Watch out: kidney havest

This is a true story, it has been confirmed, and the Medical Centre phone number at the end of this story is real. This guy went out on a Saturday night a few weeks ago to a party. He was having a good time and had a couple of beers and some girl seemed to like him & invited him to go to another party. He quickly agreed & decided to go along with her. She took him to a party in some apartment and they continued to drink & even got involved with some drug (unknown). The next thing he knew, he woke up completely naked in a bathtub filled with ice. He looked down at his chest, which had 'CALL 000 or YOU'LL DIE' written on it with lipstick. He saw a phone was on a stand next to the tub so he picked it up & dialled. He explained to the EMS operator what the situation was & that he didn't know where he was, what he took, or why he was really calling. She advised him to get out of the tub. He did, and he appeared normal, so she told him to check his back. He did, and found two 9 inch slits on his lower back. She told him to get back into the tub immediately, and they sent a rescue team over. Apparently, after being examined, he found out more - His kidneys were stolen. They were worth $10,000 each on the black market. He is currently in the hospital on a life support, awaiting a spare kidney. I wish to warn you about a new crime ring that is targeting business travellers. This ring is well organized and well funded, has very skilled personnel & is currently operating in most major cities around the world and recently very active in Sydney The crime begins when a business traveller goes to a lounge for a drink at the end of the work day. A person in the bar walks up as they sit alone and offers to buy them a drink. The last thing the traveller remembers until they wake up in a hotel room bathtub, their body submerged to their neck in ice, is sipping that drink. There is a note taped to the wall instructing them not to move and to call 000. A phone is on the small table next to the bathtub for them to call. The business traveller calls 000 who have been quite familiar with this crime. The business traveller is instructed by the 000 operator to very slowly and carefully reach behind them and feel there is a tube protruding from the back. The business traveller finds the tube and answers 'YES'. The 000 operator tells them to remain still, having already sent paramedics to help. The Operator knows that both of the traveller's kidneys had been harvested. This is not a scam or out of science fiction novel. It is real. It is documented and confirmable. If you travel or someone close to you travels, please be careful. Sadly, this is very true. I REALLY WANT AS MANY PEOPLE TO SEE THIS AS POSSIBLE SO PLEASE BOUNCE THIS TO WHOEVER YOU CAN.

Michele Shafer

ML/Lab Administration Medical

Manager Research & Development 99

Missenden RD ,

Camperdown, Sydney 2000

Tel:(029)5156111;Fax:(029 )4621505

The kidney harvesting maybe very true. Some doctors may illegally harvest one your kidney without you knowing it. I know someone, a distant relative, who much later after an operation realized this. I think one of their main targets are those who are illiterate or with no or few relatives and friends. The hospital is one of those small private hospitals occupying a row of shoplots. Be very careful when scheduled for an operation....kc.

Over 10,000 people attend Ha Long tourism festival

The 2008 Ha Long Tourism Festival opened Saturday at Bai Chay Ferry Station in the capital of northern Quang Ninh Province, drawing more than 10,000 guests. More than 3,000 professional and amateur actors and actresses took part in a street parade. Other highlights were an exhibition of 10 model cars decorated with flowers, six large moving stages, 100 tourist vessels, dragon boats and dragon ferries. The grand finale was a fireworks show on Bai Chay Bridge in Cua Luc Bay. Source: Thanh Nien

Read more about Ha Long Bay at: http://bluebelltours.net/halong_bay_tour.htm

Rice fever grips Vietnamese consumers

The empty rice section in the Co.opMart on Cong Quynh Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1
People rushed to buy rice Saturday after the price began rising in leaps and bounds. Officials, meanwhile, rushed to assure all there was no looming rice shortage.
The rice shelves at Co.opMart supermarket on Ho Chi Minh City’s Cong Quynh Street were empty last night. Several housewives asked each other anxiously whether nearby supermarkets had any rice left. In front of the supermarket, many people called home to report they had been unable to buy rice at this supermarket. One hundred meters from Cong Quynh Co.opMart, the Hanoi super-market was also out of stock of rice. An employee there said since the afternoon people had been flocking in to buy rice for some mysterious reason. Rice gets costly Shopper Nguyen Van Tho from Go Vap District said he didn’t buy rice Saturday because it was too xpensive.

