VietNam Life Style: 9/5/10

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Vietnam international book fair to opens in Hanoi

Photo: VNA

The third Vietnam International Book Fair will be held in Hanoi from Sept. 17-21 as part of activities to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the capital city.

Nearly 80 publishing houses, book distribution companies, book stores and printing establishments across the country will display their publications at the event.

The Frankfurt centre for international book fairs and exhibitions will bring 800 books to the fair and plans to present them to the National Library.

Meanwhile, the Chinese press and publication general office will bring to the fair 2,610 book titles and 2,685 books.

In addition, about 30 foreign publishing houses and book distributors will take part in the event.

Prominent at the fair will be the historic book which includes the full text of King Ly Thai To’s decree to relocate the capital city to Hanoi, and many objects and publications on Thang Long-Hanoi.

During the biennial fair there will be seminars, exchanges between writers, publishing houses and readers and a ceremony to launch the book on the 1,000th celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Vietnam international book fair to opens in Hanoi

Photo: VNA

The third Vietnam International Book Fair will be held in Hanoi from Sept. 17-21 as part of activities to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the capital city.

Nearly 80 publishing houses, book distribution companies, book stores and printing establishments across the country will display their publications at the event.

The Frankfurt centre for international book fairs and exhibitions will bring 800 books to the fair and plans to present them to the National Library.

Meanwhile, the Chinese press and publication general office will bring to the fair 2,610 book titles and 2,685 books.

In addition, about 30 foreign publishing houses and book distributors will take part in the event.

During the biennial fair there will be seminars, exchanges between writers, publishing houses and readers and a ceremony to launch the book on the 1,000th celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Vietnam yet to become locale for foreign flicks

A scene from The Quiet American shot in Vietnam

Photo: IMDB

In the last decade many films set in Vietnam were actually shot in Thailand, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian countries, causing the country loss of revenues as well as opportunities to promote itself.

“So, why do foreign producers hesitate to shoot in Vietnam?” Tuoi Tre asked a panel of Vietnamese experts.

Film producer Tran Bich Ngoc, who has worked with international crews for the Vertical Ray of The Sun, The Quiet American, and the recent Manoj ‘Night’ Shyamalan flick The Last Airbender, explained that foreign filmmakers give Vietnam a miss because of the lack of technical equipment here.

“They [foreign movie crews] have to bring a lot of equipment and technical teams from their country to Vietnam. This leads to high costs, a great concern for any moviemaker. The economic crisis has badly affected investment in movies and producers now look for countries offering tax breaks.”

Director Dinh Anh Dung said, however, that money is not an issue for big Hollywood producers. He referred to the movie Pinkville Oliver Stone plans to make on the 1968 My Lai massacre. Thailand and the Philippines, which have helicopters, rice fields, and villages that look similar to that of Vietnam, have welcomed him.

“[But] even though it is more expensive, Stone wants to shoot in Vietnam to capture the real emotions. However, because of paperwork, the movie remains on hold. Does anyone realize that if big directors come here to shoot, local moviemakers can learn from them?”

Nguyen Huu Tuan, the second unit camera operator for The Quite American, recalled: “When Oliver Stone came to Vietnam to check locations for Heaven and Earth, we asked to inspect the script. He left immediately and decided not to shoot here any more.”

Vietnam has lost many opportunities to earn revenue due to its tortuous bureaucratic procedures, he said.

“In the documentary on the making of The Quiet American …, one line producer honestly admitted that the process of getting a filming permit in Vietnam was a nightmare.”

In Asia, the race to become a big filming location for Hollywood movies is getting heated with Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan all implementing policies to attract foreign film investors.

Ngoc said it is getting better for foreign movie makers in Vietnam.

The country is also getting more and more mention at festivals like Cannes, Berlin, and Venice and there are Vietnamese movie weeks like the ones in Hanoi and Los Angeles, the US, she said.

“It is time we have a long-term plan to promote the country to the world’s movie makers. It will help Vietnam’s film environment improve, promote tourism, and give Vietnamese filmmakers exposure to world standards”.

