Vietnam joins world baking competition

Nguyen Truong Kim Phung from ABC Bakery is one of three
bakers who will take part in the he Louis Lesaffre Cup’s Asian selection round.

Vietnamese bakers will take part for the first time in the
Louis Lesaffre Cup’s Asian selection round, scheduled to take place from May 26
– 28 in Guangzhou, China.

Three prominent bakers to join the competition include Vo
Thanh Tuan from BigC supermarket, Nguyen Truong Kim Phung from ABC Bakery and
Nguyen Van Hung from Caravelle Hotel. They will compete in three categories:
Loaves, Viennes Pastries and Artistic Piece, respectively.

The event, one of the world’s largest baking competition,
draws the participation of seven regional countries, including China , Japan
, Indonesia , the Philippines , the Republic
of Korea , Australia
and Vietnam
.

The best two teams at the round will go on competing in the
Bakery World Cup, scheduled to be held in France in 2012.

Live music, DJ show
in HCMC to feature int’l artists

JayCeeOh and P.K.14, the godfathers of Chinese rock, will
perform at an international live music and DJ show, entitled “Supersize Saigon
Music Night”, at Ho Chi Minh City’s
Vasco’s on May 26.

P.K.14, who are acclaimed the world over by the likes of
Time Magazine and Rolling Stone, are returning to Vietnam for what is anticipated to
be their triumphant second show.

This will be P.K.14’s only other show in Vietnam before they headline the CAMA
International Music Festival on May 28 in Hanoi.

Taking over the decks in the Blue Room will be internationally
acclaimed JayCeeOh whose top-notch turntable skills and music selection have
seen him perform alongside the likes of American rapper and record producer
Kanye West, Wu-Tang Clan and RJD2.

Supporting acts will include Bad Neighbor, Dangle, Superkid,
and Jordan Howard, who will present from hip-hop, Baltimore club to electro-clash and Latin
freestyle.

Ticket price: US$7.5 (including a free Jim Beam & Cola)

Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling Kim Vy on
01698 485025 or by going to one of the following venues:

Vasco’s (74/7D Hai Ba Trung, Dist.1)

Latin Café (17 Dong Du, Dist.1)

Gringo’s (38 Ton That Thiep, Dist.1)

Café Evita (230 Nguyen Van Huong, Dist.2)

Top design
entrepreneur sought for int’l UK
contest

The search to find a talented design entrepreneur, to
represent Vietnam in the
International Young Design Entrepreneurs Award for 2011-2012 in London in September, has
been launched by the British Council and the Ministry of Culture, Sports &
Tourism.

The competition aims to find a unique individual working in
a creative industry. To apply candidates must fill out a form to outline their
own achievements, have a good understanding of the industry and describe why
they consider themselves a “design entrepreneur”.

Then short-listed candidates will make a 20-minute
presentation and attend a 15-minute interview in English with a panel of
judges. They will be asked to talk about the national design sector, their
achievements and how the competition can benefit them.

The national winner will represent Vietnam in the
U.K, where they will compete with candidates from other countries to be named
this year’s International Young Design Entrepreneur.

The winner will also attend the prestigious London Fashion
Week and London Design Festival. They will enjoy networking opportunities with
international partners.

Le Anh Tho, British Council assistant director in HCMC,
said: “In order for the Vietnamese winner to best represent their country they
must have genuine entrepreneurial skills and be able to show their leadership
potential. They need to have great communication skills, including excellent
English and have a real vision of the future of Vietnam’s design industry.”

Candidates must be between 25 and 40 years old and working
in the design sector.

To participate candidates need to send a complete
application form, curriculum vitae, and a copy of identity card or passport
directly to the British Council. To download the application form go to
www.britishcouncil.org/vietnam. All competition entry requirements must then be
sent via email at tho.le@britishcouncil.org.vn or by post to British Council,
Projects & Communications Department, 25 Le Duan Blvd, HCMC’s District 1 by
June 30.

