photographsky - roadtrip california (san francisco 1)

on the way to san francisco...narita, tokyo:









our first authentic bowl of japanese ramen! (it was a bit salty leh...)



and finally, the dawning of our california adventure...





random pix around san francisco...



"street chess" tournament







the truth:









day 1 dinner from fishermen's wharf...





pier 39...









i'm jetlagged...very sleepy now...more updates in the next few days...good night people. cheers. =)

merry christmas from san francisco

merry christmas to one and all!

moby sky reporting from san francisco ramada plaza...

the weather's about 5 degrees celcius, the air's pretty dry, and my throat's pretty sore...but all's well here...having a happy holiday. =)

i'll upload some photos later tonight when i have more time. cheers. =)

to j

dedicated to j:

"but this isn't goodbye hor, merely farewell...take care bro, all the best!"

cheers. =)

exciting times

exciting times are ahead...

i leave tonight (actually early tomorrow morning) for the land of the free, tsa locks and 3-1-1 rules. isn't it wonderful how the americans make everyone else conform to their standards? now, instead of deciding between six flags or disneyland, i'm stuck trying to figure out how much 3 ounces is in metric...sheesh. and these are the same people always crying for equality amongst the people. haha.

ok...enough of the ranting. it's not like i'm gonna change 230 years of them "being different". so, if you can't beat 'em, might as well join them! i'll be updating my blog along the way, through the miles, putting on the pounds, in the freezing fahrenheit, all 5 feet 11 inches of me. join me on my journey through california...exciting times are indeed ahead...

cheers. =)

dream: white christmas

'tis the season to go on holidays...falalalala, lalalala...

as you might have guessed, i'm going away this christmas season. a vacation has been on the cards for much too long already.

anyway, to cut a long story short, i'll be going with peihwan to visit my sister in the states...for three weeks...hehe. i know...you're jealous. eat it up. muahahaha.

23/12/06: singapore - tokyo, tokyo - san francisco
12/01/07: san francisco - tokyo, tokyo - singapore

that's my flight itinery. as for the in between stuff...i'm gonna be renting a car and we'll be driving to everywhere in california. =)

i'll bring my laptop to upload pictures / videos...and hopefully to blog also (if i'm not too jetlagged that is)...so wait up for the details. =))

it's gonna be great...can't wait for my first white christmas in 15 years to start (i'll be visiting places that supplies the powdery sustance also-known-as "snow"). haha. =)))

cheers. =)

merry christmas to you too

i've worked for 4 years in the same place already. today, some joker in a santa costume came to our office and passed me this:



4 years = 4 pieces of nougats. obviously there wasn't much budget left. no worries, it's all about the giving...

merry christmas to you too. =)

finders keepers

eh, i ask you ah, what does it mean when you keep finding money on the ground?

about 2 weeks ago, while sending peihwan home, i found a $2 bill on the pavement...so i decided to invest it in singapore pools...4d, using the last 4 numbers on the note (but never kena lah).

then just now while i was walking myself home, i found another $7 (one $5 and one $2)...which i intend to invest in my dinner later.

is it a sign of things to come??? or could it be that i'm that unlucky in other aspects of life, so this is the way karma is compensating me? hmmm...what do you think?

cheers. =)

gold plated taps and paid vacations

our deputy ceo (dyceo) wanted to have a chat with us in the meeting room...

dyceo: you guys should be grateful for what you all have! back in my days, and in your parents' days, everyone was grateful just to have a job! no one owes you a living! back in those days blah blah blah...
moby: *desperately stifles yawn*
dyceo: you all should feel lucky blah blah blah...don't take for granted blah blah blah... *continues lecturing for another 45 mins*

*knock, knock*
dyceo: who's there?
*door opens*
troupe of nkf (tonkf): merry christmas!!!
moby: hahahahahaha...
tonkf: we're here to sing you a christmas carole!
dyceo: ok...please proceed...
tonkf: joy to the world! etc, etc...
moby: hahahahahaha...best.

talk about timing and occasion...we down there getting scolded and lectured, then an unlikely saviour in the form of nkf comes to the rescue...well done. i even gave them $2...simply because i would like gold-plated taps and paid vacations too some day. hahaha. merry christmas to you too tonkf!

