College’s blog

Eventually, my letter has been posted on my college’s blog.

Click here to read my testimony.

The letter

I had the luxury of having a great lecturer during final year at college. Apparently, I need a recommendation letter from one of my lecturers so that I can prove to my employer how good I was during my college time. Not that I was among the best students anyway, but for sure that I was around the middle range and that gotta count for something. In return, she asked me to write a letter of sharing experiences to those fresh intake students. I felt it was an honored so I agreed. Writing an essay seems really troublesome and time consuming, it happened to me too. Eventually, I finished off the letter which consists of 2 A4 pages. I do not know whether it was enough or not but who could write that long anyway?

Note: my letter will be posted in the blog, hopefully it is the college’s blog.

THE EXPERIENCES AT RMIT PROGRAMME

First of all, I would like to say congratulation to all of you and welcome to Taylors College. I believe that college orientation can be very intimidating event for new students. However, it is also a proof, a turning point for you to realize that high school life has passed and time to put some serious thoughts into how you like to become in the future and set out your career path.

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Hoang Anh Vu (Rick), I am a Vietnamese. I was undertaking RMIT Program majoring Information Technology hosted by Taylors College for 3 years from 2005 to 2008 and just had my graduation in February 2009. Been there done that, RMIT program is a great program whereby you can learn and practice at the same time. The program is designed in such a way that encourages students to work in team and use your ability to finish the assignments on time.

The reason I write this letter is to share to everyone my experience when studied at Taylors College. Time spent in Malaysia in general and at Taylors in particular can be described in two words: Fun and Stressful. It is fun because here I came to know quite a number of friends who then become my great companions during my time study here. It is stressful because as university students, we are expected to self update and self learn. Therefore, only few days of slacking off can really slow me down in the study process.

One of the most popular words that I often heard here was assignments. RMIT assignments are generally difficult and hard to chew. Saying this does not mean they are totally obsolete, as the matter of fact, it is the other way around. One of the best ways to do revision and prepare for exams is to work hard on the assignments handed by the lecturers and finish them well. As I have experienced this in my first year as a fresh student, I did not consider seriously the value of getting the assignments done on time; I was then suffered later in the exams and ultimately failed one of the four subjects taken that year. Regret is only too late for that. From that time on, I learned that if I can do assignments by myself, the chances of me getting high grades in the subjects are guaranteed.

Other matter that I was told from time to time by the lecturers is plagiarism. I strongly believe that this term is really familiar to all of us. As students, we are taught to obey the rules and from time to time, we tend to do the opposite. It is acceptable in common sense as a human being. However in Taylors College as a student, plagiarism is strictly prohibited and will be carried out professionally. During my time of study here, the temptation of copying someone’s works is unbearable even though I knew it would get me penalized severely. In order to avoid having to copy, paying attention in class and try to finish up all the tutorials and lab exercises are the only ways. The more I tried to self learn, the more confident I became and in the end assignments were not difficult after all.

Making friend is another factor that I consider to be most important aspect of my life as an international computing student. I had the luxury of meeting a lot international students from our neighboring countries. As there was a saying:”It is not the matter who you are, it is who you know”, being friendly and social are key factors to be successful in this line of work. Friend relationship in college can be complicated due to the differences in nationalities and multicultural environment that we have at Taylors College. Having a buddy alongside you will be a great advantage. A friend can help you explain stuff that you do not understand from lectures; a friend can team up with you and get along well, no quarrels whatsoever. Therefore, in order to get along well, you have to mix well; lower down your ego a few knots is proven to be very wise and useful in the long run. By saying this, I do not mean using friends as a tool to proceed in life. In fact, fewer quarrels mean more works done and a friendlier environment. Imagine if you are hated by everyone in your course because of your attitude, your behavior, and your life would not be so enjoyable at Taylors. I tried to remind me from time to time that my objective here is to accomplish my duty as a student and graduate proudly which eventually I did.

