Well, hello there denizens of the Internet!

My name is Ryan Butao and I’ll be your column writer every other Wednesday. You may have seen me in a couple videos here on the site (*ahem ahem* specifically this one and this one) but this is the first time I’ve written for the site! Exciting, right? Especially since I made the word ‘written’ bold … right?

Who am I?

Good question. I shall answer this with a video:

What can you expect from me?

Let me just get this out of the way first. I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be, a professional writer. I am a nerd who loves to blog/vlog/share my life experiences with the world. It is this love that has pushed me to be creative and express myself through vlogs, skits, plays and even musicals. This means that my written component may not be the strongest, but rest assured that all my efforts will go into developing them as we all go on this wonderful search for an Asian identity. But firstly, let’s take it back and get to know the basics, old-school style:

The 4-1-1 (Remember AsianAvenue days?)

Name: Ryan Butao
Age: Somewhere between 20 – 30
Status: Still breathing.
Hometown: Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North America, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Ethnicity: Filipino with a hint (nay, a dash of) Spanish
Favourite Colour: Navy blue
Hobbies: Being generally sociable, trying to be funny/witty, being prone to accidents, playing hours upon hours of video games, writing/shooting/editing videos, crosswords and sudokus.

What topics will you be covering?

This was a difficult question to answer. My mind tends to have anywhere from 1 – 3000 topics running around and it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint one to talk about. Alas, I have narrowed it down to the following:

Every month or so, I hope to do a Artist Spotlight on someone on the rise or who is trying to get their name out there. You may either see a textual interview/showcase, or a video interview/showcase depending on what I can scrounge around and put together.
Every so often, I’ll write about my Pet Peeves/Things That Annoy Me. I figure that topic needs not to be explained, but rather, to be experienced from my point of view.
Video Games. I love them. You’ll grow to love them as well. Well, at least, be in like with them.
Anything else that may generally catch my attention – let’s call them my Monologues from an Asian Boy for now.

Lastly, in following with Fai’s introductory post, here’s a complimentary list of

5 Random Facts about Yours Truly:

I can eat bacon anytime. Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Linner or Dunch (is that a word? It’s that meal in between Lunch and Dinner) Dinner, and Midnight Snack.

As a child, I read the dictionary every day for about 4 months. Sadly, I can’t recall what word/letter I stopped at. Also, I seem to use words that primarily start with the letters A – G. Co-incidence? Probably not.

To date, I have been shocked by electric outlets a total of 11 times. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

I am fascinated by magic and love to learn new tricks and *ahem* scams to amaze and “Wow” my friends.

I once stayed awake for 82 hours straight alongside a cousin of mine to beat 5 videogames. I slept for the next 13 hours afterwards. Regrettably, I do not remember the games beaten.

If you’ve made it this far, I thank you for sticking with my (rather disconnected) first article! I hope that in the coming weeks, I get to share more and more with you in order to attain world peace! (or… something like that.)