1 Captions by Florence S. Fournier. Edited by Desney Shaw. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 (TRAFFIC LIGHT BEEPS) Mt Eden radiates out from the mighty volcanic cone that gives the suburb its name. Tree-lined streets, old stone walls and big houses give the suburb an old-world charm. Nowadays, 35% of the population was born overseas. I'm a mixed bag. I'm a Kiwi born to an Iranian father and a Kiwi mother who was raised in Mexico. I was raised in Mt Eden. We lived with my grandad in a house that backed on to the mountain for the first 12 years of my life. It was a great backyard to have. I went to ANI, Auckland Grammar, and my parents started Cazador Restaurant, just down the road, which has been in the family for 30 years. Mt Eden's definitely my hood. It's a mix of long-term residents and family businesses, spiced with new arrivals. Let's meet some of the locals. In this episode of Neighbourhood ` we'll follow a Mount Eden resident as she puts her culture centre-stage. We have music. We have dance. We have food. Everybody loves Mexican food. We have, as well, a lot of colours. The decoration is just like in Mexico. A local street gets its own multicultural musical. Quite anxious about writing a song like this. Really don't want to be labelled as being racist. I'm Asian, and I'm writing a song about Indian culture and instruments, so, yeah, I'm nervous. We'll share some Japanese sweet treats. You know, Japanese people taste with their eyes first and then taste with palate. Seasonal wagashi sweets often go with green tea. And a young Mt Eden man talks us through some of the tough decisions he's made in order to be true to himself. I have lost a very important part of my upbringing ` my family, a huge chunk of my relationships. I feel like I've gained a whole new family. I've gained access to a whole new world. I'm Dariush Lolaiy, and this is my neighbourhood. (UPBEAT MUSIC) (RELAXED MUSIC) KC Loo's is a family-run business for more than 60 years. It's a piece of Mt Eden history that connects back through the generations. I love that sense of continuity. My dad grew up in Iran, before moving through Europe to London. My mum, born in New Zealand, left when she was a kid. She went to Hawaii, then Cyprus and finally on to Mexico, where she spent her late teens and early twenties. My parents both met in London working as chefs, and it's that cultural mix that makes me appreciate just how lucky we are to be living in a community that gets more diverse every day. When I spend most of my time in Dominion Rd and as part of the preparation for 'Dominion Rd The Musical', we do go along the road just to mingle and talk to some of the shop owners and restaurant owners. They really appreciate the fact that they are surrounded by so many other Asian stores there. It felt like their second home, in other words. The goal, I guess, as a composer, is hopefully, when these people, these actual Dominion Rd people, listen to them, they can feel that, 'Hey, this is actually me'. That's the goal, and it helps a lot as a composer. You're more motivated. You just wanna go,... yeah, explore as much as you can. I was born in Malaysia. Labuan Island, I think, back in those days would be around 5000 people ` mostly Malays, maybe 20% Chinese and just one Indian family. My dream is to write a musical. Whether or not it's in Mandarin, which is what I grew up speaking, or in English, and bring it back to Malaysia ` maybe to the island that I came from ` and make sure that they learn it in the schools. Cos that's what I crave for now, or even for my kids or my next generation ` that we should be exposed to the musical theatre culture in school. So, right now I'm working on a piece written by Renee Liang, a playwright/poet/everything, called 'Dominion Rd The Musical'. So, I'm helping out with the music, the composition and also a co-lyricist. The summary of the story is someone wants to turn Dominion Rd into Chinatown, and the community in Dominion Rd, they don't want to be labelled as Chinatown, cos there's more than just Chinese along Dominion Rd. My personal favourite is still a piece that I wrote for the Fijian-Indian character. It's called 'No, no, no.' It's just purely because you get to explore sitar and tabla and comedy scene in a song. (PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE) OK. So, that will be... # Can't you see, Terry, # that I'm very busy, Terry? # Need to do so many things # already. # This song, the context is the friend, Terry, is trying to convince the character Ahmad to... protest against council for Chinatown, and Ahmad, being a grumpy old man, says, like, INDIAN ACCENT: 'No. I have no time for this.' Pardon my accent. # Do you know, know, know? # I say no, no, no. # I say no, no, no. Quite anxious about writing a song like this. I really don't want to be labelled as being racist. I'm Asian, and I'm writing a song about Indian culture and instruments, so, yeah, I'm nervous, and I really need approval, I guess, from the actual Indian ethnicity. One, two, three, four. (PIANO, SITAR PLAYS) # Can't you see, Terry? # I need to cook my curries, Terry. # Customers are so picky, lately. # I have no time for this. # I think it's a testament to the song. It's quite catchy. I think it captures the spirit of the character that I will be playing. His name is Ahmad. He's a bit of a feisty character, and he's against certain things that are happening on Dominion Rd. # Oh, you don't know, know, know, # yeah. # I have never, ever had a chance to a part of a musical, like, instrument, so` and I would never imagine sitar being a part of a musical, so I think this is amazing, and I love that I can be somehow connected to this. Yeah. It think it does definitely... the show definitely embraces diversity. Doesn't enjoy being labelled. That's a very key part, I believe, cos essentially they're trying to label Dominion Rd as Chinatown. The history of Chinatown in some other countries, it's very deep. It's much deeper than just a simple label. You are Chinatown because there's a lot of Asian shops there. I believe that's a message. That's