2 Reviews!

I had the opportunity tonight to do 2 restaurant reviews.

One is Little Tokyo which is on Geary Blvd. and another is Top Cafe which is a Chinese-American cafe down in Cupertino.

Little Tokyo Review

Top Cafe Review

Third World

I have to say that that movie in class had so much meaning in it, most people would be speechless. I mean people in State just want a better teaching environment and the board denies this just because of their color? Man what the heck,I thought that we were over this bullshit about "different ethnicity" at that time, I guess I was wrong. So if they can't have a better environment to learn then it is time to strike my friend, we the people will stand strong to our beliefs that all people deserve and equal education. Again the board got in the way and used violence to solve the problem, but the people were only chanting, I mean we have a law stating everyone has a freedom of speech, so what does the board do, they go and call the police to beat the crap out of us and drag our leaders away. What's worst is after that whole thing they divided the school into two separate divisions, so they can "control" us easier, sounds like slavery to me but that's my opinion. Good thing the people had strong beliefs because another strike broke out, ya the people. Finally this time the school board gave in and gave the lower class people the same teaching environment as the higher class. But still the higher ups are still messing with the class funds, so they can earn more money for themselves, I really wish they would stop messing around in our school just for themselves.

Dim Sum of All Things - P 233

So far, the novel has kept me engaged and interested in the triumphs and shortcomings of Lindsey, the book's main character. The bulk of my reading has been completed over the past week and a half as I find it difficult to stop once I've started.

I just wanted to emphasize the importance of some of the themes my fellow group members have found in the book:

Stereotypes - Unlike my fellow group members, I hardly find the stereotypes used in this book offensive. I realize, however, that this is probably because I am not Chinese and do not understand the implications of these stereotypes.

Interestingly, I think Lindsey is the strongest supporter of such stereotypes even though she is Chinese. She seems almost ashamed of her own culture when she notices stereotypical behavior from family members or other Chinese. She frowns on such behavior even though these things may be essential aspects of her culture. I cannot tell if this is the author's intention.

She also seems to ignorantly categorize those who aren't Chinese throughout the book, especially males. Although I may be guilty of some the behavioral patterns Lindsey despises in men, it isn't fair to judge others before actually meeting them. This is probably why she hasn't had much success as far as romance is concerned.

Interracial dating - I never really understood what the fuss about interracial dating was all about. As a product of an interracial marriage, I have been around this all of my life. I think the more people speculate over interracial couples, the more difficult it becomes for couples to do what couples are supposed to do--love each other no matter what race the other person is. This book seems to put the spotlight on interracial couples when these things should be naturally accepted.

Overall, I do like the book. Regardless of the themes or messages, a lot can be learned about Chinese culture such as native foods and language. I find this beneficial because I haven't read much dealing with Chinese culture. I think that these pieces of knowledge will stick with me for the longer than anything else in this book.

- Ernest

Eat First Restaurant (Review)

I’ve never been a big fan of Chinese restaurants or Chinese food for that matter but this place is better than most. If there was such a term, I would call it a Chinese and Chinese American restaurant simply because the menu works like a double-edged sword. There is your usual menu where the selections are in both English and Chinese but there is this other menu where everything is in Chinese. Non-Chinese readers don’t worry; I personally think the items on that menu are a bit too “authentic” Chinese for me but that would certainly please the older folks. There is an all-English lunch menu that consists of 100% Americanized Chinese food. Although I’m trying to be as un-bias as possible, I love the selections on this lunch menu. All the items on that single laminated page are about five-dollars and the dish is fairly big. I usually order either the Mongolian Beef, Smooth Egg over rice with beef or the Spicy Tofu with Beef over rice. When I compare with most Chinese restaurants, particularly in the Sunset district, a bowl of rice is outrageously two-dollars but over here, it is no different than Chinatown offers, unlimited refills on your bowls.
It’s a modern style atmosphere. You won’t get any old Qing Dynasty music but instead, there’s a flat panel television with whatever show on TVB or a sporting event on ESPN. Although it looks like a fairly decent sized restaurant, there is actually a second level. The problem I have with seating is when they really have no tables for you or you and your friends and they make you sit in a big round table with other customers. The staff here is friendly but often times too busy to remember your orders. I can’t tell you how many times a waiter came to our table and gave us the other table’s order. I guess another flaw with the staff is their tendency to go outside when business is slow and have a smoke during their shifts. Unfortunately, they don’t bother washing their hands afterwards. Overall, its good food and mediocre service and although the staff aren’t the best of all time, they do the best they can to give you food that is fresh. There was a time when we ordered a dinner set and they couldn’t give us the soup because it was boiling at the moment. It may have been disappointing to start with but eventually it arrived and it was amazing. Some may not like it but I guess that would make me a pretty patient guy.

