Tieng Viet lovers club

[v.killers]

Originally Posted by spextacus

Anh cung thong minh lam ma.. Dung kg a?

e kg hieu.. phai chet roi.. a lam guip e chet dung kg? hay la 2 ng chet chung di..

moi lan di uong bia voi a, chi co a mot minh ngoi con gai thoi.. buon qua.. vi tien cua e it hon tien cua a.. huhu

Thong ming cai dau em! troi oi, e moung chet thi chet mot minh thoi dung lam nguoi khac chet luon.

Bay gio a kg co con gai roi, ba gai ve vn roi, rat la buon

[jackbl]

Hanoi and HCM City to let off fireworks to welcome Lunar New Year
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VietNamNet Bridge – The city authorities have decided to let off fireworks at 29 places, including four places with high-range and 25 with low-range firework shows, at the Lunar New Year’s Eve.

The four places for high-range firework including Hoan Kiem Lake, Dong Da Lake, Thang Loi Hotel and Van Quan Lake.

The 25 places for low-range firework shows will be the capitals of districts. The firework show will last for 15 minutes, from 0 to 0.15 am, February 3, 2011.

The Capital City High Command will be responsible for the firework shows.

The Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade has announced to hold 50 flower markets this lunar New Year (Tet).

The department’s vice chief Nguyen The Hung said urban districts have registered 14 flower markets. On average, each district will have one flower market, except for Thanh Xuan and Cau Giay which will have two markets.

Hanoi will also organize nearly 40 market-days in suburb districts and transport goods to industrial zones and rural areas to serve locals this Tet. Notably, goods supplied at these markets and rural areas will have good quality and reasonable prices thanks to the city’s policy and efforts to stabilize prices.

The city has prepared adequate sources to supply goods for the upcoming Tet to prevent price escalation.

From now until Tet, which will fall in early February, the authorities will set up 40 inspection teams to control the prices at supermarkets and markets.


In HCM City, 15-minute fireworks will be set off at eight different places on New Year’s Eve.

Also in the city, Nguyen Hue Street will be transformed into a street of flowers this lunar New Year (Tet) from January 31 to February 6.

It will feature flowers and bonsai brought from around Vietnam, including fresh flowers from Da Lat and areas in the southwest that will decorate the 800-meter road. The street will begin with a garden of mai trees and apricot trees with yellow blossoms, the symbol of Tet in the south.

The display will be divided into various sections, but all depicting Vietnam’s countryside – there will be stacks of yellow straw, green bamboo trees, rice fields, and bamboo bridges over small canals.

The display will end at Bach Dang port with an apricot tree with large yellow blossoms and an artificial lake.

Elsewhere in the city, its 24 districts will each organize a banh tet (traditional sticky rice cake) making competition from January 26 to 31, and distribute 10,000 of the cakes to children at charity houses and shelters.

Local authorities are also gearing up for the annual Spring Flower Festival at Tao Dan Park in HCM City as the Tet holiday approaches.

The event will begin on January 28 and end on February 8 (the sixth day of the lunar year's first month).

More than 8,000 indigenous and foreign flowers, ornamental fish, bonsai plants and trees will be featured at the festival. They will be provided by florists, farms, handicraft villages and business people involved in agriculture, according to Tran Thien Ha, director of the HCM City Green Tree and Park Company, a member of the festival's organizing board.

Well-known handicraft villages and farms in HCM City, Ha Noi and the provinces of Binh Duong, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Vinh Long and Lam Dong will introduce their products at the festival.

In addition to the flower displays and sales, the event will include musical and dance performances, as well as cultural exhibitions such as traditional food festivals and painting displays. The festival's themes highlight the 11th Congress of the Vietnam Communist Party, which will open on January 12 in Ha Noi.

The opening ceremony will include three music and song programs in praise of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, which feature dozens of veterans and young performers.

The show titled Sac Hoa Dang Dang-Dang Bac (Flowers for the Party and Uncle Ho) will highlight revolutionary music.

Designed to feel like a colorful garden, Tao Dan Park will be attractive to children and young people who find inspiration in nature.

Visitors will participate in a variety of street shows featuring folk art and games staged by hundreds of puppet and circus performers, which will begin at 8pm every night.

Organizers said they have received help and support from the city People's Committee and other offices and organizations.

VN

[jackbl]

Travel firms say regret late Tet holiday announcement
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VietNamNet Bridge - Tour operators in HCMC have said they have missed a great business chance for launching more tours for the Lunar New Year (Tet) as the long holiday schedule was announced a little bit so late.

