LIFESTYLE

Village 6 of Phuoc Loc commune, nestled at the foot of Ngoc Linh mountain, is known as the independent, bee-keeping town. Life of the people here have long revolved around the forest. Unlike the general case among highland villages, they have never turned to the government for financial support, said Mr. Luu Huyen Thoai, Chairman of People's Committee of Phuoc Loc village.  Currently only 35 families live here in wooden cottages bundled up amidst the trees. Vegetables and forest plants thrives on this piece of land blessed by nature with a temperate climate. Despite only living off of the forest’s resources, village 6’s dwellers are relatively more well-off than those in neighboring villages.  “My people have been living comfortably all thanks to our tradition of bee keeping”, said one of the village elders, Ho Van Dong. Elder Dong let us in on the very unique and easy method people use to harvest honey from the bees. Villagers start to prepare bee … [Read more...] about Synthetic bee hives: One for them, one for man

The search amidst the woods Jolting up and down on a rickety motor scooter covered in red dust, we followed Dang Ngoc Thanh (26 years old, from Tan Hung town, the southern province of Binh Phuoc) and his team of cicada hunters into local fruit gardens, carrying some tools. The rain had just let up, so we were struggling to keep our scooters balanced while dashing through the slippery muddy trails. Letting out a relieved sigh after making a hard turn, Thanh turned to face us: “Insects hunters would be flocking when summer breaks so we gotta take off early for those “loots”, but we’ll have to travel to remote spots or very damp gardens”. It took us a long while combatting the mud under our wheels, but we finally made it to an old cashew range with no other humans in sight, and began our hunt for cicadas at nightfall. Thanh and four others split into two groups, plastic bags in hands and flashlights attached to their heads. Bit-by-bit, the constantly … [Read more...] about The quest for cicada pupae

Obviously, many films lately from Hong Kong (China), Taiwan (China), Korea, Japan, and Vietnam have demonstrated the success of chefs thanks to their hard-working spirit. This has greatly inspired the public, changing their attitude towards the job that is traditionally regarded as a low-income one mostly for females. According to Nguyen Truong Giang, a cook specialized in Vietnamese dishes and owner of a restaurant in To Hien Thanh Street of District 10 in Ho Chi Minh City, being a cook or a chef is truly a challenging job which requires much passion. Giang shared “Despite graduating from a culinary school, I still had to begin my career with very simple tasks like preparing vegetables, fish, or chicken, washing dishes, before I was allowed to cook my first dish. No matter how strenuous it was, I found great satisfaction in pursuing my dream job.” Another cook named Hoang Truong Dung commented that being a cook means always being under high pressure, especially in holiday … [Read more...] about Culinary career attracts young Vietnamese

The Hanoitimes - The National Reunification Day holiday waves a magic wand in Hanoi, allowing beautiful peace to reign supreme. National Reunification Day celebrated overseas Hanoi colorful during the national reunification day A quieter Hanoi on the first day of Lunar New Year On the occasion of the National Reunification Day holiday, Hanoi’s noisy life has been replaced with tranquility. Trading activities reduced to minimum. Immigrants returned to their home in outer provinces.   Chua Boc street. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn The photos capture peaceful moments on Hanoi streets on April 29 during the National Reunification Day holidays. Chua Boc street, which is usually bustling and crowded, remained quiet on the morning of National Reunification Day. On the corner of streets in Hanoi, there are no noisy scenes of usual city life, but you can also see a few people ride motorbike around Hoan Kiem Lake, Trang Thi street. A quiet section on the street of Dien Bien … [Read more...] about Hanoi quiet during National Reunification Day holiday

Born in a family of three children, Mr. Phan Minh Thong was deaf and dumb since birth due to malaria. Seeing people around speaking affectively to their own parents, he often wondered to himself if life was so unfair to him. Not accepting such a grim fate, little Thong went to the Binh Thanh School of Hope for Hearing-impaired People in order to equip himself with adequate skills and knowledge. It is in this special school that Thong was able to find hope for his future. Discovering his talent in arts, Thong spent more time on this subject besides following his regular curriculum of sign language. In 2006, Thong graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) University of Fine Arts to finally fulfill his dream. He was the first physically disabled person to receive a bachelor degree in Vietnam. Thanks to his effort, he was granted a scholarship to the Republic of Korea on fine arts. Yet, his new dream of teaching arts to young handicapped people kept him in Vietnam. Despite the low … [Read more...] about Deaf mute teacher eagerly promotes arts among handicapped children