In Step with Alice Tong: Prelude to Progression

A look into the past year and a half of a talented singer-songwriter's passionate journey through life & music. by HoChie Tsai photos courtesy of Anna Wu & Shu-Jon Mao Part I. Prelude January 25, 2009. Somewhere on the Internet. Sometime in early 2009, I am introduced by email to singer-songwriter Alice Tong through one of our close friends and collaborators, Jason Lee, of TurtlistMedia.com, who at that time was helping to organize the Midwest Intercollegiate Taiwanese…

Girl Power Leading the Way for Taiwanese American Collegiate Conferences!

Each year, the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA) hosts three regional conferences throughout the country bringing together hundreds of Taiwanese Americans for cultural, educational, and identity-focused programming and community-networking. The ITASA East Coast conference recently took place at MIT, and now the ITASA Midwest conference at UT Austin and the West Coast conference at UCSD are quickly approaching. At the helm this year is a group of amazing women leaders…

Filmmaker Arvin Chen Greets the World with “Au Revoir Taipei”

Back in 2007, I watched a short film entitled Mei, created by a young Taiwanese American filmmaker by the name of Arvin Chen. The production was memorable for the heartfelt and endearing emotions captured through the simple fleeting expressions between boy and girl working in a Taipei night market stand. What struck me even more was finding out that Arvin was able to direct his short film without having full command of Mandarin language skills. Three years later, his first feature-length film, Au…

Greetings From Young Taiwanese American Actress Crystal Chiu, Co-star of “Children of Invention”

TaiwaneseAmerican.org is proud to present a future star in our Taiwanese American community, Crystal Chiu! We take a moment to ask this talented young actress some questions about her role in Tze Chun's critically acclaimed film "Children of Invention." Also want to know what her favorite Taiwanese food is? Then, take a peek! She's adorable, well-spoken, and definitely has a bright shining future ahead! "Children of Invention" will have its New York and Los Angeles theatrical premiere on Friday,…

Connecting with Janet Hsieh, Host of Discovery’s Fun Taiwan!

Depending on where you're tuning in from, you may or may not have heard of Janet Hsieh, an American-born Taiwanese model and the current host of Discovery Travel & Living Channel's "Fun Taiwan." Broadcast throughout 25 countries around Asia, this show has gained wide recognition for Janet as she explores many of the hidden treasures throughout Taiwan! Adored by her many fans for an adventurous and playful personality, one can find her beautiful face plastered on billboards and advertisements…

Look At THESE! The Slants Reclaim Their Eyes

TaiwaneseAmerican.org and Turtlistmedia.com present an interview with The Slants, started by their band leader hapa-Taiwanese American Simon Young! This Oregon-based band combines the sounds of 80’s synth pop with fresh dance-punk melodies and style. Their name reclaims and celebrates the “slanted” eye as beautiful and something to be proud of and they are redefining the unlimited three-dimensionality of the Asian American body with each show they kill. While they are clearly about the music,…

Comedian Sheng Wang and the Surreality of Everyday Mundane Experiences

Sheng Wang is a Taiwanese Texan comedian currently living in New York. We recently caught up with him at Go!Style, an Asian American performance event in the Bay Area which TaiwaneseAmerican.org helped sponsor. When Sheng gets on stage, he just looks like your average friendly Taiwanese guy with an unassuming stage presence. But as he walks around, awesome things start spewing from his mouth as he makes hilarious commentary out of his ordinary experiences. Curious, we asked him a few questions…

A Moment with the Actors and Production Team Behind “Formosa Betrayed.”

Ho Chie Tsai, creator of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, chats with a few of the actors and production team behind the upcoming movie, Formosa Betrayed at the San Francisco / Bay Area's 2010 annual Lunar New Year celebration. Revolving around the theme, "Projecting Our Presence," the event was hosted by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and the 2nd generation organizations in the area including TAP-SF, TACL-LYF, FAPA-YPG, TJCC, Young TAITA, NATEA 2, NATMA 2G, and NATWA II. Formosa Betrayed is a political action…

Jeremy Lin: A Boston Fan’s Broadcast from the Bleachers

2/6/10 UPDATE: Vote for Jeremy for the Bob Cousy Award -- he is one of 11 finalists and voting is allowed every 24 hours per email. Let's show our support and vote each day between now and when the voting ends March 5! -- I first heard about Jeremy Lin only recently when my friend Alvin Lin shared his article in Hyphen Magazine summarizing the media coverage on Jeremy's increasing fame. Since I live in the Boston area and was curious to see how good he really was, I invited friends and members…

A Taste of Life and Passion with Flour Bakery’s Joanne Chang

Joanne Chang, owner of Flour Bakery and Myers + Chang Restaurant, spoke with two of our Boston correspondents, Chia Liu and Karen T. Lin, on a busy Saturday lunch hour at her bakery in the South End. The three of us squeeze into her tiny back office, and with the hustle-bustle of the kitchen as our backdrop, Joanne shares with us how she got to where she is today and imparts important words of wisdom to us about pursuing our passions for the right reasons. After arriving early to Flour Bakery,…