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Da Lat

Located in a high land, 1500 meters above sea level, Da Lat is one of the most famous places in Vietnam. In the past, when Vietnam was colonized by France, it was named as "Little Paris" because its' weather is similar to Paris. There are nearly a million tourists that come here every year.

For one point, it is popular for it's temperature. The weather is cool during year. The average temperature is about 22 Celsius degree while as Vietnam in the tropical region. In the hot summer, people from all over the country come to here to avoid the heat.

Another point is the romantic sight of Da Lat. You can find numerous of pine hills. Climb to the top to the hills and you feel as though you are standing between clouds and fog. It's quite relaxing and an enjoyable feeling. Sometime, Dalat is known as "City of Love". Because of this reason, there are numerous couple come here for their romantic holiday.

Finally, it's famous because of it's history. Tourists can come to visit the double Tom pine hill, love valley, Lake of Sorrow and Golden Stream Lake. Each of these places has a story. If you are lucky, you can hear a real love story in Love Pine Hill. That's a love of a young couple. Unfortunately, the man was not allowed to marry the girl. Finally they killed themselves, for not divided, for living together forever...There used to be two tombs there but presently there is only one. Man's family brought their son out of here. The tomb of the girl is now placed between the quiet pine hill, alone...

Reading book

I decided to kill some hours with non-school-related reading. I had a small collection of books that came with me from Ho Chi Minh City. I selected that one and headed to the backyard near the cow house. I chose a place that was totally shadowed by the trees and then tighten the hammock around two coconut trees. I went back to my bed and get my pillow and blanket. On the way back, I got some candies and a mug of black-bean water which was cooked by my mother.

Lay down on the hammock, I looked up to the sky and relaxed. I remembered that last year I also brought some book home. There was a solid wood bed in my front yard. I went there and lay on my stomach, crossing my ankles in the air, flipping through the different novels in the book, trying to decide which would occupy my mind the most thoroughly…

Then I picked up one small book titled "The girl comes from yesterday" written by Nguyen Nhat Anh. That's was a lovely story about the friendship of two kids who were neighborhood. It reminded me of my childhood. We used to played football on our yard. We couldn't afford to buy a football ball to play, so we gathered furtive pomelo to replace for it…

I snapped the book shut and rolled over onto my back. I could think nothing but the peace. The sunlight went through leave and radiated onto my shoulder. I pulled the pillow back over my eyes. I could hear the birds singing on top of the trees. I thought of the Singapore lakes, the reservoirs, the parks, until, finally, I felt asleep…

When I got up, it was getting darken. The sun had gone behind horizon. My throat was dry. I sprang up to get the mug and drank a deep draught. Then I sat up and made the hammock.

I got home while my mother was waiting for me. The meal was already prepared. I ate and help my mother with some house work. Then we watched TV and play games with my nephews and nieces…

I always feel comfortable at home. Now, I'm far, very far away from home…

A hot day

It's sunny outside today. I felt very hot, and tired. Therefore, I decided to stay in room with air conditioning all day. 

I felt lazy for doing English homework. I also didn't want to watch movie nor listened to music. I continued to read Twilight. I really felt sorry for the girl, Bella.

Bella went out with friends to the beach. One of her friend, Lauren, disliked her. She was alone between her friends. Some of the boys wanted to hike to the nearby tidal pools. Most of the other girls decided to stay on the beach. She got up quietly to join the pro-hiking group because of Lauren.

She tried to keep up through the woods, so naturally she fell a few times. She got some shallow scrape on her palms, and the knees of her jean were stained green. Anything in the forest also made her to remember Edward.

Eventually, she knew a secret about Cullen's family. Some of her friend told her the story about Vampire. 

Return home, she locked the door, didn't eat, listened to loud music. She was trying to forget the truth. 

The day after, she was overwhelming. She ate a little and then turned to the computer to research about Vampire. 

