#American trying VIETNAMESE FOOD for the first time!!

[mydarlinginej]

read my full review of a banh mi for two by trinity nguyen here.

In this sweet sapphic romance about two foodies in love, Vivi meets Lan while studying abroad in Vietnam and they spend the semester unraveling their families’ histories—and eating all the street food in Sài Gòn.

In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father but has stopped updating since his passing.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She’s determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she’s seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two.

When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother’s story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.

my review:

I’ve been mutuals with Trinity for years, and I’m so happy to be able to review her debut! I’ve been so excited to read this book for YEARS; it seemed tailor-made to be one of my favorite things and it did not disappoint. Gorgeously written, A Bánh Mì for Two is a sweet love story about two girls falling in love as they (re)discover the magic of Sài Gòn.

Lan has been working herself ragged caring for her mother and running their bánh mì stall in the bustling streets of Sài Gòn. Whenever she manages some free time for herself, she writes on her blog A Bánh Mì for Two although she hasn’t been feeling very inspired to write lately. Meanwhile, inspired by her favorite blog, Vivi has come to Sài Gòn on a study abroad trip, which would be against her mother’s wishes if she knew Vivi was there. She’s determined to find her mother’s family and learn the history that her mother won’t tell her. When she meets Lan and realizes she’s her favorite blogger, they agree to help each other, slowly growing closer.

A Bánh Mì for Two was such a gorgeously written story; I’m so excited to read more from this author! Both Lan and Vivi have their own respective character arcs that we follow, and I really liked both of their points-of-view. Lan has become a bit dispirited with her life with so many worries. When Vivi comes into her life, she learns to fall in love with her city again, as Vivi herself is discovering the magic of Sài Gòn for the first time.

read my full review here.

[justforbooks]

Daniel Ellsberg, a US government analyst who became one of the most famous whistleblowers in world politics when he leaked the Pentagon Papers, exposing US government knowledge of the futility of the Vietnam war, has died. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his family on Friday.

In March, Ellsberg announced that he had inoperable pancreatic cancer. Saying he had been given three to six months to live, he said he had chosen not to undergo chemotherapy and had been assured of hospice care.

“I am not in any physical pain,” he wrote, adding: “My cardiologist has given me license to abandon my salt-free diet of the last six years. This has improved my life dramatically: the pleasure of eating my favourite foods!”

On Friday, the family said Ellsberg “was not in pain” when he died. He spent his final months eating “hot chocolate, croissants, cake, poppy-seed bagels and lox” and enjoying “several viewings of his all-time favourite [movie], Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, the family statement added.

“In his final days, surrounded by so much love from so many people, Daniel joked, ‘If I had known dying would be like this, I would have done it sooner …’

“Thank you, everyone, for your outpouring of love, appreciation and well-wishes. It all warmed his heart at the end of his life.”

Tributes were swift and many.

Alan Rusbridger, the former editor-in-chief of the Guardian, said Ellsberg “was widely, and rightly, acclaimed as a great and significant figure. But not by Richard Nixon, who wanted him locked up. He’s why the national interest should never be confused with the interest of whoever’s in power.”

The Pulitzer-winning journalist Wesley Lowery wrote: “It was an honor knowing Daniel … I’ll remain inspired by his commitment to a mission bigger than himself.”

The writer and political commentator Molly Jong-Fast said: “One of the few really brave people on this earth has left it.”

The MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan said: “Huge loss for this country. An inspiring, brave, and patriotic American. Rest in power, Dan, rest in power.”

The Pentagon Papers covered US policy in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967 and showed that successive administrations were aware the US could not win.

By the end of the war in 1975, more than 58,000 Americans were dead and 304,000 were wounded. Nearly 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers were killed, as were about 1 million North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong guerillas and more than 2 million civilians in North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The Pentagon Papers caused a sensation in 1971, when they were published – first by the New York Times and then by the Washington Post and other papers – after the supreme court overruled the Nixon administration on whether publication threatened national security.

In 2017, the story was retold in The Post, an Oscar-nominated film directed by Steven Spielberg in which Ellsberg was played by the British actor Matthew Rhys.

Ellsberg served in the US Marine Corps in the 1950s but went to Vietnam in the mid-60s as a civilian analyst for the defense department, conducting a study of counter-insurgency tactics. When he leaked the Pentagon Papers, he was working for the Rand Corporation.

In 2021, a half-century after he blew the whistle, he told the Guardian: “By two years in Vietnam, I was reporting very strongly that there was no prospect of progress of any kind so the war should not be continued. And that came to be the majority view of the American people before the Pentagon Papers came out.

“By ’68 with the Tet offensive, by ’69, most Americans already thought it was immoral to continue but that had no effect on Nixon. He thought he was going to try to win it and they would be happy once he’d won it, however long it took.”

In 1973, Ellsberg was put on trial. Charges of espionage, conspiracy and stealing government property adding up to a possible 115-year sentence were dismissed due to gross governmental misconduct, including a break-in at the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, part of the gathering scandal which led to Nixon’s resignation in 1974.

Born in Chicago on 7 April 1931, Ellsberg was educated at Harvard and Cambridge, completing his PhD after serving as a marine. He was married twice and had two sons and a daughter.

After the end of the Vietnam war he became by his own description “a lecturer, scholar, writer and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful US interventions and the urgent need for patriotic whistleblowing”.

Ellsberg contributed to publications including the Guardian and published four books, among them an autobiography, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, and most recently The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.

In recent years, he publicly supported Chelsea Manning, the US soldier who leaked records of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, who published Manning’s leaks, and Edward Snowden, who leaked records concerning surveillance by the National Security Agency.

On Friday, the journalist Glenn Greenwald, one of the Guardian team which published the Snowden leaks in 2013, winning a Pulitzer prize, called Ellsberg “a true American hero” and “the most vocal defender” of Assange, Snowden, Manning and “others who followed in his brave footsteps”.

Steven Donziger, an attorney who represented Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest against the oil giant Chevron, a case that led to his own house arrest, said: “Today the world lost a singularly brave voice who spoke truth about the US military machine in Vietnam and risked his life in the process. I drew deep inspiration from the courage of Daniel Ellsberg and was deeply honored to have his support.”

In 2018, in a joint Guardian interview with Snowden, Ellsberg paid tribute to those who refused to be drafted to fight in Vietnam.

“I would not have thought of doing what I did,” he said, “which I knew would risk prison for life, without the public example of young Americans going to prison to make a strong statement that the Vietnam war was wrong and they would not participate, even at the cost of their own freedom.

“Without them, there would have been no Pentagon Papers. Courage is contagious.”

Three years later, in an interview to mark 50 years since the publication of the Pentagon Papers, he said he “never regretted for a moment” his decision to leak.

His one regret, he said, was “that I didn’t release those documents much earlier when I think they would have been much more effective.

“I’ve often said to whistleblowers, ‘Don’t do what I did, don’t wait years till the bombs are falling and people have been dying.’”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[eleemosynecdoche]

Nah. ASOIAF is just reveling in the brutality of the imagined past. You can look at the Dothraki, or the way that child molestation and violent rape are more socially condoned than they were in high medieval Western Europe, to see that. It's all of a piece. Apologists talk about how this is because of the Romantic overtones- lower lows to get higher highs. That doesn't really scan for me, but regardless, it's not really about accurately depicting retinue-of-retinue armies.

And one way you can tell this is the case is looking at who does engage in looting, foraging, and pillaging. It's sadistic monsters like Amory Loach, Gregor Clegane, and the Bloody Mummers (the latter two conspicuously dehumanized) who engage in this raiding, with some truisms about "war is hell" to assure us the Starks have done the same. Robb Stark the Young Wolf never gives orders to go and rob peasants of their food, we never get any kind of close-up on the results of his jolly heroic raid into Lannister lands, and the Night's Watch aims for a series of good stand-up fights to defeat Mance's army in detail, rather than attacking their stomach in this precarious northern land.

