ZOZI
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: DestinAsian
STORY: Anna Park
Mt. Tam hiking experience.
Ever since we got married, I haven’t opened a single birthday gift from my husband.
No, he’s not a cad; he just treats me to my preferred way of celebrating another year gone by — jetting off to some remote part of the world for a two-week holiday. For me, no gift is better than traveling and experiencing something new and amazing.
Zozi just made my husband’s job easier. The travel company, touted as a “local experience and adventure marketplace,” offers bite-sized adventures ranging from abalone diving to cycling wine tasting tours, from manning a plane to a wilderness training course. And don’t think it’s one of those über pricey, chi-chi adventures; packages start
around $20. Spring for a $60 sumo-suit wrestling session, or splurge on a $2,800 great white shark diving trip.
A recent Cornell University study found that “experiential purchases,” versus consumer goods, may make people happier because positive experiences help shape our personalities. Sure, a Chanel 2.55 may be an ego boost, but think what it’d do for your self-esteem to conquer Everest. Details Zozi.com.
— AMP
Multi-talent BooBoo Stewart may be just 17, but his résumé is already as long as the rest of his career promises to be.
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Melody Lee
At just 17, Booboo Stewart, born Nils Allen Stewart, Jr., is not short on talent. Stewart, who is of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Scottish and Native American descent, not only acts but sings, dances, writes and draws comic books, and is a martial arts champion. He started out acting and doing stunt work on television, while balancing a music career, touring with the likes of Miley Cyrus and Disney’s T-Squad. His career got a major boost when he landed the part of Seth Clear- water in Eclipse, the third installment of the popular Twilight series.
For Stewart, who tries to watch at least one movie a day, being involved
in a big Hollywood production like Twilight “has been like a dream come true.” He remembers one time on set, “it was freezing cold, but the fans didn’t care. I was waiting downstairs in the [hotel] lobby and this huge group of girls was screaming outside — it was insane.” It’s something the good-looking teen will probably have to get used to now that he gets more screen time in the final two films in the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, in theaters now, and Part 2 out November 2012.
Stewart is currently shooting the upcoming independent film White Frog as the lead, Nick Young. “A lot of people, say, were in a bigger movie and they hear about this smaller film and they’d be like, ‘I don’t really want to do it,’” he says. But he saw the role — a teen with Asperger’s Syndrome — as “a once in a lifetime opportunity.” He admits playing the part took a toll on him, but “the set was the happiest set I’ve ever been on. Everyone was just having a good time.”
Stewart stays busy with a number of other projects in the works, including the animated feature Guardians of Luna, and a new album with his sister, Fivel, expected to drop later in 2012. Don’t be surprised if you also see a comic book with his name on it. BooBoo Stewart, apparently, is just getting started.
— Melody Lee
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Plugged In
STORY: Melody Lee
A mother-daughter duo, Fabienne and Ellie Wen, came together to write and produce the much buzzed about film, White Frog. The story centers around a teen with mild Asperger’s syndrome, played by BooBoo Stewart, living in the shadow of his “perfect” brother (Harry Shum, Jr.) who tragically dies in an accident. Directed by Quentin Lee, the film features an all-star Asian American cast, including Kelly Hu, B.D. Wong, Manish Dayal and Joan Chen. We got a chance to speak with the Wens about their project, due out in 2012.
Audrey Magazine: What got you started on this film?
Ellie Wen: There’s been a lot of progress in terms of Asian American roles in the media, but I wanted to do my part and create media roles that aren’t racially specific. Even though White Frog is centered on an AA family, it has nothing specific in it that’s stereotypical AA.
AM: Since it’s your first time collaborating, how has it been working together?
EW: I feel very fortunate working with my mom. She treats me as an equal and that makes the process easier.
Fabienne Wen: I honestly have to say I learned more from Ellie than she did from me. I grew with her while writing this.
AM: What was your inspiration behind the story?
FW: Some close friends of mine have died at a very young age, while still struggling with issues of identity and alienation. So I wanted to write about self-acceptance and connection, about finding our own catcher in the rye.
EW: I was involved with this writing program that worked with Hispanic immigrants. There was a lot of heavy stuff that they wrote. There was an 8-year-old who had to serve her landlord because her parents didn’t have enough money. The kids dealt with a lot of hardships, but they emerge from it.
