Inspired by Fernando Gros “How to choose a Yearly Theme”, this is my 3rd year writing a Yearly Theme (you can check out my 2020 Yearly Theme and 2021 Yearly Theme), an approach that I personally feel that it’s more forward looking for a new future, a new era of working, thinking and how we connect as an individual, as a collective, society and the world. It’s not that goal settings or setting resolutions are no longer popular or useful, they still have a purpose and it still works for some people or industries. I also published a Yearly Theme 2022 (Technology, Business and Personal) on my other website TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog. 

Let me introduce my Yearly Theme 2022 for my photography and travel: “Onward”.

Theme for Year 2022 (Photography and Travel) – Onward

Onward – What is the reason behind this theme?

Why “Onward”? This is actually my alma mater school motto. Let me introduce my alma mater, Gan Eng Seng School (founded in 1885), I am also an old boy from the Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group (founded in 1922) where I spent some of my best and fun years learning Scouting skills, knowledge, in the the great outdoors, life skills and camaraderie. 

Dragon Scout Group (DSG) is celebrating its centenary milestone in Year 2022, this is no mean feat! The DSG extended family is going to celebrate DSG100 Years in Scouting! 

Onward – Strive forward as we work our way out from this ongoing global pandemic mess, it’s not just an economic and financial crisis, the world is facing other crisis in the areas of healthcare, mental health, emotional health, psychological and sociological issues.

The whole world is trying its best to move forward, with setbacks and hiccups that are going to be a common sight for this year 2022. Hopefully, our lessons learnt in Year 2020 and 2021 would come in handy for us as the world move Onward in the journey to recovery. Let’s hope the world can really start to see the true light at the end of the tunnel. 

Photography – Goals and Plans

This is not the usual way of doing goal settings that you would normally learn or see in your job/training. What I am doing is a bit of a hybrid format sharing of my goals and plans for my photography segment. 

Photography (Business)

Year 2021 provided me huge business lessons, adapting, pivoting and changing my commercial photography services portfolio. It’s not immediate, taking a bit longer than I am expected. In this Year 2022, I hope to grow those few segments below in a very competitive field, through my networks and connections. 

– Portraiture: Individual / Family / Corporate 

– Pre-Wedding/AD wedding 

NFT/Digital Arts

A new segment that I am entering into, I mentioned about this in Q4 2021. This is a field that I would be threading with caution while optimistic on its potential and viability for creatives such as photographers like myself. 

Digital Marketing + Social Media Marketing + Photography + Videography 

A digital agency or social media agency format of doing business, going to work/pitch for campaigns/projects and commissioned work. Although I established TGH Digital Studio in 2021, I wasn’t able to kickstart it properly, the time is now.

Year 2022 also marks the start of TGH Digital Studio with a new gig in the food industry. Hope this paves the way for further opportunities in other industries such as travel, tourism and hospitality,  as well as heritage, history and culture.

Photography (Personal/Leisure)

Away from my business/commercial photography, I must, and I need my time and space for my personal photography and leisure/fun photography. In Year 2022, I have some ideas and plans for my personal photography, videography and creative projects.

New photographer profile photos as well as new photographer in action theme shoots are on my plans too. 

If you are not a good photographer or find something missing in your photos you can always rely on some travel photograph editing to enhance your photos.

Personal projects 

– Complement and support my alma mater DSG100 Years in Scouting celebrations

– A new zine or a new photography book? Or both? 

– Building up my videography/filmmaking for both personal and commercial segments. Follow my YouTube channel for more updates on this segment!  

Travel – Goals and Plans

We all miss our travels, whether it’s to short-haul or long haul destinations. This ongoing global pandemic has thrown the world travel, tourism, hospitality and aviation industries under the bus for a very prolonged time, and maybe 1-2 more years of downtime. 

International 

I have no plans for now, I would review this in Q3 2022, keeping my fingers crossed. I am just being cautious, I am also not setting any expectations, I don’t wish to be badly disappointed  and get hurt again. 

When can we restart tourism, I am looking into this area, networking and chatting with travel and tourism networks of friends around the world, with a follow up on this area in my 3rd instalment article on the topic of “Restart Tourism”. 

This quote, shared with me by Sonja, one of the co-hosts of TTOT (Travel Talk on Twitter) Chat community every Tuesday, that “Travel can be a privilege”. During this ongoing global pandemic situation, it’s even more evident and true. 

Domestic / Local / Explore your own backyard 

Since traveling out for a holiday still has its challenges, fears, concerns and restrictions. This is actually a good time to explore your own backyard again for me. I am going to continue re-exploring my local neighbourhoods, with an emphasis on green spaces / places that might/will be gone soon.

