Vietnamese cooking contest opens in Singapore

Vietnamese students living in Singapore have participated in a cooking contest FookUp 2015.

The Fookup, the second of its kind, aims to create an opportunity for the Vietnamese community in the country to get closer and learn more about Vietnamese dishes, as well as promoting Vietnam’s cuisine to foreign friends.

According to the organising board, the final round took place in early June with the competition of six teams selected from over 700 candidates.

The cooking contest received such warm involvement and support from the Vietnamese community in Singapore.

Cham people in BinhThuan celebrate Ramuwan New Year

Islamic Cham ethnic people in the central province of BinhThuan on June 16 kicked off a wide range of activities to welcome their Ramuwan (New Year) festival, the biggest of its kind of the local Islamic community.

The festival always begins with a visit to ancestors’ graves and then each family holds ceremonies at home in commemoration of their ancestors. People also go to pagodas to pray for peace, happiness and bumper crops.

Art and sport activities are also arranged in the framework of the event.

In recent years, the festival has drawn a great number of visitors and researchers both at home and abroad to explore the unique culture of the Islamic Cham community in BinhThuan.

On the occasion, leaders from the provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnam Fatherland Front visited and presented gifts to Cham ethnic people and wish local religious dignitaries a happy new year.

BinhThuan province is home to 41,000 Cham ethnic people, of whom 15,000 are Muslims and the rest, Brahmins.

Grapefruit village a good getaway at weekend

With its green orchards, fresh air and tranquil setting, Tan Trieu grapefruit village in the southern province of Dong Nai is an ideal place for weekend tourism.

Situated 40km from Ho Chi Minh City, the village is in Tan Trieu islet in Vinh Cuu district. The 1,114ha islet is surrounded by the Dong Nai river. Though fertile, the place is only suitable for grapefruits since it is often inundated.

The village grows various varieties of grapefruits, but the most popular is buoi duong la cam (a kind that is very sweet and has small leaves like orange). In recent years village households have turned their grapefruit orchards into eco-tourism sites.

The Nam Hue tourism grapefruit orchard is one of the most famous of its kind in the village, offering tourists various dishes made from the fruit like grapefruit salad, chicken steamed in grapefruit, and grapefruit hot pot besides wine.

The wine is produced by the orchard owner Huynh Minh Hue and put in grapefruit-shaped pots.

Nam Hue also has a one-hour sightseeing boat tour around the islet.

Vietnam Festival 2015 reinforces friendship with Japan

The Vietnam Festival 2015, a cultural exchange rendezvous closed in Tokyo, Japan on June 15 to the joy and closeness of festival-goers.

About 180,000 coming from Japan, the US, Australia, India, UK and France flocked to the festival on June 13-14, enjoying the diversity of Vietnamese and Japanese cultures, including art performances and a show of water puppetry – a folk art originating in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam.

They also feasted on Vietnamese traditional specialties such as pho (noodle soup with beef or chicken), nem cuon (spring rolls) and beer.

The festival has become a bridge of friendship connecting the two peoples as well as Vietnamese expatriates in Japan, said Vietnamese Ambassador Doan Xuan Hung in his closing speech, adding that hopefully, it would spread to other cities across Japan as an indispensable cultural exchange feast.

To their delight, head of Japanese organising board Matsuda and visitors shouted out “Vietnam-Japan”, rousing the vibrant atmosphere around Yoyogi park.

In the end, the festival was declared as an annual event to foster friendship between the two peoples.