Personally, I was not among the best students in my badge. Therefore, self motivation and discipline are really important to me. RMIT program can be really fun but also really challenging. Subjects provided by RMIT are somehow linked to each other from basic to advance. If there was one subject that I did not grab its core, then I knew there would be problem for me in the next semester. One thing I have realized after 3 years studying at Taylors is that computing knowledge is glued together like a chain and if a part of it is cut off then that would mean the whole chain will be destroyed. Therefore, focus at the beginning is crucial fact which will then contribute to your success in the future.

Programming skill in computing is considered to be most important skill so far that I know. It will only help you in doing your assignments and satisfying the most demanding employers. Java and C are the two programming languages that I found useful due to their popularity in the job hunting market. If this skill is polished nicely at the beginning, you will find the RMIT program is really enjoyable since most of it is based on programming, the other bit is on web and database.

Finally, to conclude this letter, I would like to say that even though time spent at Taylors is stressful and challenging, I found it meaningful and paid off well. The experiences that I have obtained during my time here are proven useful in my job hunting task. Good luck to all of you, you have made right choice, now it is up to you to make a difference in your life. Farewell.

Taxi in Kuala Lumpur

First of all, I would like to apologize to friends of mine who are currently staying in KL and consider Malaysia as their secondary country. The purpose of writing this post is not entirely for criticism. As the matter of fact, it is more like a guideline and the exposure of truth that anyone needs to know and deal with.

As anyone who has stayed in Malaysia, or particularly in Kuala Lumpur, the very first interesting thing that you will encounter is the taxi service here. The funny thing is that taxi meter here always works but also never works if you know what i mean. If anyone wishes to go for taxi here, bargain skill is needed in order to avoid getting ripped off too much. I have to emphasize too much here because either this way or the other, the passenger will get ripped off.

I, for many times, felt annoyed everytime coming here only because of this great service. As i was an international student, moving around the city was impossible due to no personal transportation. It ultimately became even more difficult for me because the only way to go around is by taxi.

In fact, taxi drivers here are excellent businessmen not only for their rip off skill but also their sense of location and time. The picture above was taken in front of my condo, a beautiful place which i called home for the last 3 years. These godfathers in the pictures are my regulars and the area where they park their cars can be called their encampment.  I had a feeling that i would build a small house there before which they would if it was not for the complaints of the local residents. They camp their 20 hours a day including weekends and holiday offering services to anyone who needs going around with extremely ridiculous price rate. Their offer price depends upon the condition of the present weather and the distant to the destination. For instance, from my condo to the nearest shopping complex which is SunwayPyramids will cost me RM7 (normal price for this would be RM4 if go by meter). Rainy day, price could go up to RM10 like nothing.

“Excellent service” is one thing, passengers here when taking taxi have to keep in mind to taste all sort of smells in the cab (sh**hole i might call it). It felt like shower is something real fancy to this particular class of people.

Coupon system does exist in KL. Many of you might wonder what that is. It can be explained in simple way, passengers need to pay fare first before boarding the cab which in the end get ripped off due to the expensive price. For me, it is a strange way of living because taking a cab is a fancy way but in KL, it is even more fancy due high price and useless meter system.

Living in KL is fun and personally i had a lot of good memories there. People are friendly, living cost is not too expensive compared to neighbour countries, infrastructure is outstanding. With such reputation, it is questionable that why taxi scam still exists. I certainly hope sometimes in the future, the government here should really do something to stop this madness from territorizing the city and destroying the good names that Malaysians have worked hard to build up.

Graduation 2009

It seems everyone has to go through this day once in their life. Graduation day is not just a simple event where you turn up in front of everyone and smile. Instead, it is a proof of your hard work, the suffering that you have endured throughout college years. For me, it is a turning point of my life, the point that makes me realize that it is time for me to change my way of thinking as a student and start acting like an employee. The real world is out there and people are killing each other for every dime and penny.

Existing as a human being, the cruel fact is that everyone has to find and fight their way for a moment like this and the only proof is the certificate handed to you by the president of that university. Ironically, people will forget you straight away once you step down the stage, because not only you is the graduant there.

Graduation ceremony does not sound so strange to me since this one is not the first one i attended to. As the matter of fact, it is the 3rd one. However, this particular one seems more precious than the rest due to more efforts that i have invested in during my time in Malaysia. It is not the end of the road yet for me but still i can say i am well prepared for whatever thrown at me later on in life. Hopefully, i will standout from the rest of the workforce, knowledge is still the key to success.

