The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach

The rich scent of butter, the murmur of voices around her, the heat from the oven and then a sudden burst of laughter.

If you asked Julianna Chu what she remembers about Chinese New Year, that is what she would tell you.

That and the feel of dumpling skin as she folded the dough layer upon layer upon layer, only for the filling to ooze out because she hadn't gotten the right technique.

She remembers the way her mother would smile and insist on a photograph just before they left the house because they would be wearing all their new clothes and looked the best.

Of course, she would also remember the scratch of the tag on her new clothes that she never remembered to cut off and now, couldn't cut off because it was bad luck to use the scissors during the Lunar New Year.

But now, what she had was the fuzzing static of a video call and a room that was too small and lifeless for the approaching Lunar New Year.

"We'll send some pineapple tarts over to you," Her mom insisted over the call, her image a few seconds delayed due to the wavering internet connection. Beside her, her dad nodded.

"Make sure you go and eat something good during the New Year," He squinted at the laptop, "Are you eating properly? Don't worry about money okay? If you need more, we can wire some over."

Julianna smiled as her heart squeezed in a bittersweet way. Only hearing her parents voices could make her miss home like this.

"I'm eating well, Pa," She grinned into the camera, poking her cheek to make him laugh, "See? My cheeks are so chubby."

Her mother sighed and tutted, as she had every phone call since Julianna arrived.

"That company sent you all the way there and now, they can't even bring you back!" She cried, indignation lining the worry lines on her face.

Inwardly, Julianna also wanted to complain. She just wanted to go home in time for Chinese New Year to eat lots of goodies and get fat! Instead? She was stuck in this godforsaken land with no flights out.

"It's not their fault, Ma," Julianna tried to placate her mother, "No one is flying in or out when things are like this."

The rest of the call went more or less the same way and when Julianna hung up, she slumped down onto the floor, wondering what delicious snacks she was missing out now that she wasn't home for the Lunar New Year.

She would kill for some pineapple tarts right now.

Every year, her aunts would come over and the women in their family would make an afternoon of baking their own pineapple tarts.

Her Chinese New Years were filled with the beautiful golden colour of homemade pineapple jam, sweet and perfectly spiced, along with the careful mixing of the dough and arranging of the tarts.

Julianna closed her eyes, losing herself in the memory, so vivid that she could practically smell the pineapple tarts as if they were baking right here.

Wait a second.

Her eyes shot open as she sniffed.

It wasn't her imagination, she could really smell some pineapple tarts!

She sniffed harder. There was no way her nose was lying to her, she knew that familiar scent of clove and pineapple, of butter and flour.

The shock of realisation overrode the wave of homesickness that accompanied the familiar scent.

Someone in her block of apartments was baking pineapple tarts!

And she was determined to find out who. Quickly, she shoved her feet into slippers and threw on a jacket before darting out into the corridor.

Like a mad woman, she followed her nose, winding in and out of the corridor, going up and then down the stairs. It was probably crazy to do something like this over pineapple tarts of all things.

But Julianna was alone and she missed home badly. She had never been away for so long and she missed her parents and her friends and her bed, she wanted to be back home, in a place where she understood what everyone was saying and that was full of familiar customs.

She wanted to be in the festive mood with red decorations spilling out onto the street and the undeniable sense of good spirits buoying everyone's mood.

So if someone was making pineapple tarts, she was going to find out who!

She narrowed it down to a set of units just below hers and then struggled to identify which was the culprit. After sniffing so hard that she got dizzy, she gave up and squatted down in the corridor, folding her arms on top of her knees and resting her chin on her arms.

Her brown hair had fallen out of its loose bun during her search to come down in waves around her face and now, they lay limply across her shoulders. Her eyes were dark and despondent as she gazed at the ground.

All in all, she made quite a pathetic picture and she knew it. Julianna wondered if it was too pathetic to cry now and closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh.

I can just make my own, she decided, trying to comfort herself. It doesn't matter that it won't be the same if it's just me doing it. But I can get the ingredients and make my own, it's okay.

Slowly, she stood to go back to her apartment when one of the doors nearest to her opened and a young man stepped out.

If Julianna had been paying attention, she would have realised he was quite good looking, with pretty almond shaped eyes and strong jaw.

But Julianna was focused on the wave of smell that rushed out of his apartment the moment he opened his door. It was the unmistakable aroma that she had been chasing!

She stepped directly into his path with one finger pointing at his chest.

"You!"