Welcome to my memoir, Misfortune Cookie

Start here + TOC

Misfortune Cookie is about a mostly quirky childhood with a very Thai mom, in Hawaii, with American armpit moments. It’s about unconventional adventures in flexibility and resilience in America and abroad 🥠 and discovering that identity isn’t a cage, or a castle—it’s something entirely different.

A word about this book

I’ve carried these stories for decades, and for decades, these stories have carried me. These chapters have undergone numerous iterations from third person, back to first, to heavy edits, with additions and subtractions being whirled about with the kind of madness that self-doubt caters to so well.

Finally, I’ve decided—enough. It’s never going to be perfect, and it doesn’t fit any “industry standard template”. So, I’ve given myself the permission and space to immortalize these memories here.

A word about pronunciation

During my years abroad, I’ve struggled to speak the language. English is my native tongue, but sometimes you wouldn’t know it. When trying to record family history, my grandmother, mom, and I did the best we could with translating to English.

With that being said, I’ll be doing my very best with foreign words, but I hope you’ll forgive me for any spectacular bellyflops.

A word about memoirs

Did you know that memoir means memory? And that eyewitness testimony in criminal investigations are often considered unreliable? Good, then we can move forward.

A word about schedules * updated

I began this endeavor posting every Thursday, Indochina Time, but I realized that this was too much. So, I’m going to pivot and post twice a month instead. I’ll save the weekend for the What’s on Your Desk? series, and my newsletter.

Thank you for reading! You’re the best. No, really! I appreciate that you’re here.

Table of Contents

Front Matter ~ First Generation Asian American BINGO

0. Prologue: A missing key

1. My mother, the moon

2. My father, the dragon

3. How I met your father

4. The saint and the sinner

5. Not my father

6. The moving coffin

7. Mother, daughter, and the Holy Spirit

8. Stop, drop, and roll

9. What if we get caught?

10. No grass skirts on the beach

11. A dangerous kitchen

12. No more tears

13. Asian American Asian holidays

14. Lost and found

15. Viva Las Vegas

16. 52 days

    Middle Matter ~ A brief history of Lani & Music

17. The Magical Mystery Tour

18. Sticks and stones

19. May break my bones

20. Cute is good enough

21. Sibling Rivalry

22. The great mother-daughter divide

23. Excavation begins

24. What is home?

25. 18 years later

26. Land of Smiles

27. Are you China?

28. Saving 50 cents in Siem Reap

29. American driver, get away from me-ee

30. A walking crime

31. What they never told you about bra shopping in Thailand

32. Can you cook Thai food?

33. Table tennis: eating out in Thailand

34. Epilogue: The day I stopped wanting to be Thai