2012 Miss LA Chinatown Pageant

There’s nothing that will make you feel more old than attending a pageant you participated in two years ago, a pageant filled with pretty young thangs strutting their stuff on the stage.

Nonetheless, I covered up my wrinkles and sucked in my belly and attended the 2012 Miss LA Chinatown pageant.

‘Twas lovely to catch up with my adorable court (including Jani who emceed the event and missing dear Dow-Ning and Chantel)

Lucky(?) for the 2012 pageant contestants, I was itching to make more use of my monopod so I documented their entire q&a section and posted it on Youtube. I think this will be helpful for all future pageant contestants interested in seeing different ways of answering the q&a’s. I consider them educational videos. You’re welcome, future Miss America.

Enjoy!

posted by Janice | Comments: 1 | Chinatown, Los Angeles, Pageant, Public Appearances

I’m A Hustler, Baby

When people ask me how I’ve been these days, I always respond that I’ve been hustlin’.  Then, I realized that I’m not even really aware of what this word hustlin’ means.  So I looked it up. Good old Urban Dictionary got my back, yO

Hustlin: Havin the ambition and drive to do everything and anything to make mad money. See hustler… Also a term used for “tryin to obtain sum booty”.

Err… not quite what I’m doing. How about the next definition?

Hustlin: hustlin’s doin whatever you gotta do to get that paper.

Okay, so I think that these days, the term hustling should be expanded. I think if you replace “money” and “paper” in those definitions with “dream,” it would be a more accurate description of what I see my friends and cousins and sister, even my dad, and I going about doing everyday.  Yes, we are still trying to make a living, but doing it the way we want to live. We’re hustling to make our dreams come true. Working hard 24/7 to do it. We don’t have everything mapped out because in this day and age, there is no clear path to get you to where you want to go. And anyway, where do you want to go?  Best to go with the flow. But keep an itinerary in mind. But stop and smell the roses. You catch my drift? (It doesn’t smell like roses, huh?)

I don’t know how everybody else is going about it, but here are snapshots of my hustle:

I spend a lot of time on my computer. I don’t usually look this clean doing it (this was for a photoshoot) but I do have to stare at my macbook a lot.  I wish I didn’t spend as much time as I do on Facebook or G-chat or Twitter or Google Reader. They give me a headache.

posted by Janice | Comments: 11 | Chinatown, Fashion, Friendlies, Job, Los Angeles, Magazine, Pageant, Public Appearances, Uncategorized, Writing

Media Maiding It In China

We are on official court duties in Diao Yu Tai, Beijing, China.

Other video seen here.

Life is hard as a princess.

posted by Janice | Comments: 8 | Chinatown, Look, Pageant, Public Appearances, Travel, TV

I’m Alive!

Greetings from DengFeng, China! I’m here using hotel internet at 10 yuan an hour (that’s a little over a buck) and sweating up a storm.

Sadness, I just found out that China does not have Blogger nor Twitter (at least, not from when I tried) and so updates will have to come in when I get to Hong Kong.

A few quick updates:

*I had to get the full China experience and what is China without food poisoning? (It’s either food poisoning or indigestion, either way, I am weaksauce)

*Drink lots of water when you climb the Great Wall in July because you will suffer from heatstroke.

*I am getting better at peeing down a hole.  (Still haven’t mastered number 2 yet though.)

*We either look like celebrities or freaks here. Strangers keep taking pictures of us when we walk by. No biggie.

*I am having an amazing time and…I’m not getting homesick but I do wish everyone from my home is here with me having an amazing time as well.

Better update (with pictures?) will be coming soon. 

Until then, ta ta!

posted by Janice | Comments: 4 | Chinatown, Pageant, Public Appearances, Travel

Lookin’ Good

The other day at a dinner party, a friend received many compliments regarding her hair.

“Did you cut it?”

“It looks so good!”

“What did you do to your hair?”

A flurry of questions and praises were met with the response, “Well, you know what I did? Actually, all I did was…blow dry it after I get out of the shower.”

I wish it were only that easy for me to accomplish my morning hair-and-makeup ritual. No, I need a little more help than that.

posted by Janice | Comments: 3 | Chinatown, Look, Pageant, Public Appearances

Actually, There’s Only 5 of us in this Picture…

…but thanks LAist! Putting this shot up as one of the 7 Reasons to Love L.A. only makes me love L.A. a little more. (Don’t tell New York that.) Oh, and the enchanting one has a hilarious tale to tell about her journey as a Chinatown parade audience members.

{photo taken by Keith Skelton}

posted by Janice | Comments: 2 | Chinatown, Los Angeles, Love, Pageant, Public Appearances

Miss LA Chinatown 2010 Recap

Life as a post-pageant contestant has been bliss.  I eat whatever I want (sometimes a little too much. For instance, I really could have gone without licking the bones off my Versaille roasted garlic chicken today and that second Haagen Daz ice cream bar). I got to catch up on episodes of my favorite TV shows (oh, Phil Dunphy, how I have missed you). I was able to answer my neglected friends’ calls again.

I really have to give pageant girls props. The ones who take it seriously, like, really seriously put a whole lot of work into it! Not including the months of prep, (which I’ve already prepped you on) the actual day of the pageant is 24 hours of pure mental and physical exhaustion.

posted by Janice | Comments: 12 | God, Pageant

AND THE WINNER IS…

Ladies and gentlemen, The Media Maid is proud to announce the 2010 Miss LA Chinatown court!

posted by Janice | Comments: 6 | Chinatown, Los Angeles, Pageant

America’s Next Top Chinese American Model?

I was born tall. Have always been the tallest gal in my class, always stood at the back for pictures, always played the target for people to spot in large crowds, always was able to reach the top shelf for the cookie jar.

My long limbs always led to two natural assumptions from strangers; “you should be a basketball player,” or, “you should be a model.”

Alas, I lack the grace and coordination for either occupation. I have severely injured myself while jogging on concrete, coming down from a ski lift or skipping to a dance and have the scars and crooked ankle to prove it. Nonetheless, it was fun to play supermodel for one day.

The Miss LA Chinatown pageant has come and gone. Poses were struck, drama queens were unleashed and attitudes were strut down the runway. We even ended up in the Chinese newspapers!

We even got interviewed afterwards!

Large thanks goes out to the current court (pictured here with a former court member and CACC member, Karin), John, Ginger, Junko, Miss Tina and many other crew members for their amazing production of this fashion show.

Their dedication to the show was tremendous and I know that if we didn’t have Joyce, Jennifer, Marisa, Janice and Suyun guiding us this entire time, we would have pulled something like Miss Bradshaw here:

[Thanks for the photos, Jane, Marisa and Mom!]

posted by Janice | Comments: 6 | Fashion, Pageant