Category Archives: Family

In Praise of Spam: Prose, a Play, and a Poem

Spam, Eggs, and Rice. That was a familiar and comforting meal when I was a kid, and I still feel that way today. While Spam has been condemned as the epitomy of unhealthy processed food, I recently learned about an … Continue reading

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8Books Review: Chinatown Pretty by Andria Lo and Valerie Luu

Chinatown Pretty by photographer Andria Lo and Valerie Luu is a beautiful tribute to our popos and gunggungs. The book celebrates the street styles of Chinatown’s elders in six major cities: San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and … Continue reading

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A Disney Filipino Christmas Ad is Making People Cry All Around the World

Disney Europe is probably the last organization that I’d expect to distribute a commercial that would become viral for Filipinos in the US and all over the world, but people ranging from The Wife to the head of the Filipino … Continue reading

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8Books Review: The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Nancy Jooyoun Kim’s first novel The Last Story of Mina Lee is a thoughtful, heart-wrenching dive into the story of a mother and daughter. When Margot Lee’s mother–the eponymous Mina Lee–stops answering her phone, Margot wonders what could have happened. … Continue reading

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Asian Americans using the Covid-19 Lockdown to learn Family Languages

Like a lot of millennials, the Daughter moved back in with us after college.   One surprising result of her move was that she began to pick up Tagalog.  Although she grew up in an Asian neighborhood and some her aunts … Continue reading

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Perspectives on Colorism: Vietnamese American and African American Viewpoints

I was hosting a group of customers from Latin America, and one of them got separate from our group.  I asked what he looked like, and the response was that he was a dark-skinned guy.  I was surprised by the … Continue reading

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“Practical” Asian Careers and Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience and upcoming Shang-Chi Marvel Film)

Simu Liu, of Canadian TV series Kim’s Convenience, is poised to become massively visible as the star of the upcoming Marvel movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the the Ten Rings.   But the road to getting to that point was … Continue reading

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8Books Review: “Dear Girls” by Ali Wong

Ali Wong’s Dear Girls will make you laugh, cry, and will also make you hungry. But overall you will be happier, and it seems like maybe in 2020, we’re going to want some more happy. I had every honest and … Continue reading

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Apple’s 2020 Chinese New Year Short: Daughter

In the last few years, Apple has been sponsoring Chinese New Year themed shorts that are shot entirely from an iPhone.  Ad Age points out that 2020’s movie features director Theodore Melfi (“Hidden Figures,” “St. Vincent“) and Chinese actress Zhou … Continue reading

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8mm Review: Ulam: Main Dish

I originally was planning to write about whether or not Filipino food is becoming mainstream American, but when researching the subject, I encountered a movie Ulam:  Main Dish, that seemed to cover that territory.  Having never heard of it before, … Continue reading

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8mm Review: ‘Abominable’

Abominable is a new animated film coming out on September 27, 2019 from Dreamworks Animation and Pearl Studio, set in China.  Dreamworks labels this the first animated film to feature a modern Chinese family.  The movie is voiced by an Asian … Continue reading

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8Books Review: ‘SWIM’ by Eric C. Wat

There’s a column series on 8Asians, called “How to Be a Bad Asian”.  I myself wrote one in the series, called “How to Be a Bad Asian: Turning Out Gay”.  But, if there’s one way you can be a worse … Continue reading

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