Then, she got out of the house, followed the trail and got deep into the forest. She sat down alone in the darkness, and thought about a decision. Making decisions was the painful part. But one the decision was made, she simply followed through. This decision was ridiculously easy to live with. Dangerously easily. 

I still didn't know what she are going to do. But she will able to do nothing about her frightened secret. It will be a dangerous decision, for her...

The moon

The worst part about Friday is that, even though I knew that was not going to happen again, I still hoped. When I walked home, I couldn't keep from thinking about that. And I couldn't stop the gloom that engulfed me as realized I didn't know how long I would have to wait before I saw her again.

Then, I seemed please about our situation. I felt guilty for leaving her, but she'd spent so much time building her relationship to break it now. Of course she was smart enough to know what to do, and what to not to do to archive her destination, probably. I wondered if she would agreed with me or not.

I meant to sleep in, but an unusual brightness woke me. I opened my eyes to see a clear yellow light streaming through the window. I looked out, and there was the moon. It was not a full moon, but it was definitely the moon. Clouds ringed the horizon, but the large patch of blue was visible in the middle. I lingered by the window as long as I could, afraid that if I left the blue would disappear again.

There was a brisk wind coming from the window, cool and fresh. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the moon shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.

Twilight

I decided to read Twilight - a novel written by Stephenie Meyer. 

It is a good book. The English is written clearly and easy to understand. I quite like it. I often read it while waiting for train to arrive or when I have free time.

There are such a lot of new words. Some of them can be inferred from context. Some of them can be skipped. I'm planning to buy an e-dictionary but I keep forgetting. I am going to get one this weekend. 

It's a story about a girl named Bella who moved from a big city to a small town to live with her father. Her mother remarried and she doesn't want to disturb them. The town is  far away from the place where she used to live (so similar to me). 

At first, she was bored. The people seem to be rustic though, very friendly. Her appearance was the scandal of this town. Most of them like to talk and make friends with her. The school program seems to be so easy compare to the one she studied. There were a lot of  new things that happened to her. 

She falls in love, I think. That's so abnormal because the man she loves is very strange. He always helps her but he never wants to be with her. He tries to escape from her and then he looks after her from distance. She wants to talk to him, at least as a good friend. But he never want to be like that.

He saved her life when he pulled her out of a trunk. However, she discovers that he has a supeordinary capability. He is capable of moving in a flash and lifting a real trunk off the ground. She is wondering who is he and what's he trying to do. 

I'm anxious to know what happens to them. But I need to finish my work here first. Too many things are waiting for me. 

I will come back to the story this evening. See you...

Healthy Schedule

Monday

- Eat chilli crab

- Do 30 press-ups

Tuesday

- Eat frog porridge

- Go jogging round the park.

Wednesday

- Eat prawn coconut

- Play badminton

Thursday

- Eat seafood noodle soup (pho)

- Eat rice noodle soup with eye Round Steak 

- Play ping pong

Friday

- Eat caramelized Fish in clay pot

- Eat caramelized Pork in clay pot

- Play table tennis

Saturday

- Eat Shaky Beef (bo luc lac)

- Play foodball

Sunday

- Eat sweet & sour tamarind soup with shrimp

- Ride bicycle

Burger King

- Hello! What do you want for your meal, sir?

- Let me see... Hum... I'll go for Chicken Burger.

- Single or meal, sir?

- Meal please.

- What do you want for drink?

- Barley

- Medium or large size, sir?

- Large one please.

- You want chilli or ketchup?

- I want chilli.

- Take away or having here, sir.

- I'll be having here.

- $7.10 sir.

- Here you are.

- Here is your change.

- Thank you.

- You're welcomed

The Love Rat

She doesn't see the signs. Or perhaps she chooses not to. He says he's working late at the office and she believes him. He says he has to go away for a few days to a conference, how he's not looking forward to it, how it's just one of those things he has to do and let's not forget he's doing it for their future. While he's away, he sends her flowers and calls her. How lucky she is to have someone like him, some one so solicitous. She tells herself that he has his  mobile switched off all the time because he's in meetings. Or perhaps he left it in his hotel room. She always think that the relationship is still in a good condition. She is not sure whether or not he told her everything but she's never asked him.  They have their house repaired while he is going out for doing his business. She didn't dare to ask him to stay with her in the house without electricity. You shouldn't belive him like that - her friends tell her - you has lost conciousness!