Click here for My Yelp Review

The Dim Sum of All Things Review

Note: I tried to be as unbias as possible but that mindset deteriorated in the process of writing this review.

Personal? Yes. Controversial? Possibly. Informative? Slightly. Positively-charged? Not at all. Those are the labels I would put down if I was capable of “tagging” a book. Kim Wong Keltner’s Dim Sum of All Things is a less-than-decent attempt to put Asian American culture into a better light than that of say, the early Chinese American immigrants? Considering this was her first attempt at becoming a distinguished author, I would try not to hold too much negativity towards her for the flaws seen in this book. It’s a light read and would most likely take less than a day or two if you become completely engaged into reading it. Let’s try to break this book down into pieces. Half of the first quarter of this book consisted of a mishmash of story background, objective and character insight/development. The other half however consisted of both assumptions and attacks on culture and gender. The following half-size chunk of this book was very slow paced and we finally get a bit of progression with the story but it never really got to the point. The final quarter of this book sums up a lot of the story’s objectives but I personally think it felt a bit rushed. Conclusively, I enjoyed the last 3/4ths of this book more than I did having to put up with the first quarter of it.
Let’s begin with the characters. I believe Keltner’s strongest attribute to her book writing style would be the way she presents her characters. The main character Lindsey is described very thoroughly from what goes on in her mind and what she assumes is going on around her. I enjoyed the descriptions of Pau Pau from Lindsey’s perspective but if I was to recall, this book is in the second person narrative. In my opinion, this book works much better in the first person narrative because there is already enough of what Lindsey assumes strictly from the narrators words. Lindsey is a character that I probably wouldn’t mind confronting in person if I could read minds. It’s amazing how Keltner chooses the absolute worst of Asian Americans as the host of this showcasing of Chinese American culture. Almost every single scene involving Lindsey and her assumptions of literally everybody around her was so negatively charged that it made me sick to my stomach. For example, Lindsey views Caucasian men as “hoarders” of all things Asian but if you had to analyze all the glamorization of White Americans and compare them to her views on Chinese Americans, you can simply call Lindsey a “hoarder” of all things White.
One of the biggest highlights that Keltner tries to showcase in her book based on the back of it are questions dealing with Chinese American culture at both its best and its worst. Keltner does a tremendous job at giving every scene of the book a lot of detail and it is easy to picture in my mind. The problem is; I saw a disrespectful attack on my heritage and even my gender in the most direct way. Keltner may not be an Amy Tam but at least Amy Tan tries to camouflage her attacks on Chinese American (and mainland Chinese) males better than the direct way Keltner does with her main character. Keltner makes it sound like Asian men are the only ethnic-gender that are cheap, Honda Civic driving, weak, nerds out in this world. The last time I checked; there are Ford loving, Star Wars idolizing, cheap white dates out in this world and that includes other ethnicities as well. Yes, this is a feministic book but this takes feminism into the more racist direction. And I quote Amazon reviewer Jay Wong, “If a WHITE person wrote something like this, then they would rightly be called an Asian hating racist.” If this book was the first Chinese American based book I had to ever read, I would totally not want to date a Chinese girl if Chinese girls would be represented by Lindsay’s almost irrational outlook on her own heritage. Having Lindsay find out that Steve was a quarter Chinese did nothing to suppress my distain either.
Overall, if you’re one to know more about contemporary Chinese American culture than you already do, look anywhere else but this book. With all due respect that I can possibly muster out of me to Lindsey Wong Keltner, nice try on your first attempt and I hope my money for your book got you something nice because I got myself some pretty expensive toilet paper. Keltner is not a sell out in my opinion despite the way I portrayed her writing style and character insights. Interracial dating and marriage is nothing new to American society in the past two decades. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it but you can not glamorize it by bashing on the other gender of your own ethnicity. It is distasteful and rotten much like your “Dim Sum” of all things.

