tatlercover

Love Through The Years

I was assigned to write the cover story for Tatler's February 2012 issue - a Valentine's Day special interviewing five high-society couples about their marriages (interestingly enough, the photographer for this story was Joel, the same guy who shot for the other couples profile piece I did for Vanilla magazine all those years ago. Maybe we just exude lovey dovey vibes.) . It was anthropologically very interesting talking to these people who lead such glamourous lives, and all their love stories … [Read more...]

Semb6

Sembawang’s Sumptuous Spots

  Now this was an article close to my heart -  covering favourite food around my neighbourhood! I had a lot of fun getting to know the people at my regular food haunts  better, and because I also shot the images for this article, I interacted much more with the staff there who always had an interesting story or two. I'm very happy to get something published on this widely-read online platform and was absolutely fascinated with the flurry of responses this article generated. Click … [Read more...]

taman_cover

Strangers in the Park

This was a challenging article. For one, my husband and I embarked on this trip to Taman Negara knowing that we weren't really of the National Geographic calibre. There wasn't going to be scaling of tumultuous mountains or cuddling of orang utans. The only possible story angle based on our limitations was to truthfully position us as urban wussies. The editor found this "entertaining" and played it up. Despite all my dramatic scenic descriptions (see next point) of Taman Negara, he chose to … [Read more...]

cameron

Little England

The first T+L collaboration with my husband, Darren. The good news is that we did not squabble while on assignment in Cameron Highlands, though a bit of nagging was involved thereafter. You can view the full article here. … [Read more...]

fullertonbk

The Fullerton Heritage

I really enjoyed holing up in the library while helping with the writing, research and editing of this historical coffee table book. It is also quite cool that I get a "sub-byline" (below Ilsa Sharp, no less!). If you must know it says "Additional text by Melanie Lee" :) … [Read more...]

schoolbag

School Blog Puts News On The Little Red Dot

I remember this article because I never had so many people mistake me as a teacher before. I also never met such an excitable, articulate bunch of primary school students. It was fun. Full article here. … [Read more...]

singaporenature_sm

Singapore Naturally

Doing this story possibly made me a little fitter, because for three weeks I was actually hiking (well, walking) or cycling regularly to view the nature spots. It was lovely to see the "unurban" side of Singapore. In a way, I was very much the tourist. You can view the full article here. … [Read more...]

littleme

What the Sound of Music Taught Me About Life

I'm so glad Jaton asked me to contribute a piece on the Childhood issue for New Slang. This was so much fun to write and brought back good memories. Full article here. … [Read more...]

daisijie

My Favorite Place

I had a trippy conversation with filmmaker and author Dai Sijie about his favourite travel destination. It was an enjoyable interview despite the language barrier. He's a funny, funny guy. Click here for a hi-res version of the article. … [Read more...]

polymathcrust

The Little Shop Around The Corner

This dear little bookshop feeds my (literary) soul. It pleased me very much to feature them on Travel + Leisure. Click here for a hi-res version of the article.   … [Read more...]

southafrica

South Africa Chic

I did not get to go to South Africa for this book. However, there was a fair amount of escapist armchair travelling. A few months later after publication, I did make it to South Africa for a friend's wedding and it really is as beautiful as it is described here. Click here for more information on the book. … [Read more...]

lovevanilla

Love Of A Lifetime

It was timely that Theresa, the editor of this wonderful but tragically short-lived publication (Vanilla magazine), gave me this assignment just before I got married. While it took a lot of effort to rally up all these couples, I love the variety of real-life love stories presented - some should definitely be made into movies/soap operas one day. Read the full article here. … [Read more...]

NuwaraEliyaTODAY

Highland Beauty

This was my first published travel story so I'm quite sentimental about it. The trip to Sri Lanka was also pretty adventurous for two rather naive Singaporean girls. Click here for a hi-res version of the article. … [Read more...]