tinabot

Dragonflight By Anne McCaffrey

2011-04-05T09:51:00.001-07:00

The GOOD: Dragons. And lots of them. There's nothing more disappointing than reading a book with the word "dragon" in the title and then finding that there are not enough dragons in the story. The character Lessa is amusing in a vicious sort of way, and it is pretty cool that a slave girl saves the world.

The BAD: The plot is sound but a little too convenient. Revelations didn't seem to strike me as revealing. My reaction to major reveals was "Oh, okay, that's convenient." The relationship between Lessa and F'Lar the dragonman is kinda disturbing because the overall characterization of Lessa makes her seem like a "girl" in the teenage sense of the word whereas descriptions of F'Lar are like "man" in the mid-30s sense of the word. I think technically they're noted as closer in age, but the characterization pulls them apart. F'Lar always feels more like an uncle or father figure to Lessa, but they're also involved, so it seems a bit jail-baity. Also, their "romance" generally just doesn't feel substantial. They supposedly can barely be apart near the end of the story, and Lessa gets jealous at one point, but it just wasn't enough or believable. I couldn't get invested in the romance and it just felt forced.

Bottom Lin: Great story for action, adventure, and dragons, but falls flat on the romance aspect.

Even Random Ninjas needs support!

2011-03-06T22:58:00.000-08:00

You can't live in L.A. and not be a supporter of local music. It's part of our history and in our blood. This is one hard working band that's going to bring a new amazing sound to the world. Check out their video and support!

The Love Boat: Exciting and… Taiwanese?

2011-02-17T11:26:00.001-08:00

“I’ve signed you up for a Chinese language and cultural program in Taiwan for this summer,” my mom informed me in Taiwanese.

I had just graduated from high school, and college was just a couple months away. Being a total goodie-two-shoes super nerd, I was delighted at the news. A summer of Chinese culture and language? Heck yeah. Immediately I shared the news with friends and quickly found out that others in my heavily Taiwanese American neighborhood were going on the trip. I waved the brochure around enthusiastically. Then someone asked, “So why did you decide to go on the Love Boat?”

Read the rest of the article published on 8Asians:

http://www.8asians.com/2011/02/10/the-love-boat-exciting-and-taiwanese/

Ip Man 2: The New Age of Kung Fu

2011-02-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

Donnie Yen has been one of those awesome martial artists that have always had a solid presence in the martial arts film world, but with Jacky Chan and Jet Li always headlining, I’ve noticed it’s pretty easy for the casual American viewer to pass him by, even though he’s been the star of many films in his own right and has crossed fists with every kung fu film star out there. When I watched Blade II in 2002, for example, I cried out in disbelief when Yen was quickly and easily killed by mutant vampires. Apparently one of the only ones in the theater affronted by a such an easy Donnie Yen kill, I’m surprised I wasn’t booed to silence as promptly I spent a good fifteen minutes complaining about it in my theater seat. At least he had a pretty sweet fight scene opposite Jet Li in the film Hero that same year.

Read more at the article published at 8Asians.com

http://www.8asians.com/2011/02/02/ip-man-2-the-new-age-of-kung-fu/

Review of Waking Dragons by Boran Powell

2011-02-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

Waking Dragons: A Martial Artist Faces His Ultimate Test by Goran Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this book at the right time.

My friends and I were working out preparing for a week of activities in Hawaii. Snorkeling, jet skiing, hiking, swimming...doesn't sound like much, but since we work and live a mostly sedentary life like ours, we'd only last a few minutes at each activity if we didn't shape up. So we started watching our calories and working out mornings and evenings. I started out with swimming a mile a week and worked my way up to four miles a week. We started losing pounds, slimming down, and getting physically fit. We even watched Rocky 1-6.

Waking Dragons is an autobiographical account of a regular guy living a modern life with job and family--the only thing is he's a passionate martial artist. The tale begins with his childhood judo romps and follows him from one martial arts school to another. He accumulates knowledge and trains his body over time, and the story culminates in a 30-man kumite where he has to fight 30 people, one every minute.

As I was reading this book, I related to it on two levels. First, I love martial arts, too. Although I haven't pursued it as seriously, I know what it's like to search for the nearest karate dojo or kung fu teacher everywhere I go and to try one school and then another, learning something new from each teacher and martial arts style. This passion and habit has made all the difference in my life. Second, since I was on this Hawaii fitness program with my friends, I was inspired by Powell's efforts planning his fitness and diet program, balancing the demands of life/work and fitness, and pushing against that wall while working out.

That said, I wonder how well a non-martial artist would relate to this book. I'm thinking if you're one of those readers who's into books about interpersonal relationships or romantic dramas or occult intrigue, this is probably not the book for you. However, if you're looking for a companion on your own journey towards fitness or someone who's experienced and pursued martial arts training, this book is one of the best martial arts literature out there.

View all my reviews

Books I'm writing...