The Government has formally announced that the Tet holiday will last from January 31 to February 7, meaning all civil servants and State workers will have eight days off. That prompts people to rush to buy tours, but many travel firms have closed their programs and they could not arrange air tickets, visas, accommodation and related services for more guests.

Companies like Fiditourist, Perfect Tour Travel Co., Viettours Trading and Services Co., Saigontourist Travel Service Co., and some others have reported an increasing number of enquiries for outbound and domestic tours these days.

Nguyen The Khai, director of Perfect Tour Travel Co., told the Daily on Wednesday that the company had stopped selling Tet tours on January 1 but many customers have been asking for the tours after that day because of the long holiday. However, the company cannot sell more tours due to the lack of services like air tickets, hotels, and restaurants, all of which need some months for arrangement.

Perfect Tour has prepared services for just 2,500 travelers on Tet, doubling the number compared to last Tet.

“Around 20 to 30 people are asking for Tet tours everyday but our hands are tied. We would have done better business if the Government had announced the holiday schedule earlier,” he said.

At Fiditourist, the company has prepared services for around 20,000 outbound and domestic travelers on Tet, up 20% compared to last year. Many customers have been asking for Tet tours in recent days but the company has not received deposits because it needs more time to arrange services for the new customers.

“The number of visitors is increasing beyond expectation. We are asking for more air tickets but it is very difficult. We cannot manage this because of the limited time,” said Dang Trung Nghia, deputy general director of Fiditourist.

Currently, the company cannot buy air tickets for outbound tourists while both air tickets and hotels for domestic tours are also very scarce, he explained. Fiditourist said only overland tours to Nha Trang and the North are still available but travelers do not want to go the region due to the cold weather there.

Luu Dinh Phuc, director of Viettours Trading and Services Company, said tour operators could have sold more tours if the Government had announced the Tet holiday schedule six months in advance.

“We see the good business chance this Tet but cannot do anything,” he said.

Saigontourist Travel Service Co. also regrets the tardy announcement but the company has added 50 tours for Tet and sold tours to eight more groups to date.

As of Wednesday, Saigontourist had 15,000 tourists who had placed deposits for outbound and domestic tours during Tet, excluding those who have made registrations only.



Source: SGT

[jackbl]

Some business related posting below :

Restaurants make huge profits, but carry high risk, owners say
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Restaurant business has high return rate, but it requires a huge amount of capitals and carries a high risk of losses, owners say.

Duong Duc Dung, director of the Viet Pho Restaurant Ltd., disclosed his restaurant has a return rate of 10 percent per month, which helps recover the initial capital in just one year.

Duong Tan Hoai, director of Ngon & Dep Ltd., the operator of the Ngon Restaurant franchise said “restaurant business makes huge return, but it also carries high risk of losses.”

The required amount of capitals for opening a restaurant ranges from VND5 billion (US$250,000) to $30 billion, depending on the location, area and decoration, said a restaurant operator in Ho Chi Minh City.

“If you rent a space to open a restaurant with an annual rental of VND200 million ($10,000), you will have to pay around VND1.2 billion for deposition. Then you will have to spend around VND5 billion more for decoration, furniture stuffs and hiring employees,” he said.

He also warned new operators will likely to suffer losses worth up to hundreds of millions of Vietnam dong in the first several month. The cost for marketing restaurant on medias is an average of VND50 million ($2,500) per month, he noticed.

The increasing number of restaurants in town created a fierce competition between them. The Pho 24 franchise reportedly accused the Pho 5 Sao restaurant on Dien Bien Phu Street in District 3 for copying their decoration design.

The harsh competition forces small restaurants to be more creative in customer services, said Ly Quy Trung, owner of the Pho 24 franchise.

Foreign restaurant franchises with an abundant amount of capital and popular brand name also put more pressure on local operators, he added.

Franchise trend
Many restaurant franchises serving Vietnamese traditional foods have made debuts these days. “Thailand has ambition to become a leading food country. Why can’t we? Vietnam also has lot of fantastic foods, including pho [Vietnamese traditional noodle], spring rolls and beef noodle,” said a restaurant owner in HCMC.

Moreover, many foreign franchises in Vietnam including the US-based fried chicken restaurant KFC, Cocasuki and Breadtalk have planned on offering commercial concession to local businesses.

Marketing professor Philip Kotler said the number of restaurants in Vietnam was increasing steeply, and their quality is being improved strongly, with diversified customer services.