AM: What message do you hope to send through this film?
EW: Tolerance. Encouraging people to be more accepting of each other and to embrace diversity.
FW: Like Margaret Cho said, “I am the one that I want.” The number one thing is loving yourself.
Details WhiteFrogthemovie.com.
— Melody Lee
Sarah Yeung had it all — education, career … and an obsessive need to control her weight. After more than a dozen years of battling an eating disorder, she shares how she went from denial to recovery.
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: My Story
STORY: Sarah Yeung
296.3 Major Depressive Disorder (Recurrent). 300.3 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. 300.4 Dysthymic Disorder. 307.1 Anorexia Nervosa. 300.02 Generalized Anxiety Disorder. 307.5 Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. — Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM IV).
Age 27. I spent much of my first-ever therapy sessions “instructing” the therapist what she may or may not write on my chart, “proving” that I may have “some issues” but definitely not clinically diagnosed diseases. “Do not put me down as anorexic or depressed. I am not. I know the criteria in DSM IV and I do not meet them. I’m a little confused, a little sad, and I don’t want to be fat — but that’s normal. I am not crazy. What are you putting on my chart? I don’t want anything on my record!” My primary concern was not getting better — of course, if you are not sick in the first place, you don’t have anything to get better from.
My eating disorder symptoms started when I was 14, a year after my family moved from Hong Kong to the U.S. As an eager-to-please child living with high expectations, I took perfectionism to the extreme. I felt like I had to be good — preferably the best — at whatever I did. The message I internalized was, “Be the best! Must not fail!”
I remember always having a huge fear of going crazy and of being fat. Growing up, I only knew one person with a mental illness. One of my aunts had some sort of schizoid disease. The family didn’t talk about it. By the time I was born, my aunt had been medicated for years and I never experienced her hallucinations and delusions firsthand. But I knew “something was wrong” with her. She was “weird” and was obese. She was many other things, but those two stood out for me.
I don’t know how much my fears were related to my aunt; the media and our culture certainly didn’t help. I irrationally believed that if I went crazy, I’d be fat, too, so if I didn’t get fat, then I can’t be crazy. Either way, my conclusion was that I definitely did not want to be crazy or fat. My aunt was yelled at, shamed, ignored, made fun of and pitied, all of which, even as a young child, I knew I didn’t want to experience. I don’t know when, but I think I subconsciously determined early on that I would never allow myself to be crazy or fat. That just wouldn’t happen — not to me — as if those were things I could actually control.
It was a very difficult transition to American middle school. I felt lost, lonely and out of control. In addition to the usual teenage turmoil, everything I knew became ambiguous as my two cultures clashed. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, how I felt, and ultimately who I was. I was having an identity crisis. I didn’t belong. I didn’t fit in. I spoke with an accent. I looked different. The wish to be happier, more popular, more in-control morphed into a relentless focus to be better and thinner. My belief that I could handle it myself, while trying to cope with confusing and painful emotions, ignited a destructive war within me.
The frequency and severity of my eating disorder behaviors fluctuated throughout the next 14 years. It would subside for month or years, and then peak again, particularly during transitions. For a long time, I got by under the radar. Undiagnosed. Untreated. Unlabeled. The worse the eating disorder got, the more strongly I tried to evade detection and treatment — not a surprise since denial is a prominent feature of eating disorders, making the disease even more lethal.
It is scary how easy it is for people, even those close to you, not to realize something is very wrong when you “look normal” and “are doing well.” After all, how bad can things be for a 27-year-old with two Ivy League degrees, a nice condo, a fancy car, a promising career, and a seemingly good relationship? Aren’t people with serious mental illnesses unemployed and living on the street? She has it all — she is just stressed. While some people were dying to be me, I was dying — literally. And, dangerously, I didn’t mind.
Some say you need to hit rock bottom before you are forced to change — I supposed that is true in my case. The bot- tom led to a four-and-a-half month inpatient treatment at the Renfrew Center, where my journey of recovery began.
