Plate Lunch: Two Scoops Of Hapa

Aloha nui loa, Hip Hapa Homeez! As we say in Hawai’i, komo mai or welcome. He hale keia a (this is the house of) our multiethnic and cross-cultural agenda featuring folks we like to call da kine Hip Hapa Homeez.

This week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee is another Watermelon Sushi Associate Producer, Scott Lee, pictured above in mid-tea toast. Below, are photos of my fave dishes that Scott always orders for us at our preferred Waikiki eatery on Kapi’olani Boulevard. That’s cake noodle on top, and eggplant with tofu beneath it. Mmm. So ono da kine! No siree, no plate lunch here. If you’re hip, then you know the typical Hawai'ian plate lunch includes two scoops of white rice, or one of macaroni or potato salad.

Scott, who lives on Oahu where he’s a skillful chef, has been a reliable source for financial investment information for our independent film, Watermelon Sushi. If you have any ideas you’d like to discuss with Scott, do drop a line to yourhiphapa@me.com and we’ll forward your email to him.

Q: What makes you a Hip Hapa Homee?

A: I'm Chinese, Korean and Hawai’ian, which is considered a Poi Dog here in Hawai’i. Growing up in Honolulu in a working class family (that sacrificed to send me to private school in my early years only for me to end up in the secondary public system), I was exposed to both ends of the tracks. The multi-cultural culinary field in a predominately tourism economy allowed me exposure to the ‘rainbow’ diversity and, more importantly, acceptance of Hawai’i living as experienced by President Obama. I have lived here all my life visiting other states on occasion and, I look forward to experiencing more of what this planet has to offer.

Q: How did you grow up?

A: My parents were both educators and with it came all the bells and whistles of underachievement and accomplishments necessary for parental unit approval; more so the end result of my life working in the food industry. Personally, I don’t feel it matters what I do being that all the families with a long history here in Hawai’i descended from farm life in the pineapple and sugar cane fields.  

Q: What's your role in Watermelon Sushi?

A: To be honest, I really do not consciously know what my role is with Watermelon Sushi. Between all of you out there and me, I sometimes believe Yayoi keeps me around as a Hawai’ian pet in need of attention. Actually, for the past 15 years to mix up the sometimes "Groundhog Day" eventless mastery of my culinary career, I decided to experience some opportunistic activities in my spare time leading to a wealth of knowledge and useful contacts I believe will become assets to the production of Watermelon Sushi.

Q: What else do you do?

A: Paying the bills falls on my ability to food service particular working class clients who have had the chance to sample my 25 years experience in the hotels and restaurants of Oahu at "sub fast food prices".  When or if the economy improves anytime soon, I will be increasing my efforts in this arena.

Q: As a renowned chef, do you have a recipe to contribute to The Official Watermelon Sushi Cookbook?

A: Yes!  Mix your favorite b-b-q sauce with your favorite teriyaki sauce one part to one part and use it on everything; get rid of your favorite ketchup.  

Q: What impact do you think Obama's presidency has made on multiethnic agendas?

A: What! Are you kidding? It has everything to do with what our society has become culturally. I’m not talking about all the work the different ethnic backgrounds have produced in the last 50 years. I’m talking about forcing all the culturally ignorant individuals that were sitting on the fence deciding whether or not to accept publicly what they already knew in their hearts. Other than the few aliens roaming around lost on this planet, we are all 99.9% genetically the same. Just like all the doggy breeds, we have all the same genetics whether big, small, hairy, or not.

Q: Speaking of aliens, what do you see in Watermelon Sushi’s future?

A: Watermelon Sushi will kick start a revolution of all the people who have been looked down upon as being half-breeds in their perspective hometowns, in their home countries. It is now in the minority to be of only one cultural background.

Mahalo nui loa, Scott Lee! Moke shaka!

Remember, if you’re a Hip Hapa Homee with a story to share, email yourhiphapa@me.com so we can feature you here. Next up, look for our interview with author Teri LaFlesh discussing her book, Curly Like Me.

And, here are some updates from past Watermelon Sushi World interviewees:

Filmmaker Joe Doughrity’s Akira’s Hip Hop Shop—

(December 2, 2009, Anime, Hip Hop, Japan And Joe http://watermelonsushiworld.blogspot.com/2009/12/hip-hapa-homee-joe-and-japanese-hip-hop.html) 

one of the finalists in BETs’ “Lens On Talent”--is now available through Amazon. 

Check it out here. You go, Joe!

Actor Tony (Juan Carlos) Insignares 

(January 13, 2010, In Character With Tony Insignares http://watermelonsushiworld.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-back-hip-hapa-homeez-this-weeks.html) 

has a role in a film released on April 17 called The Harps. 

