Teachers and students welcomes 55th anniversery of Viet Nam National Music Academy

Generations of teachers and students from the Viet Nam National Music Academy who have gone on to enjoy national fame will perform together on stage to celebrate the academy's 55th anniversary.

The concert, entitled 55 Years: Along the Road, will take place at the Friendship Cultural Palace in Ha Noi on December 1.

The programme is being produced by People's Artists Trung Kien and Quang Tho. It will gather veteran singers and musicians who have received honours for their devotion for the nation's music, including singers Tung Duong, My Linh and Thanh Lam.

As part of the celebration, the academy's piano faculty will also perform on November 25 at the academy's Concert Hall at 77 Hao Nam Street, Ha Noi. Faculty members will perform pieces by Chopin, Liszt, Dvorak and Franck.

* Hue hosts Open Academy Europe

More than 100 Vietnamese artists from Ha Noi, Da Nang and Hue are participating in the Open Academy Europe 2011, a multiple art expo that opened at the Hue College of Fine Arts on Monday.

The event, which will remain open until Friday, is organised by the British Council, the Goethe Institute, the Austrian Embassy in Viet Nam and the fine arts college.

Among its activities are exhibitions, lectures and workshops on installation art, photography, graphic design and video art with the participation of artists from England, Austria and Germany.

Open Academy Europe aims to strengthen dialogue between European and Vietnamese artists, said Phan Thanh Binh, director of the college.

* New pay network goes on air

A new pay television network, AVG, has officially started operations after a year of test-airing.

Invested by the An Vien Group, AVG became the second private media firm in Viet Nam's pay TV industry after K+, a joint venture between Viet Nam Satellite Digital Television (VSTV) and France's Canal Plus.

An Vien has invested VND2.1 trillion (US$100 million) in the network.

AVG supplies 55 domestic and international channels using digital terrestrial television (DTT) and direct to home (DTH) technologies.

Viet Nam's pay TV market, currently having VCTV (Viet Nam Cable Televsion), K+ and VTC (Viet Nam Television Corporation as service providers, has more than 2 million subscribers nationwide.

* VN art hits Hong Kong auction

Works by Viet Nam's pioneer artist Le Pho are among the highest priced items listed at an autumn sale in Hong Kong by the Larasati Auctioneers showing on November 26.

Two of the artist's works appear at the sale, Hoa Hop (Harmony), an oil on canvas at 114.3 by 146cm and Hoa Tulip Do va Vang Thau (Red and Golden Tulip Flowers), an oil on masonite at 81 by 54cm. Though the works are not of his typical style, the earlier (Hoa Hop) coming from Wally Findlay Galleries in Palm Beach, Florida, is going at the starting price of US$44,800-57,600.

At the same auction, Dang Xuan Hoa's painting Suy Tu (Thinking), an oil on canvas at 60 by 80cm is available at $7,000-10,200.

The sale will showcase works by other Southeast Asian artists such as S. Sudjojono and Srihadi Soedarsono, Nyoman Masriadi, Ay Tjoe Christine and Jumaldi Alfi.

Born in Viet Nam on August 2, 1907, Le Pho began studying art at a young age.

He first studied at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Ha Noi from 1925 to 1930, and then at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris the following two years.

Le Pho stayed in France and died in 2001.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Da Lat city welcomes flower festival one more time

VietNamNet Bridge – Two highlights of the Da Lat Flower Festival this year will be the floral parade, entitled Flower and Light, organised by the provincial cultural centre, and a flower show by the Da Lat Flower Association.

Photo: Internet

The festival will be held from December 31 to January 3 in the highlands province of Lam Dong.

The parade will take place in the district of Hoa Binh, in the city centre. It will combine light, street art and flower decoration.

The flower show at Da Lat golf course will feature the biggest exhibition of tulips in Viet Nam.

Other events will include a flower market, an international ornamental plant exhibition, drawing competition, scientific conference and a floral fashion show.

"Most of the programmes will take place in open spaces to give visitors easy access," Nguyen Vu Hoang, director of the festival and Lam Dong province cultural centre, said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Unstable price in tourism

High air fares are cramping the domestic tourism sector, according to tourism businesses.

"Tourism will be strongly affected by higher transportation costs as transport on average accounts for up to 70 per cent of a tour's price," said Nguyen Van Luat, director of the Phuong Bac Tourism and Advertisement Joint Stock Co.

"We have already been hit by high road transport costs due to rising petrol prices. Now, if air fares increase, we will face huge losses."

According to Luat, tourists coming to Viet Nam often visit several places across the country, instead of confining their stay to one town or city.

"In a tour that lasts 14-21 days, visitors will travel a great deal, and often they will fly from one destination to another," Luat said.

