Please join me on my culinary adventures in Australia and the world.

Originally from Singapore, I grew up in a Straits Chinese family and this meant being surrounded by the most delicious food, the arts and culture. Straits Chinese families have been in Singapore and Malaysia for many generations and I am a sixth generation Straits Chinese living in Australia. It is almost mandatory for Straits Chinese girls to learn good cooking and there was no question of whether you wanted to learn, you just did. We had maids at home, but Mum and Dad, always did the important cooking for significant occasions, such as Chinese New Year.

I did the usual home economics classes and cooked boring stuff like rock cakes, sponges etc and did not really enjoy it. Now I know why: my teacher did not teach us chicken curry or Vietnamese salads!My repertoire was quite limited when I got married and started my own home.

More dining out led to a greater interest in more exciting food and once I started there was no stopping me. I tried as many cuisines as I could and Singapore was a great place to start. We ate everything from classic French at Hugo's restaurant at the Hyatt to hawker fare at Newton Circus.

I also did cooking classes under a temperamental French chef who swore at me in French if I held the knife incorrectly.

Anyway, here I am, a dedicated Melburnian of over 20 years and loving every minute of it.

I continued my dining career as a restaurant reviewer at Leader Newspapers and had my own column, Ida Out East, in the Progress Press and Malvern Prahran Leader (now Stonnington Leader). I have also written about restaurants in The Age and the Herald Sun.

There's not many restaurants, restaurateurs or chefs that I don't know in Melbourne and elsewhere in Australia, after dining out here all these years. As a cooking demonstrator and teacher I have shared demo kitchens with luminaries such as Iain Hewitson at the Harvest Picnic, Geoff Jansz of What's Cooking and the late Bernard King, among others. Denise Drysdale was quite taken with my spring rolls when I did a cooking segment on Denise (Channel 7) at Chinese New Year in 1999.

I have cooked at the Home Show, Home Beautiful cooking show, Family Circle cooking and entertainment show, Queen Vic Market chefs' kitchen, various shopping centres and cooking lessons at private homes. I have also done cooking programs on Optus TV.

I am also an author and have written three books for children and am in the midst of writing another on my dining adventures as well as a recipe book in the very near future.

A Wok on the Wild Side will have recipes, cooking tips, information on what’s new on the foodie scene, chef profiles, recipe book reviews and much more.

Join me on this journey and enjoy the ride!

Bon appetit from Ida!  

If required, please contact Ida:  ida@awokonthewildside.com

Many thanks from Ida!