Hong Kong Food Crawlers

10/07/2024

Yum Mei Ah? = “Had a drink yet?” in Cantonese.

In celebration of Asia 50Best Bars week, I’m throwing a special private vino event for those who are into wine > cocktails. 👀🍷

👉🏼 Swipe right to take a sneak peek of the wine list
💌 DM for a private invitation

28/06/2024

My little chaotic zoo. ✨

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27/06/2024

What I’ve learnt from running my own business right after I graduated from college…

1) Finding your niche is the key: when I first launched Hong Kong Food Crawlers, I was fresh out of college and got a few freelance gigs to make ends meet. It helped that I was living with my parents back then, and the risk of launching my own business was minimal.

2) Starting a business with minimal cost: Using your soft skills and time as an investment, instead of launching a business that would require you to invest up front for inventory and physical space. Launching my food tours cost me minimal cost since it was all about investing my time to do the research and taking the tour guide license exam in Hong Kong.

3) Word of mouth is better than investing in SEO and Google Ads for entrepreneurs who are creatives/service providers: Find the platforms where your target audience hang out and get trusted advice from, instead of trying to beat the game with Google and Facebook ads. Be consistent with following your with your guests and ask them to leave you a review and how much you’d appreciate it as a small business owner since every single review matters. If you create a good product and leave a memorable experience with your customer, you’ll get a review 9 out of 10 times.

4) Fake it till you make it: while it might look like I’m super confident and own it on the outside, I started off my business not quite sure what I was really good at since my biggest skillset had always been intangible…. And thankfully I had enough thick skin to pull on a brave face and ignore my imposter syndrome. I still get stage fright from time to time, and my way of conquering it is by putting on a different “persona” when I’m on tours.

5) Don’t underestimate your value & be afraid of charging for more: creatives tend to undervalue their work and are uncomfortable for asking for more when it comes to pay. I started off charging less than 200 USD for a 3-hour tour when I first launched and even after I was featured on Travel Man, I was unsure of raising my private tour fee to a premium pricing because I’d think to myself, “who am I to charge this much?” *continue in the comments*

14/06/2024

Weekend mood be like 🤓😎😌😉😏

03/06/2024

Running on -50% social battery after two intense weeks of events at + Vinexpo + Tram & Jam, but it was so good seeing some old friends post-COVID!

Obviously my sober curious phase flew straight out of the window… so today is ground zero again. 😅🙈

06/05/2024

One thing you might or might not know about me:

1) I worked part time at La Cabane (THE OG natural wine bar in Hong Kong) + The Baker & The Bottleman during COVID cause I was craving face-to-face connections since my tours were on hiatus.

2) Quite a lot of people assume I can handle my alcohol but nope! I actually get Asian flush very easily and when it’s at its worst my face basically starts having blotches of redness all over.

3) Which brings me to where I’m at now! I’ve been drinking much more mindfully and have been reading Sober Curious by and it’s been eye opening in terms of checking in with myself what drives behind my drinking habits and how I can be more conscious about it. Working in the F&B and travel industry means it’d be hard to avoid alcohol and I’m still learning how to navigate this sober curious journey!

4) I’ve also been going through anxiety and depression for a few years and I’ve realised turning to booze while feeling stressed and sad had become autopilot for me. That’s another whole essay there so perhaps I’ll explore a bit more in my coming post or newsletter on substack soon.

I’d love to hear more from you guys and your relationship with booze. What kind of drinker are you? Are you sober or sober curious? DM me or just comment below!

20/04/2024

Candid diner moment by .

17/04/2024

Still pinching my cheeks it's my second Tatler Dining Awards with my team from ! 🔥

killed it with the 40th anniversary edition of the Tatler Dining Guide & 🙌🏻 for being the coolest work dad ever.

28/03/2024

When your dad has been telling you to be an influencer for years and you pull an anti-influencer move instead.

Let me tell you what it really looks like to dip into the water just for a bloody floating breakfast. 😂

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14/03/2024

Shum Shui Po is NOT your new Brooklyn.

