Before Lucy Liu, Kelly Hu, Yuri Tag, or Maggie Q, there was Anna May Wong. As the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition, Anna May Wong’s remarkable career spanned both silent and sound film, television, stage, and radio is one that has faded in the ashes of time.

Born in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong was infatuated with movies since she was small and began acting in films at an early age.   Her big break came in 1922 with the The Toll of the Sea, one of the first movies made in color.  By 1924, Wong had achieved stardom as she starred in Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Bagdad.

Wong also became a fashion icon during the Flapper Era, and took on bigger roles in Hollywood, including the Daughter of the Dragon (1931), Daughter of Shanghai (1937), and Shanghai Express (1932).

Eventually Wong became frustrated by the supporting roles she was forced to play due to racism against her Chinese heritage, and in early 1930, she left Hollywood to star in several notable plays and films in Europe.  When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role in The Good Earth, a disheartened Anna May Wong left altogether to tour China, where she learned about her Chinese heritage and visiting her ancestral village.   During the 1930′s World War II, Wong sacrificed her career to devote her time and energy  to helping the Chinese cause against Japan.

Her career unfortunately never quite returned to its early prominence.  Wong instead moved onto television where she became the first Asian-American to start in a TV series.  Sadly, she passed away young at the age of 56.

Despite stardom in Hollywood during her lifetime, Anna May Wong’s roles were limited to the stereotypical “Dragon Lady” or “Butterfly” roles.  Yet she has experienced a renaissance most recently, as Wong’s life and career are going through a renaissance in which scholars and film aficionados are fascinated by her again.  But perhaps a little too late as it has only been but a century since she graced Tinseltown with such elegance.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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Until this morning the weather had been looking up again recently, which leads me to remind you that your feet need as much summer lovin’ as the rest of you! I thought I would use more Instagram and fashion blogger inspiration this week to demonstrate this season’s hottest trends in heels: sexy, ankle-strapped sandals. During my long hours of intensive fashion blog research, I have come across a recurring theme: Zara. Not only does this retailer provide amazing clothing selections, Zara provides affordable, on-trend, and comfortable footwear for the feet and budget of every girl. Check out the images below for proof.

Levi Nguyen of TLNIQUE wears three different Zara heels that may be the perfect additions to your shoe collection.

A classic black leather heel: goes with anything and possesses that sexy siren appeal.

These lovely two-toned, T-strap heels are a unique and ever-stylish design that is sure to add class and glamour to any summer outfit.

White ankle-strapped versions for a more innocent yet chic touch.

I wore these bold orange suede Zara heels in my blog, What Doffy Does, for my own take on the summer sandal trend.

And lastly, if stiletto heels don’t appeal to your taste, why not try a chunkier heel? Bridg of Pho & Chips paired these neutral two-toned Zara strappy sandals with a black and striped outfit: perfection!

 I hope that you enjoyed this Trendy Tuesday post and get inspired by these fantastic shoes to create amazing summertime ensembles. Have a great week!

The post Trendy Tuesday: The Must-Have Heels for a Sizzling Summer appeared first on AX3 Battery | Asian Entertainment and Lifestyle Online Magazine.

McDonald’s recently introduced the Durian Crunch McFlurry to its Dessert Kiosks. The dessert is made of vanilla soft-serve ice-cream with durian syrup mixed in. Caramel covered cereal bits are then added on top to complete the treat, giving it a satisfying crunch.

The dessert goes for $2.26CAD a pop. While we have yet to try it, we’ve heard that it tastes… actually, pretty good!

You can learn more about durian, aka, “the king of stink,” from one of our previous articles here.

Source: 1

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Clara tweeted a picture earlier today (shown above) with a fat ring on her finger. The tweet read,

Well, it’s about time, Fisher. :]@fishyfighter #nofilter

Then, over on Dan’s Instagram, you see this matching photo (caption included)

Clara has agreed to clean up after me and cook for me for the rest of her life, in exchange for me taking out the trash :)

Talk about Clara C packing a mean punch! To the people who thought they had a chance with her! Joking. Hurts, doesn’t it? Sorry.

Well who’s Dan, you ask? Well, if you’ve read any of the descriptions beneath Clara’s videos, you’ve probably skimmed your eyes over his name. Dan has directed a number of Clara’s music videos such as Fish (well that song suddenly became ten times more adorable!), Wanting What I Need, Darling It’s You and many more!

(He has made an appearance in her videos but I will not tell you which ones because it’s just more fun this way).

Clara is among a handful of YouTubers that has either gotten engaged or married this year. They are:

Janice (of Jayesslee) and Sung – here’s the video with where Janice tells us the story of her engagement

Michael and Carissa (of Us the Duo) – Part 2 of their wedding (they had a civil marriage last year)

More YouTuber unions include both Gabe Bondoc, who got engaged, and Lana McKissack, who got married, last November. Looks like they’re all getting hitched! I am legit excited for these people! …despite having never even met them. It’s a YouTube connection, I tell ya!

Anyway, do send Clara and Dan your love through either Clara’s YouTube, Facebook or Twitter pages! Cheers to the happy couple!

The post Clara C is Engaged! appeared first on AX3 Battery | Asian Entertainment and Lifestyle Online Magazine.

Weibo user Happy张江 posted the above picture of her unique fashion with the caption:

“Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out.”

The picture quickly became one of the most popular posts on the microblogging service, with many users commenting on their disgust.

“Damn, so disgusting!!!”

“No one will wear them, at least not girls.”

“This will not only prevent against perverts, it’ll definitely also result in preventing handsome guys from approaching you. When things go to the extreme, they can only go the opposite direction!!!”

As odd a fashion choice this is, it looks like it’s guaranteed to work against wandering eyes on the subway. I just hope the hair isn’t real.

