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[Hurricane88]

Some ao dai to share

[Killer_c]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Haiz.............guest stars must lay red carpet one......

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

Who eh?

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

best dun tok about ppl and they appear...

tot you attend state funeral in hanoi...

Huh I attend that funeral??? For what???? They giving out SSYTs izit???

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Killer_c

Who eh?

This one is called "bu ta zhi zhao"

Our Meter C going JB again this weekend??? Or already went last week??? U got joined him bo???

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Huh I attend that funeral??? For what???? They giving out SSYTs izit???

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

yes they gave out very sweet yt...

[Hurricane88]

Why Dong Nai need 4 airports...

__________________________________________________ __

Vietnam warned it is planning one airport too many

By Dat Nguyen September 28, 2018 | 08:18 am GMT+7

Vietnamese provinces are proposing new airports without realizing that the country is already overloaded with these facilities, experts say.

Authorities in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province have been working with private firm Ho Tram Ltd. on constructing a civilian airport.

The airport, estimated to cost VND4.2 trillion ($193.6 million), will cover 250 hectares (618 acres) with a runway of 2,400 meters. It will be invested in by Ho Tram, the investor of the Grand Ho Tram Strip resort nearby.

The province had previously proposed another airport to serve military and cargo purposes, which is estimated to cost $1 billion.

These two airports would be just 30 kilometers away from each other.

Meanwhile, Ba Ria-Vung Tau already has an airport on Con Dao Island in operation and the mega Long Thanh International Airport being planned in southern Dong Nai Province is just 40 kilometers away.

In July, the northern province of Lao Cai proposed that an airport built near Sa Pa, one of Vietnam’s top tourist attractions, for both civilian and military purposes.

Provincial authorities estimated investment for the airport at over VND5.7 trillion ($246 million).

Apart from the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, the northern region is already set to get another one, the Van Don International Airport near Ha Long Bay, this December.

Experts are concerned that Vietnam is building too many airports without carefully evaluating their necessity.

‘Airport race’

Dr. Nguyen Thien Tong, former faculty head of aeronautical engineering at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said that there is an “airport race” in the country.

“If every province in the country had an airport, things would be chaotic,” he told VnExpress International.

It’s not necessary to have two new airports in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, as the province does not have a large number of tourists, Tong added.

Echoing Tong, Ngo Viet Nam Son, an architect who participated in designing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal in the Philippines, said that the province should only have one helicopter airport.

“It would be much more efficient if money is spent on building an expressway which connects Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCMC,” Son told VnExpress International.

Speaking of the proposed airport near Sa Pa, Tong said that roads should be the focus of this area, not airports.

“There needs to be a very large number of tourists influx to result in profits for an airport, otherwise it would be a waste,” he said.

Investing in roads in this area will allow different vehicles to travel to multiple destinations in the north, serving the majority of the population, Tong added.

Son was concerned about the distance from the airport to Sa Pa town, which is about 100 kilometers away, a distance too long to attract tourists.

Traveling from the airport to Sa Pa town will take two hours with that distance, the same time tourists have to spend for flight procedures, he noted.

As travelling from Hanoi to Sapa now takes just five hours via expressway, roads should be the main focus of the area, not airports, Son said.

No profit

Tong said that Vietnam has been building too many airports in recent years, and the majority of them are not making any profit.

The Can Tho International Airport in the south is one of those.

In November last year, the province requested financial support from the government for the airport because it was not meeting its designed capacity.

The airport started operating in 2011 with a capacity of 3-5 million passengers per year, but authorities said that it could only serve about 612,000 passengers by the end of 2017, roughly 20 percent of its capacity.

The province has requested that a 30 percent discount be given to passengers flying from and to the airport, with the money taken from the state budget.

Can Tho is not the only airport in the country failing to make ends meet.

Vietnam’s top watchdog, the Government Inspectorate, said last October that the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) had to cover the losses for a majority of its airports.

It said that 16 to 18 of the country’s 22 airports did not generate enough revenue to cover expenses from 2012 to 2015, thus ACV had to spend over VND5.56 trillion ($236.57 million) for them.

