Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Boba a Go-Go! APA Month Vlog

It's here! Krispy and I on camera together for the first time answering reader questions and showing off weird human tricks. Plus, the unofficial boba champion of Southern California...

Monday, May 30, 2011

The Asian's Guide to the South

Hello Intrepid Asians!

You may at one time find yourself venturing into the deep interiors of America, wondering what the heck you're doing there and if you'll make it out alive.

I have gone South...and returned, bearing photographs aplenty.

Here is a truth-tell of how to experience the South as a Yankee, a city slicker, and - of course - an Asian.

GENERAL
Shame on you Los Angeles and New York.  The South beats you by spades in politeness.  One creepy thing Southerners do is look you in the eye when they speak to you!  Like they actually care that you're a human!  What is that?! 

CHARLESTON
Nervous about landing in a state that proudly flies the Confederate flag?  "Chas" is a bit of an uncomfortable place to be Asian - because you'll be the only one.  In EVERY SINGLE place you visit.  We definitely received double takes and awkward stares.  Fun place to see American history, but lacking greatly in diversity. 

NASHVILLE

New blog friend Joy is moving to Nashville, and I'm happy to report that the music capital is a fairly comfortable place to be Asian.  The 3 colleges, including nationally known Vanderbilt, brings in enough hipster-wannabes that you can pretend you're in Venice, CA.  Nobody bats an eye when you walk into a restaurant, and you can even play Spot the Asian about once a day.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Grand Ol' South Tour: Nashville

Family

From Charleston we flew to Nashville to see my childhood friend that I call my little 'Sis'.

It was AMAZING to see her in the city she's adopted for the last 5 years, and to finally meet her boyfriend.  We're both far from family and having a sister for a few days filled a wonderful place in me.

We checked out the art fair at Centennial Park, which also sports a full-size replica of the Parthenon.  Local high schoolers were taking prom photos that day so we joined in.

reliving our high school musical days
At night we created my Mii so we could...play the Michael Jackson dance game on the Wii of course.



Food

Vidalia onion rings at Burger Up
their Bongo Java brand coffee is like crack
lunch on our last day
housemade salsa & chicken salad
Sis' front porch, right before the every-13-year cicada plague.

Next up on the tour...Graceland!


********
Don't forget to Ask Your Asian! Ask me or Krispy anything and the Asians will answer in an end-of-May vlog.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Magnolia Plantation and Fort Sumter

Charleston: Touristing

We toured the Magnolia Plantation, which they've renamed the "Garden", and I swear I found Bon Temps.
Having a Sookie moment

Having a Snow White moment




Then we hopped a ferry to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

bridge to Mount Pleasant ferry dock
You did NOT put a Confederate hat on my Yankee head


inside the Fort
********
Don't forget to Ask Your Asian! Ask me or Krispy anything and the Asians will answer in an end-of-May vlog.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Ask Your Asian: APA Month

Happy Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month!

Because of the Grand Ol' South Tour I didn't get to post about this until now, but it doesn't matter because May is not the only month I rock my Asian heritage.

To celebrate, Krispy from A Nudge In the Right Direction and I will be your Asian ambassadors.  Send us your questions about anything Asian from why Korean girls get eye surgery to what Krispy and I consider our ethnic identity.  We're spilling our yellow secrets!

Our Q&A will debut at the end of the month...in VLOG form.  That's right, we're putting our moving pictures into the interwebz.  It sounded like a good idea at the time.  I blame Ali Cross.

Leave your questions in the comments and stay tuned for more Asian-American goodness, including the Asian's Guide to the South.

*UPDATE* Apparently you can ask us anything.  We'll respond.  Maybe in Chinese.

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Grand Ol' South Tour

why do tall women wear heels?!?

When I told my very urban, very ethnic friends I was venturing into the South, the #1 question they asked is: "Why?"  

Because I'm the kind of person who will fly across the country to meet someone from the internet.  Yup, the answer is super creepy.

Rebecca Enzor is one of my CPs and she's incredibly sweet!!  She gave us a great list of restaurants and activities, and her husband even cooked amazing food for us.  I also discovered she is incredibly tall.