"If the air fare increases, the tour price will be more expensive so that tourist may choose to visit other countries in the region over Viet Nam.

"Higher air fares do not only affect foreign visitors but also domestic tourists, who may opt to travel less."

Ho Lan Vy, a tourism worker, said higher air fares would have a significant impact on tourism, especially as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays have been approaching.

"Vietnamese workers have a long holiday during 2012 Tet and if air fares are pushed up, visitors will travel by car or go on shorter tours," Vy said. "Otherwise, they will fly to other countries." 

In anticipation of the price rises, many tour companies have started to cut down on their expenses. 

Many of these businesses used to provide bonuses to their staff by paying for trips to holiday destinations, but this practice is becoming less common due to rising air fares, said tour operators.

To help tourism companies overcome the challenge of rising fares, operators suggest the Government carefully consider the implications of increasing the ceiling price for air fares at this moment.

"Price is so important in the tourism sector," said Luat. "It creates competitiveness." 

"While air fares must increase eventually, the gap between fare increases must be at least 24 months because we have to advertise and promote tours well in advance." 

In May, the ceiling price for air fares was raised by 20 per cent. 

Late last month, the Ministry of Transport granted in-principle approval to a proposal for Vietnam Airlines to raise the ceiling price by 1.5 times over current fare levels.

If the new levels are approved, the price for return air fare between Ha Noi-HCM City will be about VND8 million (US$380). 

VNS

Local provincial keeps stern treatment for pending coastal tourism projects

VietNamNet Bridge – Gone are the days when the local provincial try to attract tourism projects at any costs. They have become much choosier in selecting investors and approving projects.

A lot of investors have been rushing to Binh Dinh and Binh Thuan provinces to register resort and tourism complex projects on the coastal areas. Even the investors, who do not have financial capability, also registered projects to get land allocated. 

Binh Dinh has a 134 kilometer coastal line and a lot of beautiful landscapes which are the wonderful conditions for developing tourism and entertainment services. 

In order to take full advantage of the heaven-sent conditions, the provincial authorities built a coastal road that links Hoai Nhon district and Quy Nhon City. They hope that the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone, the wonderful natural conditions and the favorable transport infrastructure, will facilitate the strong development of the tourism industry. 

Therefore, it is understandable why investors have been flocking to the central province. To date, investors have registered 9 tourism projects on the costal areas with the total registered capital of 15,402 billion dong.

However, the provincial authorities are considering revoking investment licenses from the investors who really do not have capability to implement projects.

The Nhon Hoi trade, service and tourism complex project, licensed in November 2006, remains a “pending” project.

At first, the project was expected to cover an area of 74.6 hectares, but later, the project’s area has been raised to 94 hectares. The 181.2 billion dong project was to be implemented in 2007-2012. To date, 71.16 hectares of “clean land” (the land ready for construction after the site clearance work completed) have been allocated to the investor. By May 2011, the total construction work volume has reached 82.2 billion dong.

However, according to the provincial authorities, though the project is located on an advantageous position, the scale and the architecture of the project do not commensurate with the “golden land” position. Meanwhile, the investor proves to be unprofessional and does not follow the current laws in the investment.

Rainbow Resort project also got the investment license five years ago, in December 2006, but no considerable improvement has been made so far. The 390 billion dong project, which was expected to cover an area of 56 hectares and implemented during five years, from 2009 to 2014, has been going too slowly. To date, the value of the construction works had been 5.58 billion dong only.

The investor has been also found out as unprofessional, who cannot fulfill his commitments.

Similarly, the projects on Vinh Hoi tourism complex and resort, Linh Phong pagoda eco-tourism project, Hai Giang tourism complex all have been going very slowly due to the problems in the site clearance. The Emerald of Vietnam project developed by ALT tourism development company has made no move over the last year, since the investor still needs to negotiate with the South Korean Gold Star on the mine disarming works in 2011.

The 1840 billion dong project on developing a high grade resort developed by the Binh Dinh Youth Company, which was expected to be implemented in 2009-2018, also has been going very slowly with only 14.6 billion dong worth of works’ value has been fulfilled. The problem is that the investor is now still busy exploiting titanium for profit.

Ho Quoc Dung, Deputy Chair of the Binh Dinh provincial people’s committee has admitted on Tin Tuc newspaper that the projects have been going too slowly, due to many reasons. Most of the investors still lack determination to implement projects. Some of them are unprofessional, while others ignore the regulations on environment protection. Especially, some projects have been pending for a long time after the investor finished the titanium exploitation.

Dung has emphasized that the local authorities will revoke licenses from the incapable investors in order to give opportunities to really capable investors.