Do Duy Anh, head of the international section in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s cinema department, said the issue is still very new to the country. In recent years 15-20 foreign film crews have been shooting in Vietnam every year, he said.

Only when Vietnam joined the WTO [in 2007] was a law on cinema passed, he said.

“But the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism does not yet issued permits directly to foreign individuals or organizations.

“Foreign film crews who want to shoot in Vietnam need to collaborate with a Vietnamese film production company who will help them to submit an application and the script and its Vietnamese translation.

The ministry has to process the application within 30 days.”

Charlie St. Cloud stays true to his promise

Charlie St. Cloud is a sailor who gives up a promising career at sea to reconcile with the tragic death of his brother. The film, directed by Burr Steers, is a 2010 romantic drama based on Ben Sherwood’s best-selling novel, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud.

Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron), is a gifted sailor in a small town, who receives a sailing scholarship to Stanford University. Before his departure for college, Charlie promises his young brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan) that they will play baseball together every day until he leaves. However, a tragedy happens when he and Sam get into a car accident. Although a paramedic is able to revive Charlie, Sam dies. At Sam’s funeral, Charlie runs away into the woods where he meets with Sam’s spirit. Charlie plans to continue his promise to Sam by practicing baseball everyday at sunset.

Five years later, Charlie, who gave up his scholarship, is now caretaker at a cemetery. During a trip into town, Charlie visits the boat docks and meets Tess Carroll (Amanda Crew), a sailor who dreams of one day sailing around the world.

Will the appearance of Tess change Charlie’s life?

The film debuts in Vietnam on Friday at MegaStar cinemas around the country and Galaxy Cinema in town.

Beer lovers head to Lion for Oktoberfest

The Oktoberfest held at Lion Restaurant last year - Photo: Courtesy of Saigontourist

Lion Restaurant will hold the annual Oktoberfest, a celebration of German beer on October 1 and 2 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. while the festival in Germany is having its 200th anniversary.

With a tempting selection of German draft beer and 1,000 liters of boutique beer this year’s Oktoberfest also features traditional, unique German dishes and music shows, fire dances, bartender performances as well as exciting games. Guests will receive attractive gifts, including two free beer vouchers for the restaurant valid for one year. Tickets are priced at VND549,000/guest. Bookings before September 15 will receive a 10% discount.

In addition a beer buffet program featuring natural Bavarian draft beer is on every Saturday and Sunday with tickets for VND120,000. Guests can enjoy black and amber beer for four hours.

From October this year, the restaurant will serve lunch buffet on Sundays instead of just weekdays with more than 45 Asian and European dishes. Children can enjoy the amusement area with painting and TV cartoons while the parents relax.

Lion Restaurant is located at 11 Lam Son Square, Dist. 1, HCMC. Tel: 08.3823 8514, email: sales@lionsaigon.com.

Vietnam, China highlight vital role of culture

Vietnam and China have highlighted the important role and position of culture in their modernization and reform.

This was declared at a three-day workshop on Vietnamese and Chinese experiences in cultural development, in the context of the market economy and international integration, that closed in the central city of Da Nang on Friday.

Phung Huu Phu, member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), permanent Deputy Head of the CPVCC’s Commission for Information and Education and Standing Vice Chairman of the Central Theory Council confirmed the event was a success.

He said the topic of cultural development drew a great deal of attention from the two parties as it bore both theoretical and practical significance, affecting both the immediate and long-term interests of the two economies which have much in common.

For his part, Deputy Head of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department Wang Xiaoxi said that in the current era, culture has become a strong foundation of the nation’s creativeness, an important factor in the country’s competitiveness and an important vehicle of support for socio-economic development.

Both China and Vietnam are proud of their traditional histories and outstanding cultures, Wang said.

The two Parties and countries attach importance to cultural development during the country’s modernization and reform, Wang said, adding that the two countries have recorded significant achievements and valuable experiences in the field.