2011-01-25T21:01:00.000-08:00

Since people are asking when the next Phoenix Mountain book is coming out, I thought I would share my upcoming book writing projects that are in the works. Here they are in the order of planned completion:

Copper's New School - 40% complete

Copper's a little Taiwanese American girl who just started first grade at a brand new school. She's the only Asian kid in the entire school, and that causes her have a tough time trying to figure out who or what she is, but eventually, she travels full circle and finally comes home.

The Writing Teacher's Toolkit - 20% complete

Writing is an extremely important skill to master, but it's one of the hardest subjects to learn and teach. This book is a collection of practical strategies for teaching writing based on over a decade of experience teaching writing to students of all ages as well as on the existing literature on writing pedagogy, including a theoretical framework to help teachers understand and manage the complexities of the the writing process and human learning. Reproducibles included.

The Return to Phoenix Mountain - 15% complete

Qi script power is awakening all over the world creating panic and fear. Authorities start to take drastic measures to try to control the situation, and Kyle and Tai find themselves having to battle people who are using their qi script abilities for selfish purposes. They then find themselves summoned back to the world of Tian to face a new and unexpected enemy.

NIN - 20% complete

In a United Earth society with its central government located on the moon, Siraya is an average 8th grade girl from a unremarkable neighborhood who is accepted at the NIN Academy, the most exclusive high school in the world that is located on the moon itself. Only the best, brightest, strongest, and fastest are accepted to the Academy, and Siraya is the first from her family to gain entrance. Graduates of this school are destined to become leaders of humanity, but as Siraya starts her first day, she finds out that she's out-classed, out-run, and out-smarted by everyone in her class. Not used to being the dead last worst student at school, Siraya struggles with homesickness and failure as she tries to decide whether she's cut out to be a NIN.

COWBOY NINJA - 5%

In the old west, a young writer Eowyn and her older brother Aidyn find themselves surrounded by a band of outlaws. All seems lost when they miraculously are rescued by a mysterious young cowboy who throws sheriff stars like daggers and takes down the bad guys with super human fighting. Eowyn quickly puts pen to paper as she begins to record the tall tales of the Cowboy Ninja.

I can't wait to finish all these books ^_^

Chaos Theory

2011-01-25T01:40:00.000-08:00

I ended up watching Chaos Theory because I was looking for another movie like The Proposal and I'm a student of chaos/systems theory.

What a pleasant surprise! This one had me cracking up and crying at the same time.

Ryan Reynolds really outdid himself in this one, bringing the main character, OCD afflicted Frank Allen, to life with a vengeance. I couldn't help but join the poor guy on his tragic journey of self-discovery while at the same time laugh at his quirky stress responses.

Favorite Quote: "Speech...my wife...the movies...TSH GAH!"

The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds

2011-01-25T01:15:00.000-08:00

My first impression of this movie when I saw it on billboards was that it was just a rehash of a same-old same-old tale of green card marriage scams, but I was interested in watching it because of Sandra Bullock. When I had chances to watch it, though, I didn't follow through, thinking I probably wouldn't enjoy it. Finally, while folding laundry one day and cleaning up my desk, I figured, what they hey, it's on my netflix streaming. I'll just let it play while I work.

This ended up being one of the funniest romance comedies I've seen. There were three elements that made it a great film.

First, Sandra Bullock is always fun to watch. She did a great job of playing a real pain in the neck, matriarchal boss and then showing the small emotional changes the character goes through as she develops.

Second, Ryan Reynolds was great at being the snarky and lowly assistant. The comedy timing and chemistry between the two of them was excellent.

Third, the writing and overall storytelling was really solid and very clever. Though the plot was old, it was regenerated in a new context with very interesting and likable characters. I especially like the use of anti-climax through out so that things get serious, but not too serious, so there's always a level of playfulness.

A supporting cast of seasoned actors didn't hurt, either.

My favorite line? "She comes with a lot of baggage." lol Gammy you crack me up.

The Green Hornet (2011)

2011-01-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

I hardly get to go to theaters to watch movies anymore, but thanks to some friends who have been long time Jay Chou fans, I ended up watching this one on the opening weekend.

I went into watching this film with very low expectations. I didn't expect to be laughing and smiling the whole way through. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This ended up being one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

The chemistry between Jay Chou and Seth Rogen worked out really well. Overall, it was great storytelling, cutting edge but basic at the same time.

Response to Amy Chua’s “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior”

2011-01-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

This article was originally published on ASIANWEEK.COM

On January 8, Yale professor and writer Amy Chua published an article entitled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” in The Wall Street Journal. It caused what has been called “a firestorm of controversy“.

Chua’s article has brought an important issue to light, though I haven’t seen it mentioned in any of the scathing comments I’ve read so far. I haven’t read all of them (3397 comments at the writing of this).

The important issue is: What’s the point of all this achievement anyways?

