Greener theme for vegetarian food festival

HCM CITY — A three-day Vegetarian Food Festival will be held for the first time in HCM City at District 1's September 23 Park.

Apart from restaurants, around 80 stalls will feature packaged vegetarian-food producers under the theme For the Sake of Health and the Environment.

The festival starts with a Colours of Vegetarian Food cooking contest on Thurday afternoon, which will be followed by an evening of performances to officially kick off the event.

Other activities include a presentation on the benefits of vegetarianism and a forum on modern vegetarian trends by nutritional and environmental experts who will guide guests on how to prepare healthy, tasty vegetarian meals.

Guests can also show off their cooking skills in the Get in the Kitchen with Celebrities cooking show.

On the occasion of a Buddhist filial piety festival, which falls in the seventh lunar month, the festival also celebrates mothers with a concert and a flower-lantern evening to pray for parents' well-being.

Organised by the HCM City's Association of Enterprises, the festival aims to not only raise public awareness about the importance of vegetarian food to a healthy environment, but also to encourage the public to reduce meat consumption.

The raising of cattle, for example, contributes to global climate change because of the large volume of methane, a greenhouse gas, released by the animals. The organisers said they expected to hold the festival on an annual basis. — VNS

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Tourism festival to feature 400 display booths

HA NOI — The Thang Long-Ha Noi International Tourism Festival 2010 will be held on October 2-5 at Bao Son Paradise Tourism Park on Lang Hoa Lac Road west of inner Ha Noi.

The event aims to promote the cultural and tourism potential of Ha Noi and Viet Nam to both domestic and foreign tourists and provide opportunities for Ha Noi to exchange experiences with other cities and provinces nationwide as well as other countries, said Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) deputy director Nguyen Manh Cuong.

Local and international products and services will be displayed in 400 booths, alongside an international seminar on cultural heritage values and a mock trade village featuring traditional cuisine and games and performances. About 30,000 were expected to visit the festival daily.

The VNAT was also conducting a slogan and logo contest for the National Tourism Promotion Programme during 2011-15. The nation anticipates 7-8 million foreign visitors and 35-40 million domestic tourists annually by 2015.

Art progamme to be held on National Day

Ha Noi — A large art performance programme named Proud of the Word Viet Nam will be held at Hoan Kiem Lake in downtown Ha Noi on September 2 to celebrate the 65th National Day and the count-down to the 1,000th birthday of the capital city.
The performance will draw participation of hundreds of artists, actors and choruses of the Youth Theatre, the Viet Nam Orchestra and Ballet Theatre, the Viet Nam Classical Opera Theatre, the Viet Nam Dance School, and children.The programme will include a performance of Vietnamese martial art, Vovinam, to highlight the national sportsmanship spirit.
It will have five parts, depicting the history of the name of Viet Nam through historical periods, the country's development and the 1,000 years of Ha Noi.

Search for next top model gets under way

HCM CITY — More than 500 aspiring female models aged 18-25 auditioned yesterday for a TV reality show Viet Nam's Next Top Model at Tan Binh District's White Palace.

The audition will continue today and tomorrow until 15 contenders are shortlisted for the semi-final.

This is the show's second audition after a similar event last week in Ha Noi, which attracted up to 1,000 contestants from 30 northern and central provinces. Nine were selected for the semi-final.

Twenty-four semi-finalists will stay in HCM City for two months at the beginning of next month during which they will be mentored intensively in professional modelling by leading industry experts.

The contenders then will go through a series of challenges including photo shoots, modelling on the catwalk and make-up sessions, after which they will be eliminated until the last contestant is standing in a finale to be transmitted live on national television VTV3 at the end of the year. — VNS

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HCMC begins to think about giving up meat

HCMC's first vegetarian festival to be held this week will seek to promote tourism and vegetarian habits among the populace

Ho Chi Minh City’s first vegetarian festival to be held this week will seek to promote tourism and vegetarian habits among the populace.

The event, to be held at 23-9 Park in District 1 by the HCMC Union of Business Associations, Hi Ma Lap Son Company, and Youth Advertising Company, will also highlight Vietnam’s commitment to environmental protection by reducing meat consumption, one of the causes of greenhouse gases.

