…is through his stomach, says André Bosia, Executive Chef of Sofitel Metropole Hanoi André Bosia, who worked in France, Scotland, Austria, Egypt, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Japan before he took up his current position in Vietnam four years ago, told Vietweek that Vietnamese cuisine, which is fresh and tasty, can be a great ambassador for the country and should be promoted abroad. Vietweek: How did you come to Vietnam? André Bosia: I had always wanted [...]

Hotel Equatorial’s Orientica restaurant is importing live Boston lobsters from the US for the feast this mont The Orientica Seafood Restaurant & Bar in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 has a lobster feast this month. Located on the second floor at the Hotel Equatorial Ho Chi Minh City, the restaurant proudly serves fresh lobster from the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which are imported alive from the US. The lobster is prepared with [...]

Relishing a trip to the cradle of Vietnamese Buddhism. It was a misty spring day and the winding road taking us up Tam Dao Mountain was made longer by the thick fog that blocked our view of the road. But still, the scenery pierced through the mist and soon we were driving through the remains of old French neighborhoods, dilapidated villas and estates now worn and torn after half a century of neglect. We passed [...]

A preliminary conference to review three years of implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision on ‘Vietnam Ethnic Group Cultural Day’ (April 19) has been held during the festival, along with a conference on promoting tourism, a mountain market fair and traditional games, sports and entertainment. This is an opportunity for ethnic minority people to review obtained results and shortcomings which need to be overcome to fully implement policy, especially policies for ethnic minority groups, and people [...]

The 14 activities under the framework of Ha Long – Quang Ninh Tourism Week 2012 celebrating Ha Long Bay becoming one of the seven new wonders of the world have been prepared carefully, and Ha Long is ready to welcome domestic and foreign tourists. The information was released by an official from the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee in a press conference on April 23. During the Ha Long – Quang Ninh Tourism Week 2012, [...]

The Quang Ninh People’s Committee and the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT) yesterday launched free wireless internet (wi-fi) services in Ha Long city. VNPT installed more than 40 wireless internet transmitters in the city along National Highway 18A at a cost of more than VND200 billion. The service will be free of charge during the 2012 Ha Long Tourism Week from April 23 to May 2. Tourists, investors and local residents will have free [...]

Authorities in the central province of Quang Nam plan to review all its 43 hydropower dams as the largest one continues to worry residents with its ongoing leaking problem, the VnExpress newswire reported Tuesday. The report quoted Nguyen Thanh Quang, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, as saying inspection teams will be sent to check the dams next month to suggest risk minimizing measures. Local authorities are especially concerned about the [...]

Vietnam may be forced to cut its 2012 growth target to as low as 5 percent from 6 percent after the economy expanded at the slowest pace since 2009 in the first quarter, two government advisers said. The full-year target could be cut to “about 5 to 5.5 percent,” Tran Hoang Ngan, a member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said by telephone today. “With first-quarter growth at only 4 percent, it [...]

Construction has started on the first public high rise parking lot in Ho Chi Minh City, as many similar structures are expected to be built in coming years. The news website VnExpress on Wednesday said multi-story parking lots are considered by many investors to be an “optimum solution” for the city’s parking scarcity, as they cost less money and take less time to built than underground facilities. On March 23, the Saigon Transport and Mechanics [...]

A nearly 400 year-old cluster fig tree in the northern midland province of Phu Tho is the first to become a Vietnam Heritage Tree. A recognition ceremony was jointly held by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment (VACNE) and the local authorities of Xuan Anh commune, Ha Hoa district, on April 20. The tree measures 5.6m in circumference, 1.65m in diameter and is more than 3m high. It has a root in [...]