Photos below are the ones taken from my graduation which was held at KLCC Malaysia on 7/2/2009, a memorable event it was.

First day of the year

Spending new year time at home is incomparable, i have missed this feeling for almost 8 years. Nearly forgot what it is like to be sitting and relaxing in the coffee shop along the most beautiful street of Saigon.

New year or what we Vietnamese call it “Tet” are the days that families gather together having some fun time, playing card games, giving out red pockets, reserving best wishes for each other… My family does the same thing. However, there is a little surprise coming along the way this year, we decided to get up quite early on the first day of the year to spend sometimes having coffee in the busiest and the most beautiful street of Saigon, Nguyen Hue Street. As our government always tries to impress the people by decorating center city full of flowers and turns it into a walking district for a few days, Saigon people tend to gather around here every new year to take photos.  I gotta admit, they have done a good job this year, the street looks dashing and attractive.

Lucky for us, we went there early and got ourselves a nice little spot which has a nice view of the whole street, it was totally worth it. I ordered a glass of ice milk coffee and enjoyed it til the end even though the coffee was not that good, if not horrible. I managed to take some pictures as a memo of this special day. To me, this year brings good news and i never feel happier than now. Life is still long ahead and who knows what i might encounter later on but looking back on what i have achieved so far in life, i guess things are turning over to a new leaf and it is not so bad to be having such a life after all.

Edit:

Ready for the good year 2009

Hello all,

New year comes with all sort of news. For me, this year seems to be a year that all good things will come. Finally, i have succeeded in obtaining a pass ticket to the graduation ceremony which will be held at KLCC in February. So there it goes, another graduation i have within 7 years of my study overseas.

Past few months, tension rised up, getting ready for exams, waiting for results to come out, i wish that i would never have to come back those days again because trust me, your lifespan would be shorten up if you were somehow stucked in there.

Times in Malaysia brought me so much experiences that i can use later on. This country brings me of good memories as well as annoying ones. I guess that is the purpose of life. So good luck to all who still are studying in Malaysia. May you have all the good things that this country can offer and of course, enjoy the good old unique taxi services. I cannot wait for some other new posts regarding this issue.

The plan is to be there at February 3rd 2009 so see you all there.

The end is near

Time seems pass by pretty quick… Sometimes thinking back to the moments i started to be alone til this time, so much has happened, so much changes and pains that i have endured. Experience obtained by those long years is priceless, i am just glad that things will soon be the way i want it to be. Life is just unforgiving for little man who is trying his way to find a real purpose of being alive.

Less than 2 weeks time, i will reach the final obstacle that i have been fearing it for my entire life and eventually have to get passed it. These past few months were something I would like to call “times in hell”…Even though i am taking only one subject but it feels like 10 merged together. The amount of pressure i take everyday is tremendously huge. Participating in a tennis competiton held by college, working part time as a helper in a fund raising event, trying hard to finish off the assignments in time…, good things and bad things are simultaneously thrown at me in such a fast non-stoppable force.

So many things that i want to write down but so little time that i have. I guess til i pass this obstacle, inspiration will come back to me somehow. In the meantimes, posting up pictures is all i can do.

A long week

First of all, let me start with my usual tradition by saying apologize for being absent more than a week. Last semester is not something that can be taken lightly and i happen to be in one right now. Therefore, time is of the utmost importance for me.

Last week has been a really long week for me filled with all kinds of memories and emotions. I realize something that once you are in the period of such a stressful time, your mind tends to be diverted into other dimension where it can be tweaked and turned into something else. I was there and lost. I know myself and what i am capable of. Sometimes, you let your guard down for once and straight away, it gets ahead of you. It is not something that i am truly afraid of. But by having it alongside with me, the time taken is tremendously huge. So what i am afraid of losing is my youth and time to do something meaningful so that later on, i can be proud and feel content about it.