Meanwhile, the authorities of the Binh Thuan province have stated that they will only accept the projects which cover an area of five hectares at least and encourage 3-star and higher-quality projects. 

The decision has been released in order to choose the best investors for the real estate tourism projects in the province and prevent the long coastal areas from being split into small pieces.

Ngo Minh Chinh, Director of the Binh Thuan provincial Department for Culture, Sport and Tourism said on Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon that the locality is seeking the investors for central marine sports complexes, yachting, formula 1 racing cars, or balloon business services.

C. V

Hot springs supply visitors a break from hectic work weeks

VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoian office worker Tran Thi Bich Ngan wanted to find somewhere to relax at he weekends following a hard five days spent at work. After searching the internet, she decided to take her family to the Thanh Thuy hot springs, Thanh Thuy District in the northern province of Phu Tho, 70km northwest of the capital.

Home away from home: Bungalows are crowded with tourists in wintertime and at weekends.

Discovered 27 years ago, the hot springs, covering nearly 100ha along the bank of the Da River, have only recently been developed as a tourist destination.

Spring water is extracted from wells 30-60m in depth with average temperatures ranging from 42-55oC. The water itself contains natri, calcium, magie and radon, which is suitable for bathing, recuperation and healing. Soaking in hot water can also help improve rheumatoid arthritis, morning stiffness and knee osteoarthritis alongside treating recurrent skin disease. The water can stimulate the nervous and circulatory systems, helping people relax.

Ngan chose the Tre Nguon (Bamboo Forest) Resort, complete with hot swimming pools, Jacuzzi tubs and traditional bamboo houses surrounded by orchards and maize fields. 

"Spending all day in front of a computer really tires me out. After encountering the magical hot springs however, I feel rejuvenated," she said with a smile.

Intimate: Tourists enjoy Jacuzzi tubs at the resort.

According to Nguyen Thu Huong, a resort employee, water temperatures are suited for wintertime while in summer water is pumped into tanks allowing heat to gradually evaporate.

"We suggest guests spend 15-20 minutes in the Jacuzzi and 30 minutes in the pool outside so as to avoid overheating," she said.

"Most visitors come here during winter and over weekends. For some it is a family outing while for others it is an opportunity to seek medical assistance. In the coming time, we plan to develop additional spa treatments and herbal baths."

Stimulating: Soaking feet in hot mineral water is one of the most interesting activities at the resort. (Photos: VNS)

The resort also provides a variety of culinary dishes consisting of mouth watering provincial chicken and fish specialties.

In the afternoon, tourists have the choice of going for walks or renting bikes for individual or group cycling expeditions to the nearby Mo (Dream) stream, Lung Troi (Midway to Heaven) waterfall and Ba Vi mountain. After a 45-minute walk to the mountain, visitors have the chance to visit the Tan Vien Pagoda as well as the Trung and Thuong Temples to learn the legendary story of Son Tinh (God of Mountain) and Thuy Tinh (God of Water), fighting each other to marry a princess.

Travellers could additionally take part in tugs-of-war and bag dances in day-time while enjoying barbecue parties and campfires at nighttime.

On the way back to town, Ngan said, "It was a great opportunity to cast of fatigue, enjoy fresh air and spend time with my loved ones. Next time I'll definitely invite my colleagues along too." 

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

An upstreaming waterfall, Choi waterfall in Phu Tho province

Lying on Luoi Hai Mountain, Choi Waterfall is the diamond of Cu Dong Commune, Thanh Son District, Phu Tho Province. 

If at this time of the year you are looking for a weekend getaway, then taking the 80 kilometer journey from Hanoi to this beautiful area will be a good choice. It is especially beautiful in the fall.

From the center of Cu Dong Commune, the route to the waterfall is not a smooth ride in the slightest but it is worth the trek as you take in some lovely scenery from the evergreen cornfields of the Choi villagers.

Passing over the three-kilometer pathway, tourists will reach the fall and must then start to conquer it. Choi Waterfall is a system of large and small falls located close together. From a height of 50 meters, the white fall looks like a silver carpet striking under the glistening sun rays. The stream runs through large green-mossed rocks as the sponges and water streams overwhelm the area making it completely white. The fall is covered by dense green trees and on the rock walls are interlacing root sets of ancient trees.

Climbing a sloping, short section to get to the second fall, tourists will take in the panoramic view of Choi Waterfall’s downstream area. Amidst the immense forest is a sinuous long streak of the stream. In the distance, the scenery is studded with house roofs blanked in rice and corn fields. Standing there, travelers can sense both the magnificence and romance of Thanh Son.

