Bái Đính, the biggest pagoda in ASEAN

Bái Đính Pagoda is famous for its great size and imposingness.

The pagoda will be also set more record for the owner of the most Arhat Statues in ASEAN with 500 Arhat statues made of stone and stand higher than human’s head.

Located behind a range of limestone mountains in Gia Sinh Commune, Gia Viên District, Ninh Bình Province, the site with construction lying about in disorder and in the way, so it is difficult to imagine its beauty as well as its solemn to a pagoda in the true sense of the word as the  tradition.

However, its great size and imposingness can be felt by anybody when visiting it one time.

Its back leans against the Bái Đính Mountain with the height of 200m.

The area for constructing Bái Đính Pagoda is 80ha, which is located on the mass of “Bái Đính Pagoda hallowed culture” belonging to Tràng An Tourism Area.

Currently, this mass is executing many items of Pagoda including Tam Thế (Past, Present and Future) Temple, Sanctuary and Bodhisatva Kwan Yin statue, Dharma Temple, Bell-tower, Three-door temple gate, and dormitory area for Buddhist monks, etc.

In front of Pagoda valley, a hundred of  excavators, bulldozers and power-shovels are digging land and build up a dike to make a  huge semicircular lake, which will be taken water from the river crossing to create a landscape of “on shore and under boat” like the Yến Stream flowing under the foot of Hương Tích Pagoda.

The most important emphasizing point of these great religion works are still Tam Thế Temple and DharmaTemple.

The area of two Temples is up to 1.000m2 (area of the main sanctuary of traditional pagodas is maximum about 150m2 because it is limited by compartments – stipulated by the length of wood beam).

The height of Dharma Temple is up to 22m, it contains four achieving record statues inside.

Four statues – three bronze Tam Thế statues and one Great Buddha Sakyamuni statue – are the pride of “Owners” of Bái Đính pagoda.

Each statue of Tam Thế weighs 50 tons, 12m high, Great Buddha Sakyamuni statue with 16m high and weighs 100 tons, which are casted by the pure bronze bought from Russian, casted and installed by the famous Artisans of casting bronze statue in Y Yen, Nam Định.

A “great bell” with the weight of 60 tons was casted and located on the top of hill on the way come to the main sanctuary.

The Great Bell is so big that it is estimated if wanting to sound the bell, it will need a big log of wood and four puller the log of wood to prod into the bell.

The astonishing one is the “collection” of 500 Arhat statues on the hill in the right of Dharma Temple.

The 500 Arhat statues with the height of 2.3m, carved by Ninh Binh stone.

According to the supervisor for executing at the site, Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Trườngng – investor and his collaborator came to China to learn and take the sample drawings of 500 Arhat’s legend and brought to home country for the painters, carvers to make the sample statue of gypsum, after that the craftsmen carved the statues again by monolithic green stone.

People in Gia Viên District joked that: only carving enough these 500 Arhat statues, the villagers in Ninh Vân’s stone craft village, Hoa Lư  (neighbor district) have got enough jobs security during the past two years.

Though the construction of Bái Đính Pagoda has not yet finished, the reputation of this new Pagoda was far-resounding.

The visitors received some information from the backstage “whisper in each other’s ears”, have come to burn incense before the bronze statues of Buddha which are still being covered by scaffolds.

While far from the large site 2km, if sharp-sighted the passers will see a humble three-door temple gate loacated next the roadside.

Through the three-door temple gate, turn to the small path rather slope, go up to the top of mountain we will see the Bái Đính Pagoda (old), full of green moss and quiet.

There is virtually none knowing to a “Great Buddhist Pagoda” will be going to set the record of Asean being executed at the site over there.

Ecologically and historically rich, the Bái Đính Pagoda Mountain was recognised as a cultural and historical heritage site in 1997.

Bái Đính Pagoda has become the largest religious tourist centre in Viet Nam upon completion in 2010 to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thăng Long – Hà Nội.

As a great historical relics, Bái Đính Pagoda cherishes both:

Enchanting scenery and deep history.

Let’s give you a chance to enjoy the beauty…

Source: Vietnamtourism

New Book: Singapore Insights From the Inside

The Singapore International Foundation invited members of the international community to share their unique insights and personal experiences of Singapore so that more might know about Singapore and its people.

In this inaugural edition of Singapore Insights from the Inside, 31 members of the international community, ranging from students, volunteers, short term visitors, to professionals in both the non-profit and the corporate worlds, present a rich tapestry of perspectives on Singapore the cosmopolitan city-state.

These are stories about Singapore by the international community, for the international community – a smorgasbord of anecdotes on people, places and Singaporean idiosyncrasies too!

