Rice n Mics

Tung Nguyen

Exploring the every day Asian Australian culture, experience and what makes us unique. The podcast brings on a variety of guests to get different perspectives and stories. Trying to aim for at least an episode a month.

  1. Terence Nguyen: Balancing Acting, Events MCing, and the Reality of Freelance Life | Ep 67

    1 DAY AGO

    Terence Nguyen: Balancing Acting, Events MCing, and the Reality of Freelance Life | Ep 67

    I sit down with professional Executive MC and actor Terence Nguyen, aka 'The Main with the Mic'. Terence has built a brand as the area's MC, who has hosted weddings, corporate events, charity galas, but his path to getting here was far from typical. We dive into his evolution from a kid in Western Sydney to a high-energy MC. He shares his foundational training at PYT Fairfield which helped him break the 'quiet Asian' stereotype which led him roles in major products like Anyone But You and Last King of the Cross. Terence also chats about his community work through the Asian Hustle Network and the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation. --- Terence's Links https://www.instagram.com/terencenguyenmc/ https://www.tiktok.com/@terencenguyenmc --- Need a photobooth? Reach out to SonofaBooth - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/sonofabooth/⁠ Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow --- Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:38 Are MCs Naturally Confident? Public Speaking Secrets 3:48 Acting Career: IMDb, Maria Tran, and Takashi Hara 8:51 Starring in "Tuan’s Party" (Theatre & Performance) 17:25 Theatre vs. Corporate MCing & Trivia Events 21:07 Terence’s Origin Story: From Dinosaur Speeches to the Big Stage 26:16 Personal Development: Breaking the "Shy Kid" Stereotype 28:08 Wedding Inspiration: Immi & Nico’s Wedding and Toastmasters 32:04 University Life and Working at the Courthouse 34:50 Mentorship with Jeremiah Hartman: Violating Expectations 38:18 How to Find MC Gigs & Average MC Rates in Australia 42:37 Being a Chameleon: Adapting Your Energy for Events 44:48 What Makes a Good vs. Bad Wedding MC? 50:26 Studying Marriage Celebrancy 52:11 The Reality of Financial Uncertainty & Freelance Life 57:25 SOAB AD 58:55 Event Demand: Weekday vs. Weekend Work 1:01:23 Speaking Vietnamese: Assessing Language Proficiency 1:07:09 Is Basic Vietnamese Enough for Bilingual Weddings? 1:09:00 Native Vietnamese vs. Viet-Aus MCs & Word of Mouth Marketing 1:12:51 Pricing Strategies: How to Charge Without Undercutting the Market 1:15:56 Vendor Relations: Why Timing is Everything in Events 1:19:21 Client Chemistry: What Makes a Couple Great to Work With? 1:22:58 Essential Wedding Tips: Keep the Speeches Short! 1:28:00 The Worst Wedding Experience 1:39:14 Protecting Your Big Day: Why You Must Check Your Vendors 1:41:47 Community Impact and Working with Sydney Lane 1:44:52 Mastering Improv in Low-Stakes Environments 1:47:49 Favourite Wedding Trends: Chinese Wedding Traditions 1:56:37 Top Venue Recommendations, Dream Gigs, and Career Advice 2:03:35 Outro

    2h 5m
  2. Fatherhood, Vlogging, Weddings and Escaping Finance w/ Andy Yang | Ep 66

