Tieng Viet lovers club

[jackbl]

More traffic gridlock on the way for HCMC
============================

There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the dreaded green traffic barriers that block the flow of traffic on many Ho Chi Minh City streets.

Over the next two years, 52 kilometers of city streets are supposed to be dug up as part of a US$270.3 million environment hygiene project and a $199.6 million drainage project.

Since last year, more than 30 kilometers of streets have been under excavation as work continues on the two projects, and some 200 street barriers have been creating traffic chaos across the city.

The environment hygiene project, which involves installing pipes to carry wastewater to the city’s waste treatment plants, has another 15.8 kilometers of pipeline to install under city streets over the next two years.

Dang Ngoc Hoi, from the project management board, said work is mostly finished on the pipe network that runs under Ton Duc Thang, Ham Nghi and Tran Hung Dao streets in District 1, which connect to a treatment plant in outlying Binh Chanh District.

Digging work for the drainage project, which will help alleviate flooding in the area around Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal, was started in May last year and about 16 kilometers of the roadwork has been finished.

The project must be completed by December 2009 but with more than 40 kilometers to go, the contractors have to excavate 3.9 kilometers of roadway a month.

Several main streets, including Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Vo Thi Sau, Hai Ba Trung, Phan Dinh Phung and Cach Mang Thang Tam, will be partially dug up.

Phan Hoang Dieu, director of the project management board, said the board has asked contractors to get as much work done as possible during the dry season which begins this month.

Dieu said the city authorities should support the project by helping clear out underground projects that obstruct the digging.

No work has been done behind the barriers on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street in Binh Thanh District because the contractors and the water supply unit can’t agree on moving the water pipelines.

At the same time, no work has been undertaken behind a street barrier on District 5’s Thuan Kieu Street since last year because no approval has been granted to remove underground water pipelines.

Management boards of the environment hygiene and drainage projects are both worried about how to finish their projects on schedule when work is held up for months every time water pipelines are uncovered.

The pipeline owners, many of them joint stock companies, require an upfront payment of 70 percent of the cost for removing the pipeline.

The hygiene project management board admitted that no section of the project has met its deadline, mainly because of the increased cost of materials and higher interest rates.

Material suppliers raised their transport fees and began asking for payment in advance, the board added.

Subcontracted companies are also causing problems, with some construction subcontractors using the budget for other purposes, the management board said.

Early this month the management broke off with state-owned contractor Bach Dang Construction Company for being late in their work even though they had already been paid.

Source: Tuoi Tre

[jackbl]

U see many Cafe in hcm but seldom see TEA House right, below there is a recommendation ...


A serene break
==============

Having tea is a special affair for two white-collar workers named Tran Ha Phuong and Tran Duong in Ho Chi Minh City, who often frequent teashops to relax after a hard working day.

“There are thousands of café shops or bars in the city, but teashops still attract many young people like us,” Duong said.

One of the women’s favorite spots is Thanh Son Zen Tea located at 17 Tran Quy Khoach Street in District 1, unique for its Buddhist decorations and serene ambiance.

“We come here not only to enjoy delicious teas, but also to learn how to enjoy the beverage in the proper manner,” Phuong said.

There are two types of tearoom at the shop – a big one to host groups of patrons and a private room.

The tea room features bamboo mats, black tables, and calligraphy pictures and lanterns hanging from the walls. Several green bamboo groves are strategically placed in the room’s corners hiding speakers that emanate sounds of trickling springs, temple bells and bird melodies. The interior layout creates a sense of peace and quietude for customers to escape from the hectic urban environment outside.

Before entering the tearoom, Phuong and Duong have to take off their shoes, turn off their cell phones, and talk in a low voice according to the regulations posted at the door.

More than 20 kinds of tea ranging from tra cung dinh (royal tea) to tra kho qua (colocynth tea) – each of which requires a different method of preparation – and 10 types of sweet cakes like banh com sua (rice milk cake) and banh dua nuong (coconut cake) are served from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Phuong and Duong order tra sen (lotus tea) and ginger candies to warm their spirits after the last rainfalls of the year. The women brew the liquid, pour out cups for one another, and read the calligraphy verses hanging on the wall while sipping their tea.

“Let’s drink tea.

Don’t talk about wealth or social positions.

Just enjoy your cup of tea.”

Reported by Phuong Anh

[zhu star]

Originally Posted by AlCIA Duh

You don't need an IPhone just to have a portable Vietnam dictionary. The phone is overrated anyway. Plenty of better Windows Mobile PDA which can let you run softwares like..

Vietnamese-English -LingvoSoft Dictionary 2008 English <-> Vietnamese for Pocket PC

Don't be fooled by their "talking version", it only pronounes the English words not Tieng Viet. If you know where to look, you can get all these softwares free online.

I have been using this software from lingvosoft for at least 2 years. I will do the translation on my phone and show it to the gal, works everytime.

