HCM City gets ready for festive season The HCM City Youth Cultural House is preparing to greet the Christmas and New Year festive season. Dozens of concerts, art exhibitions, circus and comedy shows will begin in early December. The festival week called Noel Ngot Ngao – Don Chao Nam Moi 2015 (Sweet Noel- Welcome A Happy New Year) will be held on December 24 through the first day of 2015, offering a programme of music, dance, comedy, circus and puppet shows. Young singers and comic artists will participate the event every night. A painting festival will begin this week to encourage hundreds of children and teenagers paint and make season greeting cards for their family, teachers and friends. The house will also host fashion show featuring fashion models and pop stars, who entertain the audience from an imposing stage with spectacular light and sound effects. More than 15,000 youngsters are expected to attend the house's festive activities. German electronic band arrives in … [Read more...] about HCM City gets ready for festive season
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Vietnam ‘barefoot queen’ wins SEA Games marathon
Vietnam's Pham Thi Binh impressed spectators at the SEA Games for not only winning gold in the women's marathon event yesterday, but also for running barefoot. She crossed the line after running 42km in 2 hours 45 minutes and 34 seconds, and still had energy to cover half the track to celebrate her victory with the Vietnamese national flag wrapped around her body. Myint Myint Aye and Pa Pa of Myanmar followed at second and third place with 2:46:07 and 2:49:01 respectively. Binh set a national record for Vietnam with her time of 2:47:24. "I got used to running barefoot when I was young. Sneakers become a burden for me when my sweat runs into them," Binh said after finishing the run in Myanmar. Binh's feet are covered in calluses and her toenails are broken from running barefoot. Her feet have also been pierced with thorns and sharp stones while training on roads. Binh ran 60km each day barefoot for around a year to prepare for the tournament. Her first gold medal It is the … [Read more...] about Vietnam ‘barefoot queen’ wins SEA Games marathon
Discipline key for top time trialist
Discipline key for top time trialist (01-07-2009) Golden eyes: The national team's Mai Cong Hieu of team Domesco Dong Thap wants to win at the SEA Games in Laos in December. — VNA/VNS Photo HA NOI — Vietnamese cyclist Mai Cong Hieu has dominated the men's national cycling time-trial event with an astonishing 11 titles over 11 years of competition. Hieu, 32, donned the national jersey in 1988 and settled in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta's Dong Thap Province when he joined the Domesco Dong Thap team, 14 years ago. "I was born in Da Nang, but I built up my reputation in Dong Thap — where I collected most of the medals over the course of my career," said Mai Cong Hieu. He said strict discipline has been the key to sustaining his top position. Hieu, who has two Southeast Asian Games gold medals in the men's time-trial as well as medals in domestic and international races, trained with the national team in HCM City in preparation for the 25th SEA Games in Laos this … [Read more...] about Discipline key for top time trialist
Traditional, super markets vie for customers
Talk Around Town (11-05-2008) Traditional, super markets vie for customers by Du Van Nga Around 97 per cent of traditional markets are still up and running, despite the hot competition of modern supermarkets, announced the Ministry of Trade. I'm not quite sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, considering my feelings towards the muddy vegetable stalls and reeking seafood stalls, all crammed into the stuffy atmosphere of traditional markets. In contrast to the haphazard set-ups, deceitful salesman and complete lack of hygiene in some traditional markets, supermarkets provide a cool and bright setting, helped along by air-conditioners and neon lights, together with the sweet smell of packaged items. In addition to the atmosphere, modern supermarkets conveniently offer nearly everything you need, from vegetables, meats to pans, cookers, soap and other items. Adding to the atmosphere are the pleasant attitudes of the shopkeepers, cashiers and other staff. They are happy to answer … [Read more...] about Traditional, super markets vie for customers
Euro fears resurface as gold surges in Asia
HONG KONG, May 12, 2010 (AFP) - Worries over the eurozone's debt problems despite a one-trillion-dollar rescue deal sent gold to a record high Wednesday while the euro slid as investors looked for safer assets. As euphoria that initially greeted the massive EU-IMF support scheme for debt-ridden eurozone nations faded, demand for the precious metal soared to 1,235.50 dollars an ounce by midday in Hong Kong before settling at 1,233.00. It jumped to 1,239.00 in early London trade. Heightened concerns about the risk of contagion from Greece's debt woes have attracted fresh inflows of cash into gold while investors continue to move out of the ailing euro, which remained depressed in Tokyo trade Wednesday. "Investors now see that the magnitude of the eurozone debt problems is much bigger than they had initially thought," Hideaki Inoue, senior foreign-exchange dealer at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, told Dow Jones Newswires. "There are still just no reasons for anyone to aggressively buy … [Read more...] about Euro fears resurface as gold surges in Asia