MUSIC

I play the piano and guitar, both not very successfully. I have written pop and rock songs in English since 1998, and then in Chinese. It got me performing and meeting some really talented people for a little while. There’s a dusty old contract sitting around somewhere that has earned me exactly zero dollars (to date).

I listen to Jon McLaughlin, Rosie Thomas, The Fray, Lifehouse, Ok Go, Opshop, Radiohead, David Gray, LCD Soundsystem, James Morrisson, Sigur Ros, Kanye West and the Goo Goo Dolls.

MOVIES

My favourite movies are The Fifth Element, Rush Hour (1 & 2), Snatch, Pulp Fiction, Sleepy Hollow, The Princess Bride, Liar Liar, The Pianist, The Emperor’s New Groove, Zoolander, 10 Things I Hate About You (I was born in the late 80s), The Producers (both versions), The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady.

Guilty pleasures: Ben Whishaw, Rose Byrne, Lee Pace. And Catherine Zeta-Jones flicks, no matter how cheesy.

TV

Outsourced (please bring it back!), How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, Game of Thrones, Frasier, Modern Family, Suits, Scrubs, Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, The Tudors, Dexter, The Simpsons, Futurama, Project Runway, Mad Men.

Shows I have watched and have either given up on or absolutely couldn’t stand: Walking Dead, Lost, Pan Am, Dead Like Me, Newsroom, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fringe.

Shows in my queue that I am very eager to watch but reserve judgment until I do: Boardwalk Empire, Homeland.

Never followed American Idol, but some people I care about whose company I enjoy just happen to be obsessed with the show so yes, I can talk a little shop.

I also once spent a full weekend — we’re talking 56 straight hours, give or take sleep, bathroom breaks, phone calls, and pausing the show to retort at my mother’s snide remarks — watching DVD box sets of Entourage. I refuse to apologize for this.

SPORTS

I am part of a dragon boat team that wouldn’t happen if not for all the alcohol, and occasionally go swimming, hiking, wakeboarding, and competitive diving off the top decks of junk boats.

MISCELLANEOUS

Girls who prefer beer (my favourite is Guinness) were marveled as ‘cool’ and ‘fun’ in Malaysia, but here I’m just ‘weird’ and ‘unnervingly mannish’. Slainte!