Sau một năm “nhường ngôi” cho Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, dù mất 18 tỷ USD so với tài sản năm 2008, đã trở lại vị trí dẫn đầu trong danh sách những người giàu nhất thế giới do tạp chí danh tiếng Forbes, mới công bố ngày 11/3. Read the rest of this entry »
Bill Gates trở lại vị trí người giàu nhất thế giới
Chợ đêm Kỳ Hòa ‘vét’ phiên cuối năm
Ngày 25/1 tức 30 Tết, chợ đêm Kỳ Hòa, quận 10, TP HCM sẽ chính thức bị xóa xổ. Song chợ không đìu hiu mà lại càng thêm nhộn nhịp những ngày cuối năm. VnExpress.net ghi lại hình ảnh tất bật của khu mua sắm bình dân này. Read the rest of this entry »
Non Nuoc Beach
Non Nuoc Beach runs for 5km against the Marble Mountains in Danang City. Non Nuoc Beach is famous for its seaweed, which reaches exportation standards.
It is bound by Dien Ngoc Sea to the south and Danang to the north. The beach gently slopes towards the calm, clear, blue sea; the clarity of the water attracts people who come to bathe and enjoy the seafood. Many five-star hotels were built in Non Nuoc to accommodate the domestic and foreign tourists in the area.
With green water and white sand at the foot of the Marble Mountains, Non Nuoc beach stretches 5 km in Hoa Hai Ward of Ngu Hanh Son District.
Non Nuoc beach has wave, climate and salinity that suit sea sports. In 1993, an international surfing competition was hold here with the participation of 40 foreign athletes.
The beach is managed by the Non Nuoc Tourism Company that has three hotels with more than 100 rooms on the beach. They provide entertainment services including photographs for souvenir, handicraft shops, massage, restaurant, tennis and some gymnastics.
A chain of tourism resorts is planned to cater for international tourists including seaside hotels and restaurants, especially an international standard golf court.
At Non Nuoc beach, besides convalescence and bathing, tourists can visit the Marble Mountains where there are ancient pagodas and sacred monumental caves, go around the stone handicraft villages right at the foot of the Marble Mountains or travel by boat on the Co Co river to enjoy peacefulness of the Marble Mountains.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Most people who had a chance to visit Hanoi will maybe tell you that it is the most attractive city in all of Asia. Millions of Vietnamese people have lived here along the Red River for a thousand years. Located along wooded avenues among the city’s two dozen lakes you will find architectural souvenirs left by all who occupied this great valley, from the Chinese who first came in the last millennium to the French, booted out in our own century.
From Noi Bai Airport, it takes about an hour into the center capital and offers some emotional glimpses of modern Vietnamese life: farmers tending their fields, great rivers, modern highways… Everything takes on the same deep colors as the modern paintings you see in Hanoi’s galleries. Somehow the setting sun seems enormous here as it dips into the cornfields on the horizon.
On the edge of the city the road dissolves into a maze of winding, narrow, wooded lanes. You are surrounded by roadside artisans, shops and taverns, then by graceful villas and commuters on bicycles, cyclos and motorbikes. Modern buildings appear from nowhere, looking so out of place that you have to wonder if they were dropped from the sky and just left where they came to rest. While you tell yourself that nothing as preposterous as Hanoi can be so beautiful, you cannot help but be dazzled.
To get a visa online to Vietnam here
Green Chung cake
Source: Vietnamese Food
Chung cake is a traditional and irreplaceable cake of Vietnamese people in the Tet Holidays and King Hung’s anniversary (10th March Lunar). For the Vietnamese, making Chung cake is the ideal way to express gratitude to their ancestors and homeland.
Banh ChungThe legend of Chung cake
Chung cake was invented by the 18th Prince of Hung Emperor in the contest of looking for new Emperor. According to the legend, 3,000-4,000 years ago, Prince Lang Lieu, made round and square cakes, the round Day cake symbolizing the sky and the square Chung cake symbolizing the Earth (under the ancient Vietnamese perception), to be offered on the occasion of Spring.
In the ancient conception, the Earth is square, hence Chung cake’s shape is square, too, to reflect the Earth shape. Since the cakes he offered were of special meaning and delicious taste, Lang Lieu was selected to be the next Emperor. Since then, in honor of this 18th Prince, Vietnamese people always make and have Chung cake in the Lunar New Year. Up to now, Chung cake has become the most famous and irreplaceable traditional Vietnamese food in Tet Holiday. This legend aims to remind the next generations of the ancient tradition as well as the primary of Chung cake. Besides, it emphasizes the important role of rice and nature in water rice culture.
How to make a Chung cake?
