Elena and Phoebe Take on the City of Angels

I want to apologize for not blogging more frequently, but with all the beautifully exciting things to see in LA, I don’t feel horribly sorry because I’m enjoying living all these experiences.

Nevertheless, I want to provide all you viewers at home with the briefest of brief synopses from the past 3 days:
Saturday ---
We woke on the earlier end of the morning to have a longer day at the beach. After falling asleep facedown in the gloriously warm sand, I decided that I’m probably more of a beach girl. Life felt very much worth living as we walked barefoot through the wet sand, beginning in Venice beach and ending in a stroll –with coffee bean and tea leaf blended drinks in hand- on the Santa Monica pier. [Please note that for the past 4 days I’ve been telling people we walked from Venice beach to Santa Barbara, which is approximately 150 miles off]. On our very warm trip home, Elena and I made a pit stop at In-and-Out Burger, and all I can say is DELICIOUS! Culinary adventures comprise the majority of our cultural excursions into LA, and I will be sad to leave all the wonderful food opportunities behind when we return home to CSprings. --- After a hop, skip, and a shower, we beautified ourselves for dinner. Saturday night was to be an occasion to meet more young people; rather, we sat through an awards ceremony for Chinese engineers in Southern California. Not to stereotype certain groups of people, but I did not anticipate a party thrown by engineers to be particularly hip or thrilling. To further compound this pathetic situation, the engineers are Chinese, a race not necessarily known for throwing wild parties. Nevertheless, I thoroughly appreciated having dinner at the LAX Hilton and enjoyed giggling with Elena.
Sunday ---
Last week we committed ourselves to return to Disneyland for California Adventures, which we did on Sunday. California Adventures is obviously a more adult version of the original Mickey Mouse-inspired amusement park, and I had a blast. We were much more adept at navigating this park, and the number of attractions was much more manageable. Upon entering the park, we all took pictures with Minnie Mouse and then we proceeded immediately to the Tower of Terror. Though this ride was terrifically terrifying and tons of fun, my favorite ride is Soarin’ Over California, which had multi-sensory components (i.e. the smell of pine trees combined with images of snowy peaks). Watching the Aladdin show was also pleasure, however sappy the script and plotline seemed to be. Elena got quite a kick out of the number of racially ambiguous actors in the show. With the conclusion of such a brilliant day, there was little more I could ask for… the jamba juice and a princess crown didn’t hurt.
Monday---
Monday morning was difficult in that it was a little difficult to jump into another work week. Not to complain, but Mr. David Soo Hoo, compiler of the scrapbook we are cataloguing, was not the most organized of individuals. Amid the articles about Chinese American Angelenos, are advertisements for frog preservation and how-to-become-a-detective information. When Elena and I are not suffering from after lunch droopiness, Mr. Soo Hoo’s collection of articles can be quite entertaining. Post-cataloging, Elena and I decided to have an adventure in Hollywood. And we did have quite an adventure, getting lost twice and walking 3.5 miles to the restaurant. On the way to dinner we had a snack at CeFiore, shopped at H&M and American Apparel, and visited Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Dinner was tasty and dessert was delightful at Pizzeria Mozza, a restaurant recommended by our Professor (David Torres-Rouff).

When I said it was hard to get out of bed on Monday, I did not anticipate having to unglue myself from my bed on Tuesday. Least to say is that we were pooped out from our expedition in Hollywood the night before. Hollywood fell far short of my expectations; in place of all the glittery spectacular-ness people are encouraged to believe in, is a convergence of dirty streets and plastic-looking people. From these little shower-based ruminations, Elena and I rushed to get to the El Pueblo Historical Monument for some more cataloging. Mr. David Soo Hoo’s scrapbook now seems never ending; we had anticipated completing this project 3 days ago. Alas, the number of newspaper clippings, or more like whole newspapers, crammed in the back of scrapbook is quite substantial. I hope that tomorrow we will finally be able to put Mr. David Soo Hoo’s scrapbook behind us, well at least until I return for more thesis research…
After work, my aunt picked us up for dinner in San Gabriel Valley. We had dinner at a tasty little Hunan restaurant, where all the dishes are some form of spicy. With dinner in our stomachs, we wandered through a nearby Chinese market and amassed a nice little assortment of Asian snacks.

