Hearts in Taiwan

Taiwanese Pineapple cake brands taste test Round 2: Pan’s Cake, A-SHA Hello Kitty edition, and Round 1 winner Chia Te. Annie brought the first two back from Taiwan and Angela was curious about the Hello Kitty cakes on Target’s LNY cart, 16 for $15.

Verdict: We like Pan’s filling and Chia Te’s crust the best. A-SHA is fine for giving out to kids but won’t impress any foodies.

Level up: Kei in Taiwanese Home Cooking shared a tip to microwave your pineapple cakes, especially if you’re limited to imports outside Taiwan. 10-15 seconds is life-changing!

Happy new year on February 10! 🐉

tl;dr Taiwanese American book club is awesome! Join us for ISLAND X in the new year: registration link in bio, get the book with early bird pricing by 12/31.

Early this year, I joined a few Taiwanese Americans in a small book club to read PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING by . It reminds me of GREEN ISLAND recounting a multi-generational family experience of recent Taiwanese history and PACHINKO following generations from Korea to Japan to America, but in this story the family starts in China during the Sino-Japanese War and ends up in America.

Leona Chen was a dream organizer, hosting both virtual and in-person discussions (and the in-person one was both delicious and aesthetic!) with thoughtful participants that had a variety of perspectives. Through this historical fiction, I grew more appreciation for what my ancestors endured in the generations before the grandparents that I knew.

And Leona is doing it again! This time, in partnership with to be able to invite everyone who wants to participate. See her review of the non-fiction “essential Taiwanese American reading” ISLAND X by Scripps College professor Wendy Cheng on and get a copy 40% off with code WINTER23 from UWA Press bookstore before 1/5; order via book club pickup by 12/31 to save even more on shipping.

Finally going back after
2 years of making this podcast!
Spending 5 weeks for immersion + visiting cities outside Taipei that we’ve learned about through our listeners. Sharing resources that helped me prep for this trip - including planning camps, reducing jet lag, managing bug and sun exposure, and discovering tourist activities. https://heartsintaiwan.com/travel-gear

// After 1 week I have some top picks of what works and what doesn’t among bug gear we brought.

// Showing some of the children’s books we’ve been reading to hype up the kids about what they’ll see; they worked so well my kid wanted to carry the .bao Night Market book to the night market!

What should a twelve-year-old do when they want to sell their crafts for a good cause but their parents say no? Asian Americans who have spent any amount of time in Silicon Valley will recognize so many details from IT'S BOBA TIME FOR PEARL LI with many real and inspired-by-real place names, and yet the main character lives a way more interesting adolescence than mine empowered by her talent, the Internet, and everything she needs within biking distance in her hometown of Sunnydale, California 😉 Get a copy for young (at heart) readers in your life today 📚

Hearts in Taiwan listeners who enjoyed our Flavors of Taiwan (S1E9) and Hearts (and ears) in Japan (S1E10) episodes will love how this book describes favorite Taiwanese foods and explains why Pearl and her friends find connection to their Taiwanese heritage through Japanese crafts.

Follow the author because I've demanded that she share a list of Chinese and Taiwanese shows to watch on Netflix inspired by Pearl’s pasttime with friends or while crocheting!

📸: background is my own unfinished pandemic crochet project 🫠
Cover art:

Only as an adult have I learned some Lunar New Year traditions like cleaning your house in advance, avoiding washing after, and rituals honoring ancestors. During our hot pot dinner last night, it struck me that I didn't learn these traditions from my own family. So, I asked my mom how she celebrated when she grew up, to figure out what was "tradition" for her and what she passed down to me.

I asked he same questions of her husband who grew up in Hong Kong, and it was a new way for me to get to know both of them and my grandparents better. Their answers opened up to side avenues of conversation, and I became curious about my mom's description of 压岁钱 (yā suì qián), the lucky money inside red envelopes, which will be another post.

CAPTION:
Questions to ask of elders at New Year's gatherings

1. When you were growing up, how did your family celebrate New Year?
2. Who came to New Year's dinner? Did they travel far to gather?
3. Did you get red envelopes? What did you do with the money?
4. Did your family follow traditions or superstitions like cleaning the house or not washing your hair? Were they founded in religious beliefs that your parents held?

Surprising answers? Share in comments below (I'll start).

Appreciation . Our journey of discovery has been accelerated thanks to other Taiwanese Americans whose pride compels them to share generously with us. Many Taiwanese Americans can credit camps they attended as youth, organizations they’ve participated in as adults, and insights they’ve read on TaiwaneseAmerican.org for shaping thoughts on their own identity. Many of those programs exist because of Ho Chie Tsai! We were honored that Ho Chie invited us to a private gathering of Taiwanese Americans this week. See ’s trio of posts about the guests, the food, and the gifts!

