From 28 to 30 August 2015, in Hoi An Ancient Town (Quang Nam Province), the 13th Hoi An – Japan Culture Exchange Program 2015 will be held by Hoi An City’s People’s Committee in coordination with Japanese Embassy and organizations in Viet Nam.
This is a unique culture – tourism event held annually since 2003 in World Cultural Heritage – Hoi An Ancient Town to strengthen exchange and cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan, whereby introducing and promoting the traditional values of the two countries.
The activities of this year’s Hoi An – Japan Culture Exchange Program will take place in some locations in Hoi An Ancient Town, including An Hoi Statue Garden, Hoai River Square, the house in No.106 Bach Dang Street, Duck Café (59 Nguyen Phuc Chu Street), stadium of Minh An Ward, Kazik Park, An Bang Beach, Chau Thuong Van Street and the arc of Pagoda-Bridge.
The highlight of the program is the opening ceremony at 19h45 in the stage of An Hoi Statue Garden. Besides, the program will also have other attractive activities, such as: the competition of handicraft carpentry skill; presenting and trying making Hoi An lanterns; displays of Hoi An – Japan handicraft products, Japanese anime and manga, Hoi An – Japan Bonsai; Hoi An – Japan art exchange; cuisine of Quang Nam and Japan; Vietnamese folk games for children (pot breaking, bai choi, stick pushing…) and Japanese folk games for children; sports activities (handball, football, bowling, boat racing…). Of which, many Japanese culture - art activities have become new trend attracting numerous Vietnamese young people, such as anime and manga cosplay, Yosakoi dance, Kendo, Kirigami papercraft, Nerikiri cake making, Yukata photo taking, Haiku poem display…
In addition, through the activities of “Tourism development associated with marine environment” meeting, “One hour for cleaner Hoi An” forum, “Hoi An – a smoke free city” parade, this year’s Hoi An – Japan Culture Exchange Program also want to send the massage of health and environment to local people as well as domestic and foreign tourists.
In particular, on 27 August (the 14th day of the seventh lunar month, Vu Lan Festival), in Hoai River and An Hoi Statue Garden, Hoi An Flower Lantern Festival 2015 will be held. The festival is expected to create impression with flower lantern installation art and the art program “Roses pinned on shirt” (Bong hong cai ao) to pay tribute the merit of parents.
Anonymous
Coffee culture is huge here in Vietnam. In the mornings, old men gather to chat over coffee and cigarettes. In the afternoons, office workers squat on tiny sidewalk stools for their afternoon pick-me-up. In the evenings, many cafes function as bars, blasting loud music or offering karaoke. Unlike back home, this is neither a quick energy boosting pit stop nor a place to stare into a laptop. People (mostly men) come here to chat and linger for hours.
How it’s brewed
Traditional Vietnamese coffee is brewed in something called a phin, a small drip filter that sits on top of a coffee mug. Finely ground, dark roasted coffee beans from the central highlands of Vietnam are tamped down and hot water is poured into the chamber, slowing dripping a thick, strong brew into the mug (this can take up to 10 minutes!). Like elsewhere in Southeast Asia, it’s often mixed with sweetened condensed milk out of the can. Since it’s hot and sticky day and night many places in the country, it’s often brewed over ice.
How to Order
My Vietnamese is limited to Hello, Thank You, and coffee orders:
Ca Phe Nong: Hot black coffee (usually with sugar)
Ca Phe Sua Nong: Hot coffee with sweetened condensed milk
Ca Phe Da: Iced black coffee (my go-to)
Ca Phe Sua Da: Iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk (Skyler’s go-to)
What to Expect
Vietnamese coffee is served everywhere from hip, western-style cafes with comfy couches and free wi-fi to sidewalk stands where you sit on tiny stools made for 5 year olds on the side of the road (the latter being our favorite). Even bicycling out in the countryside, a house on every block has a kid selling refreshing iced coffees and tra da (iced unsweetened green tea)
Speaking of tra da, most places serve complimentary glasses to wash down all that strong coffee. We love it – we’re addicted and plan to keep a pitcher in our fridge when we get home. We almost always got it at the traditional places full of locals, but sometimes had to ask for it. Tra da is also normally available at restaurants and street stalls for just a few thousand dong, far less expensive than beer or water!
A basic coffee cost us anywhere from 6,000 VND ($.29 USD) out in the country to 30,000 VND ($1.43 USD) in fancy shops. Typically, we were paying 10-15,000 VND per cup (a few thousand extra with milk).
Quality varies widely. The best cups are chocolatey, velvety smooth, and buttery (in fact, the beans are traditionally roasted in clarified butter!). But Vietnam is also the number one exporter of Robusta beans, the cheap crap that makes up your morning cup of Folgers or instant coffee. A slightly pricey but reliably good chain we found in both Saigon and Hanoi is Trung Nguyen. Many places claim to serve their beans (but probably don’t), so seek out their cafes.
Fun Variations to Seek Out
We also found a few unique preparations we haven’t seen elsewhere…
Ca Phe Trung (Egg Coffee)Ca Phe Trung (literally egg coffee) is made by whipping a raw egg with sweetened fresh milk, then dripping coffee over the frothy mixture, which sinks to the bottom underneath the foam. This tastes like eggnog (why haven’t I thought of adding coffee to egg nog before?). On a cold winter’s night, a shot of bourbon wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. If you’re feeling extra naughty, go for the Ca Phe Trung Cacao, which is the same thing, mixed with chocolate!