The local community will also gain insights into what Singapore is to the international community.

Written from the heart, the uninitiated will benefit from the authenticity of these narratives.

This new biennial publication is one of several initiatives by which the Singapore International Foundation promotes understanding to bridge and nurture enduring relationships between Singaporeans and world communities, harnessing friendships for a better world.

Mr Le Huu Huy, Founder and Director  of Vietnam Language Centre Singapore was asked by the Singapore International Foundation to be a contributor to this book.

It is truly an honorable pleasure to be part of this endeavour.

The book launch was held last Thursday 10 May 2012.

It is now available at major  bookstores in Singapore

Source: SIF

Where the Faithful Worship Among the Tourists

JUST before midnight, the monks were still arriving.

Dressed in long, flowing white robes, they resembled fireflies as they rode through the darkness on their motorbikes, descending on the towering temple at the heart of the Cao Dai holy land in southernVietnam.

Many were attending their fourth service of the day.

Removing his sandals and smoothing down his robes, Vo Huu Nghia, 60, who had befriended me that day last year, joined them.

He silently entered the cavernous temple and, finding a spot, knelt down and began to chant his prayers.

Above him were the serene faces of Jesus, Confucius and Buddha, while a giant all-seeing eye stared down at the few hundred worshipers.

“We are Vietnamese, this is our religion,” Mr. Vo told me later in halting English.

For 70 years this elaborate, dragon-adorned temple outside the small city of Tay Ninh, about 60 miles northwest ofHo Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) near the Cambodian border, has been the center of Cao Dai, which has five million adherents.

While it is not the country’s dominant religion, it has the distinction of being its largest homegrown one.

Every year tens of thousands of visitors, pilgrims and tourists, visit the temple to worship or simply to gaze in awe at its vaulted ceilings, vibrant color schemes and praying masses.

And then there’s its unusual collection of saints, prophets and religious iconography, which in range, kitsch and spectacle presents an impressive cross-section of religious and aesthetic styles.

But that’s befitting a religion that aims to unite all of humanity through the common vision of an individual creator — the same God honored by most major religions.

The protagonist of Graham Greene’s “Quiet American” (1955) described the temple like this:

“Christ and Buddha looking down from the roof of a cathedral on a Walt Disney Fantasia of the East, dragons and snakes in Technicolor.”

I had been drawn to the temple after coming across a list of Cao Dai (pronounced gao-DIE)  saints that included Joan of Arc, Thomas Jefferson, Sun Yat-sen (the revolutionary father of Chinese republicanism) and Victor Hugo.

This diverse group was apparently drawn from those spirits who reached out to Cao Dai priests during séances to impart wisdom and guidance.

Some, like Victor Hugo, were said to have regularly communicated with the Cao Dai from beyond the grave.

Visitors to the compound today won’t see a séance — the government banned the practice in 1970s — but there is more than enough to thrill and confuse even the most temple-weary tourist.

The compound has two ornate temples, and a pope’s office, in front of which believers subjugate themselves out of reverence for the first, and only, Cao Dai pope, Pham Cong Tac.

(He died in 1959 in exile in Cambodia after running afoul of the South Vietnamese government.)

The 188-acre grounds include dormitories and kitchens for the hundreds of resident priests, a high school, a hospital, forests and a large area for religious processions.

I decided to forgo the $6 daily tour buses from Ho Chi Minh City for a three-hour trip by crowded public transport to the nearby town, a journey that still afforded a view of the city’s vast sprawl giving way to miles upon miles of paddy fields.

Tay Ninh is in a tropical, agricultural area, and besides the Cao Dai temple and the nearby Cu Chi tunnel system left over from the Vietnam War, there is little to draw tourists.

Checking into the nearest hotel in the small, ramshackle town that has grown around the outskirts of the temple complex, I quickly headed out for what would be the first of many Cao Dai services, which are held every six hours throughout the day and night.

Inside the main temple, worshipers and priests were already bowed, their heads planted firmly on the cool stone floor as they chanted words of praise, accompanied by a single drumbeat and a few stringed instruments.

Closest to the Divine Eye above the altar, several priests in bright red, yellow and blue robes adorned with a large eye and with elaborate headdresses led the worship.

On the balconies above, foreign and Vietnamese tourists watched in silence, a concession made by the temple priests, who allow tour groups in exchange for much-needed dollars.

(Every day, about a half-dozen busloads of visitors come to see the noon service before heading to the Cu Chi tunnels and then back to the city.)

Thirty minutes after the chanting had begun, it was over, and with that the worshipers stood up and quietly filed out.