07/03/2024

Just an appreciation post to Papa Yue who's always been so supportive with my career path and putting up with my crazy animal rescue mission over the years.

When I launched Hong Kong Food Crawlers right after I graduated in 2015, he was fully onboard and has been telling me I should make a living as an influencer (unfortunately I still haven't listened to his advice 100%).

Love you Dad!

28/02/2024

The two treats I always get whenever I visit Tainan: strawberry milk shaved kce + fresh tomatoes with a special Tainanese soy sauce paste mixed with freshly grinded ginger and liquorice powder.

20/02/2024

Just a girl enjoying her freshly charcoal grilled toast with butter and locally made honey. 🖤🔥

09/01/2024

Finally feeling more recharged after spending a week in 🇬🇧

18/12/2023

A little throwback to the days of 1968 tearoom pre-COVID. 🥹

Almost every single piece of furniture was antiques that I hunted down in Taiwan, the design was done by my Taiwanese friend who helms .tainan, and the decor was inspired by Wong Kar-Wai's In The Mood For Love. I named the place 1968 Tearoom as a nod to that little room in the movie and the year my parents were born in.

This was where I'd take my guests to at the end of our food crawl, where we unwind with some of my favourite teas that I personally sourced from China and Taiwan. Sometimes we'd also sip a bit of locally made gin or share a bottle of wine while old school Cantonese music played in the background.

Just dreaming of the day that I'll be running my own little place again. They say it helps to manifest your dreams, so I'm just throwing this out here. I better manifest this s**t starting from 2024. 😂

02/12/2023

Oh 2023, what a year you have been.

📸: at .hk

30/11/2023

Little throwback to blue hair days.

31/10/2023

I've only dressed up twice for Halloween in my life: the first time as a soldier when I was still in uni in Montreal, and the second time as a fallen devil (because you all know I'm no angel) was when I went to an industry sake dinner with .sake.

Just missing .geoffroy to complete this 2023 Halloween shot!

IWA Assemblage 4 is launching tomorrow at . Grab your bottles or go to your favourite restaurants for the perfect sake pairing. 🍶

19/10/2023

Instagram vs Reality breakfast shot.

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14/10/2023

Just turned 31 yesterday and here are a few things I'm grateful for:

1. My food tour with on actually aired on my birthday! What a treat. ✨

2. Spent the day with my furry crew. 😌

3. Celebrating with friends who are like my family . 🖤

4. While Sylvie's legs aren't doing well, at least it's not a spinal issue and hopefully we can fix her torn ligaments with surgery and she won't have too much issues walking later on.

5. The weather is finally cooler in Hong Kong and I just went busking for the first time since my summer break!

6. Filmed my very first commercial with Sylvie a few weeks ago!!! Kudos to for making it happen. 🔥

08/10/2023

Picking up old habits again in Taipei.

If you've followed me on Instagram long enough, you might remember I had an obsessive tea phase when I was running Hong Kong Food Crawlers full time. I opened up 1968 Tearoom right next to Tai Kwun as a private tea space for only 9 months, hosted my food crawl guests for tea at the end of the experiences, and did amateur tarot reading for friends and guests.

It's only been 4 years but somehow it feels like a lifetime ago. 🥹

02/10/2023

Chaotic since 1992. 🙈

15/09/2023

07/10/2022

“My alone feels so good, I'll only have you if you're sweeter than my solitude." - Warsan Shire

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16/11/2021

Missing the days of running 1968 tearoom pre-COVID & .

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Tea is something that I keep going and going back to again whenever I need a little booster first thing in the morning, to wind down at the end of a long day, or when my anxiety grips me and it just feels too overwhelming.

Tea menu for the night: Luye Red Oolong, Spring harvest 2021 from . I'm a huge fan of roasted, darker shades of oolong (instead of high mountain, floral oolong) and this particular red Oolong is 85% oxidized. It's not overly powering and it's very elegant and smooth on the palate.

Tasting note: malt, earthy, rose petals.