Our One Year Anniversary!

I'm always a bit late in general. Whether it's to basketball practice, school, or even birthday parties. At least I'm fashionably late.

Anyways it was our one year anniversary for Cool Asian Kids on November 18th. We were going to have a huge celebration and have giveaways....but laziness got in the way, as always.

But anyway, in this one year of blogging about what we like and do as Cool Asian Kids, we became more connected to what is happening around us via social media.  My sister and I were able to become more involved in things we wouldn't normally do. We were invited to volunteer at the Asian American V3Con. We were asked to guest blog for other sites and reviewed books, comics, movies, music, and electronic gadgets we liked. We even posted our own artwork on our blogsite for folks to enjoy.

By entering in contests and giveaways we discovered through sites that we follow, we got tickets to attend events such as the Asian American Film Festival and the Supply Cup soccer fundraiser hosted by KevJumba. Attending these events made us appreciate Asian American films and filmmakers, as well as socially conscious endeavors that Asian Americans were pursuing and promoting through social media. We are also tickled to learn that we were beginning to start a small following of our own.

We'd like to thank everyone who has been encouraging us and following us this year. We welcome any suggestions for our blog for the upcoming year and we hope to do some new things too to make our blog even better. So watch for updates regularly!

Cheers everyone!

Electronic Gadgets and the 4G Network

As a result of volunteering at the V3Con social networking conference, we had the opportunity to test use Verizon's 4G network using a couple of awesome devices: The Samsung Galaxy S3 smart phone, and the Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet.

Here are some disclosures: For a couple of years now, because of my lack of self-control in using electronic gadgets, (I used to text and IM into the wee hours of the morning during school nights and once texted over 900 times a weekend when I had only a 1500 texts per month plan), we have parent imposed restrictions placed on all our cell phones and computers. While we have wifi access on our computers and tablets at home, only our dad has 3G access on his cell phone. The concept of unlimited data use and live tweeting from anywhere, anytime, was new to us until the Verizon 4G network was make available to us . . . temporarily.

Having unlimited access to test use the Verizon 4G network for a whole month was a dream. We used it for everything, from watching movies on Youtube, to using the GPS (and I especially needed it one time when we didn't know how to get to the gym my basketball game was at.), listening to music, to live tweeting my basketball tournament and the Supply Cup Soccer Tournament, and to promote our blogs from everywhere. We posted pictures we took, made movies of my robotics competition preparation. Even mom got excited over a new money saving activity: downloading ebooks and audiobooks from the Los Angeles Public Library so she doesn't have to buy books to read. The 4G network was faster than my dad's 3G network in terms of streaming programs from the internet. It was much faster than our wifi capabilities at home using Uverse.

As for the devices themselves, we split up reviewing them. Chloe reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S3 because she doesn't have a smartphone. I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy tablet 7.7 because I don't have a tablet.

Chloe:
The Samsung Galaxy S3: For a kid who has a dumb phone with only 250 talk minutes and 200 texts, this smart phone is quite an upgrade and an attention getter. I was happy to show off it's sleekness everywhere: at sleepovers, in school, and at parties. It's like going from driving a Prius to a Ferrari (not that I drive).  The moment I powered the phone on, I noticed that the screen resolution is beautiful. The phone's screen is huge and much larger than dad's iPhone 4s. Photographs taken with the phone are crisp and clear. It was so convenient to take a picture and tweet it immediately anywhere and anytime. As I mentioned, using the skills I learned from V3Con, I used the phone and Verizon's 4G network to live tweet and post pictures of my VFW Basketball tournament when we came in 2nd Place. I also used it o to live tweet and promote the charity Supply Cup Soccer Tournament hosted by Kev Jumba, and attended by some favorite Asian American stars: Dante Basco who plays Prince Zuko from Avatar, the Last Air Bender, Wong Fu Production guys, The Fung Brothers, etc. Since we blogged about those events, being able to promote them via Twitter also drove traffic to our blogs. Really cool.

I love the large size screen, but the size of the phone makes it hard to just slip it into my pocket and run about with it. I have to put it in my back pack, or worry that it might fall out of my pants pockets and break. I like Android keyboard swiping, and other convenient Android features. In some ways, I like the phone much better than the iPhone because the sound quality is great and the screen resolution is amazing! The phone is also really good for drawing on because of the big screen and the touch sensitivity. If I ever get a smart phone, I wouldn't mind getting the Samsung Galaxy S3. You can do so much with it without having to switch devices. As of this writing, I accidentally dropped my dumb phone in the school's girls toilet. It has not come back to life despite placing it in a bucket of rice for a couple of days as some online posts suggest I do. So, hint hint, mom and dad, I need a  new phone!

Eileen:
The  Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet: Like the Samsung Galaxy S3, the screen resolution is excellent. It is so clear that the screen image on it looks like a photograph. This tablet is definitely smaller than the iPad 3 that Chloe uses for school. We have mixed feelings about this. I liked the smaller size because it is really convenient to be able to carry it around in a purse and bring it to school, or on a bus. The iPad is a bit too big for that. Putting the tablet on a shelf and using the 4G network to stream shows on this tablet, I can watch TV shows or movies while using the exercise bike. This made exercising quite pleasant.