In contrast to the fast food in modern life, the process of making Chung cake is time-consuming and requires the contribution of several people. Main ingredients are glutinous rice, pork meat, and green beans wrapped in a square of bamboo leaves that will give the rice a green color after boiling. The
sticky rice must be very good and was soaked in water in the previous day. Rice cake is wrapped in square shape, and the wrapping power must be neither tight nor loose. Then the cake will be boiled in about 12 hours by wood. The Chung cake has nutrition with an original tasty flavor and may be kept for a long time. Eating Chung cake with vegetable pickles will bring you unforgettable taste!
In the traditional conception of Vietnamese people, the process of making Chung cake is the opportunity for family to come together. Sitting around the warm fire, all members in the family tell one another the past stories and are ready for a New Year with wishes of best things. Nowadays, in some big cities, the business lifestyle of modern society prevent people from preparing the cake, however, the habit of worship ancestors with Chung cake never changes. It is the evidence of the Vietnamese loyalty and deep gratitude to ancestors.
Ao Dai, the Vietnamese long dress
The beauty of women dressed in Ao Dai always leaves a deep impression on foreign visitors to Vietnam
Source: Vietnamese Culture
The beauty of women dressed in “Ao Dai”always leaves a deep impression on foreign visitors to Vietnam. Girl students dressed in white long robes take to streets on the way to schools or back home, or gracefully sail on their bikes along streets. Female secretaries in delicate pastels greet you at an office door and older ladies in deep shades of purple, green or blue cut a striking pose at a restaurant dinner. The “Ao Dai” appears to flatter every figure.
Early versions of the “Ao Dai”date back to 1744 when Lord Vu Vuong of the Nguyen Dynasty decreed both men and women should wear an ensemble of trousers and a gown that buttoned down the front. However, not until 1930 did “Ao Dai”appear partly similar to its look today. Now, Men wore it less, generally only on ceremonial occasions such as weddings or funerals. During the 1950s two tailors in Saigon started producing “Ao Dai”with raglan sleeves. This creates a diagonal seam running from the collar to the underarm and this style is still preferred today Read the rest of this entry »
Shopping in Vietnam: DOs and DON’Ts
Source: Shopping in Vietnam
Markets & Minimarts
DON’T miss the markets: among the most atmospheric in Southeast Asia and still the hub of commercial activity everywhere in Vietnam. Notable markets in clued floating ones in the Mekong Delta, Cho Lon market in the district of Hochiminh City that bears the same name, the large fruit and flower market in Da Lat, any of the major markets in Hanoi, the colorful Sa Pa market and other ethnic minority markets in the mountainous north of the country.
DO go early when shopping at local markets. Goods are brought fresh everyday from the countryside and without refrigeration they will suffer from the heat as the day drags on.
Shopping in Hochiminh City is now little different from shopping in Bangkok or any other Asian metropolis. Commercial complexes and supermarkets are also sprouting up in Hanoi and other sizeable towns.
DO check the expiry dates carefully on any imported produce you buy: many of the more obscure items in these shops have been quietly gathering dust (not to say rotting away) for years. In Hanoi, you may notice a baffling remnant of the city’s old ways. Tradesmen as part of Chinese-style commercial guilds were traditionally grouped together geographically (as many have remained in the Old Quarter), but a more modern breed of shopkeepers, such as those selling televisions or making photocopies, often elect to bunch together in a similar way. The practical upshot of this is simply impossible for the moment to obtain, say, a tennis racquet. Then, one day, you will turn a corner into an unexplored street and be confronted by an entire row of shops selling nothing but tennis racquets. Read the rest of this entry »
Visa to Vietnam: DOs & DON’Ts
Source: Vietnam Travel Tips
Visas are still an expensive aspect of travelling to Vietnam.
You can register visa online at Vietnam Visa.
DO ensure that you apply for a visa well in advance. If you do so from outside Asia, it may take even longer. Ask for a multiple entry visa (same price, but not always granted) or at least a double entry visa.
DON’T forget to arm yourself with a sheaf of passport photos: vital for visa applications and useful for other official dealings within Vietnam.
DO check for up-to-date information: regulations change frequently, as do visa lengths and prices. Once you are on your way to Vietnam, usually on the flight or when you arrive at the airport, you will be asked to fill in an entry/exit form and to keep a (yellow) copy.
DON’T lose this form, you may need it to open a bank account or show an officious hotel receptionist and if you do mislay it, you may have to fill out another one before you leave the country.
DO beware of the double dating system. Your visa will contain a termination date and your passport will most likely be stamped with a permit to stay until… date. These two dates are rarely identical! And, of course, the earlier of the two is the one that counts.
