My Perfect Weekend with woodcrafter Alvan Koh

Who: Mr Alvan Koh, 42, is a Japanese-style woodcrafter who is the founder of Mokko Wood Studio. He primarily spends his time handcrafting bespoke furniture pieces. He also runs woodworking classes once a month for interested customers.

He picked up carpentry from watching YouTube videos and later moved to Kyoto for a month in 2018 to hone his skills under a temple builder. He became a professional carpenter shortly after.

"I spend a lot of time in the studio on weekdays, so I make sure to spend time with my family on weekends. My wife and I try to get our sons, who are nine and 10, outdoors whenever possible, especially in these pandemic times because so many activities are indoors now.

We will wake up early and usually leave the house around seven in the morning. What we do depends on where we go. For example, MacRitchie Reservoir and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve are both very friendly for nature walks.

We also live quite near East Coast Park, so sometimes we'll cycle there and have a picnic. When we went there recently, there was an exceptionally low tide near the National Sailing Centre and the sea receded so far that we saw a sandbar.

I also look forward to weekends because of the food. My studio is in Tampines and there aren't a lot of food choices around. On weekends, there's home-cooked food. Sometimes, we order in.

I live with my parents and my mother cooks for all of us. We love her Hokkien noodles, curry chicken and beef stew. My kids love to eat spicy food and Japanese food.

We also love to eat at hawker centres and because we live in the east, we have a lot of options. Our favourite is East Coast Lagoon Food Village, where there is the best satay stall - Haron Satay. We also love to order from Samy's Curry at Dempsey and pizza from Peperoni Pizzeria in Frankel Avenue.

At night, we'll wind down with a movie. We're watching with kids, so the movie has to be family-friendly. My boys love Marvel, superhero and action movies."