Ca Phe Trung seems to be unique to Hanoi. We found it at Cafe Pho Co (11 Hang Gai, 35000 VND per cup), where you go through the back of a silk shop, through an alleyway, and up a spiral staircase onto a rooftop with a stunning view of Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi’s old quarter. For a cheaper but equally delicious version, we found it at Sen Cafe (58 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, 25000 VND per cup), where we squatted on plastic sidewalk stools watching life go by while the friendly motorbike valet practiced his English on us. Sen Cafe also has killer homemade frozen yogurt. Try the avocado flavor!
Ca Phe Sua Chua (Yogurt Coffee)
Pictured above is Ca Phe Sua Chua Cacao Da (Iced Chocolate Yogurt coffee) also at Cafe Pho Co. Vietnamese coffee is dripped over yogurt and mixed with Milo powder (similar to Nesquik) for a sweet and sour concoction that tastes like melted coffee flavored frozen yogurt.
Weasel Coffee
Weasel Coffee is for sale at markets from north to south. Most of it is fake. If you’ve never heard of Weasel Coffee, it’s brewed from beans harvested from animal droppings. And it’s the most expensive coffee in the world. To quote Dave Barry, I’m not making this up. I tried a cup at Huong Mai in Hanoi. It was good, the best cup of coffee I had in Vietnam. But at $75 US/kilo for the real stuff (the beans above are probably fake), I’m not toting any home.
When the coffee is so cheap and so good, it’s easy to knock back a few too many!
Source: 180 degree west
Anonymous
Traveling With Your Children BY CC CHAPMAN
Getting kids away from their screens and outside is a constant battle for parents, but an important one that we must all continue to fight. Taking kids outside of their neighborhood and exposing them to the greater world around them might be even more important
I may not have boarded an airplane until I was in college, but my parents had already placed a deep seeded love of seeing new places in my soul.
Family vacations for us meant loading up the car and driving to a National Park or campsite near some sort of attraction. We’d camp out, enjoy food cooked over a camp stove and spend hours in front of a campfire listening to the world around us.
While we were not on grand expeditions to the far corners of the globe, it taught me how people everywhere are the same even with our beautiful differences. It taught me about the simple things in life and how to find inspiration wherever I was.
Now that I have children of my own, I want to make sure I pass these values on and I know how important traveling will be to that. Here are my reasons why I believe traveling with your children is important.
It Teaches Them the World is More Same Than Different
If kids only see the world around them through an electronic screen they’re getting a very jaded view of the world.
Exposing them to different cultures, religions and locations makes them learn that at the end of the day people are people, kids are kids. Everyone is trying to raise their kids as best they can, kids love to goof off with other kids and grandparents always have a smile ready. None of this is dependent on where in the world they were born.
The more places they visit, the more they’ll realize humans as a species have a lot in common.
Food Becomes an Adventure
Every home cook only has so many recipes that they can cycle through during a given week. Balancing that with lacrosse practice, dance rehearsal and homework makes trying new food harder than it should be.
When we travel, our family has a rule that we can’t go to any restaurant that we have at home. The kids are encouraged to try new things and we’ve always had the rule that they have to at least try anything we give them.
They’ll quickly realize that what might look strange on their plate actually tastes amazing. The more new foods they try, the more excited they’ll become about going out to different restaurants at home instead of the same old pizza joint or fast food joint.
Lead by example and order things you might not be sure of either. You can rarely go wrong when you ask a server, “What is the most popular item people come here for?”
They Learn Patience and Kindness
Traveling is never as glamorous as people think. Missed connections, hotel rooms not being ready and lost cab drivers stress us all out.
Exposing your kids to the variety of things that go wrong on a trip is good for them. They’ll learn that in life you have to sometimes roll with the punches and make the most of a bad situation.
Sure, going through them might not be fun, but years later they’ll look back and laugh about those two days stuck in a hotel room with no clothes since the luggage went on the flight even though the family didn’t. True story!
Plus, depending on where you travel, seeing how other people live will teach them to value what they have. After all, if you can afford to fly around the world to any destination, you’re better off than many people you might encounter.
Having a World View Will Help Their Careers
No matter what your children grow up to be, they’ll be working in a global marketplace, working with people from different countries and backgrounds than their own.
Encourage them to talk to people when traveling. Expose them to local customs of every sort. Expand their minds to embrace differences rather than shunning them. Don’t shy away from their questions and have them ask them to the people they meet.
That way when they arrive at college or enter the office for the first time, they won’t have to add culture shock to the list of other things that they’ll be dealing with during this time.
Traveling is Quality Family Time
Sure, they’ll be on their tablet or phone the whole plane ride or car ride to your destination, but it’s hard to beat the quality of the time you spend together when traveling.
Walking around a new city or town together, sitting down around a new table and hearing the sounds of new accents is all better when done surrounded by those you love. We encourage our kids to keep a travel journal because what they notice and remember is always different than what we might see. Likewise, make sure they have a camera that they take lots of photos with. You’ll be amazed what catches their eye.
At the end of every day, take the time to share your favorite moments with each other. When you return home make a photo book from everyone’s snapshots to never forget the great time you had.
Everyday the world is getting closer together and seeing it more possible. Instead of wasting your summer away this year, why not jump in a car, boat or plane and visit someplace new. Your family and you will love it!
Source: Trip It
There are lots of tips for travelling you may take note
How to prepare trip to Vietnam
10 things you should not do on airplane
Best time to travel to Vietnam
Anonymous
Follow Us