About | VanTrinh.com

Vietnam

1985 — I was born in the rice fields of Vietnam on June 14th, 1985. Our family was very poor as the country was still recovering from the war. There was a massive food shortage and times when we went days without access to meat. In 1988, when mom was pregnant with her third son — dad, being the risk taker that he is — decided to take a chance at escaping a war-torn country in search of a better future. After hearing through the grapevines that America was accepting refugees, he managed to convince a dozen of his friends to put money together for a 20 foot fishing boat to sail West. The only memory I have of this place was when mom took me to a small shack in the middle of a rice field. We knocked on the door and told a very old lady that we were leaving and we may never see her again. I later asked mom about this; she said she didn’t remember, because she had told no-one except for close family. This was my oldest memory and I have no idea where it came from. Imagine having to tell your family and friends that you were leaving everyone and everything you’ve ever known to travel to unknown lands, in the hopes that the grass is greener on the other side. Approximately 500,000 Vietnamese refugees died at sea, or 50% of the people who embarked on this journey.

Refugee

1988 — It was in the middle of the night, we had packed enough food and water for the trip and at the very last moment, the family decided that my uncle (who was a troublemaker and wasn’t doing anything with his life) would join us to take a chance at turning his life around. But his story would end tragically as you will soon find out. We uncovered the boat buried underneath some trees, then off we went. The trip was gruesome and mom was very sick while pregnant. We ran out of food and had to land on shores to steal from locals, usually in the middle of the night so that we wouldn’t be detected. After 3 months at sea, the boat was leaking badly so we decided to land on the shores of Hong Kong and swam the final few meters — we had finally made it. As soon as we touched land, everyone was taken into refugee camps where mom and dad lied about their age to be better suited for work on foreign land.

Hong Kong

1989 — After a few months we were released from camp, dad found work in construction and we stayed on the 2nd floor of a one-room wooden apartment. My brother Tac and I started attending school where we would learn Cantonese. This was where my youngest brother Tien was born. I remember one rainy night; dad was extremely sick, so mom gave me some money to run to the store to buy him cigarettes. I ran through the streets of Hong Kong, got to the store, picked up a pack of cigarettes and chewing gum for myself, then ran back through the rain. I was only 4. I know this story may sound cliché, I guess it’s more common than you’d think.

Canada

1990 — News came in the form that our family was accepted by the province of Québec in Canada, so we hopped on a plane and flew towards yet another foreign land. Our family spent 8 months in Québec City; went to public school and took advantage of amenities like social welfare and government housing. We got in touch with our uncle who was residing in Toronto at the time, he convinced us to move there, where there are more people like us. He showed up with a friend in a flatbed truck in the middle of the night. We packed up everything we owned then headed west, yet again. Laying there on a mattress on the back of a 12 foot container felt eerie, yet familiar at the same time.

Toronto

1993 — In Toronto, we moved around a lot. Jumping from school to school and never really settling in. We ended up 3 hours south in a small town called Chatham-Kent where all the kids would attend Catholic elementary and high schools. The 90’s rang bells of nostalgia from Sega Genesis; to school dances; to long bike rides on summer breaks and made many life-long friends. This was where my sister Ellen was born.

Taekwondo

1995 — All the kids were enrolled into Taekwondo for a better part of the decade where we would take home provincial and national championships. I’m a martial artist—through and through—from Taekwondo to boxing to kick-boxing to jiu-jitsu to Muay Thai and fought pro in Thailand.

Family

1995 — Mom and dad were labour workers their entire lives. It wasn’t uncommon for them to work 2 jobs without any sleep, but the hard work paid off, we were able to buy our first home; on which we had to sell largely due to dad’s gambling problem. We found out through friends that my uncle was living on the streets, downtown Toronto; mom and dad drove there, picked him up and he would stay with us for the next few years. He managed to put his life back together, found a job, got married and had a kid. But later lost it all due to his drug addictions. One time, mom and dad went back to Vietnam to visit for the first time after 10 years — all the kids were staying with a family friend — and when they came back; my uncle had sold everything in the house for drugs. Dad beat the crap out of him in the alley beside the house and we would not see him for many years after that. The next morning; as we were leaving for school, our Nintendo gaming console was sitting on the front porch — a last ditch effort on my uncle’s part to show that he was still human. I found out that my uncle was being deported back to Vietnam due to his drug addictions. Not being able to live with the shame he took his own life. He was only 47, leaving behind his wife and daughter.

Played Jesus

1998 — In grade 8, I got to play Jesus at the school play. Mr. Thus walked into the class and asked, “Who wants to play Jesus?” Nobody said anything so I raised my hand. In the end it was between me and a girl. To settle it we picked straws, short straw wins. I picked the short straw. In the same year I won the art award from my graduating class.

Computer Programming

2004 — I got my first computer at 15 and knew right away that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After high school, I enrolled in computer programming at Fanshawe College in London. From there I moved to Guelph in search of work, it came in the form of a small mailing company in Hamilton as a database programmer. I moved there and got a one-bedroom bachelor apartment on Ferguson Street on the 17th floor. At this time, dad had put the family through more hardship through his risky investments. We agreed to move in together; so they packed up, left Chatham and moved into my apartment. We later bought a house together.

MMALinker

2006 — This was around the time I started dabbling in entrepreneurship. One night, I called my brother Tien up, who was in University at the time, about something called the UFC and if he wanted to start a website together. It immediately hit it off, accumulating over 200,000 users in a few short months. We later sold it and I used the money to leave my job to start a web consulting company. These were the best times of my life. The company was successful. I had lots of friends and plenty of time to excel in various combat sports.

Mini

2008 — 2008 was when I met my future wife, Minh. It was a rocky start, but we didn't care because we were madly in love and determined to make it work. We traveled a lot—from coastlines to towers to roads, islands and seas. She would always push me to experience life more. I proposed to her and we got married on July 15th, 2015. The first half of our marriage flew by. The last half was rough to say the least. In the end, she wanted to leave and I held on for just way too long.

The Zeitgeist

2016 — In 2016, I started dabbling in standup comedy, philosophy and writing on cultural issues. Dr. Jordan Peterson appeared, so we snuck into one of his classes at the University of Toronto and questioned him on the topics of Jung, Dawkins and archetypes. I released “Jordan Peterson’s Top 10 Truths,” Sam Harris invited Jordan back onto his podcast on the same day, then they went on tour together, first city: Vancouver. [↗]

Covid & Divorce

Nov 9, 2019 — I took 200 mg of LSD, COVID-19 appeared in the same week, a 55-year-old patient zero from the Hubei province in China. Out of fear and uncertainty, I quit my job, so my wife wanted to leave, we finalized the divorce in June 2023.

Black Belt

Aug 3, 2023 — During Covid, I received a message from a childhood training partner. Master Sun passed away and left something behind for me. It was my black belt, found in his storage unit.