Resembling the Japanese udon noodle, banh canh, literally translated as “cake soup”, is either made with pure rice flour or rice flour mixed with tapioca, giving it a thick appearance and chewy texture. Typical topping options include pork, chicken, and seafood.

“Giant” crab banh canh in District 5

A pot of banh canh at Ba Ba comes with a ladle so customers can split the soup into smaller bowls for individual servings. Photo by VnExpress/Cao Ly.

Ba Ba (Madam Ba) eatery in Alley 84 on Nguyen Bieu Street in District 5 is known for serving their crab noodle soup banh canh in large ceramic cooking pots suitable for two to three people.

Aside from the big serving, the banh canh at Ba Ba lures patrons with its viscous orange broth enriched with crab meat, pork bones, and dried shrimp. Cashew oil and tapioca starch are added to achieve the color and viscosity.

Toppings consist of two to three slices of shrimp and fish cake, quail eggs, blood pudding, and pig skin. A portion costs VND92,000 ($4). The eatery opens from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Phu Yen garlic chive banh canh in District 10

Customers can request to have less chives in their bowl. Photo by VnExpress/Cao Ly.

A specialty of central Phu Yen Province, a bowl of banh canh covered in garlic chives at 111 Cao Thang Street in District 10 might turn some away because of its strong smell. However, garlic chives are tactfully used here to dilute the fishy flavor of the soup.

In central Vietnam cuisine, the broth for soups is usually made with seafood for a sweeter taste than regular pork bone varieties. Simple yet delicious, toppings include thick cut noodles, fish cakes, a piece of mackerel accompanied by a sweet and sour sauce on the side.

A bowl costs VND40,000 ($1.7) and VND50,000 with mackerel. The eatery also serves other Phu Yen delicacies like chicken rice, basil chicken hotpot, and tuna salad. The restaurant opens from 7 a.m. until 9.30 p.m.

“Two bowl” banh canh in District 1

A portion includes a bowl containing the noodle soup and another with the meat, giving the eatery its “two bowl” nickname. Photo by VnExpress/Cao Ly.

Every noon, the eatery at 10 Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1 teems with customers. Even though the sign only advertises squid porridge, the joint attracts customers for its delicious rendition of banh canh.

Each serving features two bowls, one containing the soup and noodles, the other, meat. A lime, pepper, and salt dip is served on the side. Here, the soup is topped with a chicken drumstick, wing, or pig’s trotters.

Recipe for making porridge is also used for the soup and sweetened with shreds of dried octopus, pork bones, and dried shrimp.

The eatery opens from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. Aside from porridge and banh canh, it also offers Vietnamese macaroni (nui), wonton, and side dishes like century egg and boiled chicken feet.

The price for a bowl ranges from VND50,000 to VND55,000, depending on additional extras.

Tram Tau Hot Spring

Tram Tau Hot Spring, two kilometers from the center of Tram Tau District in northern Yen Bai Province, offers many pools at various temperatures, from cool to hot, for VND70,000 ($3) a person.

The hot spring also offers lodging, with complementary hot-spring baths for guests. A bungalow could accommodate up to four people from VND400,000 to VND700,000 per night. Besides, a shared stilt house could be rented at VND200,000 per person.

Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh

Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh in Cam Pha Town, northern Quang Ninh Province boasts close proximity to the UNESCO-recognized natural heritage site Ha Long Bay and is 20 km from International Ha Long Harbor.

Built in the style of a Japanese onsen, Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh includes a wide variety of services including hot spring baths, saunas, a spa and wellness center, lodging and restaurants, all featuring Japanese themes.

Tourists could buy entrance tickets to the hot springs, with different prices according to different time frames from VND500 000 ($22) per adult. Another option is to rent an in-day resting room for up to six hours for VND3.5 million or a full-day room for VND7.9 million.

Nui Than Tai Hot Springs Park

In Da Nang City, a central Vietnam tourism hub, visitors could enjoy spring water baths at Nui Than Tai Hot Springs Park in Hoa Phu Ward, Hoa Vang District with a year-long cool climate thanks to forest surroundings.

The park comes with a wide variety of services, such as amusement park, hot spring baths, mud baths and Japanese-style onsen. Entrance typically costs VND400,000 per person, with side-services such as pools.

Binh Chau Hot Spring Resort

Binh Chau Hot Spring Resort in Xuyen Moc District, southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is famed for its hot spring and mud baths. Tourists here could enjoy the stable steam of hot springs under the lush melaleuca forest canopy.

The resort offers different baths and different pool sizes at the price of VND100,000 to VND700,000, with plenty of side services such as foot baths, massages and eating hot-spring boiled eggs.

