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Hello, Welcome back to Walkie Talkie. With the help of our writer andeditor team, we’d like to offer this 4thedition to all of you as a gift this X-mas. Along with this monthlymagazine project, a new project wouldbe presented to you at the middle ofJanuary. We do expect you enjoy whatwe have been working on so far. And again, may the joy of X-mastouch you and may the hope be blessedon you, my friends. Merry X-mas &Happy New Year. Regards,

WT Team

Many thanks to our contributors—----------------------

WritersMr. CharismaMs. Elevener

Mr. FanronaldoMr. HannibalMs. Ibtissam

Ms. RedMs. Sandy

—----------------------Editors

Ms. BambieMs. Minh ChauMs. Thanh ThaoMs. Thanh Truc

Ms. T. Ngoc—----------------------

Cover byCollection

Board of Honors - Greeting Card

Christmas is the period of time that is fairlyso-called “warm-hearted” season in the year,especially for western countries and so is it inVietnam. People usually have plans a few monthsprior Christmas. They may either plan for big familytrips or short journeys or even casual activitiessuch as touring around the city with friends. And you, what is your plan this Christmas?Of course, different people have different answers.Me, I know some of you have already had arrangedfunctions/parties/trips or still floating around withmany choices for a perfect plan for a warmChristmas in Vietnam. However, I am here longingto tell you a story about X-mas of the volunteers. Each of us may have heard of or seen thevolunteers and their contribution .They could beanyone regardless of neither gender nor age.Nonetheless, on the whole, they all have the samewillingness: do best to help others. Their work hasa closed relationship with the society. They can beseen almost around the country wherevolunteering help is needed: the orphanages,remote/rural areas or even on the streets helpingthe homeless children. My first but also the most impressivememory was about volunteers during X-mas back awhile ago .It was such a touching photo: a pictureof a disabled child and a student. She was giving apresent to the poor child but he could not take itbecause he , unfortunately, only had one arm. Butboth of them was smiling- probably the mostbeautiful smile I had ever seen .Honestly, I havegot to admit that the photographer had been morethan not only clever but also sensible on having

X-MAS IN THE VOLUNTEERS’ HEART

Sandy

absolutely a lovely gift if you open your heart and arms to welcome others as BabatundeOlantunji said “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift.That’s why we call it The Present” .It really is a big lesson for me and right now I want toexercise my theory: the theory of living free and being helpful. I now know I want to becomea volunteer this Christmas and …maybe I will meet you too, I hope. Finally, I wish that all the best thing will come to you and your families in X-mas2008. Let’s enjoy yourselves to the fullest , my friends…^___^

taken this photo. It was in the hospital and the girl was still in her university uniform. I havethought so much about that picture since then as I used to have some naïve negationsabout people and society gathered from numerous articles, newspapers and alsomagazines. I mostly found myself in a corrupted world with dirty money-making ways andother bad things from the government through the Vietnamese citizens such as:misappropriate, select and arrange, snatch and run…Certainly, it did scare me off at thefirst place and I tried to wrap myself closed. “Couldn’t it be any easier than this?” was myinitial thought. Then, I learned that was after “the mirror life”, or rather, a “fair and squarelife: a life where I am treated by the surroundings just exactly the way I treat them.. Day byday, I started thinking more about myself and gradually dragged to a selfish me.…So youcan understand how much influence the picture left on me. Believe it or not, itpsychologically changed me. I can now see the beauties of the world and that life is just

Even being a Chinese as I am, it is hard for me to list all of theChinese traditions and cultures; for China has already had 5000 years’history, so you can imagine that there is a considerable amount oftraditions and cultures having been emerged during that time. If youask a Chinese “how many cultures and traditions are there in China?” Ibelieve just few can tell you the exact answer. In this article I’d like tointroduce some of them which are more traditional and more importantand engraved on every Chinese heart.