I always have a strong interest and passion in those fields, documenting the changes and losses over time due to changes in national development, growth and renewal.  

Last but not least – Onward in Year 2022

Last but not least – Onward in Year 2022. After some harsh lessons from Year 2021, I decided to be cautious, not fearful, be brave, Be Prepared, ready to take on more challenges, hiccups and changes as I trek my way Onward in Year 2022. 

I really hope this Year 2022 would truly be the year where we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. 

The post Yearly Theme 2022 (Photography and Travel) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Before I visited Kin Hoi at their Holland Close outlet, I checked them out on their website and Instagram. They have a good spread of different Thai cuisine on their menu, it looks really delicious and tempting. What did I have when I visited Kin Hoi? 

Now, let me bring you through my foodie adventure – Taste of Authentic Thai Food at Kin Hoi.

Honey grilled pork 

A Thai street market food, grilled to perfection without overcooking the pork, that’s how high their cooking skills and experience that Kin Hoi possess. Dip it with their signature Thai Chilli Sauce, you might feel that you are brought back into the local Thai street market. 

Just a gentle friendly reminder that it’s so delicious that you might find it addictive and wanting to order another round of honey grilled pork. 

Melting beef 

For those who love beef, Kin Hoi’s melting beef is going to bring you into another world! It’s fried and grilled, very tasty, well marinated, absolutely delicious and delightful! Oh yes, this melting beef goes very well with their Kin Hoi Thai signature chilli sauce! 

Just like their honey grilled pork, you might find yourself wanting to order another round of the melting beef, it’s so delicious, so addictive! Kin Hoi don’t name this dish, “Melting Beef” for nothing, this beef dish really melts in your mouth! 

Thai crab meat omelette 

Another Thai food favourite, the rich, flavourful Wok Hei omelette is going to be well-liked by the customers too. Ideal for sharing with a group of family, relatives and friends. They are generous with their crab meat, inside and on top of the omelette. 

Fried Tung Hoon 

For Thai food lovers, their fried tung hoon is not just a popular Thai dish. It may be a simple Thai dish, it’s authentic Thai street food that warms your heart, mind, soul and taste buds. This fried tung hoon goes really well with other Thai dishes together. Oh yes, don’t miss the pork lard on the fried tung hoon! 

It’s not just having good quality ingredients, the skill and experience in cooking the fried tung hoon can be seen, felt and tasted. Try their fried tung hoon and you would know why. 

Must try! Cannot miss this!

Thai signature chilli sauce – co-founder home chilli recipe from her mum. Your tastebuds would go like this, starting off from sour, sweet and lastly a spicy feel with fish sauce that is not overpowering.

If you are a fan of Thai chilli and spices, I reckon you would like Kin Hoi’s signature chilli sauce. A must try, you cannot miss this, it’s perfect for Kin Hoi’s dishes on their menu. 

New dish on the block!

Thai Duck Noodle Soup – chewy noodles (authentic Thai ingredients, not commonly seen in Singapore). Herbs, soup brewed from duck bones. Their soup is not those heavy body flavoured type duck soup that we might be used to in Singapore. Thus, you can feel and taste the herbs and flavour when you try their Thai Duck Noodle Soup.  

It’s currently only available at their Holland Close outlet, I reckon this would a lunch crowd favourite, and you can add on their other dishes to go along with your lunch break buddy. 

More than just shellfish and cockles at Kin Hoi

While shellfish and cockles are the first few dishes on their menu when Kin Hoi first launched their food business, they are more than just shellfish and cockles at Kin Hoi. They have a good wide spread of authentic Thai cuisine on their menu.

There are many more dishes on Kin Hoi’s menu that I have yet to try, I hope to return back again with my friends and try the other dishes on their menu. 

Q&A with Daniel Teo

During my visit to Kin Hoi, I also met with Daniel Teo, one of the co-founders of Kin Hoi at their Holland Close outlet, who took precious time off from running his Kin Hoi food business operations to sit down and have a chat with me. 

1. What inspired you to start Kin Hoi?

My co-founder is Thai, she’s a Singapore PR, she cooks at home and she has her home made Thai signature chilli sauce. 

We both come from corporate backgrounds, starting off from home based food business. As the home based food business started to grow, we decided to take the plunge, starting off at Holland Close Blk 6 with half a stall, eventually taking on the full stall.

We slowed down our home delivery business to establish the stall. Once it has stabilised, we reinvested in your own delivery system, our in-house delivery, followed by a central kitchen for delivery that also allow bigger menu selection. 

