TOUGH GUYS, GANGSTERS, AND DELINQUENTS IN ASIAN POP CULTURE

This is a series of posts about the tough-guy characters we love (or sometimes not) in Asian pop culture, from movies to manga.

You can click on the series title above to see them all. Otherwise, you can start reading the first entry in the series, the film accused of being a recruitment ad for the Hong Kong triads, Young and Dangerous. All the other posts are linked to each other so you won't have a hard time. reading them all.

BEHIND THE STORY

Essays with a dose of hidden history.

In the Beginning Was the Word
Originally commissioned and published by Mi Lu magazine, I looked at why we need words to communicate and the origins of emojis. It's not boring, really!

Let Them Eat Pandesal 
Originally commissioned by a magazine that refused to pay me so it never got published, this essay is a story about colonization, massacres, corruption, savages, riotous coolies, and bread.

PERSONAL ESSAYS

Of Things That Will Bite
The story of how I was almost arrested for arson at a Metallica concert.

OTHER WORKS

The Takeout
I wrote a lot of articles on different types of food for The Takeout. Some highlights are:

Singapore and Malaysia had a war (of words) over Hainanese chicken rice, and I explain what makes this dish so special that every Singaporean has their own favorite chicken rice place and they get mad at you if you don't agree.

I like Marmite, and apparently, a lot of people don't agree.

I like balut too.

MacGyver Packing Guide
I shared some packing tips I learned from bodyguards back when I was working in the music industry in On She Goes.