DEPT: The Good Life
AUTHOR: Joann Park
ISSUE: Spring 2013
“In London, “Asians” are associated with South Asians (as opposed to East Asians or Pacific Islanders, who may be referred to as “oriental” instead). It’s no surprise, since the city’s thriving South Asian communities make up 13 percent of the city’s population. With a strong Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani presence, London is the place to experience the rich diversity of South Asian culture. Contributor Joann Park shares her favorite spots.”
DEPT: The Good Life
STORY: Pamela Saelieb
AUTHOR: Kanara Ty
PHOTOS: Pamela Saelieb
ISSUE: Spring 2013
“When one thinks of Myanmar (commonly known as Burma), revolutionary leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the Saffron Revolution immediately come to mind. However, there’s more to the Southeast Asian country than political discord: a culture rich in tradition and a population resilient by nature. And now with the tourism ban lifted and renewed relations between U.S. and Myanmar, Americans are more easily able to visit the once-closed off country. We got a firsthand account from Thai American Pamela Saelieb who recently visited Myanmar.”
Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (The Golden Rock)
“Myanmar is newly opened to tourism, so it was a fascinating experience. I traveled in a guided tour group with about 15 others, both men and women. We visited the south of Myanmar, near Yangon (formerly Rangoon) and Bago, so I didn’t see the more tourist-saturated Mandalay or Inle Lake.
Overall, Myanmar feels like a city that is still relatively untouched, but full of emerging contrasts. There are elements that are still traditional: Most men, even government officials and business people, wear sarongs; farmland and crops full of skinny oxen go on for miles; women and girls wear thanakha on their faces, a paste made from ground bark that’s used as a daily sunscreen
and skin treatment. But also, incredibly modern features are everywhere pointing to increasing globalization and exposure to outside influence — large, new resorts commissioned by the Vietnamese currently under construction; graffiti and street art; Wi-Fi; Obama T-shirts. It felt like seeing a country that is on the verge, coming of age. So in many ways, it’s probably like a lot of other Southeast Asian countries.”
DEPT: Features
AUTHOR: Susan Soon He Stanton
ISSUE: Spring 2013
“Recent high-profile cases of “yellow face” reveal the ugly truth about Asian American casting in theater.”
“From Mickey Rooney playing Japanese in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to Bruce Lee being passed over in favor of David Carradine for a TV series called Kung Fu, Asians have consistently been caricatured, denied the right even to play ourselves.” — David Henry Hwang
“If you’re tired of talking about race, please stand up,” asked a moderator at an East West Players public forum entitled “Why Not Asian? Why Asian?” last October. The panel was assembled by the nation’s longest running professional theater of color to discuss race politics in light of recent casting controversies in the theater community. Many people would like to believe we live in a post-racial, level-playing-field 21st century. Yet despite significant strides made by African Americans and other minority groups, Asian Americans still struggle to be fairly represented in American media.
DEPT: The Market
AUTHOR: Ada Tseng
ISSUE: Spring 2013
ILLUSTRATION: Craig Stubing
“What happens when a bride-to-be decides to do her own variation of the “bachelorette scavenger hunt” and challenges her friends to collect as many boxers as they can from strangers in Vegas? A social experiment is born, one that sheds light on male-female dynamics in bar environments.”
“Friends get surprisingly angry when you say you don’t want a bachelorette party. Having a last hurrah with my girlfriends sounded fun, but I was uninterested in wearing a tiara in public, flirting with male strippers, drinking to the point of vomiting, and collecting penis paraphernalia. However, when my friends promised I could do whatever I wanted, I went home with the challenge of planning a Vegas bachelorette party, despite having never attended one myself.”
DEPT: The Market
AUTHOR: O.D.D. Girl (Online Dating Diary Girl)
ISSUE: Spring 2013
“Six months after she began her online dating adventures, O.D.D. girl comes to terms with an age-old lesson: being honest with yourself.”
“From time to time, I’ll get passed along articles related to online dating — most of which summarize how technology ruins romance — but none have really hit home. But there was this article that one of my closest girlfriends sent me (“A Million First Dates,” which ran in The Atlantic this past January), that made me freeze in my tracks and take a hard look at myself and my dating patterns. While I didn’t agree with everything in the article, one point I took away was this: Because of online dating, we’ve all become commitment-phobes. We never allow ourselves time to mourn the end of a relationship properly. Instead, we just move on to the next person because there’s “plenty of fish” out there, especially in the online world.
I’m absolutely guilty of that.
DEPT: Pop-arazzi
AUTHOR: Olivia Ouyang
ISSUE: Spring 2013
PHOTO: Courtesy of Monika Chiang
“The fashion designer brings a global sensibility to clothes for the modern woman”
“Monika Chiang always wanted to be a fashion designer. Now, with a successful third collection and partnerships with Shopbop and Intermix, the Chinese American is making her childhood dream a reality.”
DEPT: Pop-arrazi
AUTHOR: Kanara Ty
ISSUE: Spring 2013
“Marie Lu is at her best in Prodigy, the sequel to her New York Times bestseller Legend, giving us the most exciting follow-up to a debut novel the young adult genre has seen in a long time.”
DEPT: Pop-arazzi
AUTHOR: Kanara Ty
ISSUE: Spring 2013
“The NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of the highly popular teen dystopian novel LEGEND and the sequel PRODIGY sits down with us to talk about who she thinks would make a great day and June in the film version, her next book in the series, due out in 2014, and the importance of (hot) asian american male leads in literature.”
LITTLE OSAKA
Story Kanara Ty
Illustration Inki Cho
Issue Spring 2013
From a cultural sanctuary for just-released internees, to a local college stomping ground, one street in Los Angeles, Sawtelle Boulevard, has transformed into one of the chicest and hippest Asian culinary neighborhoods.
DEPT: Pop-arazzi
AUTHOR: Ethel Navales
ISSUE: Spring 2013
“Meet Kimora Lee Simmons’ Fab Right Hand Man”
“The King of Fab,” “Mister Fabulosity,” and “The King of Accessories” are just a few of the many nicknames that Johnny Anastacio has earned as senior graphic designer at JustFab.com. And that was before they began shooting the new reality show Kimora: House of Fab, which follows JustFab creative director Kimora Lee Simmons as she runs the online personalized shopping service. We talk fashion, race and role models with the The King of Fab.
