Latest news with #Chang
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Chase Bets Ben Stiller and David Chang Can Cook Up Excitement Around Sapphire Reserve Revamp
This week Chase shook up the world of premium credit cards with a major revamp of its Sapphire Reserve card. The premium credit card is turning to heavy hitters from the worlds of pop culture and food to help reintroduce the product to the market. Actor-director Ben Stiller, Nobody Wants This producers Erin and Sara Foster, singer-songwriter Ella Langley, and chef and Netflix host David Chang are among those featured in the campaign, which will combine personal narratives, humor and some perks from the new card in its spots. More from The Hollywood Reporter "Who Gives a F*** What Other People Think": Walton Goggins, Adam Scott and the Drama Actor Roundtable YouTube Aims to Democratize Branded Content Just Like It Did With Videos Global Ad Forecast Downgraded as Creator Platforms Poised to Overtake Pro Content 'I liked the tone that they wanted to do with this campaign, in terms of just talking and telling stories and having it being personal, but also having it have a little bit of a humorous, self-deprecating edge to it,' Stiller tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview. It helps, of course, to have a personal connection. And both Stiller and Chang fit that bill. 'If I want to partner with somebody, it's got to be stuff that I use on a day to day basis,' Chang says. 'That's just who I am and it makes it easy to talk about, because I've been a long time Chase Sapphire Reserve card member. I think inherent in that Sapphire program is that it's probably the single best card that links diners together with eating in restaurants.' Stiller, meanwhile, notes that the refreshed card will offer perks that personal to a few things close to him, namely The New York Knicks, and his Apple TV+ series Severance. Among the perks offered via the Sapphire Reserve will be a special dinner event in New York, where cardmembers can dine on the court at Madison Square Garden, joined by Knicks legends. Stiller, who is frequently seen courtside at MSG, knows what it's like (in fact he jokes about it in one the campaign spots). 'For me, that's a great thing to be able to offer people that's unique, and having experienced it myself, knowing how much I love that and I appreciate it, I thought, 'oh, that's a cool thing to be able to offer people that is not necessarily something you'd be able to get to do elsewhere,' he says of the perk. And the refreshed card will also offer members credits for Apple TV+ and Apple Music, effectively including them as a benefit of the card. That means that Severance could be seen by an audience that hasn't already been exposed. 'Selfishly, I think it's great because more people get to see our show. I think with these streamers, it's an interesting time, because the way people watch things has changed completely,' Stiller says, noting that the complicated and crowded streaming landscape means that standout out asa creative can be challenging. 'To be able to broaden the audience for certain shows that sometimes people might not just be able to watch because they're having to make choices on streamers — which I understand, too, it's just a strange new time in terms of how you make these choices to watch things. 'We've had a long partnership [with Apple] since they started, and working on the show has been kind of my main job for the last five years,' Stiller added. 'So to be able to tie that in and to feel like it just makes sense in terms of what I'm doing creatively, to be able to expand that audience, for people to be able to sample it is really cool, and it felt like a natural fit. Chang, too, sees things through the creative lens. While the Momofuku mogul gained national attention for his restaurants, he has since become a bona fide media personality via his Majordomo Media. 'I don't think of it as any different between the media and the restaurants. And what I mean by that is content is what we create — I spend more time doing that these days — but you just consume that in a different way,' Chang says. 'And I think our values in what we do in the restaurants is no different than the values that we try to do in media, which is education, giving value. And I think it's one of the reasons why our partnership with Chase makes sense as well. I think these are all the same things to sort of make you think about things in a different way, and to widen your scope of what you thought was possible.' And both say that the perks of the card connect to things that are meaningful to them: Travel, food, discovery. 'As a filmmaker, as a kid, I wanted to be making these kind of big, epic movies that I grew up watching,' Stiller says, recalling that people still come up to him say that his 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty inspired them to travel and explore. 'That's an amazing connection that you can have with people through movies too. I feel like it's very personal, you make something as a filmmaker that you want to see, and then people can connect with that. Because for me, it's always going into nature, and that aspect of movies has always been something that I've loved.' Chang, meanwhile, says that the nature of where we can find good food is changing, citing Japan as an example, where some of the best restaurants are found in subway stations, or atop office buildings. 'I've long said that the future of food is going to be in places that you at least expect it,' he said, adding that Chase has helped shore up food in one of those places: The airport lounge. The bank is opening Sapphire Lounges in airports across the country, and partnering with chefs to help curate their menus. 'It is an oasis when you're in an airport for a lot of reasons, whether you're headed to a business meeting or now I have a family, two kids, you need place that you can sort of regroup,' Chang says, expressing frustration at the status quo outside the lounges. 'With Chase, the lounges that are in growing numbers in airports around the country, are going to be delicious. And I can say that without any BS, because it's true.' 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GMA Network
a day ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Korea aims to boost MICE tourism ahead of 2025 APEC Summit in Gyeongju
The Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) finished the Korea Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) Roadshow in Manila and Cebu on Thursday. The event, held at Fairmont Makati in Manila on Tuesday and Radisson Blu in Cebu on Thursday, aimed at promoting their MICE offers and regional tourism in time for the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit to be held at Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk. With the participation of 250 key travel industry players in Manila and 150 in Cebu, the program featured a Travel Mart for collaboration between Korean and Philippine tourism professionals, and a Korean MICE night, which will showcase Korean culture and MICE industry. During the event, KTO also launched their Gyeongbuk Plus Special Assistance Program, which offers up to KRW140,000 or around P5,800 per person for approved groups with bonus benefits. Included in their enhanced MICE initiatives were customized assistance and support for qualified corporate and incentive groups with a minimum of 10 foreign nationals staying in Seoul for at least 2 nights. 'The Korea MICE Roadshow Philippines 2025 aims to promote Korea as a premier MICE destination… This will even focus on the corporate meetings and incentive tour segments within the MICE industry. Ultimately, our goal is to attract more MICE travelers from the Philippines to Korea,' said Korea MICE Bureau Executive Director Chang Wook Jung in a media interview. 'Manila and Cebu are two of the most important MICE markets in the Philippines. By holding the roadshow in both cities, we ensure wide industry engagement and better access to stakeholders who are driving outbound MICE travel in the country,' he added. Korea remains a premium tourist and business destination worldwide, having hosted 243 international conferences and handling at least 10,000 MICE travelers from the Philippines in 2024. The KTO highlights Korea's convenient, safe, and seamless travel experience through their infrastructure, smart technology, and domestic transport network as key advantages of their tourism. They also placed importance on the viral K-Culture as one of their strongest global assets at the center of their MICE strategy. 'We integrate K-Pop concerts, Korean cuisine, fashion, beauty, and cultural workshops into business events to offer immersive, unforgettable experiences. MICE travelers today want more than meetings—they want cultural enrichment and inspiration, and Korea delivers that through K-Culture,' added Chang. Tourism efforts The Philippine Travel Agencies Association welcomed Korea's move, stating that agreements between the KTO and PTAA to further boost MICE tourism efforts between the two countries will promote new opportunities. 'The signing of the memorandum between the Korean Tourism Organization and the Philippine Travel Agencies Association is more than just a formal agreement. It is a celebration of shared vision, mutual respect, and a strong partnership rooted in our passion for tourism and cultural exchange," said PTAA Vice President Dominic Castillejos. "These collaborations aim to open exciting opportunities, particularly in promoting Korea as a premier destination for MICE destination for the Filipino market. We are confident that through this partnership, we will create new strategies, inspire greater interest in Korea, and bring forth meaningful programs that will benefit both countries and industries,' he added. Korean tourists, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI), were the Philippines' biggest source of arrivals with 1,761,281 South Koreans visiting the country in 2024. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News
UPI
a day ago
- Politics
- UPI
Seoul asks North Korea for advance notice of dam release
A visitor looks through binoculars across the Imjin River to North Korea in a photo from 2021. South Korea's Unification Ministry on Friday asked the North to give advance notice before releasing water from a dam across the river. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo SEOUL, June 27 (UPI) -- South Korea's Unification Ministry on Friday asked North Korea to give advance notice before releasing water from a dam across the border on the Imjin River, citing safety concerns for residents living in nearby areas. "We request that North Korea notify us in advance of dam discharges to prevent flood damage in the border area during the rainy season on humanitarian grounds," ministry spokeswoman Chang Yoon-jeong said at a press briefing. "Joint response to natural disasters is a humanitarian issue, and the South and North have agreed several times to cooperate to prevent flooding in the Imjin River." Chang said that the dam issue is directly related to the life and safety of residents in border areas. She noted that an unannounced discharge from the North's Hwanggang Dam in September 2009 led to damage that killed six South Korean citizens. The following month, North Korea agreed to provide prior notice before discharging water. Pyongyang sent notices on a handful of occasions in 2010 and 2013, but has not done so since. The North cut off communications with the South in April 2023, and Chang said sending a message through a press briefing was a form of "indirect communication." Recently elected President Lee Jae-myung has said he aims to improve frayed inter-Korean relations. On Wednesday, he called for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula as both countries commemorated the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. "The most certain form of security is a state where there is no need to fight -- in other words, creating peace," he wrote in a social media post. "The era of relying solely on military power to protect the country is over. What matters more than winning a war is preventing one." He has vowed to restore a military pact aimed at defusing military tensions along the border and reestablish a communications hotline with Seoul's recalcitrant neighbor. Earlier this month, Lee ordered the suspension of propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ to North Korea in a bid to reduce tensions with Pyongyang. While requesting advance notice on Friday, the ministry did not mention the North's most recent suspected dam discharge. Seoul's Environment Ministry warned Wednesday that the water level near Pilseung Bridge on the Imjin River, just south of the inter-Korean border, had risen to 3.2 feet -- the threshold for evacuating visitors in the area. The ministry said it believed the result was due to a discharge from the Hwanggang Dam. As of Friday morning at 8 a.m., the water level at Pilseung Bridge stood at 2.5 feet, the Unification Ministry's Chang said.