Sources: 1

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So, yesterday I had the chance to interview the ever popular YouTube filmmakers, Wong Fu Productions, and their friend, Yuri Tag.  AX3 sponsored the show, Wong Fu Productions feat. Yuri Tag in Vancouver, and it took place at the UBC War Memorial gym. There were over 1200 attendees (I think?) and the show was hosted by Linda Dong and Daniel Kim, two Vancouver-based youtubers.

I had the incredible opportunity to interview Phil and Wes of Wong Fu Productions (we missed you, Ted!), as well as Yuri Tag of  Kaba Modern (ABDC Season 1). I was so excited to interview the three of them and was pumped to get to know the people I’ve watched for years now! Prior to this interview, my senior editor and I had spent a few days to prepare the questions and lay out the interview structure. However, when it came time for the actual interview, I… well, let’s just say I’ve learned a few new lessons.

Here are my Top 5 Takeaways from interviewing Wong Fu Productions and Yuri Tag

1. Meet and greet
   Although I don’t think I was, apparently I was star struck in the presence of Wong Fu and Yuri. They were incredibly normal and it was cool to be among them but for some reason, I became really shy and barely said a word when they were around. This only made things more awkward when starting as I should’ve broken the ice prior to our interview.
2. They are regular people
   This intimidated me! I don’t know why I felt the need to give them their space. Ok, I know this is common sense but I meant I felt even more pressured to give these guys more space than I would with regular people. What was I thinking?! They are regular. They’re people who probably wanted to be talked to as such and who probably didn’t want to feel awkward when meeting new people. I put them on this pedestal and oggled instead of just making them feel comfortable. I could’ve been among friends, instead I just smiled uncomfortably and bore my eyes into their souls. Or was it that I dared not to make direct eye contact in case they were actually interested in making conversation? Must be an Asian thing? Either way, it was awks.
3. Be more prepared
   I learned that despite putting in a few hours with my manager, discussing the layout of the interview and putting together our questions, I was under prepared. There should’ve been more time spent editing the final interview script. And I should’ve taken my nerves into account! I’m good with making conversation but it’s best to have a question guide, especially when you’re nervous! Being prepared with the questions you really want to ask is much more beneficial for a good interview.
4. Type out your questions or write neater
   The first ten seconds of my interview with Wong Fu and Yuri was mortifying. I’m not saying this lightly.  IT. WAS. EMBARRASSING. You know when excitement becomes anxiety then becomes panic then becomes awkwardness? That happened. I was trying to introduce my question but when it came to reading it aloud, I lost my words and overall communication abilities because my writing was so illegible! I mean I could’ve brushed it aside and made light of the situation by acknowledging the fact that my notes were ill-written but for some reason, I just got stuck! I froze and stared down at my paper in hopes the writing would magically render themselves legible but nope, the awkward, stagnant moment just kinda lingered until it passed. THANK GOODNESS. I don’t think it lasted longer than 10-15 seconds but you know when you’re mortified, those seconds feel like days!
   Oh, for those interested in knowing the question, the question was, “What do you think you would be doing if Wong Fu had never met?” Now, the introduction to that question was something along the lines of, I saw in your WFW episode 99 that you guys met in college… etc. But when I realized I couldn’t read what I wrote, they totally questioned whether I had even watched that episode (which I totally did three times but was too incapable of speech that I just looked pathetically defensive). Good job, Trini.
5.  Think of the interviewee/ Just be
   Two lessons in one! Which makes this lesson just that more important. When I was younger, I thought of everybody else but myself. Somewhere along the way, it became about me. People kept telling me that it was important to think about yourself and your needs. However as I go through life, I’ve learned that while self-love and being concerned of your own happiness is important, thinking of others is equally as important! When you start thinking about the needs of others, they will (most likely) reciprocate and that in turn will make you feel good! Love grows. It’s strange that this concept is both selfless and selfish but I’ve learned that when you put others before yourself, you’ll learn that we are all the same! We don’t want to be smiled at politely and then ignored. We want to engage in conversations, make friends, be liked!

Anyway, those were the top 5 takeaways from interviewing Wong Fu and Yuri. I really hope I didn’t make a bad first impression on them. They were incredibly sweet and they voiced their enjoyment of our lightning round of questions so that was good. I remember Phil made a comment about how bizarre it was for so much people to love them simply because they were doing what they loved. I also overheard Wes saying he could never get used to the crazy fan attention. Their sentiments were a reminder to me that they were indeed, very normal, and it would probably be much more appreciated had I just been normal too! I really wanted to exude confidence, to be professional, to not be over-the-top fangirly but after much reflecting, I’ve learned those things just aren’t as important as just letting things be. Also, thinking about all those things at once induces unnecessary stress!

Me interviewing Wes, Phil and Yuri. photo credit: Justin Lee

Despite my internal panic attack, yesterday was loads of fun! Thank you, Wong Fu and Yuri for visiting our city, enjoying our salmon sashimi, playing Ultimate with us, etc! We love you and hope y’all return soon! (At least sooner than 7 years). Thank you for the life lessons, posing with me for pictures and being cool. Good luck with all your endeavours and keep doing what you do cause we love you, Wong Fu! And Yuri. hehe

Thanks for reading,

Trini (Twitter, Instagram)

ps. Wes is currently winning the selfie contest, Phil‘s in second place and Yuri‘s in third. We should probably put a cap on the contest but that would mean declaring a definite winner and it’s bad enough that we pitted you three against one another and possibly endangered your friendships. Let’s just say, you are all winners :)

featured image credit: Peter Tang

The post Top 5 Takeaways from Interviewing Wong Fu Productions and Yuri Tag appeared first on AX3 Battery | Asian Entertainment and Lifestyle Online Magazine.