remember this?
well i got the bloody thing removed! BOTH MOLES! GONE!!! did it just before chinese new year and just removed my stitches last week. happinesss!
remember this?
well i got the bloody thing removed! BOTH MOLES! GONE!!! did it just before chinese new year and just removed my stitches last week. happinesss!
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im alive, not dead.
coming back here sure feels strange… like revisiting an old childhood haunt. it feels like ive just stepped back into an abandoned playground. the chains on the swings are rusty, the wood on the see-saw’s attacked by decay…. there is an eerie silence and for some odd reason, my heart feels lead-heavy at the moment.
updating this blog’s been at the back of my mind every other day since the last entry. so much has happened since then but strangely i hadnt felt the need to share it immediately. what does this mean?
this blog’s helped me through some pretty dark times.. acted as a distraction when my heart was aching from love lost, kept my mind busy so i wont have time to over-analyze the littlest things. i found new friends through this little journey and even won an award thanks to your votes.
it seems almost selfish that ive “abandoned” it now that my heart’s healed. that is why im writing this. i know that i dont have to and i dont owe anyone any explanation.. but i guess i just wanted to say.. hello.
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i never understood indie music’s rejection of popular culture.
mainstream music is popular simply because the majority of people connect with it. being the mainstream doesnt necessarily mean being “bad”, it simply means being more popular. that said, there ARE some really horrid mainstream junk that gets churned out like clockwork, devoid of soul and artistic integrity. but with every flock, there’re bound to be a few black sheep, its normal. it would be unfair, however, to diss the whole flock as “bad”.
this entry’s inspired by a lil exchange between a friend and i on facebook:
FRIEND (to a friend he bumped into at the Brandon Flowers concert): seems like ur growing out of ur top 40 taste in music lol
BUSYBODY ME: b-b-but.. brandon flowers IS top40……….
FRIEND (on a seemingly defensive mode): i like to think that b.flowers still has some indie in him, despite the killers instant stardom (thanks to the strokes). still wouldn’t put him nxt to someone like lady blabla.
aiiight…. i beg to ask:
01. what defines “indie”?
02. why did i take away the vibe that in order for an artiste to be cool, they’d need to have “some indie” in them?
03. what has lady gaga ever done to offend other than being uber talented, deservingly rich and being basically the most influential music artiste on the planet?
okaaaay… DISCLAIMER: this entry is NOT intended as a personal attack towards any one individual (ive been wanting to write this piece for a few years now so please dont feel offended, young padawan). rather, its a product born out of my long-time bubbling-under resentment towards musical bigotry in general. er.. you could call it a general attack i reckon?
okay so for the definition of “indie”, i turned to the all-knowing (albeit totally editable by any tomdickharry) web-encyclopaedia… and according to Wikipedia, independent music, often shortened to indie music or “indie”, is a term used to describe “independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, DIY approach to recording and publishing“. what a noble ideal! i approve! cuz if there’s anything i believe in, its freedom… of expression. and usually, breaking away from the stranglehold of a major record label gives artistes the freedom to be 100% creative. that said however, i somehow feel that that’s not what my friend was getting at when he mentioned “indie”….
honestly, whatever that thing is that defines a certain type of music as “indie” has become somewhat of a joke to me. based on keen observation and at times hasty stereotyping (it saves time), it seems to me that the modern day “indie” movement is made up of an army of kids (termed “indie kids” im guessing?) who get off on listening to music that nobody’s heard of. and often, its random stuff they found on myspace… the more obscure the artiste, the better:
