News, 8-10/12/00 (2)
hyt...@my-deja.com
* Vietnamese film wins Asia-Pacific fetival
ABC, 10/12/00) - A film by Vietnamese director Nguyen Thanh Van has won
the best feature film award at the 45th Asia-Pacific Film festival
awards ceremony in Hanoi.
"Sand life" is about the bitter life of a midle-aged woman living in a
coastal village who spent 20 years waiting for her boyfriend's return
from the warfront.
It also won the Best Actress award for Mai Hoa and Best Subordinate
Actress for Hong Anh.
Vietnam entered five feature films, three documentaries and two
animations.
The documentary award went to Vietnamese director Lai Van Sinh
for "Mrs. Nam", a film about labour hero Do Kim Hong.
* "Sand life" chosen best film at Asia-Pacific fest
HANOI, Dec 10 (AFP) - "Sand life" by Vietnamese director Nguyen Thanh
Van took the best feature film award Sunday night at the 45th Asia-
Pacific Film festival awards ceremony in Hanoi.
The film, about the bitter life of a midle-aged woman living in a
coastal village who spent 20 years waiting for her boyfriend's return
from the warfront, also won the Best Actress award for Mai Hoa and Best
Subordinate Actress for Hong Anh.
Taiwanese director Chang Chih Yung was named Best Director for the
romantic "Lament of the Sand River".
Best Actor award went to South Korean star Choi Min-Sik in the "Happy
end".
The year's 57 best films from the 12 member nations of the Asia-Pacific
Film Association were showcased at the festival.
Vietnam entered five feature films, three documentaries and two
animations.
The documentary award went to Vietnamese director Lai Van Sinh
for "Mrs. Nam", a film about labour hero Do Kim Hong
The best animation film award went to Japanese director Kazuki
Omori's "The boy who saw the wind".
Hong Kong's "In the mood for love" by Wong Kar-wai, got Best Editing
and Best Cameraman awards.
* KOICA to build 40 schools in Vietnam next year
Korea Herald, 10/12/00 - Korea International Cooperation Agency
(KOICA), an overseas support agency under the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade, will build 40 schools in Vietnam starting in 2001,
officials said yesterday.
KOICA will invest $2 million into the school's construction in central
Vietnam to help enhance friendly bilateral ties, KOICA President Min
Hyung-ki was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency during his
visit to the Southeast Asian country Friday.
Min was attending the opening ceremony of the Korea-Vietnam Industrial
Technology Institute. The Korean official said his agency will invest
$50,000 in building a school.
"This project is to provide a good educational environment for the
Vietnamese, who have an educational fervor as high as that of Koreans,"
said Min. (LJH)
* Hanoi's cafe culture
The French left more than language and religion behind in Vietnam:
there's also the habit of sitting with a view of the street, sipping
strong coffee - sometimes with croissants
SARAH MURRAY
Freelance
Montreal Gazette, 10/12/00 - In a small room, an old woman grins at me
through the set of blackened teeth she's acquired through years of
chewing betel nut, and points to a stool that's about 8 inches square
and 10 inches off the ground. She has got to be joking. It seems I'm
expected to sit on a piece of furniture that, if it didn't come from a
doll's house, was clearly designed for someone with far less generous
buttocks than mine.
But she looks like she'll stand for no nonsense, so I follow her
instructions. Once down there, it's not so bad. I order a cafe den
(black coffee) and look around. Out on the pavement, banana fritters
sizzle over a tiny stove, a group of children spin wooden tops while
mopeds -- Vietnam's favourite form of transport - rattle past with the
rapidity of machine-gun fire. A rickety glass cabinet displaying jars
of multicoloured dried fruit stands guard at the door while, inside,
miniature chairs and tables keep company with a large television set
that doubles as a karaoke machine. This is a cafe, Vietnamese-style -
chaotic, cramped, but with coffee that will blow your head off.
That the Vietnamese drink the stuff at all can be put down to the
French.
Perched near the top of this long, thin country and built around lakes
on what was once marshland, Hanoi is more like a large village than a
capital city. But within a small area is a town that has everything
from the grandiose communist architecture of Ho Chi Minh's tomb on Ba
Dinh Square to elegant colonial villas and medieval alleys bulging with
street markets. It also has a healthy coffee culture that I'm
determined to explore in all its various forms. "Eating and Drinking
Habits and Cultural Identity" might help. I found this authoritative-
looking tome in the English-language bookstore near my hotel. The
chapter on Vietnamese coffee culture proclaims that "quality is the
referent by which is justified the market as mediation between the
territory (of coffee) and its imaginary or real representation."