Photos courtesy of the resorts

and Nguyen Thu Phuong

The 103-meter-square house in southern Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province has foam insulated tole covering its exterior drywall, creating a minimalist shape.

The white layer of tole gives the house a bright, industrial look.

The garage, living room, dining room, kitchen, toilet, and one bedroom are on the first floor. Trees are planted in many spaces, while the brown shades of the furniture create a sense of coziness in this three-generation family abode.

An atrium allows natural light to enter, which also benefits the many plants inside the house.

From a solemn worship area for adults to the child-friendly safety net above the garage, the house is meant to provide tons of comfort.

Minimalist bedroom.

The owners wanted a small garden inside the house, so architects decided to plant trees in as many corners as possible. The greenery combines with windows and an atrium, affording the home more natural features.

Photos by Quang Dam

For Nam Bui, a Melbourne resident for over 10 years, the second lockdown “resembles a dream since everything got upturned.”

Since Wednesday, Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, and capital of Victoria, will be locked down for six weeks as authorities try to prevent a second wave of coronavirus infection following a record rise in daily cases across the state.

Restaurants and cafes will only sell takeaway food, while gyms, beauty salons, and cinemas will be closed again. Nearly five million people will no longer be allowed to leave their homes unless it’s for grocery shopping, caregiving, exercise or work.

The whole state of Victoria was placed under strict lockdown in early March, seriously affecting those working in the hospitality and restaurant industry like Nam as the number of customers fell sharply, leading to a decrease in his income.

In mid-May, Nam felt happy and relieved as the Australian government relaxed lockdown measures, allowing restaurants to reopen and his job started returning to normal.

However, Victoria has been facing a second Covid-19 outbreak, prompting the government to reimpose a lockdown on metropolitan Melbourne and some parts of the state to contain the flare-up of cases.

Australia has so far reported over 9,300 infections and 106 deaths.

“Luckily, I work different shifts at more than one restaurant. My income is still fine even though I’m struggling to survive the pandemic,” Nam said.

Nhung Le Farrell, manager of a restaurant at Melbourne Airport, has not been able to return to work since April 23. Melbourne Airport was planning to resume flights on July 17 when the second lockdown order suddenly changed everything.

Victoria closed the border with neighboring New South Wales, isolating itself to curb the spread of the disease.

“I’m sad Melbourne is under lockdown again,” said Nhung, a resident since 2012. “95 percent of flights were cut, the airport was empty and restaurants closed their doors because there were no customers.”

“My income has reduced by 90 percent,” Nhung said, adding as a permanent resident, she was fortunate to receive government support for those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Only permanent residents or Australian citizens are eligible for the government support package.

Nhung takes advantage of this opportunity to spend most of the time at home with her 3-year-old son. Her husband, a high school teacher, still goes to work because high school seniors must continue their learning program.

For many, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on livelihoods.

Lan Huong Tierney, owner of a wedding dress shop in Melbourne, also lives amid worry and stress.

“My shop was closed for several months, reopening just as the new lockdown was imposed,” Huong said.

“I certainly support the decision to place the city under lockdown since human life comes first. The unemployed, like me, are also supported by the government. However, I am still worried about the future as my income has been greatly reduced.”

Huong’s husband and children are now studying and working online from home. Prior to the renewed lockdown, her family restricted going out to avoid large crowds, with the Australian government yet to contain the pandemic.

“During the first lockdown, which lasted two months, people rushed to hoard necessities, but this time most only stock up for a week to limit going out,” she said.

Like Huong, Nam now hardly stores any goods as supermarkets remain open. “It is really sad that Melbourne has to reimpose the lockdown, but it was necessary to completely stamp out the coronavirus outbreak,” he maintained.

Nam blamed the recurrence of the second wave for slack anti-pandemic measures and poor public awareness.

Australia only encourages people to wear masks in public, though they scarce and very expensive, at up to $25-30 a box.”

I worried about my health amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Hopefully, thanks to strict police inspection, residents will comply with anti-pandemic measures, and the crisis would soon pass,” Nam added.

Huong also wishes the pandemic would end soon, though she accepts she will have to deal with its impacts until that time comes.

A recent survey by VnExpress found that these companies have pocketed hundreds and even thousands of hectares in satellite urban areas in several provinces as of mid-June.

From 2018 until June this year, an average enterprise in Saigon holds at least two to three projects in satellite urban areas, according to the latest report of Ho Chi Minh City-based real estate firm Ngoc Chau A.

