For some darn reasons I kept thinking yesterday was Thursday. When one of Cu Dao’s teachers called to check on him, I told her that Duke most likely going to stay home for the rest of the week since I thought it was already Thursday and we’ll send him back next Monday. His teachers are wonderful and caring. They called me each day to find out how the little guy is doing. Cu Dao still has some running nose and mild fever. His birthday is this weekend anyway so we don’t want to take another risk of him returning to daycare and get sick again.

Cu Dao has yet to walk on his own. He would push his music station or the little stool around the house. Sometimes he would walk with his hands touching the wall. Nowadays he crawls with his feet instead of knees. He looks so funny with his butt all up in the air. Cu Dao enjoys clubbing music these days. His favorites are Thanh Thao’s Remix 2010, Ung Hoang Phuc’s Greatest His (remix) and Hoang Thuy Linh’s Vol. 1. Yesterday, he rocked his body while nursing when I played Hoang Thuy Linh’s album. He was so cute.

I am still very excited about his birthday and still can’t believe how fast time had gone.

The sex tape killed Hoang Thuy Linh’s acting career, but gave birth to a young pop star. With the debut release, Hoang Thuy Linh returns to the limelight after the “Vang Anh scandal” broke out near the end of 2007. When the album dropped last month, I didn’t pay much attention because I didn’t think Hoang Thuy Linh could sing. After listening to the album again yesterday, I still think she can’t sing. She has a cute voice, but her range is very limited. Yet, the album works so well thanks to the producers who know how to build the arrangements around her vocals.

Hoang Thuy Linh Vol. 1 kicks off with a club-friendly “Nhip Dap Giac Mo” written by the Luu Thien Huong. The bouncy beat allows Hoang Thuy Linh to ride along with confidence. The end result is pretty damn catchy. Dong Nhi’s “Nghe Nay Chang Trai” is another hypnotic up-tempo number with Auto-Tune enhancement, which is rare because most Vietnamese pop singers use Auto-Tune as a clutch to make themselves sound like alien.

Hoang Thuy Linh also knows not to dramatize slow songs. On the R&B slow jam “Cam On Vi Yeu Em,” another Luu Thien Huong’s piece, she makes the hook sounds convincing as if she thanks her lover for sticking with her after that sex scandal. The album closer, “Ngay Hanh Phuc,” confirms that Hoang Thuy Linh has left the past behind: “Quen di bao nhieu au lo ngay hom qua / Quen di nhung song gio lam cho ta met nhoai.”

What holds the album together is the crisp, solid beats throughout. The lyrics aren’t over-the-top cheesy like most of the the trendy songs these days. This is definitely the step in the right direction for Hoang Thuy Linh. Keep moving forward, kiddo.

Tuan was very excited to return to his birthplace for the first time. He left the little town called Vinh Long in Viet Nam ten years ago when he was ten years old. Because of the language barrier and lack of friends in the United States, Tuan always yearned to his childhood memories and the good times he had before he left Viet Nam. Many times he wanted to go back, but he decided to hold off until he finishes his college degree. Right after his graduation, he booked his flight as a reward of all the years he had focused on studying.

Tuan had heard all great things about Viet Nam from the people around him. From the lavishing living to the authentic food to the lovely ladies, almost everyone that went back to Viet Nam had a great time. He was anxious to experience it for himself. As soon as he set his foot on the ground of Viet Nam, he could already sense the closeness and the vibe of “homeland” that he had missed all those years living in Connecticut.

His family came to the airport to welcome him back him. Everyone seemed to know him, but he could only recognize a few faces. He went back to the house he used to live in and it didn’t feel as big as when he was a child. Everything appeared to shrink after he left. Since it was his first trip back, he spent most of his time with his relatives. They cooked him home-style meals everyday including his favorites sour soup (canh chua) and caramelized fish in the claypot (ca kho to). He spent his morning chilling out at the coffee shop with his cousins and tried out different street foods.

Tuan liked the laid-back lifestyle even though he preferred the busy schedule in the States. He got to taste the food. He got to spent time with folks. What he was still missing was the loving ladies the men back in the States had always bragged about when they went to bia om, which is a place where man could have one beer in one hand and a lady in the other.

One day, Vu and Toan, husbands of two of Tuan’s cousins, decided to give him a special treat. They took him to bia om. He was thrilled, but also confused with any thoughts ran through his mind: “Why are these two taking me? Is it normal for a married man to go to bia om in Viet Nam? Am I betraying my cousins?” Tuan didn’t want to show that he was not a man so he went with the flow.

