Making their first public appearance as a married couple, MediaCorp artistes Joanne Peh and Qi Yuwu graced the opening of Ferrero Rocher’s first boutique in Southeast Asia Pasticceria Ferrero last night. Needless to say, love was in the air with the sweet-smelling aroma of chocolates which filled the small but cosy pop-up store just outside Wisma Atria.
Revealing “with guilt” at the media launch that he has never gifted Joanne with chocolates before, Yuwu quickly added, “Tonight may be the first time I do so!”
And so he did, when the lovebirds tried their hands at making chocolates for the first time under the guidance of Ferrero Chefs Luca Dellapiana and Alessandria Davide who flew in from Italy.
In an interview with xinmsn afterwards, Yuwu thoughtfully said that he will make his wife dark chocolates because she “cannot take sweet stuff” and added, “I think she will also belong to the ‘dark chocolate’ league as it has a strong flavour.”
Echoing that she loves dark chocolates the most, Joanne chirped, “I think he is the kind of chocolate that melts slowly in the mouth unlike those that goes ‘pop’ and other flavours start oozing out.”
The 31-year-old paralleled her hubby to chocolates that give off a different taste at different points of savouring before leaving nostalgia at the end too while Yuwu quipped that his favourite type of chocolates are “white (‘Bai’ in Chinese which also refers to Joanne’s surname) chocolates”. Aww.
Married life is great with Yuwu’s cooking
Looking all radiant, married life has been treating the newly-weds well after their hush-hush wedding in September. Although they are still adapting, “like what everyone does when they enter a next stage of their life”, Yuwu feels they have been living like other normal couples.
Well-known for his love for cooking, is he in charge of the cooking at home too?
“We both do so, but in different styles. I do it the Chinese way with huge knives and pans but she does it the Western manner with the oven and steamer,” the 38-year-old mused.
Maintaining that they will leave baby-making and a wedding banquet plans to fate since they are both currently busy filming local production 1965, Yuwu let us in that the banquet, if it happens, will be a simple affair.
Qi Yuwu and Joanne Peh at the ribbon-cutting ceremony © Provided by xinmsn Qi Yuwu and Joanne Peh at the ribbon-cutting ceremony
Yuwu recognises Joanne’s flair for the arts
Joanne had previously mentioned of her growing interest in the arts and attributed it to Yuwu, who made her realise that she is capable of developing the inner artist in her.
Having sketched her self-portrait on Tuesday (Nov 25) for Portraits of the People spearheaded by National Gallery Singapore, the actress let in on her desire to go further and publish a children’s book or write scripts. She foresees the book to be an educational one with a theme that adults can identify with as well, in an earlier interview with xinmsn.
Backing her up, Yuwu recogises Joanne’s flair for the Arts, which he feels was all along in her but undiscovered. “All these years of acting resulted in little time for her to think about this, she has come to stage where she does not want to regret not giving it a try.”
While Joanne will dedicate most of her time to Portraits of the People and take things slower to check things that she never had the time to do off her to-do list, Yuwu will place his focus on acting and improve his culinary skills whenever he is free.
From 27 Nov, Singaporeans will have the opportunity to create their own Precious Moments in the Pasticceria Ferrero, only available for a limited period during this festive season, at Wisma Atria.Live demonstrations of the making of Ferrero Rocher by Ferrero’s specially trained Italian Chefs will be held on weekends from 29 Nov to 1 Dec.