The priests and student priests remained, enjoying the cool temple air rather than braving the outdoor heat; some went to their rooms to rest.

Soon the tourists were gone too, and the only people left beside me were a handful of sun-worn priests occupying the temple, constructed to be the center of a holy land for a religion created from the vision of a civil servant in 1919.

Today’s striking multicolor, dragon-adorned temple was built from 1933 to 1955, and in architectural terms, is part church, part pagoda, crammed with ornate drums and gongs, haloed statues of saints and other holy figures, and lavish and colorful symbols of other religions.

There’s also a sphere depicting the all-seeing Divine Eye — Cao Dai’s offering to the religious cornucopia.

Beyond the four daily services there is little for visitors to the temple complex to do but wander the well-kept grounds, talk to — or simply smile at — the priests and practitioners, and seek shelter from the scorching heat in one of the airy temple buildings.

Despite this, I found that the hours drifted by in peaceful contemplation.

I also struck up conversations with a few of the faithful, aided by a translator.

Most of the worshipers and temple leaders were long past retirement age, perhaps a sign of the decline of the religion or simply a natural byproduct of people raising families and working.

It also seemed to be an egalitarian faith, with just as many of the priests and student priests older women.

“I was born into the faith but had a family life and raised six children,” said Ho Huong Pham, 82, a student priest.

“When my husband died 20 years ago, my children were grown up and I came here to devote myself to the faith.”

On the final morning of my two-day stay in Tay Ninh — during which I had left the complex only to eat nearby street food or sleep — I was invited to drink tea with one of the temple’s bishops.

A quiet, elderly man, he smiled and explained to me the importance of the various robes (yellow represents Buddhism, blue Taoism and red Confucianism).

After a while we sat in silence until it was time for him to put on his yellow ceremonial robes to lead the midday service.

As I got up to leave he shook my hand and invited me to come back, before slowly making his way toward the temple a hundred yards away.

On the cramped, un-air-conditioned bus that took me out of town, I remembered a conversation with a man at the temple worshiping with his granddaughter.

“Cao Dai is a collection of the best parts of many religions,” the man, Huynh Van Hgoat, 53, had told me.

Despite this, he was doubtful about the future of the religion.

“Ninety percent of believers live in theMekong,” he said.

“Of course I hope the religion is growing, but I doubt it.

One day there might be only tourists here.”

A History of Cao Dai

In 1919, Ngo Van Chieu, a lowly Vietnamese civil servant working for the French colonial administration, received a vision of God and, following the heavenly message, began preaching a credo based on the unity of world religions.

According to his new doctrine this would be the third alliance between god and mankind, the first coming at the time of the founding of Judaism and Hinduism, and the second around the time that Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism began.

Cao Dai would be the third and final alliance, the religion that would unite and prove the unified message of all of these earlier religions.

The new religion followed the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation, drew upon the ethical precepts of Confucianism, had an ecclesiastical hierarchy similar to that of the Roman Catholic church and yet preached the Taoist concept of yin-yang, of two balancing forces, good and bad.

Cao Dai spread quickly through Vietnam, and by the 1950s it was such a force that it was said to command an army of 25,000 in the Mekong region during the turbulent and uncertain days at the end of the French occupation and claim an eighth of the country’s population as believers.

This rapid growth wouldn’t last.

After the Vietnam War — during which Cao Dai priests refused to side with the Vietcong, even after their military had been subdued by the South and their pope exiled — the religion had all of its land confiscated.

The land around the temple was returned in 1985.

 By KIT GILLET

Source: The New York Times

A Street Food Capital

Word is out.

Various magazines and travel websites such as CNN Go are now letting our neighbors in on a secret we in Vietnam have long known to be true.

Our very own capital city is definitely coming into its own as one of the top street food meccas in Southeast Asia.

Hanoi offers foodies and locals alike a wide selection of dishes unique to its sidewalks.

The very same dishes providing commonplace sustenance to generations of native Hanoians now send the newly initiated on a culinary adventure with tastes long remembered.

I had the pleasure of calling Hanoi home for eighteen months, and its color and chaos gave birth to my interest in all things street food.

Oh how I still yearn for those northern tastes now that I have moved south to Saigon.

Frequent trips back to my old neighborhood keep my passion for Hanoi’s native cuisine alive, and in a city this large, the choices can seem daunting.

Let’s narrow down the vast field of foods befitting the nation’s capital and take a bite size look at three unique local specialties costing a reasonable VND 30,000 to 40,000 (US$1.5-2) each.

Slightly off Hanoi’s beaten path, several well worn open front food shops plastered with Coca Cola and Pepsi advertisements line Phu Tay Ho Street along the shoreline of this roadway’s namesake, Tay Ho or, West Lake in English.