    23 MAR

    Fatherhood, Vlogging, Weddings and Escaping Finance w/ Andy Yang | Ep 66

    We sit down with one of the OG creative and wedding videography veteran Andy Yang, where he shares the moment on a morning train commute was one of the many steps to slowly leave behind a stable finance career to pursue a life behind the lens. We dive into the evolution of the Asian Australian creative scene, from Andy's early days filming YouTube covers and touring Asia, to navigating the high-stakes world of wedding videography (The SanDisk failure...). --- Andy's Links https://www.youtube.com/@AndyYangVlogs https://www.instagram.com/andyyang84 /https://www.andyyangfilms.com/ --- Need a photobooth? Reach out to SonofaBooth - https://www.instagram.com/sonofabooth/ Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow --- Chapters 0:00 Intro – Andy’s videography journey 2:25 Andy’s career before filmmaking – switching industries 4:11 How Andy became a videographer – breaking into content creation 9:29 Early life, creative background, and career foundations 14:40 Wedding videographer pricing – hourly rates, market trends, OG vendors 20:51 Pricing strategy for videographers – avoiding undercutting and managing client expectations 23:58 Working with real couples – Nathan & Annette and Andy’s signature filming style 28:40 Data loss in videography – backups, workflow, and AI recovery tools 36:11 Cinematic shooting style explained – Nathan’s on‑set experience 40:42 Editing workflow for videographers – dad content, storytelling, tour vlogs 49:12 How the YouTube creator landscape is changing 53:20 Behind the scenes of wedding videography – difficult clients and real experiences1 :01:14 Dad content and lifestyle filming – meal kits, home shoots 1:07:29 What makes an ideal couple client for videographers 1:10:43 Time management for videographers – structuring a full shoot day 1:12:56 SOAB AD 1:14:26 Crew meal etiquette – what videographers and photographers should know 1:17:44 Unique vendor ideas in the wedding industry 1:21:32 Working styles and camera gear – tools for modern videographers 1:28:46 Beginner videographer advice – how to start in photography and filmmaking 1:31:46 Advice to younger self – favourite wedding trends and industry insights 1:33:40 What couples overspend on – wedding budget tips and smart splurges 1:37:37 Outro – final thoughts on videography and content creation

    1hr 39min
  3. Corporate 9-5 to Food Creator: LateNightAnna’s Journey | Ep 65

    9 FEB

    Corporate 9-5 to Food Creator: LateNightAnna’s Journey | Ep 65

    If you were to ask a year ago, I would've said by day, Anna works 9-5 as a finance manager, and by night, she's LateNightAnna. But since then, she is all in on LateNightAnna, cooking, creating and building a food content brand that started with a viral Basque cheesecake during Covid. In this episode, I sit down with Anna to talk about her journey from competing in MasterChef as a teenager, to starting a home baking business from scratch, to documenting her life in her 30s through food, travel and content creation. We chat about how she balanced a corporate career with creative passion, growing up Chinese-Australian in Sydney, performing on stages from singing competitions to national finals, and what it really takes to stay consistent when you’re building something on the side. If you've ever thought about starting a side hustle, chasing a creative dream, or just love food content, this one's for you. --- Anna's Links Youtube Channel https://www.instagram.com/latenightannaa https://www.tiktok.com/@late.night.anna --- Items mentioned Noodle bowl: https://www.amazon.com.au/Sets-Containers-Microwavable-Restaurants-Self-Adhesive/dp/B0DPJVT1NW/ What we made: https://bylatenightanna.com/fire-carbonara-instant-noodles/ Anna's singing channel: https://www.instagram.com/annabanana.mp3 --- Need a photobooth? Reach out to SonofaBooth Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow --- Chapters 0:00 Intro 2:07 Background, corporate life 6:42 Anna's singing journey, different languages 10:57 The basque cheesecake, covid business 17:26 How do you make a living? 21:54 Masterchef appearance 24:18 Why food content? 26:52 Mukbang, our relationship with food 31:37 Bao bae, starting a fast food brand 35:18 Growing up with food, inspiration 39:10 How did you learn to cook? 41:24 When was enough income to replace the corporate gig? 45:12 More followers =/= More income 49:27 Pivoting to long form content 51:43 Culinary Class Wars dishes 56:29 Travel content? 59:42 What is 'latenightanna'? 1:02:04 Son of a Booth ad 1:03:34 Cooking starts 1:06:53 Light vs dark soy sauce 1:12:58 Ingredient you can't live without 1:20:56 Are instant noodles your guilty pleasure food/personality? 1:23:47 Go to dish to impress someone 1:26:47 Drawing on cups 1:29:33 Advice for other content creators 1:37:14 Outro

    1hr 39min
  4. Weddings, Proposals & Growing Up - Nathan’s Big Day + Tung's Big Reveal | Ep 64

