Who: Singaporean singer-songwriter and actress Boon Hui Lu got her start as a child star in Mediacorp dramas such as Rhapsody In Blue (2006), before joining Taiwanese singing competition One Million Star in 2012. The 29-year-old is known for songs like Messed Up (2020), which features fellow Singaporean singer Kenny Khoo, or Feng Ze. Boon tied the knot with music producer Cheong Waii Hoong at the Fullerton Hotel in October. Cheong, 31, also a Singaporean, co-founded the record label Reason Brothers with Khoo.
While Boon and her husband are based primarily in Taiwan, she often returns to Singapore for work. She stars as a woman who can see the dead in the series Till The End, the finale of which will air on Nov 24 on Channel 8 at 9pm. It is available to stream on mewatch. She will be one of the artistes performing at the sold-out Yes 933 Hits Fest concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Nov 25.
“On days when I’m not working, I like to be by myself and read, especially on the weekends. My husband and I are very late sleepers. I usually go to bed around 3 or 4am because I think, for singer-songwriters, nighttime is particularly good for inspiration. It’s quiet, there are fewer people buzzing you on the phone, and you can just put everything down and focus on writing.
Because I sleep so late, I usually wake up late. It might be noon or 1pm by the time I wake up, so I am not the kind of person to go brunch-hopping. I usually sleep in, then go to a nice cafe to have a late lunch at 3pm or so and read. Cafes are usually less crowded during those hours.
The cafes I really like here are the PS.Cafe branches at Raffles City and One Fullerton. I like their laksa ($28). It’s very expensive, given that I can have laksa for $5, but it is a weekend splurge for me.
When I am in Taipei, I like going to this famous place, M One Cafe, which has two branches – one in Da’an District and one in Xinyi District. I like its rosti. Alternatively, I might go a chain coffee house like Louisa Coffee.
I am reading an old self-help book, How To Win Friends And Influence People. I read less fiction now, and more self-help books such as Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck.
My reading choices are associated with my job: I have to handle feedback, including criticism. Sometimes, when I get affected or overwhelmed by the criticisms or expectations of me, these books give me tools to help me keep my emotions in check.
I spend my nights jogging with my husband in Taipei and grabbing supper after. There are a few re-chao (the Taiwanese equivalent of zi char) places that we like to go to. For example, there is Baxian Grill near Da’an Forest Park. I love the steamed stinky tofu and fried pig intestines there, since you don’t often see them in Singapore.
Sometimes, we pop down to the night markets as well. I frequent Raohe Street Night Market and Tonghua Night Market for the food, like stinky tofu and a really nice tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) stall that always has a long queue.
We don’t always go for Taiwanese food though. We enjoy Japanese hotpot like Orange Shabu Shabu, which has a few branches around Taipei, since you can end your hotpot off with a seafood porridge cooked in the hotpot broth. There is also a nice izakaya called Chikupa, also at Da’an District, that feels authentically Japanese.
If we are in Singapore, we might go for a run at the parks near Hougang, where I live, and end off with supper at Hong Chang Frog Porridge & BBQ Fish in Braddell Road.”
