Who we are

In a way, our stories are similar to that of lots of Asians.

Halaboji (grandpa in Korean) was born during the Japanese occupation. The family moved around like millions of Korean did back then. At one point, the Son's lived in Liao Ning Province and Halaboji was fluent in Chinese. Eventually, the Son's went back to Korea when Halaboji was a school kid. Halaboji and Halmoni (grandma in Korean) moved to the US from Korea in the Seventies of the last century. Their qualifications weren't recognized and the jobs that Halaboji and Halmoni took were nothing like what they did back in the Land of Morning Calmness. In the pursue for better education for the children, they moved to an area in Pennsylvania where, back in those days, their black hair and yellow face stood out. If they wanted anything Korean, they either had to travel far to buy them or they need to make them with ingredients from the Western market.

The Li's have a typical Hong Kong story. My grandparents and their siblings ran business in China and Hong Kong. During the Japanese War, my grandparents took my father to Hong Kong in search of a safer home. My aunt was born in Hong Kong and in 1945, my aunt was sent back to China whilst my father stayed behind with his uncle and that was the beginning of a thirty years separation. My father had to work hard for everything whilst his cousin took it easy. It was an easy choice, my father started his own family in 1956. Life wasn't easy but my parents were happily married and they spent lots of time in the kitchen together. Then in the seventies, I came along.

The historical events between the thirties to the seventies shaped Halaboji, Halmoni and Gong Gong (my father) the way they are and that also predetermined the way on how we were brought up. Nothing should be wasted and everyone should be able to take care of him/herself.

So, that's who we are, a bunch of people with pretty strong characters.