20 Questions with Duy Tran

Tell me your name!
Duy Tran.

Where are you from!
Hochiminh city, Vietnam. Currently living in Commercial, Broadway area.

What is your development specialty?
Front-end development, WordPress development, a bit of laravel.

Where did you… develop your skills? School, first job, the internet?
University & Red Academy Bootcamp.

What is your favourite coding environment and why?
Kinda like our office set up, having a small, more personal space with headphones on (and good coffee!).

What’s your favourite kind of website to develop?
Unconventional design (but developer-friendly). Some designs are really beautiful until you have to translate it to a Website.

What’s the last place you travelled to? How was that?
Thailand was awesome. Exotic beaches, great people and great food.

We’re going out for lunch today, where are you taking me in Vancouver?
California Sushi, Sushi Garden, anywhere with good sushi.

Vancouver is an amazing city to live and work in, but lets say it’s a long weekend and you’re on a mission to relax, what are you getting up to?
Winter: snowboarding. Summer: hiking, bbq around one of many lakes in BC.

Do you follow any sports? What’s your favourite squad/team/athlete?
I follow any sports, but mostly soccer, basketball. Favourite teams are FC Barcelona, LA Lakers.

What’s the most challenging project you’ve worked on with SplitMango?
Hard to say. The very first projects are always challenging as SplitMango is my first developer job. Every time I learn to use a new technology, that particular project would be very challenging. However, as my skill grows, I’ll slow down and take a look at what the challenge is to find out a solutions, rather than freaking out during early days of my job.

You’re stressed out, what’s your secret to figure it out?
Cuddle with my wife and my cat. Take a deep breath (I have my phone lockscreen telling me to inhale and exhale, Apple Watch also remind me to take a deep breath when it detects unusual heartbeats patterns). And if I can, I will have a good nap.

What do you think of standing desks and concrete floors (what’s your favourite part of SplitMango’s new reno’s)?
NO MORE COMMUTING TO LONSDALE lol. Actually the desks are the spotlight for me so far.

What’s your favourite coffee shop in town? Are you there for the love of the bean? or to get some work done?
Can I change coffee shop to brewery? I’m all for the love of the hops. My favourite ones are Bridge Brewing, 33 Acres Brewing.

You’re making coffee: What’s your favourite brewing method?
Vietnamese Coffee Press (how they make Vietnamese coffee).

You’ve got a one day window for adventure, what local-ish gem are you going to?
Dim-sum restaurant for breakfast, then Cypress mountain for snowboarding.

Do you have opinions on the great Apple vs PC debate?
Everyone picks their own weapons. Just stick with whatever works for you and your job.

Okay, what’s your hobby outside of the internet and computers?
Playing soccer (I organize a team), reading books & having a beer (recently), chatting with my wife in the US.

Do you do the YouTube? What’s your favourite channel?
Lots of things about food, sports highlights, and anything that is interesting.

Would you buy a ticket to colonize Mars?
I’d rather buy a few tickets to some exotic resorts on Earth. Not interested in rocks 🙁

Bonus Question: What Vancouver landmarks do you find most inspiring?
I would say Cypress Lookout since it gives you a great overview of the city. Even more awesome on special occasion such as the supermoon.

story written by Duy Tran