Story Plot: C- (What was it again? Was it a neurotic girl’s goal of playing hard to get on a Caucasian man and hoarding all negativities on a culture? Trying to overcome adversity from a traditional grandmother? You get points on the second one but if it was solely the first one, you’d get D because if it wasn’t published, it’d be an F)

Character Development: B- (Your descriptions and extensive uses of the views and opinions of the characters are very well done and outweigh your lack of respect for any male both Asian or White)

Ease of Reading (level of reading/flow of reading/etc): B (It is a fast read but your lack of story continuity slows the pace down to a point where I didn’t pick up the book for 4 days)

Overall: C- (A job well done, it’s not a complete failure but at the same time the fact that you somehow got this published gives this book the much needed rescue and sums of cash into your pocket. Hopefully all that money can purchase you a nice apartment in the Pacific Heights away from the Sunset district where, you said it; most of the Chinese people live. By the way, you failed to make me be ashamed of my own culture, my own gender and my own identity.)

The Dim Sum of All Things

The Dim Sum of All Things is a novel written by Kim Wong Keltner, explores the many aspects of Asian American life and culture. Just my purest first impression of reading the summary on the back of the book it sounded like it would be a fun book to read. However, after diving into a fairly good portion of the book I found my opinion of the book to change quite a bit. I was very surprised to see so many references to Asian and Chinese stereotypes. I thought that after reading further into the book they would stop, but that was not the case at all. The story does nothing redeem itself after so many negative stereotypes.

The main character of the story is named Lindsey. She is one of those kinds of helpless characters you get annoyed at in stories, instead of going out and solving her problems she just sits there and mopes. She is also very distant with her own culture, so I find it odd that they way Lindsey talks is as if she is being representative of all Chinese,Asians, and women as well. A good portion of this book is about stereotypes, well guess what? the main character is very quick to place people into stereotypes as well. Lindsey will see a white male dressed a certain way and immediately he is labeled a "Horder". Looking at Lindsey's character we see many of the themes the book focuses on.

Culture is a constantly reoccurring theme in the book. I myself feel that this book does not truely explore all of the Chinese and Asian American culture because Lindsey is so disconnected from her culture. It is like being lectured about a culture by someone who is not even from that culture. Not to mention at times I feel Lindsey dislikes her culture, like she wishes she could have been born into something else.

Stereotypes are another common theme in the story. Lindsey talks about the many categories that people put her in. The funny thing though is that Lindsey herself is sometimes caught putting people into categories. So it is a bit hard to be cheering for for the main character because she does see that she is being simple minded. However, there are timse in the book that I did feel that I could relate to her. Such as when she talks about how people would call her things when she was little, but had no idea what they were saying until she was older. I went thorough something that practically identical.

Interracial dating is a very sensitive subject that can be found in the book. When you are reading the first few parts of the book it sounds like the book is really against interracial dating. Coming from an Asian family I have alwaysed noticed it, and was hoping that the book would give some good reasons as to why this is because it baffles me. I do not see why they are so against dating out of thier own gene pool. I know that times have changed for the better, but there still is some of the past still lingering around and I hope it will fade away eventually.

This book stirs up many feelings inside of me and questions as well. After getting me all interested with all the questions about Asian American culture, it annoys me that so much of the book was focused on stereotpyes. I am a little disapointed that it never really went into depth they questions that were posed on the back. I still would like to know that the facination with Hello Kitty is all about.