Tho said he was dazed by the surge in prices. Saturday morning a kilogram of rice sold for VND10,000 (US$0.63) but only a few hours later the food staple was VND18,000 ($1.13) a kilogram. Some rice distributors on District 3’s Le Van Sy Street said the price of rice had doubled within a few days. Many distributors in the city have been turning away customers, waiting to sell when rice prices rise higher. Their stockpiling may be contributing to the upward movement of rice prices. The global price of rice has been rising because of shortages in some rice producing countries. In places like Can Tho and Quy Nhon cities, rice is also reaching record prices. Sellers at major rice outlets in Can Tho City said their suppliers have increased prices three or four times a day over the past few days. High-quality and fragrant rice is seeing the highest hike, jumping an additional VND4,000 to VND7,000 ($0.25-0.44) per kilogram in a week. A kilogram of fragrant Taiwanese-strain rice is now sold for a record VND18,000 ($1.13), up from VND11,000 ($0.67) last week. Rice retailers say even low-quality rice is getting expensive, costing them around VND10,000 ($0.63) per kilogram. The price of harvested rice plant prices are climbing. As of Saturday, a kilogram of harvested rice plants in Can Tho’s Cai Rang District cost VND6,000 ($0.38), up from VND5,500 ($0.34) just a day earlier, and VND4,200 ($0.26) in January. In Quy Nhon, prices of many rice varieties have increased by 60 percent in a few days with restaurant owners rushing to buy and distributors stockpiling rice to wait for higher price hikes.

Full assurance
Government officials have issued assurances the price increases are not caused by an inadequate supply. Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Plant Cultivation Department, Phan Huy Thong, said Vietnam had enough rice to feed its people, with total production in the spring crop expected to reach 17.2 million tons, an increase of 200,000 tons from last season. The Mekong Delta has enjoyed a bumper spring crop, harvesting 9.4 million tons, a 300,000 ton increase compared to the same period last year. Rice farmers in the southern central and central highland regions are also starting to harvest, with production in the central highlands expected to equal last year’s figure of 400,000 tons. Due to bad weather, production in the southern central coast may slide down to 900,000 tons, an 80,000 ton decline compared to last spring. In the north, despite cold weather, rice plants are thriving and production may reach last year’s level of 6.5 million tons. Thong said not only did the country have enough rice for domestic consumption, there was likely to be some left to export.
According to the Vietnam Food Association, the country will cap its export at 3.5 million tons this year to ensure food security. So far, local rice exporters have signed contracts to export 2.4 million tons. But even in provinces that have been suffering from poor crops like Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Phu Yen, local authorities are confident people will have enough rice to eat.
Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Planning Department, Bui Tat Tiep, said rice shortages in other parts of the world and resulting high rice prices worldwide might be making locals worried. But Tiep said Vietnam’s main rice concern was not a shortage but how much to export to ensure an adequate supply for local consumption.
Source: Thanh Nien

Vietnam Travel Destination: Babe Lake, North - East of Vietnam

Ba Be Lake, a beautiful legend of Vietnam

North – East of Vietnam comprising Thai Nguyen, Bac Can, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Ha Giang and Quang Ninh Province. There are some colourful minority people living in the North – East of Vietnam like Tay, Nung, H’mong, Dao. Noth – East of Vietnam is typical region of lime stones, Rocky Mountains, caves and lakes and waterfalls. There are some famous lakes to Vietnamese like, Nui Coc lake in Thai Nguyen, Ba be lake in Bac Can. Ban Gioc waterfall is one of the most beautiful falls in Vietnam, laying in the middle of the border between Vietnam and China. Nguom Ngao Cave is one of the new destinations for local people.

Ba Be Lake is well known for its beauty and charms. All people living in the region known abut Ba be lake of its colourful, exciting festival happen at the beginning of lunar new year (Tet) in Vietnam with a lot of exciting traditional games like: bull racing, plough rice field competition, caching goats, running on bamboo stick, singing and dancing.

Ba Be Lake is one of Vietnam’s national parks now and it is attracting more and more visitors to Bac Can Province.

