Desiree Koh Writes

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I’ve had better #Thanksgiving plates, but I’ve never had more #gratitude, with plenty leftover to keep in my back pocket for every single day. My #family, my #friends, my @thelensmen2020 team, everyone I have the privilege of working with

The vibrant, exhilarating heart of true explorers: touching down in #Singapore after a 18:40 non-stop from JFK, literally lagged but figuratively fresh, and in feisty, fighting form to dedicate just 36 hours here to #Katong and #LittleIndia. Forget c

It’s #TevereDay2024, and this week the #TiberRiver flowing through @roma becomes a #unescoworldheritage site. Arriving in #Rome in May — that kind of long-awaited, much-anticipated childhood dream touchdown — my first deep dive into

As a kid, I don’t remember which came first — learning about the #Colosseum then dreaming of encountering it for the next 40 years, or learning the word “colossal” before knowing it derives from the 1,944-year-old, 80,000-spec

Because in the real #Singapore that’s sweatily authentic, there’s always an uncle selling #icecreamsandwiches gripped with rainbow bread. If you know where he parks in your neighborhood, you’re a local.

“We didn’t want

@roma was neither built nor eaten in a day. I didn’t get to maritozzo, trapizzino, cacio e pepe, carciofi alla giudia, and who remembers what else. Mostly because I was fed full by mamme and packed with a cornucopia of every other incredible se

Happy #MothersDay to la mamma @shiokade, who is everything beyond definition, delineation and defiance (and Desiree). You’re full of flavor, you’re sweet, you’re spicy and most of all, you’re the bed of rice holding us all tog

A #friendship story: I’ve known @peipei29 for 28 years, during which we have together colleged three years at #NorthwesternUniversity, roommated for a year, played too many hours of Snood, took out excessively from Buffalo Joe’s, broke sp

In 1999, @shiokade and I drove Route 66 from L.A. to sweet home Chicago, Thelma and Louising it, but with a happy ending and without Brad Pitt. We spent our evenings at iconic stops along The Mother Road like Wigwam Motel in Arizona and Trade Winds I

Meet @shiokade Choo Eng Bee Bim Bap. She dons a summery, sunshiney flutter of #omelet bits with a stunning choker of #caramelized fried #porkbelly slices. And her headdress — oh my goodness, Santo Cielo, her headdress! — is an array of #k

Circa 5,000 meters above sea level. 5am. Frigid, whipping, icy winds. Darkness. Rock. Me hugging rock. Drowsiness. Nausea. Dizziness. Yes, summitting #MountKilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa, the highest freestanding #mountain in the world, is m

Savory, smoky, sweet, charred, fiery, eggy, lardy, mollusky, thin, thick (thiccccc?), flat, fired-up flavors and slews of sensations. Our #Singapore #noodles (but not “Singapore noodles”) are everything!
#carbs #noodleworship #ourhawkercu

My Chicago friend, mentor, booster Howard knew all the right places to go for baseball (Wrigley Field), chow (Lula Cafe, when Logan Square was still square), music (anywhere Bruce Springsteen plays). When I was heading to Venezia, he told me to eat a

Man, there’s nothing like the open highway that’s American rock & roll. There’s the rrrrrev of gunning the Fender floorboard, there’s the soft glow of soul that transforms headlights into benedicting moonbeams, there&rsquo

Le mie parole italiane non sono bellissime, ma devo raccontarvi della nostra esperienza a @danielespizzasg! Una meravigliosa cena di San Valentino (tra amici, certo) con queste pizze migliori. La crosta è grandiosa, e gli ingredienti sono tant

#Porksausage #roulade stuffed with mozzarella and spinach from a work project. Jambu from our neighbor’s tree. Spinach patties from the always smiling and kind Indian grocer. A platter of plenty of love with my #Parentines, @peterthelensman and

When my dad @peterthelensman was a boy, he would watch my grandfather and friends play mahjong in the spacious living room of our rented third floor Geylang Lorong 19 shophouse. Dad would be sent five lanes away to Geylang Lorong 29 to pick up #Fried

Another Chinese zodiac cycle begins, another spin around the lunar year, and more brakes for breakfast with this team. Please share your best kaya toast, min jian kueh and chee cheong fun suggestions with us.
#chinesenewyear2023 #godoffortune #godofw

There are many things you can count on — your fingers, abaci, calculators, and Google to pull up a no-name #CheeCheongFun stall somewhere in #ChoaChuKang when your search term is “choa chu kang breakfast”. But most of all, you can c