Thứ Hai, 10 tháng 1, 2011

STREET OF HANOI

It’s an act of faith!  Crossing the street in the city of Hanoi in Vietnam is an experience I will never forget. The roads are literally wall to wall traffic. Motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws, cars, hand carts, buses, cars, mopeds, taxis and trucks whiz by in a blur of color and motion. There are very few traffic lights and I quickly learned that the ones which do exist are just for decoration. I asked our guide in Hanoi how we would ever get to the other side of the street given the endless stream of vehicles. “Just step out onto the pavement” he said, “and start walking. Keep a steady pace. Don’t speed up and don’t slow down and never ever come to a complete stop. If you do you will be hit for sure. If however you walk at an even pace the vehicles will be able to judge your speed and will dodge around you.” He was right! I admit that even after being in the city for four days my heart beat still began to race ever time I took that leap of faith and stepped out onto the street. I had to keep my head down, because if I looked at that frightening wave of traffic coming at me, it was too easy to lose courage and slow down or stop. And the noise! There is absolutely no need for signal lights on vehicles in Vietnam. No one uses them. Everyone just blasts their horn when they want to pass. The honking of thousands of horns is a twenty four hour a day background accompaniment to life in Hanoi. After awhile you just get used to it...Read more

Source: Thingsasian
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Thứ Ba, 4 tháng 1, 2011

Rice Cultivating

Some 70 per cent of Vietnam’s population is engaged in agriculture, which uses over 20 per cent of the country’s area and produces 15 per cent of its GDP.
Vietnam has two huge deltas: the Mekong in the south and the Red River in the north. From time immemorial the Vietnamese have known how to build dykes and avoid flooding, creating more land for wet –rice cultivation. Thousands of kilometres of dykes have been built along the Red River to protect this vast fertile delta and its population.
Recently my friend Huong Do and I visited her uncle, who is a farmer in Hai Duong province in the very heart of the Red River delta. The host, Mr. Hien, was very enthusiastic about showing us rural life.
Generally they cultivate two types, sticky rice and ordinary rice. The first is used for special events and ceremonies such as Tet ( lunar New Year) and weddings.
Talking about wet-rice-cultivation, Mr. Hien recites a Vietnamese proverb:’Nhat nuoc, nhi phan, tam can, tu giong’. This translates as ‘First one needs water,then manure,then diligence, and finally high quality seed’. ‘In the north we have two rice crops and one subsidiary one, according to the weather’, he said.
The winter –spring crop begins in the 12th lunar month and finishes in the fourth. The summer –autumn one lasts from the sixth to the 10th lunar month. After these crops there is time for the land to heal and we plant maize,taro, potato and sweet potato’.
To Start a crop we have to prepare the land. We empty the water from each field. Then we plough deep and rake it carefully with the help of the buffalo. The buffalo is well cared for and respected in the same way that many foreigners care about dogs’.
There are three things that are critical to every Vietnamese farmer’s life: purchasing a buffalo, getting married and building a house... Read more

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Chủ Nhật, 2 tháng 1, 2011

MY UNFORGETABLE VIETNAM TRIP

Now! I knew getting to Southeast Asia was a priority for me. Staying in touch with Miss Ngoc briefly. Until now that I has so much info to share with her in finding out where Johnny may have lost his life and his mission. This is when Miss Ngoc showed much interest in helping me fulfill my request. Also feeling that immediately she was very inquisitive about the 'American War' and wanting to help me.
It took several months trying gather information to make sure all was correct and put things into perspective. Through all this Ngoc and I became internet friends sometime putting our business aside. Talking about our cultures and families... Read more