In my shifting through standardized test data during my doctoral years, I noticed pretty consistently that Asian Americans tended to outscore their peers. This is even true when they’re compared to White students, who they either score close to or higher than. Apparently, this trend continues as seen in College Board’s Total Group Profile Report for the 2009 SATs. (To be fair, it should be taken into account that API make up only 5% of the nation, so there’s naturally a smaller sample size.) I’m not familiar with classical music performance statistics of Asian Americans compared to their peers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if similar results were found. Although I attended high school in a very diverse neighborhood, with almost equal amounts of Hispanic, White, and Asian students, the most advanced classes were always filled with Asian Americans. I think we had eight valedictorians in my graduating high school class, all of Asian heritage. I think it is evidence such as these, both statistical and anecdotal, that have lead people like Chua to think that Chinese American parents or Asian American parents in general are “better parents” since they produce more “successful children”.

The obvious problem is that “success” is a very subjective and culturally/personally defined concept. Success to one guy may mean getting a job that pays six figures, buying a house, and raising a family. Success to another guy may be becoming a world renowned rock musician who is able to mobilize the support of a massive international fan base to help tsunami relief victims. To guy number two standards, guy number one is a total and utter failure, and vice versa.

So, given some of the evidence discussed and to respond to some of Chua’s comments, let’s say it can be generally concluded that Asian Americans are, as a group and on average, 1) extremely good at taking tests, 2) getting good grades, and 3) playing classical piano and violin. Basically, the model minority stereotype. Of course, there is great diversity in the category of Asian Pacific American that don’t fall into these characteristics, but we’re speaking in terms of the general average of the overall group.

Let’s take each of these achievements and consider for a moment what they are worth.

1) Asian Americans are excellent at taking tests.

As a public school teacher, I was asked by one of my Hispanic American students “Why are Asians so smart? How do they do it?”

What a great question. Well, here’s what I think. At around AD 605, an Imperial Examination system was established in China in which people in China could study to pass a test and get promoted to a higher standing in society as a government official. The higher your test scores, the better your social standing and career projections. Clearly, much of China’s culture and knowledge were spread all over the Asian continent in major exchanges. Such Imperial Examination systems were established elsewhere such as Vietnam and Japan. It seems that Asians have been taking standardized tests for almost 1,500 years. That’s a lot of practice.

All this testing and getting a better job sounds great, like America, right? All you have to do is study hard and you can climb the socioeconomic ladder to a better future for you and your family. Unfortunately, there’s more. I quote from Iris Chang’s book “The Chinese in America”:

“But the most effective weapon in the Manchu arsenal was the imperial examination systems, which used civil service tests as a mechanism of social order, forcing all aspiring officials to write essays on ancient Chinese literature and philosophy…These tests created the illusion of meritocracy, of a system in which power and prestige were achieved not through lineage but through individual hard work and the rigors of learning…the examination system had the nefarious result of creating a society in which the Han constantly competed against each other for favor with their rulers.” (p. 7-8)

So, while the kids of other American ethnic groups are writing books, painting great works of art, making films, creating powerful social networks, learning about life in the real world, and gathering in political activism, Asian American kids are communally if not individually pushed to spend entire summers strapped to a chair trying to master the art of the multiple choice question and, worse, feeling pretty smug about scoring higher on a standardized test score than everyone else.

2) Asian Americans are great at getting perfect grades.

I’d like to answer this with a personal anecdote. In my AP Calculus class in high school, we had this horribly incompetent teacher who one day decided that since she liked to see kids dressed up formally, we could get a perfect score on the next day’s quiz without taking it if we come to class dressed up. Basically put on a tie or some heels, and you get a 20/20 perfect score automatically. Many of my mostly Asian American classmates (this is AP Calc after all) complained about how stupid that was and how they weren’t going to play her little game. Following the crowd, I too defiantly stated that I wouldn’t be her monkey. The next day, I went to school in my normal t-shirt, sweatpants, and sneakers, and what did I see? Practically everyone from that class had dressed up, even the ones who had said they were going to be defiant and not play her game. Upset that I was almost alone in my little demonstration of defiance (one other girl out of a class of 32 didn’t dress up either), I took the test and scored 16/20, a B-. I was horrified and wanted to cry. Afterwards, one of my Asian American peers said to me “You’re so stupid. Why didn’t you dress up? It’s an easy A!” Luckily a friend of mine defended me with “At least she knows she earned her grade for real!” or else I would have burst into tears there and then.

While being trained as an educational researcher, I found out that no respectable researcher wants to use student grades in their research. Teacher grading is just too variable and unpredictable to be a reliable measure of student abilities.

So, this leaves us with the question, is the straight A student a genius or just a really highly functioning monkey? (Hint: The answer’s not a simple one.)

3) Asian Americans are great at playing classical piano and violin.

When I was studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan during my college summers, I often saw posters of young boys wearing black tuxes or girls in white flowing dresses holding a violin or poised at a piano. Clearly there was a market for people wanting to see prodigy musicians.