Low number of passengers are one of the reasons why these airports are not making profits, the inspectorate said.

Tong said that the aviation industry in Vietnam has been building airports without conducting any market research to assess the actual demand for air transport in the country.

Cost-efficiency should be the top criteria in determining whether an airport should be built, he said.

“What matters most is that an airport makes a profit.”

Vietnam's aviation industry served more than 94 million air passengers in 2017, up 16 percent from the previous year, including 13 million foreigners.

[Hurricane88]

Not beef, not chicken, but pork pho

By Viet Nguyen September 16, 2018 | 09:28 am GMT+7 Satisfied customers of a Hanoi eatery have been vouching for a twist to the iconic pho for 40 years.
For many residents of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Pho Tiu Ba Phuong has become a memory to cherish and refurbish.

Especially at the onset of dry weather, when people long for something quick and refreshing that’s bit sour and a bit sweet, pho tiu answers their call.

Pho tiu is a different version of the iconic noodle soup that includes fresh flat rice noodles, char siu pork slices, roasted peanuts and vegetables mixed with a special sauce.


The eatery opened in the Dong Xuan Market area around 40 years ago.

Pho Tiu Ba Phuong is a family business. The eatery, which opened in the Dong Xuan Market area around 40 years ago, has been passed down to several generations. The family did try to sell another type of noodle soup earlier, but it did not work out.

It is not difficult to reach this stall, apart from a bit of walking and squeezing past people. It occupies a small space in a narrow alley near the big market

People can take Hang Chieu Street to get to the alley, which some consider a culinary paradise. Motorbikes have to be parked at the beginning of the alley, for a slightly higher-than-usual price, but it is a small price to pay to enjoy a special dish.

The alley is packed with food stalls that provide small benches that can only accommodate two to three people at a time, so some waiting is also involved. But this particular eatery attracts regular patrons by virtue of a special sauce first made in the early 1970s.


A version of Pho that - 1
The sauce is the key to the dish's success.

Five small pots in the kitchen contain the ingredients to make the sauce with a recipe handed down through several generations. This sauce is ladled into the bowl of noodles, raw vegetables and pork before peanuts and fried shallot are sprinkled on top. The sauce gives the dish a sweet, sour and salty taste.

The vegetables consist of familiar spice greens in Vietnam, including cilantro, lettuce and different kinds of basil. The soft texture of spiced meat and smell of roasted peanuts whets the appetite, and the dish satiates.

Others have tried, but failed to copy the dish, and those who want to have a bowl of authentic Pho tiu always make their way to this Dong Xuan market alley.

"I am always satisfied here. I finish everything in the bowl. The taste here is both strange and familiar,” one patron said.

[Hurricane88]

Have a bite of this decades-old wonton noodles in Saigon

By Phong Vinh September 26, 2018 | 11:00 am GMT+7

A wonton noodles shop in the suburban Go Vap District has been serving since 1980.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/video/h...n-3815276.html

[Hurricane88]

Snakes on a plate: Vietnam's coiled cuisine

By AFP September 11, 2018 | 04:50 pm GMT+7

With their meat served up in a wide array of dishes and blood added to rice wine, snakes make a reputedly satisfying and nourishing meal in Vietnam.

Caught in the jungles of the north of the country, snake flesh is traditionally believed to help with cooling overheated body temperatures, relieving headaches and easing digestion.


Snake meat is served in Vietnam. Photo by AFP/Nhac Nguyen

Restaurants will cook it steamed or fried with lemongrass and chilli and serve it with a rice wine mixed with snake blood, said chef Dinh Tien Dung, who works at a restaurant in Yen Bai province three hours northwest of the capital Hanoi.

Holding a snake's head with one hand, Dinh Tien Dung slit its body near the head with a knife and squeezed blood out of it, dripping it into a cup of rice wine.

"We make use of every part of the snake except its head and its scales, " said the 32-year-old.


Snakes are being processed at a restaurant in Yen Bai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo by AFP/ Nhac Nguyen

Locals believe that only men over 50 should drink snake wine, as younger males are likely to experience "backache or impotence, " said restaurant owner Duong Duc Doc.

