RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me Debuts

Posted on October 5, 2026 by John

BTS superstar RMLast week, BTS superstar RM, or also known as Kim Nam-joon (김남준),  showed up to showcase his own personal art collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

“BTS star RM touched down in the Bay Area to celebrate the opening of his new exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The typically confident performer showed a more personal side, shaking off nerves to speak at a private media preview event.”

His exhibition called RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me will be open from October 3, 2026 though February 7, 2027. “For almost a decade, RM, of pop royalty BTS, has been collecting the art that moves him. Now, nearly 150 works from his personal collection come together with works from SFMOMA’s collection, revealing unexpected connections across artists, ideas, and cultures — and offering one of the most expansive presentations of Korean modern art in the US. “The venture has no obvious parallel,” wrote The New York Times.”

A few people were able to ask some questions. The first was what RM wanted people to come away with out of his exhibition. He responded that he hoped that they got to know him – “This is the introduction of me … and how fun and joyful it is to see an exhibition. The second and last question “San Francisco, why San Francisco?” RM: “I think that’s not a question because San Francisco is one of the coolest cities in the world. That’s why. Thank you.”

I was happy to hear that because San Francisco is a cool city. It gets sh*t on a lot, especially on Fox News, but as someone who moved to the San Francisco Bay Area back in 1999, it’s definitely a great place to live compared to other places I’ve lived. The area is expensive as hell and has a lot of other problems, but there’s a lot to love too!

I hope to check out the exhibition in the near future and provide a write-up!

 

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Chinese Immigrants in California Wine Country

Posted on October 2, 2026 by Jeff

Autumn in Napa valley, showing Vineyards with grape vines turning brown, part of Chinese Immigrants in California Wine Country postOn a weekend trip to Napa a few years ago, I noticed a plaque near downtown commemorating China Point Lookout. Chinese Immigrants in California Wine Country built a Chinatown there. As this video from TAAF’s The United States of Asian+America points out, the Chinese who helped build California’s Wine Country were often burned out and their history and contributions largely erased, part of The Driving Out.

We have written about the contributions of Asian Americans to California wine country before. This video gives a different perspective and focuses on Chinese laborers. The interviewer, Lois Cho, is a co-founder of Cho Wines in Oregon. The United States of Asian+America is an ongoing series from TAAF, The Asian American Foundation.

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TAAF presents Asian American Trailblazers

Posted on September 27, 2026 by Jeff

The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), in conjunction with Wong Fu productions, has been presenting Asian American Trailblazers in their series, The United States of Asian+America. This project is an extension of their Asian+American PSA campaign. The campaign features Asian Americans who have tremendously influence American and society in the world. The focus is on trying to combat the pernicious stereotype of the perpetual foreigner.

The series has been going a while since it was first announced. Asian Americans featured so far include YouTube founder Steve Chen, USB co-inventor Ajay Bhatt, and Hip Hop pioneer Sophia Chang.  I had no idea of the influence that Sophia Chang had on hip-hop music, particular with her work with the Wu Tang clan. I have not yet watched all of their videos, and I am looking forward to watching more.

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Forgotten Island Debuts September 25

Posted on September 25, 2026 by Jeff

Forgotten Island Movie Poster showing two hands clasping, with bracelets showing Filipino mythological monstersMarketing has been building up for the Forgotten Island release today, September 25.  I  particularly liked this featurette about the making of the movie. I was pleasantly surprised that some of the animation was actually done in the Philippines.

In case you can’t get enough about this movie, here are some recent interviews and videos of interest:

As I have said before, I really hope this is good. So far, Rotten Tomatoes shows positive responses at 96% as I was writing this. You can see the trailer here.

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Shot on iPhone 18 Pro: “new trick” by ROSÉ

Posted on September 20, 2026 by John

ROSÉ holding up a lollipop saying shot on iPhone 18 Pro for music video "new trick” by Like clockwork, Apple has released a new iPhone this fall – the iPhone 18. And with that comes a new ad campaign, starring ROSÉ, of Blackpink (and individual) fame. ROSÉ isn’t Asian American, but she is Asian and Apple’s commercial is being shown in America:

“A look at ROSÉ’S new music video for “new trick” shot entirely on iPhone 18 Pro. The new variable aperture lens on the 48MP main camera captured improved low-light footage and impressive depth of field to bring the music video to life.”

The commercial is essentially a music video shot entirely on the iPhone 18 Pro. It’s a win-win for ROSÉ and Apple. I know that ‘Left Handed Girl’ was shot entirely on an iPhone (iPhone 13 in fact) So was this entire series of Chinese New Year videos. I mean cameras on phones these days are so good that the need to have a separate video camera is not really necessarily quality wise for most use cases. Amazing to see how mainstream K-pop has become in the United States. BTS isn’t submitting their consideration for the Grammy’s new category in 2027: “Best Asian pop music performance.” The Internet has globalized music.