Book Review

Let me start off by saying that the book The Dim Sum of All Things written by Kim Wong Keltner, is a pretty interesting book, not just only story wise but also culturally. The book introduces the main character, the 25 yr old woman Lindsey Owyang, who is a Chinese American. The book starts out with Lindsey’s daily life, and moves on to specific things that have happened to her over the years, or in the present time of the book. As I read through the book I realize that some of things that Lindsey experienced, I have experienced myself. Such things were the smell of incense or weird smelling dishes. The mini titles in the book were really interesting like, “She was a Freak Magnet” or “Bananas, Twinkies, and Eggs”. In a way I feel that this book likes to “jokingly insult” Asians in way, like how Lindsey likes to think some Chinese guys are really smart or nerdy, Star wars freaks, or the pudgy guys are perverted. I also sense some sexism in the book, it seems like most of the blame or problems Lindsey faces come from men, making most or 90% of all men are bad. The book also likes to relate races into food categories; White on the out and Asian in the inside is call an egg or Asian on the outside and white in the inside is called a Twinkie. Overall the book was pretty comical and really interesting even though I sense some racists or sexist comments, making this book a worth to read.
The Dim Sum of All Things gives us the readers a mirror view of Asian Culture. It gives us a feel of how the world looks at Asian culture, such as marriages, religion or food, weekend activities, entertainment, providing the readers a first person view of all these things. Of course Asian culture has change through the years, but some aspects of it have not for some families, such as marriages. Lindsey describes how her grandmother would react if she were to be dating a Japanese guy, she would explode! Or like how Lindsey’s grandmother wouldn’t mind her dating a white guy, in the old days I don’t the parents would approve of that. The title of the book, The Dim Sum of All Things in my opinion refers to how culture is created together by little pieces like dim sum until it becomes full.

Book review for "The Dim Sum of All things" -Rafael

Where should I start...

The novel by Kim Wong Keltner took me by surprise, I have never read a novel that had charged with frustration. The constant reference to Asian and Chinese stereotypes at times had me put the book down and take a moment to think about why the author continued this derogatory trend the describe the characters and environments.

Lindsey, the main character is a lost, uninformed, confused and overly-dramatic figure. She acts as if she was born yesterday and knew nothing of her own culture. She easily labels others, mainly white men as the predators of all things Asian; "hoarders for short. The destructive criticism of others that continues to be repeated non stop over the book, soured my thoughts "Am I to think that Asian women feel or think this way?" No, its way too general its 2 ethnocentric to accept as a possibility. Nevertheless the book covers many topics that should be brought to our attention:

Stereotypes:
One the main themes that carried over throughout the book, it brought the attention a a fictional mentality young women who is completely confused, completely ethnocentric or racist. Although it was a frustrating experience, I could relate to her sometimes. I too was not born in the USA so some common culture activities or thoughts, that my own culture chased could be polarized by the parallel growth with the common culture of the "Non-Hispanic". But, I did feel that at some points it got too out of hand. and not even I was that subjective to others.

gender:
Lindsey was as submissive as she could be. Loyal to her family. And the most of the characters that were men and Asian did someone pose that advantage over the women. Her family was very traditional, regardless of how she felt she would have to bide. Her dates that took her to karaoke. My culture also shared that traditional custom. I believe this theme was the least spoken of but most understandable. To be in the clear, no I do not agree that this is acceptable as times change.

Culture:
Parallel to Stereotypes, culture was always under fire. I felt it was completely unrealistic that she had such limited knowledge of her own culture. and to become almost hostile towards it, bothered me tremendously.

Interracial Dating:
This is a very touchy subject. although we live in a time that allows such theme to be accepted more openly in reality, the book nearly wants to destroy it at first. And I always was thinking" what is so wrong" why does the Asian family want nothing to do with others. Historically I can understand why, but to my own point of view, that is prejudice, being masked under culture.

the book never really answers why Asian women pick white guys, why people get tattoos of Chinese Characters.