INDIE KID #1: im so indie, my favourite band has 20 plays on myspace.
INDIE KID #2: im so indie that im the only one who knows of my favourite band on myspace.
so what defines music/band as “indie”? answer: the non-conformist ideal, apparently. i found this pretty hilarious post on urbandictionary.com…
Indie Band: we’re indie because we hate how music is commercial, and we don’t want to sell out, because we don’t want tons of money.
What They Really Mean: We suck so hard, no-one would give us a label in a million years. we’d sell out if anyone actually liked us, and we only say we don’t care about money because we couldn’t sell our tripe to a bunch of deaf idiots.
those indie bands have fans who are also most likely to insult popular music but have no valid reasons as to why it’s bad. omg. no need for insults surely? my stand on music is that, like religion, it’s subjective and personal: “to each his/her own”, “whatever rocks your world and makes you happy” etc. therefore, there cant ever be “bad” or “sell-out” music. instead, only two categories can exist: the “successful” and the “not so successful”.
lets talk about a coupla obvious success cases: Justin Bieber, virtually unknown “indie” youtube talent turned overnight teen-pop sensation after being discovered and signed by Usher. Lady Gaga, uber talented musician, who “slaved” many years as a song-writer before her current world domination. both artistes rose from the ashes of obscurity and were thrusted into the nirvana of success. does that mean they’ve lost the precious “indie” in them? and if so, does that mean they’re now producing sell-out crap? i think not. and i believe that their combined army of over 10 million fans will agree.
dont get me wrong, i really dont mind indie music at all. i do appreciate the occasional dose of morrissey, metric, casablancas and other bands whose band names tend to start with the word “the”. to me, its NEVER about the music genre. my gripe is about people who drew the proverbial elitist circle around themselves to keep apart from the mainstream music riffraff they deem as “uncool”. come down from your moral high ground already hunny! LOL!
just cuz i cant get into the music of Interpol or Beck, doesnt mean they’re crap – it just means that they’re acquired tastes that i have failed to acquire. and if that makes me “uncool” then so be it. excuse me while i go wallow in uncoolness to the sounds of Van Halen’s (commercial but) fantastical guitar riffs…
all music is art. art is culture. culture brings people together. some form bigger groups while others make do with more intimate gatherings. regardless of size, music unites humanity. why would anyone in their right mind want to be judgemental about something that does that?
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i’d jump at any chance to leave the country. even if its just a short weekend trip away. this deepavali weekend, im going away to Kuala Lumpur… with the 987 DJs. we’re prob just gonna party and eat and repeat until we fly back to singapore on sunday.
need good makan recommendations. preferably the local food type stalls. we’ve already got Jalan Alor on our list. ive been getting recommendations to check out Bangsar too.. but Bangsar’s more like cafes and restaurants right? where’s your favourite makan hangout in KL? please share and also include address/directions. spaaaanks! xxx
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i got sent this challenge and i found it to be rather interesting so i thought i put it out here. who knows? u might have a pretty wicked list of films that i might wanna check out.
THE RULES:
1. list the first 15 films you’ve seen that comes to mind and that you love.
2. don’t take too long to think about it. complete it in no more than 15 minutes.
3. post your list of 15 films under “comments”.
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