In other words, the depredations of armies in ASOIAF are done by inhuman villains or faceless nobodies. It's very much a post-Vietnam series of books, but one of the ways in which it is that is that it acknowledges the horrors of the Vietnam War while trying to deflect responsibility for or involvement with them. My Lai was the product of William Calley and his platoon, rather than an exceptionally bad instance of what American troops did to Vietnamese civilians many times, driven by a complex assembly of policies including Taylorizing warfare, making bodycount a KPI, fostering alienation from the Vietnamese general population, etc. etc. And which were done by otherwise ordinary people.

I want to contrast this with Glen Cook's Black Company novels, especially the first three. In the first book, there's an episode where the titular group have defeated several enemy military units, one of which is all women, and the narrator/POV character stops to have a metatextual comment that yes, he's aware he's censored out the morally hideous things this mercenary group does, such as raping adult women, and that he can only offer pitiful excuses for doing so, because he feels a need to defend his fellow soldiers. And that one of the other characters has threatened to take the book away and write the "real story".

And then there are other episodes, which make it clear that these characters do have lines that they won't cross, and that women are quite capable of sexually victimizing other women. We even get a recurring minor character attempting to sexually harass a major character in disguise, and after she beats him up, he's then chewed out by his superior. He has not been presented as a slavering creep before this point.

And at the same time, at this point the characters are all in the service of a teenage/early 20s disabled woman, and no indication is made that they see her as a potential target for sexual violence, because she's seen as one of them.

Cook understands sexual violence as driven by structural factors and the desire to express dominance most of all, and as something which is done not just by slavering monsters (which there are quite a few of in these books) but also by ordinary human beings with interiority and charm and the qualities of being a decent person otherwise. These are not, I would say, works of explicit feminist fantasy, but they have a feminist outlook in their worldview that's somehow aged well through the intervening decades, though we understand YesAllMen's problems now. And this feminist outlook is transmitted in part through thinking through, "How could good American boys who played baseball and had teenage sweethearts and listened to Howlin' Wolf on the radio late at night and noodled around with a guitar go over to Vietnam and do all those horrible things?"

Black Company is in its own way more traditional high fantasy fiction- it has evil sorcerers and sorceresses, reincarnated heroines, cosmological signifiers of heroic deeds- than ASOIAF. Where it does things more interestingly is not in "subverting the tropes" or whatever, but in using fantasy as a vehicle to think about these concepts.

[nat-reviews-books]

Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Dan is a retired helicopter pilot and captain from the US army, going back to Vietnam for the first time in 2016. Trang is a young woman who becomes a "bar girl" during the war. Phong is a man looking for his parents, a Vietnamese woman and a black American soldier.

This was a difficult read in places, but the story was beautiful. The author wrote each character with grace, allowing them to have faults and flaws, but not allowing those to make anyone unforgivable. I loved how the stories between the three characters and two timelines wove together.

Although there were difficult things, this book highlighted the things that make me want to go back to Vietnam. The friendly people, the beautiful landscapes, and the amazing food.

I thought the author did a great job covering a difficult topic, and her work in reuniting American servicemen with their Amerasian children is highlighted throughout the book, in her kindness toward each of the characters.

I felt a bit unresolved in this book, mainly because I wanted to stay with these characters longer. There was one loose end we were left with, but it was a realistic loose end that I am ok with, even though I really wanted it tied up too (trying not to give spoilers here).

Recommended for: people who want to learn more about Vietnam, someone looking for a book that will break your heart and mend it back together, and anyone looking for a book about the effects of the Vietnam War by someone from Vietnam.

Content Warnings: alcoholism, prostitution, rape, war

[inboundremblog]

Savor the Flavors of Mountain View, CA, Restaurants You Can't Miss!

Credit: Image by ELEVATE | Pexels

Experience Authentic Cuisine from Around the World with Mountain View, CA Restaurants

Mountain View, situated in the central hub of the iconic Silicon Valley in California, is known to enjoy the modern side of living and its diverse culture. Establishing a rich culinary landscape that celebrates the diversity of Mountain View CA restaurants will give residents and tourists plenty of dining options to satisfy their hunger and indulge in a wide array of dishes they crave!

The increasing diversity of hip joints, simple grills, and sophisticated places in the capital is a clear example of the increased number of restaurant services. Let’s discuss this more in the succeeding sections.

Where To Go in Mountain View, CA

Like many other states in the United States, Mountain View, California, has various restaurants that serve food from all over the world.

Cascal Restaurant specializes in Spanish and Latin American food, including some culinary specialties that should not be missed, such as seafood paella or empanadas.

Alexander’s Patisserie lures with delicious French-inspired baked goods, including macaroons and croissants.

Oren’s Hummus Shop offers Middle Eastern cuisine, including sabich, falafel, hummus, and other tasty options.

For pizzas, Doppio Zero brings pizza in Neapolitan style with the use of Italian ingredients in preparing the pizzas.

The trendy Xanh Restaurant serves Vietnamese food with a touch of elegance, while The Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant offers traditional American cuisine and beer.

Hangen Szechuan Restaurant is known for its spicy food, including Kung Pao Chicken and Mapo Tofu. At Amber India Restaurant, you can savor Indian food options such as Butter Chicken and Lamb Biryani.

Residents of Mountain View and lovers of good food, in particular, may continue gorging themselves in an unending list of restaurants and eateries in the city. Be it Spanish, French, Middle Eastern, or hot Szechuan taste, you will get an assuage of what you crave in this lively city.

A Foodie's Guide to Culinary Delights

Here are some suggested dos and don’ts to follow if you are a first-time visitor to Mountain View or a local who wants to discover new restaurants.

Explore Castro Street Regarding dining, Castro Street is considered in the center of Mountain View. Bordering on restaurants, cafes, and eating joints, this business street has much to choose from.

Go out for a walk and spend some time window-shopping and reading through the billboards of different restaurants to choose a place to try.

Try Global Cuisine Dining in Mountain View offers an added advantage since everyone will be privileged to taste the diverse global delicacies.

From ramen shops based on Japanese culture to curry houses with an Indian flavor, Mexican tacos, Italian pasta, etc., the city offers many cuisine types.

Do not be afraid of experimenting. Go for dishes that are entirely new to you—you never know what you will like!

Farm-to-Table Freshness Mountain View has fresh produce since it is situated in the middle of California’s agricultural land and can source most of its food from within the region all year round.

Due to the climatic conditions of this region, most of the restaurants here leverage fresh produce and have adopted the farm-to-table style of meal preparation that best characterizes the harvest season.

Choose the restaurants that work with local farmers to provide you with fresh and eco-friendly products.

Don't Forget Brunch Every day of the week is full of opportunities to eat in Mountain View, but the weekend is charming for brunches. Remember to do this early enough since several restaurants serving their brunches attract many customers.

Embrace Food Trucks Apart from typical restaurants, many mobile restaurants are commonly known as food trucks in Mountain View. These are mobile food outlets selling everything from great burgers to quality tacos and other foods on the move, making it convenient for those who want good food anytime.

Some food trucks might share their locations on social media accounts or announce special events.

Save Room for Dessert Each meal should be complete with a course of sweets, and the restaurant that bears the name of the city of Mountain View has some extra servings of desserts for you.

Indulge in sweet and yummy cakes, tempting ice cream, or creamy chocolates in any of the delicious shops in the city.

Consider Dietary Restrictions Whether you are a vegetarian or a vegan, have gluten intolerance, or have any other food issues, you won’t have any problems finding what to eat in Mountain View. You are free to request suggestions from your server or to make changes to any of the foods being served.

Make Reservations Many residents and repeat visitors consider Mountain View one of the best dining destinations, and some restaurants can reach total capacity on weekends.

It is better to make a table booking to increase the chances of getting a table at this or that place, especially if you are ordering more than four plates or table tending.

Support Local Breweries and Wineries In addition to food, Mountain View has a brewery and urban winery on its streets. If you ever find yourself in breweries, vineyards, or even restaurants where meals are accompanied by different beers and wines, do not hesitate to take the opportunity.

Ask the Locals Last but not least, do not hesitate to consult the locals for suggestions on where to go. Your hotel bellhop, the Uber driver, or even a stranger on the street may be able to recommend the best restaurants in Mountain View.

Ask the locals since they will most likely know of good spots and lesser-known restaurants you cannot find in guidebooks.

Conclusion

To sum it up, eating out in Mountain View, CA, is an incredible gastronomic experience that awaits you and your taste buds.

