Tea Palace is newly opened Asian restaurant that proudly boasts four dining rooms, three VIP rooms, and a 6,000 square foot kitchen. It opened its doors on Aug. 28.
By Assunta Ng
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Should entrepreneurs start small or big during a slow economy?
Last Thursday, Duc Tran and nine other investors made a bold move — opening a $3 million Asian restaurant. It is one of the biggest if not the largest in King County.
Tea Palace Asian Restaurant in Renton has a floor space of 20,000 square feet on one level and an 800 seating capacity. Located next to the Viet Wah Supermarket and mall in Renton, also owned and developed by Tran, Tea Palace has a beautiful grand entrance — much like a mansion with hundreds of parking spaces outside the facility. Read the full story
By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Thanks to trailblazers across the globe, women today are continuing to succeed in spite of hardships. Their success comes through hard work and dedication ó but what is also important is the balance between taking care of oneís self and taking care of others. This is the theme of the next Women of Color Empowered event, to be held at China Harbor Restaurant in Seattle on Friday, Sept. 26, at 11:30 a.m. This is an event honoring women who are accomplished in their fields, who have contributed to local communities of color in both traditional and nontraditional jobs. Read the full story
At the Rikkyo student welcome party, Cecilia Pelayre (host parent) and Ikeru Kobayashi (foreground) begin getting to know one another. Juan Acquino (host parent) and Jun Kato (background) do the same. Photo provided by Peter Zdrojewski/iLEAP.
By Irfan Shariff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Kensuke Kondo and Jun Kato are third-year students at Japanís prestigious Rikkyo University. During the month of August, Kondo, Kato and nine of their peers immersed themselves in the Seattle corporate world through iLEAP: The Center for Critical Service, at Antioch University.
But they arenít interning at just any Microsoft or Boeing. Instead the group of global business students find themselves engaged in social entrepreneurship at institutions like the Northwest Center, Interra or Feet First. Their days revolve around classroom time, internships, lectures and site visits to REI, Tullyís or the Nikkei Manor. Read the full story
The Japanese foreign minister awarded his commendation to Mimi Gates, director of the Seattle Art Museum. As director of Yale University’s art gallery for nearly seven years, and director of Seattle Art Museum for over 14 years, Gates has achieved outstanding success in the U.S.-Japan cultural exchange field by organizing Japanese art exhibitions and a variety of educational and cultural programs in the U.S. and Japan.
Gates has recently announced that she will remain at her post as director at SAM until July 2009. The award conferment ceremony will take place on Sept. 9.
From left, President of OCA Ginny Gong, VPO Heartland Ken Lam and Vice Chair of OCA Business Advisory Council David Lin
State Farm was honored as the 2008 Corporate Partner of the Year by OCA Aug. 2 at the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) convention in Washington, D.C. Ken Lam, VPO Heartland, accepted the award on behalf of State Farm.
“Grassroots participation is important to us. We live our philosophy, ‘Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.’ Our Asian American employees are actively engaged in local community events from Washington and California to Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Florida and Washington, D.C.,” he said.
In the bride’s words: “Willy and I met 15 years ago when I was working for him as an intern. We’ve kept in touch as friends through phone calls, saying ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ — nothing more.
“In the summer of 2002, I received an e-mail from Willy, letting me know that his job was about to end, and he didn’t know where he would be going from there. Willy suggested we should go out for pho as this could be our last time hearing from each other. I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’
“Meanwhile, Willy had already made plans for the date. All I was prepared for (was) a bowl of pho. Instead of pho, Willy took me out to a nice dinner at a beautiful golf course. Since then, we’ve been best friends.”
Both work for the City of Seattle, Tuyen Nguyen at City Light in the Credit Department and Willy Chow for the Department of Executive Administration in the Special Accounting unit.
By N.P. Thompson
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Christopher “C-dub” Wang, a fast-talking, 20-something ne’er-do-well still living at home with his parents in suburban LA, is played by Jimmy Tsai.
Tsai is an accountant who makes his big-screen acting debut — and he has impeccable comedic timing. Tsai co-produced “Ping Pong Playa,” and he co-wrote the script with the director, Jessica Yu. It’s essentially a vehicle for Tsai to strut his hip-hop influenced stuff, tossing out lines like, “Is it fair that Chinese people are short or that we have fewer fast-twitch muscles in our legs?” at warp-drive, motor-mouth speed, as if he’d spent years poetry slammin’ instead of numbers crunching. Read the full story
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Japanese aid worker kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan has been killed, police officials said.
Kazuya Ito, 31, was abducted near the city of Jalalabad early Aug. 26. Japan set up a task force in Kabul to seek his release, according to Japan’s foreign ministry. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Read the full story
Kenshiro Gushi takes his RS-R tC, car number 5, for a controlled skid along Evergreen Speedway in Monroe. Photo by James Tabafunda.
By James Tabafunda
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
He steers his rear-wheel-drive racecar around the tight hairpin turns at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, knowing that driving aptitude, mastering oversteer and car control are the keys to winning for Team RS-R. Thick clouds of light blue smoke fill the air as he burns rubber speeding up after a turn. Read the full story
By Krista Thom
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
It is a story told in photos, of a childhood growing up in the ghetto of San Francisco’s Chinatown district. Because of a father who was largely absent from the family members’ lives, Foo’s mother worked 10 to 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week, in a sweatshop to support Foo and her five sisters. “Earth Passages: Journey Through Childhood” doubles as an autobiography and collection of nature photographs by author, attorney and activist Lora Jo Foo.
Starting at age 9, Foo worked to help pay off the family’s debts. By age 11, she was working in the sweatshop alongside her mother.
The text itself is broken into short sections, each of which gives a piece of her childhood years. Alongside the text runs 53 nature photographs taken by Foo in locations around the world. Read the full story
