Photo via Kool Asian Kids

Chloe and Eileen are the masterminds behind the blog Kool Asian Kids—and no, it isn’t a Kardashian spin-off. Instead of a reality TV series, their sisterhood bond, savvy, and smarts have brought them together to start their own blog. The two sisters, who attend seventh and tenth grade in LA update their blog with photos, videos, and essays chronicling their lives on the West Coast. As their blog has grown, they also cover celebrities, food, and events surrounding Asian American culture.

Chloe and Eileen also utilize Kool Asian Kids to write observations of their experiences attending their first Bar Mitzvah and eating Ethopian food with their hands. Chloe, says, “I guess we also aim to give people a good laugh, because we do have some pretty random posts about things we find funny.”

To learn more about Chloe and Eileen, also check out their personal blogs. Chloe has a restaurant and art review blog at coolrice.blogspot.com, and Eileen’s personal blog can be found at  belowtheasianstandards.xanga.com

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For Your Girl Friend:

Lipsy Beaded Antique Leaf Applique Hair Band, ASOS, $17.24
Snowblossom scarf, Madewell, $43
Kate Spade 2011 desk calendar, Fredflare, $22

For Your Guy Friend:

Homer Grabbing iPad Decal, Etsy, $8
Dugout Dunny New Era 59Fifty Fitted Hat, Kidrobot, $50
Bear Mop T-Shirt, Mishka NYC, $32

For Your Mom:

Shiseido Skincare 1 2 3 Moisturizing, Sephora, $39.50
Chanel Le Vernis Nail Lacquer (pictured in Dragon), Chanel (available at Bloomingdale’s as well), $23
Maine deco necklace, Banana Republic, $39.50

For Your Dad:

Bright Backlight Travel Alarm Clock With Temperature, Brookstone, $25
Mug and Coffee Cup Warmer, Brookstone, $25
LEGO Star Wars Storm Trooper Helmet Cufflinks, Etsy, $24.99

An example of what you would submit:

“I like it when girls are confident and stay true to who they are.” -John Doe, 18, New York University

(PHOTO ATTACHED)

Please send all submissions to jasmineako@mochimag.com, and your guy friends, brother, relative, etc. may just end up in our next issue. Leave a comment below if you have any questions.

Photo source: Miller College

All you have to do is tweet the interview article, (URL link here: http://su.pr/1Yml1e), with the @MochiMag and @JetPens mentions.

The contest will come to a close in one week, at 11:59PM eastern on Tuesday, Oct. 19 and we will announce the winner the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 20. Tweet away!

Karmia writes, scores, directs and performs her own musicals—which include Forgetting Tiburon, a play about a man who endures the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and most recently Abraham Niu and the Friendly Fires about a Chinese-Canadian soldier in Afghanistan who dies from friendly fire.

If that isn’t impressive enough, Karmia crafts musicals due to her strong desire to promote social change through community-based arts.

“While I may not be at the front of a picket line or seeking out a profession in public policy, I attempt to put out the most thought-provoking and emotionally engaging writing and productions in the same spirit,” says Karmia. “I have faith in the transformative power of art—that community-based art has unfathomable potential in bringing about sustainable social change.”

One might wonder where Karmia gets such fantastically original ideas and concepts for her plays. Like many of us, Karmia says her parents inspire her—but she can also draw inspiration from everything and anything. “My influences extend from tree-watching during a simple bike ride across campus to a news story about changing demographics for people with a particular disease,” she explained.

Aside from her plays, Karmia has used other means to advocate for social change. In a particularly courageous action, she wrote a letter to the editor at the Global Times regarding the violent Uygur riots in her native Xinjiang region in July 2009, an incident relatively unknown to the world that killed hundreds and also took the lives of some of her own relatives. Instead of remaining silent and simply accepting the tragedy, she chose to assertively and coherently shed light on an extraordinarily complex situation that the media had failed to accurately portray, and simultaneously urged that people look for the truth.

With a remarkable fortitude and wisdom that utterly belies her age, Karmia is truly someone for us to look up to and a terrific influence for anyone trying to make a difference in their community. “For the young girls who are trying to hear themselves in a sea of noise, negotiating a place under the sun for themselves, my advice is threefold: take your time, trust your gut, and aim to do what you love and learn to love what you do,” advises Karmia.

For now, Karmia remains actively involved at Stanford with STAMP (Stanford Theater Activist Mobilization Project) and the Asian American Theatre Project, the two groups that support her theater endeavors, and also with Oceanic Tongues, Stanford’s first Asian American Writers’ Workshop that aims to cultivate the literary talents of those interested in Asian American identity. She also plans to continue writing, composing, creating and serving through her senior year and beyond.

Says Karmia, “Writing is a way for me to problem solve; theater is an occasion for me to envision change. What does it mean to be this character in this world? Catharsis aside, let’s find out.”

Photo courtesy of Karmia Chan Cao

So when I stumbled upon high school senior Jamie Keiles’s blog, “The Seventeen Magazine Project,” I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jamie has embarked on a special research project to do exactly just that—to follow Seventeen’s June/July 2010 issue’s diet and exercise, beauty and fashion tips—for the entire month this June. (You can read about her specific project rules here). She is witty and biting, challenging the magazine’s emphasis on and obsession with fashion and boys, and encouraging readers to explore interests beyond such headline topics. Surprisingly or not, there is more to leading a fulfilling life than sleek hair and well-applied makeup.

What I find most impressive about Jamie’s writing is how self-aware she is for an 18-year-old. She is everything you want(ed) to be at 17 and inspiring, to boot. Jamie, we look forward to reading more of your writing after you complete this project!

