Get off the Eaten Track
Bravado in every bite, strength in every sip. A visit to the Snake Village might seem worthy of a brag, but it undermines everything environmentalists are trying to accomplish in this country
For environmentalists in Vietnam, reminders they face a near impossible task are everywhere. However, one particular group expected an Old Quarter bar to be a safe haven.
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Dylan in Vietnam - Part 1: Dylan and the Vietnam Mythology
Bob Dylan is set to play a concert at RMIT University in Saigon on April 10. In the early press for the concert it was billed as part of a tribute to Trinh Cong Son, "Vietnam's Bob Dylan", who died ten years ago.
The announcement of Dylan's concert has made headlines, which, it is hoped. will help sell out the 8,000 seat venue in Ho Chi Minh City's District 7. Interestingly, most every article which has appeared attempts to connect Dylan in some fashion to the movement against the war in Vietnam, screaming headlines such as "Anti-War Bard to Perform in Vietnam"
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UN-HABITAT invites application to URBAN YOUTH FUND
The UN-HABITAT Urban Youth Fund will this year provide one million dollars to projects led by young people aged 15-32 years who are piloting innovative approaches to employment, good governance, shelter and secure tenure. Small development initiatives are eligible for grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
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Q Bar Hoi An – In with the new
It’s hard to do contemporary well in Hoi An, as the seventeenth century central region UNESCO recognized world heritage site positively reeks of the good old days, with schoolgirls floating by in white traditional ao dai on bicycles, merry jewel coloured lanterns hanging from roof eaves, and obligatory bas (grandmothers) hawking fruit from backbreaking carrying poles or selling local street food specialities worth dying for.
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Safeguarding passengers on Halong Bay - The Captain's Blog
The news came to us early Thursday morning, the way news often does here on the bay — as scuttlebutt. But the news didn’t persist as rumor for long, and soon we knew the horrible truth: A tourist boat moored off Titov Island had sunk, drowning 12 passengers.
It’ll be some time before we know how this could have happened. News reports suggest the boat was listing in the evening, and that a plank ripped loose at five o’clock in the morning, flooding the hold and sinking the boat.
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Fatal Halong Bay Sinking - Will Anyone Learn This Time?
Following last week’s fatal sinking of a tourist junk in Halong Bay, the repercussions are now being felt. Currently no overnight cruises are allowed on the Bay, 2 of the ship’s crew have been arrested, and the local authority have announced that “We are going to examine the safety of all the tourist boats in Quang Ninh and Halong Bay after this accident”, which implies that such examinations have never previously taken place.
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Review: Bar Betta - Hanoi
The name of bar reminds me of the late 70s and early 80s, when the Czech Babetta motorbike leisurely ran on the roads of Hanoi. At that time, only a rich family had enough money to buy these bikes, with the remainder making do with bicycles. Young men in white shirts and black trousers, a pretty girl bashfully leaned on this back, traveling down a road full of falling dracontomelum flowers. So the image of the Babetta belongs to nice memories past.
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Didier Corlou: Chef of innovation
I try to find the answer for my curiosity why foreigners can live in Vietnam for more than ten years, and when I met him, Chef Didier Corlou, I got it
You are well known for hating being interviewed. Why is that?
Who said that? I don’t think it’s true. I don’t like interviews very much. I like to speak, to cook, to talk and … I like people follow my steps through the market, in the kitchen.
Can you speak Vietnamese?
Not very much but when I go to the market it’s OK.
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Ancient Indulgence
Ancient Indulgence
Ian Paynton looks for everything luxurious during a 24-hour pit-stop visit in Hoi An. Photos by Aaron Joel Santos
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Best New Restaurants of 2010
An American-style steakhouse run by a couple of French foodies was always a mouthwatering prospect and so it has proved. Nick Ross pays homage to our newcomer of the year. New York Steakhouse. Photos by Quinn Ryan Mattingly and Khoa Tran.
Earlier in the year we ran a feature on New York Steakhouse. Here was a new 1940s-style Hollywood themed bistro and diner selling arguably some of the best steaks in Saigon and yet it was both set up and run by two French guys. It was an anomaly but it seemed to work.
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