Furthermore to add, even though my assignment is about to due in 4 weeks (yeah yeah call me crazy or nerd, i do not care, it’s my nature to worry about thing before it even started), i tried to spend sometimes having fun with my bunch of friends. We went to Cameron Highland not so long ago, around last week. It was nice, cool breezing place. It was a tough decision for me to make such a trip due to last minute planning from one of my friends. Despite of what i said, she still insisted on going. The inner gentle part within me was somehow awaken due to this decision and i knew that i would have been haunted if i had  not accompanied them. Therefore, off i went!  Well, sometimes living a life without planning is pretty fun because the trip turned out to be quite an interesting experience, not as what i expected. Cameron Highland is just like what people describe about: cold, layby and occupied by nice people. Sometimes, it can be so romantic that can turn one solid mind into something soft like a pillow. In short, it was a nice getaway, something nice to add into my miserable and boring life. We took a lot of pictures but currently i am kind of lazy to transfer them from my EXPENSIVE CAMERA PHONE to my POWERFUL PC using such a “nice” internet connection provided by so-called Internet Service Provider( You name it!). I will add them in when i have the time.

Edit:

Some updated pictures from the trip to KLCC twins tower. Standing there looking down did give me the feeling of how small we are. However, the trip was not that interesting due to the time it took to just see the bridge was more than 1 hours for 10 mins on the bridge. I prefer Sydney bridge better. Anyway, apologize for having a non-smile face in the pics, i only had 2 hour sleep before that. I was way whacked on the way back, wish you could see my miserble face at that time.

Trip to the future of Malaysia (cont)

Below are some of the updated pictures from the trip to Putrajaya that i had last week. Very memorable event it was. Again, thanks to all my kind friends who made it possible for me.

Trip to the future of Malaysia

Life can be real dull in Malaysia. Hold on! I am not finished yet. It is true to say that but there are many pros and cons about almost everything. Thanks to all my friends who have given me the chance of exploring another good side of Malaysia by taking me to Putrajaya, the future city of Malaysia. I have been very impressed by the infrastructure here especially in Kuala Lumpur where i thought was just a normal city with no buildings. I was proven wrong on the first day arriving at KL.

Putrajaya, i firmly believe this name sounds very familiar to Malaysians as well tourists who have visited this country. As usual, Drew gave me a call and told me to get ready on Sunday 7:30am which i happened to have heard 7:30pm. Fortunately, Drew was taking the extra precaution step by turning up at my doorsteps 30 mins early and got surprised when greeted by an half sleep half awake individual, me!.  This character seems to have such an aura that people tend to gather around him as if he is some kind of long lost friend. I, too, do have this feeling. Anyway, 10 mins was enough for me to get ready with hair and gel. We decided to ask Leo to come with since there was an extra seat at the back.

Drew’s friends were nice and friendly, good variety of personalities. Not much to say about the trip since it is pretty much the same like other trips that i have embarked on. However, this trip gave me an impression that this country is very potential and there are rooms for further development. Been there done that, i started to have a thought that if Vietnam can be a half of this in the next 5 or 10 years? Since what i saw in Putrajaya reflected the true potential of a country and the government here did a good job by showing the pride of their people. It is true, Putrajaya is not just a city, it is more like the show of pride and confidence. If Saigon has the Southern Saigon then Malaysia has Putrajaya.

However, does building such a luxurious infrastructure show the true power of a country? The answer depends on the people. It can be yes if people are happy and get what they need. If the money used to build such city were to donate to people that are in need, i guess that will be more meaningful.

Another celebration of birth

My life in Malaysia is quite amusing, unexpected things can happen at any moment. Sometimes, only a simple tweak in life can either cause me a heartache or a short moment in Happyland. Anyway, put away all the craps that i try to say here. This post is entitled for the birthday party of a friend of mine Vy, which just happened this Tuesday night.

The above picture is the whole gang that came to the party with following listed names respectively: Vy, Jackie, Thiet and last but not least my brother in red. Well, not all the time that i decide to make a post about any birthday party but since we had fun and the treat was marvelous so it is worth a shot.

The restaurant of choice for the party was a good place. Ole Bali is located at Sunway Pyramid and on the outside the shopping mall. Decorated in such a traditional way, the whole place gave me the feeling of turning back time to the golden age of Buddhism.

