San Francisco and Beyond

A documentation of my adventures in the Bay Area during my last year at San Francisco State University.

[tofutalk]

10/30/15 “The Show Before Halloween”

So today’s show had to do with Halloween and superstitions! Just a quick summary of what happened on today’s show: we covered recent changes in China, had a special guest for today’s superstition segment, and fangirl-ed over our first celebrity shout out! And we revealed what we are/would like to dress up as for Halloween.

To start us off, here is what has been going on in the other hemisphere:

Ai Wei Wei VS Lego Company

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/10/ai-weiwei-versus-lego/412402/

China’s recent repeal of “One Child Policy”:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539

TLDR? China is now making it possible for normal families to legally have two kids w/o extra fines and fees.

India’s Female Lion Care Takers:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34594692?OCID=fbasia&ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook

Today’s guest was non other than Layla’s roommate (Lynn), who brought with her a list of superstitions to share with us! Some of these superstitions include not turning around if you hear your name called but can’t see who called your name, because that would be a bad spirit calling you. It would also be a bad idea to play with your chopsticks because then you will have bad luck! And DON’T whistle in the dark! You’ll attract bad spirits to you that way too! Some other superstitions include: being cautious of black cats if they are headed away from you (they’ll take away good fortune), the numbers 4 (in China, Taiwan, and Japan at least - because it sounds like the word for death), 6 (in Taiwan - bad fortune), and 8 (China and Taiwan - good fortune).

This year, Layla is the only one of us three who is actively partaking in Halloween by dressing up. However, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t all have ideas of who or what we would like to be! While Layla is going to be dressed up as Tombo Kopoli from Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery, Hinano revealed that if she could be any one or thing, she’d be Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. I, on the other hand, would like to be one of the lion care takers mentioned above. Or I’d like to be Legolas from Lord of the Rings… 

We also had some really exciting news today from Layla! Due to her friend at UCLA having the chance to meet the Dante Basco from Avatar: The Last Airbender and American Dragon: Jake Long, we got a shout out from Dante last night! 

[tofutalk]

BODACIOUS BOBA

Noted: Amateur GIF maker at her finest

Ah boba. You interesting, weird, chewy, foreign, slimy, slick, sweet, easy to choke on, bouncy, yummy, dense ball of fun. People either love it or hate it! 

But what exactly is boba? 

Boba are black tapioca balls! They put the bubble in bubble tea. Also referred to as pearl tea, it’s a special milk tea drink from Taiwan and has spread all over thanks to its many fans. 

Traditional bubble tea is made with black tea, but now you can find endless combinations to fit every tastebud such as green tea, slushies, shakes, fruit flavors, coffee, and different toppings aside from tapioca. 

There are so many bubble tea cafe’s in the Bay Area. Popular ones include

Quickly’s

Super Cue

TPumps

Sharetea

Boba Guys

Purple Kow

I brought a friend along with the Tofu Talk crew, and we went to try Sharetea on Geary Blvd! Sharetea has what seems like an endless menu. It was so hard to choose which drink to get! I decided to go with the Oolong Tea Creama. The whipped cream on top is salty and sweet. Also a lot saltier than I expected! One of the best things about certain boba cafes is that you can choose your ice level and sweetness level. It’s completely customizable! 

Above: Traditional, Oolong Creama, Taro, and Mango and Passion Fruit tea

Below: HAPPY SATISFIED BOBA ENTHUSIASTS

Sharetea’s slogan is ultimate perfection. 

For those of you who want to venture into making it yourself…

Here’s a recipe for making your own bubble tea at home!

http://kirbiecravings.com/2013/08/making-perfect-tapioca-pearl-milk-tea.html

Written by Layla Yu

[tofutalk]

Kill Two Birds with One Stone?

Do you like traveling? and do you like films as well? Then why don’t you visit the places that were in the film! This time, I would like to introduce some places that were drawn in the Ghibli films, which makes you want to visit.

