..travis..travis...travis...
.. cant sleep...
can't sleep tonight
everybody's saying everything is alright
still I can't close my eyes
I'm seeing a tunnel at the end of all of these lights
sunny days, where have you gone?
I get the strangest feeling you belong

(chorus)
why does it always rain on me?
is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
why does it always rain on me?
even when the sun is shinning I can't avoid the lightning

I can't stand myself
I'm being held up by invisible men
still life on a shelf when
I've got my mind on something else
sunny days, oh where have you gone
I get the strangest feeling you belong

why does it always rain on me?
is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
why does it always rain on me?
even when the sun is shinning I can't avoid the lightning


middle eight
oh where did the blue sky go?
oh why is it raining so?
it's so cold

repeat 1st verse and chorus

oh where did the blue sky go? oh why is it raining so?
it's so cold

why does it always rain on me?
is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
why does it always rain on me?
even when the sun is shinning I can't avoid the lightning
why does it always rain on me?
why does it always rain on

How we play Tyba? :)

The player uses a plectrum which she holds in her right hand and plucks either upward or downward in a quick run.

The technique for left hand, which presses the strings, includes glissando, staccato, arpeggio and tremolo. The Dan Ty Ba music is light and cheerful. The instrument is played solo or as part of an orchestra or a band accompanying the singing of Hue melodies or cai luong operas.

Ty Ba recitals are well liked by music lovers at home and abroad. Though related to the Japanese biwa and the Chinese pipa, the Ty Ba has a SPECIAL AND UNIQUE personality of its own. ;)

What is Tyba? Check out previous update ;)...

So here is the instrument i just start learning... though i was very much in love with guitar and drums , must admit Tyba is just sOooOo COol too.. and enjoy it so much now though i m still a beginner.. ;)..Also proud of it cuz in the world only Vietnam has Tyba...;).. so its kinda TYPICAL..typical...TypIcAl... music of..VIETNAMESEEEeee.. ;)

Look at it!! ;)

The Dan Ty Ba is a four-string instrument which is frequently present in a traditional orchestra. Its soundbox is shaped like a pear cut in half lengthwise. Its soundboard is made of unvarnished light wood, and its back is made of hard wood with a slightly convex surface. The neck is short and tightly fixed to the soundbox. Originally the neck bore no frets; now, however, it has four frets in addition to eight others on the soundboard and two under the strings with the highest pitch.

The frets stand low and close to each other following the heptatonic scale. The instrument has four pegs for tuning. The strings, formerly of twisted silk, are now made of plastic.

How we play it? Check out next update!

... finally winter is arriving... after months of hot hot hto weather cold winds came today.. brezzzze...breezzzee on my face....this is so cool.. love being wrapped in cozzzy cozzzy big coat and green cambodian scarf....
...beautiful winter...little rain of spring left over... typical typical typical rain of..Hanoiii....
;)

okie so i got a quite fun news today...my name was published twice on books jeje ;)

First one : a 16 pages bio about me appears on " 25 Exellent Women Faces of Vietnam ".. hehe.. there were 3 young women featured in that book (one is sport girl, one is student scientist and me an activist..).. the book is launched at Annual National Women conference of the government... hehe sounds abit show off.. but well after series of bad things falling on my head this is something sound a bit good anyway ;).. and yeah feel quite proud of myself!! yuck.. wanna tell me dad now.. but hes toooo far away...

Second one : my name appear as an Author. 4 years ago, i participated in a contest " Write about your teacher " and i wrote about Jerry and MD my Englush teachers. i did not get the prize ;) but still felt GREAT HAPPY cuz my piece was published on newspaper and Jerry and MD cried when they read it. 4 years after, today i got a book from the Youth Publisher.YIppee.. my writing piece was chosen the 30 best ones from thousand of writing pieces from the contest to be published in a book named " My Teacher"... I read the book twice .. now gonna read it the third time hehe ;)..

So Nick helped me to improve my proposal on street children. if you read my previous message you will see i just droped an update and Nick offered help. And i wrote him and he helped SO MUCH!!..Though i believe this world is quite a beautiful places with beautiful special people, i also see in the world there are few people those who would help others without personal motivations.. just helo becuz their hearts want to.. and Nick i have known about you only for a short time and just virtually ;) but it seem u r one of those very few.. and i' m proud to have new Aussie fren like u !! ;) ...
honest.. honest..honest.. woooooorrrrrrrdddd.. from bottom.. bottom..bottom.. of my grrrrrooooooovyyyy heart!! ;)

Mr Huy is my great great great advisor for the a street children project
i am working on ( Nick knows well about it ;) ) ..
And YUP he is really GREAT.. today we got the annoucement..
He got the No 1 Prize at the Writing For Children competition, an annual competition among all the journalists(brodcast, TV, news..) working in Vietnam and all the products must focus on children issues.
Huy's report was about a kid who was burnt because of the neighbour's carelessness. The little boy was forgotten until Huy's report appear on radio and newspaper. Now the neighbour is arrested and will be judged soon.Huy has to put so much time and energy in the investigation and most of all his sweet hearted always beats for children help him to bring belief and justice to the little boy again.
He has won many prized on his journalistic work for children and social changes. But this is the most incredible work i think. He worths it!!!
Huy Congratulations.. I m proud of you!!!

Binh is my childhood friend.
He was a drug addict, a stealer.

Look at the picture...
It is one of the sweetest pictures of my childhood. In the picture : my mom, sister, Binh's mom, Binh the cute boy in blue sport and little 5 year old me in red without two front teeth ;)...At that time,Vietnam is very poor with newly open economy.Our families are just normal officers. We dont have our private homes.For those like us, the government put us each in a flat in buildings.We were in the same 5 storey building and on the same 2nd floor.