He also valued the country’s strong rate of economic growth, which will enable Vietnam to become the kitchen of the world.

By Thanh Dung and Duc Manh – Translated by Hoang Uy

[jackbl]

Every business should have legal consultant, official says
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Despite having registered trademarks already, many enterprises have still fallen victims to copyright violations as they do not understand thoroughly the law on brand protection, Nguyen Thanh Binh, head of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam, said in an interview with Dau Tu Tai Chinh ( Financial Invest )newspaper.

He noticed that every enterprise should have legal consultants.

Dau Tu Tai Chinh: What do you think about the fact that many enterprises were at a disadvantage as other firms copied their trademark without their approval?

Nguyen Thanh Binh: Many local businesses have failed to sue other firms copying their registered trademark since they did not pay attention on regulations of trademark protection.

Trademark protection regulates many terms of creating brand names including not describing products. For example, apple juice makers will not have trademark protection for a logo and brand name of an apple.

Trademark protection will not be granted to a “wonderful noodle” brand name. Some products have protection for their decoration and logo only.

At present, the increasing number of new businesses is making trademark protection getting tougher. Therefore, local enterprises should make a cautious study before registering their trademark.

What should local enterprises do to protect themselves from trademark infringements?

They should rely on other laws, such as the Law on Competition. I have just consulted the owner of Quan Ngon restaurant to rename his restaurant to Ngon Restaurant, which will put his brand name under the protection of the competition law.

Moreover, enterprises should carry out marketing events to let their customers know where their real location is.

According to my study, unlike foreign companies, few of local businesses have legal consultants.

Hiring lawyer offices to be legal consultants is an appropriate move to small- and medium-size companies. They can help make legal procedure quickly and precisely.

How is trademark registering of local enterprises nationwide?

There were 524,000 enterprises registering trademark in last September. However, only 100,000 out of the amount were approved by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam.

Moreover, I cannot sure 100,000 firms approved as some of them registered many brand names.

For instant, a drug maker produces hundreds of products and it has to register trademark for each of them. Therefore, I can say the amount of enterprises registering trademark remains small.

By Thanh Dung – Translated by Hoang Uy

[nutkaze]

"ban qua khong online duoc...en mang thi chang gap ai"

Can any bro help me translate the prior sentence?

thank you...

[jackbl]

Do take note if u are drinking this often ............

Fake alcohol erodes rural people’s stomach
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Poor people, especially rural people, are drinking no-brand alcohol which they believe to be rice alcohol but they don’t know that they are consuming fake alcohol which is very harmful for your health. VietNamNet reports.

While writing this article, VietNamNet reporters saw Tung, an alcoholic, who told us about the village that processes fake alcohol – Dai Lam village in Yen Phong district, Hanoi’s neighboring province of Bac Ninh. There are several villages making fake alcohol but Dai Lam is the most “famous” among them.


Fake alcohol making techniques

The local media last year reported about the technique to produce faked alcohol as follows: “industrial alcohol + water + fragrances = rice alcohol”.

It is said that an alcohol producer in Dai Lam village was impatient to produce rice alcohol in the traditional procedures so he went to China to learn the technique to produce rice alcohol from dry alcohol.

As this technique brings about super-high profit, it was quickly expanded to the entire Dai Lam village and “killed” traditional rice alcohol making villages in northern Vietnam.

Another alcohol producer “invented” the second-generation technique – using industrial alcohol instead of dry alcohol. This technique was quickly favored by faked alcohol producers because it can further cut down the production costs while it is easier and faster to produce fake alcohol.

Accordingly, producers only need to mix industrial alcohol with water and the fragrances of cassava, rice or maize to produce faked cassava, rice or maize alcohol.

A short period after that, fake alcohol producers “upgraded” their technique by using fragrant alcohol to produce wine. Thus, they don’t need fragrances anymore, just fragrant alcohol and water as materials.

In Dai Lam village, the tools for producing fake alcohols are oil drums. Fake wine producers pump water into the oil drums to a certain level (they often use bamboo shoulder poles to measure water because drums are 1.5m high) and then pour alcohol into the oil drums. They use bamboo shoulder poles to stir alcohol and water. After half an hour, the solution of water and alcohol will become rice, cassava or maize alcohol, depending on the fragrances applied.

Thanks to this technique, alcohol makers can produce a cubic meter of alcohol within 30 minutes while with traditional method, it will take alcohol producer a whole week.

