Essential Foods for Tet holidays

Vietnamese people have a very good habit of saving, which are reflected by the regular meals – rice with a main dishes (meat or fish/shrimp), a vegetable food and a bowl of soup. Vietnam food is thus often jokingly labelled "food for peasants". However, this statement no longer holds water during Tet holiday, when Vietnamese let themselves taste more protein-rich and sophisticatedly made dishes. Following are the most typical food found in Vietnamese' Tet holiday:

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BANH CHUNG/ BANH TET - SQUARE CAKE:

Essential Foods for Tet holidays

Banh Chung (steamed square cake) and its Southern variety called Banh Tet - is unique to Vietnam's Tet holiday, though many other countries (China, Japan, Korean, Singapore, Taiwan) celebrate this holiday as well. Banh Chung is a food made from glutinous rice, mung bean and pork, added with many other ingredients. Banh Chung is covered by green leaves (usually banana leaves) and symbolizes the Earth, invented by the prince Lang Lieu from Hung King dynasty. Besides traditional reason, Banh Chung is chosen as the main food for Tet holiday because of it can last long for days in the severe weather of Vietnam (Banh Chung can survive at room temperature for nearly 1 month).

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VIETNAMESE SAUSAGE:
Vietnamese Sausage
Gio Cha (Vietnamese ham/sausage) is another traditional food in Tet holiday, and usually served with Xoi (sticky rice) and Banh Chung. Gio is different from Cha since Gio is boiled and Cha is deep-fried. Vietnamese people make Gio from lean meat, added fish sauce and covered by leaves then boiled for hours. Cha is also made of lean pork and ingredients, but Cha is not wrapped by leaves and boiled but deep-fried in oil. Cha just survive for some days when Gio can last for month due to its covers. There are many kind of Gio, categorized by its origins: Gio Lua (made from pork), Gio Ga (made from chicken), Gio Bo (made from beef). All these types are used not only in Tet holidays but also over the year. DOWNSTREAM SIEM REAP TO SAIGON BY RV AMALOTUS CRUISE
STICKY RICE - XOI:

Xoi (Sticky rice) is also a very important part of Tet holiday in Vietnam, since the meals to worship the ancestors can not missing this dish. Moreover, along with Banh Chung, xoi is the main staple foods for Tet holiday. Xoi in Tet holidays can be seen in many forms: Xoi Lac (sticky rice with peanuts), Xoi Do Xanh (sticky rice with mung bean), Xoi Gac (sticky rice with special “gac” fruit). Among these types, xoi gac is favorite the most by people because of its special red color – symbolizes the luck and new achievement for the New Year. Xoi is usually served with Gio Cha or boiled chicken in Tet meals. Sometimes it can be served with Che (sweet soup) like a dessert.
Learn more about Sticky Rice in varieties of Vietnam
BOILED CHICKEN - THIT GA:
Steamed chicken for Tet
Thit ga (boiled or steamed chicken) plays an important role in Tet holiday cuisine because all the tribute meals to the ancestors must contain a boiled chicken, whole or chopped. Chicken meat in Tet meals are various in forms: usually chicken are boiled and sliced, but sometimes people can place the whole chicken in a plate, or nowadays some families use roasted or fired chicken to replace the original boiled ones. Chicken meat is served with Xoi (sticky rice) and Banh Chung, and become one of the most popular main dishes in Tet holidays. Boiled chicken are always go with sliced lemon leaves and salt-and-pepper sauce, as a tradition. Chicken (especially bones, legs and heads) can be used to prepare the broths for other soups.
Learn more about Boiled Chicken Dish
MUT - CANDIED FRUITS
Vietnamese snack
Mut Tet (Tet jam) is not a food to serve in a meal during Tet holiday, but more like a snack to welcome guests in this special period. Mut is always kept in beautiful boxes and placed at the table in the living room, and it is the main food for the owners and guests to taste when they’re talking, enjoyed over a cup of tea. Unlike Western jam, which is usually in liquid form and served with bread, "Vietnamese jam" is mainly in dry form, usually dried fruits and some kind of seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds). This once-in-year mix of snack is very large in variety, with so many tastes: ginger, carrot, coconut, pineapple, pumpkin, lotus seed, star fruit, sweet potato. Nowadays, cake and sweet are slowly replacing jam in Tet period, but many people still love the taste this unique food – an angle of Vietnamese culture.

North of Kon Tum travel guide

North of Kon Tum travel guide
North of Kon Tum, Route 14 follows the old Ho Chi Minh Trail which snakes north through Kon Tum, Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue provinces, all the while running parallel to the Lao/Vietnamese frontier -- sometimes little more than a kilometre away behind a rise to the west. This remote, little-visited region can be a highlight of an excursion through Vietnam, and while many of those who do experience it do so with the Easy Riders, it's even better if you've got your own wheels. Mekong delta cruise – Chau Thanh district, the gateway to Ben Tre province

Commencing from Kon Tum, Route 14 runs through Dak To, Ngoc Hoi, Dak Glei and Phuoc Son from where you can take a right turn on 14E and cruise downhill through Hiep Duc till you reach Highway 1 at the town of Thanh Binh midway between Tam Ky and Hoi An. From Phuoc Son you can also continue north, through Nam Giang, Prao and A Luoi before finally reaching Route 9 and the DMZ just to the east of Khe Sanh. EXPERIENCE LIFE IN THE MEKONG – LUXURY MEKONG DELTA TOUR

This section covers the Kon Tum to Hiep Duc route via Phuoc Son. We'll add the more northern stretch as soon as we ride it!