Stretching from exotic food from different parts of the world to freshly produced harvests from the local produce, it is a city that offers every type of food and drinks one may fancy.

By adopting these principles and remaining flexible when it comes to gastronomic delights, you will indeed have a great meal in this culinary heaven.

Visit https://tracyhomesales.com/mountain-view-ca-best-restaurants/ to find out more exciting information.

[westleywithatea]

Hi

I really should make a post of all my fandoms. And also introduce myself. I just jumped straight into Tumblr for the sake of getting my thoughts onto somewhere, and project my fandoms ramblings. Hi, I'm Westley, or Caffeine. I have bunch of different nicknames, depending on the social media and friend group. I'm not sharing my government name here.

I’m an adult. Age: 18+

Pronouns: All. I use she/they most of the time. but experimenting with the other pronouns.

I won't deny. I am a woman. But Am I cis? idk, i spend more time thinking about my fanfics and OCs than i do thinking about my gender. Asexual and American, Vietnamese-descent. Heritage speaker in Vietnamese. LGBTQIA+ friendly blog.

I sometimes draw. i sometimes write stories and poetry. my poetry are more likely to be original. they're free-form.

I like lots of things. I like rock music. I consider myself emo, punk, and baby metalhead. and maybe baby bat too?? (or i'm more mall goth as some people call it). I also like Eurovision and 70's disco. I don't like disco pop or whatever Dua Lipa's genre is.

I like horror. I will be macabre. If you are a minor, you are warned. If you don’t like horror or macabre or related, I will place warnings. If I forget a warning, tell me.

Now, I will try to list all my fandoms here as possible. I will forget some.

RoTG + GoC / Rise of the Guardians + Guardians of Childhood Hetalia QSMP Barbie animated movies (classics) Kuroko no Basuke Neil Gaiman Good Omens Doctor Who warriors cats beastars food fantasy

Thomas Sanders and his projects, including Sanders Sides Markiplier Jacksepticeye CrankGamePlays/ Ethan Nestor (tbh, i dont really watch his channel. just stuff that features him. ) Unus Annus JaidenAnimations and many other storytime animators Marvel DC Twisted Wonderland creepypasta marble hornets + slenderverse

Bands: Ice Nine Kills MCR Green Day First and Forever Hollywood Undead Chilling Revelation Tales We Tell Black Veil Brides Lost Zone Skillet

(I'm not placing lots of tags for this post. I don' t want to clog them.)

[ear-worthy]

YOLO Meets FOGO --The "Fear Of Going Outside" Podcast in Season Two

Not everybody is comfortable outdoors. I once went camping and had to watch a YouTube instructional video seven times to assemble the two tents we brought along. I have a friend who went camping to "rough it" and got lost only 500 yards from the campground parking lot where his Ford F-150 truck was parked.

So, it's not completely nuts to develop a podcast where the host is afraid of, well, the outside.

Believe it or not, there's a podcast for that. It's called Fear Of Going Outside. And it began its second season on February 13. 

Fear of Going Outside  (FOGO) is a nature show — by the most reluctant host ever. Most nature shows are hosted by reckless white men, but avid indoors womanIvy Le is an Asian mom with severe allergies. Last season, Ivy conquered camping. She’s back, braving the outdoors to go hunting - or die trying!

In this season, Ivy Lee shares her experience conquering hunting, from the preparation to learning how to find animals in the wild and how to break them down in the field. 

She seeks out the answers to questions “indoor people” ask: why are outdoor clothes so ugly? Who do you call if you break a leg in the wild? And does it smell bad when you skin an animal?

Ivy Le is a Vietnamese American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer based in Austin, Texas. Ivy was selected to be one of the 10 out of 18,000 applicants to go through Spotify’s first Sound Up podcast accelerator for women of color. She co-hosts the only queer comedy mic in Austin, is a producer for Austin Sketch Fest, and performs at comedy festivals all over the country. She speaks Spanish, German, Vietnamese, and English and is a mom of two kids. 

Fear Of Going Outside premiered in May 2021.  Through its ten episodes that ran till August 2021, listeners followed Ivy's journey from indoor cocoon expert to communing with nature in its most basic form. Listeners followed Ivy through therapy, training, a shaky introduction to bugs and plants, and her preparations to finally go camping.

So far in this second season, Ivy has learned about hunting for food and discovered that the 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt, was both a hunter and a conservationist. 

Then Ivy learned about archery and using a bow for hunting. In the episode, Ivy learns about draw weight and draw length with bows.

Ivy then gets fitted for a sleeping bag, and in the latest episode, she butchers an entire hog with chef hunter Jesse Griffiths. 

Check out the second season. It's a delightful mashup of a nature show, a fish out of water tale, the origins of indigenous people in America, and a close-up view of those who love hunting, fishing, camping and just being outside.

Fear of Going Outside is produced by Fearless Squirrel Productions. On the website of FOGO, the podcast communicates this important message to listeners: "Fear of Going Outside iscreated in a space that was and is still home to many Indigenous people. We are grateful for the opportunity to work in the community and on this territory."

Check out Fear of Going Outside for a new episode every Monday.

[khakilike]

“Let me get this straight: They have pickled [radishes], pickled carrots, and the only thing they didn’t pickle was the cucumber?” 🤣 Jerry B. Chillin is seriously my favorite new food YouTuber. I wish him and his channel all the luck in the world, because I love watching him discover new things. He’s awesome.

[creepykuroneko]

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Here are some books I highly recommend written Asian authors.

1. Stories for punjabi widows ( sorry for not saying the full name of the book I don't want Tumblr to hide this post for " inappropriate material") by Balli Kaur Jaswal. This is not a collection of short stories. This is a novel set in London that focuses on law school drop out Nikki who is trying to pay the bills well finding her place in life. On a whim she takes up a teaching job at her local Sikh Community Center. Before she knows what's going on her students have hijacked the class and turned it into a writing workshop for their favorite scandalous subject. Full of love, humor, drama, trauma, and secrets, Nikki starts to understand the women in her community better and starts to ask the harder questions she's been ignoring her whole life. This book was a joy to read. Be forewarned there is both humor and heartbreak. Trigger warning: arranged marriages, child brides, bride burning, domestic violence, harassment, threat of violence, physical violence.

2) NOT your Sidekick by CB Lee. I love love love this book! A young adult novel set in the futuristic world. You have queer main characters, a comedic villain, loving and supportive parents, fear of not being good enough, confronting the model minority myth, having to compete with the gold star older sibling, this book hits on some really good issues. Jess is in high school and is the most average person in her family. Being the only person in her family who does not have super powers she's trying hard to not let anyone see how upset she is when she accepts the fact that she's never going to be a superhero. Determine to make her college application look good, she signs up for an internship. After signing a non-disclosure agreement she finds out she'll be interning for the local c-list super villain. Things aren't exactly as they seem though, the more research Jess starts to do, and the more she starts to think about it, she's convinced that the government is up to something and the superheroes are involved. Well I'll admit this is the type of story that you can immediately figure out how it's going to end from the first chapter that doesn't mean that it's not enjoyable. Trigger warning: racism

3. We hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal. This fantasy novel was a delightful fairytale rich in Arabic lore. Zafira is a hunter who is just trying to keep the people in her Village alive as they have no means to grow food or hunt on their own thanks to a curse that has taken over her country. Enter Nasir, the prince of death. An assassin who has to do his father's evil bidding. When Zafira meets a witch who sends her on a magical quest that should help restore magic to the land, the sultan sends his son after Zafira to intercept her quest. Alliances, foes, magic, mystery, the book keeps you guessing who's going to betray who up to the end. Trigger warning: violence, death.

4. Build your house around my body by Violet Kupersmith. Written by a mixed-race Vietnamese American author, this book is about loss, wanting to be accepted, wanting to belong, wanting to fit in and find community, as well as the emptiness left by colonization. The book takes place over about seventy years. It jumps around time periods and focuses on several different characters. Nothing is told in a linear fashion so I know some readers have been confused by this. Basically we learn about Vietnamese American Winnie who has moved to Vietnam and wants so badly to fit in and find her home amongst Vietnamese Nationals but she just doesn't fit in with Vietnamese society. We also follow the childhood of three best friends who grew up in Vietnam and learned about their eventual dirft apart as they enter adulthood. There is an orphan boy who is living under the tyranny of French Catholics and we hear about how he got to watch the French be chase out by the Japanese. Then those Vietnamese children who were under French rule became oppressed by Japanese colonisation. Missing women, people looking to sell Vietnamese women as brides for foreigners all over the world, a ghost, plantations, build your house around my body feels like one big Vietnamese ghost story. Trigger warning: child abuse, violence towards women, murder, death, exploitation of people.

