The Beauty of Asia

LOOKBOOK

2011-11-13T15:40:00.000-08:00

I've just joined LOOKBOOK. If you don't know about it, it is a nice, professionally done, web site for fashion, a sort of social network for amateur models. You can see who I have fanned here, but you'll want to explore on your own, and that's easy to do. The thumb here is Victoria C., who can also be found on a blog called Artists Musings.

Nordstrom's asian models

2010-05-08T04:58:00.001-07:00

I guess that Nordstrom tricked me into reposting their ad by using a beautiful woman. This ad caught my eye, and I am grateful to the Asian Models blog for posting information about Nordstrom models, but I'm still not sure who this is (I did decide that Han Jin is beautiful, and that models are made to wear and do ridiculous things by pretentious wannabe artists, but those are other stories).

So, this is just a simple post to ask if any of my readers know who this model is, and to give a shout out to the Asian Models blog.

Anna May Wong

2009-05-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

This picture of Anna May Wong appears in the current issue of Smithsonian magazine, in an article about the photographer Edward Steichen. Edward Steichen set the tone for fashion photography as a photographer for Vogue magazine during the 1920s and 1930s. Anna May Wong was the most successful Chinese-American actress of all time, and her story captures the complexity of Chinese-American life during the first part of the 2oth century. To learn more, I would probably buy "Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend" which is by Graham Russell Gao Hodges (YouTube version).

Update on ricebunny Michellle Phan: YouTube, IQQU, Twitter and more

2009-04-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

My post about Michelle Phan (May, 2007) is starting to get comments, so an update may be in order. Michelle still posts to Xanga (ricebunny), but her YouTube channel (MichellePhan) is where the videos go, and she recently passed 100,000 subscribers (it's 101,923 right now). You can also follow her on Twitter (RiceBunny), where she is one of the few people I know to consistently use the Twitpic feature to include photographs. Most significant is the launch of IQQU, her line of beauty products. I see her as an artist using the media of makeup and the internet to do interesting things.

Links for Michelle Phan:
Asian Sirens
Xanga
YouTube
Twitter
IQQU
Deviant Art

The Ahn Trio

2008-05-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's just the addictiveness of YouTube, but I'm really stuck on these sisters. All three, Lucia (pianist), Lucia (cello) and Angella (violinist).

This Asian girl likes a white guy

2008-05-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

Over on Xanga, radjbo posted on "Interracial Relationships" and got 273 comments (so far, it's been two days). It seems that this is a hot topic. A lot of comments have to do with yellow fever.

She seems to be promoting bunchedup.tv, where you can chat with her.

Educating my readers about the dangers of yellow fever

2008-02-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

A friend suggested that I post a link to this Xanga entry in order to help educate those who need it most about how they appear to others. It is a post by an Asian American woman about how annoying she found it be hounded online by an "admirer." Yellow fever is not attractive. The man in question needs to be educated about a lot of things. I thought I'd start with a simple civics lesson. The U.S. Constitution holds that Asian Americans are just as American as European Americans and African Americans. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." This is not complicated. However, there will be a test. Check the comments here in a few days to see if you passed.

Kanny Theng wins the Sato Hakubi Gorgeous Skin Search Contest

2008-02-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

Kanny Theng, who I know only as FollowYrHeart on Xanga, seems to have just won the Sato Hakubi Gorgeous Skin Search Contest (which was run by text messaging). Although I am skeptical of whitening pills, Kanny does have a very beautiful fresh look.

Kanny's site says that she has been in the modeling industry for 4.5 years and she invites you to contact her at kannytheng@yahoo.com.sg if you want makeup services.

The rise of the asian trophy wife

2007-07-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

Many successful men have always found younger (and beautiful) wives later in life. Recently, it seems that more of these "trophy wives" are asian. Chinese-born American Wendi Deng (邓文迪) has been in the news a lot lately because her husband, Rupert Murdoch, is trying to purchase the Wall Street Journal. We saw Vietnamese-American Hong Le Webb, the second wife of Jim Webb, at his side when he was elected to be the junior Senator from Virginia last November. There is also Woody Allen's marriage to Soon-Yi Previn, which has now lasted for almost ten years.

