East Side Story - the musical

Last night was the one-time-only production of East Side Story, the 2008 CASA cultural show:

As you may have expected, it was a rather satirical version, with the "Azn Boys" (ABCs) vs. the "Sha-Yu" (FOBs) on the streets of San Francisco. Tony works in Mr. Yu's boba shop, and Mai-Lee works in a beauty salon, but the overall story is still the same...

Can you guess which "gang" is which?

Tony meets Mei-Lee...

What made the show so hilarious was the sheer cultural satire, including the song "Too White, Too White," sung by Tony and Mei-Lee. Appreciate the lyrics for what they are, and the singers for their effort =P

I also got a kick out of the not-so-traditional Lion Dance, as you will see below:

Overall, it was an extremely well-done production, even with the relatively tiny stage in SSS 114, limited lighting/sound, and only about a month of rehearsal. Super-props to director K. Chiu and the whole cast and crew =)

Next up: Phoenix tech week!

Gong xi fa tsai!

There were a whole bunch of celebrations for Chinese New Year this past weekend, really showing the vibrancy of the Asian and Asian-American communities on campus.

First, there was Firecracker in the Pierson Dining Hall, including a Pan-Asian fashion show, live performances, activity booths, and LOTS of yummy food. I was able to try deep-fried bananas with vanilla ice cream for the first time, which was great. Other dishes included bubble tea, nori and rice, tapioca and corn, and egg rolls. The activity booths were also pretty cool, ranging from more traditional Origami and Chinese calligraphy to DDR =P Some photos below:

Lion Dance

Phoenix performing our new silk fan piece

The awesome Wushu team

Origami table - I folded a Kawasaki rose =)

Fashion show shot

The night after that was Dumpling Night in Ezra Stiles, which was organized by CASA and CUSY. The idea was that people could come make their own dumplings, which would then be cooked in the dining hall kitchen and brought out for everyone to enjoy. We performed a Dai dance here (bare feet on the dining hall floor kind of sucked) and there were also other performances from Wushu, Lion Dance, and Red Hot Poker, one of the sketch comedy groups.

Group photo after our performance

Happy year of the Rat!