PREVIEW
alkie
alkie
Malaysia Journey
Mid-autumn Festival
Gas Delivery
There are different ways to travel from Vietnam to Malaysia. I chose to go to Singapore first by air ..more..
Lantern was another story. There was much less variety compared to what we have in the market ..more..
Customers are choosier day by day; and to increase the sale, these three men must take longer ..more..
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A TRIP TO MALAYSIA At the beginning of this year, I had a chance to travel to Malaysia and Singapore. Since these two countries are relatively close to each other in terms of history and geographic distance, people usually choose to go to both at the same time like me. I would love to share my travelling experience with you and, more interestingly, some travelling tips you may find useful for your upcoming trip. Because it is exhaustive to cover both countries in one issue, I will make it a series of three of which each will be devoted to one destination. The first two issues are about Malaysia which was also my first stop and the trip to Singapore will be mentioned in the third one. Before getting into details, there are a few interesting facts about Malaysia. It is a South East Asian country and a member of ASEAN like Vietnam. Its official name is Federation of Malaysia which consists of thirteen states and three federal states. Malaysia is separated into
Malaysia map
two parts by the South China Sea and they are Peninsular Malaysia located near the south of Thailand and Malaysian Borneo sharing an island with a part of Indonesia. The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur aka KL. Its currency is Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) which equals to approximately 5,100 VND. Its time is one hour ahead of Vietnam. The official language in Malaysia is Malay; however, English, different dialects of Chinese and Hindi are also spoken by different population groups. The Malaysian tourism’s motto is “Truly Asia” which is said to reflect a variety of cultures of different Asian countries existing in Malaysia. There are different ways to travel from Vietnam to Malaysia. I chose to go to Singapore first by air and caught a coach to Malaysia. Tiger Flying by air with Tiger Airline Airline seems to be an affordable choice and if you can find a sale, you really get a bargain like me. I remember my ticket was really cheap although I could not recall the exact price (but please believe me, it was a real bargain). From Catching a coach Singapore to Malaysia, a coach seems to be better and more convenient than other means of transportation there. One of my friends used the train and she found it noisy and uncomfortable. Travelling time from Singapore to Melaka and to KL took me about 4 and 6 hours, respectively. I took the
Transnational Express Bus at KT terminal
Strait View Condominium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
View of of place Stadhuys in Malacca.
Christ Church Melaka Photo by Hannibal
Transnational coach since it had good services such as air-conditioned and luxurious coaches, custom declaration cards. More importantly, I did not need to change the coach after finishing immigration check at Singaporean and Malaysian borders. I nearly forget to tell you that Vietnamese passport holders do not need a visa to get into Singapore and Malaysia. Usually you will be allowed to stay in each country for maximum 30 days (that sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?). The border area between Singapore and Malaysia, a city called Johor Bahru, was dead boring. At first, I was so excited to see a change but there was pretty much nothing there. What you can expect is a change from a modern and bright Singapore to a duller and less developed Malaysia. However, do not let this feeling spoil your day since Johor Bahru is just like a rural area in Malaysia. Melaka (Malacca) is a relatively small city located on the western edge of Pennisular Malaysia and on the south of KL. It is less developed than KL but Melaka people are proud of the city history. Used to be a trading port where traders from India, China and other Asian countries arrived, the city has its own kind of culture. Having also been ruled by the Dutch and Portuguese in the past, Melaka culture has been strongly influenced by these two as well. Sight-seeing is the best thing to do in Melaka. There are some places I visited and think that they are worth seeing. One of them is the Christ Church Melaka. This church was built by the Dutch in 1753 and is still being used now. The area around this church is beautiful because of its European style and nice construction planning. I really recommend you to take a lot of photographs here. From this church, you can go uphill to another historical site called St Paul church. It exists only for the tourism purpose but the nice view of most of the Melaka city from here makes it score fame. Also from the Christ Church
Trishaw, also known as tricycle rickshaw or pedicab
Proclamation of Independence Memorial
Melaka Cuisine Photo by Hannibal
Melaka, in the opposite direction, you will go into a place that looks like a China town. There are a handful of monasteries and Hindi mosques to see here. Although there is a heritage trail you can follow to see all of them, you probably want to see one or two of each type because they are very similar to each other. Another place to visit is Proclamation of Independence Memorial. There are some remains of what used to be watch-towers here and there that are worth some photographs. There is the Portuguese Square which is about 20 minute travelling by bus from the Melaka Central. However, it looks more like a red light district to me and there is nothing to see or to do there. Another highlight of Melaka is a means of transportation called “Trishaw”. I reckon it is similar to a tuk-tuk but has no machine attached to it. It is better to rent one at night and have the driver take you around. Please be prepared to feel excited and/or embarrassed (it depends on your type of person) because all the trishaws are colourfully decorated and the drivers will play some kinds of funky music when taking you around. I