Deep fried rice batter fritters each containing a single shrimp, thin shell and all, are artfully arranged into towering pyramid displays beckoning the hungry to tables with a Buddhist temple across the street their backdrop.

Eating these golden- hued treats known as banh tom is simple.

Wrap the crunchy shrimp cake in tangy greens such as perilla, mint and butter lettuce selected from a plastic tableside basket.

Then if you are like me, clumsily attempt to give it all a chopstick dunk in a sweetened fish sauce mixture complete with strips of pickled unripe papaya.

With well over two dozen meals up and down this strip of restaurants under my belt, one whose name and address are synonymous, 61 Phu Tay Ho, has become my regular choice for its fresh offerings.

A side of green papaya and beef jerky salad paired with the banh tom provides the proper balance so integral to Vietnamese cuisine…a medley of sweet, sour, salt, and spice.

A noodle based dish is our next stop on our Hanoian street food tour, and yes, your suspicions are correct.

The pho lending pho xao its name is indeed related to the soup popularly believed to have originated in Hanoi.

However, this street food dispenses with broth, and the broad silky ribbons of rice noodles swirl around a wok along with tomatoes, onion and bok choy.

The searing heat transforms the noodles’ outer edges into a crisp frame holding middles both supple and soft.

Copious amounts of hot sauce will elevate this plate of noodles into a mouth searing affair lingering long after dinner.

Overly generous portions of pho xao fly out of the kitchen in a nondescript unnamed concrete building between Segafredo at36 Xuan Dieu Road andTracy’s Sports Bar at number 40 in the Tay Ho neighborhood.

The tiny plastic stools occupying that fluid area where sidewalk melds into street seem so incongruous with the nearby more “upmarket” Western choices with price tags to match, but rest assured the stir fried noodles and other menu choices here are anything but average.

I have saved my personal street food favorite for last.

For me nothing saysHanoi like a hearty, calorie rich bun cha, or grilled meat with rice noodles.

Tiny tables all across town strain to contain the bowls of sweetened fish sauce based broth subtly spiced with garlic and red birdseye chili peppers; piles of spongy white rice vermicelli; and baskets of various herbs such as saw tooth, mint, Thai basil, Vietnamese balm, purple perilla, and bibb lettuce.

Floating around in the warmed liquid are pickled strips of unripe mango and the two stars of this classic…tiny medallions of ground pork along with thin strips of pork belly.

A blazing hot grill sears these tender morsels with the most wonderful outer char meat could ever hope for.

This crispy layer seals in inner softness and juices yearning to be set free, and each bite washes a flavor overload across the tongue.

Bun Cha 37 at 37 Hang Than Street is my go to place when my cravings prove too strong.

Don’t let the chaotic and crowded dining room fool you though as this food shop has perfected its craft.

Small touches such as a dusting of finely ground black pepper across the pork and herbs grilled onto the meat elevate Bun Cha 37 above its peers.

Another praiseworthy Old Quarter option is Bun Cha Dac Kim at1 Hang Manh Street.

I hope these three street food classics inspire you to similarly explore allHanoior your own backyard has to offer.

Bon appetit!

 By JOHN RUSSACK

Source: Tuoi Tre Online

Why do I stay in Vietnam?

I come from Australia.

Not a bad place, quite nice really.

I’m an English teacher so I’ve wandered around Southeast Asia because teaching in Australia became routine and somewhat boring and required too much paperwork…

Also I felt that I really needed to understand why my overseas students in Australia couldn’t speak effective English despite having studied it for nearly 10 years in their native countries.

So why did I move to Vietnam?

Why did I decide to stay?

What was the attraction?

I could have continued to live in Japan or South Korea or Thailand.

I came by accident and a subconscious curiosity about Vietnam.

I grew up during the beginning and end of the American war in Vietnam.

We watched the news every night broadcasting the sad and terrible images of that time, and even though I was quite young, I noticed that local Vietnamese people on the television seemed nice and harmless.

When I was 12, a strange orange-brown dog with incredibly strong dark eyes and a curled tail arrived on our family doorstep.

All these years later, my memory of him is mirrored in the short, stocky pups I see everywhere here.

I like to think he was typically Vietnamese; short, and tough and ready to defend his territory no matter how big the other dog was, yet every night he lay next to me, quietly, without fuss or trouble.

And there were other things, my lovely friendly laundry people, all Vietnamese, living in Sydney who always gave me a smile, a good price and wonderful smells in the fresh clothes.

And there was the local Vietnamese restaurant around the corner from my place in Sydney, where they always laughed and joked with me.