I guess we are lest to be as subjective as Lindsey and make our own conclusions of her, the the rest of the story.

-Rafael de la torre

100 pages in and counting (The Dim Sum of All things)

So far into my reading of "The Dim Sum of All Things" I will publicly announce I was offended by the book and angered within the first 10-15 pages and I am not directly decedent of any Asian background! Why was I so pissed off? I dunno the repetitive call out of stereotypes and slurs the author kept pulling out spontaneously when in many occasions it was not necessary. Although after the first 50 pages i began to enjoy the book and began to also question why the character is so ashamed. But I will be no hypocrite. I too sometimes experience the same attitude to my own culture. Latinos who wear flags like capes and hood ornaments to their low rider impalas or El Camino's pisses me off some times. Sometimes I rather speak English than Spanish, only because i've been exposed to America more than to Mexico most of my life.

This has also gotten me to think. No matter what background or culture we belong to, two opposite people from opposite cultures can experience the same thing, so it makes me think why do we hate each other sometimes or why are we ashamed to be who were are. I don't i think im just as confused as Lindsey.... =[

-RAFAEL DE LA TORRE

Films- Suicide Circle - Film by Sion Sono

Over the weekend I was out an about, looking for things to do and see. so I said "screw it" I've been holding a copy of "The Love Guru" with Mike Myers (one of the worse hes made) for quite a while and had to return it. I drove down to Lakeshore Blockbuster (insert Ad here) in Oakland and decided I wanted to pick up something new. I could not find anything of my taste and waltz down the old school flick isle of the store. Perfect! A film, with box art so Japanese I had to take it.

Suicide Circle by Sion Sono is a film that is uniquely twisted and violent. It was one of my first encounter with true Japanese cinema and I deeply enjoyed it. The plot of the story involved a chain of suicides nation wide (japan) that connected people with the simple idea that they are someone all connected with their loved ones and everyone else even after death. A bit difficult to explain without giving away the story but I will say this if you enjoy cheesy violent death scene (trust me they are cheesy) and films that seemed like they were filmed with old school 8mm cameras, you will enjoy Suicide Circle!

-RAFAEL DE LA TORRE

Food

Since we recently did the Iron Chef challenge in class, it would be the perfect time to talk about food and its importance. I feel kind of bad that in my family the cooking tradition may be coming to a halt soon. Seeing as how very old fashion and traditional my parents are. My mom thinks that it is weird for guys to want to learn how to cook. She believes that knowledge should be reserved for girls only, the only problem is that she has two sons and not one daughter to pass on her knowledge of the ways of the kitchen. However, I am gradually getting her to break down the barriers of traditional old ways and learning a few new things about cooking.

To me home food is just food that you cook at home. Rather than going out to a restaurant and having someone else do the cooking for you. You choose to take the time and effort to make your own dish, not to mention decide what goes in it in case you are a picky eater. Also home food is really good quality food because you don't use the cheapest most cost effective things to put in it. It all translates into love, you put love into your home cooked meals. You don't get that at a restaurant, it's an ingredient that they cheap out on.

The way my mom cooks is very much unique. She will for sure make sure there is a heaping amount of vegetables in the dish. Her philosophy is that you can never have enough vegetables, heck sometimes the dish could be considered vegetarian and still taste like it had meat in it. My mom is very health conscious when it comes to cooking, so she will always make sure to use the healthiest ingredients even though it may cost more. My mom will cook her fair share of Asian meals, but her skills as a cook go further than Asian meals. She will look at other dishes from other countries and then make them at home with her own twists to it. She will add something that she thinks would make the dish taste really complete. She is constantly reinventing her own dishes, so going home and getting a cooked meal is always a nice surprise. Her cooking could some what be used to talk about Asian American culture. It is similar how we are taking what we know and are used to about it, but as time goes on we are adding our down twists to it. Asian American culture is constantly reinventing itself as well.

