Sending you laksa love: this Singaporean illustrator makes puns with local food items

Coconuts Singapore

Here at Coconuts, we appreciate good puns and local food so what a treat it is to find an Instagram account that combines two of our favorite delights with some cute illustrations to boot.

That Instagram account belongs to Tan Siqi, whose account @laughandbelly is equal parts cute and LOL-worthy for her awesome puns and delightful illustrations including local food items such as teh-c, laksa, and you tiao.

Although she is now a freelance illustrator, Siqi used to be a chemist and was trained in chemical engineering from school.

She decided to leave her job in September 2017 to pursue her dream of being a full-time illustrator and is now releasing her own line of shirts and postcards on her website bearing these cute designs.

Here are six puns that we particularly love:

1) A pun on the Chinese word for vegetables, and a colloquial phrase for “anyhow lah”:

 

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Day 246/365 • Is it true that you are what you eat? ‘Chin Cai’ is aka ‘Easy-going’ in Hokkien. Eat more greens, become more chin cai? Hmmm. Aiya i don’t think so much bah, chin cai caption la #singaporean – Anyway let me properly introduce my current 3 imaginary cats. White cat on my head, her name is Toothpaste. Grey cat’s called Toothbrush, it prefer to be gender neutral. Black cat with beams on his eyes, he’s called Toothless, but you can call him Beam Cat too. – #laughandbelly #365daysoflabflab #illustration #vegetables

A post shared by Laugh And Belly (@laughandbelly) on Mar 15, 2019 at 7:42pm PDT

2) Love, in coconut gravy form:

 

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Day 234/365 • Hey family! I’ll be at Red Dot Design Museum 22-24 February, 5pm to 10.30pm. Come & say hello! Get some prints and send LAKSA love to your fam and pals! There’s no HUM in doing so – I’ll be selling my art and PUNchline totebags! (They’re really apt, i mean it) View the Totebag Catalog at: laughandbelly.myshopify.com – If you’d like to tip me for my works, you can head to: http://ko-fi.com/laughandbelly – OR be a monthly supporter on Patreon where you can get special merch from me! http://patreon.com/laughandbelly – #365daysoflabflab #laughandbelly #laksa

A post shared by Laugh And Belly (@laughandbelly) on Feb 21, 2019 at 8:21pm PST

3) Can you show me the way?

 

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Day 218/365: Can u help mi find tau huay? Anyways, you can also find tau huay to Empress Lawn today-tomorrow, 5pm to 11pm. I will be there to draw people and their pets. ⚠️YES TO LIVE PORTRAITS!! or photos are fine as well idm ‍♀️ Meanwhile you can also shop online, or go to patreon.com/laughandbelly for monthly goodies. – – #lighttonightsg #tauhuay #douhua #豆花 #doyouknowtheway #singaporeanfood #sgfood #beancurd #beancurdpudding #sgfoodie #foodiesg #illustration #draweveryday #365daysoflabflab #laughandbelly #foodiesofinstagram #foodstagram #vegetarian #illustratorsoninstagram

A post shared by Laugh And Belly (@laughandbelly) on Feb 1, 2019 at 1:43am PST

4) A pun on Saturdays:

 

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Saturday! – #satay #sataychicken #sataysauce #sgfoodie #foodie #singaporefood #singaporefoodie #foodstagram #illustrationartists #illustratorsoninstagram #illustration #saturday #laughandbelly #365daysoflabflab #cuteart #doodle #cutedoodle #onion #cucumber #ketupat

A post shared by Laugh And Belly (@laughandbelly) on Jan 18, 2019 at 10:34pm PST

5) This one quite cute:

 

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112/365 • Bite size glutinous rice flour ball filled with gula melaka and coated with freshly grated coconut. Oooooh i have ondeh you in my heart. – Will be painting ondeh ondeh and other Singaporean food onto Bonia wallets or coin pouches at Takashimaya on 4 August and 5 August, 2pm to 5pm. – So if you’re getting a new wallet or pouch and want to make it more #Singaporean and personalized, holla at me! The service is already paid for, you just need to get a Bonia wallet so that I can paint on it! ⚠️ Only Bonia wallets. No other brands. Also, only available when you purchase during that time period (2pm to 5pm). – #dessertstagram #illustrationart #childrensbookillustration #ondehondeh #ondehondehcake #gulamelaka #singapore #singaporefood #singaporefoodie #sgfoodie #sgart #sgig #artistsoninstagram #singaporeartist #singaporelife #thisissingapore #exploresingapore #illustration #picame

A post shared by Laugh And Belly (@laughandbelly) on Aug 1, 2018 at 4:29am PDT

6) Two youtiao sticks are always the best:

 

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Hello to all of you who saw me at Marina Bay Sands! Can’t you tiao how thankful I am to have all of you here?! Do check out the 1K giveaway I’m having. The post is in the bio! Also, thank you @poonchernyung for suggesting me to do something about You Tiao when at Yew Tee. Heheh! Thanks bro.

A post shared by Laugh And Belly (@laughandbelly) on Mar 10, 2018 at 8:39pm PST

In case you cannot afford to buy a S$6 postcard on her website (tsk), you can download Siqi’s work for free on her Ko-fi page and buy her a coffee if you’d like. If you’re feeling more generous, you can also support her on Patreon and get exclusive posts as well as printable coloring pages of her artwork.

So now you know where to buy birthday cards from. You’re welcome.

This article, Sending you laksa love: this Singaporean illustrator makes puns with local food items, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!