Right. Promptly dumping this worthy tome in the trash can, I head off
to meet someone I know can talk sense when it comes to coffee. He's
Jeff Richardson, an American who, with his Vietnamese partner, Truong
Viet Binh, runs Cafe Moca, a busy establishment on Nha Tho near the
city centre. "Coffee's like wine," he tells me over a sumptuous
cappuccino. "It's got a body and a texture." On a mission to produce
the best coffee in Vietnam, he has enlisted four farmers in the south
at Dalat - whose plantations date back to the French colonial era - to
produce beans that he roasts and grinds back at Cafe Moca. Seven
varietal and blended coffees are sold over the counter while on the
menu are 16 types of coffee, from double espresso and cafe latte to
iced versions and even Indian spiced coffee. Tucked behind the ancient
trees that line the street, Cafe Moca is set in a building with a
spectacular Sino-French interior, originally the housing quarters of
monks and nuns. No tiny stools or benches here, but marble tables and
generous wooden armchairs which Jeff had made from the building's 100-
year-old teak floor runners. With vast windows looking out on to the
street, it's a good place from which to survey the activity outside.
And there's plenty of it. We are in Hanoi's old quarter, where narrow
streets packed with fruit and vegetable markets have housed the city's
artisans and tradesmen for five centuries. Each street specialized in a
different trade and its name reflected the business conducted there.
Stumbling outside, I find the noise and movement combine with an
olfactory cocktail of incense smoke and diesel fumes to set my head
spinning. Shops spill out on to the pavement, vying for space with bird
cages and snack sellers. Plastic mannequins stare out from a clothing
store toward a brightly painted Taoist temple. Not far away, a
carpenter sleeps perched on a brick beneath a gnarled tree dripping
with creepers, his chin resting on his saw, oblivious to the chaos
around him. Giddy from the assault on my senses, I arrive at Hang Non
St., at the very heart of the old quarter. And I don't need a
translator to tell me what line of business is conducted here. This is
obviously tin-bashing street, for the noise is deafening and everywhere
men and women with small hammers are thrashing away at pieces of metal
to create everything from mirror frames to cooking pots.
In one shop, among stacks of cake tins and pastry cutters, are filters
used for making traditional Vietnamese "drip" coffee. These
contraptions consist of a saucer that sits on top of the cup and
supports the filter (a primitive piece of tin punched with holes) and a
lid to keep the heat and flavour in. The technique, I am told, is to
pour a little boiling water on the coffee and let it sit for a few
minutes before adding the rest. But whatever the correct method, "drip"
is the operative word - this coffee takes forever to brew, and
experienced cafe owners get it on the go well before their clients
arrive. Nguyen Lam knows all about that. He owns one of Hanoi's oldest
cafes; on a shelf by the door sit ranks of large glass tumblers into
which the thick, dark liquid is oozing from filters above.
Lam is famous for having provided coffee - and often loans - to the
city's impoverished artistic community during the war. These painters
are not lacking funds today. The influences of Picasso and Matisse -
acquired at fine-art academies established by the French - and an
Oriental sense of design have made Vietnamese paintings among the most
collectible in the region.
Works by names such as Bui Xuan Phai, once a regular at Cafe Lam, sell
for thousands of dollars, and rumour has it that below the terracotta-
tiled roof of his modest cafe, Lam has an art collection now worth a
fortune.
Coffee and painting weren't the only legacies of the French. They also
found time to spread a little religion during their tenure of
Indochina. Roughly 10 per cent of Vietnamese are Catholics today and
many of them gather for evening mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral, which
looks out across a square on to Nha Tho. Inside the church, the air
being churned about by rusty ceiling fans is as heavy as the dirge-like
chant coming from the congregation. Watched over from above the altar
by a statue of Jesus painted in lurid colours, the scene could be
medieval, if it weren't for the strip lights casting a greenish glow
over the proceedings.
Down on Ly Thai To St., among the grand colonial buildings of the
French era, I am propelled back into the present day. Riaz Mahmood,
general manager of the Press Club, is showing me around. In spite of
its name, the place is not a club, nor is it associated with
journalists. It is, however, the smartest establishment in Hanoi, and
in luxurious armchairs in "The Library," coffee can be accompanied by
one of a selection of hand-rolled Cuban cigars.
The Press Club, a business centre with restaurants and bars in an
imposing new office building, is part of a recent phenomenon. Hotels,
restaurants and cafes sprang up in the early 1990s when Vietnam became
the hottest investment destination on the global business map. Economic
liberalization and the lifting of the U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam
brought the country that fought off Chinese, French and Americans a new
kind of invader - the foreign investor.
Looking for a fast buck in what was seen as a rapidly expanding market
proved thirsty work, so bars and cafes offering soft lighting and Latin
jazz spread across the city. French villas provided the perfect setting
for these places and much of Hanoi's splendid colonial architecture has
been restored as a result. Many of the deals were done in the old
European part of town at the Metropole, the grande dame of Vietnam's
hotels, which welcomed its first guests in 1901. In its Club Bar, heads
of multinational corporations could be found discussing joint-venture
partnerships over cappuccinos brewed with coffee from Italy and France.
Those heady days are over. Asia's financial crisis and the bureaucratic
hurdles erected by Vietnam's aging communist leadership have seen many
foreign investors pack their bags and head for more profitable
pastures. But the cafe scene thrives. Young and trendy Vietnamese
frequent places such as Au Lac, a delightful al fresco cafe in the
courtyard of an old French villa.
