Dear younger me, Thank you for dreaming, for imagining, for gripping onto the pen, for believing in what started out as a ludicrous premise and committing to it, for the fitful fevers that consumed the page, for writing what you love and ache for, for a story that is by no means perfect—but what I … Continue reading 23: a birthday letter to my younger self
Tag: Birthday
Happy National Day! // my cover of “Home” by Kit Chan
"Celebrations Together": Artwork by Khong Ka Yeung, Rulang Primary School Happy 55th birthday, my dearest Singapore! 🎂☀️🇸🇬 Each year, NDP (National Day Parade) is special partly because of the songs that I grew up with. I remember singing the NDP songs in school halls, classrooms, on the bus, with friends, teachers, family, strangers—all in unison … Continue reading Happy National Day! // my cover of “Home” by Kit Chan
22
hi dear friends and readers, today i turn 22!!!! today i feel very very loved and very very blessed. thank you to each of you — you know who you are — who have made it so special. i've waited seven years to play this song (so let this be the soundtrack to this blog … Continue reading 22
Happy 54th birthday, Singapore!
Happy happy National Day, all my Singaporean friends! 🎂🇸🇬✨ It's weird how frequently I've thought of you, Singapore, in the day-to-day of my job. Like when the White House published a memo attacking China's developing country status in the WTO and the first thing my eyes were glued onto in the text (read here) was … Continue reading Happy 54th birthday, Singapore!
The Big 21
On May 31, 2019, I turned 21. The big 21 is sundrenched in Californian heat, pulsing in road trip vibes, and peppered with desert sand and surrealist tree-like cacti with muscled arms (think: the Whomping Willow in Harry Potter). Outside of the window are lonely gas stations, abandoned houses, and then a humongous pink ice … Continue reading The Big 21
Two Takes on My Harvard Freshman Year (My Year in Review?)
TAKE ONE Here's how it happens: eyelids fluttering, an image rising, and a sudden plunge into the hot, wet mouth of memory. I'm walking on a boulevard and then this hutong catches my eye and before I know it I'm wandering down networks of neurons, lost. Or I'm talking to someone, laughing, and there's a … Continue reading Two Takes on My Harvard Freshman Year (My Year in Review?)
Happy 53rd Birthday, Singapore!
To the sunny island-state who fed me a diet of chicken rice, pineapple tarts, dim sum, herbal soups, bubble tea, zi char, and Pokka green tea, To the towering institutions, well-worn wooden lecterns, scribbled whiteboards, laughter-filled halls, bleary-eyed mornings before sunrise, and the strict, snarky but wise teachers who educated me, equipped my mind and … Continue reading Happy 53rd Birthday, Singapore!
From 20-year-old Me, With Love
Today I turn 20! I wonder how past birthdays feel like because this one feels very homely despite the fact that I'm in a country I've never been before. Last night, I was sitting cross-legged in a hotel room on the 46th floor of Japan's tallest building, wearing a dripping sheet mask, clad in Mickey … Continue reading From 20-year-old Me, With Love
Selina Xu 