Monday, September 25, 2006

Street-singing in Berkeley

Tammy was kind enough to help me take down about an hour's worth of footage of me street-singing at the Berkeley BART station...it was rather early on a Sunday morning, so there aren't alot of people...it's nice that way since the streets aint tat busy and I get to enjoy my own music more...:) there's something about street-singing that makes me feel completely free...i absolutely love the feeling...anyway, I was singing "Over the rainbow" and halfway thro the song I saw this little girl dancing with her mum along with the song...their smiles on their face totally make my day!


"Sound of silence"...possibly the best song ever written


"The Storm"..a Lloyd Spiegel cover


"Over the rainbow"...Isreal Kamakawiwo version...that's the one that the little girl dance to...


"童話"


"Vincent"...one of my all-time top 10 song by Don McLean...


"Blowing in the wind"...


"Hallelujah"...Jeff Buckley version...


"Love is good"...my own song..hee


"寂寞的季节"


"Let it be"...by the Beatles..


"Your song"..my fav Elton John number..


"愛我別走"


"Feeling groovy"...ok..this one was sung at a different location...


"Wednesday morning 3 am"...Simon & Garfunkel cover..


"但我終於找到你"...probably my only cantonese orignal composition...written for Tammy many yrs ago..


"street of london"...i always start off my street-singing set with this song...totally a busking song..i love it!


"Sweet Mary"...listen to the lyrics...it's hmm...lets just sat it's got alot of subliminal meaning...

SF & Sausalito

Since Tammy got a much-deserved 10-day break, we took time to explore some of the adjacent places....so after Napa, we took another day trip to Sausalito, a small town connected to SF by the gorgeous Golden Gate Bridge...but we decided to take the boat route instead..


ehh...me and a SF streetcar..


Tam and the SF Ferry Building, where we'd be taking the ferry to Sausalita..


the Bay Bridge..


as u can tell..it's pretty windy on the boat..


Sausalito has a mediterranean flair to it...lots of boats/yachts...and some nice art galleries..


This is surreal...a "stone stacking" artist...i still dunno how he does that!


another angle of these amazing stone stacks...


See for yourself how this guy did it...


We really like this painting...if not for the fact that it costs $8k...there're many art galleries in Sausalito, giving the town an artsy atmosphere..


I love the ocean...and always have this dream of owning my own yacht...it feels great just walking among these nice yachts packed along the jetty...i'm definitely getting one of these someday...


After a few hours hanging out at Sausalito, we took a ferry back to SF and arrived at Fisherman's Wharf, where we're greeted by these famous sea lions...nobody really knows why they decided to chill out here since the SF earthquake some 20 yrs ago...whatever it is, it's neat to watch them taking a lazy afternoon nap...

Napa Valley

With all the free coupons for wine-tasting that Tammy gets from her hotel job, it's just a matter of time before we fully exploit them...so me and my buddy, Takeshi's family went on this 1-day trip to see what's the big fuss about Napa Valley...


We headed straight to "Taylor's", a popular burger joint with reasonable prices. Just like Starbucks, they ask you for your name when you order your food and then they'd announce your name over their PA system so you can collect your food. So I told them my name is "Kintama", which means "Golden Balls/testicles" in Japanese...haha...we got a good laugh when they called for "Kintama" over the PA system..


ok...this has nothing to do with Napa...just a sweet bike parked outside "Taylor's"


Takeshi with the super-big van we rented...


At the entrance of the first vineyard we visited..this is one of the better looking one...


where they store the wine..


Me and Takeshi displaying our wine-appreciation "expertise", while Kuniko looks on at the back..


Tammy with her wine...free wine somehow tastes better...hee


not sure if we're allowed to do that..but hey...gotta take a picture with the vineyard when in Napa rite?


yeah...we refuse to grow up!


vineyard....


This house sure looks ordinary, but in it houses one of the most sought-after restaurant in the world (consistently ranked top 50 in world and USA)!


Tammy just had to take a picture with the "French Laundry" sign...she had many sleepless nights trying to make a reservation with this premium resturant while working in International SOS in singapore...


They even have their own garden...which will be used as infredient for their dish...how much fresher can can this get man!


one last pic of the great valley before we head home...i confess that i'm not much of a wine expert...but hey, it's free..and it's pretty damn good!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Tammy's Da Chef!

Another superb meal by my love Tammy :)


Wine first...


Menu of the day...


Bruchetta first..


Salad..


Salmon...


Steak with chocolate sauce! that's a first!

ok...let's skip the fresh mint shake for today...too full!!! ごちそさま!

Facebook + Video = MySchoolTube

With some help from my buddy "YB", the site I've been working on over summer is now integrated with Facebook (ie, any Facebook user can now login to MySchoolTube using their existing Facebook account without registering separately with me). I hope this will lower the barrier to entry even further.

Anyway, check it out for yourself!

Monday, September 18, 2006

V for Vendetta


I think i'd have to adjust my Top 100 movie list after I saw this one a few days ago...totally mind-blowing and surprisingly relevant in the current debate of the Bush's administration's use of "torture".....this one is a MUST-WATCH!

Saturday, September 16, 2006


A Jay Zhou cover.

Hallelujah


A Jeff Buckley cover~

Feelin Groovy


My fav Simon & Garfunkel!

Desperado


An Eagles cover.

寂寞的季节


A David Tao cover.

Friday, September 15, 2006

On the NEWS again!

The Michigan Daily decided to run this article today...:)

Thursday, September 07, 2006

I'm on the NEWS!

Well..sort of...the Berkeley campus newspaper (Daily Californian) ran a frontpage article on my site...here goes: "Site to Tailor Online Video to Campuses"

Monday, September 04, 2006

Timing...

For those who've been following my blog, you should know that I've been working pretty hard on a website over summer. Most of my friends who've seen it think of it as a pretty decent idea, and I thought that it's got a big potential if marketed right. Unfortunately, a few days ago I got the news that a major (and I mean super major sites that's in the top 10 world's most trafficked sites) site announce a service that's almost a carbon copy of my idea. Not that the idea is that revolutionary and probably natural direction from where things are going in that "sphere", but I was really hoping for some breathing space to get a footing so I get a chance to fight with the other major sites when they launch similar sites....well, I guess that was wishful thinking on my part. Still, as a friend of mine puts it, "you'd probably like to go down in a blaze of fire rather to fade out like ash"; I guess there's nothing to lose and everything to gain in my situation. I have thought of a counter response to this piece of news, but I have to move really fast if I don't want my summer efforts go to waste....this only means more coding! sigh...well, a very good learning experience nevertheless...