2024

Yay, Putu Piring time! It's the perfect afternoon snack. Sometimes during the first bite, I wish there's more gula melaka filling, but then after eating a couple I think the amount is just right. 😜 Loving the sandy + melty texture of the gula melaka filling with the pillowy soft rice flour cake, and the freshly grated coconut is a must.

I haven't had these since pre-Covid. 😮 My uncle used to get these for me whenever he visited.

04/03/2024

Remember the video I posted last week about the cheese board I made?
(https://www.facebook.com/100068252139813/videos/731229878821365)

Well, guess what... when I wasn't looking, the twins managed to get their paws on the quinoa puffs I used for the cheese board. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ HAIYOOHHHHHHH!!! Never a dull day at home with these two.

PS: I referred to the quinoa puff as baby food because to me that's what it tastes like = plain plain plain.

01/03/2024

Last week when I arrived to work to conduct the last day of a course, a learner surprised me by placing the breakfast that he bought for me on my table. Not just any regular breakfast but LUXURY Bee Hoon with complete fixings of fried chicken wing, ngoh hiang, fried fishcake, overeasy egg. Moments later, another learner then arrived to the classroom and again, surprised me by presenting me a box of Ferrrero Rocher. 😭😭😭

I am super duper touched by the kindness and generosity. I take it they were enjoying my class and liked what they were learning. I am very thankful for these gestures of appreciation and definitely do not take my work for granted. It is wonderful to know that I am making a difference in my students' learning journey. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💖💖💖

29/02/2024

My Table Story: Cheese Board filled with heaps of gratitude 💖 感恩满满的奶酪拼盘

Many thanks to the students who presented me with a bunch of fresh fruits (I hope you are seeing this post, you know who you are). 😘😘😘 You have made my work day so much sweeter by your kind gesture. I am filled with lots of gratitude. ✨🙏🏻✨ Your gifts inspired me to put together this cheese board, which I snacked on and enjoyed tremendously on my day off.

29/02/2024

I had such a memorable experience at San Shu Gong Private Dining over LNY celebration dinner with friends. We made reservation two months prior and even though most of the special menu items that we had booked in advance turned out to be unavailable (eagerly anticipated cold crabs, but nopes), the other ala carte dishes that we ordered were really good. 🤩🤩🤩

The Teochew-style Yu Sheng with its wonderful combination of ingredients balanced with delicious, not-overly-sweet sauce. Meanwhile, the Deep Fried Sea Cucumber was a real treat! The crispy texture took me by surprise and I'll definitely return to have this dish again.

20/02/2024

I guess she must be very comfortable in there. 有床不睡，睡浴缸… 🛁😽✨

Lala had an episode of runny stool the other night and I wasn't sure what she ingested (no change in diet, no abnormal behavior or lethargy, appetite same as always). I brought her to the vet for a checkup and everything was deemed as normal. Nevertheless she was prescribed with some meds which promptly settled the issue. Phew!

I mentioned to the vet that her kitty breath is getting kinda strong 🤢 and the vet detected quite a bit of tartar buildup so both Lala and DD are recommended to get dental scaling soon. 💸💸💸

18/02/2024

First time ever attending a company D&D! 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻 They were giving out prizes like brand new smartphones, tablet, laptop, monitor, gaming chair, and even roundtrip airtix to Japan. Someone at my table won a lucky draw $1.5K+ cash prize. 😮 I didn't win anything (bleh) and had to get up early the next day for work. Gwa~gwa~gwaaa~~~

Edit: Wouldn't have minded winning the cash prize or the new S24 Ultra. 😬😬😬

27/07/2023

Happily received a bag of Chinese Twisty Crullers (麻花卷) from colleague yesterday, a local specialty brought over by his MIL from Xiamen. Normally I don't fancy snacks like these but since I was feeling peckish in the classroom, I decided to try one and it was super delicious!!! 🤩🤩🤩 Will take proper photos of it soon with the packaging to show y'all.

Happily brought it home and placed it on the kitchen countertop. Happily went to take a nap. AND THEN!!!

When I woke up and went back to the kitchen, I noticed crumbssssss. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ Yup, guess who helped himself to my Twisty Crullers when I wasn't watching? HAIYOOOOOHHH. 🙄🙄🙄 Evidently DD also couldn't resist how delicious it is and finished an entire one all by himself. And he still had the appetite for his dinner after, which he ate with gusto. 🙄🙄🙄

26/07/2023

How would you classify this type of desserts? Even though the storefront states "Traditional Chinese desserts", technically this is Hongkong-style, no? (If I'm to tell my overseas penpals about this category of desserts.)

My favorite is always the Mango Sago Pomelo. 🥭🥭🥭 It's so refreshing and decadent. This time I also got Papaya Snow Fungus too (my first time trying).

Can't stop thinking about Thai mango but dunno when or how I will ever find the Golden Mile stall that used to sell them already precut into long slices and bagged with a side of dried baby shrimp + gula melaka dipping sauce... 😢😢😢

THIS: https://www.facebook.com/204346122943572/posts/5572639969447467/

25/07/2023

On the table: Korean-style Pan-Fried Tofu

I was going to actually cube the tofu, deep-fry and add into my tempeh dish. But I bought the wrong kind of tofu (should've bought Tau Kwa) 🤦🏻‍♀️ so I decided to pan-fry instead and let the velvety slices soak in the simple Korean soy-garlic-sesame dressing I made.

24/07/2023

On the table: Tempeh Orak Arik

One time I randomly went inside an Indonesian mart at a mall (in SG) and was curiously checking out everything on the shelves and the freezer. I discovered and bought a small frozen bag of pre-cooked Tempeh Orak Arik to try.

Turned out the Tempeh Orak Arik was really delicious! It is a super simple dish, and since Tempeh is a healthy protein I wanted to eat more of it. So I set out to find the recipe and here's the homemade result. 👌🏻 The julienned kaffir lime leaf is so aromatic and adds a special dimension to this dish. Chef's kiss. 💋💋💋

A pack of tempeh at the supermarket only cost $0.60! 🤯 The fermentation is gorgeous. I don't know what's the function of the leaf wrapping, does anyone know?

Tempeh is kinda underrated eh? It has so many health benefits but not many people in SG are eating it?!