When I watched the newest “Karate Kid” movie with Jaden Smith, his Chinese girl love interest was also an expert musician…at a western instrument.

This phenomenon has of course leaked over to Asian Americans, many of whom were forced to learn violin or piano.

“Asian Americans are great at playing classical piano and violin” can be easily restated to say “Asian Americans are only good at imitating music written by Western composers with Western instruments.”

Now, I don’t want any Asian Americans who are really talented with and passionate about a Western instrument or musical style to think I’m attacking them personally, nor do I take lightly the skill it takes to play Mozart or Beethoven. But as a group phenomenon, the fact that most Asian Americans and Asians put so much value on being able to play Für Elise instead of High Mountain and Running River (one of the oldest songs in the history of the world) to me is evidence that as a group, we are not valuing our musical heritage at all.

Conclusion:

What am I advocating? Should Asian Americans start failing tests and dropping out of school? Should we all be ashamed to pick up an electric guitar or violin instead of a guqin or shamisen? Absolutely not. What I advocate is what Lisa Delpit inspired me to understand in her book “Other People’s Children,” that there is culture and politics in education. When we take the standardized test or receive grades, we should take them not with the mindset to gain personal glory or advancement. We should have the understanding that tests and grades are political tools used to sort and control us, that until this blockade is removed, we should beat it in any way we can, whether it is by scoring so high that nobody will have an excuse to close a door of opportunity on us or by encouraging views of alternative forms of “success” or by writing your first book before your 19, an accomplishment no one can deny you once you’ve done it. Instead of blindly pushing our kids to master Western classical music on Western instruments, maybe we can ask them if they might want to try the pipa or kulingtang. Maybe we can encourage them to create a musical style that is uniquely Asian American the way hip hop, jazz, rock, and latin music are credited to their respective ethnic origins. Maybe they can become composers of new and brilliant music.

For all our high test scores and record breaking GPAs and award-winning classical music performances, politically we fall behind all the other American ethnic groups and are the last in line for the presidency.

There are many reasons why we are in this situation, but at the very least, we shouldn’t be the ones making chumps of ourselves.

So whether or not you agree with Amy Chua’s style of parenting (a style my Taiwanese Chinese American mom did not use with me), the important question for the Asian American is what sort of future are we really taking our children towards? Are we truly empowering them to be agents of freedom and change for themselves and their communities or are we only helping them learn how to enslave themselves further in systems of control?

“Arrogance diminishes wisdom.” – Arabian Proverb

Back to the Future...again!

2011-01-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

I just watched the Back to the Future Trilogy on the 25th anniversary blu-ray release, and I hadn't cracked up that much in a long, long time.

I was seven years old when the movie came out in theaters in 1985, and there are so many reasons why watching the whole triology again was so much fun.

First of all, it's just such a great film series to watch. It's just as much fun today as the first day I saw it (and then proceeded to watch again and again and again). The acting is just fabulous. The story is really character driven. Even though it's got time travel and some cool effects, it's really about the character Marty, Doc Brown, and the whole gang. The actors really make the characters come to life, but also take it a step further so that they're almost caricatures but at the same time grounded, realistic, and believable. Marty is just that typical teenage kid that any American adolescent can connect with, so you just can't help but join him on his wild and crazy adventures. Doc Brown is totally that fun crazy scientist that every kid wishes was their uncle. Biff and all his incarnations is that burly and perfectly stupid bully that everyone just loves to hate. Then there's Marty's parents, so very Mom and Dad yet so vulnerable and human at the same time. The soundtrack is just so epic and perfect. I think putting this big-sound, epic-fantasy music mixed with 80's hip style really made it feel like an adventure in your own backyard.

Next, it's just so awesome to see the 80s again. This film really captures the sensibilities of it's time, and I guess having been released in 1985, right in the smack middle of the 80s, really made it a marker, a touchstone of the times. I was in elementary school throughout the 80s, so I really felt just like a kid again watching it. The experience seeing it at 32 was oh-so-nostalgic of 3rd grade. I grew up with the generation of kids that sat in front of their tubes (not YouTube) watching G.I. Joe, Smurfs, Transformers, Rainbow Brite, and My Little Pony. Sure, it's fun to have seen Transformers and G.I. Joe in live action movies today (and I'm a little terrified of the Smurfs film coming up), especially when you go back to those cartoons today and think "Wow, I had low standards back then", but it's such a trip that a movie like Back To The Future is just as great to watch now as it was then. In fact, having become a writer and gotten to know the process of film making and how impossible it is to pull off a great film, I feel like I appreciate it so much more today as a masterpiece of entertainment and story-telling.