While their land purchase in the main market, HCMC, is limited to a few dozen hectares, the giants are focusing on huge projects in the southern provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An and Ba Ria – Vung Tau, and even in central provinces or northern cities.

Novaland, a real estate developer with a huge market share of residential houses in Saigon over the past decade, has been one of the early birds in the new trend, launching its business strategy to expand to provinces surrounding big cities since 2018. As of June, it has invested in at least four projects spanning thousands of hectares in Binh Thuan, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces.

Nam Long, a real estate giant that has led the affordable housing market over the past two decades, is also opening a large urban agglomerations. This year, the company is focused on developing the first phase of urban area Waterpoint in Long An, which covers 55 hectares.

Despite having a land bank of 681 hectares across several provinces and cities, Nam Long still spends VND2 trillion ($86 million) per year on more land. The acquisition criteria of this company is that the land must be large in scale and belong to satellite urban areas of provinces or cities, or be located at the gateway of key economic regions in the southern or northern region.

At present, the company is preparing to develop satellite communities in Long An, Dong Nai and Hai Phong.

Saigon real estate developer Hung Thinh has also been developing projects in Dong Nai, Binh Dinh and Ba Ria-Vung Tau in recent years. On average, from 2018, this firm has been launching at least one new project in the satellite urban areas a year and putting them on sale.

According to Ngoc Chau A’s latest report, from 2018 until June this year, a real estate enterprise in HCMC holds at least two to three projects in satellite urban areas on average.

Ngoc Chau A said that trend started in 2018, but by 2020 the speed of the “big migration strategy” will get faster and bigger. It will also create stronger waves in the coming decades as the new projects can take 5-10 years to develop and even longer.

Nguyen Thanh Huong, general director of the Dai Phuc real-estate firm based in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District, said that the trend of moving away from HCMC and investing in satellite urban areas has developed strongly among the city’s real estate companies over the past three years and is set to intensify further in 2020.

Huong said there are many reasons for this “outward migration.”

This strategy was an inevitable trend in the context of land in HCMC becoming increasingly scarce. Over the past two years legal procedure in the city have become “congested,” resulting in prolonged investment periods and huge financial costs.

Land in HCMC has also become more expensive after consecutive “land fevers” between 2016 and 2018, prompting businesses to expand to surrounding areas and even farther to acquire land at more affordable prices, she said.

The strong investment in and development of inter-regional infrastructure in adjacent provinces and satellites urban areas near HCMC is also a big boost for the outward real estate movement.

“Investing in satellite urban communities of Saigon is a vital strategy for businesses to expand land acquisition at a low price, easily create products with competitive prices and promote market share in neighboring areas,” she said.

She added that because the nearby provinces adjacent to HCMC still have large land areas at relatively low costs, investors have more convenient conditions to develop large-scale projects, promising localities they can create mega-cities and make positive contributions to local socio-economic development.

However, Huong also pointed out this trend is not without its drawbacks, including inadequate transport infrastructure, slow development of facilities for settling in and a paucity of jobs that make it difficult to attract residents.

With year-round impeccable weather, vast stretches of white sandy beaches and the magnificent Atlantic Ocean at your doorstep, Hollywood Beach is a good choice, both for a top-of-the-line holiday hideaway or a resort-like home of your dreams.

There are lavish properties with unmatched amenities that draw visitors and residents from not just nearby Miami, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Aventura, but from all over the United States and the world.

Hollywood Beach features an oceanfront promenade called Hollywood Beach Boardwalk that stretches 2.5 miles along the Atlantic coast. The promenade hosts the Hollywood Beach Theatre, a children’s water playground at Charnow Park, fine restaurants, cafes, and boutiques. Its beautiful surroundings, with lush tropical foliage, incredible sunsets, and cool ocean breezes make Boardwalk truly a unique and great place for laidback outdoor activities. The promenade attracts tourists, joggers, bicyclists and rollerbladers.

An aerial view to Hollywood Beach. Photo by Shutterstock.

Hollywood Beach has many properties to match a wide range of lifestyles and leisure preferences, from the luxurious condo tower of Diplomat Residences to the prestigious private gated communities, like Hollywood Oaks.

If you have your mind set on Hollywood Beach and other neighborhoods, find more information at Exploremiamirealestate.com. Explore Miami Real Estate is a group of South Florida real estate professionals who are constantly on the lookout for the newest market trends, new and promising properties.

The list of Hollywood Beach residences below is guide to the best properties on the market in this area.

Diplomat Residences

Diplomat Residences is a remarkable modern highrise that towers above the immaculate Atlantic shoreline and hosts world-class amenities and lavish residences with up to six bedrooms. There are only 2-3 units on each floor with private elevator foyers. Each unit features stylish modern cabinetry, premium kitchen appliances and granite countertops.

