The food in Sydney is an Asian Pacific cuisine. It's eclectic but above all it's fresh inventive and creative and that's what I love about it.

Asian food is very easy to like because it hits your mouth very differently than European food does. In European food there may be two things to hit - maybe sweet and salty maybe salty-savory but Asian kind of works around plus you have that distinct flavor that's usually working in Asian food.

The confidence is really driven by the woman - whether she can have the confidence that there will be enough earning or income to finance all the domestic spending - but also by the middle-income class which for many Asian countries has become the growth power for the economy.

Our theme for this year's festivities Dreams and Challenges of Asian Pacific Americans speaks to the many generations of Asian Pacific Americans who worked hard to overcome economic hardship racism and other barriers in their pursuit of the American dream.

My dad of course like a lot of Asian parents wanted me to be an engineer or doctor and never could understand why I would want to be a lawyer. And then when I first said I wanted to run for office he thought that was absolutely insane.

I grew up in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood but my mom is Filipino-Spanish and my dad is Irish.

Very few if any first-generation black or white or Asian kids will pursue a Ph.D. They'll pursue the professions for economic security. Many will go to law school and/or business school.

Asian people have a unique way about them and a different sense of beauty. It's exotic to me. I like they way Asians project their feelings. There's a hardness to the culture but at the same time there's a delicateness.