I am Chinese Canadian and I have been a writer all my life, starting with a pocket size journal I kept as a child to writing stories as an adult about my overseas travels.  Recently, I completed my travel memoir THE SAME SKY about my solo journey through Tibet, Laos and Cambodia.

I love to write.  And I love to travel.  I feel so fortunate that I’ve been able to combine my two passions.  I recently came back from Burma and Bhutan and I fell in love with the temples there. There’s something thrilling about running my fingers down the hallways of thousand-year-old walls still resplendent with ancient Buddhist images.

To write about heartfelt exchanges with locals and to describe the joy we have in sharing a cup of tea and some smiles even though we don’t speak the same language is also a real pleasure for me.  Whether I am in the fruit market in Phnom Penh, or on the Metro in Paris, people watching is my favorite pastime.  Personalities come through in the smallest gestures, whether that’s a glimpse, a smile, or a momentary flash of annoyance, which I often enjoy writing about.

Move over cat!

My life has changed dramatically in the last few years:  Move over cat!  Hello new husband and stepdaughter! I didn’t think I was ever going to get married.  I figured it would just be my cat Moo Moo and me in a cramped shoebox apartment for years to come.  Then after living in NYC for over a decade, I decided to move back to my hometown Vancouver.  Three weeks later, I met Eduardo in the fast lane (literally) at the 92Y pool and we became friends, then a couple.

My cool new family: hubby Eduardo and stepdaughter Prescilla

Oh and being a stepmother is COOL.  Life is unexpected at every turn of the way, and I’ve been rediscovering joy and patience all over again through the eyes of my teenage daughter.

I received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a concentration in English Literature at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.  I currently live in New York City and when not writing, I am the Global Training Director at a communications firm.