SINGAPORE – Home-grown freelance actress Jeanette Aw will be taking her patisserie brand to Japan in January.

The 44-year-old star’s Once Upon A Time is slated to run pop-up booths in department stores in three Japanese cities – Seibu in Tokyo, Hankyu in Osaka and Takashimaya in Nagoya.

Aw told Shin Min Daily News that she chose the period of mid-January to Feb 14 to do so because Valentine’s Day is a “very important occasion” in Japan and chocolate fairs are ubiquitous in the country.

She added that during those two months, Tokyo alone will see over a hundred stores selling chocolates.

Her pop-ups will focus on chocolate treats such as bonbons and pastries. There will also be seasonal specials for Japanese customers, she said.

Aw, who completed a patisserie course at Le Cordon Bleu Tokyo in 2019, told the Chinese-language daily that though she will have a team with her for the pop-ups, she will still be the “main baker” and develop the desserts herself.

She hopes her creations “will be exquisite like the Japanese desserts which are always works of art”.

Apart from preparing for an upcoming local Chinese-language drama, Aw has just ended her collaboration with Japanese omakase restaurant Kappou’s chef Aeron Choo on a six-course dinner menu where she contributed two desserts.

The special meal ran for three nights, from Friday to Sunday.