B-Boys Break...Los Angeles

This weekend the B-Boys and B-Girls from all over will be in town for the Freestyle Session competition, one of the largest in the US.

Last night I went to a workshop hosted by South Korea's World Champs, Last for One (as featured in Planet B-Boy). That workshop video will be posted soon. Until then, here's a highlight video of what went down in last year's Freestyle Sessions!



Freestyle Sessions 2009

Zulu Kings-Worldwide
Supernaturals-Toronto
Formosa-Taiwan
Funky Masons-Poland
Rivers Crew-Korea
Rock Steady Crew-Worldwide
The Freak Show-San Diego
Suicide Kings-Los Angeles
Polskee Flavor-Poland
T.I.P.-Korea
Dynamic Rockers - New York City
Street Punks - Israel
Jinjo-Korea
Last For One-Korea
Joyeux Loufock-France
Hustle Kids - Holland
Battle Snakes - Japan/Korea/USA
Furious Styles Crew - Arizona/California
Soul Mechanics Krew - Colorado
Instant Noodles - Taiwan/California
The Squadron - USA
Airsteps Crew - Sacramento, California
Bang Uh Rang - San Diego
Legendary Steps - Sacramento
Vicious Germz - Houston, Texas
Outsiders Crew- Sacramento, California
Panic Zone - Hawaii
Street Stylez Crew - Colorado
Dance2Live Crew - Denver
Now or Never Crew Vancouver, Canada
Speedy Angels - Caracas, Venezuela
Future Force Crew - Miami, Florida
Portland City Rockers - Portland, Oregon
Green Giant Crew - France/UK/Japan
Ill Flavored Rejects - Inland empire,bay area,CA
3D Crew - California
Sickstep crew/Illaskan Assassins - California
One Piece Crew - San Jose, CA
Battle Crisis - Seattle
Kadetes Del Toke - Mexico
Knucklehead Zoo - Las Vegas, NV
Gorilla Warfare Crew - Fremont, Bay Area
Airsteps Crew - Sacramento, CA
Seattle What Up - Seattle, WA
Lost Tribe - California
Dirty Street Dwellers - Canada
Militia - Los Angeles
Ground Breakaz - Los Angeles, CA
Ground Syndrome Killaz/Self Explanatory - Chicago, Ill

B-Boy Workshop: South Korea's Champs...Last For One

C-rated collab series: adidas and Def Jam

When I think of Def Jam Records from the late 80s I picture the record sleeves of T. La Rock ("It's Yours"), L.L. Cool J. ("I Need a Beat") and The Beastie Boys ("Paul Revere".) And my adidas kicks and gear of that period were (Patrick) Ewing high-tops, shell toes and Campus sneakers. So what went wrong when these two brands came together this year to celebrate their respective birthdays?!

eBay bound After 60 years of adidas design and 25 years as a pioneering urban record label you'd think we'd be shown a collection to covet for another quarter century! But, no, the actual results are some half-arsed effort to cobble together a collection. Where are the amazing Def Jam leather sleeved baseball jackets? Or some Metro Attitude basketball sneakers with some (fake) snakeskin action? This collaboration misfire will disappear neve to be seen except adidas outlets and eBay!

Ok, I exaggerate as there are some ok pieces worth adding to your collection, but there are also some items that should've never taken up value shelf space! Please adidas get it right this collab should've 100% p-e-r-f-e-c-t!

To understand why I'm a hater on this collaboration scroll down and listen to the banging hip-hop tunes that built the fortunes of these two brands!

Here's what's Hot

Here's what's Not

Day trips: Doris Duke and Pearl Harbor

We heard about the Polynesian Cultural Center day trip with Lu'au and dinner, but it sounded kinda cheesy so instead Tina recommended a visit to Shangri-la, the home of Doris Duke, a wealthy recluse whose home has a priceless collection of Islamic antiquities. This video shows some of the treasures that lie inside...mere mortals aren't allowed to film in the house itself, so these images are a rare treat!

Doris Duke's Shangri La from Speaking of Faith on Vimeo.



As you head towards Waikiki we passed signs for Pearl Harbor. Although this wasn't really high on my Pang Family tourist list originally, I was excited to take a tour of this historic location and hear the history leading up to the attack on 7th December, 1941. There are many events that led up to this attack including the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, China which was the reason my Dad's family fled to Hong Kong. The rest is history.

On a mission...for dinner O'ahu style

There's nothing like having a dining destination in mind to put a bounce in my step. In this case, I had the fam' in tow and we were all Waikiki virgins. Luckily, I had an ace up my sleeve. Yelp users had favorably reviewed several Hawaiian restaurants so I checked them out and choose Ono Hawaiian Foods as our first dining experience. I was also confident my choice was good since Tina's friend, Wendy, had given her a menu for this very same spot...all the way from Hong Kong!

The (Vietnamese) taxi driver explained how it was a 70-year old restaurant. I'd read Ono Hawaiian Foods was a small, casual local diner and required folks to wait outside for a table - since it's tropical Hawai'i is was no big deal. We got here before the supper rush and were starving. When the food arrived it was faces in the trough! No time for pleasantries. :)

One of the servers was the grandson of the founder and the other was his auntie who ran the place since the grandma has passed away four months ago. But the food was still wholesome and fresh: watercress and chicken soup, Kalua pig (stewed and shredded pork), salt meat luau (like Chinese kau yuk), butterfish luau (a bit bland) and Hawaiian sweet potato (purple inside and served cold.)

Pang's Gormond Guide Pretty much every meal in O'ahu was approached with this level of geekish research and foodie nous. We hit the South Shore Grill for seafood tacos, Roy's for its misoyaki butterfish (and Mum's birthday), Pho Thinh for its noodles, spring rolls and pleasant service and Cafe Oriente for its Hainanese chicken speciality (and 10% discount coupon didn't hurt ;) ) Expect to see my Yelp reviews pop up over the next few weeks (see the left-hand menu bar.)

Hawai'i 101 Tonight's dinner at Ono says a lot about Hawai'i: it's made up of many cultures and Asians of all countries have history here and happily coexist; the culture is laid back and fairly rudimentary with no frills and pretences; and the people are happy-go-lucky.

Book'em Dano...Hawai'i 5-0

Mum, Dad and I left Los Angeles and headed to O'ahu to rendevous with Tina for our bi-annual family holiday. It'll be cool, but I don't have much idea of what to expect...my idea of Hawai'i is based on me pretending to be Steve McGarrett from Hawaii 5-0 as a kid and watching Elvis in Hawaii on BBC2 re-runs after his passing in 1977!



We may not be cracking crime syndicates or being surrounded by locals, but we will take in the sights around Waikiki and then head onto Kaua'i for a more relaxing, naturistic few days. Dad may even risk his life and enter the water (he can't swim..!)