in Korean. second installment of The Vengeance Trilogy. (the best of the three, in my opinion). directed by Park Chan-wook.

in English/French. directed by Julie Delpy. a gritty real-life story about love. no sugar coated nonsense here.

original script by Quentin Tarantino. directed by Eli Roth. the concept of killing presented in this film got me thinking for weeks.

directed by Roman Polanski - one of the most powerful films, about the resilience of the human spirit, that ive ever seen.

directed by Tim Burton. this is my happy film. i watch it whenever i need to renew my faith in the magical things in life.
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (LA VITA E BELLA)

based on a German novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink. written by David Hare and directed by Stephen Daldry. very intrigueing story of love and discovery.
those were my top 15 at top-of-mind recall. what’s yours… i wonder
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halloween’s my favourite day of the year. and despite it being an OTT costume and drama circus, i still find halloween to be waaaay less pretentious as christmas. no offence to all you religious folks really, cuz im not referring to your churchy celebrations. instead, i hate how christmas gets so plundered to commercial death in singapore.. hell, christmas decos are up and it was only october!
anyhoos, back to halloween. its a huge affair for me cuz its the one day i get to let my innermost freak out without being judged. well, actually, not quite. this year, i GOT JUDGED. by a cab driver. omg.
so i hopped into a cab and headed for home after i got my makeup done at Muse B’art. a conversation with the cabbie ensues…
CABBIE: are you christian?
ME: nope.
CABBIE: good.
(puzzled) ME: er… why ah? (on hindsight, i shouldnt have asked…)
CABBIE: if you’re a good christian, you should not be dressing up and celebrating halloween. its a pagan festival.
ME: okaaay… no worries. im atheist. im just dressing up for the fun of it.
CABBIE: you dont believe in a religion?
ME: nope. was born a catholic but renounced that faith.
CABBIE: good. you did the right thing. always question. never accept. that way, once you do accept, you will be true to your faith.
ME: er… which christian branch are you from? (again, on hindsight, i shouldnt have asked…)
CABBIE: im a jehovah’s witness.
ME: okay you can stop there. im sorry.
cabbie didnt stop there. in fact, he went on to explain how jehovah’s witnesses are a sorely misunderstood people. i told him i didnt care and that i respect everyone’s right to believe in whatever they wanna believe in and that i hope he can also respect my right to NOT WANNA KNOW WHAT HE THINKS I SHOULD DO. omg. but he didnt stop lah. he went on to explain the bible from genesis all the way to book X…..
that cab ride felt like the longest 20 minutes of my life.
PICTURE THIS: a jehovah’s witness cabbie trying to preach his faith to an atheist dressed as satan… OH THE IRONY. it was the most miserable cab ride experience ever. i felt so violated. felt sick in the stomach as well. why cant people keep their religion to themselves?! seriously. tsk!
was so determined to not let that ruin my night. sigh.. anyhoos, here are the photos i took. chris, my makeup artist, was AMAAAZING. if you want special effects makeup done (she does bridal makeup too), contact her HERE. i gave her a few photos and she came up with this look for me. total time it took to slap the devil on? 3.5 hours. it cost me $280 but it was worth every single cent. LOVE LOVE LOVE! only thing that i hated was the time it took to remove my makeup.. omg. i took 3.5 hours thereabouts tryna scrub off the red paint and remove the prosthetic latex and my fake nails. by the time i was done, it was 530am!
so forgive me for the onslaught of ME photos. i think for the effort that was put in, i deserve to “hiao” abit more lah hor?

with my partner shan wee. we are worrrrlds apart. belonging at extreme opposite ends of the spectrum..

but im glad that we're on the same plane when it comes to halloween. this is our 3rd halloween as a duo. its been rockin fun thus far, partner

at TAB. wan as batman and thats hidir as black spidey. both decided to give superhero powers a break and scale heights via the escalator instead.

with one of the owners of TAB, adrian mah. dont gimme that look doode! im of legal drinking age! duh!
halloween’s my christmas. by august, i’d already be thinking of costumes and ideas for potential “looks”. if the need arises, a month before, in september, will be a good time to get costumes tailor-made. yes, its a grand production for me, almost like a wedding of sorts. its the one day i get to release my (not-so) inner freak without being judged. besides, any excuse to party without any inhibitions rocks well with me.

HALLOWEEN 2009. shan went as rubik's cube and i was gene simmon's alter ego in KISS. i got my spike cape tailormade at my friend's costume shop MOEPHOSIS. go google. they're AWESOME.

HALLOWEEN 2008. duh. i had to go as the joker. and i knew everyone else would too. so i had to make sure my costume stood out. i chose to tweak it a lil and gave the joker a slightly feminine twist. thanks to MOEPHOSIS for jamming one helluva suit for me.
in my honest opinion, a halloween look SHOULD be scary OR at least be over-the-top dramatic/out-of-this-world (like shan’s fetish to be everyday inanimate objects).
i hate it when people use halloween as an excuse to rock out their inner sluts. case in point:

wearing a horn hairband and a stuffed tail while wielding a plastic fork DOTH NOT a red devil maketh. you're still what you are: SLUTTY.
that said, you do not wanna take the word “scary” too literally and end up looking like a joke.. case in point:
this year, after much ding-donging back and forth and scouring the world wide web for famous villians, i decided on the traditional red devil look. i know it sounds boring! but hey, that’s where the challenge lies: to make a simple concept ROCK (its tough cuz i might end up looking like a slut or a worse, a joke). i think after years of flat 2D makeup and face paint, im ready to move into semi-prosthetic 3D special effects makeup.