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There are 3 more importantdays in the 15 days: New Year'sEve (the Eve of the New Year),New Year's Day (the first day ofthe new year), The LanternFestival (the 15th day of the NewYear). In New Year’s Eve, allmembers of the family have to goback home and share the wholenight together (except for peopledoing some particular jobs at thatnight such as policemen ordoctors). This is a high time for

people who drift and wander faraway from their home and familyto reunite again and show theirthanksgiving, and for all of thefamilies who wait for their distantrelatives' returning. At about 6 PM,housewives will make a greatdinner for the family; then duringthe dinner, relatives would sendtheir best wishes for the next yearto each other. After this dinnerthey would stay in front of the TVset and expect the time would

Many foreigners usually call this day Chinese New Year buteveryone in China likes to call it Spring Festival. Chinese peopleconsider that the first day of the Chinese New Year is the beginning ofthe spring. Chinese New Year starts at the beginning of the first day of theNew Year and ends 15 days later. The New Year which I refer to is notthe New Year of Solar Calendar but is the first day of Lunar Calendar.(The Chinese Calendar is based on a combination of Lunar and Solarmovement. The Lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. And in order to “catchup” with the Solar Calendar, the Chinese insert an extra month everyfew years. This is the same as adding an extra day on the leap year),and this is why, according to Solar Calendar, the Chinese new year fallson different days each year.

In China,the speciallocal foodand thesnack can bevarious from oneplace to another.For example in thesouthern provincespeople usuallyhave rice for dinnerwhile in the north,

pass quickly so that they can enjoy the annual TV program, spring festivalparty, which will be broadcast at 8 PM all over the country .The program isprepared especially for New Year Eve that has lasted for about 20 years

mainly because it has been the essential part of the Chinese New Year. In New Year’s Day all members of the family have to stay in the house.If it is an extended family, like the grandparents have several sons anddaughters who also have several sons and daughters, then the oldestgeneration's house is supposed to be the place for reunion at New Year’s

Day. It's so lucky for the younger generations, because they can get “luckymoney” from their uncles, aunts, parents and grandparents. But beforegetting the red packets they must say "Happy New Year " to the person whogives them red packets. Despite the ritual, certainly all of the kids like to dothis.

people will choose steamed bread, and someof them only can beenjoyedsomewhere. Thusyou may not havethe chances to eatsome food withsome special localcharacteristics athome. To sum up,

it is impossible tolist all the Chinesefood with theirunique anddistinguishingmarks whereasthere are somekinds of food whichChinese will share altogether during somespecial days and festivals or even the ordinatedays.

From the 3rd to the 14th day, Chinesepeople will visit their colleagues, friends,classmates and acquaintances with some gifts.This is also an important activity and is verymeaningful in Chinese’s culture. After one yearbeing hard-working, they will thank and showtheir respect to people who company with them togo though the one-year's path, and to keep ongoing ahead with them in the next year. The last day of the New Year is LanternFestival. Once the Chinese New Year passes, theChinese hope they can reunite again the next yearto hold the party again. Meanwhile on that day,every family will eat Tang Yuan, a kind of Chinesefood, which I will introduce to you in the next part. Above all, Chinese New Year is the mostimportant festival in China. The importance ofChinese New Year to Chinese is like theimportance of Christmas to Western people.

CHINESE FOOD

seem to be much faster? Beside dumpling,Tang Yuan is a sort offood for Lantern festival.Tang Yuan, which ismade of glutinous riceflour, and whose name isalso taken from the

festival, is a very important part ofthe Lantern Festival.

The stuffing inside Tang Yuan is sosweet, which is made of sugar,

walnuts, sesame and so forth. Each or allof which can be used as the filling. Theway to make Tang Yuan is simpler thanChinese dumplings. So here we go: shapethe dough of rice flour into ball, make ahole in order to insert the filling in it. thenuse your hands to roll it to cover the hole.Later, boil these small balls with water andsugar, the latter of which is optional. Youcan easily notice that these balls will dipinto the bottom of the pan at first, but aftera few minutes they will emerge. A shorttime after that they will expand into theright size by the heat. So those are the main traditionalChinese food and both have the close-knitrelationship with Chinese New Year.Moreover you can find how important theChinese New Year is in Chinese heart.

