about

I would like to share with you my adventures around the globe. On every trip I find new places that amaze and excite me with breathtaking scenery, gorgeous architecture, colorful markets, museums, intoxicating music and cafes. Join me on some of my memorable and fun trips around the globe and experience new and interesting places, peoples, food, culture and lifestyles.

Each time I travel to a new place, I am always intrigued by the people I meet and the new cultures I experience as expressed in their history, religious and spiritual practices and cuisine. I am particularly interested in the intersection of food and culture. I am always excited when I first land in a new place and I immediately want to explore it. For me walking around the town is the best way to know a place and meet locals, or even to find a great meal. And everywhere I go I must take a leisurely stroll through the local food market and absorb the local colors and flavors. So whether I am walking around town or riding in a tuk-tuk, I love to stop and savor the local cuisine served up by food hawkers and vendors – be it sampling sweet glutinous rice roasted in bamboo at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, enjoying jerk chicken cooked in a steel drum along a beach in Jamaica, eating choclo con queso spread with hot aji sauce at the local market in Ollantaytambo in Peru, or, a sipping cool coconut water from a fresh young coconut at Batu Caves in Malaysia.

Where did I get my own taste for travel, food and culture? I am originally from Malaysia and have studied and worked in many parts of the world. When I was 5 years old, an astrologer read my palm and said to my mom that I would go far away from home. My father (whom we called Cha) and Ma laid the foundations of adventure and taste in me. Cha’s job took us from one town to another every few years, and Ma, a great cook, spoiled us with her delicious cooking. Ma understood me and always encouraged me to travel and see the world outside of Malaysia. Thus, from an early age my thirst for adventure with foods and cultures began, taking me to India, Belize, Mexico and England…then later on to many parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, South America, Caribbean and Europe.

I have also expressed my interest in food and culture in many magazine articles and two books. To share my memories growing up with foods in Malaysia and a love for it, as well as a strong passion to educate others on Malaysian cultures and foods, I recently wrote the cookbook,  “Flavors of Malaysia, A Journey through Time, Tastes and Traditions”. I will be also sharing with you recipes and tales from the book. I hope you enjoy them.