As for its flesh, the benefits to eating it are numerous, said snake-catcher Dang Quoc Khanh, a 35-year-old who has been trapping serpents in the jungle since he was a young boy.


A dash of snake blood can also be added to rice wine, although locals believe that only men over 50 should drink it, as younger males are likely to experience backache or impotence. Photo by AFP/Nhac Nguyen

"Snake meat is a very good food, " he said, "It's delicious, good for your health and good for your bones."

But wildlife expert Ioana Dungler from Four Paws International said killing wild snakes and disturbing the jungles' ecosystem is unnecessary as global meat production should be sufficient.

"The whole process of these animals ending on a plate or in a drink is very painful... and it's done for purposes that are not justified, " Dungler told AFP.

[Killer_c]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

This one is called "bu ta zhi zhao"

Our Meter C going JB again this weekend??? Or already went last week??? U got joined him bo???

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

Nope... din join him... I din know..

[johnny21]

any bros can updates what is the ex rates @ cbt today? thanks!

[Hurricane88]

Vietnam investigates unauthorized ‘zero dollar’ mass gathering

By Minh Cuong September 29, 2018 | 10:00 am GMT+7


A group picture of participants in the 'zero dollar' tour mass gathering in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Photo acquired by VnExpress


Quang Ninh police are probing an event held last week that allegedly promoted China’s infamous ‘zero dollar tours.’

The event, dubbed an “experience exchange festival,” was attended by hundreds of Vietnamese and Chinese tour guides, tour agencies and related businesses.

Held in an unnamed hotel in the northern province’s Mong Cai, the event was not authorized by authorities, local police said Friday, a week later.

Tourists traveling on “zero dollar” tours go to Vietnam on Chinese-owned airlines, eat at Chinese owned restaurants and stay at Chinese-owned hotels. Vietnamese businesses gain nothing from these tours.

The alleged main organizer of the event, according to some participants, is called Tao the Ghost. During the event, this person collaborated with another unnamed Chinese businessman to form an organization called the “Northern Alliance,” in which tour guide members lead Chinese tourists on these “zero dollar” tours into Vietnam’s northern provinces. They communicate with each other on social media like WeChat or Zalo.


Participants clap during the event. Photo acquired by VnExpress

Mong Cai police has summoned Tao to investigate the matter further.

Vietnam is not the only country where “zero dollar” tours are being held. Each year, Thailand loses an estimated $9 billion due to this kind of tourism, Sansern Keawkamnerd, a spokesperson for the Thailand Government Office, said in February last year.

Quang Ninh Province, home to the world famous Ha Long Bay, had received over 3.6 million foreign visitors this year as of September, an increase of 19 percent from a year ago, its tourism department said. Its tourism sector has earned estimated revenues of $833 million so far this year, an increase of 30 percent year-on-year.

Vietnam received 2.5 million Chinese visitors, or 32 percent of all international arrivals, in the first half of this year, a increase of 36 percent from the same period last year.

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by johnny21

any bros can updates what is the ex rates @ cbt today? thanks!

Friend exchange 17250 for big 1k note on 23 Oct...looking at the rate today may still get around 17200 cbt...

[Hurricane88]

The way to Vietnam’s heart is through your stomach

A primer on dishes from different locations in Vietnam that will whet the appetite of both visitors and locals.
Wherever you go in Vietnam, one thing is assured.

Good food.

Great food, actually.

Vietnamese cuisine has been widely complimented for its fresh ingredients, minimal use of dairy and oil, and its heavy reliance on herbs and vegetables.

While the entire nation subsists on rice and rice-based noodles, there is such diversity and variety across different regions and localities that it is worth going on a purely culinary tour of the length and breadth of Vietnam.

Here’s a sampling of what such a tour would do to tickle your taste buds.

https://e.vnexpress.net/projects/the...395/index.html

[johnny21]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Friend exchange 17250 for big 1k note on 23 Oct...looking at the rate today may still get around 17200 cbt...

tyvm bro!