i initially wanted this look. but after a chat with my makeup artiste, i decided the cost to create this look will bust my bank. the scales are 100% prosthetic.. sigh..
so that, coupled with my customized fangs… (gifted to me by my kind brother Ryan, he ordered it online and has his own customized set of fangs too. yes, we are strange that way).

the set of fangs that comes with setting powder and liquid.. and all the props one might need to create tailor-made fangs for life.
okie its 1:43pm now. gotta pack and up and rush off to pick up my costume and then head to my makeup session. artist says she needs 4 hours. WISH ME LUCK! im soo exciiiited!!! will update with photos tomorrow! HAVE A FREAKY HALLOWEEN! WOOOOT! XXX
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ive always been a tomato-based pasta typa gal. i love the clean sweet-sour sharpness of tomatoes as opposed to the “jelak”-inducing cream-based varieties. (rich foods tend to make me feel “jelak” so i stay away from those where possible) ive had a pretty full-on weekend. being up at 630am, to host events, on TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS caused my ageing body to launch itself into protest mode. the only cure was to whip up my no-fail comfort dish: rigatoni (my fav typa pasta) in tomato sauce with chunks of my fav greens aparagus + broccoli, crisp-to-perfection streaky bacon and a generous sprinkling of pine nuts, topped with thick freshly shaved slices of parmigianno. SUNDAY DINNER TREAT ♥

RIGATONI - i got this packet from jones the grocer, these get al dente in 8minutes. for single serving, only 2 fistfuls of rigatoni's needed. resist the urge to add more to what might seem like a pathetic amount in the boiling pot. PASTA EXPANDS so dont go overboard.

BABY ROMA TOMATOES - these are sooo sweet and will give this pasta a nice balance in flavour. i love my tomatoes so ive used 8 of these babies for this dish.

FRESH BASIL - why use dried when you can use fresh? and if you have these growing in a pot in your kitchen, you're daaamn lucky. cuz they're fresh, you can add loads. i used about 8 leaves.

PINENUTS - these are a lil pricey but worth every single cent imho. love the nutty buttery crunch it adds to my salads and pastas.. that is IF i dont go overboard snacking on 'em whilst prepping my dinner. absolute fav fav fav.

ASPARAGUS - i prefer medium spears; has more crunch/bite and they're less stringy. i've used 5 spears for single serving of pasta.

BROCCOLI - 6 tiny florets. i know these may seem alot in addition to the asparagus but i LOVE my greens. cant ever have too much of 'em. TOMATO SAUCE - i like Hunt's cuz its 100% natural. i HATE HATE HATE those bottled pasta sauces, vile tasting. use fresh tomato sauce and you'll taste the difference.

STREAKY BACON - used 5 strips of bacon for this dish. i prefer streaky bacon to back bacon cuz streaky has more fats which will flavour the olive oil its fried in and the overall texture of fried streakies add a comforting crispy fattiness to this pasta which i love.

add the rigatoni to a boiling pan (observe the seemingly pathetic amount of pasta? well im tellin ya, thats the perfect portion), add loadsa salt - this will be your only chance to add flavour to the pasta. if you like your pasta bland, then obviously dont add any. add boiling water and cook away for 8mins or til al dente. (i pre-boil some water in a kettle and pour over the pasta. its just faster via the kettle than sitting cold tap water on the stove to boil... the latter is akin to watching paint dry. ive got no time for that. life's too short.)

cut the bacon up in coarse chunks and throw them into a pan ON HIGH HEAT, with some extra virgin olive oil. make sure they're spaced out. you want them fried to a crisp, not broiled.

throw in diced fresh garlic, asparagus spears and broccoli florets into the flavoured oil and stir fry for a minute.

