Dan Hoang

Name: Dan Hoang
Birthplace: Song Pha, Vietnam
Hometown: San Diego, California
Education: UCSD (University of California, San Diego), Bachelor of Arts Degree in Visual Arts

Favourites:
Favorite Pastimes: modeling, painting, reading novels, traveling, roadtrips, sightseeing, photography, visiting art museums, walking in botanical gardens and parks, tanning at the beach, swimming, working out, running, dining, foreign films, learning different languages, gardening, cooking, shopping, attending concerts, dancing, going out with friends, listening to music…
Travels: Waikiki, Hilo, Maui, Cannes, Nice, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Sitges, Bilbao, Vancouver, New York City, Washington D.C., Hollywood, San Francisco, Laguna Beach, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, Seattle, Dallas, Taipei, Hong Kong
Future Travel Plans: Vietnam, Thailand, Italy, Tokyo, Prague, Amsterdam, Sydney, Miami, Chicago, Beijing, Singapore
Favorite Art Museums: Guggenheim (Bilbao, Spain), Louvre (Paris), Metropolitan (New York City)
Favorite Hotel: Halekulani on Waikiki Beach
Favorite Restaurant: Sushi Ko in Bel Air
Favorite Food: sushi, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian, French desserts
Favorite Singers: Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Lindsay Lohan, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Robbie Williams, Michael Buble
Favorite Authors: John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Hardy, Yukio Mishima, Arthur Golden, David Guterson
Favorite Movies: “Meet Joe Black”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hero”, “Gladiator”, “The Scent of Green Papaya”, “Indochine”
Favorite Place: Oahu, Hawaii
Favorite Possessions: My Paintings
Favorite Dream: Art Gallery on Oahu
Education: UCSD (University of California, San Diego), Bachelor of Arts Degree in Visual Arts
Favorite Pastimes: modeling, painting, reading novels, traveling, roadtrips, sightseeing, photography, visiting art museums, walking in botanical gardens and parks, tanning at the beach, swimming, working out, running, dining, foreign films, learning different languages, gardening, cooking, shopping, attending concerts, dancing, going out with friends, listening to music…

Biography of Dan Hoang:

My name is Dan Hoang. I am Vietnamese-American. I was born in Song Pha, Vietnam in May of 1974. My Western Zodiac sign is Taurus. My Chinese Zodiac sign is the Tiger. I am 5 feet 2 inches tall and weigh 125 pounds. I have been modeling more seriously for about 5 years. I enjoy modeling very much because I get to travel to beautiful locations for photo shoots. Being a model requires that I work out at the gym 5 or 6 times per week. I enjoy lifting weights, especially on days when I work on chest and biceps. On a nice summer afternoon, I like to go running at Balboa Park in my hometown San Diego, California. In the summertime, I like going to Blacks Beach to get a full body tan. I like swimming and playing in the ocean water and then laying out under the hot sun. It is very relaxing. On the weekends, I like hanging out and partying with my friends. I love going clubbing and dancing all night long.

Besides these physical activities, some of my favorite pastimes include dining, reading classic literature, painting, watching foreign films, learning languages, and listening to music from different countries. I love to eat. I am a very adventurous eater who likes to try new foods from all over the world. I love sushi—my favorites are salmon roe, mackerel, yellowtail, toro, and sea urchin. Japanese cuisine is probably my favorite. Next is Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Italian, and French. After dinner, I like to get dessert. I have a very sweet tooth. If I were not a model, I would probably have a slice of French cake after every meal.

My all-time favorite pastime is painting. I am an artist, and painting is my passion. I have been painting since I was a teenager. I studied painting in college. Currently, I am working on a series of 20 abstract paintings inspired by some of the cities around the world I have visited in the last few years. Sometimes it is hard to find time to paint because I work at a bank during the week and go to the beach on the weekends, but I do find a few days now and then to let my creativity run wild. So far I have finished 5 paintings in this new series. Just 15 more paintings to go. I imagine doing that would take me another year to finish. Some day I will have an art show at a gallery to exhibit my paintings. That is one of my dreams.

As an artist, I appreciate many kinds of art, including film. I like learning about other people’s cultures by watching foreign films. I like the exotic settings and hearing the actors speak in their own language. When I watch foreign films, I am actually trying to learn the language being spoken. I speak Vietnamese, English, and Spanish fluently. I studied some French and Japanese at the university but only speak enough to get by. Someday I would like to become fluent in French and Japanese. I am also thinking about learning Mandarin Chinese because I love films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hero,” and “House of Flying Daggers”. It would be great to watch these films in their original language.

Watching foreign films is an entertaining way to learn about the world, but traveling is definitely the best way to experience the world. I absolutely love to travel! I wish I could travel more than I normally do. There are so many places I want to visit. There is so much to see and experience! I enjoy trying new cuisine, sightseeing, taking photos of architecture, strolling in botanical gardens and parks, visiting famous art museums, swimming and sunbathing at exotic beaches, staying in nice hotels, shopping for unique clothes and art, and going out for a drink with the the locals at popular dance clubs. I haven’t been to many places, but I’ve had a few fabulous trips so far.

A few years ago, I spent a romantic week on Waikiki Beach. It was my first time to Hawaii. I stayed at a very nice hotel (the Halekulani) and had a wonderful time. Then I spent a tranquil week on a secluded beach on the island of Maui. Last summer I went to Hawaii for the second time. I spent a very exciting and busy week modeling all over the Big Island and Oahu. First, we shot in Hilo, on the Big Island. Then we flew to Oahu to shoot on Waikiki, Lanikai, and Kailua Beaches. Then we drove all over the island looking for interesting locations to shoot. That was an awesome trip!