Now we have two outlets, one at Holland Close, the other outlet is at Toa Payoh, both for dine in and takeaway.     

2. What are your favourite dishes? What dishes are most commonly ordered by your customers?

For myself, street style Fried Tung Hoon, egg omelette with crab, honey grilled pork, gong gong, a must with the signature chilli sauce.

As for my customers, it’s shellfish/cockle, Fried Tung Hoon with honey grilled pork or melting beef

3. How would you describe the style of your cuisine? Do you have a cooking philosophy?

More of an authentic home cooked Thai style. We do not wish to specialise in a few Thai dishes. They are some of my favourite dishes with the Thai signature chilli. We are more than just Thai seafood with our Thai cuisine menu on offer. 

My philosophy is, all the food on my menu must be delicious/good, the choice lies with the customer which dish they like. We placed great importance on our customer service. 

4. What can customers expect from your kitchen in the near future?

Yes, we are looking at expanding our Thai cuisine menu on offer, some of the dishes we are looking at are Wok hey crab fried rice, Thai fried kway Teow (not Phad Thai).

5. How has the recent Phase 2 Heightened Alert (P2HA) and the cluster from the fishery operations at Jurong Port affected your business? 

P2HA has affected the business a lot. For our Thai dishes, it’s best to sit down, eat it hot when served and with a group of family, relatives or friends.

One of the suppliers at Jurong Port was affected, the price of our ingredients increased, however we absorbed the additional costs. During this time, we looked out for alternative suppliers and found more to get our ingredients from. 

6. You have two outlets – Holland Close and Toa Payoh – at the moment. Will we be seeing more outlets in Singapore?

As for future expansion, we are looking at Jurong region for the west side and another in the east side. Holland Close takes care of the south side of Singapore while Toa Payoh takes care of north and north-east side of Singapore. A bigger expansion is on the cards down the road. 

We have set a goal for ourselves to be best food delivery in Singapore.

7. How would you describe Kin Hoi’s Singapore foodie journey over the past one year?

In November 2020, we open our first outlet at Holland Close,  it had been a roller coaster ride of blood, sweat and tears. The amount of stress and pressure in running a business can be overwhelming at times.

A taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi

For all Thai food lovers out here in Singapore, you can get a taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi. Not just authentic Thai food, it’s the warmth and homely Thai cuisine that makes foodies love and appreciate Thai food that much. 

You can always feel the deep passion, love, pride, standards and quality of a cuisine through their cooking. At Kin Hoi, that’s what you are going to receive and enjoy when you taste their authentic and home feel Thai food. 

Kin Hoi’s menu are perfect for group dining with their widespread choices of Thai cuisine on their menu, eating it hot and freshly cooked from the stall to your table at the kopitiam. However, due to the current safety measures restrictions imposed on dining out due to the ongoing global pandemic, we can’t eat as much variety of Kin Hoi’s Thai food on offer with just 2 person dining out. When dining out restrictions are gradually lifted down the road and we can have more than 2 person dining at kopitiam, get your family, loved ones, relatives and friends to join you to have a taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi.

Meanwhile, you can still order online from Kin Hoi’s website, deliver it to your home and enjoy it from the comfort of your home too. However, I still personally prefer to eat it hot and freshly cooked from the stove, served to the dining table at the kopitiam.

In my conversation with Daniel, I can feel and relate to his time, commitment and passion that he invested into Kin Hoi, coming from a small photography business owner myself. Operating a business during this global pandemic is no mean feat, small and medium business owners like Kin Hoi and like myself are some of those that have been hit badly. 

A new age food business owner that took the plunge and made the switch from a corporate world, displaying his entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and courage during this global pandemic crisis period. Daniel’s passion and commitment can be felt at/seen through Kin Hoi, their amazing and delicious authentic Thai food, social media platforms and care for the staff working at Kin Hoi. 

For Thai food lovers in Singapore, you have to visit Kin Hoi and have a taste of authentic Thai food at Kin Hoi for yourself, it’s just like a foodie trip down your favourite Thai street/home cooked food. 

Information on Kin Hoi 

Outlet locations

Holland Close outlet – Block 6 Holland Close S271006

Toa Payoh outlet – Block 168 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh S310168

Website: https://kinhoi.sg/ 

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kinhoi.sg/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinhoi.sg/ 

Last but not least, I would like to thank Daniel of Kin Hoi for taking his precious time from running his business operations to sit down and have a chat with me, for his warm hospitality and tasting a few of their delicious Thai cuisine. I would also like to thank Saltine Communications for facilitating this food visit and interview. 

The post Taste of Authentic Thai Food at Kin Hoi appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.