throw in the mini roma tomatoes WHOLE. those babies will cook nicely on the inside and give a burst of liquidy sweetness like that of oven baked tomatoes. stir fry the lot quickly for a coupla minutes.

the rigatoni should be done by now. drain and add to frying pan. stir and mix well. turn heat to low.

throw in the crispy bacon at the last minute and mix well. i wont add any salt cuz the pasta's flavoured and the bacon bits are salty. turn off heat. get ready to plate up.

topped with some freshly shaved parmigianno-reggiano. under the italian law, only cheese produced in the parma, reggio emilia, modena, bologna and mantova provinces can be labelled "parmigianno-reggiano". the same cheese produced outside of these italian provinces are labeled as "parmesan".
and there you have it, my comfort pasta recipe. to round off the weekend, i’d like to share this mind-blowingly amazing video with you. a good friend, Kenny, posted this on my FB wall and i thought it to be UBER GENIUS. i think you might enjoy it as much as i did.
(if you cant see the video, click HERE)
as a DJ at singapore’s number one hit radio station 987FM, i get exposed to alot of pretty cool spins on a daily basis. DREAM JOB. however, while i appreciate my daily dose of RNB/ROCK/POP/DANCE, i do miss the older + the less commercial tracks that i happen to be extremely fond of. tracks like that get played on HEAVY ROTATION on my ipod. i cant go anywhere without music plugged in or i’d feel naked. i feel life’s much sweeter when there’s a soundtrack to it
“OUT OF THE BLUE”
Julian Casablancas
im just about obsessed with all things Julian. this is my fav track out of his solo EP. awesome lyrics that i totally connect with.
“PEOPLE SHOULD SMILE MORE”
Newton Faulkner
Newton Faulkner.. man, this guy’s c’est genial when it comes to lyrics and melody. another one of my favs, perfect for when your heart’s feeling broken, is “Uncomfortably Slow”. go check that out.
“SAY YES”
Elliot Smith
he was a manic depressive alcoholic when he was alive. this reflected alot in his emo acoustic tunes. he was found dead with 2 stab wounds to his chest, reason unknown. sigh.. R.I.P (06.08.69 – 21.10.03) – thank you for the music.
“WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID”
Brandon Flowers
Brandon’s solo FLAMINGO album gave me my Killers fix and im grateful.
“MIS AMIGOS”
The Dandy Warhols
omg. this song’s my happy tune. totally a blast-loud-with-car-top-open type tune.
“BREAKABLE”
Ingrid Michaelson
brilliantly quirky lyrics. and needless to say, her voice soothes my nerves.
“TIME TO PRETEND”
MGMT
one of my fav trippy tracks.
“THE NEVERENDING WHY”
Placebo
“time will help you through, but it doesnt have the time to give you all the answers to the neverending why..”
“UMBRELLA”
(cover of rihanna’s original on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge)
Biffy Clyro
clyro’s cover reshaped an already good tune and made it excellently heartfelt. rozz loves.
“PURE”
The Lightning Seeds
oldie but goldie. lyrics are simple and hits me in all the right places.. super positive vibes. one of my fav love ditties.
“FANS’
Kings Of Leon
for days when you’re sick of hearing Sex On Fire and Use Somebody.. i actually love singing along to this while im takin a showerr.. LOL!
“PLANS”
Birds Of Tokyo
aussie band that amazingly churns out hit tune after tune. this is my current fav. shan introduced them to me.
“KIDS DONT STAND A CHANCE + OXFORD COMMA”
Vampire Weekend
omg two of my favourite VW tracks in a single hit. gotsta lurrrve 2-in-1s sometimes..
“11TH DIMENSION”
Julian Casablancas
i wasnt lying when i said im obsessed by all things Julian. this one’s the most popular track of his EP. (i still prefer OUT OF THE BLUE cuz im more of a lyrics kinda gal.. 11th Dimension’s awesome as a dance tune tho)
much as i love sharing music, i love discovering new music too. im particularly interested in other people’s playlists. please drop me a few titles of your favourite spins please, i would greatly appreciate the love. (esp tunes from artistes/bands that arent played on the radio BUT SHOULD.) thaaaanks! x
so this is an entry dedicated to Mia Chan a.k.a the cutest, most precious lil girl in the whole wide world. (of course it helped loads that her daddy’s pretty hot to begin with) so before i get started on Mia, let me introduce her dad, Bryan Chan. i got to know Bryan when he first performed in singapore, as a singer with the Chippendales, earlier this year in march. and boy, this guy CAN SING! amazeballs! here’s a sneak peak at a chippendale rehearsal clip of Bryan nailing Jay Sean’s “Down”…. (the blonde’s John Cook, backup dancer for NSync, BSB, MJ; the brunette is Nick MacLeod, finalist on SYTYCD).
(cant see? click HERE instead.)
PSSST: Bryan was once part of a boy band LMNT with some dude who’s now in the cast of Glee. 987FM used to play LMNT back in the day!
so thats Mia’s dad Bryan. now back to her: ive been keeping up with the going-ons in Mia’s world via her daddy’s facebook page and i found his captions under her photos to be lap-slappingly hilarious ala “chronicles of a chippendale daddy”. so i asked if he’d allow me to post them up on my blog… and i got a “YES”! you’re about to enter Mia’s world, through her daddy’s musings, in an almost chronological order.

