Kiss92 FM’s morning trio on breakfast habits

Two's company, three's a crowd?

Not so for the trio of effervescent radio jocks who helm Kiss92 FM's weekday breakfast show Maddy, Jason & Arnold In The Morning.

As they dug into a sumptuous steamboat spread at Peach Garden at The Metropolis, the popular Chinese restaurant chain's newest outlet in Buona Vista, Maddy Barber, 40, Jason Johnson, 46, and Arnold Gay, 47, traded banter and teased each other endlessly.

On the topic of breakfast alone, friendly barbs were exchanged.

Gay said a tad smugly that he was lucky that his wife prepares a takeaway breakfast pack for him every morning - unlike Johnson, who is "reduced to begging (for food)".

Johnson also referred to Barber's morning routine diet of a vegetable-and-fruit juice as "some disgusting chlorophyll drink".

It wasn't hard to tell that the trio get along fabulously.

And boy, are they riding on a new high.

Last month, Kiss92 emerged as Singapore's top English music station based on percentage share of listenership, with its cumulative listenership leaping from 89,000 to 574,000.

One of Kiss92's ongoing monthly signature events, Girls' Night Out, sees Barber (who doubles up as the station's assistant programme director), Johnson and Gay hanging out with their female listeners and their gal pals at different restaurants in town.

"It's always very fun. Jason never fails to get drunk each time and when he's drunk, he spills all his deepest secrets," shared Barber, with a chuckle.

You guys start work super early. Do you have time for breakfast?

Gay: I do copytasting for news and sports, so I reach the office at 4am, which is an hour before the two of them. Breakfast, for me, starts when I arrive at work.

Barber: His wife prepares this goodie bag for him, with 'daddy' written on it.

Gay: There's fruit, yoghurt, a tea bag, heavier stuff like fruit cake and fan choy (steamed savoury rice with char siew).Barber: Sometimes, there is pasta and it smells really good! Whenever we go, 'What's that smell?', he'd be obliged to ask us if we want some.

Johnson: My wife doesn't prepare breakfast for me. She is the laziest woman in the world. Either Maddy would bring me a plastic container with her leftovers from last night, or our producer would go across the street to buy me bee hoon.

Gay: Maddy is like Jason's pseudo wife. (Laughs)

Barber: Usually, when I bring Jason leftovers, they're for myself. But I'm always not hungry enough at that hour to eat it. I still need something to fill my stomach though. I've decided to be a little healthier, so these days, I have a vegetable powder which I mix with fruit juice and shake it into a blend. I have nice lunches with my friends, so I try to keep breakfast light. The juice is great, as it contains a lot of fibre.

Johnson: Yeah, yeah. It's gross.

Do you cook? Any dishes that you do well?

Johnson: I cook on the weekends and my boys are huge fans of my cooking. Hash is my No 1 recipe. I chop up the potatoes, meat, celery, bell peppers, eggs, fry it all up and it is the most delicious thing in the world.

Barber: Carbo overload!

Johnson: I also do tuna sandwiches and grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup pretty well.

Gay: When I'm in the mood, I do crab. My salted egg yolk crab and pepper crab are well-received. I have a pizza maker at home, so sometimes, we make pizzas.

Barber: I have a Brit at home (referring to her husband, IT consultant Wez Barber), so I like to do English roasts. Not just on weekends, but on weekdays too. He's very fortunate. I'd roast turkey breast, a whole chicken or beef. I can do Tamale Pie too, which is corn bread on top of meat spices.

Johnson: Oh, that pie is delicious.

Barber: I like to do Western food. To me, it is simpler than cooking Chinese fare. You don't have to fry and sweat it out, it's basically marinating and dumping stuff in the oven.

Where do you and your families like to unwind over the weekends?

Gay: I bumped into Maddy once at Outback Steakhouse at Millenia Walk. We were both there with our families for the same reason - we wanted a place that is not crowded.

Barber: It's big enough to accommodate many people. That said, I love PasarBella at The Grandstand too, which has a nice Sunday market vibe. You can either dine there or shop around for fresh organic food.

Johnson: Every Saturday, my family orders Domino's Pizza. Every Sunday, we order McDonald's.

Barber: After reading this, every kid would want to be in your family! (Laughs)

You guys must have dined at many fine-dining places since the launch of Girls' Night Out!

Gay: Yes, we have. Thanks to Girls' Night Out, we've sampled Japanese, Peruvian and South American cuisine.

Barber: Jason is such a hillbilly when it comes to all these restaurants. Many times, Arnold and I would take for granted the dishes on our table, but Jason would gush unreservedly, "Oh my god!".

Johnson: Speaking of that, the sushi at Shinji By Kanesaka is so good it brought a tear to my eye.

Gay: Mikuni, a Japanese restaurant at Fairmont Singapore, is my favourite.

Barber: Cook & Brew, located on Level 33 of The Westin Singapore, was fantastic.