I am rather sotong when it comes to hitech stuff, perhaps you can recommend me a brand and model number which is the best phone for such job. I also need it for biz use like able to read email etc.

Originally Posted by naemlo

I thought u have personal translator with u?

Aiyo, personal translator not always on 24/7 duty mah

[Hurricane88]

Rural girls are abandoning their villages in search of love and money in the cities, leaving behind packs of lonely young male workers.

It’s a familiar story - two prosperous families in the Mekong Delta have arranged a marriage between their children but the daughter would rather marry a man in the city than a man in the countryside.

Hai Q. in Cai Be District in the Mekong Delta Tien Giang Province, and Sau T. the owner of an agricultural supplies shop in the same district, wanted to arrange the marriage between their kids.

Q.’s 22-year-old son was doing well - managing four-hectare of rice paddies while T.’s daughter was studying at university in Ho Chi Minh City.

The families were crushed when the daughter said she wasn’t interested in marrying a farmer – no matter how well off he was – she wanted to marry a city man.

“I just want to have a husband in HCMC,” she said.

Nguyen Minh Nhi, former head of An Giang Province’s government, told a similar story of a poor girl who turned down the proposal of a wealthy neighbor only because she wanted to tie the knot with an urban dweller.



Many young girls have left Tien Chau Commune in the central Quang Nam Province to go to urban areas, leaving many single males, old people and children behind

The trend has become very common in Mekong Delta provinces in recent years, said Nguyen Hong Dien, chairwoman of the Hau Giang Province’s Women Union.

“Rural girls have flocked in droves to urban areas to look for jobs. I hardly see any of them return to their villages to marry local men,” Dien said.

“Even when they could not find prosperous men to marry, they’d rather marry workers in urban areas and settle there,” she said.

Nguyen Thi Xuan Huong, the office manager of Dong Thap Province Women’s Union in the Mekong Delta, agreed.

“The majority of people in rural areas in Dong Thap are the elderly and children, as many young girls leave for Can Tho City, An Giang Province, or HCMC to look for jobs,” Huong said.

The Mekong Delta An Giang’s Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, said in a recent report that female worker numbers in the local fisheries sector had increased to around 9,500. An Giang is the home of many fish processing plants which employ thousands.

The women’s union officials blamed the exodus from the rural areas largely on country girls’ dreams of better lives with a husband in the city.

Popular dramas and movies have focused on prosperous lives in urban areas, creating a perception in rural girls that settling down in major cities or provinces was the only way to have better lives, the women said adding that a “bachelor bomb” was likely to hit rural Vietnam in the near future.

But they said rural men could also blame themselves because so many were poorly educated and drank a lot after work.

Tran Van Nam, a 25-year-old bachelor of Thoai Son District in An Giang Province, admitted there was a lot of males who drank in the Mekong Delta provinces, saying it was virtually their sole recreation after work.

“I’ve left school after sixth grade and three girls have rejected my marriage proposals. Now I just put marriage down to destiny,” Nam said.

Tien Chau Commune in the central Quang Nam Province is also home to many bachelors, as the local girls have left for urban areas in the hope of better jobs and better lives.

The commune officials said a third of the population in the three hamlets were aged between18 and 30 but a lot of the young females had left, turning it into a bachelor town.

Foreign marriages

Mekong Delta Women Union officials also pointed to the high number of girls seeking foreign husbands.

They hope to secure marriages with rural Taiwanese or South Korean men who were also hit by the “bachelor bomb” back home, they said.

For instance, the Dong Thap’s Women Union said that since 1995, more than 11,800 local girls have married foreigners.

The high numbers paved the way for illegal marriage brokerage services.

In Vietnam, individuals and organizations are forbidden to carry out marriage brokerages.

Though only non-profit women’s associations can establish marriage support centers and marriage consultation services, the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice has recommended that the government legalize marriage brokering so that there could be better control of the industry.

Source: TN, SGTT

[technofreak]

Originally Posted by casannova03

Troi oi!! Anh ca nhac viet gioi qua!! hahahaha

Em cung ca nhac viet gioi...

Originally Posted by Sha_Gua75

something along this meaning:

wah the photo of whose baby? wear so "cool"

Busy with VP...But your tieng Viet is improving ley...

[Sha_Gua75]

Originally Posted by technofreak

Em cung ca nhac viet gioi...



Busy with VP...But your tieng Viet is improving ley...

my viet never improve....only goes down...but I got a wife....the only thing is sometime I lazy to ask her....

[casannova03]

Originally Posted by technofreak

Em cung ca nhac viet gioi...

Co gioi dau?? haha...em chi biet chut xiu...anh ca rat la gioi!!

[casannova03]

Nay la con cho do can moi nguoi??

http://sammy.services/matters...sed::confused:

[jackbl]

Dung di nho chuyen do.... quen di quen di... hihi...

Originally Posted by casannova03

Nay la con cho do can moi nguoi??

http://sammy.services/matters...sed::confused:

[jackbl]

HCMC to host cuisine festival
===================

The 2008 Cuisine Festival will take place on December 5 in Ho Chi Minh City to promote the food culture of Vietnam and other countries.

