essays

sad girl sad city


friday night in tokyo — we’re waiting for the elevator at an unassuming office building when a man steps out in a standard japanese work uniform: disheveled button-down, black slacks.
published on substack


Crying in Country Clubs


Dotted across the continental U.S. was my graveyard of lost summers.

published in SPARK magazine 


M+


Underground art in red Hong Kong.

published in SPARK magazine



Are you living up to your fictional counterpart?


The secret to a friendship is more intuitive than you’d think.
published on substack  



WE FOUND LOVE IN A TRADER JOE’S


I thought of the last peach I cut, the morning of our godforsaken picnic. How perfectly equal the six slices were. How I still took the seed out and blew a kiss before tossing it.
published on PILOT maga


Winter in Review


What to do with this newfound quiet. published on substack 



i love you, please eat now


A parent’s relationship is often a child’s first encounter with love, and mine—like most immigrant children’s—was not the most emblematic.
published in silk club (QUIET! 08




Again, again, kiss me again


A special Valentine's Day edition!
published on substack  



Love is what exists between its languages.


Love is the good part of a sleepover.
published on substack  

the strange games we play


When you’re young, how can you tell the difference between genius and madness?
published on SPARK magazine   



What’s in a Name?


A rose by any other name wouldn’t smell as sweet (take that, Juliet).
published on PILOT magazine   


I covered to live, you lived to breathe


When my mom proactively mailed me boxes of face masks on the eve of March, I rolled my eyes and stuffed them to the back of my closet.
published on SPARK magazine   




Why I’m Scared of Deleting Texts


How text threads have served as a living archive for my lost relationships.
published on PILOT magazine   




The Memory of Red


Stealing one of the sugar cookies in front of the burning incense, I nearly defiled my grandma’s red altar. 
published on SPARK magazine   




My Mom and Breaking News


Engaging with America’s dire need for progress while honoring my mother’s past in Southern China.
published on PILOT magazine