5. In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami. Kenji is an unlicensed translator and tour guide for tourist in Tokyo. One day Kenji gets a American client who makes him very uneasy. Most of the book takes place in Kenji's mind as he contemplates what's going on in the world around him and whether or not his client is acting weird or is just being an obnoxious American. With a violent serial killer on the loose and many coincidences piling up Kenji's paranoia might be justified. Well there's not much plot to the book itself, I really suggest it because of all of its social commentary. Although published in the 90s, it deals with Timeless issues that are still culturally and universally relevant to this day. Issues like sexism, exploitation of sex workers, cultural identity, domestic violence, xenophobia, loneliness, poverty, consumerism, are just a handful of the subjects this book touches on. There is a moment in the book i like where the tourist tells Kenji that he is surprised to see the Japanese youth dress the exact same way that African-American youth dress in New York. Even Kenji has a moment of realization. In the beginning of the book he is quick to condemn teenage girls who become sex workers to pay the bills, saying that if they weren't out at night with adult men they would not get hurt but by the end of the book he gets mad at how everybody always blames the girls in these situations and never blames the adult men who attacked them. Trigger warning: gore, mutilation, Bloodshed, violence, body parts being sliced off, murder, this book is not for the faint of heart. If you seen the 1990s Japanese horror film the Audition, Ryu also wrote the Audition novel. In the Miso soup follows a similar style of it's a slow build-up to the scary scene.

6. Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar. If your fans of Neil gaiman's Stardust you'll like Star daughter. Sheetal is the daughter of a South Asian man and a literal star. Her mother came down from the heavens and fell in love with her father but when Sheetal was a child her mom returned to the heavens. As her 17th birthday draws near, Sheetal is unable to control her new powers, and ends up accidentally injuring her father. Wanting to correct her mistake, Sheetal and her best friend travel to the mysterious Night Market to try to find a cure. Instead they end up in the heavens where her mom resides and finds that her maternal side of the family are extorting her. In exchange for healing her father they want Sheetal to be their champion in a competition that will decide who gets to rule the heavens for the next millennia. Lies, family secrets, tragedy, love, Beautiful lore, and even more beautiful outfits, this fairy tale is a lovely young adult novel. Trigger warning: abuse, torture, mental health decline, blood

7. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. A mix of folklore, sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction, if you're a fan of Pacific Rim I recommend Iron Widow. This book is very fast-paced from the get-go there's a battle, death, and bloodshed from the very beginning. Wu Zetian is the main protagonist of the story. On a quest to avenge her dead sister, Wu Zetian isn't going to let anyone get in her way, not her family, not her best friend, not the government, not the patriarchy, not even the aliens invading the planet. Li Shimin is the sexy but scary inmate with a mysterious past, on death row for murdering his entire family, who finds himself unwillingly being partnered up with Wu Zetian. Gao Yizhi is the rich son of one of the wealthiest men in the country and he's not afraid to rub it in your face if you piss him off. In fact my favorite line from this book comes from Gao, " you can't kill me, I'm rich!". He's very self aware and also Wu's best friend who wants to help keep her alive. As the three characters who are completely different come to rely on one another they end up uncovering multiple conspiracies and forming a wonderful polyamorous Triad. Trigger warning: mentions of sexual assault, death, abusive family, torture, violence towards women

8. Arsenic and Adobo by  Mia P. Manansala follows the shameful life of Lila as she unwillingly returns to her small home town to live with her auntie after she is unable to get a job with her college degree and a bad breakup. Her tia Rosie runs a Filipino restaurant and is being harassed by the local food critic. Unfortunately for Lila the annoying food critic is also her ex-boyfriend. Things get worse when he dies at her aunt's restaurant and shenanigans ensue from there. Full of love, Millennial and Gen Z humor, lots of delicious food, and unapologetically Filipino this book is definitely not your grandma's murder mystery. Bonus points, there is some recipes at the end of the book. Trigger warning: death, murder, mentions of addiction.

9. The Bone People by Keri Hulme. Kerewin is a painter and indigenous Maori woman living in isolation in New Zealand. One day she finds a mute white child named Simon in her house. No one really knows much about Simon. He washed up on the beach one day after a shipwreck and doesn't talk. He is still able to communicate with other characters. He is both kind and loving but also prone to temper tantrums, violent outbursts, and stealing. Joe is a mixrace widower who takes on the responsibility of being a foster father for Simon but due to his alcoholism he abuses and beat Simon. As the three characters confront their own identity issues and trauma, they come to love one another and form a family together. This book is unsettling but at the same time heart-warming. Trigger warning: violence, alcoholism, child abuse.

10. The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Set in South Korea, this psychological drama takes place in 3 parts, all from the different points of view of Yeong-hye's relatives. Yeong-hye decides she is going to become a vegetarian one day. This decision does not come about in a quiet subtle way but rather radical in your face shock as her husband walks into the kitchen one day to find meat on the floor and in the trash can as she announces they will no longer have meat in their house. From her husband's point of view we find out that he is an unreliable narrator as it's clear he's pretty toxic, possibly even abusive towards his wife and constantly belittles her. In her brother-in-law's prospective he sees Yeong-hye as very attractive and wishes that his perfect Korean model wife was more like her sister. I won't give away any spoilers from the final part which is told from her sisters perspective but I will say it is sad. Ultimately the book is about conformity and how much Yeong-hye has had her life ripped away from her by her family, friends, and Society. Trigger warning abuse, toxic relationships, family abuse, attempted suicide, blood, medical abuse, mental health issues.

That's all for now. Have you read any of these books? Do you like any of them? Got any books to recommend for AAPI month?

[stillhavetodothat]

Replaying Nancy Drew without cheating - Part Four: The Final Scene

AND HERE IT IS....

Is The Final Scene the MOST brilliant game in the entire Nancy Drew series??

Hear me out. It has literally everything you could ever want out of a Nancy Drew game. Danger. Mystery. A ticking clock. A lack of pointless chores. An intriguing backstory. An amazing soundtrack. An extremely sassy Nancy. A caked up Nicholas Falcone.

I think the ONLY thing that is missing from this game, honestly, is length. I think it is well-known in the community that this game is too short, especially on replay, but I recently learned that this was the first game that HerInteractive put out on a 2-a-year schedule, so the development was rushed. After TRT, the company almost could not afford to continue making games, so they had to switch strategies. Technically, FIN saved the franchise. In that context, the only disappointment is that they didn’t have more time to work on this absolute MASTERPIECE.

I also think my love for this game has grown after reading the book that it’s based on. Queen Simone Mueller was adapted from a boring male Simon Mueller, the talented Louisa Falcone was adapted froma boring male Louis Falcone. The Harry Houdini storyline was completely new in the game. Brady Armstrong having a vested interest in the theater demolition was also new in the game and made him a much more interesting and sinister character. I know that this book was written in the 80s, but Bess’s one-dimensionality (obsessed with food and boys) annoys me; much happier to see Vietnamese-American college student as the kidnapee instead.

Not cheating in this game was super easy for me. It’s another game I’ve played a dozen times, so even if I didn’t remember the exact sequence of events, I quickly was able to move the game along. I finished in under 3 hours, and that is with being consistently distracted by the NFL game my fiance had on in the background. Having three distinct days makes this game very sequential and hard to get stuck.

Some random thoughts I had during this replay:

1. Someone put this soundtrack on vinyl, PLEASE. I would literally murder someone to play this in the background while reading a book and smoking a joint on my couch.

2. Even as a child, I loved Nicholas Falcone. There is just something about a man with a passion. Nothing used to turn me on (still does turn me on) than Nicholas’s intellectual negging of a dim-witted Brady Charmstrong during the press conference. This was also the first time I really took the time to listen to the entire press conference from the ticket booth...pure gold.