For those of you who do not know what a Ghibli film is, here is a brief explanation for you. Ghibli film is an animation film, which is created by Hayao Miyazaki, an animation director from Japan. He is one of the well-known animation film directors not only in Japan but also aorund the world. Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985, and the movie called “Spirited Away”, is one of the highest grossing animation films resulting in $274 million in the United States and even won several awards. (1)

In the Ghibli films, there are no heroes or villains. Ghibli films are not only famous and popular for this uniqueness, but also because of the soothing background music, which is composed by Jyou Hisaishi, sound effect and precisely drawn scene description as well. In addition, what makes the Ghibli film more interesting is that the more you learn or know about a behind the scene trivia, the more it makes you to watch it over and over again and gives you the different perception of that film every time you watch it.

These are the three movies that are perfect to start if you are watching the Ghibli film for the first time. (2)

1. “Spirited Away” (2001)                                                                                   The town in Taiwan, called “Jiufen”, is drawn in this film. This place is one of the popular places for the tourist to visit. In the film, Hayao Miyazaki has made the color and the structure more similar to those of the Japanese temples in the ancient era.

2. “Up From the Poppy Hill” (2011)                                                                     This movie was based on the story in the 1960s, after the World War 2 during the industrial revolution at Yokohama city. Therefore, you cannot see the scenery now but still Yokohama is definitely one of the places you would like to visit when you go to Japan.

3. “Castle in the Sky” (1986)

Lastly, this movie was about 20th century at Europe during the industrial revolution. Miyazaki used a castle in England called Conwy and Caernarfon as a model.

(1) http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/

(2) www.telegraph.co.uk

Written by

Hinano Omochi

[tzuy1ng]

My cat’s portrait shot of this morning. Hello Annie!

[generasian]

Rob Chen of “Dynasty 8″ Gives East Coast Asian Americans Something to Talk About

We all know WongFu Productions and the Fung Bros as Asian Americans who represent our culture in the predominately Caucasian entertainment and creative industry. Yet the one thing that irks us is that they’re all from the West Coast…Rob Chen, a marketing major from Northeastern University thought this needed to change and decided to start up his own brand “Dynasty 8” to represent Asian culture and rally for the Asian American community that seemed under recognized on the East Coast #EastCoastBeastCoast. We caught up with Rob to see what he’s been doing to bring Asian culture to the streets.

To get things started, can you tell us about Dynasty 8?

We are an Asian-inspired lifestyle brand based in Boston. We take influences from Asia’s art and tradition, and present it as something more relatable and current for fellow Asian Americans, and others interested in Asian culture. 8 is a lucky number in Chinese and the Dynasty represents a big family and movement that pays homage to the rich heritage.

Our brand is founded upon three pillars: Dynamic, Spirited & Phresh (yes, with a PH). Dynamic means to be bold, to make a statement. Being spirited is to have purpose in your actions, and is the cultural drive of our brand. We want to purposefully represent Asian culture to its fullest extent. Finally, phresh is to just keep things cool, current and real, challenging ourselves to be innovative everyday. Everything that we do has to encompass these three values.

Keep reading

[tofutalk]

Betty Ong was a San Francisco Chinatown native who grew up to work for American Airlines as a flight attendant. She was working on American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles the day of September 11th, 2001. Fifteen minutes into the flight, Betty became aware that something wrong was going on aboard the plane, as she found out that two other flight attendants in the business class section had just been stabbed and one business class passenger had also been injured. Betty worked with her fellow flight attendants, in relaying vital information out to the American Airlines ground crew so the FBI could determine who was behind the attacks. She, and flight attendant Madeline Amy Sweeney, called American Airlines ground crew and relayed information to them for 23 minutes, before the plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, giving up the chance to call their own families for a farewell. After the attacks, then mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown dedicated September 21st to Betty Ong and the Chinese Development Community Center also dedicated a room to Betty. More recently in 2011, San Francisco named a recreation center in Chinatown after Betty.

