A.C.E. / SPORTS
December 21, 2015
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 13
Former women’s FIFA player of
the year Homare Sawa retires
SWORD OF DESTINY. Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, left, poses with a sword with Hong Kong action
director Yuen Wo-ping, center, and Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo during a press conference for the
movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny in Beijing. The film will be released February 8 in
theaters in China and February 26 in the U.S. on Netflix and in selected theaters. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Michelle Yeoh reprises her role
in Crouching Tiger sequel
BEIJING (AP) — Malaysian actress
Michelle Yeoh recently said she has been
waiting many years to reprise her role in
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in an
upcoming sequel to the supernatural
martial-arts movie.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:
Sword of Destiny, centers around the
protection of a legendary sword.
It also stars Donnie Yen of the Ip Man
martial-arts films and The Monkey King
playing the part of Silent Wolf; Harry
Shum Jr., who played Mike Chang in the
TV series “Glee”; and Jason Scott Lee.
“We’ve been waiting for this film for
many, many years,” Yeoh said at an event
in Beijing marking the new movie, which
will be released February 8 in theaters in
China and February 26 in the U.S. on
Netflix and in selected theaters.
In her first movie appearance, Austra-
lian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo plays
Yeoh’s apprentice. Liu Bordizzo, also at
the event in Beijing, said she thought the
sequel had the potential to replicate the
2000 movie’s success.
“I think the first story is known so much
for a beautiful story and not just the mar-
tial arts and I think our film definitely also
has that element — we have a beautiful
story as well as so many layers,” she said.
The original was filmed in Mandarin.
The sequel is in English and will be dubbed
into Mandarin for its release in China.
TOKYO (AP) — Former
women’s world player of
the year Homare Sawa has
announced her retirement
from soccer.
The 37-year-old Sawa is
the former captain of
Japan, and the 2011
Women’s World Cup top
scorer and Most Valuable
Player.
She scored an extra-time
equalizer when Japan beat
the United States on
penalties to win that
Women’s World Cup final.
For Japan, she has a
record 205 caps and 83
goals.
Sawa played in the U.S.
Women’s Premier Soccer
League from 1999 to 2010,
and returned to Japan’s
domestic league in 2011.
She played in her sixth
Women’s World Cup this
year in Canada, and helped
Japan win a silver medal at
the 2012 London Olympics.
A love of hula: Kumu overcomes aneurysm to continue teaching
Continued from page 11
Kahiwaaialii
Johnson,
“was known for her enter-
taining — her poi lunch-
Eileen Tokita collects, elaborately decorates eggs
By Nina Wu
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
ONOLULU (AP) — Eileen
Tokita is crazy about eggs —
duck, ostrich, emu, rhea,
goose, and even the tiniest finch eggs.
To her they are works of art waiting
to be hatched.
She carves and decorates them to
add to her own collection, to give as
gifts, and, on occasion, to sell.
Some of her pieces were inspired by
Faberge’s jewelled eggs, and others
are holiday-themed or designed to
tell a story. Inside one of her
creations is a carousel that turns,
complete with painted horses.
Santa’s toy workshop is visible in
another, while Tokita cut pearl-lined
arcs around another through which
to view a detailed nativity scene.
Some are fun, like the one with
mouse ears and Mickey and Minnie
inside. Others are elegant, intricately
carved creations, like the swan that
opens up to reveal a piece of jewelry
inside.
All are keepsakes that can last for
generations.
Tokita said she has decorated more
than 1,500 eggs, each one unique,
over the span of 40 years. She is a
member of the International Egg Art
Guild, a nonprofit association of
artists, artisans, and craftspeople
who work with natural eggs. She
orders the various eggshells, cleaned
and ready to go, from The Golden Egg
of Idaho.
“I work from the moment I wake up
till the moment I go to sleep,” she
said. “Probably I work 10 to 12 hours
a day.”
Tokita has travelled the world
teaching egg art on cruise ships since
1988. She’s been to Alaska, the
Caribbean, South America, the
Seychelles, India, China, the Middle
East, Australia, and New Zealand. As
she travels, she collects egg art for
inspiration.