Two-thirds of the 80 booths at the festival will be set up by vegetarian restaurants in the city and other provinces.

Several pagodas will also bring their vegetarian dishes.

There will be a speech by Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Hung titled “What you don’t know about vegetarianism,” vegetarian cooking lessons, and a forum on the “Modern tendency towards vegetarian food.”

A candle-light night themed “I love you, Mom” will be held by the park’s pond, while a musical night titled “Grateful to Mom” will mark the Vu Lan festival on August 27. Known as Mother’s Day in Vietnam, it is celebrated on the 15th of the seventh month in the lunar calendar.

The vegetarian festival will be held from August 26 to 29.

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Famous HIV activist stars in new local film

by Hoang Ha

HCM CITY -- Pham Thi Hue, featured in Time magazine's issue about Asian Heroes in 2004, has just wrapped up the shooting of a new film in which she stars as an HIV-infected prostitute.

The film director Vinh Khuong said Hue was the world's first HIV-infected person to play such a role.

In the film, Hue, 31, plays the role of Thu who struggles to live with the disease and, at the same time, bring up her mentally ill younger sister. They both live in HCM City's Binh Hung Hoa Cemetery.

In the film, her sister, after being raped by a group of boys, runs across a railway track in a panic and is hit and killed by a train.

Unable to bear the loss, Thu jumps off Binh Loi Bridge with the hope that she can reunite with the souls of her mother and sister.

Wandering on the land of the earth, the ghost of Thu witnesses the life of a deaf and mute 70-year-old man, who was formerly rich.

She realises that even wealthy people are not happy if they are greedy or selfish.

"The film focuses on spiritual issues and is a new way of disseminating information about HIV/AIDS prevention that helps people live fuller lives," Khuong said.

Khuong said it took him seven years to collect funds and an additional two years to find actors for Sieu thoat (Salvation).

"Some actors initially hesitated to act with a person with HIV," Khuong said. "However, the humane script of Sieu thoat finally persuaded them."

"After shooting the last scene, Hue was hospitalised for a week. I am really touched by her efforts," Khuong added. - VNS

To be updated

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New guide to historic game

Use your imagination: A player forms a figure of the One-Pillar Pagoda from a Tri Uan toy set. — VNA/VNS Photo Truong Vi

HA NOI — Over 100 new solutions to the popular Vietnamese puzzle game Evereto – but now more often referred to by the name of the game's creator, Tri Uan, – have been published in time for the millennial anniversary of Ha Noi, according to Uan's son, Nguyen Tri Hung.

The game helps sharpen powers of observation through the discovery of resemblances between geometric and natural forms, such as a face, a lotus, a horse, a bird and a heart.

Hung told Viet Nam News that the new answer book guides players to form various figures from seven basic wooden pieces to resemble famous Ha Noi landmarks such as the Tortoise Tower and the One-Pillar Pagoda.

The game has been popular since Uan created it in 1940.

According to Uan's daughter, Nguyen Bach Ngoc, her father took part in revolutionary activities from a very young age. He was arrested by French troops in May 1940 when he was 24 and exiled in the northern province of Phu Tho. With help from his comrades, he fled to nearby Ha Noi and took part in the revolutionary underground.

Uan hid himself in a lumber room at a house at 42 Hue Street in Ha Noi. His only source of entertainment was to cut cartons into pieces and make them into shapes.

"My father told me that he was an excellent student of math at the Buoi High School, so he wanted to make something out of what he had learned," said Ngoc. "After several days, he had cut seven pieces from an 8 by 10cm rectangle. From these pieces, he could shape thousands of natural forms. At that time, my father named the game Evereto."

Ngoc says that the game's name was changed to Tri Uan by President Ho Chi Minh, who said that the game contained tri (intelligence) and uan (mystery), making the creator's name well-suited to the game.

After the restoration of peace in Viet Nam in 1954, President Ho and Party and Government leaders chose Tri Uan game sets as gifts for their international friends.

The palm-sized wooden game set can still be found at educational bookstores in Ha Noi for VND55,000 (US$2.80) or from the creator's family at 129 Phung Hung Street in Ha Noi, by telephone at 0904277423 or by email to tringuyentrochoi@yahoo.com.vn — VNS

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Grilling mudfish on the street

Coal ovens blaze day and night grilling mudfish in shops on Tan Ky Tan Quy and Truong Chinh streets in Ho Chi Minh City.

