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.
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.
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.