Cung hỉ phát tài 恭喜发财
Vạn sự như ý 万事如意
Mã đáo thành công 马到成功
Long Mã Tinh Thần 龙马精神
Vạn sự như ý 万事如意
Mã đáo thành công 马到成功
Long Mã Tinh Thần 龙马精神
Friday, January 31, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
New raft makes waves in Nha Trang
New raft makes waves in Nha Trang
New facility in the central beach town of Nha Trang offers tourists additional recreational options
Tourists dive near a tourist raft which was set up last month in Hon Mun, Nha Trang / PHOTO: KHUE VIET TRUONG
Located about 30 minutes by boat from Nha Trang, Hon Mun (Mun Island) is the only marine reserve in the nation’s most famous beach resort town.
Besides being home to 230 species of fishes, a system of mangrove forests and seagrass beds, the island also boasts the country’s richest coral reef with 350 species, or nearly half of the world’s identified ones.
The coral reef is undoubtedly the main reason for Nha Trang’s popularity as a diving site among tourists.
Many travel companies offer diving services off the island, including short training sessions and longer courses.
The Lan Bien Xanh Travel Company also launched its diving service towards the end of last month. But, instead of entering the water from a boat, diving, and returning to the shore, tourists can do it from a raft where they can eat, drink, sunbathe and engage in other activities offshore during their breaks from diving.
The company says that its special facility, known as the Labixa raft, is inspired by fishermen’s rafts in Hon Mot (Mot Island), where locals raise fish on rafts and welcome tourists onboard to sell them seafood, fresh and/or cooked.
But the Labixa, a 400-square-meter raft, is a much more professional affair with three parts: one kitchen, one living room where there is a stage for musical performances, and one room dedicated to tourists’ sea activities.
Situated at the back of the wooden raft, the third room has a changing area and steps allowing tourists to access the water.
From the raft, besides jumping into the water to swim and dive, tourists can get on plastic coracles with glass bottoms, allowing them to see the corals without getting wet.
A smaller raft is also available to carry guests to the island for sightseeing.
And if the guests do not get into the water or go to the island, they can sunbathe on long chairs that are placed outdoors on the raft.
The wooden raft is designed with the architecture style of nha ruong – a traditional house common in Hue and central provinces and known for having lots of wooden beams and pillars carved with many details.
The roof, said to be inspired by Thai houses, are heatproof, so it always feels cool inside, despite the sunlight.
The raft, which can host as many as 300 people, is usually anchored about 100 meters from Hon Mun and is kept afloat by 400 blue barrels.
Tourists can access the raft from their boats or the company’s boats (which they need to book in advance).
Admission is free, but all services onboard have to be paid for.
~News courtesy of Thanh Nien~
New facility in the central beach town of Nha Trang offers tourists additional recreational options
Tourists dive near a tourist raft which was set up last month in Hon Mun, Nha Trang / PHOTO: KHUE VIET TRUONG
Located about 30 minutes by boat from Nha Trang, Hon Mun (Mun Island) is the only marine reserve in the nation’s most famous beach resort town.
Besides being home to 230 species of fishes, a system of mangrove forests and seagrass beds, the island also boasts the country’s richest coral reef with 350 species, or nearly half of the world’s identified ones.
The coral reef is undoubtedly the main reason for Nha Trang’s popularity as a diving site among tourists.
Many travel companies offer diving services off the island, including short training sessions and longer courses.
The Lan Bien Xanh Travel Company also launched its diving service towards the end of last month. But, instead of entering the water from a boat, diving, and returning to the shore, tourists can do it from a raft where they can eat, drink, sunbathe and engage in other activities offshore during their breaks from diving.
The company says that its special facility, known as the Labixa raft, is inspired by fishermen’s rafts in Hon Mot (Mot Island), where locals raise fish on rafts and welcome tourists onboard to sell them seafood, fresh and/or cooked.
But the Labixa, a 400-square-meter raft, is a much more professional affair with three parts: one kitchen, one living room where there is a stage for musical performances, and one room dedicated to tourists’ sea activities.
Situated at the back of the wooden raft, the third room has a changing area and steps allowing tourists to access the water.
From the raft, besides jumping into the water to swim and dive, tourists can get on plastic coracles with glass bottoms, allowing them to see the corals without getting wet.
A smaller raft is also available to carry guests to the island for sightseeing.
And if the guests do not get into the water or go to the island, they can sunbathe on long chairs that are placed outdoors on the raft.
The wooden raft is designed with the architecture style of nha ruong – a traditional house common in Hue and central provinces and known for having lots of wooden beams and pillars carved with many details.
The roof, said to be inspired by Thai houses, are heatproof, so it always feels cool inside, despite the sunlight.
The raft, which can host as many as 300 people, is usually anchored about 100 meters from Hon Mun and is kept afloat by 400 blue barrels.
Tourists can access the raft from their boats or the company’s boats (which they need to book in advance).
Admission is free, but all services onboard have to be paid for.
~News courtesy of Thanh Nien~
Saturday, January 4, 2014
A natural, moderate sweetness
A natural, moderate sweetness
A little stall in a Ho Chi Minh City market serves Cambodian desserts using palm sugar – and it makes a difference that people like.
A thap cam (mixed) bowl at a Cambodian dessert stall in Ho Chi Minh City includes pumpkin custard, tamarind seeds, toddy palm seeds, and yellow cakes made from rice flour and egg yolk / PHOTOS: GIANG VU
Cambodian desserts were brought into Vietnam around 1970 by Vietnamese who lived and worked in the neighboring country, it is said.
It might take some effort to check the veracity of this statement, but there is no denying that their moderate sweetness, owing to the use of palm sugar, has made them desserts of choice for many Ho Chi Minh City residents.