Another great trip was when I went to Cannes, France for the International Film Festival. It was a fun-filled week of red-carpet movie premiers, playing on the beach, feasting on seafood, sightseeing, and going to film industry parties. I spoke with actors and directors from all over the world. I would love to do the film festival again! After Cannes, I spent 2 weeks in Paris for the first time. Paris is incredible! It is so historic, beautiful, fashionable, and romantic. The food is amazing, especially the desserts. The Louvre Art Museum is one of my favorite art museums in the world. Last summer, I went to Spain for the first time. I had a fantastic time! Being able to communicate fluently in Spanish made it easy for me to start conversations with total strangers. In general, I thought the Spanish people were very friendly, patient, and sincere. I made a few new friends. Madrid is a fabulous city to dine, shop, and dance until the sun comes up. Barcelona is great for shopping and people-watching. Bilbao has the best modern art museum—the Guggenheim is such a cool place! Sitges is charming and has beautiful beaches. Spain and France are the only 2 countries I have visited in Europe so far. I usually travel closer to home. I spent a week in Vancouver, Canada once. My favorite American cities are West Hollywood, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Dallas, Washington D.C., and New york City. Chicago and Miami are on my wish list.

The next time I travel, I would like to visit Vietnam. Since I left Vietnam as a boy, I have never been back. There is so much I want to see. I have been wanting to visit Vietnam to learn more about the country where I was born. I want to explore the beautiful beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, villages, and cities. I want to get to know the people from my country—learn about their life experiences. I want to see how much the little fishing village of my childhood has changed. I want to visit the beach where my father used to play with me. I want to taste all the exotic fruits I used to love as a boy. My trip to Vietnam will be a wonderful, fulfilling, and enriching journey.

Speaking of journeys, my life has been quite an interesting and remarkable one. My journey began in a small farming village in the south of Vietnam called Song Pha. Song Pha is located northeast of Saigon. Soon after I was born, my family moved to a seaport town called Cam Ranh. I still remember clearly the sights and sounds of this quaint, idyllic seaside town landscaped with coconut and mango trees. There were bushes with pink oleander blossoms and red hibiscus flowers everywhere. The market offered fish of every color—yellow, orange, red, blue, silver—still flipping about. Seasonal exotic fruits made the air deliciously sweet. My mother used to buy fresh sugarcane juice for me to sip on. I loved accompanying my mother when she went to the market to sell my father’s fish. My father was a simple fisherman making a living harvesting the fruits of the sea. Every night, he would take my older brother and me out on his small, wooden fishing boat. To me, every morning was delightfully exciting because my father’s net was full of strange creatures—some I had never seen before. For a little boy who was curious about nature and had an appreciation for beautiful things, Cam Ranh was a fascinating place to explore and to grow up in. I will always cherish those memories of my early childhood in Vietnam.

When I was 6 years old, my family left Vietnam for the Philippines. Three years later, we moved to America in search of a better life. We lived in Texas for 2 years, then drove out West to beautiful, sunny San Diego. My family has been living in San Diego for the last 20 years, so I consider myself very much a Southern California boy. I love the beach and the slower pace of life but can definitely handle the speed of a big city when I travel. I come from a very large family. I have 3 brothers and 5 sisters. I’m the third oldest child. My youngest brother is 16 years old. Growing up was fun because I had so many siblings to play with. I am pretty close with my brothers and sisters. We get together a couple of times a year to hang out and catch up. I have 7 nieces and nephews, and it is exciting to watch them grow up. I think my family is the main reason why I like to live in San Diego.

When I came to America in 1983, I thought English was so hard to learn. Life in America was so different from my simple life in the little fishing village in Vietnam. After 2 years of being in America, I was speaking English very well and earning the highest grades in elementary school. Once I was quite proficient in English, I even started learning Spanish in junior high school. I studied very hard, but also did athletics. I was an honor student in high school and a member of the Varsity wrestling team. I took a lot of advanced level classes. I graduated top of my class of 300 students. I gave my Valedictorian speech in front of hundreds of students and their families. My father was very proud of me that day. It was one of the best moments of my life! After high school, I attended the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). I took classes in Spanish Literature, French, Japanese, Writing, Math, and Science; but studied mostly Art History, Painting, and Photography. After 4 years of study,I graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts. My whole family attended my graduation. That meant a lot to me. My college years were some of the best years of my life. I had so much fun making new friends and enjoying new experiences!

After college, I worked as a waiter in several Asian restaurants. Waiting tables was hard work, but I enjoyed meeting new people. Also after college, I started modeling a little here and there. At first, I worked with my friends and college student photographers. Then I worked with professional photographers who produce calendars and photography books. I was on the cover of a travel magazine, was in an Asian men calendar, was the poster model for a popular Asian dance club in Los Angeles, and was a swimwear model for a clothing company in San Diego. My biggest project so far is this book by Adu. I hope to do similar projects in the future. Right now I’m working with a photographer in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco. I recently did a submission shoot to enter a competition for a modeling contract in Japan. That would be so exciting!

As for the future, I would like to continue modeling for a few more years. I would like to travel all over the world, especially exotic locations such as Vietnam, Thailand, China, Japan, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. It would be wonderful to do photo shoots in these countries. I hope my first photography book is just the beginning for me. I would like to do a few more artistic photography books with talented photographers from all over the world. I would love to work with Adu again in the future. Shooting with Adu in Hawaii was a dream come true for me. I have always enjoyed visiting Hawaii for its peacefulness and breathtaking beauty. Modeling on the beaches of Hawaii was like having fun in paradise! It was definitely one of the most wonderful experiences of my life!

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