LOOKING BACK
HELLOOOO 2019.
New year, new expectations towards all the exciting things to come!! We’ve got a lot to look forward to this year (like another season of Brooklyn Nine-nine, my college graduation, finally some new music from Rihanna, amazing activists and politicians chipping away at the ever present global gloom and doom with politics and climate change, and of course travelling the world with my faves!!), and I’m ready to get started.
Before wiping 2018 from our minds (like Twitter has conditioned us to), it’s time to take stock of all that has happened. In the spirit of positive 2019 energy, I’m gathering together my most loved new and old books, movies, and more of the past year. Brought to you by The Sound of Music and Oprah, I present to you my favorite things from 2018!
Disclaimer: I’ve got a LOT of favorite things, so feel free to hang onto every word or scroll through this lengthy list.
Podcasts
I’m a hugeee podcast fan, and I wait impatiently every week for my favorite shows to update. I listen while walking to class, doing chores at home, and when I had six hours of listening time during a drawing class that I took this past semester. My faves are:
Criminal - Phoebe Judge creates enthralling episodes about all aspects of crime. She mesmerizes with her unique voice and stories about larger-than-life criminals, the pain of those facing horrific atrocities, and silly stories about frivolous crimes. Definitely my all time favorite podcast!
Pod Save America - This podcast hypes me up about politics, and there’s no better way to listen about the impending apocalypse than with these witty and biting hosts. You know they’re great speakers and true entertainers when they can make dry political stories and ads about ZipRecruiter interesting.
The Dream - Stunt on locals caught in pyramid schemes (multi-level marketing companies), and learn about all the ins and outs of companies that prey on lower income populations and women. Major eye-opener.
Ear Hustle - This podcast crashed down the door and opened up San Quentin State Prison to listeners like me. Ear Hustle is created inside the prison by inmates themselves telling the truth about what it’s like to be locked up. Congrats to host Earlonne Woods for recently being freed from prison!
Dr. Death - Wondery did it again, and they’ve left me shook with this surreal expose on a murderous surgeon in Texas. Couldn’t stop listening from the moment I started it.
Movies
My boyfriend Clay and I are obsessed with going to the movies, and the movies did not let us down this year! This was the year of HUGEEE representation on the big screen. So much Asian American representation in such a short amount of time, and my heart is so happy it could burst. My faves are:
Crazy Rich Asians - SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS MOVIE. Asian American representation that couldn’t get closer to my actual roots!!!! My family is Chinese Malaysian, and the whole movie featured a beautiful romance set in a place that means so much to me. The movie was technically set in Singapore, but it was almost all shot in Malaysia! This movie has the foods my family eats, the accents my family has, and so much more that my white-drenched daily life desperately craves.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before - If this movie had come out while I was in high school, my life would have been forever changed. A normal (and cool and pretty!!!!) Asian American girl in a white community crushing on white boys? Literally my life in Indiana. Already watched this movie 5+ times.
Searching - A movie about the internet that actually gets how the internet works. So clever and also full of Asian American representation! Loved this suspenseful thriller.
Black Panther - A superhero movie that is undeniably amazing. I’m not usually a superhero person but this movie changed me.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Watched this late into 2018, and the stunning animation had me hooked. Had an allergic reaction halfway through watching this movie in the theater, but it was too good to leave. Suffered through the pain like a champ to watch the entirety of this beautiful animation masterpiece.
Coco - Speaking of animation, have you seen this delightful gem? An early 2018 fave that has everything I love: huge bops, representation, a heartwarming tale, and gorgeous animation.
Shopping
In the words of the Cheetah Girls, “fashion is my passion, and life is poetryyyyyy.” That means I have to include my favorite clothing stores in this post. In 2018 I vowed to stop buying fast fashion, and kick the habit of buying new. I promised to only buy secondhand clothes in the spirit of sustainabiltiy and ethical fashion. My faves are:
Goodwill - An oldy but a goody.
Thredup - A fantastic online secondhand store with a really beautiful designed app. This store is good if you are willing to dig (aka scroll) through tons and tons of mediocre pieces. If you do, you’ll find gems! I’ve gotten my favorite statement pieces (platform espadrilles with bows on them and a faux fur Nordstrom coat) from here.
New Apps
I’m a big time iPhone gamer, so of course I have to share my favorite time wasters of 2018. My faves are:
Love Island - This app is an addicting time suck where you play as a character from the British dating show Love Island. I’m not really into The Bachelor, and I’ve never seen this show before, but I couldn’t stop myself from creating drama and shaking up relationships. I kept playing even through the awful graphics and terrible outfit options due to refusing to spend real money in the game. I’m shocked how much fun I had playing this terrifically dumb game.