Well, now we’re home sweet home (at Gramercy Place) plotting our next expedition in LA…

Pheebs enjoying her first bite of In-N-Out Burger. It was a big hit with Miss Jiang who swears she will be returning someday soon.
At the beach trying to take a photo of ourselves without dropping the camera into the waters of the Pacific. (I already did that on my last trip to the beach).
Me with the Santa Monica pier in the background.
Almost fainting from the intense heat and desert sun while waiting for a bus to take us home.


Phoebe and me with Pauline and her mother, getting the chance to chat with them was definitely the highlight of our evening.


SUNDAY

Sunday Pheebs and I rolled out of bed around 7AM and caught a bus to meet Sylvia downtown. Sylvia brought us breakfast, which included casamiento (if you don't know what casamiento is you are deprived and I'll just leave it at that). We boarded another bus to Anaheim and were at the park gates as it opened...pretty exciting stuff. Our first stop was the Tower of Terror, and it was pretty much a non-stop screaming and laughing fest from there on out. What a wonderful day!

California Adventures was almost better than Disneyland, because we were more relaxed, the park was MUCH less crowded and definitely more doable in a one-day time frame. I also got to see Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Pete's Dragon, Mike, Sulley, Buzz Lightyear, Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale and Mr. Incredible. Oh yeah, it was sweet.

Giving Pheebs the 'stink eye.'
Inside the Chinese Historical Society headquaters during our late night tour.
Holding a scroll while this truly hilarious elderly man did backwards calligraphy at the CAM dinner.
Phoebe's bruise, 'Chinita.' She received this little beauty when she fell down a stair on Sylvia's front porch.

Pheebs and I awoke to sunshine and blue skies here in LA, and the nicest weather we have had so far. We showered, dressed, crammed down some breakfast and jumped on to the metro. We did our best to look nice today because we were invited to a fundraising dinner for the Chinese American Museum. We spent most of our day running around, helping to prepare things and enjoying the ride.

Today, as I am sure Phoebe has already mentioned in her post, we were privileged to meet Corky Lee. Corky is one of the foremost movers and shakers in the Asian American community, he is a photographer with a long history of activism. He was charming in his eccentricity, and had plenty of wonderful stories to entertain us. He actually spoke at Colorado College about three years ago, though unfortunately neither of us met him in that context. When Corky talked about the old days, and almost getting arrested while demonstrating his eyes lit up and the energy he emanated was infectious.

As Corky was sharing his life experiences with us I came to a powerful realization, I am LIVING. All of these wonderful seemingly random adventures that I am fortunate enough to embrace are making up the fabric of my own personal story. This time in Los Angeles has brought it all into such sharper focus...I am creating a life that I am proud to call my own. The people at CAM have been amazing, kind and shown me that pursuing what you love and have passion for has incredible rewards. Our interactions with them have been wonderful. Not only are they each incredibly knowledgeable about their fields and the history that surrounds them, they are also the nicest and most sincere group of people I have had the pleasure of working with in quite some time. They seem truly happy. The idea that such a complete and passion driven life is possible is pretty powerful at this juncture, and I am going to chase these feelings of fulfillment as far as they will carry me.

The CAM dinner this evening was also a great experience to add to the day. Pheebs and I found fulfillment in separating raffle tickets, chatting with Chinese American community members, making boba tea runs and laughing at all the madness that filled in the space in between. We marveled at our combined inability to understand Cantonese as well. When we were finally seated at our table we met Eugene Moy, an enthusiastic board member of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. We got to talking with Gene about our research and he lit up immediately and offered to take us over to the Historical Society as soon as dinner was finished.
Would you believe that Phoebe, Eugene, his wife, Steven (CAM's grantwriter), Pauline and I took an impromptu tour of the Historical Society's archives and offices at 10pm this evening? It was nothing short of incredible. I could not stop smiling! Gene showed us boxes full of artifacts from the Union Station dig that unearthed most of the original Los Angeles Chinatown. He also gave us a brief glimpse at some personal correspondence between a Chinese pioneer Asparagus farmer and his brother circa 1930. It was AMAZING. Furthermore, he was sweet enough to lend me some books on the Mexicali Chinese, who I am very interested in pursuing further research on. What a night!

Being here is incredible. Each day gets better and better. Tomorrow it is off to Venice Beach in the morning, In and Out Burger in the afternoon and a formal dinner with the CAM folks in the evening...we are truly LIVING.

Please excuse the picture of my demented face below; if you didn’t know, I will be going to the Beijing Olympics as an intern and they needed a headshot. No worries, I did not send them the aforementioned photograph.

