Treatments With Lotus Leaves

Lotus leaves have long been used to refresh the body, relieve flu and lose extra weight

Many are aware that lotus leaves have been used to wrap some food sold at traditional markets to keep them fresh, or to cover rice or fried rice dishes at many restaurants. They have also learned about medicinal properties of many parts of the lotus, particularly its seeds, bitter germs, seedpods and roots. Still, few know about the benefits of lotus leaves.

In traditional Vietnamese medicine, lotus leaves are considered to be bitter and mild, and good for the heart, liver and stomach. Lotus leaves are therefore used to cure sunstroke, diarrhea and rheumatism, relieve dizziness and stop bleeding.

Contemporary studies show that, aside from the aforementioned remedies, lotus leaves can also be used to reduce unexpected weight and prevent arteriosclerosis because the leaves have exclusive alkaloids and flavonoids. They can help detoxify the body against the toxic properties of certain mushrooms.

Remedies

Prepare porridge with a little rice; when the porridge is boiling, add a fresh lotus leaf onto it; simmer the porridge until it has a greenish color. Eat the porridge during the day, with or without a little white sugar, to refresh the body in summer days, facilitate digestion and relieve fatigue.

Or, prepare porridge with a little rice, two lotus leaves and a little rock sugar. Eat the porridge regularly to accelerate urination, eliminate fats, improve blood circulation, and prevent high blood pressure and strokes. The porridge is highly recommended for the elderly.

Simmer lotus leaves, kim ngân hoa (Flos Lonicerae japonicae), watermelon rind, gourd (Luffa cylindrica) rind and bamboo shoots. Drink the solution twice a day to refresh the body, boost the function of the lungs, and relieve headache, coughing and blurred vision.

Prepare a drink with sliced, fresh lotus leaves and five jujubes. Drink it during the day like drinking tea. This drink can help relieve fever for both children and old people.

Squeeze seven lotus leaves and seven lotus roots; add a little warm water and honey. Drink the solution when it is still warm, twice or thrice a day, to boost the blood and refresh the body.

Soak dried lotus leaves in boiled water and drink it during the day instead of drinking tea for two to three months. This drink can help lower the cholesterol level in the blood and lose extra weight.

Boil a drink with a little dried (or fresh) lotus leaves and dried sn tra (Crataegus monogyna). Drink it during the day to boost appetite and digestion, lower the cholesterol level in the blood and protect the liver. The drink can help prevent cardiovascular diseases and reduce unexpected weight.

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Drink Of Nature

Available and affordable, coconut juice in Saigon offers not only a valuable natural drink but also an exciting lifestyle

Your question of which the most valuable and affordable drink Saigon has to offer is may lead to multiple-choice answers. To cut a long story short, therefore, Saigon Stories suggests its own favorite: coconut juice which is available along the streets across the city.

In order to know more about academic studies of coconut juice’s health value, one should surf the Internet. That the juice is rich in vitamins and minerals goes beyond dispute, though. What should be added may be the fact that coconut juice is arguably one of the best refreshing natural drinks in this tropical city.

Coconut juice is close at hand to thirsty people in terms of both availability and affordability. Drop by any drink shops and you’ll find it on the menu. For the backpacker, however, just walk along the streets in the downtown and he or she may pump into a peddler selling coconut juice.

It’s easy to recognize such a peddler. Saigon Stories will show you how. On the sidewalk, coconut juice is sold on three-wheel push-carts. Please notice what those carts in HCM City (and Vietnam) are like. A typical cart consists of a rectangular metal trunk of about four feet wide by six feet long with two wheels on the front. The third wheel is on the rear, often with a saddle for the driver.

The trunk is really “the office” of coconut juice peddlers, on which they display all their tools and goods. Several wooden Flanks are placed on top of the trunk, where peeled coconuts show off their value. Next to the coconuts is an ice bin in which coconuts are stored cold.

The bottom of the trunk serves as peddlers’ storage of fresh, intact, “unpeeled” (as opposed to the peeled ones on top) coconuts. The trunk is also the peddler’s “litter bin” where peeled coconut skin is kept for later use. After being dried, the skin can be used as fuel.

To expatriate backpackers, watching a coconut juice peddler at work may provide exciting experience. Stay focused on his dexterity and his knife. There’s nothing special about the peddler’s knife as it is just a cheap one made of ordinary steel. However, in his hands, the knife turns out to be a magic tool.

In one of his articles, Cong Thang, an ex-reporter and now a sub-editor of the Saigon Times Group, told the story of veteran Vietnamese folklore music professor Tran Van Khe. Thang wrote that Prof. Khe recalled how delightful expatriate visitors to Vietnam were when they watched peddlers peel coconut skin.

Coconut peddlers’ outcome may be likened to that of a Westerner after the latter has peeled off an orange with a knife. What we have after the “peeling process” is almost the same: a long band of the fruit’s skin. The difference, however, is the orange skin is soft while that of a coconut is rather hard. So, coconut peddlers must have a suitable knife and apply adequate force to get their job done.

