Category: 2025 Entries
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Fly Me to the Moon. Sasha Chuk (director), Fly Me to the Moon 但願人長久, 2023. 112 min. Every era of Hong Kong cinema has…
![[REVIEW] “In the Wake of Hong Kong Dreaming: Sasha Chuk’s 𝐹𝑙𝑦 𝑀𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑛” by Tin Yuet Tam](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/fly-me-to-the-moon.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yuta Takahashi (author), Cat Anderson (translator), The Chibineko Kitchen, John Murray, 2024. 192 pgs. The Japanese iyashikei—or healing—genre has resonated deeply with readers worldwide, offering solace and comfort through…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dining with the Departed: Yuta Takahashi’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑘𝑜 𝐾𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑛” by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/the-chibineko-kitchen-john-murray-1.jpg?w=651)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Absolutely on Music. Haruki Murakami (author), Jay Rubin (translator), Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa, Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. 352 pgs. When we look back…
![[REVIEW] “A Symphony of Words and Sound—Haruki Murakami’s 𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐: 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑖𝑗𝑖 𝑂𝑧𝑎𝑤𝑎” by Antonia Yang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/absolutely-on-music-conversations-with-seiji-ozawa-alfred-a.-knopf-2016.jpg?w=751)
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Kishore Kumar I was just five when I first “saw” Kishore Kumar—his presence flickering to life on the tiny black-and-white television set my grandfather had brought back from one of his work trips to the then-USSR. There he was—handsome, dashing,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Kishore Kumar: A Journey of Adoration and Rediscovery” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/kishore-kumar-cha.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Before TSMC and Same-Sex Marriage: Qiu Miaojin’s Notes of a Crocodile” by Glen Loveland Qiu Miaojin (author), Bonnie Huie (translator), Notes of a Crocodile, NYRB Classics, 2017, 256 pgs. To…
![[REVIEW] “Before TSMC and Same-Sex Marriage: Qiu Miaojin’s 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑒” by Glen Loveland](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/qiu.crocodile.hires2-copy.jpg?w=990)
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Love and Loss in Petersen Vargas’s 𝑈𝑛/𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑜𝑢” by Jhon Steven C. Espenido
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Petersen Vargas (Director), Un/Happy for You, 2024. 110 min. If there is one recent romantic drama that has left an everlasting mark on me, it is Un/Happy for You,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Love and Loss in Petersen Vargas’s 𝑈𝑛/𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑜𝑢” by Jhon Steven C. Espenido](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/petersen-vargas-director-unhappy-for-you-1.png?w=841)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chie Hayakawa (director), Plan 75, 2022. 112 min. Perhaps storytelling is an indispensable part of being human? Perhaps we all need to tell ourselves—and each other—certain stories to get…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Stories We Live By: Narrative, Meaning, and Existential Emptiness in Chie Hayakawa’s 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛 75” by Anders Kølle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/chie-hayakawa-plan-75.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Importance of Nomenclature in Pattern, Language, Setting—A Glossary of City Spaces in Hong Kong” By Vanessa Winghei Yeung in.light.of.living—Sik.Faan (author), jck (illustrator), and daanngaazai (calligrapher), Pattern, Language, Setting—A…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Importance of Nomenclature in 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛, 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔—𝐴 𝐺𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔” By Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/in.light_.of_.livinge28094sik.faan-author-jck-illustrator-and-daanngaazai-calligrapher-pattern-language-setting-e28093-a-glossary-of-city-spaces-in-hong-kong.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Peter Ho Davies, The Art of Revision, Graywolf Press, 2021. 192 pgs. While I wasn’t particularly aware of the Graywolf Press series to which this book belongs—The Art of…,…
![[REVIEW] “The Last Word on Writing: Peter Ho Davies’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛” by Noelle Q. de Jesus](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/peter-ho-davies-the-art-of-revision-1.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bhaswati Ghosh, Nostalgic for a Place Never Seen, Copper Coin Publishing, 2024. 102 pgs. Nostalgia is humanity’s Janus-faced companion—simultaneously looking back and forward, with someone or something perpetually tugging…
![[REVIEW] “This is How Places Heave: Memory and Longing in Bhaswati Ghosh’s 𝑁𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑒𝑒𝑛” by Sayan Aich](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bhaswati-ghosh-nostalgic-for-a-place-never-seen-1.jpg?w=543)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Paola Irene Galli Mastrodonato, Emilio Salgari: The Tiger Is Still Alive!, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2024. 462 pgs. The very first thought that crossed my mind upon seeing Paola…
![[REVIEW] “Asia’s Italian Novelist: Paola Irene Galli Mastrodonato” by Masturah Alatas](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/emilio-salgari-the-tiger-is-still-alive-1.jpg?w=932)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on A Woman Burnt. Imayam (author), GJV Prasad (translator), A Woman Burnt, Simon and Schuster India, 2023. 336 pgs. We step into a new world—otherwise inaccessible—every…
![[REVIEW] “A Tale of Love and Abuse: Imayam’s 𝐴 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑡” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a-woman-burnt-1.jpg?w=952)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mohammad Rasoulof (director), The Seed of the Sacred Fig, 2024. 167 min. The fig tree spreads by entwining itself around another, slowly constricting, siphoning its strength, until nothing remains…
![[REVIEW] “Strangled by Power: Mohammad Rasoulof’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝐹𝑖𝑔” by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/the-seed-of-the-sacred-fig_web-1024x559-1.webp?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Yiyun Li. Yiyun Li, Must I Go, Penguin Random House, 2020. 368 pgs. Lately, I find fewer and fewer books that surprise me—novels capable of…
![[REVIEW] “A Meditation on Memory and Loss: Yiyun Li’s 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝐼 𝐺𝑜” by Dorina Tataran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/must-i-go-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Fang Li (director), The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, 2023. 123 min. The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru is a documentary film recounting the torpedoing of the Japanese cargo…