 CHARLESTON: The Food

bread pudding at Glass Onion
housemade butter at Husk
okra!
Five Guys Burgers
woah they don't have THIS flavor in Cali fountains

Friday, May 13, 2011

Sweet and Bitter...But As Long As I Look Good

Damn that boba after 9 p.m.

Krispy and I had milk tea last night during the Bloggerpocalypse and I was up until past 5 again.  There goes the extra hours from my east coast jet lag.  I will blog my trip soon!


Thank you Susan Oloier and Kristine Asselin!  I'm so glad to have met you both. :)

I'll point to my previous posting of this award for people I've tagged.  The rules seem to have morphed, and now I'm supposed to tell you 7 more things about myself.  (Because that last 7 wasn't enough.)

I was so cheered when some of you said my life was cool after my 7 random facts LOL. I enjoy it a lot but I also deal with some annoying chronic issues.  Ironically, many of them have to do with sugar...

  1. I have hyperinsulinism/hypoglycemia.  It's a huge f$*#ing issue in my life - it prevents me from signing up for anything that would keep me from food for more than 3 hours.  I constantly have to think ahead to my next meal and my hours revolve around the question, "When did I last eat?  Where can I get food?"  I get headaches and shakes all the damn time.  I come from a diabetic family on both sides, so it's not a surprise, but it's a big fat hassle.  To this day some people think it's psychological, including my RN stepmom. And I'm not ruling that out.  But seriously, I eat six times a day and I weigh just a little over 100 pounds.  I don't think that's psychological, otherwise I'd be a millionaire with my diet plan.
  2. I've been insomniac my whole life.  My mom says I was even a night owl baby.  I had a rough childhood and I could barely sleep at night as a kid.  Even now my mind races and I have to take muscle relaxants if I'm expected to get up early the next day.  
  3. Part of my difficulty sleeping has to do with my hypoglycemia.  If I'm too hungry, I can't fall asleep or stay asleep.  I get this light, tingly feeling in my arms like I'll float away.  My issues are all related. Fun!
  4. I'm prone to day-long migraines that sometimes don't stop with Motrin, but miraculously disappear when it hits 9 p.m. or later.  Like I said - night owl.
  5. After two car accidents and a lifetime of computing, my neck is janky.  I have a hard time finding pillows and I have to switch pillows 2 or 3 times a night.  These days I'm using a rolled up towel.
  6. Because I danced my whole life and have a weird gait, I developed recurring bursitis in my hip in my early 20's, ending my aspirations to be a pop star backup dancer.  I did end up dancing professionally anyway (HUGE redemption!), which I'll blog about one day.  
  7. I have extreme myopia (almost legally blind) and SPK, which is a severe dry eye.  I drop my eyes twice a day to produce more tears and I have to be careful when wearing contacts, which sometimes hurt.  I've worn glasses since I was 8.
As you can see, my body is a hot mess, but heck, as long as it looks good then I'm still smiling! :)

That's the L.A. mantra at least.  And now it's time to go eat my afternoon snack.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Follow Friday: Character To Date and To Be



Q. Circle time! Time to share. What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?


To Date:
In modern times - Lucas Cortez, my February Book Crush of the Month
In ye olde times - Devlen Daviian from (the goddess) Maria V. Snyder's Study Series

To Be:
Paige Winterbourne - she's a Harvard-educated witch...who's married to Lucas Cortez
or
Renesmee Cullen - even though I hate her and her name even more, everyone loves her and I would finally end up with Jacob

***
Hi New #FF! I'm on the Grand Ol' South Tour this week, so it might take me a few extra days to follow you back but I WILL get to all of you!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Heading South with the Boyfriend

Let's go Vin; my ex Dwayne looks mad!

A girl can dream, can't she? :P

Although my real boyfriend looks nothing like these hulking specimens, he is taking me across country on a Grand Ol' South Tour to visit Rebecca Enzor in Charleston and a childhood friend in Nashville who swears there are Asians at Vanderbilt.

As requested, more pics of the photo shoot last week are coming.  For now, I'll leave you with another outfit that didn't make the cut - the beach bridal look:


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