In the past 5000 years the Chinesethinkers had emergedin an endless stream.Many of them are verywell known in Chinatill now and areadored by lots ofpeople. The reason isit is believed thatsome of their

Do you know thetraditional Chinese food--dumpling that is essentialfor Chinese during theholidays, even every day?The history of Chinesedumpling should dateback to the Song dynasty. Yearsby years the later generationsinherit the tradition of the older.Surprisingly, the New Year’s ritualof the Chinese ancestors was the sameas the modern one. As the coming of theNew Year means the beginning of the newspring, they decided to eat dumpling toexpress their best wishes for the next year.Moreover, they find eating dumpling costsless time compared with having a formaldinner. How to make dumpling? Firstly wemix flour with a little water and knead itwith hands. When felling, the flour is softenough to be cut into small pieces. Thenwe use rolling pin to sharp the paste intothin and round shape. After that we put theingredients in it (The ingredients can bemade of something like chopped meat orchopped vegetables). Finally firmly pressthe side of the paste to hold the ingredientinside it, then simply put this stuff into theboiling water until it is cooked. Afterfinishing all the above mentioned steps, allyou have to do now is to wait to enjoy thegreat food. Making dumpling sometimesrequires teamwork, especially in theChinese New Year. Just imagine that wehave to prepare enough dumplings forabout 30 persons or even more in thisfestival together,that would be reallya tough work. Thensmaller teams arerequested to be incharge of . Doesn’t it

D U M P L I N G S & TA N G Y U A N

C O N F U C I O U S T H O U G H T

famous remarks can betested or be learnt after theflow of the times. During that time avery famous thought rising calledConfucius thought. But moreimportantly, it became one of thekey Chinese beliefs teaching themhow to treat others,and how to be a realman. When talkingabout Confucius’thoughts, I just wantto mention twosages: the onecreating the thoughtand the otherdeveloping it. In fact,the creator is

Confucius who was a Chinese thinker and a socialphilosopher, and whose teachings and philosopher

theories have influenced the Chinese’s life. Histheories highlight the importance of the moralityof persons and country ,the correctness ofsocial relationship ,justice and sincerity. thesevalues gain priority to other doctrines .and wecan find his learning in the Analects of

Confucius which contains his brief aphoristicfragments and compiled by his students after manyyears when he died. the modern historians don’tbelieve that the Analects of Confucius was written byhimself and give us the proof that his students werethe editors

The developer is Mencius who is also one ofthe famous confucian representatives as anancient thinker ,educator and statesman. Menciusinherited and developed the thought of Confucius,put forward a comprehensive ideology whosestanding position to be fierce criticism ofConfucianism. he traveled once many countries tolobby his "benevolent" and "Dao" ideology.However, due to the nobility and being busy withthe war, his ideology was ignored and consideredto be far away from realism. so there is not anymonarch adopt his idea .

M E N C I O U S

Charisma

POWER-UP YOUR

Above are 5 basic things you should keep in mind before proceeding actual search.Typical scenario would be: Narrow your search by trying possible combinations and start with the mostpopular keywords. Remember, the more specific, the narrower results you would get.

(Translate this page/ Saved in Cache/ Similar pages) Omit irrelevant web pages by skiming at the e andthe of that link as shown in figure above. Before going any further, let’s take alook at typical types of websites:

The 1st type is commercial. Those webs belong to this category aim forbuying/selling and advertising stuffs, such as wigwam, www.raovat.com , www.123mua.com.You can notice by looking at their relatively short addresses. Go for them if you need infor-mation about a specific product (description, functionality, price), otherwise ignore.

