Spoiltbytes: Interview with Alexis Cheong

Today I got an opportunity to check out Alexis' (from alexischeong.com) home and also find out more about her. We also did a donut shoot with her which you will see later as you scroll down and we also messed up her makeup table while going ra-ra over all the eye-shadows that she has...

So how did you get started with this idea of blogging?

I actually started blogging way before, when I was in secondary three. It used to be the 'in' thing back then after making websites on Geocities became boring. When I started it was more of an online journal of my personal life, but when I started working about 4 years ago I started to eat out a lot more and discovering new/hidden places which I wanted to share with my friends. I would often blog about it, and then tell my friends to read my blog when they ask me for more details for food places.

After a while, I started receiving food tasting invites - I still remember my first invite was actually from a backpacker's hostel! Then a food court.. then a restaurant. It just started snowballing from there and I started to have this aim in mind that I would like to be invited to a famous fine dining restaurant for a food tasting. I realize now that that is rather unrealistic (if you are a well-known fine dining restaurant, you don't need to invite bloggers for tasting) but perhaps new fine dining restaurants might want to consider me?

Other than blogging about food though, I do also try to share to a smaller extent some other aspects of my life - like my travels, music favorites and beauty recommendations. Not many people know this, but I am a closet makeup junkie though I only collect, not use! And I have more than 100 bottles of nail polishes from OPI/China Glaze. I am also quite the tech geek and audiophile because I love testing new gadgets, apps and good sounds. I also shop a lot... (starting to see where's all my money going).

What is your favorite food?

This is such a tough question! OK, if there is only ONE thing I can eat for the rest of my life, it is probably canned sardines with lightly spiced tomato sauce. I know, that is REALLY weird right? But that is so versatile, and you can have it with bread, rice.. or on its own! It's so delicious.

Otherwise I think my favorite cuisine will be a tie between Thai, Japanese and Italian. I also don't think I can pick.

A great prawn aglio olio with loads of garlic (the famous Coffee Club garlic prawn pasta) would be probably my favorite, if I have to name just one.

What makes a dish good? What would it need to have to get 5 stars from you?

A dish needs to be simple, but complex. That seems like a paradox, but what I mean is, it needs to use simple but FRESH ingredients, lightly combined in a way that they play up to each other's strengths and create this "3D" taste profile. A good example will be a very good piece of steak - all you need is some salt, pepper and herbs and it will be great on its own with its juices and fats. I find it a headache when the flavors are so salty, sweet or thick, you end up downing two cups of water after.

I also have a pet peeve when it comes to food - I actually prefer food that is slightly cold or room temperature, and not piping hot (especially porridge and noodles!) because I am an impatient eater and hates it when I scald my tongue on hot food.

For a restaurant to get thumbs up from me, the service, ambiance and environment also plays a part, and helps justify the price of the food. The first thing I look out for, or rather, smell for, is the ventilation. If it smells like the food I'm eating, the place is not worth going back or hanging out at, unless it is Korean BBQ or steamboat!

Extra brownie points if the food comes from sustainable sources, like fish. I do hope Singaporean restaurants can put more effort into sourcing for those. Grub at Bishan Park is a good example that should be commended!

How would you dress to a food tasting and what is a must to bring?

I normally go for food tastings after work, so it will be whatever I wear that day. I would always bring my Panasonic Lumix GX1 to invited tastings because photos are an important part of the tasting/review. I will then use my HTC One or iPhone to snap pics for live postings on my Instagram.

Ideally, the best outfits for food tastings (and I'm sure every girl blogger would agree) are those that are not too tight around the mid-section, so there's room to expand! Some of the food tastings can get quite extensive, so no tight belts or jeans, loose fitting tops or maxi dresses instead. I also try to avoid white tops in case of splashes.

If you had only one day to live, what would you do and what would u eat?

I would tell all my family and friends how much I love and appreciate them, and spend the day with my family and dog, #mikmikk. I will also put my social media accounts in order.

I would love to have my mum cook for me one last time - and I'll eat anything she makes. Favorite homecooked food include sardines (!!!), "mao gua" with egg, onion duck (family recipe), curry chicken and steamed pomfret with plum. I would also love for some sichuan veggie soup (Cantonese style) and rice.

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Photos by Spoiltbytes

Makeup by Megan Tang from Cause by Effect