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Stamps, Grub, Culture, Club

The Stamp of the Snake: The mighty dragon danced as the U.S. Postal Service, in association with the Asian Pacific Cultural Center, Oakland, released the premiere First Day Issue of the Year of the Snake Stamp. Enthusiastic crowds both young and old sought to purchase the first Lunar New Year stamp, souvenir envelope and other commemorative items.

At the Asian Pacific Cultural Center, Oakland, were new programs featuring the Cory Chan Kei Lun Martial Arts Group; Donnamarie Haves, vocalist, story- teller and dancer; Sue Li-Jue and the Facing East Dance music group; and the Palabuniyan Kulinting Ensemble with Danongan Kalanduyan.

Wa-Sung Service Club : Wa Sung, a longtime East Bay charitable and educational club, featured Sally Yu Leung, San Francisco Asian art commissioner, in a slide presentation on “Customs and Folklore for the New Lunar Year”.

Leung said that “the Chinese New Year celebration is like the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in the Western world. It is a time of thanksgiving, family reunion, special foods, new clothes, flowers, red envelopes, ancestor worship and festivities.”

In Hong Kong, even Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse dress up and join the new Asian festivities!

Ever keeping up with the changing times, the Wa-Sung Service Club calendar includes the highly successful “Chef’s Delight,” a gourmet food and wine tasting event, the traditional Easter Pancake Breakfast, educational grants, a large scholarship program, and other special events. New Wa-Sung President Karen Dea will be assisted by officers Jeannie Chiang, Vanny Tom, Ron Hing, Lorreta Siu, Doris Lum, and Stanley Huie. Wa-Sung directors are Harry Greer, Deborah Pan, Bill Sakakura, Chris Dear, Barbara Hing, Cyndee Lim, Lucy Meyer, Peter Lee, Wayne Fong, Audrey Huie Kingman Lowe.

Newlywed Drs. Alice Ding and Greg Yen receive friends at a reception in Seattle. Photo by Carolyn Gan.

Good Grub: A Year of the Snake Party visited the Pacific Heights home of Dr. Adolphus Wong and his wife Tami, who hand-made a huge assortment of New Year goodies. Delicious home-cooked Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Laotian, Jewish, and American New Year foods were enjoyed by all the lucky guests.

Meanwhile, high on top of a hill in San Leandro, Bill and Ling Law invited friends to another Year of the Snake Party. Restaurateurs with extensive experience, Bill and Ling provided a fabulous feast as guests watched the Super Bowl Game and played mahjong to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

In playing catch-up with the old Dragon Year, internist Dr. Alice Ding and dentist Dr. Greg Yen married in Kauai, Hawaii at the Princeville Resort and celebrated with friends at an elegant dinner dance at the Snowqualmi Ridge Golf Club in Seattle, Wash.

A highlight of the evening was the romantic saxophone serenade, performed by the groom and dedicated to his wife. Guests included the groom’s sisters; former Miss San Francisco Chinatown; attorney Tracy Yen and her husband, Dr. Ray Hsia; Drs. Deidre and Peter Chin; Fran Locke; Rodney and Nancy Yen; Drs. Mie Hayashi and Stacey Yamaguchi; also attending were proud parents Helen and Chi-Kan Ding, and Irma and George Yen.

Building Culture: Circle your calendar for March 3, a major fundraiser for the University of California, “Celebration IV,” to be held at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame.

The event’s goal is to raise funds for a needed conference room in a Center for the Institute of East Asian Studies, the Department of East Asian Languages and the East Asian Library, thereby creating one of the strongest centers of East Asian Studies in the world and attracting faculty, students and future generations of East Asian leaders.

One of the features of the evening’s dinner-dance will be a show of wearable art incorporating antique Asian fabrics and cutting- edge fashions. Raffle winners (tickets $100) will vie for the Grand Prize of a VW Beetle car and other prizes.

Cost of the dinner and dance is $125.00 per person. For more information, call 510-204-0690.