The one on the left or the one on the right? Left!
Not-anon-anymore: Changmoh started as an anonymous blog and I only recently revealed my identity after being photographed by Annie Leibovitz while she was in Singapore. Rude not to, really. I hear she’s quite handy with a camera
Nickname: Frog
Food hates: liver & white chocolate
Food loves: durian & lobster
Shoe size: 38
Can’t leave the house without: earrings
Childhood biscuit of choice: Bourbon cream
Favourite hawker dish: char kway teow (bo ham)
Born: London
Exercise: dancing, does it count?
Tea: earl grey or green
Confused by: the Oxford comma
Favourite colour: emerald green
Dislikes: paying ‘angmoh price’ for anything
Likes: a bargain. I insist upon ‘local price, lah’ to such an extent that stallholders at the market refer to me as the (notionally) Chinese Angmoh – ‘Changmoh’ for short – hence the name of this site.
PRESS:
Changmoh was voted ‘Top 10 Lifestyle Blog in Singapore’ in the OMY Blog Awards 2013 after less than one year of blogging.
In addition to running Changmoh, I am a cookbook author and columnist (Singapore Tatler) and have worked at BBC Worldwide (digital editor of bbc.com global homepage). I contribute to The Telegraph, L’Officiel, Expat Living and Sands Style. After blogging about my full Chinese confinement, I made my debut TV appearance last year when I was featured in a documentary that aired across America discussing the benefits of the Chinese traditions that lie behind pregnancy and birth here in Singapore.
All press/TV coverage featuring changmoh.com can be viewed here.
All press coverage relating to my cookbook A Helping Hand: Delicious Recipes in English & Tagalog can be viewed here.
READERS COMMENTS & WHY I LOVE GETTING THEM:
My blog is a conversation and I love hearing from my readers – without your comments I am essentially just talking to myself. A blog is (or should be) a conversation, hopefully a two-way one. Whilst I do read each and every email I receive, I can’t always manage to respond (but I try to).
ETHICAL BLOGGING:
This is a subject very close to my heart as there are a lot of bloggers out there who do not declare when something has been comped, gifted or given away for free at a press event etc. I think this is unethical.
As a published writer, my blog operates in the same way as a newspaper or magazine and has certain principals. There is nothing written about on my blog that I haven’t personally done. All views are my own.
If I am ever paid by a company to use or endorse a product it will be, first and foremost, because I genuinely love that product. My involvement with the company will always be clearly stated and no editorial sign off will be granted.
Most importantly of all, I have never written, nor will I ever write, favourable editorial posts in direct exchange for money, gifts or samples.
Whilst I hope that products I am sent or events I attend generate copy, it is not guaranteed. I reserve the right not to post a review in both cases.
I do sometimes, for my readers’ convenience, provide a link to a particular recommended item or store on changmoh. These are my personal recommendations and I make no money from any subsequent click throughs or purchases (this is called ‘deep-linking’).
If Changmoh Consults, my writing and social media consultancy, has connections with any brands that I write about on my site, I will disclose the connection.
I take about 90% of all photographs displayed on this site. If the image used is not my own, I will credit the source. If you believe I have used your image in error, please contact me and I will remove it.
COPYRIGHT © All copy is written and owned by Changmoh Consults, as are all uncredited images. Not to be amended, distributed or duplicated in any way without written consent from the author.
BRILLIANT BOOKS I LOVE…
The list changes all the time, my current read is Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan which is a scream, but these are the staples I can’t do without:
A Helping Hand: Delicious Recipes in English & Tagalog – OK so this is actually mine! It’s the only cookbook of its kind in Singapore and I wrote it to try to help create happy, harmonious homes. A lot of people living in Asia and the Middle East have helpers and sometimes things do get lost in translation (whilst Filipino helpers do of course speak English, cooking terminology can be notoriously difficult to understand: blind bake, beat, blanch, braise – even for native English speakers). This book helps get honest, classic food on the table with minimal fuss and effort. Illustrated with masses of beautiful photographs, it has attracted a lot of media attention since its launch earlier this year and it has been featured in The Straits Times, The Telegraph and more. A beautiful big heavy hardback, A Helping Hand is priced at S$39.90 and is available from good bookstores and gourmet groceries island wide. Click here for stockists as well as to order online. A donation from each sale will be made to HOME, a charity dedicated to upholding the rights of migrant workers here in Singapore.
The Coxford Singlish Dictionary – A compulsory buy if you live here, regardless of whether you are a local or an expat. A genuinely funny lowdown on every single conceivable slang word used in Singapore, no matter what its origins: Malay, Hokkien or Teochew. Edited by two ACS boys, the translations are very well done and will make you smile. I love their listings of common mispronunciations from “afturds” [afterwards] to “lippit” [repeat].
The End of Char Kway Teow & Other Hawker Mysteries – The book that goes with Dr Leslie Tay’s award winning blog on hawker centres in Singapore, I Eat I Shoot I Post. This is essentially a hard copy of what he offers on line and I much prefer it to the more widely read food guide ‘Makansutra’. It’s now rather obsolete thanks to Lesley’s iPhone app that has taken Singapore by storm, letting you search by hawker location as well as by food type (shop iTunes for the app ‘ieat hawker’) but makes for excellent foodie browsing.
Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess – I am a terrible cook but feel hugely clever and accomplished when I make anything from this book. It’s fail safe and hard to get any recipe in here horribly wrong. Dense and very chocolatey Chocolate Loaf Cake on page 166 may not look pretty but it’s a winner that you can even make the day before a dinner party (to serve, just tart it up by adding a side of cut strawbs and some pouring cream to each plated slice).
Everyday Asian by Bill Granger – If you live in Asia this is a hands-down winner. All the staple dishes that you eat when you are out and wonder, for days, how to replicate; they are all in here. Big love: his Japanese tofu on page 70.
BLOGGY BRILLIANT…
Blogs I love and follow whether they’re in Singapore, the UK or the rest of the world:
SITES FOR SORE EYES…
Websites I love for general perusing and/or purchases, listed in no particular order. Most of the shopping sites not only offer things you can’t buy here but even with the shipping charges, often work out cheaper than buying their Singapore equivalent, if there is one.
My Wardrobe I like this more than I like its competitor, (net-a-porter) it feels more intimate, and love their weekly style emails
Sheerluxe Everything you could ever want…all of which is buyable online. Their edits are amazing and range in price from clever Topshop bargains to serious cash-splashing designer buys. For the house and home as well as for you
Handpicked Collection When I want to source a particularly unusual and clever present, this is where I go. Generally this site always has some really good buys, chosen by the journalists and stylists who have put it all together. Sadly they don’t ship to Singapore, so my mother acts as my mail redirection service, but until ship it to works for the UK as well as the US, Handpicked will just have to serve as food for thought
Peter Jones A housewife haven if ever there was one…I can’t believe I am listing this here but I promise it’s only because I’m living abroad in a country where everything trusty old Peter Jones/John Lewis sells costs me approximately double. Their new site lets you shop online and get most (note, not all) of what you see delivered to Singapore at the flat rate of £15 ($30). Unfortunately there is no way of knowing, without starting the checkout procedure, what they will and won’t ship worldwide, so it can be a bit frustrating but worth it for the potential savings you will be making
Rockett St George Run by a very small team, Rockett sell beautiful, usual, quirky things for the house and home. They ship internationally too, just drop them an email to ask about the price of posting to Singapore as it’s not always made obvious that this is something they’ll do