We started our trip from Hanoi around 8 in the morning. It took us almost an hour to get out of busy streets in Hanoi with full of moto-bikes every where. They come from all directions and I felt how amazing the drivers in Hanoi. They manage to drive in the forest of moto-bikes like that. I would not ride a scoter or drive a car in this city. When we got to the countryside, things are different, less traffic and green scenery of rice field every where. After two – hour drive, we got to Thai Nguyen City. It is one of the very busy cities in Vietnam and as all any others, we can experience busy traffic and contraction around the city. All these are showing me that Vietnam is moving very fast and I do hope that they move in the correct way and they know how to keep their beautiful nature for their future generations.


Around 1.30 pm, we got to Bac Can Town. It is the capital town of Bac Can Province. Bac Can is new province. It joined with Cao Bang province before. The town is small and it is one their way to the future too. We stooped for lunch in a café shop. They did not sell food here but we brought out lunch boxes from Hanoi so it is now big deal for us at all. We just got some drinks from them. I heard that Vietnamese coffee is so good and strong but it was not in this remote area. There are some of the local restaurants where you can find some food for lunch in this small town as well. After lunch, we just took a few minutes of walk around to see if we could find any thing interesting or not and in the end we just stood in front of a new fancy house to see the fellows were doing the flooring. It was a big surprise for me to see this kind of fancy house in this small town in the mountain area of Vietnam. We got a very interesting talk with those workers (we used body language). It was the time to hit the road again. We were just about 80 km away from Ba Ba National park but it may take us almost three hours as the road is small and too much turning so we could not even move faster than 40 km per hour. We chose another way that is about 20 km longer but it is a bit easier for the driver. It was so lucky for us to pick up that road as the view is more beautiful and we met a music show from Tay Minority People along the way. It was the music show to encourage people apply civilized life-style in organizing wedding, festival and funeral. The minority people in Vietnam in general do spend a lot of money in their spiritual and religious life. Their wedding can take place up till 3 days of party. They may slaughter a cow, a few big pigs, lots of chicken and of course plenty of rice wine. Imagine the family have to provide food for the whole community in that way that will cost them too much and they do have trouble after those ceremony that is why Vietnamese government is trying to apply a new model of organizing those events so they will not spend too much on wedding, festival and funeral any more.

When we approached the show, a lot of people were watching some beautiful Tay women in their own traditional costume sing their own songs. We did not understand their language but we can feel the exciting atmosphere through the laughter from the local people. We even got more excited to watch kids playing around the field. It is a really beautiful and peaceful countryside in Mountain area in Vietnam. a lot of women come to us with their daughters and asked us to take pictures of them and send them their photos after our trips.

Here it comes, the most interesting parts of the show, games. They do have a lot of their games like playing tops, pushing game and running on bamboo sticks. They are all fun and bring local people really good time. At the end of the show was the bamboo dance. This is one of the most popular dances in Vietnam. it seems that every one in Vietnam have seen it and tried it. They will play music and bang the bamboo sticks four down and one clap. What people do is just jump between the bamboo sticks and when they clap, you just step out. It sounds easy but not for some one who try it for the first time. It is pretty fun dance. The boys and girls were doing pretty good at that and of course they did not want their beautiful day ended without us joining them. They held our hands and pulled us in the dance. We did so badly and funny. We had some bamboo sticks clapped into out feet. It did not hurt us but make people laugh happily. It was the time the show ended. We waved good bye to them and hit the road again.

We got to our place a bit late in dark as we spent quite a lot of time in the music show. We stayed with Tay Family just in front of Ba be Lake but we could not see the lake as it was dark. We all settled down and ready for shower before dinner. We stayed in the house of Mr Toan. He is a retired soldier and he is running a homestay in Ba Be National Park. We were all surprised with the dinner that Mr Toan’s family prepared for us. I just loved the bamboo shots so much. It was so tasty. I like the way they cook it. They just sliced the bamboo shots and stirred fried with garlic. We just all sit around the kitchen and watched them cooking. After a few small cups of rice wine, we all were ready for sleep after a long drive day.