She brushes aside any doubts she may have. Surely she'd know if he were up to something? She ignores the warning signs at her peril.

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilder was born in Dublin in 1854 to Sir William Wilde, a surgeon and famous, or infamous, womaniser, and Lady Jane Wilde who was a political intellectual and socialite who write poetry under the pen-name Speranza. Wilde's relationship with his mother was close but difficult and seemed to veer from resentment to adoration.

After finishing school, Wilde went on to be a brilliant student at both Trinity College in Dublin and at Oxford University in Eng

land. He was a much talked about character, famous for his flamboyant dress sense as much as for his writing. He was a relentless self-publicist and as famously said: 'there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about' and he certainly used to press to create the cult of his own personality.

He married Constance in 1884 but theirs was not a marriage of love or fidelity though they did have two children together. Instead he embarked upon a string of affairs, the most famous of which led to his imprisonment for 'gross indecency'. It was this period of incarceration that was the turning point of his life. On his release, he was shunned by those who had once been his friends, his publishers refused to touch his work and he become and outcast from the society he so adored.

He died alone in a dingy Paris hotel room on November 30, 1900. Although the official cause of death was an ear infection, there is no doubt that his spirit had been broken.

Although he remains an enigmatic and controversial figure, it is for his plays that he will be remembered: The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance... plays which though comic were shrewd observations of society and mores.

Some examples of Oscar Wilde's wit:

Education is an admirable thing, but it is as well to remember that nothing that is worth knowing can be taug.

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.

I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.

I can resist everything except temptation.

Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.

The is no sin except stupidity.

I have nothing to declare except my genious.

A funeral

Jeffrey Fried was a famous programmer. Surprisingly, he died when he was trying to make a bomb go off in an electricity exhibition in Northampton. Twelve victims died along with him. His body was brought to his family in the South of Ohio. His death was a big scandal all over the world. No one know the reason why he became a terrorist.

Five years ago, he was working for Google as a web designer. He appeared in over 30 projects ranging from small to very big ones. In addition to being a designer, he was also the author of several programming books. One of his famous ones is "The art of presentation". It's said that there was a soon-to-be released book which was written by him before he died. Now, it will be never published.  

Numerous people,  who were all lose friends with him, came to his funeral. They were all in deep sorrow and feel sorry for him. Many programmers in the world were also hopping to attend it and express their sympathy to his relatives and their sincere condolences.

Two days after, he was buried in a small cemetery in his hometown. In his stela, it was carved a line "Here lies the most secret of 20 centuary".

On behalf of his family, his wife said thank you to all the guests for attanding on the funeral.

Princess Diana

'Princess Diana has died.' I was in Australia when someone told me and I just started laughing and said 'don't be so ridiculous'. But it was true. I wonder how many other people around the world were filled with similar feelings of disbelief.

Diana, Princess of Wales, died after a car crash in the early hours of the morning in Paris on 31 August 1997. She was taken to hospital where surgeons fought for two hours to save her life, but in vain. The accident happened after the princess left the Ritz Hotel with her companion, Dodi Al Fayed, son of the Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Both he and the driver of the vehicle were also killed in the collision which took place in a tunnel under the Place de l'Alma in the centre of the city. The car was apparently being pursued at high speed by photographers on motorbikes when it hit a pillar and smashed in to a wall. Mr. Al Fayed and the chauffeur died at the scene but the princess and her bodyguard, who subsequently survived, were cut from the wreckage and rushed to hospital.

The nation was plunged in to mourning, united in their grief at the untimely death of someone who had played such a bug role since her wedding, as an innocent eighteen-year-old, to the Prince of Wales. Over the years she had blossomed into an international superstar. Her face could be seen on magazine all over the world. She was fashion icon. But being in the limelight took its tool.

