8 Asians

  • About us
  • Write for 8Asians
  • Podcast
  • Events
Do Asian Women Have The Smallest Vaginas?Do Asian Women Have The Smallest Vaginas?
Hip to be Asian American?Hip to be Asian American?
Report: Asian-American Subgroups Among Nation’s PoorestReport: Asian-American Subgroups Among Nation’s Poorest
12 Year old New York Filipina Cites Cyberbulling in her Suicide Note12 Year old New York Filipina Cites Cyberbulling in her Suicide Note

Posts by 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

Manny Pacquiao, Filipino Homophobia And Masculinity

Manny Pacquiao, Filipino Homophobia And Masculinity

UPDATE: Shortly after this article was published, the LA Weekly reported that Pacquiao was misquoted, saying that “homosexuality goes against the word of God — not that gays should literally be put to death.” The blog post remains for reference and as an opinion piece. – The Editor In the matter of two days, Manny Pacquiao has managed to alienate himself from significant parts of his fan base by stating some rather eyebrow-raising opinions about [...] Continue »

By Efren
Discrimination LGBT Sports
7 Comments
Tweet

Anti-Alcoholism Drug Works Better on (East) Asian Americans

Anti-Alcoholism Drug Works Better on (East) Asian Americans

Here at 8Asians, we always love having an excuse to put up the picture of Drunk Ernie, especially since a picture of a drunk me isn’t quite as hilarious, even if I am also a fat gay Asian guy who’s also known for blogging.  Imagine my delight here when a colleague showed us this article about Asians, alcoholism and drug treatment with a rather long and admittedly unexciting title. “Pharmacogenetics of Naltrexone in Asian Americans: [...] Continue »

By Efren
Food & Drink Health Lifestyles
12 Comments
Tweet

Eyewear Envy: Glasses for Us

Eyewear Envy: Glasses for Us

A few weeks ago, I was alerted to an online store, Eyewear Envy, an online eyeglass store that specializes in frames that fit Asian faces. The shop is run by Katherine Manalo, OD, an optometrist who graduated from UC Berkeley’s optometry school, and is now based in Texas. She’s also a fellow Filipino healthcare professional, so of course I had to talk to her. Also, being your stereotypical nearsighted Asian American geek who also happens [...] Continue »

By Efren
Fashion Health Lifestyles
3 Comments
Tweet

Is New York Ready For Balut? (Maybe.)

Is New York Ready For Balut? (Maybe.)

From the Atlantic Wire comes a report that a new Filipino restaurant in New York City, Maharlika, is offering the infamous delicacy balut, the boiled slightly developed duck egg. To his credit, Adam Martin, the author of the piece sums it up precisely: “[it's] the embryonic egg dish popular in the Philippines and elsewhere in Southeast Asia but reviled pretty much everywhere else.” Curiously, he also states that it’s impossible to find in the US, [...] Continue »

By Efren
Food & Drink New York
7 Comments
Tweet

No Look Pass Doc Takes A Look At Basketball & Coming Out

In No Look Pass, Emily Tay is an extraordinary young woman born to Burmese immigrants, raised in Los Angeles Chinatown, Harvard educated, starter for their women’s basketball team, and now a professional basketball player in Germany living with her female partner. But she faces a dilemma: coming out to her parents, and she is afraid of being rejected and disowned by them.

By Efren
Entertainment LGBT Local Movies Southern California
1 Comment
Tweet

San Francisco Bachelor Auction Featuring Grant Imahara

San Francisco Bachelor Auction Featuring Grant Imahara

For those of you eligible straight ladies who are in the Bay on June 23, the Guardsmen are having their annual Bachelor Auction to help support their programs for at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among the many fine–and God, do I mean fine–men who are available for bidding is one Mythbuster by the name of Grant Imahara, as well as Larry Chiang, a former male model turned businessman and bestselling business writer. Mr. [...] Continue »

By Efren
Dating Lifestyles Local San Francisco Bay Area
4 Comments
Tweet

Mother’s Day with 8Asians: My Mother, the Human Being

8Asians is celebrating Mother’s Day all week (Pssst…Don’t forget, it’s May 8th!) by doing what we do best: writing about the women who raised us, nurtured us, taught us, spoiled us, protected us and occasionally for some, drove us up the wall. We love our moms and wanted to share personal stories as a tribute to their hard work. About 8 1/2 years ago, my mother suddenly passed away from complications due to open heart [...] Continue »

By Efren
Family Observations
2 Comments
Tweet

Filipino Blogger Uproar Over Hoax Study That Claims Filipinos are Gullible

So in the past few days, there’s been an uproar within the Filipino blogosphere about a study that claims Filipinos are gullible. In this study purported to be done by Harvard, they have ranked first in gullibility. And of course, the Filipino bloggers have fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. The study was done by Harvard Institute of Socio-Political Progression, with the dubious acronym HIS-PP. The instrument used to measure this was called the [...] Continue »

By Efren
DUDE WTF ASIA Observations WTF
11 Comments
Tweet

Looting Does Exist in Japan

Looting Does Exist in Japan

After reading the various articles about looting and the so-called “exemplary” behavior of the Japanese who were directly affected by the recent earthquakes and tsunami (as discussed by my fellow colleague, Mike), I immediately thought, “Bullshit.”  I was convinced that looting and other types of lawless behavior were being played down by both the Japanese and Americans.