A trip to Japan town

During the weekend i went to Japan town since it was a while I went , it took me a while to figure out where to go, but then my family was with me and they had a better sense of direction than me. Japan town in my opinion didn't change as much as I thought it would, I thought that there would be new stores, but it's the same nostalgic Japan town that i remember.
What I found different in Japan town was that there were different kinds of people there than i last remember. Usually or in the past I wouldn't see as many "white" people in an area, I would usually see Asian's in that area, but I guess as the time passes by Japan town became a must see spot in San Francisco. This pretty much shows that the culture world keeps growing, even now, people that aren't even Asian still shows interest in other cultures.
I also notice then when walking around the mall, I see that even though Japan town is in America, it would still keep most of its Japanese traditional look, including the food.Even though the food very expensive, I suggest that people should go eat at the restaurants there, it's really good in my opinion. There's also the famous Japanese anime culture that involves many different types of people, but that's for another post. Even though Japan town has changed a little its still the same nostalgic place i remember.
-Benson Lee

Fall of the I-Hotel

Today we watched a movie in class called The Fall of the I-Hotel. I would have to say that it stirred quite a bit of feelings while I was watching it. It showed us the hardships immigrants go through once they get to America. Majority of the people who lived in the hotel were citizens, but they seemed to be really loving life. They had everything they needed to live their new lives here in America. The I-Hotel was seen was a refugee for immigrants. There was a lot of resentment towards those who were immigrants. One of the reasons was that they were willing to work jobs for much lower wages than the Americans. This caused many Americans to lose their jobs and resulted in resentment built up towards the immigrants. I really don't agree with those people who were angered by immigrants taking their jobs. I mean everyone here is trying to make something out of their life, and some of us want it more than others. So they should be grown up about it when the competition gets fierce. There was a woman who was married to a Filipino man and faced a lot of discrimination as well. When they were seen walking together down the street, the white people would go and spit at them. As a result the wife had to walk behind or distance herself from her husband when ever they went outside. I find it to be ridiculous that people in America are discriminating against immigrants. This country is supposed to be built on the idea that anyone who wants to get a better life can come over here and make it happen. This whole foundation of this country is based on immigration, everyone except the Native Americans are immigrants. It was very touching to see so many people fight to keep the I-Hotel once they found out that it was marked for demolition. I really liked it that the mayor of the town even helped in his own way to keep the hotel up and running. It is a shame that the world is falling under the control of large companies and corporations. We definitely need more people who are willing to stand up against them, and letting them know that they can't do what ever they please without considering other people.

10 Pages of "The Dim Sum of All Things"

I think I'm very sensitive when I read books regarding fictitious Chinese Americans and their experiences because it's a part of who I am. This all began in my Ethnic Lit class in high school when our teacher made us read Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club". (or what I would call nowadays, as My Joy Luck Snub) and it really set the standard for my tolerance of books regarding the Chinese American experience, especially in the feminist light. Turns out this book (as of the first 10 pages) is really no different.

With no offense to writers that create feminist characters in their books (I loved Ailin from Lindsey Namioka's Ties That Bind), it's seemingly the same formula for a Chinese-American (yes, hyphen included for this book) fiction book about girls. The negative aspects of the Chinese traditions as well as the negative habits of elder Chinese are reinforced as backdrops for character development. (geez, my grandma doesn't even play mahjong despite living in Chinatown). I guess what I don't like about most characters in these sort of books are they're negativity towards their heritage. This Lindsey shows no positive sign about her cultural identity and culture to be exact. It is almost as though the author enjoys exploiting all the negative aspects of Chinese Americans and what Americans would find as odd about them. (glorifying the white America?)

There wasn't really anything entirely new that I havn't seen in another Chinese-American book if not worse. "There was no opium, and no doped up nubile Chinese beauties". Don't know if that was flattery or yet ANOTHER re-visit of our historic flaws.

To be quite honest, I opened this book and forced myself to stay objective and give it a shot. I guess after reaching page 10, I'll need to force myself to digest more of this "creative" piece of work.

