It’s the last day of May, officially recognized as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop campaigning for awareness of hepatitis B testing, a disease that afflicts one in 10 Asian Americans (versus one in 1,000 in the general population). Hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver cancer, and one of the greatest health risks for the Asian Pacific American community. And in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Nordstrom teamed up with Hep B Free and OCA in their “Living Well” campaign to help raise awareness of the importance of getting tested for hepatitis B.

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Earlier this year, Asian American-focused music network MYX went on a blogger-hunt in an effort to find fresh faces with big voices for their revamped website, MYX.tv. The search is over, and there are 16 new Asian American vloggers and bloggers from across the nation with different backgrounds and perspectives to best represent the new generation.

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Olivia Lopez has got a Lust for Life.

Olivia is a Filipino-Chinese-Spanish American 18-year-old fashion blogger from Southern California. Recognized in the blog world for her free spirited and experimental style, it’s crazy to think that all this creativity comes from someone so young. As of right now, Olivia has 14,073 fans, and 153 looks on Lookbook.nu, not to mention a cult following on her blog site. With a spot as a guest blogger for Olsenboye as well as the numerous modeling gigs she has under her belt (she is the face of the latest Pain de Sucre lookbook shot by Harper’s Bazaar photographer Sylvie Malfray), she is definitely a face to look out for.

Just for Audrey, Olivia has put together a list of five hot trends for this upcoming summer season. Check it out after the jump.

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Artist Isabelle Thuy Pelaud.

Growing up, every girl dreams of her wedding day, her future husband, and having her own place. Now, the Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) asks the question, “If you had a place of your own, what would it be?”, in A Place of Her Own, a showcase of works by 23 Asian American women artists from diverse backgrounds and generations, opening today at the SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco.

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Comic creators Audra Ann Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga has released their fifth volume of collected comics in celebration of the fifth anniversary of their anime-style online comic, nemu*nemu. The fifth volume is titled nemu*nemu: Out of this World and features never-before-seen, full color, cuter-than-cute artwork, as well as previously unreleased author commentary.

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The New York-based indie rock band PaperDoll is back with a new single “You Can’t Stop It” and are ready to rock with a nationwide tour kicking off later this month. The band members Teresa Lee (vocals/keyboard), Patrick Moloney (guitar), Steve Paelet (bass), and Chip Thomas (drums) have been widely praised for their always energetic and powerful live performances, and the tour promises to be no exception.

PaperDoll’s first stop for their East Coast/West Coast tour is College Prep High School in Oakland, California (because West Coast is the Best Coast … kidding!) and will go cross country until their final stop in Washington, D.C. Although this will be their third tour, this is the first to take place in their home country, the U.S. (the first tour was in 2009 in Ireland, and the second in 2010 in China). The band first got their start in New York’s Lower East Side through their infectious unique mix of dance, pop, and rock. The one-of-a-kind musical stylings have landed PaperDoll’s music in commercials by NIKE and Dayquil, and can also be heard on Good Day New York, The Today Show, MTV, Blender, Maxim, Gotham, and various films including The People I’ve Slept With.

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April showers? Head to the Hawaii International Film Festival to watch Cyrano Agency (South Korea), shown here, and other hot films from Asia.

April is here, which means it’s that time again … HIFF is back.

HIFF, short for Hawaii International Film Festival, showcases films from around the world twice a year here in the islands. April marks the 2011 Spring Showcase, hosted at the Regal Dole Cannery Stadium. The film festival runs for a week (April 1-7) and boasts a wide range of foreign films from Australia to Turkey. And due to the high residency of Asian Americans here in Hawaii, there is usually a higher demand for films from Asia. There is a total of 29 films being showcased for the spring festival, and 16 of those films are from Asian countries (Korea, China, Japan,Thailand and India).

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Spring break is almost here, and while many of my peers are out and about taking shots at 11 am and frolicking on the beach, one of my all time favorite pasttimes is to crack open a can of Diet Coke and sit on the couch and watch the TV until the sun goes down. Luckily for my fellow couch potatoes and me, there are many new shows either premiering or returning on air this season, four of them including actors and actresses of Asian descent. Now all that’s left to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy the shows … all spring.

FOX's new series "Traffic Light" stars Filipina American actress Liza Lapira, third from left. (Check out the adorable hapa baby!)

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The devastating chain of events that has unfolded in Japan in the past few days is unimaginable to most of us here in the United States. It is truly an inspiring sight to see when people all over the world gather together to provide support for a nation that is going through indescribable hardships.

Another effort to support Japan in their time of need is a tribute concert to Japan supported by the Energy and Water Institute of New York. Hosted by Chinese award winning journalist, Li Jing (who is also a model, TV host, and founder of cultureli.com), the event will be held tomorrow, March 19, at 8 pm at the New York Presbyterian Church (42-23 37th Ave, Long Island City, NY). For an entry price of a donation of $10 at the door, the event includes performances by world renowned Korean American R&B/Gospel/Pop singer, Sohyang, as well as a performance by Soprano Dusica Bijelic from Serbia.

There will also be presentation of awards, such as the Humanitarian Award by the World Water Organization. At the concert, Li Jing will share stories of her past experiences with China’s Tangshan earthquake, the largest earthquake in the 20th century with a death toll of about 240,000. Jing has witnessed a first hand account of the devastation that can be brought on by natural disasters — her family lived in a tent for a long time after the earthquake, and her sister’s health was affected due to malnutrition during that time. Jing emphasizes the importance of world-wide support for the recovery and rebuilding process that follows natural disasters. This event is also affiliated with the TSUNAMI Hospital Foundation: Blue Campaign.

For more info, click here.

NBC’s new show America’s Next Great Restaurant, which premiered March 6, encompasses all of my favorite things: food, competition and creativity. And you know it’s going to be delish because the show’s creators are the same ones behind the hit shows Top Chef and Project Runway.

America’s Next Great Restaurant is a competition for up-and-coming chefs to win a chance to open up a restaurant chain in three locations — Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York City. Each chef proposes his or her own restaurant concept, and the most innovative of the bunch will ultimately win the contest through a series of challenges. We’ll be keeping an eye on the two Asian American contestants who have moved on to the top 10: Sudhir Kandula (The Tiffin Box) and Stephenie Park (Compleat).

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