With Valentine’s Day behind us and March on it’s way, we can’t help but ask- Are you celebrating White Day on March 14th? Most of us know what Valentine’s Day is, but there are much less people who celebrate the correlating holiday that happens a month later.

White day is a holiday most often linked to Japan (though it is also celebrated in South Korea, Taiwan, and China).  In Japan, Valentine’s day is one in which women typically give men gifts of chocolate. There is “giri choco” given to male friends and “honmei choco” which is higher quality chocolate given to someone the woman has romantic feelings for. A month later, on White Day, the male responds to whomever has given him a gift. He may give her white chocolate to represent friendship, chocolate candy to say “I like you”, or chocolate cookies to say “I love you”. Of course strong feelings may also bring a man to give a response of jewelry and other more fancy gifts.

White Day was first celebrated in Japan in the 1970′s as an “answer day” because they believed men should repay the women who gave them gifts. The holiday ended up spreading throughout Asia, but had some variations. In South Korea, this is a holiday celebrated primarily by couples only and in China the holiday’s are flipped- men give the first gift and women respond a month later.

Didn’t get your chocolate fill during Valentine’s Day? Now you have an excuse for more!

Chocolates, hearts, roses, and love in the air- yup, it definitely feels like Valentine’s Day. Although we’re accustomed to a number of Valentine’s Day traditions, we may not know where a lot of these traditions come from. In fact, many of us don’t even know the actual origin of Valentine’s Day itself. In honor of this holiday, we plan to explore everything from chocolate covered strawberries to cupid.

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Our boys are back and just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Pilipino-American actor, voice actor, poet, and dancer Dante Basco is more commonly known for his role as Zuko in the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender and Rufio in the live-action Peter Pan film- Hook. More recently, Basco has produced and starred in Hang Loose. 

Kevin Wu and Dante Basco star in HANG LOOSE

Directed by Ryan Kawamoto, Hang Loose includes a number of known names in the Asian Community including Kevin Wu and Justin Chon. Kinetic Film’s claims, “Our goal is to pioneer an Asian American cultural movement to change the way Asian Americans are portrayed and perceived in film. We want to start a movement that focuses on the topic of Asian American social and cultural change.”

I’m a LA native and former follower of the original 90210 show who had never explored Beverly Hills beyond Rodeo Drive until Six Taste’s memorable media preview of the limited edition Valentine’s food tour with fab bloggers like e*star LA, Backyard Bite, and The Dating Advice Girl. Our lovely tour guide, Celeste, took us on a culinary stroll, mainly along Canon Drive’s restaurant row, to six indulgent stops for delicious cheese, wine, spicy hot chocolate, oxtail, house-made spaghetti, truffle popcorn, lamb ribs, handmade chocolate, meet and greets with the chefs, private kitchen tours, and more. The Six Taste experts are not kidding when they tell you to come hungry; everyone was stuffed by the end, and we still had the rest of the gorgeous day ahead. What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day next year with old and new friends or a sweetie?

Here’s a recap of the fun and food and a preview of what Six Taste offers!

The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, one of the oldest cheese stores in the US that opened in 1967, offers gourmet items like Turkish olive oil, caviar, and over 600 cheeses from around the world, including Australia and Canada. Owner Norbert Wabnig engaged us with his humor and cheese knowledge while serving fig cake with Bavarian double crème bleu cheese, white truffle honey and Parmesan, and a variety of goat, cow, and sheep’s milk cheeses.

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All right, I’ll be the first to admit it. Shopping for us picky Asian girls is no easy feat. Not only do you have to keep up with the Chongs, you may feel that you also have to able to read our minds to please us.

When it comes to pleasing an Asian girl, Valentine’s Day is definitely the time to do it, so listen up to these Valentine gift ideas:
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Each holiday comes with it’s own quirks and quarrels. Thanksgiving you eat turkey, but the stress of hanging out with your crazy relatives might just make you throw it all up. Christmas is presents presents presents, but your sister might hate you forever because you skimped on her gift this year because you were broke. New Year’s is fun, but what if you’d rather stay home alone and chill instead of partying it up? And of course, there’s Valentine’s Day..