In case of staying for work in Vietnam;
DON’T leave home or lose a copy of your employment contract or an official letter from the company or agency as this is required for issuance and extensions of your visa.
DO contact the Immigration Police in Hanoi or Hochiminh City for extension of your tourist visa. A long-term visa must be renewed, although, in special circumstances, it can be extended for a few days. However, if you need to change visa category (for instance, from a tourist visa to a business visa), you will have to leave the country in order to get the new visa issued.
If you plan to leave Vietnam during your visit, for example to visit a neighboring country and then to return to Vietnam, DO make sure that it says multiple entry or double entry on your visa, or you will not get back into Vietnam without a fresh visa!
If you know where you wish to enter or exit Vietnam (other than at the three international airports in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Hochiminh City), BEFORE you apply for your visa, DON’T forget to specify these border crossings so that they can be added to your visa. Otherwise, you can have them added from within Vietnam, but with a little more hassle – and money, of course.
Pho Hanoi (rice nooddle soup)
Source: Vietnamese Food
Pho, a typical dish of Hanoi people, has been existing for a long time. Pho is prepered not only in a sophisticated manner but also in the technique which is required to have sweet but pure bouillon, soft but not crasded noodle, soft and sweet smelling meat. Only in cold days, having a hot and sweet smelling bowl of Pho to enjoy would make you experience the complete flavor of the special dish of Hanoi.
The bouillon.
Boil 10 cups water. Burn the whole fresh onions over high heat until golden brown. Add beef spareribs or ox tail into the boiling water. Skim while cooking to make a clear broth. Add browned onion and carrots after 1 hour of boiling. Cook another hour. Then remove meat and vegetable. Strain the bouillon, season it with spices, salt, fish sause as indicated and keep boiling to server very hot soup. Add boiled water, if necessary, to have 6-8 cups of bouillon. This broth is very spicy and a little salty.
Slice tender beef finely and cooked beef coarsely. Soak dry rice noodles in hot water 10 minutes before cooking. Coolk rice noodles sparately until done (about 10-15 minutes), drain in hot water to remove the starch.
Server at once into bowl.
Beef soup, rare: cooked rice noodles 1/3 bowl, raw beef minced on top. Pour over them one cup boiling bouillon. Add bib lettuce, green onion and onion rings.
Beef soup, done: cooked rice noodles, cooked beef, bib lettuce, onion rings, green onion in top. Pour over all ingredients 1 cup boiling bouillon.
Provide the guests with spoons and chopstichs to take the soup.
Nha Trang – a great-viewed sea city
Source: Vietnam Beauty
Khanh Hoa is a South Central Coastal province of Vietnam. It is well known by the attractive beauty of its own capital – Nha Trang. Among its 3 bays, Nha Trang ranks first thanks to 100% pristine beaches, excellent view, gorgeous islands, mountains, and rivers.
Nha Trang not only gets great natural advantages of its geography position, landscape, and climate, but inherits its rich background in culture and humanities as well. Although it is 1,280 km far away from Hanoi and 448 km from Ho Chi Minh city, it is easily accessible for tourists by all means of transport: by road, rail, air and waterway.
History
Until the middle of the 19th century, Nha Trang had still been a deserted area with wildlife animals like tigers, and was a part of Hà Bạc, Vĩnh Xương District, Diên Khánh Province. Nha Trang officially became a center urbain under the Indochina Governor General’s decision issued on the 30th August 1924. After only 2 decades of early 20nd century, Nha Trang underwent rapid changes and became today’s Nha Trang city – a marvellous picture with old view but modern and fresh environmental city of Khanh Hoa.
The name of the city – “Nha Trang” - derives from a false Vietnamese spelling of a geographical name in the Cham language of the site Ya Trang, (which litterrally means Lau River, the name of the now Cai River as referred to by the Cham people). From this, the name was adopted to call what is now Nha Trang.
Natural conditions
Nha Trang is known as a sea city with a great long beach and a lot of islands, making the city different and outstanding from any other cities of Vietnam. With 19 islands, Nha Trang is famous with beautiful view and different species living inside (such as the Monkey Island). People also live there, specifically around 2,500 households and 15,000 persons. The biggest island is Hon Tre with 36 square kilometer, being laid far far away in the distant sea, bringing Nha Trang Bay the impression of being out-of-the-wind, “all calm and still”.