Finally, the time-travel experience is absolutely perfected for me personally by the fact that this film was shot all in Los Angeles County. I grew up during the 80's in Whittier, CA, and the external high school scenes were shot at Whittier High School. Also, the mall parking lot where Marty blasts off into the past in the suped-up DeLorean was shot at the Puente Hills Mall, my neighborhood mall in my pre-teen and teen years. Seeing the footage of the mall when Robinsons and JCPenny were still there really took me back. And I noticed the Fudruckers that had turned into a Barnes and Nobles and marveled at the fact that that same Ross store is still there! The parking lot looked almost exactly the way it looks today. 25th anniversary indeed!

It's also worth noting that in Back to the Future II, Marty, Jennifer, and Doc Brown travel 30 years into the future...to 2015. It just turned 2011. That's four years from now! OMG, I cracked up so much at what they had designed the future to look like. Flying cars? Household fusion reactors? Not after 9-11 girls and boys! I can see how it was tough to predict that the biggest change would be in computers and satellite technology and that we'd be able to access the entire developed world in the palm of our hands. But yeah, I remember when I was a kid, my parents said that by the time I drove, we'd have flying cars. Better attach those hover engines to my Honda Odyssey tomorrow.

After watching this trilogy again, I started to see some of the influence it had on my own story writing style. Kyle's kind of like Marty, pulled into a crazy adventure that changes him completely forever. Ah-gong is a little like his Doc Brown, though he's not as all over the story. I wasn't thinking of these films at all when I wrote the story, but I think the way I handled Kyle as a character does have some of Marty's reactiveness in him. Thank you Michael J. Fox. ^_^

One of my greatest childhood disappointments was finding out that the hover boards didn't really exist. I really, really, really wanted one, and I when I saw the footage of the wire-work that went into creating the hover board scenes, I felt so depressed. I wanted so very much for them to be real! Gotta hand it to the special effects at the time for making me dream.

I'm so grateful to the people who put these films together and made them possible. It's such a treasure trove of good feelings, good laughs, and good times. To everyone who had a hand in making the Back to the Future films, thanks guys for all the sleepless nights and hard work! Totally enjoyed the ride!

Check out Michael J. Fox's foundation for Parkinson's disease!

Tinabot's Trip to Hawaii (Honolulu, Oahu)

2010-12-31T00:04:00.000-08:00

Why Hawaii?

Well, first of all, it's Hawaii. It's a beautiful place with delicious food and nice people with a rich and diverse culture and heritage. There's so much to do, and the natural scenery is simply gorgeous. Second, it's America. It's great to be in a place that's different enough to make me feel like I'm "away" but where I can still feel the comfort and convenience of everything that makes America awesome. It also felt great to know that the money I was spending was going back into the U.S. economy. Land of the free. Absolutely.

Day 1

The first thing I noticed when I arrived at Honolulu Hawaii on Oahu was this sign at the airport that said "go! Hawaiian". I'm still not sure what the unconventionality means. I had left behind a Los Angeles drenched in continuous rain, and the humidity in Hawaii hit me right away, but it still wasn't as bad as the humidity in a Taiwan metropolis on a summer day.

Our taxi ended up being an old limo, albeit a beat up one, but we quickly realized that limo cabs were very common. Our limo cabs became nicer as the trip progressed, although I only have a picture of this one.

After settling in at a rented condo on Waikiki, we were famished and headed for the nearest place that promised a nice variety of food to choose from--The International Marketplace.

"It's like Taiwan here."

"It's like Malaysia."

"It's like the Philippines."

We were commenting on the massive tropical trees and thick green foliage everywhere. One large tree was filled with a variety of chirping birds. We avoided walking under it because we didn't want to start out our trip with bird poop in our hair.

It wasn't just the greenery and the humidity that reminded us of the Asian Pacific rim countries. There were so many Asian Americans around us with plenty of tourists from Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. The heavy influence of the Asian heritage there was in everything.

When we got to the food court, we found ourselves with a choice of Vietnamese Pho, Japanese sushi, Chinsese stir fry, Korean BBQ, etc. We opted for Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood Co, trying to go with something relatively local because coming from L.A. we could get all of those other options any time. I went all out and got lobster and steak. Needless to say, it was delicious.

After eating, it was still kind of overcast and drizzling, but the air was warm and humid. We decided the best thing to do was to go swimming at the beach in front of our rental. The water was a little chilly but overall still warm enough to enjoy. However, there was just one problem. I'm a swimmer, and by swimmer, I mean pools of crystal clear chlorinated water with no creatures or growing barnacles. I hate barnacles. And corals. And salty water. The rocks were furry. Gross. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the swim.

We stayed at the Aston Waikiki Beach Tower, which is gorgeous by the way. It's pricey, but doable if you split with friends like we did. The entrance was hung with vining flowers and the view from my bedroom and the living room was the ocean. I could have sun-tanned in my bed if I had wanted to.

Day 2

I have always loved McDonald's breakfast, and this one in Hawaii was extra special. Spam with eggs and rice. The rice was good, the kind my mom made for me at home--calrose, fluffy, white, and not salty or otherwise strangely flavored.

