East Asia

I was a bit too young to actually enjoy the nightlife of old Bugis Street, but I remember it vividly anyway. Memory is funny like that. It doesn’t always need alcohol or lipstick or bad decisions to lodge itself in your bones. Sometimes all it takes is one evening, one old aunt, and a street full of people who refuse to make themselves small. An auntie — not my mother, of course, but one of those aunties who smoked, laughed too loudly, and didn’t explain herself — took me to...

Spicy Auntie has a soft spot for gray divorces. Not because I enjoy broken hearts—Auntie is not a monster—but because 熟年離婚 (jukunen-rikon) feels less like a scandal and more like a long-overdue exhale. When I read about couples finally calling it quits after 20, 30, sometimes 40 years of marriage, my first reaction is rarely shock. It’s usually: What took you so long? Let’s be honest. Many of these marriages were never romantic partnerships in the modern sense. They were contracts built on 我慢 (gaman)—endurance as virtue—and rigid role division....

Auntie has seen this low-rated soap opera before, and it never really changes. Dress it up as “consumer protection,” “scientific standards,” or “moral clarity,” and it’s still the same old story: women talking about sex, desire, confidence, and power always get scrutinized more closely than the men who sell crypto fantasies, hustle myths, or fake success courses. Let’s be clear — a lot of these so-called “sexual intelligence” gurus are nonsense merchants. Overpriced courses, recycled stereotypes, the same tired promise that if women just tweak their behavior, love will magically...

Spicy Auntie has been watching Japanese scouts evolve for years, and let me tell you: this is no longer about sleazy men loitering outside train stations with a laminated club menu and a fake smile. The modern scout is digital, data-driven, and frighteningly efficient. If you imagine Kabukicho scouting as some analogue relic of the bubble era, you’re already behind the curve. Today’s scouts don’t need to shout at women on the street. They slide into DMs. They stalk Instagram stories, TikTok clips, X posts. They know who just moved...

I’ll say it upfront: I’m a big fan. Not in the “oh this is nicely made” way, but in the “why am I still thinking about that pause in episode four?” way. Heated Rivalry has crawled under my skin and refused to leave, and honestly, good for it. Auntie respects a series that knows exactly what it’s doing and has the nerve to do it slowly. Let’s clear one thing first. This is not about hockey. If you came for slapshots and locker-room bravado, you’ll stay for the unbearable tension,...