These women are not bimbos. Wendi Deng has a Yale MBA and is head of MySpace China while Hong Le Webb is a securities and corporate law attorney in Washington D.C.. An exception might be Korean-American Alice Kim (pictured here with her husband Nicolas Cage). Although she had a bit part in his movie, "Next," her career prior to marriage is described on wikipedia as "sushi restaurant waitress."

Maya Sakura is stunning

2007-05-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Another find on Asian Sirens, Maya Sakura is stunning.

Links for Maya Sakura:

Asian Sirens
Model Mayhem
MayaSakura.com
myspace

Ricebunny Michelle Phan - an artistic work in progress

2007-05-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese-American artist Michelle Phan's life is devoted to the creation of beautiful and interesting work. Her art is all about change. On her xanga site she often shows many stages of works in progress, and her photos play with the process of artistic creation, like one from her Xanga site that appears to be a still photo of her looking down, but slowly changes as she looks up at you with those beautiful round eyes. Her most popular xanga entry (by far) is a makeup application video, which is, of course, about the act of creating beauty.

Links for Michelle Phan:

Xanga: RiceBunny (photos, makeup video)
ricebunny.com (in her future)
myspace (in her past)

Photographs of Sarah Chang by Sheila Rock

2007-03-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

A few times lately, while flipping through the playbill at a concert, I've been struck by pictures of the violinist Sarah Chang. It turns out that they are all photos by Sheila Rock

Links for Sarah Chang:

IMG Artists (photos)
wikipedia

Links for Sheila Rock:

photos (at terrimanduca.co.uk)
blue tulip gallery (includes biography)
Sera: The Way of the Tibetan Monk, a hardcover book of photos

Rinko Kikuchi

2007-02-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

Rinko Kikuchi has been nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her role as Chieko in "Babel." Born January 6, 1981, Rinko has performed in a number of Japanese films, but is new to U.S. cinema. It will be interesting to see what she does next.

Links for Rinko Kikuchi:

IMDB (photos)
Allmovie ( Biography)
Anore.co.jp
Wikipedia
Film Monthly An interview with Paul Fisher
New York Times (a slide show of great performers)
asian-sirens

Ingrid Vo on Pacific Beauty

2006-12-31T07:18:00.000-08:00

Ingrid Vo is one of the most alluring models around, but you won't find many pictures of her on the internet. The best collection is an entry on Asian Sirens, where photographer Adam Yurman talks about working with Ingrid and "scans his own shots out of a popular magazine and uploads them to the Internet like some kind of scanmaster." He does good work. Apparently, the magazine is Penthouse. You can see Ingrid online at Pacific Beauty. The way Pacific Beauty works, you pay to join a "photo club," which gives you access to a set of photos (for example, the "Ingrid Wet and Wild" photo club contains 58 photos). This is a one time fee, and you can view the photos from that one "photo club" on their web site as often as you like, forever. By the way, their most popular photo clubs are all Kaila Yu, which may be because she is the only model whose last name gets used, or because she is easier to find on the web (there is a lot to be said for advertising).

Links for Ingrid Vo:

Asian Sirens (read the comments)
Pacific Beauty

The Beauty of Kazakhstan

2006-11-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" led me to see what Kazakh women really look like. Clockwise from the upper left are Dina Nuraliyeva, Miss Kazakhstan 2005; Gaukhar Rakhmetalyeva, the new Miss Kazakhstan Universe 2007; a Kazakh woman holding flowers during Vice President Cheney's visit to Kazakhstan and designer Saida Azhikhan adjusting the hat on a model (Robert A. Reeder from the Washington Post).