remember the one driving my trishaw always blew the horn when he saw other trishaws on the street. It was funny and quite unique though. Lastly, how can we discover a new place without tasting some local foods? My hunt for the Melaka cuisine started right on the night when we arrived there. My impression about Melaka cuisine may be summarized by one word “FLAT”. People here should have developed an aversion to spices or their taste buds are more sensitive than mine because all the foods that I tasted were very flat. However, the signature dish did not disappoint me that much. It was Hainanese Chicken Rice. What is special about this dish is that the rice balls are made by machine. There are fried or steam chicken for your choice but I prefer the former one. There is a word of caution here: they put a generous amount of garlic in the rice balls, so be careful if you are allergic to it. That is only the first part of my trip and there are more things that I would like to share with you. I am looking forward to telling you more about my travelling experience in the next time. Hannibal
Every year, when school starts after a sunny summer, gradual changes of weather come in the cool breeze u t ystreet. Autumn B e a the d a n along a l tI hwalk H e as that caresses my cheeks is coming. When I was a child, I used to look forward to the special mid-autumn festival just as my younger sister now does. However, most families could not afford beautiful lanterns which were considered luxurious at that time. This year, I no longer long for the day. Time passes so quickly. Looking at children making preparations for the festival, I realize how much older I have become; yet in them, I can see the image of myself in the past. Sometimes I wonder if there are any other times in our lives when our dreams are as simple and innocent as those we had during childhood. When you happily share the festival with your family, when you've escaped from worries and conflicts of life in the rope of a Buddhist monk, or even when you’re homeless and spend your days on the street When I was a child, I spent this festive day in almost the same way every year. I would stubbornly ask my mother to buy moon cakes and sweets which were not as delicious and attractive as they are now, and which were usually grabbed and greedily eaten before the evening, before the full moon could be seen. Lantern was another story. There was much less variety compared to what we have in the market today, let alone fancy lanterns that were way out of my budget. I used to take a washing powder container which was made of plastic and put a candle inside it, use a small string to give it a handle, and voila – my handmade lantern. Many lanterns of that kind spent the night in the hands of children my age with their candles burning bright in the dark. But do you believe that they could ever light up our dreams? However, I had never seen a sign of happiness on my mother's face on that day. Long after that, when I grew up, I found out that at times, to many people, the moon cake festival was something unnecessarily romantic, something that was only important to the children, who were still protected from the worries and difficulties of life. Nowadays, life is much better when we are provided with chances of entertainment and recreation. Mid-autumn festival has become a joyful time enjoyed by children and adults alike. Unfortunately, not all children are able to spend this day in happiness. I think of children in areas suffering from the recent devastating flood. How are they supposed to greet the festive season with the pain from the loss of their parents and the damages of their homes? This year, these children have no chance to enjoy a night of candle light and light up their dreams like others in this country. Hopefully, they will soon overcome the pain and be able to carry on and keep their dreams alive. Hopefully, the moon, a symbol of peace, will shine on our prayers and good wishes for a better future for the less fortunate. And may you, my friends, be blessed with a warm and happy festival. Poinsettian
Society: Flash floods and landslides in Northern provinces
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The past flash flood triggered by the tropical storm Kammuri was considered to be the biggest one within 22 years in northern mountainous provinces, killing more than 100 people and leaving many others missing and injured. In addition, the historic flood caused widespread landslides, blocked lots of roads, damaged houses, swept away cattle and destroyed thousands of hectares of rice. Four worst-hit provinces are Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Quang Ninh. Heavy rain and high river water levels broke a 2800 meter stretch of dykes, submerging thousands of houses in Phu Tho province. A train departing from Ha Noi to Lao Cai due to flash floods was also derailed in Yen Bai, holding up two other trains. In the Quang Ninh coastal, a building under construction was collapsed, killing a local contractor and six workers. Rescue and relief activities were carried out, bringing clean water and instant noodles to help victims in the flooded areas. Besides, many people and organizations donated money to help repair the serious damages after floods.
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Culture: Festival in Tay Son, Binh Dinh From August 1 to August 3 in 2008, a spectacular cultural festival was celebrated in Quy Nhon province with the title “Gather and Develop”. During three festive days, all local people as well as tourists were enjoying the truly exciting atmosphere of many activities held here. The festival was a sacred offer devoted to Quang Trung emperor_one of the most renowned kings in VietNam history and started with an impressive opening ceremony with drum performances and martial arts, retracing Tay Son farmers’ uprising against Chinese Qing occupiers. Besides, there are many interesting activities such as the International competition of Traditional Vietnamese Martial Arts, the National Tuong (classical drama) Festival, the poetry night to remember two famous poets Xuan Dieu and Han Mac Tu, the lantern festive night and the food and drink festival to introduce specialities of the province, etc. Especially, one of the events caught a lot of attention is Miss Martial Art pageant with an aim to honor women’s beauty and martial talent in Binh Dinh. And Bui Thi Thanh Thao, a student from Quang Trung university, was crowned Miss Martial Arts after passing three rounds including performances in traditional costumes, martial arts costumes and a martial arts display. Although Binh Dinh firstly held Tay Son festival, it has made a particular impression on tourists and succeeded in popularizing province’s traditional values and attracting foreign and domestic investments.