1. Our gift to Ho Chie, wrapped in Setsuna tissue paper by Janice Chuang Art (see our IG Stories “Art” highlight for more about it)
2. This was the second time we’ve met in person!
3. Our first meeting, at Jane Kuo’s book launch. Ho Chie supports many TA projects behind the scenes.
4. The guests we were grateful to meet over a traditional Taiwanese banquet prepared by Good-To-Eat Dumplings (📸: edit by )

In this episode, we get to know , creator of The Cooking of Joy blog and one of the founding moderators of the Taiwanese Home Cooking group on Facebook. We asked Joy to share her early influences, tips for food photography, and some of the most lively topics discussed in the Facebook group of over 40,000 people who love to make Taiwanese food.

Listen at https://heartsintaiwan.com/episode/taiwanese-home-cooking-with-joy-huang or open directly to your preferred app using https://linktr.ee/heartsintaiwan

#牛肉面 #牛肉麵

A short and sweet episode this week - Angela’s mom recounts why she’s on crutches in this photo.

2: Angela’s mom and her father
3: The flagpole at Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan where students would assemble each morning for the flag ceremony.
4: Angela can’t quite figure out what her mom meant about riding on her friends’ bikes. These unrealistic Wikihow illustrations aren’t helpful and most photos show people riding on rear pannier racks. 🤷🏻‍♀️

https://linktr.ee/heartsintaiwan for podcast app links or https://heartsintaiwan.com/episode/learning-our-parents-love-languages-through-their-stories to listen in browser.

Applause to Pew Research Center for listening to Taiwanese American advocacy (led by Christina Hu) and recognizing Taiwanese as a distinct origin group in this deep study of the Asian American experience. See the demo of the interactive tool in our Stories and the link to the Pew site below.

We wonder if Karissa Chen had any idea when she gathered 10 Taiwanese Americans for a Hyphen magazine roundtable how MUCH we all had to SAY. We are honored to be a part of this conversation. Preview in Stories or read the discussion at https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2022/08/more-escalating-tensions-roundtable-taiwans-recent-representation-western-media

Part 2 of our milestone "Gratitude Giveaway" features three novels by authors we've had on Hearts in Taiwan podcast this year! This bundle includes LOVEBOAT REUNION by , READING WITH PATRICK by Michelle Kuo, and THE SILENCE THAT BINDS US by our latest guest Joanna Ho…plus some extra goodies that go with the book themes!

HOW TO ENTER (by 11:59pm Sunday July 17):
1. Follow here
2. Like this post
3. Comment with a suggestion for a guest or topic you'd like to have on the podcast or tag a friend who would enjoy listening.

Get 5 bonus entries by sharing a past favorite episode post to your Stories and DM us the screenshot (max 5 bonus entries per prize per person).

This "Own Voices" bundle is the second prize of the giveaway. Look for our post earlier this week to enter to win our prize bundle of books appropriate for younger readers!

Open to US residents age 13 or older. Not affiliated with Instagram. See full rules at link in comments.

In this episode, we examine the dark side of the model minority myth and the “tiger mom” stereotype. ' first young adult novel, THE SILENCE THAT BINDS US, is inspired by a real community’s anti-Asian reaction to teen suicides. Discussing the novel also compels Annie and Angela to get real about passive and active anti-Blackness in the Asian American community.

https://linktr.ee/heartsintaiwan for convenient Listen links to your preferred app!

We're celebrating reaching a milestone of 1K followers on Instagram with a "Gratitude Giveaway" of books we've discussed on the Hearts in Taiwan podcast! Featuring AMAH FARAWAY by Margaret Greanias and Tracy Subisak , IN THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY by Jane Kuo, and 台灣早餐地圖 (TAIWAN BREAKFAST MAP) by Baigo Liao.

HOW TO ENTER (by 11:59pm PDT on Sunday July 17):
1. Follow here
2. Like this post
3. Comment with a suggestion for a guest or topic you'd like to have on the podcast or tag a friend who would enjoy listening.

Get 5 bonus entries by sharing a past favorite episode post to your Stories and DM us the screenshot (max 5 bonus entries per prize per person).

This "Young Readers" bundle is the first prize of the giveaway. Switch your Following status to “Favorites” to make sure you see our post later this week with our prize bundle for adults!

Open to US residents age 13 or older. Not affiliated with Instagram. See full rules at link in comments.

About 32% of people in Taiwan identify as both Taiwanese and Chinese, while diaspora from Taiwan in America tend to identify as solely one or the other. We talk about blending Chinese, Taiwanese, and American identity with Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu. Michelle and Albert moved back to their heritage country mid-career and have been sharing their Asian American observations and introspections about living in Taiwan in their weekly newsletter, A Broad and Ample Road.

Listen to our new episode in your favorite podcast player or at https://heartsintaiwan.com/episode/can-you-be-chinese-and-taiwanese-at-the-same-time

We're usually the ones in the interviewer's seat so we are honored to have been interviewed by Radio Taiwan International's Russian service!

Ведущие подкаста Hearts in Taiwan Ведущие подкаста Hearts in Taiwan Энни Ван и Анджела Юй - героини нового выпуска «Гостиной МРТ». Ведущая Инна Островская поговорила с нашими гостями и...