Recovery is such a strange process; it’s not intuitive, especially when I was fighting against myself. The “getting better” part just couldn’t happen when I refused to accept that there was something to get better from. At first, I fought the diagnoses and was ambivalent about recovery. In my mind, those labels described “really crazy people” who obviously were not me. I wanted to be far, far away from the stigma and judgment I associated with having a mental illness. I wasn’t sick. Besides, nobody around me had mental diseases. Nobody talked about it and everyone seems normal. What would people think? Will I still get promoted at work? Who is ever going to date me? Will my parents think I’m a failure? I was terrified that if labels were written next to my name, the diseases would become me.
Letting go and being willing to be diagnosed and treated freed me from the fear of being labeled. Learning to accept who I genuinely was, the good and bad, was critical in letting me just be. I never found out what exactly was written on my charts. Gradually, the details didn’t matter. I learned to treat them as just words and categories — like numbers on a scale. They do not define me.
With nearly five years in recovery, I now have a life I enjoy. And I enjoy living, despite and along with the long list of mental diseases I had or have. It’s not easy. I sometimes wish I didn’t have to deal with them or that there would be a “quick fix.” But I have learned to accept and continue to get the treatment I need to maintain my health. I have learned to love my body, accept and integrate the diverse pieces of my life, and continue to discover and value my worth.
I have learned that I am not alone and there is a supportive community available to help. Now, it is important for me to help raise awareness about and increase access to treatment for eating disorders and mental illness. I want to help fight the secrecy, shame and stigma that perpetuate myths and deter people, including me, from getting help. I have learned that recovery and living well with mental illness is possible. And I have learned that, even when it may not seem like it, there is always hope
BLOG SPOTLIGHT: CAKIES
Get to know blogger Rubyellen of Cakies.
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Cultural Collage
STORY: Janice Jann
Even my [husband] Ben is creative and surprised us with a PappyCakes breakfast, where we all made silly pancakes together.
About the Blog
A place where I record how I enjoy God through loving my family, vintage pretties, making things, and the dailies of our life.
Global Readership
I love getting emails from readers and have had a few from Australia, Europe, different parts of the UK, and even South America sent me a hello! It is amazing how the blog world really brings people together from all over the place.
Digital Photo Album
What started just as a craft blog has now also become a record of our family adventures and growth. I have not made any official photo albums yet, but I see my blog as just that.
Best Part of Blogging
The friends I made through blogging. Some of my closest friends are now bloggers!
Visit her at mycakies.blogspot.com.
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Mind & Body
STORY: Shirley Lau
Eyes are something we don’t think much about, but according to optometrist Arti Shah, OD, FAAO, we should be getting our eyes checked once a year. Since January is National Eye Care Month, I finally got my eyes checked out by Dr. Shah and she outfitted me with 1-Day Acuvue Moist, a vast improvement from my old-school one-a-day lenses. She also recommended some simple steps to keep my eyes healthy:
- Give your eyes a computer break. Focus on something further away for a few minutes, a few times a day.
- Try moisturizing eye drops several times a day if you wear contacts to minimize friction.
- Eat eye healthy — fruits and vegetables with vitamins A and C, like carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and broccoli.
- Remove all your eye makeup at the end of the day.
Details ElanderEyecare.com.
Our super-edited gift guide.
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Entertaining
STORY: Anna M. Park
For the Trendsetter
1. You’re not just purchasing a scarf; you’re supporting empowerment. Based in India, Saivana sponsors a female child of every full-time employee in their primary school education, last year sponsoring 175 children.
2. Can’t afford Peter Som? Get his classic fall 2011 print in a clutch with his limited edition travel kit for Clark’s Botanicals.
3. Just like their shoes, Toms Eyewear continues the One for One model, with each purchase helping a person in need regain sight through the Seva Foundation (initially focusing on Nepal, Tibet and Cambodia).
For the Hostess
1. Bring the outdoors in with a home fragrance reminiscent of an evergreen forest. Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Grove Home Fragrance Reed Diffuser.
2. Lucite in home décor is hot right now. Personalize this lucite tray with your favorite artwork or a memorable photo. Erin Condren lucite tray.
Why gift another trinket or gadget, when you can gift life. Global relief organization World Vision offers you the opportunity to bring clean water to a village, protect children from malaria with mosquito nets, or stock a school with books and equipment, for as little as $18. My favorite is the microloan to a young mother so she can start a business that will feed, clothe and educate her children. Once the loans are repaid, the funds are used for new loans to others, recycling your gift for many more for years to come. Details Worldvisiongifts.org.