The next morning, I woke up early, sitting on the bamboo balcony in the front of the house and looked at the rice field in from of me, I just felt so fresh and peaceful as it was so quite here in the morning. It was a bit misty in the morning but I liked this kind of weather, a bit cold and misty and it makes me feel lonely but I do not know why I just like this kind of feeling.

They prepared some bread and banana cakes for breakfast. After breakfast, we were ready for our cruising day in Ba Be Lake, Nang River. We are going to visit Puong Cave and Dan Dang waterfall. We took a short walk to the port where we got on our boat to start exploring the Lake. We passed by the “Widow Island” in the middle of Ba be Lake. Local people told me story like this.

Once upon a time, the Ba Be lake area today was busy and wealthy villages. Every family owned a lot of good field, lots of cows and buffalos except a widow woman. There was one man in the village, named Cuoi, did not have a cow to work in the rice field and he needed to borrow a cow from the King of Heaven. The king agreed but with applied conditions. The king said “I will take the top part of whatever you grow”. Cuoi smiled happily and agreed. He grove sweet potato that crop. When the crop finished, as the agreement, he took all the sweet potato and gave the King all the sweet potato leaves. The king was so angry but had no thing to say to Cuoi. Next crop came; Cuoi came to Heaven to borrow the cow from the King again. This time, the king said “I will take all the bottom part of whatever you grow” As the previous time, Cuoi happily agreed with the conditions. This crop, Cuoi grove rice. As the crop finished, Cuoi took all the rice grain and gave the king all the rice stroll. The king was so angry but he could not punish Cuoi as he said he took the bottom parts of whatever Cuoi grove. The third was approaching, Cuoi went to the heaven to borrow the cow again. The king thought carefully and told Cuoi “This time, I will take the top part and the bottom part of whatever you grow” and was so happy that Cuoi had so way to cheat him this time. Cuoi grove corm in that crop. When the crop finished, he took all his corn and gave the king the leftover. The king was cheated by Cuoi again and he was angry and told Cuoi that he would not let Cuoi borrow the cow again.

One rainy day, when no one kept an eye on the cow, Cuoi held the tail of the cow and pulled it down. He slaughtered the cow and shared the meat with every one in the village but the widow woman. The King of Heaven learnt out the cow was lost and suspected Cuoi would had stolen it and he sent his man came down to look for the cow. The man disguised himself as a beggar to come to the village to look for the cow. When he got to the village, he smelled the cow some where and knew that the cow had been killed for food but when he asked, every one just said they knew no thing and did not let him enter their house. It was dark; he tried to look for the place to stay overnight. When he got to the widow’s house, she let him in and stayed in the house. He asked the widow about the cow and she told him the true. Appreciated the honesty of the widow woman, the man told her to get the tar from her cooking oven and put around her land and just went to bed. The widow listened to the man and did what he told her and when to bad. That night, there was a terrible storm, lightning stroked and loud thunder. The widow felt like floating on the water in her dream and did not know what happen. The next morning, she woke up and got shock and the village was disappeared and all around her was covered with water and only her house was left in the area and the Ba Be Lake appeared from then. The Widow Island is in the middle of the lake, reminding people pass by it every day about the story and warn people be honest in living.

I got amazed of that story about the lake. We cruised for a bout two hours to the end of the leg and joined Nang River. We passed by some small village along the river. We saw some of the very thin, long and small wooden boats used by the local people. We were surprised by how the kept the balance and rowing that small boat. We stopped at a small school to visit the kids to see how they study here. They are all funny and friendly to see us there. They were all happy and laughed when they saw themselves in our digital cameras. I promised them that I would send them the photos when I got to Hanoi.

When we are almost got to Puong Cave, we could smell and heard bats from the cave. It is a big tunnel running thought the mountain. We stopped to take the look for awhile and started going down Dau Dang waterfall. It is not really big waterfall but it is nice to sit down there for awhile after long hours sitting on the boat. We had small lunch in the house of “Mr Pirate” (One of foreigner named him that as he is bold and funny man).