3. Speaking of the ticket booth, taking to Sargeant Ramsay on the phone is absolutely hilarious. Who is this voice actor? Someone find him and give him more gigs. And Eustacia Andropov? An incredible character and a treat of a phone call as well. WHO WROTE THIS SCRIPT?? I think this is probably the funniest game there is.

4. Let’s just go ahead and go through some of the best quotes of the game.  “I may have to cut this short, Hal. Someone just climbed out of my wardrobe.” (entirely unphased) “I think your phone’s about to ring.” “Take a breath and pinch yourself, because it’s reeeally happening: Brady Armstrong, in the flesh. Star of Vanishing Destiny? Go ahead, faint. I’ll catch you.” “Why don’t you tell that little grey troll that I think he did it just to keep himself from dying of boredom in this old dump. THAT’s my comment.” “Fight the power.” (a classic) "Mr. Charmstrong, do you find that your fans respond to you more in your chicken suit or curly wig?" “Maybe you’d better think about being ‘in on the law’ and ‘down with the truth’ Nicholas.” “More? I’m 96 over here. I don’t exactly have time to burn.” “You tell that Sherman Trout Eustacia said, ‘You’re not dead yet, Shermie, so get up and make yourself useful.’” “Armstrong: Uh, do we still like him or what?”

5. Joseph always scared the hell out of me. Even to this day. He is creepy and he IS a little grey troll. Why is he constantly trying to get me to leave the theater and go to bed in the middle of the day? Why is he lying about his brother Jake? Why is he always popping up in the most chilling way possible? I hate him. I suspected him from the very beginning.

6. When Nancy says that Maya never goes ANYWHERE without her press pass...ma’am you are an undergrad student at Washington University. Please calm down.

7. Not sure if anyone remembers, but back in the day on the HerInteractive message boards people used to put all the games they had finished in their signature for all their posts. Some would just put a list of all the games, but others would get creative (including me, although it wasn’t creativity on my part as much as it was copying other people). Their signature would say things like “I have Stayed Tuned for Danger,” or “I have discovered The Secret of the Scarlet Hand.” FIN’s was “I have seen The Final Scene” and I still to this day say this whenever I talk about this game with anyone. Throwback.

8. I never would have figured out the gum on wand bit if not for the message boards back in the day, and my memory of it now.

9. This is a game that is more about the mystery and less about the puzzles. I loved this one, even though this is probably the hardest part of the entire game (besides the gum on wand thing).

10. The ending is SO intense. Because I know exactly what to do, it is less so, but the whole thing still gives me goosebumps. That timer in the corner quickly ticking down? Hiding in the closet when the police do their final sweep? Joseph being an absolute psychopath? The focus knob breaking off? The KEYS? MAYA BEHIND GLASS?? TRYING TO BREAK THE GLASS WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER? JOSEPH BEING A PSYCHOPATH AGAIN?? (I can let it slide that defeating the culprit involves flashing them with a cheap prize from an ancient game in a decaying basement. It’s still so good).

11. Also, I have a print of this in my house right now because of this game. I don’t even know the artist, but I love it.

So thankful to rediscover my love for this game. Can it top Treasure in a Royal Tower and Dexter’s sexy, raspy voice? Maybe not. But it is up there.

Next stop: DC!

[michaelkeenan]

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat in under 1500 words

Here's my under-1500-word summary of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, a book about the skill of cooking by Samin Nosrat.

There are four basic factors that determine how good your food will taste: salt, which enhances flavor; fat, which amplifies flavor and makes appealing textures possible; acid, which brightens and balances; and heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food.

Salt

Salt amplifies other flavors, except bitterness; it reduces bitterness.

Fine salts can be up to twice as dense as course salts, so measure salt by weight, rather than by volume. Better yet, measure by taste.

It's usually best for food to be salted from within, rather than sprinkled with salt at the end.

In many cases, salt is best added before cooking so it has time to diffuse through the food. For meat (but not fish), salt hours (or days) before cooking. For vegetables (but not mushrooms), salt 15 minutes before cooking.

Taste often while cooking, and add more salt if needed.

Fat

Fat plays three distinct roles in cooking: as a main ingredient (e.g. butter in a pastry or olive oil in pesto), as a cooking medium (butter to sauté vegetables), and as a seasoning (e.g. sour cream in soup, mayonnaise in a sandwich). Knowing which role fat will play will guide you to choose which fat to use for your purpose.

Fat carries flavor. It coats the tongue, allowing aromatic compounds to stay in contact with taste buds for longer periods of time. Take advantage of this by adding aromatics (e.g. garlic) directly into the cooking fat. When baking, add vanilla extract and other flavorings directly into the butter or egg yolks for the same result.

Fat also enhances flavor another way. Cooking fats can withstand temperatures well above the boiling point of water (212°), so they can do what water can't: facilitate browning (which begins around 230°). Browning can introduce entirely new flavors.

An important factor, when choosing a fat, is to match it with the culture of the food you're creating, otherwise it won't taste right. e.g. don't use olive oil in Vietnamese food, or smoky bacon fat in Indian food.

Which fats we use primarily affect flavor, but how we use them determines texture. Depending on how we use fats, we can achieve one of five textures: Crisp (e.g. fried food), Creamy (e.g. chocolate, ice cream), Flaky (pastries), Tender (shortbread), and Light (whipped cream).

Foods that are too dry, or need just a bump of richness, can be corrected with a little olive oil (or other oil), or another creamy ingredient such as sour cream, crème, fraîche, egg yolk, or goat cheese. Use vinaigrette, mayonnaise, a spreadable cheese, or creamy avocado to balance out dryness in a sandwich or atop thick, crusty bread.

Acid

Like salt, acid heightens other flavors. But while the salt threshold is absolute, acid balance is relative. If you add too much salt to a broth, it's unsalvageable, except through dilution. But if you add too much acid to something, you can add sugar, salt, fat, bitterness or starch to change it from unpalatably sour to pleasant. (For example, if you make lemonade from lemon juice, water, and sugar, try tasting it before and after you add sugar, and what was unpleasantly sour becomes good.)

Let geographic tradition guide your choice of acid to use: wine vinegars in Italian, French, Germany, and Spanish cuisine; rice vinegars in Asian cuisine; apple cider vinegar for British and southern American food; lemon and tomatoes in Mediterranean food, lime in tropical climates like Mexico, Cuba, India, Vietnam, and Thailand; dairy can fit in most cuisines.

Acid dulls vibrant greens, so wait until the last possible moment to dress salads or squeeze lemon on cooked green vegetables.

Acid keeps reds and purples vivid, so add acid before cooking purple cabbage, red chard stems, and beets.

Raw fruits and vegetables vulnerable to oxidation, like apples, avocados, and bananas, will retain their natural color if coated with acid or kept in water mixed with a few drops of lemon juice.

Acid keeps vegetables and legumes tougher, longer. Anything containing cellulose or pectin will cook much more slowly in the presence of acid. Fifteen minutes of simmering in water can soften carrots to baby food, but they'll still be somewhat firm after an hour stewing in red wine. If you've ever cooked something with onions and been perplexed at the onions not cooking, it could be that an acidic ingredient - perhaps tomatoes, wine, or vinegar - is interfering.

As in general with cooking, the best way to optimize acidity is to taste during cooking and adjust.

Heat

To determine whether the heat level is correct, the best cooks look at the *food*, not the the heat source. They listen for the changing sounds of a sizzling sausage, watch the way a simmer becomes a boil, and taste a noodle to determine whether it's al dente. Is the food browning, firming, shrinking, crisping, burning, falling apart, swelling, or cooking unevenly?

Food is primarily made up of: water, fat, carbohydrates, and protein.

Water can be a medium in which we cook other foods. At low temperatures, water is particularly gentle. Simmering, braising and poaching provide foods with the sustained low heat they need to develop tenderness. Heat water to 212° at sea level and it boils, giving us one of the quickest and most efficient ways to cook food.

Beyond 212°, water transforms to steam, a valuable visual cue: as long as food is wet and giving off steam, its surface temperature probably isn't hot enough to allow browning to begin. Caramelization and the Maillard reaction don't begin until food reaches higher temperatures.