The 2nd type is online-news. The information in those often provided by a limited groupof people or even by taking from other news websites. Therefore they are not utterly reliable.Some examples are www.yahoo.com, www.cnn.com, www.thanhnien.com.vn, www.tuoitre.com.vn

(which you can rely on), www.dantri.com

The 3rd type is community-oriented. They often present in form of forums and requiremembership to view the content (you will most likely see some keywords in the address“forum”, “showthread”). Famous examples are www.yeuamnhac.com, www.5giay.com

The 4th type is personal. They usually be blogs like www.360.yahoo.com orwww.facebook.com

Finally the 5th type is scam. Sometimes they are harmless, other times they will injectviruses; spywares thus destroy yourcomputer or steal your money. Thesekinds of websites usually provides manylinks to many different websites, pops upso many windows and sometimesrequire you to download and installsomething to proceed further. Justremember don’t. Examples arewww. .ws/index.php www. z.to

For each type, you should know someexamples and save them for later back-up information. It also depends on per-sonal preference. Google also gives youan online notebook for free at this ad-dress: www.notebook.google.com

Once you know what sort of informationfrom specific websites, try going to thewebsites and do the search from them.In case of community sites, which often

need registration before viewing contents, you can go to Google and hit Advanced Search link,which has an option of looking for information in particular websites without beforehand reg-istration to your keywords (ex: dell site:www.5giay.com).

If you want to download document files (word, powerpoint, pdf) , hit Advanced Searchlink and add another condition or just add your keywords (ex: dell laptopfiletype:pdf).

POWER-UP YOUR

If you want to download files (ebook, music, short video) which are less than 100mb, addone of following keys to your search “rapidshare.com”, “megaupload.com“,”mediafire.com”,box.net”.Example: I’d like to download a song “Over the rainbow” performed by Jason Castro in AmericanIdol season 7 with decent quality.· First try: Over the rainbow, of course. Quickly glance at the brief descriptions andaddresses, I can identify that the results fall into 3 categories: lyric of the song, online-listeningand video (only 1 relevant lucky result) and information about other artists also perform thatsong. Almost all results are irrelevant.· So I narrow my search by using Over the rainbow Jason castro. This time categories areonline-videos, information of the artist, and some commercial websites trying to sell mp3 versionof that song. Quite close but still not what I’m looking for.· 3rd try, Over the rainbow Jason castro mp3 download. This time most of the results arefrom sites trying to sell the song. It’s getting closer, but still not what I’m after· 4th try, Over the rainbow Jason castro rapidshare.com. In the first page I found 4rapidshare links to download the song, and the first result given by www.yeuamnhac.com works.DONE! Assume that I never used www.yeuamnhac.com, so now I know that it is a communitywebsite which provides good sources of music as well as an interesting place for music fan todiscuss about artists and songs. Then I keep this website in mind (or another easier option is tobookmark it on the web page) for later searches. Next time, I would register for an account onthat forum and search. Or I’m just too lazy to do that so I exploit Google again by putting, forexample: Apologize timbaland site:yeuamnhac.com to find song ”apologize” performed by“Timbaland” The bottom line to use Google effectively and efficiently is to increasingly expand yournotebook of websites and its contents. Once you have broader database, you could get fewer butmore relevant result and it’s just a matter of seconds and some clicks till you find exactly whatyou want. Have fun and good luck with Google!

December 2008

M T W T F S S

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8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25Christmas Day

26Boxing Day

27 28

29 30 31

Fanronaldo

A good meal ought to begin with hunger _ French proverb.

Yorkshire Pudding

Moroccan cuisine to reach its excellencyamong the international cuisines. British cuisine suffers from arelatively poor international reputation.The British dishes generally consist ofsimply cooked meat and vegetables; theyare also called “meat and two veg".Furthermore, the British busy life stylerelays more on pre-packaged ready mealsfor the fact that it requires littlepreparation time as well as effort. Despitethe fast food reputation, traditionalBritish dishes such as The ,Yorkshire have survived largely inthe countryside and among the upperclass.