After the hearty breakfast, we rented a car and headed off to Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona Memorial. We weren't allowed to bring bags into the area, so we had to check them in for $3. This must be a post 9-11 change. The USS Arizona Memorial consists of a film and a ferry ride to the memorial itself constructed over the sunken USS Arizona battleship still filled with the remains of the majority of the soldiers that went down with her on December 7, 1941, sixty-nine years ago. The tickets to the ferry and memorial were not only free, they were nicely done. Each one had a picture of a soldier on it for us to remember.

When we got there, the next available ferry was at 12:30, almost two hours away, so we looked at some of the artifacts displayed on the lawns and memorial tablets of the ships.

I had recently bought my Barnes and Nobles Nook Color, and I have this habit of naming my devices as if they are pets, but I was having trouble thinking of one for my Nook. Then I saw the memorial tablet for the USS Snook. Perfect.

The new fact I learned that day was that the Japanese in WWII not only had flying suicide bombers, they also had Kaitens--manned torpedoes. Fortunately for us, only one of these suicide subs caused substantial damage on an American vessel.

Armed with an audio tour device, we paid to visit the USS Bowfin (SS-287). This submarine was nicknamed the Pearl Harbor Avenger and launched exactly one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I think if I had served on this sub, I would have wanted to sleep in these bunks that were right over the torpedoes. Not sure why.

I believe that big wheel turned in conjunction with another almost identical wheel is what causes the submarine to dive. Either that or our American tour guide was just yelling "Dive! Dive!" with a Filipino accent for dramatic effect while we turned them.

These two rooms are probably where I'd like to spend most of my time. One's got a desk and typewriter for my writing time and the other has mugs for tea time. Perfect.

This is what a submarine's all about. On the audio tour, one of the veterans speaking said that if you had no more torpedoes, your tour was over and you might as well just head home. There was no point in an unarmed deployed sub.

After a film about the Pearl Harbor bombing, we went on the ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial. I was too busy trying unsuccessfully not to burst into tears the whole time so I took no pictures of the ferry itself.

If you look closely at what looks like just pictures of muddy water, you can see the rusted ship remains outlined in the water. The last time I was at this memorial, I was a teenager, which was about a decade and a half ago. There was oil leaking out of the Arizona then and there's still oil leaking out of it now. I always felt like it was like it was still bleeding.

Being in a solemn place likes this inspires reflection on life, the world, and humanity. I thought about how lucky I was to be visiting war in a museum instead of living it in my backyard. I reminded myself that as a teacher, it is my duty to do everything I can to prevent the need for memorials like this one. War doesn't start with a knife or a bullet. It begins in the human heart.

We didn't have time to go to the new USS Missouri exhibit, but I did get to take this picture of it from afar. We'll save this one for next year.

Next we took a scenic drive through the middle of Oahu and ended up on the East Shore where we found a secluded local park that happened to have a beach attached to it. The drive reminded me a lot of the eastern side of Taiwan which is also less metropolitan, more rural, and very lush and green with vast mountain vistas.

The next destination was a visit to the famous Giovanni's shrimp truck where I got the tastiest plate of shrimp, garlic, and rice I've ever had in my life. The truck looks like a dump and the little plot of muddy land it parks on is infested with chickens. That didn't take away from how delicious their dishes were.

Our next stop was of course the Polynesian Cultural Center. Word of advice, the "Luau" they have there is not really worth the extra money. Just go to the buffet. The only fancy thing was that you get a fresh lei of flowers, but the food was only okay. It felt like a cafeteria. The one really tasty and unique item was a purple taro dinner roll. Sadly, they had no more smoothies in a pineapple by the time I asked for one.

The Ha Breath of Life show was spectacular. It's definitely the Disney version, I'm sure, but it was a great production with intricate costume designs and well done choreography and story-telling. Of course, everyone's favorite part was the fire dancers.

Day 3

When we headed out and signed up for some jet ski and snorkeling time, we found our receptionist was a bit territorial and barked at guests to make sure they knew who was boss.

We were ferried out to where the jet ski course was.

At first, I couldn't go very fast because every time I sped up, my jet ski seemed to go in every direction at once; I couldn't hold it steady. There were of course small waves, plus I wasn't heavy enough to steady that thing into the water. Then I realized if I did a horse-stance, I could go full speed and adapt to the dynamic movements over the turbulence with ease. I had sore legs the next day, but it was great fun.

After jet skiing, we went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. It was disgusting. Anyone within earshot of my snorkel would have heard me spitting in disgust at all the nasty coral growth on the ground and blegh-ing at being swarmed by fish. I did have fun swimming after a strange pair of fish, one large and pink and the other small and blue, but overall I felt like I was mucking around in a fish tank that has never been cleaned. I'd do it again, though.

We ended the day with a buffet at the Oceanarium, a restaurant that has a large fish tank in the middle. I finally got my smoothie in a pineapple, and a smoking one no less.