Make decisions in relationship to steam. Encourage steam to escape if you want temperatures to rise and food to brown. Contain steam with a lid to allow food to cook in a moist environment if you want to prevent or delay browning.

Food piled in a pan can affect steam levels by acting like a makeshift lid; both entrap steam. Trapped steam condenses and drips back down, keeping food moist and maintaining a temperature around 212°.

Control steam in the oven when roasting or toasting food similarly. Spread out zucchini and peppers so steam escapes and browning begins sooner. Protect denser vegetables that take longer to cook, like artichokes, from browning too much before they can cook through by packing them tightly to entrap steam.

At high temperatures, sugar melts. At very high temperatures (340°), sugar darkens and caramelizes, producing hundreds of new compounds with abundant new flavors: acidic, bitter, fruity, caramel, nutty, sherry, and butterscotch.

Cooking fruits, vegetables, dairy, and some grains releases their sugars. As heat penetrates a boiling carrot, for example, its starches break down into simple sugars, and the cell walls enclosing the sugars disintegrate, making a cooked carrot taste sweeter than a raw one.

Heat proteins in the presence of carbohydrates, and the Maillard reaction occurs, heat's most significant contribution to flavor, with notes like floral, onion, meaty, vegetal, chocolatey, starchy, and earthy. It's often accompanied by dehydration and crispness, so the texture is also often improved.

Browning begins around 230°. The temperatures required to achieve this tasty browning will dry out proteins, so beware. Use intense heat to brown the surface of meats and quickly cook tender cuts through. After browning a tougher cut such as brisket, on the other hand, use gentle heat to keep its interior from drying out. Or cook it through with gentle heat first, and brown the surface at the end.

Brown with care; it's easy to burn.

Cooking sometimes continues after removing the food from the heat source, as the residual heat continues cooking. Proteins in particular are susceptible to carryover.

The primary decision is whether to cook slowly over gentle heat, or quickly over intense heat. For some foods, the goal is *creating* tenderness; for others, it's *preserving* tenderness. In general, foods that are already tender (some meats, eggs, delicate vegetables) should be cooked as little as possible to maintain their tenderness. Foods that start out tough or dry and need to be hydrated or transformed to become tender (grains and starches, tough meats, dense vegetables) will benefit from longer, more gentle cooking. Browning, whether for tender or tough foods, will often involve intense heat, so you'll combine cooking methods. For example, brown and then simmer meats in a stew, or simmer and then brown potatoes for hash to ensure browning *and* tenderness in both cases.

Gentle cooking methods (for creating or preserving tenderness)

Simmering, Coddling, and Poaching

Steaming

Stewing and Braising

Confit (poaching in fat)

Sweating

Bain-marie

Low-heat Baking and Dehydrating

Slow-roasting, Grilling, and Smoking

Intense cooking Methods (often for browning)

Blanching, Boiling, and Reducing (an exception to this list - these, of course, don't brown foods)

Sautéing, Pan-frying, and Shallow and Deep-frying

Searing

Grilling and Broiling

High-heat Baking

Toasting

Roasting

[eedsknees]

Aight so I seriously don’t know how to use Tumblr but it’s talk time.

How to support Asians and recognize anti-AAPI violence and micro-aggressions.

Key Terms;

AAPI - Asian American Pacific Islander

BLM - Black Lives Matter

SAH - Stop Asian Hate

First things first, if you’re attempting to spread awareness or new information (make sure to check your sources and usually try to share information from an AAPI source, during these times it’s extremely important to uphold the voices of those being oppressed) do NOT use the hashtag #/AsianLivesMatter (ALM). While we appreciate the sentiment it actually takes away from the movement of BLM, which is just as important and still needs attention and help. Instead, use the hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate- these are the tags dedicated to the movement.

Now, for spotting anti-AAPI micro-aggressions and what to do about them:

Jokes such as “Ching chong” and teasingly pulling at your skin as to create the illusion that your eyes are slanted are micro-aggressions against AAPI appearances and language. This builds the assumption that all Asian languages are based around these sorts of tones and syllables when that is not the case; and additionally not all Asians have slanted eyes! Countries such as India and Saudi Arabia are additionally a part of Asia, though most people only are familiar with East Asian countries/cultures through kpop, anime, kdramas et cetera.

The “fox eye” trend is also a racist micro-aggression against Asians, as explained previously. An basic explanation of this trend according to stanforddaily.com, “The fox-eye trend, where one applies make-up, pulls on their face or undergoes plastic surgery so the eyes and brows appear to slant upwards, is unapologetic cultural appropriation. Caucasian women like actress Megan Fox and supermodel Bella Hadid are often credited for popularizing the trend. These paragons of Western beauty standards require special efforts to achieve this look. On them, this “manufactured” eye shape is beautiful. On Asians however, this inborn eye shape is a feature to make fun of. Whether the look is achieved with make-up, eye-pulls or plastic surgery, the effect is the same: It’s still an age-old taunt.”

Assuming that all AAPI people are fluent in all Asian languages- Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipino, for example, is a racist micro-aggression that pits all AAPI cultures as being the same. All Asian countries have vastly different roots and cultures and this micro-aggression erases a lot of this.

Questions and statements such as “Where are you /really/ from?”, “What type of Asian are you?”, “Wow, you speak [Language] so well for a [Race]!” are even more examples of Anti-AAPI micro-aggressions.

One of the most common Anti-AAPI aggressions in modern day America is the assumption that all Asians are to blame for COVID-19. While the virus originated in Wuhan, China, that does NOT support any claim that all Asians are responsible for the virus.

“Go back to your country” should not need to be explained but it is unfortunately a statement many AAPI folk face, even if they are American citizens.

The stereotype that all Asians are extremely smart is simply that; a stereotype.

Many Asian restaurants have different ways of cooking their food, and many people take this as a means of “their kitchens are unsanitary”. As somebody who has cooked many Vietnamese dishes, it gets messy, but that’s simply part of the process, and everything is perfectly sanitary and safe to eat. Asians are not “dirty”.

Not all Asians look like kpop idols.

Now, as for what to do if you witness a micro-aggression or if you realize that some of your assumptions and thought processes have been listed above

Step in. Chances are people will walk by and ignore whatever is happening; sometimes acts of racism against someone publicly is traumatizing and if you can just speak up and help out, you can really change the outcome of a situation.

If a friend makes a racist joke or tease, tell them. Inform them how it is racist and that their actions cannot be excused.

Research! It is not all AAPI people’s responsibility to constantly lecture everybody on what counts as racism and what doesn’t. Go out of your way to be better.

Don’t expect gifts or praise for enforcing basic human rights.

If any fellow AAPI have anything to add, feel free to do so. If you are not APPI, /please/ share this and educate yourself on how to do your part in stopping Asian hate.

[landonsvietnameselitblog]

Reflections on a Year of Reading Vietnamese Literature

Titles Read:

Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen

Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen

Book of Salt by Monique Truong

Monkey’s Bridge by Lan Cao

Word Count: 695

Getting to spend a year reading Vietnamese literature definitely helped me connect with my heritage more, especially as I was able to learn some new words since I’m not too familiar with the language. It was comforting to see some Vietnamese words mixed in with English, and the names of foods that I frequently enjoy. Some common themes include family and assimilating into the United States. Some of the novels I read included characters who had to immigrate to the U.S. for better opportunity, but in doing so, they had to face racism and microaggressions. The characters would have to adopt aspects of American culture in order to fit in, but language and food would be aspects that they would try to keep. Family is a big element because it’s often the only thing they have when everything is lost. Even if there is separation or tension, they often look back to family for comfort at some point. Another common element is having a setting in France, or Paris specifically. This is likely due to Vietnam having a history of being colonized by the French, so there is some connection and glorification there. Some of the main characters have connections with France so the setting takes place there at times.

What I learned from Things We Lost to the Water was that happiness is a relative thing. At first, all of the different family members enjoyed each others’ presence, but eventually the children began to grow up and go on their own path. One brother joined a gang, but ended up turning his life around and getting a girlfriend. Another brother would do well in school and want to travel to Paris, but he was hit with disillusionment and got into an unhappy relationship. All of the character’s fates were different and they were able to shape it by following their own self interests. In the end though, the only thing that is permanent is relationships with others, which is seen as their home being ravaged by a hurricane.

