We’re already halfway through May and I haven’t even blogged anything in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (sad of me). Am I even a proud Asian American anymore? Not sure I’ve ever specified this on camera or in writing, but Producer Reese is a mixed breed between two electric Asian countries- China and the Philippines. Anyways, like most blogs I execute upon, I decided to throw together a (sort-of) last minute piece about my favorite things from Asian culture. The backstory for this blog idea is that I wanted to write a top 5 Asian blog, but didn’t want to limit it to a certain sub-category such as actors, food, movies, etc. So this is how this idea came to be- and I think it makes the title of this blog kind of funny too. Let’s get into it.
Popular to contrary belief, Producer Reese has gotten out of his cave at some point in his life to visit other places across the country. I wanna say that I’ve been to all the popular Chinatowns within the United States (I don’t think there’s that many). This list includes San Francisco’s Chinatown (probably the most well known), New York’s Chinatown (it’s huge, probably like 4 or 5 times the size of SF’s), Chinatown Los Angeles (it’s actually very underwhelming and kinda overrated), and Hawaii’s Chinatown (I don’t know if it belongs on this list, but there’s a pretty sizeable Chinese population in Hawaii so..) Despite some of their distinguishing features, all of these Chinatowns share some certain characteristics that I find admirable. For example: they all have at least a dozen hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants with some greasy ass food, they all have at least a handful of variety stores that sell everything from kitchen ware to Chinese lanterns to cheaply made dollar-store like toys. Gotta love it.
This item on the list very much derives from the previous item. I’m certain that in every single one of the Chinatowns that I mentioned above, they host a Chinese New Year celebration. For those who are unaware, Chinese New Year celebrates the same things as the American version, except it is recognized and celebrated over the course of about 1 week. At the very end of this week, there is usually a big festival that is held. San Francisco has a pretty well known Chinese New Year Festival and I appreciate everything about it- the lion dancing, the non-stop firecrackers, the parade, etc.
I might get flack for saying this, but there’s not a lot of things from Filipino culture that I’m a huge fan of. I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve never visited this country and I also don’t speak the language. But one thing that I can appreciate is a proper Filipino breakfast- all of my fresh-off-the-boat Filipino homies can attest to this. It’s a very simple breakfast really- it’s called Tapsilog. And it’s basically just rice, over easy eggs, and a marinated protein (“Tocino” or pork, “Longganisa” or sweet sausage, etc.) I can fuck up a few plates of these, especially after a night of drinking.
Ah yes, there’s a lot of history behind this particular item on the list. For starters, I was born and raised in San Francisco’s Japantown neighborhood. Every year, around late April, the Cherry Blossom festival would take place. I’ve attended this festival at least 7 or 8 times in my life, and each time I’ve had a fuckin’ blast. The festival features a large assortment of food vendors, a variety of entertainment (Taiko drums, singing and dancing performances, a car show, etc.), and a giant parade on the last day (It’s a 4 day event split between two weekends). Now I didn’t know this until today, but the Cherry Blossom Festival is a commemoration of relations between the United States and Japan, marked by a day when Japan gifted over 3,000 cherry trees to the U.S. as a friendly gesture, over 100 years ago. Interesting stuff.
I saved the best for last here. Yes, it is true I used to be a real gear head. I loved everything about sports cars, especially the Japanese variety. I’ve since left the game due to my changing interests, but for the past 7 years I would immerse myself in JDM car shows, stance culture, car content, all the Need for Speed video games, the list goes on. I also recall that a good amount of my earned income- and time lol- would be invested into my own car build (I had a 96’ Acura Integra for 4 years which I did a lot to- maintenance, suspension mods, wheels, exhaust, etc.) At some point I’d like to rekindle this former interest, but for now I’ll stick to my other expensive hobbies (like guns).
Well, this has been my top 5 favorite Asian things. This list is likely to change within the next year, so I’d eventually like to write an updated version for 2025. Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Month!
God Bless,
Producer Reese
Social Media
