About

Hi, I'm Martin Cherub. I was born and raised in Indonesia, and I've been chasing good food and new places ever since I left.

The name Cherub came from my family pastor, who named me Martin hoping I'd be courageous and create something positive — after Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. I'm not a reformist or a civil rights leader, but I figured documenting the world through food and photography is a decent start.

The Day Job

By trade, I'm a software engineer. I've worked across telecom, healthcare, food, and — yes — funeral services. That range has taught me to adapt quickly and find creative solutions in unfamiliar territory, which turns out to be useful when you're trying to order dinner in a language you barely speak.

Japan

Japan is my favourite place on earth. I've studied Japanese for nearly a decade and my fluency is... limited. But I can order food like a pro, and honestly that's the skill that matters most. The cherry blossoms, the cities, the convenience stores at 2am — I keep going back.

This Site

Plate & Passport is where I write about the places I've been and the things I've eaten. No sponsorships, no affiliate links — just honest stories about meals and destinations that stuck with me.

Built with Astro, styled with Tailwind CSS, and deployed to the edge via Cloudflare Pages. Because if I'm going to build a blog, the engineer in me wants it fast.