As they arrived, the girls at the front desk greeted Vu and Toan as if they were regular customers. One of the girls took them to a room to wait. Ten minutes later, three ladies in their mid 30s entered wearing traditional long dresses (ao dai). Although the light was dimmed, Tuan could see the girls’ under garment through their silky long dresses. Since the fellows already had dinner earlier, they ordered Heineken and some fruits like green mangos, grapefruits and pineapples.

The ladies poured out the beer and flirted a bit. Tuan sat still and didn’t say a word. Vu was the quiet type as well so he just kicked back. Toan, on the other hand, was the aggressive one. He pulled the girl next to him and kissed her while reached out to grab her tits. The girl laughed and screamed, “You fucking bastard.” She tried to pull away, but also played along.

As for Tuan, he just sat back and drank his beer. The girl sat next to Tuan could sense that he is not a local customer. To his surprise, the first thing she asked him was his age, as if he was not old enough to be at the place. He told her that he was thirty-five, which was thirteen years older than his actual age. When he asked her and her response was thirty-seven. She looked damn fine for her age, Tuan thought to himself. By that time, Vu was also already getting into the groove with his partner. Every man was now for himself.

Tuan just kept on drinking to calm his nervousness, but the cold beer didn’t help. He had to excuse himself to the restroom to release all that water inside his system. When he returned from the restroom, the girl was standing outside waiting for him. She said to him, “You didn’t look comfortable in there. Do you want to just take a walk?” He agreed and they stepped outside. The night was hot and humid. She handed him a cold, wet towel to wipe his face and neck.

“What’s your name?” He asked as they walked down the empty road.
“Lan,” she responded. “Yours?”

The conversation started mundane, but got more personal as Tuan opened himself up, as if he had been wanted to tell someone about his experience, but no one paid attention. He told her about his isolation in the States and how he became taciturn because of the language barrier. He didn’t know why he was telling her about his grief, but he sure felt great. Lan didn’t say much. She only listened.

An hour went by, the returned to the room. Toan immediately asked, “Where had you two been?”

Tuan winked at Lan and responded, “We were doing our things in the bush.” He went on, “You have to pay her extra for that, cuz.”

Toan laughed, “No problem. As long as you feel good.”

Tuan went back to the hotel that night, but he couldn’t put himself to sleep. Although it was just an hour conversation, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He tossed and turned and couldn’t help imagine what would his life like with Lan, someone who shares nothing with him.

The next day, he went back to the place to ask for Lan. The girl at the front desk told him that Lan doesn’t work for another hour. He decided to sit at the coffee shop nearby to wait. Lan showed up an hour later on the motorbike. Tuan rushed over, grabbed her wrist and said, “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Would you spend sometime with me?” Lan was shocked as if the guy she met yesterday had gone mad. In a way, she was kind of glad since she also had a feeling for him.

Just like that, they left everything behind and took off together to Vung Tau beach. They let the waves pushed their worries away. They spent days tasting different foods and nights made passionate love. At times they just fucked like there was no tomorrow. Lan’s naked beauty attracted Tuan. She looked much younger without makeup. She had a slim figure, a bit too thin for his taste. Her breasts were nice and round with unusual large nipples. He loved sucking on those nipples and loved her soft moans and groans, especially when she slid down his pole.

Tuan felt like he was living in a fantasy world, but reality stuck every time he cummed. Privately she made him feel good, but he would be too ashamed to introducer her to friends and family. His parents will be disappointed in him once they found out about her profession. What will his friends think? One time, Tuan was having a bit too much drink and he told his friend, “I would never go back to Viet Nam to marry a girl. Only fucking losers do that.” He could hear the same words coming from his friends, “You married a fucking bia-om chick.”

Tuan had a dilemma. He could give a fuck what everyone else said and follows his heart or find someone else like a doctor or an engineer who could make the people around him proud of him. The choice was his to make.

Cu Dao is turning one in a couple of days, but he has yet to be able to get back to sleep on his own. For the past few nights, he woke up and just screamed his lung out. Nothing we could do to stop him. Maybe being sick has to do with it. Saturday night, he screamed so hard that he almost threw up again. After about an hour of trying to get him back to sleep, I was already wide awake at 4 in the morning. I told Dana, we failed. We failed to let him go to sleep on his own. Now we just have to live with it. Last night was not so bad though.