Twenty-one top international restaurants and hotels, representing the cuisine of 16 countries will participate in the event, co-held by the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Tourism Association and Saigontourist Corporation.

As special guest of the event, the Republic of Korea will hold a photographic exhibition of traditional Korean dishes, a display of the cooking art Jewel in the Palace and traditional performances.

Other events include an attempt to break the Vietnam record for grilled pork on a skewer with a 10 m long kebab, making a Vietnamese flag from Sushi, a cooking talent contest and a seminar on Vietnamese cuisine and culture.

The festival will run until December 7 at Van Thanh Tourism Area in Binh Thanh District.

Reported by Phuong Anh

[casannova03]

Originally Posted by jackbl

Dung di nho chuyen do.... quen di quen di... hihi...

Biet roi anh oi !!!

[Hurricane88]

The government Monday cut fuel prices and increased fuel import tariffs, for the third time in less than a month, in reaction to the continued fall of world oil prices.


The most popular 92-octane gasoline will now retail for VND12,000 (73 US cents) a liter, a decrease of VND1,000 or 7.7 percent, according to a press release from the Ministry of Finance.

The price of diesel will fall to VND12,000 a liter from VND13,000 and kerosene will sell for VND13,000 (78 cents) per liter from VND13,500, the release said.

“Since crude oil prices have tumbled a lot, we need to reduce retail prices in the domestic market to protect consumers’ interests,”

Nguyen Tien Thoa, head of the price-control department at the Ministry of Finance, said in an interview with Bloomberg Monday.

Crude oil for January delivery fell as much as $2.03, or 3.7 percent, to $52.40 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. New York oil futures have tumbled 64 percent from their July 11 record of $147.27 a barrel as the US, Europe and Japan headed for their first simultaneous recession since World War II.

As from today, import tariffs on gasoline, kerosene and mazut, a low-quality oil used by generating plants, will rise to 35 percent from 25 percent.

The government cut fuel prices on the 15th of last month and three days later raised fuel import taxes.

In early November, the Ministry of Finance recommended an increase in fuel import taxes to increase government revenue, which may not meet its targets because world oil prices have fallen below the projected figures used to set the government targets.

Vietnam, Southeast Asia’s third-largest crude oil producer, still imports most of its oil products due to a lack of refineries. Its first oil refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai is expected to come on stream next February.

Reported by Ngan Anh (With input from Bloomberg)

[jackbl]

Info for those that will be in hcmc during TET, if boring u can go these places....

City to have 3 flower markets for Lunar New Year
===============================
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee yesterday announced that flower markets will come up at three places for Tet next month -- September 23 Park, Le Van Tam Park in District 1 and Gia Dinh Park in Go Vap District.

The market at 23-9 Park will be the biggest and will be held from January 18th to 25th 2009.

A spring flower fair will come up at Tao Dan from January 20th to 30th 2009.

At the spring flower fair, 5.000 exhibits will be showed.

Tet on January 26, 2009, heralds the Year of the Ox.

[jackbl]

HCMC ppl is MOST satisfy with their pri education service but least satisfy with their Land Title Deeds svc!!!


Primary education tops HCMC satisfaction survey
================================
A survey of people’s satisfaction with public services in Ho Chi Minh City has found primary education in top spot and issue of land title deeds in last place.

The annual study, jointly conducted by the city’s Development Research Institute and Statistical Office, polls people on eight services: garbage collection, transport, healthcare, issue of land ownership and construction licenses, notary office, income tax collection, and primary education.

This year’s survey found people to be “satisfied” with most services though satisfaction levels have been falling in the last two years.

Since 2006 the satisfaction index for public transport has fallen to 49.5 percent from 78.9 percent, for issue of land title deeds to 39.2 percent from 59.3 percent, and for healthcare to 68.9 percent from 78.2 percent.

Primary education was added to the survey this year.

[retsoor]

A massage girl I met a few times last year keeps sending text messages.

I met her while having a massage, she seemed intelligent. She never wanted to provide "happy endings". So I went to meet her at her house, bought some flowers, let her teach me vietnamese, asked about her parents - and suddenly she was taking the initiative to lam tinh with me. We continued that for a while, until she started asking for money. I told her she's no good, she only wants money, and said I can get that from karaoke girls if I want - so she sends a text msg she will never sleep with me again.

After a few months she started calling me again, I refused the calls, and then she started sending txt messages, asking when I will come to see her.

I told her many times I am too busy to meet her now. So she says angrily that I am no good because I don't want to meet her.

I tell her that I want to meet her when I have time, and say that I am very happy that she writes to me, and that I want that she sends more messages.

answer (made me smile a little):

A muon e viet gi? Viet la chim a rat to va a lam tinh rat tot

What do yo want that I write? Write that your dick is very big and you make love very well

I like street smart vietnamese girls. With a little bit of attitude.