travelling

i need a break. i wanna travel again. the cambodia trip started it all...i wish that life could just stop for a moment and let me savour all there is on this planet earth. i wanna travel.

hawaii, spain, portugal, alaska and brazil beckon...argh. so many places to go, yet so little time.

but time waits for no man. work hard AND THEN play hard, moby. cheers. =|

pesky salesmen

don't you just hate those pesky salemen who pounce on you like a dog in heat the minute you walk into a store? i met one today while walking around the heeren...

pesky salesman (ps): everything on this rack is $45...and that rack too...
moby: ok...thanks.
ps: check out this one... *takes a shirt off the rack to show moby*
moby: hmmm...ok...thanks...let me look around first.
ps: ok...

*30 seconds later*
ps: why don't you try it on... *takes the same shirt off the rack*
moby: err...not really my style lah...let me look around ok? *getting a bit irritated already*
ps: ok...then how about this one? *shows moby another similar looking shirt*
moby: nah...i see see first can?
ps: ok...

*moby takes a shirt off the rack*
ps: yeah yeah! i was just going to say how nice you would look with that on...it'll go very well with the pants that you're wearing... *points at moby's dark brown corduroys*
moby: oh ok. let me look see first.
ps: really really! go and try it on lah! here, let me help you with that... *takes the shirt from moby and starts walking towards the changing room*
moby: ...
ps: this way sir!

*moby tries on shirt*
ps: how is it sir? come out lah...then we can see for you...i show you how to do the french cuffs...
moby: oh ok...
ps: very nice!
moby: the collar a bit big leh...a bit too wide lah...
ps: no lah, after you wash the shirt, it'll become softer...
moby: i'm not talking about the stiffness, it's the width of the collar...a bit too retroish lah...i need to wear this to work leh...
ps: no lah...it'll shrink after you wash it...
moby: haha...yeah right.

*pesky store owner (pso) smells blood, so goes to help ps gang up on moby for the kill*
pso: it's nice...especially with those pants...they match very well...you look really handsome in it...
ps: yeah...don't worry about the collar...it's nothing one...
pesky kaypoh bystander: yeah...and the colour matches your skin too...you really look nice in it...
pso: come, i give you special discount ok? $40...
moby: i hate all you salesmen...use all my tactics...knn.


the shirt

who says an old dog can't learn new tricks...i'm gonna incorporate some of this into my own sales pitch already..."blah blah blah...by the way sir / miss, you look very handsome / beautiful today"...hahaha...

cheers. =)

the zahir

i bought a book yesterday during lunchtime while waiting for a friend...


the zahir

paulo coelho was the author of "the alchemist"...good stuff. i'm gonna lose myself over the next few weeks with this book...care to join me? =)

get in shape

i just came back from a friendly game of basketball with some friends. i'm damn tired!!!

my skills have deproved so much that i'm actually glad that i didn't wear my kobe bryant lakers jersey tonight...it'd have been so shameful.

and it didn't help that one of the chics there told me that i've gained weight...damn it carol...you just wait...i'll show you why the sky's the limit...but next time lah hor? hehe. meanwhile, let me get in shape.

next up...football with the guys against the young punks from rh on sunday. stay tuned. the best is yet to come. cheers. =)

small world

in the middle of the day, just as moby was getting really stressed out at work, he receives a phone call from a friend named cy...someone who was going to give a donation for this refugee camp that my friend's working with in thailand (you can actually read more about my previous posts about this camp here...i intend to put up some pictures of the place as soon as i have more time)...

but anyway...this conversation lightened up moby's day a bit...

