🐮Meet the Publisher of The Chino Chew

I’m the voice behind The Chino Chew. I’m a South Korea native, but have lived in Texas and Delaware over the years. In 2025, I moved to Chino with my little growing family. Before I tell you why I started the Chew, here’s more about me.

I got my doctorate in hydrogeology, which is a fancy word for the study of how water flows underneath our feet. During the day, I use satellites to see how Earth’s water and oceans change. We can actually use gravity for regions we can’t go directly measure. Isn’t that cool?

I actually helped the state of California figure out some of our water problems. I love doing my science job. As the Chew grew, I actually got special permission from work to work on it.

Long story — or actually, short story? We met in Downtown LA, originally dismissed each other, but as fate would have it, we were walking down the aisle only a few months after that. The whole “meet-date-propose-marry” ordeal only took 6 months for us. We got married on a helipad, overlooking the Hollywood sign, the Griffith Observatory, and of course, downtown LA. We are now parents to a fun baby boy that you might see with us around town.

This was a COVID hobby gone right. When I first moved to California, picking up a left-field hobby felt right and ~very LA~ for me. I started with drop-in classes. When COVID hit, weekly zoom classes dancing in my tiny studio loft kept my mental sanity. When the world opened back up, my instructor invited me to join her performance group, and I loved dancing with the team!

Before Chino, my husband Eric and I used to live in a tiny 1-bedroom apartment that barely had a kitchen (seriously, we couldn’t even fit a regular fridge inside). But man, did we cook some amazing meals there.

I also love throwing parties for reasons that feel like they’re not real reasons. No one showed up to my birthday one year (because I didn’t plan anything), so six months later I threw a “Half-Birthday Party” and made Korean BBQ for 30 people. This became my tradition and got so big that by the third year, my school started officially funding it because all the students were attending. When I got my US Greencard, I threw a “Greencard Party”. When Eric got his degree, I threw a “Present on Anything Party” where people talked about Britney’s ex-boyfriends, Cinderella’s sprint speed, and how to escape an ocean cruise, for 5-min each. I’ve even thrown a “Costco Party”.

Point is, I love parties. The sillier the reason the better.

So imagine my frustration when I first moved to Chino. I felt so out of the loop, and had no idea where to start making friends. I kept finding out about events after they had already happened.

Out of my own frustration, I started collecting events for that week, circulating to my close friends and family. The first “issue” went out to 6 people. But then something remarkable happened — people loved it! In two weeks the Chew grew to 200 subscribers. Four weeks, 1500. I found out that folks from Chino Hills, Eastvale, and Ontario had joined, and even from Jurupa Valley, Pomona, and Diamond Bar. In less than half a year, our tribe has grown to 10,000+ local readers. With social media combined, our total reach is more than 22,000+ now.

The Chino Chew’s mission is to be the go-to source for positive local news, community updates, and nearby events—fostering a sense of belonging and supporting local businesses.

You might say, “But you just moved here. Do you even know Chino?”. But that’s the point! I’m a baby in Chino. One thing about babies is they get excited about everything, cuz it’s new to them. That’s what I’m bringing: Excitement about Chino & our neighboring cities through a fresh new lens.

But yes, your concerns are valid. So I’m pleased to report that to make sure I’m honoring the city’s rich history, I graduated in the 1st cohort of Chino’s CORE Academy where I got to learn about all the city departments. I can’t wait to share what I learned with you over the coming weeks!

First and foremost, in your email newsletter 🙂

But I’m looking forward to meeting you in person around town. Eric has a booth at the Chino Night Market, so sometimes I go support. I also frequent a bunch of local coffee shops, restaurants, and any place spa-related (who doesn’t love being pampered??).

If you see me, don’t be shy & say hi, unless I look stressed. In that case give me a high-five instead.

Each issue of the Chew is intentionally put together, and it’s actually a lot of quiet late nights after the baby is asleep. You can help by:

Not everything makes it in an issue, but I personally read every email. Seriously.

I hope this helped you learn a little bit more about me & my mission. I’m very grateful for every single one of you, and I can’t wait for the future of Chino Valley we’re going to build together.

Let’s get into it.