Different cuisines are dominatedby dissimilarity from countries tocountries and certainly from cultures tocultures. Cooking styles are mostlycreated from the culture attitude as wellas the life style of one particular country.So far, cuisine is regarded as a featurewhich distinguishes one country fromanother. In effect, we can categorizecooking style into two types: Moroccoand British cuisine.

Moroccan cuisine preserves itsoriginal reputation and widens itsboarders to western cuisine. and

are perhaps the biggest culinaryindications of a steadfast tradition. Tajin,the daily dish always assembles the familymembers to hot and delicious meals. Tajindish includes seasoned vegetables; red,white, or even fish meat; and somecommon spices which have a strong tasteon the dish. Yet, Couscous of the Coldengrains and assorted vegetables is thespecial meal for  Friday.However,  Moroccan cuisine adjusts toother cuisines. Hence, many ingredientsand recipes have been added to theoriginal version which serves

Tajin

Ibtissam

It is said that “Tomato is still tomato, whatever trying youhave to reverse the word order, it is still tomato.” If it is redinside, outside it will be surely that red, unlike watermelonof which the green outside can not reflect the true red

inside…I myself always love to live like a tomato, always red inside as well as outside.

But can we live that way in this life? I guess it is so difficult to do so in such a bustling,harsh and gloomy society when everyone just cares about their own business and treatseach other with their wisdom in the behavior as well as suspicion somewhere in their mind.So in almost cases, people choose the proverb “Pay a man back in the same coin”as their way to live. It is also called the perfect combination between tomatoand watermelon. Do you think so?

However, there is a man saying that “ If you meet someone for thefirst time and immediately recognize good and bad things insidehim/her, there will be no more interesting. The bad one is notabsolutely useless, but they may add some values in our life andmake it more meaningful somehow”. It is good to have a“tomato” as your friend, but to be with a “watermelon” ismuch more interesting. S/He brings something new to youto discover the true value behind that glacial face.Moreover, life is mutual, we should set up

relationships

with variouskinds of people in

many different status.

And yes, you can not deny that day by day, year by year, you go to work, you go toschool, you travel to somewhere, you see many happy faces, you talk to many good peoplebut in case you are too innocent, you’ve got something in your mind about what they tellyou, why they help you without any purpose. And without any recognition on purpose, youare living in a watermelon society. As a human being and also getting stuck in this kind of mutual relationship,however, I’d love to live my life as a tomato. I’d love to paint my life black and white insteadof gray or brown. I’d love to have more tomato friends than watermelon ones because you cannot denythe fact that there’re some moments in your life when your soul, your mind and your heart

Tomato vs. Watermelon

Tomato

as well are full of painful and hopeless feelings,then you’ll need someone by your side to share your true

feelings, to be your friend, a friend indeed.Have you ever asked yourself why you often doubt others? Is that what

you ever give them?Have you ever felt painful when somebody hurts you by their outsidewisdom? Once you know how much you are hurt, do you still want to dothe same for others?It is true that nobody is perfect, but you are who you really choose tobe.“I know who I am, which makes me perfect.” That is the way I am.And you? Which do you choose to live, like a tomato or awatermelon? Whichever you choose, just be strong, standhigh and believe in yourself.Good luck, my all dear friends!

Tomato vs. Watermelon

Watermelon

Red

Uniquely SingaporeA small country wi th b ig dreams

Singapore is an island located south of theJohor state of Malaysia. It takes about one hourto travel from Singapore city to the Singapore-Malaysia border. Travelling between Ho Chi MinhCity and Singapore only takes about two hours.Many airlines such as Vietnam Airlines,Singapore Airlines and Tiger Airways offer flightsto Singapore from Ho Chi Minh City. I stronglyrecommend you to fly with Tiger Airways if priceis your only concern. Visa is not required if youare holding a Vietnam (as well as other SouthEast Asian (SEA) nations) passport unless yourpurpose is other than visiting. Normally, a 30-day-stamp-visa will be granted at the customs.

