For many, there’s no better way to celebrate life than by toasting with the loved ones who share your journey.
With Asian power couple Henry Golding and Liv Lo, there’s no better drink to toast to their incredible journey than Hennessy X.O in the new digital series “Original Odyssey.”
The series, which launched last week, explores the journeys of modern AAPI icons through stories of fond memories with an important family figure who has “inspired and shaped their path to greatness.”
“We’ve been successful on our own, but as a unit, this [raising a family] takes it to a different challenge,” Golding tells Lo of their daughter, Lyla, whom they welcomed in March.
Golding, 34, spent most of his life’s odyssey navigating two cultures. Born in Betang, Malaysia, to an Iban mother and an English father, he struggled with identity issues growing up.
Lo, 36, is also of mixed ethnicity. The Fox Movies Asia TV host was born in Taichung, Taiwan, to a Taiwanese mother and an Italian father.
In their “Odyssey” episode, Golding shares a recipe of Bak Kut Teh, a traditional dish of pork rib soup from Malaysia and Singapore. He recalls spending his childhood going to fresh markets and watching his mother prepare food.
He introduced Bak Kut Teh to Lo while they were living in Singapore. “It blew me away. It’s your favorite dish,” she says. “And I remember we specifically lived in an area right near your favorite shop of Bak Kut Teh.”
Golding and Lo first met at a club on New Year’s Day 2011, a day that Lo described as a “lucky day indeed.”
While Golding noticed Lo from across the room, she ultimately decided to make the first move.
“She steps in my way and she’s like, ‘Why haven’t you said hello to me yet? I’m leaving tomorrow and you’re never going to see me again. What are you going to do about it?’” Golding recalled her as saying in a 2019 appearance at “Live With Kelly and Ryan.” At the time, Golding lived in Singapore, while Lo lived in Tokyo.
“I knew you had noticed me but didn’t introduce yourself. Disappointed, I tried all my craziest, wildest efforts, including dancing on speakers, to grab your attention. If you weren’t going to speak to me, I knew I would have to. As I was leaving, you walked behind me. Here was my chance. I had nothing to lose. I turned around and said ‘Hi, I am leaving and you’re never going to see me again.’”
Against all odds, the pair decided to meet the following day for brunch. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Golding and Lo spent a huge chunk of their relationship long-distance, but it worked out in the end. In 2015 — on their fourth anniversary — Golding popped the question at sunset on a beach in Thailand. The couple married in Malaysia on Aug. 20, 2016.
On March 31, they welcomed Lyla into the family.
“Stepping into this role as a mother is something that I feel I’m very lucky to be able to do. It’s my becoming,” says Lo, as they ponder on the legacy they wish to leave Lyla.
“It puts everything into perspective,” Golding says. “It’s about supporting each other, being there for each other, spending time with each other. That, money can’t buy.”
The “Snake Eyes” star added that one legacy would be to “leave her not wanting for anything, really.”
Golding and Lo’s story is only the first in Hennessy X.O’s “Original Odyssey” series. Catch amazing stories from Eddie Huang and his father Louis Huang, as well as Hayley Kiyoko and her mother Sarah Kawahara in subsequent installments of the series.
Featured Image via Hennessy US
This post was created by NextShark with Hennessy X.O
