Good Eats and Thoughts of a Contemplative Feeler

A defining characteristic of Asian culture is the maintenance of face for the sake of honor. Even if life is falling apart, Asian people will enter into public spaces with their masks on and convey to the rest of the world everything is alright. Sometimes we wear masks and build up walls to protect ourselves. In the process, we end up hurting ourselves even more though.  The past several months have been difficult for me, especially in my ministry work. Several family members and friends both near and far know what I have been going through, but for the most part, the rest of the world does not know. It's been a season of ambiguity and not-knowing, waiting for God to see what he does next. There's been hurt and pain. There's been lack of communication and miscommunication. There's been unspoken expectations and assumptions. We often hope that the Church is a place where people can come and seek refuge from the hurts of the world. The reality though is that sometimes

It's been a minute. The past couple of weeks have been eventful in both good ways and not-so-good ways. The one thing that keeps me going is knowing that I have a family who loves me and friends who support and encourage me, which remind me of God's ever faithful presence in my life. So what's been going? Well, besides more food adventures (which I'll get to in a bit), a couple weekends ago my family and I headed down to Pasadena to celebrate my great-aunt Bernice's 100th birthday! She is such an amazing woman and has lived such a full life; after my grandma's death back in 2000 she even stepped in to act as grandmother figure for our family. It was great getting to celebrate her! We had some tasty food as well, and in true Asian style, there was plenty of it. More food came out after the pic xD CHA SIU BAO!!! Mmmm...strawberries and cream. The day before the party though, we made our way to Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,  where moths and vermin destroy,  and where thieves break in and steal.   But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,  where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.   For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." How does someone handle disappointment? How does someone forgive without receiving an apology and one is likely never to come? As I reflect on these questions, I see a correlation between building up treasures and moving forward from disappointment. When we build up treasures on earth, we begin placing too much trust in systems and people. Since we live in a world affected by chaos and sin, systems and people will disappoint and possibly hurt us. Fortunately for us, we have a God who is for us and cares for me way more than systems and people ever could. Because of this truth--when we build up treasures in heaven--we place trust in the One who is trustworthy and

I  can't believe it's already October. Just eight more weeks and I'll have only one more semester left of seminary. I have a lot to accomplish before those eight weeks wrap up, including a final paper on Petrine Christology and how it affects the ways churches develop communities of belonging. Just because I'm busy though, it doesn't mean I can't go on food adventures! Here have been some of the more recent ones within the last couple of weeks: THE CARUTHERS FAIR! I love the Caruthers Fair. The small-town feel. The free admissions. The delicious food. My go-to's are the teriyaki fried chicken wings and some type of dessert. What I love about the teriyaki fried chicken wings is that they get the batter super crispy while retaining all of the chicken's juices. The teriyaki glaze perfects as it has sweet and savory notes. This year my family also tried the spiral potato chips and the cheesecake. The spiral potato chips were aight; could have been crispie

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I have been helping out a church near The Bridge as a guest speaker from time to time as they search for a new English pastor, so I had the opportunity to share with them my talk on God, the Church, and Suicide which I had given to my high school students a few months back. After finishing up there I had to get ready for a student leadership meeting. When I got back to my place and was watching Youtube videos during my rest time, I saw that one of my favorite YT cooks--Laura Vitale--had posted a new video for...you guessed it...CINNAMON ROLL CAKE. I knew I had to make it, especially since it was a simple recipe and I was a bit ahead on my school work. After finishing up my work, I went to the store and bought the necessary ingredients since we had gotten rid of almost everything during the period of the moth infestation in our kitchen. I returned and started making the cake right away. Making the cake was super easy since I just used a box mix. The