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Education: Floor level points for entrance exams On August 8, The Ministry of Education and Training announced the floor level points for the university entrance exams. Specifically, 13 points for group A (Math, Physics, Chemistry) and group D (Math, Literature, English), 14 points for group C ( Literature, History, Geography) and 15 point for group B (Math, Chemistry, Biology). Floor level score is at least the one for all universities in our country to set the level points in order to recruit students; therefore, with such points above, 500000 students nationwide no longer have a chance to enter universities in 2008. A number of students achieving marks higher than floor level points are 140000 (group A), 25000( group B), 22000 (group C), and 37000 (group D). In comparison with the level marks of the universities, those for colleges this year are 3 points less and there are 220000 college applicants satisfying this demand. In Vietnam, getting an opportunity to study at university is all students’ desire; hence, the entrance exam is always considered to be the rat race and only truly good students can pass it.
Petrol prices After the petrol price increased up to 19000VND a liter in the last July, on August 5, it was rumored that the gas price was on the verge of being raised again up to 25000VND, or even 26000VND per liter. This fake information made a lot of people in HCM city and in some other provinces gather at the gas stations to fill up. At 12pm on Tuesday in Binh Tan district, hundreds of people were
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queuing at the filling stations to buy gas and even some carried petrol cans for reserve. At around 3pm, the word-of-mouth rumors spread very quickly, such crowded scenes also happened in districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 10. Gas stations were crowded till 6pm when the rumor was announced to be false. Few days later, the price hike rumor was confirmed to start from two gas stations in Binh Huong Hoa ward, Binh Tan district and authorities here were asked to join with police to find out the rumormongers who will possibly face tough penalties due to causing market unrest. Also in August, Ministry of Finance announced that the price retail of petrol would be decreased from 19000VND to 18000VND a liter and this decision has been come into effect at 10am on August 14. So within one month, the gas price has been changed so much due to the effect of world market. Sport: Olympic Games in Beijing One of the most outstanding events in August is Olympic Games in Beijing, China. After seven years of preparation with billions of dollars, the Beijing Olympic was launched at the spectacular opening ceremony in the Bird’s Nest national stadium on 08/08/08-the number eight is considered to be very lucky in China. The splendid performances of 15000 artists and the colorful fireworks displays in the three and half hour ceremony successfully expressed precious values of Chinese ancient civilization as well as introduced the image of integrated and modern China. Representative Olympic spirits are Fuwa serving as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Fuwa embodies four China’s most popular animals: the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow and the Olympic Flame, carrying the best wishes from China for the successful Olympic. Sixteen days of Olympic Games was the duration of the fierce competitions of athletes coming from more than 200 countries in many sports events such as athletics, football, swimming, judo, wrestling, gymnastics, shooting, badminton, etc. The host country has made every effort to hold the Olympic Games successfully and significantly for the purpose of promoting friendship, sportsmanship as well as world peace among countries. Christine
Nowadays with the blossom of technology, people have more chances than ever to own a camera, in many forms (professional, compact, cell phone or even web cam). And as long as you have a camera in your hand, you certainly want to take extraordinary beautiful pictures, don’t you? Despite the fact that I’m an amateur cameraman myself, I hope to help you by collecting various tutorials about photography with the purpose of taking beautiful pictures of yourself (people call that “tự sướng”) or friends, family, landscapes or pets… with the available equipments. In this article, I will propose the importance of layout in taking a good picture. Compare the 2 pictures
The first picture captures just exactly what it needs; it looks OK but nothing special also. The second one shows you the depth of the frame, hence gives a more ‘artistic’ picture. Moreover, it satisfies the famous “One Third Rule” (applied also to sculpture, architecture and painting) So 1. Let’s divide our photo layout (imagine it by yourself) in 9 parts by 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines. These lines are called strong lines.