Concurrently on mentioning about Nha Trang Bay, there is a small story to tell. One of my friend from Japan, Sono Kimura, who has just come to Vietnam for language and culture study, asked me to bring him to somewhere in the country that has 100% pristine sea sight but modern services as well. Of course I brought him to Nha Trang Bay. Sono spent much time on leisuring around most fastinating rocklands, coral beaches, sand banks, mysterious caves and islands. “ Wow, all is 100% prestine but fresh, beautiful and enchanting, making tourists feel like falling in love with… nature”, passionately said Sono. Then, when coming back, he decided to apply for 1 more course, Oceangraphy, his new “love”.
Cultural values
Nha Trang is famous for natural beauty, therefore, most great Beauty Contests of Vietnam and some of the World have selected this city to be the performance place. Nha Trang people are now very proud to witness the greatest Beauty Contest of both Vietnam and the World to take place here. For the past years, Miss Vietnam and Miss Earth have occurred in Nha Trang. More importantly and proudly for Nha Trang in particular and Vietnam in general, Nha Trang (to be exact, Vinpearl Land (which means Vietnam’s Pearl) – the 5-star resort of the city) was selected for the “Miss Universe Pageant 2008”.
Another cultural activity is sea festival. Sea Festival is held anually, and August-Nha Trang Rendezvous Festival is held every 2 years absorb numerous tourists. All the festivals fully cover sea food, arts and activities like Sea-Food Zone, Sea Night Carnaval, ect., and some exhibitions about Cham Brocade Textile, Arranging Art, and so on. If you would like to get to know about this City, please come and join them on any of those occasions.
The culinary offer in Nha Trang is very varied, which are the reasons tourists enjoy their stay in Nha Trang. One of Nha Trang’s most valuable specialities is “yen sao” (translated as “salangane”), “nhím biển” (translated “sea-chesnut”), “cầu gai”…, which make this sea city special. A salangane is not a swift or swallow. It builds its nest with its saliva. The salangane was associated with royal banquets in the past, and with expensive formal parties today. In the past, salangane was an “ideal precious age prolongging medicine” for Kings.
Apart from Seafood, Nha Trang has many other delicious special delicacies, such as Ninh Hoa dried Spring Rolls (Nem nướng Ninh Hoà), Fish noodle (Bún cá), Canh cakes (Bánh Canh), etc., containing the characteristics of the land. Some scholar once said: “Special food or delicacies reveal their genuin land in the most lively way”.
Sea Entertainment & Places of Interest
If you are a young active person, longing for sports activities to refresh your mind, you have chosen the right place. Nha Trang has a wealth of tourist activities for visitors, for example, boat sailing, island hopping, scuba diving, etc. are performed in Nha Trang. Scuba diving is one amongst the most interesting, mysterious and unique sports sea games in Vietnam in general and Nha Trang in particular. If you prefer sky to sea bed, you could join kite boarding. Winds are steady but don’t expect to get up on one hull too often. For luxury stay, high-quality services and interesting sea activities and games, Vinpearl might be an ideal destination. The 5-star resort is located on Hon Tre Island off the coast of Nha Trang City. It is considered one of the top 29 most beautiful bays in the world, there is a tropical paradise waiting to be found, one of Asia’s best kept secrets.
If you are more quiet, and would like to discover natural scenes, you could spend time on sight-seeing tours. There are a lot of beautiful sea sights here, such as Hòn Chồng Island, Hòn Tằm Island, Hòn Mun Island, Hòn Con Sẻ Tre Island, Hòn Ông Island, Monkey Island, Đảo Yến Island (Swallow Island), Thuỷ cung (sea palace), Thap Ba Spring, and Ba Ho Waterfall. All the islands are scattered around the bay, and again, 100% pristine and beautiful. Each name reveals the island itself’s main traits, for example, Monkey Island, where there exists hundreds of monkeys, or Swallow Island, which has a number of swallow species, the rich source of salangane (“Yến sào”). And the others’name express the islands’ shapes. Hon Noi Island is the most beautiful island of swallow, which you really have to come and see to have a brief real understanding of Vietnam’s traditional precious salagane-making industry.
If you are a scholor coming here to discover historical sides, you must drop by Tháp Bà Ponagar (a Champa Tower), Palace of King Bảo Đại, Long Sơn pagoda, Đá Hang pagoda, Kim Thân Phật Tổ Statute, Nha Trang Oceanography Institute, the largest of its kind in Indochina where thousands of oceanic life samples, exhibits are on display. It is also home to the largest oceanic library in Vietnam, Chánh Tọa Church (or Mountain Church), Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, Trí Nguyên Aquarium (an aquarium where hundreds of rare oceanic species are fed), and so forth.
The city is now fast becoming a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers and more affluent travelers as well. Are you going to visit the South Beaches of Vietnam? Well, the foremost summer advice is “Nha Trang”!