Somehow, I was constantly, softly reminded that there was this country called Vietnam that something deep inside me whispered I should go to…

I finally had my chance to visit in the summer of 2006 with a friend who encouraged me to come and visit Malaysia and Thailand.

We had a great time and then took the great leap into Vietnam.

We arrived late at night at the airport in Hanoi.

My friend freaked out at the madness and mayhem of Vietnamese traffic and later, while trying to deal with local traders in Hanoi.

He ended up staying in his hotel for three days!

He wouldn’t come out until we flew down to Hoi An to visit an Australian friend who had been living in Vietnam for a few years!

Hoi An was a dream.

Although every bit as noisy and chaotic as the rest of the country (and getting more noisy every year! – Hoi An is a boom town) yet somehow a slower pace of life, even though the Hoianians (as we foreigners like to call them), it seemed then, were only interested in our money and creating businesses as fast as they could.

We had a great time, however, my friend raced back to Langkawi, off the west coast of Malaysia, as soon as he could.

He couldn’t handle the amazing way of life here.

Many westerners become shell-shocked by the speed, energy, persistence, friendliness and surprisingly frustrating ways of the Vietnamese.

I stayed…

I loved it, the madness, the business, the strange houses, the great food, the constant street yells at the foreigners to buy something.

You name it, I loved it…

But there was another side that finally swayed me; the sheer feeling of peace I was beginning to sense.

I was standing on the small bridge overlooking the river not far from Cua Dai Beach outside Hoi An, taking in the sunshine, the twinkling, sparkling river, a gentle warm breeze and my heart said, “stay…live here”.

It took three more years for me to organize myself to live here.

I’m now in my fourth year of residency.

Although in that time, I’ve made many mistakes, lost money, struggled to make things and come to accept the Vietnamese as they are, not what I would wish them to be sometimes, I have never regretted coming here.

The kids giggle, the adults smile, the food’s great, the summer weather is a dream, my students are very nice (usually!) and my local area is quiet at night.

I often like to sit out in my garden in the dark late at night, drink a Larue and watch the stars on a clear, hot summer’s night with not a sound in the air.

In the news, we read about all Vietnam’s troubles and problems, its rights, wrongs and injustices, but what country doesn’t suffer from this?

I often feel, although the issues are important, that the news misses the point.

Here is a young, energetic nation just beginning to gain speed and expertise; for all that’s wrong there’s also a lot that’s very satisfying.

In the Western world, we don’t see a lot of kids running everywhere laughing on the streets or just peacefully chatting as they cycle down the streets.

We don’t get so much fresh food sold just down the road from our houses.

We don’t seem to remember the peacefulness of sitting on chairs in the evening talking about life and the world – we’re too busy on the internet or hypnotized by the television.

You begin to know something about the people in your street.

Vietnamese celebrate their life often, if sometimes a little bit too quickly!

There’s always a funny wedding party to gatecrash, my neighbors “I’ve got something new” mini-parties, schools and universities seem to spend more time on organizing concerts and beauty pageants than education!

And when the pop stars come to town, its total mayhem on the roads.

As I roll around Hoi An on my motorbike, I love all the different colored houses, the big bamboo trees swaying in the mid-day wind, the smell of Com ga and fresh Banh Mi in the mornings, the chatty middle-aged mums all walking in a group for early morning exercise.

It’s just so nice to smile as you’re going to work.

I adore the late summer sunsets over the western mountains, long red sunbeams streaming though the tall stacks of the late afternoon clouds.

Often, I love just to stare at the early morning sea glittering at dawn on a blue, blue day.

I have never stopped being amazed at the colors of the rice fields, the riverbanks and the local forests.

I often joke that Vietnam’s tourist slogan should have been “The color of your dreams”.

Although my Tieng Viet is not good, I do have some good Vietnamese friends and they are quite wonderful.

Our conversations are part English lessons and discussions about Vietnamese life in cool coffee shops near the rice fields or the Hoai river in the afternoons.

While some Vietnamese believe western men come to Vietnam to find a wife, I never thought about it too much.

I believe in fate, destiny and serendipity (finding happy things by accident) so if I am fortunate and a good man, perhaps I will meet a nice girl.

Yet Vietnamese women are definitely quite beautiful and everywhere and I think this too is part of the attraction.

I struggle to make money in Hoi An, its difficult because it’s a small place but I love being here and would only live again in big cities if I really, really had to.

I have the option to complain about many things here but that would not be fair to the great feelings I have received while living here.

If things make me crazy sometimes, that can be just as much my fault for not understanding or being patient.

