a blog about soybean cake and other essential topics
I’ll admit it: Since I was a kid, I loved watching Japanese taiko drumming. The beat. The movement. The booms.
You name it. It has everything a person would want out of a musical art.
So when I heard that The School of TAIKO would perform on Friday at Uwajimaya in Seattle, well, I made sure that my family and I were there.
The Seattle museum named after Wing Luke has changed its name. Photo source: Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience via Facebook.
The Wing Luke Asian Museum, one of Seattle’s most well-known institutions, changed its name, representatives announced Wednesday.
It is now the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience – and has taken “The Wing” as a shorter version.
Just two years ago, the word rolling off many people’s tongues in the world – and the Seattle area – was about a shortage of rice.
Prices jumped. It was taking longer for shipments to arrive. Restaurant owners were out searching for the staple, which is popular for Asian food.
Restaurant customers were asking price questions. Some members of the public stockpiled bags when they could.
I don’t follow the rice market that closely – except for when I’m literally in a market. So, I was happy to see bags and bags of rice sitting on top of one another the other day at Uwajimaya, the Asian market which has a large store in Seattle’s International District.
The question, of course, is why did I start thinking about rice recently?
We all know that change happens – sometimes for the better and sometimes when there’s no opinion at all.
But it’s always good, I think, to pause to remember a place and its role in a community.
This time, the news involves China Gate, a restaurant in Seattle’s International District that stayed open late at night and dished up old-style and tasty dim sum.
In this case, everything aligned just perfectly.
I don’t know what to say except there is nothing like the image of Chinese-style chicken hanging in a window.
Yes, I know that I’ve talked much about tofu in the past.
This Chinese lion dance team performs during the Lunar New Year celebration in Seattle's Chinatown in 1921. The group also helped raise money for famine relief in China. Photo source: PEMCO Webster & Stevens Collection (courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry and spotted in an outdoor, public display by The Wing Luke Asian Museum)
As you’ve noticed, I’ve been on a run with Chinese dragons and lions lately – what with the Year of the Tiger that started Sunday.
I know it’s a day after the Lunar New Year began – and people still are celebrating. I thought I’d continue with one more post about lion heads used during Lunar New Year festivities.
Why?
Well, to quote singer (and pop philosopher) Kenny Rogers: “You’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them.”
I’m holding on to this idea for just a bit longer.
I’m also doing this because I recall a person telling me years ago that the past is prologue.
So after my son and I watched the opening performance of the Lunar New Year festival in Seattle, we met up with my wife.
The three of us headed over to Hing Loon, a Cantonese Chinese restaurant which is one of our favorites in Seattle.
During last year’s Lunar New Year celebration, my parents were visiting us – and the five of us made our way to the scrumptious restaurant where the waitresses remember you and are friendly.
On Saturday, we ducked inside because our bellies were giving us signs that it was time to fill up – and our choice for the day were noodles.
Then, moments after we sat down – just as what happened when my parents joined us last year – we spotted Seattle martial arts master Mak Fai and his crew of lion dancers make their way to the popular restaurant.
With my son at my side, I turned on my digital camera, switched to video mode and captured Saturday’s Lunar New Year celebration in Seattle’s Chinatown International District.
It was terrific – bringing back memories and giving my son a chance to see what I saw in San Francisco and Oakland Chinatowns when I was a kid.
My grandparents lived in those Chinatowns and my parents would take my sister and me to celebrate and watch the colorful, loud street performances.
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