Squirrel Hill's Panda Supermarket to move to bigger location on Forbes Ave.

Panda Supermarket, an Asian grocery store in Squirrel Hill, is planning to move to a bigger location on Forbes Ave. later this year, according to property records and building permits. It purchased the Squirrel Hill Professional Suites building at 5818 Forbes Ave. in August 2019 and will open a multi-story grocery there by the end of 2020. It will occupy the ground floor and basement, and will continue to lease out the second floor to other busineses. The move was originally scheduled for July but has been delayed due to COVID-19.

Panda opened in 2017 and is currently located on the ground floor beneath KIIN Lao & Thai Eatery in what was formerly a Levin Mattress store.

Cambodian-French documentary The Missing Picture online at Pitt, June 24.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will present the 2013 Cambodian-French documentary The Missing Picture online on June 24, the first installment of the three-part "Hot Nights And Cold War" series. From a Variety review:

Following “S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine” and “Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell,” Rithy Panh grapples with the horrors of the Cambodian genocide on more intimately unsettling terms in “The Missing Picture.” A sobering chronicle of Panh’s teenage years under the Pol Pot dictatorship, the film is a brave act of witness complicated by the documaker’s decision to re-create his experiences using clay figurines, a tricky aesthetic device that raises fascinating and problematic questions of representation. Sufficiently distinguished from Panh’s other fine work on the subject, and bolstered by strong black-and-white archival footage, “Picture” would be assured of further fest play and strong broadcast interest even if it hadn’t won the top Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes.

The movie starts at 4:00 pm and those interested should register online.

"Cooking Series: Stir Fry Basics & a Discussion on the Racialization of Chinese Cuisine" (online) with The Hungry Cao, June 22.

Pittsburgh Passport presents Itha Cao of The Hungry Cao and her online presentation "Cooking Series: Stir Fry Basics & a Discussion on the Racialization of Chinese Cuisine" on June 22.

The Hungry Cao (“Cow”) has a mission to open minds to new flavors, and start conversations about culture, diversity and information exchange in our global world. Join chef Itha Cao for an introduction to Chinese cuisine and how it came to the US, the racialization of Chinese food, and a stir fry basics lesson, including knife skills, ingredients, tools, and technique. All proceeds from classes and pop-ups go toward social justice causes.

It runs from 6:00 to 7:00 pm and advance registration is required.

New Fuku Tea location on Craig St. to open July 6.

via @drinkFukuTea

The new Fuku Tea location on Craig St. in Oakland will open on July 6. It will be located at 300 Craig St. (map) in what was formerly Razzy Fresh. It is the neighborhood's second Fuku Tea; the original opened at the corner of Forbes and Oakland Aves. in 2015.

Community College of Allegheny County hiring adjunct Chinese instructor.

The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is hiring an adjunct instructor of Chinese.

General Summary: The primary responsibilities of the faculty are to teach and to develop the curriculum. To meet these responsibilities, faculty must remain knowledgeable about advances in their disciplines, in learning theory, and in pedagogy. Faculty portfolios will include contributions and program development and show evidence of ongoing professional development.

Bangkok's Cathedral of Learning.

via @assumptionuniversity

An overhead shot of the Cathedral of Learning (อาสนวิหารแห่งการเรียนรู้) in Bangkok, a 159-meter landmark at Assumption University modeled after the original Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh. Wikipedia says the 2002 version is the fifth-tallest educational building in the world, one behind the first one, and the university website writes of it:

The 39-storey edifice, with 88 columns around its exterior, rose windows, ceiling paintings, magnificent stairway, though unconventional, echoes loftiness and grandeur of ancient and modern civilization. It is surrounded on all sides by ten fountains. It houses the hall of fame, the library, a computer centre and lab, the shopping plaza, etc.

"Taiko: Tradition as a Basis for Innovation," (online) at Pitt, June 18.

The next installment in the online series The Sound of (Japanese) Music, "Taiko: Tradition as a Basis for Innovation" through the University of Pittsburgh will be held on June 18. It runs from 6:00 to 7:30 pm with Benjamin Pachter, Executive Director, Japan-America Society of Central Ohio. Registration is required and can be completed online.

Vietnamese movie Song Lang (online) in Pittsburgh, July 27.

The 2018 Vietnamese movie Song Lang, which was originally scheduled to play in Pittsburgh on April 30, will stream online on July 27 in a presentation hosted by ReelQ: The Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Society and the City of Asylum.

Join us for a screening of SONG LANG, hosted by ReelQ. Director Leon Le will introduce the film, give a live talkback, and lead the audience in a Q&A after the screening.

Set in 1980s Saigon, well before the U.S. embargo on Vietnam was lifted in 1994, SONG LANG depicts a gritty underworld whose only source of brightness comes from the gorgeous stage productions of a local opera troupe. A hunky, brooding debt collector forms an unlikely friendship with the charismatic lead actor of the struggling company, and their friendship, to their surprise, awakens feelings in both men. “Song Lang” is a percussion instrument used to control tempo and phrasing in Vietnamese modern folk opera. In the Vietnamese language, it also means “two men.” It is the perfect homonym for a nearly perfect film. This film is an outstanding achievement for first-time feature director Leon Le—who also voices the part of the lead actor in the opera! To date, this film has racked up 25 awards in a wide variety of categories: best narrative feature, screenplay, cinematography, production design, costume design. Festivals in Asia have also recognized newcomer Lien Bahn Phat, who makes his acting debut in this film as the debt collector Dung ‘Thunderbolt,’ as a rising star.

The presentation starts at 7:00 pm. Tickets are free but registration is required and can be completed online.

Pittsburgh Magazine profiles Brian Deutsch, of Panda Supermarket and University of Pittsburgh, on working through the pandemic.

The June 2020 Pittsburgh Magazine profiles Brian Deutsch, of Panda Supermarket and the University of Pittsburgh, on working through the pandemic.

The juxtaposition in his employment — one allowing work from home and the other requiring face-to-face contact with coworkers and customers — has also drawn his attention to the divide between those with the luxury to self-quarantine and work from home and those who must continue to work. “I hope that as we move towards reopening and getting back to more familiar routines that we stop and think, how can we make these routines serve us and serve our communities better because like I said, going back to normal isn’t a good thing,” Deutsch says. “So I hope we take some time to figure out how we want our new lives to look.”

Station Square's Kiku Japanese Restaurant reopens, but reservations are required.

Kiku Japanese Restaurant, routinely named among the best sushi places in the city, has reopened for in-person diners, though reservations are required and seating restrictions are in place. Their Facebook page has detailed their new policies and procedures; in short, they are requiring online reservations for guests.