She also collects little figurines and
other accoutrements to incorporate
SAYONARA, SAWA. Former women’s world player of the year
Homare Sawa (#10) of Japan plays in a 2015 Women’s World Cup
match at BC Place stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Sawa, who has a record 205 caps and 83 goals playing for her country,
has announced her retirement from soccer. (AR Photo/Jan Landis)
H
COLORFUL KEEPSAKES. Eileen Tokita poses with Faberge-style eggs she creates and
collects at her home studio in Honolulu, Hawai’i. She started more than 40 years ago creating her
Faberge-style eggs and has more than 100 creations. She also has many holiday-themed eggs
and a collection for Christmas that is displayed in her kitchen. (Dennis Oda/Honolulu Star-Advertiser
via AP)
“Well, I choose the egg as my medium.
into her egg creations at home.
Artist-jeweller Peter Carl Faberge There are so many other art forms
created his lavish eggs for the and disciplines you can apply to egg
Russian imperial family during the making. I think that’s why you don’t
19th century as Easter objects. get bored.”
Also, she said, no two eggs are
Tokita works on her pieces
year-round, and during the holidays, shaped exactly alike.
Her home workshop consists of a
she enjoys giving them away as gifts.
One creation she calls “Presents” well-lit table and shelves of shoe
comprises a trio of peewee-size boxes that line the walls, each
chicken eggs encrusted in green, red, labelled with what’s inside: gold leaf,
and silver Swarovski crystals, com- pearls, hinges, and so on. In her
plete with jewelled bows and nestled garage she has a special apparatus
that vacuums up dust as she uses a
inside a bowl cut from an ostrich egg.
She teaches egg art Sundays at dental tool to cut designs or patterns
Learning Unlimited in Kaimuki and into the eggs.
An egg piece can take anywhere
about once a month at Ben Franklin
in Mapunapuna. Some of her eggs are from two hours for the simplest
available at the Halekulani Boutique design to 70 hours or more for
in the Halekulani hotel in Waikiki. complex creations. It requires
Her prices range from as little as $25 meticulous finger work and a
laser-like focus.
to $1,000.
“I have to almost meditate,” said
Born in a World War II Japanese
internment camp near Nampa, Tokita. “You’ve got to be so centered
Idaho, Tokita attended the Univer- and very calm. If you let your mind
sity of Washington in Seattle and wander a moment, the eggshell’s
used to be a jazz singer in nightclubs. gone.”
Her masterpieces include the
She got into eggery as a newlywed,
when her husband suggested she stay “Ostrich Egg Cabinet,” with a double-
home and find a hobby. The moment door, gold-filigree cabinet that opens
she discovered the art, she fell in love. up to two pink-lined shelves outfitted
“It’s like an artist chooses the with miniature egg creations.
canvas for her medium,” she said.
Continued on page 16
eons and (hosting) hula and
choral groups,” Anderson
said.
“So when we reopened
(in 1997), people said, ‘You
q
The power of tea
Continued from page 11
Onomea Tea Company
tours conclude with the
Chinese gong fu cha style of
serving tea, with its aroma
cups and tasting cups. In
the grand scheme of tea’s
millennia-long history, the
service is fairly new, dating
to the 1800s. Longo and
Nunally use it to evaluate
the quality of their teas.
There are other ways of
evaluation, and still more
methods of comparing teas
across the board. But gong
fu cha is more conducive to
“presenting
your
tea
depending on how you like
it,” Nunally said.
“I enjoy this method,”
Longo said. “It’s more of an
art.”
need to have a halau here
to carry on the tradition,”‘
she said. The first kumu
was Aulii Mitchell. Yama-
naka fell into the role.
She’d come to ask about
hosting an acupuncture
retreat, not teaching hula.
But life is full of curves and
twists.
On the Shipman House
porch, Yamanaka boosted
herself off the cushion and
onto a chair. She began to
strum a ukulele; her right
leg swung slightly in
rhythm, and the small
class continued to dance.
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