Tik Tok - Musically gave us the biggest gift of the year when they were bought and converted into Tik Tok. Where else would I get my middle schoolers trying to be cool, yeehaw, old people dancing fix without it?
Happy Glass - 10/10 game until the levels got too hard for me.
Snake vs. Block - This game is so fun and addicting that I think this game gave my thumb arthritis from playing too much. Had to stop playing because I was worried I’d actually mess up my hand hahahahaha.
TV Shows
I love the movies, but I love TV even more. They don’t have that Hollywood glamour and big screen allure, but I’m extremely content watching on my 4 inch iPhone screen in bed. My faves are:
Crazy Ex Girlfriend - BEST SHOW EVER. A musical television show that pays homage to broadway faves with amazing representation from its cast all while tackling tough mental health issues? This show changed my life. Rachel Bloom, I love you, and you are a genius.
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - Hilariously delightful! This comedy makes me want to dress like a 50s housewife and summer in the Catskills.
The Good Place - A brilliant comedy that packs SO much content into tiny little episodes. Every character in this show has a place in my heart.
Books
Book lover in the house over here! My faves are:
Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy by Kevin Kwan - Loved these so much for many of the same reasons I loved the movie. Asian American representation has me shook every time I encounter it due to the complete absence of it my entire life. The books go even further with matching my identity because it uses regional and local Chinese slang that I’ve only heard my family use. Enthralling and comical and wonderful!!!!
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - Many believe that one of the ways you can truly get to know someone is by reading their favorite book, and Clay recommended I read it for that reason. A beautiful and distressing book that I will always keep in my heart.
By the Bog of the Cats by Marina Carr- Read a LOT of Irish literature this year (not by choice but by an Irish loving English professor), and this was one of my favorites that I encountered. A Medea-like play set in the midlands region of Ireland.
Two Gallants by James Joyce - More Irish literature, and this was my favorite story from Dubliners.
Poems
It’s not a new years reflection if it doesn’t mention poetry, am I right?? Oh, just me?
Persimmons by Li-Young Lee - Either there’s dust in my eyes or I just read this poem because I’ve got tears. This is a beautiful and emotional poem about a Chinese American experience that really gets me.
In the Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound - Short and sweet.
This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams - Who doesn’t love the poem about plums?
Lana Turner Has Collapsed by Frank O’Hara - Delightful.
Broadway Shows I Saw Live
This summer was my first time ever watching a musical on Broadway!!! I was really lucky to be able to travel to NYC with my musical loving sister Carmen for a weekend of a lifetime. I saw three shows, and I love them all! My faves are:
Dear Evan Hansen - Laura Dreyfuss and Rachel Bay Jones stole the spotlight.
Carousel - JESSIE MUELLER
Chicago - This show never lets you down. So good.
Individual Bops
These are the songs I couldn’t stop listening to in 2019. The only explanation for why I love these bops are because they just give me the best feeling. My faves are:
I’m Not Living If It’s Not With You by The 1975
Girl From Ipanema by Getz and Gilberto sung by Astrud Gilberto
Love Supreme - Acknowledgement by John Coltrane
Waterloo by the cast of Mamma Mia 2
Anything Goes by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett
If I Could Tell Her from Dear Evan Hansen by Ben Platt and Laura Dreyfuss
Crazy Ex Girlfriend Songs
These are the songs I had on repeat all year from my favorite tv show ever! They’re so good that they get their own category in this post. I know this is true because so many of them showed up on my 2018 Spotify Unwrapped. Carmen and I bopped all summer to these broadway inspired jams. My faves are:
West Covina - This is the intro song to the show that sparked my intense love for this show. In a marvelous surprise, the show inverts the classic broadway trope about a girl moving to the big city with stars in her eyes. The first time I saw this number, my jaw dropped, and I knew I was in love. I watched in magical stupor, as I watched Rachel Bloom sing her heart out.
I’m A Good Person - Makes me laugh every time.
This Session Is Going to Be Different - Inspired by “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret, this song gives Dr. Akopian the chance to be a star.
I’m Just A Girl In Love - Favorite theme song out of all four seasons of the show. BLAM!
Settle For Me - A classic!
Santa Anna Winds - This major bop reminds me that I need to listen to the Jersey Boys soundtrack.
If you’ve made it to the end of this very long 2018 favorite things wrap up, congrats! You’ve now learned a lot about me and all that I love.
Here’s to a lot more loving in 2019!!!