one of the important message that Renee would like to tell the commu` tell the people in Auckland and the world, I guess. # No, no, no, I'm too old, # and I have no time for this. # (GENTLE MUSIC) Auckland Grammar is seen as such a desirable school, that being in Grammar zone has helped push the Mt Eden house prices through the roof in recent years. Although, I have to say, my favourite memories of being at Grammar are taking periods off and going up the mountain with my mates. I guess I always had a sense of being different as a kid because of my cultural background, but in all honesty, I made so many good friends here, that I was never bullied. It's as an adult that I've encountered more racism, which is a good lesson for me to know, that there's still prejudice out there, and for some, a sense of belonging is harder to find. (SERENE MUSIC) As Jehovah's Witnesses, you don't go into marae, you don't go to tangi, you don't really engage with the culture at all. And so I felt like I was completely removed until I left the religion. And I feel like I'm missing` I had missed out up until that point. It's a part of my identity, and it's something that I have started to reconnect with a lot. My heritage is Maori. My mother is from Kaikohe. My father is from Rotorua. The other part of the story is I was brought up as a Jehovah's Witness. And that as well was quite a diverse community of people. It was a really close-knit community, and I really value growing up in that environment. But in a lot of ways, that was quite a difficult environment as well. It was very restrictive. When I went to university, I started to figure out that I had feelings for... men. And that was quite a challenging realisation to come to, because it was so at odds with the religion. And for a long time I debated within myself how I could be... gay, if I could be gay. The rules around being a baptised member of the church mean you have to... if you choose to leave the church, you are cut off. I really struggle to understand what my parents must have gone through. I know it hurt them a lot, but there haven't been any conversations, really, about my coming out to them since I left. Recently I was having a conversation with my grandmother, who, uh, mentioned that she has been holding this piece, uh, for decades. And it was originally meant to go to my father, but he didn't want it. And so... she kept it in her possession, and she hoped that one day either myself or my cousin would, um, be able to take it and pass it on through the... the family. The other day she asked me if I would carry it. It's a greenstone tiki. It's quite primitively carved, and the... it's quite delicate. It's, um, very light in colour. So it's very humble and simple, and I think that's quite nice. It lines up quite well with my identity. As hard as my coming out was, some of the things that I've gained from the experience was an ability to reconnect with my wider family. I've been able to attend family celebrations like Christmas, like 21st's, like Easter barbecues. My sisters, who had left the church earlier, I've been able to reconnect with them and their children. I'm learning te reo, I've been able to go on to marae, I've been able to learn more tikanga and that's something that I've found really valuable. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) The other thing that helped me to come out was simply that I fell in love. I met someone who made me feel way that I'd never felt before. Falling in love made me realise that I couldn't be anything other than what I was, that it would be disastrous for me not to. About two years ago I met Francis. I walked into his bookshop, and... we struck up a conversation that lasted until closing. Immediately I knew that I had this connection with this person that I'd never experienced before. I` Like, I've never looked back, in a lot of ways. I have lost a very important part of my upbringing ` my family, a huge chunk of my relationships. I feel like I've gained a whole new family. I've gained access to a whole new world that was otherwise denied to me. And I also feel like there's a huge weight of my shoulders because I don't have to pretend any more. I can just be who I am. (SERENE MUSIC) Mum and Dad started Cazador in 1987 when I was 5 years old. I pretty much grew up under the kitchen pass here at Cazador, watching my dad cook. My sister and I used to play Monopoly out the back. I remember going to the bar to have glasses of Coke while the bustling crowds were here, belly dancers, people out having a good time. It was a busy place in the late '80s and early '90s, and the mix of cultures I grew up with ` Iranian, Mexican and Kiwi ` was a good recipe for a great party. I've been proud of Mexico since I was a child. I was raised with those small traditions that enrich the love I have for Mexico. Now I live in Mt Eden. It's a very beautiful place. It's not far from the centre of Auckland, and I like here because it's quiet. The houses around are so beautiful. I had the opportunity to live very traditional. My grandparents were, like, living in the town where we were living for a long time, so... and they were very religious as well, so they always make sure we follow those traditions. What I miss the most about Mexico is the family ` the food and my family. I miss very much the traditions because... Mexico is a lot of fiesta, music, colour, dance performance, a different party every other day. I wanted people to have a closer idea of what Mexico is, and I always believed with a festival, we will be able to... bring people to Mexico. If they come, see a bit more about Mexico, then they will realise how beautiful it is. It's very funny, because I didn't have experience organising big-scale events. But I knew it is my goal, it is my passion, and I knew how to make fiestas. I was the one at home who will organise the fiestas in my circle of friends, I will make the fiestas, so I knew, and I always thought, 'OK, don't get stressed. This is just a fiesta in a bigger scale.' Today we are picking up the flowers that will decorate the festival. So, since