"If you were wondering what's new... Amelia June Chan... "Mia". Six months old next week. A handful. And the best thing that's ever happened to me....and trust me....I've had a LOT of good shit happen to me."

"Peanut butter cup overload from Valentines. They came via this bunny rabbit who woke me up this morning."

"I tried to explain that it's too cold and windy to get out of her stroller... but she keeps looking at me like '...but dad..it's EASTER!'"

"Sunday paper is something I look forward to all week...my daughter, on the other hand, obviously feels it's a waste of a tree and felt I should be paying attention to more important things...mainly her."

"On our way back to Vegas from a great mother's day weekend. My knees are digging into the back of the guy in front of me while my daughter's got more room then the schmucks in first class."

"My daughter would rather play with the diaper then let me put it on her....after 15 minutes I gave up. She can spend the rest of the day naked for all I care...just don't sh*t on the carpet."

"The ratio of food that actually makes it into my daughter's mouth is about 5%...the other 95% ends up in her hair, in her ears, or down her shirt. I may not have the next Einstein...but at least she's feeding herself."

"My college buddies came to Vegas this weekend...Scott was great teaching Mia the subtle differences between the Audi Q5 and the Mercedes ML550. However, feeding her and changing a diaper...well... he could use a few more lessons. Always wipe down you dumb*ss...and don't hold her like a football!"

"It's 96 degrees in Vegas and I just spent the last 45 minutes blowing up and filling up this kiddie pool...my daughter chose to acknowledge this grand gesture by screaming bloody murder and wrapping herself around my neck like a boa constrictor when I tried to put her in it. Her scream was so blood curdling that I'm thinking, ok..surely the neighbors have called the cops by now."

"I have to remember that when my daughter is having a meltdown in a public place she can't help it...she's trying to express herself the only way she knows how. I, on the other hand, am a grown ass man and should not lose my sh*t....So to the men and women of Smith's grocery on Eastern, who saw me have a full out argument with my 9 month old, I apologize. Once again, I am one step closer to completely losing my marbles."

"I must have the daddy blinders...because anyone else's kid that looked like this would have me repulsed...she looks like a lion after the kill...but the way she was tearing into that spaghetti had me laughing so hard i was in tears. This kid was eating like it was gonna be her last meal."

"somehow thought Father's Day would start out quieter, happier and more pleasant than all the other previous mornings. Apparently, my daughter didn't get that memo....In fact, it was probably lost amongst all the other previous memos I sent, including RE: dirt is not food and RE: don't kick your legs while I'm trying to change your sh*t filled diaper."

"She's learned to carefully select only the carrots and leave all the peas on the tray....so, applesauce if it's chilled...bananas when they're ripe...and carrots without the peas. I'm just trying to get her fed and this kid thinks she's sitting at the chef's table at the Four Seasons."

