Monthly Archives: May 2009

What Does Being “Asian” Mean?

I tried not to take anything they taught me in grade nine geography class too seriously; it was one of those easy courses where the teacher read a National Geographic to herself while you coloured in maps for an hour … Continue reading

Posted in Observations | 10 Comments

Avatar: The Last Airbender Teaser Pics

USA Today released the first two teaser pics from M. Night Shyamalan’s live action feature, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Despite the ongoing debate and protests over the casting, it’s clear that the studio is hellbent on moving forward with the … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | 9 Comments

Former Employees Discover Life After Wall Street

National Public Radio this past week did a story about Former Employees Discover Life After Wall Street. Part of their interviews involve Iris Chau and Stephen Chen, a previous my.8asians.com member of the day.  After being laid off by JPMorganChase … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Current Events, Observations | Leave a comment

Selca: Taking Photos of Yourself, So You Don’t Look Like A Fool Taking Someone Elses

It is no secret, Asians like their photos — they like being in them and taking them. Koreans even have a term that identifies a whole different genre of photo-taking: selca, made by marrying two English words together, self and … Continue reading

Posted in Lifestyles | 18 Comments

Finding Home

We’ve covered in previous posts and comments on 8asians the topic of labels and self-identification. Some of the opposing points of view have caused some heated debates, specifically around one label that I use myself, Taiwanese-American. While I won’t justify … Continue reading

Posted in Family, Observations | Tagged | 2 Comments

Dr. Judy Chu Wins in Special Election

As I had blogged earlier this week, Dr. Judy Chu and California State Senator Gil Cedillo — amongst others — were running for the vacated 32nd District Congressional seat, a seat dominated by Hispanics for nearly 27 years. On Tuesday, … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Observations, Politics | 11 Comments

visualizAsian.com

There’s a new website for Asians called visualizAsian.com started by Erin Yoshimura and Gil Asakawa. visualizAsian’s goal is simple: To provide inspiration and empowerment to AAPIs by showcasing AAPI role models, leaders, movers & shakers from the media, politics, sports, … Continue reading

Posted in Announcements, Ask an Asian, Discrimination, Entertainment | Tagged | 2 Comments

Cibai, the Microsoft Research Project with the Unfortunate Name

Despite my ethnicity, I don’t know how to speak Chinese (in any dialect), but I do know a fair share of naughty cuss words in Cantonese and Hokkien thanks to family and friends while growing up in Malaysia. So when … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, WTF | 14 Comments

We Eating TV: San Francisco’s Anti-Foodie Foodie Show

So when you think “food vlog,” a couple of things come to mind – really pretty close up photos of goat cheese and arugula, a self-indulging monologue on the slow-food movement. We Eating TV is definitely not one of those … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Drink, Local, San Francisco Bay Area | 4 Comments

Asian Organizations in New York City

This is a Google Map of Asian and Asian American resources in New York City. I started this map to help me remember them geographically so I could recommend the nearest “Asian thing” to any given person (New Yorkers are … Continue reading

Posted in Local, New York | 4 Comments

How Bruce Lee Changed the World

I was watching The History Channel the other evening and saw a trailer for their 2 hour documentary, How Bruce Lee Changed the World which premiered this weekend. Profiling Lee’s influence on popular culture in fitness, cinema, music, sport, design, … Continue reading

Posted in Entertainment, Movies, Observations | 11 Comments

Watching Sulu (and other Asian Roles) at the Movies

I went to watch Star Trek last week and I LOVED it. I’m not a Trekkie, but I’ve watched my share of Star Trek episodes and movies. But to be perfectly honest, one of the main reasons I wanted to … Continue reading

Posted in Entertainment, Movies | 17 Comments