We were interviewed for the New York Times to provide some context around the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church shooting. We’re grateful to the journalists for taking the time to understand the nuances of our community and sharing them with the mainstream audience. Thanks to Christine Lin for referring Jill Cowan to us! Gift link to read: https://nyti.ms/3mDXG2q

By the way, in the US many public libraries offer free digital subscriptions to the NY Times and other newspapers. I’m still paying for the crossword Games subscription though! 😉

Listener appreciation is a big deal to us every time you tell us how the podcast makes you feel.
As creators, Heritage Month can make us feel like we’re not doing enough, missing out on opportunities, and getting lost in the flood of content.
We’re honored that you listened to find connection with our shared heritage—the core of our purpose—and took the time to share.

Posted • So I’ve been reflecting on last month’s AAPI Heritage Month and although I have my own little ways of celebrating and being all zen about this month of reflection, I want to share my new find that I’m excited about. I started listening to a couple of weeks ago, the podcast is currently on its 2nd season, and I found myself knodding and Yaaassssing and tearing up even because of how much I can relate to the hosts of the show. It’s pretty cool when you find your peeps 🇹🇼🌸. I’m going to go sip some Boba tea 🧋 and eat some baos now! Just wanted to share.

The Chinese name for America, 美国/美國/měigúo, translates to “Beautiful Country”. We talked with author Jane Kuo about her experience as a 1.5-generation immigrant bridging Chinese, Taiwanese, and American identity. Her family’s pursuit of the American Dream inspired her debut novel In the Beautiful Country which is available for pre-order before its June 14 release. https://linktr.ee/heartsintaiwan links to this episode in your preferred app!

Who were the Taiwanese before they called themselves Taiwanese? In this episode, we’re going back to school for a crash course in history with Professor Evan Dawley. We discuss identity on the island before the Japanese colonial period, the influences of Japanese colonizers and the Kuomintang-led Republic of China, and identity among the modern Chinese diaspora. This historical overview of the formation and evolution of the Taiwanese identity provides context for present day conversations.

Listen to this episode in any podcast app or on our website!

We’re so grateful when you message and email us to say how our podcast has impacted you. Thank you for taking a moment to tell us what you think and giving us ideas for future topics we can explore!

This photo captures our childhood personalities perfectly. How did that shape the adults we are today? Listen to our latest episode to hear how being aware of our personalities helps us steer clear of unhealthy tendencies.

Bonus episode! Inspired by our conversation with Carey Lai, we shared the rocky beginnings of starting our careers in the early ‘00s when nobody was hiring after the dot-com bubble burst.
https://heartsintaiwan.com/episode/our-first-jobs-in-silicon-valley

Our first jobs in Silicon Valley | Hearts in Taiwan Inspired by our conversation with Carey Lai, hosts Angela and Annie share the rocky beginnings of starting their careers in the early ‘00s when nobody was hirin...

Wow! We're blown away that each episode this season has broken the record before it for first week downloads. It's so encouraging to see our audience grow. Thank you for sharing our podcast with your friends and family to help them get to know you and Taiwan better!

In this week’s episode, we explore a facet of Silicon Valley tech investing that has been a mystery to us. Carey Lai, co-founder of Conductive Ventures, dives into embracing his values as a child of Taiwanese immigrants and channeling them into a successful career as venture capitalist. How do you live your values every day in your career?

Listen now: https://podcast.heartsintaiwan.com/1765229/10223812-bringing-taiwanese-values-to-entrepreneurship-with-carey-lai

This Women's History Month, we are reminded how much the matriarchs of our family shape our experiences.

In our conversation with AMAH FARAWAY creators and , we talked about how our mothers were the drivers of our relationships with Taiwan. These were among the photos that we were thinking of when we echoed those sentiments, both featuring our Po-Po.

Give it a listen in our February podcast episode "Seeing Taiwan through our mothers' eyes". New episode coming soon!

Hope for healing in Taiwan. After learning about the pattern of authoritarian governments systematically infringing upon human rights, you may feel a bit hopeless. In Episode 8 of Season 1, we talked about the four parts of a sincere apology and how communities can heal from past atrocities like 228 and White Terror.

The fourth part, citing how you'll make changes to prevent the harm from happening again, is something we realized citizens do not have to wait for their government to do. Any administration's legislation is an empty promise without commitment from the citizens to *remember*, *retell* the history to future generations, and hold the government *accountable*.

This is far more effective in democratic countries where governments are accountable to their constituents, so it's up to each of us to advocate for continued democracy in Taiwan and accountability in America.

#228 #二二八

Americans who learn about 228 and White Terror may notice some parallels with the recent race-related events in America. Here are some commonalities we identify in the "Cover-ups" part of our episodes on this period of Taiwan's history - it's like authoritarian governments use the exact same playbook.

#228 #二二八

We call this moment "Alpaca these Wangs to go" (edited per our caption poll, listen to Season 1 "Wang or Wang?" episode) We met this alpaca on our first ever retreat where we did all the things you would do at a corporate retreat except we paid for it ourselves. It was glorious! We talked about the podcast, set personal goals, soaked in the hot tub, had deep and open conversations, and even recorded one of them into a podcast episode. Subscribe in your preferred podcast app to hear the episode when we publish it!