Day 4

I love breakfast buffets, and the one at Duke's on Waikiki was one of the best I've ever had. I'm one of those waffle eaters that likes jam with my waffles instead of syrup, so when I spotted some guava jelly, I was so happy. I'd never had guava jelly before, so this was a real treat.

Next, we hopped on a trolly to the Atlantis submarine ride. Aside from the man-made corals, some great sights we saw down there were some puffer fish, sea turtles, and an eel. I was hoping to see a shark...but was also glad we didn't see one. Like I said, I'm a swimmer, but not in the ocean, and I have a love/hate relationship with sharks. The Shark Attack attraction is the first place I want to go to when I'm at Sea World, but I'm really quite terrified of sharks and other large ocean creatures.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the waters of Waikiki beach, and I realized that the water was shallow for like a mile out into the ocean. I rented a boogie board hoping to "catch" some waves, but the waters were so gentle, I realized I'd actually need some skills to do any type of surfing. When I was on a boogie board Huntington Beach So Cal, a wave caught me and propelled me to the shore, so I had expected the same thing here. Guess I should have gone to north shore, which is where everyone said all the big waves were during the winter season at Oahu. Despite the icky salty water and disgustingly slimy rocks, there are few things more beautiful than staring out at the sunset while floating in the ocean. I felt like I was in that CG penguin movie Surf's Up and the New Radical's song "You Get What You Give" started playing in my head.

That night we headed over to Tiki's Grill and Bar, which isn't the most OG Hawaiian food around, but at least I got the Aloha Friday Hawaiian Plate which had some items I hadn't ingested before: Kalua pig, lau lau, lomi salmon, ahi poke, mashed Okinawan sweet potato (the purple stuff), coconut haupia, and poi. I think growing up in L.A. really spoiled me to want to eat something totally different every day, so I always jump at the chance to try something new. I've got to find this dish in L.A. somewhere.

At night we went to the local grocery store to check out what it's like, and on the way we saw Makittii, a Hello Kitty themed Japanese seafood buffet. It was interesting, but we didn't go eat there because the food didn't look extra awesome, and none of us were big enough Hello Kitty fans to be lured in. It's definitely a must for a Sanrio geek.

On the way back, we saw this hip hop happening hang ten guinea pig. Gnarly dude.

Day 5

At the crack of dawn, we were off on a hike up Diamond Head, a volcanic tuff cone that's named so because they found rocks up there that were thought to be diamonds (false alarm). It was a tough climb, but luckily we'd been working out for over two months before to make the best of our Hawaiian journey, so we made it to the top.

Needless to say, the view was spectacular, and it felt good to have made it up there, like Rocky Balboa beating Apollo Creed good. There were a lot of bugs up there, though.

Our next move was to go on a food hike to some spots recommended by friends. First stop was Tenkaippin Ramen. Nothing like a warm bowl of ramen after an early morning hike. It's a good size, and the broth is both hearty and tasty.

Thanks to some GPS action on my Sprint Evo, we were able to find Waiola Shave Ice in a converted home hidden behind a commercial building. I ordered the blue one, large, which is apparently bigger than Obama's order from Island Snow (his looks like a medium). Mine, the blue one, was vanilla flavored with concentrated milk, pudding, and mochi. My tongue matched my blue shirt afterwards.

Our last stop was Leonard's bakery

The malasadas were delectable. I'm not much of a donut eater, but when I do have donuts, my favorites are usually the suger powdered ones. The malasada is like a super awesome soft and lightly chewy version of that. It makes regular donuts seem like rocks in comparison.

In the afternoon, I made a stop at the local indie bookstore The Recycled Bookstore and picked up some used books for a few bucks, including the "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" screenplay.

Nearby was a farmer's market where we got fresh papayas and some macadamia pancake mix, coconut peanut butter, and sugar cane syrup. I can't wait to have a bit of Hawaii for breakfast back home in L.A.

Day 6

As I left Hawaii, I grabbed some delicious lychee and li hing candy and some sweet potato chips at the airport for the ride home. I thought about how much exercise and fresh air I got and all the delicious food I got to enjoy. When I set off for Hawaii, I didn't expect that I would want to return again soon, but I realized I wanted to come back next winter and hike some active volcanoes on the Big Island and actually go surfing even though I'm terrified of sharks and orcas (mental image of myself punching a shark in the nose and then swimming frantically away).

Hawaii is awesome! I can't wait to go back again.

Laurence Yep's "Dragon of the Lost Sea"

2010-06-04T01:32:00.000-07:00

I was walking between the short, dusty brown shelves of my local neighborhood library when I saw it. Someone had placed a gray hardcover book on display on the top shelf. Epically splashed across the cover was a beautiful painting that was reminiscent of classic Chinese brush art complete with sloping mountains and a bright moon. What really caught my eye, however, was the painting of an East Asian boy riding on the back of a dragon that was Asian in design except that she had wings like a European dragon. [The cover you see in the Amazon link here is a new one and not the one I saw as a child.] Immediately judging this book by its cover, I snatched it off the shelf and checked it out with my library card, my little nine-year-old mind greedy and ready for an adventure filled with dragons, magic, and demons. Dragon of the Lost Sea by Laurence Yep remains my favorite childhood book until this day.