After lunch, we cruised back to the port and took a walk around the village to experience how people plant their rice. We got back to our homestay, sit back, had some coffee and enjoy the peace of the beautiful countryside in the North – East of Vietnam. It is really a gorgeous place that I have ever visited during my holiday in Vietnam. It is really an ideal place for two our three days trip away from busy city life in Hanoi or some other big cities in Vietnam. Ba Be Lake now becomes one of my favorite destinations for my holiday and I just love staying with the local people. They are just so nice and friendly. It is a highlight of this trip.

For detail itinerary of this trip, please log on:

http://www.bluebelltours.net/vietnam_trekking_tour.htm

Bui Tien Chi, Bluebell Tours Vietnam

Millions join in world’s biggest school lesson

Millions of people across Vietnam headed to their local secondary schools yesterday to join the World's Biggest Lesson, part of the 2008 Global Action Week for Education from April 21 to 27.

Students from Thang Long Secondary School in Hanoi take part In the world's biggest lesson. (Photo: VNN)The global event aims to break the Guinness World Record for the most amount of people, albeit in different classrooms, to be taught the same lesson at the same time. Objectives of this year's campaign are to recognise the millions of people who have missed out on quality education because of their individual circumstances such as disability, poverty, ethnicity, gender, geographical location, being orphaned or exploited as child labourers.

Topping the meetings in Vietnam was a forum at Hanoi's Thang Long junior secondary school between students and representatives from the Ministry of Education and Training, international organisations including UNESCO, UNICEF, ActionAid, ChildFund and PLan.
Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien said the Party and State promised the international community that all Vietnamese children of school age would get quality primary and junior secondary school education by 2015.

Problems remained because many areas were very remote, Hien said. Some poor families couldn't afford to send their children to school and disabled kids were losing out on an education.
"We will get to the bottom of the reason why many kids drop out of school. Then, we will work with the local community to take practical and effective measures to help kids return to school."
UNESCO representative Vibeke Jensen said Vietnam had made major progress in getting children into school, but challenges remained. Despite successes in primary education, almost one child in every ten did not receive lower-secondary education in Vietnam.

Jensen said many children still did not have access to quality education. Some because of physical or mental disabilities, others were excluded because of their ethnicity, gender, where they lived or the fact that their mother tongue was not Vietnamese. Many were also denied access to education for economic reasons.

"Mother tongue education is key to quality education and to preventing minority children from dropping out of school," Jensen said.

In the lead up to the event, children throughout Vietnam participated in a series of activities including research, a drawing and writing contest, art performances and youth forums to boost local leaders' awareness on educational issues in their areas.
Pupil's documentary

At the Hanoi school event, Nguyen A Len, a 7th grade pupil, presented a documentary film he made about two brothers who had dropped out of school to help their parents with the family business. Len said the two boys, one fourteen and the other fifteen years old, had missed study for several years to help out in their family's small restaurant of noodles and grilled meat in Ngoc Khanh Street. "I don't know why they gave up school but I think they will certainly be at a disadvantage when they grow up," Len said. Dang Thi Ngoc Ha, a teacher at the school, said it was necessary to reinforce the importance of study to children. In the city, many children went to school But didn't really understand why. "I hope the education sector will reduce the study workload as soon as possible to help children develop strong constitutions as well as mental power," Ha said. Nguyen Tram Anh, a 9th grader, said the day was a good opportunity for the education sector to continue thinking about the current school drop-out rate and seek proper measures to help drop-outs get back to class. "I think that pupils drop out of school because they think it's boring. History subject is one example. There's too much to learn and teachers get students to remember just by drilling," the student said. The ministry had done a lot at provincial level to support poor and disadvantaged students as well as stop pupils from dropping-out of school and encourage those who had left to go back. Chairman of the ministry's Education for All National Co-ordination Board Nguyen Van Ngu said. The Government also praised students from disadvantaged backgrounds who make outstanding achievements, he added. "Their findings and recommendations will be presented as a dossier to the ministry for review."

At the talks, children took on the role of teacher in educating politicians and dignitaries on issues in Vietnam related to the quality of education and drop-out rate. Children performed plays and held an exhibition of their work to highlight these issues.