As the peddler’s knife moves on, the green coconut skin goes off to reveal the white color inside. Then the peddler has to dip the freshly peeled coconut into a solution to keep the white. Otherwise, the exposed skin will soon turn grey, and the coconut will lose its attractiveness.

Peddlers often arrange peeled coconuts in the form of a pyramid (as described above) to attract buyers’ attention. Meanwhile, some of them are stored in an ice bin. Peddlers may break the top of coconuts to insert a straw.
Now it’s time for you to look for your small change. Pay VND5,000 (roughly 25 U.S. cents) to have a peeled coconut with all its fresh juice. One coconut is normally enough, but if you want another, no problem at all!
You can choose a peeled coconut or an unpeeled one. To be on the safe side, our sub-editor Ton That Thien advises that we should choose only intact coconuts.

In this fast pace of industrial life, Saigonese feel more and more invaded by industrial comforts, including ready-to-use foods and drinks. Everything is manufactured and packed or canned. In the world of fast food, fresh coconut juice is among the few Nature is still offering the residents of Saigon.

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Leaf art to raise funds for poor

Artists have created the first 10 of 52 artworks on holy leaves brought from India to raise money for eye surgery for poor children

Photo: VnExpress

Artists commissioned by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and the Vietnam Buddhist Church have created the first 10 of 52 artworks on holy leaves brought from India to raise money for eye surgery for poor children.

The “bo de hoa tam” (pictures made of bodhi leaves) will be displayed at three major pagodas around Vietnam for the Anh Sang Tri Tue (The Light of Mind) charity program.

In 2008 the artists made a pilgrimage to Mahabodhi Pagoda in India's northern Bihar State, the site where the Buddha attained enlightenment under a bodhi tree and a direct descendant of that tree is still worshipped at the pagoda.

It is from this tree that they brought the leaves and have created Buddhist motifs like peace and images of Buddha.

"The 52 pictures represent the weeks in a year," Nguyen Doan Anh Khoa, the project spokesman, said.

"The Bodhi tree is associated with the goodness that is innate in people's hearts," he said, adding that the exhibition aims to remind viewers that everyone has a heart like the Buddha.

The works will go on display to the public on September 22-24 at Bat Nha Pagoda in Da Nang, from September 30 to October 2 at Tao Sach, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, and from October 8 to 10 at Xa Loi Pagoda, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.

Later they will be awarded to 10 outstanding entrepreneurs on Entrepreneur's Day (October 13).

The entrepreneurs, in turn, will each fund 100 eye operations for poor blind children through charity organizations.

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VN beauty all set for Miss World

Pretty woman: Kieu Khanh will represent Viet Nam at the 60th Miss World competition in Sanya, China. — File Photo

HA NOI — Overseas Vietnamese Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh will represent Viet Nam in the Miss World 2010 pageant in Sanya, China.

Khanh, 19, was the first runner-up in the Miss Viet Nam World pageant held in August in Nha Trang. She won the title of Miss Viet Nam World in Europe in 2009.

With the approval yesterday of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Khanh qualified to represent the nation in the international pageant.

Khanh was worthy representative of Vietnamese beauty for one of the most prestigious international pageants, said to the Elite Entertainment Group, the owner of the Miss World trademark in Viet Nam.

Khanh, who also won a local on-line poll, has received congratulations from her friends and others.

"The great support is pressure but also strength to help me try my best at the upcoming pageant," Khanh said.

Born and raised in Germany, Khanh spoke Vietnamese fluently when she was small. She still holds Vietnamese nationality. She is 1.76m in tall and has vital statistics of 85-63-94.

At the age of 15, Khanh was a model in Germany but gave up modelling when she was in the 11th grade. She is now a student at the University of Rostock in the German State of Mecklenburg-Vorpomern.

Khanh has returned to HCM City to prepare for the upcoming event, where she is being trained by experts from the Elite Entertainment Group and dressed by designers like Hoang Hai and Vo Viet Chung.

She will head to Sanya, in Hainan Province, to compete with over 120 other contestants early next month. The pageant final will take place on October 30, when reigning Miss World Kaiane Aldorino will crown her successor.

This is the ninth year a Vietnamese contestant has taken part in the Miss World contest, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. — VNS

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Photo exhibition spotlights historical events

HA NOI — Black-and-white photos depicting Viet Nam's historic events from 1945-75 are being displayed for the first time at an exhibition.

"Each photo preserves timeless memories of historical events even though the moments have passed by and the witnesses have passed away," says historian Duong Trung Quoc.

The exhibition will run until Sunday at 93 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Ha Noi.

National Library receives 800 German books

HA NOI — The Frankfurt International Book Fair Company and the Goethe Institute yesterday donated 800 German books to the Viet Nam National Library to introduce German culture and people to Vietnamese readers.

These books have been displayed at the International Book Fair that opened this month in Ha Noi.

"The books will help readers understand more about Germany," says the library's director Phan Thi Kim Dung.

"They will be useful when we open a multi-language reading room in October."

On the occasion, the Viet Nam National Library and the Goethe Institute signed an agreement of co-operation.