Here’s the link:

http://www.theharpsmovie.com/

Finally, congratulations to iPrince, Richard Todd Smith, last week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee. iPrince has been hustling so hard on behalf of our Watermelon Sushi film that he earned a promotion to Co-Producer! Congrats, and big up. Please friend iPrince Smitty on Facebook or email him at iprincemsmitty@gmail.com with any questions you have about production. Since our interview last week, iPrince forwarded this photo below of Detroit’s Chinatown. What a Hip Hapa Homee!

Remember, if you’d like to show your support, purchase a Hapa*Teez 

t-shirt and earn a rear crawl credit on the film. Also, join our Hip Hapa Homeez Group page on Facebook to stay informed about all the news pertaining to multiethnic communities and transracial adoptees. Become a fan of our Watermelon Sushi Fan page on Facebook to be kept up-to-date about our film. You can also follow the Watermelon Sushi World blog on Facebook. And, if all of that’s not enough to show us love, follow watermelonsushi on Twitter. We promise to follow back!

That’s all she wrote for now, but I am and always will be

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Obama Triggers Flashback To Germany

Yesterday, on That Day, I was scheduled to speak about biracial issues at a local high school. But when the kids tramped in, all they wanted to do was watch the streaming of the inauguration. As their teacher frantically fiddled with a computer, I tried to get the students'

attention. But, they were having none of it. Instead, I heard incessant complaining about why the streaming wasn't already happening. "I better not miss my president," one aggressive young lady warned us. After ten minutes of clicking keys, the teacher gave up and herded the kids into the cafeteria to watch the big screen TV with other students. Meanwhile, she and I headed to the library.

During the ceremony, I went over in my mind all the interesting paths that I've seemingly crossed with Obama. There's the fact that his mother attended Mercer Island High School near Seattle where I've resided on and off for a number of years. As a child, Obama lived in Honolulu. Well, I've lived in Honolulu, too--twice. My buddy, Lucy, currently lives in Kailua where the Obama's vacationed recently and where I visited Lucy's home last fall. Obama went to Occidental College in Eagle Rock. Several years ago, I spoke to a class there about biracial issues. I also met Anjulie, a transracial adoptee from Seattle, who has since become my good pal because she was in the class that I spoke to that day. And, I have a close friend who lives in Eagle Rock which is also the location of a newspaper that I used to write film reviews for. As for the inauguration, I'm acquainted with the poet who read the poem since she's a good friend of a friend. I seem to know a lot of folks in Chicago who knew Obama, too. And, the list goes on. Crossing paths these days is not so extraordinary given the world of social networking sites and instant communications. Still, it's something to ponder. Will I make the ultimate crossing with Mr. O with an invite to the White House? Now, that would be a trip!

While I watched Obama yesterday, I--of course--thought a lot about his biracial heritage. Later in the day, I appeared on the Mixed Chicks Chat special podcast to add my two cents about the subject. I had to admit that I was disappointed that Mr. O himself has said little about being mixed. Sure, he's referred to himself as a "mutt" and has revealed information about growing up with white grandparents, but it's not like he's in constant conversation about what it's like being biracial. Certainly, I don't expect him to push aside his presidential duties to focus on the multiracial agenda. Yet, I wish he'd do more.

For one thing, 2010 will be only the second time in the history of the U.S. Census that those of us who identify with more than one race group will be able to check more than one box. Think about it. For most of my life (which has been a l-o-o-o-ng one at this point), I've had to deny one of my parents. And, because the One Drop Rule for African Americans has been so prevalent, the person I had to pretend didn't exist inside of me was my Japanese mother. Even though she's influenced me more than any other living being on this planet, I, in effect, have had to announce to the world that she was no part of me. So, yes. I do believe that Mr. O could be a little louder about us biracial babies. Let's see if he does so once we get past all the economic and international problems we currently face.

Thinking about Obama, I also realized that most of the time when monoracial people use the term "biracial", they mean people who are half white and half black. That took me back to the time when my family lived in Germany where my father was stationed for three years. After moving back to the states, we ended up in an all-white neighborhood where no one would speak to us much less allow their children to interact with my sister and me. It was a lonely time for us, but she and I made good use of our solitude by nurturing our creativity.

But the really interesting thing to me now that I'm older and can look back is how white folks in Germany were nothing like the white neighbors in our Washington state home. For one thing, a lot of German kids then had black fathers. And the white Germans we knew were very friendly. Was it because they lost the war? The white American soldiers that worked with my father were friendly, too. Was it because of the Army?

As much as I prefer the idea of pure peace, I realize that having armed forces is a necessary thing. One of the benefits of being in the Army is that everyone is pretty much equal. Being forced together makes people learn tolerance. In civilian life, our white neighbors had the option of ignoring us, but in the military we all had to get along.

In these photos, clockwise: A soldier friend of my dad's visits us in Germany and sits my sister on his lap. Next, I believe this woman's name was PeeWee. She was German, and I don't remember whether or not she had a family. It seems everyone liked having my sister sit on their lap. In the next photo, we're having a picnic with a girl name Bridget, her German mother, Carmen (in the center, who is biracial), her German mother, my sister and me. The last photo is of me playing in the snow with two friends. I don't recall if they were German or American, but they never called me any derogatory names like our Washington neighbors did.

