8 Asians

The Foodwise Effects of the West in Asia

By Mike | Saturday, May 5, 2007 | 7 Comments

I just came back from a trip to Hong Kong & Tokyo and noticed two things that surprised me as an Asian American. Aside from the massively crowded subways and kinky maid cafes in Tokyo, I mean.

The teenagers there are TALL! Not necessarily Yao Ming tall, but you could put together a good all-Asian NBA team there. Before embarking on this trip, some friends had told me I’d be towering above the people in Hong Kong; that was not the case at all. Well, I did tower over the elderly. But I could see up the noses of lots of teenagers too.

Also, the people there are SKINNY. Not mal-nuriously Kate-Moss skinny, but thin. Part it it could have been their wardrobe. Form-fitting clothes are fashionable there, as opposed to the baggy clothes you’ll find in the US. But despite this observation, many Asians believe that obesity is becoming a problem. According to Ramen Goel, a member of the Obesity Surgery Society of India: (Continued)

7 Comments | Posted in: Food & Drink, Lifestyles

Cleaners are taken to the cleaners.

By jozjozjoz | Thursday, May 3, 2007 | 4 Comments

The Washington Post reports on a story involving a South Korean immigrant family, their small dry cleaning business, and a judge who is suing them for $65 million.

That’s not a typo: SIXTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS!

What did Jin Nam Chung, Ki Chung and their son, Soo Chung do that was so egregrious that District of Columbia administrative hearings judge, Roy Pearson would file this suit against them? They (temporarily) lost a pair of his pants (his suit was purportedly worth approximately $1000).

The Chung family were just pursuing their American dream when they opened their dry-cleaning business seven years ago in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, they have spent the last two years with the litigation of this lawsuit. Is it any wonder they are so disheartened that they are considering moving back to Seoul?

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4 Comments | Posted in: Current Events