For the Techie
iPad’ers are a hardcore bunch. They’ll love you for these accessories, especially the touch screen compatible gloves. From left: NuGuard GripStand 2/GripBase bundle, Toddy Smart Cloth, Hercules XPS Diamond 2.0 USB speakers, Tokidoki for Hello Kitty iPad case, Grandoe Sensor Touch gloves.
Who knew John Cho, a pastor’s son, would break barriers playing a stoner?
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Personalities
STORY: Janice Jann
What did happen was Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, released in 2004, went on to commercial success and launched Cho’s and costar Indian American Kal Penn’s careers to leading men status. “I was just happy somebody found it,” says Cho of the film, which centers on two lovable stoner buddies. “I found it was too unique a take and too ‘warm’ a movie for anyone not to like it.”
The third film is even “warmer.” “We think it’s our strongest movie,” says Cho. “The movies — as raunchy as they are — have a very sweet side to them. The humor is not malicious or crass or creepy.”
It’s the sweetness of the films that have made Cho’s father, a former minister, comfortable enough to accept. “Both my parents are also cognizant of how much ground this film has broken, how unusual it is we’re headlining a movie in the U.S. They’re definitely proud of that aspect,” says Cho. “Recently, I took my dad to the White House for a state dinner. We met [South Korean] President Lee and President Obama in one night. This movie is part of how we got there. So if you’re my dad, you can’t hate on the movie.”
Cho understands that there are some haters who say that he and Penn are poorly representing Asians in the media. To them, he says, “There was a time I knew every Asian in [Hollywood]. But now they’re everywhere. It’s a great feeling ‘cause you don’t want just one person to change the industry — you want a plurality of representation. One movie shouldn’t have the onus of representing Asians. We want so many movies that no one can point to one and say, ‘that represents Asians.’ As artists, we shouldn’t have that weight on our backs.”
— Janice Jann
Celebrate the season with something hot and spicy.
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Entertaining
STORY: Anna M. Park
Hot Caramel Buttered Rum
3 oz Ron Abuelo Añejo
1 oz Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka 1/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Cinnamon stick
Spiced Pear Martini
2 oz Exclusiv Vodka
1 oz Bailey’s
1/2 oz pear puree
1/4 oz cinnamon schnapps Dash of honey
Shake and pour in a martini glass with a sugar/cinnamon rim.
— AMP
ISSUE: Winter 2011-12
DEPT: Mind & Body
STORY: Shirley Lau
Of course we know the basics: brush twice a day, floss once a day, and visit your dentist twice a year. Dental and oral care expert, Dr. Pankaj Singh, adds that we should also maintain a mouth-healthy diet, which means foods high in whole grains, vegetables and fruits, and dairy products. Here are a few more things Dr. Singh recommends you incorporate into your everyday routine to keep your teeth healthy and white (and your breath fresh!).
- If you can’t brush after a meal, rinse your mouth and chew sugarless gum. There is usually some form of sugar in every meal, and the damage caused is related to the time sugar is present in the mouth. Chewing sugar-free gum helps stimulate the formation of saliva, which accelerates the neutralization of acid.
- If you must consume beverages that stain your teeth, such as coffee, tea, carbonated drinks and red wine, use a straw to limit contact with your teeth. Rinse your mouth immediately after to avoid staining and tooth decay.
- Use a whitening toothpaste once a week to remove surface stains and prevent yellowing. Use a regular toothpaste the rest of the time. And clean your tongue every time you brush, stroking in a back-to-front direction.
- If you’re trying to conceive, schedule a dental checkup before you start. Hormonal changes, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy, can make your gums swollen and puffy. Your dentist can remove any plaque you’ve built up so your gums will be less likely to act up. Also, try to brush after episodes of morning sickness to get rid of the acid in your mouth. Otherwise, it may harm tooth enamel.
- Taking any oral contraceptives may make you susceptible to the same oral health conditions that affect pregnant women. As the hormones in oral contraceptives increase the levels of progesterone, any local irritants (food, plaque, etc.) may cause gums to turn red, bleed and swell.
- For Asian American women, evolutionary changes in our phenotype have created a predisposition to narrowing of our jaws, which results in crowding of the dental arches, disruptions in tooth eruption and impacted wisdom teeth. An increased incidence of dental crowding, if left untreated, increases our risk for gum disease.