It was very poignant that she should die so young just as she seemed to have found happiness. In the days after her death, thousands upon thousands of people laid flowers in front of Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace (the Princess' London home). Over one million people (many weeping openly) lined the streets of London to see the princess' funeral cortege as it made its way to Westminster Abbey in early September. And around the world, many millions more watched the funeral on television.

Diana, Princess of Wales, will be remembered as the people's princess. She did much to bring the royal family closer to the people and she also worked tirelessly for many charities around the world.

Princess Grace of Monaco

Grace Kelly was the Princess Grace of Monaco before she died in a car accident in 1982.

Grace Kelly was born on November, 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1951, she appeared in her first film entitled "Fourteen Hours". The following year, she landed the role of Amy Kane in "High Noon" which turned out to be very popular. From here, her career began to take off. 

In January 1956, it's announced that she engaged to Prince Rainer. 

In April, 19, 1956, she officially became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince Rainer III. The wedding was followed by a honeymoon cruising around the Mediterranean on Price's yacht.

Grace Kelly gave up her acting career after making 11 films. She had 3 children with Rainer: Caroline, Albert and Stephanie.

In September, 14, 1982, she died in a car crash. The accident happened when the car went off the road in Monaco. At the time of the accident, Stephie was also sitting in the car. It's so weird that she survived. (She might have fasten her seat-bell. The advice: "being careful is never too much".)

Identification

    It is highly likely that most of us will have some papers which can be used as a formal means of identification: certificate, driving license, passport or identify card. There are certain situations when we need to be able to prove who we are and photocopies won't do, it it's sensible to keep these invaluable documents in a safe place. What happens then, if for example you are on holiday and your passport is stolen? You have to go to your embassy or consulate and apply for an emergency passport, but how can you prove who you are? In cases like this, of course, it is advisable to have photocopies of all relevant documents. But at home, how many companies have access to confidential information about your financial status, criminal record (if any) of creditworthiness? We like to think that we have relative anonymity but the reality is very different. Sadly, we are all just numbers in a huge computer system and at the touch of button, some bureaucrat somewhere can read all about you?

How many times did you lost your identification? How did it affect you? What did you do then? Did have have any plan to prevent happening in the future?

Hung King festival

Hung King is the first King of Vietnam. He was recored as the founder of nation. Every year, on 10 March lunar month, a nation festival is hold to worship him. 

The Hung King festival not only attracts visitors from all over and allows visitor to participate in special traditional cultural activities, but it is also a sacred trip back in time to the origins of the Vietnamese culture. By taking part in these event, people shows their love and pride of their homeland and ancestors. 

For me, I especially like the tradition activities hold in the events. In here I can play games which can not be found anywhere else. For example: Mandarin Square Capturing, To Tom, marble, walking on stilts, and so on. It is easy to find the feeling of old time when we play the games which were also played by our ancestors thousand years ago.

Shopping

I don't often go shopping. I just go there when I've already decided what I need to buy. I like to go to the big shops but they are not very the fashionable, luxurious ones. In there, I can buy clothes with a rather good quality and suitable price. I feel uncomfortable when I am surrounded by the sales assistants. I prefer to be alone and look for whatever I need to try. The only thing I desire that I can find the assistance easyly when I need. The assistants should be standing at some areas where they can be found quickly. Normally, I look for them when I can find something that I want; or sometime I want to  ask about the usage of the products.

Sometime, I also don't know what I should buy. That's the case when I feel bored or when I'm waiting for someone in shop. Particularly, when I need to buy some gifts, of source not for me. I'm not good at this, so I usual ask the salespeople for suggestions, recommendation.

Generally, in Singapore, I feel OK when I go shopping. I can find anything I need and have enough help from the assistants.

My shop

I'm going to open a shop. It's no definite yet but I would talk about it as if it is going to happen tomorrow.

It's a souvenir shop, just a small one but it's would be very pretty.

There will be various kinds of small stuff like cups, pens, decorating things, spoons, notebooks, and so on. They are carved with some funny, sweetie, creative slogans. For example, on a tea cup, I will write: "love me, love my tea"; or on the pen, I will write; "I have no brain but I can write". In poker, all the numbers are replaced by famous,& beautiful characters and places. There are some small gaming devices like dominoes, lottery with funny shapes & music. Almost all the things would be hand-made to make them unique...

The shop would be located in Vietnam - my homeland, quite near the center but not very crowded areas. Ideally, it would be near the foreigners' area as it is green & clean.

An idea is just an idea. There are a lot of difficulties waiting for me if I really want to turn it to real.

First of all, I need to have a quite big equity for space renting, buying devices, decorating, and so on...

Second, a good place is not easy to find with a suitable price.

Last but not least, I need skillful people. They can help me to make beautiful, attractive toys & gifts.

C'est la vie. It's always difficult at the beginning. But, I believe on myself. Nothing can prevent me to do my hobby when I've had my decision.

Nescafe

There are a lot of advertisement on TV nowadays. I like the one of Nescafe the most. The attractive, beautiful ladies and handsome men are used to make the TV audiences fun and excited. People used to drink coffee in the morning and most of them also empathy with the slogan: "you cup of inspiration". The music in the advertisement is also very good and easy to remember. It makes people happy and comfortable. That's one of the most important reasons for the success of advertisement for NesCafe. Actually, there are no big differences between kind of coffee but I choose Nescafe because I like its style, It's advertising atmosphere.

Party & me

My name is Son. I seem don't like going to the party very much. I just want to go when I had known there are some of my friends also be there. At the time I join the party, I will find someone I knew and talk to them with a glass of wine on hand. I'm afraid of getting friend with strangers. When I got drunk, I'm easier to get talking with anyone.

When I was young, I rarely absented in company's parties. I like to bring beer and cheer with people around the table. At the end, we sang some funny songs together before going home. Consequently, I used to get drunk at last. But I have a lot of friend from these kind of  parties. 

Now, I'm mature. I don't drink very much. I know what to do to protect my health. I also know what is my limitation. I just drink enough to overcome my shyness. And then I stop before getting out of control.

Summary, I like party only when I feel warm and friendly.

Alcohol

In my country, alcohol is one of the important thing in any event or party. It makes people friendly and fun, especially for men. In contrast, the women don't like it at all because they often have to tidy & clean up after the men. However, the party becomes silent and boring if there is no alcohol.

It's cool to drink and of course alcohol helps remove inhibitions. With a glass of wine in one hand it becomes so much easier to engage someone in conversation, particularly if you suffer from shyness. Worryingly, more and more teenagers are drinking alcohol regularly. 

As with all things, the message needs to be "moderation".

Bintan

Last year, I had a memorable holiday with my company in Bintan. As normal, all the staff in company goes some where at the end of a financial year to preview and relax together. We gathered at Tanah Merah ferry station at 8:30 in the morning, then took a ferry to got to Bintan. Ti took about 2 hours to go to Bintan and another hour to take a bus to the resort. In the evening, my boss showed us a short presentation about the business status of the company. Then, we had a delicious buffet with a lot of seafood. At night, we sat around the campfire and sang and drank together. We felt happy and enjoyed ourselves.

Singapore country

Singapore, a beautiful and charming city, is rather small for a country. It's about 10.000 in square kilometers. The environment here is perfect and has a lot of green grass and trees a long the streets. People often use public transport such as trains, buses.

The population of Singapore is about 4 million. In which, three fourth are Singaporeans. The remaining are immigrants. Singapore is one of the financial centers in the world, which has famous banks such as HSBC, UOB, OCBC. Raffle Place is the office center of Singapore. Here you can see numerable of high buildings surrounding Maria Bay.

If you want to go shopping, Orchard is the most famous area. There are a log of shops here ranging from the cheap souvenir shops where you can buy 3 items for only $10 or fashionable ones which are over $100 for only a hat..

At the end of a year, a lot of tourist come here to shop & visit. The streets are decorated very beautifully, especially in the city center area.

What's this?

If you need to check email from anywhere but don't want to carry your laptop, you should have this. And it is can also be used to play games, read e-book. You can copy some movie inside to watch when waiting for your friends. After sign the contract to the provider, you can also access internet from anywhere.

Advantace comes with money. It's very expensive to own this. Total price included contract is not less than $1000. 

In fact, I used to have the one. Inside mine, I stored a lot of personal information: email, diary, password, bank account, and so on. Sometime, I used this to record the converstation and re-play again at home. 

I lost it one when I went out with my friend. It's so weird that I'll never mention here. Until now, I still don't understand why it was lost. Just because it could not be lost like that. My friend told me that she saw someone passed across but I didn't see any thing. Do you belive in ghost?

My house

Currently, I'm away from home. That means I'm not living in my own home but a rented house. That's an old apartment which was built more than 20 years ago. Although I just stay here for temporary, I like it very much.

Get of at Ang Mo Kio MRT station and walk in the NE direction about 10 minutes, you then can see the building where I stay. It's located near a fork where the street 52 & 51 intersect together.

There are 25 floors in the building and I stay on the 19 floor. Since the lift is very old, it doesn't stop at every floor but 4 floor each. So I need to go to the 21 first and then go down stair to 19. It's good for me to do exercise everyday.

That's a house which a big living room, 3 bedrooms - 2 singles and one en-suited master room, one separated bathroom & one kitchen. At the corner of the living room, there's a wood table where I do my works. It's a little messy with a lot of stuffs on and under it: laptop, hand phone, books, pens, map, candies, glasses, ...

On the days I need to work at home, I'm sitting here all day and open all the windows, even the main door for the wind to get through the house. I like the wind.

In this flat, I've been stayed for nearly 1 year. I'll continue to stay here for a long time and hope that I still love it as I'm being now.

Steam Coconut Prawn

Ingredients

- 1 Coconut

- 0.5 kg live prawn

- 2 tbpl fish soup

- a lemon

- a knob of pepper

- a knob of salt

Method

Water to clean prawn then drain off. Place prawn onto a small saucepan and pour half of the coconut water into it. Bring to boil and then stir the prawn to make sure all are covered by coconut water. 

After 6 minutes, reduce to simmer and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Place prawn onto a big dish.

Pour salt with pepper into a small dish. Press to get lemon water and stir until salt, pepper and lemon water are mixed together.

Now, peel prawn and try along with pepper-salt or fish soup. Delicious!

My first presentation

Last week, I had to give a presentation about BizTalk 2009 to SingTel IT department. I went there at about 9:30 in the morming. There were around 10 people in the meeting room. I had to introduce the capabilities of the software to them, the advantage of the approach compares to the others.

Then I gave them a visual demonstration of the software so they could have a look at the program working.. After  that, I spent my time answering their questions, I gave them some suggestions for their specific situation.

At the beginning, I felt nervous but only after a while, I got my confidence back. I tried to keep in mind: speak slowly, clearly, stay calm & patient; listening carefully to what they want.

I think that I can do even better in the next time.

The Vietnam government

In Vietnam, The Communist Party is the current ruling as well as the only Party. The socialist Republic of VietNam is a single-party State.

The State Machine is divided in to 3 branches: Executive, Judical and Legislature. The Legislature branch has the power of creating and changing the statutory law. The Legislature is known as The National Assembly. On the other hand, the Execute branch has the authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the State bureaucracy. The National Assembly includes 493 members, meets 2 times per year. The Assembly appoints the President (head of State) and the Prime Minister (head of government) and 21 members Cabinet.

Although the functions of the President are often Ceremonial, he is responsible for appointing the Prime Minister and the Cabinet among the members of National Assembly.

The Prime Minister is the most senior Minister of the Cabinet in the execute branch. The Prime Minister can select & dismiss other members of the Cabinet. He is the Head of the Government.

Vietnamese citizens who over 18 year old have the right & duty to vote in elections to select the representatives for them.

Microsoft - What's inside?

The first time I entered Microsoft was about 1 year ago. My first experience was that it's very professional. There was a big slogan "Microsoft" in front of the reception desk. I was planing to take a photograph there before coming back to Viet Nam but I have not done it. Now, I'm an employee of Microsoft. Sometime, I went home late. When I crossed over this place, I remembered and smiled by myself. But I couldn't take photo any more. My camera was broken down.

Due to some personal reason, Nga (my collage) hadn't worked here any more. I replaced her position. That's my lucky. I was not good as her. I didn't care much about that. I would try my best. If I wouldn't success, I had experiences. I would lost nothing. At that time, when  I talked to Nga, I had thought about the Microsoft people as boring and hard-working and overtime and glumpy,...guys. In general, it's not good feeling. But I was totally wrong!

Back to the environment there. As I mentioned before, There are 2 floors which are used for public: 21 and 22. There were all meeting rooms and drop-in room there. Normally, I went to 20 to work with Bash, a guy moved here from Florida 6 months ago. He is a kind of guru, very good at technology, kind and friendly. I like to work with him. I could ask him as much as possible. It's very kind of him as to help me: software, configuration, security and even hardware. I helped him to do some demo applications. He was too busy to do that. 

The first thing about the Microsoft guys is that they travel a lot. They are not expected to go to the office. No one can could control where they are. If you want to know about someone, just go into Microsoft Outlook and look for his/her calendar - you need to have their have permission. They could be in Malaysia today.  But two day later, they were being in the meeting in Thailand. There are 4 seats in my zone but I had never seen 4 peoples at the same time. When I asked them where they want to go at the holiday event. I often had the same answer: "I had traveled the whole year. I want to relax at home with family."

Second, they spent most of their time for calling/answering telephone. The atmosphere in here was exciting. You could always heard someone talking on the phone. They also have a lot of meetings everyday. Because of this, there were more for meeting room area than working area. 

Third, they didn't work overtime. They spent alot of time for their family...

What's my role in Microsoft. That's my next topic.

Microsoft - Environment

First, I've been working for Microsoft now. I must say: that's a very good environment.

Microsoft office in Singapore is placed at number One Marina Boulevard. It's called Microsoft Asia Pacific. I like the name "Boulevard". It makes me feel like i'm in Paris or somewhere in the past. It's a building with about 40 floors. Microsoft uses 7: from 19 to 25. There is a security staff at the base floor. If you are a visitor, you must register for going there. An then, when you enter to the Microsoft area (receptionist is in 22 floor), you must be on bail. I'm a president citizen here, I do not need to do that. I can use my hand and my card. 

21 and 22 floors are the public areas. The visitor go here for meeting, training, ... can gather here. One of the most different between FPT and Microsoft is that: MS has a lot of meeting room. We can find it every where. They are ultramodern. There is is some kind of control board. We just touch to the screen to control the light, projector, curtain, ...Let say, I go there for presentation, I just select the Presentation mode and the light out to justify, the curtain automatically close, projector turn off, ...

The most interesting thing is the pantry. Here you can find a various kind of drink (except beer of course). And it's free. You can make a cup of coffee. You can have a ginger tea cup. Or you just can have only coca. Sitting in the pantry, we can see the whole view of Marina Bay, extreme beautiful. When I feel stress, I like to go here, sitting in the smooth sofa, drink some Indian tea and look out at the Marina Bay, skycap building far away....

In the visitor area, we can find some drop-in room for temporary working. That's a small room, enough for one person to sit and work. There is a table, a chair, a light, a telephone, electric power slots and internet slot also. In here, you can call for the conference meeting, check email, or what ever you want. I prefer to go here than to sit in the working desk. In here, I have a personal feeling, confidence.