*ring ring*
cy: hi there!
moby: hi! just came back from your trip?
cy: yeah...
moby: cool...blah blah blah
cy: blah blah blah
moby: yeah...haha.
cy: so which years were you in raffles hall?
moby: oh, i was there from '97 onwards...
cy: oh ok! i just left when you came in!
moby: wow...ok...i didn't know that you were from rh...i bet you'd probably know some of my seniors then...
cy: yeah...probably...
moby: hmmm...did you know a k?
cy: err...k?
moby: yeah, kt...
cy: oh yeah! kt! actually i know her sister, jt, better...they were both lawyers right?
moby: yeah...kt was my ex-girlfriend...hehe.
cy: oh ok...haha...small world.
moby: yeah man.
cy: hmmm...let me see...did you know a m? probably your junior? also a law student last time?
moby: err...yeah...m was also my ex-girlfriend...hahaha.
cy: oh ok! she's actually my best friend's younger sister!
moby: oh wow! yeah, i know m's sister...her name is mel right?
cy & moby: hahaha...what a small world...

singapore is too small lah. everyone knows everyone else. i think everybody's within three degrees of each other instead of the usual six...haha...it's kinda dangerous sometimes. =P

moral of the story: don't insult anyone...at least not in singapore. haha. =)

reminder: read more

out of tremendous boredom this afternoon, i stole a dvd from my housemate's room to watch on my laptop.

i initially intended to watch memoirs of a geisha in the theatres, but due to my insistence on reading the book first, i missed the screenings here in singapore. (actually it's still showing at some weird times in a few cinemas, but as mentioned before, i was really bored...) i just managed to finish the book by arthur golden yesterday so i thought it would be good to watch the movie to kill time.

i was quite shocked at the differences between the book and the movie...like how nobu has two arms in the movie...and how deputy minister sato in the book became colonel derricks in the movie (???)...there are just too many to list down...but then again, these kinda things tend to happen when you compare the real thing and the screenplay version huh? i guess it'd be a really long and draggy movie if they actually did all the stuff that was in the book...

my advice: read the book.

p.s. - i think this is a good reminder to myself to read more...i feel that my vocabulary is getting rather limited...my writing style rather stale...and my imagination rather stunted...hmmm...what book should i read next...any recommendations people? =)

the end of autumn

wanna read a weird story?

on the fourth day of the chinese lunar new year moby received a call while on the mrt:

*ring ring*
moby: hello?
xxx: hello, is this moby? *conversation in mandarin...and continues to be in mandarin henceforth...sorry, moby's too damn lazy to type out the chinese characters*
moby: yeah, speaking.
xxx: happy new year!
moby: happy new year to you too!
xxx: do you know who this is?
moby: err...nope...no idea... *getting impatient...thinking that it was a corporate customer*
xxx: take a wild guess!
moby: i really don't know...
xxx: i'm A's mom! happy new year! (A was moby's last ex-girlfriend who broke up with him one year ago)
moby: HHHUUUHHH??? *moby very shocked...other passengers on mrt turn to stare*
a's mom (amom): I'M A'S MOM!!! *very loudly...thinking that moby cannot hear her*
moby: oh, hi auntie! happy new year to you too! *still very shocked...and wondered how and why the hell she still had moby's number*
amom: how are you?
moby: haha...i'm very good, thank you...and yourself?
amom: i'm ok...not too bad...so when are you going to visit us for chinese new year??? (bai nian)
moby: huh? convenient of not? *even more fucking shocked, cuz A was already attached to someone else already*
amom: of course lah...
moby: err...ok...when would be a good time to visit?
amom: i'm working everyday except on sunday...so i guess you can come then!
moby: ohhh...err...ok...if you're sure...
amom: so how? got new girlfriend already?
moby: huh? haha...no lah...nobody wants me lah...haha... *trying to sound damn-poor-thing*
amom: aiyah...cannot be lah...i always supported you one...
moby: haha...err... *very embarrassed*
amom: see lah...last time don't treasure what you had...
moby: aiyah, it's she don't want me one what! haha...
amom: i always supported you last time loh...
moby: err...oh ok...thank you. *didn't know what else to say*
amom: ok ok...anyway, you come on sunday to bai nian ok? call me again to fix the time.
moby: actually ah...i kinda lost your home number already leh...haha.
amom: aiyah...so fast ah...haha...
moby: err...i lost my phone? haha... *nervous laughter*
amom: it's blah blah blah blah...
moby: ok. can. i'll call you again, auntie!
amom: ok...bye bye! *mrt passengers start clapping*

moby was very confused.


a few days later (on the friday before the sunday), moby thought it would be best to call A to inform her about her mother's call.