By Efren
Current Events Discrimination Observations
12 Comments
Tweet

Asian Americans & Smoking: A Silent Epidemic

Asian Americans & Smoking: A Silent Epidemic

As I go through pharmacy school and learn about all the different diseases that people go through, I’ve been particularly interested in seeing how these diseases affect Asian Americans, including how smoking tobacco has affected us. Personally, it’s affected me as many of my older relatives have died from lung cancer or other cancers that were made worse because of their tobacco addiction. Both of my ex-partner’s parents died from lung cancer and had chronic [...] Continue »

By Efren
Health Lifestyles
No Comments
Tweet

San Francisco Assured of First Asian American Mayor

San Francisco Assured of First Asian American Mayor

In breaking news reported by SFGate, San Francisco’s current board of supervisors just voted Ed Lee to be its first Asian American mayor. Although there will be a new board of supervisors once current mayor Gavin Newsom takes on his new position as lieutenant governor, he has already secured enough votes among the remaining supervisors that he is virtually guaranteed this new position. Given that just recently Oakland, its neighbor across the Bay, just inaugurated its [...] Continue »

By Efren
Politics San Francisco Bay Area
2 Comments
Tweet

Politeness Pays: Filipino American Wins Largest Lottery Prize in the Philippines

Politeness Pays: Filipino American Wins Largest Lottery Prize in the Philippines

Now here’s another reason why you should have good manners: According to the BBC, a 60-something Filipino American visiting the Philippines won the largest lottery prize ever there: 750 million pesos or about $17 million. According to the winner, a woman pushed him out of the way to buy her lottery tickets and he let her go ahead. Given that lottery tickets in the Philippines are sold consecutively, if she had waited her turn, she [...] Continue »

By Efren
Observations
1 Comment
Tweet
« Older entries
 
Google
Custom Search
Advertise on 8Asians
Recent Posts
  • 12 Year old New York Filipina Cites Cyberbulling in her Suicide Note
  • Anime Review: Bamboo Blade
  • The Guillotines: Film Review
  • Anime Review: Psycho-Pass
  • Giveaway: ‘Man of Steel’ Prize Package
  • Report: Asian-American Subgroups Among Nation’s Poorest
  • Rurouni Kenshin Reboot
Recent Comments
  • zdrav: Unless you think all gay men wear rainbow short shorts, have big moustaches, and walk in high heels or something, there's no way to tell... – Asian American Dad: Is Your Daughter Adopted?
  • timat8asians: The ones who know I'm gay don't even ask if she's adopted. It's only the ones who don't know I'm gay that ask, generally complete... – Asian American Dad: Is Your Daughter Adopted?
  • gwumpycat: You're gay and you have a kid. Of course people are going to assume that your kid is adopted. I don't get the outrage here. – Asian American Dad: Is Your Daughter Adopted?
  • gwumpycat: If you want to know more about angemon, google "David Futrelle" - that's his real name. – Mark Twain - Asian American Activist
  • gwumpycat: I noticed the same thing. If you Google "angemon3690" you can find his Reddit account, which links to his blog. What a douche. – Mark Twain - Asian American Activist
  • Confuse_Us: Yes, everyone is a potential customer - even minorities with much less spending power. – Report: Asian-American Subgroups Among Nation’s Poorest

APA Events

  • Feb 21: (San Jose, CA) New Stories from the Edge of Asia: This/That
  • Apr 26: (New York, NY) Front Row: Chinese American Designers
  • May 9: (Los Angeles, CA) East West Players presents CHESS
  • Jun 6: (San Jose, CA) Questions from the Sky: New work from Hung Liu
  • Jun 19: (Aptos, CA) LYF Camp 2013: “Choose Your Own Adventure”
  • Jun 23: (San Jose, CA) San Jose Taiko Public Workshop
  • Jun 29: (Los Angeles, CA) Makoto Taiko Annual Concert
  • Jul 13: (San Jose, CA) San Jose Obon Festival 2013
Add Your Event
www.8asians.com

Staff and Contributors

  • Editors
  • Jocelyn "Joz" Wang

    Editor-in-chief/CEO
  • Moye Ishimoto

    Editor-at-large
  • Contributors
  • Tina Tsai

    LATEST POST: Anime Review: Bamboo Blade
  • Tim Chiu

    LATEST POST: Report: Asian-American Subgroups Among Nation’s Poorest
  • Koji Steven Sakai

    LATEST POST: Hip to be Asian American?
  • Mitchell Dwyer

    LATEST POST: Film Review: ‘Masquerade’ (2012)
  • akrypti

    LATEST POST: Meet the 8Asians: Shako
  • Xxxtine Miguel

    LATEST POST: The Guillotines: Film Review
  • Jeff S.

    LATEST POST: 12 Year old New York Filipina Cites Cyberbulling in her Suicide Note
  • Shako Liu

    LATEST POST: Letter From Pyongyang: More Like A Home Video
View all Authors

Other Links

  • Get your very own 8Asians merchandise here!
Advertise | Contact Us | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Privacy Policy