To get to the next level of the fall, tourists need to trek up a rather tricky slope with stiff rock walls. The terrain is rather tough and rocks are slippery so trekkers are required to be very careful. However, the beauty of the fall is a challenge for the adventurer in us all who like to challenge nature.

The journey is not over until tourists reach the third level which has a very poetic and pure stream like a sleeping beauty in a primitive forest. The stream sneaks through rock slots and sometimes pours down rock cliffs. On the two banks are giant trees scattered with colorful butterflies.

At the end of the stream is two small falls running to a small valley where tourists can swim freely after getting tired of trekking. However, the water is rather deep so travelers need to wear life-jackets just to be sure.

According to locals, the peak of the waterfall is on the top of the high mountain and the only way to see it is upstreaming the fall. If you are really brave and have no fear, don’t hesitate but pack a bag and be very careful.

SGT

Cooking class for foreign tourists

Are you a foreigner traveling around Vietnam or an expatriate working in the city? Do you love Vietnamese cuisine and want to learn the way to cook it?  

If so, this travelers’ guide may help you to find a suitable cooking class in town and to understand more about Vietnam’s culture through its culinary expertise.

No matter how long you stay in Saigon, here are venues that can give you an enjoyable and fun experience on how to prepare some popular Vietnamese food, master the use of chopsticks and learn the etiquette and traditions of Vietnamese meals.

Firstly, there is the Vietnam Cookery Center in Binh Thanh District which was the first venue in town to offer this kind of service to foreigners. 

A half-day initiation course, which is priced at US$40 per tourist, includes a market visit at 8:30 a.m. for morning class, a cooking class with five traditional dishes (which has a different menu daily), lunch/dinner, a recipe handbook, gifts, discount on family cooking group and transportation from the market to the cooking class. The afternoon class will be charged US$35 each, excluding the market visit. There are two classes from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from Monday to Sunday and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday. The center also offers other courses including an in-depth course for budding chefs, an extended course for family cooking, cooking classes for children, fruit and vegetable carving, tailored cooking program, team building and cooking challenge (MICE) and premium course (VIP services).

The Caravelle Hotel in HCMC’s District 1 offers special one-day cooking classes conducted by the hotel’s experienced chefs. Participants will leave the hotel at 8 a.m.  to bound for the Ben Thanh Market where chefs will assist and advise participants how to hand-pick the freshest ingredients. 

After which, everyone will return to the kitchen and chefs will personally walk them through the preparation and presentation of an entire menu featuring shrimp spring rolls with peanut sauce, BBQ eggplant, braised river prawn with Vietnamese curry, fried spring roll, beef luc lac, chicken salad with Vietnamese herbs, spicy and sour fish soup, and banana sweet.

After that, everyone gets to enjoy the fruits of their labors with a lunch in Caravelle’s Restaurant Nineteen. Recipes are presented as a memento from the hotel. The Cooking Class Package starts from US$45 per person, plus 5% Service Charge and 10% VAT. Classes have a minimum of 10 participants and a maximum of 15 and must be booked at least seven days in advance. 

Claudio Bartolucci, a tourist from Washington DC, who has been in HCMC for three days of a nine-day tour to Vietnam, told the Daily: “This is the first time I have been to Vietnam. But I really love Vietnamese cuisine and I find it more interesting to cook the food by myself.” 

In a friendly atmosphere of laughing and chatting and the sound of budding chefs at work in the kitchen, Claudio and his girlfriend and two other German men were eager to make goi cuon (summer roll) by frying some eggs and cutting them into thin long slices and then rolling banh trang (rice paper) with egg slices, shrimp, pork and vegetables at an afternoon cooking class at the Vietnam Cookery Center in Binh Thanh District.

If you are seeking a good experience in Vietnam, don’t hesitate to challenge yourself in discovering the art of Vietnamese cuisine.

Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, District 1, HCMC, tel: 3823 4999 ext 27100 or email: fbd@caravellehotel.vnn.vn

Vietnam Cookery Center, 362/8 Ung Van Khiem Street, Binh Thanh District, HCMC, tel: 3512 1491 or 0909 226 204, website: www.vietnamcookery.com.

Other culinary schools in town include Saigon Cooking Class (The Courtyard, 74/7 Hai Ba Trung Street, District 1, tel: 3825 8485) which offers two sessions from Tuesday to Sunday priced at US$39 for adults and US$25 for children under 12, and “Mai” Home – the Saigon Culinary Art Center at 269 bis Nguyen Trai Street, District 1, tel: 3838 6037, website: www.vietnamsaigoncookingclass.com or Mint Culinary School at 778/45 – 47 Nguyen Kiem Street, Phu Nhuan District, HCMC, tel: 3844 5500.

SGT