What I learned from Stealing Buddha’s Dinner was the importance of being in tune with your culture, even if it’s just with food. I loved the fact that every chapter was named after a different food, and each chapter was an interesting story about the author’s life. I saw the importance of building your own identity and not trying to be like everyone else, as tempting as it may be. I was also validated on some experiences of being a Vietnamese American.

What I learned from Book of Salt was that it’s important to create memorable experiences because they can guide you in life. The main character is constantly looking back to conversations he had with family members or former relationships to help guide his current decisions. He often faces things that knock him down, such as getting fired from his employer, but then he gets right back up on his feet and perseveres. 

What I learned from Monkey’s Bridge was that nothing is permanent. The main character faces many traumatic experiences, such as the war, her mother being terribly injured, and her father suddenly dying.  As a child, these are things that she didn’t expect, especially as her family would be perfectly fine the day before. However she would have to move on and continue to grow as a person, for example wanting to pursue a college education. 

In general, I learned that I was capable of making daily commitments. Especially for the beginning of the year, I was incredibly consistent, and there was always an urge in the back of my mind to get it done if I suddenly forgot. I also learned that I am actually quite fond of novels and memoirs. I usually don’t read books unless it’s for a school assignment, so it was nice to explore some different genres and see what I liked. I was also able to learn about a lot of the general experiences of what it was like to immigrate to the U.S., and that things like microaggressions in school aren't uncommon. Overall, I formed better habits and learned more about my own culture.

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Sherry Cola, Good Trouble

You may recognize comedian, actress, and writer Sherry Cola as Alice in Freeform’s Good Trouble. Additional TV credits include jewelry maker Natalie on I Love Dick, special agent Lucy Chen on Claws, and the iconic Lil’ Tasty. On the big screen, she can be seen in the upcoming Endings, Beginnings with Shailene Woodley, Jamie Dornan, and Sebastian Stan, and in the indie Sick Girl with Nina Dobrev and Wendi McLendon-Covey. No stranger to ambition in comedy, Sherry is also a successful stand-up comedian, performing regularly at The Laugh Factory, The Improv, and The Comedy Store. Sherry took a few minutes to chat with us about comedy, Good Trouble, and more. Check it out:

What is your experience of portraying comedy-aspiring first-generation Asian-American Alice? Can you talk about any similarities or differences between you?

I’m grateful to play a character that I never saw on TV when I was growing up. The deeper we get into filming these episodes, the more I realize how much it’s been missing. From speaking Mandarin to her best friend/ex-lover to diving into stand-up as a queer Asian female, Alice’s journey is so specific and overdue. Alice is adorably apologetic and she’s still finding her voice.

I’d say I’m more outspoken than she is, but we’re also similar in people-pleasing to the point of getting us in trouble. I heavily relate to Alice because I also have an immigrant mother who wasn’t well-versed about the LGBTQ+ world at first, but the more we show these stories on the screen, the more we can open minds!

Can you tell us about any funny or wholesome moments on the set of Good Trouble?

The scene in the pool for Malika’s birthday was super fun. It was almost 4 AM, and we’d already been floating in the water for 2 hours. I gotta give it up to our incredible crew for nailing all the messy shots of people jumping/falling in. It was hilarious being in that cloudy, chlorine-less human soup, just splashin’ around like little kids. Our entire cast adores each other so we’re always in good company. It’s a celebration when we have those big group moments.

Do you have a routine before you go up on stage to do stand-up? What is it, and how did you come up with it?

I do lots and lots of breathing because I’m nervous right before I hop on stage, no matter what. I also get very thirsty so I find myself going to the bar last-minute to get water. This happens every single time. I never think ahead and have the water prepared! I look over my jokes to remember which ones I wanna do. Then when I get up there, the throwing-up feeling disappears and I’m on cloud nine!

What is something you wish people knew about being a comedian in the industry as it is today?

Sometimes people take comedians too lightly. We deserve more props! There’s heavy stuff happening behind that microphone. We have the power to educate and touch the audience, in an almost brain-washy fashion, but not in a bad way. I can use jokes to shine a light on something like climate change, and people will walk away with a new perspective. Pretty cool!

If you could give any character on Good Trouble some advice, who would it be and what would you tell them?

This is the first time I’m officially saying this, but I’m team Callie and Gael. Y’all have something special, damn it! The fiery chemistry! It was spicy, but also tender...like a chicken nugget! Please give it another try and make some perfect babies!

Can you tell us a funny joke?

I saw this on a popsicle stick when I was in elementary school, and I’ll never forget it:

Q: What did the girl melon say to the boy melon after he proposed? 

A: We’re too young, we cantaloupe!

What advice would you give to your ten-year-old self?

STAY TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE! Things that made me self-conscious back then like non-American food that I’d take to school, or the fact that I never wore make-up, and just the general vibe of being unordinary - now I fully embrace it!

Who do you look up to?

I can’t even count on my fingers/toes/teeth/strands of hair how many people I look up to! From Sandra Oh to Lena Waithe… I have respect for all women of color who are pushing the culture forward. They motivate me to keep going so I can make just as strong of an impact.

Who inspires you?

My mom inspires the hell out of me. She came to this country and busted her ass off to make sure I have a comfortable life. Money means nothing compared to the feeling of making her proud. I get all my work ethic from her, from giving 110% to the importance of being on time, so she gets all the credit!

Can you tell us how Lakers-loving, jersey-wearing, Timberland-rocking Lil’ Tasty came about?

Lil’ Tasty is dear to my heart! She was a viral queen in 2016 because she was a breath of fresh air who said the most darn things. My friends Adam Episcopo and Rick Schaberg started a mockumentary-style series on Facebook called “Luber” which showed the lives of drivers who got rejected from Lyft/Uber. They asked me to create a character and naturally, as a lover of hip-hop, I knew this girl had to come equipped with obnoxious freestyle raps. Then I found an old Kobe jersey in my closet (RIP to the GOAT) and the rest was history. We shot these silly videos on a whim. We never expected to hit millions of views. Since then, Lil’ Tasty has built quite a fanbase, and I still have some things up my sleeve, so stay tuned!

If you could wake up as one of your characters tomorrow, who would it be, and why?

Waking up as Nuocki Mum would be dope. She’s an older Vietnamese lady who tries to keep up with the times. She’s completely oblivious but means well. She hits the nightclubs every weekend to stay young. I wouldn’t mind that!

Thanks for taking the time, Sherry! Check out the Good Trouble Tumblr for more.

Photos: Storm Santos

[jeongtokkie]

cultural alienation

I think I’ve slowly come to realise over the last year that I now see my Asian heritage very different to how I saw it when I was in grade school (ages 8-18). And I’m also learning that what I was putting myself through was cultural alienation and resenting the fact that I was half Asian, half Vietnamese, yet not Asian American… This is by no means a sob story or a way to get attention but rather me just sharing my experience so that maybe others, if anyone else, can relate and feel some sort of comfort knowing that they aren’t alone as I felt growing up in a place where Asians were the minority to African American and Latinx communities. 

To start off, I am aware that I am very white passing, but I have enough of an Asian appearance that people often never quite figure out wtf I am. I didn’t meet another mixed Asian-European until my first year of university. So you can imagine how ‘rare’ we were in my surrounding. During my school years, I had almost zero Asian friends and the ones that were, were very much americanised and not of South East/East Asian decent. 

So I forced myself to adapt. I began to resent my Vietnamese name, my legal middle name that showed up on all records, refusing to ever tell anyone what it was because ‘that’s embarrassing.’ One time a teacher called me by it and was humiliating. 