Vietnam is developing a socialist-oriented market economy while China is speeding up construction of a socialist market economy and the two Parties have appropriate policies, have achieved important milestones and gained experiences in cultural development, said the workshop.

Accelerating market economic development and international integration needs to be combined with cultural development, concluded the workshop.

EuroCham gives scholarship for environmental studies

Chevening student Cao Thi To Tram (C) receives a scholarship from Matthias Dühn, executive director of EuroCham Vietnam - Photo: Courtesy of EuroCham

The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) has awarded Chevening student, Cao Thi To Tram, a full scholarship worth 17,000 pounds to study environmental sustainability in the United Kingdom from next month.

Tram was presented the scholarship at EuroCentre in HCMC on Wednesday as part of the GreenBiz 2009 EuroCham Scholarship program and EuroCham’s support for the Chevening program.

It followed an event in Hanoi on August 18, where British Ambassador to Vietnam, Mark Kent, presented Chevening certificates to Vietnamese scholars who studied in the UK in 2008-2009 and to this year’s fellows.

“This talented group of young professionals are already applying the knowledge and skills they gained during their time in the UK to bring benefits to Vietnam and to enhance the relationship between our two countries,” Kent said

Alain Cany, chairman of EuroCham Vietnam, said almost 300 Chevening scholarships had been awarded since the program started in Vietnam in 1993.

Cany said EuroCham co-operated and built on the experience of the British government and British Council to make the GreenBiz 2009 scholarship part of the Chevening program.

Chevening scholarships are funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government, and are administered by the British Council. Over recent years, these awards for Vietnamese students to pursue postgraduate studies in the UK have been sponsored by BP, Harvey Nash, Ladbrokes, International Power, GlaxoSmithKline, Rolls Royce, Prudential, Barclays Capital, Mansion House, Unilever and Lloyd’s of London.

EuroCham organized the first successful “GreenBiz 2009” conference and exhibition on sustainable green solutions in Hanoi in September 2009.

Cany announced the GreenBiz conference would take place in HCMC on September 15 and 16 next year.

EMW scholarship students excel at studies

East Meets West Foundation announced that several disadvantaged students who they have helped with their SPELL scholarship program have earned places this school year at special schools for gifted children.

One of the gifted students, 15-year-old Tran Van Anh, said he was certain that without SPELL to pay his school fees and provide books and tutoring support for the past five years he would have been forced to leave school long ago.

Tran from a poor family in rural Quang Ngai Province passed the rigorous exams to get into the gifted school and wants to continue his studies to be an engineer.

SPELL’s national coordinator Tung Hoang Ngoc said, “We really felt concerned when we saw Anh’s situation. His parents, who are farmers, both have chronic illnesses, and could barely afford daily meals and medical expenses.”

SPELL, EMW’s Scholarship Program to Enhance Literacy and Learning, supports students with school expenses and tutoring from grade three until they leave high school. The programs are operating in seven provinces in central Vietnam, supporting over 4,500 students and families who are among the country’s poorest and most vulnerable.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Remembering old Nha Trang

On entering Nha Trang Xua visitors go back in time to a golden era of peace and tranquility

The central coastal city of Nha Trang has long been famed for its beautiful palm-fringed beach, breath-taking vistas and succulent seafood. But if you're bored with lazy days by the beach, Nha Trang Xua (Old Nha Trang) is the place for you.

It's hard to believe the resort, which occupies 2ha in Thong Thai Village at the foot of Giang Huong Mountain, is just 3km from the chaotic city centre.

The resort has 11 bungalows nestling in a field of rice. The air is scented with the sweet smell of lotus flowers, and a gentle breeze wafts your cares away.

The resort is owned by Truong Dinh Ngoc Yen, a Nha Trang-born woman, who loves peace and quiet.

"I used to spend a lot of time living with my grandma in the village when I was a child," she says.

"Later, I went to university in Nha Trang, before opening a business in the bustling city. However, I always longed for the peaceful atmosphere that I remembered from my childhood.