And I can’t judge the Vietnamese for the way they do things, they are still learning and growing.

I stay here because I fell in love with this place and I’m still in love with it…

 By STIVI COOKE

Source: Tuoi Tre Online

Vietnam-born Jacqueline H. Nguyen confirmed to U.S. 9th Circuit Court

The US Senate confirmed Jacqueline H. Nguyen of Los Angeles to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, making her the first Asian American woman to sit on a federal appellate court.

By a 91-3 vote, the Senate agreed to Nguyen’s nomination as part of an earlier deal to begin acting on President Obama’s nominees.

Republicans had been holding up some of the president’s choices as part of a protest over White House appointments.

The Senate also approved Kristine Gerhard Baker of Arkansas and John Lee of Illinois to federal district courts — making Lee the second Korean American on a federal district court.

When Obama announced Nguyen’s nomination last fall, he called her a trailblazer.

Nguyen fled Vietnam as a girl with her family as Saigon fell in 1975.

They lived temporarily in a tent city at Camp Pendleton before settling in the Los Angeles area.

Her family eventually operated a doughnut shop in North Hollywood, where she studied between helping customers, according to a 2002 interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“That really grounded me in reality,” she said.

“I congratulate Judge Nguyen and her family on this important and historic day,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said.

Nguyen is a 1987 graduate of Occidental College, where Obama also studied, and a graduate of UCLA School of Law, the White House said.

She worked at the law firm of Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP from 1991 to 1994, and then joined the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

In 2002 she was appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and in 2009 Obama selected her as a federal judge for the Central District of California.

Source: LA Times

Eating Outside the Box

Let me preface this by stating I am not a vegetarian, yet from time to time I do enjoy healthy, plant based foods.

Finding a meal not centered around animals that formerly oinked, clucked, or mooed in a barnyard is a tall order indeed in Vietnam, and even fish sauce seems to permeate most every dish.

What’s a person seeking non-meat options to do?

Fear not for though vegetarian fare is not part of more mainstream Vietnamese cuisine, solid choices are scattered throughout Saigon.

Three restaurants across three districts of the city provide a good cross section of the variety available to us.

Most surprising on the extensive menus are the “meat” choices such as shrimp, snails, pork and beef for these are vegetarian restaurants, are they not?

I got to thinking perhaps the Vietnamese have a different interpretation of non-meat based cooking.

After all, we have seen the foods deceptively labeled “vegetarian” on tourist menus indicating only that the dish perhaps contains eggplant or morning glory in addition to an animal protein.

Follow me and we will taste first hand how “meat” really can be an unexpected, outside the box dining experience.

My foray into HCMC’s vegetarian underbelly came by accident when a friend asked if eating at a Buddhist temple held any interest, and of course I bit.

A walled oasis may shield Viet Chay Restaurant at 290/21A Nam Ky Khoi Nghia from District 3’s midrise buildings and bustle, but an automatic cash machine just inside the temple grounds is indeed an interesting reminder the real world is never far removed even at a temple.

After my friends and I made the obligatory jokes about how fitting that a “money god” should grace the entry to a religious compound, we settled into the very clean restaurant to tuck into my first official vegetarian “meat” fare.

Of all our praiseworthy dishes, the yellow curry beef piqued our curiosity most since we wondered how a cow product could actually find a home in vegetarian Buddhist environs.

All doubts were quelled quickly enough once the waitress delivered strips of a brownish tofu-like product floating around in a savory sauce laced with just enough heat to light a mild fire on our tongues.

hough the texture and taste could never be confused with actual beef, this vegan substitute is a worthy, highly edible food.

That we finished the entire portion of this and several other selections is a testament that vegetarian cuisine actually can be both healthy and satisfying, especially for VND40,000 to 70,000 (US$2-3.5) per main dish.

Since Vinh Nghiem is an active temple, we felt compelled to feast on a little culture for dessert by visiting the main structure.

Lunch may have tempted our tastebuds into gluttony, but by now the surroundings were full on tantalizing both eyes and nose alike with its aromatic serenity.

Faint wisps of smoke lazily rising from incense sticks put off a pungent aroma filling the grounds near the stairs.

Crossing the threshold of the darkened temple transported us to another world with altars adorned with carved wood, porcelain vases, gold accents, and food and beverage offerings.

Though not rising to the same uniqueness as a temple, Au Lac Healthy World Restaurant has three HCMC outposts with the one at 237 Xo Viet Nghe Tinh in Binh Thanh District offering a clean, modern atmosphere overlooking this busy thoroughfare.

The carefully arranged presentation of meals here is well beyond what I would expect for price points in the VND40,000 to 60,000 (US$2-3) range.

