Last Friday was not our typical Date Night. It was a little backwards, but overall a very enjoyable experience. All went well so we attended the Asian Pacific Student Alliance (APSA) Fashion Talent Show (FTS) at San Diego State (SDSU)! Now you know what all those acronyms stand for! We arrived early, parked and took our time getting to Montezuma Hall for the show. As we walked on campus Daddy and I both talked about how we regretted not going to a state school. We vowed to never let Pinky have the same regrets and talked about how we wanted her to have many options for school and to be able to encourage her to do what she wants. We also discussed finances on our date, for a good cause, we talked about wanting to make sure we are able to pay Pinky’s way through college so she can focus on her studies and learn to manage her money without going into debt! All of that was from the parking lot to the main campus…quite a walk but well worth it.
***On a side note, my main reason for wanting to attend the FTS was to support one of my friend’s who just so happens to be the SDSU APASA Vice President and Director of the show Nathan Huey! He’s graduating this year and I can’t be more proud. Great job on the show! You are still an event planner in my eyes 🙂 I know you’re going to go off and do amazing things in life! Thank you for all you do.***
As we walked into the hall we immediately felt out of place. By out of place, I mean OLD! I told Daddy, “at least we can feel old together!” Thank goodness there was a Starbucks nearby because we were starving and needed some fuel for the show. We got our usual “upside down iced caramel mochiato with soy” and a cheese danish! Warning: the show was long, but very entertaining, hence the coffee, so I have a lot to say!
I was excited to watch the show, young talent, a night filled with music and dance! It was going to be fun. What we forgot is that it’s not as much fun if you don’t know the performers. Needless to say we respected each and every one of them. It takes a lot to go up on stage and perform in front of a crowd of people. The show started out with a funny video commercial and then an exciting dance number! The show was broken up into two parts Competing Acts and Exhibitionists, and in between the acts were fashion shows highlighting the talent of local designers. Competing Acts included Freshman a male dance group, Tahitian Ori by Jayna Tuiasosopo, a duet by two good friends Nathan (pianist) and Lauren (vocalist), Embrace a violin and guitar duo, and finally the winners Wushu who performed an interesting martial arts exhibition telling a story about two kids fighting for respect.
The designers featured were RadisRad, My Ninja, Innerspoken and The Imaginary Zebra. Each designer had their own artistic philosophy. RadisRad believes that the world is filled with random stuff; the only thing they emphasize on is that there is no emphasis, just Random Artistic Design! My Ninja believes that they will never be a shirt or a design, but a statement that allows individuals to connect on the constant cultural blending our generation faces. Innerspoken had a cool shirt for all you Glee lovers, that said, ‘the other Asian’ with a silhouette of Mike Chang’s face! Innerspoken gets inspiration from the fact that it’s the little things that make us giggle and brighten up our day. Their shirt designs carry a message in their own quiet and distinct way, waiting to be discovered.Finally, The Imaginary Zebra encourages the use of imagination. When you get a chance check out each designer’s website…cool stuff!
The Wow Committee is a secret committee that works on a number to WOW the audience. I must say, I was WOWED! I wish I had a video of what they did because I can’t really explain it. It was like we were in someone’s dream. A girl dreaming about different adventures as Nemo and Buzz Lightyear floated across the stage. I’ll have to find a video. Wait, Nathan to the rescue, click here to watch and be WOWED!
As expected the Exhibitionists were last. The only performer I recognized was the Headliner: Andrew Garcia from the ninth season of American Idol. Also exhibiting was 15 year old Megan Lee who is a phenomenal musician – singer and song writer. You couldn’t even tell she was 15, she carried herself so well. She did an original number inspired by her little sister graduating kindergarten titled, Future and she also performed her own melody mix of Justin Bieber songs, which she just happened to come up with an hour before the show! There was also Jeremey Crooks whom I wasn’t very impressed with, he just wasn’t as unique as the others, and relied too much on the ‘sex sells.” He was a good dancer and performer though, I can’t take that away. Paul Dateh, blew me and Daddy away with his violin and voice skills along side his guitar player. He performed his own rendition of Billionaire, and a few other songs, but he sang and played so beautifully. And Andrew Garcia, we were tired, but I wanted to see him perform so we stayed. We joked that he would play Straight Up, but he actually did! I was so excited. He also played a song from his album that’s being released this June. It reminded me of Daddy actually, I think it was called Just a Man in Love with You! It was enough for me to want to buy his album or at least check it out.
Overall, the show was awesome, long, but for a great cause. APSA was collecting money for the Japan Relief Fund. The energy was so amazing and it made me feel young again…at least it made me feel proud to be there surrounded by young adults full of goals, dreams and ambition. Everything I want my Pinky to experience when she grows up. It was a breath of fresh air to be at the APSA FTS! Very inspiring!
After the show, Daddy walked back to the car with two minutes to spare on our parking permit. We talked about putting Pinky in violin lessons when she’s old enough! Then, we headed straight to the Cotixan drive thru by home and picked up some pollo asadp fries and rolled tacos, dinner for the late nighters! This made me feel really young, haha! We went home to find our Pinky still awake waiting for us. No matter how much fun we have, nothing beats the love and smiles of Pinky! After digging into our stale fries we called it a night. Cotixan is usually very reliable, but that night it wasn’t for some reason. The service was whatever, it’s late but they couldn’t understand a thing we were saying, not because we were speaking English but because the microphone was busted.
Daddy’s picking Date Night for next week. Hopefully we won’t be out too late.
Haha, feeling the old part was tough. But the show was interesting, Nathan did a good job. Aside from the technical difficulties the show went off without a hitch. It was an experience to say the least. The potential for the performers and exhibitionists are pretty staggering, I’m looking forward to seeing them more.