Em à

Em à, em phải hiểu
Với những người như anh, yêu thương không thì chưa đủ… Em à!

7 things I learn on my 3 weeks in the UK

1. British people loves Football!
   • The fact that hundreds of thousands of fans watching and discussing football in and outside various stadiums every week says it better than anything else.
   • Watching football looks like a (habit,) family outing and sometimes a festival to British people
2. They’re superbly punctual. I mean on time is late.
   • Buses (except in York) always arrive on pre-specified time. Some if arriving the bus stop early, the bus driver will stop, “take a break” until the exact arriving timing (it looks kinda weird though).
   • They don’t call and wait for latecomer even if you’re 5′ late #Stonehenge #Tour #London-to-Manchester :O
   • They give everyone a full refund if their trains start later than 60′ #Virgin #York-to-London
3. Their transportation “sucks” – I mean not as convenient as in Singapore!? Singapore does get the benefits of the being small though. Literally.
   • There is no universal way for customers to pay across the country (using the same card – same thing in China)!
     Bus drivers needa handle (cash/coin) ticket payment. This is fine if it’s a optional way of payment but it looks like most people buy tickets on the bus. As many doesn’t return you change, we’d better prepare the exact amount 😀
   • I’m still wondering why they don’t scan people’s stuff before boarding the train though we surely can. Not Safe! #Terrorism #MassKilling
   • There is basically only one door on most buses :O
   • Most people park their car on the road causing traffic jam on small roads, which are popular in some cities like York & Edinburgh. Again they can surely build some specific buildings for parking, but I don’t know why they don’t (e.g even in small city like Singapore there are parking lots at almost all shopping malls and residential areas).
4. They’re way ahead of most other countries not only economically but also culturally and architecturally. The later probably leads to the former result!?
   • Judge a country or a city by its libraries and museums respectively.
5. They manage to keep most buildings and its architecture built thousand years ago. As a matter of fact, people are still living and working in those ancient buildings which apparently don’t affect its development.
   • It’s the People who create history – not environment (or things) which apparently ain’t that influential.
6. There is hardly any night life in the UK even in London. Almost everything (except private bars and clubs) is closed at 6 – max. 7pm.
   • Apparently, it’s boring at night not only in UK but probably in Europe too, which is totally different from big Asian cities such as SGP, SG & Bangkok.

Some weird things:

• There is no “close” button on most of their lifts. Why? :O
• There is basically only one (front) door on most buses around UK (except some classic red double-decker buses in London). Why again? 😀
  • I like how people almost always say “thank you” to the bus driver when alighting from the bus.
• Their cabs look cool albeit expensive! Uber saves us!!!

Experience the so-called “jet lag”. I adapt very well! Sleep well on my 2nd day in UK!

I had problems sleeping when coming back to SGP though. Lost sleep for almost 5 days… Sleep at 12pm and wake up at 3-4am…

Ba Que?

Vâng, chính là ba “Que”.

Que thứ nhất tượng trưng cho miền Bắc
Que thứ hai tượng trưng cho miền Trung
Que thứ ba tượng trưng cho miền Nam

Màu đỏ là màu của chiến thắng & thịnh vượng.

Màu vàng là màu truyền thống của người Việt được dùng từ thời bà Trưng bà Triệu cho đến những vị vua cuối cùng của nhà Nguyễn. Màu vàng là màu của dân tộc và tổ quốc Việt.

Ba sọc đỏ trong nền cờ vàng tượng trưng cho linh hồn người Việt máu đỏ, da vàng. Cờ vàng ba sọc đỏ là biểu tưởng của một nước Việt Nam độc lập, thống nhất.

Đáng khen thay cho một Nam Việt Nam lại chọn được một lá cờ ý nghĩa vậy.

Một thể chế non yếu, một cuộc nội chuyến đẫm máu, một thất bại mà không có kẻ chiến thắng không làm mất đi được ý nghĩa của lá cờ dân tộc này.

No Bad Publicity

#NgaMy

There is no such thing as bad publicity #UncleG

Yes whether it’s good or bad.

Good publicity is of course great but the bad one isn’t necessarily bad. As a matter of fact, our fear (due to nature) makes bad news and terrible things headline!

While bad news gets punch and harsh words, it attracts lots more attention and care and share than good news. And in this world full of distractions, attention trumps it all.

Publicity is arguably the best way of marketing. 5s ad in TV costs thousand bucks. Bad publicity has the same marketing reach yet it’s free. Why not!?

