Year: 2013

Staycation is all I ever wanted

Jae-Ha Kim

Every year around my birthday, my family and I like to enjoy a staycation in Chicago. For me, it’s a chance to return to my stomping grounds in the city where I grew up. Before my parents realized their immigrant dream of buying a house in the suburbs, we lived in Chicago. I went to school, learned to parallel park and got my first big newspaper job there. For my husband and son, spending a long weekend in Chicago is an opportunity to visit some of the world’s first rate museums, dine at some amazing restaurants and go for a swim with a view of the city’s gorgeous skyline.

Go Away With … G. Garvin

Jae-Ha Kim

Chef Gerry “G.” Garvin is an author and a James Beard Award nominee for best food personality. As the host of the Cooking Channel’s “Road Trip with G. Garvin” — currently in its second season — the 44-year-old Atlanta resident crisscrosses the country to find the best Southern-inspired dishes. His cookbooks include “Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin.”

Go Away With … Regina King

Jae-Ha Kim

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., where she still resides, Regina King starred as Marla Gibbs’ daughter on the popular ’80s sitcom, “227.” Unlike many child actors who fade away after a few years in the spotlight, the 42-year-old actress worked steadily through the years opposite Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock and Cuba Gooding Jr. King recently starred in the series “Southland” and has a recurring role on “The Big Bang Theory.”

At seven

Jae-Ha Kim

I was invited to go to a swimming pool with a friend and her family. I remember being really excited about getting to play in a real pool. Per the admittance requirements, we all rinsed off in the locker room and waited in line. One by one, we stuck our arms out so that a park district employee could rub his or her fingers on our forearm to ensure our cleanliness. The whole thing sounds crazy now. But those were part of the rules, I guess.

Go Away With … Gary Forbes

Jae-Ha Kim

Born in Colon, Panama, and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Gary Forbes had basketball on his mind when he was growing up. When he discovered he had Type 1 diabetes, he worried that it would derail his NBA plans. But, with the help of his diabetic father, he learned to navigate his way around his illness. After brief stints with the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets, the 28-year-old athlete last played for the Chinese Basketball Association’s Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. Forbes’ latest project is TypeOneTwo.org, an online forum he created to help young people learn how to live full lives with diabetes.

A swimmer’s divide

Jae-Ha Kim

For too long, Asians have had a reputation as being meek, smart, well disciplined and bad at sports. Look at Jeremy Lin. Despite playing at an elite level and leading his high school and college teams to championships, he was overlooked by the NBA. Maybe the instructors saw Kyle and his blue-eyed, blonde-haired friend and assumed that my son would be the weaker swimmer. I’m sure they never heard of Olympic gold medalist swimmer Park Tae-hwan, who is the Michael Phelps of Korea.

Go Away With … LeAnn Rimes

Jae-Ha Kim

LeAnn Rimes will be the first one to tell you that she likes to be in control of just about every aspect of her life, including travel. “I’m very hands on when it comes to planning trips,” the 30-year-old singer says, laughing. “I really would love to go on a safari. That’s the next thing I want to do, and I’ve been planning it for a couple years now. I’m looking forward to going away with my husband (actor Eddie Cibrian).” But first, Rimes will tour to promote her new CD “Spitfire.”

Where are you from?

Jae-Ha Kim

There’s a funny video floating around on social media that’s getting a lot of attention. It shows a young woman of Asian descent preparing for a jog. A white man starts a conversation with her with the dreaded, “Where are you from?” For a lot of people, this is an innocuous enough question. If you say, “Maine,” or “California,” or “Florida,” that’s usually the end of the conversation. But if you look like I do, the series of questions won’t stop until your lineage is traced back to ancient fill-in-the-blank.

Go Away With … Gary Player

Jae-Ha Kim

Before he turned 30, golf legend Gary Player became the third person to win the Grand Slam. In 1974, after winning 165 tournaments, Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Player and his wife, Vivienne, live on a stud farm outside of Colesberg, South Africa. They also spend time at their home on Florida’s Jupiter Island.

Go Away With … Pete Wentz

Jae-Ha Kim

Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz remembers traveling to the Bahamas as a child and getting ill on the small plane that took his family from Nassau to their destination. “I had terrible motion sickness when I was younger and I barfed into the bag,” says the 33-year-old musician, who also hosts the Oxygen reality series “Best Ink.” There was no place to throw the bag away, so we had to go through customs holding it. That was a little weird, but the trip overall was awesome!”