Until next time, I am...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Aloha No, Straightened Hair, And A Dedication To Sergio Goes

"You look younger," my neighbor told me tonight as I was taking out the trash.

"Really?" I replied, doubtful as I remembered sleeping only six hours the night before.

"It must have been my trip to Hawai'i," I told him. "I felt so relaxed--like I was home."

Even though my last week's Honolulu island hop ended on a bittersweet vibe, I enjoyed moving among people who looked like me. If you're of mixed races and it shows, being in Hawai'i is like being on a planet filled with all your multiracial brothers and sisters. Sure, there are lots of "pure-blooded" East Asians among other races living there, but there are also many folks that are racially unidentifiable--like yourself. And, that feels comfortable. When you're comfortable, you don't frown or wrinkle your face up in defense. So, you look younger!

Of course, I was also happy to be "home" because I got to spend time with my old buddy Scott Lee who greeted me with a fragrant traditional lei and lunch at our favorite King Street Chinese restaurant. Scott Lee and I go way back to 1994, and we love to "talk story" about local culture; of which Scott's an expert having lived on Oahu all his life.

I also hung out with my friend, Lucy, an NYC transplant and professional photographer. Besides munching on a vegan lunch in Kahala and a homemade dinner at her Kailua home on Windward side, we also indulged in a lot of girly stuff like trying on make-up at Ala Moana Mall. We also got our hair done by a young woman selling electronic hair straighteners at a booth.

That's right. After 20 years of wearing my own personal natural--long, thick, wavy, hair with frizzy ends--I allowed myself to get talked into having an electronic implement iron out the ripples of my tresses to give me straight hair. When Adee first approached me, I balked. After all, I am of the natural garden variety. Rarely do I wear make-up, other than lip and nail color, and I don't like fussy hairstyles. But as Adee smoothed out each strand, my thoughts went from skeptical to amused to impressed. I hadn't had straight locks since the mid-1980's when I would spend precious hours rolling my hair in curlers the size of soup cans then sitting under a scorching dryer with a magazine hoping against hope that it wouldn't rain in Seattle where I lived then. Just one drizzly day would undo my hours of hard labor. Later, when I became more of the artist that I am today, I chucked the rollers and hair dryer and went au natural.

When Adee was done, I just knew I had to have the straight look--at least for a while. Call me a sell-out, but I dig variety and my waves had become boring to me.

My friend Lucy saw it differently.

"But you just said at dinner the other night that one of the problems you had with Michelle Obama was her hair," she reminded me. "You didn't like that she relaxes it."

"Yes," I argued weakly, "but I'm half Japanese and I'm just trying to look more like my mother. Besides, my 'do is chemical free."

All I knew was that I wanted a different look, and looking different made me feel different. Somehow, I felt Native Hawai'ian with my new flowing hair. As I walked around Waikiki tossing my untangled mane, I felt that the locals thought I was Native Hawai'ian, too.

Still ain't buying it? Well, here's what hair author Teri LaFlesh told me when I admitted to using a straightening rod on my hair.

"Hey, I checked out your hair! Even straightened it has so much presence. Hair is a crown, and you wear yours with such flair."

If Teri, the hairx-pert, says it's okay, then ya'll back off.

On to a much sadder note. While in Hawai'i, I discovered that a friend had passed away there in July. Although I hadn't been in touch with Sergio Goes for awhile, I always remembered his warm graciousness. Co-founder of the Cinema Paradise Film Festival, Sergio issued me a press badge in 2003, then went out of his way to invite me and Lucy to all of their Red Carpet events and parties. A filmmaker himself, he also gave us copies of his documentary called Black Picket Fence. The story of two aspiring rappers in a NYC project is told with Sergio's deep sensitivity and humanity. Originally hailing from Brazil, Sergio had a keen ability to hone in on things American and his film shows that. Sergio was also known for his amazing photography which appeared in most of Honolulu's local publications. While it hurts to lose such a downright nice person, I feel fortunate that I knew him at all. This week's blog is dedicated to the memory of Sergio Goes. That's him with Lucy in 2003 in the picture above.

To see my straightened hair, watch for the extra blog following this one.

Mahalo nui loa and aloha no. Rest well, dear sweet Sergio.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

In A Minute

Aloha,

Your Hip Hapa has been so busy working on a documentary and creating new designs for the Hapa*Teez line of t-shirts, that she's decided she needs this week away from blogging. Speaking of Hapa*Teez, you can now get two different Watermelon Sushi logos printed on them.

Please stay tuned for more controversy as Your Hip Hapa returns with several hot topics, and a few new links to some pretty cool blogs and sites.

btw, that's her, above, living in Waikiki in 1994. Recently, she reconnected with a Honolulu friend and will blog about their adventures soon!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi