My Loyalty #4yearsinsingapore

Many people based on my appearance and way of carrying things out think that I am the one who likes to “play”, venture and therefore not reliable nor trusted. Yea, they’re right to a certain extent. I’m the sort of those who likes to take risks. I love new challenges. Having said that, I think no one could ever question my ethics, dignity and loyalty.

You don’t know what makes a loyal man. Guess what? If they’re not loyal to you the first time, don’t give the the second chance because they will not loyal to you next time.” – Donald Trump

I’m staying at my current company for more than 1.5 years at a relatively low salary. I stayed even when they expected me to leave and still there after every single one of them have left.

I was lingering over a “dead” love for more than 1 month until i felt it couldn’t work and would go against my principles values.

I am someone many have trusted to tell their “secret” stories.

…

No one could ever question that!

Happy Traveling

I’ve had 5 amazing trips in the first – very productive – 5 months in terms of travelling although it’s somewhat marred by quite lots of things. Since I didn’t have much time to write a post for each, here’s the summary for all of them 🙂

First, I celebrated the new in year in Malacca where I had my best trip so far. Its cooling weather, nice & cheap food & particularly my dear made it awesome. I love those moments so much!!

1 month later, at the beginning of February, I went back to my home town to celebrate the Tet (Chinese/Lunar New Year) as usual. I even planned a quick trip to Laos but failed cos of many reasons. Then all of a sudden I had to witness my close friend’s dad passing away in the early morning of the Valentine day which marked a generally sad LNY trip.

At the nearly end of March, I had a company trip to Phuket – my first ever trip to Thailand. Phuket is such a wonderful city with many beautiful beaches and we had quite a lot of fun there. We went shopping, finishing, snorkeling & particularly Thai message which is cheap & enjoyable. However, things started to went wrong after this (it actually began before this). It took me 1 month to cool down and another month to settle everything else.

At the end of April till the oncoming May, I had a planned trip to Langkawi which is another popular place for beach lovers. But because I was not in the good mood before and during the trip & partially it was right after the Phuket trip, Langkawi didn’t leave much impression on me. It was especially boring at night. We didn’t even manage to ride the cable car nor visit the waterfalls because of bad weather… Not many other sightseeing either. A very poor & sad trip!

Then again around 23rd of May, I went on a trip to Bangkok for nearly 3 days 2 nights & then Chiangmai for another 3 days 2 nights (1 overlapping day between the 2). As similar to the previous trip to Thailand, this was great too. Will cover this in detailed in another post. Quite a lot of things to say 🙂

New Vocabs

So you made a mistake, but there’s no need to dwell on it.

Don’t be so inquisitive (curious). It’s none of your business!

the indigenous (native) peoples/languages of the area

spicy stories about the sex lives of the stars

tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest

eternity – the promise of eternal (lasting forever) life in heaven

Her father’s illness cast a cloud over her wedding day.

She chuckled (laugh quietly) at the memory

bear/carry/ease/reduce/share the burden on working people

a spontaneous offer of help

I learn them the hard way

What a crazy first 5 months of this year! I learned all of these lessons the hard way.

1. The law of averages

   I’ve mastered “the law of averages”. I skipped seminars after seminars most of which are free. I was waiting for something to happen. I threw away a great chance to meet  one of my idols… (!!!)
   Don’t do what the averages do, you’ll succeed. Keep your promises & reputation along the way as they are probably the most important thing you can nurture #pd

2. Change yourself but not anyone else

   The moment you think you should change someone. Pause & reflect: “You have no right to use your will power upon another person, even ‘for her own good'”. In fact, it’s much easier for you to find a better one rather than to change them. I learned a similar lesson almost 2 years ago, be willing but don’t try to help until you’re asked for. Everyone’s responsible for their own lives. Solve your own problem first. #pd
   

3. Loyalty lesson

   Donald Trump says it best: “You don’t know what makes a loyal man. But guess what!? If they’re not loyal to you the first time, don’t give them the second chance because they won’t be loyal to you the next time!” #love #relationship #business
   

4. Sincere lesson

   Be sincere in your feelings, actions, praise and everything else towards others. If later they realise you weren’t, you know how they would feel and what you would get in return. !?? #relationship

5. Be grateful

   Being happy with/appreciate what you’re having & what you’re given no matter it’s good or bad => Always look at the bright side of the situation. Idk how to describe it better cos it’s as simple as that. #power

6. Don’t ever lie to yourself

   If you have to, lie to anyone else but yourself. It’s simply because the moment you do, you’re killing yourself. It’s even better if you don’t lie at all. Don’t get the habit of lying even from the little small things. White lie? Yup, sometimes but it’s better to avoid it too. #pd

4 years in Singapore

Just an overview about my 4 years in Singapore:

Relationships

Since coming here, I’ve had chances to meet many interestingly different people (various cities, countries & races) which I think I would have never had if I had studied in Vietnam. I also love the country & the people here. However, I soon realise many people come (to me) just to pass. (And really we can’t do anything but appreciate what we’re having)

Love

It would be a pity if I talk about relationship without mentioning love. I had quite a few short loves mostly during my holiday trips back in Vietnam? (2010, valentine = lny tet – t/ch, summer – ch; 2011, tet = hn, no summer 2012, tet – hn no more, summer – shj; 2013 – lm) just a reminder of mine 😀 before getting in an “indescribable” relationship (cos idk what it was) with a sgprean girl. One of many great lessons I learned from it is, many love endings involve the third person. So in order to keep & make it last long, you’ve gotta have not only the so-called “love”, give-in sometimes but also have to share the same passion – this is really the key to any relationships. Otherwise you will just lose or get bored of it sooner or later.

Education

I gave up on the “excellent GPA” goal after my 3rd semester to seek for some specialised web knowledge. And it turned out to be a great decision (& my final GPA was not low either):

(I got a degree in 2.5 years.) I got an interview before my final exam & my 20th birthday and then 5 or 7 more before ending up working at my current company, which I am quite proud of considering the “tough economic times” that many people usually refer to.

I read a lot of great books. Now I’m having a small both online & offline library 🙂

I wrote my incredible “Money won’t make you rich” just over the age of 18.

The only regret of mine is I didn’t have a good balance esp in relationships during my Uni times which is quite a shame. I should have had more friends & loves .. Anyway sometimes we need to some necessary trade-off..

Opportunities

Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Good chances usually come twice or once. Seize it. Or at least do anything you can do. Ask for help from your old enemies. Approach and talk to a strange girl, etc. At the end of the day, shameful & embarrassing moments are nothing compared to what we did/attempted to do.

Life

Life has been good for me. I’m a lot better since coming here. I cook. I wash & dry my own clothes. I do almost everything my mum usually did for me. Though I did make a lot of mistakes, I hope I learn sth about it.

Now I’m just grateful for what I’m having.

An interview with my cousin

Last week, a cousin of mine had come to Singapore with his daughter to visit his son who is studying JC here. Apparently we didn’t have much time to talk but I managed to have a small “interview” with him before he left. My question was short. “You’re now 51 – nearly 30 years older than me. You’ve lived almost 2/3 times of life. What’s your biggest regrets?”

From many others’ points of view, he’s a successful man. He’s got a happy family with a beautiful wife, a son studying abroad and a clever secondary-school daughter. Of course, he’s got a very decent career & a nice house too! His only concern now is to support & raise his children until they’re really mature which he refers to the University entrance.

But surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), he said it’s just the outward appearance. And when it comes to “regrets”, he does have quite a handful:

1. His biggest regret is Health (unsurprising for a man!)

He said he was still in good shape in the early 40s, let alone those early 20s & 30s. But now the consequences of over-drinking & partying while ignoring exercising begin to show up. It’s not so serious, he said. But he can’t drink much now as some diseases & pain starts to affect him. It’s terrible. I hope… he regretted! When we’re young, we all seem to take our health for granted while it’s actually our most important asset. It suddenly reminds me of Dalai Lama’s saying:

2. His second biggest regret is some skills he should have at least known

+ The first one is technology and foreign language as he didn’t know computer nor English at all. It makes me extremely less confident outside of my world – he regretted. When I come here I feel it more obvious than ever, he continues.

It’s followed by sport (football, table tennis, etc.) and art (singing, dancing, playing some musical instruments (guitar, piano, etc.). He doesn’t know how to play anything of those and that made him less “sociable” with friends. I’m friendly and “funny” but that’s all I have. When it came to other things like going karaoke or sport, I was just the “outsider”. But he masters his lessons and compensates for it in his children by providing them his best possible support in learning those extra skills which he claims to be very important apart from studying (knowledge) – and I totally agree with him.

3. The final one is once again unsurprising for me. It’s love (relationships).

He said although he has a wonderful family now, he didn’t have many memories in love and relationships. Some (very beautiful girls) had tried to approach him but he either refused or avoided them. If only I had the courage and right attitude to accept those invitations, he wished, I would have had a chance to know them at the very least. He may seem a bit greedy but I think it’s true. Relationships are utterly important in life.

But he thinks this is also partially a result of the 2 regrets above. If he had had a better health and a few of those skills, he would have very likely attracted many more people…

We finished at nearly 2 am on Friday night… gotta go sleep for our tomorrow work & flight..

Dân Chủ

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– Nhà báo Đinh Quang Anh Thái (1:51)