You’re invited, to come sit under
ᨒ an oasis for the explorers of the world, and of the world within ourselves ᨒ
Welcome to A Tangerine Moon
I’m Suyin, a Singapore-born poet, writer, and lyrical storyteller currently living my fourth life in Porto, Portugal.
I create and hold spaces where poetry meets alchemy, where creative exploration writes a map for inner transformation, where we can belong as we become.
The last two decades saw me living in various cities of the world, including London (where I lived my third life as an international lawyer), New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Copenhagen and Cape Town.
The stories here are lyrical field notes distilled from my journeys of shifting identities (personal, professional and creative) and uprooting to move across continents and countries multiple times, all in search of self, home, belonging and meaning.
A Tangerine Moon was born out of all that my own heart has been called towards during this time — a home for when we are in the spaces in between, trying to find our feet, make sense of it all, and encounter some kindred spirits along the way.
I write as a lover of the beauty found in the seen and the unseen, in light and in shadow, from the perspective of one who lives at the border — “in sight of two worlds and looking towards the unknown”.
Here, you’ll find a home for stories that explore the internal and external landscapes we encounter while navigating the journey back home to self, including —
〰️ learning to build the home I never had, for past, present, and future versions of me
〰️ what it means to become whole again, when home is not a place and we experience losses that shatter
〰️ growing roots in the air — seeking home far away from home, finding belonging in displacement and carrying our roots with us wherever we go
〰️ living in self-integrity without compromise or compartmentalization
〰️ trusting the creative act and process, and discovering our fullest, most honest expressions
〰️ the meaning of love, friendship, and belonging as we shift between identities, cultures and homes
〰️ leaving behind the path well-trodden to step into the great unknown in my later 30s, following previous resets in my early 30s and mid 20s
〰️ the nectar of slow and solo travel, and finding spaciousness in solitude
Here, you’ll also find a home for all of you, just as you are right now
(in the cherished words of subscribers, who say it better than I can)
♡ “Suyin’s writing is rich and deeply moving. I find myself returning to her pieces again and again, rereading lines and phrases that are particularly beautiful. They’re not meant to be read quickly. I like to sit with them over time and let her words linger before moving on.”
♡ “I believe Suyin is one of the most important and moving voices on substack. Her work is the poetic storytelling the world needs to hear — not only because it is new and opens our hearts to more, but because it is also ancient in the way it returns us to the most important parts of ourselves”
♡ “Your writing is special, Suyin — it’s looking at details, like something we don’t take time for anymore. It feels analog, like turning my screen into a printed book, like the air slowly cooling down after a hot afternoon on a vacation somewhere with cypress trees”
♡ “This is a treat for you if you love prose and how words can be strung together to sound like music… like lanterns strung together and hung across a river, bridging one side of a mirror to the other.”
♡ “Suyin's poetry and lyrical storytelling is breathtakingly unique. Her insights of the human experience are clever and magical, and prompts me to think deeper on topics such as culture, identity, home, belonging and meaning.”
♡ “As I read this beautiful, beautiful observation from Suyin, whose writings are ever stunning, I felt that feeling familiar to all readers and daydreamers — when something you’ve known, felt and nurtured within for years, namelessly, was finally put to words by an author you were meant to stumble upon”
♡ “Suyin's writing has a delicate beauty and deep recognition of all the ways we move ourselves through the human experience… for those who are pensive at heart, those who love poetry and art, finding beauty in everyday moments, and always questioning how deep we can go in one lifetime”
⟡₊ ⊹ Come watch the moon with us ⋆｡°✩
ᨒ↟ My Journey So Far ᨒ↟
If you’re curious to find out a little more about the journey behind the stories you find here, A Tangerine Moon was birthed from me taking one of the biggest journeys (both internal and external) of my life.
In 2022, I stepped away at the age of 36 from my 10 year career path as an international lawyer in London (my third career following time spent in the international non-profit and journalism worlds in New York and Singapore), and meandered into a profoundly expansive and nourishing period of slow, often solo, travel journeys to Portugal, Southern Spain, Switzerland, Peru and Japan.
In 2023, I made the honestly terrifying yet also incredibly freeing decision to leave behind my entire life and career in London that I’d spent 13½ years building up through a combination of meticulous planning and inadvertent self-deprivation. I walked away from that in favour of embracing a different life, guided by my intuition and self-trust — a life of true self-commitment that honours my creative spirit and art, and my desire to live and work in alignment with my personal values.
In 2024, today, I bring my intention to filling my days and my heart full of all that I love and treasure.
I am the person who bursts with happiness in the company of delicious shared meals, who cries streams of tears in my moving encounters with art and nature, and who concerns myself with protecting the free spirit I see in others.
I am a poetic storyteller, midnight magician, and perpetual explorer of worlds, inner and outer.
I believe that each of us is seeking what inside us wants to be seen and expressed, and one of the main reasons we gather and connect, is so that we can reflect who we are, at heart, back to each other.
This is my North Star for the work I’m currently dedicating myself to — distilling an oasis for travellers who find themselves at an existential crossroads, through a lyrical alchemy of shared stories, personalized mentorship and a curation of immersive experiences, to gently guide the rediscovery of our free spirit and creative living in contemplation of our own unique rhyme.
We’ve saved you a seat in the moonlight, see you at the oasis ᨒ↟