  While some downplay Betty’s role in the September 11 events, and others cast doubt on her importance, it cannot be denied that Betty’s actions were that of a strong woman. In the face of imminent death, Betty’s last words were “Pray for us,” a telltale sign that even in such a situation she was thinking of everyone on board and those who would be impacted by the event. Although only one other flight attendant is named in the article, it is not to say that they were any less important in the tragic event. It is just to highlight Betty’s role as an Asian American aboard Flight 11. I would bring light to her because even though I am of Asian American descent, I knew nothing of her story until recently. When I asked friends of Asian American descent, many also had no idea of Betty Ong. It must mean something when many Asian Americans today have a difficult time naming more than one Asian American (East Asian, South Asian, Central Asian, Pacific Islander etc.) as a hero or a role model.

Written By: Bella Chen © Tofu Talk, 2015. All rights reserved

Sources:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Betty-Ong-s-family-remembers-2310213.php

http://911research.wtc7.net/cache/planes/attack/abc_calmbefore.html

 http://www.bettyong.org

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/M.A.Sweeney.html

[tzuy1ng]

Lol, it wasn’t until I saw how many people reblogged this that I remembered to reblog it myself. Or even to credit myself for writing it at the bottom. Oops.

[tofutalk]

Red Velvet - Dumb Dumb (2015)

Big Bang - Blue (2012)

G.Na - Green Light (Ft. Jay Park) (2012)

SHINee - Lucifer (2010)

2PM - All Day I Think of You (2013)

Taeyang - Superstar (2010)

At least parts of these songs were played in this week’s show. Only the last two were played to the end of the song.

[tzuy1ng]

Gotta admit it, most of these came from my own playlist.

[npr]

Kevin Sylvester says that when most people see a 6'2", 260-pound black man, they don’t expect him to also be a classically trained violinist. A recent exchange with a woman in an elevator, when he happened to have his instrument with him in its case, drove that point home.

“She’s like, ‘What do you play?’” he recalls. “I’m like, 'I’m a violinist’. And she was like, 'Well, obviously you don’t play classical, so what kind of style do you play?’”

Sylvester says he explained that while he does have a degree in classical music, he plays all kinds of styles. “She didn’t mean it maliciously,” he says, “but I hope she gets to see us in concert and we can change her perception.”

Moments like this inspired Sylvester and his partner, violist Wilner Baptiste, to call their new album Stereotypes. It’s the latest release by their duo Black Violin, whose seeds were planted years ago when the two met as high school students in Florida.

With 'Stereotypes,’ A Duo Raised On Hip-Hop And Classical Has It Both Ways

Photo: Lisa Leone/Courtesy of the artist

[tzuy1ng]

That is really interesting. Mixing different styles. That is something I have recently gotten into with Il Divo, an operatic pop group with members from Europe and the United States, based in Europe, and formed by Simon Cowell. 

[tzuy1ng]

鄧麗君 － Theresa Teng

Theresa Teng is a legendary mando-pop singer from Taiwan. She was extremely well known during her lifetime for her sweet voice, and her works have continued to enthrall listeners even two decades after her untimely death from respiratory failure after an asthma attack that she suffered in Thailand in 1995. One of her most well known songs happens to be “The Moon Represents My Heart” (月亮代表我的心). 

你問我愛你有多深　我愛你有幾分 You ask me how deep my love for you runs? How much do I love you?

我的情也真　我的愛也真　月亮代表我的心 My feelings are real. My love is real. The moon represents my heart [feelings]. 

你問我愛你有多深　我愛你有幾分 You ask me how deep my love for you runs? How much do I love you? 

我的情不移　我的愛不變　月亮代表我的心 My feelings won’t falter. My love won’t change. The moon represents my heart [feelings].

 輕輕的一個吻　已經打動我的心 A soft, chaste kiss (from you) moves my heart

深深的一段情　教我思念到如今 Such a deep romance has taught me to constantly long for you.

 你問我愛你有多深　我愛你有幾分 You ask me how deep my love for you runs? How much do I love you? 

你去想一想　你去看一看　月亮代表我的心 You should think about it. You should look at it. The moon represents my heart [feelings].

*Only the translations of the lyrics are mine. 

This song is one of her most memorable works as it allowed her naturally sweet sounding voice to do what it did best: express emotions in such a way that made listeners fall in love with her voice. The song itself is simple, but the message is sweet (albeit a bit naïve). While the song is about a romantic relationship, recently I have taken to  interpreting it as any relationship, but more importantly that of family and close friends. With the Moon Festival coming up next week, I felt that this is an appropriate song to listen to and reflect upon. We’re all under the same moon and it is always there, therefore it is a constant just like how my emotions are regarding my family and friends. 

