Sio had tried taking on different jobs, learning new things within her corporate sales department at Ogawa and even attempted yoga, but all this exploration still left her lost and unfulfilled.

“I had a good income, great social life, but in my heart, I knew that I was missing something and wasn’t fulfilled,” said Sio.

That is until she stumbled upon cake decorating in 2014 and realised that with enough passion and dedication, her baked goods could become “more than cakes”.

“Before my first baking lesson, I didn’t even know how to cook,” revealed Sio as she recalled her early kitchen exploits during her forties.

“I then completed a 20-day cake decorating course from the Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia and fell in love with cake decorating.”

It was a meditative process for Sio as she developed her cake decorating art form, a new passion that she further refined by learning from award-winning cake decorators from US and Thailand.

Finally, after 22 years of toiling away at Malaysia’s Thaitee Tea Merchant and later in Shanghai in Ogawa’s corporate sales department, Sio left the corporate grind for good in 2017 to embark into the sweet world of cake decorating.

Now, at 51, Sio is better known to her cake fanatics as Ms V.

“Creating customised cakes is a challenge, but I feel so fulfilled when I make my customers happy,” said Sio, who enjoys the challenge of bringing her customer’s wildest dreams to life.

Her marvellous cakes are a reflection of Sio’s dedication to her craft; she sometimes spends 16 hours on a single cake.

But to her, being surrounded by piles of piping bags and fondant are blissful moments as they bring her a deep sense of purpose and fulfillment.

“I have so many heartwarming experiences with customers; once, a granddaughter ordered a mahjong cake for her grandmother’s birthday,” recalled Sio.

“When I checked up on the granddaughter the following year, she said that her grandmother had passed away, but added that her grandmother could still recall the mahjong cake during the last moments of her life.”

Touching stories aside, Sio has also taken on strange requests such as a frog-themed cake to help someone overcome their fear of frogs and even a scandalous cake featuring a couple’s steamy activities under the covers.

Four years on, Sio has already gained international acclaim, especially after becoming the only Malaysian to win an award in the Floral Exhibit category of the Cake International Virtual Competition 2021.

Competing against decorators from the US, Russia, Japan, Romania and even Switzerland, Sio was shocked when her bouquet was awarded a Virtual Bronze at the competition, which is widely considered to be the Oscars of the cake world.

As it was her first attempt at the competition, she was naturally overjoyed by her accomplishment, a fitting reward for Sio’s devotion to her craft.

Touching lives, winning accolades and overcoming her midlife crisis has taken a lot of perseverance from Sio, especially since it all began with a precarious leap of faith.

“I was definitely worried at first because I was giving up my steady monthly income,” she said, referring to the early jitters in her baking career.

“But then I thought to myself: don’t be afraid to give yourself a chance; if you never try, you’ll never know. And that’s the message I want to impart – you’re never too old to chase your dreams.”

Just like her slogan, Sio’s sweet masterpieces are truly “More Than Cakes” and there’s no doubt that she’ll continue to give Malaysians more special memories that’ll last them a lifetime, even after the final slice.

To see more of Sio’s jaw-dropping cakes, check her out on Facebook and drop her a message if you’d like to get yourself or a loved one a customised cake.