Here’s the entire music video if you’re interested:

I wonder where the music video was shot. I’m assuming in the United States, but I could be wrong. I wonder what it was like to be one of the background actors in the music video as well as other technical details of the shoot (length of the shoot, budget, etc.) and how much Apple paid ROSÉ.

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South Asian American Breast Cancer: Disparities in Diagnoses and Treatment

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Jeff

We frequently mention data disaggregation is critical to understand Asian American population. This summary of a study on South Asian American Breast Cancer confirms this fact. Compared to white women, doctors diagnosed South Asian Americans at a younger age with more aggressive forms of the disease. On average, they received treatment later than white women, Strangely enough, despite that, South Asians were more likely to have a better odds of surviving breast cancer. South Asians women have a higher percentage of private medical insurance, although it’s hard to establish that is a contributing factor.

The study looked at data from the National Cancer Database which includes more than 2 million women. I really appreciate the large database, as some published medical studies have dangerously small sample sizes. You can read the full paper here.

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Best of the Best: A Netflix Bollywood Dance Movie

Posted on September 14, 2026 by Jeff

Best of the Best movie poster showing two Indian American women dancingAsian American dance competitions are nothing new. The successes of groups like Kaba Modern and Poreotics on older shows like America’s Best Dance Crew in the late 2000’s demonstrates this. But Bollywood-fusion dance teams?  That’s new to me and why this trailer to the new movie Best of the Best fascinates me. A quick synopsis from the press release:

Two childhood best friends, Maya and Anjali, join UCLA’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team, only to discover that the road to winning the U.S. Championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.

I really appreciate the Asian Americanness of the movie – the lead characters are definitely American without an accent. We could use more media visibility of Indian Americans who in most ways are just plain American, especially in a time of growing anti-Indian sentiment.  The movie features Canadian actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. I recognize her from the Mindy Kahling series Never have I Ever. Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam write the movie, which is directed by Lena Khan.

Note that there is an earlier movie from 1989 called Best of the Best.  It also includes Asians and Asian Americans but is enjoyable in a completely different way.  The Best of the Best premieres on Netflix on September 18.

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Remembering Flight Attendant Betty Ong, 9/11 Hero

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Jeff

Picture of Flight Attendant Betty Ong, 9/11 heroEvery time, September 11 comes around, Harry Ong gets nervous.

“As September 11th approaches each and every year, the tension just builds up and the stress, sometimes debilitation. We never forget.”

Harry Ong is the oldest brother of Flight Attendant Betty Ong. Betty Ong worked on Flight 11.  She calmly relayed important information during the hijacking, relaying critical information, helping to identify the hijackers and leading the FAA to close US Airspace. The 9/11 commission called her a hero. Ong died when Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center.

I think is a particularly good time to remember Ong, particularly as Chinese Americans are considered suspicious in the current environment. Ong was a native of San Francisco Chinatown.  San Francisco named the Betty Ong Chinese Recreation Center in Chinatown in her honor. In addition, the Betty Ong foundation has been created to commemorate her. You can find out more about Betty Ong at her Wikipedia page and at her 9/11 Memorial page.

(photo credit: www.bettyong.org)

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Eric Bauza voices on Coyote vs. Acme

Posted on September 8, 2026 by Jeff

Coyote vs. Acme Poster, with voices by Eric BauzaYou may have heard that Coyote vs. Acme came out recently after a long controversial hold when Warner Brothers wanted to shelve the completely finished movie for a tax write off. You not have heard about the very Filipino background behind this story. Asian Canadian Eric Bauza voices the Looney Toon Characters in this movie, as you can see in this delightful video from Pablo Torre Finds Out.

Eric Bauza is hilarious here. You can see him connect with Pablo Torre on a diasporic Filipino level at 3:19. Filipino Americans and Canadians will probably love it. That moment just killed Son Number 1, Torre, and me! Bauza was born in Scarborough Ontario, a heavily Asian city where my cousin and her family live.

Bauza’s and Torre’s discussion of how a greedy corporation shelved a movie about a greedy corporation also makes it worth watching. Unlike the movie Batgirl that was shelved, Coyote vs. Acme received good audience test results. A protest campaign eventually lead to the movie rights being purchased by Ketchup Entertainment for $50 million.

Will Ketchup Entertainment recoup its costs?  Maybe.  Some point out that Coyote vs. Acme benefits from a new phenomenon called a “buycott”. I have to say that joining the buycott is motivation for me to see the movie. In addition, the movie has earned a 96% fresh rating and also stars Lana Condor. We have put the trailer below. It’s in theatres now.

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Pablo Torre is not an IT Guy

Posted on September 4, 2026 by Jeff

Pablo Torre doing an interview

When Pablo Torre told some people that he had started working at ESPN, they assumed he did Tech Support.  But this Pulitzer prize winning journalist is definitely not an IT Guy. I find the story of this Filipino American fascinating.

