Author Archives: Efren

About Efren

Efren is a 30-something queer Filipino American guy living in San Francisco. In the past, he was a wanna-be academic even teaching in Asian American studies at San Francisco State, a wanna-be queer rights and HIV activist, and he used to "blog" when that meant spewing one's college student angst using a text editor on a terminal screen to write in a BBS or usenet back in the early 90s. For all his railing against the model minority myth, he's realized he's done something only a few people can claim--getting into UCSF twice, once for a PhD program in medical sociology which he left; and then for pharmacy school, where he'll be a member of the class of '13. He apologizes profusely for setting the bar unintentionally high for his cousins. blog twitter

Nuns Sue Filipina Over Smoked Fish

Posted on January 14, 2009 by Efren

The Philippine News recently reported that an order of nuns in Manhattan called the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart have filed a lawsuit against a Filipina tenant in one of their apartments for cooking Filipino smoked fish, otherwise known … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Food & Drink, WTF | 2 Comments

Fried Rice Syndrome, or You Can’t B. cereus!

Posted on January 7, 2009 by Efren

So a couple of weeks ago, I went to a restaurant I frequent for cheap, quick Hong Kong cafe food (fried rice with broiled saucy pork chops on top, fried chicken wings, tapioca drinks, etc.) and ordered fried rice for … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, WTF | 29 Comments

AsianWeek Stops Printing: Good Riddance!

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Efren

The San Francisco Chronicle recently announced that AsianWeek, one of the longest running publications for Asian Americans that is based in San Francisco, will no longer have print issues and go completely online, with its last issue being printed Friday, … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Observations, WTF | 12 Comments

China, the Birthplace of Marijuana!

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Efren

The most recent issue of the esteemed academic journal, the Journal of Experimental Botany,  has a very interesting article with the rather dry title: Phytochemical and genetic analysis of ancient cannabis from Central Asia. That’s marijuana or pot, for you … Continue reading →

Posted in Lifestyles, Observations | 4 Comments

No on 8: How NOT to Run an Initiative Campaign

Posted on November 12, 2008 by Efren

Given the passage of California Proposition 8 which attempts to add an amendment in the state constitution to ban marriage among same-sex couples, there’s been a lot of finger pointing at who’s to blame.  Given the statistics that have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, LGBT, Observations, Politics | 30 Comments

8against8.com: Asian-Am Blogger Raises $8,000 Against California Proposition 8 in 3 Days

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Efren

About four days ago, Grace Chu of Grace the Spot and AfterEllen.com, along with seven of her close lesbian blogger friends, issued a challenge to the queer online community: To help them raise $8,000 in 8 days against California Proposition … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, LGBT, Politics | 16 Comments

Asian Americans, Thank God, Soundly Against California Prop 8

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Efren

According to an article in today’s San Jose Mercury News, a poll taken by researchers across California reports that Asian Americans are soundly against California’s Proposition 8, a referendum designed to end same-sex marriage by putting in an amendment in … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, LGBT, Politics | 11 Comments

Former SF supervisor Ed Jew pleads guilty to federal charges

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Efren

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Over a year after he was accused of extorting people who wanted to open Quickly Tapioca branches in the Sunset District in San Francisco, Ed Jew has now pleaded guilty to all federal charges … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Politics, WTF | 4 Comments

Straight Asian Tourists Invade the Castro!

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Efren

I first started noticing a pretty noticeable increase of obviously straight Asian people entering the Castro, the most famous LGBT neighborhood in San Francisco, a couple of years ago as tour buses would drop tourists off, take pictures of all … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBT, WTF | 10 Comments

SFist Blogger Makes Fun of Lapu Lapu Street in San Francisco

Posted on August 17, 2008 by Efren

View Larger Map So thanks to Ernie and the RAAW blog, I was pointed to a blog post about a clueless white person poking fun at a street named Lapu Lapu in the South of Market (SoMa) district in San … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Local, Observations, San Francisco Bay Area | 5 Comments

US Mint releases new coins for the “Asian American” community

Posted on August 15, 2008 by Efren

Last week on 8-8-08 (along with all the other celebrations to commemorate that date), the US Mint announced a set of 2 1/2-oz. gold coins targeting the “Asian American” community. I got a chance last week to go to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Promotions | 4 Comments

Hello Kitty Vibrators Being Sold as “Shoulder Massagers”

Posted on August 14, 2008 by Efren

So when the first Hello Kitty vibrator um, shoulder massager came out about 10 years ago, I bought one as a gag gift for a friend of mine as a graduation present. She had no idea what it was because … Continue reading →

Posted in Lifestyles, WTF | Tagged | 5 Comments