The shops jostle for attention with signs as red as the coal in the ovens as the alluring smell of grilled fish wafts in the air.

But unlike most other street establishments, these shops in Tan Phu District only do takeouts. In that sense they aren’t so much “shops” as a grilled-mudfish market that offers locals a great alternative dish.

The shops grill the fish in almost the same simple way as it is done in the countryside, the only difference being they use coal ovens instead of a burning heap of straw.

The ovens are large enough to grill seven or eight fish weighing almost a kilogram each.

The outer skin is burnt until pitch black and removed by hand or with a stick to reveal another golden–brown layer of skin underneath.

The fish are then put back on the oven over low heat, sprinkled with shallot grease, and left there to marinate.

Street shops preferred

Restaurants too serve grilled mudfish, which is in fact an expensive dish. But street shops attract customers because of their friendly and quick service.

Accompanied by the same side dishes and dips like unripe bananas, sour carambola, vermicelli, rice paper, fresh vegetables, and fish sauce, the fish sold on the streets is in no way inferior to what is served in the restaurants.

Despite the use of a simple grilling technique, making mudfish is demanding work. For instance, to burn the outer skin completely, the cooks have to carefully turn the fish whiles also ensuring they are done in exactly five-minute intervals.

Removing the burnt skin is also hard work, especially since it is done at the same time as sprinkling the shallot grease and packing them for customers.

The fish are made using sugarcane instead of iron grates. As a result the sweet juice is absorbed by the meat. Shop owners sometimes put a crushed citronella stem in the fish’s stomach to neutralize its smell.

After grilling, the fish are taken off the sugarcane, placed in silver foil, sprinkled with shallot grease and crushed peanuts, and packed in a paper bag.

Some shops do not use sugarcane and stick to iron, which is more convenient since on busy days the fish can be half-grilled in advance and re-grilled when there is an order. But whatever grill is used, ensuring the fish are properly done is not an easy task.

Try this excellent dish and you will discover that however mudfish is grilled, it is a quintessential dish of the southern waterways.

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HCMC student triumphs at Miss Vietnam World 2010

(From L-R) Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh, first runner-up, Luu Thi Diem Huong, Miss Vietnam World 2010 and Pham Thuy Vy Victoria, second runner-up at the crowning night on August 22 in Nha Trang- Photo: Quoc Huy

Luu Thi Diem Huong, a 20-year-old student from HCMC Hoa Sen University defeated 39 contestants to become Miss Vietnam World 2010 at the crowning night at the musical fountain stage in Vinpearl Land in Nha Trang on August 21.

With ideal vital statistics of 84-61-92 and a beautiful smile, Huong also won an extra title for Miss Photogenic voted by the media.

The victory was a surprise because she wasn’t tipped for the title, but her answers in the Q&A session pushed her to the front.

Answering the media after the event, Huong burst into tears and said, “This is a great happiness to me. I promise to try my best to fulfill the responsibilities of my title as Miss Vietnam World 2010.”

Huong received a prize of VND500 million and a VND1 billion crown that is now her’s to keep.

First runner-up was Miss Bikini Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh, 19, from Germany. Khanh was high appreciated by the media and received great support from audiences throughout the competition. She received the prize of VND300 million while second runner-up/Miss Sporty Pham Thuy Vy Victoria from California (USA) received VND200 million.

Other prizes went to Nguy Thanh Lan from HCMC as Miss Friendly voted by the other contestants; Nguyen Thu May from Czech Republic as Miss Beautiful Face, Nguyen Mai Anh from Hanoi for Miss Elegant.

The organizing committee will use all the VND3 billion proceeds from tickets sales plus more than VND1 billion raised from the auction for the right to crown the beauty queen for charity activities.

The crowning night of Miss Vietnam World 2010 was a festival of color and music. The musical fountain stage was transformed by images of lotuses, Buddha, Champa statues on five huge LCD screens.

Fabulous performances by well-known artists and dancers including the international band Il Divo, Tung Duong, Ha Anh Tuan and the Nam Dong Ke band made the evening a great success. About five thousand joined the audience.

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