Photo of Jamie Keiles via her blog

Ever wanted your own private photo shoot or the inside scoop on the latest trends? Mochi Magazine is launching our first-ever “Beauty and Fashion Consultation Giveaway.” The rules are easy.

Fill-out the application and write an essay or make a video about:

• How being Asian American has affected your view of beauty
• What you hope to gain from this consultation

Deadline is June 30, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. If you have any questions, contact Alice at alicehu@mochimag.com

The Goods:

• A fashion and beauty consultation from our editors.
• A photo shoot featured on www.mochimag.com for the fall 2010 issue.

Other Requirements:

• Must identify with or be of Asian ethnicity
• Must be between the ages of 16 and 23
• Must live in New York City or be willing to provide your own transportation into Manhattan for the photo shoot

Good luck!

Ebates gets a commission from the stores whenever you make a purchase—and generously enough, they share that commission with you. Since the site launched in 1999, Ebates has already paid over $50 million in cash back to its members. You just have to sign up for the site for free and start shopping away. Each store offers a different cash back percentage (stated next to each store name on Ebates), so you can know how much you can earn back. Then about four times a year or more, Ebates will send you a big check or transfer the money to your PayPal account.

With over 1,200 online stores at Ebates, such as Sephora, JCrew, Nine West, CheapTickets and Staples, and in every category possible, including electronics, clothing, food, books, games, beauty and travel, you’ll be sure to find what you need and get rewarded for every purchase.

As an extra incentive to join the site, Ebates will be giving Mochi readers an $8.88 signing bonus if they register for the site now—just click here to join for the promo.

The best part of this campaign is that it allows teens and young adults to contribute in a way other than money. By voting online, and sharing their website link and video on Facebook and Twitter, you can help bring awareness to the cause—which is the fundamental goal of philanthropy—as knowledge is power.

In an interview with Mochi, Alice Wu, the Associate Director for Resource Development at the Asia Foundation, pointed out how we all reach a certain point in our lives where we can take what we have learned and start to give back. Alice came to this realization after getting her MBA at NYU Stern and working in finance, where the value of her work was mostly measured by money. In order to use her skills to contribute to society, she joined the Asia Foundation, which allowed her to give back to the Asian community by doing what she’s good at—raising money and using her knowledge of Asian and American culture to bring awareness on an international scale.

Most importantly, Alice explained how in the non-profit world, there are many different types of “money”—for young people, their form of “money” can be spending the time and energy to learn and care about certain issues. By going on nonprofit websites, participating in charitable events and simply thinking and caring about others, young adults can educate themselves to think on a philanthropic level, which will plant a future generation of leaders who can act upon these values of giving back.

So if you’re at all interested in learning more about how you can contribute to Asian countries, go to their website at www.asiafoundation.org to learn more. Besides “Books for Asia,” you can check out their other numerous programs such as “Women’s Empowerment Program,” and spend some time watching their more informative videos here. Click here to become a fan of the Asia Foundation on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @Asia_Foundation.

There’s only less than a week to vote and raise money for these children in Mongolia, so share the link and help make a difference.

Photo from The Asia Foundation

When Ho Chie Tsai, the creator of TaiwaneseAmerican.org and maker of the “Stinky Tofu Walks Alone” T-shirts said this at the start of his workshop at the ITASA 2010 East Coast Conference held at MIT, people laughed nervously, wondering what the catch was. It seemed a little self-defeating to tell people at a conference you wanted them to forget you.

What was his point then? “I’ve been at a lot of conferences, pretty much forgotten who spoke where. You remember the people you meet, your impression of the conference,” Tsai said. And the impression he wants us to have? “If you remember anything from this talk, at least remember the three P’s–passion, purpose and people.”

Passion is “the thing you can’t live without,” the thing that drives you. Remember Tyson Mao? As a contestant on The CW’s reality show “Beauty and the Geek,” Mao was introduced as the Rubik’s Cube master. As Tsai describes, “the moment he was walked in, you could see he was passionate about Rubik’s cubes” and about teaching it to these “beauties” who knew next to nothing about it.

Purpose involves the things that you do, the “actions that lead you in a meaningful direction.” Have a focused vision, like Justina Chen Headley, a leading Asian American author who collaborated with organizations to donate portions of her books sales to help teens. Without purpose, you’re just another person out there floating along not knowing what to make out of life.

And lastly, people. Anyone can think about passions and have a purpose, but without knowing the community you want to impact, you’re just another dreamer lost in a sea of grandiose ideas. It’s important to connect—to do something that others can relate to and understand. Otherwise, there’s no one around to receive your message.

It felt like a typical motivational speech, not too impressing at first. But then Tsai did an exercise. Everyone pulled out a piece of paper and wrote in three separate columns our 3 P’s—pretty standard stuff to get us thinking. But that wasn’t all. Then he asked a member of the audience to simply introduce herself. She said she was a sophomore at MIT, majoring in International Relations—a standard intro you’d expect from a college student. Then he took her paper and said, “Wouldn’t it sound better if I said ‘Hi, my name is ___. My life mission is to assume leadership roles, pro-actively bringing people together to take action on anti-tobacco advocacy.’ Doesn’t that give you a whole new impression of what kind of person I am?”

The difference was striking. You hear introductions all the time, but to hear it aloud so differently because of one simple change in focus, was amazing. As Tsai said, everyone has “personal passions to live for, and unique ways to achieve them.” We just have to change the labels we fit ourselves into, and instead, showcase our passions, our purpose in life, and the people we want to impact. Once we change how we define ourselves, others will start to see us in a new action-driven light. And that is the first step to empowerment.

Ho Chie Tsai will be speaking again at the ITASA West Coast Conference, which will be held at University of California, San Diego, from April 1-4, 2010. Check out ucsd.itasa.org for more info.

Photo of Ho Chie Tsai via ITASA.org