In Dai Lam village, traditional distilleries have disappeared since this technique was imported. The village now has a dozen of families producing fake alcohol. Each family can produce a daily volume of alcohol which is 3-4 folds more than the entire output of alcohol made by the whole village.

The industrial alcohol which is used to produce alcohol is highly-concentrated alcohol, which is from 90-90o. One liter of industrial alcohol is enough to process four liters of wine. However, this kind of wine will be spoiled after several months. That’s the only disadvantage of the technique.

“Even a child can produce alcohol with this technique. However, not everyone can become alcohol producer because the most important thing is the outlet. You can see some families in our village have villas and cars thanks to fake alcohol,” said Mrs. Dang, a tea seller in Dai Lam village.


Fake alcohol is rampant

Nguyen Van Tung from Binh Da village, Hanoi, an alcohol trader, told VietNamNet that rural restaurants and restaurants for workers and students often buy fake alcohol at the prices of VND3500-5000 ($0.17-0.2) a liter.

According to Tung, some people even make fake alcohol from pesticide or chemicals. “They only put one pill of chemical into water and shake the solution in several minutes to have alcohol,” Tung disclosed.

As the lunar New Year holiday is approaching, the market for wine has become very bustling. In cities, imported wine is favored but in the countryside, rice wine without brands is popular.

Nguyen Huu Thach, a rice wine producer in Thanh Oai district, Hanoi, said: “The need for wine is rising because this time is the wedding season (winter-spring). The demand will increase by 4-5 folds from now to the lunar New Year”.

Thach said that his distillery is now very busy with orders for wedding parties. A wedding often needs 70-80 liters of rice wine, at the price of VND28,000-30,000 ($1.4-1.5) a liter.

He complained that his business is now fiercely competing with fake wine. “Customers can’t identify fake alcohol,” he said.

The owner of a snail-wine restaurant in Hoai Duc district, Hanoi told VietNamNet: “Last month a young man came here to offer me to purchase his rice wine at only VND500 ($0.025) a liter. What a dirty price!”

“Opening the lid, I was nearly fainted because of the smell of alcohol. I’ve sold wine for nearly a decade so I’m experienced enough to identify real rice wine and fake wine. This kind of wine will become water thirty minutes after you pour it a glass,” he added.


Who cares?

Nguyen Van Quy, chief police officer of Tam Da commune, Hanoi said that many families in his commune have produced fake wine for several years to earn large profits. Local residents have reported these cases to the local authorities.

According to Quy, around 200-800 households in Tam Da produce alcohol, depending on the market demand. Many of them make fake wine, using industrial alcohol sourced from China or the central Vietnam.

With hundreds of thousands of liters of fake wine from Tam Da, many people are in danger.

Nguyen Trong Hoi, Chair of Van Ha commune in Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province, the neighbor commune of Tam Da, said: “Fake wine is very dangerous for health but local authorities are incompetent to close such distilleries. We don’t know where they sell this kind of wine”.

In Van village, which is very famous for its traditional rice and cassava wine, wine is still processed by traditional methods but the wine is not safe at all.

VietNamNet reporters saw cassavas being dried on the village road. The material is bought from mountainous provinces and it was very moldy, looking like animal feed. A local explained that moldy cassava will whiten before it is fermented.

Local people also told VietNamNet about the terrible fermenting process: they use Chinese ferments to dust on rice or cassava, which is soaked in water already. Thanks to the special ferments, they don’t need to cook rice or cassava to have alcohol.

Dr. To Van Nhat, General director and Vice Chair of the Avinaa Alcohol Plant, said wine that is processed by traditional methods at craft villages contain toxic substances because traditional methods can’t filter toxic matters (ester, aldehyde, methanol, furferol, etc.) from wine. Traditional alcohol processed from fermented rice, cassava, maze, etc. contain toxic substances at the rate of 50 to over 100 times over permitted thresholds.


Hoa Thuy Tien

[lovesprout]

Originally Posted by nutkaze

"ban qua khong online duoc...en mang thi chang gap ai"

Can any bro help me translate the prior sentence?

thank you...

it should be like this: "ban qua khong online duoc. len mang thi chang gap ai"
too busy cannot online, when online then didn't see anybody

[nutkaze]

ok I see, thank thank

[spextacus]

Originally Posted by v.killers

Thong ming cai dau em! troi oi, e moung chet thi chet mot minh thoi dung lam nguoi khac chet luon.