we are celebrating the Day of the Dead, we need to celebrate in a Mexican way. So, cempasuchil is the name for marigolds here, and they have been used for years ` even from Aztec's time ` to decorate the altars. And they are... something fragile, as lives are, so that's why it is important for us to put them in the altars. So, I think we're gonna need more than 150 flowers, yeah, to catch the smell. Altogether, you will feel the smell of cempasuchil. So, I'll try to put as many as I can in this trolley. And maybe I will need to come three more times. (CHUCKLES) (MEXICAN MUSIC PLAYS) Today is the Mexfestival ` the first Mexican festival in New Zealand. I wanted to make an event like any other public event, but it was really complicated, and then I decided to do it myself. And then I went around and checked which is a good place for Mexico, and I love this building, and I think Mexico deserves something as big as The Cloud. That's why we decided The Cloud, yeah. (AZTEC DANCE MUSIC PLAYS) We have music. We have dance. We have food. Everybody loves Mexican food. We have, as well, a lot of colours. The decoration is just like in Mexico. When I was back in Mexico, I always heard the drums playing, from my home, of Aztec performers, and I ran always to go and practise and dance with them. So, I have been practising Aztec dance performance for eight years. (AZTEC DRUMMING MUSIC PLAYS) I believe one of our duties as Mexicans is to preserve what we still can't see, that is not tangible. It is something that can be forgotten later on if we don't preserve it. It was so beautiful. It was so beautiful to see my dream coming and see them enjoying the festival, because every Mexican loves to be Mexican. Every person loves their own country, and we're no different. We love our traditions and, of course, for them, helping me to make my dream come true. (CROWD CHEERS, APPLAUDS) Cazador was open Tuesday to Sunday nights, so Monday night was always reserved for a family meal. My mum would make a khoresht, which is an Iranian stew with lamb and celery, and my dad would make his famous goat curry. Mum was the one that taught me empathy for other cultures, and about food and flavours from around the world. Looking back on that now, I think that was a really cool thing because that really gave me an understanding for flavours, ingredients and, sort of, how to balance them and layer them. I met my husband back in Japan through our mutual friends. That time he was in Japan to set up a Japan branch where he is now still working. And then after a while he told me, 'Time to go back to New Zealand,' and I said, 'What?' But I was also interested in, like, going overseas at that time, so I took it as a good opportunity to go overseas. That was nearly 13 years ago. I was born in Osaka in Japan. I was grew up with my parents, my sister and my grandparents. At the time, that was quite common. But nowadays not many people live with grandparents. But that was a really nice experience, seeing them doing... making traditional food, going out for a walk with Grandfather, that's... yeah, that's memory. My grandfather also had a sweet tooth, which I do as well. My husband loves Japan, and then it's really nice an opportunity to have a traditional Japanese wedding, and then also my father and my mother like to see us in the traditional Japanese kimono style. Before we got married also, they came over and after we got married, and then my mum and sister came over. Unfortunately my father passed away soon after Takumi, my son, was born. But my father bought our koi carp flags for my son when he was alive. In Japan we put koinobori, carp flags, to wish child's courage and strength. Koi carp symbolise strength and courage because of its ability to swim up the waterfall, so we are wishing them growing up strong. Wagashi is a type of Japanese sweets made of mainly beans and sugar. I'm going to make wagashi called nerikiri. Beautifully shaped with white bean paste, the shape of flower buds. So, I'm measuring for the outside white petal and then also, inside red petals. When I went back to Japan last time, luckily I found class held by a very experienced teacher who used to be a wagashi maker for over 40 years. This is a secret recipe from my teacher. This is red bean paste. This is also` This is go inside the paste. My grandmother used to make... almost everything from scratch. Making red bean paste, making mochi from sticky rice, yeah, so, um... It is easier to buy ready-made from shops, but it is also nice to have, kind of, hand-made with love. So, I'm making the little dent, and then I'm just creating a little petal. Need to be very fine. Oh, I practised a lot. I'm still practising. I didn't perfect it but, yeah. As you make more and more, you get better. (DOORBELL RINGS) Hello. Hello. Today I invited my good friend who is Japanese. She also got married to a Kiwi husband and has two beautiful kids. Japanese people taste with their eyes first and then taste with palate. We, like, especially for wagashi, they make seasonal wagashi sweets, so often go with green tea. When I brought my wagashi to my friends, they were surprised. 'Oh, did you make it?' (CHUCKLES) And then my husband also kind of proud of me making such beautiful wagashi. (GENTLE MUSIC) I've got great memories of growing up in Mt Eden ` hanging out up the mountain, doing my morning paper run. We've got a lot less time to loiter around Mt Eden nowadays, so it's restricted to walking the dog in our favourite haunts. I'd love to be more in touch with the Iranian side of my heritage. All I know of Iran is through my dad. And although he's given me some mighty gifts from that part of his culture ` the hospitality, the warmth, the passion ` I'd love to get to know it more, and I can't wait to get there myself. What I love most about Mt Eden is a sense of space, the greenery, nature, there's also a really tight sense of community, and it's a reasonably diverse community at that. It was a great place to grow up. Captions by Florence S. Fournier. Edited by Desney Shaw. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017