(I think my name was also a special kind of horror because of its dual meaning in the different Asian languages. Its virtually unknown in Vietnamese, probably bc ive never met anyone outside family speak Viet. However, its a very popular Korean dish, also known to non-Asians, and all the Asians surrounding me growing up were, you guessed it, Korean. To most people I was literally a food dish; it was a nightmare. It actually still kinda is, but now im proud of it bc it shows who I am and where I come from without even really knowing me. ‘No no I’m not Korean, I’m Vietnamese’) 

So basically, I told people I was Asian but that was it. Now I realise that my americanised Asian friends were probably just doing the same thing. Assimilating to the culture that engulfed us, taking away our individuality because Asian culture was ‘weird’ and ‘too different.’ The way I lived at home with my family was a secret. No one could know about the little things that made us different. No shoes in the house, just eating with chopsticks, rice at every meal (granted there was a mix of food, both very French dishes and very Vietnamese ones, but that was already too different.) I was different enough as it was by being French, and not at all fitting in the American norms. Speaking French at home was already a shock to everyone (though in my head at the time it was, thank god it’s not Viet) My Franco-German last name, one letter off from an English swear word was enough. So I continued to reject anything related to my heritage. My mom and grandma suggested I wear the traditional Vietnamese ao dai for prom. You can imagine how quickly I shut down that idea. I can’t imagine how hurtful that was for them, to have family rejecting our shared culture. Looking back I wish I’d done it. It’s a beautiful dress that really highlights Vietnamese beauty. Actually, my mom ended up making my dress and the fabric and cut is kind of like a more western version of the traditional look, so maybe deep down I hadn’t completely rejected it but was still trying to fit in nonetheless, especially for such a significant part of American high school.  By that point in high school I think I was slowly more accepting of being Asian but it wasn’t something I was ready to scream from the rooftops. To this day, I have never felt American, because I have such a strong connection with my homeland and nothing will ever take that away not matter how long I’m away from it. Instead, I accepted the place where I have lived most my life and how grateful I am to have this privilege. 

University was the first time I was surrounded by other mixed and South East/East Asian diaspora. True, I was in a place were Asians were no longer the minority but I was interacting with them now. My housemates were Asian; we celebrated the Lunar New Year, had hot pot parties with games of mahjong, we all cooked Asian dishes together (dumpling night was always fun). It was the first time I could really relate to the lifestyle that my mother and grandparents had. That being said, I found that I connected more with the Asians international student rather than Asian Americans. I found that somehow, they were more like me, and that part I don’t quite understand yet, but this is a start in self identity. This was step one. 

And then there were the things that you could watch from Asia itself, which I realise now that I had whole heartedly rejected because I never wanted to associate myself with ‘that.’ Things like anime I rejected because ‘eww they’re speaking a different language and its showing a different lifestyle to the one I was expected to live while being in the US; the animation looks weird, it’s not western.’ It was my reintroduction to Asian culture and how  diverse it is, but also at the same time how similar each country can be to each other. 

Dramas and series were another way to visualise it all. It was like ‘hey they’re like me, they do that like we do.’ 

And then there was kpop and music. This is probably the most recent one and the one that made me realised the internalised block I had put up because of my need to fit in when I was younger. My first years of high school I distinctly remember hearing about Kpop and BTS for the first time. Except it wasn’t a good reaction. It was one that judged people who did enjoy that genre of music. When Gangnam Style came out, everyone mocked it, made fun of the way they talked or dance. So I shutdown the possibility of ever liking a Kpop group. Every time anyone ever mentioned BTS the response was simple, ‘oh I don’t like that’ but until recently, I never knew why. I had never understood that it was an internalise block I had put up myself, because of the judgment of others and the shame of being where I was from, where my parents were from. I had heard their music, I knew I liked it, but liking something like that was just embarrassing and perfect for teasing. I was ashamed of ever liking something that wasn’t from the English-speaking part of the world. I disliked these people because I was scared that someone would find out and make fun of me for it and never thought for a second of giving them a chance. ((And for that, BTS, I am very very sorry. They deserve absolutely no hate. It’s their work to share asian culture and experience with the rest of the world that has greatly influenced this whole realisation actually. Better late than never, right? We’re making up for lost time now))

So to sum up, in my true artistic nature, it was different medias that made me realise my cultural alimentation and internalised phobia of my heritage just because we were from a different part of the world that was too dissimilar in so many aspects. Looking retrospectively at my art practice throughout university, I can finally see the pattern. A lot of my work revolved around culture, I now understand why. (That can be a post for another day) now I feel like I’ve reconnected with the pride that comes from being Asian and living it to the fullest. I’ve connected with my mum in a totally different way and we love talking about our culture and that of the rest of the Asian counties with interesting things we’ve learned. All the varying Asian cultures, especially through food. Cooking has been a love of mine for a long time and now we’re trying out all sorts of dishes from all over, it’s been a great experience, especially to share with my younger brother so he never feels like I did. If there’s one thing I can protect him from, cultural alienation is it. You lose yourself with it, left alone to grasp at false realities and not being yourself which is detrimental to your mental health. It’s that exact experience I would not want to recreate. 

And all these realisations come from shower thoughts (I’m not even kidding lmao) so I’ll end this on a positive, light note. 

Today, I cannot be more proud to be mixed Asian and European. I’m accepting and I couldn’t be happier tbh. I know that I’m not the only one to go through an identity crisis. It makes us human to be different, to have lived different experiences; it’s what makes us all special and valid to be ourselves, and that’s so fucking important. So love yourself, love each other

- 金枝

[firstdove15]

May Reading

Literally every book I read this month was a three star for me. It wasn’t disappointing though because I did get through some books I had on my TBR for a bit that weren’t a priority but because of AAPI Month it was a boost I need to read them (of course, ideally, I want to diversify my reading year round).

So, yeah:

1) It All Came Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi (Three Stars)

The summary made it sound like this book focused on enemies to lovers but it really focused more on the protagonists’ relationships with their respective siblings. Yeah, the romance was there but it wasn’t the focus (which was fine because, despite going in expecting enemies to lovers, I found myself being neutral with the minor romantic aspect parts of the book). So it was one of those books where it was well done, but the marketing for it could’ve been so much better. The sibling relationships were the meat of the story and they were chef’s kiss.

...Maybe I should up the rating to four?

2) Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao (Three Stars)

I had this in my TBR for a bit because I read Chao’s American Panda a couple of years ago and loved it....and also didn’t expect the feels that came with it. I anticipated it being the case here and, yep, it was. The humor was top notch like American Panda. The romance was fine, probably even better than the one in American Panda, but I did care more about the protagonists’ individual journey. I’m glad I finally sat down and read it.

3) Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma (Three Stars)

Surprising no one, this book made me crave Indian food and prompted me to try biryani and chicken tikki masala for the first time in my life. I was surprised that dancing was just as big of a part as cooking so I wasn’t prepared for that thinking it was a love story heavily focused on cooking. I didn’t have as much fun with this story as I did My So Called Bollywood Life but, again, I’m glad I read it. I’m going to do proper research and see if I want to check out Sharma’s adult romance series and see how it compares to her YA.

4) A Pho Love Story by Loan Le (Three Stars)

....And I tried pho for the first time in my life because of this book. XD I liked the humor in this one and it did hit hard with the Vietnamese diaspora and I anticipated that so, again, I was more intrigued by the characters’ relationships with their parents and how they deal with generational trauma. The romance itself was fine but, yeah.

5) A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee (Three Stars)

Despite still being in the middle of Chee’s first trilogy, I was excited to read this standalone and I did have fun for the most part. I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the footnotes Chee added as if the story was also a textbook, and I enjoyed the journey. The feminist message might be a little on the nose for some but, hey, it’s not like the points that were made were wrong. And because of [redacted] I’m still bothered by how the main character got cursed in the first place. The blessing and curse of the [redacted] twist. XD

So, yeah, Chee is still an auto-read for me when it comes to her fantasy novels. I do plan on reading her contemporary someday but waiting for the stars to align. @_@

6) And I was in the middle of volume one of Komi Can’t Communicate but I can’t tell if I’m not one hundred feeling the story or if I’m coming down with another reading slump. I hope not. XP

Plans for June

1) I’m waiting for Flip the Script by Lyle Lee to get here because I absolutely loved I’ll Be the One.

2) I had caved and bought His Secret Illuminations by Scarlett Gale because of the gorgeous paperart I saw and, doing research, it sounds like it’s up my alley for the most part.

3) I also bought Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti today so I want to read that.

If I read anything else, that’s a bonus because, again, I’m not sure if I’m entering another slump or if I’m just not really vibing with Komi. We’ll see.