In Viet Nam, whenever I want to have a software, I used to run to Bui Thi Xuan and buy a pirated CD with only 8000 dong. In here, It's simpler. I just login to the server and download any Microsoft softwares and install with the right license. Whenever there is a beta version, I can try myself on my PC before it's published to the Internet...  

Tomorrow, I'm come back with the item number 2. What's people doing here?

Study English

        I love studying English. That's a reason I always work hard - my teacher told me that and I also feel the same.  It has been 2 months since the day I registered for English class in WSI. School fee is expensive if I don't want to say that it's the most expensive in Singapore for part-time studying. I never regret about that. I think that's one of the best decisions I've ever done after New Year. The service is very good. There are 3 visits per week, 1 hour per visit.

    The first and also the most important one is Encounter class. This is mandatory for student. That means you must finish this class before you can go to next Unit. There is only one student, one teacher in the class as usual. It's rarely to have more than one because students in the same Unit book class in different time. I forgot to say that the the study time for this class is dynamic. I can call to the center to book a class whenever I feel free and I also can cancel when I'm busy. In the class, the teacher will check the student manual (home work) and help to fix the errors. Because there are so much exercises, teacher only checks the writing section. The remains, student can check again the Key at the end of the book. After that is the free discussion. Student can ask what ever he/she want to know, to clarify. For me, I mostly focus on the pronunciation. I'm very bad on this subject.

    The second class is the Social class. Time is fixed and all students can join this class. Teacher will give out an topic/game/...and then we follow. Students are divided into a small groups from 2 to 3 for each one. I remember last time I studied about phrasal verb, before that is the business writing, pronunciation, show the famous place of our country, ...There are 2 Social class per week. One on Wednesday and one on Saturday. There are around 12 students attending thisclass.

    The third one is Complementary class. Only students in the same color (level) can take part. In general, we are categorized into 4 groups: Survival, Way Stage, Upper Way Stage and Threshold. Luckily, I'm in the highest level (red). Only 4 or 5 students get together. It's small enough to ask teacher and talk with each others freely.

    I registered this course just after I'd returned from New Year holiday. That's right decision. I'm feeling my English is being improved day by day. What's the reason? Because I do spend time to study everyday. Yes, everyday. That's the most important one. Beside that, I have a good method to study. That's practice and practice a lot. My responsibility is practice, following the guideline. The teacher's responsibility is to help me to go on the right way. No force, no stress, only help and support. In this school, I'm taught to pronoun correctly. I studied about aspiration. I recorded and compared my voice with the native one, ....

    This afternoon, I had an Encounter class on Unit 45, the first unit on Threshold 3. I've finished 2 level (Threshold 1 & 2). There are 2 more levels to go. If I keep going, I'll finish in 2 months.I'll spend last 2 months for reviewing again.

The introduction

Thing in the world is all come out with a reason. What's the reason of this blog? I want to practice English. 

That's the first reason which makes me create this blog. I don't like to public my diary to the Internet, as the master of fact. But I love to make friends with all people around the world. It's boring when you read a blog with a lot of spelling/grammar errors. I know I have numerous of errors at the beginning. If there is no mistake, I will not know what to improve. I am not shy; I don't dare to be wrong. I believe that I'll be better if I work hard. It's even better than that if I receive supports. I try to insert some pictures here for making the blog less boring. I don't know how it works. Just try out. 

It's nearly midnight now. I'm doing my English homeworks. There are a lot of new words, verb phrases with preposition. So messy. I can't remember. Among tons of these things, how much I can apply to real situations, real conversations? May be one fifth, or one hundredth, I don't know... 

I'm a happy man. I have a perfect environment to develop my skills, improve my English. I'm working for Microsoft, one of the most famous IT companies in the world. I'm living and working in Singapore, the .... good country, just good. I don't know how to describle it. Here, I can practice English every day. The Singaporian is friendly and kindly. The environment is fresh, green and healthy. I'm not sure how people think about me. For me, I'm a optimistic guy.... 

I must leave now. The last train is waiting for me since I'm sitting in the Microsoft office now, alone.