Food is categorized into sections whether you want to have a set or a side dish. Most of the time, i hardly found any dish that serves with chopsticks. Most of the dishes here come with fork and spoon, mainly fried stuff. As hungry as we had always been up to that moment, we decided to go a set with large portion of fried stuff. I went for a lamb chop and fried chicken with mash potatoes, others went for different set of dishes which i ended up tasting each and every dish individually.

About the taste, i can say not bad but oily. Not so much different from stuff that i used to have back in my old lovely Taylors campus. However, 10 points for the portion since every dish we had could fit a whole cow in there. Being careful and generous as always, Vy ordered another extra set of special dish for the whole gang which turned out be a disaster due to everyone’s stomach was filled to maximum capacity that they could contain. Leftover food could not be avoided.

As opposed to good quality of taste that the main dishes could offer us, drinks were way below standard. I personally did not enjoy the mint taste that my ice blended drink had. Jackie, unfortunately, ordered the same drink as me so ended up feeling regret of his decision. In the end, we each had to order glasses of water for compensation. Luckily enough that water here is free. I somehow got back 50% of my self satisfaction just for a glass of free water, one hell of an experience.

Despite of all the pros and cons that this party gave us, one thing i enjoy the most is the feeling of gathering with friends. Something that my life can always use to oppose against all the troubles and stresses i face daily here. So anyone that read this post, please say Happy 24th Birthday to Vy. Lastly, she is taken guys, so forget about it

Edit:

According the Jan’s request, here are some pictures that we took on that day.

Shopping in Metro

Supermarket shopping? Okay, now that sounds weird and people would probably start asking question whether i am okay or not. However, you would be surprised to know that no matter how slack off i am in Malaysia, the truth is i do not really hesitate that much to drag myself in the supermarket to help my mom buy food for the week. That’s the least thing i could do to help out. As usual, every Saturday of the week, we often spend sometimes in supermarket to get some food and the preferred supermarket here is called Metro Supermarket, one of the largest supermarket that one wishes to find himself or herself in. It is located outside of city, few kilometers to the central of the city. Basically, this supermarket does not look so much different from other supermarkets that city can offer, but in terms of size, it does make a huge difference in Vietnam due to the population problem that this country is facing, so anything with large size is pretty much appreciated.

The picture above shows the front entrance of huge size storehouse and yes i forgot to mention that it does look like a warehouse from the outside look. This is smart way of doing business since storing goods in a warehouse and turning it into a huge shopping area is the only way to reduce costs. Any future CEO who are reading this might want to take note . Anyway, it is pretty much a basic concept so i am certain that everyone should know it. If not then oops!!

The front yard outside looks normal like just everywhere else. One difference is that more cars here than other places because the surrounded area the supermarket is residential area and only for the rich. So i am not surprised that the facilities that come along with it are at the top knot or at least the best in the city.

Inside the supermarket, the environment seemed more civilized than other supermarket that i had been to. No squeezing and pushing around, one thing i dislike when shopping for food here is that people do not seem to bother saying EXCUSE ME when there is a need to pass by…, rather than that they are just fine. Goods are stacked on those big shelves, as i mentioned it was a storehouse so things like this are expected to be seen. People were walking around, browsing the goods and talking peacefully, some are too lively i would say…

Mom as usual is very aggressive when it comes to supermarket. She has a good sense of choosing a good stuff out the bad ones, such as vegies, fruits… I cannot really do that. As big as it seems, Metro is divided into many sections in order to maintain the good service to the customers. It is true to say that i cannot really complain anything about the service since staff are friendly and helpful in a certain way. Especially i enjoy the most is the seafood section where the all the fish tanks filled live fish are. Not that i want to eat them raw but it is just cool to see them fresh and alive. As we turn around corners, i could not help but staring at some promoter girls, they all look nice and lovely…Pretty girls and business have to exist simultaneously.

