So the holidays are practically here so what better time to let you guys know about this awesome boba shop POP! Culture & Drinks. Just opened up in Westminster. My good friends Don and Danny started it and it’s themed so everything is 8os, 80s, 80s! Michael Jackson, Pacman, Rubic’s cubes.. you name it! Check it out, their drinks are the best. Follow them on Facebook or Twitter for special deals! The “Miami Vice” is espcially good!

Don and Danny, co-owner of POP! culture & drinks

POP! culture & drinks

Hey folks,

I know I’ve been pretty absent for most of the fall. I’ve been in a little funk lately but I wanted to post just the same to let you guys know I’m still here. I’ve been working on my new album and it’s been taking a bit longer than anticipated but I’m so excited to share it with all of you when it’s finished. As always, thank you guys for supporting me all the way through. As we near the end of 2011 I’m resolving to get my blog back in order and post more frequently. There’s always cool things that I want to share so here’s my commitment to get back on it!

Love as always,

Dawen

Photo: Tommy Su

Kollaboration 11 was last weekend and what an amazing time it was. It’s been a long time coming for me. I watched comedian PK for the first time at Kollaboration in 2003 and ever since then I’d wanted to perform on the Kollab stage. This year was unique as half the contestants were personal friends of mine and so the spirit of community was particularly high.

Performing at the Nokia Theater was an incredible experience, from the amazing sound system, to exploring the hotel quality dressing rooms underneath the theater. I also got to debut my new song “Humpday” which will be featured on my upcoming album.

Photo: Nathan Nowack

While I didn’t place this year at Kollaboration, performing represented a culmination of effort for me and a dream fulfilled. Congrats to all the performers, my buddies DanakaDan and afterschoolspecial, Andrew and the BROTs and of course, Noel Kunz, master yo-yo artist!

2011 has been a year of competitions and auditions. I auditioned for the TV shows “The Voice”, as well as X-Factor, graced the legendary Apollo stage (future post coming soon!), and competed at Kollaboration, the premier forum for Asian America. If anything all the auditioning has strengthened my resolve to continue pursuing music and as an indie musician, I could never have come this far without all your support.

To all of you who came to Kollaboration and any of my shows this year, my deep hearted thanks. You guys keep me going and the support and love I’ve felt from you have provided me the fuel each day to keep doing this crazy thing called music. While I’m done competing and trying out for reality music competitions I’m now turning my full attention to finishing my EP! In the meantime, I’ll be revamping my site and sharing updates on my album progress. Kollab 11 marks the end of a chapter and I can’t wait to start a new one!

Have you guys checked out Spotify yet? I love it. Finally a streaming service that makes sense to me. And I’ve been using it a lot lately. Even better is that my album American Me is now available on it. So now you can just stream it from your computer or smart phone without having to purchase it on iTunes or Amazon. Just another smart alternative . If you guys haven’t checked it out I’d definitely recommend it!

And after many months Pandora is finally streaming American Me, as well! So for all you Pandora users I hope you come across my tunes!