"I love seeing small birds pecking at food on the ground. I have always dreamt of building a small secluded garden like my mum's. My childhood is full of fond memories."

She followed her dreams and bought a small plot of land which she turned into a picturesque garden.

Visiting friends urged her to open the garden to the public, so she established Nha Trang Xua in 2009.

In the beginning it was just a small garden and a food court. But even then, about 200 people would visit daily – three times that number on the weekends.

To create a local atmosphere, Yen has bought plants native to the area to her garden. There are also vegetables, fruit trees and herbs.

"The resort reminds me a lot of my grandparents' house in Vinh Phuong Village 30 years ago," says local resident Huynh Phuong.

"Every corner of the resort is a reflection of different parts of Nha Trang in days gone by. The wet yin-yang roofed house in the middle of the garden, the pond, the mossy brick path."

Yen has relocated houses dating back 100 to 300 years to the resort, which now comprises 11 houses; a food court capable of accommodating 250 diners; a food centre for package tourists and formal functions, which has a capacity of 700 guests; and a seven-room hotel.

The restaurant offers more than 100 traditional local dishes, which are served authentically.

"The resort is unique, local but professionally run," says Bui Minh Thang, director of Phuong Thang Tourism Company. "Nha Trang lacks places like this. It gives visitors an incite into local culture."

However, Thang says the owner should advertise the place better to foreign visitors and provide better car-parking facilities.

But these shortcomings do not put off Beth Keyser from Australia.

"I like the small cozy and nature-friendly atmosphere of the resort," she says. "I have stayed in similar places in Thailand, but here, I feel like I'm experiencing Vietnamese life as it was in the early 19th century. All the furniture inside the old house is authentic."

Yen says she wants visitors to feel like they are in a time warp.

"I want visitors to see a different world, to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life and return to the old peaceful days when people had time for one another. I want people to hear birds singing in the morning, smell the scent of flowers and discover themselves, something that can only happen in a place of quietness and harmony," she says.

Lovely as the resort is, Yen is not happy – she has expansionist plans.

"I want to relocate more old houses so that I can host wedding parties. I love to imagine a wedding procession proceeding down the path in a field of mature rice," she sighs.

Ha Long Bay vies for honors in world wonders

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Ha Long Bay in the northern Quang Ninh province, a UNESCO recognized world’s heritage site, has jumped in September to the second place among 28 finalists of the online voting for the world’s new seven wonders of nature.

The voting is launched by the New7Wonders Foundation at http://www.new7wonders.com/en/.

The Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign started in 2007 and has attracted by an estimated 1 billion votes. The Official Declaration of the New7Wonders of Nature will be on November 11, 2011.

The Ha Long Bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes, and comprises a 120-kilometer-long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometers in size with 1969 islets.

The victorious outcome is attributed to Quang Ninh province in boosting information dissemination and promotion of the image of the site to foreign friends.

The province has also developed tourism linkages with other provinces nationwide, especially the country’s five biggest tourism centers.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has planned a promotion campaign and a tourism publication to further introduce Ha Long Bay.

Quang Ninh has received around 5.3 million visitors in the first eight months of the year with estimated revenue of VND2.3 trillion (US$118 million).

Vietnam wins two golds at int’l puppetry festival

Photo: VNA

Vietnam bagged two out of the total four gold prizes for performances at the second International Puppetry Festival, which closed in Hanoi Thursday.

The host’s gold prizes went to the Thang Long Puppetry Theatre’s water puppetry program in celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre’s “Andersen” item based on three stories of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, including “The Brave Tin Soldier”, “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Little Mermaid”.

The two remaining gold prizes belonged to Singaporean and Indonesian troupes.

The Organizing Board also presented 12 gold and seven silver prizes to the most outstanding artists and three prizes to the best directors.

The six-day festival, organized by the Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attracted 12 foreign troupes and five from Vietnam, including the Vietnam Puppetry Theatre, the Thang Long Puppetry Theatre and the puppetry troupes from Hai Phong city, Dak Lak province and Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam yet to become locale for foreign flicks