A dealer d isplayingSingapore dol lar

Pass ing Singapore

Immigrat ion

The country used to be a British base toget access to the SEA region until 1963 and partof Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. In 1965, Singaporedeclared independence and has got immenseachievements since then. English is the officialadministrative and educational language inSingapore although most Singaporeans canspeak a second language like Mandarin, Malayand Tamil. Currency in use is Singapore Dollarwhich has an exchange rate of 11,000 – 12,000 toVietnam Dong.

Welcome to another edition of Hereand There where you can “travel” tobeautiful places in our country and abroad.Leaving ‘Truly Asia’ Malaysia, this time I am

going to take you to another neighbouringcountry which has attracted more and

more Vietnamese tourists recently. Inthis nation, size merely bears a

physical meaning while fanciness isall that counts. I am talking aboutSingapore, a small country with big

dreams.

Singapore is really a small country. Thewhole island is just more than 700 km2 andoccupied by nearly 5 million people. Beingsmall, however, has not stopped this countryfrom being impressive in most other aspects.Singapore is the sixth wealthiest nation in termsof GDP in the world, one of the Four AsianTigers along with Hong Kong, South Korea andTaiwan, the birthplace of one of the mostinspirational leader in the world history, LeeKuan Yew. Its educational system is alsorecognized worldwide and the four mainuniversities (NUS, NTU, SMU and Uni SIM) aredream schools of many South East Asianstudents including Vietnamese.

Uniquely Singapore

Singapore tourism is doing as successfully as itseconomy and education and living up with the

slogan “Uniquely Singapore”. There are so many things that youcan see, play and taste in this tiny country. Moreover, you can plan aschedule to see as much as possible without getting exhausted from travellinghundreds of miles.

O n e o f S i n g a p o r e ’ su n i v e r s i t i e s : N U S

... The whole island is just more

than 700 km2 and occupied by

nearly 5 million people. Being

small, however, has not stopped

this country from being ...

Changi Airport Changi Airport is the first tourist spot you must see upon arriving inSingapore. In short, this place is large, shiny, spectacular and full of surprises.Changi will totally change your ideas about an airport and its functions. Serving wellits air transportation purpose, Changi is also a hub of entertainment, shopping,sightseeing, tourism, exploration and relaxation. In particular, there is a natural trailwithin the airport that will take you on an eco-trip without going anywhere else. Thetrail starts at Butterfly garden, the first one of its kind in an airport, then to BambooGarden, Cactus Garden, Fern Garden and Kopi Pond, orchid Garden and Kopi Pond,and concludes at Sunflower Garden. For those whose interests are engineering andwater, a free shuttle-bus service will take you to NEWater, a plant that recycleswater for human consumption. NEWater is one of the four sources that not only provides water for Singapore but alsoexports it to the neighbouring country, Malaysia.NEWwater staff will guide you through the water history ofSingapore, history of the company and recycling processin a fantastic way. You can also have a taste of “ourfuture” by drinking 100% bottled recycled water. Youshould not let your mental aversion interfere with thetasting; otherwise, your assessment will be biased. It’ssafe, I tried it.

B o o k s t o r e & s i g n s i n

S i n g a p o r e ’ s C h a n g i

A i r p o r t

Esplanade It is said that you have not been to Singapore if you have not been toSentosa and the Esplanade. I totally agree with the second place. If the Aussietake pride in Sydney Opera House, the Singaporeans have Esplanade. It islocated on the waterfront along the Marina Bay and looks straight at theSingapore River. The theatre is a centre for performing arts and also a venue forexhibitions. The design of the Esplanade resembles two halves of a durian somuch that many locals call it The Durian. At night, the theatre is splendidlyphotogenic as it is lit up with silver lights.