cheers. =)

karma will be out to get you

one of my colleagues got terminated today. i was quite sad when i heard it from him this morning...he kinda knew it was coming about a week ago, but he wouldn't tell me what it was about...in fear that i would get upset. he was my buddy.

but "upset" is too meek of a word to describe my feelings now. "injustice" and "absurd" merely touch the tip of the iceberg if you ask me.

it's not convenient for me to broadcast what happened over the internet...but just know that i'm not happy with the way things are progressing now.

please lah. everyone makes mistakes...forgive and forget...if not, be sure that karma will be out to get you. what goes around comes around...

anyway, i'm helping him to keep a lookout for a job somewhere. he's considering joining the taxi force as of now...but i really think that he has more potential than that. email me if you have any openings. thanks.

videographsky - phuket

got 8 minutes and 21 seconds to spare? i just remembered that i have a video from a long time ago...from september to be exact...



phuket...fantastique. one of the places to go in this lifetime...you won't regret. promise.

cheers. =)

videographsky - haircut: jean yip bugis

what do 3 guys do on a boring tuesday evening? check it:



haha. shy kilan lah.

anyway, jean yip not bad...the head massage was acceptable...not fantastically orgasmic, but reasonable enough for me to close my eyes...and the price of the haircut was quite good too...$25 for wash (i actually got 2 shampoos today...hehe) and cut...worth another visit. see who else is free on a boring tuesday one month from now...haha.

cheers. =)

viola again

remember this post / video from a long time ago (april 2006)?

it was supposed to be a short and sweet post that was meant to be forgotten.

but apparently the youtube community felt that it's very much worth commenting about, even until this day. i just got another response from yet another "helpful" person (who obviously didn't know that i posted this video in somewhat jest), who, yet again, advised me on how i should play the viola (NOT the same as the violin...similar, similar but different).

i've had youtube comments (64 in total, fyi) on how i sucked, on how i needed a bigger viola, on how i should keep my bow straight...please, i know lah!!! it was the first time i played in years!!! theoretically speaking, i'm very aware...but practically wise, well...i've practically forgotten what it's like to hold the instrument, much less play it. check out the original youtube version that i posted.

i guess they're just trying to be helpful lah hor? hehe. but sometimes you can't please everyone...

cheers. =)

the aviators-of-somerset-mrt no more

when you think of somerset, what usually comes to mind? the specialist centre, centrepoint, ice cold beer, and maybe even the singtel building behind the mrt...all landmarks which have been engraved into the depths of our minds...

but for people who travel there on a daily basis, myself included, you would probably have sensed that something was missing when you walked past the area over the weekend...

i was there on saturday, having just come out of the mrt escalator with one hand on my newspaper, getting ready for cover from the notoriously naughty and accurate birds that inhabit the stretch, when i noticed the dull humming noise of machinery instead of the happy avian chirping i was used to...so i looked up...and i saw...nothing.









yup. they tore down the trees of somerset mrt carpark. it's a sad, sad day...for both tree and bird lovers alike.

on good days, the somerset mrt birds (god knows how many different species there actually were) would sing in perfect harmony, with the trees swaying to the music in the gentle breeze...and even on bad days, all you would receive was a token of good luck on your head / shoulder / expensive armani shirt in exchange for the shelter that the grove of timber offered. damn those developers. may you get bombarded by a thousand droppings.

in order to mourn for this loss of what i would consider my backyard, i have decided to not eat fowl of any kind...for one week...starting now (i just remembered the six chicken mcnuggets i had for dinner). join me.