With some imagination my “meat” selection of ginger lemongrass snails appeared somewhat real even though the good flavors did not quite remind me of the actual shelled creature.

To be sure, the snails along with other items such as faux chicken wings, grilled eggplant, and duck eggs did not disappoint, and we all pushed away from the table full with amazement that low calorie, low fat konjac powder can create such palatable faux meat variants.

Au Lac’s small ground floor supermarket offers a wide selection of vegan items as well.

Should a food on the menu have piqued your interest, chances are it is available here in packaged form for home preparation.

If Vietnamese delicacies such as cow stomach, snails, or fish sauce prove too much for those of us weaned on a more sterile Western diet, these vegan substitutes allow us to nibble around the fringes of the cuisine, albeit in a plant based manner.

I took home a bottle of vegetarian fish sauce based nuoc cham and hesitate to admit this, but I might actually prefer it to the real deal.

Finally, tucked away down an alley within District 1’s “backpacker” area is An Lac Chay at 175/1 Pham Ngu Lao.

This restaurant offers Western fare such as spaghetti and burritos which three of us left unsampled as we did not want to stray away from the Vietnamese choices averaging VND40-50,000 (US$2-2.5).

Lemongrass and chili chicken is vegan through and through, and turned out to be a suitable, albeit average alternative to our real barnyard friend.

If not quite similar in taste, these strips of “chicken” do share the same bumpy “skin,” texture, and color of the real bird.

Compared to the other two restaurants, An Lac Chay’s selection proves more limited in scope and less imaginative in taste.

Of these three food spots, Viet Chay remains my favorite as it nourishes both appetite and soul with a fusion of fresh inventive food and spiritual aura.

I’ll be back there and at the other vegetarian choices around town as well, and I hope even if you are not vegetarian, this type of cuisine proves a delicious addition to your diet.

 By JOHN RUSSACK

Source: Tuoi Tre Online

A Great Visit to Ha Long Bay

Before I moved to Vietnam, one of the things that most impressed me about the country were pictures I had seen of Ha Long Bay.

The beautiful pictures showed romantic views of limestone islands sitting in gorgeous blue water, and I knew this would be a place that I would have to visit!

Much to my surprise, when I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City I realized that this magical place was pretty far away.

Unfortunately, after a year of working in, and traveling around, this impressive country I had yet to accomplish my goal of visiting the bay.

Recently, while on a business trip to Hanoi, I took a few extra days and finally got to Ha Long Bay.

I booked a tour with a local Hanoi travel agent recommended by a friend.

I knew that I didn’t want to go for a cheap, low budget tour on my first visit to the bay so I decided to go for one of the nicer, but still affordable, options.

When I had everything booked I could barely sleep because I was so excited.

A bus picked me up in Hanoi in the morning and we made the long drive to the boats.

I was surprised how long the drive took as I originally thought that Ha Long Bay was closer to the city.

Still, the ride was comfortable and we made it to the water with few complaints.

Plus, while we drove along, we got the chance to introduce ourselves to the other travelers who would be joining us on our adventure.

We boarded a small boat at the somewhat chaotic and crowded marina and rode out to the larger boat we would be spending the night on.

The boat was beautiful with a rustic, wooden exterior that fit perfectly with the timeless location that surrounded us.

Although the boat looked like a more traditional vessel, inside it was equipped with all the modern amenities that you would expect in a modern hotel room.

The beds were comfortable and the rooms were surprisingly large for being on a boat.

Slowly, the boat moved into the area of the towering islands.

Although I had seen many pictures I was unprepared for how truly impressive the rock formations are in real life!

They were truly amazing to look at and compared to nothing else I had ever seen.

Eventually, the boat came to a stop where the rocks formed a kind of natural harbor.

Here we exited and got the opportunity to check out a large cave toward the top of one of the large islands.

The inside of the cave was massive, bigger than any other cave I had been to and I was surprised that it was in as good of shape as it was, considering the amount of tourists that pass through it daily.

While I thought the cave was nice, the best part was the view it afforded from its high location.

The boats resting on the calm water next to the islands were truly a sight to see, it reminded me of something you would see in a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie!

After exploring the cave, we had a couple of hours to kayak around in the clear, blue water.

I had really been looking forward to the kayaking and it didn’t disappoint.

Although the outside temperature was cooler than in HCMC  I was surprised by how warm the water was as I paddled along.

Once we were finished kayaking it was time for dinner on the boat.

We ate some delicious seafood as the sun sat around us and the rocks were bathed in an orange light.

Once night fell I retired to my room where I peacefully went to sleep.

I rested peacefully as the water was gentle and there was barely a sound outside.