National receptionist contest awards first prize

HCM CIty — Quan Tieu My of the Rex Hotel beat 90 other contestants from all over the country to win first prize at the National Receptionist Contest 2010.

She was followed by contestants from the Pilgrimage Village Hotel in Hue, Continental-Sai Gon and Grand-Sai Gon.

My also won the first prize for best dressed receptionist.

The National Receptionist 2010 contest held last week at the Au Co Art Centre in Ha Noi by the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), as one of the activities marking 1,000 years of Ha Noi and VNAT's own 50th anniversary.

2,000 set to join campaign to keep Hoi An green

QUANG NAM — Two thousand local people, youths and foreigners in Hoi An are expected to join a walking campaign to protect the environment.

The event is being organised by Go Green Club (GGC) on Sunday.

The campaign aims to promote awareness among community members and youngsters to protect the environment in the town and in the Da Nang-Hoi An area, said GGC head Nguyen Thanh An.

"The walking campaign will be a useful bridge for people to join in and exchange experiences, which will improve their awareness and living habits," said An.

The participates will walk along a 2km road from the Song Hoai Square through the historic Hoi An streets to the An Hoi Bridge.

The campaign is part of the Go Green programme which was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Education and Training. — VNS

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Culture Vulture

Japanese researcher Imai Akio, who teaches at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, has just returned to Viet Nam to resume work on the American war. He first came to Viet Nam in 1979 and has since returned many times.

He spoke with the Culture Vulture about his research.

Could you tell us about your war research in Viet Nam?

The major subject of my studies and teaching at university is the modern history of Viet Nam since the beginning of the 20th century until now. For the last few years, I have focused on recording the experiences of those who took part in the anti-American war, which is one of three main topics I have been working on. The other two are the history of Vietnamese nationalist ideology and religious movements in Viet Nam.

During this visit to Viet Nam, I hope to complete research for a book entitled War Memories in Viet Nam, which includes references to Gio Dai (Wild Wind) by writer Bao Ninh that was translated by Professor Kawaguchi Kenichi.

Where have you been to in Viet Nam?

I have been to various parts of Viet Nam, including Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Dien Bien Phu, Hoa Binh, Quang Binh, Vinh Long and Tra Vinh. I have met and talked to about 100 war veterans that have included ethnic minorities such as Thai and Muong.

I have listened to their life stories during and after the war.

How has your view of the American War changed after hearing these accounts?

It's hard to say. I want to record the personal accounts of war veterans, those that were involved in the fighting. I don't want to look at the war through the eyes of war leaders.

Their memories are important and valuable to history and social researchers. If we don't record them, they will be lost for ever. That would be a great loss to history. I suppose your own historians should do the same thing before it is too late.

Did you encounter any difficulties meeting and talking to these war veterans? How long did you spend with each of them?

I spoke to each of them for about an hour. They were quite willing to talk to me.

Who impressed you the most?

I met many interesting people, who had very moving stories to relate. For example, there was a female volunteer in Thanh Hoa who spent the whole of her youth in the military. She now lives alone and farms a small plot of land, which she owns.

There isn't time in the day to recount all my meetings. But there were many very interesting experiences.

Why did you choose to conduct your research in Viet Nam, not Japan or another country?

The war in Viet Nam was a major event in the 20th century, not only for Asians but also Westerners. However, there has been little research conducted on the experiences of ordinary people. There have however been lots written about the war in Viet Nam from the point of international history and social history.

Why did you choose Kon Tum for your last destination in Viet Nam before returning home?

I wanted to interview ethnic minority war veterans there. Kon Tum is not my last destination for this topic. I will return to Viet Nam and meet more veterans from other places.

How do you cover the cost of your visits?

My expenses are being subsidised by the Japanese government.

Aside from the war, what other interests do you have in Viet Nam?

I have seen many films and read lots of books on Viet Nam such as films by director Dang Nhat Minh, Viet Linh and written work by Bao Ninh, Le Luu and Duong Huong. On this visit, I met a Vietnamese writer who is helping me translate a book from Vietnamese into Japanese. — VNS

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Olympic English contest launched

HCM City — Registration opened yesterday for the Olympic English Contest 2010 in HCM City for high school pupils who wish to practice English and gain essential skills for entering the workforce in the near future.

The three-round contest, being held jointly by Apollo English and the Department of Education and Training of HCM City, is open to 10th and 11th grade pupils from all HCM City high schools.

The first round will be held on October 10 at a high school in HCM City. Contestants will take a 100-question multiple choice test with questions spanning across various topics, such as culture, history and society.

Second round contestants will be challenged with a 50-question multiple choice test and a 50-question listening test.

The final round will include two parts: a quick Q&A session and an oral presentation session.

Khalid Muhmood, chairman of Apollo English said: "This is the first time Apollo English is holding this contest in co-ordination with HCM City's Department of Education and Training, and we are honoured to create a meaningful playground for pupils in this city. Organising this contest is one of our efforts to show our commitment to the development of Vietnamese students and to create a frequent academic playground that helps build confidence and winning results."

Contest registration is open until October 4. Pupils can register at their schools or online at http://apollo.edu.vn/olympic. — VNS

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