Bay gio a kg co con gai roi, ba gai ve vn roi, rat la buon

Troi.. buon cai dau anh.. bay gio a kg co ban gai, nhung ma con co nguoi khach ma.. dau co sao dau.. neu a muon diem, kg biet a co bao nhieu bx nhe.. Bx so 1, Bx so 2, bx so 3, ETC....

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by spextacus

Troi.. buon cai dau anh.. bay gio a kg co ban gai, nhung ma con co nguoi khach ma.. dau co sao dau.. neu a muon diem, kg biet a co bao nhieu bx nhe.. Bx so 1, Bx so 2, bx so 3, ETC....

Are u referring to:

khach ---> khac (other)
diem ---> tim (find)

[jackbl]

Tết traditions
================================

Every year around this time, the Western world struggles to shake-off its post New Year’s hangover.

While they tighten their belts and hunker down for winter, Vietnam gears up for the biggest feast event of the year.

Tết, or the Lunar New Year, falls some time in late January and early February.

During the ancient holiday, everyone puts aside their business to get together, eat well and take it easy.

Poor folks relax flood out of the cities to return to their country homes for perhaps their only vacation of the year.

Housewives and mothers from every nook and cranny of the country will roll up their sleeves and prepare the traditional offerings for the annual return of family and friends.



Southern pork belly

Down in the sweet south, meaty pork belly, greasy coconut meat and boiled eggs are married in a delicious stew.

The rich troika of ingredients are marinated with salt, pepper, sugar, fish sauce and chopped garlic.

The eggs are usually pricked with a pin to allow the flavors to seep inside. Star anise is often added to the mix to provide a distinct holiday flavor.

The whole dish simmers for up to four hours, yielding a delightfully rich stew. You know this dish is good and done when the fat in the striated pork hunks melts in the mouth.

The dish is served up with pickled bean sprout and steamed rice.



Central sour shrimp

The cooks of Vietnam’s notoriously spicy central region during Tết.

The week before the holiday arrives, families set to work cleaning and trimming shrimp for the specially-piquant hot and sour Hue-style prawns.

The cleaned critters are soaked in rice wine, chili, garlic, ginger and salt. Julienned papaya and galanga strips are sometimes added to the mix for an added crispiness.

The jar is left in the sun for around three days and then fermented in a cool, dry place for a further five to seven days.

The pungent, pink and red prawns are a force to be reckoned with, when finished. The sour shrimp are often served with boiled pork, sliced green banana and rice paper.



Northern jellied meat

The north’s reputation for savory, muted flavors is reflected most acutely in its famed Tết delicacy: jellied meat.

Pork leg, chicken and lean pork paste are essentially boiled unrecognizable in a pot with mushrooms, carrots, white radishes and onion.

The mix is then chilled (not unlike French terrine or head cheese) and served up with picked mustard greens, hot rice and chili fish sauce.

Bare bones versions of the dish may contain little more than meat and flavor powder. The crucial ingredient - indeed, the thing that holds it all together - is pig skin.



Green Tết

Each regional household sets to work pickling a veggie antidote to their traditional Tết meat entrée.

A variety of traditional pickles plays a crucial role in bringing off a successful Tết feast.

Pickled bean sprouts, mustard greens and scallion heads provide an excellent counter-punch to the greasy, meaty monotony.



WHERE TO GO

One can go to the following restaurants in HCMC to enjoy the traditional delicacies:

* Vietnam House
93-95 Dong Khoi Street, District 1

* Minh Duc
35 Ton That Tung Street, District 1

* Cay Tre
37 Le Quy Don Street, District 3

* Huong Xua
43 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1


Reported by Nguyet Anh

[v.killers]

Originally Posted by spextacus

Troi.. buon cai dau anh.. bay gio a kg co ban gai, nhung ma con co nguoi khach ma.. dau co sao dau.. neu a muon diem, kg biet a co bao nhieu bx nhe.. Bx so 1, Bx so 2, bx so 3, ETC....

Troi oi....nguoi yeu da ve vn roi, bay gio chua co con gai lam a vui dc...phai di kiem mot nguoi lai noi chuyen tinh yeu. em kiem mot nguoi cho a dc kg? kg muon ba gia nua, phai tre con nhe.

[MrDarkSide]

Walau.. Pls write in English. I dont understand.

But I also Want, I Want too, I Want.

[v.killers]

Originally Posted by MrDarkSide

Walau.. Pls write in English. I dont understand.

But I also Want, I Want too, I Want.

Nnkc.....everything U also want.....KC also want hor