CURRENT MISSION

to breathe the air and notice things around me

PHILOSOPHY

believe in the INHERENT GOODNESS of people 人之初,性本善

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

my friend who went on exchange to europe came bk and told me about her couchsurfing experience. and i m like y not?
always wanted to do hitchhiking, almost got a chance once, so it was one of the regrets i ever have had..but i think couchsurfing will give the same thrill too..

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Oct 2008 new here, but met with a couchsurfer in vietnam for coffee. was good!
Feb 2009 so far havent have a successful couchsurfing experience. wanted to try it in Aberdeen on Valentine Day, managed to contact a couchsurfer who was kind enough to accept my request, but bad luck (some mixup with the hp number) and stupidity on my part to fail to contact the host to confirm resulted in me having to spend the night on the streets with 2 other friends.
so ya, still waiting for a first successful couchsurfing experience : )

March-April 09 updates! I was able to go to Paris for a 32days trip just to practise Vovinam Viet Vo Dao because of the many CSers who helped me out by offering a couch and company :)
Richard, Misty & Xavier,Mathidle, Medy, Charlotte, Houda,Xuan & Celine :) merci beaucoup! :)

May 09-June 09 On my Europe trip and hoping to surf or meet up with CS members all over the places!

Interests

vietnamese martial arts: vovinam viet vo dao even though i am really beginner. to me not just a martial arts, but emcompasses the culture, the national spirit and patriotism of the vietnamese. It reflects the Vietnamese diaspora when view in the context of the overseas development of Vovinam in Europe and the States.

karate. I love to spar and to fight. But like the katas in another way. There is a sense of acheivement in repeating the movements again and again until I get the minute details correct.

History.i love history, espcially reading books fiction and non fiction on wide ranging historical topics.Knowing some history of the country that you are travelling in allows me to better comprehend and appreciate the mindset of the people that I am meeting.

But it doesnt extend to visiting museums or temples or churches for the matter. At this point in time, i am temple/churches fatigue and museum burnt out. But having said this, I found myself visiting museums of all sorts, I prefer history museums to art museums eg Shoah Memorial in memory of the Holocaust to the Lourve or the Musee Orsay or Musee Rodin even though I have been to all. :P

love travelling but only been to different countries of mainland Southeast Asia, ie Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Ok, been to UK too and lives in Glasgow for the past 1 month plus. But this time round I decide to travel Europe during my exchange. FIgures that I cant say i love SOutheast Asia if i know nothing about other countries and culture.
Oh ya i love to watch movies, especially Korean movies that has a typical template to how romance actually works. But oh well, they are just for laughter.
I love to cook too, not a really great cook for that matter, but I believe that cooking for someone should be full of sincerity. cause you are thinking of the person even from the start of the process, choosing of the menu, buying of the ingredients right down to cooking and serving and enjoying together. : )but then again, it doesnt guarantee that I am a great cook. I just try to do my best.

• arts
• culture
• books
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• martial arts
• history
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

the pianist, schindler's list. casablanca. slumdog millionare. anything that can provoke a moral catharsis.
music: some oldies: a little of Beatles & Nat King Cole

Chinese Pop: MAYDAY, Hins Chueng, Jay Chou, Fish Leong

Books: stories for children :) eg: My side of the Mountain, Toto Chan, The Little Grey Men, Little House Series, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Little Prince, Charlotte's Web,Watership Down
History Fiction

Literature: The Grapes of Wrath,1984,Of Mice & Men, Animal Farm, The Crucible

Basically I read almost anything I can get my hands on, except Sci-Fi :P

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

amazing enough for myself : )
learn another language so as to connect to ppl of another culture. >.< this makes my 4 month stay in Vietnam so memorable despite having to adapt to a strange and stressful environment
to travel and meet people!

Teach, Learn, Share

i cant teach u karate. but in singapore i can bring u to my karate club.
as for vovinam viet vo dao, i can show u the amazing clips and hopefully u will have a chance to appreciate vietnamese culture through it.
and maybe some chinese singaporean dishes? I enjoy cooking and introducing people to Asian (Chinese,Vietnamese,Thai,Korean,Jap,Malaysian) food

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Myanmar, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Singapore, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

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