First, if you don’t know Pablo Torre (likely if you don’t follow American sports), let me give you a quick summary. He began writing for Sports Illustrated, and eventually started appearing on ESPN on cable TV. Torre’s story on how athletes go broke became well known and resulted in a Security and Exchange Commission investigation. He left ESPN and created a podcast and YouTube channel called Pablo Torre Finds Out. A series of stories on how Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers evaded the NBA salary cap won him a Pulitzer prize.  I have embedded the first podcast of his investigation above.

Torre didn’t start off wanting to be a journalist. His Filipino parents wanted him to be a doctor (so typical!), but he wasn’t good at science. Law appeared to an acceptable career route, but he tested poorly on his LSATs and took at job at Sports Illustrated as a fact checker while gearing up another try at the LSATs. He eventually became a writer there, kicking off his career.

I can appreciate his frustration at being thought of as being tech support because he is Asian. Sad to say, but I remember seeing him years ago on ESPN and wondering “who is this Asian guy and why is he there?” A few weeks ago, ESPN recently released a story saying that NBA found on evidence of wrongdoing in the Clipper case. It seemed to refute all of Torre’s investigations. Then, the NBA’s recent announcement vindicated him.

As an actual IT guy accustomed to being behind the scenes (like most Filipino Americans), I am amazed at how Filipinos and Filipino American’s are increasing in visibility. Tennis player Alex Elea comes to mind. Paolo Pasco too- another Filipino American from Harvard like Torre. For his part, Torre is working on other investigations. I didn’t know who he was before, but my sons put me on him.  I am now a fan, and I can’t wait for his next story!

 

 

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A Summer in Japan

Posted on September 3, 2026 by High School Voices
Tree in front of Japanese building, part of post on my summer in Japan

Photo by Angela Xu

By Angela Xu

This summer, I went to Japan for my summer break, making it the third consecutive year I had traveled to Japan. The years before, I mostly visited tourist spots, which were fun, but also crowded. On this trip, we decided to tour more hidden cities. This year, it was only me and my mom, and we travelled throughout Japan for about a month, heading to places we had never been to before. 

Photo by Angela Xu

Kamakura, which is south of Tokyo, was one of our first stops on the trip, and we headed to this iconic temple with a fish pond. This temple, called Hase-dera, is known for having a huge wooden statue. Unfortunately, we didn’t head over to see the huge wooden statue. I did, however, walk around the gardens and came upon a cave, which was dark and had rooms for praying inside. This temple contained many hidden surprises in every single corner. 

We also went to another temple at a different location, in an area called Enoshima. At this one, there was a long shopping street before heading to a mountain. It was steep, and at the top of the mountain was the temple where you either had to climb or pay to use the escalator which took you to the top. I paid for the escalator and found myself at the top of the mountain, which had many activities. The wooden signs in this photo are all wishes made by visitors. They were mostly wishes made by people for their family or their relationships with others.

Kamakura was mostly full of temples, but if you weren’t interested in them, there aren’t any other things to do. However, it is a beach town, if you want to see beaches.

Photo by Angela Xu

Just south of Kamakura in Shizuoka prefecture, Tokko-no-yu is a small village renowned for its hot springs. The oldest and most sacred onsen in its area, it has a rich history with legends about the village. I learned that one of the onsens was supposedly off limits for any one to bathe in, because only the gods were allowed to. I did go into a public bathhouse there, which was strange to experience. It was communal and different from anything in America. The water there is all extracted from the ground, so it is hot. There was also a temple nearby, with fresh hot water to rinse your hands and mouth before praying. 

Photo by Angela Xu

Next, we went to Nagoya, a city famous for its breakfast tradition and Toyota cars. This bookstore at the Nagoya Noritake Aeon Mall is also at the former location of the factory of Noritake, a dinnerware company. The factory was changed into a museum. 

While I was in Nagoya, I went to Sakae, a shopping district that was the most lively part of Nagoya, with bustling streets full of shopping, eating, and activities. I went to Yabaton, a famous miso katsu restaurant, and also bought some Bape, which is cheaper in Japan. There was definitely more to do there, because the more popular activities in the city were there. The Fuji Nagoya Science Museum was also there, and it had many locals, who probably visit the museum on weekends. When I went inside, there were a bunch of experiments inside which explained about different science topics, such as water. Continue reading →

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Fremont is “Happiest” City again in 2026

Posted on September 1, 2026 by Jeff

Happiest

Source: WalletHub

Mission Peak as scene from Lake Elizabeth in Fremont California. Fremont is the "Happiest" City in the US according to WalletHub.WalletHub has updated their ratings for the happiest cities, and Fremont is “Happiest” City again in 2026. Last year, we mentioned two other Asian American cities being in the top 3, but this year Irvine has dropped to 8th and San Jose has dropped to 10th.

Florida has no cities on the top 30 list while Texas has only one.  I have definitely heard good things about Plano in Texas. As we have noted in other “top city” lists with Asian American cities in them, the criteria for selection makes a huge amount of difference.

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