Now on Asian Sirens

2006-10-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

I've been given the opportunity to post on Asian Sirens. That is a thrill and a compliment. Asian Sirens is a truly excellent site (and considerably higher profile than my lil' ol' blog here), so I'll probably be posting there more than here. But this space is mine, so I'll keep it.

The picture is Miho Ariga, and even though the comments on Asian Sirens were only about her breasts, I find that this "detail" of her face, which I've used on my sidebar in the past, captures her beauty very well.

Gina Choe

2006-08-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't see America's Next Top Model on TV, but I sure noticed Gina Choe when a video of the show was posted on asian-sirens. There was a lot of discussion there about whether we will see her again as a model. I like her a lot. She's very beautiful and struck me as being honest and innocent. Gina is not cut out for reality TV shows, but she definitely has the looks to be a model, and I hope that we do see more of her in the future.

Links for Gina Choe:

Asian Sirens
Interview (TV guide)
Wikipedia
Myspace

Jenny Xu

2006-08-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is Jenny Xu, who was just featured on Asian Sirens. According to her photographer, who posted this picture on Flickr.com [note added July 2007; her pics aren't there any more], she is 41 years old and has been modeling for 20 years. I'm probably not the only guy in his 40s who has noticed that asian women my age are looking better all the time. Of course the photography helps, and this was done by Immaculate Imaging of Auckland, New Zealand.

Links for Jenny Xu:

Asian Sirens
Immaculate Imaging

Ziyi Zhang

2006-08-09T06:53:00.000-07:00

Ziyi Zhang has rapidly become the most popular asian actresses. She was already well known even before "Memoirs of a Geisha" (official site, IMDB) was released. Ziya is not a head-turning beauty but her image grows on you. I first noticed her in "Hero," (aka Ying Xiaong; official site, IMDB) where she projected a surprising and innocent beauty that stole the show from Maggie Cheung. She really shines in 2046 (official site, IMDB), Wang Kar Wai's masterpiece about a jaded playboy who spends time with a series of remarkably beautiful women, trying to forget the one who really has his heart.

Links for Ziyi Zhang:

Wikipedia
Internet movie database
helloziyi Unofficial fan site with news and pictures
CSC (forum)

The Beautiful and Mysterious X

2006-08-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Of all the women on myspace, I'm intrigued by X. She works as a bartender in San Francisco (Club Crash and Club Whisper among others) and Las Vegas (Light).

I feel a little funny blogging on someone who doesn't seem to be a professional model, but she is really beautiful and there are professional quality pics on her myspace page. Definitely a publizen, she has a livejournal page where you can see what's up with her (mostly, she's tired from paryting). The id is xtinaklee both places, the pics say Christina K. Lee and her friends seem to call her Chris. X stands for Chris, as in Xmas. Got it.

If I'm ever in SF, I know where I'm going to get drinks. Her day job? "Sales coordinator." Hmmm. That's a bit mysterious, but whatever it is, I'm buying.

The women of myspace

2006-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

A shout out to all those beautiful women on myspace. It's been a great treat for an older guy like me to visit myspace and make "friends" with so many beautiful women (Kaila Yu, Thuy Li, Luana Lani, Jenny Chu, Lilly Nguyen, Stacey Lee and so many more)! I'm really impressed with the artistic quality of some many of the sites there. The pic is Stacy Lee.

Kaila Yu

2006-07-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Kaila Yu has so much going on! She's on myspace, she has her own site, and she has all sorts of extras, like Kailapop (a discussion board). Kaila was born in Taipei and grew up in California. She is a model and her pics are all over the web. Kaila is also a musician. Her new song is "Candy coated sugar sex" and she posted a preview on YouTube. Check it all out on kailayu.com, a site that she created herself.

Links for Kaila Yu:
kailayu.com
myspace
Google search

Welcome to the beauty of asia!

2006-07-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy to start this blog in order to celebrate the beauty of asian women.