In the morning we watched the sun rise over the landscape, had a simple breakfast and cruised out of the bay.

Overnight, clouds had crept into the area and we got the chance to see a more mystical, foggy side of the bay.

This was charming in its own way and I felt like an early explorer discovering a new land.

Finally we made it back to the mainland, boarded a bus and returned to the city.

I didn’t want to leave such a magical place but I knew this would be the first of many trips as I don’t think I could ever spend enough time in this picturesque land that is truly a natural wonder.

ANGELA SCHONBERG 

Source: Tuoi Tre Online

Violin rhythm in Mỹ Lai

On March 16 every year, local people in the central province of Quảng Ngãi see a foreign man play violin at the Mỹ Lai Massacre Monument in Tịnh Khê Commune, Sơn Tịnh District.

The man is Roy Mike Boehm, an American veteran from Madison City of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.

The massacre took place in Mỹ Lai Hamlet, Sơn Mỹ Village (now in Sơn Tịnh District) on March 16, 1968, by a group of U.S. soldiers.

Up to 504 victims, mostly old people, women and children, were killed.

Mike Boehm says that in 1980, he picked up an old violin at a dumpsite.

He cleaned, fixed and learned to play it.

When he listened to the song “Ashokan Farewell,” its rhythm seemed to touch his heart and he decided to learn to play the song.

In 1992, Mike Boehm went to Vietnam to play violin on the memorial day of the Mỹ Lai massacre.

He has been playing this song in Mỹ Lai on March 16 over the past 20 years.

In 1994, Mike Boehm established the Madison Quakers Fund to help the needy in the village.

Every year, Mike Boehm always goes to Vietnam on International Women’s Day (March 8) to attend events held by the Women’s Union of Quảng Ngãi Province because he is an honorary member of this organization.

Thanks to Mike Boehm’s support, many local women have a better life.

To Mike Boehm, every time he goes toVietnam, he always feels it’s like a safe trip home after a long journey.

He is now learning Vietnamese persistently…

 Source: The Saigon Times

Enthusiasm and Entrepreneurship in Vietnam

I’m sitting in the great hall of the Reunification Palace, the landmark building in former Saigon where the war officially ended when the North Vietnamese crashed through its gates declaring victory.

Our tour guide — a short, slight-of-build, 20-something Vietnamese man — is explaining with great passion the history of Ho Chi Minh and the socialist party’s rise to power in modern-day Vietnam.

I listen to the guide’s well-rehearsed rhetoric as the bust of Ho Chi Minh looms large behind him and the blood-red, five-pointed star — the pentagram, symbol of communism — frames the bust’s background.

I notice he’s been glancing down at something sporadically, which I assume to be his notes.

Suddenly he stops midpoint in his discourse on America’s role in the war and holds up an iPad showing the famous and moving photo of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc, who immolated himself.

Ahh, his message may be of the socialist persuasion, but his note-taking technology is decidedly capitalist in nature.

Without skipping a beat, my fellow American on the right says matter-of-factly, “Steve Job’s-style socialism,” while the gentlemen on my left weighs in with “It’s a different world.”

They are both right.

For the past several decades, Vietnam has been engaged in what they call Doi Moi, the name given to economic reforms, the goal of which is to create an economic system of capitalism, guided by the hand of socialism.

As a result of Doi Moi, privately owned enterprises have been encouraged, and the Vietnamese’s enthusiastic embrace of entrepreneurship has played a significant role in the country’s 7.1 percent growth rate, in line just behind China and India.

Enthusiasm.

I’ve seen it in abundance over the past few days.

Enthusiasm for service in the hotels and for the shoes and purses made by the family of the vendor — the relentless eagerness to make a better life for one’s self and one’s family.

All this enthusiasm has led me to consider the state of small business marketing at home.

As small business owners, we have become so overburdened and overwhelmed by the constant bombardment of our marketing to-do list and social media strategies, I think we sometimes forget that what should ultimately drive our small businesses is enthusiasm.

• A passion to find a gap and fill it.

• A desire to make an opportunity where one did not exist previously.

• The commitment to make manifest our good ideas.

I’m yanked back from my reflection on these things when the tour guide’s phone rings and he unceremoniously answers it and walks off to the side to have a discussion with whoever has called.

When he’s done, he steps back to the front of the room and picks up just as passionately where he left off.

A different world indeed.

By KAREN LELAND (*)

Source:  The Huffington Post

(*) Karen Leland is a best-selling author, marketing and branding consultant and president of  Sterling Marketing Group where she helps businesses create killer content and negotiate the wired world of today’s media landscape – social and otherwise