Life was unbelievably exciting today, with several notable meetings; this further evidences the constant mental stimulation we’ve been experiencing while in LA. Elena and I didn’t return home until about 11:20p, after Pauline graciously drove us back home to Gramercy Place. I’m sure our mothers would be pleased to know that we weren’t wandering the dark and dangerous streets of LA after dark. We arrived home so late because tonight we attended CAM’s first (annual?) spring banquet. Though the pre-dinner moments were a little hectic- including Elena and myself hastily counting and ripping raffle tickets- the dinner went over marvelously and was a huge success. Dinner was a delicious nine course meal at the Golden Dragon Restaurant in LA’s Old Chinatown. Besides the fabulous dinner, Elena and I enjoyed the company of Eugene and Susan Moy, prominent members of the Chinese American community in LA. Although Mr. Moy now resides beyond the boundaries of Chinatown, he can call this section of LA his birthplace. Through the course of dinner Mr. Moy and I discussed my potential thesis project (transnationalism), a Chinese American asparagus farmer, and the Chinese Historical Society of LA. During the post dinner commotion, Corky Lee (a Chinese American photojournalist we met earlier in the day) introduced us to his actor friend, Tzi Ma. Tzi Ma is of Red Doors fame, and may also been seen in Ladykillers and Rush Hour. Not only did we get a picture with Tzi Ma, but also one of Corky Lee and a member of the Chinatown court.

Following this exceptional meal, Mr. Moy was kind enough to take us on a tour of the two buildings that houses the Chinese American Historical Society. This historical society, of which Mr. Moy is one of the founding members, was the group that brainstormed the idea for the Chinese American museum back in 1979. Consequently there is tremendous overlap between the board members of the historical society and the CAM, including Mrs. Suellen Cheng and her husband. Tucked away in two unassuming turn-of-the-century houses, the Chinese American Historical society stores a decent collection of archives, its own library, and an intriguing assortment of artifacts. Amidst their catalog of rare items, are the transcribed letters of the Chinese American asparagus farmer, as well as the remnants of Old Chinatown after it was razed over to build Union Station. Elena and I have also been penciled in to have Mr. Moy give us a personal tour of Old Chinatown next week. sI consider myself lucky that I happened to flop down in the seat next to Mr. Moy, as without that random encounter I would’ve never met him and been introduced to the treasures of the Chinese American community. I’m also thankful that Elena allowed me to tag along, and share in this wonderful intellectual adventure. Speaking of intellectual adventures, we’ve spent a good amount of the day explaining the unique qualities of Colorado College, primarily the 3.5 week block plan that allowed us to embark on this LA adventure.

The day we enjoyed prior to the banquet was fun-filled as well. After arriving at the CAM, we continued on the scrapbook project that Elena and I’ve mentioned in earlier posts. Photographing and cataloging has opened my eyes to the nature of museum work, and I wonder if I am capable of pursuing such a field. If I do, or if I don’t, I’m so happy to be immersing myself in the field and fully experiencing not only museum work, but also the lives of those we’ve seen in the home videos and now seeing in the scrapbooks. Time flew by, and before we knew it lunch hour arrived. Elena and I venture to the Biscaluz building to meet some of the staff and Corky Lee for lunch.

Corky Lee was another intriguing personality we had the pleasure of meeting. Not too long after introductions and a couple handshakes, Corky began talking about his photographing of fortune cookie production, and this supposedly Chinese culinary item may have begun in Little Tokio. When we indicated to him that we were students at Colorado College, he had some fascinating things to say about Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy.

Over pad thai, yellow curry and green papaya salad, our lunch party engaged in an thought-provoking conversation about the position of Chinese Americans in modern day American society. With the ever expanding Chinese economy and its associated soft power, Americans are feeling more and more threatened by China. And should the situation ever arise where Americans were losing their jobs, this could be attributed to the exporting of labor to China. Corky noted that Hilary Clinton even recently mentioned an unfair trade of American jobs for tainted Chinese goods. Race-based discrimination is not a new thing in history, with Japanese interment camps in the WWII era. And these embarrassing parts of American history are likely to occur again, if they aren’t occurring as we speak…Guantanamo Bay? According to Corky there are currently 2 Chinese Muslims being detained at Guantanamo.

Thus far in LA, every day has been better than the last. And I hope that the days just keep getting better. Tomorrow morning Elena and I are going to the beach and enjoying the beautiful California sunshine. Tomorrow night we’ll be attending another banquet-like function for an association of Chinese American engineers. All I can say is that I’m eager to see what thrilling adventures we’ll have tomorrow…