When people ask me about my hobbies, I always mention baking, not only because I’m pretty good at it but also because I really enjoy it. However, if someone asks me why I enjoy it so much. I think on a deeper level, as to why I actually like baking is because baking was one of the first memories I had with my dad in the kitchen, and my love for baking and being in the kitchen never grew out of me. Baking was my childhood, and somehow, now I get to include nostalgia with new memories when I bake. I was born and raised in the US and moved to Hong Kong when I was 9, and I would see bakeries on every corner of every street in Hong Kong. Now that I have moved back to the US as an adult, I miss the bakeries more than ever, and baking allows me to connect back with my culture even when I’m over 7000 miles away from home. The busy rhythm of early mornings filled with trays of freshly baked bread and the warmth of milk tea as I rush to school every morning gets me going. So I started recreating those memories in my own kitchen, and later, at my desk, through art. From baking bread to fresh cream cakes and recreating bubble waffles at home brings me closer to home, but those are just temporary. My love of creating isn’t limited to the kitchen but also through my desk and hands. I brought the excitement of bakery goods into my own little hands by recreating miniature sculptures of baked goods into jewelry I can wear, that will last forever, like my love of baking. Each earring I make is a miniature act of nostalgia. I sculpt with clay instead of dough, but the process feels the same; it needs patience, intention, and is full of quiet joy. The tiny egg tarts have a golden shine that reminds me of Yuen Long bakeries. The pineapple buns carry their crisscross patterns just like the ones I’d grab before class, and the fresh mango cream cake I get every year on my birthday, all carry a special memory in my heart.
Over time, I realized I wasn’t just making jewelry. I was building bridges, between Hong Kong and the United States, between tradition and creativity, the past and the present. My bakery-inspired earrings became a way to share my culture without words, to spark curiosity and conversation. People ask, “What’s that?” and I get to tell them about the Hong Kong bakeries that shaped my childhood and teenage years. Baking and design, to me, are both languages of care. Whether I’m kneading dough or shaping clay, I’m expressing the same thing: that warmth, craft, and culture can live anywhere, even in the smallest details. When I wear those earrings, I carry a piece of home with me. When I sell them, I get to share that feeling with someone else. This carries the same joy as sharing a freshly baked good with someone you care about. Baking isn’t just mixing flour, eggs, milk, and sugar together, but it’s mixing love, nostalgia, and home in a bowl that is my life now. So when people ask me why I like baking so much, I tell them baking tells a story that can’t be expressed in words.