"had to miss my normal daddy day with Mia to be at the Chipps event. So today we threw our own Chippendales Calendar Release Party....complete with private cabana and topless pool."

"...apparently the new way we watch TV...Only my daughter would grunt like a pig, fart like a trucker and insist on watching Baby Einstein like she was saddled on a horse. Ahhhh Mia...you are turning into quite the lady."

"witnessed the food pyramid in action today. Girl in high chair drops cookie....Mia grabs said cookie from the foot rest and attepmts to put it in her mouth...dog grabs and eats cookie before she even has the chance. Two girls in tears. One dog well fed. Life lesson #4 Mia. If you want the cookie, sometimes you gotta be a bitch."

"Mia's first trip to the beach. If you didn't know, this is latest swimsuit collection from Jeanie and Jack...which is the Versace of kids clothes....so... $65 later, my daughter looks like a red giraffe and this picture caught the 5 minutes she spent in the bathing suit before she squirmed out of it and insisted on rolling around the beach naked. If any of you were wondering if this is really my kid....well that should help you answer."

"im not a total sucker. Today I decided to let her cry it out at nap time. I stood my ground, and I refused to pick her up. After twenty minutes of inconsoleable whaling, she passed out from exhaustion. For those of you keeping score, that's 1 for me and 245 for Mia. **fists in the air** Victory is mine! (today at least)"

"is thinking she's just looking for a place to hide and get a little alone time. Trust me....there have been several times in the last 10 months that I've wanted to crawl into those cabinets and do the same thing."

"It's official. Mia has totally abandoned Baby Einstein for Barney. You try and change the channel, she screams. You try and turn it off, she gets hysterical. You try and talk to her while she's watching, and she completely ignores you. This big gay purple dinosaur is like crack cocaine for my daughter. God bless him...I can get my house in order...albeit in 30 minute intervals."

"never really thought my daughter looks definitively Asian...until this morning, when I didn't know if I was being greeted by Mulan or the lead hostess at Ruby Foo's Dumpling House."

"was told by his daughter that the built in seat on the shopping cart is for babies. Apparently we now ride in the main basket...where we can grab canned Lima beans off the shelf and throw grapes out of the cart when I'm not looking."

"Grabbed dinner tonight with uncle Danny and aunt Reyna at the new restaurant Republic...Mia, as always, was the example of proper table manners and exemplary behavior...save for the throwing of sugar packets, dropping of silverware onto the floor, and crawling across the table with her bare feet...yet another five star dining experience."

"Well...she apparently got my sleep demeanor. If she can avoid my OCD, the need for even numbers, and chewing with her mouth open, I would say that she has avoided the major dysfunctional behaviors that I thought I may have passed on to her."

"The hair matched her mood this morning...bad. She must have known I was leaving for Asia today. Don't worry Mia, I'll be back soon...and I'll bring a comb."

"Never underestimate what a kid can do during a two minute break to the bathroom. The results are sometimes devastating."

"got to the front of the line at Smith's only to look down and notice we were missing a shoe.... Fifteen minutes later, after scouring down every aisle like a mad man, we found it near frozen foods. Next time I'm going to duct tape them to her feet."

"Nothing builds your self esteem more then when your daughter has an obsession with grabbing and playing with your fat rolls."

"My daughter turned one year old today. This last year has included a complete lack of adequate sleep, a loss of my social independence, and a major hit to my financial balance sheet......and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Happy Birthday Mia...you're the most amazing thing to ever happen to me and I couldn't be prouder to be your dad."
and with that, i conclude my tribute to Mia Chan. ISNT SHE SO PRECIOUS!? *swoons* if you wanna keep up with the going-ons in Mia’s world, you may join Bryan’s facebook page HERE. he also posts frequent updates on the Chippendales; if you’re a fan, they’d be returning to singapore for a week in Feb 2011.. girls’ night out fo’ sho’! you heard it here first *wink*