Friday Favorites: Asia Society Volunteer Edition
Friday, May 22, 2020
Asia Society at Home
Learn More
Discover your newest binge and get to know our staff a little better with the Asia Society Texas Center team's favorite ways to stay entertained indoors! Each week, we'll share our picks for what to read, watch, listen to, and more.
This week, enjoy recommendations from our volunteers!
YouTube Channel: Adam Liaw
Recommended by Jaclyn Pang, Volunteer since 2019
"I watched Adam Liaw win Season Two of MasterChef Australia in 2010. His victory is still the most watched non-sporting television event in Australian history. He was born in Penang Island, Malaysia, and spent his youth in South Australia before living and working in Japan, China, and India. Much like some of us who have lived around the world, we associate the unique memories of the places we lived with the amazing food we had."
Find it on: YouTube | Adam Liaw's website
The Margins (magazine by the Asian American Writers' Workshop)
Recommended by Sarah Cloots, Volunteer since 2016
"The Asian American Writers' Workshop (AAWW) is an organization that supports, nourishes, and promotes Asian American writers. In normal times, they hold book readings and discussion panels at their headquarters in New York, but right now we can all attend such events virtually through their website. In addition to the literary focus, you can explore the performing arts with their links to cultural dance, dramatic, and musical presentations. I really enjoy the essays, reporting, and interview features of their online magazine."
Find it on: AAWW's website
Film: The Half of It
Recommended by Ernest Kwan, Volunteer since 2015
"Alice Wu wrote and directed Saving Face in 2005, a film that was ahead of its time and featured a Chinese American cast. After a 16-year hiatus, she made The Half of It, a refreshing romance film where an Asian American high school loner helps a jock woo a popular girl in school. The film showcases different kinds of love besides the conventional romantic love."
Find it on: Netflix
Film: Miracle in Cell No. 7
Recommended by Johanna Brassert, Volunteer since 2019
The most-watched film in Turkey since it was released in 2019, Johanna recommends Miracle in Cell No. 7 as "a very heart-warming but hard, tear-jerking story, a Turkish remake of a 2013 South Korean film. It has wonderful acting and a powerful human message, word is getting around on this film."
Find it on: Netflix
Film: The Joy Luck Club
Recommended by Abimbola Farinde, Volunteer since 2017
Based on the novel by Amy Tan, Abimbola takes us back to one of the first significant representations of Asian Americans on the big screen, directed by Wayne Wang: "I remember watching this movie when I was young and being so moved by the mother-daughter relationships that were displayed throughout the course of the film. It made me think more deeply about my relationship with my mother and how to foster its growth. The film presents themes of family and making long-lasting connections."
TV Show: Never Have I Ever
Recommended by Izzy Ishak, Volunteer since 2018
"We know the struggles of every high school kid trying to rebrand their high school kid. Like Devi, a sophomore who sees herself as a California girl but always feels reminded that she is also Indian American. Devi is not just trying to live her best life; she is also coping with traumatic loss. This series delves into a topic that many Asian families refuse to talk openly about grief. It also deals with parenting, the interactions in a community, and the prospect of emancipation. This is one to binge!"
Find it on: Netflix
Film: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Recommended by Hui Pan, Volunteer since 2018
"I would recommend Ang Lee's 2000 Oscar-winning martial arts epic for its amazing choreography, wonderful acting, and subtle presentation of the struggle between our desires and social morality and restrictions. The 'Crouching Tiger' and 'Hidden Dragon' do not only refer to the hidden masters among us, but also our suppressed desire, love, and lust. The director, born in Taiwan and educated in Taiwan and the United States, brought to the Western audience a unique and different experience of martial arts aesthetically and spiritually."
Novel: Good Enough by Paula Yoo
Recommended by Alanna Ferreon, Volunteer since 2019
"Torn between her head and her heart, Patti Yoon is forced to choose the best path for herself before leaving for college. A simple yet sentimental read, this piece is comedic and relatable to many, and shares a little insight into the many conflicts of high school life. I recommend this book to young readers, as it is a wonderful coming-of-age story that will surely make readers smile."
Find it on: Paula Yoo's website
Business and Policy programs are endowed by Huffington Foundation. We give special thanks to Bank of America, Muffet Blake, Anne and Albert Chao, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Nancy Pollok Guinee, United Airlines, and Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsors of Business and Policy programs; Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Leslie and Brad Bucher, Presenting Sponsors of Exhibitions; Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Milton D. Rosenau and Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsors of Performing Arts and Culture; and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Presenting Sponsor of the Japan Series. General support of programs and exhibitions is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Hearts Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, McKinsey & Company, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Vinson & Elkins LLP, and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as Friends of Asia Society.
About Asia Society at Home
Though Asia Society is temporarily closed, we are dedicated to continuing our mission of building cross-cultural understanding and uplifting human connectivity. Using digital tools, we bring you content for all ages and conversations that matter, in order to spark curiosity about Asia and to foster empathy.
About Asia Society Texas Center
With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.