(..30 pages later)..book sucks, without furthering the plot, it just bashed all things Chinese (and Chinese American)...oh yea, the weak (if not all) cheap-date, spikey-haired/rice-bowled cut hair, Star Wars loving, traffic-impaired, Honda Civic-rice-rocket driving, feministic, sweaty, grandma-listening, Chinese men of the world...I tink. (all can be found on page 42-43)

...in some ways, i'm deeply offended.

Home Cooked Meals

To start off this journal, I have to admit that my cooking skills now are nothing compared to my mom's. Eventually I will be able to because I'm spending time to learn how some of the things she does.

In my opinion to define home food is kind of impossible, it's more of a feeling then something put into words, but if it were to be put into words, though i defy that, I have to say it's a feeling of being a child again, and taste so good it reminds you of home. That and it also tastes so good :), kind of like the feel of nostalgia.

My mom cooks most of the time for my family,and her style of cooking was inherited from my great grandfather who was chef at a restaurant that isn't here today. The fried rice my mom cooks tastes and looks completely different from restaurants, and I have to say that it's better than those of the restaurants, but that's my opinion. But yea what really makes home cooked meals delicious is probably the love from the cook herself, my mom knows when we are hunger, she goes and cooks for me and my family, putting all her love into that piece of art, we called food.
-Benson Lee

Hyphen

Dear Harry,
Let me start out by saying that Hyphen Magazine isn’t what I’d expected to be. I expected the magazine to contain about far away east side stuff like China or Japan, but to my surprise it was about Asian’s here in America, Asian Americans. After purchasing two issues of Hyphen, and reading/looking through the content I was happy to admit that most of the articles are pretty interesting. One of my favorite articles I have to say is in the Transit issue, about Bobby Lee. Bobby Lee in my opinion is a pretty interesting Asian American, and quite funny when it comes to his shows and acting. The answers Bobby Lee gave during the interview were quite interesting, and something you would expect from an Asian. Stereotypical people always think that Asians are always quiet and passive, but Bobby Lee and a couple of other stars, such as Jackie Chan or Jet Li prove them wrong. I have to agree with what Bobby Lee said about multimedia and Asian’s today, most Asians now are becoming more active, that you wouldn’t see in the past. I believe that as time passes by we will be seeing more Asian stars in the US.
From,
Benson Lee

Home Food to me is...

food cooked with tender love and care! If anyone ever cooked, it was my Grandma since the men in my family can hardly boil an egg. It's a shame her culinary skills never rubbed off on me, my father, or any of my uncles.

I never understood why, but if she needed to feed two three or four people, she would cook enough for twelve. Food in mass quantities was certainly her special and we never left her house hungry.

And of course it tasted good! She could cook dishes from all around the world especially from our home country--the Philippines. Perhaps to a stranger, the food may not have tasted any better than a meal he or she could order at a restaurant. But my grandma cooked for us because she unconditionally loved us and food was her way of showing it. This made a regular steak taste like filet mignon and spaghetti into pasta straight from the heart of Italy!

That's home food to me. I miss my grandma's cooking :[

- Ernest

Letter to the editor @ Hyphen Magazine

I thought Commercial Success was a very fascinating feature. I have also noticed the recent surge of Asian Americans in TV, radio, internet commercials and wondered about the implications of this phenomenon. As an Asian American, I don't think these advertisements are threatening or offensive at all. The majority of the commercials I've seen, including the one for Home Depot, have been very tasteful. In spite of this, I'm sure the next time one of these commercials come on during halftime, one of my overly analytical ethnocentric Asian friends will be up in arms. And to him I will say, "seriously man, chill out!"

- Ernest

Team Kamikaze's 'Recipe Story'

McGyoza! The name alone sounds delicious in our opinion! Here's a little background about the dish.

McGyoza is the product of several group brainstorms. It is a Japanese American hybrid between gyoza and a hamburger. The ingredients used to make the dish are split almost exactly between Japanese American. Therefore, it is best served with opposing sauces such as: ketchup and tonkatsu, soy sauce and tabasco. This gives those served the option to choose between a more Japanese or more American tasting dish!