Esplanade

Sentosa Island Sentosa Island is another place mostSingaporeans would recommend you to go ifyou are new to this country. It is an islandresort and amusement park located south ofSingapore. In my opinion, I would say I wasa bit disappointed when I came there thefirst time. Sentosa looks relativelyartificial and unnaturally colourfulalthough there are some attractivespots. The Merlion and Merlion Walk isa good reason to go to Sentosa. Thiswalk will introduce you to the history of

Singapore. You will know how Singapore orSingapura (in Malay) got this name and why Merlion

becomes the symbol of the country. It is also interesting to learnor igin of the word ‘Merlion’ which is a fusion of mermaid and lion (Oops, Ithink I have revealed too much). Nevertheless, the country history is as nice as abed-time story and the look-out from the Merlion statue is rewarding. Along with the Merlion Walk, Song of the Sea is a performance takingplace right at Sentosa. It tells the story of a young man with a singing talent, theprincess of the sea, a curse etc (you know what is going to happen, don’t you?).This is a nice show but it does not hurt if you miss it.

Talking about the Merlion, the statue at Sentosa is not the only one inSingapore. I have found and created my own trail to discover the other twomerlions in the mainland Singapore. One of them is by the Singapore River andopposite the Esplanade. The last and also the smallest one is at the samelocation. Once you’ve reached the big Merlion, it is not too hard to spot the miniversion.

Suntec City The last spot I would like to suggest isSunTec City where you can catch the Fountainof Wealth’s laser show. SunTec City is acomplex of convention and exhibition centres,shopping malls and office buildings. It is in thecentre of Singapore and the central businessdistrict of the country. Five buildings of thisconstruction are situated in a way to mimicfive fingers of a human left hand facing up.The palm of this hand is the gigantic Fountainof Wealth where jets of water continuouslyflow everyday and the laser show takesplace at night. A curtain of water mistscreated by the jet becomes a screen forthis show. There are only three performancesscheduled at 8.00pm, 8.30pm and 9.00pm, so make sure that you are ready to watch at least one.

Sentosa Island

A n M R T S t a t i o n

n a m e d A n g M o

K i o

Cuisine Eating in Singapore is so unique that you have to experience by yourself. It isunique in terms of price, availability and taste. You can have a decent meal for lessthan $S 7. Hawker centres and food courts are everywhere offering a fusion ofcuisines including Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Western foods. When people talkabout Singapore food, they talk about Chicken Rice, Laksa (rice noodle in spicygravy with fish cake, fried tofu, egg and sometimes cockles), Satay (grilled meat onsticks), Char Kway Teow (fried noodles in black sauce), Roti Prata (Singaporeanevolution of Indian pancake), etc. Some other must-try foods are bak chor mee, meepok (fish ball or pork mince noodles). Braised frog’s leg congee and chilli crab arealso not to be missed. Geylang is quite well-known for these two dishes. Justremember: order the braised frog’s leg and congee separately and one crab isenough for two to three people.

Transportat ion & Ending Last but not least, public transportation in Singapore is very convenient withan integrated bus-train service. Because you may travel mostly on the Mass RapidTransit (MRT) bus, you should purchase the EZ-link card. You can use this card on both bus and train. Credits can be topped up at anyMRT station. You can also return the cards and get the deposits refunded at ChangiAirport MRT station upon leaving. Although Singapore is a small country, what I have presented so far is just ascratch on the surface. There are many other places that I have heard, seen anddesperately wanted to share with you. I hope that you are not exhausted from theverbal trip we have been through and that you are inspired to see more ofSingapore. If you feel so and want to make your own explorations, please do it safelyby travelling in groups, planning ahead, securing your valuable belongings andpassport and always letting somebody know where you are up to.

Hannibal

Board of Honor

Speakin

g corn

er

Walkie Talkie Team------------------Website: www.watavn.comEmail: WT.Contact@gmail.com

15122008

Merry Christmas Merry

ChristmasMerry

Chris

tmas

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, WE’D LIKE TO SEND OUR GREETING NOTETO YOU, MY FRIENDS, IN THIS SPECIAL MONTH -DECEMBER. WISH YOU ALL THAT YOU WISH FORYOURSELF! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN! MERRY CHRISTMAS! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best