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North of Kon Tum travel guide

Dak To
Dak To is sometimes visited on a day-trip from Kon Tum, but even the tour organisers admit it's not really worth the effort. There's a war memorial, with two salvaged tanks -- one Russian, one Chinese -- which were used by the Viet Cong towards the end of the American war. Just outside town are the remains of an American-built airstrip along with some bombed-out foxholes. These are worth taking a look if you are passing through.

As Dak To lies just 40km north of Kon Tum and 20 km south of Ngoc Hoi (Plei Kan) you don't really need to spend a night here -- unless you want to.

Ngoc Hoi (Plei Kan)
Ngoc Hoi is on a spot along the Ho Chi Minh Trail (Route 14) where it does a hairpin turn just 14 km from the Lao border of Bo Y. You'll most likely find yourself bedding down in Ngoc Hoi if you've decided to take a walk on the wild side and use the Bo Y border to cross between Attapeu in Laos and Kon Tum in Vietnam. It's also a possible rest stop when touring the Central Highlands independently. While Ngoc Hoi is surrounded by rolling, green countryside, the town itself is unremarkable. Locals refer to this place as Ngoc Hoi, but it's Plei Kan on the maps and some road signs.

Dak Glei
This tiny town 50km north of Ngoc Hoi, is located just at the southern end of the mountain pass along Route 14, 50 km south of from Phuoc Son. It serves as a small centre of commerce for the surrounding tribal villages, and staying here makes sense if you're not quiet ready to leave the hills behind and continue your journey, or if you want to take on the mountains in the morning.

Phuoc Son
This is a staple stop-over point for Easy Rider tours travelling between Da Nang and Kon Tum -- most don't linger here for more than the night.

Phuoc Son is a pretty unassuming little mountain town -- internet is available at the post office and at a few internet cafes, but the Agribank here has no services for foreigners -- they don't even handle currency exchange and referred us back to our hotel for the service. Accommodation is basic -- nothing fancy, but there is some variety and a few places are quite cheap.

Hiep Duc
This small, district capital is technically called Tan An, but everyone seems to call it by the name of the district it's in. Hiep Duc is the centre of some government administrative activity and not much else -- the only reason to visit is to pass through if you opt to take Route 14E east from the junction with Route 14A (the Ho Chi Minh Highway), 5 km outside Phuoc Son, or you're travelling the other way from Thanh Binh along coastal Route 1A.

Phân biệt điều hòa model cũ và model mới

Cứ cách mỗi năm liên tiếp các hãng sản xuất điều hòa lại thay đổi kí hiệu model của các dòng máy lạnh mới sản xuất ra để nhằm phân biệt các dòng đời sản phẩm. Bài viết này Maylanhgiagoc.vn cung cấp cho người tiêu dùng có thêm kiến thức để lựa chọn cho mình 1 sản phẩm model mới nhất, để khỏi phải mua lầm hàng tồn kho hoặc hàng model cũ.

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- Model 2012 : Panasonic KC9NKH-8 , C9NKH-8 , S10NKH-8
- Model 2013 : Panasonic KC9PKH-8 , C9PKH-8 , TS9PKH-8

Phân biệt điều hòa model cũ và model mới

2. Máy lạnh Daikin :

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- Model 2014 : Daikin FTKD50HVMV

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Ví dụ :
- Model 2013 : Daikin FTKS50EVMV
- Model 2014 : Daikin FTKS50GVMV

3. Dieu hoa LG chinh hang:

- Đối với dòng sản phẩm tiêu chuẩn và dòng sản phẩm inverter sử dụng Gas R410A  : Thay số 1  thành chữ A trong phần kí hiệu model của sản phẩm

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- Model 2013 : LG S09ENA

3. Máy lạnh Toshiba :

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Ví dụ :
- Model 2012 : Toshiba 10N3KPX
- Model 2013 : Toshiba 10N3K-V

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Riêng đối với năm 2013 theo nghị định của chính phủ thì bắt đầu kể từ ngày 01/01/2013, các doanh nghiệp sản xuất, nhập khẩu một số nhóm thiết bị gia dụng và công nghiệp sử dụng năng lượng bắt buộc phải dán nhãn tiết kiệm năng lượng. Nên tất cả các dòng máy lạnh được sản xuất mới sau năm 2013 này trên máy lạnh đều phải dán tem tiết kiệm năng lượng màu xanh theo qui định.