The play is about a young Korean American woman, who withdraws from the world after the death of her mother. Things go topsy turvy when she falls in love with her sister’s fiancé.

Tickets for opening night, November 14, are sold out, but you can catch their other showings. The play runs through December 20 and they’ve slashed ticket prices to their low 1999 rates to celebrate their 10th and final year.

Whether you’ve seen a Lodestone production or not in the past, this is your final chance to see them and say farewell to this long-time fixture in L.A. theatre. We’ll be keeping an eye out on the masterminds behind Lodestone– we know they’ll have new endeavors– but until then, don’t miss the final Lodestone production.

Visit their website for more information on their final show.

It pains me more than you can know to praise someone who wears anything but Dodger blue, but I need to give our fellow Asian brethren recognition when it’s due. To put it simply, he played exceptionally well – especially considering he plays with bad knees. Not only is he the first Japanese-born player to win this honor, he’s also the first player to win as a full-time DH (designated hitter) in the series. And although his future with the Yankees is unknown, the world knows that Matsui is an exceptional baseball player and has left them (Yankees) with a memorable game.

Health officials are standing their ground saying this is a matter of public safety and that “ethnic foods are not treated differently than other foods.” Newsflash health officials — Not all foods are created equal! If it’s customary for rice noodles to be stored at room temperature — and they have been for thousands of years — then storing them in the fridge doesn’t suddenly make them safer to eat! In fact, putting rice noodles in the fridge can ruin them! Asians noodles are not like other pastas. Leave our noodles alone!

All of the shows are newbies, The Mentalist being the most senior of the group,  but I’m very excited that writers, casting directors, producers, directors, whoever it was that decided that the small screen needed some Asians on it deserves a high-five or a pat on the back. No, I’m not snubbing Sandra Oh or Daniel Dae Kim; I’m just mentioning the beautiful new Asian faces we get to see on TV, that’s all.

There really is no good way to escape the smell. Even if you’re not consuming it, the scent will overpower you (unless you’re used to it, of course). As much as I enjoy the staple in Korean cuisine, I have to admit that the smell can be quite overwhelming. Now there is someone who promises the taste without the pungent scent. Kim Soon-ja of South Korea has created a freeze-dried kimchi that is absent of the odor that many may find offensive.

I admit that kimchi has a strong scent, but as a person who has a love-love relationship with food, I have come to appreciate the total experience of whatever I am consuming. And for better or worse, scent is a great big part of the whole food-ing experience. The same goes for my enjoyment of kimchi each time I consume it – the scent is part of the whole package. Maybe for some, the lack of scent will open them up to trying it, taking it to more places and so on. But I’d much rather have the kimchi as is, with the pungent scent and all.

Writing about kimchi has me feigning it now. Better go visit the mother so I can get a new batch of home-made goodness!

(Flickr photo credit: Nagyman, used under Creative Commons license)

Su is more than wonderfully honest with his readers and every chapter feels as though he is sitting in front of me, sharing the stories as if we were life-long friends pouring our hearts out.

Usually in a book review, I like to refer back to certain chapters or sections and share how it struck me. But with Su’s book, I’d be talking about every chapter, every moment, every photo — from dumpster diving with his “Pa” who wanted to provide for them any way he could, to when he is jumped by gang members, to rubbing Tiger Balm on his little sister the morning after he spanked her, I could go on and on.

I really want to write a review that does this book justice, but I’m still reeling from the emotional journey Su took me on. Honestly, I just want to read more — I finished the book thinking, Is there more? Is he going to write more? I must have more! And I realize that my words may just be a feeble attempt to write a review about a book that is JUST THAT GOOD. All I know is, that I Love Yous are for White People is a more than spectacular memoir written by an honest man who had a more than tough journey. I can’t imagine the road he had to travel to write down some of the painful moments of his life, but I’m so glad he did. Not everyone’s journey is showered with blessings and ease. People may escape to America for a dream, but some dreams remain dreams and some dreams come at a severe price. And it’s another reminder that not all Asian immigrant kids go on to Ivy League schools on a road paved with straight As.

If it isn’t plainly clear by now that I LOVE this book and have come to love the man who wrote it. I don’t know what to tell you, except that you should totally check this book out.

“I think it was important to do this for my family, to show them that I care about my heritage, and you should, too,” he says.

The he in the above quote by Jon Gosselin from an episode (”Korean Dinner“) that aired when Jon and Kate were still Jon and Kate Plus Eight, not Jon and Kate plus a whole lotta messiness and ugliness.

The irony of his statement is still hard for me to shake. Let me give you some context. Or rather, read this article for context. During a night when Jon wants to teach his children about their Korean heritage, he makes them a Korean dinner with bulgogi as the main course. But the night that is meant to be a wonderfully educational night into their Korean background is marred by Jon’s fumbling in teaching about it (their Korean background) and Kate’s ignorance and taboo-ish behavior.

I have memories of sitting through this episode myself and being confused as to what Korean heritage Jon was teaching brood of eight about. I’m Korean, spent 9 years of my childhood there in fact, but I must have lived in a different Korea than the one Jon knows about.

While I halfheartedly salute Jon and Kate for trying to teach their kids about their Korean side, I hang my head in disbelief at the butchering of a culture I hold so dear to my heart. And it pains me to know that these kids may grow up thinking being Korean is shopping at a market that smells yucky, eating ruined mochi and wearing chopsticks in their hair.

What’s clear to me is that you can’t “teach your kids about their heritage” in one meal — or one episode of J&K +8. That said, if YOU had a meal with all 8 Gosselin kids, what would you want to impart on them?

Because my love for Korean food has grown over the years, I now make frequent trips to Koreatown. And with each visit, I am all the more comforted by the old town Korea feel. I feel as though I enter through a haven of good food, comfort and ease. The familiarity of the aged buildings and signs adds to the enjoyment of my trips. This is why I had mixed reactions when I read this article about the rise of new buildings with sleek designs in my beloved Koreatown. While I agree that change can be good — and I love new things just as much as the next person — I couldn’t help but to feel that sleek, flashy buildings might rob Koreatown of some of its charm. It also saddens me that this new development means that some small-scale comfort food filled Korean restaurants I have come to love will have to close to make way for new, sleek, and highly profitable ones. The more I think about it, the more I’m apt to say this change may not be the best change for my beloved Koreatown.

(Photo credit: Racked LA)