Yesterday afternoon, we caught up with Avatar in 3D before the film goes off the theater. I thought it would be just the three of us, but the seats were almost filled up. I have to admit, Avatar was a visual-stimulating experience complemented with a solid story, something James Cameron has managed to pull off once again.

Poor little guy is still sick. Wednesday night, he threw up several times and fussed through out the night. His temperature shot up to 104F. I took him to the pediatrician Thursday afternoon. She said that he has stomach virus and should go away in a few days. Last night, he woke up and cried. He looked as if he was not comfortable. Dana tried to sooth and calm him down. This morning he still felt hot. It’s a good thing that grandma is still here. Let’s hope that he’ll recover by Monday so he could go back to daycare. I also hope that he won’t be sick on his first birthday.

As a pop phenomenon who has always tried to stay young, My Tam surprises her fans by covering old songs on her latest release Melodies of Time. What surprises me though is that she doesn’t update these songs to make them relevant for the young listeners even though she has the potential to do so.

My Tam plays safe and doesn’t even take any risk with the beats like she had done in the past. As a result, she is being overshadowed by the previous generation of singers. Her version of Quoc Dung and Nguyen Duc Cuong’s “Chuyen Hop Tan” is an immediate echo of Bao Yen. Their annunciation sounds similar, but Bao Yen’s effortless phrasing and gruff tone gives the tune more rough edges. Furthermore, Bao Yen’s skillful breath control makes My Tam’s breathy delivery sounds amateur.

With Lam Phuong’s “Xin Thoi Gian Qua Mau,” Ngoc Lan’s version comes to mind as soon as My Tam begins the first line. My Tam comes across as stiff and dull compare to Ngoc Lan’s fluid and emotional flow. What makes Ngoc Lan’s version so damn hypnotizing until this day is the way she wrapped her angelic voice around the rhumba rhythm.

What is up with everyone covering Hoang Trong Thuy’s “Doan Khuc Cuoi Cho Em” these days? Once again, Ngoc Anh’s recent version still dominates the rest including My Tam’s simply because Ngoc Anh has such a mesmerizing voice and she sang the tune with so much soul and authority of a woman.

The timeless songs she covered aren’t strong, yet the weakest track on the album is “Doi Yeu,” in which she penned herself with Le Quang. The melody and the lyrics are just mundane, but the ad-lib male voice is what really kills the song. He is hardly audible and he sounded like he has tuberculosis with a big mucus blocking his vocal cord.

Melodies of Time has set My Tam really far back. She will need to step up her game and take more adventurous approach if she doesn’t want to be forgotten. Other wise she will become mediocre like her male-counterpart Dam Vinh Hung.

Around 3 pm I received a call from Cu Dao’s teacher reporting that he vomited again after taking 5 oz of milk. She also said that his temperature was about 100.4F. I had to come pick him up and he won’t be able to return to class until Thursday.

I took him home and he seemed fine. We had some mango salsa with peach, which is Cu Dao’s favorite snack. We measured his temperature again and it was dropped to 99F. We fed him and sent him off to bed. Tomorrow he’ll spend time at home with grandma.

Around 4pm, Duke’s evening teacher called because he threw up. Dana took him him around 4:30. When I got home from work, he was too busy catching up with grandma that he didn’t even noticed that I was there.

Duke didn’t eat much and refused to take milk while he was at the daycare. He did sleep and enjoyed the ride outside. I dropped him off this morning and he started to cry as soon as I placed him on the floor. The teacher picked him up and tried to sooth him while I was stocking his food and filling out the form. I said goodbye to him and walked out. I could hear him screamed outside the door.

Last night I was so bummed out that I immediately went to catch a nap right after dinner. Dana gave him a bath, fed him and put him to bed. I got back up around ten to do some work and I was very productive.

Alone with the piano, Hiromi’s takes listeners on a roller-coaster ride around the world in her Place to Be. The first stop is “BQE” (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) where traffic vibe is built using series of chromatic scales; then we jump over to France for delightful treat of “Choux a la Creme” (sweet and full of textures); and on we go. While the infectious “Capecode Chips” shows off her boogie-woogie chops, “Somewhere,” a tribute to someone closed to her that passed away, displays her sentimental side. Place to Be, which captures some of Hiromi’s finest and impressive jazz improvisations, is a testament that Hiromi can be placed anywhere on this earth and she will make her voicing heard.