    30/12/2025

    Weddings, Proposals & Growing Up - Nathan’s Big Day + Tung's Big Reveal | Ep 64

    Weddings hit different when it’s your close friends, and even more when you’re part of the chaos behind the scenes. We sit down with Nathan & Annette to break down their wedding day - the planning, the emotions, the cultural expectations, family dynamics… and the moments that nearly didn’t go to plan. I also reveal a big announcement of my own... We chat through everything from proposals and adrenaline, to budgets, vendors, tea ceremonies, first dances, and what it actually feels like once the day is over and married life begins. --- Corey's mum's catering: msbunmee Nathan's wedding venue: Highline --- Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow --- 0:00 Intro 3:11 Describe the wedding in one word 4:48 Tung's big announcement 9:07 Which knee to get on when proposing, adrenaline 14:50 Business class is crazy, having kids 17:14 How did Tung design the ring, new drip, wedding season 21:15 Picking the wedding venue 25:20 Parental input for the wedding, food choices, styling 30:54 The tea ceremony, Nathan's big reveal 37:03 Getting all the vendors, Tung becoming MC 40:52 What almost went wrong? Saving money 45:26 Consider being a celebrant 47:56 Feelings leading up to the wedding 50:23 Planning, parents inviting friends 54:29 The deck of cards 57:07 Budget, mid, high end venues, food options 1:00:28 Vendors for the wedding 1:04:58 Picking the first dance song, highlights 1:12:39 Would you change anything? 1:18:22 Planning Tung's wedding 1:20:24 How it feels to be married 1:23:14 Nerves, advice for future grooms/brides 1:26:54 BUDGET 1:29:12 Start planning 1:33:36 The photoshoot, potential destination wedding 1:39:05 Questions from viewers, engagement watches 1:42:54 Outro

    1hr 45min
  5. Mortgage Broking in Australia: What First-Home Buyers Need to Know w/ Michael Nguyen | Ep 63

    10/12/2025

    Mortgage Broking in Australia: What First-Home Buyers Need to Know w/ Michael Nguyen | Ep 63

    Note: There will be video soon, working through some tech issues. Otherwise YouTube is where you can find it for now! We’ve hit that stage of life where everyone’s either getting engaged, married, planning a Japan trip, or trying to buy a house. And somewhere in that chaos, the words “mortgage broker” keep popping up, but what do they actually do? Are they just a fancy search engine for home loans? In this episode, Michael Nguyen joins us to break down the world of mortgage broking, answer the questions most first-home buyers are too scared to ask, and share what it’s really like working in the industry. Whether you’re buying soon or just curious, this one clears up a lot. --- Michael's email: michael@professionalhomeloans.com.au https://www.professionalhomeloans.com.au/ --- Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow --- 0:00 Intro 3:04 Inspiring kids with Dai Le 5:33 Growing up, selective schooling PTSD 14:00 TAFE, uni offers and experience 20:34 Becoming an Apprentice Broker 23:28 How do brokers get paid? The cutthroat side 28:10 Cut out the broker and save? 31:18 Struggling as an apprentice, abusing free gym trials 36:38 Getting from start to finish for a loan, compromising 40:02 Where to buy IPs 45:32 Can brokers get loans for themselves? Apprentice life 52:48 Be the dumbest guy in the room 55:26 Teaching other colleagues 57:23 Apprentice vs now 58:20 The self employment struggle 1:02:24 Fluctuating income, the first deal ever 1:04:56 Bad vs good broker 1:06:33 Why not go for the cheapest rate? 1:10:51 5% deposit scheme 1:13:38 Biggest first home buyer mistakes 1:18:02 Emotions of buying a place 1:22:24 Toughest deal 1:25:08 How afterpay/credit card churning affects home loans 1:27:17 Advice for aspiring brokers 1:31:11 Outro

    1hr 35min
  6. Gambling and Lottery in Asian Culture // The $100M Lottery Win Theorycrafting | Ep 62

    24/09/2025

    Gambling and Lottery in Asian Culture // The $100M Lottery Win Theorycrafting | Ep 62