Not only is there the built-in stress that comes with each holiday, but there is the added pressure to make this day extra romantic and special.. for no particular reason really. It’s what we learned in kindergarten, it’s what we do as adults, and Hallmark, CVS, See’s Candy, Godiva, and Papyrus are all very happy to support our endeavors to make every February 14th special and romantic. Continue Reading »

Beyonce said, "All the single LADIES," okay?

I don’t dread Valentine’s Day because it’s the only reason keeping Hallmark in business.

I don’t dread it because it’s another excuse for couples to parade their PDA around.

I don’t dread it because much like New Year’s Eve, this over-hyped holiday is downright boring. Spent either waiting in line for hours for a 9 o’ clock dinner reservation at an overpriced restaurant deemed “romantic” because they’ve dimmed the lights so low you can’t even see what you’re eating or exchanging the same ol’ gifts of chocolate, flowers and baubles. *Yawn.

And I am definitely not dreading it because I will be single on Valentine’s Day this year.

In fact, this is actually the first year where I cherish being single. I’ll admit, in the past, I’ve wanted to shake being single off me like it’s an angry bee but this year, I’ve learned to embrace the freedom that flying solo will entail.

Hence, I’ve concocted a bunch of great stuff for us single gals to do as we celebrate Singles Awareness Day or rather, Galentines!

Watch Obscure Foreign Films

Boys never seem to be good checking out truly great cinema- they always fall asleep or groan about it or what to make out with you through it. I’d check out these sexy South Korean films: Poetry by Lee Chang-dong or  The Housemaid by Im Sang-soo by myself.

Journal

If you think about it, the person you will have the longest relationship with is…yourself. Why not make time for some self-reflection, journaling goals, ways to improve, memories?

Volunteer

Spend the season of love giving love to those who might not necessarily receive a lot. Volunteer at an elderly home, homeless shelter, non-profit organization. Do it by yourself because when you’re doing it alone, you’re not trying to impress anyone or prove how holy you are. You’re just doing it out of the goodness of your heart.

Bake

It’s time to bust out the pans and oven mitts and whip up some delicious sweets. You won’t have to worry about any sneaky muffin thieves who’ll creep into you kitchen while you’re not looking.  I’d bake for ALL my loved ones, my mom, dad, sister and friends. Check out Sarah J. Gim’s mouthwatering site Tastespotting for more recipe ideas.

Work Out

I hate jogging with other people, no offense. I either run too slow and have to overwork my body to catch up (or let down my ego and beg them to slow down) or run slower as I wait for my lagging partner. Jogging by myself gives me time to think and meditate.

Throw a Game Night

Nothing says the more the merrier like game night where people of all types, singles and non-singles, are invited to show off their board game prowess.  Just don’t be lame and make it a couples’ night or anything. My favorite games to dominate at–err, I mean, play–include Cranium and Taboo.

Day spas, tea parties, salsa dancing, there’s plenty of ways to celebrate your singledom.  Most of us will only be single for a limited time in our lives. Make the most of it!

It’s no secret that women are suckers for a good compliment. Sway us with your words and we swoon.

That’s why this adorable video had us all aflutter. Created by Becky’s Fund in conjunction with the Jubilee Project, the video is a tribute to the spirit of Valentine’s Day, honoring all women and their natural beauty-both inside and out. Survivor winner Yul Kwon’s, “You’re most beautiful when you wake up in the morning– especially when you have your mouthguard on.” made us giggle while the last compliment paid in the video just left us sighing. With a sweet Kina Grannis crooning “Valentine” in the background, this video definitely tugged on our heartstrings with the tender message ringing genuine and true.

We’re certainly not ashamed to admit we watched this video more than once – mainly because it’s for a good cause when we do! For each viewing, a donation is made to Becky’s Fund, a non-profit org. based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to domestic and dating violence awareness and prevention. They believe in implementing innovative and sustainable ways to educate people, focusing on pre-teens and college students, on dating violence, and the domestic violence cycle.

For more information about Becky’s Fund, please visit www.beckysfund.org.