Mochi expert and party host, Jonathan Lifflander, pulled his rice pounding Mochi Maker out of storage to help us wrap delicious, fresh mochi for this month’s party! We enjoyed fruit and red bean paste filled mochis while we listened to a variety of passion projects from a Burning Man writing camp for women of color to a swing dance lesson to lots of live music! Check out the slideshow of photos from our resident professional photographer, Mitchell Tong, below to get a taste! (To see slideshow, manually click on pop up arrow on the right end of the photo.)

Chef AJ, Sous-chef Jaynelle, and our many wrapping and frying helpers did an incredible job cooking hundreds of delicious Lumpia for our May Rama party! Our resident photographer, Mitchell Tong, took these beautiful photos for us to capture great memories from another heart-warming party. We had the honor of celebrating Jaynelle’s birthday with her and enjoyed another night of inspiring presentations! Enjoy the slideshow by our resident professional photographer, Mitchell Tong, and hope to see you at the next party! (To see slideshow, manually click on pop up arrow on the right end of the photo.)

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first official Rama party! Under the guidance and prep of Tammy Gu and Gordon Lau, we made delicious pork and veggie dumplings, got a little tipsy (some of us more than others…), and eleven amazing AAPI creatives shared their “passion projects! Check out the highlights, and hope to see you at the next party!

Ryan Tyakemiya shared about the history, story, and philosophy behind RAMA and it’s revival, inspired by the work that he and Stephanie Lee are doing together to promote the Asian American Renaissance.

Stephanie Lee shared about her passion for helping individuals know, own, and love who they are through her work as a psychotherapist and dating coach for Asian American men.

Wesley Woo, of Oakland based soul and funk band, Trace Repeat, shared a soul filled original song with us.

Gordon Lau shared an episode of his wildlife show, “Gordon Gone Wild.”

Alex Lim shared his documentary about Nancy Hom, a San Francisco based Chinese American artist.

Mitchell Tong shared a music video he filmed and produced of San Francisco based pop music group Rosendale.

Jason Chu, hip hop artist, poet, and activist all the way from Los Angeles, shared with us a spoken word and a song accompanied by Kealoha Nakamura on the ukulele.

Lynnay Consul performed a lovely original song accompanied by her uke.

Abhas Misraraj shared his mind blowing conceptual and portrait photography.

Victor Wu shared about his passion for rock climbing and about his Facebook group, Subtle Asian Climbing.

Sameer Nayak shared about his involvement in Bad Rep Theater Company, an Asian American based Bay Area Theater Company, and shared with us a video they produced.

When the clock struck midnight, we all had the honor of ringing in Jason’s birthday together with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday!

It was an incredibly fun, inspiring, and heart filled night. Thanks everyone for coming out, making dumplings, and sharing your passion projects!