As the festival in California marks its 61st anniversary with artists Norah Jones and Herbie Hancock, and its sister event in Noto, Japan, celebrates 40 years, organisers hope China will be next.

Newly single in her 40s, Amy Wu quickly discovers the dating game has changed, with dates expecting her to split the bill and app users seemingly all after the same thing

Don’t expect to fill up on great Asian food on a tour of Portland’s Chinatown; feast on reminders of its past instead, and make the most of the other cuisines offered by the west coast city’s eclectic dining scene

Tired of boring dates and bad company, Amy Wu decided to throw caution to the wind and enjoy activities by herself. After wine-tastings, hotel night, spas and other fun things, she wonders why she waited so long

I was travelling on the Washington metro recently, and watched as people moved swiftly away from a young woman who was coughing and sneezing and most likely suffering from a cold.

For a long time, Americans haven't cared less about Hong Kong. It was nothing personal. It was just that there was very little from Hong Kong that directly affected or interested them.

My perspective of self was altered after I got a smartphone six months ago and was swiftly thrust into the world of selfies. At university, I observed an entourage of young women brush their hair back, pout and pose. "Selfie!" they screamed.

I got my first "Yo" the other day through my smartphone. It was from a friend who had gone missing for a while - phone calls and e-mails unreturned, the Facebook pokes long since faded.

It's no surprise that social media, notably Facebook, is quickly becoming the core of our social lives, thanks to the availability and affordability of slick smartphones.

I used to be a sucker for romance - blame it on an overdose of Hollywood movies; Casablanca, Sleepless in Seattle and, more recently, Love Actually and Eat Pray Love, to name a few.

There I was, surrounded by a mountain of jelly beans spiralling down onto a factory conveyor belt in central California. I was on a packed tour of the Jelly Belly factory, whose sweets hit the headlines in the 1980s, thanks to US president Ronald Reagan's penchant for jelly beans.

A mother-in-law can be a blessing in disguise, I started to say to an American friend who was feeling down after her six-month-old daughter was rejected by the day care centre because she was crying too much. (But isn't that what babies do?) My friend was desperate.

With a single click I was engaged - just like that, the virtual ring appeared on my newly minted fiancé's page and on mine once I'd confirmed it. In less than a day, there were 67 likes and 32 comments, the most I'd received in my entire Facebook history. On the one hand, I was delighted; I am lucky in love. On the other, I was miffed that, despite how far we've come in women's rights and in accepting alternative lifestyles, marriage remains the ultimate achievement for women.

First, the good news: the furlough season is over. Being based a stone's throw from the nation's capital, the topic hits home. A friend, who'd been on furlough since the government shutdown began on October 1, e-mailed me on day 10 and said she was suffering from cabin fever. "Feels good to be back at work," she now e-mails.