(Continue One Third Rule) 2. The four connection points are called strong points. 3. All you need to do is to SHIFT your TARGET as close as possible to STRONG LINES and STRONG POINTS. Note that TARGET here does not necessarily mean the whole person or object. It may be a beautiful eye, cute nose, wavy hair, whitening teeth… i.e any features or details that you want to stress their importance. Here are some more well-taken pictures to . By applying this tip, you’ve illustrate the already set foot in the world of photography. Have fun with your pictures
After waking up at 6 in the morning, Mr. Dung packs up his stuff and goes to work as a distributor, representing a branch of Saigon Petrol Company to deliver hundreds of gas tanks to small retailers. The job may sound simple, but challenges stay underneath. His daily route can differ each day, depending on the number of destinations. While a normal deliverer usually rides a bike with one to three tanks behind his back to families who Normal deliverer order, a gas distributor has to drive a truck carrying about 100 to 200 tanks to many scheduled retailers. Going with him are two other co-workers. Every morning, before gearing up, the three men have to load the truck. Just imagine 25kg each multiplies 200, then divide the result into 3, not to mention the second loading in the afternoon, and you will know how hard the job is. Mr Dung has been working at this job for about 5 years. Like any other jobs, a distributor is required to have specific skills and knowledge. In the following interview, Mr Dung shares some background information. - Interviewer (I): In your opinion, what takes the most time in learning to do this job? - Mr. Dung: It is the classification of gas tanks which is actually not very familiar to many users. For example: Family (a brand, which stands for Gas for Family), VT, SP, BP, Shell Gas, Eff, UP, Picnic, Petrolimex, etc. Fanronaldo There’s a huge variety that not everyone can notice. - I: Which one of them is the most used by family?
- Mr. Dung: Certainly it is Family. - I: Can you give more information about it? - Mr. Dung: The tank weighs 12kg, while the liquid (inside) weighs 13kg. So in total, it weighs 25kgs. However, a Family tank can be up to 45kg. In Saigon, people often use SP, Eff, Petrolimex, or Family while in some other provinces, a lot more must be counted in. - I: How can we compare the quality among them? - Mr. Dung: Quite hard to say. However, Saigon Petrol’s gas seems to be the standard one. You may consider the flame’s color right after buying a new tank. It should be flat blue. Try not to judge the quality simply by observing the tanks, or the brands, since all tanks are quite the same, and brands can be faked. - I: Why would you recommend Saigon Petrol? - Mr. Dung: SaiGon Petrol offers good service. They collect tanks to check the enduring quality after the safety period expires. On visiting the warehouse Mr Dung was in charge of, we were amazed by thousands of tanks stored in there. Trucks are the only mean to transport tanks to small retailers. In Ho Chi Minh City,
he said, the pickup truck load capacity can be only 1 ton or a bit more, while it can be up to 2.5 to 5 tons in provinces outside the city. To load a 5-ton truck, it may take one hour of three men’s continuous work. “It can be dangerous sometimes, as you may hurt yourself while loading,” the men laughed, “we are hardly able to do anything else after work ‘cause we’re all worn out.” “There are many famous branches of Gasoline Companies that people may not notice, but indeed, we should know them,” Mr. Dung suggested. According to him, Dai Quang Minh is the strongest branch of SaiGon Petrol in SaiGon, and going after it is Tan Hai Viet. Branches in Dong Nai & Binh Duong include Tan Quyen, Nguyen Khoa, Bao Anh, Sau An, and Huong Khiem. And what makes them the solid retailers is the number of tanks they store in their warehouses, which plays an important part in their business. About 2 years ago, the price was quite firm, thank to the government’s subsidization. But now it fluctuates every month, depending on the world market. Customers are choosier day by day; and to increase the sale, these three men must take longer trips. “Sometimes we have to drive to Da Lat city, 300 km from our houses, to deliver tanks. The distance is so far; but once the order comes late, we got complaint right away. We drive back and forth without stopping, just an hour for lunch, two times loading the truck with 5 tons each time,” they laughed the tiredness away, “we won’t be able do this blue-collar job in the long run, for sure..” Nevertheless, they admit that they will have to stay with the job at least for the next few years. It’s a must to them, though it’s tough, to earn a living these days. Jenny
Photos: All photos which are used in the magazine are either provided by freelance writers or taken from websites as following: Vietbao.vn Imageshack.us Vnexpress.net Dalat.gov.vn Xitrum.net Photospot2004.blogspot.com Tinhte.com Netfiles.uiuc.edu Thisisworld.com Freefoto.com Farm3.static.flickr.com And many others.
Credits
Many thanks to our contributors —---------------------Editor Team Ms. Thanh Thao Ms. Nham T. Ngoc Ms. Thanh Truc Ms. Minh Chau
—---------------------Freelance Writer Team
Hannibal Poinsettian Christine Fanronaldo Jenny WT Edition Contact: Your contribution is highly appreciated. Unluckily, I have no medal Website: www.watavn.com to grant you. Perhaps some ... candies? Email: WT.Edition@gmail.com
Birthday Note We’d like to send our best wishes to anyone of us, who was born in August. Let me say: Congratulations! Ok, let me sing a song for you, as my gift ...
Mr . Heart