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UP A HILL, DOWN A MOUNTAIN

My last day in the Mekong Delta brings me to the foot of Sam Mountain. Having filled my plate with magical visits to My Tho, Can Tho, floating markets, rural schools and mud-floored huts, I look forward to a peaceful, uneventful hike up this hill of a mountain near Chau Doc and the Cambodian border.
My driver and guide, Bay, strolls with me through the tombs of Thoai Ngoc Hau, where colorful flowers grow wild between ancient stones. We climb higher where countless temples and pagodas pepper the trailside; small and seemingly make-shift buildings with corrugated tin roofs, these tiny, modest structures reveal their Chinese influence in the characters framing the darkened doorways. Weary from hundreds of miles of driving, Bay returns to our hotel for a well-earned nap, giving me the freedom to climb this enchanting mountain on my own. Enjoying my solitude, I creep through an inviting yellow temple and poke my head into an incense-filled shrineroom. Turning around, I am startled by a wrinkled and storied face looking at me calmly. Motioning with his hands and speaking his best broken English, a brown-robed monk tells me of his difficult path to monastic life, having spent three years in prison while serving during the war. Although past hardship is revealed in his aged face, there is an unmistakable gleam of peace in his eyes. We bow before I continue up the mountain where dogs and chickens communally dart across the trail looking for morsels dropped by tourists but I am the only visitor... Read more

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Kim Fay's Caramelized Clay Pot Fish

In an excerpt from her book Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, author Kim Fay included this prelude to her recipe:
"We made variations of this dish in Nha Trang, Dalat, and Saigon. After much experimentation, I came up with a recipe that is a crowd pleaser. When multiplying it, cut back on the oil and fish sauce in both the marinade and the sauce. And don't forget to remove the chilies before serving. The clay pot I usually use for this recipe and its doubled portion is the equivalent to a two-quart saucepan. If you can't find a clay pot, a heavy-bottom saucepan will do."... Read more

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STREET OF HANOI

It’s an act of faith!  Crossing the street in the city of Hanoi in Vietnam is an experience I will never forget. The roads are literally wall to wall traffic. Motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws, cars, hand carts, buses, cars, mopeds, taxis and trucks whiz by in a blur of color and motion. There are very few traffic lights and I quickly learned that the ones which do exist are just for decoration. I asked our guide in Hanoi how we would ever get to the other side of the street given the endless stream of vehicles. “Just step out onto the pavement” he said, “and start walking. Keep a steady pace. Don’t speed up and don’t slow down and never ever come to a complete stop. If you do you will be hit for sure. If however you walk at an even pace the vehicles will be able to judge your speed and will dodge around you.” He was right! I admit that even after being in the city for four days my heart beat still began to race ever time I took that leap of faith and stepped out onto the street. I had to keep my head down, because if I looked at that frightening wave of traffic coming at me, it was too easy to lose courage and slow down or stop. And the noise! There is absolutely no need for signal lights on vehicles in Vietnam. No one uses them. Everyone just blasts their horn when they want to pass. The honking of thousands of horns is a twenty four hour a day background accompaniment to life in Hanoi. After awhile you just get used to it.
The traffic is only one of the things that makes the streets of Hanoi unique however. The sidewalks are endlessly fascinating as well. Since houses and shops are small, narrow and for the most part without air conditioning, the people of Hanoi do lots of their living and working outside their homes and businesses. Children play tag, soccer and jump rope on the street.  Barbershops are set up right on the sidewalk. A chair, a pair of scissors, shaving cream, razor and comb and you’re in business! In the evenings children in their pajamas sit outside their homes reading or doing homework. People wash dishes, butcher chickens, do laundry, bag rice, cook, eat supper, feed their babies and sleep on the sidewalk. Of course it’s also where everyone parks their motorcycles and bicycles. Often there are so many vehicles parked on the sidewalk that there is no room to walk.
You can buy just about anything on the sidewalk in Hanoi. Enterprising entrepreneurs have hundreds of “knock off” designer clothing items neatly arranged on blankets spread out on the cobblestones.  People sell fruits, vegetables and fresh bread on every corner. Children carrying cases of cigarettes, souvenirs and toiletries accost you constantly. Vendors with pirated copies of bestselling novels piled high on their heads will approach likely looking clients any hour of the night or day.  Lots of women have little restaurants on the street. In the morning they come from their homes with the traditional wooden yoke across their shoulders. Balanced on one side is a pot of steaming soup. On the other is a pail filled with bowls, spoons, a little coal burner, two small plastic chairs and a folding table. They pick their spot for the day, set up their supplies and voila they’re in business. Once the pail without soup is emptied of its contents it is filled with water so the women can wash dishes in it after each customer. We ate at several of these mobile soup kitchens and had delicious meals.
The streets and sidewalks of Hanoi are places of constant activity and endless fascination. If you really want to get to know the city all you have to do is walk down the street. Just be careful when you cross it!
Published on 10/10/09
Source: Thingsasian
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