To taste the real difference made by the use of palm sugar rather than the refined white sugar usually used to make most desserts or sweet dishes in HCMC, check out Huynh Thi Huoi’s stall in District 10’s Le Hong Phong Market.
It is perhaps one of the city’s oldest and most famous sellers of Cambodian desserts.
Of all dishes on the menu, the most exotic is bi chung (steamed pumpkin), a kind of pumpkin custard.
Huoi, who inherited the stall from her mother, said that to make the custard, she chooses small and smooth pumpkins, scoops out their flesh and replaces it with a mixture of milk powder, condensed milk, coconut milk, and egg yolk. Then, the whole pumpkin is steamed until it becomes soft.
You can eat the custard layer by layer or both the skin and the “flesh” at the same time.
Bi chung is available as a stand-alone dish, or a part of a mixed order with other dishes on the menu like thot not (toddy palm seeds), hat me (tamarind seeds), and yellow cakes made from rice flour and egg yolk. It is served with ice and coconut milk.
For the che hat me (che is Vietnamese collective term for any sweet beverage, dessert soup or pudding), Huoi roasts tamarind seeds, dries them and soaks them before removing their covers. After the processing, the seeds are soft and chewy.
Che hat me is also served with ice and coconut milk.
CHÈ CÔ HUÔI
Le Hong Phong Market (in the Alley No. 374 on Le Hong Phong Street, Ward 1, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City)
Open hours: 2 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Prices: che thap cam, or mixed dish (VND20,000/bowl), che hat me and xoi xiem (VND10,000/bowl or dish), bi chung and che thot not (VND15,000/bowl)
An ideal simple and light dish is che thot not in which chewy transparent toddy palm seeds are eaten with sugar water, or coconut milk, and ice.
Huoi said all ingredients to make the original dishes are imported from Cambodia every week.
Besides the exotic dishes, the stall also sells desserts that look familiar to their Vietnamese cousins but are still different, like chuoi nuong (grilled banana) eaten with coconut milk. In the Vietnamese dish, the bananas are wrapped in glutinous rice before being grilled.
Another dish worth trying is xoi xiem, in which sticky rice is topped with egg custard, durian flesh and coconut milk.
It is said that xoi xiem was introduced by a Vietnamese-Thai national in Chau Doc, the capital town of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.
Unlike the variety sold at Huoi’s stall, elsewhere in Vietnam, the dish is served with coconut milk and a sauce made with eggs, palm sugar, coconut milk, some durian flesh, and tapioca starch.
~News courtesy of Thanh Nien~
A little stall in a Ho Chi Minh City market serves Cambodian desserts using palm sugar – and it makes a difference that people like.
A thap cam (mixed) bowl at a Cambodian dessert stall in Ho Chi Minh City includes pumpkin custard, tamarind seeds, toddy palm seeds, and yellow cakes made from rice flour and egg yolk / PHOTOS: GIANG VU
Cambodian desserts were brought into Vietnam around 1970 by Vietnamese who lived and worked in the neighboring country, it is said.
It might take some effort to check the veracity of this statement, but there is no denying that their moderate sweetness, owing to the use of palm sugar, has made them desserts of choice for many Ho Chi Minh City residents.
To taste the real difference made by the use of palm sugar rather than the refined white sugar usually used to make most desserts or sweet dishes in HCMC, check out Huynh Thi Huoi’s stall in District 10’s Le Hong Phong Market.
It is perhaps one of the city’s oldest and most famous sellers of Cambodian desserts.
Of all dishes on the menu, the most exotic is bi chung (steamed pumpkin), a kind of pumpkin custard.
Huoi, who inherited the stall from her mother, said that to make the custard, she chooses small and smooth pumpkins, scoops out their flesh and replaces it with a mixture of milk powder, condensed milk, coconut milk, and egg yolk. Then, the whole pumpkin is steamed until it becomes soft.
You can eat the custard layer by layer or both the skin and the “flesh” at the same time.
Bi chung is available as a stand-alone dish, or a part of a mixed order with other dishes on the menu like thot not (toddy palm seeds), hat me (tamarind seeds), and yellow cakes made from rice flour and egg yolk. It is served with ice and coconut milk.
For the che hat me (che is Vietnamese collective term for any sweet beverage, dessert soup or pudding), Huoi roasts tamarind seeds, dries them and soaks them before removing their covers. After the processing, the seeds are soft and chewy.
Che hat me is also served with ice and coconut milk.
CHÈ CÔ HUÔI
Le Hong Phong Market (in the Alley No. 374 on Le Hong Phong Street, Ward 1, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City)
Open hours: 2 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Prices: che thap cam, or mixed dish (VND20,000/bowl), che hat me and xoi xiem (VND10,000/bowl or dish), bi chung and che thot not (VND15,000/bowl)
An ideal simple and light dish is che thot not in which chewy transparent toddy palm seeds are eaten with sugar water, or coconut milk, and ice.
Huoi said all ingredients to make the original dishes are imported from Cambodia every week.
Besides the exotic dishes, the stall also sells desserts that look familiar to their Vietnamese cousins but are still different, like chuoi nuong (grilled banana) eaten with coconut milk. In the Vietnamese dish, the bananas are wrapped in glutinous rice before being grilled.
Another dish worth trying is xoi xiem, in which sticky rice is topped with egg custard, durian flesh and coconut milk.
It is said that xoi xiem was introduced by a Vietnamese-Thai national in Chau Doc, the capital town of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.
Unlike the variety sold at Huoi’s stall, elsewhere in Vietnam, the dish is served with coconut milk and a sauce made with eggs, palm sugar, coconut milk, some durian flesh, and tapioca starch.
~News courtesy of Thanh Nien~
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)