Lovesick Melody

My favorite store-bought cookies are Keebler Soft Batch Cookies. I haven't had them in a while but was reminded of them last night... only to find out they've been discontinued for a few years now 😵 Anyway. As you guessed it, frustration (both from a sudden craving and that weird wave of nostalgia) hit and I HAD to have those cookies, even if it meant making them myself. And so I did. Now they're not 100% the same, I'll admit, but they're pretty damn close. 😋 https://www.instagram.com/p/CaZCsm7FZCc/?utm_medium=tumblr

Chocolate crinkles 🍪 You all can probably guess where I made these 😉 https://www.instagram.com/p/CaHSa0rlIcQ/?utm_medium=tumblr

Mini lemon loaf for today's episode of Sunday bakes 🍞🍋 https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ5yRBOl06T/?utm_medium=tumblr

Some photos from Christmas dinner. Happy holidays! ☺️🎄 https://www.instagram.com/ika.dakimasu/p/CX7hV0ZFDIO/?utm_medium=tumblr

Believe me when I say that this is the best photo I could do... because 2 seconds after snapping, it fell apart completely on my board. Some lessons learned here: 1. I now understand why people keep the can the meat came from (it's to mould it into shape properly) 2. I make a really amazing soy glaze (made from scratch and pure intuition) 3. Plant-based spam is an okay alternative to regular spam. Anyway, here's a Spam Musubi for the Instagram feed using a plant-based alternative. I would give the alternative a 3/5 just because it has this weird taste when eating on its own, but I would give it a very generous 4.5/5 as a musubi because that soy glaze I made for it is an absolute winner. Now brb as I daydream about lounging in beaches in Hawaii, a spam musubi in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVwquKdFM3f/?utm_medium=tumblr

This is what it's like to be loved at 27: endless amounts of cakes (and non-cakes!) and celebrating with people that matter the most to me. I always say my birthday lasts an entire month. This is my way of being grateful to everybody who gives in to me 😆 https://www.instagram.com/p/CNxOyLrLRIXxBsdKSzwcGrUymn3T8MY9vUg4wM0/?igshid=1yqe13cfdqsf

Japanese milk bread 🍞 Honestly, I just made this bread so I have an excuse to use my load pan. Hahaha. Anyway. Shaping the dough could use some work but this was a fun and easy recipe I found while Youtube surfing (seems like that's where I find ALL my recipes nowadays...) The first photo didn't do any justice to how tall this loaf really was (refer to second photo for actual height) but the result was amazing. So soft and fluffy, will do again for sure ☺️ https://www.instagram.com/p/CNt0tcwsw6p/?igshid=74vos4rcwgrp

Couldn't sleep last night so this graham-cracker-based chocolate tart was born. 🥧✌🏼 https://www.instagram.com/p/CNeCK5QMbp4/?igshid=xqna84pgfa6d

Chocolate muffins 2.0 😂 Tried a YouTube recipe I found the other night and it turned out beautifully. But I think I was more amazed over the fact that the recipe yielded EXACTLY 12 muffins hahahahaha https://www.instagram.com/p/CMeh6EDMJK2/?igshid=h8i0vri09flc

Had an insatiable chocolate muffin craving last night... woke up this morning thinking I needed to have it or I might do unspeakable things. Happy Friday 🌞🧁🍫 https://www.instagram.com/p/CMBhtsJnj3y/?igshid=qokdlezy3m2p

"How do you want to remember the last 5 years?" This is a question that has been on my mind for a while, and there were so many ways I have wanted to go about it: I thought of writing an essay because I love to write, I thought about making a video montage because I wanted to show off my (very poor) video editing skills, and I even thought of getting everyone together for a really big 'family' photo. Of course, being a millennial, I decided that the best way to remember these 5 years is to upload them to Instagram. So here are the best 10 I could find to show what those years meant to me. The last 5 years meant dinner parties to celebrate something at Cheryl's house, they meant photos with random people in front of the truck, they meant having 'meetings' amongst ice boxes and beer kegs, they meant shamelessly going around with a makeshift 'advertisement' board at a festival, they meant eating together, they meant having 'omakase' onigiri tastings across a kitchen table at 2am, they meant baking muffins together, they meant surviving the heat in Sentosa for an outdoor event, they meant drunken nights, and they meant gathering everyone together for a night of drinking at Jess' house. Truth be told, there is so much more to the last 5 years. There's the early morning call times and responding to each other in heavy grunts and yawns, there's late night suppers talking to each other about how exhausted we are, and then there's also the occasional "It's okay, it's okay" when what I really meant to say is "Can you stop being stupid and move?" And still, I can never imagine having done all of those things with anybody else. Jess and Cheryl always tell me that I "sold my youth" to them, and in a way, I guess it's true. I was barely 21 when I first met them, 26 when I left. But when I look back at it all, I don't regret it. You just can't regret something you know you grew from, matured from, and learned so much from. Even if it meant "selling away my youth". So, how do I want to remember the last 5 years? Simple: I want to remember those years and have them serve as a reminder that I was truly happy. Because I was. I really was. (at Let's Meet) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLhaNiLrJ5D9cCZYimecpLYBgY5Zahs-kIJeMc0/?igshid=dyd1d2fq4z03

I can think of worse ways to spend a Sunday... wanna taco 'bout it? 🌮 Went Mexican today and made chicken tacos for @itzzabelle.l and I. This is the first time I've been back in the kitchen to cook a whole meal in a while and I gotta say, I really do love cooking for people. I think cooking for people and watching them enjoy their meal while we catch up with one another across a table is my love language. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKtBg1nM87x/?igshid=1tibi2aize3u2

sometimes you're normal and sometimes you just wanna be an onion ring. but also, yes, hello everyone. i am alive and well. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKLW_2ILX2pZjdrF4LHv74Fh4jgiGtfBG7LFRM0/?igshid=ajyudi6td8ir

Fun weekend getaway with some of my favorite people! ☺️🚤🛳 Also tried kayaking for the first time and it was so much fun even if towards the end, I just let the waves bring me to shore LOL 🛶 (at One Degree 15 Sentosa Cove Singapore) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFGRh39p2edsodlJyu9sHRqnb7_OFVAvWWG-_g0/?igshid=78vdf3h6wfvn

Some photos I found while scrolling through my phone's gallery, all taken from my (impulsive) solo trip to Pagudpud last January. I still think about that place constantly and I can't wait to go back ☺️ (at Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCXnx7ApH57MJznnc3tUxjuPN6rE2xxVmjapXM0/?igshid=1f6lz9gvjp1lt

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now, and I'm glad I finally got around to doing it. Today, I created an Instagram page for my baked goods. The idea came from simply wanting to get rid of these photos on my phone, and after getting so much encouragement from my friends, I finally decided to go for it. @ika.dakimasu (please appreciate the pun, it took me 3 whole weeks to finally decide on it) is not just where I want to post my own creations, but it is also a place where I would want to share and talk about food I enjoy in the hopes that someone else would give it a try and enjoy it too. So if we're friends, acquaintances, or you just happen to like food as much as I do, support my new project by following my page 🤪 https://www.instagram.com/p/CBs57JXp6FvI-3NTu96bHi12RyA0SQOcBKeIS80/?igshid=ru4oyedk9hz8