  Here is a video of Theresa singing this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv_cEeDlop0

And here is Jon Bon Jovi singing his version of this song, which is pretty good as the emotions of the song are maintained:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVBEXS7LHJ8

-------------------------------------------------

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Teng

http://mojim.com/twy100463x160x3.htm

[tzuy1ng]

Laurel Heights 

[tofutalk]

Hong Kong Lounge 1 (9/13/15)

Hong Kong Lounge is a small sized dim sum restaurant located at 5322 Geary Boulevard. Arrive early on a Sunday (about 9:30 -10 AM) and you’ll only have a small wait; once it comes to 10:30 on a weekend, the line might reach to the end of the block, and for a table for two, it can take 30 minutes just to get seated if you are lucky. Once inside the restaurant, the service is decently fast and friendly enough. They don’t have the dim sum carts here, but once you order on a reusable menu sheet that you mark with how many servings of each dish you want, the servers bring out a printed copy and start to bring out your dishes as they become ready. For a large group of 8 that arrived earlier than most of the crowd at 9:30 AM on a Sunday, we ordered a total of 15 different dishes. Some group favorites included the Pork Buns (both steamed and baked), rice cakes with string beans, and a bun with a sweet, creamy, custard filling. The unexpected, unanimously disliked dish happened to be the iconic ‘Phoenix Feet’, a.k.a. ‘Chicken Feet’. As a whole, the group disliked it because there was not enough flavor, and it was either not soft enough, or it was too soft for personal taste. Overall, the entire experience was a good experience. However, if you are looking for a place to have great food and great conversation, the high noise level here makes it difficult to hear your fellow diner who you may be chatting to.

© Tofu Talk, 2015. All rights reserved.

[tofutalk]

Visit Original Link

Hong Kong Lounge 1 Dim Sum 

9/13/15  #tofutalk © Tofu Talk, 2015. All rights reserved.

[tzuy1ng]

Something I did with friends. 

[tzuy1ng]

9/13/15 Part 1

Laurel Heights - Alta Plaza Park

*pictures later     This was the first adventure that I have taken since school started. Due to this being an impromptu exploration of the city on my part, I was not wearing proper shoes. Instead I was wearing ballet flats. Pretty, pink, no-arch-support ballet flats. At least I had layers of clothing that I could adjust as I saw fit.

    I started my trip after brunch with a group of friends at Hong Kong Lounge 1 on Geary (there is a Hong Kong Lounge 2 also on Geary, right by Kaiser Hospital), with some after brunch tea at Sharetea (which was right next to the restaurant). Taking the 38 bus, I rode from Park Presidio until Presidio Ave (by  Target, and right outside of Japantown). From there, I chose to walk off all the tea and good dim sum that I had eaten before.

    As I was walking through Laurel Heights, the wind had started to pick up. So not only was I in inappropriate footwear, I had crazy wind blown hair which I was powerless against as I had not had the foresight to bring along a few hair bands for this kind of situation! While I was fighting my hair and wind, I passed by UCSF Laurel Heights Campus and the Jewish Community Center on Presidio and California.   

   What I hadn't noticed at the time was the fact that I was passing through one of the more affluent neighborhoods of the city. I was seeing old, restored Victorian style homes with no graffiti or protective gates. The streets were clean, and there were no homeless people wandering around. Public trash cans were also scarce, if not completely absent, as if sending the idea of "We don't want to be picking up after you," to pedestrians (of which there weren't many either). The shops in the area were largely closed on Sundays.