The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) was founded in 1999. It aims to promote education as a basic human right and bring together Civil Society organisations, NGOs, teacher unions and child rights activists to mobilise public pressure on governments and the international community to fulfil their promises to provide free, compulsory public basic education for all people, particularly children, women and all disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society.
(VNN)

Ho Chi Minh City police step up illegal street racing patrols

A police officer with a street racing suspect in Phu Nhuan District early Sunday
The Ho Chi Minh City traffic police last weekend began a fresh crackdown on illegal street races after an unusually early start to the “season.” From late Saturday to early Sunday, HCMC traffic police caught 53 motorcycle riders involved in street racing, performing driving stunts or not wearing helmets, HCMC Traffic Police Deputy Head Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Than Minh Khuya said. Police said they’d been surprised by the high incidents of street racing through HCMC since March. The illegal activity usually peaked during the university and high school summer vacation in June, they said. Since early March, the department has issued 210 speeding fines, Khuya said. He told Thanh Nien the department would clamp down on notorious street racing areas between now and September. Khuya warned district police leaders they would have to take responsibility for street races in their deputed localities. Since last month, traffic police in districts 5, 10, 11, Go Vap and Tan Binh have been working flat out to stop illegal street racing in their jurisdictions. Extra police have been conducting surveillance operations at the Nguyen Van Troi-Hoang Van Thu intersection in District Tan Binh, the most notorious street racing site, and Truong Son Street, which leads to Tan Son Nhat Airport. The races usually occur between 12.30 a.m. and 3.30 a.m. Motorcyclists caught street racing face fines of between VND20 million to VND30 million (US$1,200 - 1,875) . Violators’ bikes are also impounded. The speed limit for motorbikes in urban areas is 50 kilometers an hour.

Thanh Nien

Big House at Long Son

The architectural complex of Nha Lon (Big House) on Long Son Island (Vung Tau Town) is one of the places of interest in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

On the right-hand side of National Highway 51, the section from Ba Ria to Vung Tau, is a mountain range and also an island. This is Long Son Commune, which belongs to Vung Tau Town of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. The island is connected to the mainland by a bridge.
Apart from its pristine scenery, the island is well-known for Nha Lon, an architectural complex certified as a historical and cultural relic in 1991 by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Nha Lon is made of wood with red roof tiles. It was built between 1910 and 1929 by Le Van Huu, an emigrant from the Mekong Delta province of Ha Tien (present-day Kien Giang Province) to worship the sacred beings. Huu also built five rows of houses for new settlers.
Huu often worked all day long and at night taught his relatives and villagers the art of living.
He was respectfully called Ong Tran. After he passed away in 1935, his lessons became a folk religion which was named “Dao Ong Tran” (Mister Tran’s religion). At Nha Lon, most of the objects from the time of reclamation and settlement are preserved.

The most outstanding items include a set of table and chairs carved with pictures of eight saints, a set of 33 worshipping cabinets inlaid with mother-of-pearl and a set of silk paintings depicting Luc Van Tien, the hero of an epic poem by Nguyen Dinh Chieu (1822-1888).

Every year, on the anniversary of Ong Tran’s death (February 20 in the lunar calendar) and on the Festival of Praying for Happiness (September 9 in the lunar calendar), a large number of visitors gather at Nha Lon where they are served with a free vegetarian meal and offered free accommodation.

Source: Thanh Nien

Vietnam Family Travel

Bluebell Tours Vietnam provide wide-range of choices for all travellers who would like to spend their holidays in vietnam. Our types of travel including: Vietnam Family Travel from 5 to 21 days. You can either wish to see just the North of Vietnam, South of Vietnam or the whole Vietnam. In the Nort of Vietnam, we bring you and your family to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sapa and Mai Chau. In the South of Vietnam, we take your families to Saigon, Cu Chi Tunnel, Saigon City tour, cruising tour in Mekong Delta where you will visit bustling floating markets and fruits orchards. We create tours for family with care of your chiildren and elderly people. Bluebell Tours Vietnam take the best care of your family during your holiday in Vietnam. If you are looking for a holiday for your family in Vietnam, Bluebell Tours Vietnam is your best choice. With Bluebell Tours 's flexible itineraries, you and your family will find the best things to do in your holiday in Vietnam. http://www.bluebelltours.net/vietnam_family_travel.htm