Vietnam is still a poor and developing country and i always keep believing that someday it will make a important role in the world. Even now, some of its product has been receiving good comments from the international community in terms of price and quality. It is also a good message to those who live in a country with a good living standard, one thing i learn that you may win the battle but not the war. Vietnam is like big pond full of good fish and leeches. Unfortunately, leeches tend to suck out all the goodness of its host and use those to fatten themselves pathetically. If leech knows how to read this post, may them rot in hell for all i know.

Morning coffee at Nice

Every morning in Vietnam has its own meaning to me since it has become productive in every way. Productive in the sense of getting up at 8 am and going out to get some fresh morning air and sitting my bottom at Nice coffee shop. It may sound so chilling to you but it is totally a whole new improvement to me due to me myself is not very much a morning person. Nuff said…I would not want to drag on too much about myself here because it might cause a bad publicity and that the last thing i would wanna see on my list. Trust me, the list goes on forever

Now you would probably think of the popular franchise brand Starbucks Coffee. when i mention coffee.. Sad news is that Starbucks Coffee is nowhere to be found in Vietnam. One of the reasons that contributes to this is that probably they might find it hard here to compete since the coffee shop business in Vietnam generally and in Saigon particularly is booming at an amazingly fast rate and everyone knows that late-comer in the market do not tend to get appreciated very well. However, it is only my opinion, it could be that the market is not favorable for Starbucks to consider investing their time and money into it yet. Furthermore to add, Saigon may be small and outdated in infrastructure, road system but one thing about it that surely can beat any developed country, that is the coffee shop.

So enough of the coffee shop introduction, allow me to continue the journey. As i mentioned, the hobby of having a morning coffee at Nice is getting more and more like a routine. Located in the central of the city, this coffee shop has a nice view of its own, elegant design and friendly staff, all of these contribute to the success of the shop. The food is another plus point that has to be added here, the variety of food here can satisfy the most picky customer that comes in. Of course in comparison to a restaurant, it is still somehow fallen behind but at the coffee shop level, it is at the top knot. The picture below shows only a part of the shop.

One thing interesting about the life here is that no matter how busy and frustrated life can become, people always somehow manage to have sometime enjoying the coffee. It is like a tradition and cannot be forgotten. That answers to the question of why the coffee business is very desirable in Vietnam. If i had that much money, i would certainly consider to open one.

Chu Bar

My first social activity is in a bar call Chu Bar. Apparently, i was not aware of going there at all nor had any intention of having a night life here. However, i got a phone call from dad telling me to pick him up due to he got a lift from a friend to that bar and had no transportation back. Besides, he was 30% drunk and nobody would want him to ride home alone. You probably wonder why i use “ride” instead of “drive”. For those who know, we use bikes here and i am a very good biker, ask Drew. So i reached the place, walked in. It’s a small bar surrounded by people, the drinking bar is in the middle of the bar and people sat around it. Bartenders, mostly girls, served drinks with the smile on their faces, unlike Barcelona. Plus, they were smoking hot, Barcelona’s girl promoters are only 50% of what those girls could be in terms of beauty. I especially laid eyes on the lady sitting at the corner of the bar alone, full with makeup, lovely figure that could melt any gentleman’s heart. I guess she was there for a reason: waiting for someone, looking for someone or just be there for the sake of showing off. She looked at me and i looked at her, i smiled she smiled and i saw my dad waving at me so i walked to his table. Sigh… i had like few bucks in my wallet, could not even offer her a drink and besides, i was wearing SHORT and SLIPPERS, thanks to my dad. If i had known it earlier, i would have had worn something a bit more manly. Tough luck…His usual gang were there whom i call uncles. They are nice people, dad’s good old friends. I grabbed a chair then had a bit of Hennessy whiskey. The environment was cozy and filled with laughter, it somehow made me feel more like home than ever. Then we met an American lawyer friend, business associate with my dad 14 years ago and he still remembered me. Amazingly, he approached me and said hi which left me blank there for a moment. Good American accent, time for a change, reminded me of how English was supposed to be like. He commented me on my Aussie accent and wondered how come a Vietnamese had such an accent.

After 2 hours, we called it a night and headed home, had a few bumps on the road along the way but we reached home safe and sound. No pictures were taken due to me myself is in the process of getting a new camera phone. Hopefully, there will be more pictures in the next post.