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About Me

About Me
CrystalPhuong.net is a Personal Style & Travel Blog based in Singapore, written by Crystal Phuong. The blog was nominated FOUR times in Top 10 Best Fashion Blogs in the annual Singapore Blog Award from 2012- 2015, voted as one of the Best Lifestyle Blogs in Singapore in 2013 by Hotelclub.com, and Best Travel Blogs in 2016 by Foodpanda.com. Crystal hopes to connect and inspire young women to lead a healthy and happy life. Be confident, be positive, and be kind.

CULTURE DIMENSSION


It might not be 100% accurate but it's interesting and I'm sure those who have ever lived in Europe or Western countries for sometime will know exactly what I am talking about:

THESE ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WESTERN (BLUE COLOR) AND ASIAN (RED COLOR) CULTURE.

 1. POINT OF VIEW

They always go straight to the point. Example, in Europe if a guy falls in love with a girl, he will say "I love you" then I kiss you. But in Asia...: "Do you see the weather today is so nice? And the dress you are wearing is so pretty. You look beautiful today and suddenly i feel falling in love with you" bla bla bla....Sounds weird? But I swear, this is true :D Different pick-up skills.

 2. LIFESTYLE

THEY... live independently but WE...are a family, we are a team, we are...the world. We love family gathering, living in a big family. Nothing is wrong with that, it's just hard for a Westerner to get along with an Asian family at first :D

 3. ON TIME

THEY say 12pm is 12pm. WE say 12pm means...around from 11.45am to 12.10pm sometimes even 12.30pm. Perhaps their times is made of metal, ours is made of rubber, so it can extend.

4. COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

WE sometimes make simple things become more complicated because of the way we communicate. Example, we want to criticize the person A, we don't talk to them directly. We will talk to the person B, then the person B talks to the C, C talks to D....Then finally D talks to A but it's not 100% accurate like what we want talk to A anymore. Thus, misunderstanding arises....So, a Westerner might question "Why can't you just tell a person directly what is right or wrong with them?", an Asian says "It's rude to criticize someone unless you are very close to that person or else they will get hurt. Worse scenario, they don't want to be friend with you anymore because Asian people tend to take it personal and longer time to forget".

 5. ANGER When THEY are angry, they express the anger. When WE are angry at someone, WE hide it inside and smile "No, It's OK. It doesn't matter". How generous we are! lolzzzz....In fact, inside our heart, we hate them like shit! Hahahaa

 6.QUEUING UP This is already improved in our countries. But some other countries, they still prefer queuing up like a bubble team.

  7. EGO Well, I feel this is not really accurate because nowadays, the ego of Asian people tend to become bigger especially MEN EGO (sorry, I didn't mean criticizing here or complaining).

 8. STREET AT THE WEEKEND

This might not be true coz I guess everywhere the shopping center, streets will get crowded in the weekend. IT doesn't matter in Asia or American.

9. IN THE PARTY

They gather in a small group of 2, 3 or 4 people to have a chat. We want to be in big circle with everyone.

10. MUSIC IN THE RESTAURANT Have you come across with this experience while you go to a restaurant, a coffee house, you have to shout at each other coz the music is too loud? I do. :D

 11. CAUSE OF STOMACH ACHE

THEY like fast food and coke drink, WE always drink TEA. So it might not be good for the stomach too if you drink all the time.

12. TOURISM THEY enjoy all the touristy places they've been by their eyes, WE enjoy it by all the photos we take and view them at....HOME later. Lolz, so funny!

 13. PRESENTATION SKILL

In the meeting, THEY dare to look at the mistakes and get over it. We try to avoid it as much as possible coz WE don't want to hurt others in a group. Or if we talk about it, we will say "There is 1 mistake over here, but it's not our fault"

 14. THREE MEALS IN A DAY

THEY prefer 2 cold and 1 hot meal. Our food have to be always hot. That's why people love steamboat I think, lolz...

  15. TRANSPORTATION From year 1970 to 2006. Is it true? :D


 16. OLD PEOPLE'S LIVES

No wonder, my parents already talked about marriage and having children to me. Lolz.

 17. BATHING TIME This one depends on individual. I take bath twice in a day, in the morning before I go to work and at night before I go to bed. Some people prefer cleanliness, they can take bath 2-3 times a day, in the morning, afternoon and evening but some don't even have once. So can't judge the whole community.

 18. WEATHER VS. MOOD




19. BOSS VS. EMPLOYEES
To THEM, Boss is a friend. To US, Boss is a Big Boss. 


  20. TREND Perhaps, due to the globalization, many Western people learn how to use chopsticks and love Asian foods whilst Asian people start using fork and knife and eat spaghetti.

  21. CHILDREN

To THEM, Children is a small citizen who is waiting time to grow up. To US, Children is the Center of everythings: Attention, Care, Love, Foods, Needs, Wants, etc...

 22. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, HOW THEY THINK ABOUT EACH OTHER?

