March 17, 2008

• Now Why Didn’t I Mention Miss Chinatown USA 2008?

  Why didn’t I?  I practically spent the entire month of February involved with the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce from 09 February through 24 February.  Ok ok, so that was just a little over two weeks with the organization responsible for the annual Chinese New Year Parade and the Miss Chinatown USA Pageant.  Actually if you include the orientation and the post-pageant appearances, it actually adds up to almost a month and counting.  So why didn’t I talk about it much though it dominated my February schedule? 

  First off, February was dominated by Yau Kung Moon’s CNY performance schedule as well as my “rookie” escort year with Chamber.  I knew Chinese New Year takes a good 2 1/2 months of my life especially on the weekends, so I normally block that time out of my schedule each year.  Never mind that’s about 1/5 of the year or 20%, but the reality is, CNY does takes away 20% of my year each year. 

  Anyhow, so why did I get involved as an escort this year after a 12 year hiatus working backstage for the pageant?  Curiosity I guess…I always wondered what it was like to be an escort for the contestants.  I wasn’t getting any younger, and I felt the time has come that I would soon be in a committed, long term relationship (hopefully) such that I wouldn’t be able to serve in the capacity of an escort had that been the case(one can only speculate and hope…), soooo…  And besides, I spent the last 5+ years writing about my community, acting as characters from the community, criticizing the community,  performing for the community, but I haven’t really worked with the community in a long time, and it was a long time overdue. 

  The pageant is like any production I had worked on in recent years.  Whether it was for film or stage, the work commitment was the same.  With the contestants’ public appearances, getting them to and from their hotel rooms, accompanying them to their shopping, rehearsals, MORE public appearances, performances and errands took a lot of work and commitment.  It was a job similar to most others that I took in relation to the arts/entertainment, with less focus on the arts.  (I remember on my first day of duty as escort and meeting the contestant from Chicago; after her mild protest on discussing deep dish pizza, I commented on how Chicago was the improv capital.  She was like “improv, what’s that?”)

  In the beginning, meeting the demands made by some of the contestants became a major chore and sore spot for me.  I remember taking time off and visiting with my Bible study group venting about having to deal with some of them.  Then I also remember Daniel, aka “Lucky.”  He was one of the escorts whom I’ve met some time ago through GRX Church.  He set an example for me in “serving with a servants heart,” and not surprisingly, he was one of the most popular escorts among the contestants.  Whether it was him carrying a lot of bags for the contestants, sleeping on the floor in the escorts’ room, or waking up at 6am in order to take the contestants to their workout, he did so wholeheartedly without an ounce of complaint.  In a lot of ways, it was as if I was served by his example.  And BTW, as my attitude shifted over time, the contestants who I felt were demanding in the beginning ended up being the ones I missed the most thus far. 

  There were fourteen contestants this year, and here’s my own personal breakdown on them.  (The title they won will be in parenthesis) It’s kinda on the order of when I met each of them.  The key word is KINDA

  Barbara Yeung: She’s the one from Chicago who had me NOT talk about deep dish pizza and who wasn’t aware of what improv was.  She reminds me of my biological mother whose American name is Barbara, and whose Chinese name is Yeung-Wan.  She was also the same height as her which made it even more spooky for me. 

  Connie Chen: (4th Princess) I’m NEVER gonna look at the color green again and NOT think about her.  (yes, green is “growing” more sexy each time!)  Speaking of which, isn’t today St Paddy’s Day? 

  Amy Chu: I’m not supposed to root for anyone during the pageant, but when you meet someone who went to both alma maters of mine, (Oakland High and CSU HAYWARD) it’s hard NOT TO be a little biased.  Add to the fact that she is also a fellow lion dancer.  She’s from da hood, y’know?

  Ting Ting Chen: It’s hard not to think about Ting Ting without Amy, and vice-versa. (hence, why I listed them back to back) They were practically “partners in crime” in addition to being roomies.  I never had a chance to quiz her on her acting knowledge though she stated acting as one of her interests.  I still remember the first time we met at Fong Bros. and she asked if I worked there or if I was an escort. 

  Ting Ting Fei: from one “Ting Ting” to another.  I have the impression that her significant other works out a LOT.  He has to in order to carry those heavy bags for her.  I never met anyone who could spend two hours at a cosmetic counter…I’m impressed!

  Ilyssa L: (Ms C-Town SF) It seems that Ilyssa was someone I got to know the least, but I do know she’s an awesome pianist. 

  Lanna Xu: (2nd Princess) Aspiring filmmaker, though I did not inquire about whether she would prefer to do narrative vs documentary.  She knows LA freeways like an local Angeleno even though she’s from NY.

  Ni Jiang: (Ms C-Town USA) Yes, currently she’s the reigning queen and it was an honor and privilege to dance with her at the coronation ball.  Kinda awkward to be shorter than her though.  I was impressed w/her radio interview at Sing Tao even though I didn’t understand a damn word. 

  Francine Cheng: I dunno what the hell I was thinking, but I think I challenged her to a bake off.  Keep in mind, I haven’t cooked a damn thing in three years unless you count jook.  What the hell did I get myself into?

  Andrea Chen: (3rd Princess) Initially I was baffled at why she placed emphasis on the fact that she competed a year ago, but when she placed as 3rd Princess this year, she taught me a valuable lesson on learning from your experience and applying them to future opportunities. 

  Ginny Wen: (Ms Congeniality) Yeah, shopping with her at Bloomingdales gave me feelings of “at ease.”  She came across to me as someone who could hang out w/you at a sports bar or an actual sporting event. (RAIDERS)  She was NOT interested in spending 2 hours at the cosmetic counter, which earned brownie points w/me. 

  Kelly Wong: She’s someone who pops into my head whenever I see pink the way Connie does with the color green.  I still can’t get that “I Could’ve Danced All Night” outta my head to this day no matter how many times I play the RENT soundtrack. 

  Sheri Chang: (Ms Talent) I joked w/her about the cluelessness of one of the MC’s not aware that his cluelessness literally screwed her over that night of the actual pageant. (I wasn’t there during the night of the pageant because of a YKM performance)  When I said that Ting Ting C was Amy’s partner in crime, Sheri was my comedic partner in crime.  I just sorta failed to tell her about the part about myself that I was once a standup comedian before I went into acting, and that’s how I knew some of the comedians she liked. 

  Tiffany Tam: (Ms Chinese Chamber) Like Amy, she’s also someone I considered to be a “homegirl.”  Anytime I talk to her, I’m reminded of the book, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman because of their commonality of being gymnasts representing Cal Berkeley.  I keep forgetting to recommend that book to her…

  I don’t plan on coming back as escort next year.  Not because of what anyone did or didn’t do.  This is just something that I consider to be a “young man’s game,” and I suppose I’m conceding that I’m getting a little older now.  Plus walking the CNY parade twice (once for YKM, the 2nd time for MCU) requires a lot of energy also.  This experience kicked me in the tail because of my lack of productivity in pursuing my own goals prior to meeting all of the contestants.  So that’s where my energy will be spent.  In pursuit of the prize.  Thank you ladies and fellow escorts for reminding me of that. 

  • 7:18 am
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