Singaporeans might remember her as the babe with doll-like looks who won America's Next Top Model (ANTM) Cycle 5, which was screened here four years ago.

Student-turned-model Nicole Linkletter, 23, has since dropped the baby fat, as Urban discovered when we caught up with her at a coffee shop in South Bridge Road last Saturday.

Here for the first time till early April under the management of Upfront Models, the California-based freckle-faced beauty is staying in a condominium in the Balestier area during her two-month stint.

Her first culture shock came when she visited the neighbourhood coffee shop and was served coffee in a plastic bag, she recalls.

'The coffee here is really good though. I now get one every morning,' she says with a laugh.

Since arriving on Feb 2, the 1.75m brunette, who turns 24 in April, has been busy with jobs daily.

She picked Singapore over fashion capital Paris for her first long-term overseas stint because she heard job opportunities here are currently better than there in Europe.

While she cannot stand the heat here, she is lapping up local spicy fare - her favourite being barbecued stingray topped with belachan (shrimp paste) chilli.

'I've always loved spicy food. Back home, I put jalapeno peppers in almost everything I cook.'

For the past three years, she has been juggling school and modelling - she graduated from California State University Northridge with a degree in marketing last December.

She has walked for British label Gharani Strok and shot campaigns for British haircare brand Pantene, American shoe label Sketchers and French designer Christian Audigier's Crystal Rock collection.

In a good month, she gets about eight to 10 jobs, she says - not bad, considering how some of the other ANTM winners have either joined other reality TV shows or faded into oblivion.

Asked if she agrees the show, which will screen Cycle 12 in the United States next month, does not seem to have done much for its alumni, she says: 'It wouldn't be fair for me to judge what other winners have gone on to do. I can only speak for myself and I've been getting work consistently for the past 2½ years.'

While insisting that most of the other winners are good, she reveals, however, that there are contestants who are selected 'for the drama'.

She says: 'There are definitely girls who join the show for the sake of being on a reality programme and I'd say they certainly got their 15 minutes of fame.'

Since her win, she has not caught a single episode of the show, she admits.

'It was my big break and, if not for it, I would have probably not taken this route so soon,' she says.

'But it just feels like I've been there and done that and don't have to watch it all over again.'

She holds the record for being the youngest winner - she was 20 when she won the top prize, which included a US$100,000 contract with American cosmetics brand CoverGirl and a spread in American Elle.

For now, she is enjoying life as a true-blue model.

Home is an apartment shared with her boyfriend in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles.

Her favourite part of the job is the jet-setting lifestyle. Designer brands such as Chloe and Yves Saint Laurent now share wardrobe space with her favourite vintage duds.

She has plans to get a master's degree - she has not decided in what - being aware that life on the catwalk is short.

'There are a hundred things I want to do. I'd like to work in the fashion industry or enter the cosmetics business. I'd really like to open my own boutique,' she says.

'But that's all in a few years' time. For now, I'm working consistenly, making money and will be a model for however long I can be one.'

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.