Lose Battles to Win War

Mr. Obama once proudly said the U.S. never lost any major battles during the Vietnam War. While that may be true, they eventually lost the war.
In reality, often times you have to be willing to lose battles to win the war. That’s applicable even not in war time.

Every winner once loses.

Fortunately, you don’t always have to “win”. Sometimes it’s better to lose an argument, a game, a girl to achieve your goals and more long term success. The difference is WINNERS win when it matters. They win when it counts. There are so-called “big match” players who consistently perform well the finals.

Everyone makes mistakes.

The more mistakes you make, the more you learn. So what you can do is to make as many mistakes as possible when it’s not important;  in practice.

Try. Make mistakes. Learn and move on.

No one will ever remember who came in second. So prepare, practice and WIN when it matters!

A 6-day Boracay Trip on April 2017

Arrival

• Singapore’s direct flight to Kalibo via Tiger: almost 3 hours 40′ (11am – 2.40pm)
• Kalibo airport to Caliclan port: 1 hours 30′ @ 1,000 PHP for a private cab including free boat tickets.
  Apparently, they have 2 different pricing for tourists and locals. So it’s cheaper if the local buys tickets for us (which cost only 25 Peso per pax). They also have a door-to-door package for 1,500 PHP, which seems quite over-priced.
  It will be cheaper – just 250PHP per pax – if you take a van instead.
  But actually it’s not that expensive considering we can ask the cab driver to stop us for lunch, which you can’t if taking a van. He took us to a small yet seemingly popular restaurant called “Ramboys” & was nicely willing to wait for us. The food here is quite nice & cheap as the portion is quite big. Recommended!
  

  Only 700 Peso for this meal!

• At Caliclan port, we need to pay certain fees ourselves:
  • Terminal fee: 100 PHP per pax
  • Environmental fee: 75 PHP per pax
• We’ve gotta pass through something like a “net ladder” with our luggage to reach the boat. It is a small boat – just big enough for everyone to have a seat. There are enough life jackets for everyone though.
• After reaching Boracay – Cagban Jetty port, we need to take a tricycle from the port to our hotels. Somehow the first driver didn’t know about our hotel. We walked outside the gate and found another. After a few minutes bargaining, we settled it down from 150 to 100 Peso which he agreed. After 15-20′ drive, the guy seemingly & unfortunately mistook our hotel. He gotta make a u-turn a few times!? He became frustrated as the time passed by. At the peak of his frustration, he even told us to get out and walk – claiming the hotel is just 30 meters away & his tricycle couldn’t go in while in reality the lane seems big enough for even 2 tricycles.Eventually he asks a local motor rider to lead the way. The correct lane to our hotel is actually the next one.
  At that lane, he once again refuses to go in with us saying the same reason then asks for another 50 peso for the motor guy which we refuse to pay as we haven’t seen our hotel yet and not sure if this is the correct way. After some arguments, the tricycle driver just left without taking any money… LOL. We’ve gotta carry our luggage – following the motor rider guy through the small lane and reach our hotel after 5-10′ walk. We ended up giving him 120 Peso. We don’t mind giving them more tips if only they served us a lit bit better.

Departure

• We’re advised by the hotel staff to go there 5 hours before the flight time. We’re leaving at 10am.
  Take a tri-cycle from our hotel to Boracay – Cagban jetty port: 250 Peso in total shared with another couple – 125 Peso per couple.
• Right at the port, we buy a Boat + Van ticket from J’JAD tours: 250 Peso per pax. Remember to keep your receipt for inspection later on the van.
  
  • The “Boracay Express” boat is like a huge tourist yacht compared to the small boat we took 1 week ago – more spacious & less people – only around 10 people on our trip. There is even very strong signal WIFI available though the distance is very short. Overall it’s a very pleasant 15′ ride.
• We also need to pay 100 Peso per pax for the Terminal Fee at Cagban Jetty Port
• After reaching Caliclan port, we needa walk a bit to the bus terminal where there are “Boracay Express” staff who will be looking for you. It’s important to wear the provided sticky tag so that they can recognize you quickly.
  Taking the van is actually not that bad as I thought. It’s a very smooth journey. There are just enough seats – no one has to stand though it takes slightly longer than the private cab we took – almost 2 hours – as they sometimes stop along to the way to fetch people and there is another stop before the airport, where all the locals stop here.
• At the Kalibo airport, we’ve gotta pay a surprisingly high International Passenger Terminal Fee for 700 Peso/pax
• Our flight lands around 30′ earlier than scheduled (~3 hours in total). We reach Singapore at 6plus in the evening.