In addition, each residence offers expansive terraces, together with nine-feet tall ceilings and floor-to-ceiling impact-resistant windows letting all the light in throughout the sun-soaked days in one of the best locations in South Florida. The list of amenities includes saunas and relaxation lounges, a rooftop lounge, a world-class fitness center and much more.

Diplomat Residences is located right on the Atlantic oceanfront.

Hollywood Lakes

The Hollywood Lakes community is one of the oldest in the area with its Mediterranean Art Deco, and Spanish Colonial-style homes. The distinguishing feature of this community location are two lakes: the North Lake and the South lake, which provides easy access to the Intracoastal Waterway and then to the ocean, making the Hollywood Lakes community one of the best choices for boating enthusiasts in the Hollywood Beach area.

Trump Hollywood

Trump Hollywood is a beautiful highrise that stands across the street from the Intracoastal Waterway and the impeccable stretch of the sandy white beach of the Atlantic Ocean. The elegant residences with marble and granite finishings range from 3-bedroom condos to 6-bedroom penthouses with open floor plans and expansive terraces with breathtaking water views on both sides. The resort-like amenities of Trump Hollywood include beachfront cabanas, rooftop swimming pool with sundeck, wet bar, fitness center with sauna and steam rooms, billiard room, and so on.

Ocean Palms

Set on a 240-foot pristine beach section, Ocean Palms is another eye-catching highrise with expansive two, three and four-bedroom floor plans with high ceilings, lavish finishings, spacious walk-in closets, premium cabinetry, and floor-to-ceiling windows that provide views of the surrounding emerald green waters of the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. Amenities include a spacious two-story fitness center with a spa and a tennis court, a screening room and a billiard room, as well as an infinity-edge pool overlooking the beach and much more.

West Lake Village

The West Lake Village is a private gated community with a community pool and other outdoor facilities, as well as stylish Mediterranean-style residences with extensive backyards, giving each property a special serenity and sophistication.

Sage Beach

Sage Beach is a miniature development with only 24 residences, a 300-ft. private beachfront, and top-of-the-line amenities, including private poolside cabanas, a wet bar,  and an infinity-edge pool.

Costa Hollywood

Costa Hollywood is a brand new development that boasts a lavish rooftop lounge area with an infinity-edge pool, restaurant, and a sky-bar. The Costa Hollywood direct beach access is coupled with private cabanas, a beach club and a marina with anchor point and fueling point not far from the beach club. All the studios, and one and two-bedroom residences feature floor-to-ceiling windows, glass-enclosed showers, and many other attractive design fixtures.

U.S.-based AES Corporation, a Fortune 500 energy compay, signed an MoU with the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the implementation of the 2,200 MW Son My 2 combined cycle gas turbine power plant.

The $1.7 billion LNG-fueled power plant in the central province of Binh Thuan is set to begin commercial operations in 2024.

The signing ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink.

Son My 2 complements AES’ investment plans in gas infrastructure in the country with its previously announced $1.4 billion Son My LNG import terminal, which received approval from the Vietnamese government in August this year.

“LNG will be the key for Vietnam’s growing energy demand, by offering a cleaner, more reliable and more affordable energy solution,” said Mark Green, AES Eurasia President.

The two projects will play a major role in shaping Vietnam’s energy future by diversifying the energy mix with imported LNG, as well as meeting the country’s increasing demand for sustainable and affordable electricity, AES said in a release.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on Friday signed a $1 billion agreement on engine service maintenance with aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.

Pratt & Whitney will service the airline’s fleet of Airbus A321neo aircraft for 12 years. Vietnam Airlines operated its first A321neo last year and is set to have a total of 20 jets by next year.

The MoUs were signed against the backdrop of the U.S.’s increasing trade deficit with Vietnam, an issue that has engaged the Trump administration.

The U.S. had a trade deficit with Vietnam of $40 billion last year, the highest to date, with records going back to 1990, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

“We are losing $110 million dollars per day in our trade imbalance with Vietnam. This is neither sustainable nor tolerable,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday during his official visit to Vietnam.

However, the signings stress the strong potential for deficit reduction and they could lead to fruitful business opportunities for American companies, he added.

In the first 10 months this year, the U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export market with total exports value of $49.9 billion, up 26.6 percent year-on-year, according to Vietnam’s General Statistics Office.

In the same period, Vietnam imported $12 billion worth of goods from the U.S., up 12.6 percent year-on-year, it said.