ABOUT

Hello world!

I'm a twenty-something Chinese Kiwi (aka 'Chiwi') who is trying to find her way in the world via her two loves - food and science.

Growing up in a traditional chinese family meant that food was always central to our lives. Our family also runs a fast-food chinese cart, that admittedly I used to be a bit reluctant to tell my friends about when I was a kid but now I'm damn proud of the business that my parents built up. And by pitching in as a family every Sunday come rain or shine, my little sister, brother and I grew up alongside the business.

Here is my mum doing her thang at the helm of our very own wok on wheels:

Still going strong after 20 years. Hands down the most popular food joint at Riccarton Market!

Academically, I've always been drawn to the wonders of science and ended up moving to the UK to do a PhD.

I love being a scientist, and will also consider myself as one, but I've decided to have a go at moving away from academia. This is because I can't ignore the creative part of me that wants to get stuck in and bring something awesome to life. Above all, I want to recapture the excitement and focus from my childhood days, when I would spend the entire school holidays on my bedroom floor doing papier mache, or hours hunched over a sewing machine. That's where the magic's at :)

I've now made London my new nest and hope to create my very own 'Amy world' here. 

Since moving to London, something that I've really poured my heart into is 'The Dumpling Sisters' (TDS) project. I'm the Big Dumpling, and my little sister is the Mini Dumpling (she hasn't given me the green light to call her that yet!). We like to think of our supporters as our Little Dumplings.

As TDS, we film Chinese and mum-inspired recipes and put the videos up on our YouTube channel. The most exciting thing that has happened so far is that we made it into the finals of Jamie's Search for a Food Tube Star. For reals! Jamie, maybe I *will* get to meet you one day ;) p.s. Jamie, tweet us! @DumplingSisters

This is me celebrating a b-day at Jamie's Italian. I was surprised by a supremely awesome homemade profiterole tower...and my relationship with whipped cream has never been the same since!

There is nothing flash about this blog (eh hmm, I haven't managed to learn how html works yet) but hope you enjoy it as a candid insight into my life nonetheless. 

I also have a blog from when I was living in Cambridge - it's about people watching (not as creepy as it sounds I promise!).

Thanks for visiting!


Amy x