Fast forward two decades later, and I've finally written my first book. I'd like to think of the two books as being a part of the same niche genre, some of the few out there that integrates heritages to create something new, something uniquely American, something that tastes like a California sushi roll.

Tamarind Duck Tacos and Death Sauce

2010-05-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

The Flying Pig Truck

I have an affinity for dishes like this. I think it has something to do with my identity issues.

Imagine peking duck with a lightly spiced red sauce and wrapped in little tortillas. White mantao bao bread (featured in my novel) has always been a favorite of mine, so the ones you see on top with the fried tofu in the middle were very satisfying. They did, however, come with 'death sauce'. I hope that's not indicative of the sodium content of the sauce. I guess that's real ninja food.

The coolest pencil case in the world...

2010-05-19T19:33:00.001-07:00

Wasabi everybody? ^O^

Pig's Blood Anyone?

2010-05-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

When I can, I like to stop by Class 302 in Rowland Heights, sit in desks like the ones my parents used as kids in Taiwan, and order some classic Taiwanese bento and snack dishes. This place has amazing drinks and shaved ice desserts, too.

Be forewarned. The pigs blood is deceptively labeled as "rice cake with peanuts" or something in English even though the Chinese on the menu clearly indicates that it's pig's blood.

I mention a lot of food in Phoenix Mountain mainly because I have so much good food around me all the time. I think it's also a result of watching so much Japanese anime, a genre which often quiet scenes of tasty foods.

The Fish

2010-05-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

The Fish

by tinabot

There once was a fish in a bowl

That jumped out and cracked his soul

He realized that day

He never had a say

In what he could live in at all

Peanut Butter Mochi...because we can.

2010-05-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

It's delicious. Especially with tea.

LA Food

2010-05-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

"They say we'll kill them off, take their land, and go there for vacation."

- Rage Against the Machine, 'Darkness'

When you live in LA, you get food from all over the world within a 100 mile radius. Recently there's been a huge boom in the "roach coach" genre of food distribution, and the most extravagant of them all is the World Fare bus which is a double decker diner on wheels with an upstairs you can stand around on and munch on your food.

The Good: The 'bunny chow' curry etc. in a bread is pretty tasty. We ordered one of each, as you can see in the picture. Drinks were okay, and the lemonade is better than the orange.

The Bad: Apparently Bunny Chows began because British imperialists shipped Indians from India over to South Africa to work on golf courses, and because those Indians had no breaks in their work days, friends would bring them the Bunny Chow compact curry in a bread (story is plastered on the bus itself). Now we've got a bus driving around selling Bunny Chow which in a sense double exploits those oppressed Indians. Also, when you stand on the roof and another bus drives by, the exhaust pipe blows right into your face.

Chinese Civilization Channel

2010-05-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

There's so much free content on the internet, but only a small percentage of it is quality content. On YouTube, I found these excellent high definition videos about Chinese history and culture. I immediately began to fervently create a playlist based on it. Be warned, these videos are mostly in Chinese, but the Chinese Civilization Channel also has some programs in English. Either way, the images are beautiful and the traditional Chinese music enchanting. I haven't seen all these videos yet, but when I feel like taking a trip to the East in the comfort of LA weather, I watch this YouTube channel and brush up on my Chinese.

Taiwanese American Mother's Day

2010-05-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

Much of the inspiration for writing The Legend of Phoenix Mountain came from my parents, especially my mother who loves studying Asian history, culture, and language and has passed that passion on to me.

For Mother's Day, I offered to take my mom out to any restaurant she wanted, and she chose to have a nice, big, stench drenched block of stinky tofu stewing in its own fermenting juices. (Click on the image to link to How To Make Fried Stinky Tofu on E-How).

First Steps to Publishing My First Book

2010-05-05T00:06:00.000-07:00

"What are you waiting for? A certain shade of green?" - Incubus

The Legend of Phoenix Mountain is a dream come true for me in so many ways. I've always wanted to write a book, and finally it's done. I've always looked forward to reading a story like this one, and so now it exists. I've dreamed of making an impact on the cultural landscape of humanity's literary and conceptual heritage, and here's a big first attempt. I planned to make some noise as an Asian American voice, and here's my first big shout.

Now I embark on a journey to publish and promote this debut book. Although I have high hopes for its reception, I know I'm in for a long haul of lonely hours sitting at promotion tables and days that go by without a copy sold. Positive or negative, I'm looking forward to people's responses and interpretations of what I've written. If no one loves it, I know at least I do, and above all, I hope that those who read it will find that it gave them something to think about. ^_^

-- tinabot