Actress Vernetta Lopez gets excited over weekend mahjong sessions with mum and sis

Who: Vernetta Lopez, 52, is a Singaporean actress and former radio DJ.

The entertainment veteran stars in new local English-language comedy-drama Aunty Lee’s Deadly Delights, which premiered in January on Channel 5 and mewatch.

Based on Singapore writer Ovidia Yu’s Aunty Lee’s book series (2013 to 2017), Lopez plays the titular Peranakan restaurant owner who is also an amateur sleuth dealing with crimes in her neighbourhood.

Lopez started her acting career in the mid-1990s and is best known for playing the Tan family’s only daughter Denise in the beloved Channel 5 television comedy series Under One Roof (1995 to 2003). She married British information technology professional Wayne Gladwin, 55, in 2009.

“A perfect weekend means waking up and knowing I don’t have a thing to do. No obligations, no plans, no expectations – it’s like a mental deep breath.

A weekend pleasure is playing mahjong with my mum Doreen and elder sister Loretta. It’s usually a three-player game, but we’ve begun incorporating other family members. It’s a great way to catch up and just chill, with gentle competition. It’s become almost a ritual to do this at least every other weekend. I get excited when I see mahjong sets, dice or plushies on sale.

One thing I’m trying to incorporate into my weekends is spending time with my parents and family. Time with them is priceless, and my sister is the glue that holds us together. We have dinner together at her place a lot of the time. Otherwise, I’ll grab my mum and do something out of the house.

One of my most memorable weekends was with my husband during our honeymoon in the United States in 2009. We drove to Napa Valley, California, from Los Angeles without any idea of how long the journey was going to be or where we were going to sleep.

We almost had to resort to sleeping in the car along the mountainous Big Sur coastline because it was the climax of Monterey Car Week, which meant that small motels along the way were fully booked.

It was either a two-hour drive back to Los Angeles or pushing forward to the city of Monterey. As it was getting dark, we decided to keep going.

Along the way, I spotted the Hyatt Carmel Highlands hotel. We sped up the beautiful driveway, left the car to the valet, ran up to the lobby like a couple of school kids and asked for a room. We got a great last-minute deal and checked into a pretty log cabin with a fireplace.

We put on the fire, ordered dinner – which came with a complimentary bottle of wine because they found out it was our honeymoon – and watched Star Trek (2009).

In the morning, we realised what a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean our room overlooked.”