Lolz, next post, should I write about the marriage between Europe guy and Asian gal? :D Although there are a lot of contradictions between Western and Asian people, but you can't deny that nowadays, there are many couples who come from totally different cultures fall in love with each other. Many Europe guys love Asian girls and vice versa, maybe it's something new. Don't believe? Proof is here :D

  Just a short post to cheer everyone up after a whole tiring week. Have a good weekend all!
Crystalicious
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HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY!


It's has been such a long time, I have not had a long sleep like today! I woke up at 11.30am this morning. It felt so nice! I think I lack of sleeps seriously since I started working. I have only 5 hours of sleep every day. That's why every weekend staying at home, I just sleep, sleep and sleep. Luckily, my work is catching up and getting better and better. Last month, I was in top 5 sales in my company and awarded "Best attitude employee" of the month. Sound good?:D This month, I think I got even more sales, probably around RM2x,xxx.00. Work damn hard to achieve it, you know. I'll have a Genting trip with my company at the end of the month and might be going Perak for 2 days to meet up clients. Are you from Perak? Tell me what to do there?

By the way, today is 8/3. Today is International Women's Day in some of the communist countries i.e: Vietnam, China, Russia... This early morning I received some phone calls from my friends and family from Vietnam. They wished me Happy Women's Day. As usual, I don't have the feeling of that day until they called me because here, in Malaysia, there is no Women's Day. So on the occasion of the Women's Day, I want to dedicate this blog post to one lady that I love the most. I really miss her so much. Every time, when I feel down, she always encourages me to stay stronger, to be more optimistic. She is the one who always supports me in whatever I do, and respects whatever decision I make. I couldn't give her any flower for any gift today, but I know she will not be upset about it. In my heart, I just wish her to stay young and healthy forever with me. I couldn't imagine how miserable my life will be if without her. Because she is not only my mother but also "my sister", "my closest friend". And here she is:
Muaxxxx! I love you, Mom!
By the way, I also want to wish all my friends (girls), your sisters, your moms will be always beautiful, happy in life and love, successful in career and stay younger every years through.
Crystalicious
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NEW YEAR 2008 IN VIET NAM


I wanted to blog about my Vietnam trip once I came back here, but there are a lot of things I needed to do so I didn't have much time. But here you go!

This photo I took on the way from Malaysia to Vietnam. The weather was just pretty good, the clouds look pretty and clear.

You can see your country below.

During the first 2 weeks, most of the time I stayed at home and cooked lot of food. 2 meals a day for 8 people, you believe? This is my food, I cooked. Delicious? Tasted good too!

Then only the day before New Year, I went out shopping with my brother, my father, my mom (different people, different day). This is how the night market in Vietnam was during New Year.
  The world of handbags and hats. I bought 2 hats and 1 handbag home. Unfortunately, I left it in Vietnam. My mom was so happy because she got a free new hat.

  The crowded street with thousands of people, a lot of goodies, accessories for New Year. Especially, this one is so unique...

 

I bought this "Effiel tower" home :D Is it pretty? Nice for decoration, I think ;).
And then, we went back to our hometown to pay a respect to our ancestor. Every time I went back to my grandmother's house, I would go to visit my grandfather as well. He is "resting" here.

 
Then we went to the farm to buy a New Year tree, I don't know how you guys call this, but the Vietnamese name of this sounds similar to Mandarin. We call it "Dao hoa"

 
Then, I went to meet up some of my high school friends. It's has been such a long time we haven't seen each other...

New Year Eve, I went to sing K with my brother's colleagues.

They are so funny.

That's all we did before New Year. After the New Year? Morning, eat! Lunch, eat! Evening, eat! It was repeated the same from the 1st day until the 7th day. I felt like I couldn't breathe and I thought I was putting on weight at least 2kg.

One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to this famous temple which is a Bronze temple (fully made of bronze). That temple was so powerful that so many people who died on the way back home after they had offended this temple. I have never been there before until last new year. Many people said that you wish could become true if you pray to the Buddha with sincerity. The other special thing about this temple is it's located on the top of the mountain which is higher than the ground 2000meters and almost vertical mountain, not the type of diagonal way that is easy for you to climb. However, every New Year, there are more than a few thousand people from all over the country came here. You can see how crowded it was with a narrow staircase.


It's almost there! 45 mins left. To climb from the bottom to the top, it took you around 4hours at least.

Here is it! The Bronze Temple!


It looks simple, but it's actually not. All made of real bronze which is very high value. It's said that there was a thief who came to this temple before and he tried to steal the Buddha statue to sell. But he was unlucky because he slipped on the stone staircase and fell down into the chasm, then died immediately.

Here, there is 1 very big bell which, if someone rings the bell, it will rain later 15 minutes. Perhaps, it's too near to the sky.

  I don't know about others, but to me, after visiting this temple, I felt so peaceful. I could forget all the bad things happen and obviously, I felt much better, happier, more optimistic like some intangible spirit pushed me up. And I could get ready to come back Malaysia for the next 2 days and could be stronger to face a lot of new things. End of the trip is the photo taken on the cloudy sky in Vietnam


Hanging up in the sky and below is the forest! The feeling was so nice but also so.....scared :D
  Introduce to you, this is my beloved God-son.  I want to blog more, it's already too late, 2.02am now and tomorrow I have to go to work early. So next time then.
Crystalicious
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