Lessons Learned:

• Never EVER EVER change money at the airport (be in on the departure or arrival). It confirms even much worse than the tourist destination’s money exchange rate.
• Be early! Prepare for the unexpected!

Impressions:

• First time to see a beach’s water on 3 different colors! Nice!
  
• Just like in BKK, the police and their stations are everywhere so if something happens, I know where I can go. They even stay up until very late 2-3 in the morning. I felt pretty safe!
• Filipino are relatively nice people. Most of them can speak English pretty well!
  We didn’t encounter any “cheating” though there were case where they accept the bargained price then up-sell or ask for more money after that. Anyway, since the amount is too small. It’s alright.

Recommended places & activities

• We pay 5,000 Peso for Parasailing (15′), Jet Ski! (30′) plus a free sailing trip to see the sunset (they said 30′ but the trip was actually very short only 5-10′ – partially because we were late), which is considered cheap (~130 SGD). But apparently, we could get even cheaper tickets if buying directly from the sellers (somewhere in the middle of White Beach) – ~1,300 for the Jet Ski alone.
  • Very much enjoy Jet Ski & Parasailing! Miss out the ATV though
  • Separate those activities into 2-3 days; 2 in a day at most. We enjoy it very much that way. Otherwise, it’s really overwhelming. We see some people almost vomit after taking Fly Fish and Parasailing after one another.
• Kolai is a local restaurant around 5′ walk from D’Mall – nice & cheap local food! (P200 to 400 for 2 persons’ meal)
• Quite like the mango milkshake @ Jonash’s Fruit Shake (Station 1) – long queue though. The beach there is nice too. I like how the restaurants there sits just a few meters above the beach. The scene is so beautiful!
• Enjoy eating fresh seafood @ D’Talipapa Market (20-25′ walk from D’Mall). We’ve gotta to buy seafood from the opposite market first before getting them cooked at the restaurant, who only charges their cooking fee. Needa bargain twice though the people there are nice!
• Puka Beach looks stunning with huge & high waves – arguably even more beautiful than White Beach. Only 150 Peso from D’Mall to the beach. Remember to bargain.

Pretty enjoyable trip!

It sucks to be a NICE guy!

It sucks to be a NICE guy! Who is a nice guy then?

A nice guy is basically a guy who

• always try to please others
• usually says “Yes” to any requests
• always try to fit in
• is afraid of “risks” & unfamiliar things
• rather follow a crowd than to lead and stand out!
• accepts his “fate”; doesn’t have any drive to move forwards!
• doesn’t have his own opinions or don’t dare to voice out his. You usually hear him saying: “Anything! It’s up to you! You decide!”.

Nothing was wrong being a nice guy. Generally speaking, people especially girls do like (but don’t love) nice guys! The thing is it’s now past the time when you can win being a Mr. Nice guy or Mr. popular.

Isn’t it nice guys that always lose, especially when it matters – in love; in life and essentially in almost everything he does!!?

Together with constantly finding people who always support you, you’ve gotta find your haters as well. Actually you don’t needa find them. Haters will automatically appear when you voice out your own (unique) opinions and beliefs. That also means you dare to upset and annoy many people including your so-called “friends”.

Trump becomes the US President by provoking fear & hatred among American people. No one gives you more attention than your haters! Haters hate, criticize and backbite you whenever they can, and so, accidentally put you in the headline. And ATTENTION is everything on this digital age where people are constantly overloaded with information.

If no one hates you, then not enough people know you! – Uncle G.
(Or probably you’re a nice guy!)

A nice guy, on the other hand, pretty much avoid attention! He just wanna be a “normal” guy who’s happy with his own dull and boring life. No arguments; no drive; no ambition; nothing. He lives a life that’s not worth living again. What a waste of time being nice guy!

Because of his nature, a nice guy is often times a Gentleman! But not being a nice guy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not a gentleman or you’re an asshole! A real man decide; a nice guy follow and an asshole doesn’t bother.

Having said that, a tough gentleman doesn’t always have to argue – create trivial conflicts and essentially “win” everything on his day-to-day activities. He listens; say what he needa say – no more no less. Most importantly, he knows exactly what he wants, and so, pay no attention to life’s trivia (especially the nonsense self-talks: what does she think of me? What if I’m wrong…).