It was a building of memories...
I came to Berlin and lived in a flat in a building and it was very quiet because people dont communicate with their neighbours much. It was totally different with our buildings in Vietnam. It is a real community where everyones knows one another. People really cared about each other. Everything we do everyone knew. It was fun but troublesome as well. But at that small age, we dont care much about the troublesome part. We enjoyed our life with many friends. When my dad gave me a Russion spoon, all the girls in the building came and we played cooking. On Middle Autumm Celebration (traditional holiday for kids) adults donated money and made a big party for us on the balcony of the 2nd floor.All the kids got together,played hide and seeked,ate,had fun and made the whole building and its adults headaching. Now my family has private home but i have no neighbour friend.And sometimes i miss them my childhood neighbour friend.

Among them, one of the coolest is Binh...
Binh was one of the coolest friend of me and my sister. I was 5, my sister 8 and Binh 10. He was the most clever among the boys. He knew so many games, he led us the smaller one, he was the captain. He loved calling me Potato, my home nick, and always kidded my granny, made she go nuts and when he was gone she burst into laugh. Everyone loves his little sweet teasing, the way he was so mischivious and his funny flaterring words. My dad worked far from home so it is sad sometimes. Every evening, my mom and Binh's mom get together , talk, kill the time, drink little women fav wine while we the kids played, argued our silly little things and laughed with what adults thought sillt little nonsense...and it stayed in our minds all those silly little... My childhood was beautiful and so memorable becuz of this old building, these friends and one of them is Binh...

Oneday we lost him....
We moved to our new private home. We are too busy with our own new life. Sometimes Binh's mom called my mom and they talked and she cried on the phone. We lost our Binh. He started to use drugs. His mom doesnt know until he started to steal her money, jewelry and even sold the refrigerator to have money for heroine. He killed his mom's belief in him. From a brilliant boy he became so cruel...skipped school...had a bunch of girlfriends who droped out school...dared to bit her mom when he needs money for drugs... his mom called the police to arrest him. he was kept in the house then but his spoiled friends climed to the second floor and gave him drugs...

Binh's mom...
was a wonderful woman.. a kind frank and caring woman. It was very sad for me to know about Binh but was even worse to have to believe what he was doing to his mom. Binh wanted to give himself away to drugs but his mom doesnt want to give away her son. She made a choice which would bring her many difficulties in life but would help her son.Last year, She gave up her good salary job in Hanoi and brought Binh to her hometown a rural place so that he could get away from his friends, from city life and tried to get out of drugs. We havent heard from them for a year until now.

We found Binh again...
It was a magic or not i dont know but i feel so happy cuz we found him again our sweet Binh. His mom and he just went to Hanoi and they came to visit us. Binh is totally change now. My mom talked to him. It was very hard at first for Binh. He came to a fishing company and asked for a job. Everyday Binh has to pull containers of fished to the store. The first day he told us was paintful. his whole body ached and he missed drugs.He never had to do heavy job like that. He wanted to die. But thinking of his mom he couldnt give up. The first week he was given his salary. And the moment he got money in his hand he cried.The first time in his life he understand the value of money and think of all the money he stole from his mom's hours of working to entertain himself with drugs, to kill himself. He had been using drugs(heroine) for 7 years by then and getting out of drugs was once something " impossible" for him.

But its NOT impossible...
After one year, now he dont use drugs anymore. And he recover his health again. he is a strong handsome man now, has a nice girlfriend. They are working hard and looking forward to a sweet marriage, a normal happy life with their current hard but meaningful jobs. And he is like before always smiley, bring his hapinesss into people. He is our Binh again..

The story of my friend is very much inspirational for me personally. The area i am living now was once the highlight spot of youth using/ selling drugs/heroine in my city. The police made an arrest compaign and many were arrested. But there are still youth using drugs around my home. Sometimes they even sit infront of my home gate using drugs. It is scary.There was a guy who fell down to the river next to my home and died when he was using drug.From my balcony i saw his deadth body and his mom crying miserably. It was hurtful. Sometimes i want to do something to change it. I dont want to see such things. But i feel scared too. And i dont know what i can do for them.Honestly I dont have the courage to come and talk to them or pull thr drugs out of their hands.I m scared of them. Sometimes i am angry because i cant understand them. They may have very difficult lives or something but there are others who lead even harder than them but not gave up their life in such stupid way. But it is useless blaming them. But i dont want to give up hope,believe on them.

Just give them hope and light the way for them again. But most of all within themselves they have to find the road of their life again and get back to it. It was not easy, not at all. But there is at least someone who could do it. It is Binh, my friend. and i want to say I' M PROUD OF BINH!!

.. i m going to an Arabic class ;)... and i LOVE the language especially the writing... looks so cute and arteristic i think ...so i m thinking of finding penpals who use Arabic... we can start penpaling... i prefer old-fashioned style snail mail;) ...slow but cool... better than emails eh boring and senseless..(and also i dont have Arbic font , text on my pc)...
Any Tiggers interested? ;)

thanks for the encouragement... yeah i will keep trying sure.. not gonna give up eh? ;)...
Nick will check out your source.. thanks for that...
i am also applying for other places so i will be having answer soon this february i think...
actually i did get funding for this project before but last year there was a flood in Vietnam so we decided to transfer this money to our members in Hue (middle of Vietnam- hanoi where i am now is north ;)) so they could build a school.. and they did it! ;).. so i kinda get used to start things all over again :( ;)... but well thanks u guys so much... my stuff is really being taken globally eh? ;) hehe... thanks again!!! u really pushed me up yesterday when i was down.. ;)...
Love and hugs! ;)