Borneo Post
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Borneo Post
Malaysian artist draws inspiration from legacy of Chinese porcelain painters
Born in Malaysia, Alice Chang has carved a name for herself in the international art scene. – Photo from KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): From her studio tucked away in a quiet corner of Kuala Lumpur, Alice Chang, a Malaysian artist, carefully blends her color palette using various shades of white and blue, which she meticulously uses to form intricate paintings of various objects and animals. At first glance, one might think these pieces are very similar to traditional Chinese porcelain, and it would be right. Chang, inspired by those artisans of centuries past, specifically the blue-and-white porcelain wares from Jingdezhen — China's famed porcelain capital during the Ming Dynasty — created her fifth solo exhibition, 'Me, Then Blue,' reinterpreting the same style for a modern audience. 'Remember that many of these painters had no formal training, being employed to hand-paint porcelain. Thus, they were not clouded by the thoughts of others and expressed themselves in the purest possible sense. They painted what they felt, what they saw in their everyday lives, each of them in their own unique way,' she told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview. Ranging from the conventional to impressionist pieces, Chang who sculpts as well as paints, demonstrates through her work the versatility of the style and the colors most often associated with it — minimalist paintings as well as complex works cover the walls of her studio, which also doubles as an art gallery. The discovery of the 'Wanli Shipwreck' off Malaysia's east coast, with valuable artifacts being found and salvaged alongside large amounts of broken porcelain pieces regarded as having little value, despite the story they told of the region's maritime history, had struck a chord with Chang. 'What truly moved me were the broken porcelain pieces; they shared the same historic value as those that ended up in prestigious auction houses. I wanted to give them a new lease of life, to transform what was once considered worthless into something meaningful and beautiful,' she explained. 'Even as fragments, they shared the same history and told the same story as part of the region's maritime history from the Portuguese sailors who were transporting them, the people and traders of pre-independence Malaysia, and the Chinese artisans who created them,' she said. In addition to the paintings, Chang also incorporated porcelain fragments into sculptures that she has created as part of her collection. 'There's quiet poetry in working with what's broken. Through art, I hope to honor not just the objects, but the resilience and forgotten stories they represent,' she said. The exhibition features 20 paintings and 11 sculptures, each a meditation on memory and transformation, bridging art, archaeology, and a chapter of Malaysian history long overlooked. Chang also spoke of the value of art as a bridge between people of different countries and groups, having met and collaborated with people from all over the world as part of her 15-year journey as an artist. 'We have an affinity for one another. There are no boundaries in our shared passion for art, not just in admiring it, but also in creating it. When I travel to Indonesia, I can stay in a fellow artist's home. It's the same anywhere I go. Art really brings people together,' she said. – Xinhua Alice Chang artist China porcelain
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
This Miami restaurant had an award-winning chef and a Michelin nod. Now it's closing
In 2024, a year after she opened her Peruvian restaurant Maty's in Midtown, Miami chef Valerie Chang won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South, ending a 14-year drought for Miami. Now Maty's — named for Chang's Peruvian grandmother — is closing for good after only two years. Chang, whose first Miami spot was Itamae, a counter serving Peruvian-Japanese cuisine at a local food hall she opened with her brother Nando and father Fernando, thanked customers on her Instagram account for patronizing the restaurant, which was recommended in the Michelin Guide. 'Our dad showed us very early on that being in the restaurant could give us an opportunity to struggle a little less — that perhaps we weren't bound only by what our parents could give us, but by what we could also make with our own hands,' she wrote. 'As this chapter comes to an end for me, I want to take this moment to express my deepest gratitude for everyone who has allowed me to cook for them at Maty's over the past two years. We opened this restaurant to honor our grandmother, Maty, in the best way we know how — through food.' Since April, the restaurant at 3255 NE First Ave., had been hosting a residency by Itamae, which served tiraditos, ceviches and nigiris as well as other dishes that made the Changs a hit in the city. The residency will continue through July 5. Meanwhile, Nando Chang, who earned the 2025 Best Chef: South award just a year after his sister, will continue to focus on his 10-seat omakase counter, Itamae Ao, which is located in a smaller room attached to the main Maty's restaurant. Chang, who also earned a Michelin star for Itamae Ao this year, plans to expand the counter's days of operation to Tuesday through Saturday, as well as adding new items to the menu. There's no word on what's next for Val Chang or the former Maty's space.
