📚Kyla’s Musings: Asia solo trip & my chubby baby pics
And my book will be out in 1 (!!!) month :O
Hello from Asia!!
One! More! Month!
Firstly, there’s only one month until May the Best Player Win comes out!!!! Have you ordered your copy yet? :D
The game is on in this fun-filled middle grade debut about chess, girl power, and performance anxiety in sports, perfect for fans of Kelly Yang and Celia C. Pérez!
The clock is ticking for May Li, whose middle-school chess team just earned a victory at the state championship—and with it, a ticket to nationals. What’s even more exciting is that May got an award for being the top female player and a splashy feature in the biggest chess magazine in the country.
May should be thrilled. But some of her teammates, including her supposed-to-be-friend Ralph, aren’t too pleased with the attention she’s getting—and they’re even questioning her skills. Backed into a corner, but not one to back down, May makes a move as bold as any of her chess tactics: She bets Ralph she can win the school’s internal tournament and be chosen as team captain for nationals.
The crown is May’s for the taking . . . except she’s starting to crumble under the weight of everyone’s expectations. Anxious feelings begin to affect her performance and, what’s worse, eat away at her love for the game. Now May is left to wonder: Can you still play for fun when you’re playing to win?
After finishing the first draft of Heirs of Infamy, my YA historical novel, I sent it off to my agent for her thoughts. A few friends also read the messy draft and some of their reactions make me giggle.
Solo-tripping in Asia
While waiting for my agent’s feedback, I’m taking 2.5 weeks off writing (lol) to enjoy my trip to Asia! In the past couple of weeks, I’ve covered Tokyo (solo), Seoul (solo), and now I’m in China (with family).
(Sadly, there isn’t enough to return to Singapore this time ☹.)
(And please forgive any delayed responses. I have very spotty internet connection right now.)
Here are some quick trip observations:
Tokyo (Japan)
It’s near impossible finding a public trash can. If I ever eat outside, I must be prepared to carry my trash around with me.
There are tons of vending machines around, which were a godsend in the heatwave.
Before this trip, I heard that it’s a cultural faux pas to eat while walking on the streets. But while no one is digging into a full meal, I saw plenty of people eating onigiri or ice cream as they walk. Â
Fruits are so rare and consequently, incredibly expensive. Each fruit also comes with an ostentatious amount of packaging. Â
Japanese convenience stores really are as great as people say. Spam and egg musubi is elite, as is tuna mayo onigiri.
As a fan of dry noodles (no soupy ramens for me), I was ecstatic to discover abura soba—stringy noodles with a small serving of aromatic oil. It’s sold in hole-in-the-wall shops which can only accommodate 10 customers max and everyone has to sit shoulder-to-shoulder. But I love abura soba so much that I’m willing to sacrifice the concept of personal space.
Ueno Zoo isn’t very worth it, in my opinion. It’s famous for being the oldest zoo in Japan, and its facilities/animals reflect that.
Takeshita Street (a famous youth-oriented shopping street) is like any other tourist-catering shopping street. It had its heyday, but most of its offerings now seem more like fast fashion a la Shein.
Ginza is Tokyo’s version of Rodeo Drive/5th Avenue. I recommend Ginza Six if you want to shop (I discovered a cool new brand in this mall 😊).
I really enjoyed my time in Tokyo and would love to come back to Japan to visit other cities. Maybe Kyoto/Osaka!
Seoul (South Korea)
If you want to get around, you must download Naver Maps. Most of the place names on Apple Maps/Google Maps are in Korean. And at least for Apple Maps, the app doesn’t offer transit information. (I personally found it significantly harder navigating Seoul than Tokyo… lemme know if you have similar/different experiences!)
Beauty treatments in Seoul are quite a bit lower than in the states! But it isn’t easy finding one with staff who can speak English.
Food halls in Seoul are soooo good. It’s a maze of food stands with savory and sweet offerings. I want to try everything. Â
If you want to visit a hanok village (a place that still retains traditional Korean architecture), don’t bother with Ikseondong. Bukchon is (rather commercialized but still) much better.
Many of the national museums in Korea are free!! I visited six and my favorite is, by far, the National Folk Museum.
Similar to Tokyo, it’s hard to find public trash bins
Starfield Library (the super aesthetic one you might have seen all over Instagram) is nice to look at, but don’t visit if you actually want to read. There are hordes of tourists and photographers wandering through. And it also opens directly into a massive mall, so there’s just constantly a hubbub of activity.
There are so! many! cafes!!!! I don’t know how Korean cafes stay in business because their vibes are all kind of the same, so it must be hard standing out amidst the fierce competition.
Fruits are also very expensive here, but a little more obtainable than in Tokyo.
China
Visiting China isn’t for sight-seeing, just for spending time with family. I’m returning to places that I’ve already visited at least a dozen times before.
But while visiting my grandparents, we uncovered some old photo albums. Lo and behold—here’s baby Kyla. I was SO chubby. I had a triple chin :)))
Here’s slightly older Kyla (huh, I should incorporate more orange into my wardrobe):
But WHAT is this?!!!!!! Who let me out of the house?????? Why did I think anything about this was cool??????????????
(Also I’m pretty sure this was taken on a trip to Shaolin temple)
??????????????????????????????????
Book recs
August is an exciting book month!! Without ado, here’s five that I’ve preordered (can’t wait to dive into them once I get back home to my book parcels!!):
The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee
Dance of the Starlit Sea by Kiana Krystle
Kisses, Codes, and Conspiracies by Abigail Hing Wen
This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings
A Banh Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen
And that’s all from me, friends! Thank you to everyone who has supported The Fraud Squad and Valley Verified. It means the world to me and I’m really really excited to share my children’s literature debut with you all. <3
Best,
Kyla