moby: hi.
A: yes?
moby: did you know that your mom called me the other day?
A: HUH??? for what???
moby: oh, she asked me to go to your place to bai nian on sunday...
A: WHAT???
moby: err...yeah...
A: oh...ok...
moby: i take it that she didn't tell you?
A: nope.
moby: oh ok...so how?
A: she called you???
moby: yeah...i was also kinda shocked. *understatement of the year*
A: she called you???
moby: err...yeah. so do you mind?
A: haha...no lah...i don't mind...i'm just a bit surprised...
moby: yeah...tell me about it.
A: well...you can come...but i don't know if i'll be at home lah...
moby: oh ok...sure...no problem, i'll just do it as a gesture for your mom lah...
A: oh ok...no problem...
moby: ok...i guess i'll see you on sunday then...
A: err..yeah. bye!

moby doesn't really know what to make of it all.


the very next day (on the saturday before the sunday)...

*ring ring*
moby: hello?
amom: hi moby...amom here again...
moby: oh hi auntie! i was going to call you later about tomorrow...
amom: yeah...that's the thing...i called you to tell you that i have to work tomorrow lah...my boss won't let me take leave...so i got stuck doing the shift.
moby: oh...ok loh...so when should i go and visit then?
amom: err...i'll call you again lah ok?
moby: oh ok...sure...happy new year!
amom: happy new year! bye bye!

moby never heard from amom after that.

funny fact: february the 1st (the fourth day of chinese lunar new year) was exactly one year after A broke up with moby.

*end of story*


allow me to detract a bit and mention something else...

remember autumn the bonsai plant? even though i've been watering her almost every day with nutrients and fertiliser-filled water since god-knows-when, it's still brown in colour. i'm starting to think that it's truly dead and unrevivable.

i think i'm just gonna throw her away. =)

v-date photos

the reason why i didn't put up any pictures of the v-day date, was simply cuz i didn't bring a camera...i thought that the date might not wanna get her face splashed all over cyberspace...but guess what...here're some pictures taken from shannen's camera that she emailed to me...haha.


v-date 1


v-date 2

this was the "take-so-many-already-but-still-oblige-photo" that bm was talking about...haha.


v-date 3

waiting and waiting and waiting for food...


v-date 4

wait until so hungry that cannot see eyes already...


v-date 5

it was a fun experience...anyone else wanna be put up for tender? i'd be happy to do it...after all, april fool's day is just around the corner...muahahaha... >=)

kidding lah...cheers. =)

v-day date

1700hrs: moby rushing home from work to change clothes for date

moby: fuck. i'm kinda nervous.
moby: shit. now i'm really nervous.
moby: omg. i'm going on a blind date.

*hands sweat profusedly*


1730hrs: moby at home preparing to go out

moby: what do i say?
moby: you'll be fine lah.
moby: but what if i choke on something?
moby: you won't lah.
moby: but, but...
moby: aiyooooh! no buts lah! go and open that bottle of jacobs creek limited release 1999 vintage shiraz cabernet and calm down lah!
*moby opens bottle...then suddenly receives sms on handphone*
bm sms: oi! where are you? what time are you coming?
moby sms: later lah. calming my nerves now.
bm sms: you made me laugh out loud! hahaha!
*moby almost accidentally burns himself with iron...shit...drinks 3rd glass of shiraz cabernet*


1800hrs: moby arrives at blooming affairs in holland village to collect flowers

moby: hi, i'm here to collect my 3 stalks of calla lillies please.
flower woman (fw): oh ok. here you go. *hands moby bouquet-with-torn-leaf*
moby: err...this thing is a bit torn.
fw: oh...it's supposed to be like that one...
moby: hmmm...very artistic, but can you please change it?
fw: grumble grumble...
moby: thank you!
fw: grumble grumble...


1830hrs: moby meets bm at bm's office

moby: i is nervous.
bm: i is also nervous.
moby: siao! you only doing intro what! crazy!
bm: but i is nervous also. hehe.
moby: ARGH!