    Why are games of luck like the lottery, or even casual gambling such a big part of Asian culture? In this episode we dive into the weird world of superstition, fate, our experiences with gambling growing up and what we'd actually do if we won the lottery. --- Guests: Matt & Nathan --- Items mentioned ⁠Behind Asia's AWFUL Gambling Obsession⁠Gourd, crab, fish, tiger gameRacist Pokie Joke Origin$43M Pokie Machine MalfunctionSex dice watch--- Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow --- Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:46 How much was gambling around you growing up? 4:02 Las Vegas vs Macau, culture 10:47 Old vs New gamblers 13:35 Sports betting, VR betting, Crypto casinos 19:09 Zombie apocalypse, bidet tangent 21:12 Betting on anything, following trades, powerball 26:43 What would we do if we won the lottery? 35:55 Is hiring an in-house chef cheating on your mum? Proxy incense 39:27 Aunty claiming she prayed for you to win hypothetical 42:29 Stealth wealth 47:19 Enjoying work? Lean FIRE? Jobs we'd work at still? 50:32 Would you still credit card churn? 53:15 A farm! 53:48 Outro

    56 min
  7. Fairfield Councillor, City Planning & Motorcycling Enthusiast w/ Kevin Lam | Ep 61

    27/08/2025

    Fairfield Councillor, City Planning & Motorcycling Enthusiast w/ Kevin Lam | Ep 61

    What is it really like to serve the community you grew up in? Kevin Lam sits down to share how his parents' migration story helped shape his drive, path into city planning and eventually becoming a Fairfield Councilor. We also chat about a shared hobby, motorbikes. As the co-founder of Sydney West Riders, Kevin's built a community of over 14,000 riders for over a decade, running charity rides, events, and track days. Tune in now to hear all about balancing identity, giving back, and finding purpose in both work and passion. --- Guest: Kevin Lam Sydney West Riders Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/327472683998295 --- Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠ Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow --- Chapters 0:00 Intro 2:00 What it's like juggling so many responsibilities 2:51 Sydney West Riders origin story 7:51 What were we doing in Lithgow? 10:07 Career path - town planner 13:23 What's happening to the land across Cabra fire station? 14:47 Motivations for career from parents upbringing? 18:28 Running for 2016 Fairfield Council, how it works 25:55 Town planning, more info 30:07 Difference between mayor and local member 33:21 What does Kevin do as a councillor? 41:30 Biggest changes in council? 45:21 Will John St be the next food night market? 50:13 Are younger people more tuned into politics? 52:50 Most rewarding moments 58:03 Funny stories, media 1:01:32 Getting into motorbikes, safety courses 1:07:38 Motivation to keep going 1:14:28 Outro

    1hr 15min
  8. How we're Staying Healthy in our Late 20's | Ep 60

    22/07/2025

    How we're Staying Healthy in our Late 20's | Ep 60

    When we got to a certain age, we're seeing our friends and us picking some sort of hobby that will determine our personality for the next several years. Maybe it's podcasting (I might be guilty), rebuilding cars, baking bread, or running a marathon to name a few... In this episode we chat about what we're doing to stay active/fit, and maybe we can reflect on this in a few years' time thanking our younger selves that we chose some of these things that we're doing to stay healthy. This episode is in partnership with the Australian Government. @healthgovau To find out more, visit https://www.health.gov.au/vaping --- Guests: Matt & Nathan Items mentioned WHO Bacon article --- Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:50 How has your approach to health changed? Hyrox? 6:18 What happens when you train too much 9:01 Pain tolerance, doctor scales 11:25 Necessity of warming up before exercise, extreme vs minimal activeness 13:45 Why is it taking me so long to recover from sickness, calisthenics 17:36 Doing more fitness for your future 19:55 Vaping segment 28:45 Why is it a challenge to be more fit now? Trying other sports 31:55 Body image, Nathan's experience with body dysmorphia 42:02 Cultural attitude towards fitness, nutrition 50:04 'Everything' can cause some sort of health issue 53:58 Eating is a CHORE 59:21 Prioritising eating at home 1:05:03 Mental health, career goals 1:10:30 What you can do to better yourself

    1hr 18min
See All (73)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Exploring the every day Asian Australian culture, experience and what makes us unique. The podcast brings on a variety of guests to get different perspectives and stories. Trying to aim for at least an episode a month.

Information

  • Creator
    Tung Nguyen
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Tung Nguyen
  • Show Website
    Rice n Mics