- dedicated to the aviators-of-somerset-mrt...may you find a better home.

kieron dyer and feng shui

i've always been a fan of kieron dyer...



he's fast, has incredible dribbling abilities (the only other englishman worth comparing to joe cole), has speed, packs a great shot, and did i mention that he's fast? i liked him so much that i almost wanted him to play for liverpool at one point of time...

but as with all things good...here's the bad: he's stupendously unlucky. swey to the max. read this report from soccernet:

"newcastle midfielder kieron dyer is facing another spell on the sidelines after luck deserted him once again. the 27-year-old, who has been told he remains in england manager steve mcclaren's plans, will miss the barclays premiership match against reading with a badly gashed thigh.

manager glenn roeder confirmed the injury, sustained in a collision with advertising hoardings during the win over portsmouth on november 26, could keep dyer out for several games.

that will come as a huge blow to the influential midfielder after his six-month lay-off with a hamstring problem and the freak eye injury which interrupted his comeback.

roeder said: 'kieron, unfortunately, is having a run of luck that you just cannot believe.

first of all, he had a freak accident on the training ground where he missed a couple of game because a pole rebounded into his eye and caused him a problem for a few weeks.

now, trying so hard to keep the ball in play - which he did to get a cross in - he slid out of play, hit one of the boards and has got a nasty cut on the side of his leg.

he has got to be doubtful for a few games. we are just monitoring that day by day."

please loh. i don't think that day to day monitoring will do him any good. what he needs is to stop sleeping in front of a reflective object (mirrors, tvs, etc), to avoid going to training on inauspicious days, and to invest heavily in a good feng shui shi fu (风水师父)...in fact, i could recommend more than a few colleagues of mine who are supposedly "experts" in this field. trust me. haha.

good thing that kieron's playing at a club that suits him though...where else can you find titus bramble, scott parker, damian duff AND michael owen sitting in the stands with you at every match? hahaha. good luck mr. dyer...

cheers. =)

template change

as you've probably noticed, i've changed the template to my blog. i was just fiddling around with blogger beta, trying to add in some things here and there when:

moby: i just fucked up my whole blog. i changed the template and then suddenly all my links kena deleted. i hate blogger!!!
jo: never backup lah.
moby: how to backup???
jo: see lah.
moby: stupid.

luckily i found a function which retained my stuff in the layouts section. thanks jo, for saving my links...you included of course. haha.

so what you all think? i guess i'm not that adverse to moving the cheese after all...haha.

cheers. =)

prelude

boss: you should buy a car.
moby: ok...i'm thinking about it...but i don't think i can afford it.

boss: why not?
moby: cuz of road tax, parking, insurance, erp, and most of all...cuz of the cost of a car in singapore.

boss: but i thought you're getting allowance?
moby: oh please...

boss: ok... *backs off*
moby: but if you do something about my basic pay...which is pretty pathetic as it is...

boss: ok, i'll talk to my boss about it.
moby: yeah...ok...thanks.

*goes to sgcarmart.com to search for used cars...and finds his dream car for $20k*

*one week later...*

boss: i've talked to my boss about this...and he says that he'll do some "readjustment" for you in march or april...
moby: oh...ohhhkaaayyy...great. thanks. but then...in the meantime?

boss: err...are you looking into it?
moby: err...yeah...sure...





damn it. i've loved the honda prelude since secondary school days. it'd raise me up. literally.

cheers. =)

everyone smells the same: crabtree & evelyn

what is it with women and crabtree & evelyn??? i just don't understand. everyone will just end up smelling the same everywhere.

i spent 1 hour queuing up at the branch in vivocity cuz pei hwan wanted to get some presents for people...and i was watching all these chics buying their moisturisers and hand creams and whatnots, when i finally realised the chaos potential of "women indecisiveness".

there were only like about 15 women inside a store big enough to hold 30 men, but due to the delay from girls trying on different shit to their hands, smelling the different fragrances, changing their minds about their purchases...the store was forever filled with the same people looking at the same things, for literally hours on end...exasperating (for the staff at least) if you ask me.

not that i'm complaining lah...cuz pei hwan was also checking out all the different stuff for her relatives and friends, and given the fact that i actually volunteered for the task of official-sniffer-of-soap-cum-queuer-cum-bag-holder...so...it all adds up lah.

in fact, everyone was so engrossed with their shopping that i don't even think they noticed when i ripped a big one right in the middle of the store either...i guess that the overwhelmingly good scents from the products covered it up...either that, or they weren't in the right place at the right time. hahaha.

12 items and 1.5 hours later, we left with a bagful of santa's goodies. good luck to the people standing in the middle of the store though. i guess everyone might just end up smelling the same everywhere. hahaha. cheers. =)