*hands sweat even more...*


1915hrs: moby meets chick x

bm: this is shannen...this is tien chi...
moby: hi! =)
shannen: hello! =)
bm: take piktcher! take piktcher!
moby: ... *see bm's blog for piktcher*

*moby more relaxed...maybe and most probably cuz of the wine*


1930hrs: moby and shannen seated in esmirada @ chijmes

moby: blah blah blah
shannen: blah blah blah
moby: hmmm...this soup is rather "interesting" *insert "bland"*
shannen: yeah...quite.
moby: blah blah blah
shannen: blah blah blah *repeat for 30 minutes*
moby: hmmm..when's our main course coming ah?
shannen: yeah man...quite long already hor...
moby: excuse me, can you please check on our food?
waiter alpha: sure.
moby: blah blah blah
shannen: blah blah blah *repeat for 10 minutes*
moby: excuse me, can you do me a favour and check on our main course please?
waiter beta: oh ok.
moby: blah blah blah
shannen: blah blah blah *repeat for 10 minutes*
moby: excuse me... *gives the moby stare*
waiter gamma: oh ok...your food right? coming right up, sir!

*food comes another 5 minutes later*


2230hrs: moby and shannen finish dinner

moby: i send you back?
shannen: ok...sure.
moby: just beware of the monkeys behind...bm has a lot of them inside her car...they're watching you. haha.
shannen: ohhh...ok...cool.

*moby sends shannen back home in bm's car*


conclusions:

1. shannen = nice girl (she bought me v-day present some more leh!). hehe. =)

2. not-so-great experience at esmirada's...i've had better times there previously...

3. sangria makes you thirsty.

red delicious

i just found out about some supposed-hokkien tradition today: to get good luck in love for the year, one must go to a river on the 15th day of the lunar new year and throw in an apple (for guys) or an orange (for gals), where the river will carry the fruit into the open sea of love...which kinda makes the gods happy for some reason or other. does anyone know the real story behind this tradition ah?

anyway, i just threw my red delicious into the singapore river off of cavenagh bridge, which leads to the south pacific ocean. i hope you're happy now gods...btw, you can find my apple labelled with a "red delicious moby" sticker on it...hahaha...so please bring me luck...you know i need it. haha. cheers. =)

numbers

11: birthday month
15: sum of the numbers in year of birth (7 + 8)
23: nus varsity football jersey number
24: graduation age
30: waistline in university
42: shoe size
9: number of lives gingin has

how did i ever miss it???

sigh...congratulations to all 9 of you people who just quit your jobs after your $1.154032 million windfalls...don't bother worrying about me while i wallow back to my residence on the boulevard of broken dreams.

but then again, at least now i won't have to worry about how to spend that shitload of money...who to give it to and all...hahaha...so it wasn't a totol loss. maybe i'll win more playing mahjong with the guys tomorrow. hahaha.

i is crazy.

friendsky rod

there's a new member in friendsky...if you like photographsky, check out rodney clinton chua. he's actually cambo jo's housemate in singapore...cool pics man. keep it up...but don't put photographsky outta business ok? hahaha. cheers. =)

bestfrentugk

i met bestfrentugk for lunch today at causeway point before meeting a customer...

bestfrentugk: what's that? some gift? *points to moby's british india paper bag*
moby: err...yeah...
bestfrentugk: for your customer?
moby: err...not really...
bestfrentugk: then?
moby: err...it's for marvin...it's something that i bought for him from cambodia...
bestfrentugk: .... *very hurt look*
moby: err...he bought me a...
bestfrentugk: look, i don't wanna hear it...
moby: but he bought me a...
bestfrentugk: I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT...
moby: but i didn't buy things for a lot of people!
bestfrentugk: you deaf ah...i don't need you to buy anything for me!
moby: you're always my number one lah tugk...
bestfrentugk: yeah right...
moby: don't angry lah...i give you the t-shirt ok?
bestfrentugk: don't insult me ok...i don't want anything from you...
moby: ...
bestfrentugk: looks like i'm your number 6 now...after jason, cambo jo, and now marvin...
moby: actually that'd only make you number 4..but no lah!! you're still my number 1...
bestfrentugk: not funny.

as if i don't have enough problems now...forgive me lah, bestfrentugk...i'll give you 5% of my toto winnings on friday ok? hahaha. =)

blind date?

for those of you who don't know yet...blinkymummy's trying to set me up on a dinner date for valentine's day...read here if you're actually interested.

judging from the comments on the entry, i'm just hoping that there will actually be females applying. crossdressers, beware my wrath. haha. but then again, bm's taste can't be all that bad right? muahahaha.