After roughly an hour of walking from Geary Boulevard, I finally reached Alta Plaza Park. I have been to this particular park before with my older brother, but at the time, the park was under renovation. The park is in the shape of a square, with a children's play ground in the middle. I did not make my way up the steps to get a picture of the playground. While it is not what is considered a large park,this park is still popular amongst dog owners in the area for it has a large open grass space for dogs to run around and play in. 

https://www.jccsf.org/

http://sfrecpark.org/destination/alta-plaza-park/

http://eir.ucsf.edu/maps/laurel-heights/

[tzuy1ng]

Adventures in the City

Sunday, September 13th Destinations: Hong Kong Lounge – 5322 Geary Blvd., San Francisco -Brunch with new friends -Good food, good atmosphere 

Sharetea – 5336 Geary Blvd.

Laurel Heights Neighborhood: -Jewish Community Center - UCSF Laurel Heights Campus (right by the Fire Department) -Fire Credit Union - Vogue Theater -Swedenborgian Church (Lyon and Washington) -San Francisco University High School -San Francisco Waldorf School - Alta Plaza Park 

Pacific Heights Neighborhood:            -Broadway and Steiner (Ms. Doubtfire Apartment – no picture)

Cow Hollow (Union Street Shops) – Steiner -> Octavia -       Wrecking Ball Coffee -       Pacific Puffs -       Gala (Fashion Boutique) -       Sugarfina -       BeGood (Boutique) -       Soulcycle -       Jest Jewels (Accessories) -       Bare (Wax Salon) -       Itoya Top Drawer (Pens, Stationery, Random things) -       Addiction lingerie -       Le Marcel Dog Treat Bakery (Smelled SOOOO GOOD)

[tzuy1ng]

New Show

Finally getting back into the swing of things! School is starting to pick up a bit, but I don’t particularly mind as I am getting SUPER EXCITED thinking about a new venture I will be doing as part of my Radio production class. It’s called Tofu Talk and details about the show will be posted soon. But there is a tumblr page up now for the show. The show will be on every week starting next week, and our content will have to do with Asia and the Asian American experience of Asian and Asian American culture here in Stateside. 

[tzuy1ng]

Mitch Albom - For One More Day

“You have one family, Charley. For good or bad. You have one family. You can’t trade them in. You can’t lie to them. You can’t run two at once, substituting back and forth. Sticking with your family is what makes it a family.”  - Pg. 183

 “ “What causes an echo?” she once quizzed me. The persistence of sound after the source has stopped. “When can you hear an echo?” When it’s quiet and other sounds are absorbed. When it’s quiet, I can hear my mother’s echo still.” – Pg. 193

 For One More Day is a novel about family and the parent/child relationship. It explores one man’s journey to reconciliation with himself over his relationship with his long dead mother. It showcases how a mother who was once the center of a family suddenly finds herself navigating a conservative town’s views on a divorced single mother of two. She is a strong mother who, for the sake of her two children, keeps holding on in their small town even though she is called various names and ostracized from society. The novel goes to discuss how we as children often don’t realize what our parents do for us until much later. And when we get to an older age, we are busy with our own lives and we unintentionally neglect our parents as they entire their old ages. While I am not at that age yet, as I still rely a lot on my parents, it serves as a good reminder that it is always a good time now to call home to talk to mom or dad, or even grandma and grandpa.

[tzuy1ng]

National Burger Day

Apparently today is National Burger Day. I shall celebrate later after studying my Accounting and Micro Economics texts by going for Calibur in West Portal. Or I’ll get it delivered instead. Either way, Calibur is always a nice place to go for a burger, largely because you get to dictate exactly what kind of burger you want. It’s a clean restaurant with minimal decorations and no smoke coming from the grills in the back, one can say the place has an almost sterile feel, with a menu style similar to that of Chipotle in the sense that you get to pick the toppings. You get the choice of a 1/4lb, 1/3lb, 1/2lb, Vegetarian, or Grilled Cheese with toppings that include cheese, bacon, and avocado. The menu might not be extensive, but it sure hits the spot when I crave good burgers, fries, and shakes here.  “Calibur is proud to serve fresh burgers, made with house-ground, 100% grass-fed organic California beef sourced from Panorama Grass-Fed Meats.  Our fries are cooked in house rendered organic beef tallow, blended with rice bran oil.Delicious shakes are hand prepared with organic Three Twins ice cream and organic whole  milk in classic and seasonal flavors.”

http://calibursf.com

http://calibursf.com