Small things, mostly

Please don’t hurry my order (Singapore) November 5, 2023

I love my alley in Singapore. I’m waiting for my take out banh mi when I notice a new shop next door. It’s a Vietnamese-style hair salon. The

The old backpacker area of Bangkok (Thailand) October 15, 2023

I am interested in cities. Mainly because cities are always evolving. More so cities like Bangkok that see so much international traffic. I stayed

Hand drawn maps (Sri Lanka) September 24, 2023

At the recent “Small things, mostly” in Saigon, Huynh shared a story from her travels in Sri Lanka.. An elderly Sri Lankan gent she met on the

I love airports (Thailand) August 20, 2023

At airports, we shout into our phones and linger at the café selfishly long after finishing our drinks. And still, we strike up conversations with

Food from Burma in Bangkok (Thailand) June 4, 2023

When I miss the world, I go to Bangkok. Bangkok has the widest range of budget international food in Asia. You can find Afghan, Ethiopian, Yemeni,

Apple shop names (Cambodia) April 3, 2023

Apple shops in Cambodia have such cute names

A return to the North (Thailand) March 20, 2023

I hadn’t planned on returning to northern Thailand anytime soon, but being in Vientiane late last year made me miss Chiang Mai. There’s something

New Year’s Day (Japan) January 1, 2023

On New Year’s Day, we visit the neighborhood shrine to seek blessings for the new year. People come to the shrine to draw their fortunes. Though I

Million elephants and the fastest train (Laos) January 1, 2023

I am writing postcards in Lao PDR. The postcards feature elephants. The stamp features the new high-speed train. In school, we learnt about Lao as

The neighbor (Vietnam) December 22, 2022

The neighbor always greeted me with a “hello, teacher” and a smile. I was her ChatGPT as she always had questions for me— about travel, and