"I figure that since he has not been too good in making decisions for himself, may as well lemme try." - blinkymummy

aiyah, it's all in good fun lah...and no, i didn't ask her to "whore myself online" as one of you bastards claimed...it's just a dinner and that's that.

it's been a while since i've gone on a blind date...in fact, close to never. err...actually there was this one time...a few years ago...during my hall days...when i met gingin for the first time...


gingin

and i fell in love with her immediately, and for the rest of my life. so, we'll see how things go. =)

adventure cambosky - day 3 (episode 3)

we're finally at the finale of adventure cambosky day 3...it took a while to upload, but in case you've missed the other installments, episodes 1 and 2 are here and there respectively.


adventure cambosky - day 3 (episode 3)

after the long morning trip to angkor thom (as per episode 2), we decided to skip lunch and head straight for another highlight of the angkorian temples...ta prohm...the place where they filmed tomb raider starring angelina jolie...


ta prohm entrance

as in the movie, the trees were the main feature of this venue...that's if you take ms. jolie out of the picture...haha...


ta prohm tree

apparently, ta prohm was left more or less in the state that the european explorers found them in...by the way, ta prohm was my favourite temple in siem reap (next to angkor wat of course, which is everyone and anyone's favourite)...i think it's the way that nature has blended in so well with the man-made infrastructure over time...it makes it seem like such a magical and mystical place...

anyway, i liked it so much that i used up two sets of batteries taking the numerous pictures in ta prohm...which left me with almost nothing for the remainder of the trip...oh well, no regrets... =)

i initially wanted to take the whole of ta prohm in black and white...


ta prohm 1


ta prohm 2

and then there was light...


ta prohm 3


ta prohm 4


ta prohm 5


ta prohm 6


ta prohm 7


ta prohm 8


ta prohm 9


ta prohm 10

(note: as mentioned previously, i used up most of my batteries at ta prohm...so i had to use a bit more discretion on my picture-taking after that...)

after ta prohm, we went to another place called preah khan...which was another huge complex temple...endless mazes of corridors and whatnots...but unfortunately, i only had enough batteries (and energy) to take a few shots...


preah khan


josonsky preah khan

by this time, around 4pm or so, we were all basically drained of our energy from day 3's activities...but cambo jo insisted on visiting another few temples to make our 3-day pass worth it...so we went to this dried up pond temple thingy...where i managed to get one picture...check out the tired faces. haha.


josonsky neak pean

finally, we reached the last of the 11 temples that we would visit on adventure cambosky day 3...ta keo...


ta keo

as we all reached the pinnacle of our trip...


jason ta keo


cambo jo ta keo

i had time to reflect on my trip...


moby ta keo

and before we knew it, it was time to say adios to the temples of angkor...


josonsky ta keo

after that, no more batteries, no more pictures to share...all the rest are in my bank of memories...deposits only, thank you very much. =)

cambodia is a country still living in poverty, and is still struggling to get back on her feet...heam, our driver on day 1, told us that about 70% of the people in phnom penh are unemployed. throughout our stay, there were beggars on almost every street corner...and more often than not, they were children...which was really sad, but VERY real.

having said all that, change does take time...and persistence...i just hope that when cambodia regains her standing again, she will remain standing.

singapore has become my home for more than a decade now...14 years in fact...and in this time, i have almost become singaporeanised...in the sense that i sometimes take things for granted...i sometimes complain about the most insignificant things...and i sometimes think that i deserve better from life. however, this trip to cambodia has changed a lot in my perspective of things...it has taught me many a lessons that even nus couldn't have conjured up in their most "creative" of classrooms.

think about it...you might want to take a tutorial in real life one of these days too.

cheers. =)

bizarre

bi·zarre (b-zär) adj. - strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd.

"i gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."
- the godfather part i

"i'll make an offer he don't refuse. don't worry."
- the godfather part ii

"just when i thought i was out, they pull me back in..."
- the godfather part iii

and moby's world becomes more and more bizarre...so don't worry if you don't understand this post...cuz sometimes i don't quite grasp what's going on either... =|