Looking out on to the Metropole hotel, its superb croissants make it a
great breakfast venue. At Brother's Cafe, a Vietnamese buffet can be
eaten in a beautifully restored 19th-century Chinese house that, with a
garden at the back of the building, provides a quiet refuge from the
thousand moped horns dominating Nguyen Thai Hoc, one of Hanoi's busiest
streets.
A couple of minutes from Brother's Cafe, is Ho Chi Minh turning in his
grave at such decadence? I visit him to find out. With guards on the
watch to prevent anyone from showing disrespect by putting their hands
in their pockets, we are marched through the vast mausoleum in which
Uncle Ho's embalmed body rests. The man who led his country to victory
over the French is looking a little yellow round the chops. Is it the
gloomy light casting a pall over his serene features or is it time for
a little attention from the embalming experts? But then perhaps all he
really needs is a strong dose of caffeine.
Well, I certainly need one. And to get it, I head off toward Lake Hoan
Kiem where, I am told, I can drink something called coffee with egg, in
a place scarcely bigger than a wardrobe. Here, in a building sandwiched
between the peaceful waters of the lake and the commercial chaos of
Hang Gai, the Giang family has been serving coffee with egg for more
than half a century.
Outside, shops that once served as tailors to locals now do a brisk
tourist trade in raw silk shirts, embroidered table linen and T-shirts
bearing the smiling face of Uncle Ho. But here in the narrow corridor
that is Cafe Giang, little has changed since the family set up shop
more than 50 years ago. A faded picture of the family hangs on one wall
and the only concession to modernity is a handful of tiny plastic
tables and chairs where once wooden tables would have stood.
Filled with trepidation, I order, and alarming visions of lumpy egg
white floating in Nescafe come to mind. But when the coffee arrives -
presented in tiny cups placed within bowls of steaming hot water - I
find my fears are unfounded. To my amazement, this vile-sounding
concoction turns out to be a delicious version of zabaglione with a
shot of Vietnamese-strength espresso at the bottom - yet another hidden
surprise in this remarkable Indochinese town.
Think You'll Try Hanoi's Cafes?
The Coffee Houses
Cafe Moca: 14-16 Nha Tho. Superb range of coffees roasted on site, with
excellent Vietnamese, European and Indian dishes.
Cafe Quyen: 46B Bat Dan. Tiny Vietnamese-style place named after the
famous actress who owns it. Displays the work of local photographer
Nguyen Huu Bao, who is often to be found in the cafe.
Brother's Cafe, 26 Nguyen Thai Hoc. In a beautifully restored Chinese
house. Offers a Vietnamese buffet in addition to great coffee and
drinks from the bar.
Ciao Cafe, 2 Hang Bai. Italian-style coffee house with cakes and
snacks. The Press Club, 59A Ly Thai To. Coffee or spirits, with Cuban
cigars in The Library, superb fusion food in The Restaurant and Italian
snacks from The Deli.
The Club Bar at the Metropole, 15 Ngo Quyen. Imported Italian and
French coffees in a grand old colonial hotel.
Cafe Lam, Nguyen Huu Huan. Traditional Vietnamese coffee house owned by
the famous art collector.
Cafe Giang, Hang Gai. Tiny Vietnamese establishment specializing in
coffee with egg.
Travel Information
011 84 4 is the dialing code for Hanoi. Hotel prices are subject to a 5-
per-cent service charge and 10-per-cent government tax. Check whether
this is included in the room rate.
Where to Stay
Sofitel Metropole, 15 Ngo Quyen (84 4 826 6919). Grand old colonial
hotel located right at the centre of town. Doubles from $132 U.S.
Hilton Hanoi Opera, 1 Le Thanh Tong (84 4 9330 500). Grandiose new
hotel which opened in January next to Hanoi's beautifully restored
opera house at the centre of town. Doubles from $230 U.S. regular, $130
special.
De Syloia (84 4 8245 346) 17A Tran Hung Dao. Small boutique hotel not
far from the centre, fronted by an old French villa. Excellent
Vietnamese restaurant. Doubles from $59 U.S., including breakfast.
Guoman Hanoi (84 4 822 2800) 83A Ly Thuong Kiet. Efficient hotel
dominated by business travelers but with an exotically dressed doorman
and a good location in the old European part of town. Doubles from $75
U.S., including breakfast.
Resources
For information on visas, contact the Embassy of Vietnam, 470 Wilbrod
St., Ottawa, Ont. K1N 6M8. Phone: (613) 232-1957; fax: (613) 236-2704.
Things to See
Temple of Literature, Nguyen Thai Hoc. An oasis of calm within the
ancient walls of well-preserved Vietnamese temple architecture dating
from the 15th century.
Hai Ba Trung Temple, Tho Lao St. Traditional Vietnamese temple. The
Trung sisters are said to have dived into the river to drown themselves
rather than surrender to Chinese invaders.
Fine Arts Museum, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc. Lacquerwork, traditional crafts
and revolutionary works depicting heroes, in a superb colonial
building.
Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square. Visit the great leader in his
resting place in a glass sarcophagus within the imposing mausoleum.
Maps
A 1998 locally produced city map is available in hotel lobby shops,
bookshops and tourists stalls all over Hanoi.
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