Australian wine and
cooking show in Caravelle

The annual Australian Wine and Food Show is at the city’s
Caravelle Hotel on June 3-4, attracting Australian wine and food importers and
Australian exporters interested in the Vietnamese market.

The event will provide an opportunity for both commercial
buyers and members of the public to sample a broad range of Australian
products, including over 200 premium Australian wine labels and food products.
Several winemakers will travel from Australia to participate in the
event.

In the lead-up to the event, an Australian Wine Challenge
will be held at the Caravelle on June 2.

During the two-day event, a trade exhibition will be held on
June 3 from 1-4 p.m., followed by a Gala Dinner at 7 p.m. The dinner will
feature cuisine prepared by the Caravelle Hotel’s Darren Watson, chef at the
iconic The Reflection restaurant. The six-course meal will showcase Australian
produce.

The Food and Wine Show public day will be held on June 4
from 1-4 p.m., with the purchase of tickets required to attend this event.

Hue city Nguyen Dynasty relics to be restored

The government has approved a VND2.5 trillion (US$125
million) plan to restore and conserve Hue’s
relics over the next decade.

It seeks to restore degraded Nguyen Dynasty relics,
including the Inner City, to their original state.

Hue was the capital of the
Nguyen Dynasty, Vietnam’s
last imperial dynasty, which ruled between 1802 and 1945 when Bao Dai abdicated
and transferred power to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The Inner City, which is divided into the Royal City
and Forbidden City, is the largest site in Hue and was built between 1804 and 1833.

There are 100 other constructions inside but most of them
have deteriorated due to natural causes and damaged during wars.

Vietnam
fantasy author took Germany
by storm

The newest gem of Germany’s
fantasy literature is a young 23-year-old writer, Jenny – Mai Nuyen whose full
time occupation is still listed as a film student at New York University.

The Die Welt newspaper calls her “the biggest discovery of
fantasy literature in recent years” while the Bild am Sonntag places her among
“the greatest fantasy authors in Germany”.

Born to a Vietnamese-German couple, Jenny soon took to
writing when she was five, creating her own stories and finished her first
novel by her 14th birthday.

At the age of 23, Jenny has already authored 6 bestselling
fantasy books in Germany.

Her first published work, ‘Nijura and the Crown of Elves’ is
compared to the classic ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy or a more recent sensation,
‘Eragon’ by Christopher Paolini, a young American author.

“Jenny used characters that are common in fantasy: elves,
greedy men, brutal kings but in a very creative fashion,” said the German
journalist Suddeutsche Zeitung.

“Every page of her book is full of surprises and readers can’t
guess what will happen next,”

“Even if you have just finished Lord of the Rings or Eragon,
you just can’t stop turning these pages”, he praised the book.

To Jenny, it all started on a late October night, when the
13-year-old girl suddenly woke up on her bed, grabbed her pencil, a notebook
and decided she had to write a book, a fantasy one.

It took her 6 months from then to finish her first novel.

“It was an indescribable feeling to see your first ever
novel laying there in front of you,”

“It was a feeling of horror, of joy, respect, happiness and
fear, especially this fear,”

When she was signed by CBJ Publisher at 16-year-old to
publish ‘Nijura and the Crown of Elves’, she had already came up with three
different novels.

‘Nijura’ took her another two years for revision and editing
until it was published when she was 18, with every illustration done by her.

She still illustrates all of her books by herself.

To Jenny, it seems nothing is impossible.

Province to restore
ex revolutionaries’ shelter

The central province
of Thanh Hoa will set aside
VND250million (US$12,500) to restore Mother Tom’s house which sheltered many
revolutionaries from 1938 – 1945 during Vietnam’s anti-colonial war.

The house, located in Hau Loc District, is named after the nickname
of the owner, Nguyen Thi Quyen.

Quyen, who was born in 1880 and died in 1953, and her
family, provided shelter to many revolutionaries, including the national poet
laureate To Huu, who immortalized her in his well-know poem “Mother Tom.”

Source: SGT/SGGP/Tuoi
Tre/VNA