The ingredients are: extra lean beef, American cheese, onions, scallions, garlic, salt, and pepper prepared inside of round wraps. After the wraps are filled with the beef, the gyoza are fried in vegetable oil for about five minutes. And your done! Easy, right?

McGyoza is a great dish to feed and entertain guests with. Try it yourself!

- Ernest

Home Food Defined

Before I begin, a little note that I'm making. The reason I'm publishing back-to-back is because I'm at this awesome American cafe (operated by a Chinese family) and I literally have nothing better to do. Heh

In general, I believe home food has to possibly taste good because if it didn’t, you probably wouldn’t prepare it in the first place. The main attributes of home food should be affordability, simplicity and durability. Home food should be affordable because you don’t necessarily want to spend more money than you would if you ate outside your home. Simplicity because home food is prepared fast as in within an hour and there would be no use for it to be appealing because you would have nobody to really impress unless you have guests over. Durability is the second most important next to affordability because given that if you absolutely cannot finish it, there would be room in your fridge for leftovers. Honestly, leftovers are awesome especially when you are as lazy as I am. You can bring it with you as your lunch for the next day like my dad does or just re-heat it the next night or the night after and it will still be good.

From my own home, my mom prepares the dishes. Aside from rice, she usually makes three dishes. A mandatory one being vegetables because it’s good for digestion. Here’s the unique thing about my family; I’m a picky eater and my dad prefers to eat something out of the ordinary. My mom would create a simple meat/vegetable or all meat dish for me such as a fillet, stir fried beef/chicken or something with eggs. My dad’s dish would be something more traditional like pork stomach or lamb. Occasionally, my mom would just go to Chinatown and buy an already prepared chicken or piece of pork (you know, the hanging ones). Either way, I love home food and it’s what brings my family together even with all our differences.

Letter to the Editor - Global Cuisine

Hi Harry,
I just finished up on reading Global Cuisine from the “Road Trip” issue of Hyphen Magazine and I was very surprised to see that the “Greatest Chinese restaurant outside of China” is not located on the California west coast. I wouldn’t be surprised to know that San Francisco does not have one because I’ve basically been to almost every fancy Chinese restaurant, in addition to the less decent-looking ones. I thought it was pretty interesting to know that places like Peru has Chinese restaurants. I can totally agree with the belief that Chinese food is no longer exotic due to the emergence of other Asian cuisines. But then again, exotic can be defined in many different ways. Personally, I don’t see Vietnamese and Chinese food as ever being exotic because they lack the thrill of experiencing different food due to their basic ingredients. Indian food, Thai food and maybe even Filipino food seem to retain this exotic feel because they put many herbs and spices into their food compared to Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese. In fact, the sweetness that some main courses of these food can be seen as exotic to me because most main courses are salty in any genre of food. I think it would be awesome if Hyphen did an article on Asian food that may seem strange to American appetites.

- Terence Nip

Letters To The Editor - Hyphen Mag

Dear Harry,

I want to thank you and your team for coming down to our class and presenting us with an informative magazine about local and national Asian American culture. As i continued to read the magazines, I was impressed in the amount of value and effort put into them. Specifically, the featured story on public transportation here in the states and around the world. I have heard of many stories that point out how the Japanese public transport systems are heavily flooded with patrons on a day to day basis. but when you read word for word how close people in trains are to one another, it makes you think about how we take for granted our transit systems and how much of a phobia we have here when it comes to contact with other people. It was also very interesting to hear the story of the Muni rider that heard nothing but the drunken slurs of a fellow rider and how it may be uncomfortable to ride the trains and buses as well.
I have always been very interested in the Asian and Asian American culture, and i am very happy that there is another source out there that I can use to follow up on current events and lifestyles. who know maybe after some time I will consider becoming apart of your team and putting my touch on how I see the world, cultures and how I best fit into the whole picture. thanks, and keep on writing.

-Rafael De La Torre