![[REVIEW] “Crying in the Cinema, Chinese Style: Fang Li’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑏𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑢” by Edward Allen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/fang-li-director-the-sinking-of-the-lisbon-maru.webp?w=680)
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[INCIDENTAL] “The Beginning of My Education in The Finer Points of Chinese Cuisine” by Jeff Beyl There is a scene in the television show Friends where the six main characters—the titular friends—discuss “Chinese food.” Chandler jokingly remarks, “Yes, but in…
![[INCIDENTAL] “The Beginning of My Education in The Finer Points of Chinese Cuisine” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/fremont-film-still.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Katarina Zhu (director), Bunnylovr, 2025. 86 min. A webcam turns on: a white fishnet stocking appears up close, resembling a fence—one that invites the possibility of being climbed, crossed,…
![[REVIEW] “The Good Girl: On Katarina Zhu’s 𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑟” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bunnylovr.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rohan Parashuram Kanawade (director), Sabar Bonda, 2025. 112 min. A death has already occurred—one that, over the ten days in which Sabar Bonda unfolds, will be mourned by a…
![[REVIEW] “An Unmarried Man: On Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s 𝑆𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑟 𝐵𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/sabar-bonda.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shze-Hui Tjoa, The Story Game: A Memoir by Shze-Hui Tjoa, Tin House Books, 2024. 208 pgs. It was exam season, except this time I was in university. This class…
![[REVIEW] “Excavation and Memory in Shze-Hui Tjoa’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑒: 𝐴 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑟” by Nur Hadziqah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/shze-hui-tjoa-the-story-game-a-memoir-by-shze-hui-tjoa.jpg?w=971)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Fugitive: Bei Dao’s Sidetracks” by Jeff Tompkins Bei Dao (author), Jeffrey Yang (translator), Sidetracks, New Directions, 2024. 176 pgs. The “sidetracks” of Bei Dao’s title can first be understood…
![[REVIEW] “The Fugitive: Bei Dao’s 𝑆𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/sidetracks-bei-dao_cha.jpg?w=611)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kōki Mitani (director), Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald, 1997. 103 min. Kōki Mitani has a particular knack for satirising the Japanese inclination to avoid confrontation. As the screenwriter…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Japanese Comedy Cinema at Its Finest: Kōki Mitani’s 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑀𝑟. 𝑀𝑐𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑑” by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mv5bodhimtlimzmtodk0my00ogjklwjjmwytythlyta3mzllzjq1xkeyxkfqcgc40._v1_.jpg?w=853)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Karan Mujoo, This Our Paradise, Penguin Random House, 2024. 240 pgs. For some, Kashmir is a paradise of serene valleys and pristine lakes. For others, it is…
![[REVIEW] “A Fractured Paradise: Karan Mujoo’s 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒” by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/this-our-paradise.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Susan Lieu, The Manicurist’s Daughter: A Memoir, Celadon Books, 2024. 305 pgs. The Manicurist’s Daughter: A Memoir is both a profound exploration and a courageous recovery of…
![[REVIEW] “Teetering Between Cultures: Susan Lieu’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡’𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Thu Le](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-manicurists-daughter.jpg?w=987)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kang Hwagil (author), Clare Richards (translator), Another Person, Pushkin Press, 2023. 302 pgs. When her boyfriend chokes her for the fifth time since their office romance began, Kim…
![[REVIEW] “Unmasking Toxic Cultures: Kang Hwagil’s 𝐴𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛” by John Teoh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/another-person-78-reviews-authors-hwa-gil-kang-author-clare-richards-translator.jpg?w=950)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Art of Waking Up Words: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s If I Do Not Reply” by Anders Kølle Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Art of Waking Up Words: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝐷𝑜 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦” by Anders Kølle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho.jpg?w=907)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ▚ Shao Yihui (director), Her Story 好东西, 2024. 123 min. ▚ Ling Jia (director), YOLO 热辣滚烫, 2024. 130 min. Decades after Chairman Mao declared that “women hold up half…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦, 𝑌𝑂𝐿𝑂, and the Alternative Family in Chinese Cinema” by Edward Allen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-alternative-family-in-chinese-cinema.png?w=1024)
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RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Soom (author), Bruce Fulton and Ju-Chan Fulton (translators), One Left, University of Washington Press, 2020. 224 pgs. During the Second World War, over 200,000 Korean girls…
![[REVIEW] “Bearing Witness to History: Kim Soom’s 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡” by John Teoh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/kim-soom-author-bruce-fulton-and-ju-chan-fulton-translators-one-left-1.jpg?w=971)
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RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yilin Wang (editor & translator), The Lantern and the Night Moths: Five Modern and Contemporary Chinese Poets, Invisible Publishing, 2024. 120 pgs. The Lantern and The Night…
![[REVIEW] “Poetry Translation in the Chinese Diaspora: Yilin Wang’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑀𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑠” by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-lantern-and-the-night-moths.jpg?w=1024)
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Ma Ka Fai’s note: These are selected excerpts from my novel Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong III (雙天至尊), forthcoming this year. The story’s protagonist, Hon Tien-Yan, is a passionate martial arts enthusiast and an ardent admirer of Bruce Lee.…
![[TRANSLATION] “Master Ip and the Dragonling” by Ma Ka fai, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ma-ka-fai-e9a6ace5aeb6e8bc9d.png?w=1024)
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Poet’s note: I consider this poem an ode to beginnings—a constant reminder that, before the hurt sets in, before any damage is done, the first page of any story holds infinite promise. There is always a reason for characters to…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Beginnings are Generous” by Marco Yan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/frost-flowers-thumb.jpeg?w=1024)
Cha 