From Scratch

Something interesting about me:
I like to bake, and used to sell cupcakes through an Instagram account. I used to buy ingredients for my cupcakes from overseas because I took a gap year and traveled quite a bit. Whenever I had desserts or drinks that I tried overseas, I brought them back to Singapore. I enjoyed making a cupcake called the Esfahan with ingredients I got from Iran—saffron, pistachios,  and almonds—and people liked that a lot. I don’t have time to bake anymore, though, because I work in auditing and tend to get home after midnight.

Do you have a pastry chef that you look up to?
Quite a few actually, but one of them is Julia Smith. I used to watch her when I was six or seven years old, before school. She’s not the most entertaining like Gordon Ramsay, but her recipes are classic. You can add in more ingredients or different flavourings, and it’ll still turn out really good. I have six volumes of her recipes and shows.

In my free time:
I started muay thai classes earlier this month. I’m enjoying it so far but I was in quite a bit of pain because it was my first time exercising in a long while. Even coughing hurt my abdomen! (laughs)

What other talents do you have?
I play the guitar and piano. I used to play in an acoustic band called The Fat Cats. (laughs) The name came from this play, called How Did The Cat Get So Fat, that my friends from university were in. I don’t have much time to play right now—I mostly just post piano covers on my Instagram.

If you’re stuck on an island and can only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Pasta. I like to make it from scratch. One of my passions is to create things, be it pasta or cupcakes or pieces of art. I hope I get to do something like that in the future!