TAAF Staff Picks: Julia Lo
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It's time to hear from another TAAF Staffer on their recommendations for music, travel, AANHPI small businesses, and more!
Tell us what you do at TAAF, and where you’re based.
As a Deputy Director of Programs, I lead TAAF’s grants management system and support program operations towards our mission in advancing safety, belonging, and prosperity for Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian communities. I currently live in Jackson Heights, Queens, NYC, one of the most linguistically diverse neighborhoods in the world! I’ve lived in NYC for over two decades and feel like I grew up here.
What films or TV shows are you excited about right now?
I keep a rotation of light, feel-goods on my recently watched—so lately that’s the new seasons of LOOT and Abbott Elementary. I’m also a proud auntie, so not ashamed to say Bluey, but my secret is that I also watch it with my partner (and no kids nearby!). When I need a lil more indie, secondary-character-energy vibes, anything by Julio Torres. But, TV/Netflix aside, I’m an AMC A-List Stubs member, so I’ll make every excuse to go to the theater!
Do you have a favorite book or author you're reading?
I used to read a lot of poetry and fiction, but right now it’s nonfiction! I just started Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans by Dr. Jenny Wang, who moderated a panel during the recent AAPI Youth Mental Health Summit. I’m also reading The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Detroit activist Grace Lee Boggs, whose work my colleagues introduced me to when we visited the Boggs Center during our staff retreat in Detroit. Boggs passed away ten years ago in 2015, but her reflections on activism and our country feel like she could have been writing this today.
What song is on repeat on your playlist?
Depends on my need? If I need to wake up, this year the synthy drums in “Funny Music” (2025) by Gelli Haha (Filipina-American singer) works! Heading out to something fun, Salin, a drummer based in Thailand, gives me a funky evening start: “Ma’at” (2025). If I had a challenging day, Sade’s “Love is Stronger Than Pride” (1988) always opens up my heart, or, I like walking home in the city night air to “New House” (2019) by Toro Y Moi (Filipino American indie-electronic artist).
And, showing love to my fam, gotta shout-out my Canto-pop singing cousin, Justin Lo! His ballad “大象席地而坐” (2022) has piano by my father, Ted Lo, a jazz musician in Hong Kong.
What's your top travel destination or bucket list vacation?
I love the music, art and food scene in Mexico City, and only recently learned it’s the biggest city in North America. I was lucky to be there for Día de los Muertos this year, the holiday celebrating loved ones who have passed. My friends and I got to prepare our own ofrenda with photos, marigolds, colorful paper hangings, and tiny replicas of favorite foods to guide our ancestors to visit us! For my bucket-list trip: I’m a three-decades-strong Hello Kitty fan, and one day I will make it to Sanrio Puroland and Harmonyland, the Sanrio theme parks outside Tokyo.
Any local AANHPI owned restaurants or small businesses that you recommend?
Too many! In Jackson Heights, here are my go-tos: The beef in joyl steamed momos at Gorkhali on Friday/Saturday nights with live Nepali music, the garlic rice & eggs breakfast with longganisa (the sweet Filipino sausage) at Ihawan, the decadent and creamy mentai bacon udon late night at Izakaya Fuku, and… any dosa from Dosa Delight!
Stay tuned for picks from another TAAF staffer next month!