However, the smaller screen size is also a drawback in the sense that everything appears a bit smaller on the screen.  While I'm okay with it, my parents complain that they need to wear reading glasses just to look at the news online using this tablet.  So I guess for older people, maybe the small size of the tablet is not so appealing. Otherwise, I think the tablet is quite good, although I haven't seen the new iPad mini yet, so I can't compare them.

Supporting a Good Cause and Fan-girling Do Mix!

Sis and I got super lucky.  If you haven't already heard, KevJumba is hosting The Supply Cup tomorrow night, a charity soccer event organized by The Supply Education Group.  Before I gush about getting to meet our favorite Asian American stars, it is worth noting that The Supply Education Group is a non-profit organization that seeks to raise money to build schools in slums around the world and to empower children who live in slums to change their environments. We think this is a really good idea and a good cause.

Another non-profit we have donated to in the past is Heifer International. This is a non-profit that donates livestock to aid poor communities in poor countries. The animals produce milk, eggs, labor, and food to help communities end poverty and become self sufficient. We've solicited money to buy chickens, goats and llamas for poor communities as a service project since our elementary school days. It's fun to know that we are donating actual animals to communities that need them.

Now, the gushing.

The Supply Cup soccer match is a 4-team soccer game that features KevJumba, WongFu Productions, (Home is Where the Han's Are) and Dante Basco (the voice of Prince Zuko from Avatar, The Last Air Bender! Whaaat?! Chloe is thinking of wearing a shirt with Prince Zuko's face on it to the event) as captains, plus a bunch of other awesome awesome players like the Fung Brothers of (626) music video fame, Arden Cho, AJ Rafael and Just Kidding Films. It's understandable that we gush about these people because they are Asian Americans who just happen to be in our favorite shows, whether on TV, or on Youtube.  Their humor, antics and talents are so Asian American that we as Cool Asian Kids, can really identify with their work.

KevJumba

Prince Zuko

We were lucky enough to score two VIP tickets to the event through Drama Fever's ticket giveaway! How? It's because we watch Korean dramas on TV (we blogged about our favorite K-dramas previously) and followed Drama Fever. When they announced the ticket giveaway, we immediately entered the drawing. (Oh the joy of social media!)  That means we'll have the chance to meet all our favorite Asian American stars.  How cool is that? We're super excited and we'll definitely be sure to update you all about it afterwards!

If Jeremy Lin can make it in the NBA . . .

I'm in the middle of my school midterms, which is why I haven't been thinking about blogging much. However, this last couple of weeks, a lot of news came out about Jeremy Lin, the Chinese American dude who graduated from Harvard, and now plays for the New York Knicks. My sister and I already follow Jeremy Lin and his funny Youtube videos with KevJumba and Nigahiga.

Last week, my dad keeps making me watch clips of Jeremy Lin playing point guard for the New York Knicks. I can't help but think that maybe there is athletic potential in all of us Asian kids after all.

I've been playing in an Asian League basketball team since 2nd grade.  We had a very lame name for our team: "The Shooting Angels".

Me in third grade with the Shooting Angels

When we were kids, we didn't mind so much, but in 6th grade, we started feeling a bit embarrassed by the name.  My teammates were saying that they don't want to wear our team shirts to go out because of the name.  So we finally changed our name to the Magic.  Still lame, but better.  Apparently, the Asian leagues have the funniest team names: the QD's, Below the Rim, Happy Shoyu, Hoops a Daisies, Hollywood Dragonettes, Mustang Rainbows, Kukui Nuts, and many more. It's kind of quaint and nice, as long as you don't have to wear those names on your shirts.

In the Asian league, we play over thirty games a year.  We play all over Los Angeles County, Orange County, and even in Las Vegas.  We are drilled on the fundamentals, and we develop great friendships with our teammates whom we've been together with since 2nd grade or even younger. My team doesn't exclude girls who are not so good at playing. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and we encourage each other during games.  I started off shooting at the wrong basket, but now I am the point guard for my team (mainly because I'm short but fast). We've had some good seasons (we were last season's champs), and some bad ones (We're in the midst of a losing season right now). On my part, I also play with kids from my local parks and recreation center perhaps another ten to fifteen more games a year.

In middle school this year, I joined the school basketball team.  Because my school is mostly non-Asian,  I think most of the school coaches and students assume that this short scrawny Asian girl  doesn't play sports. But, when I signed up for basketball this season, I find myself to be one of the more experienced players on the team.  While we've been losing quite a few games, I know that I help keep the team competitive. When we play against other schools, I'm pleasantly surprised that I run into players from the other Asian league teams I've played against before.  We're happy to see each other.

If we all keep playing, and schools and teams give us a chance instead of assuming that Asian kids can't play sports, maybe there will be more Asian boys and girls playing ball in college, and in professional teams too. Go, Jeremy Lin!